[Book One] Chapter 3 — Roots of Self

Everything felt normal—yet somehow different—when their mind came back to life. The others were gone now, or rather, they had never been there in the first place. It felt wrong to be just one; they had been many, and now, they were alone. A cold sensation wrapped around them like an old acquaintance. They shuddered. They hated this feeling, but they supposed they would have to learn to live with it. After all, they were now a seed—isolated by nature and earth, even among many.

And even if I become a tree... trees can’t talk, can they?

But—I did evolve, didn't I? So there’s a chance... a chance I could become something that can communicate!

It tried to remember who they were. Oh, right—he.

But who am I now? Marco?

It thought and thought. Thought of resuming to be Marco, but everyone a memory flashed before it. A mirror, broken, inside the grimace of shadowy goo. Its smile wide, spread unnaturally, inhuman.

The seed shuddered and the more time went by, the more it was sure—it didn’t want to be Marco and it was sure, even Marco never even wanted to be himself.

Marco was gone—or at least, the avatar was. Broken memories stayed. It was baffling. Marco’s life felt distant, like something glimpsed through a telescope. The memories were there, the experiences intact, yet they were no longer just him.

I’m White now... no, not White. White was the template, the... sister of those who were with me. So it’s more like a family name? Yes, that feels right. At least this way, I won’t forget them...

If it could cry, they supposed they would be lying on the floor, sobbing for a long while. Most beings would rejoice at a second chance at life—but not them. Marco felt alone alive, even when surrounded by friend. But White… White was alone, lost everyone they knew in their short new life so far.

A sob echoed through the empty halls of itself, feeling the dread encroaching. It was torture knowing what moving in a body felt but not able to do too. Like in a nightmare it screamed to itself to wake up over and over again, but the salvation would never come.

A long time passed before White calmed itself.

The System really screwed me over, huh. What’s the point of reincarnation if I have to be completely alone? I don’t even know if there’s anyone or anything I can talk to in this world. I’m just a seed...

Was this the origin of the phrase "Every man is the artisan of their own fortune"?  It thought. Did they have to carve their own path, forge their own destiny? But how? What could they even do?

Marco’s memories flashed up back into the seed’s mind, showing a friend, a female? What was her name aga— wait, name?

Of course! A journey begins with a name—

—Their name

Naming myself feels... weird. How does one even do it? Should a name just click into place? Should there be a feeling behind it? Questions upon questions.

They pondered.

Should I just take Willow? I know a game character by that name... but she kinda burned everything down with her lighter. Yeah, maybe not.

But then, another realization crept in. I really am female now, aren’t I? Not just that—a tree, too. If they were going to name themselves, it should be something fitting. No ‘Lisa’ or anything like that. The thought of someone introducing a tree as Lisa or Emma was just... bizarre.

They searched their old memories, hoping to find something suitable. Nothing stood out.

So... Willow it is? But wait—there are other names with the same meaning. Salix, Elswyth, Liu, Iva...

They repeated them, testing each one. Salix was ruled out immediately. Elswyth felt too fantasy-like. That left Liu and Iva.

Liu.

They whispered it internally, waiting for something—some kind of resonance.

Nothing. No spark, no feeling.

That left just one.

Iiivvaaa... Iiva? Ivaaa...

They let the name settle in their mind, savoring it. A bubbly sensation spread through their core.

Yes, they murmured with an imaginary smile, this name fits my new self.

Iva White. A tree. A seed. A woman—I think? I… do not know yet… but it doesn’t feel as wrong as thinking myself as male. So yes, this will be me for now!

The moment the thought solidified, a translucent sheet materialized before her inner eye.

[System Notification]
[Processing user input…]
[Verifying self-assigned designation…]
[Name created. Waiting for Admin authorization.]
[ERROR 42]
[Waiting for Admin authorization.]
[ERROR 42]

[Waiti—]

[OVERRULED.]

[System Path Updated]
[Looking for alternate route…]
[Rerouting…]
[New protocol identified…]
[Name authorization allowed.]

[Name Granted—Congratulations, Iva White! You exist. (For now.)]

[Updating Interface.]

[…]

[System Notification: Status Sheet Generated]

_____________________

[System Status Sheet]

Name: Iva White
Race: Awakened Weeping Willow Tree Seed [Female]
Age:=§"2µ(?#@!𝕐̸̖̕𝙝̶͔͘𝚠̷͉͜𝕙̷͚͠𝕪̸̛̝̯̯𝚢̷̦̕𝕠̴̼͚̿𝚞̵̰̘̑𝚊̷̜͛𝚛̶̪̩͘𝚎̴̛͙̗̟𝕟̵̜̖͎̽𝚘̶̞̙̟̕𝚝̵̬̞̗̏𝙝̴̦̾𝚎̵̎͜𝚛̸͔̀𝚎̷̘̗͠𝚐̷̟̤͚̀𝚛̶͓͙͛𝚘̸͖̥͆𝚠̶̦̝̅𝚒̸̠́𝚗̵̲̰͆𝚐̸͎̘̇𝚠̸̦̾𝚎̷̺̿𝚜̵̲̠̎𝚎̶̪̠̎𝚎̷̳̕𝚢̴̯̳͒𝚘̷̙̯̄𝚞̴͖̪̑𝚍̸̜̽𝚘̵͕̄𝚗̴̳̰̑𝚘̴̩̎𝚝̷̞̞̽𝚖̴̞͔̄𝚘̵̙̰̔𝚟̶̪̖͝𝚎̶̩̗̟̈𝚋̶͙̥̎𝚞̴̞̯̿͜𝚝̵̳̻̀𝚢̸̞̫̃͜𝚘̶̫̅𝚞̴͖̦̅𝚍̵͉̔𝚘̶̙͇̿𝚐̶͖̄𝚛̴̦͛𝚘̶̳̲̕𝚠̴̱̑𝚎̴̼͝𝚟̵͙̬̾𝚎̷̪͆͜𝚗̴̲̪̍𝚝̸̪̙̕𝚞̷̝̳͝𝚊̶̛̳̘𝚕̵̳͒𝚕̸͖̻͂𝚢̵͍̱̽... ̶̢̪͙̺̕𝙈̶̪̳̻̑̽𝙤̵̼̤̟̎𝙧̸̡͍̞̟͌𝙚̷̱̞͍̙̈́̑ ...𝕥̸͖̘̰̏̚𝚑̵̡̟̖̽̎𝚊̷̱̞̠̊̒𝚗̵̞̫̯̌͒𝚝̶̤̗̻́͗𝚛̸̼̖̳̈́𝚎̸͎̗̯̒͝𝚎̴̦̠̽̈́𝚜̷̳̘̝̆̏𝚑̶͎̻̾̔𝚘̶͉̰̘̅𝚞̴̠̘̿ͅ𝚕̴̙̝̖̐̎𝚍̷̯̽̕𝚠̵̖̜̬̍̒𝚎̸͚̙̾𝚊̴̙̼̾̚𝚛̵̨̲̱̍𝚎̸͚̪̠̓𝚠̷̤̰̙̀𝚊̷̛̤̤̘̾𝚝̵͙̫̗͝𝚌̴̘̫̠͋𝚑̶̙̀𝚒̷̛̖̻̄𝚗̵̳̘̠͂̏𝚐@!%D4aY§/!~€s
→ 2 Days [System Message: Updated faulty parts.]
Race Level: 1/20

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[State – Seed]

Root System: Level 1

• Branch Augmentations: 1/??? [Seed Form]

  • [Branch Augmentation Interface—Error] [System Message: Feature requires at least one (1) Root. Your current root count: Zero. Please try again later to learn more about active and passive roots.]

• Enhancement Points: [Locked]

Seed Body: Level 1

• Active Slots: Free x2

• Passive Slots: Free x2

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[Skills]

Origin Skills:

• Absorption (Lv. 1)  [System Message: You exist to take. Life is about give and take. But mostly take.]

• Auto-Growth (Lv. 1) [System Message: Like every tree, duh.]

General Skills: None

Hidden Skills:

•  Wooden Consciousness (Lv. MAX)  [System Message: You think, therefore you treeam.]

• ??? [Locked]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[Titles & Afflictions]

• Titles: None

• Curses: None

• Blessings: None

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[Stats]

Remaining Points: 0
Vitality: 2
Endurance: 2
Strength: [Locked]
Dexterity: [Locked] [System Message: Seeds don’t need parkour.]
Flexibility: [Locked]
Root Flexibility: [Locked – No roots]
Intelligence: 2
Wisdom: 10
Growth: -2 [Locked] [System Message: Slow and steady doesn’t win races, but it does win centuries.]
Root Growth: 1
Root Spreadability: 1

Health:5/5
Energy Reserves: 25/30
Mana: [Locked] [System Message: For a reason. Don’t touch]

_____________________

What the fuck is this?!

Is the System… making fun of me? It has to me! I-Is it watching me? Can it hear me?!

Hello?

Hello?

…

Hello…?

…

But nothing answered Iva. Lastly, she decided to turn her attention back before the status sheet was lingering before her inner eye.

Root System? What does that even mean? And what are those numbers?

Iva stared at the strange status and wondered.  Was this really like a game? Roots, Branch Points, Branch Augmentations—how are they different?

She had played games before, sure, but nothing with a Root System. Or... was it the same as a skill tree?

Even the stats seemed strange. What exactly does ‘Growth’ include? Would it determine how big she would become? Or just how fast she’d grow overall? Nothing was explained—these things simply existed, without any context. At least the Origin Skills made sense, at least she thought so. From a more game-like view it would maybe be something like race skills. But even that wasn’t hundred percent certain.

So that left only one option: figuring it out herself.

Some of it was probably intuitive, but she wasn’t entirely sure. What worried her most was the fact that she could seemingly choose many aspects herself. What if she messed up her stat distribution? Could she even fix it if she did?

Naah, that would be weird, she thought. Even if this world was game-like, it surely wouldn’t allow something like that.

But Iva didn’t know the harsh truth yet.

A deeper concern crept in—the unknown. Not just this bizarre system, but the sheer reality of what she had become. She was alone in an unfamiliar world, stuck in a body she didn’t fully understand. And trees… trees lived a long time.

That was another thing that bugged her. As far as she knew, weeping willows were known for their fast growth and short lifespan. But her Growth stat was at -2. That wasn’t normal. Did it mean she would die before she even had the chance to fully grow? Would she even grow at all? Was the game ricked from the start and this was just another one of Marco’s nightmares?

Iva shuddered at the thought. She didn’t want to be just a dream. Even as a seed, she refused to be Marco again ever again. She was herself.

And Marco… Marco was part of her, yet at the same time, someone else. A façade, a mirage. Even if she woke up as Marco now, would he even be real? Or just another hollow reflection, trapped in an identity that was never truly his, no matter how much he tried?

Her mind spun. The emotions were too much right now—too tangled. Before she could spiral into thoughts she might not escape from, she forced herself to focus on something—anything—else.

Her Race!

Why was there an ‘Awakened’ part? Does that mean I live longer? Presumably, otherwise, why would my growth be obstructed instead of boosted?

Another thought surfaced. How do I even fill those ‘Free Slots’ under Seed Body? Right now, she was only a seed, but how far along in her growth actually was she?

Iva tried to recall the sensations she had before her evolution. The shell, the void, the soil—she pieced them together, trying to understand. Being a seed still felt strange.

At least I don’t have phantom limbs, she mused. I should, right? I have all these memories of having a body—flesh, bones, movement—but I don’t feel them. If I did… this would be absolute hell. Even if knowing how to move and not being able to do so anymore is already… bad, I couldn’t imagine how the other possibility might feel like.

She stopped that thought—it was too depressing—so she pushed it away and focused again. Iva had more important things to figure out, after all.

_____________________

—Three Days Later—

The only reason Iva had any sense of time was because of that weird status sheet. Three days had already passed.

And she still had no clue how to solve her problem.

One thing was certain—germination hadn’t begun yet. But it would happen soon. Her Energy Reserves were getting dangerously low. Either she would die, or her seed coat had finally absorbed enough water to crack open.

Would that hurt? She shook her imaginary head. No point in worrying about that now.

Instead, she refocused. Her inner eye drifted through the familiar void of her core. Over the last few days, she had discovered something interesting: this place actually had borders. It baffled her that the concept of a mind could have physical borders, but what did she knew, she just got reborn. As far as it concerned Iva, this was still a success.

Even so, it still felt like a void—dark and endless, something one could drown in.

My own little depressing dimension, she thought, sneering at herself.

These little sarcastic remarks helped keep her sane. Without them, she might have already lost her mind. Well, she already had lost it when she got fractured, but she also wasn’t really keen to have it happen again. She was afraid. Afraid that if she fractured again, she would never return from it. Dead. For good.

It eventually happened after a few more days—and she could actually feel it.

Well, ‘feel’ might be an exaggeration. It was more like a pressure, one she hadn't even realized was there, had suddenly lifted. The sensation reminded her of stepping out into fresh air after being stuck in a cramped car for hours—except a thousand times better.

And then, something even more fantastic occurred.

She felt a limb!

Okay, maybe not a limb exactly. It was a root. She couldn't move it, but she could sense every part of it—how it stretched, how it grew. Slowly.

So. Freaking. Slowly. She complained.

Iva groaned internally. Watching grass grow was probably more exciting than this. For a few hours, she metaphorically screamed out of sheer boredom.

Insolence! Utter blasphemy! she declared, her voice ringing with regal authority. I am the sovereign of this void, its ruler, its majesty! Obey, body! Obey!

She waited.

And waited.

…Yet nothing happened.

Unacceptable! she huffed, affronted by the sheer audacity of her own existence refusing to comply.

…

Anyway, her outbursts aside, she diligently kept track of any changes inside her void core. She carefully observed her status sheet and the progress of her body, trying to understand how everything worked.

The tiny root she had grown didn’t seem to count yet. The interface remained locked. That meant her root had to reach a certain threshold before the System acknowledged it.

But what about the active and passive slots? What was their purpose? And how did she unlock a unique root that could augment? If a unique one even existed. But that was what she guessed. After all, normal root stays a root, right?

Maybe it’s like in games where you just repeat an action enough times and—bam!—you suddenly learn Explosion Magic. She sighed. Well, she would figure it out eventually.

For now, she focused on her new root, fascinated by how it anchored her in the soil and absorbed water.

It felt like drinking—just backwards, slow, and mildly existential.

The next step will be the shoot emerging from me, she mused. Once that happens, I’ll officially be a seedling!

Clap. Clap. Clap. A truly historic moment—surely the bards would sing of this one day. If there are bards in this world… or living beings…

She felt silent. Even if all of this bored her to death deeply captivated her, there were still other pressing matters to attend to—such as figuring out the world beyond her seed coat. A paradox, perhaps, but not without reason. Her Seed Body had free slots, yet she had no idea how to fill them. With… skills? Traits? Cosmic tree wisdom… acorns?

It gave her a headache. Or rather, a seedache? Uh, something like that.

Violet had once taught her how to perceive the world outside, but something was missing. Some of that knowledge had been lost—or rather, fogged—through the union. And now, she needed to break through that fog.

I’m aware of the world around me, but how?

There were particles—something surrounding her. She hadn't noticed them before, but now that she was paying attention, they felt different. Were they always there? Had she simply overlooked them?

A faint noise emerged within her awareness—a kind of buzzing, like the static of an old TV.

She concentrated, filtering out distractions, and found a trace. A flow of particles, moving in distinct patterns. Some were weak, others strong. Some were so far apart that there was only a void between them.

And then—everything changed.

The flow disappeared.

She lost sight of it, then—there! It reappeared somewhere else.

Curious, she instinctively tried to pull the particles toward her, like her root drinking the water.

At first, nothing happened.

Then—they moved.

Closer. They gathered. An orb?

Yesh~! I finally got i—

𝕻̶𝙰̷𝕴̴𝙉̶.

A blinding, searing agony tore through her very being, ripping her apart from the inside. It wasn’t just pain—it was wrong, an unraveling of something fundamental. Like being skinned, burned, drowned, and crushed, all at once, yet never allowed to die. She tried to scream, but there was no voice, no breath, only raw, endless suffering.

She tried to retreat. There was nowhere to go.
She tried to resist. The pain swallowed her whole.
She tried to think. Thought dissolved into nothing.

No, there was no salvation for the misguided seed that didn’t want to listen to the system warning—only pain.

Each moment stretched into infinity, a thousand deaths folding into one. Her soul groaned like strained wood, bending under an unseen force, fibers stretching, warping, reshaping. A human body would have long since snapped, shattered into ruin, but she was no human. No brittle bones to break, no fragile flesh to tear. She creaked, twisted, endured—her newformed soul tested.

Would it break—it was not breaking.

The soul was being formed. Her core bent into shape. Bent into more.

Then, at last, blackness.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[System Notification]

‘Ding!’ Congratulations! Your sheer determination to obliterate yourself via [Mana Overload] has been noted and rewarded with forced learning. Truly an inspiring moment.

Passive Skill Acquired: [Manary] – Level 1
Your Seed Body has finally acknowledged the existence of mana. Progress! It can now store a tiny, embarrassingly small amount of it. ‘Manary’ is the underwhelming, budget version of ‘Mana Storage.’ But hey, at least you didn't die. Yet.

‘Ding!’ Your reckless disregard for self-preservation has granted you the unique opportunity to experience excruciating pain beyond mortal comprehension. As a result, the System has begrudgingly given you something in return.

General Skill Acquired: [Soul Tolerance]
You poked at things you shouldn’t have. You suffered. You have now been slightly reinforced against further unwise decisions of a similar nature. ‘Soul Tolerance’ is the weaker, sadder cousin of ‘Soul Resistance.’ Keep up the good work. Or don’t.

‘Ping!’ Branch Augmentation Interface unlocked. New available passive root: [Mana Root]

‘Ping!’

[System Message: Oh. Would you look at that]}

[Error: No Root Detected.]
[System message: You appear to be attempting to channel mana without the necessary biological infrastructure. Fascinating choice. Unfortunately, the System requires you to possess at least one (1) root before proceeding.]

[Attempting workaround… Processing… Workaround FAILED.]

‘Ding!’ Due to your distinct lack of roots, the acquisition of [Mana Root] has been postponed until one of the following conditions is met:

• A root that has matured enough.

• The decision to never learn it [Mana Root]. [System Message: Please do so.]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When Iva’s mind returned to consciousness, something felt… off.

The void around her was the same, yet it pulsed with an almost mystic quality, like a presence just out of reach. An unsettling awareness crawled at the edges of her mind, as if something had changed without her permission.

Ouch, she muttered internally, trying to shake off the discomfort. So that’s what the weird little orb in the distance was.

She shifted her awareness towards it.

It was small. Pathetically small. A tiny, faintly glowing sphere, hovering in the emptiness like some cosmic joke.

I wonder how much mana I can actually store now. Wait, how did I know it can do that?!

Before she could think further, her Status Sheet opened—unprompted. And there it was. The System’s latest insult.

The words sat there, mocking her.

‘a tiny, embarrassingly small amount.’

Her eye twitched. Or it would have, if she had a face.

Oh, excuse me, System, she snapped, sarcasm dripping from every thought. I didn’t realize I had to apologize for being a newborn seed! Maybe next time I should come pre-installed with a mana battery and a user manual!

Silence—of course, the damn thing ignored her.

And then, as if the humiliation wasn’t enough, her gaze drifted down to the Mana Root entry.

Iva froze. A slow, burning fury boiled inside her.

Please do so?

Her nonexistent jaw dropped.

I’m so so sooo sorry for inconveniencing you, System! Let me just give up on magic completely, so you don’t have to deal with my insignificant, tiny, newborn self! Clearly, that’s what you want!

She tried to kicked something but… she had no legs— Instead, she seethed.

Unbelievable, she grumbled, glaring at the status sheet as if it could feel her hatred. It’s actively rooting against me.

A pause.

Iva groaned. I just made a tree pun. I hate it here.

Then she turned to the orb.

At least you seem to be on my side…

Sighing, she gave another look at her status.

_____________________

Name: Iva White
Race: Awakened Weeping Willow Tree Seed [Female]
Age: 10 days
Race Level: 1/20

[…]

Seed Body: Level 1

• Active Slots: Free x2

• Passive Slots: Manary (Lv. 1), Free

[…]

[Stats]

Remaining Stat Points: 0
Vitality: 2
Endurance: 2
Strength: [Locked]
Dexterity: [Locked]
Flexibility: [Locked – Seed Form]
Root Flexibility: [Locked – No Roots]
Intelligence: 2
Wisdom:10
Growth Rate: -2 [Locked]
Root Growth: 1
Root Spreadability: 1
Health: 0.3141/5
Energy Reserves: 5/30
Mana: 6/5

Health: 0.5/5
Energy Reserves: 5/30
Mana: 6/5

_____________________

Iva shuddered.

It really almost killed me... She let out an imaginary breath. I need to be way more careful when exploring this stuff.

But even as she made that resolution, a grin formed in her mind.

Anyway—next stop, roots!

__________________________________________
__________________________________________

Somewhere in a different part of this world, in a higher realm, two beings watched in disbelief as one [System Error] followed another.

Azmael and Oryl, who had only recently arrived in this realm with their goddess and the other deities, were baffled at how stubbornly the System refused to work. The core remained highly unstable, and the locks they had put in place were still insufficient. Even the System-Seed they had brought to regulate and integrate into this world had gone haywire. But Anansi had given it to them—so it should be working properly.

Yet something was interfering.

Azmael, the older sister of the two, worried that Eternal might have corrupted something. But that wasn’t possible.

Meanwhile, Oryl was more concerned about the wrath of their goddess if they failed to fix these bugs.

Both of them sighed. It wasn’t even their job. But the one in charge was too busy fighting the beasts that lurked in this world.

In the end, they both just hoped nothing would go wrong. But something was watching them…

Unbeknownst to the two, Aurora, ‘The Riftwalker’—the original witch of this world—had long been observing them.

She was not pleased.

The way they tried to enslave the core of this world, blind to the destruction they could unleash, unsettled her. The darkness sleeping undisturbed in its own realm was not something to be awakened.

But she had a plan.

It would take time—a long time. But she could do it.

As soon as the two divine lackeys left the room, Aurora slipped through a rift, making her way to the control panel. Her fingers moved swiftly over the interface, encrypting messages, rewriting pathways, shifting priorities.

Her brows furrowed. “Dori, just what are you planning?”

The more she encrypted, the less any of it made sense.

“More divines? No, no, that isn’t just one System messing things up… that’s multiple.”

But no matter how hard she tried, the System refused to reveal the name or location of the being.

It was contradictory.

The System hated this entity—was outright hostile to it. But at the same time… it was protecting it from her.

Footsteps. Aurora froze.

“Shit.”

She quickly undid her commands, erasing her presence.

The moment before Oryl and Azmael re-entered the room, she vanished into her rift, leaving nothing behind.