With my general security taken care of, I couldn’t think of a single reason not to at least check out my evolution paths. Believe me, I’ve tried. Part of me was a bit scared about what I might find in the options. Would my delve into magic over the years open new options? Am I missing out on other options by not reaching a certain point yet? If I continued making an army of golems, would I be able to open a Tree General evolution path after creating so many?
Worrying was getting me nowhere, so, with bated breath, I opened the selection.
Level cap for Race [Tree] reached! Select evolution path!
Option 1) Middling Tree
Option 2) Great Tree
Option 3) Grand Tree
Option 4) Mystic Tree
Option 5) Middling Mystic Tree
Option 6) Great Mystic Tree
Option 7) Nature Sprite
Option 8) Nature Spirit
Option 9) Nature Pixie
Option 10) Nature’s Avatar
“Whoa. That’s more than I was expecting. Right off the bat, the last option is obviously the best choice, right? I feel like the first 4 are the basic evolution paths of a tree. I mean, going from a basic Tree to a Middling Tree feels a bit underwhelming. But the Mystic evolutions at least sound interesting.”
As I said the name of the evolution path, a new screen depicting the evolution’s standard form popped up. It looked like any basic tree, except I got the impression that it might have been a bit larger than most other trees were supposed to be. I continued scrutinizing the image, and a description screen popped up as well.
Middling Tree: The Middling Tree is the standard adolescent form of the Tree Evolution line. Middling Trees receive a minor boost to growth rate and an increase in their resource pools and regeneration relative to their size. There are no prerequisites a Tree needs to reach before evolving into a Middling Tree.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. I’m sure that boost to resources would have been nice when I was smaller, but as it stands, I’m already set for resources. In fact, I haven’t been low on any of my pools in quite a while, and it would take an act of god for me to need to spend enough to run low. I’ll have to pass on this one. Next!”
I turned my focus to the next item on the list, the Great Tree. If memory serves me right, this is what the elves called me. I believe they had a forest full of trees that had taken this path, and they wanted to try to take me with them. I can already tell I would hate this path, just off of that alone. I’d rather take the Middling Tree evolution to avoid them, if it meant they came back to tree-nap me again.
As I focused on the Great Tree evolution, the image popped up. It was basically a giant tree with nothing really standing out about it. If I zoomed in enough, I could see a few fruits and berries hanging from its branches, but that was about it.
After I checked the image, the description popped up.
Great Tree: The Great Tree evolution is the standard adult form of the Tree Evolution line. Great Trees receive a bonus to resource pool size and regeneration dependent on their size, as well as having minor control over their growth direction outside of their skills. Great Trees are also given the skills [Fruit Creation] and [Resource Berry] upon evolution. The Great Tree form has a size requirement before being able to select this evolution (MET).
“Oh! The skills all Great Trees have are skills I had anyway! That must be why the elves thought I was a Great Tree instead of what is essentially a baby tree! In terms of tree life spans, I guess I technically AM a baby; after all, I am less than a decade old. In this world, at least. I still have my old life memories on top of this one’s.”
With some of life’s mysteries solved, I moved on to the Grand Tree evolution. It was basically the same as the Great Tree evolution, but with a larger size requirement that I’ve already met. The only difference I saw between the two was that Grand Trees required a canopy size requirement as well as a root length requirement to support the main body. They were also given a minor version of my Improved Digestion skill.
The next evolution was an interesting one. It was the Mystical Tree evolution. The image that was presented to me was, well, mystical. It depicted a large tree, just a little smaller than the Great Tree evolution was, but it had leaves that resembled a rainbow and that were constantly shifting colors. As I watched, energies around the tree sprouted into existence, swirling in the air and creating magical wonders. When the light show was done, the description screen popped up, and I eagerly read it.
Mystical Tree: The Mystical Tree is a side step from the standard Tree Evolution line. Mystical Trees focus on creating magical wonders, typically focusing on Water Magic and Earth Magic, though the brave ones also practice Fire Magic. Once a Tree chooses this path, its current evolution path will be lost, and the Mystical Tree Path will be locked in, restarting the new Mystical Tree’s life with new magic-based abilities and a large bonus to mana pool size and regeneration. Evolution requirements include having at least 3 Uncommon Magical skills (MET).
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I honestly loved this one. This was much closer to how I’ve been living my life for the last few months, and it also leads me to wonder how great the other Mystic Tree options were. I immediately moved on to the next and was mildly disappointed, but still a little excited.
The Middling Mystic Tree evolution image showed a larger version of the base form. It was essentially the same difference from what I imagined the base tree form was to the Middling Tree form. But there was one thing that caught my eye in the description.
Middling Mystic Tree: The Middling Mystic Tree evolution is the standard adolescent form of the Mystic Tree Evolution line. Middling Mystic Trees receive a bonus to all magic-related abilities relative to their size, as well as a boost to their mana pool and regeneration. Evolution requirements include having at least 3 Rare Magical skills (MET). Middling Mystic Tree does not have a size requirement.
I would absolutely LOVE a boost to my magic abilities. Paired with my enormous size, I would be basically unstoppable! I mean, I’m kind of already unstoppable, but I can’t help but imagine how great that boost would be!
Invigorated, I moved on to the next option, Great Mystic Tree. Again, it was just a larger version of the Middling Mystic Tree, but I was still excited to read the description.
Great Mystic Tree: The Great Mystic Tree evolution is the standard adult form of the Mystic Tree Evolution line. Great Mystic Trees receive a large bonus to their magical abilities, as well as their mana pool size and regeneration. Great Mystic Trees also have the ability to direct their growth outside of their skills. Great Mystic Trees are given the ability to create Mana Berries and have the potential to create other methods of storing mana. Evolution requirements include having at least 3 Epic Magical skills (MET). Great Mystic Trees require a minimum size (MET).
As I finished the description, I quickly opened my skills. I hadn’t realized it, but it was true. I had 3 Epic grade magical skills. Fire Magic, Mana Condensation, and Mana Fog were all Epic rank skills pertaining to magic. I also had Dryad Creation, Resource Berries, and, my very first skill that I was born with (hatched with? grew with? whatever), Photosynthesis. My mind was boggled at having so many high rarity skills, but I guess I’ve been pretty busy upgrading them. And, now that I thought about it, I don’t think I have really tested the limits of the Epic version of Fire Magic. I was tempted to try it out now, but I also wanted to read the rest of the evolution options first.
I quickly closed my skills list, moved back to the evolution paths, and selected the next option. The Great Mystic Tree was the last of the tree evolution options, but damn it was a good one. While I was seriously tempted to just choose that one in particular, I felt obligated to at least check out the remainder of the options. I was particularly interested in the last one. However, the next one read as Nature Sprite.
The image of what I would become was… odd. The system showed me a depiction of a forest, but I got the distinct feeling that I wasn’t one of the trees, nor was I all of the trees. In between the trees, I could see a sort of glow. It shifted fluidly between green, brown, and various hues of the forest it inhabited. It didn’t feel like it had a real body, but there was also a very real aspect to it. And when I looked closer, I realized how small it was. The main body was the size of an acorn, and the glowing mist was more accurately the outflow of this being’s presence. The best way I could describe it was that the glow was its mind.
Upon that realization, the image screen was replaced by the description, and I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about it.
Nature Sprite: A Nature Sprite is the immature form of a Nature Being, formed from the excess life of a place where nature grows heavily and mana flows freely. Nature Sprites possess magic tied to and supported by their surroundings. They encourage growth, hide small creatures, soothe minor wounds, or even accelerate the decay of dead material. Nature Sprites are caretakers of the forest, NOT warriors. They receive bonuses to stats dependent on their surroundings, or penalties in cases where they roam where nature ceases to be. The only requirements to evolving into a nature sprite are being a friend of nature (MET) and being part of nature (MET).
I have been a tree for the last several years. I have grown to love my body, limitations and all. I like being able to alter the lands as I see fit, be it through magic or manipulation of my roots or vines. I’m not sure if I can give it up to be a Sprite. However, I did note that it was the immature form of the spirit evolution line. And, coincidentally, the next evolution option of mine was a Nature Spirit.
The image of the Nature Spirit was pretty similar to the Nature Sprite. It consisted of a green core that was now the size of a human’s fist. Emanating from that core was a mist that changed colors depending on the Nature Spirit’s surroundings. It blended in with its environment, making it particularly hard to see for those who weren’t looking for it. All of that was cool and all, but the most interesting part to me was when the mist changed forms. The mist became a vibrant green color and took the form of a wolf. Staying the same shade of green, the mist changed to look vaguely humanoid. I felt my whole body shake when that happened. The image was quickly replaced with the description.
Nature Spirit: A Nature Spirit is the adolescent form of a Nature Being. They gain greater control over their domain, requiring less effort to influence their surroundings to a greater degree. As they become more attuned to the way of life around them, a Nature Spirit gains even more influence. Nature Spirits grow by absorbing ambient mana in nature-rich places, which grows the size of their core as well as increasing their levels. They gain a boost to their abilities in nature-rich areas and become crippled in areas poor in natural qualities. Nature Spirits are caretakers of the forest, as well as the forest’s guardians. Requirements to evolve into a Nature Spirit are helping grow enough life in your territory (MET), containing enough mana in your body (MET), and meeting requirements for [Nature Sprite] (MET).
“Alright, screw the tree evolutions. I immediately want this one!”
In my excitement over the power this evolution could potentially give me, a prompt popped up.
Do you wish to evolve into a [Nature Spirit]?
I was about to immediately smash the yes button when a thought occurred to me.
“This is only the adolescent form of a Nature Being. I wonder what the adult form is? How strong would they be? And, assuming Nature Pixie is the adult form, then what the hell is this Nature’s Avatar evolution?”
As I debated on which of the last two evolutions I was going to read next, the ending scene of every episode on one of my favorite anime in my old life popped into my head.
“Will Willow choose the Nature Spirit Evolution? Or will he go on to read the rest of his options? Find out next time on “I’m a Tree. Now what?””
I mentally laughed. I hated those old Dragon Ball cliffhangers. It’s a good thing I don’t have to wait a whole week to see what I choose.
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