Leaking Lilies

The fox's soft fur felt nice when he ran his fingers through it, and her cold snout pressed into his neck. He could help but smile at the loving little fox. She might be a bit clingy, but she was definitely sweet. He got the impression she'd be awfully protective as well- But perhaps that was just him hoping she actually served well as a guardian. Her stature wasn't quite large enough to scare anyone off, but, perhaps she'd develop some ability as she got older.

"What's your name, my little fox?" he asks her softly. Though her name had displayed as question marks, he was under the impression she had one. If she didn't, it was an opening to name her. Perhaps Foxy?

"My name is Asura, what's your name, Master?" she asks, as she looks up at him with her little blue eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Asura. My name is Prol. Prol Helman," he says, definitely not remotely disappointed he couldn't name a fox Foxy.

As he introduced himself, he feels a bit of a connection between Asura's soul and his own. It's a distinct feeling of connection, but there wasn't necessarily anything flowing between them. Perhaps, it required further development before that would be the case. He'd have to get started on some research to figure that out.

He runs his fingers through the fox's soft fur again, unable to resist the temptation as he scratches behind her soft ears. Feeling her nuzzling into his hand, he smiles softly. Fortunately, he's distracted by a notification.

{Research: Basic Plant Influence Complete}

He grins to himself, before settling Asura up on his shoulder, and jumping down into the pit once more.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" was all he heard, as Asura did her damnedest to cling onto his shoulder, the wind blowing through her hair.

He chuckles to himself, enjoying her mild trauma as they safely land at the bottom.

"Mm. You wouldn't have this problem if you learned to fly," he said, as if it was the most obvious solution to her problem. He completely ignored the fact that foxes don't have the ability to fly. That was her problem, why should he be worrying about something like that? Well, he'd look into it eventually, when he was done teasing the cute thing.

He turns his focus on the small sprouts. The Spirit Grass probably wasn't any good, since it was something that he was going to grow up near the tree. There'd be no point in growing it down here.

The Black Dragon Vampire Rose seemed pretty extreme. He wasn't really ready to start fucking with something like that, personally. Well, he was a tree, so there wasn't inherently danger. However, Asura probably wasn't ready.

Yeah, it was to keep Asura safe.

He thus focused on his Blue Water Lily, before pulling up the description of his new ability.

[Interface: Plant]

Influence the growth of plants under caster's control

Connect with plants under the caster's control to produce effects, gather information, or control limitations

He activates the ability, gradually forming a connection from his main tree body down to the little water lily. He was a bit surprised- He had expected it to use his body. Perhaps, this had implications about communications between plants?

The vegans weren't going to like this. There's nothing left to eat if plants can communicate.

He pulls his focus back, and channels a bit of mana, slowly, into the Lily.

He doesn't see any reaction, so he adds a bit more.

All at once, the Blue Water Lily starts growing. In a few seconds, it's grown a foot tall, forming a bud that sprouts into a beautiful blue flower. Then, the hit from his larger mana injection happens, and the flower quickly grows out of control.

In a few seconds the plant has grown, several flowers sprouting out from the base. However, the plant's growth suddenly slows, as water starts to flow out from the Lilies.

"Wow! Master, is this a legendary Blue Water Lily?!" Asura asks, her little voice filled with excitement.

"Yes. What do you know about it?" Prol asks. That was the sane name, so, probably, it should be the same flower, right?

"They're one of the few plants that feed on mana. They produce a magical water on their own. Unlike normal waters, it won't seep into the soil, and it won't spread far from the flower. I've been told it's very valuable, as the water can improve the health of your followers and drain the strength from your enemies," Asura explains, her little voice conveying a surprising amount more than what he knew.

"Is that so? I had no idea. I created and grew it, and it seems happy enough to grow even with a bit of mana," Prol starts to explain. However, he notes that he had never decreased his mana flow to the plant after he started working with it. Despite this, the flower was no longer growing at an incredible pace. Instead, the mana seemed to be mostly used on producing water.

Well, he had plenty of mana at the moment- having stored it for years- so he was willing to allow the waste.

Noting the water pooling around the Lily, he steps back. He pauses as he's about to leave, connecting his ability to the Black Dragon Vampire Rose, before he jumps out of the crater.

He'd just leave that running for a few years. Perhaps, it would become an inhabitable region in the end?

He activates [Spawn Plant: Spirit Grass] several times, creating a good twenty sprouts.

Then he uses his interface ability to connect to them all. Each connection uses a small bit of mana to establish, but after that is painless. Having connected to them all, he pauses for a moment.

He sits down under his tree, pulling Asura into his lap, and running his fingers through her fur as he closes his eyes.

"Oh, Master," she purred- but he tuned her out, focusing in his mind. He quickly adds to his interface, connecting it with his new ability so he can more easily insert rules to control his plants.

Using that interface, he adds some rules:

For one, the grass didn't need to get any higher than two inches

The grass could spread as much as it pleased, but it should stay within range of his influence

The majority of its vitality should be focused near him

The Blue Water Lily shouldn't overflow from the crater

He couldn't think of anything else that sounded too important, so he just left it at that. With those changes in place, he pulled Asura close, kissing the top of her head.

"Let's go to take a nap," he whispers, before pulling her with him back into his tree body using the connection to her soul.

Perhaps, if they weren't contracted with him, he wouldn't be able to take the being with him. However, that would require experimentation.

Before he lets himself [Hibernate] once more, he makes sure to start some new research. The first formation in his knowledge base was called "Mana Gathering".

He setup to research that. In case that finished, he setup to research the reverse. Then, perhaps, he could combine them, and integrate it with his [Programming].

Leaving it at that, he pulls Asura to his chest, and closes his eyes as he drifts off. Surely he'd wake up in a couple years?