Blooming Sprout

A small sapling sprouted out from the brown earth with flare in a grassy forest. The two leaves in the sapling branches moved oddly as if they were controlled by something other than wind.

The newly unearthed sapling had its first thoughts of sentience.

Where am I?

What am I doing here?

Who am I?

The sapling pondered for hours to find these answers without gaining any leads.

Putting those questions aside, it decided to focus on the more important matters first. It was hungry and thirsty, but it couldn't find anything around it that could solve its problem.

That was when a strong gust of wind pushed the branches and leaves of the taller trees—creating a gap that allowed warm sunlight to shine on the sapling.

The warm energy from the sun flowed into the emerald green petals of the sapling, feeding her.

The power of photosynthesis was showing its effectiveness as the plant was undergoing enlightenment.

That's right, I'm...

* Ding! Spirit Check! 10/200 of the spirit attribute stat has been reached. Spirit check failed!*

*Ding! The Spirit Warrior illusion has not been broken.*

The sapling that Trinity inhabited for the Spirit Warrior test didn't understand the message that appeared. But it still couldn't help itself to cuss out loud.

What the heck! Why do I feel annoyed all of a sudden?

Ignoring the interruption, Trinity now knew what she was. She was a plant, and her goal was to grow big and strong in peace.

The time in the illusion accelerated as the plant's life rapidly passed from being a small sapling to a large acorn tree.

Her life passed by peacefully. Soaking in the warm sun as her roots absorbed the nutrients from the earth below her.

One day as she was taking a nap, she heard something rustling nearby and woke up to take a look. In front of her was a strange-looking lizard eating one of her acorns.

Its body was entirely made of clear black slime, and floating inside were colorful sparkles that drew Trinity's tree eyes.

Wow, such a beautiful lizard! It must be my lucky day to see a rare thing.

The black lizard stared directly at Trinity and showed her a wide smile showing its razor-sharp teeth.

*Ding! Spirit check, 10 out of 100 has been reached! Spirit check failed!*

Hearing the strange message again, she once again felt annoyed. Still, she was able to tolerate it better for some reason.

Whatever. I will continue to look at Mr.Lizard to cheer me up.

When Trinity went back to look at the strange lizard, she found that it had disappeared without her notice.

Man, that sucks; where did he go? I was going to invite him to hang out on my branches.

Time quickly flew by as Trinity grew into a giant tree. Her leaves shimmered in the breeze, and the sun shone on her at the perfect angle.

So peaceful...

As she spent her time as a tree, she felt a type of calm and peace that she had never experienced before.

Soo boring...

*Ding! Spirit Check 10 out of 50 spirit points have been reached.*

*Ding! Spirit check failed!*

And so annoying...

From time to time, in her peaceful life as a tree, she would subconsciously be reminded of the black lizard from before.

Each time the thought of looking for that lizard crossed her mind, a mechanical ding sound would interrupt her thoughts.

Other than not understanding what any of it meant, she noticed that one of the numbers shrank each time it appeared.

She thought of it as a kind of count down, but she mostly ignored it because she had no clue what it was and no interest in learning.

Putting the message in her head away, she started to check her environment out of habit to look for any fascinating creatures.

Of her time as a tree other than the black lizard, she hadn't seen any animal quite like it. She had seen brown squirrels, black squirrels, spotted squirrels, stripped squirrels, and even white squirrels throughout her many years.

Ahhh, Mr.Lizard, when are you going to come back. I feel that you are the only one who can understand me.

As Trinity thought about the strange lizard once more, she saw a black shadow flash past her vision.

Subconsciously her gaze shifted to check it out only to find that it was a strange lizard, but it had grown to be the size of a man.

Oh, hi, Mr. Lizard, you're finally back to visit your best friend after all these years, huh.

Feeling delighted to see her companion, she shook her branches to signal the lizard to climb up.

Getting the hint, the lizard crawled up her trunk and to her branch furthest from the ground. As the lizard settled on a branch, it began to sunbathe on her limbs.

Not minding it, Trinity continued to talk to the strange lizard as if it could understand her.

From time to time, the lizard would nod its head, shake its tail, and stretch its mouth open as if it was responding to her.

After an unknown amount of time, the strange lizard had disappeared once again. However, Trinity didn't seem to notice as she kept on striking conversations as if it was still there.

So you see, Mr. Lizard, that's why I think that the other trees are jealous of me.

All this time, they kept ignoring me even when I was a tiny sapling like they couldn't hear or something.

I think it's because I'm the first place that all the squirrels in the forest head to when winter starts. And they also make sure to keep my area clean and stuff.

It makes sense, right...

*Ding! Spirit check, 10 out of 10 spirit points have been reached!*

*Ding! The Spirit Warrior illusion has been broken!*

Hearing the message pop up again, Trinity didn't understand why but she felt a rush of excitement course through her.

Her thoughts and memories flooded back into her as she instantly realized that she had finally passed the test.

' Hell yeah! Ghost prince, I'm coming for my class!'