In the town of Bastion people were hard. Tough. Even as the grim streets filled with people, it was quiet besides the sounds of idle work. They ignored one another and went about their business- quickly. The snow fell lazily- blanketing the hearty stone buildings in white.

  The paths were still open, the dirt was actually dry. Mostly. There were pegs planted deep into the ground at waist height- each holding a heating rune which kept the snow at bay.

  "Spare alms?" a shaky voice asked- they were sat near the heat stone as close as the town guard would allow. He held a metal coffee cup in his hand and raised it towards anyone who passed.

  Jason had not had a good go of it since he'd joined the game a couple days ago. He was regretting his decision to join the game. The 'death' game as the mainstream media has taken to calling it. But his life outside was similar to death, and this was meant to be his salvation.

  To his bitter disappointment- it was even worse.

  The cold bit at him- and the charity of strangers in this town was nonexistent. They had a tough time themselves surviving this perpetually cold region. All for rare mana stones and other ores in the mountain. People don't live here by choice- they're sent here. Exiles, all of them. Either for their strangeness, or criminal tendencies.

  They called this city Bastion for a reason. It was this worlds version of austrailia, exiling all the weird people to a single continent.

  An elderly woman dropped a single copper piece into the cup. It clanked on top of the two coppers already in there.

  "Bastards..." Jason murmured under his breath. How was he supposed to eat? And worst of all, the feeling was coming back again. He had no idea what it was- he never got to choose his class, or race. He spawned into the game this way.

  He looked like himself, but he had the pointed slate-grey ears of a dark elf. His eyes were pupil-less and bloodred. He wasn't an uncommon race here, alongside humans beastkin and various other races lived under the brutal rule of Lord Lancaster Ceril. A discarded noble sent here after nefarious rumors about them started to arise.

  Jason learned a few things in the past 72 hours.

  1. He was a dark elf with frost resistance (thankfully)

  2. He had some kind of strange condition.

  3. He was poor and cold.

  He would work on the ladder thing and then worry about figuring the other stuff out. These heartless robot NPCs didn't care if he froze and starved to death. Beggars would never survive in this town for long- he had to do something. Even if he would probably respawn- dying hurts!

  Jason held out his cup to another passerby, who ignored him.

  A guard walked by alongside another, he over heard them talking; 'He's still alive. Tough- I'll give him that.', 'The dark elf? He just turned up a few days ago right?', 'Aye, he spouted some ridiculous story about being from another world, Ha. The charlton chose the wrong town to spin his tails.'

  The sound of their conversation faded as they went down the street.

  He got up weakly. He'd have to go outside town for a moment. Into the frozen woods around.

  ---

  Jason stood outside a frozen lake. His starting gear was barely designed for the cold. The tattered robe fluttered in the frigid wind. Icicles hang from the leaf-barren trees. Many bushes were around with bright orange leaves.

  The feeling began to build. he felt ice travel up his spine and nervous system. He groaned in pain and clenched his stomach.

  "Ah. Ah." he breathed through his teeth in controlled breaths.

  Any second now.

  He felt something slithering across his ankle- it was a vine! A thorny vine the size of an arm!

  "OHP!" he shouted out at it yanked him into the air, he struggled frantically like a fish on a hook.

  "HELP! HEEEELP!" he shouted, but the reason he went so far outside of town was to be secluded.

  Another vine grabbed his arm and turned him upright. A series of them began to coil around his body- gripping him tightly the thorns began to draw blood in places.

  A voice emerged from nowhere. It was menacing. A womens voice whispered gently;

  "Weak human, suffer no more... You shall sustain us for a time, sleeeeep."

  His head felt fuzzy- he was exhausted. The hands inwhich he tore at the vines with fell limply at his sides.

  "Goood... Just let go."

  Just then his condition flared- the icy feeling flushed through his veins and exploded outwards. Shards of ice flew across the veins and ground around him instantly.

  "AAARhhh!" the womans' voice cried out in pain.

  They shattered, and he fell.

  On the ground- he took off running. But his body was so weak. He was too slow. Another vine emerged from between two bushes and grappled his ankle;

  "Nooo... This one is not for consumption, come my little seedling. Come see my garden."

  It dragged him. The rocks and frozen ground bruised and beat his back as he bounced along rapidly.

  "Heeeelp!" he shouted.

  The frost wouldn't come and save him a second time. His head banged a boulder and he went unconscious.

  ---

  Drips.

  The sounds echoed as if he were in a cave. His eyes ached as he opened them. His blood was dripping into a puddle below him. He was hanging in a nest of roots and thorn. Entangled.

  The room around him was circular and dirt. Roots squirmed around the room. And a massive red tulip sat in the center, illuminated by the solitary beam of light that shone down into the den.

  He saw a corpse of a massive dire wolf being dragged into the wall. It's body was shriveled as if drained from within.

  "God. No, please." he shuddered in fright. He began to thrash about.

  "No God.. Only meeee...." the voice sounded once more, but from the person sized tulip instead.

  It unfurled, the flower opened and a woman emerged at the center. Her skin was tinted green, her pointed ears shows she was once dark elf as well. Her eyes glowed a green color, and her hair was made of roots. And her body was dressed in flowers and leaves that grew from her.

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  She smiled hungrily at him. Her teeth were white and pointed.

  "Please don't eat me! I come from another world, I'm not supposed to be here!"

  She raised a hand to her mouth as she let out a devious laugh. Her voice still had a ghostly reverb to it. As if she spoke telepathically as well as physically.

  "Calm yourself, my little seedling... I would never dream of eating my children."

  He stopped struggling and looked at her with a perplexed look. The confusion couldn't overwhelm his fear, but he still asked; "Children? W-what do you mean? Will you let me go?"

  "In due time, the world is dangerous, little seedling... First you must learn... You must GrrroOOWww" her voice turned beastial and angry at the end. The vines gripped him tightly as she raised a hand, clenching it.

  A root unfurled from the ceiling and the end had a closed flower, red like the womans. It opened, revealing teeth and an empty maw.

  "AAAH! WHAT THE FUCK?! HEE--" he began to scream but a series of roots twisted around his mouth. His muffled screams increased as the root brought the flowery maw to his chest. It bit into him- it clenched and broke ribs. Burrowing deeper.

  He would've feinted from the pain but something was keeping him awake.

  The vine pulsed, something travelled down the length of it. It was shaped like a pod. This thing was eating his heart!

  He felt something enter his chest, it pushed itself up alongside his beating heart and then he felt true pain. Spikes shot through his heart and it felt as thought the vines had squeezed it.

  Jason spat up blood through the twisted vines that covered his mouth.

  "All pain passes in time my seedling, if nothing else- remember this. We trim ourselves. We create ourselves. We set our own limitations. No god or man shall do so for us... Never again."

  He felt his warm blood trickling down his body- he felt himself fading away with it. His mind faded. And then he felt his second heart beat in concert with his first.

  [Race Changed] - [Monster Race - Seedborn(Darkelf)] - [Racial Traits; Regrow, Plant Sense, Grasping Vine] - [Level Up!] - [Mage Level 2!] - [Skill Freeze Unlocked!]

  ---

  When he awoke, he was in a flower of his own. White- he wore it like a blanket. As he came to, the flowers lifted from him.

  He felt... Warm. Comfortable. The flower was like a soft bed- which he was connected to. He saw that he was submerged into it up to the waist.

  His skin had leaves hanging from it in places. Along with vines that twisted around his body and limbs like tattoos. Embedded deeply. He poked at them and it felt as though they were a part of him. Even as he touched the white flower he could feel it. Then he noticed- he felt another presence. Through the ground.

  "You are... Beautiful, my child." a voice said. Fading. Weak.

  He looked up to see a paled seedborn looking at him. She was hunched over, breathing hoarsely.

  "What did you do to me?" he asked. He felt his triple heartbeat speed up in his chest.

  "I created you... Your affinity for frost magic is superior to this forms... You will be..." her eyes trailed off as if she was imagining some distance future. Then she closed them and smiled.

  "I must rest..." she laid back, the flowers around her began to curl up to cover her.

  "Wait! Let me go!", as the flower closed on her he caught one last glimpse of her red lips- "You are.. Free..."

  The room quieted as the flower closed completely.

  Jason looked left, then right. Was he no longer in danger? And what about that voice he heard before he went unconscious? He was a [Seedborn] now?

  He clenched his hand. They were pointed into claws. Larger in proportion to his body. Like bark.

  He placed two hands on the base of the flower around him and lifted. He felt something at the nap of his neck disconnect and fall behind him. His body was stronger. His muscles grew a bit larger and were toned.

  His heartbeat gradually slowed as he breathed. He felt hungry. At the end of the chamber there was a tunnel.

  ---

  Jason followed the tunnel, ignoring the corpses he saw embedded into the walls. Just as he got to the end, something jumped out in front of the burrows exit.

  It was a dire wolf. Infested with roots and flowers. One of it's eyes glowed green and the other had a flower growing out of it like an antenna.

  The stamen flinching- grabbing at the air.

  The tail wagged as it did a play bow.

  "Master." he heard. But the dog has not said anything, he felt it. Wordless. Like instinct.

  It ran in a circle and faced him again. It's tongue lulled out. Cute.

  Jason would be terrified, but he only sensed companionship from the beast.

  He walked by it- to the wolves disappointment. But it followed.

  Jason stepped into the frozen woods around the burrows.

  "Cold..." he murmured, rubbing his shoulders. He felt something growing up around him- white flowers began to grow from his nude body. Creating a complicated looking white robe.

  "That's better..?" he said surprised.

  After awhile of walking the seedborn wolf ran in front and blocked his path. "Danger. Human." the two ideas appeared in his minds eye as the dog barked at him to stop.

  Jason checked his hand again.

  'That's right.', he thought. Would the town accept him like this? Likely not.

  And come to think of it, he did feel a human presence. He felt the trees around him. The roots. It was alive. But ahead, a massive cavity existed. Dead. Stone and fire. It was a strange sensation, but it was like breathing to him.

  He looked to the wolf.

  "Fine, I can't go into town. But I'm hungry." the wolf tilted it's head sideways at this. "Hunt. Follow. Teach." the three ideas hit him one after the other as the wolf turned and bounded away. It stopped after a distance and looked back- checking to see if he was following.

  "God this is so weird..." he muttered and followed.

  ---

  After a time the wolf began to crouch low and prowl. "Prey" the wolf thought as it searched the horizon.

  Jason followed its' gaze to see a massive deer with horns. It was the size of a moose from his world!

  "We can kill that?" he asked. The wolf didn't look back as it thought; "Bleeds. Dies."

  "How?"

  "Chase. Seed."

  "What?"

  The wolf bounded off- causing the deer to look up. It made a frightened sound and ran.

  "Shit!" Jason took off after the wolf. His bark feet tossed up snow as he took chase.

  They were both much faster than he was- but the wolf caught it. It jumped and landed on the side- grabbing on with it's teeth. The deer cried out in pain and thrashed about as it ran.

  Jason was struggling to keep up-

  The flower that hung from the wolfs eye like a tendril suddenly came to life and latched onto the animals neck. It roared and bucked the seedborn wolf off- who went flying and rolling through the snow before bouncing off a boulder.

  "No!" Jason felt that. He broke a few ribs at least.

  The deer bounded off into the woods as Jason stepped to the side of the panting wolf. It laid on its side, whimpering quietly. He knelt at examined the wound. It was all internal.

  "Are you okay?" he asked.

  "Alive. Regrow. Soon." Jason breathed a sigh of relief. That was good. Seedborn must be pretty durable. His stomach rumbled.

  The wolf noticed this; "Prey. Seeded. Follow." he heard them think. But it was more than just solitary words, but feelings alongside them. He wanted Jason to follow the blood trail.

  He nodded. "Will food help you heal?"

  "Yes."

  "I'll be back soon then."

  Jason followed the blood trail into the woods. It bled more heavily the longer it went on, and after what seemed like several minutes of walking he came across a dead deer. A flowery tangled mass had grown out from the side of it's neck. He could see roots disappearing beneath the skin.

  It's eyes told him that it died painfully and in fear.

  "I'm sorry..." he said, kneeling and putting a hand on it. "Eat or be eaten, kill or be killed. Just like hunting with my dad, before..." he shook his head. Now wasn't the time for old memories.

  Vines grew out of the palm of his hand and sunk into the furry hide. He tasted the salty meat as the roots went deep into the body.

  He felt sustenance fill his body.

  [Level Up!] - [Mage Level 3!] - [Skill Unlocked; Mana Seed.]

  After awhile he left the shrunken corpse. Scavengers would consume the rest.

  The wolf had limped over to him as he approached. "Consumed prey. Good. Share biomass." the wolf thought.

  "How?" he asked, kneeling next to the hurt wolf.

  The wolf raised a paw as if he was doing the 'shake' trick. But roots emerged, grabbed at the air expectantly.

  Jason looked at his hand confused. Then reached out. Instinctively roots emerged from his palm and intertwined with the wolves. He felt the 'biomass' travel through them like liquid gold. It was more than he needed, that much he sensed. And the wolves form made popping sounds as it healed rapidly.

  "Fucking hell..." he said.

  He was in a frozen tundra, part flower- sharing food with a plant wolf.

  It didn't take long before the wolf released the connection. It seemed to prefer that Jason be better fed than it was.

  Jason sighed and went to a fallen log. He sat on it and placed a hand tiredly on his face.

  "What am I supposed to do now? I can just live out here I guess, but I don't want to be some crazy hermit in the woods."

  The dog was sitting nearby, watching the surroundings.

  "Stay. Protect Queen. Eat. Grow." he said it as if it were so simple.

  But Jason craved to be with other people.

  "No. I appreciate the 'queen' for not eating me, but I have things to do. She said I was free. Aren't I free?"

  The wolf considered this. Then thought; "Yes. Seedborn. Free.", then it tilted its' head to the side. "Where?" it asked.

  He had no idea himself. He had to go somewhere else. The only ones who would accept him as he was now were other players. Most likely.

  Just then he had a plan.

  He had leveled up, and gain a slew of powerful abilities. He could be an adventurer. There was a guild in Bastion even. He'd go to the mountain, find the dungeon there- yes. It could work. They'd freak out right away if they saw him- but if he met adventurers in the right way- it's possible.

  "I'll go to the mountain. It's warm, lots of stuff to hunt, and I might be able to meet someone who can take me from here."

  "Seedborn. Hunted."

  "I know, but adventurers are opened minded. Especially towards people who save their lives.", he smiled at the wolf. "Coming along?" he asked.

  The wolf seemed perplexed by the question. It looked towards the direction of the burrows. To the queen.

  "Protect seedling. Gather biomass. Grow."

  Then that was that.

  Should he give it a name? Jason put a hand on in his chin and pondered.

  "Hmm... I think I'll call you... Rex."

  "Name insufficient." it thought back immediately.

  "Hey! It's a good name! You remind me a lot of him!"

  "Name. Viscetti." he pawed at him, giving him dog kisses.

  "You can't name me!" Jason laughed pushing him off. "I'm Jason." he pat its head.

  "Jason. Name sufficient."

  He smiled. Today wasn't so bad. The whole getting eaten by plants part was a bit scary, but he expected some strange 'magic' stuff when he first locked himself in the room with the VR machine.

  "Well Rex, let's go meet some adventurers." he stood up, stretching. His flower robe wrapped around him.

  The dog barked and ran in a circle; "Adventurer. Biomass sufficient."

  Jason chuckled. He enjoyed his furred companion. Plants best friend, he supposed. He'd have to convince him not to eat people. Or thinking creatures.

  He shuddered. That would be cannibalism, and judging from the bodies he saw in the burrows- the queen had no issues with that. But hell would freeze over before he ever did that.

  He looked around. Maybe he should use a different phrase.

  Rex and Jason walked towards the looming distant mountains. The icy wind was at their backs- and he wanted to get warm quickly. And for some reason, going deep into the earth sounded appealing to him.