Waiting and waiting, waiting for what? Death.
This was a simple verse I wrote sometime during my life inside a hospital.
***
My eyes closed, and when they opened, what came into view wasn't the familiar ceiling of the hospital room, but a dark cave filled with plants that stood as tall as me. There were glowing stones embedded in the ground at some places and plants of various species.
Amongst a garden of plants stood a figure draped in a pure white cloak.
Is this the afterlife?
The figure's slowly lifted their hand and pointed to a stone door on the cave wall, "That will open in 7 days, within that limit, be the only survivor."
Then the figure disintegrated into air.
That was how my first day as a plant started. Since then, I've been quietly absorbing mana as much as I could and trying my best to not catch anyone's attentions. Why was I absorbing mana though? Because that's what everyone's been doing.
Just looking at the plants in the cave system made me already as lethargic I had been in my past life. They had been fighting each other non stop for a while when a mechanical voice announced to us that the second day has started.
It was only then that I realised I held no chance and that the white figure wasn't saying those words only to me because every other plant here was also a reincarnated individual like me. Some plants threw up fire, shot laser beams, and one could even teleport to places. But I was just a normal plant with no magic. I don't have poison or anything at all.
Wait, there was something special about me. My vines can move? But even that wasn't a special ability, everyone here can move!
There was something the white figure or the mechanical voice hadn't said at all and it was the fact that we would get the characteristics of those we kill. It was also the reason why the fights didn't stop for a while when the second day began. Everyone was in a frenzy to kill and get more magical abilities.
In such a battlefield, being able to move my vines was really useless. All these magic users can just kill me with a thought. So far I've been safe because the plants near me were also some normal earth plants like a rose and a weed so I was far from the battlefield, but it's also because the magical plants weren't interested in killing plants without any abilities.
Just then a voice spoke announcing the arrival of the third day.
"The third day has come."
The cave trembled, laser began shooting again, and a rain of fire and water began dancing. I shifted closer to myself.
Despite having no hope of survival, I might be able to survive longer than I expected. Since there's nothing I can do, I might as well enjoy my peace and quite.
Just then I felt something wrapping around my vine. The moment it touched me, mana rushed out through our contact and I began feeling a bit weak.
It was the weed right next to me, grasping onto my vine, using the chaos to quietly kill.
Gritting down on the panic, I wrapped my own vines to strangle the roots that were sucking my mana.
Surprisingly its roots broke easily.
The weed immediately began retracting itself.
Amidst the backdrop of magical attacks flying through the air, my vines stretched toward the we and began to crush it. The weed's thin stem crumpled under the pressure, its soft tissues collapsing as I squeezed harder.
A voice spoke in my head just then. But this time unlike the mass announcements that everyone could hear, I was the only one who could hear it.
"Would you like to inherit the weed's characteristics?"
Ye—
"**** interferes. Will proceed with absorbing the parasitism."
What's going on? Who's interfering? Is that supposed to happen?
Is this interference a danger? But whatever, I at least got the ability.
But I can't believe it, us normal plants have unique characteristics? I even had my first kill. Maybe there is hope for me to contend after all.
I checked my surroundings. Everyone was still fighting each other, not paying attention to me. The other normal plants might've realised what had happened but as long as the magical ones didn't notice it was fine.
Right next to me was the rose, it had unnaturally big thorns. Even if its ability wasn't thorns I'll take whatever it is.
For the time being it was best to focus on getting the not widely coveted unique characteristics of the normal plants. Despite the fact that our abilities weren't magic related, parasitism, toughness, and thorns were all helpful.
I sent my vines towards the rose. It tried to fight back using its thorns, but unexpectedly even the thorns couldn't do anything to my vines. Then the parasitism also activated, I felt a rush of mana flowing into me. Mana was invigorating, it felt like I was getting stronger.
The rose died after a while. All the while the magical plants still hadn't noticed anything.
The voice announced again, ""Would you like to inherit the rose's characteristics? **** interferes. Will proceed with absorbing the thorny vine characteristics."
Thorns grew along my vines and branches the moment the voice stopped.
The magical plants continued to attack each other and using that distraction I killed several more normal plants. Parasitism combined with toughness and thorns was quite overpowered. All of them died with barely any resistance.
Just like that I'd already gathered a bunch of characteristics, fast growth, regeneration, and illusion. I almost missed the illusion one because the plant had turned invisible, it's a magical ability but not very useful in battle and it consumes mana. It is helpful for stealth. There were also some that weren't very useful for fighting such as energy efficiency, fertility, and vegetative regeneration.
I pity the plants born with such useless abilities. What are you supposed to do with fertility? Have kids?
Right now the magical plants were reaching their climax. I can definitely take on another plant without being noticed.
Then when I killed another plant the voice announced, but this time it was a magical ability!
"Would you like to inherit the Santille's characteristics? **** interferes. Will proceed with absorbing the healing magic characteristics."
Oh it was another magical ability, but it was practically useless to me since I already had regeneration and it didn't even need mana unlike magic.
A fire ball suddenly whistled past me.
Did it notice me? But I'm invisible right now.