Rain hammered the field like angry fists, turning the fresh-turned soil into a slick, chocolate-colored soup. Elowen knelt anyway, silver hair plastered to her cheeks, ignoring the way cold water seeped through her overalls and straight into her bones. The single radish seed she'd planted ten minutes ago already poked a defiant green tip above the mud, trembling but alive.
She stared at it. "You're mocking me," she told the sprout.
Sprout Quill hovered inches from her nose, spinning lazy circles. "Me? Never! I'm just here to narrate your inevitable descent into vegetable-based madness. Look at that little guy go. He's basically a hero already."
Elowen snorted, breath fogging in the chill. The village lights flickered in the distance, celebrations still raging as new power-users tested their gifts. Fireworks of flame and lightning painted the sky while she sat in the dark with one stubborn seedling.
Typical.
She reached out, fingers hovering over the tiny green head. The Farming System pinged again, cheerful as ever.
[Basic Growth Tutorial Activated]
[Step 1: Water the crop]
[Step 2: Provide sunlight (currently obstructed by apocalyptic storm clouds, tough luck)]
[Step 3: Wait approximately three to five business days]
[Reward: One (1) Sad Radish]
"Three to five business days?" Elowen's voice rose an octave. "We're in the middle of a divine apocalypse and you want me to wait for a radish like it's tax season?"
Sprout Quill burst into delighted giggles, leaves quivering. "Welcome to Trash-tier, baby! Where ambition meets paperwork and the paperwork wins."
She glared at the screen until it shrank away, sulking. Then she looked back at the sprout. Something stubborn in her chest refused to let it die.
Fine.
She cupped her hands around the seedling, shielding it from the worst of the downpour. Warmth trickled from her palms, faint at first, then stronger, like sunlight trapped under skin. The green tip straightened, grew half an inch in seconds, leaves unfurling with a soft, almost audible sigh.
[Anomaly Detected]
[Host mana infusion detected]
[Growth acceleration: +300%]
[Estimated harvest time: 2 minutes]
Elowen's eyebrows shot up. "Wait. What?"
Sprout Quill froze mid-spin. "Uh… that's not supposed to happen. Like, at all."
Before she could respond, the ground rumbled. Not dramatically, not earthquake-style, just a low, grumpy vibration under her knees. The radish plant shot upward in a sudden, ridiculous burst. Stalk thickened. Leaves spread wide like emerald wings. A fat, crimson root swelled beneath the surface, pushing dirt aside with wet, popping sounds.
Then it stopped.
A single perfect radish sat on the soil like it had been waiting for applause. Shiny. Plump. Glowing ever so faintly with veins of soft green light.
Elowen reached down and yanked it free. It came easily, no resistance, as if the earth itself was handing it over politely. She held the vegetable up to the storm-lit sky.
It looked… ordinary.
Except for the way it pulsed gently in her grip, warm and strangely alive.
[Harvest Complete!]
[Item Acquired: Essence-Infused Radish (Common)]
[Effects: Minor stamina recovery, faint divine essence trace]
[Additional Note: This should not exist. Please stop breaking the system.]
Sprout Quill let out a delighted shriek. "You just grew a cheat vegetable in under three minutes! Host, you absolute menace!"
Elowen turned the radish over in her palm. The glow brightened when she squeezed it, releasing a faint scent of earth and starlight. Her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten since yesterday.
"Minor stamina recovery, huh?" she murmured.
Without hesitation, she bit into it.
Crisp. Sweet. Explosive. Flavor detonated across her tongue like summer trapped in a root. Warmth raced through her veins, chasing away the cold, the ache in her muscles, the hollow exhaustion that had lived in her since the regression. Her heartbeat steadied. Strength returned in a gentle rush, sharper than any energy potion she remembered from her previous life.
She finished the radish in four bites, core and all.
[Stamina +15%]
[Divine Essence Absorption: 0.01%]
[Hidden Trait Unlocked: Seed Whisperer (Level 1)]
[You can now faintly hear the desires of unplanted seeds]
Elowen blinked. "I can… what now?"
A soft chorus rose around her. Tiny voices, not quite words, more like feelings brushing against her mind. The sack of remaining radish seeds in her shed whispered of longing, of soil, of sun. They wanted to grow. They wanted to be more.
She laughed, a real, startled sound that echoed across the empty field.
"Oh no," Sprout Quill whispered, suddenly serious. "You've gone from trash-tier to terrifying in one vegetable. This is bad. This is very bad."
Elowen stood, brushing mud from her knees. Rain still fell, but it felt different now, like the sky itself was watching her.
She looked toward the village. Torren's laughter boomed over the rooftops, flames dancing in his hands. Mara's fire spirals lit the night like a carnival.
They had power.
She had potential.
And she had just eaten a radish that tasted like the beginning of something unstoppable.
Elowen turned back to the field. The spot where the first radish had grown was already greening again, a second sprout nosing through the dirt like an eager puppy.
She smiled, slow and wicked.
"Alright, little ones," she said to the whispering seeds. "Let's see how many of you I can break before breakfast."
Far across the fractured sky, in a palace of living clouds, the Heavenly Emperor Zenith paused mid-sip of starlight wine.
A faint tremor passed through his throne.
He frowned.
Then dismissed it.
After all, what could possibly threaten eternity from a muddy field in the mortal dirt?
He would learn.
Soon.
Very soon.