Reborn as a Demonic Tree

Honestly, keeping up with the fight was exhausting. Ashlock debated going to sleep and learning the results tomorrow when lovely warm sunlight and Qi would be trickling in from his meditation skill.

Focusing back on the central courtyard, it seemed the servant was dying. He was lying on the floor panting, clutching his wound, and trying to stop the bleeding. Ashlock recognized the servant. He often tended to the kitchen and was rarely seen outside.

”All things return to the earth... as nutrients...” Ashlock stopped that trail of thought in surprise. He felt no pity for the dying man, only the desire for the inevitable nutrients. ”Well... I might as well put him out of his misery?”

If Ashlock used some twisted logic, when he was human back on Earth, he had no issue eating beef or chicken because that was considered food. Now he was a demonic sapling. Everything was food. Even humans. It was either he devoured and became strong enough to protect himself... or regretted his indecisiveness when that fire guyʼs blade cut him in half.

”Sorry, dude... you picked the wrong place to die.” Ashlock mumbled a silent prayer for the guy and activated the devour skill. Unfortunately, the poor guy didnʼt seem to have the strength to resist as the spiked vines mummified him.

[+5 SC]

Ashlock hummed as the rush of Qi flooded his system. But then, a second rush caught him off guard. Qi surged through his roots and chaotically rushed around his trunk like a hurricane.

”Status!”

[Demonic Spirit Sapling (Age: 4)]

[Qi Realm: 4th Stage]

[Skills…]

”Finally!” It had taken Ashlock over a year to reach the next stage. The rush made Ashlock hungry for more, so he searched the courtyard for any more stray servants to devour. ”Stella will understand...” There was a decent chance that all the servants had turned against their master or werenʼt subservient in the first place.

Right on cue, another three servants stumbled through the connecting area between the training courtyard and the central courtyard. Ashlock didnʼt even hesitate and cast devour. There was so much chaotic Qi running through his body that the vines shot out of the ground with such impressive speed that they straight-up impaled the three servants and dragged their corpses to the ground.

[+5 SC]

[+5 SC]

[+5 SC]

One after another, the corpses were devoured. In a haze of madness, Ashlock felt he might throw up Qi at this rate. With the only outlet being {Qi Fruit Production}, he summoned the menu and picked random options before pressing confirm.

”Whew...” Ashlock let out a deep breath as the system initiated the skill and forcefully funneled the chaotic Qi away from his body and into the fruit production. ”This skill is more useful than I thought...” Although it wasnʼt a combat skill, it was a great way to prevent himself from dying due to gluttony.

Ashlock saw a few tiny blood-red berries dangle from his branches in three clusters and realized there was an artistic beauty in recycling the dead into a new life that would provide for other living things. As a tree, he was no longer an endless consumer but now a provider to the world—a governor of the natural cycle of life and death.

”Tree...”

Ashlock was broken from his thoughts as he saw Stella limp toward him.

Purple flames flickered across her shoulders like weak candlelight as she collapsed just a short distance from his root. Her breathing was ragged and slow, and it appeared she had sustained some injuries.

Before Ashlock could do anything, a heavily injured fire sword guy emerged from behind the door and slowly stepped toward Stella, using a steel sword as a makeshift cane.

Flickering red flames illuminated his face as the man loomed over the dying girl. ”Fucking bitch.” The man grimaced as some blood dripped from his teeth. His eyes were sealed shut, and he tried to locate the girl by poking the ground with the sword.

Ashlock waited patiently for the perfect moment to strike... The man inched ever closer... Stella was lying on her back, struggling to keep her eyes open as the manʼs sword made contact with her leg.

”There you are...” The man grinned as he brought the sword up over his head in a two-handed grip. ”Die—” the man stopped midsentence as a Qi-empowered vine surged out of the ground behind him and impaled his back.