As we walked through the battlefield, the slain entities were slowly dissolving into the earth. Their corrupted forms didn't rot or decay—instead, they transformed into pure nutrients, seeping into the soil so new vegetation could emerge. Fresh grass sprouted where corruption had stood moments before, gently replacing the scarred ground and making the entire field sustainable and verdant once more.

  It was a magnificent spectacle made even more beautiful as the twin suns began rising from the horizon, their combined warmth gradually heating the cool night air.

  Then I felt it—my power slowly returning, replenishing itself through photosynthesis now that daylight had arrived. I stopped walking and turned to Miss Tela.

  "Would this be a good moment to refine my green blood?"

  She paused, considering, then nodded with a soft smile. "Sure. Go ahead and do what you need. I'll handle the bureaucratic aspects of documenting this battle. When you feel ready, come find me in my office."

  "Thank you."

  I found a clear patch of ground and sat cross-legged, settling into the meditative position Aletheia had taught me. My mind organized the techniques I'd learned into a coherent framework.

  Photosynthesis, nutrient synthesis, and body refinement are complementary processes. They work together, not separately.

  The battlefield around me was rich with resources—poisonous nutrients left behind by the slain monsters. Normally, these toxins would contaminate the plants and flowers attempting to reclaim this space. But if I could absorb them first, purify them through my second circulatory system

  Let's try absorbing both types simultaneously while meditating.

  I closed my eyes and let the twin suns bathe my entire body. Their rays soaked into my skin, and I could feel photosynthesis activating immediately—that familiar warmth spreading through my system as sunlight converted to usable energy.

  But something different happened this time.

  Beneath my crossed legs, where skin touched grass directly, I felt a strange sensation. Small roots from my second circulatory system pierced through my skin—not painfully, but with gentle insistence. They extended downward, anchoring themselves in the earth like the roots of an actual plant.

  And they began to feed.

  The roots absorbed everything—poisonous compounds, beneficial minerals, corrupted residue, clean nutrients. All of it flowed upward through those tiny channels and into my green blood. I could feel my heart pumping faster, circulating both red blood and green simultaneously to process everything being absorbed. When the nutrient-laden green blood reached my heart, the concentrated leaf energy within it began working at double speed—purifying, refining, separating harmful from helpful with surgical precision.

  The sensation was strange. My heart felt a gentle stinging, as though tiny needles were working through the muscle tissue. Not unpleasant, but noticeable enough to confirm the process was actually functioning. My wooden heart was performing beautifully, and happiness welled up inside me at the realization.

  I could feel every cell in my body being refined by the green blood. Over and over, the purified energy flowed through my tissues, strengthening them incrementally. Minutes passed, then perhaps an hour. I lost track of time entirely, focused only on the continuous cycle of absorption, purification, and distribution.

  Then something extraordinary happened.

  Without my awareness of time passing, the twin suns had reached their zenith—directly overhead, pouring maximum light and heat onto the world below. At that precise moment, the same green flame I'd wielded with the scythe suddenly blazed to life inside my heart.

  My green blood's temperature skyrocketed. Not to painful levels, but hot enough that I felt like literal fire burned within my veins from the inside out.

  I thought that flame was connected to the scythe! Why am I on fire?!

  Panic threatened to break my concentration. But then—

  Every worry, every frightened thought ceased the moment I realized the flame wasn't harming me. Instead, it was accelerating everything. The purification process that had been working at double speed now operated at ten times normal efficiency. Nutrients refined almost instantaneously. My cells absorbed and integrated the purified energy so quickly I could actually feel myself growing stronger in real-time.

  The sensation lasted only briefly—perhaps a minute, perhaps less—before the green flame gradually diminished and disappeared, as though it had never existed in the first place.

  Strange. Inexplicable. But I knew with absolute certainty it wasn't harmful.

  Since I felt extraordinarily good—better than I'd felt since awakening, actually—I rose from my seated position and stretched my entire body. My muscles responded with fluid ease, joints moving without the slightest stiffness despite sitting motionless for what must have been hours.

  "Your name is Lemi, right?"

  I turned to find Kevin approaching, moving with the relaxed confidence of someone who'd just witnessed something interesting.

  "I am. And you're Mr. Kevin, correct?"

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "Indeed." He reached out and gently tapped my right arm with his fist—a friendly gesture rather than aggressive. "Seems like you finished your photosynthesis. You were incredible last night... your power was astonishing. But I don't see a Mezzo on you."

  He began circling me slowly, examining my body with obvious curiosity, searching for something specific.

  "A Mezzo? What's that?"

  Kevin's expression immediately shifted to something knowing, almost satisfied, as though I'd confirmed a suspicion.

  "I knew it. You had no proper attunement with that scythe, but I assumed you'd unlocked your plant power recently. However, seeing that there's no Mezzo anywhere on your body means Tela's doubts about you are legitimate." He stopped circling and stood before me directly. "She asked me to observe you while you meditated. I didn't see anything unusual during the process itself, so..."

  "See?" He raised both fists, and I noticed something I'd overlooked before. Small roots were anchored directly into his skin around both hands, creating organic gloves. "This is my Mezzo. These roots are the lily of the valley you saw me using in battle."

  "Exactly." I leaned closer to examine them. "Right now they're in a dormant state, which means they're not actively functioning. But you should have something similar somewhere on your body—a physical manifestation of your plant power. If you don't..." He paused meaningfully. "That means something significant. And Tela is extremely curious about this fact."

  His tone grew more serious. "You're lucky you met her first, Lemi. Otherwise, you could have been sent to someone who would have dissected you to understand how you function."

  A chill ran down my spine at the casual way he mentioned dissection.

  "Even so," Kevin continued as we began walking toward the registration building, "you need to be more careful out there. You're still far too weak. If it wasn't for Tela's assistance creating that elevated pathway, you would have exhausted your energies long before reaching the elephant. Next time, be more mindful of yourself and who surrounds you. Don't charge in recklessly just because you possess an unusual ability."

  The advice stung precisely because it was accurate. In my desperation to help, I'd acted without strategy or caution.

  "Thank you for the advice, Mr. Kevin." I bowed my head respectfully. "With a clearer mind, I can see what I did was indeed dangerous. I'll do better next time."

  "Raise your head." He waved dismissively but not unkindly. "You helped us all in the end, and I'm glad to have witnessed someone who's barely sprouted being that useful. Just don't let it go to your head or make you careless."

  He waved once more and walked away, leaving me to enter the building alone.

  I found Miss Tela in her office, organizing stacks of reports and placing books back on shelves. She glanced up as I entered.

  "I hope Kevin spoke to you gently and not in his usual exuberant manner."

  "He was quite gentle, actually. I could hear curiosity about me behind his words, but he didn't pry excessively. He mentioned something called a 'Mezzo' that I don't understand."

  "He spoiled our conversation topic, but yes—that's exactly what I planned to discuss." She gestured for me to sit, then settled into her own chair. "Normally, when you refine your green blood to Hunter Green—which is the second stage, also called the First Refinement—that's when you unlock a plant-based power. Contrary to what someone might assume, this power is highly restricted and limited in range initially."

  She raised one hand, and a single liana emerged from her palm, growing outward before retracting back into her skin.

  "For this reason, Awakeners need two things to properly use their newfound power: a Catalyst and a Mezzo."

  "A Catalyst? And that Mezzo again..." I leaned forward, fascinated despite my confusion.

  "You heard correctly. A Catalyst is the method to maximize an awakened power's output. It's normally a specially prepared piece of paper obtained from trees called Rainbow Eucalyptus—natural mutations caused by leaf energy flowing through their systems. The energy's passage alters their bark in specific areas, creating rainbow-colored sections." She gestured vaguely. "I assume you know how paper is made, so I'll skip that explanation. But the important part is that the roots of those same trees also change, developing rainbow coloration and special properties. A carpenter works those roots until they transform into something that adapts to the user, assuming different forms based on individual needs."

  "Different forms?" Understanding began dawning. "Meaning your lianas and Kevin's gloves are products of that craftsman's work? Where can I find this carpenter?"

  "You can't." Tela's expression grew apologetic. "That's the difficult part. The carpenter isn't a normal human. He's what we call a Plant-Root Man—a being who grants 'the way' when the time is right. His location isn't fixed. He changes position constantly based on where he's needed most."

  "What the hell—?!" I stared at her, certain she must be joking.

  "That Plant-Root Man uses a special furnace with green flames—flames required to mold rainbow branches without burning them to ash. That's why..." She looked at me intently. "When I saw you wielding that scythe last night, I assumed you'd already received your Mezzo, which had allowed you to manifest your power. But I was wrong. The scythe appeared without any Mezzo present on your body, which should be impossible."

  A thought occurred to me. "Wait—so the weapon made by this Plant-Root Man... is it everlasting?"

  "No. It will be consumed fight after fight. Eventually, it will break entirely. You can repair it using a special plant if needed, or you can craft a new Mezzo after finding another Rainbow Eucalyptus tree."

  "Finding? Why not use the same tree repeatedly?"

  "Because the tree withers and dies after you extract the rainbow roots. So who knows when or where another one will mutate and develop the same properties." She shrugged helplessly. "It's part of what makes being an Awakener so challenging—constant searching for resources that appear unpredictably."

  "This is..."

  "My mind..."

  I pressed both hands to my temples, overwhelmed by the flood of information. "Too many details all at once. I need time to process this."

  "I understand completely." Tela offered a sympathetic smile. "Take your time organizing these concepts in your mind. Meanwhile, I need to write my official report about last night's attack and analyze samples of that strange corrupting mud. Whatever that substance is, it's unlike anything I've encountered before—and if it appears again, we need to understand how to counter it."

  She paused, then added more quietly, "And we need to understand what you are, Lemi. Because everything I know about Awakeners says what you did last night should be impossible. Yet you did it anyway."

  I nodded slowly, still processing everything she'd revealed.

  Somewhere in this world, a Plant-Root Man wandered with a furnace of green flames. Rainbow Eucalyptus trees mutated unpredictably. And I—a newly awakened individual who should be barely stronger than a normal human—had manifested a weapon and power that defied all established rules.

  Whatever I was becoming, it wasn't following the normal path.

  And somehow, I suspected that was exactly what the planet's consciousness had intended when it saved me from death.