A Plant's Life

What did I turn into?!

"I AM JOHNATHAN FUCKING NORTH"After multiple shouts, he felt satisfied.Since now, he could remember his identity; there was no point in repeating his name. However, the shock of death was so severe that he needed to remind himself of some details; otherwise, it would all be considered a bad dream.Once he adjusted to reality better, the darkness seemed somewhat warmer. Then, out of habit, he started to analyze the surroundings in his mind."Where am I? So, this is the life after death, but where is here?"As he stabilized more, strange energy flowed towards him from all around, astonishing John. "Where is this energy coming from? Why did it just start to flow through?"All these questions were valid. However, no one was present to answer. Even if there were onlookers, they would be flabbergasted at such a miracle, forgetting to answer the questions! A cautious person would not accept ambiguous gifts, so how could John simply accept this energy. While behaving with extra care, the process of analyzing the flow started. By isolating it, trying to see the reaction with itself in a small controlled part of surrounding darkness, John concluded that it was harmless to be around this energy. But this fact did not make him absorb it, even though his very soul was anxious to devour this flow. Next, the focus had to be given to the desire and its origin. Finally, after an unknown amount of time had passed, a verdict was reached; the energy was highly beneficial to a seed that was infused into his soul. Upon closer inspection, one could see that this seed was indeed John's latest project. After the initial concentrated explosion, the seed had stabilized, and fusion had occurred between the seed and John's soul. Following the final success of his project, John had no more regrets! But, it had to be said, he was a man who paid any price to succeed.Since he knew the inner working of this seed better than his old body, flourishing it would be a certainty. As he did not want to be consumed or tested on later, some meticulous planning was needed. He started to circulate the energy around the core. Strengthening the functionality of roots rather than growing on top of the ground first to observe the environment. After confirming the rootstocks were more reliable, longer, and faster, they were deployed like miniature soldiers on a mission to secure more energy and food for John. He could vaguely feel some soft soils around the seed. While it had some nutrients, John commanded the roots to move towards more damp areas of the ground; the edge of some roots found other plant's branches. Which then they were commanded to hold thoroughly and absorb their energy. There was a downside to the plant John was initially designing; it would eat any other type of plant near itself. However, they gave it a short lifespan until it gathered all the nutrients needed for humans. After that, it would ripen and produce more grains before death.More energy started to flow in after sending all branches as far as possible. If there was not a strong will and tight grasp over the plant's operations, it would have already started to slowly break the top. Then, finally, to reach the ground, announcing its arrival to the world. However, with John's control, the seed kept strengthening the core; it would require more energy after each round. If scientists from his past life could see such a scene, they would surely lose their composure and call him cultivating seed!Sometime later, the energy flow started to decrease, forcing John to reach deeper and find more plants to use as food. However, he would not show goodwill even towards other kernels, completely draining them. A long time later, from on top of the ground, there was an area of 1 meter with half-dead plants; they were losing their vitality with each passing second. Soon the field expanded to 2 meters, 3, 4, and more plants lost their green to this anomaly. At the center of this circle, even the soil changed colour, losing fertility.After enforcing all the vitals and the core many times over, John was happy with the preparations. So next, he focused on gathering as much energy as possible to increase the chances of breaching the ground in one step. The neighbouring plants started to die at a faster pace; this speed would have broken the heart of any farmer. They could see the changing of colours from healthy green to dark brown; until they were scorched. After destroying all living plants in a 7-meter radius, a cracking came at the center of the doom's circle; akin to the rising of the undead, a stem rose. However, the shade was not healthy green but ailing yellow. John had changed the pigments to look like a sickly and dead plant, to blend in, staying safe from animals or humans. Usually, a plant takes an adequate amount of time to grow, but John was genuinely in a rush. He had calculated the energy he needed to build strength with preliminary plans, having a better chance. Reinforcing the roots, core, and stem John continued to grow until he reached the size of dead plants around. This size resulted from calculations based on previous knowledge, as he simply gathered data from other plants. Forming a relation between the size of the root and length of the stem, giving him the confidence to be very close in results. If the caretakers of this garden visited, they would only see half-dead plants all around, and a very sickly one in the middle would not attract excess attention. While looking feeble, John's ominous roots continued to develop. Each branch would ravage everything in its path. While controlling the energy absorption rate, to keep from raising suspicion, John noticed a light flow in the air. This mysterious power pushed the plant's primal instincts to grow fully then reproduce. By his measurements, the effects were more potent than sunlight, forcing harder for more yields.This discovery answered some questions, such as the reason for the growth of neighbouring plants, where there seemed no light could reach. His nearby residents also had robust vitality; the soil was too fertile to have been left alone as well."I seem to be in a closed laboratory space of sort. That would explain why I have not been marketed yet; as they are still observing results, they expected me to eat the surroundings. But what if I avoid using my roots? Or use them enough to hinder others in small amounts but on a larger scale? Would they increase power? I am quite interested in this power." He thought to himself.It is hard to change habits; John was very curious about everything. There had never been any mentions of sentient plants in real life. Of course, he had read about mythology to gain ideas, sometimes even directions. As he was at the ground-breaking part of his research, all in front was uncharted territory, enabling him to choose the path!Planning multiple steps in advance was the reason for his mastery of chess. So, as formerly outlined, branches started to multiply quickly to cover as much ground as possible. But, one had to know, this feat would not have been possible without a strong knowledge of the inner workings of the seed and reinforced core. Halting the growth of nearby life led to an increase in mysterious power. To correct the garden's condition, the power pushed plants toward development while simultaneously enriching the soil, as if programmed to do so. Since it even tried to help John, the culprit, to flourish as well. John had concluded this function via his root.Now with the increase in the amount of this power, testing began. After some time passed, a verdict was reached; it would have made John frown if he had any face!This mysterious power could not be explained with any scientific means; it instead had some of the mythological functions of Mana!"This energy seems to be closest to mana in comparison, then where is this place? Is it possible to have been reincarnated, as some novels describe? If yes, what are the characteristics of this world? This changes many factors as it increases the variables and unknowns."After making a small portion of his stem absorb the mana, he observed the new behaviour of these cells. Noticing hyperactivity and an intense thirst for multiplication in them, he understood that this mana had been tampered with to help plants reproduce. After pondering his next moves, John sent the mana directly towards his roots. Increasing their reproduction speed spelled the doom for the garden. He would send mana to the roots and use the natural flow of energy, which he named life energy, to use on his core and stem. Using a minimal amount of mana, he increased the functionality of the base, helping the stalk become wider for better protection.Killing many plants had led to an increase in the rate of mana flow. Which he used to grow more roots, generating more life energy for himself and less life for other plants, leading to the release of extra mana. This vicious cycle continued for an unknown time until John heard a voice in his head.[As you are an unknown species of plant, please choose your future path]"What the hell is this? Do I have a cheat? Are you system? It was about the damn time, now let's get some answers."