{Well first off what the heck are you?} I asked the oak tree in front of me.

{We are hamadryads. And you have coincidentally wandered into our territory. So, what brings you to our humble land?}

{Well I was just looking for a safe place to rest between my hunts to level up and exploration.}

{You? A cave flower hunting monsters? You have to be pulling my roots! Everyone knows that cave roses are only fit to be sustenance for the strong!} A birch dryad (Their names too long to be convenient for me. I'm shortening it!) jeered as her branches shook with amusement. Hey, wait since when was I able to distinguish between their pheromones and who was talking…

[Universal plant communication has reached level 2.]

Oh. That's useful.

{I'll have you know I've killed many mites, an ant, and an armored rat in my times!} I informed her while puffing my petals with pride.

{Your lying! Flower monsters aren't strong enough to take on ants much less rats!} A pine tree objected as several branches twisted towards me and jabbed in the air towards me to emphasize her point. Before I could retort however the first dryad, I talked to came to my defense.

{You say that but ten minutes you would have claimed cave roses aren't even capable of basic communication and yet here a cave rose stands engaging in conversation with you.} Amelia defended.

{I'm sorry for my sister's rudeness. If you wish, you could rest here between hunts. Very few creatures dare to wander into here and those who would rarely try.} She offered.

I had to admit it wasn't such a bad deal if what she said was true. But that was a big if. With all capital letters. Although when I think about it I haven't found any places to rest so far and if very few things dare to come here then that means I won't have to worry about a random rabbit hopping along and biting off my head. And I don't exactly sleep in the first place so these dryads couldn't attack me in my sleep.

{There is a condition though. A sort of… protection fee.} Amelia added before I could think too long about her offer. The words protection fee caught my attention like bananas would donkey kong (He is obsessed with bananas, right?). It reminded me of the thugs who would 'protect' you for a small fee. Downright blackmail those thugs were doing. So, my defenses were raised up 200% at the mention of the term. Amelia didn't notice me put up my guard (Not that my flowery body shows many signs of my guard being up.) and continued to talk.

{You see unlike you we are rooted to the very spot we stand now and are not at the level requirement and skill requirements to be able to detach an avatar form from our main body like dryads of myth do. So, we make a deal with the weaker wildlife to defend them from stronger beings while they are here in return for them bringing prey to us.} She informed me.

{If that's the case how did you last this long?}

{We typically use fruits and seeds that grow on our branches to lure in birds to feed on. But that method is too slow to be effective enough for us to do more than just survive. You noticed the ring of mushrooms over there right? That's where the night pixies sleep. They don't typically come out during the day like their namesake.}

I took a moment to mull this over while looking at both the dryads and the mushroom ring at the same time (Thank you mana sense!). Her explanation certainly makes sense. And with my dire need for a safe place to fall back to after my hunts and when I get caught up with something, I can't handle this makes her offer particularly appealing. But that wasn't a good reason to trust her. She is most likely capable of lying after all. That too isn't a reason to reject her offer though. For now, I'll take advantage of her offer and at the earliest sign of trouble, I'll skedaddle right out of here.

{Alright I'll accept your offer, Amelia. I'm going to go on a little expedition for now though.} I told her before rushing away from the grove of dryads before any of them could say anything.

Once I believed I was far enough away I finally relaxed. Man, that was tense. Note to self don't hang out with dryads too much. They are not playful at all like some mythology depicts them. Heck, the nicest one just demanded me rent for sticking around while the rest were rather stuck up!... Well, I can't really blame them. If I was in their position, I'd look down upon the one who was a flower like this. It's a pathetically weak body after all!

But that won't be true for long! I Joe Johnson will become the strongest flower of them all! I shall be the one who can lounge around being lazy because nothing in the forest can harm me! Yes, that's a good goal to have. A realistic one at that! Probably. I have a human mind for crying out loud! Why couldn't I do it!? Anyways right now I need to kill something, and I already know what I want to kill. The frogs. They looked easy enough to kill. My drowsy pollen might actually be enough to put them to sleep with how small they are! And with all the bonuses I get for killing something new it's definitely worth trying.

It didn't take me long to find one. They seemed to be rather common in this forest. Probably because they reproduce quickly or something. Actually, how do monsters reproduce in this world…? A question for another time. I crept up on the oblivious frog from behind and before it could notice one of my roots flew forward and pinned it to the ground. It immediately began making panicked croaks as it struggled to escape my grip.

But it was a futile effort as my superior size and strength allowed me to easily keep it down. The tiny frog was a dull dark green color with a yellowish-white stomach. It also had those tiny fangs that gave away the fact that it was no normal frog. It was disturbing to see a frog with teeth. Very disturbing. And for that crime, I shall execute you sir frog! And with that declaration, I gulped up the frog in one bite and shredded it into my fertilizer.

[Fanged frog slain. Basic monster entry unlocked. 2 XP gained. Smartypants achievement adds an additional 3 XP awarded. 1 skill point earned. 1 MP absorbed. 1 mutation point absorbed.]

[Fanged frog: A Tier-0 surface monster that preys upon other Tier-0 monsters. They are very cowardly when facing stronger monsters and serve as food for most other monsters.]

Ohoho! Very nice! I'm rather happy with this smarty pants achievement I have. Very satisfied indeed.

[Warning XP past level up requirement. The system recommends level up before XP crosses 30 soon or severe consequences will be inflicted upon the host.]

Oh, crud I forgot all about my level up with all that happened with the ant swarm and all. But severe consequences? That doesn't sound good. It looks like I'll need to hold off my exploring a bit longer to level up. But that means I'll need to go back to the dryads… Let's hope that Amelia will have calmed them down by now. I don't really have any other safer alternatives for places to level up after all. Sigh. The difficulties of being a lil innocent flower in a monster-filled world.