Joe eats the last of the gra.s.s on the hill and snorts at the bush. While he doesn"t understand what is going on, the bull can at least a.s.sociate the abundance of good food, with the bush.

The demonic bull stay"s alert while waiting for his food. His eyes are constantly scanning the area. Recently he has felt the presence of other demonic beasts. Joe isn"t willing to give up his treasure hill to anyone.

John is frustrated with the beast"s, endless appet.i.te. But what can he do as a bush? The only thing he knows how to do right now is grow gra.s.s. "Look you are just a Joe, while I"m a John! That"s one letter more! So you should be more respectful to me," John complains. He glares at the demonic bull who ignores him until the gra.s.s and weeds, around the hill were eaten up.

Joe watches his food regrow with delight. He begins to drool in expectation. Yet why did it feel like this bush was being uppity? The demonic bull glares at the bush, as he munches some gra.s.s. The beast has the feeling that the bush is somehow challenging his dominance.

"What you don"t like it? Well, you can"t do anything about your name! Wait what are you doing?" John lectures Joe. As he is giving this fat bull what fore, he notices a strange gleam in Joe"s eyes.

Joe is going to put this bush in its place. The demonic bull came up with an idea as it looked at the immobile bush. Soon it turns around lifting its tail up and without any ceremony releases itself, right on the offending plant. There is quite a lot of excrement since he had eaten so much recently. Joe feels quite nice finally letting out all that waste. With his superiority proven. He continues chowing down on his buffet, with a satisfied look.

"Joe! I have to live here. Don"t be disgusting," John grumbles to himself. The bush feels frustration in being a plant for the first time, since his reincarnation. "If I could move, I would run away and not have to be the slave of a stupid bull," he laments. Yet, he can not move or even show his anger to the offender.

If he wants to be able to defend himself in the future, he"ll have to learn how to move. However, for a plant to move isn"t easy. Unlike beasts and humans, they have no muscles. The only way to move is through the manipulation of energy. Which will be difficult with his tiny core. Even so, John swears he will gain the ability to move someday! "This bush will show Joe the bull, who the real boss of the hill is! Well, perhaps I can just run away while he"s sleeping?" John contemplates, instantly reneging on his vow.

In any case, he isn"t one of those great mystical plants that can teleport. His only choice is to slowly practice. John didn"t even want to think about how many years it will take, to actually be able to uproot himself. When the time comes, he"ll run away from his predicament. Considering that he already has his energy focused on two tasks. He has no choice, but to keep growing and feeding a bottomless pit. John"s energy output leaves him with little strength left to train. Still, he will set a small bit of his energy, aside and every few days his branch will shake. Was it that wind? No this is the excruciatingly slow-paced practice, John does to escape from this h.e.l.l.

The months fly by, with Joe and John on a hill one eating and the other complaining. Every so often a battle for the hill will occur, tearing up the hill. But as of yet no demonic beast has stolen the hill, from its current master. There are many demonic beasts that look at the hill, with envy considering it a treasure hill. Fortunately for John, only weak demonic beasts will consider his gra.s.s as a prize, worth cherishing.

To Johns surprise, both the excrement and corpses put badly needed nutrients into the ground, acting as fertilizer. The ground on the hill had been greatly sapped of nutrients, over the year. This is especially true, with him continuously speeding up the growth of the local vegetation. This is a great boon. The revitalized soil brings new strength to a weary John. With this newfound boon, his training and growth speed increases significantly. He is now a majestic bush, with four whole branches! These branches have twenty leaves, with five leaves per branch. "See Joe, you have to be like me and focus on quality over quant.i.ty." The bush thinks, lecturing the oblivious demonic bull who was forcefully named Joe. "Look at my leaves, all nice and green filled with life! Now look at your gut, it"s practically to the ground. Soon the other compet.i.tors won"t even need to fight you. They"ll just roll you down the hill," John lectures internally. The proud bush happily continues cultivating while reveling in his accomplishments.

Most would be ashamed of this bare looking bush wanting to hide under a rock. Yet, John has literally no face to throw away and so is happy to brag, to the hill monster that is his neighbor. He has also managed to be able to move a single branch, about an inch with his training. Considering the circ.u.mstances John considers this a huge success. However, the difference between uprooting one"s self and moving a branch is night and day.

There is a chill in the air recently, causing John to shiver. "Fall will soon arrive," John reasons. He frowns internally, he"d surely lose his precious leaves soon. He is also very close to Seed Coalescing stage. A plant with a core will normally start at this stage. Due to his mishap during its creation, he"d started at half Seed Coalescing stage. John wants to reach the base stage of plant cultivation, before fall. With this goal in mind. He decides to neglect his movement training for now.

John won"t be able to rely on his leaves for much longer. It is important that he reaches this goal before they all fell off. This will allow him to at least take a bit of mystical energy, out of the air. Which he hopes will sustain, his growth through the winter. John focuses on his new goal. with the shifting of the seasons. Who knows what may occur, while he is at his weakest.