Lina felt that she had gotten way stronger, stronger than she had ever been. It was like nature was a part of her; just by thinking and letting out a tiny bit of energy, the plants around her would wake up and act like her personal soldiers. She could change what the plants were made of, making them super hard, bendy, or even dangerous with poison---no sweat.
Plus, she felt she had the skill to mess with plants, to make them grow or die. She even thought about the crazy idea that she could make plants grow inside other living things if there were seeds around.
But that idea was risky, so the second it popped into her head, Lina stomped it out.
Adam's stare made her feel weird, and it wasn't because she didn't have clothes on. Neither of them cared about that. It was just that his stare made her feel like he was looking at a thing, not a person.
"Master, I did it," Lina managed to say, trying to shake off the awkward vibe.
Adam nodded and then asked, curious, "What's different now?"
Lina thought for a sec before answering, "I feel relaxed, full of energy and power. I think I can..." As she talked, flowers started to grow on her, making a pretty outfit, "handle these plants."
"Can you be more specific?"
Lina scrunched her forehead, thinking hard. "I'm sorry, Master, I'm not sure how to put it into words. Basically, if I want to, all the plants in our tribe could be my eyes and arms."
"Avatars?"
Lina nodded quickly, "Yes, that's it! They could all be my avatars."
Adam was super happy. Lina's performance had given him a huge surprise. This skill might not be great in a fight, but for spying, it was perfect, as people always tended to ignore those plants lying around.
And now, since the bloodline of Lina had leveled up and could get this power, there was no need for all the complex stuff anymore. The other forest elves could also change, one by one; even if not many made it through, it was worth a shot.
"Did you also get the skill your dad had, to call up Ants?" Adam questioned, really interested.
"Call up Ants? You mean like this?"
Lina pointed her finger and shot out green energy at a bush. The bush started to move and shake, its roots coming out of the ground to twist together, making arms and legs. Soon, it turned into a sturdy Ant that stood like a bodyguard in front of Lina.
"It's called Nature's Guard."
Adam wasn't interested in the name of the power, but it was really important for making up for what he lacked in fighting skills. Even when he picked up magic and use rune spells later when he got back, this new info would still be super useful.
"That's it. Teach me how to use it," ordered Adam.
Lina spoke, kind of helplessly, "Master, I can't really explain it; it's like I just knew it all of a sudden."
Adam used magic to create icy chains that wrapped around Lina, holding her still. He walked up to her. Creatures with this bloodline really didn't think things through; they could just get strong powers when they leveled up. But Adam had another way to learn it---by cutting her open to look at how the energy moved inside her.
Several hours later, Lina walked out of the lab, looking really pale. All the happiness about getting stronger was gone from her green eyes, and all that was left was a deep fear.
Surviving two near-death experiences in one day was more than anyone could handle.
Just when she was thinking about how scared she had been, another forest elf girl walked up and said, "Master, there's something wrong with the chief."
Lina took a deep breath, and energy from the plants around her flowed into her, filling her up. The elf girl stared at Lina, kind of stuttering, "Master, are you now a Nature Controller?"
A Nature Controller? Lina smiled, but it was more like she was making fun of herself. She might have been really into that title if she hadn't seen even crazier powers. But now, she just brushed it off, asking tiredly, "What's going on with my dad?"
The elf girl looked at Lina like she was some sort of hero, and quickly said, "Like you, natural energy is flowing into him non-stop. It looks like he's about to level up."
Level up? Lina looked even more worried. This would've been great news before, but now she had no idea how Adam would feel about it. With that thought in her head, she told the elf girl to go away and flew to where the tribe was gathered.
The ice spikes and other individuals on them were the same as ever, but the chief's silver-white frost energy was clashing with some green ones. His injuries kept healing and then breaking open again, and the blood that dripped looked even more like crystal than before. People from the tribe stood there, not sure what to do.
After fighting with herself inside her head for a long time, Lina finally said, "Kill him."
Everyone turned to look at her, not believing what they just heard.
Feeling a super creepy vibe coming closer and closer, Lina used a soul lash on everyone around her. She said again, "Didn't you hear me? I said kill him."
Adam strolled out of the lab, totally chill. He already knew about the chief's body changing; the devil had tipped him off. Creatures with the same bloodline have this weird connection. When one of them levels up, their relatives get some of the benefits too. How much they get depends on how closely they're related. This whole thing is called bloodline transference.
Since the chieftain and Lina were father and daughter---the closest family tie you can get---it made sense he was leveling up too.
"Heh heh heh, Master, you really freaked out your servant with your crazy experiment," the devil said, kind of mocking. He used to be the one always worried about being experimented on, but now Lina was in the same boat.
"Freaking you out?" Adam laughed a little. Maybe that was part of it, but what was really going on was that Lina didn't want to lose her new powers. Along with the hate she felt, a new feeling---greed---was starting to grow inside her.
Lina watched as green arrows shot towards her dad. Closing her eyes, she felt really torn up inside. She didn't know if what she was doing was the right thing. It was a risky move, and she had no other options left.
All of a sudden, a super cold wind blew by, freezing the arrows in mid-air just before they could hit her dad.
Inside, Lina let out a huge sigh of relief."
