I choose the second one.
Minor Vine Tendril.
The moment I decide, I feel it—a ripple, deep within my core. It is as if something long dormant has suddenly stirred awake from its slumber.
⊹ Ability Acquired: Minor Vine Tendril ⊹
You may now extend a single vine no longer than 30 centimeters.
Uses Vital Sap to maintain.
Touch-based perception: Active.
Growth channel unlocked.
"Let the world feel you back."
The warmth inside me ignites, subtle yet powerful, like the first ember of a fire kindled in the chill of night. It begins to spread—downward through my roots, outward into the soil, and inward to my very core.
Ember? Fire?
Fire is… warmth.
Fire is… friend?
The thought feels inexplicably right, a truth whispered from some ancient memory, flickering like a candle in the fog—intangible, yet undeniable.
My roots shiver with anticipation.
And then—
I grow.
It is not a rapid surge, not like falling or spinning through air. This growth is deliberate, earned, and truly mine. A delicate tendril unfurls from the base of my tiny form—flexing, stretching, reaching into the world. Though I have no eyes, I sense its movement vividly. It's slender, fragile, yet undeniably alive.
And it belongs to me.
I touch this "soil" again—but this time, not with the familiar roots of my being. This is something new. The vine encounters something hard—a pebble nestled in the earth. Then it brushes something soft—a thread of moss.
The sensations flood in all at once.
The world has texture.
Cool. Damp. Rough. Smooth. Gritty.
A tapestry of a thousand different touches—whispers I never knew I was missing.
I curl the vine around the vein of a leaf. Its pulse is faint, a quiet rhythm of life, but it is there.
It does not fear me.
It simply is.
And for the first time since I awoke in that drifting terror…
So do I.
⊹ Root-Soul Interface Update ⊹
Vital Sap Regenerating…
+0.2 Photosynthesis per hour
Vine Anchor: Stable
Touch Range: Expanded
⊹ Soil Affinity Assessment Complete ⊹
Soil Type: Moss-rich Loam
Affinity Rating: Mildly Compatible
Growth Efficiency Bonus: +2% Photosynthesis in current zone
A noise stirs somewhere in the dark—a distant scrape, like claws dragging across bark.
My new vine twitches, reacting instinctively.
I retreat just slightly—
not out of fear,
but in awareness.
Something is out there.
Many things.
But for the first time…
I do not feel completely helpless.
I reach out a second time.
And this time, it is not fear that guides me—
but curiosity.