Chapter 117: Summon Plants?
"Amazing..." Lily Hart started to say, but her head tilted to the side and she fell into a deep sleep.
Frost Shaw scrambled up to check her breathing. He let out a sigh of relief. ’She’s still alive. Awakening a superpower must have been too exhausting. She probably just ran out of energy. A good night’s sleep should fix it.’
He covered her with the blanket, turned off the light, and after checking that everything was normal, went downstairs. He sealed the RV up tight before leaving.
The next day, Lily Hart woke up in a daze. She glanced at her left hand in confusion. A small purple flower had sprouted out of nowhere and was wobbling as if to greet her.
She looked quizzically at her right hand. Well, I’ll be. A sensitive plant. Lily Hart’s interest was piqued, and she used the little purple flower to poke it.
The sensitive plant immediately folded its leaves. A few seconds later, they slowly unfurled again.
This went on and on until the sensitive plant got tired and stopped folding. ’Screw it,’ it seemed to say. ’Poke me all you want!’
Lily Hart was laughing so hard she rolled around on the bed. Her feet seemed to kick something with a strange texture.
She sat up to look. Holy crap! Half the bed was covered in Stephania plants, taking up the entire bottom half of her mattress!
’Wait, didn’t I awaken the Wood Ability? Why does it feel more like I awakened the Plant Summoning Technique?’
’How do I make these Stephania plants go away...?’
The next second, the bedful of Stephania plants receded like a tide, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
’Sensitive plant, disappear!’ Lily Hart commanded the plant on her right hand with dramatic flair.
Sure enough, the entire sensitive plant retracted into her palm. The process sent a tingly, numb sensation through her hand, which was very strange.
’Little flower, you disappear too!’ Just as she expected, it also slowly retracted into her palm.
She suddenly felt as if her body had stored thousands of different plants, and she could summon any one of them at will.
’Is the Wood Ability this awesome?’
Lily Hart couldn’t resist getting on her Light Brain to search for posts about the Wood Ability. There were pitifully few.
Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Ice, Light, Dark, and Lightning—these nine superpowers were all quite rare.
Among them, Ice, Wood, Light, and Dark were the rarest of all. You might not find a single person with one in a hundred million.
Even so, Central Command had published quite a few articles about the nine major elements.
As Lily Hart read through them, she realized the descriptions of the Wood Ability didn’t quite match what she had.
The articles stated that the Wood Ability only allowed one to control plants and share an unusual, intimate connection with them. High-level users could even cultivate and grow them.
That was nothing like her ability to actually summon plants.
Lily Hart tried again. ’Laurel? Come on out and let me see you,’ she chanted in her mind.
A small Laurel appeared on the pillow in front of her. It was similar to the one Zelda Whittaker had scraped up before, only much smaller.
’How magical...’
’But what’s the use of summoning plants? Can they fight for me?’
The moment the thought flashed through her mind, the Laurel in front of her suddenly shot up in size, growing until it stood before the bed, almost as tall as Frost Shaw.
Lily Hart stared, dumbfounded. ’It’s huge!’ She suddenly felt tiny in comparison.
She rolled out of bed and went to tug on Laurel’s leaves, but she couldn’t tear them no matter how hard she tried. Instead, Laurel wrapped her up completely in its leaves.
It held her tight, so tight she couldn’t breathe. But it seemed like the plant was just trying to tell Lily Hart something.
’I have the strength to protect my master!’
Laurel quickly released her and waved its emerald leaves. Lily Hart caught her breath and praised it lavishly, "Whoa! That’s insane!"
She hugged Laurel back. It felt nice—soft and supple, yet cool to the touch. A perfect heat-killer for a hot summer day.
Lily Hart led the large Laurel down to the first floor and opened up the sides of the RV. Just then, Frost Shaw was walking out of a convenience store.
He glanced over, and his heart skipped a beat. He rushed forward, vaulted over the tabletop, and leaped into the RV.
At the same time, Laurel was frozen into a block of ice. Lily Hart was dumbfounded again. "What are you doing? This is a plant I summoned! Let it go, now!"
Frost Shaw: ? Huh? ’Nobody told me!’
He scrambled to unfreeze it. A few of Laurel’s leaves drooped downward, looking withered and pathetic.
Lily Hart quickly comforted it. "It’s okay, it’s okay. Frost was being mean. You’re all better now." She didn’t forget to pat Laurel’s leaves.
Instantly, Laurel perked up, looking radiant, as if the withered plant from a moment ago wasn’t it at all.
Now it was Frost Shaw’s turn to be dumbfounded. He quietly pulled Lily Hart aside. "Can you only summon one type? Or..."
Before he could finish, a tiny money tree appeared in Lily Hart’s palm. It was adorable, like a little model.
Soon, the money tree retracted, and the sensitive plant took its place. Lily Hart even held it out, showing it off. "Wanna play with it?"
On instinct, Frost Shaw reached out to touch the sensitive plant’s leaves. The way they quickly folded up was particularly amusing.
But in the next instant, a blush crept onto Frost Shaw’s cheeks. He turned red from his face all the way to his heels, like a fully cooked shrimp.
"What’s wrong with you? Are you hot?" Lily Hart asked him.
Hearing this, Frost Shaw turned even redder. He gently lowered his eyes, then couldn’t stop himself from stealing a quick glance at Lily Hart, the corners of his mouth twitching into a small smile.
He slapped a hand over his face, turned his head, and twisted his body away, unable to face her. He was mortified to the extreme.
Curious, Lily Hart reached out and poked his arm. It was warm, not at all like his usual self, which was as cold as a refrigerator.
She moved around to face him, and just as she was about to speak, she watched as Frost Shaw, still covering his face, shyly ran off...
’Huh? Could it be that the sensitive plant’s function is... to make other people feel shy? Okay, okay. It’s not super useful, but it’s better than nothing.’
She retracted the sensitive plant and sat down to drink some water. A minute later, Frost Shaw returned, his lips pressed together and a strange, awkward expression on his face.
Lily Hart had decided that if he didn’t bring it up, she’d pretend it never happened. After all, Frost Shaw was a guy who cared about his pride.
But to her surprise, Frost Shaw asked in all seriousness, "Was that the sensitive plant’s superpower?"
"PFFT—" Lily Hart couldn’t hold it in. She spat a mouthful of water all over Frost Shaw. Laughing, she grabbed some tissues to wipe him off, saying apologetically, "Hahaha, sorry..."
Frost Shaw fell silent and took the tissues to wipe himself. ’She wasn’t trying to wipe the water off me. She was clearly just trying to get fresh with me.’
He didn’t bring it up again. He had his answer. Thinking back to the scene just now, a faint smile played on his lips.
Once their bout of laughter subsided, Frost Shaw said sternly, "Lily Hart, it’s best you don’t let any strangers know you have the Wood Ability, especially the fact that you can summon plants."
Lily Hart had a pretty good idea why. Her superpower was too different from a normal Wood Ability. It would definitely arouse suspicion, and things might turn out just like in her dream.
’Isn’t this a vicious cycle?!’
’I wanted to awaken a superpower because of a dream, but then bad guys will target me to steal my superpower...’
The more she thought about it, the scarier it got. Lily Hart broke out in a cold sweat, her forehead beaded with perspiration. ’Wait, but what about that little boy then?’
Frost Shaw pulled out a tissue and gently wiped the sweat from her brow. Meeting her somewhat worried gaze, the words slipped out before he could stop them, "Don’t worry, I’ll always be here."
Lily Hart shook her head in her heart. ’No, no one will always be here. Relying on yourself is the only way that truly matters.’