“Heh heh. Tasty, tasty human! Looks so yummy!” said a different voice.
A woman was being chased by a little green man.
She was out of breath. “Phew... D-Don’t come any closer! Get away from meee!”
“Not gonna eat you. So stop! Tasty-looking human, stop running! Okay?” the man responded.
Yeah, this fits the bill.
“Is that woman being chased?” asked the Tree.
Seems like it. A pretty cliché situation too. Wait, hold on a sec here! Isn’t this a bit too soon for me? I can’t even move yet.
“Someone! Anyone!” the woman screamed, her voice sounding closer.
A voice cackled with delight behind her. “Heh heh! You done for! So just give up?” He sounded like a stereotypical anime punk, the type that’s a complete yes-man to their bosses.
The woman started to cross the bridge over the small river.
She’s coming over here. All right, let’s do this!
“Furutsu, you don’t mean...” the Tree started.
Yeah, I’ve got to help her!
“What?! It’s dangerous! You don’t even know how to move!”
Well, it’s now or never. I’ve got to do something. If only they came under my branch, I could fall down and try to tackle him or something. As long as that little green guy pays attention to me, I can buy some time.
“Furutsu...”
So could you teach me how to cut off this stem? I can sort of imagine it, but I don’t know exactly what to do.
“Um, I think you’re on the right track. There’s a wall of little balls between you and your mother. Can you feel that?”
My mother? Oh, right, this tree gave birth to me in this world. To think I’d leave the nest on my first day here... The world’s a tough place.
“Noooo! Please! Stay away!” the woman shrieked.
“You’re delicious! Haven’t eaten you yet, but you look so yummy! You gotta be delicious!” the man yelled.
I don’t really get what that guy’s saying, but the woman’s definitely in trouble. I should hurry. Uhhh, you said there was a wall of little balls, right? Which means there’s a boundary of cells between myself and my mother... Yeah, I can tell. I can’t control anything past this point, so it must be here.
“You’re amazing! Were you really a human before?”
Oh my God, he’s gonna kill her! That bastard! Gotta move fast then. Okay, what do I do with this boundary?
“Let go of every little ball that connects the two of you.”
Do I try to cut off every cell that binds us together? I tested it out. I was right! I can do this!
“Nooo! I can’t...” the woman screamed.
“Heh! Ha! Hah!” the man cackled. “That’s right! This the end!”
Okay, good, just run towards this tree. Come on, get right below me!
“Furutsu, be careful, okay? I believe in you!” the Tree said.
Thanks! Okay, right this way!
I felt like a mecha pilot. 3...2...1... Furutsu, launching!
“Noooo! Stoooop!” the woman shouted.
“Heh! I caught y— Ow!”
Ouch! G-Good, I was able to hit that green guy! Huh, I don’t feel pain, exactly, but I have this awful feeling around the spot I landed on. Is this the apple equivalent?
“Owww! Damn, what was that? What happened?!” the man yelled as he rubbed his head. He glanced around to check his surroundings.
I knew it, that didn’t do much. But hey, at least the woman was able to run— Whoa there!
In front of her were two other little green men.
“Ah...” the woman stammered. “Th-There’s two more of those goblins?!”
Yeah, I thought those were goblins too. Good, I can stop calling them little green men.
“Eek!”
Wait, no, not good. This is pretty bad, actually. That woman’s gonna get eaten!
“Furutsu, there’s nothing you can do! You can’t take on three of those tough-looking goblins!” the Tree said.
That may be so, but I still have to try! Increase, my cells! Move! Move! Move! I started to feel the ground shift under me. Good! Prepare yourselves, goblins! Raaaah!
“What? That apple, moving on its own. Why?” one of the goblins asked.
I felt myself rolling and rolling and rolling...
Whaaaaat?! I’m dividing my cells as hard as I can here! I can only roll around a little?
“Wait, the thing that hit my head...” the goblin muttered. “Was it the apple?”
Crap! I just made myself a target!
“Step on it! Splat! Hey, quit rollin’ around!” The goblin chased after me.
Roll Roll Roll...
Ack! I may not get dizzy, but I don’t know what else an apple is supposed to do!
Roll Roll Roll...
“You damn apple! Stop rolling!”
Hey, I’m with you there!
“What you doing? We should eat her,” another goblin called out.
“No! Let go! I-I-I taste horrible!” the woman cried.
Darnn, the other goblins already caught her!
“Right! We eat her, then apple,” the goblin replied.
Stop treating me like a dessert! But what do I do? I only know how to roll!
“Here, your prey. You go first,” one of the goblins said.
Oh, they share? Wait, now’s not the time to be impressed.
“Heh heh, I’ll bite head.”
“Waaaaah?!”
Roll Roll Roll!
Raaaagh! Stop that! Quit it!
Roll Roll Roll Roll!
Aaaaaahhh! Get your dirty hands off of her!
Roll Roll Roll Roll Roll!
Damn it! Is rolling the only thing I can do?!
Just then, I heard the ding of an alarm as a monotonic voice said, “Confirmed the activation of non-muscle-based unknown power source. This will be linked to your power card.”
An unknown power? Linked? Who said that?
I heard another ding and the monotonic voice echoed through my head once more. “Movement using cell division has been placed under your power card. Your limits have been removed and you will receive the greatest growth adjustment possible.”
This voice is coming from the Cards of Fate!
A celebratory fanfare played. “Congratulations. You will receive certain bonuses from discovering a new ability. Please be mindful of your rapidly increasing strength.”
Bonuses? Whoa! My body immediately felt lighter as every cell was rapidly increasing in power. This is amazing! This must be the effect of the power card!
“Furutsu, the little balls you control are gaining a lot of power,” the Tree said, surprised.
Booyah! I feel the power flowing through me! I’ll use this to tackle those goblins and take ’em out in an instant! Let’s goooooo!
Boom!
H-Huh? What happened? I heard a strange sound, felt some kind of impact, and all of a sudden the view was totally different. Where am I? Where are the goblins?
“Furutsu! Below you! Below you!” the Tree shouted.
Below me? Whoa! What happened?!
“You jumped towards the goblins!”
I know. I tried to tackle them.