By the time I came to my senses, I had become Hatake-raune—the Alraune in charge of the fields.
I wondered what on earth had just happened.
Trying to test out the Dryades' Teleportation skill only to end up inside Hatake-raune’s body was quite the shock.
I recalled my conversation with Lady Dryades. If I remembered correctly, she said that the power of Teleportation didn't move one's main body, but rather allowed one to project their spirit into a spirit body.
Since I wasn't a full-fledged spirit, but rather a Half-Spirit who could only function within an Alraune's form, I was limited. Unlike a Dryad, I couldn't separate my consciousness from my ancient tree body to manifest a pure spirit form.
And yet, here I was, actually inside Hatake-raune.
Could it be that I had succeeded in teleporting only my consciousness?
That meant that the rambunctious root I couldn't seem to link with earlier had actually been Hatake-raune all along. It seemed that once her roots and my own finally connected, the Spirit Power allowed the Teleportation skill to trigger.
(Mama entered my body!)
Wait, what was that? A young version of my own voice echoed inside my head!
(We only just said goodbye, so I never expected us to be reunited so soon!)
Only just said goodbye... Could this be Hatake-raune's voice?
(Ding-dong! You got it! Mama suddenly popped into my head, and it gave me quite a surprise.)
It appeared I could hold a conversation inside the mind of the body I had teleported into. Wasn't that actually quite convenient?
At any rate, I apologized for intruding on her body without warning.
(It’s okay! After all, we were originally the same person.)
Though we had a mother-daughter relationship, the Child Alraune inherited not only my memories as a Saint, but even my memories from my days as a Japanese high school girl. In other words, she was a copy of my own consciousness, split off into another being.
Still, for some reason, she insisted on calling me "Mama"...
(How did you get inside me?)
I explained that I had used Teleportation and this was the result.
(I see! So we can finally teleport now!)
"Even so, it seems I can only move my consciousness into a Child Alraune like this," I noted.
(I’m happy even if it’s just your consciousness. Now I can talk to Mama whenever I want!)
She certainly had a point. By using Teleportation, I could now have a chat with any of my Child Alraunes at any time.
Yes, it felt like I might be able to find other uses for this, and I was eager to experiment. For now, I told Hatake-raune I would return to my own body and wished her luck with the vegetable production.
(Okay! Come visit again soon!)
I teleported back to my original body.
When I opened my eyes, the Little Witch's face was right in front of mine. She was peering at me with a deeply worried expression.
"Little Witch? What's wrong?"
"Alraune... you finally responded! Are you okay?"
I was more than okay—I had simply been inside Hatake-raune until a moment ago. Come to think of it, I wondered what this body had been doing while my spirit was away.
"What was I doing just now?"
"You suddenly stopped moving! Don't you remember? No matter how much I called out or touched you, you didn't react at all. I was so worried you had died!"
The Little Witch hugged me tightly. It seemed I had really given her a scare.
While stroking her head with a vine to reassure her, I organized the facts of what had just occurred. Judging from the experience with Hatake-raune, the Teleportation I could currently use was an ability to project my spirit rather than my physical body.
Given that I hadn't been able to move an inch until now, being able to utilize even this form of Teleportation made a world of difference. I would have to borrow a Child Alraune's body for a short time, but that had its own perks, like being able to enjoy a quick chat.
The only real drawback was that I could only move to places where a Child Alraune was already rooted.
However, that was when a new idea struck me.
My Teleportation skill couldn't send my physical body to a distant location. But what if I used my Plant Generation skill to create a secondary physical body in advance, and then used Teleportation to move my consciousness into it?
Before my Half-spiritization, my Plant Generation was only strong enough to grow Alraunes from seeds. I simply lacked the output to sprout a complex Plant Monster like an Alraune directly from my vines.
But now, having absorbed the power of a Dryad, I could perform feats on par with a true spirit. Now that I had surpassed the limits of a Plant Monster, I felt that I could directly produce a Clone Alraune via Plant Generation!
It was time for another experiment.
Instead of producing a seed as I usually did, I focused my Plant Generation to grow an Alraune directly from my root system.
Immediately, I was hit by a sensation of my stored nutrients, light energy, and a significant portion of the Spirit Power from the flower on my head being drained away. I had never consumed this much physical strength so rapidly before.
The energy released from my body condensed into a single point on my roots.
From there, a small Alraune was born. It was a success!
The Little Witch watched in amazement. "An Alraune came out of the ground even though you didn't plant a seed!?"
The newly born Alraune just stood there, bolt upright and silent. It didn't react at all.
It seemed that, unlike the Child Alraunes born from seeds, this Clone Alraune lacked an independent consciousness and did not inherit my memories. With its eyes closed and its body motionless, it was like an empty doll.
Just as the Man-eaters and other plants I produced via Plant Generation didn't move unless I willed it, it seemed I had to operate a Clone Alraune grown from my vines manually.
I concentrated, willing the Clone Alraune to raise its right hand. Then its left. The movements were fluid.
I could operate it remotely, but since I wasn't sharing its vision, I wouldn't be able to use it effectively unless the clone stayed within my line of sight.
For the sake of clarity, I decided on a distinction: those grown from seeds would be Child Alraunes, and the clones produced directly via Plant Generation would be called Avatar Alraunes.
An Avatar Alraune required manual operation and had to stay within my visual range, but it still seemed incredibly useful.
That said, creating just one had exhausted me more than anything ever had. I was completely drained. While I could easily birth several Child Alraunes from seeds in a day, creating an Avatar Alraune via Plant Generation once a day... no, maybe twice at most, was my absolute limit.
Regardless, the preparations were complete.
I projected my spirit through the roots and into the Avatar Alraune.
The clone's eyes snapped open. Looking up, I saw my massive original body staring down at me.
"That's... me!"
This confirmed it. I could teleport into Avatar Alraunes just as easily as I could into Child Alraunes.
By creating a separate body through Plant Generation and then using Teleportation to move my spirit, I had essentially created a doppelganger. It was a version of the Teleportation skill that functioned much like Lady Dryades'.
As long as my roots could reach, I could finally move around freely.
I could finally bid farewell to a life of complete immobility. I had finally obtained a means of traveling through the world using my own power!
Child Alraune: Created from a seed. Possesses its own consciousness and memories.
Avatar Alraune: Grown directly from roots or vines via Plant Generation. Has no independent consciousness or memory; functions like a doll. Can be moved via manual operation.
Next time: A face-to-face meeting with myself.