Reincarnated as a Dryad: Reclaiming the World from Humans

The sun was setting in the distance. It slightly orange rays were shining down on mountains, on trees. The rays couldn't reach all the way inside of caves, specifically the one where, a man with greenish was pressing his forehead on the ground in front a woman.

Sylvan closed his eyes. He needed her to say yes. He needed power.

Nyx exhaled softly and looked away from Sylvan. She stared at the cave's entrance, playing with the shadows she could see, thinking of how this might play out, whether it was worth it.

"No."

Sylvan's heart skipped a beat as her words hit him like a hammer. The floor felt colder. He tried again.

"I'll do whatever it takes!"

She turned to face him.

"A child would know what you're planning to do," she said and paused.

Sylvan kept his head down. The smart thing to do was to lie, to tell her he'll get over it. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. His dad lied to his mom countless times until it broke them apart.

"The humans will retaliate. You'll only bring destruction to my," Nyx smiled sadly, "my home."

The two stood in silence for a moment, eac

h lost in their own thoughts. Sylvan lifted his head and saw the sadness in Nyx eyes.

"I don't have a home anymore, Nyx", his voice barely louder than a whisper.

He got up. He was familiar with games where you had to level up, this was no different right? All he needed was to get a higher level than his enemies.

"Thank you for stopping me earlier," Sylvan said and he meant it. Maybe he can actually kill zack if he leveled up.

He turned to walk but Nyx appeared in front of him before he could even take a step.

"I already told you not to interfere with those humans."

Sylvan walked past.

"Then kill me. Either way my brother won't be coming back," he said, feeling the cold chill of the cave air on his skin.

The sunlight was still bright enough. Insects still buzzed. Birds flew around. The trees rustled in the breeze.

Sylvan looked around. He was completely lost, surrounded by unfamiliar territory. He walked around in search of slimes. The bushes rustled. He thought he had found one but it was only a bunny. The bunny's eyes widened and it sprinted away.

Sylvan opened his status and read them again.

"1000 exp is 10 slimes... I can do this," he mumbled to himself.

A branch snapped behind Sylvan and he instinctively jumped back. His muscles tensed.

A black and grey wolf came out. It was larger than the wolves from Earth; they were as big as a lion. Looking at the wolf, the appraisal spell activated.

─NAME: GREY WOLF

─RACE: WOLF

─AGE: 2

─LEVEL: 4

─SKILLS: Bite (Level 4)

Sylvan realized he had never actually fought off a wolf before. The closest thing were the stray dogs when he came home late but even those ran away when Sylvan barked back at them.

"I can do this. Just wrap a vine around it," Sylvan whispered to himself as the wolf slowly walked towards him. Its fangs showing.

A vine sprouted from his hand and flew towards the wolf.

The grey wolf dodged to the left.

Another vine was summoned but it was too slow.

The wolf bit into Sylvan's right arm, its canine piercing into Sylvan's greenish skin.

Sylvan felt the fangs pierce his muscle. He looked down and saw the fangs go through and out of the other side. Green blood was oozing. He felt nauseated just looking at it. The pain was searing through his arm like liquid fire.

He instinctively punched the wolf, trying to get it off him. But the wolf didn't let go, it just gnawed harder, shaking his head left and right. Sylvan's right arm felt weaker and weaker with each passing second.

Dizziness started to creep in.

Sylvan tried to use his vines again, but he felt he wasn't in control anymore. The vine didn't go where he wanted. The wolf was trying to tear his arm off.

"Please work."

The vine finally came out of his left wrist, and it flew towards the wolf. He managed to wrap it around its neck.

"I'll kill you!" Sylvan yelled as he squeezed its neck with one hand, the other felt useless.

The wolf whimpered and thrashed. But Sylvan wouldn't let it escape, he kept squeezing until he heard a pop. He had broken the wolf's neck.

─SKILL LEVEL UP: Vine summon (Lvl 3)

Sylvan fell back on the ground, panting and exhausted. He puked. A greenish liquid that smelled like orange juice mixed with dirt. He felt the stench get into his nose and made him gag even more.

─LEVEL UP!

─LEVEL: 3

He was glad to level up.

The pain in his right arm started to lessen. His breathing became more steady and he sat up, examining his wound. His green blood oozed out from the open wounds where the wolf had pierced him but it was healing over itself. He could feel the holes closing up.

The wolf laid dead on the floor, its tongue lolling out of its mouth like a pink snake. The wolf's chest was dyed green. Sylvan blood splattered on it. After a few seconds, small plants sprouted in the places where the blood was.

Sylvan looked at those little plants and it hit him. A way to spread nature.

"Killing Zack is spreading nature, and It's my task to spread nature," Sylvan thought, feeling better about his revenge. God is on his side.

He stare down at his hands for a moment before looking at the wolves corpse again. A skill he wanted to use but couldn't in the heat of battle.

"Treeify," Sylvan muttered and put his right hand on the wolf's corpse. The corpse twisted, limbs stretching into branches. Fur grew out and morphed into leaves and vines, the body itself becoming thicker and thicker until it was the size of an oak tree with gnarled roots and twisting branches. The whole process was quite gruesome to watch, as the wolf's body contorted and shifted in ways that shouldn't have been possible, yet somehow Sylvan found it satisfying. As if he had created something beautiful from death.

─ SKILL LEVEL UP! Treeify (Lvl 2)

"I thought it'd turn into a tree wolf or something."

The tree stood still like any other. But he could feel it. He knew it was connected to him, he could feel the magic coursing through his veins, down to his foot, into the ground then to the tree. A connection that went both ways. He felt as if this new tree was a part of him, an extension of himself.

His shadow faded as the sun went down. Darkness fell.

Sylvan rubbed the back of his head.

"This is pretty scary. I don't know anything about this place and I can barely see," Sylvan muttered to himself as he put his back against his tree. He closed his eyes and opened them when he heard rustling.

Sylvan gaze darted around.

"Nyx? Is that you?"

He saw a shadow move out from the corner of his eyes.

"Why wait till now? You could've helped me earlier..." His hand gripped the tree.

Two blue lights shone in front of him. They glowed in a ghostly way, like will o' wisps. The thing crawled forward. Its chitinous limbs clacking on the ground. A spider the size of a small house emerged from the shadows, its eight legs moving in an eerie unison as it made its way towards Sylvan.

─NAME: ???

─AFFINITY: ???

─LEVEL: ???

─SKILLS: ??? (level higher than Appraiser)

Sylva gulped. He looked at his own shadow. It wasn't Nyx's magic. His shadow morphed into tentacles and wrapped around his neck. They tightened. A cruel joke.

He tried to summon vines from his hands, but they were weak, too slow. The shadow tendrils tightened their grip around Sylvan's throat, cutting off his air supply. The world around him started to fade away into darkness.

Then he heard it.