#bioplant shield

[shieldhero-brainrot]

AU where Naofumi gets the BioPlant shield and its related shields and starts thinking about that long-dead alchemist and their miracle seed. How he was able to make a better miracle seed within eighteen hours of learning about the problem. Sure, it’s because of the shields he unlocked, but they’re his shields. His to use however he sees fit.

And maybe he sees fit to try his hand at some plant alchemy and mad science of his own.

—

He runs his fingers along the edge of his small shield and ponders.

They’re currently traveling to nowhere in particular, weighed down by extra carriages packed to the brim with miracle fruits and potatoes. By Naofumi’s estimates, it’ll feed Filo for a week. Maybe two.

Raphtalia is in the back of the head carriage, reading up on light magic from a grimoire the witch gave them. She’s read it from cover to cover twice over, but even if she finds magic more intuitive than he does she still needs to work at it. And with her motion sickness being a thing of the past (usually), she’s able to read as they travel.

Which leaves him holding Filo’s reins with a lot of time to think. Normally he’d be thinking about what accessories he can make with what he has, if they’re going to need to stop and forage for stuff to compound with, or even that it’s odd being bored with how wild his life’s gotten.

Today he’s not thinking about any of that. He’s thinking about his new shields. He’d unlocked several back in that famine town and their abilities are useful. Intermediate compounding recipes 2, plant appraisal, and plant reform.

Plant reform. Every time he turns it around in his head he can’t help but think about the implications.

His first instinct on getting the BioPlant Shield was to use it on the BioPlant Seeds he picked up. Because that felt like a good thing to try it on, even if he needed the Mandragora Shield’s plant appraisal skill to really know what he was doing.

But the skill isn’t called BioPlant Seed reform. It’s called plant reform. And the mere thought of being able to control the stats of other plants has entertained him for hours already.

It’d keep Filo from eating them destitute, for one thing. He’s come to care deeply for her but with her appetite she might as well be living on a diet of monster meat and silver coins. If he could get her to eat only miracle food that he can make by dropping a seed into the dirt and covering it up, he’d save hundreds of silver.

And he’d be able to make hundreds of silver too. They wouldn’t need three whole carriages to transport all the produce they could sell, he’d be able to create it on-demand. It’d always be fresh and in-stock.

Why stop at produce, actually? He spends hours a day foraging for stuff to compound with. Being able to grow stuff like aelo in a crate of dirt in the back of the carriage whenever he needs it? Or even just miracle plants that have the same properties and react the same way with other ingredients? Game-changing.

He changes his shield to the BioPlant Shield and looks at its stats again. Its defense isn’t anything impressive on its own, not when compared to his Chimera Viper Shield, but its equip bonus has so much potential.

And having a hook as a skill isn’t too bad either. He doesn’t use the one on his Chimera Viper Shield that often, though, and this one doesn’t seem to come with poison. He’ll have to test it out to see if it’s worth his time.

He takes a hold of the fruit he was going to have for lunch and opens its reform menu. Even when it’s not just the seed, he can edit its stats it seems.

It’s as he reads through the stats again that he thinks about the plant monsters that the alchemist’s version could make. Their attacks couldn’t pierce his defense at all, not with Gurihosato Shield’s equip bonus reducing the damage he takes from plants and his already high defense.

They were wild, uncontrolled, and didn’t have much intelligence. But even still, the lesser plant monsters spawned by the original BioPlant were able to coordinate with each other. Their attacks were varied and could be great against hordes of enemies.

And now he’s thinking about how difficult it’d be to train a plant monster. Giving it too much intelligence would be a disaster, obviously, but not giving it enough would mean it wouldn’t be able to learn or understand him.

Hm. He could always experiment. If he keeps their immunity low then it’d be easy to kill any failures off with herbicides and the boost his shield gives them when he uses them would make quick work of them. It already has.

Four to intelligence, five to mutation, and seven to growth? Somewhat smart but not clever enough to try anything underhanded, enough room to mutate into something more than just a plant, and something that will grow quickly but not too big to handle.

Would it be better to have his experiments grow slowly, though? If he raised them from seedlings would that make it easier to teach even the less intelligent ones their place? Having higher plant appraisal doesn’t mean he actually knows what these values will look like until he tries them, even if he does have a better understanding of what each stat means.

What happens if he drops the stats of an already grown plant monster? Would that be a faster way to deal with them than just dumping herbicide on them?

He could always start off with his more profitable ideas and work his way up to instant armies of loyal plant monsters. His failures will be less destructive and will still teach him things while his successes will make them more income.

He tosses the fruit and activates his shield’s hook. Vines shoot out from his Shield and wrap snugly around the fruit, keeping it still even as Filo pulls the carriage quickly over bumps on the road. With a thought, the fruit gets reeled in and he looks closely at it. Either the vines have a very tight grip or the miracle fruits bruise easily. He’ll have to check with a fresh fruit.

“Here, Filo, have a snack.” He takes hold of the bruised fruit in one hand and tosses it forward.

Filo snaps it up without breaking stride. “So yummy! Thanks, master.”

Yeah, he’ll work on making more edible miracle fruit variants first.

[bestfictionalplant]

Bracket reveal

Text version under cut!

The tourney is split into 4 32 brackets, and the winners of each will go to the semi finals! I'll make a different post about HOW the tourney will run, and this will serve as a pinned post for round 1 :)

Bracket 1, Side 1

Peppino (Vampire Survivors) vs Winged Strawberry (Celeste)

Herb (Monster Hunter) vs Triffids (Day of the Triffids)

Gigi (Xiaolin Showdown) vs Silent Princess (The Legend of Zelda)

Breath of Evil (Wings of Fire) vs Thorn Thallid (Magic the Gathering)

Audrey II (Little Shop of Horrors) vs Farewell Flower (Mistborn)

Togemon (Digimon) vs Silverwood Tree (Witch Hat Atelier)

Golden Apple Tree (Greek Mythology) vs Potbelly (My Singing Monsters)

Sculk (Minecraft) vs MocDonald (One Piece)

Bracket 1, Side 2

Vida (The Promised Neverland) vs Glaze Lily (Genshin Impact)

Dr Brewer's Clone (Goosebumps) vs The Spring (Friends at the Table)

Kite Eating Tree (Peanuts) vs Zotoh Zhaan (Farscape)

Wheel Tree (His Dark Materials) vs Mushtree (I Was a Teenage Exocolonist)

Medusoid Mycelium (A Series of Unfortunate Events) vs Radial (Ooblets)

Chikorita (Pokemon) vs Blast Cone (League of Legends)

Gooloog (AAAHH!!! Real Monsters) vs Venus (Bug Fables)

The Thorian (Mass Effect) vs Yggdrasil (Norse Mythology)

Bracket 2, Side 1

Deku Tree (The Legend of Zelda) vs Blood Blossoms (Danny Phantom)

Hotblonde37159 (Angel: The Series) vs Vash the Stampede (Trigun)

Kinoko (Don't Hurt Me, My Healer) vs Wolfsbane (The Vampire Diaries)

Plant (Monster Rancher) vs Flower of Life (Mesopotamian Mythology)

Truffula Tree (The Lorax) vs Slurperon Enchantress (Internet Scam)

The Brain Tree (Neopets) vs Ginseng Baby (Scarlet Hollow)

Chompy (Bug Fables) vs Whispy Woods (Kirby)

Clavu (Overlord) vs Ivern (League of Legends)

Bracket 2, Side 2

Bulbasaur (Pokemon) vs The Trees of Valinor (Lord of the Rings)

Leslie (The Amazing World of Gumball) vs Hayzee Dayzee (Paper Mario)

Piranha Plant (Mario) vs Specimen 34/The Blessed Eternal (Wolf 359)

Potted Plant (Wander Over Yonder) vs Morbuzakh (Bionicle)

Jabe & the Trees of Cheem (Doctor Who) vs Black Mercy (DC)

Mr Plant (The World of Mr Plant) vs Feculant Gnarlmaw (Warhammer 40k)

Tree Rex (Skylanders) vs Flowey (Undertale)

Sundrop Flower (Tangled) vs Venus McFlytrap (Monster High)

Bracket 3, Side 1

Pinchley (Long Gone Gulch) vs Frank the Plant (Harley Quinn: the Animated Series)

The Venus (Hello From the Hallowoods) vs Nirnroot (The Elder Scrolls)

Food Fight (Skylanders) vs Paopu Fruit (Kingdom Hearts)

Phillogenous esk Piemondum (Rod Albright Alien Adventures) vs Plant (Wall E)

Tannot Root (Farscape) vs The Broccoloids (The Powerpuff Girls)

Rockbud (The Stormlight Archive) vs Sylvan Hound (Guild Wars 2)

Eldridge Johnson-Mayer (The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy) vs Hyacinth/Hyacinthus (Greek Mythology)

Selas Flower (Kingkiller Chronicle) vs Treant (Disgaea)

Bracket 3, Side 2

Dragonflame Cacti (Wings of Fire) vs Sunflower (Plants vs Zombies)

The Bioplant (The Rising of the Shield Hero) vs Turnip Boy (Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion)

Shambling Mound (Dungeons and Dragons) vs Mandrake (Shin Megami Tensei/Persona)

Cowplant (The Sims) vs Ebony Queen's Apple (Limbus Company)

Devil Fruits (One Piece) vs Donkey-Cabbage (Enchanted Forest Chronicles)

Oaktopus (My Singing Monsters) vs Field Dungeon (Rune Factory 4)

Mushroom Tree (Stardew Valley) vs Jumpkin (Cassette Beasts)

Undergrowth (Danny Phantom) vs Karzahni (Bionicle)

Bracket 4, Side 1

Dreamstalk (Kirby) vs Myconid (Balders Gate 3)

Stingbulb (Fablehaven) vs Treebeard (Lord of the Rings)

Stray Cat (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) vs Peashooter (Plants vs Zombies)

Giant Turnip (Codename: Kids Next Door) vs Treasure Mushroom (Guild Wars 2)

Tree of Wisdom (Sonic the Hedgehog) vs Fire Flower (Mario)

Stump (The Angry Beavers) vs Groot (Marvel)

Maise (Oneshot) vs Konohana Tree (Okami)

Red Weed (War of the Worlds) vs Pod Plant (Fortnite)

Bracket 4, Side 2

Plantera (Terraria) vs The Grass Snake (Friends at the Table)

Breathweed (Warhammer 40k) vs Campestri (Dungeons and Dragons)

Neo Alraune (Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle) vs Kringlefucker (Homestuck)

Slimefoot the Stowaway (Magic: The Gathering) vs Gatfruit Tree (Space Station 13/14)

Sex Pollen Plant (Fanfiction) vs The Rumor Weed (VeggieTales: Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed)

Dr Madley Radish (Papa Louie) vs Vervain (The Vampire Diaries)

Yatevon (OCTAHEDRON: Transfixed Edition) vs Echo Flower (Undertale)

Wither Rose (Minecraft) vs Hydramon (Digimon)

[shieldhero-brainrot]

I just think it’s neat.

[bestfictionalplant]

Round 1, Group 6

Propaganda and spoilers under cut

The Bioplant:

The BioPlant was created by an evil alchemist who was obsessed with BioPlant research. However, based on a warning left by the alchemist, it seems that he eventually gave up. The alchemist then sealed up the plant at his base, the alchemist's cave, with a powerful golem defending it and a warning sign for those who were looking to take the seed. Motoyasu, the sword hero (and an idiot) didn't notice the warning and gave the "Miracle Seed" to the villagers of Lerno Village, who were experiencing a famine. The flower spring from the seed mutated into a bunch of powerful and intelligent monsters, and as per usual, Naofumi, the Shield Hero, had the clean up the other heros' mess. He sells the villagers a weed killer and takes a commission to rid the town on the invasive plants. He kills the main BioPlant which destroys all of the invasive offspring. He then absorbs the remains which give him plant modification abilities. He then modifies the Bioplant to be a viable cross amid a famine and starts selling the seeds and produce.

Turnip Boy: He evades his taxes, robs banks, and commits various other crimes while looking adorable :)

[bestfictionalplant]

Round 1, Group 6 results

Dragonflame Cacti (Wings of Fire) vs Sunflower (Plants vs Zombies)

The Bioplant (The Rising of the Shield Hero) vs Turnip Boy (Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion)

Shambling Mound (Dungeons and Dragons) vs Mandrake (Shin Megami Tensei/Persona)

Cowplant (The Sims) vs Ebony Queen's Apple (Limbus Company)

Devil Fruits (One Piece) vs Donkey-Cabbage (Enchanted Forest Chronicles)

Oaktopus (My Singing Monsters) vs Field Dungeon (Rune Factory 4)

Mushroom Tree (Stardew Valley) vs Jumpkin (Cassette Beasts)

Undergrowth (Danny Phantom) vs Karzahni (Bionicle)

Round 2 Bracket

Sunflower v Turnip Boy

Shambling Mound v Cowplant

Devil Fruits v Field Dungeon

Jumpkin v Karzahni

Group 7 polls coming tomorrow (3/3)