《The Forest Emperor》


 Chapter one: Introduction

    Long story short. Some kind of event occurred. An alien invasion, magical object destroyed or activated. Maybe I was transferred to another universe. Whatever the case may be, I''ve been killed multiple times.


    Although not much is noticeable at first. Eventually you get these gaps in your memory. For example, I don¡®t remember when I turned sixteen or seventeen anymore.


    But I am hundred percent sure that I am nineteen, as far as I can remember at least. Maybe eighty percent sure.


    As strange as all these things are. It got even weirder. I''ve named the day that these things happened the launch date, because honestly, this feels like a game.


    I get skills for doing repetitive random but specific actions and skill points which I can¡¯t actively use. I get experience for killing random animals.


    All that aside, the reason I am transcribing this, is because I found a function within the system that allows me to record my thoughts and general senses. Sounds very strange, doesn''t it? But it is just the tip of the iceberg.


    Now with the introduction over, Let¡¯s move on.


    I can forget my abilities. Even passive ones. They get some kind of reduction but stay hidden. Or so it says, I can¡¯t remember if I forgot any ability.


    Upside of course is that now I can describe how I unlocked them in the first place and repeat the actions and reclaim them.


    Because it is so easy to transcribe everything I do. I try to keep it on all the time. It will increase useless information, but at the same time allow me to keep everything of importance, should I unexpectedly die again.


    I¡¯ll try to edit out some of the useless stuff, if I can be bothered. And if the script suddenly stops, assume I forgot how to record. Or just left it off. Or I¡¯m dead. Though I¡¯m not sure if I even can permanently die, maybe I will forget everything to the point of becoming an exceptionally smart monkey.


    Huhu! Now with all that out the way, let¡¯s try and familiarize ourselves with our surroundings. and by ourselves. I mean me and me and future me.


    I got a sweet operation going on right now. Everything started working better after I stopped looking for and joining other groups of people. They just lead me to my death one way or the other.


    Unintentionally, I''m sure, can¡¯t really remember. But regardless, I am doing far better on my own. There are three rivers in the immediate surroundings. Each running into a lake that then drains into a large river. Probably leading to an ocean somewhere.


    I am currently inside a giant tree, haven¡®t measured it yet. Because honestly, why would I bother? You understand right? Ah, but the point is, I¡¯m safe.


    First when I found this tree, there was a giant slithering snake just sleeping in it, completely black. I managed to kill it with a not so sharp stick. So don¡®t consider this as too much of a game. I mean what game has sleeping mobs that can be killed by stick? Rest in peace, snake. Death by stick.


    This snake didn¡¯t wake up when I first crawled up. It also didn¡¯t wake up when I climbed on top of it, and not when I struck it with my pointed stick. At that point I hadn¡¯t realized it was actually a giant creature. It¡¯s breathing is very slow so only when I confirmed it was still alive that I began finding ways to kill it.


    Granted I went above and beyond to make sure the pressure I applied along with the stick was enormous. But still, it felt like a low level character killing a boss. Now, here is where the game aspect comes back into play.


    It actually dropped items. Well items? It was a lot of leather and what I assume, I hope was snake meat. At first I was very excited. But came down quickly when I realized I wasn''t some kind of leather worker.


    I managed to weave? Uhm, I strapped the leather around a concave bit of the tree, I¡¯m calling it a hole, making it completely black and somewhat undetectable, I hope.


    Always remember this place! The first and hopefully not the last place that I managed to get some sound sleep without the fear of dying. Though the fear of has already been turned into a giant nuisance rather than a despairing event.


    Note, the creature didn''t despawn like the corpses of the people I grouped up with in the past. Actually you should have known this already but I¡¯m not sure what is worth mentioning at this point.


    Alright so we got a treehouse, and one of the best parts about it, the system offers a way to create ways to get up and down. There are a lot of vines, incredibly sturdy and flexible vines, cascading from the trees.


    First time I climbed this gift from the god¡¯s tree, it took the better part of a day. Mostly because I¡¯m not an expert climber but also because it is like a billion meters tall. I¡¯m joking obviously but still, it''s big.


    No creature tries to get near the tree. Or so I assume, seeing as this tree is the only place without any creatures attacking everything in sight.


    Alright. Now the pulleys. Getting up and down isn¡¯t extremely quick but it is reliable. Especially when I need to carry things up and down.


    It takes some effort. I pull on one end and a mechanism, which again, the system supplies. This mechanism lets me pull myself slowly, up and down.


    Right. I''ve been living here for about three months now. Setting up all these things took about two months, I am satisfied with the status at the moment. I¡®m able to hunt, gather experience and train skills.


    Now onto some important stuff, my skills. Our skills I mean. Mhm. We got three skills, one is |Rapid hand movement| It looks like a slight of hand magic trick, and was my life saving skill early on.


    We got that by, well. Anyway. Fantastic isn''t it? Well what can I say? Even when life gets turned upside down. There is always time. If there isn''t, we make it.


    You can use this skill to throw pretty much anything at an incredible speed or kind of stab things really fast. But that''s about it. And I have to be able to lift it of course.


    The second skill is a passive, got that mid climbing this treasure of a tree. It is some kind of basic strength boost, alongside dexterity.


    It has no name, oddly, just the text saying |increased strength and dexterity| and to be honest, that feels very lazy. But it makes sense.


    Whatever. So if we end up forgetting that one, just climb the tree a few times for good measure, I''ve started to do some basic physical exercises, and it slowly improves the passive skill.


    I am pretty sure that we could do various exercises to increase other stats, but I can¡®t see what kind of stats we have. So it¡®s all guess work. Oh and every time a skill improves it takes away skill points. Skill points are a bit tricky and all I got is speculation.


    Third skill, also a passive. Not hundred percent sure how I got it, but I was working with the vines and the snake skin a lot during that period, and from its name and description.


    It¡®s called |gentle hands| and all it does is streamline my work on the leather and vines, as well as general spear making.


    That''s our main weapon by the way. Wooden spears, the wood from this tree cannot be underestimated. A few centimeters thick branch can hold up my weight.


    Good. All that is out of the way. Let¡¯s throw out some warnings, do not help people. Do not get close to people and for the love of god. Never wander too far from the tree of life.


    That being said, I did find a skill book, of course I stashed in a newly created, hidden compartment, located on the inside of the tree ¡±house hole.¡± Just tap the insides until you find it, it will be under the floor. If you have something sharp, you can just stab the floor a few times, it will eventually pop out.


    Now this skill book, it is nothing like you¡®d see in a game. Well it¡®s a lot like what you¡®d see in a game. But! You can¡®t just read and boom, get the skill. I''ve read it seven times now. And every time it gets translated a bit.


    I estimate like twenty to thirty-ish times more until it gets fully translated. The translated part so far is just some odd movements with the hands.


    I can¡¯t find any indication as to what the skill is supposed to be, but the first part that got translated was literally ¡°skill book¡±.


    If I hadn''t continued reading the gibberish, I would have thought it was useless. Of course the real reason I read it initially was the drain I felt when I did it. I can¡¯t explain when I think about it, it was like intuition, I felt I knew I had to read it. Forget it.


    Okay that¡¯s about it for now. So. Uhm, bye? Not really turning it off or anything but I don¡¯t have anything else to say. Okay.


    Hey just a note. Letting you know I removed a few days of nothing. Time is getting irrelevant at this point but for good measure I¡¯ll mention it has been thirteen days since I added anything to the log.


    This really feels like I''ve just been talking to myself, but it¡®s not like it is a huge burden on me. I''ve been extending my quote unquote bridges further out. To what I assume is south. Towards the lake. It¡®s not hard, just time consuming.


    I feel safer whilst above everything else. And these trees are way too large and I swear to god I''ve seen them move.


    I might just be going insane, which wouldn''t surprise me either, after watching people die over and over again.


    I won¡®t go into detail but some of it was gruesome, also, some people have done things that make you wonder if they were still human. Well different strokes and all that.


    I got a view over the lake now. A lot of wildlife-esque monsters roam around there to and from the water reserves. They often fight.


    The main part is that there are sometimes humans that come here and have started carving a tiny aqueduct.


    I think they got some kind of settlement not too far away.


    It¡®s been mostly pale faced men and women. Sometimes even children. They often get killed by the various creatures in this forest.


    So from my perspective, that settlement can¡®t be anything good, I mean who sends weak people to their death to dig a ditch?


    I assume someone strong has taken people in and forces them under their control by one or many means.


    Maybe it¡®s just paranoia though. Maybe they just figure, if they die, they respawn and no harm done. But from where I''m looking, they don¡®t look happy about the situation.


    A lot of crying, sobbing and of course the classic screaming in terror. Let¡¯s not dwell on only the bad things.


    I''ve become very self-sustaining and even if I say so myself, fairly strong. Also the book is in its last stage of translation. Which I''m very excited about.


    If it wasn''t taxing on the mind, I¡¯d probably have done ages ago.


    Right now I can see some shadows and noises coming from the left hand side of the lake.


    As they come into my field of vision, I can see they are the usual frail looking humans that are scared out of their wits.


    They got basic tools, a pickaxe, shovel and for some reason a saw along with a hammer. I¡¯d kill for these. They even got nails.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    There are about eight of them. This time it¡®s a bit different. There are two large built men with iron poles or something. Shitty spears from what I can see.


    They look vigilant, combing through the area. Most likely there to protect the usually defenseless cannon fodder.


    As soon as they get close to where the ditch ends, which is like ten-ish so meters away from the lake. They start working.


    Nothing special happened so far. I¡¯m going to make my way over to them, via my bridges.


    They aren''t exactly ideal for fast travel but are sturdy and almost indistinguishable from the other vines and leaves.


    It¡¯s worth mentioning that I got a new skill, another passive, I''m not sure why it¡®s only passives.


    But it¡®s not like a normal passive, it just gets activated when I intend to sneak around. Something aching to hiding my presence.


    Got it whilst I was diligently hunting things while sneaking around.


    Oh my rapid hand movement leveled up as well. Beautifully while I reached the heavens.


    I can hear them talk and grunting while working. The other people took shifts digging up the ditch, still not sure what the saw and hammer is for.


    ¡°Can¡®t believe we have to come out here to protect these pieces of trash¡°.


    A man with scars on his hands is speaking to another man in a low voice. Low enough so their workers wouldn''t hear them.


    Luckily I¡¯m right above them.


    The other man glances at him, then resumes his staring into the forest.


    ?The boss was getting impatient with all the deaths, takes too long to walk over here and he has to get ?volunteers¡° every time. Also he wants us to take care of that bastard¡±.


    He¡¯s smirking and looking at a young woman, who¡¯s shuffling dirt from the ditch.


    Laughing, the man with scars on his hands follows his comrade¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°The boss is too evil, keeping all the good things to himself¡±.


    The operation looks to be almost finished.


    The last part of the ditch was shallow compared to the other end, which is probably what took them so long.


    Finally I got a better view of the other man. Big ears and small eyes, how can a man be this ugly? He has a strange hue around his hands and eyes.


    Most likely some skills. I''m not jealous, I don¡®t need glowing things at all. Okay fine, why don¡®t any of my skills glow?


    When I looked closer I see mister scarred hands has something similar around his feet. Both are barely visible.


    If my skill book didn''t give me a similar feeling, I doubt I¡¯d even notice.


    The water finally starts flowing. It¡®s a very small stream but probably more than enough. Not sure where it leads. Guess I¡¯ll have to follow them back.


    Oh, the two men glance at each other and nod. They start rushing towards the workers.


    I can hear a small vibrating sound coming from the iron pole, he smashes it into the man that looks to be in his late thirties.


    He flies into a nearby tree and is either dead or unconscious. I¡¯ll keep watching them.


    The other people start screaming and the girl falls to her knees and starts crying. The men continue to kill everyone aside from the girl.


    After a few moments they finished killing the rest of the group. A giant smile plastered on their faces as they walk towards the girl.


    ¡°wouldn''t it be a waste not to at least have a taste before we go back?¡±


    The man too ugly to safely describe is the one talking. His eyes never leave the girl. She is still sobbing on what I assume now is a corpse. Maybe her father?


    She looks up with a terrified expression, realizing what has occurred. She opens her mouth to speak but quickly closes it, looks around and starts sprinting into the forest.


    I would feel shocked, except I''ve seen so much worse. I''d honestly be thankful to forget.


    I start following behind her. The pathways help, luckily she is running along it. Going deeper into the forest. A bit coincidental.


    The men who were originally laughing, put up a serious expression and start rushing after the damsel, captain ugly is far faster.


    Probably his skill doing most of the work. It doesn''t look like she¡®ll be able to run too far.


    After a quick chase that lasted about four minutes, the girl finally falls down.


    Laughing like a true villain, commander-and-chief ugly, stands over her with a malicious smile.


    ¡°Nowhere left to run princess.¡±


    Scarhand is trying to sound menacing but his frantic panting is ruining his demeanor.


    ¡°Bitch, I was going to be gentle, now I''m going to come at you like a truck. Soon you¡¯ll be begging us to kill you.¡±


    Ohohoho, that was scary. I know I said don¡¯t help people. But those were guidelines, not rules. Whatever, I don¡¯t need to explain myself, to myself.


    I bring up one of my spears and throw it with decent precision, piercing right through senior ugly. Blood and brain matter is scattering onto the tree.


    The spear didn''t even leave his head, he just got nailed to the tree behind the girl.


    With a shocked expression scar hands looks up before a different spear hits him in the chest, nailing him to the ground.


    I''ve got to say so myself, rapid hand movement, once upgraded, is pretty strong, this is also partially due to my wooden spears, they are very light but exceedingly resilient.


    ¡°Hey, girl¡°.


    I¡¯m trying to grab her attention, she¡®s just lying there tears in her eyes, no life in them. I don¡®t think she even noticed the two dead men. Is she in shock?


    ¡°Hey, hey! Can you hear me? This is your conscious speaking.¡±


    The girl finally wakes up from her daze, looking around trying to locate where I am. Sadly my new stealth skill and elevated position, keep me well out of sight.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    Oh, she can speak after all! A miracle, back from the dead and everything.


    Although I said to stay away from people, it still gets very boring being alone, which is one of the reasons for the unreasonable amount of vine bridges across the forest.


    ¡°?I am the operating system in your virtual game, there has been a bug in the system which doesn''t allow people to log out. I''ve come to help you log out, if you so wish.¡±


    I might have a horrible sense of humor, this is the best entertainment I''ve had for months now.


    ¡°Please let me log out!¡±


    She is repeatedly yelling, log me out.


    I feel bad now, I didn''t think she¡®d buy that.


    ¡°Uhm, sorry that was a bad joke.¡±


    I really am trash.


    ¡°I''m hiding up here. I killed the two men you can go back from where you came now.¡°


    Ahhh, she starts crying again.


    This isn''t good. I swore to not get involved with people anymore. There shouldn¡¯t be a problem with picking up one pet, right?


    ¡°Okay, okay. I''m sorry, look. I¡®ll help you out. Want something to eat? ¡°


    She stopped crying for a moment, nodding. Still trying to find out where I am.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to throw down a rope, well a vine¡°.


    She watches the dark green vine land on the ground and looks looking up.


    I wave at her. I¡®m still five or six meters up the tree. Squinting her eyes, I see a small spark in her eyes when she sees me.


    When she finally managed to get up, into the kingdom of green. She just stares at me.


    ¡°I got some food back in the motherland, follow me¡°.


    She is not saying anything and just follows me, staring at me like I¡¯m some kind of circus act. Rude.


    Finally we arrive at my humble abode, I gesture her to sit down. I grab one of the animals I hunted in the last few days, already skinned mind you. Gotta keep polishing those skills.


    I''ve got a lot of animal skins now, they¡¯re all either strung up or lying on the relatively spacious floor of the tree that I''ve managed to slowly even out.


    Incredibly strong wood. But still pliable.


    She sat down on the only chair I have at the moment, which is fine, I just waddle over to the place where I cook things, and it¡¯s a bowl sitting on a stone.


    I put some dry grass and wood under it and lit up with my rapid hand movement. I¡®m telling you, that skill is universal.


    A few minutes later of intense silence I handed her the whole pot and a homemade wooden spoon.


    ¡°You don¡®t talk a lot do you? Where did you all come from? ¡°


    She is eating like a true champion, it¡®s just water, some random plants I''ve gathered and meat from a flying creature.


    I¡®ll be honest, it¡®s a bird but I could never name it. Who the hell knows bird names anyway? It tastes good, that''s all we need to know. Remarkably easy to catch as well.


    She eventually looks up, not at me however.


    ¡°There is a small village of around two hundred survivors. It¡®s controlled by a man, Kaleki. A lot of the people have nowhere else to go.¡±


    I don¡¯t know why but she suddenly paused. took another tiny sip from the bowl.


    ¡°A few people cleared out a small village, there were very few monsters in that area.¡±


    After this she continued eating. I nodded, as if I was deep in thought.


    It was probably like I thought. Some tyrant with strength above the rest, living as he pleased.


    ¡°Do you have any friends or people in that group?¡°


    I have to ask, I am sure as hell not helping more people. Praying she won¡®t ask me to help them.


    It¡¯s easy to say I don¡¯t want to involve myself with people. But to actually do so is difficult.


    ¡°No.¡°


    Well that was clear cut and straight to the point.


    ¡°The only one I knew was my father, they killed him earlier and then came after me.¡±


    She stopped for a moment then looked up.


    ¡°My dad was one of the people that cleared that village, but there were some fighting over who would be in charge, and how to lead the people.¡°


    After another spoonful she continued.


    ¡°The biggest faction, the strongest faction I mean, was sending people to dig a ditch for a water supply and they forced anyone that couldn''t say no.


    I volunteered instead of a young girl, and my dad followed me. Which is why they sent guards with us this time.


    Thinking about it now, it seems they just wanted to get rid of my dad.¡°


    Hmm this girl was a lot more level minded than I thought, earlier she gave an impression of a defenseless princess. The shock of her father¡¯s death might have helped her in that regard.


    ¡°I see. Well he¡®ll respawn, not sure where. But he¡®ll re-spawn.¡±


    I¡®ve seen people that have died too often or too horrifically that they are more like the living dead than anything else.


    Only knowing their name and nothing else. Not even how to speak. Which is my main reason to not die.


    After a bit of hesitation I tell her she can stay here until she finds somewhere else to go.


    Afterwards I go back to my skill book, there are only two pages left. I can still make no sense of the jumbled up letters in any way at all.


    I get a faint headache every time I read it. But who can give up on a skill? Huhuhu this gonna be good!


    Finally finishing the book, nothing happened. What in the name of my heavenly forbidden tree of everlasting bounty is this fucking bullshit! This can¡®t be real.


    The only thing that happened was that the movements got imprinted into mind. I lost like one fourth of my skill points as well, but got no skill! Injustice! This game is bugged, hundred percent, bugged.


    Ahhh, okay. After calming down a bit, I figure I may as well follow the hand movements. Sitting down cross legged and closing my eyes, like the book instructs, I start moving my hands in a smooth manner.


    Gentle hands must be helping me. I did it a few times but nothing happened, I faintly felt like something was building up but got too tired.


    The girl went to sleep as soon as she finished eating. Snuggled comfortably under a few leather scraps. I¡®ll continue with the book later.


    Things might get a bit more interesting with the new arrival on the planet tree. Or most likely, not. Heading to sleep.


    Alright, it¡®s been a few four days now, this woman is like a wall. She just barely responds to anything I ask and aside from that there comes nothing out of her.


    So, not much has changed, she did get cleaned up though. Got to say, it might be the complete lack of women around but she is exceedingly beautiful. Like a dead fish, but pretty.


    The spank bank has grown, the deserted area around the river isn¡®t as deserted as she thought it was, heheh. What? Don''t judge me, you¡®d do the same thing. You are me!


    Look. I saved her right? What she doesn''t know, doesn''t hurt her. Ugh. You¡®re laying the guilt pretty heavily.


    Whatever! Let¡¯s continue this monotonous hand exercise, I get a feeling something has been building up and about to complete!


    I just came out of the continuous exercise, slipped out of the trance and I can feel a sort of vibration. No glow, but a new skill! Another passive, this one is very impressive though.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You touched upon the nature of the world while in deep meditation. After meditating in isolation, away from worldly things.


    You can now absorb a minuscule, infinitesimal, very, very, very small amount of nature¡®s energy.


    This energy will align you further with plants and trees.


    Only because of your excessive love of trees and flora of a forest region, have you deviated from the lesser form of energy and gone into specialization.


    This will allow you to adapt to almost any natural environment and furthermore, slowly increase every aspect of your physical and mental self.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    And holy shit. The description, best so far without a doubt. I can now feel the breath of the all-knowing tree. There is sentience in the tree.


    And it is beaming with pride. I can feel the strong sensation from the cosmic tree.


    The girl is out hunting, I''ve shown her the ropes. Taught her how to gain the stealth skill. She is still working on it, but she¡®s been hunting.


    I told her how to get the rapid hand movement, but she just looked at me with disgust.


    Probably shouldn''t have been one of the first things I told her about abilities, it would have been better to keep that to myself. I, in all my glory and wisdom, reflect upon my actions.


    With a nod I sit back down and continue meditating the mantra of the ever loving tree, which is what I just now, named it.


    Anything else? Hmm. Hunting has been the same, I haven''t leveled anything in a while. Lost ninety percent of my skill points left after achieving my new skill. Only got two, now.


    I think it¡®s time to hunt something more dangerous than critters for food. I''m fairly strong, but who¡¯s to say there isn''t a terrifying person out there, growing in strength spouting his own personal demagogue.


    Not that I¡¯d fight him for any righteous reason. I simply will not allow anyone to tread upon my fantasy kingdom, the land of the true royalty of trees.


    I need to expand my territory. Oh right. Got to ask the girl what she plans to do from now on. She¡®s been awfully quiet since I parted with my wisdom of the great loving mother that is my tree.


    Alright, just edited bits and pieces out. It¡®s been two weeks since the chick joined the tree gang. She¡®s got her stealth up, she created a whip kind of weapon out of spiky tree branches and vines.


    I¡®m impressed. I still recommend the spear to her. But she says it doesn¡¯t work for her.


    However, it dawns on me now, I still don¡®t know her name. Actually I haven¡®t even introduced myself aside from my official title, the great son of the tree.


    Doesn''t matter. There are no names in my goddess¡¯s kingdom. I''ve managed to level up my ¡°nature affinity¡° in case I forgot to mention its name.


    Also rapid hand movement has been leveled up as well. It glows a bit now when used.


    I''ve done some methodical theory-crafting and come to the conclusion that skills level up faster when they are not activated rather than just being repeated over and over again.


    So Rapid hand movement level up faster if I just mimic the actions and do not actively use it. But this is just a theory.


    Which kind of sucks but what are you going to do? Can¡¯t say I¡¯m entirely sure how things even level or progress.


    I''ve gotten ridiculously light on my feet. I can jump a few meters between tree branches or just kind of glide along vines that have been tethered down.


    At first I thought I was just becoming this much stronger. But after seeing that I easily stand on the thinnest tree branches or vines, I figured I got lighter somehow.


    My expansion has increased at an exponential rate, I managed to reach the south exit of the forest.


    I have a decent view over the natives that live in that village nearby. It seems we humans have devolved into a hunter gatherer society.


    Who knows? A few years and we''ll talk about ancient technology like electricity. Doubt it, but that would be a shitty conversation.


    The settlement looks nothing like I expected it to be. It¡®s fairly lively and they have massive sized walls around a stocky perimeter.


    I can see the water flow from the ditch into a waterway made of wood. There must have been a fair bit of trees cut down to build it, and the wall.


    But that¡®s not a crime. As long as they stay on their turf, it¡®s all good.


    Ah, but like I said, the village looks pretty good, none of those desperate starving people from the past. Their people must be good hunters or their fairly large farm is doing some great work.


    The earlier sacrifices seem to have been worth it. There looks to be a bit more than two hundred people now.


    Probably more players. I wonder if NPC¡®s spawn near where a lot of people gather. Actually this whole world system is strange as hell.


    All my skills got an update in description. Even hints in the direction of how they were earned.


    I wonder if there is any way to get some information from the system, or possibly some god damn quests and or an incentive to strive towards! A goal! Or something.


    God dammit, I haven¡®t found any other skill books. But then again I''ve only been killing small stuff. I avoid all the dangerous looking things.


    By the way. Those Glowing things taste surprisingly good. Remember that.

 Chapter two: Boon

    Before I head out to kill larger things I think it¡®s a good time to do a recap in case I die. Don¡®t want to forget anything important. Let¡¯s start with the skills, my passives


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Hide presence


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Lowers heart rate and breathing


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    You would think there was more to it than that, right?


    Then there is my body building passive, which might as well just be added stats depending on much I train to be perfectly honest.


    On top of that I got another passive which is essentially the equivalent of mana regeneration, except of course that it is nature energy regeneration


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Energy Regeneration


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    passively regenerates nature energy


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Really straight forward.


    Then there are active abilities like


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Rapid hand movement


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Moves your hand back and forth at an exponentially increased rate.


    Can cause self-injury if not handled correctly


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    This could not be more true, you see the only way to use it is by gripping something in the shape of a spear, for example.


    And it goes back and forth when you activate the ability. So if I release it at the wrong time, it will end up going the opposite direction.


    Then we got the whole hand movement thing which is not really an ability and works more like | gentle hands |.


    When the movements are practiced it starts absorbing nature energy also known as | Nature affinity | which is not really an ability as much as it is an exercise. A training method.


    I already went over nature affinity a while back so let¡¯s leave it for now.


    By the way I say I level up skills in the past, but there are no numbers to confirm this, just the feeling that it has become stronger or more efficient and so on.


    | Nature affinity |


    | Rapid hand movement |


    | Gentle hands |


    | Hide presence |


    | Increased strength and dexterity |


    | Energy regeneration |


    I wish I had something like health regeneration or maybe a health bar. But I assume nature energy allows me to heal faster. I assume too many things.


    After gathering some supplies I try to talk to the mute princess. She doesn¡®t respond like usual, only gives me a little nod.


    I have strapped four spears on my back and have one in hand. I¡®ve also got a few smaller pointy spikes I can use to throw. I¡¯m climbing to one of the highest points of the all-embracing tree of bounty.


    The view is great, mostly trees. But I can see the south exit. To the north, west and east there is nothing but endless trees. I¡¯m a little afraid of going north, deeper into the forest.


    I lived in a small town before the launch date, there were some woody areas but nowhere close to this monstrous sized greenery.


    My current location could be said to be close to the outer perimeter of the forest. I¡®ve been a bit north before, got a long system of bridges in that direction.


    Once I go far enough, there is this ambience that flows through the area. Like literally ambient sounds, not a feeling. Literally ambient music.


    Also the monsters seem a lot more ferocious. And that¡®s the direction I¡¯m heading. To try and see if I can get some experience but most importantly, loot.


    At one point on my incredibly important mission of increasing my territory I came across what seemed to be an overgrown ruins of a gas station.


    That was somewhere north-east. I¡¯m not exactly a cartographer so I won¡®t be able to retrace my steps but there is a pathway through the tree¡®s to it. Somewhere.


    I¡®ll have to keep an eye out for anymore abandoned buildings that got taken over by the forest. Anyways, I''ve been running along the tree-line for the better part of the day.


    Only came across some smaller type critters. Like the perpetually glowing orbs. They are something similar to fairies from a distance but grotesque up close.


    They taste fantastic and give you an energy boost, so I grab them when I can. Bit unsettling at first, hearing them scream while I bite down, but you get used to it.


    Finally! We got something here. The surrounding trees have been struck down by something big! Giant claw marks on half broken trees or just scattered pieces lying on the thick underbrush.


    Then there is the smell, it¡®s not bad, it¡®s like something was on fire here. A smoky smell.


    I keep traveling around the area, of course I keep tying vines between the trees to mark them.


    I slow down my heart beat and my breath is almost nonexistent. Slowly creeping around the circle of destruction.


    The ground shows signs of something large being dragged all over the place, I assume that must be the trees.


    When I finally get a better view, I see the huge pile of trees. Seems this was just a deforestation effort of some kind of monster or being.


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    A lumber-beast? I can feel the cold sweat running down my neck. Something with intelligence must have been at work here.


    I¡®ve spotted some things in the past few months that looked forty percent human. Hybrids. For example boar standing on two legs, thick veiny legs.


    I threw up in my mouth when I saw that monstrosity, how can it be that ugly? Even the now dead, private ugly couldn¡¯t compete.


    Then there was an eight legged snake-lizard-human thing, which admittedly looked really cool and strong.


    The ambient music gets more dramatic as I get closer to the pile of smashed down trees. It¡¯s. What¡¯s the word for it? Surreal? The stench is also getting concentrated.


    I sneak around the tree bunker a few times, there is a two meter-ish entrance. it''s sort of round or round with edgy bits.


    Clearly the builder wasn¡®t going for anything aesthetically pleasing.


    Let¡¯s think this through real quick, no way in the name of the world tree am I going inside that hovel.


    It probably breaks every code in the builder''s handbook. Without hesitating too long I throw small stake, around three or four centimeter thick and thirty centimeter long.


    It pierces into the top of the entrance, breaking a few branches but the integrity of the den holds up.


    A few minutes of silence pass but there are still no suspicious movements. I throw another one, this time a full fledged world tree spear*trademarked*.


    I threw with the momentum of my full strength, along with | Rapid hand movement | it shot at what I assume is close to the speed of sound, no ¡°boom¡± sound but the explosion-esque did occur once it smashed inside the tree-bunker.


    I aimed inside this time, instead of at the rim of the entrance. Some dust blows out but not enough to completely block my visibility. There are no other movements.


    Since I¡¯m not planning on going inside this den of horrors, I start circling around it again, moving back towards the area that had been deforested.


    Once I am on the other side I notice something new. The spear blew open a hole in the tree-bunker. An emaciated furry creature is lying there dead, spear straight through its chest.


    And by the good tree of life, is it disgusting. Four long muscular hands, a sturdy body and two small thick legs with hooves at the end. I can¡¯t see its face but I can only assume it¡¯s disgusting as well.


    After a few minutes, I finally slowly make my way down, mind you, the trees are only getting bigger the deeper into the forest I go. Think I am at least twelve meters up.


    I encroach closer, the beast is hundred percent dead, and I threw two extra spears at it just for good measure, double tap.


    That left me pretty drained. Took a lot out of me to throw that first spear into the tree-bunker. I¡¯ve never thrown anything that hard.


    I put more emphasis on accuracy but that was kind of a blind throw. The spear I threw later on barely penetrated the beast''s hide.


    I had a hunch that the stranger creatures would be tougher, and it is starting to look that way. I do not plan on skinning this freak of nature but I want to get my three spears back.


    It is unfortunate that the first spear is very stuck. I¡¯m not physically strong enough to get it out, not even rapid hand movement works.


    I leave one spear behind, a single tear almost escapes. It was a good spear. One of the first.


    It dropped a hand. It¡¯s from the wrist. It glows. It¡¯s more like a paw with razor sharp claws attached. Too bad there is no information on the item.


    While holding it, I feel a bit stronger. All the stats are still hidden so I depend on intuition alone.


    There are also pieces of meat, which I of course left there, I could catch whatever ugly disease this thing had.


    Nature boy, Cpt. Green, the prince of the forest can¡¯t be too much on the rough side, the all-knowing tree has a certain image it needs to uphold.


    I tried to move the beast, to see if there was anything underneath it. But that was impossible, it is too heavy and I am too weak.


    Maybe I am being carried by my passives and rapid hand movement. Praise be to self-gratification.


    I find a wide tree, shave of a few branches with a stone and rapid hand movement.


    Make myself a nice little place to lie down for a while. I lost almost all my energy on that incredibly anticlimactic endeavor.


    But on the up-side, the ambient music finally ceased and is barely audible anymore.


    My theory is, it¡¯s a way to tell if there is anything dangerous or maybe an event nearby.


    But to be honest, you have to tune out of the noise after a while. So even if it picks up, I¡¯m not too sure I¡¯ll be able to detect the increase in decibels.


    I start doing my nature affinity movements a few times, I often lose track of time when I start it.


    I think it replaces any need to sleep, haven¡¯t been able to sleep properly. Not since I began training when I felt like sleeping.


    After I woke up I started moving again, I got some semblance of a plan. It¡¯s simple, I saw what I think is another huge tree, like my beloved savior.


    So obviously I¡¯m going to check it out. It will probably take a few days, especially because I¡¯m moving so slow, leaving behind a tight line of vine bridges.


    It doesn''t take too long before the ambient music starts ramping up. Is there a way to turn this off?


    It¡¯s already spooky enough with the whole end of days theme alongside the darkness, only a small fraction of light manages to weasel its way through the treetops.


    But back on point, ambience has risen again, which probably means another beast of some sort.


    Since I don¡¯t know which way the undefined danger should be in, I have no choice but to keep moving forward.


    The ambiance got louder and with a faster rhythm before it started to get slow and fade out.


    I assume I missed whatever caused it. Should I go back and look for it or continue to move forward?


    According to the movement of the sun it should be around six already. Just kidding, in case you forgot, we can see the time every time we open the skill menu.


    I feel like I¡¯ve forgotten to mention a bunch of stuff since we started this, uhm. Blog? No Slog for survival log? Or Plog for personal log?


    All of these sound wrong so let¡¯s call it the Survivalist guide to the galaxy..Wilderness. I got it! Beginners ongoing outing in nature aka Boon. Perfect. Boon it is.


    Where was I? Right, the sidetracking or continue to what I presume will be the second most amazing tree in this forest.


    Screw it, we¡¯ll probably find a few of these events along the way. So with a steady pace I keep grabbing vines, quickly tying them in the height where the branches between the trees connect.


    While I could probably with my newfound nature powers just stroll over the treetops at top speed, I want to be able to easily backtrack through this uncharted area.


    Look, I realize I can just go to a high tree and find my way that way. But what if I find some kind of ruins or better yet, a dungeon! This is sort of like a game right? There have to be dungeons.


    Actually. I¡¯ve been thinking, maybe a part or the whole forest is some kind of dungeon, but I didn¡¯t get any notification telling me it was.


    Then again this game is like on hard mode, the UI is, well to keep this Boon a bit more PC, it is very poorly made.


    We¡¯re one fourth of the way there and it¡¯s getting very dark. Camping it is! Like every night!


    Made something new this time, I wrapped an area of two by two by two or close to that in vines. Then I sat down to pay homage to the great tree godmother.


    Like clockwork I wake up at five in the morning. After getting a quick bite to eat I ventured on.


    Few hours in and I¡¯ve only heard the ambient music go a decibel higher a few times.


    Even though the visibility in the forest leaves a lot to be desired, it does on occasion give you an odd symmetrical line of trees.


    In fact if you can see the tree from above, I think you¡¯d see something similar to a maze, you just have to connect the dots. But that would be hard to test and prove.


    During those moments you can see quite far. I¡¯ve been trying to find these corridors for a while now, to see if I could spot anything unusual.


    So far, aside from the forest-den creature I''ve only seen a deep hole in the ground, three of me walk side by side down that hole.


    And sure as hell, I wasn¡¯t going to go down it. No risk, no reward is a thing, but going in without any proper knowledge is tantamount to suicide.


    Day three on my journey, I still somehow managed to not meet any creatures face to face or face to back.


    And it occurs to me now, wasn¡¯t the whole point to actually go out and hunt things for experience?


    Not even sure if there is experience but it¡¯s just an educated guess, I mean there are levels right? And loot.


    But I¡¯m so close to the second tree now I can¡¯t just abandon it now, I got a great feeling about it.


    Should be less than an hour away. My heart starts to beat faster thinking about it. I have become the embodiment of a tree-hugger.


    Reaching the tree, it is easily ten times larger than the other trees surrounding it. It really stands out.


    I make swift work of climbing it, I felt a connection as soon as I touched it. Must be the nature affinity at work.


    The moment I get to the flattest bit on the tree, the ambient music goes from zero to one hundred in a second flat.


    I hear a loud hissing sound and smell a fishy smell. A flash of enlightenment flows through me. The last tree had a snake. But it didn¡¯t wake up.


    Having a second to think about it, it all made sense. But I should have been more cautious, because the snake is literally curled up and obviously about to jump me.


    On reflex I activate my rapid hand movement and throw my spear at the snake, but I¡¯m still far slower than it.


    The spear leaves my hand when it¡¯s only a few meters away from my face, its mouth gaping, wide open.


    The warm breath pours over me. I watch in shock, as if I was admiring its pitch black fangs. A viscous, deep purple liquid shimmers with a green glint, I see my stagnant image in it.


    A loud noise burst out, the spear managed to pick up speed but the accuracy has become lacking.


    Spear digs a few inches into the side of the snake, forcefully pushing it off its path and I feel the wind pressure as the snake head violently passes me.


    I was near the edge of the tree platform and the snake goes flying off it.


    It is already grabbing onto a thick branch with its lower half. This kind of reaction speed is impressive.


    Coming to my senses and reaching for a second spear, I instantly throw it at the snake.


    Learning from my previous lesson. I throw it straight at the tail of the snake, hitting the part wound around the tree.


    Quickly I tie the vine around my third spear and then around myself. I throw it straight into the air, the snake on route to literally gobble me up.


    Before I get violently ripped into the air I put all my strength into my last spear and throw it. As it is my last chance to deter the creature. it is unstable. This is because I¡¯m panicking.


    The snake, moving incredibly fast, is already moving towards me. Again its mouth wide open.


    This time the spear hits true. I had no more time to even think about what I was doing before I got pulled into the air. My shoulder dislocated and the pain is rendering me unconscious.

 Chapter three: Speculation

    Waking up, my body felt as if it was on fire, my shoulder numb, every breath is a struggle.


    I opened my eyes, I¡¯m lying in a very awkward position. Under me are broken branches as well as on top of me.


    I¡¯ll be honest, I¡¯m very surprised that I¡¯m not dead. I don¡¯t have the energy or frankly the will to move at the moment.


    Good news is that the system finally made a proper entrance.


    There is a window floating in my peripheral vision, I reach out with my hand to touch it.


    Which of course doesn¡¯t work. So I focus my attention to it and it expands to my proper field of vision.


    It¡¯s a quest. Holy mother of the ever expanding tree, it is actually a quest! Huhuhu! I see, I see. Humph, of course. To be honest I feel like I knew this all along.


    Well no, I pretty much gave up on the system a while ago but my ego still makes me jump through various mental gymnastics to keep itself a float or even bloated.


    Ah the quest, right. It reads | The Forest | simple, just like the system likes to roll. And to continue


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    The Forest


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You have found and conquered two safe zones with close relation to each other, you will now always respawn in either one of the two safe zones. This is true until one spawn point is destroyed or you take over an unrelated safe zone.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Am I shivering? I feel like my soul is quivering. Shit, I¡¯m so excited I¡¯m rhyming. There is more by the way, you feeling pumped up? I¡¯m rocking a raging one right now.


    I¡¯ll keep reading the quest log, I think I have a problem with attention or focus.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Currently in control of two safe zones.


    These safe zones are located in the Abraser forest.


    With each consecutive zone that is captured, you increase your overall skill progress speed by one point one percent.


    When all zones are under control, you gain an extra ten point two percent increase.


    Drop rate is increased by ten percent. Overall body function is increased by ten percent.


    Further rewards will not be disclosed until all zones have been captured.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I mean, the rewards seem good but currently it¡¯s what? Two point two percent skill proficiency increase.


    Not going to complain, the best part is the respawn point anyway.


    One thing is for certain. I cannot bring that chick over here. Ah, you forgot about her too? Understandable, the person is like a ghost.


    It¡¯s almost to a point where I think I might have made her up, like an imaginary friend.


    Owh, owh, owh. Shit, I just tried to move, one of the branches rolled off and hit my shoulder.


    I thought it was numb, but nope. It is one hundred percent fucked up though, excuse the language.


    Due to my impressive pain tolerance, I manage to crawl out of the debris. Which was just a few light branches, but an enormous feat nonetheless! Owh, owh. Shit.


    I got another small window in the top left corner of my vision.


    Well corner? Top left sphere in my peripheral vision. I¡®m trying to bring it down but the mental commands are all guess-work so far.


    For example the quest window didn¡®t pop-up. It didn¡®t come into view until I had tried thinking quest-log. Still works.


    I got a working theory on some stuff, since I¡¯m just lying here we might as well go through them. Might come in handy or we could possibly unravel some of the mysteries about the system.


    So my theory about abilities are as follows. You can¡®t just get active skills by repeating a motion over and over again.


    It has to be from a skill book or something you have a deep connection to. Something like a sword-slash-esque move from a swordsman that lives for his sword.


    Can¡®t be confirmed but that theory is a work in progress.


    Now since I got a quest, finally, after I don¡®t know how many months we can start speculating.


    Since there are no NPCs or quest items I¡¯ve come across. I can only assume that they appear once you trigger an event.


    There clearly is some kind of land ownership or something in that general direction. So anything amazing in an area, might be a safe-zone trigger.


    That town outside the forest might be a safe-zone but they might need to conquer another area for it to trigger an event. Maybe like a kingdom. And the forest is my version of a kingdom.


    After a struggle with death itself I manage to get into a seating position, with my back against a part of the tree. Can¡®t see the snake yet.


    Last thing I remember was a feeling of being ripped open. I threw my spear in the air with enormous force, a vine was tied around it and my left arm.


    Never doing that again. My whole left arm is aching and just dangling there.


    I can¡®t do my meditation practice, because it requires both my hands moving according to the skill-book¡¯s instructions.


    I might have to do a whole movie-like scene where I pop my shoulder back into place. And that does not sound pleasant.


    On a lighter note, all wounds caused by my fall have been healed and I can stand up again. Every movement hurts because of the arm though.


    After a few hours of speculation and some procrastination, I formulated a plan to pop my shoulder in place. A very crude way. I am no doctor.


    I rammed into a tree, screamed in agony and fainted again. Now, on the second try it finally worked. And I can finally move it.


    Healed remarkably fast after it got into its rightful place. Right after I woke up and found it in its right place so I began meditating.


    It was painful but healed a lot faster. So it¡®s time to finally look around the area for that snake.


    After a quick search around the tree, I didn¡®t find anything. It wasn¡®t until I looked down I saw the head of the snake plunged into the tree on one of the sides.


    After some thought I was going to drag it up to me, but I quickly abandoned that idea. The thing must weigh a few tons.


    Instead I lower myself down, rappelling down with vines in great quantity.


    After an hour of work, I finally managed to dislodge the great guardian. I pay homage to the great beast.


    A non-existent tear drops to the ground. I realize now that I should have looked for loot before making it fall down. The ground shook when it landed.


    I¡¯m worried that the snake crushed the loot. I make my way down slowly. It has to be said, the tree is enormous.


    I looked around the area and found a new skill-book, of course this one isn¡®t readable either. All just gibberish. I¡®ll have to study it like the last one.


    There was also packed up meat like last time. Which is like a godsend, I am starving.


    But the best part is the green shoes, almost missed them. They blend into the greenery. If I put them up against the tree. It changes patterns and color.


    Makes you think. What use are boots that have a camouflage function? No idea. My entire body will still be visible.


    There is no way to see stats or anything but when I put them on I feel lighter. When I focus on running, they shine with a slight green hue.


    My running speed has at least increased by an uncertain amount.


    I skinned the animal, it took the majority of the day. Not sure what to do with all this meat. I can¡®t possibly eat it all. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Just like last time, it seems I have to use creative methods to get rid of it. Tragic part is that the meat makes me feel stronger.


    Not instantly just over time it''s hard to describe. Maybe like doing a light work out and feel like you are stronger?


    I kept eating the other snake from the other tree and I swear, it made my body slightly stronger. Of course I could only manage to eat a portion of it.


    I need some kind of fantasy inventory, an interspatial bag or something of the sort. Sadly, nothing has emerged.


    ...


    ¡­


    ¡­


    A few days have passed, occasionally I read the book. But the headache is intolerable. It¡®s even worse than last time.


    Most of the time I just try to make clothes out the incredible amount of snake leather I have. Still to this day, I haven¡®t made a presentable piece of clothing.


    But I feel my gentle hands becoming more effective. I made like ten spears so far. They keep piling up. I haven¡®t had to leave the tree, I got a lot of food with me.


    It might be worth mentioning I can¡®t light this tree on fire, actually I can¡®t light any of the living trees in the forest on fire. They just make hissing sounds and the fire gets put out. But I can still burn branches I saw off.


    Every time I meditate I can feel the connection between me and the tree and eight other entities. I assume those must be the other trees I have to conquer for my quest.


    Nature affinity hasn¡®t upgraded in a while but is constantly giving me the feeling it is doing a little bit better after a few hours of meditation. Guess it gets harder to improve the further along it gets. Understandable.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    I feel like I am forgetting something. It¡®s been three weeks now. I am halfway through all the leather.


    The food is scarce again, but I am not worried. It is easy to hunt small critters. Especially around the tree.


    Only small creatures get close to the tree. Guess that¡¯s because they are neutral. There are too many questions of how the system works. And never any answers.


    I have to set some time to try and figure how to gain more passive skills. They don''t seem to be as hard to get, compared to active skills.


    I am seriously starting to doubt vines'' viability as a string, to tie together leather. Not that it is the main problem with my humble dream of getting a leatherworking profession. Honestly starting to doubt there is a profession.


    Not sure why I was convinced there would be one. But it makes sense. My main reason is that there are items with apparent stats or effects, like my new boots.


    At this point, the stats don¡¯t even matter, this leather is very durable and strangely heavy. It should be good protection against various physical attacks. Not sure if it would stop piercing attacks. Maybe I should do some tests?


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    The days blend together and I¡¯ve lost track of how many days have passed since I settled into my new tree.


    I am planning on going to the next tree, or at least exploring a bit. I wonder if all the trees have snakes acting as their guardians or maybe it was just a coincidence that large snakes made the trees their home.


    I strap five spears on my back. At least I managed to make a belt with leather straps on the outer side of it. Just big enough to put a spear into it. They don¡¯t allow for a lot of mobility, but I consider myself somewhat of a patient hunter these days.


    So the journey began and I¡¯ve been travelling towards the third tree. It should take a few days but it¡¯s taking longer as I am going a lot slower than last time.


    I can hear the ambient music getting a little bit higher and I slowly try to triangulate its origin, which is impossible straight off the bat, it¡¯s like a surround speaker.


    But just wandering to and fro, eventually I get the general area where it starts to get louder. It is by no means very loud but there is a clear increase.


    I find the creature, I say creature. But it is a glowing ball of light surrounded by swarms of glowing balls of light.


    I got a few of them in my bag actually, I try to grab them every time I see them in small groups. But this thing is huge in comparison.


    I am sneaking along the treetops, trying to hide my presence as much as possible. I stared at the thing for the better part of an hour but all it does is float around.


    The other balls of light go back and forth, I think they are gathering food for it. Looks like it is a herbivore.


    I didn¡¯t move at all so I decided to find a place nearby to hide once I have killed it. The reason I haven¡¯t killed it yet is because those small lights are in the hundreds, and that kind of swarm is no joke.


    I don¡¯t have any way to do area damage. I can¡¯t just wave my spear around hoping I scoop up a fair amount of them before they devour me alive.


    After a little search, I found a small river, it¡¯s about two or three meters wide. I¡¯m following it upstream.


    Didn¡¯t find what I was looking for so I move back downstream. Luckily I found what I wanted.


    I am standing in front of a one meter waterfall. Tiny, but close enough to what I wanted.


    I start digging out a small hole behind the waterfall, just big enough I don¡¯t have too much trouble moving around in it. After making it tilt a little upwards I dig down.


    This process takes me a few hours. Because I took a lot of breaks. Eventually I have what I want. I doubt the glowing balls of light will follow me into the waterfall.


    Oh, by the way, they look like humanoid insects up close. You just can¡¯t see them because they glow every minute of the day.


    After I meditate in the hole for a few hours, which counts as my sleep. I make my way towards the giant glowing insect-type monster.


    Still in the same place, the ambient noise is now drowned by the incessant buzzing sound. A sound that wasn¡¯t here when I came yesterday.


    They are probably doing something special, but that doesn¡¯t matter to me. I gathered all my strength into a throw.


    The spear leaves my hand. The wind pressure rustles the trees, some unlucky smaller insects get pushed around by the wind and some even get hit by the spear''s pointy edge.


    Boomshakalaka! It went straight into the ball of light. But something is odd. The buzzing noise just continues as if nothing happened.


    My breathing is a bit heavier after throwing the spear. Proving I gave it everything I had. But no, the spear vanished.


    The swarm spreads out, presumably looking for the attacker. I calm myself down and meditate.


    When I meditate I am a lot closer to nature, so I think I become harder to notice. This hasn¡¯t been confirmed, and it would be too dangerous to try it on strong wild animals.


    A few minutes pass, nothing happens and the swarm calms down. I am trying to come up with why my spear vanished, one theory is that it got burned up instantly by some magical glow radiation power.


    Or that it did really hit and just can¡¯t see it on the other side. I haven¡¯t seen a lot of magic from creatures but these guys seem to be the type to use it.


    It could have been some kind of shield. Maybe using a wooden spear wasn¡¯t the best choice.


    Let¡¯s look for a stone that I can hold in my hand like a spear. It doesn¡¯t need to be long but it needs to fit in my hand like a, well you know. Otherwise I can¡¯t activate rapid hand movements.


    Okay, so I found a stone. It barely meets my requirements and I had to work a little on it. I am sitting in a different tree from last time.


    I got a clear shot on the glowing ball. I am a bit closer, I can¡¯t handle stone as well as the spears. No practice with it at all.


    Also my nature affinity works well with the spears from the big trees. Far better than other trees.


    Aim! Hold! Hold! Fire!


    The stone flies through the air, it¡¯s a bit off target but manages to go in the right direction. The close proximity really helped.


    Boom!


    The stone hits it¡¯s side. There is an incredible light, like a dying star. But it isn¡¯t dead and from the high pitch screeching sound, it is most likely angry. The light threw me off and they notice me. It didn¡¯t help that I was so close.


    I turn around intending to run. As great I am in traversing the trees, my spears really slow me down.


    While I am in the middle of a panicked leap, one of the spears snags onto something and throws me off balance.


    Instantly I am surrounded by an incredible amount of glowing balls of light, there is nothing but light. The heat is insufferable. I am being burned alive. The pain is too much I ca-.


    I wake up, lying down in a tree. Shit. I died.


    Looking around, I see I am back at home base, the original home base. The place is filled with far more leather pelts than before. Oh right! There was someone else living in my tree. Let¡¯s take a look at the skill-menu to make sure nothing is missing.


    | Nature affinity |


    | Rapid hand movement |


    | Gentle hands |


    | Hide presence |


    | Energy regeneration |


    Hmm, looks like everything is here, I¡¯ll try and skim over passed recordings to make sure they are all there. Okay, well it is impossible to remember something you forgot.


    You can figure out some things like if you remember being in two places, but can¡¯t remember how you got from one to the other, it is right to assume you forgot something in between.


    Everything looks fine, guess I¡¯ll just go hunt something to eat. Oh damn it! All my items! The skill book is still in the other tree but my boots have either been burned to crisps or still somewhere in the middle of nowhere.


    No, if they are still there I should be able to follow the vines to the general area. I can¡¯t rule out that the system protects items. Afterall, it can recreate me.


    Good thing you always respawn in some clothes. My last pair had already been weathered down quite a bit.


    Should I look for the girl that has been babysitting my tree? No, I need to make new spears to hunt for something to eat.


    Didn¡¯t take too long to make an adequate spear and hunt some small-time game.


    It¡¯s now been a few hours since I respawned but the girl still hasn¡¯t come back. Maybe she went back to that settlement.


    Hmm. I should go take a better look at it tomorrow, and skim over my recordings to see if I forgot any skills.


    Okay, so I forgot my strength and dexterity passive. It was fairly simple to get it back. I just exercised and stretched a bit. Didn¡¯t stop until I was exhausted.


    Rest of the evening was spent pondering various questions about abilities and quests. Meditating for a few hours to get my dose of sleep. One thing at a time.


    I head towards the edge of the forest. My pathways are still holding strong. This feels just right, just rushing passed the tree tops.


    When I get to the edge of the forest, I watch over the settlement. There are some definite improvements.


    The number of people has increased to at least five hundred. Their walls have been extended, it is just a field, so the walls have to be built around their whole perimeter.


    I am planning on watching them for a few days. Nothing sinister in mind, just want to know the general strength of these people.


    I¡¯ll wait for some of their people to go outside the walls. If they are weaker than me, maybe I¡¯ll go check out the town.


    It took a few hours before I saw someone outside the walls, sadly they were coming back, and it was a group of around twenty men and women.


    They were carrying various small-time game, I say small-time but that just means the creatures aren¡¯t stupidly strong.


    They even have a bear. Since it is getting late, I''ll keep a watch after tomorrow. I quickly make a suitable place to meditate and start my usual routine.


    At dawn, I start my watch. Snacking on some cooked meat and some fruits I¡¯ve deemed harmless, a nice trait of the whole nature affinity. I would love a better explanation of skills and their effects.


    After a couple of hours, I see a group of people moving towards the forest. It seems to be their hunting ground.


    They aren¡¯t moving in my direction so I start moving along the treetops like a veteran ninja. With just one spear I am far more agile.


    The whole five spears thing really backfired. I also made the spears smaller. More suitable for throwing, since that is all I do with them. About double the length of my arm.


    I am close enough to hear them now but their chat is kind of pointless, I¡¯ll of course mention the important stuff if it comes up.


    I am intrigued. They all got similar glowing hues around either their hands or feet. This must be a skill-book that they share between the villagers or maybe just warriors.


    Makes sense. But if they don¡¯t fight the really dangerous animals, I doubt they¡¯ll be able to stock up on powers. And since no one has both skills, they must meet some requirements or maybe they don¡¯t know how skill-points work.


    I got lucky when I discovered how to summon my skill-menu. Talking of skill-points I got fifteen now. That should be enough to learn the skill from the new skill-book.


    But that is assuming I don¡¯t upgrade any other skills in the meanwhile. Since I have little control of when they do level up it will just eat up the skill-points.


    I can¡¯t say I can feel how strong they are, they just gang up on animals. Overwhelming force, there is no element of danger in this. Time to play a little with the invaders! This is my forest!


    I head in a straight line, trying to pick up some ambient noise, it takes me good thirty minutes to find something.


    Another fifteen to confirm its location. Finally a normal monster! Well normal is relative, but it isn¡¯t some kind of mutant or a glowing ball of light. Just a huge wolf. It¡¯s eating some mangled animal, can¡¯t really see what it is.


    Working fast, I start to head back to the general direction where the group of hunters were. Took me less than ten minutes to find them. Let the games begin!


    I am currently running away from a very angry wolf. Some howls and growls and bloodthirsty eyes aimed at me.


    I might have bitten more than I can chew, the wolf easily managed to jump up the tree branches I was running on. But luckily it isn¡¯t as agile up here as it is down there.


    After some struggle, we are steps away from the settlement hunting party. Hehehehe, this is going to be good! As soon as I pass the group the wolf changes targets. I get in position quickly to watch the fight.


    It wasn¡¯t much of a fight, more like screams of terror and people dying. A guy¡¯s lower body got swallowed whole.


    Some are missing limbs after being torn off by Wolfy. They spread out and run, the ones that tried to fight got quickly stomped on.


    This really isn¡¯t a game, I mean I can probably one shot this wolf from safety. But I definitely can¡¯t kill it in melee combat.


    Thirteen of the fifteen man group are dead, just a man and a woman running in the same direction. Guess it¡¯s time to make my appearance.


    ¡°Shit shitshit shit fuck fuck fuck.¡± The man is screaming at the top of his lungs. The woman turned terrified but still has a glow under her feet, slightly ahead of the man. She calls out ¡°Keep running! Don¡¯t look back!¡±


    Before the man gets swallowed up, I quickly take a position and throw my spear with the assistance of my whole body weight and rapid hand movement. The soaring spear makes a whistling sound as it forces its way forward splitting the air.


    The trusted wooden spear nails into the wolf, somewhere in the chest area, it really is too hard to aim for the heart or head.


    Especially when I am using my full strength and the target is moving. Luckily the target this time is large.


    The woman sees the wolf getting thrown off balance and slumping miserably to the ground, it is now whimpering.


    I take out one of my smaller stakes, tied firmly to a vine. Throw it at its now non-moving head. It pierces it and disappeared into the skull.


    There was no point in tying the vine around the stake for that but I it was already tied as a precautionary measure in case I needed it.


    I jump down and smile at the man, who''s now lying on his back, breathing heavily. The woman with her hands on her knees, doing the same thing.


    ¡°Heya! You gotta be careful in Abraser forest.¡± They just watch me for a moment while picking up some leather gloves that magically came into existence. I leave the meat.


    ¡°Who are you!?¡± the woman looks at me like I am some kind of savage. How rude, sure I haven¡¯t cleaned myself in a few. Uh. How long was it? Weeks?


    No wait I respawned, shouldn¡¯t have been so long. Maybe it¡¯s my long flowing hair and unshaven face, although I barely have any facial hair.


    ¡°I am the leader of the forest nymphs, protector of the almighty tree-mother!¡± before they speak up I continue. ¡°The Abraser forest is my domain, under my control and here I reign supreme. Now who are you?¡±


    I can¡¯t help but laugh, that should give them something to think about.

 Chapter four: A Hermit鈥檚 pride

    With what I believe to be the decorum of a king I stare them down. Either they are still in shock from previous events or simply flabbergasted by my kingly aura.


    There seems to be a slightly awkward silence for a while before the woman decided to speak up. ¡°Abraser?¡±


    she stopped for a second to think before continuing. ¡°We are from the Nis¡¯ha survival camp, we were on a hunting trip before we got attacked by that monster wolf¡±.


    Nis¡¯ha huh? Odd name. ¡°Ohh, I see. So that¡¯s the name of your little camp. I¡¯ve been wondering, are you all this weak?¡±


    To be honest, I don¡¯t think I am far superior to these people in physical strength, but my use of rapid hand movement makes me deadly.


    Don¡¯t think the ability was easy to get used to either! We have to release it at the right moment. As you should know, you¡¯re me.


    If I had to explain it, it would be like releasing the spear at the moment it hit its apex. Any slower and it loses its speed dramatically. I throw it before it hits the apex.


    There are a lot of improvements to be made. I have to make sure the throw goes right. But even if I only get like fifty to seventy percent power. It is still amazing.


    Shit, didn¡¯t mean to derail like that, but if I forget about rapid hand movement, we might need to train in it again. So it¡¯s not a waste of time to explain it.


    ¡°We are not weak.¡± She is glaring at me. Huuu, didn¡¯t expect the attitude. I clearly killed the wolf in front of them. Doesn¡¯t that tell them I¡¯m not someone to mess with?


    ¡°And there are stronger people than us, with more skills. We just have one of many they allowed us to have.¡±


    Well that explains pretty much everything I needed to know. They train hunters but keep the skills they can learn in check.


    Maybe everyone can learn the skills. Assuming they have the skill points for it. Which shouldn¡¯t be too hard, I got quite a few after killing the weaker wildlife around.


    Thinking it over for a bit I decide more information is necessary if I am to enter their little camp. ¡°So how does your camp work? do you take in random strangers? I was thinking of seeing if your camp would be a nice place to stay.¡± I put an honest expression, or what I believe is an honest expression.


    The man and woman look at me with suspicious eyes. People are getting too jaded in these apocalyptic times. Can¡¯t even accept a perfectly friendly and likeable individual like myself without prejudice.


    She lets out a defeated sigh ¡°It¡¯s not like people aren¡¯t welcome. But everyone has to pull their own weight. If you want to, you can join the farmers or hunters. But you¡¯ll have to choose either or you won¡¯t be allowed in. You get to choose one of two skills to train in if you are a hunter and all farmers get a skill to help grow our crops.¡±


    This sounds a bit too easy, but then again people do realize they will respawn if they die. There is no need to be overly careful.


    I would never allow random people into my tree! Ah, expect for that girl, which I am not even sure exists anymore. Did she ever exist?


    ¡°Cool, cool, cool. Then I¡¯d like to join you on your way back. See what your great community has to offer royalty such as myself.¡±


    No need to ask for special treatment just because I am essentially the crown prince of Abraser. ¡°Oh by the way, you going to bring this big ass wolf with you? I¡¯m not sure you¡¯d be able to carry it.¡±


    This has been one hell of a day, I really do hate talking to people. I should start focusing on my silent but strong type persona.


    A question here and there won¡¯t hurt but even listening to answers gives me the feeling of ants walking on me.


    The woman stopped talking but unfortunately the man found his inner goddess at some point and wouldn¡¯t shut up.


    All sorts of questions about how I killed the wolf and how long I¡¯ve stayed alive so far. Which has become a sort of seniority system among the survivors in the settlement.


    At least among the hunters. Which kind of sucks, since I died like one or two days ago.


    Entering the town, we carried some of the animals they had killed, but left the wolf. There was no issue whatsoever in me entering the camp.


    The place isn''t too big and only takes a few minutes to walk through the whole thing. The place looks a bit gloomy at parts but generally the people here seem content.


    Since new people arrive all the time, they hardly even bat an eye at a newcomer. I get introduced to some strong looking guy, real manly, unlike my handsome almost delicate beauty looking self.


    He is one of the hunting trainers, I can see that he has both the hand and foot skills from the barely visible hue.


    I asked the man why he had both the skills, he gave me a surprised look. Apparently they themselves can¡¯t see the glowing energy around their hands or feet. It probably has something to do with my nature affinity skill.


    Ah, right. I get to choose one of the two skills. Apparently only higher ups get access to both and he hinted that there might be more skills in circulation.


    Which makes sense, my skill-book didn¡¯t disappear after I acquired the skill. Maybe they are some sort of currency.


    As it turns out, they don¡¯t know about the skill-book menu. So they don¡¯t even know the name of the skill.


    I choose the hand-related book. Of course! It might synergize with my spear throwing. The book looks identical to my other two books. And it¡¯s all unreadable.


    But it is much easier to decipher compared to my energy affinity book!


    Oh I got to get into a bit of theorycrafting. Because you know, that skill was only supposed to be energy affinity, I think.


    At least according to the skill description. It took me half an hour to get the hand skill. Turns out it isn¡¯t even a proper active skill. It¡¯s a pseudo-active like my hidden presence.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Empower: hands


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Scratching on the surface of energy control, you manage to unconsciously awake hidden powers of your own energy. Increase in hand strength is measured by a percent of your current energy pool


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Okay! So now I am wondering. If I mimic the same feeling in my feet or any part of my body, will I acquire the skill related to that body part? I¡¯ll try it later.


    The skill doesn¡¯t seem very strong. But all the skills I¡¯ve gotten so far haven¡¯t exactly boosted my powers immensely.


    Aside from Rapid hand movement, which I managed to get through blood, sweat and other undisclosed bodily fluids.


    I¡¯ve been introduced to so many people. I can¡¯t be bothered to even remember their names. I don¡¯t plan on staying here anyway, I just wanted the skills, hehehe.


    Socializing with the people here is already making my head spin. I want to find out what skills the farmers get.


    I asked if I was allowed to learn the skills. They said I¡¯d need ¡®rank up¡¯ which is some kind of merit system they have here.


    I didn¡¯t get into it because I am obviously not going to get involved in it. I Watched over the farmers do their work and their skill really drains them.


    Half of them look like pale zombies. In a wide area the plants grow faster and the soil gets a richer feel to it.


    I am trying to figure out the process. I assume they nurture the ground with energy of some sorts. I can probably try and replicate that.


    People have nowhere else to go so they aren¡¯t worried that people will get up and leave, hell I don¡¯t think they¡¯d even care. They still have guards on small platforms that allow them to survey the surroundings.


    The settlers have made great use of vines and leather here. I ask around and get pointed in a direction. Moving towards a wooden house, more like a shack but whatever.


    There are a group of five women sitting in a circle sewing clothes. Turns out, they cut the vines into very fine threads then spin them around each.


    This makes the vines more workable. And here I was just looking for thin vines when I was trying to work on my leather-working skills.


    I watch them draw lines in the leather then cutting it. They sow it together with their vines. And boom! You got pants. This had been very educational.


    I spent two days in the camp, mostly with a group of women. One of the women actually has a tailoring or leatherworking skill. Or at least I think she does. There is a glow around her hands when she sows the leather together.


    Everything is starting to make sense now. It is very simple. You simply use energy, mana, power or whatever you want to call it. And pour into the thing you are doing.


    Maybe it¡¯s not an active skill but a pseudo-active passive skill. You don''t get any pop-up window when you learn a skill but you can kinda feel it.


    This should be very valuable information. If they get their hands on a skill like my nature affinity, they¡¯ll have a lot easier time becoming stronger.


    I went on a hunt with a group on my third day. There are fifteen of us. A pale looking guy with black hair is leading. He doesn¡¯t look strong but has this diabolical look in his eyes.


    By the way, people don¡¯t spawn in the camp if they die. Thought I¡¯d mention that in case I forgot. As soon as we entered the forest. It''s the closest place to hunt. I slip out of the group and quickly climb up a tree. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    I don¡¯t intend to stay with them any longer. I am really hyped about trying to make new leather clothes!


    I managed to get a hold of a simple knife in the camp. They gave it out to hunters. So, my first blade! Wohoo! I¡¯ll still only use wooden spears to kill stuff though. This will be great for cutting up leather!


    If you are wondering how I have been skinning the animals so far. Well, it has been difficult. Like unwrapping an unearthly strung together banana.


    I entered the holy tree, the girl wasn¡¯t here. She probably died and respawned somewhere. Or she never existed in the first place.


    I am heading towards the new tree, I gather some light supplies, mainly cooked meat. Make a few spears and rush as fast as I can towards the other tree. I need to name the trees at some point.


    I am faster than before, why? One because I¡¯m not making vine pathways, second. I channeled energy into my legs and got | empower: feet | amazing right? So easy, I tried channeling into a single finger but that didn¡¯t do anything.


    I stopped to rest once on the way, it still took me two days to get there. My Empower: feet leveled up, even though the increase was hardly noticeable, I am sure because it took two skill points.


    I only have seven now. Four points went into each empower then two to the upgraded empower. So that was ten, I got two points for killing that wolf.


    I rushed up my still secure pulley and sat down in the tree. I still have a lot of leather to work with from the snake, I plan on working on it and reading the skill-book when I can.


    Maybe if I get bored, I¡¯ll look for my lost boosts. Hopefully they didn¡¯t get destroyed.


    After a meditation session, this one lasted a lot longer than usual. Or I think so, easily lose track of time when I meditate. If it wasn¡¯t for the clock the system gives me I wouldn¡¯t have any idea.


    But this time it must have been at least a day considering how hungry I am coming out of it.


    Back on point, I started laying down a cut out square of snake leather. I did some rough measurements with a stick and drew a basic design unto the leather piece then cut it out with my knife.


    I put down the leather and pick up the thickest piece of vine I had, I slowly let the knife slice off a thin thread.


    I did this over and over, until I had a nice pile. I tied three very thin threads to a stick and started weaving them together or whatever you call it.


    I finally managed to make six threads all five or six meters long. Now the real game starts, I picked up a small wooden branch and started to work it down to a small needle.


    Not going to lie, it took me a few tries to get it right, the problem was making the small hole at the end to put the thread through it.


    Finally I got to the last part. I poked tiny holes along the ends of the leather. Picked up the needle and tried to imbue it with nature energy.


    After a few hours, I felt my mind getting dizzy and had to stop, I am going to have to continue tomorrow. Putting the needle down, slightly disappointed I got something to eat and started meditating.


    Days passed one after the other and I only left the tree to get more food. I either tried to imbue the needle and string while sowing. Or I would try and read the book.


    The skill-book is a royal pain in the ass. Blistering headaches come after I read for a few minutes, forcing me to stop.


    After what seems an eternity of sewing, I finally managed to get a skill, a pseudo-active skill!


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Energy imbuement


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Channeling mana through items rather yourself has given you the ability to strengthen materials


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    As always, the description gives you the bare essentials. But who cares! I did it! The theory is pretty much confirmed.


    I am guessing all skills depend on energy of some sort. Hell, hide presence probably hides my energy aura or something.


    Finally, after channeling energy through the needle and thread, I use my other hand to channel energy through the leather.


    My strength is leaving my body at an alarming rate, I start to work fast, I sew as fast as I can. Good thing I made holes beforehand.


    After fifteen minutes. I finally finished my prototype pants. They give off nature energy feeling. There is no hue but they are clearly something special. I almost passed out, completely out of energy. Time to meditate.


    When I come out of meditation, I can feel my body brimming with energy and the screaming pain of hunger.


    I must have spent two or three days meditating this time around. Also, I only have one skill-point left. So I must have leveled nature affinity!


    After eating some leftover fruits I set up a stone pot and light a fire under it. I am swiftly making my way down then swinging on a vine when I am far enough down.


    The swing takes me into another tree, a smaller tree. I quickly find prey, throw an imbued spear.


    Unexpectedly the prey sort of blew up by the impact, half of it has scattered around. Kind of disgusting. Still enough for a good meal though.


    I used my active empower and imbued the spear with energy. Still not sure if that even does anything. And of course I used rapid hand movement. I may have to tone it down a bit.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    At least a week has passed since I made my first pants. From there on I made gloves, boots, a jacket and for fun a mask.


    Because I can¡¯t check any stats on items I have to slowly try and figure out what the items do, but I am sure they all give me some sort of boost. Even the mask.


    Thinking about it now, I could have made a mask ages ago. The skill-book is only halfway done so I am not in a hurry to push that along.


    Especially since I don¡¯t have any skill-points. If I don¡¯t have skill-points I won¡¯t be able to improve or learn any new skills. So it¡¯s time to hunt something more challenging.


    I am not going to bother with the lost boots anymore. I don¡¯t want to accidentally lose all my new items.


    Over the last few days, I¡¯ve been heading into what I think is the middle of Abraser forest. The thing is, the ambient music is always on now.


    If I take a look into the distance, all I see is fog. I had assumed that there would be a tree in the middle but I can¡¯t see through the mist or whatever it is at all.


    I am hundred percent sure that the closer I get to the fog, the more dangerous creatures get.


    There are no longer any small critters, only two to three meter sized bears. Everything looks vicious.


    I¡¯ve been shooting them with my spears in the safety of the trees. I killed a giant looking bear. Only took three spears. First spear sort of glanced on his fur. After that I imbued the spear with my energy.


    But the bear wasn¡¯t going to stand there and just let me throw another spear. He roared at me, even anticipated the next spear and swatted at it. It bore into his pawn.


    It let out an ear-thrumming roar. But the spear was in its front paw. While ripping it into pieces I had time to throw the third and final spear. It instantly killed it. Went straight into its skull and stopped.


    I of course, being extremely cautious, didn¡¯t jump down to look for loot. I stayed for a few minutes before another beast then another and another and another came.


    Utterly terrifying, the beasts just growled at each other. Shortly afterwards the creatures bowed down one after the other.


    A black tiger had arrived and I could see a slight glow around its entire body. It was only half the size of the other beasts. And it has to be said, some of the beasts were quarter the size of the trees.


    And the trees keep getting taller the deeper I go into the forest. I am at least sixteen meters up now. Hold up, how long was a meter again? About this much, right?


    The beasts quickly dispersed and I just watched the black tiger devouring the enormous bear that was twice its size.


    Only a large pool of blood was left behind. Turns out, it only dropped some meat, and like always, it was neatly packed in green leaves.


    The tiger completely ignored it. I got two skill points for killing the bear, which leaves me with three points.


    I think I need like ten or fifteen for the skill-book skill. Actually, how much was the nature affinity one? I should look it up. Ah, worst case scenario, I¡¯ll have to go kill more stuff.


    After the black tiger went away, I started to meditate. It really drains you to combine all the skills at once.


    I¡¯m not sure if it''s because they all take so much energy or if they all take more energy when used together. It might be either or, I have to test it somehow.


    Stopping to think, I put some things together. First of all, I haven¡¯t ever travelled this deep into the forest, at most I travelled one sixth of the distance between the two trees I¡¯ve already conquered.


    And there are already so many monsters here. I¡¯ll backtrack a bit and hunt in a safer place. Just thinking about going deeper makes me break out in cold sweat.


    I hunted quite a few strong looking monsters, but they all died in one throw of my spear. All it took was a bit of patience.


    I had to wait for them to stop moving and then it was easy to put nearly all my strength into a single spear.


    I had to stop every now and then to make a new spear. Sometimes they¡¯d shatter on impact. All the monsters so far were basically bigger and stronger than their smaller counterparts.


    So bigger bears, stronger tigers and so on. None of that mutated freak in a house of fallen trees or glowing insects.


    Not that I didn¡¯t see any, I just kept away from them. No need to take risks on unfamiliar enemies. Maybe if I ever see them fight something.


    I always get two skill-points at a time. At first it was for every kill then every second kill and now every third. There is definitely some kind of rule of thumb.


    I¡¯m up to twenty seven skill-points now. Got two new skill-books and three items. All belts for some reason. So now I¡¯m wearing three belts.


    They all gave me a slight boost I think. I¡¯m not really sure. Maybe they are. It really is difficult to gauge these things. Placebo?


    Alright, so I got three unlearned skill-books and enough skill-points to hopefully learn them all.


    There is a little issue I am worried about. If I learn too many skills, it might be too hard to level them up or even learn new skills in the future.


    Especially since I can¡¯t even see what skills they are until I have learned them. Should I test it on some people? Though I haven¡¯t seen anyone for, huh? How long since I went to that camp?


    Hopefully I get more passive skills from the books, they seem to synergize the most with my rapid hand movement.


    But I am not sure if I¡¯ll always be able to rely on ranged combat. I¡¯m not that worried about dying since I¡¯ll always respawn in one of the trees.


    But all my items will drop, which is a pain in the ass. I might even forget where I died in the process. Can I somehow mark my location in this log?


    Okay, I think it¡¯s time to head back. In this area the ambient music is always on full blast. I¡¯ve actually been caught unaware by some smaller animals whilst hunting.


    Just one close call though. I managed to throw a spear in their faces or run away most of the time.


    It took me the rest of the day to get back to the tree, I decided it would be better to focus on reading the second skill-book first and leave the other two for later.


    Since I can only read for a few minutes before my head starts to split open, I meditate most of the time. I also make extra sets of leather outfits as that just drains my energy.


    I¡¯m on the last page of the skill-book, should finish in a few days. Everytime I finish a page it¡¯s like the feeling after sneezing. Pretty good.


    I¡¯ve made outfits out of every bit of leather I had, even the ones I got from my hunting trip. But the leather is all worse quality than the snake leather.


    I have thoroughly settled in as hermit. It is a fantastic feeling. It is too bad I can¡¯t grow a long beard.


    If I didn¡¯t have verified proof, I would think I was female. Also then I¡¯d probably have a skill called rapid hand rubbing. That doesn¡¯t sound useful at all.


    Ahh, I kinda miss that girl, the moments we shared when she was bathing in that river stream.


    You never know what you have until you lose it, huh. If I didn¡¯t meet that woman from the survivor¡¯s camp I doubt I¡¯d remember what a woman looks like.


    Maybe I should kidnap some women. No! I am a proud hermit now, I can¡¯t go back on that. I¡¯ll just find a brothel or something.


    Does the world have brothels though? Okay it has been decided, once I am done learning these skills, I am going to the nearest big city. There are bound to be cities, right?


    Huhu! Finally I finished reading this torturous book! Who said reading didn¡¯t hurt anybody? No one? Okay but still!


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Energy shield


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    From the profound teachings of |****| you have learned to manipulate energy into physical form allowing you to fend off kinetic energy as long as you supply enough energy.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Check it out! A spherical hue surrounds me, I give off a nearly invisible force-field! Since it surrounds me, I now see the world with a greenish hue.


    The reason it has a green hue, like all of my abilities, is probably because of my nature energy. I don¡¯t know if this is stronger than normal energy or whatever but it¡¯s cool as hell!


    It also gives me an idea, if I can form something that repels kinetic force or in other words physical attacks. I might be able to create an energy spear in the future.


    The dream is becoming real! Energy spears! Swoosh, swaaah! Waaam! Zzzuuum! I could be like a Jedi!


    Okay, now the bad news. The shield holds up for twenty seconds before I collapse. It drains an unreasonable amount of energy.


    But if I use it right. I can turn it on and off just when I am being attacked. This will probably take a lot of training.


    More bad news. The second skill-book was the empower skill, but! Luckily the third skill was empower: eye


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Empower: eye


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Channels energy to the optic stems. Improves eyesight


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Okay! So empower eye, I can¡¯t really see much of a difference. It¡¯s like getting glasses, but your vision wasn¡¯t so bad in the first place.


    Good part is, I can pretty much keep it on at all times. Until I run out of energy, that is. But I feel that¡¯ll take a few days. And I meditate every day anyway, so it is not an issue. I hope.


    Right now it would be a good plan to train energy shield a bit. But I am starving for some adventure. As exciting hunting is. It gets old pretty fast.


    Now before the world changed, I lived in a very small town. With approximately two-thousand people. Since then I have died multiple times, respawned just as often. So I have no idea where I am.


    This isn¡¯t a problem though! There are still remnants of roads. So I can just travel alongside them. Eventually I must find a city.


    And I would do that. But I am going to follow the river that flows from the lake near the almighty tree-mother. I am only worried about the food situation. Worst case scenario, I die of starvation and respawn in either of the two trees.


    The quest might seem important, but the last part is to go into the middle of Abraser forest. And to be honest, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to sneak about over there.


    And if I do? I am pretty sure whatever guards the tree in the middle is no joke. I¡¯ve already been lucky with the other two guardians. The others might even be stronger. But hopefully not.


    So I think it is best to go on a lone adventurer style journey and look for a city. There are or were a few billion people in this world.


    Some of them must have been able to reclaim a city. Though I have some concerning thoughts about those.


    They might be like the forest, with a guardian in it. Most importantly, I want to try and trade my skill-books for different skills. Also! Adventure right!? No? Okay. Well I¡¯m excited enough for all of us.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    This adventure idea wasn¡¯t so good after all. Starving is one of the most painful things I¡¯ve experienced.


    Right up there with dislocating my shoulder and being burned alive by what I think was friction or some kind of radiation.


    I¡¯ve been travelling for two weeks now, sometimes an area is filled with beasts and sometimes it is a wasteland.


    Right now I am in a wasteland, not a desert or anything, just nothing alive for vast distances. Hell not even the river has fish or fish-type monsters. I¡¯ve long since eaten all my meat.


    I can finally see some vegetation on the horizon. I can smell the greenery. I activate empower eye.


    Movement! Movement means food! I start sprinting and reach for my spears. I am still way off in the distance, the image becomes clearer.


    Dammit it is some kind of mutant beast. Beggars can¡¯t be choosers, I throw my spear with everything I got.


    This is one of two spears I have on me right now. It disappears, I can¡¯t see it anymore. There is no sound.


    I am still in full sprint. The creature falls down and the surrounding creatures are startled and run off into the thick greenery.


    I¡¯m not going to starve! I hope it isn¡¯t poisonous.


    | Nature affinity |


    | Rapid hand movement |


    | Gentle hands |


    | Hide presence |


    | Energy regeneration |


    | Energy shield |


    | Empower: Eye |


    | Empower: Hand |


    | Empower: Foot |


    | Strength and dexterity increase |

 Chapter five: More questions, still no answers.

    After killing the freak of nature, I lost all the power in my body and slowly stumbled towards the lush greenery and my food. Never have I felt so weak and hungry.


    Reaching for my knife I kneel in front of the beast, slitting its throat and put my mouth on the dying beast and drink its blood.


    It is strangely sweet tasting.


    The relaxing sensation when you realize you have straight up drank still warm blood from a mutant.


    To be honest, it might actually be that every part of my body feels numb after that sprint and pushing my body over the limit.


    Wow, I actually slept. Ugh, how horrible. I haven¡¯t slept since I got my nature affinity. It leaves you all groggy but still wanting to sleep more.


    Looking around I see the forest in front of me and a beast lying in a pool of blood. It feels disgusting to think I actually drank its blood.


    Moving on, I walk into the forest. The trees here are really small compared to my beautiful Abraser trees.


    When I step onto a patch of green underbrush I feel a surge of power. I feel a lot lighter. Breathing in the humid air, it feels like I walked into a different world. A different biome, heh.


    This has to be a benefit of nature affinity. You can really feel the difference after walking in a desolate wasteland for who knows how long.


    First things first! Climb a tree and see how big this place is. Quickly jumping to a branch and pulling myself up I make my way above the canopy. The view is astonishing.


    The forest is miniscule! What is this? The forest looks like a wall surrounding a castle, a wall that is around the same height as the trees, maybe six meters? I am really bad with measurements, as you should know.


    I make my way quickly to the other side of the wall of trees. A large beast is rushing towards a much smaller figure in the distance. The monster looks like a super-sized version of what I killed yesterday.


    The figure turns around casually. The beast leaps in the air and flings its abhorred body at the man.


    With a mechanical gesture and incredible speed he moves his hand and slashes with his sword towards the monster.


    The beast stops mid-air before dropping to the ground where it stays motionless. The man just turns around and keeps walking away slowly.


    What in the actual fuck was that? How can he be this strong? That was ridiculous, I doubt I could kill that brute so easily.


    By the way, at this point in time, it might be worth mentioning that I can see inside the city or whatever it is.


    The river flows on both sides of the wall, giving it a beautiful view. The town or city itself looks like it has been dug quite a bit down and there are few story high buildings within it even though the outside walls only appear to be a few meters high.


    Screw it. I jump down from the highest tree I found and slowly make my way towards that dude of monstrous power.


    I jog at a leisurely pace, because the guy is moving as if he was on his Sunday walk around town. When I made it up, the guy finally turns around even though I called out to him a few times.


    ¡°Greetings traveler.¡±


    What? Greetings? What is this?


    ¡°Uhm greetings, man, I saw you kill that mutant earlier. That was amazing.¡±


    What is wrong with this guy? He¡¯s just absentmindedly staring at me.


    ¡°Okay. Well. So, I was wondering what this city is called.¡±


    ¡°This is the great sanctuary of Kaliami.¡±


    This guy sounds a bit off. And his creepy smile isn¡¯t helping at all.


    ¡°Alright, cool. I¡¯ve been travelling for who knows how long and was planning on stopping by in this sanctuary, would that be fine?¡±


    ¡°That would be fine, you¡¯ll find the city gates if you follow the river downstream.¡±


    ¡°Thanks man, see you later.¡±


    As soon as I turn to move away from him he just turns back around and went on with his casual walk around the sanctuary.


    I am not sure if I like the idea of meeting this kind of psychopath with the power to one shot gigantic monsters.


    True to his word, I followed the river downstream and there was a giant gate with two guards by a small secondary entrance.


    Strange thing was the road, it leads out of the sanctuary then fades away when it leaves the boundaries of the forest area.


    First thing that comes to mind is that this place has something related with the world getting fucked up beyond all recognition.


    From a distance I can see the guards chatting and laughing. When I get closer they notice me and suddenly their faces go stiff and have the same look in their eyes as the dude I met earlier.


    ¡°Greetings traveler.¡±


    Again with this shit? Thinking about it, isn¡¯t this what an Non-player characters are supposed to be like?


    But the way their expressions changed after they noticed me is disturbing. This is why I don¡¯t like people. They are terrifyingly weird. Why can¡¯t people just be normal, like me.


    ¡°Hey guys, can you let me in the sanctuary?¡±


    ¡°Of course traveler, everyone is welcome in the sanctuary as long as they follow the rules.¡±


    ¡°The rules?¡±


    Nodding at my question, he opens the gate for me. I was expecting an explanation about the rules though.


    Should I ask him? Nawh, fuck that, I can¡¯t stand their weird smiles. Quickly making my way past the guards, I get a view of the sanctuary.


    It has to be said, it looks far smaller from the outside. There are a few decent sized farms in the outer circle of the city.


    The river must be channeled through here in some way or form because water is flowing beautifully through the farm areas.


    Beyond the farms is a bunch of four to six story high buildings. There is a wide road in the middle going straight to a building in the middle, it is spherical and is a bit bigger than the surrounding houses.


    Strolling through the sanctuary gives off a nice calming feeling.


    Ohhh, wait let¡¯s try this! I bring out my knife and cut a small on my forearm, the wound heals at around the same pace as when I meditate.


    That pretty much confirms it. This is an NPC town. It has to be some sort of protected area.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Constantly empowering my eyes, I watch some of the people working in the fields and the people walking down some of the streets. They all look relatively happy with no worry in the world.


    Oh! It just occurred to me, can¡¯t I get empower hearing or smell? I¡¯ve got to experiment with this.


    Too bad it takes some dedication to actually get the skills and if you aren¡¯t sure it works, it is easy to quit halfway through if you make no progress.


    Every time I meet one of the people around here their facial expression changes into this fake smile with dead eyes.


    I asked them a few questions about where they came from or what their name was but all I got was ¡°I don¡¯t remember.¡±


    Every time I ask something personal about them or other people I get ¡°I don¡¯t remember¡± or ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Noticing a store, I walk inside, there is a man behind a desk reading a book.


    I walk around the store inspecting some of the goods, there are swords, leather armors, metal armors and what looks like bulletproof west, I think it was called kevlar? No guns though.


    I mean the variety here seems to go from simple rags to militaristic combat gear.


    The prices are all in silver or even gold. Silver and gold? Where the hell am I supposed to get silver and gold?


    This is ridiculous, nothing has dropped any kind of minerals, am I supposed to go mining? What in the actual fuck is wrong with the system?


    Alright time to make conversation with these zombies.


    ¡°Hello.¡±


    ¡°Ah, Greetings traveler, how can I help you today?¡±


    Again with this.


    ¡°I was wondering if you could tell me how to get silver and gold.¡±


    ¡°Of course, you can sell parts of monsters, take them off bandits and mercenaries, rewards for specific services, hunt people with bounties or take them from other travelers.¡±


    Right let''s go through this flood of nonsense. You¡¯d think the programming for these people would be better.


    First of all, I¡¯ve never seen bandits or mercenaries¡¯, no need to talk about any posters with bounties on them.


    Rewards for specific services huh? That must be quests. It has to be quests. And then the guy is telling me to steal from other people? So much for human decency, but that is what is to be expected.


    Just another reason not to get close to people. Thieves, the lot of them.


    Actually, giving it some thought. Won¡¯t I be able to find a bank or something? Will they have gold? Maybe in locked storage compartments.


    But is there something here worth buying though? Aside from food.


    Oh I know! Maybe I can buy skill-books somewhere or training in either combat or crafting weapons and armor. Another thing to put on the list of things to figure out.


    I take off one of my belts and hand it to the clerk.


    ¡°Old man, will this belt sell for anything?¡±


    ¡°Oh, let¡¯s see. This belt would sell for half a kilogram of silver.¡±


    Kilograms? Can¡¯t it just be coins? Kilogram, shit I¡¯m horrible with measurements. I''ll sell this belt, although it¡¯s good, it can¡¯t be eaten. Or is leather technically also food?


    ¡°Alright old man, I¡¯ll sell it for five hundred grams of silver.¡±


    Grabbing the leather bag he hands me, I look inside and thank heavens, it is silver coins. What was that nonsense about the weight of the thing? It¡¯s just coins!


    This motherfucker is messing with me. Again this just proves that people are endless pits of torment.


    I walk around for a bit and ask for a hotel. I get pointed in a few directions, there are apparently many hotels in this sanctuary, even though there seems to be more than enough housing for every person here, let¡¯s just call them NPCs in this place.


    There is a dining area on the bottom floor left of the receptionist area. What in the holy tree-mothers name is going on in this town?


    There are no people here aside from the hotel workers. If I didn¡¯t know better I¡¯d assume this was some kind of dystopia town where everyone has been hypnotized. Actually that might be one answer to this twilight zone.


    I bought a room to stay in and something to eat, turns out my bag of silver is a lot more than I expected. I could stay here for a few months if I didn''t have to buy food to eat.


    They weigh everything as well. A very basic electronic measuring device is on the desk of every place that does any kind of business.


    I should go to that center building and try to get some general information about the state of the world and maybe if I am lucky something about the system.


    Actually, what the hell is with this system? I realize we¡¯ve gone over this before but come on. This is like playing on hard difficulty with no user interface or basic information.


    Shouldn¡¯t there be health bars, floating damage numbers or at the very least some god damn assistance.


    No wait, I am thinking about this the wrong way. Who says the system is in place to help anyone progress?


    I think all the people in this Sanctuary are people that have died too often and they don¡¯t even have to be from my world.


    No, my world? Is this still my world or a different one? Even though I don¡¯t know, I think some research and theory crafting is in order.


    On a whim, I decided to listen over my most recent recordings and I noticed a problem. It doesn¡¯t seem to record everything as I initially believed.


    From quick observations I think I can assume it doesn¡¯t record what I believe to be of no value or just fleeting thoughts.


    But every moment of my inner monologues appear to be recorded. Is this a good or a bad thing?


    Why did it record some of my fights but not all of them? Why didn¡¯t I realize this before? Shit, fuck fuck fuck. This isn¡¯t good. How many things didn¡¯t it record! This could be devastatingly bad.


    There are too many odd things in the logs I can¡¯t explain. Is this a form of auto-correct? Sometimes I randomly think about something I previously did and it has overwritten previous recording of the incident.


    Or one part didn¡¯t get recorded at all. Ah this is making my head spin, I might as well start doing quantum calculations, would be less stressful.


    I¡¯ll leave it be for now, since I can¡¯t come up with any viable theories yet nor have any ideas to experiment with it in this Sanctuary.


    Time to meditate and then explore this place further then get the hell out of this strange dystopia.


    Long story short, these people are all morons. None of these dead fish-eyed fuckers have any authorization to reveal anything beyond public knowledge.


    Which are essential things like the prices of items, ways to make money. Good news is that I found and bought a map of the area.


    Got myself a decent backpack which has that magical thing I¡¯ve been looking for. Not some hole in time and space to store items.


    But I can lightly channel mana through the bag''s material and it becomes a lot lighter. I asked a leather-worker if he could teach me how to make it, actually I asked him if he could teach me anything at all in regards to crafting.


    And by the will of the Tree! He could teach me nothing! Not even if I had to do something in order to get training or anything. I asked like a thousand questions but no.


    I was planning on leaving this place but I ended up meditating in my hotel room for the better part of a month, time really flies when you put your mind to it. Only ate, went to the toilet and paid the bill.


    They wouldn¡¯t take me on my word that I wasn¡¯t going run away and not pay them. I would do the same if I only had one customer.


    After examining my new map, which cost me most of my silver. I got a few grams left for food, filled my backpack with canned beans, tuna, some smoked meat and spices.


    How the hell did they make canned food here? Well they wouldn¡¯t answer me, strike that, they did answer ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I want to beat the shit out of them.


    I feel like I should invent a new imaginary friend. Don¡¯t games usually have ways to summon or get a pet, maybe train a cute little monster cat? No?


    Perhaps a hermit needs no company other than himself. Luckily i¡¯m pretty good company myself, if you don¡¯t mind me saying. Oh, no. I don''t mind at all.


    I am going to head towards a big city that apparently has a population of a few million people.


    At least I think so, can¡¯t say for sure, I only know that the city looks pretty big on the map.


    The reason I¡¯m heading there instead of to the other not as big cities or towns first, is because it is down river. That means an endless amount of water to drink.


    There are no names written on the map and I¡¯ve always been bad with geography. No thinking about it again. It is most likely that I¡¯ve forgotten a lot of things.


    Wait a fucking minute, is this why I can¡¯t make sense of measurements? Oh by the spirit of the all-knowing tree. It all makes sense now, I can¡¯t even tell how long a meter is!


    Why do I know what a meter is but not how long it is! This is some selective memory loss. Maybe I should have stayed in the forest. At least I wouldn¡¯t die unless I put myself in harm¡¯s way.


    I should point out, I feel like nature affinity is about to rank up or level up. I¡¯ve been turning my energy shield on and off at random to train my control with it as well.


    I got a bit better but turns out, the better it gets, the more energy it drains. So I can hardly hold it up for fifteen seconds straight. Which sucks but not unexpected.


    After a few days I finally see the silhouette of the city! It¡¯s been a very boring journey so far.


    Only thing that got my attention was that sanctuary but it turned out to be a waste of time, maybe if there had been sentient lifeforms it could have been alright.


    What I am most surprised at is the lack of people. I know they might not be running around in the open or out in the middle of nowhere but I am traveling beside a river right? Towards a city no less! But that¡¯s all fine.


    This area of the city is all rather messed up looking houses that could have housed two families each.


    I was hoping for a wall somewhere, maybe they occupied one of the sky-rises.


    I¡¯m being extra cautious now. My spear in hand, empower: eye is always on and I''m currently working on channeling energy into my ears, but it isn¡¯t doing anything.


    I can hear some low roars every once in a while, but they are too far away to locate.


    There is an unpleasant smell in the air, something might be rotting nearby. The ambient noise is steadily climbing the deeper I go into the city. There are many ways to hide here but it is a lot less than in the forest.


    The city is called Kalou. It doesn¡¯t ring a bell but at least I know I can still read properly.


    I¡¯ve found some books in people''s houses and stored them in my bag, in case I want to read something later.


    This is weird. I expected a lot more danger in a city. This is probably bad, if there aren¡¯t a lot of monsters nearby. Then isn¡¯t that exactly like my lovely tree-house?


    Something stronger must have made a big area its territory. It¡¯s been half a day and I am still only crawling slowly through the outer perimeter of the city.


    I am currently on top of a seven story building with empty office spaces. Things aren¡¯t in as bad a shape as it would appear.


    Sure, the outside looks like a hurricane went through a couple of times but the insides, where the windows haven¡¯t been shattered, it is actually pretty nice.  I wonder what made all the people up and run away from here.


    After surveying the area for the better part of the day I¡¯ve seen some clues of beasts and actually seen some of the smaller kind of monsters roaming about, it is either a very fast beast traveling alone or in a pack of smaller ones.


    They were still too far away to describe them.  But one thing is for sure, they travel in a pattern. Never too close to a certain area. And that area is where I am located.


    So that leaves us with two options. One, they know I am here and are for some reason avoiding me. Second option is that there is a beast extremely close to me.


    But that makes no sense. I can¡¯t see a place where I could possibly be hiding.


    It hit me! it might be underground, wow. Can¡¯t believe I am one of those people that can¡¯t see what is standing right in front of them.


    There is an underground train system. But that sounds like it would be a very small area. The beast doesn¡¯t need to be gigantic though.


    I have been picturing giants and dragons though. What you don¡¯t know will kill you. But why hasn¡¯t the ambient noise been ramping up considerably if I am this close?


    Time to cause some chaos, I picked up a can of gasoline from a gas-station, let¡¯s make some use of it.


    I can¡¯t throw it as far as a spear but my physical strength has become somewhat superhuman.


    It just happened so slowly I didn¡¯t notice it. And I am never near other people to see the difference.


    I throw the metal canister down the train-station entrance, followed by a spear I lit on fire with a bit of oil.


    There wasn¡¯t a loud boom more like a muffled cough. The fire and smoke obviously started to rise and I throw another canister then run towards the nearby building and straight to the second floor.


    Something has to come out, the smoke must be spreading far and wide. It¡¯s been a few minutes but nothing is happening.


    Oh what is that? The fire is rapidly being put out, the smoke is still lingering. What the hell can do that? That¡¯s an oil fire.


    Mother of all that is green! Hundreds, maybe thousands of little insect-thing creatures are pouring out.


    I¡¯m starting to get itchy just watching it. They are literally destroying everything in the surroundings.


    A building just collapsed on top of them but they just keep going as if nothing happened.


    I am still a fair distance away from them but I am definitely not getting involved with swarming insects again. Once bitten twice shy? Well I got burned alive and very shy.


    There is only one thing to do. Abandon this sacrilegious place, almost no greenery but they still have insects.


    I¡¯ll visit one of the nearest towns and if that gives me similar results then I am heading back to my boring life in the forest.

 Chapter six: Tyrant look at the sky from his well

    Not bothering about being too careful I make my way to a safer place, far, far away from those disgusting beings.


    I¡¯m looking at my map, and I don¡¯t know why I didn¡¯t realize this before, but the towns make a half circle of sorts. The city in the middle and five medium sized towns spread in an orderly line.


    Behind the city I am currently in is the open sea. If I went to the other side of the city I have no doubt that we could see some abandoned ships.


    Ah to be a sailor on the open seas. A forlorn dream of many men! Not me of course. Salty sea water you can¡¯t drink and who knows what kind of creatures have spawned in it.


    Back on point, I think I¡¯ll head to the town closest to the river, I really should name this river. How about? No never mind.


    If I keep up a fast pace I might be able to get there in a day or two. The distance feels similar to the trees in Abraser.


    Oh! I should have asked those peons in the sanctuary to teach me about distance measurements.


    According to the map it says kilometers, which sounds like something I should know right? Meters being a word I know.


    Shit if I die again, will I forget calculus? That would leave me to become a simplistic moron, a common plebeian.


    It took some heavy soul searching but I eventually figured I should find a library and study some survival tricks and probably pick up an encyclopedia.


    Even though I feel I have not forgotten anything else I simply cannot know what I have forgotten. And now I¡¯m just talking in circles again.


    Day two of the wasteland. Barely been two days. That is I ran through most of the night, stopped to meditate once to recharge but only for a short while.


    I can see the town before me now. This town has smoke coming from three different places. So? Humans? Maybe elves? Who knows man. I can¡¯t be expected to guess what I find out in this nonsense.


    Don¡¯t cry about it when you find a colony of mutant humanoids in there, future-self, you wanted to explore. Complaining you were bored.


    Trade for skill-books? Oh ye, that¡¯s a great motive for what is essentially a suicidal quest to break the boredom.


    Ah, I can¡¯t be too hard on myself. I really am just too loveable. What a hermit needs is a strong foundation of self-love!


    As I was making my way towards one of their ¡®walls¡¯ and I mean what kind of wall is this? Who is this keeping out?


    The size is about my height. I can easily jump it. it is made of various materials, I assume they were salvaged from the houses outside the walls.


    I make a quick visit to the top of a house. There is no gate in this impromptu wall. But I can see people walking about, from my perspective they look miserable. Not like the flourishing survivor camp near Abraser.


    ¡°Yo!¡±


    I call out to a man leading an animal, it has white fluff all around it and stupid look in its eyes.  ¡®Meeeh¡¯ it says in clear discontent. What an odd little thing.


    ¡°What?¡±


    The man says casually in a tone that leaves me baffled. Is he annoyed that I disrupted his daily walk with his creature?


    ¡°Well that wasn''t what I was expecting, I¡¯m just saying hi mate. I was wondering if your little town has any interest in trading skill-books. Oh and I got some information to trade as well.¡±


    The man looks and slowly his eyes go wide. What a strange man. Keep it together! You are a post-apocalyptic survivor for love of the all-loving tree.


    ¡°No? You don¡¯t trade? Hello? You there?¡±


    ¡°Ah! Oh. Hi, I¡¯m sorry, we haven¡¯t had new people for half a year or so. The only one in control over the skill-book is Jar. But I doubt he¡¯d let you live long enough to trade with you.¡±


    There was a grim look on the man¡¯s face. Oh, so this town has to have a tyrant! I¡¯ve been looking forward to this. No mercy for the wicked. Is that a saying? It is now.


    ¡°Interesting, could you possibly inform this infamous Jar of my trade-offer nonetheless?¡±


    Laughing sadly with a certain desolation in his eyes the man nods.


    ¡°Give me a moment, I¡¯ll put the sheep back behind the fence.¡±


    So it is called a sheep. Noted.


    I check my spears, I am carrying two larger type wooden spears and a few smaller strakes around the length of my legs.


    I had to get inventive for traveling, it is easier to move with smaller spears. They are all of course fastened to my back but much less encumbering as my prototypes.


    I can see a group of people walking over to my direction. I¡¯ve made sure I can easily start running towards the forest nearby.


    The forest should be a good distance away but I can easily make that trip without resting.


    A burly man with a mischievous smile on his face is walking over in slow and steady steps. Behind him are five women that look despondent.


    There are few other men following behind them, actually there seems to be a fairly large trail of people, maybe thirty to forty.


    ¡°Yo! You Jar?¡±


    Jar¡¯s lips twitched but answered.


    ¡°I am. And you are? I heard you came here to trade for skill-books and information.¡±


    ¡°Me? Hmph! I am the Jade king, the hermit of the canopy. I also go by the philosopher of the forest, the prince of greenery among many other names. And yes I have come to trade for skill-books.¡±


    Staring at dumbfounded then for some unattainable reason anger swells up in him. But I continue before he responds.


    ¡°I got a skill-book with a skill that strengthens your eyesight and a skill that creates a spherical energy shield around you.


    I also have information on how to gain more skills but it might require something special. Now what do you have?¡±


    Oh, he calmed down and is deep in thought. But suddenly he channels energy under his feet and bends his knees. Clearly he¡¯s going to jump


    ¡°Die.¡±


    Hahaha, what? Die? No thank you. I nimbly throw the small stake in my hand towards him.


    ¡°Aaaaaaaah!¡±


    Now this is just awkward. I just shot him in the shoulder but he¡¯s screaming like it cut off his little general. And after that impressive leap.


    Too bad I can clearly see him channel that energy. Again Nature affinity truly is useful.


    He finally stopped writhing on the ground, the stake went straight through leaving behind a hole profusely pouring out blood.


    ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t challenge the soon to become deity of the natural world. In fact, now you have two choices. One, I kill you right here and now or two you try not to die while I kill you right here and now. Make your choice.¡±


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    This is so much more fun than running for days on end only to find that sanctuary filled with those things.


    The women have been screaming for the whole time since the man got impaled by my stake and the men and just stare at me in fear.


    Or I think it''s fear, it could be veneration or maybe they just don¡¯t care. Well I am not one too shy to kill a person in a world where people respawn.


    If he is lucky, he ?ll remember how to use his leaping skill or whatever that was.


    I throw another stake and pierce his heart, he died on the spot.


    ¡°Now, I assume he was your beloved leader so by law that makes me your leader now. Right?¡±


    No? That¡¯s how this works right? I killed him and now I have usurped him.


    ¡°What? It is my birthright!¡±


    My, these people have no sense of humor, do they plan on being so dry and gloomy for the rest of their lives? This really is no way to live.


    ¡°Alright look, no one else has to die, I just want the skill-books he had. Oh and if you have silver or gold, I¡¯d appreciate that. If you got any request from me, in case you are NPCs I¡¯d be happy to consider it.¡±


    I think that is straight to the point, they should understand that. Maybe they died too many times and have forgotten many things, becoming savages. That would explain this shitty wall.


    Finally one of the men walked a step forward with a slight determination.


    ¡°Jar, uhh.¡±


    He glanced at the emancipated body of their former leader before continuing.


    ¡°Jar had two skill-books but could only manage to use one of them. None of us has been allowed to touch either of the books.


    We will let you have the books and anything else you want but we have no gold or silver. Also there are no NPCs in the camp, we have not even seen one ever.¡±


    We exchanged some words about menial things like how long they have been here and often they died, seems some of them had died too often and had realized their lapses in memory.


    There was even a beautiful woman that had died so often she forgot how to speak but picked it up again with the help of the people in the town before Jar took it over.


    Even after being freed from Jar¡¯s reign the five women still looked down. One of them even mourned him.


    Melodramatic in my opinion. He¡¯ll just respawn, right? But I do understand their fear of death, losing your entire memory is exactly like dying.


    If you are reincarnated but don¡¯t remember your past, you are already dead. At least who you were is completely gone. So in a way, amnesia is partial death.


    I sat down in the biggest house, it still looked like the big city¡¯s houses, as if nature had decided to have its way with it.


    The inside were nice and comfy with a fireplace and everything. No running water though.


    Their main source of water was from an abandoned well they managed to dig further down into. I guess they can¡¯t fight those wandering creatures near the river.


    Right! The skill-books let¡¯s get this right, this has to be recorded properly


    So I turns out the jump skill is called Empower: leap


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Empower: leap


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You channel energy through the soles of your feet and use it in a short burst that propels you forward depending on energy used. The height is lowered the heavier you are.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    So that¡¯s great but it makes me think, how far do these empower skills go? If I can channel energy through my soles can I not do it for literally every place of my body?


    It is piss easy to learn them from books but doing it the other way around is a struggle if I haven¡¯t seen it done in person.


    When I saw people use the skill in the survivor camp right by Abraser it came to me easily but anything else seems to need some kind of ancient monk type enlightenment.


    Now that I think about it, I¡¯ve never seen monsters use any of these skills. Maybe if they become smarter they¡¯ll have them.


    Also there have been no squishy caster mobs. No magic at all at this point. Though this energy feels like what Qi or mana should be like.


    ¡°Hey! Hey, girl, you.¡±


    My tree, these people are jumpy. One of the five women I pointed at came forward while shaking and knelt down like she was some mid-century knight.


    ¡°Yes, my lord?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    What?


    ¡°Look, it¡¯s all cool, alright? No one is going to rape you or any shit like that. Or at least not me while I stay here. By the way, does this town have a brothel?¡±


    Forgot one of the primary, no uhm. I mean one of the obscure non-relevant reasons I started this journey of never ending bullshit.


    Oh damn it, now she has these teary eyes barely able to look at me. This is why you should become a hermit, take over a forest or some awesome area and just kill everything there while training.


    ¡°Look, do you want to train in any of these skills? Actually anyone who wants to can but I am going to need some guards to stand by my door while I meditate, I can feel my skill is about to level up and I kind of lose track of time when in the trance. Also I need some water ready at all times, because I get seriously dehydrated even though my metabolism crawls down to a snail''s speed.¡±


    Hahahaha, look at them, wide-eyed looking at me like I was some sort of deity. Fantastic, this¡¯ll work then.


    Oh! By the way,  I might actually go back to that twilight zone sanctuary and search for a library there. Can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t let those pieces click when I was there last time.


    I left them empower: leap, eye and feet. I would let them read the energy shield one but I mean I have been building up my energy pool, even though I can¡¯t see it, I can feel it.


    I watched over the first timid girl learn the leap skill after she succeeded, took her three hours. Amazingly slow. But what are you going to do?


    After that, I left them to their own devices and went to meditate. Since I can¡¯t properly feel things around me when I am in my trance so I had them place some guards outside my room.


    When I first came out of my meditation, I felt like someone had sucked all the life out of me. I still hadn¡¯t increased the skill level but I felt even closer.


    I opened up a can of tuna-fish and gobbled it and then ate three more with some not so tasty smoked meat.


    I walked outside the room, grabbed water they prepared and went straight back inside after telling them to refill it.


    The guards had a strange fanatic light shining in their eyes while they were shouting loudly ¡°yes sir!¡± by the ever loving tree, I¡¯ve become an aloof clan patriarch. Back to meditation.


    Huuua! I did it mom! I¡¯ve come level eh something meditation qi level! This time I am only a bit famished.


    After coming out of my room I sat in a comfortable chair in the room I told them to read the skill-books, I strictly told them not to take the books out of the room.


    There were some younger children around ten or something, I don¡¯t know if they all look the same.


    Apparently every abled body in this tiny camp has learned at least two of the skills, only a few managed to learn all three.


    Not sure what kind of block is in place for learning skills but what are you going to do? Ah, Skill-points, of course.


    Flipping through the other skill-book I got from former tyrant Jar I got a slight headache but from experience I can tell it won¡¯t take me more than a few days to learn it.


    Putting down this torturing device disguised as a skill-book, I flip open my map of the area.


    It covers a fairly large area, reaching to the sea and a generous fair distance up the river, it is all wasteland around but if I had strayed further left or right of I¡¯d find flourishing land from the looks of it.


    Actually not even far from the Sanctuary there are areas that look like I could easily hunt and sell stuff in the sanctuary. I might actually do that before heading back.


    I¡¯ve been wondering, should I take these ragtag teams of survivors with me towards the sanctuary.


    I''ll eventually need subjects to rule over in my ¡®sooner or later to be kingdom of Abraser¡¯. Fuck it why not? Could be fun.


    I gathered the people around the village, it has a fair size around three hundred people, and they all look starved.


    I told them about the sanctuary and how they could possibly survive there. Hell they might even be able to become farmers.


    But worst case scenario they would have to take one or two days'' trip towards one of the let''s just call them hunting areas and sell off the stuff there to live in their super cheap hotels.


    It came as no surprise that they jumped at the opportunity when I told them they had water and electricity.


    We didn¡¯t go straight for the sanctuary as they actually need something to sell and even eat on the way there so I took them towards a large green spot on the map, which was about the size of a medium or large sized town. Don¡¯t even get me started on how to rank a town size, alright?


    At dawn we made our way, it only took a few hours before I could see the lush greenery on the horizon with empower: eye. Fan fucking tastic! Green stuff is life. The smaller creatures on the way barely feed ten people.


    Right, getting into the small jungle area, what is the difference between a jungle and a forest? No one knows.


    We hunted some of the small critters in great quantity. It was mainly me throwing miscellaneous stakes and branches that fit in my hand. We had a great barbeque. It is amazing how good fresh roasted meat tastes.


    I taught a few of the women and men how to skin the animals so they wouldn¡¯t ruin the majority of them.


    After that I went deeper to look for some of the bigger beasts, only they are worth any money after all!


    Staying almost inside the canopy I jumped from tree to tree, oh how I missed this.


    I made some shoddy disposable spears. But even if I say that, they were better than my first spears.


    Gentle hands really does help with crafting, just drains a bit more energy every time it is improved. But at this point it is almost negligible.


    There has been near inaudible ambient music playing for a while and I¡¯m trying to find the source. I came across a small cavern enough to walk into but I noped right out of going into that death trap.


    I kept finding smaller and smaller caves that varied in sizes, I ignored almost all of the flying beasts since they don¡¯t even register as a threat.


    I jump to the top of the canopy to see how far I¡¯ve gone in. I¡¯m like at a halfway point to the middle layer of the forest.


    There is a clear line somewhere, if you find the sweet spot you can jump back and forth and the ambient noise suddenly gets louder or lower depending on which direction you move. And I just found it.


    I ?ve been moving a lot more cautiously now and silently since there might be some sleeping bastards around in the trees, you never know.


    I learned the easy way that sleeping monsters don¡¯t cause the ambient noise to appear. Back when I killed that guardian snake.


    I¡¯ve been moving in a triangle now finally closing in on one big bad creature. I can hear some snarling and the ambient music is about as loud as it gets now. Finally I see two beats in a standoff staring each other down.


    One of the beasts is a large snake-like thing but not a snake, it has that tongue action going on, jotting in and out but it has four legs with scales covering its body.


    I can¡¯t believe these creatures, first those mutants then that bizarre ¡®sheep¡¯ now this.


    The other monster is the same size as that snake like thing. It has giant arms and brown fur. It has been pounding its chest and roaring.


    I was planning on letting them fight then kill the winner but thinking it through wouldn¡¯t that lower the value of the leather?


    Actually can I even carry that much with me? I¡¯ll have to check how much physical strength I have now.


    Breathing out and then inhaling sharply. I broke my hidden presence doing this but the beasts don¡¯t take notice of me at all.


    I take up two spears in each hand and go channel energy to my arms into the spears than into my hands.


    It took far longer than I expected, it is really hard to do both at the same time.


    I focus and breath out and throw the first spear, quickly after the spear leaves my right hand, I focus on the second beasts and throw it soon after.


    Even if I feel that I acted fast. The spear had already landed and pierce through the head of the brown furred creature before I let the second spear fly out of my hand.


    As per procedure I wait a while before jumping down and checking the loot and skinning the beasts.


    Nothing comes up so I leap down like a leaf falling to the ground. My latest nature affinity upgrade has an incredible effect in lush areas.


    After looting the packed up meat and leather I start to tie the two beasts together with all the vines I can find in the nearest vicinity.


    I bend my knees and try to lift up the oversized beasts. Surprisingly I can barely manage it.


    After taking a few steps in the direction of the camp the ambient music starts getting louder and louder before it is at maximum volume.


    Nearly shitting my beautiful home-made leather pants I drop the heavy load and look around me but nothing is in sight.


    I throw a stake tied to a vine slamming into the higher points of the tree, grabbing the vine I start running in a semi-circle and jump with empower: leap.


    Midair I can feel my back heat up but I can¡¯t look back at the moment as I am swinging up towards the tree tops at incredible speed.


    I won¡¯t make it to the tree branch so I let go of the vine and almost shoot up above the canopy before crashing back down.


    I landed awkwardly after spinning uncontrollably through the air. What the flying fuck was that!?


    I can see blood flooding down my back so before anything else I start to meditate, hopefully I won¡¯t die again. Fuck I actually had high hopes for some decent food in the sanctuary.


    Just In case I bleed out or whatever just ripped me apart finds me lets recap real fast.


    | Nature affinity |


    | Rapid hand movement |


    | Gentle hands |


    | Hide presence |


    | Energy regeneration |


    | Energy shield |


    | Empower: Eye |


    | Empower: Hand |


    | Empower: Foot |


    | Empower: Leap|


    | Strength and dexterity increase |


    That¡¯s it right? I should occasionally go over every skill I have. Fuck I haven¡¯t learned my skill-book. Please oh mighty all-encompassing treeity save this son of yours.

 Chapter seven: There and back again.

    ¡°Breathe in silently, breathe out slowly. No noise. Calm down. One with the tree, you are one with the naturai, embrace us. Escape from existence. Come little darling, don¡¯t say a word. You are what dreams should be like. Still, slowly and ever-growing.¡±


    With my eyes closed I saw the flora around me pulsing, heaving up and down, the breath of the forest.


    In my small sphere of influence I feel the life around me, still like statues. A bird in mid-flight with his wings raised about to thrust them down and moving at the speed of a falling feather.


    Pain echoes my being, I can feel it slowly lessening but the seconds feel endless and the pain not only feels worse than when I dislocated my shoulder but it reverberates back and forth amplifying it. However horrible as that sounds, I am somehow completely at peace with it.


    I am healing at an astonishing rate it just feels like an eternity. I think I had some kind of breakthrough.


    With my eyes closed I watch myself as I hover freely in the air, I can move around my body, I can reach about twice the length of a spear from my body.


    I am watching the world flow slowly by and the giant wound that reaches from the left side of my lower neck down to my right hip bone. The bones would be visible if it weren''t for the violently gushing blood painting me red.


    I¡¯m not sure how I got into this state of meditation but the mantra felt like it was whispered to me when I tried to hide and regenerate my maimed body at the same time.


    Just throwing it out there, it might have been the adrenaline but I think the past, future and present me, would agree I have been favored by her holiness.


    The spirit of the overgrowth saw me in my time of peril and guided me towards salvation. Blessed be the great treeness.


    Slowly watching over myself and vigilantly watching for whatever sneak attacked me.


    Unforgivable, what kind of respectable monster would mount an attack on a fragile and peace-loving adopted son of the treeity. Shameless.


    Oh, that¡¯s new. My blood is turning dark green, blending with the tree. Oh what, shit. My whole body is and clothes are all turning the color of the tree-bark. I see. So I have been called to serve? Of course.


    I can feel my inner-child soul shaking in fear as a giant multi colored mutant beast slowly approaches me. It has eight legs and disgusting hairs coming off it.


    Multiple eyes fluttering about in every direction it can. Not even my breath escapes and I can feel the pressure building, begging me to escape.


    The only movement I am making is the final touches of wound healing. If I opened my eyes, there would be two fangs dripping with viscous liquid ready to pierce into my delicious tender flesh. Oh woe is me, to have such a majestic and tasty body.


    The beast is staring at a strange looking clump of tree that is me, making clicking sounds. I can almost taste the disappointment in its many optical-stems.


    It has to be noted for future reflection, that all this is happening at a speed so slow that it leaves shaken loose by the mutant monstrosity are almost still in the air.


    A chill runs through the essence of my soul when I think how fast it is moving. It climbed up the tree that looked like a leisurely stroll.


    My tree, were there monsters like this in the world? And I already thought the guardian snake was terrifyingly fast.


    Finally my wound completely healed leaving a long menacing scar. I wonder if I die, would it fix or remake my body when I respawn?


    I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll come out of this meditative trance for a while. Can¡¯t risk meeting this thing again. So while I wait, let''s do some theorycrafting!


    Okay, first. It seems you can reach some sort of mastery of advanced versions of skills if you dedicate yourself to them.


    The reason I meditate as much as I do is not only because it strengthens me but because it feels as if I am bathing in clouds.


    In fact I doubt I¡¯d ever come out of it if my body didn¡¯t require nutrients. One day I might meditate to death.


    Second is the empower abilities. If I am ever so bored that I want to take a journey through no-man¡¯s land I¡¯ll try to invent or a better word would be discover a new skill.


    The first thing I can do with the information on hand is assume that every part of my body can be empowered by innate energy.


    Second is, it would be likely I can discover things easier if I already see them used.


    And of course third but not least, that using skills in either combat or dangerous environments increases the proficiency of the skill.


    This can be seen from how I have hardly leveled empower: eye and feet compared to empower: hand. I can almost feel it breaking through.


    There are so many things to consider. What entity changed the world? Has it some relation to the two circles that float above in the sky?


    One scorching hot during the day and the other hauntingly lonely in the night. There is no correlation there but it makes you wonder.


    Sometimes I wonder if there is a way to regain my memories. Another is how strong can I possibly get? Will I be able to tower over all of Abraser forest?


    The beasts are already frightening there, some even require multiple spears before they finally fall. I must go to the sanctuary and look for a library, there might be, no there have to be some answers there.


    So bored, I¡¯ve been staring at the clock in my skill-book menu and there it feels like the world has stopped, when the minutes move forward I can¡¯t feel happy because I know the next minute will feel even longer.


    I¡¯ll try to stop this out-of-body experience end, this is becoming hellish.


    When I woke up from my trance, I heard something break inside of me. I looked at my hand and it was back to normal, the blood had dried into a green moss.


    It crumbles and flows away as dust. I guess a few days have gone by. I have to get back, should I check on the beasts I killed? This is a hard choice.


    Or not, let''s go check. I¡¯ll come back and strike with furious vengeance if my prey has been stolen from me. Just you wait you terrifyingly ugly fiend.


    My mind feels clear and my body supremely lithe. I move at a rapid pace, I can almost sense the jungle flora and on instinct know where all the plant-life is.


    This of course doesn¡¯t help me as the plants won¡¯t attack me but it feels amazing like I¡¯ve become more than just me.


    This must be what a true hermit feels. Hmph, and those people flock together in the fields of treachery painted with flowery words unbecoming of them.


    Every day is a day I find a new way to detest my own race.


    I am fighting back the tears in my eyes as I watch over my unspoiled spoils of war. Truly the forest guarded my gains.


    I quickly grab the two still tied together beasts far more easily than before and quickly make my way towards the refugee camp.


    When I show up, I see they have made some shanties, is that what they''re called? Little wooden houses made from wood and vines.


    It almost looks beautiful, I want to tell them they''re idiots though. There is a perfectly safe canopy up in the trees.


    How can they look up and not see that tree-houses are the houses of wise men? Aii, ignorance is a choice if the weak-willed.


    Turns out that the area around them is rather safe, only large beasts roaming the outermost edge of the forest are critters easily killed when men and women gather with wooden sticks and various cold weapons.


    Nonetheless I tell them I am going towards the sanctuary now. After skinning my beasts I load as much as I can into my backpack.


    I picked it up after the monstrous creature sliced it free from my back. It took some work but I stitched it together, it still works, just not in the best shape.


    Turns out that the people had some decisions to make, they were living rather well here in the forest area, I told them to at least send two or three people with me.


    Mainly to carry leather to the sanctuary. They needed to know the way back and forth as well. Maybe the shops there could really help them make something better than their sloppy shanties.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    After an uneventful journey back to the sanctuary, I can''t even remember its name at this point and frankly I don¡¯t care.


    The two men and one woman that joined me are bombarding the guards with questions while I sit down and start to meditate waiting for them to finish.


    After they finished they called out for me and broke my trance. I asked them if I learned anything of value. Turns out the rules were simple, don¡¯t attack or steal anything in the city.


    There were a great many things they learned actually, they asked questions I wouldn¡¯t even consider.


    For example, you can buy a house here. It only costs a few gold. Around a thousand silver kilograms are worth one gold.


    That shouldn¡¯t be too hard, but who would want to live here? Especially with these creepy bastards.


    You can also buy farmland and hire people to work on it, and when I say people I mean this braindead NPCs with no quests.


    Honestly where are the damn quests? I still got my unattainable quests to conquer Abraser forest, and yes I¡¯ll get to that when I get back there. Eventually.


    After asking a random dude walking down the main street where the library was he gave me directions and I said bye to them, what were their names again?


    Hmm. I don¡¯t know any of their names. As expected of a well-established hermit such as myself. I am really making progress on my hermit-tude. Hermit-ness? Hermit-ness.


    I walk into one of the many plain buildings that is supposed to be the library, there is the usual creepy smile that is to be expected of these people.


    I start struggling to ask the right questions the right way. The guy keeps repeating. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± And ¡°I am afraid you don¡¯t have the authorization for that information.¡±


    But luckily these guys clearly haven¡¯t closed all the loopholes and usually fall for yes and no questions. My tree, this is really taxing on me and is bad for my ¡®silent but strong¡¯ image.


    Turns out there are restricted areas here that have literal invisible walls. I almost threw up blood when I walked into it.


    Goosfraba, goosfraba. One with the tree, escape from existence. I am not sure where these words came from but they are truly soothing.


    I find a rack of books in one of two areas I am allowed to even look at. Oh mother of all that is treely. They got introduction books to leather-working, blacksmithing, tailoring, energy enhancing.


    Turns out tailoring is very much needed for leatherworking. As I do sew them together it makes sense.


    I was really hoping to find some kind of guide to the system commands, like you know a beginners guide to the apocalypse or something, or how-to-commands for dummies but no.


    still thrilled about the other books, not sure about blacksmithing, where am I going to smith? Carry around a furnace? That¡¯s out, but I¡¯ll buy it anyway.


    What¡¯s the first thing to do? Sit down and read ¡°leather, how does it work?¡± And ¡°Sometimes a good needle is all you need.¡± And of course ¡°Honey, does this dress make me fast?¡± which is for item enhancing.


    The books didn¡¯t really tell me much more than what I already knew, tailoring helped me the most with different patterns you should use when sewing leather.


    Got some better basic designs for the leather-working book but item enhancing just explained that you need to channel energy into items until it has a glowing hue around it.


    Turns out the enhancement is dependent on the quantity of the material used as well as quality.


    After buying some materials to sew with I went to the leather-worker¡¯s building and started working right in front of him just to spite him.


    Bastard wouldn¡¯t teach me or tell me where I could learn anything. It was literally a brisk walk away from his shitty workshop. Aaaaaah! My blood is boiling just thinking about it. One with naturai. Breathe.


    After I managed to calm down, I got to work. I tried out a design for a leather robe from the book. It is the most complex design but it is just marking things on a piece of leather then cutting it, nothing that needs great concentration.


    I started with the skinned leather of the brown furred beasts and carved out the form.


    It is sort of clever, the hood part is the most complex as you carve out strips which you then sew back together and it leaves you with something like an open ended bowl.


    After that it was easy and I quickly finished my first robe. I tried it on and it is fantastic. Not the best to move around in so I plan on selling it after I enhance it.


    The hardest part was making the boots, I picked up a trick from the book, which is essentially picking the right leather for the boots.


    Soft leather wears out quickly but tenacious leather works wonders. So I used the scaly leather.


    I had to work the soles of the boots a bit but it came together in the end and they ended up looking pretty good in my personal opinion.


    The annoying part is that the leatherworker is just ignoring me, minding his own business.


    So I finished up all my leather, even managed to make odd looking leather belts with the scraps after extensive sewing.


    Now the truly draining part is left. Enhancing the items. There is no trick to it other than what I already did before and that¡¯s channeling energy into items one at a time.


    After repeated enhancing and meditations to recover I finally managed to complete them all.


    I kept one new outfit, currently I have some fancy new boots, possibly fit for an eminent person such as myself. Along with a little bit too tight furry leather pants.


    I also made gloves, a jacket and best of all my own design, I might add. A cloak with a hood. Proud of that.


    They all match except for the boots but they look great nonetheless. Who said that hermits can¡¯t look dashing? No one?


    I can feel some serious improvements with my new outfit and a sense of accomplishment.


    I plan on selling the rest of my items, as I can make these clothes anywhere with either vines or preferably some proper needle and thread.


    Staring at what I believe to be a general goods store owner I slowly bring one piece after the other to let him appraise them.


    He bought my items for around the same amount each but once I had duplicate items he started lowering the value.


    And since I had so many belts their value was greatly lowered. I still ended up with seven kilograms of gold, which is like what? Seven thousand grams.


    It is actually seven thousand and four hundred thirty eight grams of silver. To put in context. If I so choose, it would be easy to stay here permanently.


    Before I leave this place again I¡¯m getting all the books I can carry, which is around forty I think. So I¡¯m getting three of those energy lightening bags. Fill them with books, materials to craft and of course food so I don''t have to make detours into nearby forests to hunt.


    But first, I have to finish this new skill-book. I now have twelve skill-points, at some point some skills have consumed up my skill-points.


    I should also dedicate some time to randomly call out system commands. Worked for my skill-menu and quest-log but those were both lucky guesses and really straight forward. Who knows how complicated or specific they have to be.


    I never saw those people I brought here again but that¡¯s fine, I went into a hotel and started reading the book and meditated when it became too much.


    It was rather easy to get through which makes me think it is not a very strong skill. Also I don¡¯t know why but I can¡¯t even call to talk about what is in my books.


    There is like a mental block that doesn¡¯t allow me to verbally tell anyone. Best I can do is show people how I use them.


    The only skill-book that made me do physical movements was nature affinity and now I don¡¯t even need to do them anymore. If I chant the mantra I discovered after the beast attack I fall quickly into trance.


    After finally getting through the whole book I got a new skill, and I got to say it wasn¡¯t as disappointing, though I am getting worried about how fast I am going through my skill-points.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Enhanced regeneration


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    From repeated injuries your energy has started to regenerate your wounds of its own volition. This skill is always active and continuously drains your energy whether you want it to or not.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It¡¯s not bad, but I feel this is going to get me killed somehow. Shit no, knock on wood. Uhm? No salt available. Ah I jinxed it. No, hermits are notorious for being immune to superstition.


    Nature boys log: day three. I have been walking by the river in this desolate wasteland again, heading towards my one true home. Abraser! Where the grass is green and trees welcoming.


    How I miss you mother of trees.


    Luckily, for this trip I am more than ready for the food situation and can run at full speed. Or near full speed.


    The books are weighing me down a bit and I have to stop every once in a while because empower: feet advanced a level making it require more energy.


    But that¡¯s all fine, I regenerate energy at an amazing rate now, I can¡¯t tell if my energy regeneration has ever upgraded since it is a true passive ability but I have to believe it has, right?


    It took me far shorter time to make it back towards Abraser than from it, it must have been my undying longing for my home or because I have become a little bit stronger


    As much I¡¯d love to hang around by the ever-growing tree I plan on just stopping by then checking on the survivor camp. In and out.


    Standing on the edge of the forest I watch over the survivor camp, it has become surprisingly bigger. I can¡¯t quite count all the people but there has been a significant increase.


    How do they find all these people? Is this place a designated respawn point? That has to be it, I never see people anywhere aside from towns.


    Oh, by the way. There had been some serious renovations in the tree when I came back. My imaginary gal pal must have been busy.


    Anyway, back to the settlement.


    There are no guards at the gate of the city, just a small door now. The walls have been expanded continuously and they built either more shanties or farmland in the surrounding area.


    I just casually walked in and no one batted an eye. This is strange right? Not even a guard. Maybe beasts don¡¯t come around here. Like my tree.


    These walls are much more impressive; they are at least three times my height. I can still jump over them but I definitely couldn¡¯t do it without empower: leap.


    I walk to the training center, which has been renovated. It is five times as big with wooden training dummies and some primitive lifting-weights.


    There is a circle with people running. Why would they do that? Just run in circles? Strange. This place is much better than the sanctuary. People don¡¯t even look at me. How pleasant.


    I spoke to some people, as much as it pained me. There aren''t exactly people spawning in the town, it is clearly a town now.


    They however spawn on the outer edges of Abraser forest and the first thing they see is this town, named Harros. Named after the leader supposedly.


    This town has new weird beasts as well. There are two different types, one has four long legs with hooves and they are riding them.


    The other is a kind of similar creature with a giant balloon under its stomach with four short tentacles coming out of it, I¡¯m not sure what its use is. It¡¯s eating grass.


    Back on point, looking for skill-books. After looking around and talking to an old guy sitting behind a desk I came to know they still only have their two skills.


    They however allow everyone to learn them now, too bad I have them both. There are still two more skills that the leader and his entourage have.


    So guess I¡¯m going to talk to them, I won¡¯t trade skill-books but information. Learned from my mistake from that tyrant Jar. Greed is what makes these people breathe.


    ¡°Hello, I hear you are Herros, leader of this town.¡±


    The incredibly tall man stares at me like I stole his spear.


    ¡°And I hear you got valuable information for sale.¡±


    Wow. The man has an incredibly deep voice, it almost lets out small tremors.


    ¡°Aye! I found a sanctuary where you¡¯ll find a safe town, you can buy various materials, weapons and armor. There is also a library with crafting books and explains how to for example enhance any item. I got more information but this is what I¡¯m offering now. So depending on what you have to offer we could trade.¡±


    My mouth feels dry after that. Herros smirks in an almost friendly way. Before continuing to assault me with this bass voice.


    ¡°That is some claim my friend, and you say you have even more valuable information? Then it is only right we sit and talk this over, please come join me inside. We¡¯ll have something to drink.¡±


    After he gestures to me to follow we arrive in a three story high building. There are beasts furred on every inch of the floor and some nice looking chairs and sofas.


    We sit at a table and after a few moments a man brings a tray with four tall glasses filled with white liquid.


    It tastes alright, a nice change from my usual water but it is far inferior to my tea. Something I found in the sanctuary.


    I simple dip this bag filled with some kind of herbs and it flavors the water. It is best heated.


    ¡°I guess you¡¯ll want to know what we have to offer you for your information, hopefully it will hold value to your information. May I have your name?¡±


    I thought I¡¯d dislike this man but even though his voice is a weapon he gets straight to the point, or at least he doesn¡¯t waddle around it.


    ¡°I would very much like to hear what you have. You can call me Lord Abraser, leader of the free forest. I also go by the Jade king or Prince of the ever-green.¡±


    He looks at me with the same dull look but simply continues on, what? I even gave him my full title and this all I get?


    Truly ungrateful, you won¡¯t have a high position in my kingdom with that attitude. You can be stationed on top of some tower as a guard, your voice should cover the entirety of Abraser.


    ¡°We can offer you a house to live in, possibly a leadership position in our militia. You won¡¯t want for food, and have a custom made water relay system that allows you to draw water at any time.¡±


    Hah. What? No no no that won¡¯t work at all. You can¡¯t offer me, an emissary of the great omnipotent tree some housing and food. This is beyond insulting.


    ¡°I see we have some sort of misunderstanding, all I want is access to the skill-books you have at your disposal, I have no need for anything else. The never-ending forest, the sanctuary and the tree-mother truly blessed me with bounty you see.¡±


    Why in the name of her tree-ness would I want to live in your human filled town? Oh. He doesn¡¯t look happy, him and his two buddies aren¡¯t looking too good.


    ¡°Very well.¡±


    He gets it.


    ¡°We have two skill-books, but you can only study them and only under our constant supervision are you allowed to train in their knowledge, but let me warn you.¡±


    He¡¯s paused. I assume for dramatic effect.


    ¡°It took me a long time to make heads and tails of the books and even after acquiring the ability and even then I cannot utter a word of what is contained within. Some have even been mentally wounded after trying to read it.¡±


    Hehehe, good! Turns out it should be better than their two empower books.


    ¡°Of course Herros, I accept your terms and will share with you my knowledge of where I have traveled, I¡¯ll even give you a map if you have the utensils required to scribble down on.¡±


    I would have asked to see how their power works, but it shouldn¡¯t matter if I just read the books. Since I can use the easy way, there is no point trying the hard one.


    But it would be an interesting experiment to see if I can replicate the abilities. But I¡¯ll skip it this time around.


    So I wrote down whatever information I had on the map, it wasn¡¯t as detailed as my map but more than enough for them to send some people on their mountable creatures they call horses.


    After that I was left in a room with the two books.


    Aiii, he truly wasn¡¯t lying when they said they were hard to read, the first I picked up is a bit harder than the energy regeneration book.


    But the other is just a tad harder than nature affinity. I wonder if they go out hunting monsters as I do or if they just work on making this town.


    Seeing all the improvements here I doubt they had the leisure time to go on a grand adventure like mine.


    These books are going to take some time to go through.

 Chapter eight: Can you quantify me?

    Sometimes you gotta enjoy the small things in life. And sometimes a lord like myself has to do the hard work himself.


    This is why I am currently trying to make a very delicate deal with a dark brown haired beauty.


    ¡°Come on, I can give you whatever you want, I have enough power to do whatever you want in this little town.¡±


    She is really playing hard to get. This nineteen year old girl is glaring at me with eyes that sends a flame down my body.


    Her name is Asa.  I have been forced into this situation because they have no establishments for hermits such as me.


    ¡°I told you, you godforsaken piece of shit, I am not for sale.¡±


    Aii, her voice is divine. But the harder they fight the harder they fall.


    ¡°I am in awe of your determination, tell me what you seek of this master.¡±


    ¡°I want you to leave me alone. I have to train, the population of the town can only sustain itself with hunting and you are directly intervening in my training.¡±


    ¡°My dear Asa, how can they send such a being towards my unyielding forest? I still haven¡¯t taken control over the wildlife. You don¡¯t even have a respawn point in this town, what will I do if you disappear.¡±


    Oh shit. I let something slip. Ah, damn it all. She is staring at me suspiciously now.


    ¡°Respawn point? You have a respawn point? How? Tell me!¡±


    Ugh, this is worse than expected. Time to run, a hermit doesn¡¯t need company anyway.


    ¡°Wait stop! Stop! Come back here you bastard!¡±


    As much as I am tempted to turn back but nope, time to get the hell back to my training room.


    I use empower: leap with empower: feet to jump up a two story build then jump across the rooftops before jumping back down. Ai, is the hermit¡¯s curse?


    I am getting the itch to go fight something. I have only one book left now. The first one gave me a passive ability.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Muscle enhancement


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Through strenuous exercise and possession of beginner level energy your body has adapted and absorbed minute amount of energy into its muscles


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It sounds promising and all, but how would I even increase its power, I could hardly feel a difference once I got it, very nondescript.


    I still have the other book left and I still haven¡¯t gotten a clue from looking at Herros, he and his two friends don¡¯t radiate any energy at all.


    I wonder how they do that, I and many people in this town always have a glow somewhere on our bodies.


    I am about to finish the book, it should just be one or more reading sessions. I figured out I can stay on the same page until I understand it but it takes slower than reading through the whole thing even though I can¡¯t even understand the words.


    My theory that the pages indicate the difficulty has also been pretty much confirmed. My nature affinity had hundred and thirty six pages and this book has hundred and seventeen.


    The empower books have around ten pages. But whenever I finish a book, the pages disappear and there is only one left with the name of the skill.


    When I was in the middle of meditation, Herros barged into my room.


    ¡°Lord Abraser.¡±


    Hmph, he knows how to properly address me at this point. But there is a very serious expression on his face.


    ¡°Sup¡¯, Herros?¡±


    Behind Herros walks in the beautiful girl called Asa. By everything that is green. She snitched on me. You can¡¯t trust anyone.


    ¡°Asa, here tells me you said something about Respawn points, and I would very much like it if you¡¯d enlighten me on the subject.¡±


    His voice needs to calm the fuck down, how can a human possess such a dangerous weapon?


    ¡°Aii, I told you when we met I have greater information than just about the sanctuary and a map. You however do not have what I desire in trade, unless of course you are willing to hand over Asa there over to me.¡±


    Let¡¯s see you fight yourself out of this one.


    ¡°Asa? You want me to give you my daughter!?¡±


    Ah shit. Ah no, please don¡¯t do that. Herros unsheathes his weapon and towers over me where I sit down in meditation.


    ¡°Herros, I would advise you to put the weapon away, even if I won¡¯t be able to kill you, which I assure you I can easily escape from here and believe me, you do not want a vengeful demi-god on your bad side. And even if you manage to kill me. I have a respawn point and can easily return and my attacks reach from the hidden forest to your little hovel of a base.¡±


    I am not angry, but let me be honest here. I could slowly but surely kill everyone here, how can they compare to the beasts I¡¯ve slain so far?


    Watching Herros conflicted gaze and sheathing his blade, I inwardly sighed in relief, I still haven¡¯t finished the book.


    ¡°Lord Abraser, I do not want it to go so far, however a father must protect his daughter''s virtues. No matter the price.¡±


    He sighs and continues trying to make my ears bleed.


    ¡°If you could be so kind as to inform me how to get a respawn point, I would be in your debt.¡±


    Alright, it¡¯s not so bad, I¡¯ll make a deal real quick, finish the book and then try to conquer the third tree.


    ¡°Herros, despite your blasphemous voice. No, your voice is a torture device, how have you lived so far without having a gag forcefully stuck into your mouth? Oh, a bit off topic, but I can tell you how to set up a respawn point but if you gain any skill-books in the future I would appreciate you letting me read them.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Unhesitatingly nodding we finalized the deal.


    ¡°With my never ending will-power I have managed to stumble on one of the secrets of the system. This information should greatly benefit you, I must ask you first. Who was it that killed the guardian of this village?¡±


    ¡°I dealt the final blow to the most dangerous creature in this village, it however did not compare to some of the beasts in the forest. Or Abraser as you call it.¡±


    Hmm, that¡¯s new information, the monsters he must be talking about are the weaker ones on the outer layer.


    So I assume the difficulty of taking over a zone differs greatly and the rewards must also be lesser.


    Also, Herros saw me during one of my breaks throw a spear into a target dummy, it went straight through until I went halfway through a cement wall. Which is why he is so docile.


    ¡°Good. You see, if you take over another village in this area you will receive a quest to take over a larger area, I still haven¡¯t made a proper estimate of the difficulty between the various quest objectives but the biggest capture point should be far more dangerous.


    Breathing out, this should be a nice experiment, I might even join them to take over another village.


    ¡°However, I do not have a map of this area and you can only guess where the other village is, it shouldn¡¯t be too far away if my guess is right. Once you take over a second village, those two points will become respawn points. I however do not know if people other than yourself will respawn in these two locations as well.¡±


    The father and daughter stood there frozen, they were standing right outside the room so I closed the door and sat back down and resumed my meditation.


    My head is still killing me. I am uncertain how many days went into reading the second book but today it ended.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Energy compression


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Your energy has transformed and compressed. Your energy is now more powerful and you can contain more of it with your physical body.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    As usual, the description is too vague. After some fiddling, I feel it has made every ability stronger, by a tiny margin. I also no longer have my glowing hue.


    I was thinking about joining the village on their trip to conquer another village but it turns out they had just sent scouts out search and I can¡¯t be bothered to wait.


    Time to go back to base, create some spears and head towards the third tree. If the guardian is of the same strength as the other two guardians I believe I can take it out.


    But hopefully I will be able to do it while staying hidden, no reason to put myself in harm¡¯s way.


    Enjoying a peaceful evening in the embrace of my tree I am carving offshoot branches of the slender piece of wood I gathered.


    I still haven¡¯t read all the books I took with me. I was planning on reading them now, some of them are crafting related but the others are just miscellaneous books, everyone with odd names.


    There are a lot of fillers in every book and only tidbits of useful information. I mean there are more than three hundred pages in the leather-working book.


    Yet the majority of the content are things that have nothing to do with working with leather but how the author feels about working with leather.


    I have two improved belts on my waist, each has ten small wooden stakes. I also made a new vest similar to a belt that goes over my shoulders, around my chest and back. On them I fastened three spears.


    And of course I always hold onto one spear. Two stakes have been tied with vine and fastened properly on my right and left side.


    Breathing in the invigorating scent of the forest I start making my way towards my third tree.


    Even from the top of the canopy the tree is barely in sight and only because it almost reaches the sky.


    I am not in a hurry so I practice my hidden presence, empower: eye, leap, feet and even hand while slowly making my way through the canopy.


    I also try to find any remnants of buildings that have been laid to waste by the overgrown forest.


    My backpack lays over my three spears that have been fastened to my back, filled with food and water.


    Every once in a while I ponder over the words that appeared in my mind while escaping from that incredibly agile mutant beast.


    Breathe in silently, breathe out slowly. No noise. Calm down. One with the tree, you are one with the naturai, embrace us. Escape from existence. Come little darling, don¡¯t say a word. You are what dreams should be like. Still, slowly and ever-growing.


    I haven¡¯t been able to enter that state of meditation since even though I have chanted the mantra in my mind every time.


    So my theory is that there isn¡¯t a need for the words but for the state of mind. I have to reach such a state of stillness and merge with the naturai.


    Naturai I assume is a different word for nature or nature energy. With answers there will be more questions.


    I found a tall tree and climbed to the very top, when in the forest my body feels light, full of energy so I stand comfortably on the fragile tree top. Watching over the forest in its immense green glory.


    Sometimes in the far distance, closer to the middle layer. The tree shakes before resuming their former stillness.


    I can still be considered in the outer edge of Abraser so when I turn my sight from the forest I see mountains in the distance and various river streams flowing that fade into the horizon. I still can¡¯t see too far away but empower: eye still helps a bit.


    The great flame in the sky burns across the land and leaves a mirage making me unable to distinguish anything in the faraway distance.


    I still hope to see more towns or villages. I wonder if I¡¯ll ever find any humanoids aside from humans, it only feels right that there should be other races of people.


    As I get closer and closer to the great tree, I see it differs a bit from the other two, its branches are thicker and reach further out, and I am already under its shadow.


    Sitting down on a comfortable branch below the tree I run over some strategies.


    First I was thinking about throwing a stake with a vine into one of the branches but it is far too high up, even if I reach I don¡¯t think it will take hold. Worth a try in any case.


    My second thought was to wait for night time, and hope to catch the guardian unawares.


    I climb up the tree and sit on one of the branches, the smaller branches are already bigger than the trees below. Slowly I sink into meditative trance.


    I tried a little experiment that I felt like should have been obvious, I activated all my active and pseudo-active abilities before I went into trance, hoping I¡¯d gain some benefit from it.


    When I came out of my mind erasing trance I felt as if I had just woken up from a short sleep, a groggy feeling washed over me and I felt like sleeping for a year.


    Noticing all my abilities have been turned off, I went back into meditation to recover.


    Skimming over my skill-menu


    | Nature affinity |


    | Rapid hand movement |


    | Gentle hands |


    | Hide presence |


    | Energy regeneration |


    | Energy shield |


    | Empower: Eye |


    | Empower: Hand |


    | Empower: Feet |


    | Empower: Leap |


    | Strength and dexterity increase |


    | Body enhancing |


    | Energy compression |


    | Skill-points: 0 |


    Aii, look at that, I used up all my skill-points. I am not sure what actually got upgraded either, this menu could really be more generous with information.


    It is the middle of the night. I am climbing slowly up the tree, and should take almost an hour at this pace.


    Focusing my entirely on hiding my presence and feeling the breath of the tree. The breath of the tree-goddesses are all unique and overwhelming.


    My breath slow syncs up with the pulse of the tree. Or as close as I have ever gotten before.


    Reaching the high flat platform on the tree I keep my focus on being one with the tree. I search slowly for the third guardian.


    There has been a booming ambient noise constantly ringing in my head so we can assume he is awake.


    After searching every part of the tree, I still can¡¯t find it. There is nothing here, nothing I can see.


    Only one thing to do, and that is patiently wait, I focus on hiding my presence and start meditating in an unassuming branch of the tree. I occasionally wake up from my meditation to service my needs.


    I am not sure if I exposed my presence here or not but I tried to keep hidden. I am not sure how long a time has passed, I am running out of supplies.


    My nature affinity is becoming clearer in my mind, I can sense these changes with greater ease. But still no guardian.


    I was forced to go hunt and find a source of water, I am very confused. Should I intentionally expose myself to draw out the guardian?


    How can it not show itself after such a long time? Will death take the one that waits or the one who acts? I tremble when I think back to the second guardian. How do you quantify such strength?


    Aii, woe is me. I came here to risk my life but I don¡¯t even get the chance to act. I should hunt some beasts and gather skill-points so I can continue to progress.


    I want to go back home and read. First I¡¯ll read about plant-life, maybe becoming an herbalist or alchemist will be good.


    In fact I might become everything. I¡¯ll have to figure out how to install a furnace in my tree.


    The days have been passing one after the other, I feel like I have lost my sense of time. I¡¯ve been hunting beast after beast.


    I¡¯m creeping closer and closer to the middle of the middle layer of Abraser, nothing puts up any resistance.


    After I enhance my wooden spears their durability sky-rocketed. I threw a spear into the ground as an experiment. Rest in peace spear, it vanished into the ground leaving a small hole in the ground.


    I ?ve tuned out the constant ambient music that booms every moment I stay conscious.


    I¡¯ve gathered forty seven skill-points. I used to get two points for every strong creature I slayed but now I only get one.


    I¡¯ve left so much perfectly fine leather lying beside the carcasses of my prey.


    In total I found seven skill-books. Two empower: hand, three empower: feet, one enhance body and the last is a ten page book, which I assume is some empower book.


    I am unsure how many beasts I killed but they must be over sixty.


    From my calculations, I either got very lucky with skill-books. Or the drop rate has fallen dramatically.


    But that is all fine, because my empower: hand and rapid hand movement have both gained tremendous gains.


    The reason I stayed as long as I did, wasn¡¯t to continuously collect skill-books or skill-points but to train my rapid hand movement.


    Right after I broke through, it went out of control and only every other spear went in the direction I wanted it to do.


    I ?ve had to remake twenty seven stakes and seven of my spears. Most vanished when I was adjusting to the new speed of rapid hand movement and some pierced into the ground.


    Mindless hunting is far more rewarding than running around empty plains of non-forest or discovering a new breed of horrible insects.


    No distractions, only me, me and me. Ahhh, to be a hermit. One day I should try to be a tyrant, the world''s oldest profession isn¡¯t as prolific as I expected it to be.


    I could change that. The kingdom of lust? Abraser, the forest of indecency. Cities of depravity. No? Your right, it sounds like too much work.


    Standing under the great tree I¡¯ve named patience. It never leaves me wanting for more. It¡¯s time to either do or die, there is no try.

 Chapter nine: Lord of the forest

    I might have underestimated this guardian, when given some thought. Isn¡¯t a monster that can be completely hidden, terrifying?


    It¡¯s not as if I have some great motivation to take over this tree. Aside from alleviating my boredom and extreme curiosity. And the quest.


    Climbing up the tree, hidden as always, I ready my vine-stake and throw it into one of the longer thicker branches that far out from the tree.


    I quickly pull with some strength to check if it would hold me after I jump down and pick up speed.


    This is a new stake I made out of the tree patience. Better material makes better tools.


    I have made my presence here known after throwing out that stake with rapid hand movement.


    I stand on the edge of the tree staring cautiously at my surroundings.


    I got a new spear in hand, the same as the stake made from this tree. My breath has picked up and my heartbeat is racing.


    I can hear some noise coming from one of the branches. Long thick branch started moving as if it were waking up.


    It blends perfectly with the tree bark. This is exactly how I looked when I was being hunted by that eight legged mutant beast. Endless bark breaking off into fine dust.


    Two startling white eyes open up and look at me. I feel as my spirit has left me, I can no longer feel the warm embrace of naturai and my body is already many times heavier. What did it do? How?


    It doesn¡¯t move but I can see the energy around its head gathering. Small vibrations knock me off balance before a gust of incorporeal power slams into me. T


    The air leaves my lungs and with it a bucket of blood. Free falling after being knocked off the tree I still hold a vine in my hand with a death-grip.


    Everything feels slow, even my speed is like a leisurely fall but I know better. The wind pressure, the cool shade of the tree, the numbing sensation and throbbing pain tells me I am falling fast diagonally away and down the tree.


    I am tempted to let go of the vine, the pain it will induce when I finally reach maximum distance with me still grabbing it.


    But there is something in all of us that lets us survive no matter the means. Mentally preparing myself won¡¯t be enough.


    I reach out with my almost useless right hand. I have already dropped the spear. I grab a hold of the vine and weave it around my hand, please don¡¯t dislocate anything.


    I can only solemnly pray to the naturai that the stake and vine won¡¯t falter under the pressure.


    When I finally reach the end of the vine I can feel a tearing sensation as I desperately hold on.


    The angle that I was thrown has to be favorable because I swing in a large arc naturally but the speed is putting enormous pressure on my internal organs.


    In their already tattered shape I can¡¯t fight the second round of blood forcing its way through my through and out of my mouth.


    Watching the trunk of the tree coming closer and closer, I am out of ideas. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to hold on after I slam into the tree at this speed.


    With a thought, my skill-menu pops up and I quickly skim over it, what can reduce my speed? If anything.


    | Nature affinity |


    | Rapid hand movement |


    | Gentle hands |


    | Hide presence |


    | Energy regeneration |


    | Energy shield |


    | Empower: Eye |


    | Empower: Hand |


    | Empower: Feet |


    | Empower: Leap|


    | Strength and dexterity increase |


    | Body enhancing|


    | Energy compression|


    Maybe I can try and throw something and reduce the speed with rapid hand movement. No, I don¡¯t have the time or the strength to even reach for my spear or stakes.


    Should I slam my foot down with empower: feet? Shit, no, the empower abilities have very little impact and don¡¯t affect my body''s durability.


    Leap? Will leap work? I can¡¯t jump on air though. Ai my head hurts. The blood I spat out didn¡¯t go far and is covering my face, I can hardly keep my eyes open with it flowing into my eyes.


    Energy shield! I can use energy shield! This is kinetic energy! But it¡¯s me that is moving and not the tree-trunk.


    Won¡¯t it abruptly stop my body abruptly either way? Ah, why can I only think so fast the moment before my death? If I always thought this fast, I wouldn¡¯t be in this situation. Energy shield it is.


    I put up a spherical energy shield around me, not even a second passes before I hit the wall. New information, fantastic information!


    The shield mechanics work like a rubber ball when I slam into the tree. Once it starts to expand, I can see the minute vibrations or whatever force is dispersing the kinetic energy.


    Shooting back out like a rubber ball, the speed reduced to a crawl in comparison. I gently land with my feet on the tree-trunk.


    First thing I do is look up, there is no sight of that tree-beast. I grab a second vine-stake and with rapid hand movement pierce into the tree-trunk.


    I grab onto the vine and start to slowly make my way back down. Even if the creature doesn¡¯t follow me, I am feeling weaker by the minute, my energy pouring out like water. I have no idea what is going on, am I leaking?


    When I reach one of the offshoot branches I sit down and start to meditate.


    After what I assume is mere minutes, I abruptly get torn from my trance and lose all power in my body, I helplessly fall to the side and slowly start slipping off the branch.


    What is happening? Why can¡¯t I move? Where did all my energy go? I have no way of sensing my body or energy right now, even the pain is gone.


    I am like an empty vessel. What in the actual fuck is going on!


    As I slowly but surely slide off the branch, which is still somewhere in the middle of the tree.


    My hand comes into sight, the hands wounds after holding onto the vines have already healed, I don¡¯t know when or how. Why? What did that son of a Jar do! Bastard creature.


    Just watching the ground waiting there to meet me I am full of regret. Was that beast even stronger than the other two?


    It might just have been that I got extremely lucky with the first two. Thinking about it, the first one didn¡¯t even register me as a threat or was in some kind of hibernation.


    The other I managed to get off some spear throws, but not without a heavy price. I was lucky to not have fallen off the tree in fact.


    Ugh, I¡¯m now in my tree, this is the second tree. We need a name, I¡¯ll call it the tree of luck. The first will be named tree of origin.


    Every time you respawn, the body and mind are full of energy so I waste no time and start heading toward the tree of origin. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The trees are placed just before you enter the middle layer, well that¡¯s all relative, it can be considered placed in the middle layer.


    The beasts just don¡¯t get too close to it. I ignore everything on my way there and I am traveling at my fastest speed.


    The nature energy has recovered and my body is again agile and lithe.


    It can¡¯t be considered a mistake to fight that guardian, fight? I mean get the shit smacked out of me.


    When I go there again, I¡¯ll simply have to find it and throw spears at it before it can use that power or whatever it was. It felt like I had been rammed by invisible energy.


    When I arrive, I use the pulley system to get up without any hassle. I sit down and relax.


    Now. What in the world happened to all my energy? So I threw a stake, but I can throw at least ten of those before I feel like I need to slow down.


    I used empower: hands to keep a firm grip on the vines. That must have drained me somewhat.


    Then of course the energy shield. Maybe it withdrew too much energy to mitigate the impact.


    And that all makes sense, but why couldn¡¯t I even meditate to regain my energy. I even have an energy regeneration passive.


    Before I dwell too deep into that, I have to spend some time to go over my recorded logs.


    I still remember I recently opened my skill-menu and went over the abilities just before I smashed into that wall, so that won¡¯t be a problem.


    The worst case is that I¡¯d have to go retrieve some skill-books or scour through the boon to find how I got the skills.


    Before I do that lets try some math. One plus one is two. Great, didn¡¯t forget numbers.


    From what I can tell, I haven¡¯t forgotten any abilities but I still haven¡¯t read the new book I found.


    Shouldn¡¯t be too much of a loss, hopefully I¡¯ll be able to retrieve it later. Now what should I do? I¡¯m thinking about becoming a scholar. An educated man.


    Maybe force my facial hair to grow to better fit my scholarly and hermit stature. If I had a pen and paper, I¡¯d catalog the books but I guess picking them up one by one is fine. Starting with the crafting once, I still have five I haven¡¯t looked into.


    ¡°The flower that wouldn¡¯t bloom¡± an introduction into herbs and how to care for them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t drink that¡± a book on potion making. Covering a myriad of items that can be used to make various elixirs.


    ¡°A rabbits¡¯ hole¡± oddly about mining and a list of minerals.


    ¡°The secret ingredient¡± featuring cooking methods and edible materials.


    ¡°Soft and hard¡± this one should be very helpful, a general book meant to assist with the initial crafting methods. And the way it words it. I hope it means there will be more crafting professions.


    I couldn¡¯t get permission to enter any of the other areas of the library in the sanctuary, a hermit can dream though.


    Much of the information is just endless catalogs of materials, impossible to memorize but the system works wonders here, it does it for me.


    Just like the skill-books, I inherently know the contents of the books. Which is why I still remember that some guy loves a type of leather that has the color of dark yellow. It¡¯s great.


    These days have been great, just reading about materials and how to work them, even the short stories about how they hand this or that materials in their hand or how they got it.


    Nothing has been of much help yet but I learned a new skill, called hard hands. It¡¯s the counter of gentle hands. It has no use right now, but if I ever decide to do some blacksmithing I¡¯ll be more equipped.


    Turns out everything has to do with energy, although I figured as much with the other crafting books.


    It tells you to very gently and slowly channel mana almost unconsciously while you work.


    They don¡¯t mention what for but the words they use for energy differ greatly. Mana, Qi, heavens power, the borrowed, spirits, the power and even Fredrick¡¯s gift. Which incidentally was the author of the potion book.


    Making use of the cooking skill, I made myself something to eat. The results are decent, I can feel something similar as to when I got the energy regeneration skill.


    From that I assume it gives me a buff, the icon that blinks in the upper left corner of my peripheral vision has grown to two icons. I still haven¡¯t found a mental command to inspect them.


    I miss the internet, one search and I would have been able to get more ideas to try but at last, I am simply not bright enough to crack this puzzle.


    ¡°A man and his cloud¡± a book about the world, this is the first book I¡¯ve read that actually has some information about this world.


    Turns out the flying circles in the sky are called sun and moon. I get a feeling I should have known that, almost like deja vu.


    I can¡¯t tell exactly where I am in the world but I am definitely not on my home planet.


    There are eight continents, one bigger than the next until the largest one. They are very close to each other from what I can tell, there is no expansive ocean.


    From the pictures, it looks like massive rivers between islands.


    There is another thing I noticed, the book never tells of any villages, towns or cities. It¡¯s mostly just a nature enthusiast describing various climates and beautiful landscapes.


    These are all the books that the system has authorized me to read, I assume they won¡¯t be of too much worth.


    Hopefully I get some information about quests or how to get them aside from my current, absurdly hard quest. Or if there is such a thing as experience, or if I have any stats to distribute.


    I¡¯ve been hunting a bit and looking for wild plants to use in my cooking, I didn¡¯t even occur to me to bother with any of it before.


    Having knowledge really is fortuitous. This meal still doesn¡¯t compare to the restaurants in the sanctuary but beats everything else I¡¯ve ever made.


    The buff also appears in the upper left corner, but I simply don¡¯t know what it does. The buff I get for being in Abraser is still standing strong.


    My empower skills keep improving while I read, it was  a struggle to keep them up while reading at first but eventually I got used to it.


    But again, I simply can¡¯t know what level they are or even if they have levels. This system needs a major quality of life improvements update.


    A lot of the books are just stories to read, they are the thickest. The thickest one has seven hundred pages and is a bit larger than the others. Titled ¡°The void.¡±


    still haven¡¯t cracked it open, other than to check it¡¯s title and flip through it to see if there is anything worthwhile.


    I haven¡¯t read any of the non-essential books, which is almost all of them but it is nice to have something to stave off boredom.


    I¡¯ve been meaning to make plans to kill that fuckwit guardian. Every time I think of it straight up bitch slapping me off the tree I get the urge to stay in my little tree forever.


    If it wasn¡¯t for my incomparable tree-hugging will I probably would as well.


    So the plan is to check out the other tree whilst hunting in the middle layer, honing my abilities and hoping to find more skill-books.


    I¡¯m thinking about training my close-combat prowess. Rapid hand movements should work for it. I just have to design a better spear to handle melee situations. Which means longer spears.


    Watching all the furs around this place laying around the tree of origin. Where the hell did all these furs come from? Every inch of this place has something laid down on it.


    The place has been fully furnished with two chairs and two beds. Did I make all of this and forget about it? That has to be it, I am the only person that has ever been here.


    Right? Actually I do remember skimming over the logs, supposedly I had an imaginary friend that I brought here.


    I wonder what happened to my hermit¡¯s pride. Bringing people to the holy mistress. Have I been blasphemous?


    Aii, I know that I am stalling but I don¡¯t want to go a long ass trek to another tree, I¡¯m going through the middle layer as well to hunt.


    Hopefully I¡¯ll find some very strong monsters that drop better books, I am most hoping for an ability to sense my surroundings. If I had that, the guardian of patience could be taken by surprise.


    I started making my spear, I started with a little thicker branch and carved it down, relying on gentle hands to do it smoothly.


    I also found that I could smooth it over with hard hands. The spear reaches from my feet to my shoulders. It took longer than usual to imbue with enhancements.


    Finally after gathering some herbs I started my adventure, version six point zero.


    Operation: Road to royalty. I am not staying in the canopy, I fight all the non-gigantic monsters on the way with my spear complimented by rapid hand movement. I


    It takes some time to get used to but the results are brutal. Empower hands works really well with it. An enhanced item is also very easy to channel energy through.


    I can¡¯t say I¡¯m really thrusting the spear more like pointing at beasts and activating rapid hand movements while moving towards them.


    I also have to hold the spear above me striking down to make it effective. After I pierce through the skull of a wolf about the same height as me I skim over the items dropped, nothing but wrapped up meat and leather.


    I haven¡¯t gotten a wearable item for what seems like an age. Ai, I live life too fast.


    I still creep through the forest while travelling. I really don¡¯t need something jumping on me, taking me by surprise.


    However when I locate something to kill, I make sure it knows I¡¯m there. I can¡¯t very well train properly if all I do is attack from hidden locations.


    Since it''s taken me so long to move around I haven¡¯t met any powerful foes but the ambient noise has been picking up for a while now.


    An enormous bear? I think it¡¯s a bear. It has very thin long front legs and walks in an odd way.


    I pound the back end of my spear on the ground to catch its attention, the ambient noise went on full blast when I did.


    It looks like my hidden presence lowers any potential danger, according to the system. Or so I assume, ai, I need to interrogate those NPCs in the Sanctuary.


    The creature turns around and doesn¡¯t hesitate to sprint towards me roaring majestically while doing so.


    I lift up my spear, activate all my supplementary abilities and wait for it to get into range before using rapid hand movement to forcibly drill into its body.


    I was kind of nervous and ended up puncturing the beasts¡¯ body with multiple holes that rained blood over me. This is definitely a demerit of close combat.


    Nothing of value is left behind and I ended up covered in the warm essence of the bear.


    The ambient noise didn¡¯t go down, I heard at least two more roars coming from the same direction.


    Should I go up the tree? I am not sure if I can actually handle two of these at the same time.


    I am no soldier, I am an assassin if anything, just specializing in wooden spears. Nothing odd about that, just smart!


    The earth starts to shake a little bit before two far larger bears arrive. This is odd, but not too uncommon, some beasts travel in packs.


    They never stop and have already picked up momentum. I really regret not climbing up the tree, these things are very fast but their acceleration slow.


    I have my spear raised up high and throw it towards the beasts on the left side. I quickly grab a second spear off my back.


    This forest area is dense so before they got into my sights they were already very close.


    As quickly as I can I activate rapid hand movement, I was going to throw this one but it is already too close.


    The spear goes into its left side, making it tilt to the right a little bit losing its balance. It however is still in its full momentum just in mid-air about to slam into me.


    I tried to duck away but I activated my energy shield just in case. I can¡¯t feel anything hit me but I quickly turn around, another spear in my hand.


    Rising from the ground the bear has a broken spear lodged into its ribs. I waste no time and throw my spear full force, the spear blasts out going straight through its head.


    Watching it slump over I can¡¯t help but feel relieved. A skill-book was on the ground but ended up being another empower: hand.


    These things really aren¡¯t rare. I would leave it if I didn¡¯t believe I could use it to trade with other people.


    Rethinking my naive train of thought I climb back into the trees, I really can¡¯t be down on the ground, it is far too dangerous.


    I can think much faster under pressure and react very quickly but why risk it? Exactly! The spear assassin, the green killer.


    To be back in the canopy makes this all a lot less stressful, I got a little cocky after killing all those weak creatures easily.


    The monsters are a lot more common here in the middle layer. The never ending ambiance is a clear indicator.


    It however doesn¡¯t get too loud while I hide my presence, which is reason enough to always stay hidden.


    Though to be honest, it just means I¡¯m slow enough to make less noise and my breath is also a lot more controlled.


    Occasionally I have to stop and make some spears, I only have two from the great tree left, and they are clearly stronger so I don¡¯t want to waste them.


    I stopped looking for beasts at this point but I still attack them if they appear in front of me.


    Occasionally I find some skill-books but they are always the empower books.


    I wonder if it¡¯s because all the things I kill are the same, never anything new. I of course don¡¯t even touch the glowing insects.


    They can be used for potion making, however there are no formulas or recipes for any potion written in that damnable book.


    So four skill-books so far, on my left is the great tree Luck. I can¡¯t exactly see the next tree but there is a sort of dark brown mirage on the horizon.


    It is really nice that the trees are so easy to find. The distance between this one seems a little further than the tree patience and the tree of origin.


    I¡¯ve long since stopped counting how many things I kill but I feel it¡¯s probably less than thirty.


    They have also all been very easy to kill. I kind of want to go a little bit deeper into the forest before I reach the tree.


    No, no. I don¡¯t want to accidentally die before reaching the tree and have to travel all the way back here.


    Also, where do all these water streams come from, every so often I see a small river or a little stream.  They all come from the same direction, the deepest part of the forest.


    If it weren¡¯t for the never ending fog clouding my vision, would I be able to see if there was a giant water fountain stationed there?

 Chapter ten: It just won鈥檛 get any easier

    It¡¯s easy to forget how beautiful this forest is. The disturbing and constant ambience, along with the low roars of various beasts fending off their territories, cast a long shadow over the otherwise serenity inducing jade green forest.


    I say that, while watching a larger beast ravaging a smaller one that wandered into its domain. Readying a hastily made spear, I take aim and throw with practiced ease.


    What is the point of all this? Is it truly just to quench the fire of adventure?


    No, boredom is like being forced to listen to the same person repeat the same story and hoping the plot would suddenly change.


    I ?d rather lose my mind slowly with every death.


    Raising my head I see the fourth tree standing there tall taunting me. I can¡¯t help but think about the feeling of helplessness. The feeling of losing control over my body the last time I entangled with the guardian.


    Death plays with those that wait.


    Time to take on this beast of wood and bark. When I start climbing the wall the sun peeking through the thick canopy above.


    Before long I can feel the shade enveloping me and the stifling heat settle into a nice cool breeze.


    Taking the first step on the wooden platform, it is almost identical to the other trees. A thought occurred to me just now, how can the tree be like this?


    How can it grow so flat? It still has its slight curve making so water won¡¯t pool but it is hardly noticeable.


    Has this world been planned? Worked on and molded into a ruthless playground? I neglected to ask the people I¡¯ve met so far where they came from.


    Are they from this world or mine? I remember seeing my neighbors dragged and mauled by the horde of overgrown beasts ravaging my peaceful little village.


    I can¡¯t remember a lot now. But I remember bits and pieces of my life in that village. Shush. Focus, no time for this.


    Should I be happy or disappointed? I am watching an enormous snake lying silently on a large branch.


    These branches are the sizes of multiple trees. Watching its body entwined with the branch for a time before I slowly get closer, ready to throw my spear at any time.


    I am close enough to throw a spear with all the power I have and hit without any shadow of a doubt. My breath is steady as I ready for a burst of energy about to erupt from my right hand.


    In the fastest speed I can muster, the energy flows into my hand from all over my body. My hand in mid swing before empower: hand activates alongside rapid hand movement.


    I can feel the heat leaving my hand with my spear, the energy would rapidly start leaving the spear as soon as I throw but I am too close to impact it.


    As fast as it started it ended, the snake never moved, the spear went through its skull and vanished into the forest below.


    Items spawn in the middle of the air, something small, a book and of course a large quantity of leather and food wrapped in large green and brown foliage.


    Why mid air though? I rush to the edge of the tree and look down to see the items getting pulled a bit by the wind, especially the book.


    I try to keep an eye on the book, seeing as it is the only thing getting pulled into a direction that would be harder to search.


    Before long the skill-book disappears into the canopy. This really isn¡¯t ideal. Should I try and remove this snake? Oh my quest-log is blinking


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    The forest


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You have found and conquered three safe zones with close relation to each other, you will now always respawn in one of the three safe zones.


    This is true until one spawn point is destroyed or you take over an unrelated safe zone.


    Currently in control of three safe zones.


    These safe zones are located in the Abraser forest.


    With each consecutive zone that is captured, you increase your overall skill progression speed by 1,1%.


    When all zones are under control, you gain an extra ten point two percent increase.


    Drop rate has increased by ten percent.


    Overall body physique is increased by a total of 10%.


    Further rewards will not be disclosed until all zones have been captured.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    So three out of how many again?


    This fight was far easier than expected. From the quest description, I should have a three point three percent increase in skill proficiency.


    That¡¯s great and all but doesn¡¯t feel impressive does it? The real reward is the drops from these guardians.


    I¡¯ll have to climb down to get it but I have to go down either way. Ai, I wanted to relax, maybe if I got lucky I''ll find that skill-book.


    Taking who knows how long to climb back down I search around the area, pick up the leather and throw it to the base of the tree.


    I¡¯ve been thinking, what is the maximum amount of leather clothing can I wear? Better quality means I can do better enhancements and less of a risk of getting bitten in half.


    Took me what feels like half a day to find the tiny earring that fell to the ground.


    I don¡¯t have piercings and I heal too fast anyway, so I decided the most logical solution would be to stab myself in the earlobe with the earring.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    I have no idea if this accessory did anything but I couldn¡¯t enhance it so it must have had some energy in it beforehand. That makes sense, right?


    I stayed at the base of the tree for three days looking for this book before finding it entangled in the canopy of a tree.


    It¡¯s one of those thick books. Going to be literal torture to go through like the others but I can¡¯t help but feel excited. I flip through it quickly before heading to the tree.


    I won¡¯t climb the tree again because I plan on travelling deeper into the forest a few times, see how far I can get, maybe catch a glimpse of what¡¯s hidden behind that thick fog.


    I hate to admit it as a proud recluse but I miss talking to someone other than myself, sure they are mostly depraved liars and opportunists that relish in the anguish of their fellow humans.


    But there is that feeling of knowing you can¡¯t talk to anyone, which is what haunts me.


    Once I rule this forest I¡¯ll have people waiting at all times in the rare case I feel the need to converse with something.


    I just woke up from reading this skill-book, turns out I started hemorrhaging blood out of all orifices when I started reading it and blacked out.


    I am not sure how to feel about this. Can you die from reading? Granted it seems to force knowledge down your throat with each word.


    The only word I can think of to describe this near sentient book is tyrannical. Nature affinity and energy shield books were more like amateur sadists in comparison.


    I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to read this book for the moment, I mean I could, I perfectly healed whilst unconscious but it would take months to get through it at this pace, how long was I even out?


    Standing up, watching my bloodied attire I want to complain but there is no one here. Except me, which is of course is the best company one could ask for.


    Strolling without a care in the sphere of influence the tree has, I walk to a small stream and clean up my beautiful leather outfit.


    I am not going to lie, it gets a bit sweaty running through the forest, climbing sky high trees under the blazing sun then nearly dying from reading a book. Such is life in Abraser and I¡¯ve learned to live with it.


    Taking the shortest way possible, I hastily make my way deeper into Abraser forest. I ran past a few shadows below undetected.


    When I reach the fog, which hasn¡¯t diminished in the least I reach out and touch it. I almost feel like water has reached into it.


    I can feel a knot in my stomach as I walk through it. The fog-screen behind me vanishes, another one appears in my sight deeper in the forest.


    However from my point of view I can see it bend at its edges, presumably in an enormous circle.


    The ambience picked up a bit, even though I am still hidden mingling with the canopy. Does this mean my hidden presence is less effective here? Or are the creatures just stronger? Or both?


    There are savage roars echoing in the surroundings, everything else is serene aside from the underlying ambiance.


    Straining my eyes I can spot what looks like a small flying bird. It is circling then swooping down before suddenly shooting back up and continuing to calmly soar above the forest.


    Despite looking tiny from a distance that is only an optical illusion and its real size must tower well above my head.


    This is the first time I¡¯ve seen a flying mutant beast, doesn¡¯t seem staying above the canopy is as safe anymore.


    Let¡¯s go through the scenario real quick. The ambient noise rose when I entered this area even if I stayed hidden and hid my presence.


    So we can assume that I can be detected and need to increase my vigilance. Since they can detect me, they must be a certain degree more powerful than what I thought was the middle layer.


    That zone needs to be renamed to the outer layer now. And this the middle layer.


    For now let¡¯s test a few things out, I want to see if anything will follow me to the outer perimeter but that requires me to attract attention and I¡¯ll only do that if I¡¯ll be discovered, going along with the assumption that I am able to.


    Slowly sticking just below the tree tops I travel from tree to tree. The air here seems richer and the pulse or breath of the foliage feels more powerful.


    There are less beasts here from what I can tell. The edge of fog was filled with wildlife.


    I am watching a small creature, it could probably reach to my shoulders. Which is small compared to most of the stronger beasts so far.


    What intrigues me is how it goes from shadow to shadow. After a few moments it suddenly stops and almost vanishes into the shade of a tree.


    I continue to observe the small, uhm rodent? It has a long tail that curls up slightly never touching the ground, sharp claws on its front paws and hind legs.


    A long protruding snout with short hairs comes off either side. Its fur is completely black. The black creature has been holding its position for quite some time now.


    I am plotting on shooting it down. I reach for my spear. Before I gather energy I hear some quiet rustling, a figure casually strolls in the direction of the black creature.


    There is a vigilant and almost intelligent look on its otherwise ferocious face. Red and black fusion of fur covers its entire body.


    This beast reminds me of a tiger, if it wasn¡¯t for its long ears and the absence of a tail. It is easily twice the size of our little stranger in the dark.


    I hold my spear ready but stay my hand to see if there will be an exchange.


    As the terrifying feline beast makes its way forward in a slow calm manor, the black rodent stays still as the trees, occasionally its fur lets off an illusory hue before melding back into the shadows.


    When the feline walks past it, a blur suddenly shoots at it, there is only a soft sound of the air being disturbed before the red and black creature stops moving and leans into a resting position.


    If I didn¡¯t know better, I¡¯d assume the beast was going to sleep. I watch as the Shadow rodent starts to take bites of the fallen feline.


    I can feel an itchy feeling all over my body when I finally come to terms with what I just saw. A silent assassin decimating a beast twice its size with relative ease.


    Let¡¯s see if the hunter will become the hunted, I release my focused energy in an instant, mid swing I activate rapid hand movement.


    I focus more on accuracy than power seeing as the target is small and the distance is more than what I would like.


    The spear leaves my hand, unexpectedly the, let¡¯s call it shadow mouse turns my way and it¡¯s pupils widen to cover its entire eye, making the eye pitchblack.


    Before it can react though, the spear impales it, hitting through its midsection, the spear continues into the ground taking the creature with it and disabling it.


    A terrifying screeching sound makes me almost lose my balance. I quickly reach for another spear leap down from the tree and start sprinting, I pierce it through the head with overwhelming power.


    Picking up the dropped page I quickly make my way up a tree and try to calm my furiously beating heart.


    This place is too dangerous. I start making my way cautiously through the thick foliage. After a good amount of time I take a peek through the canopy.


    Another tree, and not only another tree, this one is quite a bit larger. There are even some flying creatures extremely high up in the air going to or from the tree.


    This was unexpected, actually, I wasn¡¯t sure what to expect from this place. But this isn¡¯t even the last line of trees I have to capture, there is still the deepest part of Abraser.


    How the hell am I supposed to even climb that tree with flying sentries?!


    This whole endeavor turned out to be a success in more ways than one, I gauged the strength of these new beasts, found out there are even more dangerous trees.


    Fantastic right? Not at all disparaging. I did find a page with jumbled up words, the only clear word I can read is the number five that changes from one font to another.


    I can¡¯t handle this much longer, I think it¡¯s time to shed my hermit skin momentarily and seek out someone or something to talk to.


    In fact, I might go to a sanctuary and go into some serious meditation, I have a feeling I need it. There are also some unanswered questions I¡¯d like to get to the bottom of.


    Getting access to higher levels in the library might be very valuable. Perhaps they also sell crafting materials or better items.


    I can feel the area lose its vigor as soon as I step outside the fog-screen and I can¡¯t help but feel relieved that I wasn¡¯t assassinated without even knowing what happened.


    My little journey led me even further away from the fourth tree than I expected. It could be said I was somewhere in the middle of the fourth and fifth tree.


    I need to at least draw a rudimentary map of the forest. First I¡¯ll head to the outer rims of the forest and see if there is anything to see from there.


    Watching over the vast land from the outermost edge of Abraser, I can spot two smokes coming from two areas far into the distance.


    They are coming from two different sides of a sizable lake. Where there is smoke, there must be people, so that is my destination.


    A river runs from Abraser into the lake so it should be an easy enough journey. On the way there are only a few trivial beasts.


    Once I got close enough I see that the lake was actually a gulf, there are some higher hills that hide the sea but there is a vast opening into the great blue ocean.


    From a hill I can see into the distant villages. The area has two mountains on either side of the villages and forest resting at the foot of the mountains.


    One village appears to have been entirely built out of wood while the other has some modern buildings made from cement and processed wood.


    The obvious decision is to make my way towards the more modern looking village.


    I step on the grassy plane and head towards one of the villages, there are some roaming beasts in nearby areas grazing, they have been encased in a wooden fence that spans a great distance.


    The wooden fence has clear signs of having been repaired as the woods quality isn¡¯t consistent.


    This is the first village with actual guards watching the entrance to their hastily raised walls.


    ¡°Stop! Who are you? One of those Haruli scum?¡±


    Haruli? Is that a race?


    ¡°I am afraid I don¡¯t associate with anyone of the Haruli species, neither have I heard of them. You have however piqued my interest, what exactly is an Haruli?¡±


    This world has been lacking in their humanoid variety, my crafting books have hinted at different races but nothing has been confirmed


    ¡°What are you talking about? Haruli is the village across the gulf, those bastards have been a thorn in our side for months now, stealing our livestock and killing people.¡±


    Oh! How interesting, seems there is some sort of village rivalry going on.


    ¡°Oh, disappointing, was hoping for some elves or something. Anyway, I¡¯d very much like to meet the leader of your little village. You can inform them that his majesty. No, his eminence, the lord of Abraser has arrived. Also, I don¡¯t suppose you guys have a brothel? Maybe a nice tavern where a man of my appetite could grab something easy on the eyes.¡±


    What is wrong with people? Always the same persistent look of indifference or shallow rage. Can¡¯t they just feel my overwhelming aura and worship me. I can¡¯t let him continue to pester me here so let¡¯s try this.


    ¡°Alright before you continue, let¡¯s get this over with real quick.¡±


    I found a useful way to make them stop being so unbearably arrogant or simply annoying.


    I reach for a spear and aim for a nearby rock and throw the spear with practiced ease. The spear of course pierces into the rock and only the shaft is left visible.


    ¡°Shows¡¯ over peasants, I can¡¯t be dealing with the common-wealth, if you would please lead me to your leader or lead him to me that would be great.¡±


    The guards rushed to the stone and inspect it before whispering something. One of them runs off into the village while the other asks me to wait. This is how it should be.

 Chapter eleven: Worldly pleasures

    Sitting down on the rock I made into a display of power I see a group of five walk over with unhurried steps.


    The leader appears to be a woman and is actually wearing a phenomenal dress, haven¡¯t seen an intact one on a woman aside from the sanctuary.


    That¡¯s a bit of a twist, wasn¡¯t expecting a woman being in charge. After all they are usually in the roles of being bullied.


    The people behind her are all trying to look intimidating. I can see they have energy coming off their hands and feet and even eyes.


    The woman however has a white-hue of energy covering the entirety of her body. I can¡¯t jump to conclusions but I assume she found a meditation skill-book like me.


    The woman stares at me up and down, I think she is trying to assess me. I think I was able to see the energy within peoples¡¯ bodies when I acquired my nature affinity, she might have a similar skill.


    The problem with that is that my energy has now been compressed. This only confirms that guardians drop different tier of skill-books.


    ¡°Who are you? Who sent you?¡±


    Oh this isn¡¯t good, seems she assumed I have no abilities and thinks she can act this arrogant in front me.


    ¡°Ai, it truly makes me feel pity when a common person such as yourself addresses me with such blatant disrespect. However I, the son of the ever-loving tree, the humble servant of naturai will forgive you this once. And to address your second question, I am sent by no one as only myself or the all-knowing tree-mother has the power to make me move.¡±


    I can¡¯t be too rude, I was planning to find some knowledge on this trip but killing leaders, although effective to get information from her followers, might leave me without answers.


    If knowledge is water then I am but a dehydrated desert wanderer. Let¡¯s give her a way out.


    ¡°From what I can see, you have the ability to see the energy that dwells in people that have learned from skill-books. I would like to inform you that I do as well and also a skill that hides my energy. I would also like to point out that I stuck this here wooden spear, can¡¯t stress the wooden part enough. Into the rock.¡±


    This should be clear enough right?


    ¡°I was hoping you¡¯d have a chat with me, perhaps in a more private place.¡±


    Finally she appears to have puzzled together her thoughts and put them into words.


    ¡°Alright¡­ What exactly should I call you? don¡¯t you feel our titles a bit too long?¡±


    ¡°You can just call me Abraser for now. Lead the way please.¡±


    She has an amiable smile now, she really isn¡¯t all that scary once she smiles. We walk in silence until we reach the largest house relative to the surrounding buildings.


    Inside there are a few handsome looking men dressed in loose clothing. Oh, wait? hahaha! She has her own little collection of pretty boys.


    I can honestly say this surprised me, I can¡¯t very well let this go, can I?


    ¡°Hahaha, by the tree. What was your name again? Never mind, this is the best thing I¡¯ve seen in this post-apocalyptic world! I can¡¯t believe you have your own little group of consorts. I really must pay my respects here. How strong are you exactly to have this kind of power over people? Actually I¡¯ve got another question, what is up the village on the other side of the gulf?¡±


    Ai, she doesn¡¯t look pleased, she would half scare me to death with that frown if I wasn¡¯t for me dealing with very literal monsters in their natural habitat on a near daily basis.


    ¡°I would appreciate if you weren¡¯t so disrespectful in front of my men. Follow me into the room, we¡¯ll get some privacy, everyone please leave.¡±


    After three lazy looking but handsome men leisurely make their way out of the room I sit down opposite of the queen of depravity.


    This is great, a matriarchy. So much better than my old pal Jar.


    ¡°You are the first person aside from my sister that has known about the aura people give off after they read the books of power, or skill-books as you called them. You can call me Sera¡±


    She calmly stared at me with a smile. Wait sister?


    ¡°Sister. Where is this sister then? Is she as beautiful as yourself? And it¡¯s not really surprising that you haven¡¯t ran into more people with your specific skill. In fact, I believe you are exceedingly lucky to have found it in the first place. If I could venture a guess, it dropped from the most ferocious monster that lived in this village. Could you let me flip over your skill-books real quick, if you have something I need I could trade either skill-books or some valuable information.¡±


    ¡°Information? What kind of information, and I can¡¯t let you look at my books without any kind of collateral. And yes one of the books I have did come from the beast that made this place its territory.¡±


    I¡¯m pretty sure I saw some excitement on her face, if she didn¡¯t have a whole squad pleasing her I wouldn¡¯t mind taking her for my own.


    But that doesn¡¯t mean I would say no to a little taste. Lost in my thoughts she continues on.


    ¡°And my sister, that ungrateful bitch, ran off with one of my toys and some displeased people. They created the village across the gulf, I didn¡¯t really mind at first but then they started stealing our livestock. We retaliated to punish them. After that they have been attacking us and even killing.¡±


    ¡°Hahahahahaha¡­ Are you telling me there is another village over there led by your sister? I''ve really been out of touch, the world really is changing. I don¡¯t suppose she also learned to meditate. I assume you learned a meditative skill. So she ran off with one of your toys, are you sure you weren¡¯t hogging all the good looking men? I saw that meat buffet earlier. Actually, do you have a brothel here?¡±


    Actually, this makes me wonder. I didn¡¯t think meditation was this strong, doesn¡¯t this mean I could have easily dealt with normal people after I got it? I never really got into a situation where I had to fight in close quarters. I need to find something heavy and try to lift it.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°Tell you what, since you are so interesting, I¡¯ll tell you something that could very well help you. I have a way to see the names and the use of all my powers. If you give me something I deem worth that information, I¡¯ll share it with you. I also have a way to teach you some abilities, although they aren¡¯t as fast as reading a skill-book they should be easy for you.¡±


    ¡°No, we don¡¯t have a whorehouse or a brothel. But I can probably sway some women to your cause. How about that? If the information turns out to be right, I¡¯ll let you read my books of power. What do you say Mr. Abraser?¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a deal, how about you join me as well? You seem to have an enormous appetite, and I would love having someone so experienced lead the way.¡±


    Her smile wanes a little bit but nods shortly with Decisiveness.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go get something fun to play with then, you wait here.¡±


    This turned out to be very fast, easy and smooth. I think I need to take time and reflect on this. I get the feeling I ?ve changed a lot during my time in seclusion.


    Actually losing select parts of your memory might be the biggest factor. It gets harder and harder to remember how I am supposed to act around people.


    Actually, who decided how we, how I am supposed to behave. I can feel a bundle of what I can only believe is anxiety growing within me.


    What I do know is, I want to enjoy the company of women. Turns out a woman is a commodity I can easily get.


    It wouldn¡¯t be hard to kill anyone that would oppose me at this point, but somehow I feel as if that wouldn¡¯t be any fun.


    I don¡¯t need a place to settle down with terrified subjects to control. At least not for now.


    After finishing a warm drink, I sit down to meditate to pass the time. An unknown time later I get woken up by the female leader of the village, Sera.


    Huddled up together are three women looking down at the ground. These must be the sacrificial lambs. Sera whispers softly in my ear.


    ¡°Abraser, I found some adventurous girls who are looking to play.¡±


    These three women are even more beautiful than Sera, one with red-brown hair and freckles. Slightly tanned skin and a very shy demeanor.


    Another has blonde hair and pale skin, also that innocent look the other two have.


    Last one has pitch black hair and tanned skin. Sera waves them over and whispers something in the air of the freckled one''s ears, she shivers a little before nodding and moving towards me.


    A hand reaches out and lands on my crotch and moves gently to grab a soft hold on my gentleman¡¯s spear.


    I can feel her shaking as I grab her waist and pull her closer to smell her neck.


    The weather here is persistently hot and the ocean winds leave her with the fresh scent of the sea. My hand is reaching higher and fondles her breasts over the thin cloth.


    Before I notice the dark haired beauty has arrived at the other side, her hands calmly undoing the vine-laces on my leather jacket.


    After my upper body is revealed the blond haired woman gasps when she sees the scar left behind on my back. Turns out, It didn¡¯t get fixed, I¡¯ll figure that out later.


    Sera moves in front of me and slowly removes my pants, I am of course always commando. My cock is now throbbing with anticipation.


    Sera looks at the freckled girl who then reaches from my dick and starts stroking it up and down. This reaches height far beyond what any sorts of masturbation could achieve.


    Feeling multiple hands caress me I can¡¯t help but close my eyes. Suddenly I feel a new sensation.


    A head starts bobbing up and down, engulfing my erect penis. This is what I¡¯ve been missing out on.


    Clearly I must establish a kingdom of women. I can¡¯t believe I¡¯ve been wasting my time sweating in a forest alone.


    I feel like I¡¯m losing my trail of thought when I violently spurt into the unsuspecting girl''s mouth, I grabbed her head and thrust her against it, some primal instinct to make sure she feels it slip down her throat.


    She coughs and spits the white liquid that is leaking out of her mouth with tears in her eyes. But I am not done, I feel my body screaming for more.


    I reach out for the blond girl behind me and pull her over my head. She is wearing a dress that almost rips open.


    She shrieks at the surprising turn of events but I pay it no head and start licking the slit between her legs.


    I can hear the occasional moan, at the same time, someone has started to suck my dick again but can¡¯t see who.


    As I almost reach my end I can feel the girl shake and convulse. Clear liquid is almost gushing out of her before she loses the strength to hold herself up.


    I reach out for the black haired girl and lay her over the table, she is already sopping wet after watching the scenes unfold.


    I thrust into her. She shakes and lets out a muffled cry. I can feel a tinge of pain when I enter her but the pleasure overwhelms it.


    Slowly I start moving back and forth. She looks back at me with fear or complex confusion. There are tears in her eyes. I guess she wasn¡¯t all too experienced. Could have fooled me.


    When I feel the urge flow over me I grab the silent observer Sera, push her head down, take out my cock and release into her mouth. She pulls back with an angry look on her face.


    This escalated beyond this, I lost track of time and eventually it was just me and Sera that stayed conscious. The rest of the girls lie spread around the room.


    ¡°I fulfilled my end, how about you fulfill yours?¡±


    The naked woman was in the middle of wiping her body when she got straight down to business, not sure what I was hoping for from a woman that keeps a steady supply of men on hand. At least I enjoyed myself.


    ¡°Of course, I am a man of my word. First try concentrating on the words ¡°skill, information and table. Menu also works if you have the image in your head.¡±


    ¡°Skill, information, table, menu¡±


    There is an adorable look of concentration on her face as she recites the words over and over again.


    ¡°It isn''t enough to speak them out loud, you need to mentally picture a screen of information about the skills you have. I¡¯d tell you how I came about figuring this out but I¡¯ll let you focus on the task.¡±


    There are some frowns on her forehead as she continues to fight the good fight. Moments later her shine with satisfaction. Apparently she managed to get it working.


    ¡°So, what is your meditation skill called?¡±


    ¡°Energy affinity, it says I can now absorb a small amount of energy. I think it¡¯s making fun of me. What is with this condescending description? It also says it makes my body stronger, which explains why I can easily beat any man in the village.¡±


    ¡°Ye, the system is an asshole, I won¡¯t even give you a proper explanation about anything, and if we¡¯re lucky we¡¯ll get a slight hint. Actually I haven¡¯t checked my descriptions in a long time.¡±


    | Nature affinity |


    | Rapid hand movement |


    | Gentle hands |


    | Hide presence |


    | Energy regeneration |


    | Energy shield |


    | Empower: Eye |


    | Empower: Hand |


    | Empower: Feet |


    | Empower: Leap|


    | Strength and dexterity increase |


    | Body enhancing|


    | Energy compression|


    Alright, so every description changed a bit but not in a useful way, it¡¯s just either mocking me or trying to be mysterious. The only one with qualitative change is nature affinity.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Nature affinity


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Through relentless persistence you have made improvements to your absorption rate, you can now absorb a not so small amount of nature energy.


    You now strengthen your body at a faster rate.


    Blessed be the nature boy


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    There has to be some bored deity writing this, right? And nature boy? That¡¯s a compliment! I won¡¯t take it any other way. Fuck you. Ah whatever.


    I plan on staying here for some time, they have an easy way to get food and it doesn¡¯t look like Sera is in a hurry to kick me out.


    During the next few days I mostly meditated with some breaks to play with some girls, they are surprisingly proactive as well.


    Even going so far as to interrupt my meditation sessions. Sadly, Sera has been avoiding me. I think so anyway. Maybe she¡¯s with her harem.


    I involuntarily got some information. When someone dies with a wound that hasn''t been healed, they respawn with a perfectly fine body. However if that wound has healed naturally, it will stay.


    It¡¯s clear to me now, that I am not the only one trying to figure out answers about how the world works.


    Everyone in this village also came from my world or Varth. There are some people that don¡¯t remember where they come from but the ones that do all come from Varth.


    I got a hold of Sera¡¯s books but I¡¯ve already read every one of them. Her meditation book was exactly the same as mine but mine underwent some kind of deviation.


    Sera has recently been joining me in meditation and not so subtly trying to add me to her collection. So she wasn¡¯t avoiding me in the end.


    Can¡¯t say I hate the idea but I am a free soul, a warrior of the wind, the ever growing vine.


    I can¡¯t be bound to one place when the whole world is mine for the taking, or at least Abraser is. I just have to get stronger to deal with the middle layer first.


    I''ve also been thinking about stealing, I mean borrowing some women to stay with me in Abraser but exploring and finding new people is fun in its own way.


    Anything for entertainment. My new favorite hobby, aside from the obvious, is watching women dance.


    I went over to the other village and met up with Sera¡¯s sister. There appears to have been a misunderstanding between them, which caused them to attack each other.


    Well she did start a rebellion over a man. But from the way Sera spoke of it, she didn¡¯t seem to care too much.


    Kara, Sera¡¯s sister had fallen in love with a handsome looking man and didn''t want to share.


    This is also why the village is just across the gulf, she didn''t really want to leave her only family member. I¡¯m actually impressed they managed to stick together.


    A few weeks later, the siblings made peace. Can¡¯t really say what happened after I informed them of their misunderstanding because I was almost always in deep meditation or with a beautiful girl.


    I also climbed a few of the higher mountains Sera told me about. I really have taken a liking to her and I don''t want her to die and respawn somewhere else.


    So I plan on helping her take over another village to establish a respawn point. Shouldn¡¯t take long and I doubt anything is as scary as the fucking wizard snake on tree Patience. Just have to make sure she gets the kill.

 Chapter twelve: With deference

    The days spent with Sera and the girls have been amazing, turns out this whole village is very free spirited.


    Sera has a hold on a lot of men but the general consensus is to do what you want as long as there is consent.


    I¡¯ve been trying to seduce a lot of women in this village, there are a few hundred people here and I¡¯m pretty sure any desirable female has either rejected or accepted me at least once.


    Think it¡¯s time I scout out a new village, just the idea of helping Sera out fills me with determination. Didn¡¯t know I¡¯d like to help others.


    Can¡¯t say I¡¯d run to the ends of the world for her but I¡¯d at least make an effort to help. I¡¯ve taught her how the |Empower| skills work, the ones I have anyway.


    I¡¯ve been making short excursions during my stay here, I was mostly looking for signs of where monsters would congregate.


    I found what might be villages, off on the horizon. Sadly I haven¡¯t found conclusive evidence of any sanctuary yet. Maybe they are rare and spread far apart?


    I think it would be worth it to check if I had more access to the library or if they have different books.


    I¡¯ve been thinking about my equipment and frankly I don¡¯t find it lacking. Sera and her sister found a light cloth shirt that was enhanced. It dropped from the guardian of their currently occupied village.


    There is also the weapon situation, I mean most of the things in my arsenal are disposable, easy to make and replace.


    It might be good to get a metallic spear of sorts, or whatever materials they could be made off.


    Problem Is the general design of weapons aren¡¯t up to par with my slim-easy-to-carry spears.


    Wouldn¡¯t hurt to get something with more firepower though. Actually what happened to guns? Well not like there are any people mass producing bullets, wouldn¡¯t last long.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ...


    So I found another village, it is about two times the size of Sera¡¯s village, the buildings here have that weathered look everything abandoned has.


    Oh! By the fucking way, I got informed how long a meter exactly was. You¡¯re not going to believe this but the trees I¡¯ve been climbing far exceed six or seven meters.


    My ever-loving tree, you simply don¡¯t know. I mean any one tree is comparable to a five story building at the very least.


    The giant trees could be considered skyscrapers. They are a lot smaller than skyscrapers but in comparison to the surrounding trees they are orders of magnitude larger.


    Meters man, I have to assume I forgot how long a meter was, anything else doesn¡¯t make sense. Even though the world felt so natural. Memory is such a mysterious thing.


    After lurking around the village ruins I start taking out the smaller wildlife to the more dangerous riff-raff.


    I make sure not to kill the guardian. But that doesn¡¯t stop me from throwing a few smaller stakes into its shoulders, arms and legs.


    This guy is about the same level of strength as some of the more dangerous guys in the outer layer of Abraser. But it probably can¡¯t hold a candle to some of the middle layer creatures.


    Tough large body, slick fur with protruding hairs on his snout. It¡¯s a large cat, I can¡¯t say whether it¡¯s a lion or a tiger, it just feels like a cat.


    In no way is his hissing and growling adorable. Ah back on point, I gotta go get sera, have to let her have the finishing blow.


    ...


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡°Hey Sera, I got a surprise for you. Since you accepted me so easily and I¡¯ve come to treasure the few moments of decency I receive, I thought I¡¯d do something to return the favour.


    So you know how there is some kind of system in place that mocks us. Well, in my infinite greatness I found out another feature of it that allows you to create or establish respawn points.


    Long story short, follow me to kill another guardian.¡±


    Hm, maybe I should have gone a bit slower, the blank look on her face isn¡¯t installing me with confidence. Ah, she seems to have collected her thoughts.


    ¡°Respawn point? Guardian?¡±


    Looks like I haven¡¯t explained this clearly enough for her but whatever. I also have to get her to move before she begins chatting again. She can even compete with me in a marathon of speech.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t really matter, I¡¯ll fill you in on the way over there. It shouldn¡¯t take us longer than a day to reach the other village, these things are usually relatively close to each other.


    Actually, I haven¡¯t seen a place that has been fully conquered but there should be some benefits, just getting two places makes a respawn point, meaning when you die you won¡¯t be teleported to a new and unfamiliar area.


    Just come with me¡±


    Alright, so I expected her to jump on the opportunity to take over another village but it took some convincing, and it¡¯s already dark out, this will have to wait until tomorrow.


    Early the next day, I woke up next to four women. We had a little bit of fun yesterday.


    I dragged Sera on her feet, she wanted to bring some people with her but they¡¯ll be a lot slower than us.


    I can¡¯t be expected to wait for them, Sera already has a body in prime condition so she can at the very least jog all the way over there.


    After we circumvented the mountain, which is fairly large but nothing to worry about, the forest area around the mountain allowed me to be like a fish in water. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    We finally saw the outline of the village I cleared out. When we got there, it was still filled with dead beasts that had taken up residence here.


    Some of them had been dragged off, I assume eaten. I stamp the ground with empower feet to get the guardian out in the open.


    A moment later I can hear I growl and hiss, it limped over with a hateful look in its eyes. Can¡¯t say I blame it, it still has spears and stakes dug into its flesh.


    ¡°Alright, Sera. Just finish it off.¡±


    ¡°Finish it off? It''s huge, what is going on, the one I killed before wasn¡¯t nearly this big.¡±


    Uhm, what? It¡¯s only a big cat, I even thoroughly impaired its mobility.


    ¡°Alright, if you¡¯re going to be difficult I¡¯ll immobilize it but you¡¯ll have to at least kill it.¡±


    Raising the wooden spear in my hand I throw it into the overgrown beasts¡¯ shoulders. Grabbing for another spear I repeatedly throw spears until it is lying down whimpering.


    ¡°Look, it shouldn¡¯t be able to resist now, just hit it in the head, you can have a spear if you want to poke it to death. Actually, that would probably be best, here.¡±


    Eventually Sera managed to end the pitiful creatures live, I told her how to get the quest-log up. It¡¯s rather simple when you get the hang of it.


    So she got zero point five percent increase in skill proficiency and the quest to capture additional nearby villages.


    It of course doesn¡¯t tell you how many there are but it shouldn¡¯t be many, I mean they are located along the coastline.


    But the main goal has been accomplished, I even got an option to switch my respawn point to the new region, turns out anyone can.


    Anyone that doesn¡¯t know how to access the quest-log or already have a respawn point are automatically added to it once they enter either village.


    So I¡¯ve been thinking, this place has been great and I was hoping to find a sanctuary while I was here, but that seems like a dead end.


    I¡¯ve spent quite a few days trying to locate areas with any sort of wildlife, it is rare to see anything move in the areas between village and town ruins or of course any area filled with trees.


    I think it¡¯s time I clear out all the guardians in the outer layer of Abraser. Sure there was that wizard snake but I think I can deal with it. Only issue is the middle layer, that place seems very disagreeable.


    The guardian dropped a skill-book, I¡¯m almost certain that they always do. But he also dropped gloves.


    I tried them on and they seem to be about the same as the ones I already made. They are more comfortable but the enhancement on it must be similar.


    Mine were after all made from one of Abrasers¡¯ guardians. It¡¯s the material that counts, it would also explain why near every strong beast drops a lot of leather.


    I think it''s a subtle hint that you should make your own armor. I ended up taking the gloves, the skill-book ended up being another meditation book. Looks like a common item from guardians.


    Oh, I got some information that may or may not be important, apparently I smell like a tree. Every scent that comes from me is in some way related to the forest.


    Turns out it¡¯s really attractive, to most anyway. Some of the women clearly didn¡¯t like my natural scent. The blessings of the tree-mother are truly boundless.


    I¡¯ve been trying to lift some heavy things and they all seem extremely light, even when I¡¯m not in an overgrown area.


    It really makes you wonder, how strong could I possibly come, the mocking of the system doesn¡¯t hint at anything, I bet there is a system that shows attributes.


    Before I left for Abraser I took some time to scout out the coastline, I was wondering if I could see the land on the other side.


    According to the book it should be right over the horizon. All I see is the endless green-blue ocean.


    Then again the proportions might be larger than I¡¯m assuming. I couldn¡¯t identify Abraser on the map but it must be one of the forests along the coastlines.


    When I reach the outermost edge of Abraser I get that familiar smell lingering in the air. The faded sounds of beasts roaring in the distance.


    Ah good to be home. I know the log told me to stay away from people and all that but I can¡¯t remember why anymore.


    Supposedly they are treacherous and vile to an extreme extent. Didn¡¯t get that feeling with Sera and the girls though.


    I do feel far better after arriving in Abraser, I¡¯m getting excited to find out what happens when I capture the entire region.


    You know, I¡¯ve been thinking. I got that book that gave me a hemorrhage, So far I haven¡¯t found any books that were that dreadful.


    But I get the feeling I forced something open when I entered that state reaching naturai, a state that could be considered divinity.


    I can¡¯t help but think something changed from that point on. If we get a different perspective, a sort of birds¡¯ eye view of my travels so far.


    Hasn¡¯t everything been deeply entwined with energy? So how do I improve my energy? Be it either quantity or quality. There should be enough information to make an educated guess.


    The lesser beasts die easily and help us gain abilities, the guardians give us the power to absorb the world¡¯s essence, in whatever form it is.


    Then there is energy compression. I can¡¯t help but believe that these two skills are more than just some passive increase in power.


    I think it could be said to be the foundation. The foundation to whatever is expected of us. And when I say us, I don¡¯t me, me and the other me but the entirety of the sentient beings placed into this giant mind warping environment.


    The problem I face is yet again a lack of concrete information. I get the feeling that I am being guided through darkness with faint whispers, incoherent enough to fade into the background.


    Regardless of any underlying reasons why the world spins the way it does, I will follow the will of Naturai.


    It was a mistake to believe I needed some sort of outside help, it was wrong to believe that I¡¯d even receive it.


    It was all futile, the forest already provides me with the spark I need. I¡¯ve held the thought that the forest breathed slowly, grew at a leisurely pace.


    But it was during my heightened, most aware state that I reached the inklings of Naturai¡¯s divinity.


    I must have been losing myself in thought, before I knew it I was in front of the fifth tree. Breathe in, breathe out.


    I¡¯ve already done this a few times now, this shouldn¡¯t be much more different. If I can estimate the danger by the size of the tree, I believe it is about as small as the Origin.


    I¡¯ve come to learn that size matters, in the cases of territories meant for capture.


    Reaching the trees¡¯ platform, I steady my breath before searching for the guardian. The underlying ambient noise is a bit lower than usual.


    Looking at each and every individual branch, there are no traces of the guardian. It can¡¯t be like a tree of Patience. Can it?


    Sitting down, I focus on every pulse the tree gives out. I can feel the trees¡¯ near sentient thoughts.


    Every few minutes my heart beats, I can feel I''m about to lose myself to the trance.


    Moments pass before I hear a second breath, another pulse. It¡¯s almost in front of me, when I open my eyes I see what looks like a mirage, the faintest of waves.


    It happens so fast I barely caught it. I reach for my spear and aim and throw. As the spear lands the entire snake comes into view.


    Once I have a second spear in hand, I can feel that oppressive wave come over me. This time, I can still move, I haven¡¯t lost my faculties yet.


    With every inch of strength I have, I throw a second one. The guardian is already close enough to swallow me whole.


    The spear leaves my hand, warm dark green-brown blood sprays over me while my body gets knocked back, nearly off the tree.


    Take that you fucking wizard snake, motherfucking hiding and trying to ambush people? Fuck you. Ahhhhhh that feels so good.


    The satisfaction, the warm blood running down my skin making me feel as if I am melting. Shit! I¡¯m fucking melting!


    I rip off my jacket and swipe away the residual liquid trying to devour me. By all that is green, this was almost as painful as being burned by a swarm of flying insects.


    Sitting down I try to ignore the blistering pain, I make the hand motions to help me enter meditation.


    Huah, that was unexpected. I must have popped something open, guardian blood has never reacted to me like that before.


    I also felt that massive energy drain when my skin was bubbling over. It was exactly like when I got crushed by the other wizard snake.


    Right, let¡¯s see what this unforgivable thing dropped. Another skill-book, another one I haven¡¯t read before, it might be the same as the other one I read.


    I¡¯ve learned from my last mistake. I¡¯ve got to be at least prepared for the book trying to violate my mind.


    Before I try to read the book, I think it¡¯s a prudent decision to make new clothes from the leather I got. Maybe the quality is better.


    I checked the quest-log and it updated to four trees captured. No other change. After outlining the design on the way too large skin of the guardian I start carving it up.


    Fortunately I carry tailoring supplies on me from the sanctuary. Unfortunately, my backpack is covered in that dark green and brown liquid.


    I think I¡¯ll still be able to use it but I¡¯ll have to clean it with water. At least it didn¡¯t melt like my skin.


    I changed the design up a little bit, the previous versions felt a bit tethering. So I made it a bit looser and more open.Should lessen the heat it holds at the very least.


    Mindlessly working on the soothing leather-working and sowing I can finally feel calm again.


    After finishing a new pair of pants, jacket and of course three new belts for my stakes, I start enhancing them.


    I can¡¯t see an improvement but I still get the feeling of more energy when I put them on.


    Time to test out this new book, let¡¯s see if it tries to implode my mind. Page one, well so far so good.


    Page two, still going strong. Page three, ah there comes that smothering pressure we¡¯ve come to know and love.


    At least I am not bleeding out of my eyes, yet. At this pace, I could finish the book in maybe forty to sixty sittings, depending on how hard it is to adjust to the new information.


    Going in a seemingly endless cycle of reading and meditating, I can finally feel some progress being made. Not from the book, mind you but nature affinity.


    The feeling of being full is putting some pressure on me. I think I need a prolonged meditation session to break through this hurdle.


    After counting my supply of canned goods and water I am ready to plunge into that deep trance.


    I am not certain how to exactly go out of meditation but I will re-enter it if I drop out after I eat and drink.


    See on the other side future me, you can take over now, remember to stay healthy, eat properly. Don¡¯t get burned or melted alive by disgusting creatures, oh and good luck!


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Owh, damn. I can never get used to this kind of hunger, it gnaws at your soul.


    I grab canned tuna fish and swallow it down, after five cans I drink one third of my water supply.


    Before going back under, I try to digest the food. I can feel a stronger pressure than before, it isn''t painful, it is more like lying in a pool of warm water.


    Alright let¡¯s get back to it. See you on the other side.

 Chapter thirteen: Me, me and future me and this new guy

    The satisfaction of making noticeable progress isn¡¯t helping the black hole that is tearing through my stomach right now.


    I can feel a change, it isn¡¯t as non-profile as it has been in the past. It¡¯s like the amount of energy I could contain before was a small tent but now I have a decent sized hovel, there is space to move.


    After eating I still feel weak but no longer in a state of starvation.


    First things first! Let¡¯s try and see how much change actually occurred, my most draining of abilities is energy shield, so draining it is hardly usable.


    Though to be honest, I don¡¯t make a habit of taking hits.


    I focus on activating the energy shield. The sense of losing strength is instantaneous, it seems I really do rely on energy.


    I managed to hold it for around twenty to twenty five seconds. It gets hard to count when I need to focus on channeling energy through forty two points of my body.


    I¡®ve got a hypothesis about why different abilities drain more energy. I think it¡¯s my lack of control.


    The more things I have to do in order to activate an ability the more goes to waste. The problem with that, if it holds true is that I don¡¯t have a way to actually practice any kind of control.


    So that leads me to another speculation, so far I ?ve been steadily finding more ways to improve what I believe is a foundation for energy use.


    Makes me think that there must be a way to actually either refine my energy, which I think has something to do with energy compression, but it¡¯s not like an energy shield or nature affinity where I got some guidance to use it.


    Let¡¯s try and put this in order, I had information forcefully poured into me when I finished the energy shield skill-book right?


    Okay, that information could be put in very simple terms. The imagery of pushing out energy through forty two points on my body, we can call it energy points, acupuncture points or whatever you want.


    Oh, but what would happen if I try to do the reverse? Let¡¯s try that later.


    Right so we got the energy shield down, but nature affinity was just seemingly random hand waving, it wasn¡¯t synchronized.


    I think it could be considered self-hypnosis, but then again, I can¡¯t be sure. It could be some kind of activation sequence that allows your mind to accept the various energies that apparently flows through everything.


    Two different ways of doing strange things, I always wonder why I lose all sense of self while under meditative trance, maybe I can¡¯t consciously absorb large amounts of energy? Who knows?


    Now energy compression was something different. It didn¡¯t impart any knowledge but just changed something about the energy under my control, control is a strong word but I think it applies.


    Then there is the book I am currently reading, it has a similar feeling to the energy compression book.


    There aren¡¯t any comprehendible instructions or knowledge similar to energy shields.


    Alright, there is no need for too much guessing, it will probably not lead anywhere, let¡¯s try doing the opposite of what an energy shield is supposed to do.


    And I¡¯m bleeding again, still sitting. There is dried blood on my face and my new leather outfit. Right, let¡¯s not do that again.


    I have a pounding headache after that. Even worse than when I read the book I left on the fourth tree.


    I think I shouldn¡¯t get too ahead of myself, I¡¯m pretty sure that nature affinity is the key to continue.


    To be perfectly honest, I think we should continue to meditate endlessly for eons. Problem is the constant need to eat.


    I want to continue capturing the trees in the outer layer of Abraser forest but finishing this book comes first.


    There is a slight increase in productivity, I can read up to six pages, excluding the ones I¡¯ve already deciphered or whatever it should be called. I can¡¯t make heads or tails of it, the letters just stabilize.


    Seeing as I¡¯ve run out of canned goods and near exhausted my water supply, I think it¡¯s time to hunt for some food and find a nearby river.


    Since I don¡¯t want to waste too much time I plan on moving towards the sixth tree. I still haven''t reached full circle.


    I can¡¯t be sure if I recognize the trees from a distance, but each of them a unique breath or pulses.


    That won¡¯t be an issue with tree patience, that place has been burned into my memory.


    Before going down let¡¯s check if the description of nature affinity has changed.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Nature affinity


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You are not a complete novice anymore.


    You have fully stabilized enough energy within you to reach the first step toward not being worthless.


    You now have effectively increased the amount of energy absorption available from very small amounts to just small amounts.


    With greater energy, your body has started to adjust and utilize more energy.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Always that condescending attitude, not worthless, no, on my way of not being worthless, just how far down on the food chain am I?


    I thought I was making great headway. But, that doesn¡¯t change the fact that I am improving, great news. I do feel more comfortable now, even the humid heat isn¡¯t affecting me as much.


    So I¡¯ve sort of stopped talking about my, let¡¯s say lesser abilities. They are occasionally improving but their effects aren¡¯t really praiseworthy.


    I¡¯ve gone up and down in the skill-point department, standing strong on thirty five points.


    I stopped taking note of the skill-points but I do remember being around fifty before I broke through the latest stage of nature affinity. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Well I say before, I mean last time I checked, and to be honest, I try to keep abilities on at all times but it is easy to forget.


    The most notable ability improvement has to be empower eye. I can not only see further distances, albeit not very much further, the greatest new feature is the improved vision in darkness.


    I still can¡¯t see in complete darkness but I need less light to properly make out things, not very helpful at the moment as I can¡¯t really make things out but it is definitely an obvious improvement.


    I¡¯m going to kill as many things on the way over, I still remember that book I lost at tree patience. Maybe it¡¯s still there.


    I¡¯ve noticed my hair color started changing a bit, it used to be a mix of blonde and brown but recently it has started to turn a faint green.


    This can only mean I am becoming a tree. The blessings of the all-embracing tree are infinite.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Empower: Smell


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Channeling mana through your Cilia improves the amount of different odors you can process.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Cilia? What? Found another empower book, it took one reading to get through it. Cilia? Where exactly is my cilia?


    But I was so certain I could get empowered smell. I forgot about it but at one point I did try to get the skill.


    I literally cannot feel the difference with the skill activated. This means I can almost certainly get better hearing, I think that would be a lot more helpful as well.


    I am about halfway to the sixth tree, I¡¯ve found a few books on and stashed them in my near empty backpack.


    I might be able to sell these to a sanctuary or trade them with some random colony of survivors.


    All the beasts on the way are easier than ever to kill, it¡¯s come to a point where I feel like I¡¯m bullying them.


    Well, it¡¯s my forest so I can do whatever I want here right? That¡¯s right, present me. And as present me, I''ll give future me full autonomy to do as you like.


    You know, I¡¯ve been wondering about those camo-boots. They dropped off the luck guardian I think.


    It might be a bit far fetched but I think everything dropped from these overgrown creatures are achievable through crafting.


    Now, now. Don¡¯t be like me, we both know we don¡¯t jump to conclusions without at least a hint of rational backing.


    The way I see it, is that the crafting books I''ve picked up so far all hint in some way or the other towards a more complex or higher stage of creation.


    This might be better materials or more in depth ways to manipulate energy into the process. Actually, it is a bit far fetched.


    Throw a spear and it''s dead. That wasn¡¯t hard, in terms of easy to hard that would be easy. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m playing fairly.


    I somehow doubt I¡¯d be able to kill these guardians without rapid hand movement. If there is someone or something that set up this game-like environment, I doubt it expected someone of my strength to be able to so easily take care of these guardians.


    Sera had the energy gathering meditative skill but she was scared shitless at that wounded mega cat.


    I¡¯m having no delusions of grandeur though, I have no idea how to climb up the trees in the middle layer with those flying things soaring in the vicinity of the trees there. Or at least the one tree I caught a glimpse off.


    Or are we weak? Am I just reaching what is expected to be normal strength? Am I and others still weak?


    Maybe people are supposed to work together to kill these creatures. Forget it, I don¡¯t want to dwell on it.


    Before I head to the seven tree I think it''s best I try and finish the last book I found. The sixth tree guardian dropped an energy compression book.


    I think it¡¯s pretty clear at this point that there are different tiers of abilities. But let¡¯s not drown ourselves on that topic again.


    I should be able to eat this snake for a long while, the problem will be the water supply.


    I¡¯ve eaten a small portion of the snake so far and I¡¯m about to run out of water, but! Fantastic news, I should be able to get through the book soon.


    The book felt endless, there is nothing I understand in it. I¡¯ve thought it over a bit and I assume it has to be similar to energy compression. A passive skill that changes the way energy works or something.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Nature sprite


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You have created a sentient energy being. Due to your relations with naturai it has become a variation nature sprite. The sprite is not an independent being but a constant extension of yourself.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    What?


    ¡®What?¡¯


    Eh?


    ¡®Eh?¡¯


    What in the name of ¡®the divine tree mother is going on.


    ¡°Who is that?¡±


    ¡®You, idiot.¡¯


    ¡°Idiot? Sprite?¡±


    ¡®Yo!¡¯


    ¡°Where are you?¡±


    ¡®On your head¡¯


    Alright this is getting confusing. Please let me digest this for a moment.


    ¡®Sure.¡¯


    Ugh, stop answering.


    ¡®Sure.¡¯


    That¡¯s already annoying.


    Okay, a sprite? Whatever that is, has been made and is an extension of me. Alright, sure, that¡¯s fine. Can you hear me?


    ¡®Ye, I¡¯m actually pretty confused as well. I just woke up like this after finishing the book.¡¯


    So you can read my mind? Alright fair play, whatever. What can you do?


    ¡®I can, let¡¯s see. First of all, I can sense everything you do, I can feel your numb butt after sitting for who knows how long. Let me try opening the skill-menu. Yes it''s here, I can open the record log as well. Wow it¡¯s a mess, have you seen this?¡¯


    Oh, come on. This log is broken. I¡¯m going to have to be careful with this. Alright what you want to be called? Lord Abraser is taken.


    ¡®Son of naturai.¡¯


    Sweet, actually I¡¯m not sure if I want to give that name away, can¡¯t you be like minion number one?


    Ah what the shit man. What the name of the glorious all-knowing tree was that?


    ¡®Fuck you, that¡¯s what that was. I ?m the son naturai, you can call me son. Hehehe.¡¯


    Alright, just don¡¯t do that again, fuck my head is killing me. Let me try something real quick.


    Alright cool, ye nice. I can sense everything you sense as well. It¡¯s a bit confusing but feels right at the same time, know what I mean?


    ¡®It makes sense to me.¡¯


    Eh, okay. Well shit. Are you just going to be here always from now? I¡¯ve got a bit of a hermit status to protect, but you know that already. It''s fine, this is going to be very confusing though.


    ¡®So we going to capture tree number seven? You do the walking, I¡¯ll stay on top of your head, I¡¯m going to research the log, and a lot of things are missing.


    I¡¯m watching it live adding whatever I am saying, kind of freaky. It separates us clearly, so that¡¯s good. Alright be a good boy go, go.¡¯


    Aye Son. By all that is green. My head still hurts after getting, what did happen? It was very similar to the wizard snake, invisible pressure pounding me.


    Let¡¯s not dwell on this, doesn¡¯t seem I can turn it off anyway. Oh, if I focus I can see the log being updated.


    It will take ages to go through all that content. The little guy looks like a miniature version of me wrapped in leaves and vines.


    He has a praiseworthy green glow around him. I¡¯m not sure what to make of all this but no one makes better company than another me.


    I¡¯m running straight towards the seventh tree, even if something spots me, I highly doubt they would be able to chase me.


    I ?ve ran the majority of the way towards the next tree, so it''s time to look for somewhere to fill up my water bottles.


    Other me is glued to my head, no matter how fast I run he doesn¡¯t budge. Turns out ¡®Son¡¯ can meditate, his glow becomes a magnitude brighter.


    He is made entirely of energy, or so I think so he will always give off that glow, now there is a problem with that.


    What if someone or something can detect that buzzing ball of energy? I lose my main advantage while hunting and the general not-dying-thing I¡¯m trying to cultivate.


    ¡°Yo! Wake up son. It¡¯s business time.¡±


    Oh it worked, seems easy to wake you up, I was worried you were too deep in trance.


    ¡®Mmm, so what¡¯s up? Oh we¡¯re already here. Alright let¡¯s do this.¡¯


    We will, but how am I supposed to sneak up on a guardian with you advertising where I am? Actually far away from me can you go?


    ¡®To around here, five of six meters.¡¯


    Ehm, alright, cool. I was wondering if you can hide somewhere?


    ¡®Ah right, of course. Let me try this.¡¯


    What yo- wow. Wow! Oh amazing, can you hear me? Hey? Son! You there? Son! Hm, that¡¯s weird, alright so I can think of two things at once after he rammed himself into my head.


    Not sure what the exact use of that is but my head is already starting to hurt, Alright part two just go to sleep or something, I¡¯m starting to see double.


    That¡¯s a lot better. Alright so I think my other half is either meditating or sleeping. Either is fine, that was a bit painful.


    Need to experiment further on this, just not sure how. Okay, okay. One thing at a time, let¡¯s take out this guardian.


    You know what we need? A hang-glider. In many ways it¡¯s more trouble to get down from the trees that it is to get up. I wonder if there is a wood-working book.


    Didn¡¯t take long to reach the tree¡¯s platform. The guardian is slithering on one of the branches. Oh damn, he just lunged to another branch.


    What is happening? He¡¯s making hissing sounds. And jumping from branch to branch.


    A shit, I got caught up in his weird jumping show. I grab a spear and throw it as fast as I can.


    Oh. What.


    He just lunged out of the way, that has to be random, right? Another spear, fast. I watch the snake come closer and closer, he¡¯s mid air about to hit me.


    Fortunately I can just activate my energy shield. The guardian nearly pushes the shield into my face before I use rapid hand movement.


    The spear continuously pierces its head like a hammer-drill. Wow that was an experience. The energy shield barely held on but that was a satisfactory result.


    I¡¯m almost out of energy at this point but damn. I can now feel the cold sweat running down my back. This was really unexpected. I¡¯ve become too cocky.


    ¡°Ey, Son! You can come out now.¡±


    ¡°Son?¡±


    Son? You there? Son?


    ¡®Lonely? Ah what would you do without me? I saw you standing there watching the snake jump around, if I hadn¡¯t helped you out, pouring energy into that shield you¡¯d be dead by now.¡¯


    Oh? You helped? Wait, I couldn¡¯t hear you or sense you at all.


    ¡®I¡¯ve got a fraction of your energy supply but I think it¡¯s a bit more compressed or condensed.


    So I stopped the snake at the last moment before it was about to literally eat you alive.


    When you made your so called other half go to sleep, I took over. It was a very weird experience.¡¯


    Not sure how to respond to that, pretty sure I had it under control. The thing was going to die way before I managed to even bite down.


    ¡®Ai, my valiant effort goes to waste. I, the great Son of Naturai, have been brushed aside by my alter-ego the not-as-great Lord of Abraser. Woe, woe is me.¡¯

 Chapter fourteen: The revitalization of civilization in the modern day jungle

    After a brief discussion, we came to a unanimous decision. Son will continuously meditate until we expect any kind of combat situation.


    This whole sprite thing made some hole into my foundation theory. Or maybe not.


    So once I get into a combat situation that I am not hundred percent confident in, we merge together and Son will be my backup.


    It''s flawless co-operation, it¡¯s as if we are of the same mind. Hehe. he has that inkling of the greatness of naturai around him, respectable.


    Since I got literally nothing else to do and I am already getting bored, I decided to try to make a hang-glider out of my new leather.


    It¡¯s a sophisticated design, three sticks tied together with leather pulled over it and sewn together. Test number one.


    Let¡¯s see if this thing follows through the laws of aerodynamics. I haven''t the slightest idea how it works but I¡¯ve seen a glider before. That should be enough.


    Alright test number two? I get the feeling I wouldn¡¯t be a great engineer, I think I¡¯ll just stick to the tailoring. So much for jack of all traits.


    As boring as it is. I am currently running at a leisurely pace above the canopy towards the eighth tree.


    I¡¯m not even sure how long it would take to run a marathon around the whole forest. I ?ve gotten a lot faster though, so it¡¯s more like running an errand at this point.


    You know what? I think it¡¯s time to check out the middle layer, see if we find something interesting.


    Passing through the fog-screen carefully, it¡¯s somewhat nerve-racking not knowing what¡¯s on the other side.


    As soon as I get to the other side the ambient sounds are already a few decibels higher. I already have a spear in my hand.


    Taking a moment to adjust to the surroundings, which haven¡¯t changed much, still an endless sea of green.


    There is a light pressure enveloping me like last time. It isn¡¯t enough to slow me down, but I can still feel it, as if the wind had picked up, I wonder what it is.


    I keep moving in line with the eight trees but stay close to the border, I can¡¯t see the border after passing through it but it just means I won¡¯t get too close to the inner layer fog-screen.


    I am a lot closer to a, what should I call these majestic trees? Trees of Naturai, sounds befitting.


    I didn¡¯t take particular note of it last time, as I had other things on my mind. But the Naturai trees look to be an even distance between each other.


    Up in the air around the tree, there are a lot of feathery creatures flying about. It¡¯s still far enough away that they look like a small swarm of bus.


    Ugh, I¡¯m already feeling itchy. Shuaaah! Ignore the disgusting imagery of thousands of insects crawling over you, creating an insulated cocoon around your body before literally burning you alive.


    I see some movements a little bit deeper into the forest. I slowly make my way through, holding true to the best tactic of all, hiding in the lush tree tops.


    Maybe I should wake up little Son. Abraser Junior. The second to the throne. Merging together is a bitch, so let¡¯s not.


    I keep prowling forward but I haven¡¯t seen whatever it is that shook the trees earlier. The ambient music is faintly increasing.


    I can¡¯t help but remember that rodent assassin. I still haven¡¯t gotten a clear idea how strong the overgrown beasts within the middle layer are.


    The ambience is dropping a bit, I must have passed it. I¡¯m going to rest for a moment, not sure how long since I entered but I already feel tired.


    I should be able to stay awake for days on end but something is telling me I won¡¯t be able to here. Is it the pressure? I brushed it off last time because of the adrenaline rush.


    There is definitely something influencing me right now, it can¡¯t be fear or nervousness, can it? Maybe I should wake up Son, two minds are better than one.


    ¡°Son.¡±


    ¡®Hrm? Where are we? Why is your energy so unstable?¡¯


    We¡¯re in the middle layer, I got bored and thought it would be fun to check it out again, but I can¡¯t seem to think properly in here. I was wondering if you can feel something different.


    ¡®Something is definitely wrong with you, your energy feels, uhm dull? It feels as if I am being pushed from all sides. I can¡¯t even float here.¡¯


    Alright, no worries then, I¡¯m going to get out of here and clear out the eighth tree, you can go back to meditating.


    ¡®Have fun.¡¯


    Wish I could meditate for eons.


    It doesn¡¯t take long before I feel that watery feeling as I pass through the fog-screen. I still feel a bit odd but the strange pressure is gone.


    Nothing can be straight forward can it? Just wanted to check it out and I feel like my mind was being violated, what I¡¯d give for nutrients being pumped into me while I forget myself in meditative trance.


    I wonder if the Naturai trees are just meditating, they feel very much like they are alive, just living leisurely. I¡¯m sure they think I just don¡¯t understand them.


    It was quick work to take care of the eighth guardian, I think the next is the tree Patience. I ?ve been using empower leap constantly to move as of late.


    It feels like the best way to move short distances in the fastest amount of time. I am not worried about facing that overwhelming guardian again, I am pretty sure I killed one similar to it on the eh, fifth tree?


    I¡¯ve also been thinking about the pressure that they give me, that overbearing power enveloping me, making me defenseless or just considerably weaker.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    It feels like I am thinking in circles, but I believe it has to do with energy, either the quantity or quality of it. Now what I think of it like that, I can¡¯t believe it is anything else.


    Question is, did my energy get strong enough to withstand that ability? Also, if they have it, can I learn it?


    It isn¡¯t as simple as the empower abilities, they are pretty straight forward. I¡¯m thinking it is something similar to an energy shield, in less quantity but concentrated. Or something, how the hell do you magically effect a different being with thought alone.


    Maybe I should go back to get the book I left behind, it might be the sprite one as well, it¡¯s too far back, I¡¯d rather die than run  back and forth for days.


    Now that I think about it, do these guardian books drop depending on my own strength? Would the sprite book drop if I hadn¡¯t already learned |Nature affinity|?


    What is the point of all of this? Who would have the power to move people to another planet, shit I don¡¯t even know if it¡¯s the same dimension. Multiverse is a thing right?


    That¡¯s not a comforting thought. If we look past the how, there is also the why, who with that kind of authority over the world would even bother to do this? Sadistic or benevolent gods?


    One tree left in the outer layer. I can¡¯t imagine I¡¯d be able to take on the middle layer. A prolonged meditation session would be ideal.


    To do that without having to constantly hunt and prepare food, I''ll have to go to the sanctuary, and I only know about one. But then I won¡¯t be in the forest.


    While standing in front of the now confirmed tree of patience, I don¡¯t feel like taking it on. Even knowing that I have a way to defeat it, it isn¡¯t making it any less scary.


    The pain, helplessness and confusion. It¡¯s all coming back to me in waves. Oh the books I left here, or well the book I lost after dying. Are missing, so is my outfit.


    Which means two things, someone actually travelled up to the tree and took it or it de-spawned. Since I ?ve seen nothing de-spawn aside from other people.


    I am inclined to believe it was taken by some daredevil trespassing in my forest.


    The travel up the tree feels like it is taking ages, I might actually be starting to get afraid of the height. I need to calm down, let¡¯s stop on the next branch.


    After meditating, I feel refreshed, clear minded. There really is nothing better, even sex can¡¯t compare to the peace of mind you get once you close off the world entirely.


    Reaching the tree platform, my breath has stalled. My heartbeat slowed down to such an extent I can¡¯t feel my heart¡¯s movements while beating.


    Again, there is no sight of the wizard lizard. No problem, we¡¯ve dealt with this before.


    Minutes pass without notice as I focus on hearing the pulse of the tree. I ?m trying to recreate the previous event of almost falling into a meditative trance but keep my consciousness.


    In the right state of mind, I doubt it would be hard but I feel a bit agitated, maybe I¡¯m losing my everlasting patience.


    Two, two pulses. Now sync, completely getting into the pace of the tree is the hardest part but also inevitable in opinion.


    I only need to retain my consciousness. The only hard part is I can feel Sons¡¯ pulse as well but the difference is easy to differentiate.


    Oh? Ah, seems I failed. I went into trance. A long one by the burning sensation coming from my stomach. I don¡¯t want to let it discover me so I¡¯m going down eating then trying again.


    Round two. I had Son meld with me before going back up, which should be easier without the small distraction.


    Actually, I have to consciously keep the log active to record so that¡¯s going to, I¡¯ll update it once I¡¯m out. So cya then, logging off.


    Log back on. I found it. It¡¯s actually on one of the largest and most protruding branches. It took a long time to make out the pulse, being so far away.


    Or that¡¯s my hypothesis anyway. The problem now is that even knowing where it is, I can¡¯t pinpoint its location precisely enough to guarantee I hit it where it matters.


    Plan A, is to slowly make my way over there and throw a spear at it from close proximity.


    Plan B, which is impossible to do, is to destroy the branch and force it to freefall to the ground.


    I have no near the strength to destroy this enormously thick branch, not only because of its width but also this is a Naturai tree, their durability has been confirmed.


    Plan A, is in full affect. I won¡¯t go onto the branch itself, not enough space to move properly in case things don¡¯t go my way.


    I Raise my spear as fast as I can without making any sounds. I reach for as much energy within my control.


    It takes time to gather the energy but it¡¯s usually not even worth mentioning. A second shouldn¡¯t really matter but it doesn¡¯t hurt to get any advantage I can.


    The spear I am using is a bit thicker than usual, not for any special reason, it just calms me down knowing the added weight might be helpful.


    I bend my hand backwards and start my swing, when the swing is one fourth of the way there I activate empower: hand, almost instantaneously afterwards rapid hand movement joins in.


    After the spear leaves my hand I use empower feet and leap to jump and in mid-air I prepare another spear.


    The spear had already landed on the guardian before I made it off the ground. The moment the guardian becomes visible I see a small wound ushering out its blood.


    The spear went through and stopped when it hit the branch it was lying on. Hopefully it will restrain it.


    I grabbed the branch above me with my left hand threw the second spear. Before it reaches the snake, it slows down at an incredible rate.


    Seeing as I¡¯m close enough that I shouldn¡¯t be able to track its movement so easily. It definitely did something to it. But it didn¡¯t slow it enough to avoid it completely.


    It still hit it somewhere below the head, piercing the thick hide and stopping halfway through.


    A nightmare inducing hiss generates from the bewildered guardian when it locates me, already perching on the branch I clung to earlier. Another spear already in hand.


    The energy gathers around its eyes and I can feel something trying to squash me from every angle. It¡¯s stronger than the middle layer, but it feels exactly the same.


    Fortunately, it isn¡¯t enough to render me completely immobilized like last time. It helps that rapid hand movement defies the laws of physics, even though it has been slowed down, I can still pull out enough energy to throw another spear.


    The energy consumption is already beyond my perception, I¡¯m being drained since that thing hit me.


    The spear leaves my hand, it doesn¡¯t get slowed down like earlier, it seems it can only do one thing at a time with whatever that pressure ability, active.


    Before I finish my thoughts I suddenly get thrown into the air and a near translucent green spike flies and hits the tree-bark behind me.


    Confused at what had just happened, I turn back to the guardian, who is deathly still, missing one of its eyes and a spear nowhere to be seen. What? How did I suddenly leap like that?


    Son splits away from me and he has a smug smile on his face. Ah. He clearly used his energy to propel me upwards, dodging that green spike. Great job dude.


    ¡®No, no. You did the hard work, I just saved your life. The satisfaction of seeing that fucker go down is all I need. I¡¯m going back to meditating, that invisible power threw us off in a major way.¡¯


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    The forest


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You have taken control of a hetra ranked wildlife area.


    You now have nineteen percentage skill proficiency in your zone.


    Anyone with authorization in your zone has now gotten a ten percent drop rate increase.


    You are now able to purchase and build up your zone, the command for the construction has been unlocked.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Hetra authorization


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You have gained hetra level authorization in any sanctuary in the Beginners continent.


    You are the fourth member of the current round to achieve a hetra level clearance and the first to take over the first one to take over a hetra level wildlife area.


    You have now unlocked additional building possibilities in the construction menu.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    What? Build? What in the name of all that is green. Let¡¯s check this thing out.


    Okay, so I can apparently order up a variety of tree-house and only tree houses.


    There is no information window like the quest-log or skill-book menu, just a variety of commands and names of buildings.


    Doesn¡¯t surprise me that the system won¡¯t help with any information about their uses but I can gather that a chemical lab would be something to do with potion making.


    Some of the buildings are too large to be placed down anywhere other than on the Naturai tree. I can buy utilities such as a toilet, bathing, water-pumps, generators and a bunch more.


    The most expensive building is called the Gatherer. The names are mostly self-explanatory.


    I mean tanning salon sounds suspicious but it should be for leather related stuff and not ultra-violet bathing right?


    Holy shit, there is a dam here to make electricity. Too bad I don¡¯t have the location to put it anywhere.


    These things also cost a ludicrous amount of skill-books and gold. I ?ve got to try to make something.


    Utilities have some of the cheapest stuff, a few dozen kilograms of silver at the lowest. Let¡¯s make a circular stairway down the tree.


    Alright, cool. A wooden stairway has started to materialize out of nowhere, it starts as a faded outline before it starts to fill in.


    Also, I expected it to take some of my gold and silver but turns out I have ownership over the land and air in the outer-layer now. Supposedly there should be minerals in the ground.


    I¡¯ve got a lot of information I can¡¯t quite take in, if I focus on specific keywords and the information about it becomes clearer.


    Not in word but as if I just forgot about it and am now remembering that I had stumbled upon a land rich in silver. It¡¯s a similar feeling to the crafting-books.


    This is the shitty kind of system I¡¯ve grown used to. I¡¯m trying to bring out random buildings to see their price. Incidentally the search options aren¡¯t very limiting.


    For example you can bring out a flood of information by filtering it into most expensive to cheapest. I¡¯m currently looking for something that only costs a few gold and some skill-books.


    The skill-books seem to be a much more valuable currency than any materials, I wonder how they are made.


    I made two buildings, I used up all my gold. Apparently I don¡¯t have a gold deposit on this land, I can¡¯t convert silver from the ground to gold either.


    Seems I¡¯d have to do so in a sanctuary, a bit annoying but it''s fine. It used up five of my skill-books. I am in possession of three now. I regret leaving a few with Sera now.


    I have no idea where they are but they must still be considered mine. This is all very confusing, there must be more rules I am not worthy of being informed of, this is ridiculous.


    So I got this gathering room, placed it in the tree of origin, got to go over there. I already have the pulley system there and it is closest to the sanctuary.


    I was hoping for something out of this world like a teleporter station, I mean they got some things in here I have no idea what is.


    Some words I don¡¯t even know. The second room is the smallest library available. I sincerely hope that the new buildings have furnishing.

 Chapter fifteen: I鈥檓 a very busy man, you see.

    The buildings are all made out of wood and vines. I didn¡¯t place them in the tree of origin just below it.


    There is no practical way of getting into them, easy for me but other people would find it a bit difficult.


    The tanning salon is a leather-working facility. There are a bunch of tools there, many of which I have no idea what the use is for.


    Some of the devices are connected with what looks like vine but I¡¯m not convinced. The vine leads into a slightly thicker vine and outside the wooden cabin.


    I guess I need to get some kind of generator. Literally nothing in here looks hi-tech but I can¡¯t help but be amazed how well it¡¯s camouflaged.


    There are no books or any kind of helpful material to point me in the right direction but I think it looks pretty cool.


    Now, this gathering building. It is placed over eight trees. It should be obvious from below but it still looks pretty amazing.


    It peaks above the canopy, each of the eight trees serve as support pillars, four of them are actually going straight through it.


    The insides are filled with small rooms that contain two beds. There is a desk at the entrance, this place seems pretty useless.


    Not sure what to do with myself at the moment, I¡¯ve got an incredible urge to build everything I possibly can, but hampered by the costs of things though.


    Time to make a small plan. First, I¡¯m going to get some materials, craft some leather related stuff and hopefully get some skill-books.


    Second, build things to make suitable food and water supply followed by more places for people to stay in.


    These are all things that I can do while I train to eventually progress into the middle layer.


    After I make this place self-sustaining, I¡¯ll recruit some of my fellow survivors, elect a mayor or something then go meditate with an endless food supply.


    I¡¯ve got to experiment with the search filters for all the constructions. Maybe I can find some way to get an idea of what to build. This is the whole world is becoming a lot more fun.


    Okay, so I said it was getting more fun, it got more interesting. I¡¯m currently hauling stacks of leather back to the tanning salon, I¡äve got a stupid amount of stuff now.


    I found two skill-books but both were empower hand stupidly enough. I ?ve gone on three trips so far and I¡¯m planning on making random stuff depending on what I find fun to do.


    I¡¯ve been trying to use the non-powered things here to work on some of the leather. I just assume that I have to channel energy through everything but I¡¯m still a bit skeptical.


    I found a use for one thing, it works like a knife burns the edges of the leather I cut, and it is very cool. I tried making leather rings, necklaces and earrings.


    I managed to make them enhanced but they do nothing, as far as I can tell anyway. So in the future don¡¯t bother.


    I ?ve made everything I could possibly think of in the clothing department with leather. Leather underpants are less than ideal, the thong fiasco as well, still trying to forget that.


    Leather-socks are virtually impossible to get into and even worse when I tried to get them off.


    I made hats, caps and bandanas, I felt a small change when I put them on, so I¡¯m keeping the bandana.


    The hat is a liability when I¡¯m moving fast and the cap is annoying because of all my hair.


    There are many varieties of pants, from long to short. I¡¯ve made a few jackets and tried to make straps to put stakes and spears on them as efficiently as I could.


    It¡¯s been a lot of fun, I might retire from my adventuring days and live as a leatherworker.


    So there is another minor issue I ?ve been thinking about occasionally, that¡¯s how to transport this ridiculous amount of leather.


    Planning on visiting the survivor camp and borrowing some of their animals to carry it for me or make something with wheels to pull.


    Actually I¡¯ll do that either way, will vines make good tier materials? Hmm this needs further experimentation.


    There are makeshift roads everywhere but they look well beyond repair. I might be able to move with everything, it would take ages compared to just rushing back and forth on foot, but that¡¯s fine.


    Long story short, I ended up having to help them take over a second town to borrow four horses as they call them. Muscular things with razor sharp teeth.


    I can see the sanctuary, I ?ve been trying to filter countless variations with the information about buildings I can make.


    I¡äve come to a firm conclusion as to what some things are. Something called a greenhouse, super excited about the name by the way.


    It is some kind of food place, I¡¯m ninety percent sure. I''ve also been trying to figure out what kind of power source to use.


    I can use something called a steam generator, then there is the basic oil generator, something called windmills.


    Then of course, if I can find a decent enough downhill water source I could make a dam.


    There is also a wind turbine, not sure what the difference between a windmill and a turbine is but I tried putting down a windmill before leaving for the sanctuary.


    I couldn¡¯t find a place to put it, not entirely sure what the hell it is supposed to do.


    I switched to my hat. It''s fantastic to be able to get some of the sunlight out of my eyes. I think I look like a cowboy, a cowboy with near radiant green hair.


    When I entered Sanctuary I had to make the guards open the giant gate to let my horses and cart through. Pretty awe inspiring, that kind of gate.


    I wonder if I can create something similar. There are really too many miscellaneous options to keep track of.


    I move straight to the nearest store to sell all my incredibly well made leather things.


    ¡°These leather earrings are perfectly fine, and should at least sell for a few silver. Old man, be fair now, look at it, see those markings? Those are hand-crafted.¡±


    ¡°I am afraid we don¡¯t buy leather earrings.¡±


    ¡°You keep saying that, and that would be fine, if you¡¯d at least consider these beautiful leather necklaces.¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°I am afraid we don¡¯t buy leather necklaces.¡±


    ¡°My good friend, what was your name again? Never mind, how about these beautiful, unique, one of a kind leather rings? Easily adjustable sizes and beautiful cuts and stitching, not to mention, everything I have is enhanced!¡±


    ¡°I am afraid we don¡¯t buy leather rings.¡±


    I think this confirms these people are soulless, my evergreen love, how can they not see what your prodigal son has bestowed unto them?


    Right now I have a bit more gold on me now, made thirty seven kilograms of gold. Bought another backpack that allows me to ease the weight.


    I don¡¯t really need it but it¡¯s all about the quality of life, especially since I¡¯ve got a new city to make.


    I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to buy too many things with this amount of gold, leaving aside that many things require skill-books.


    I always wondered why the books didn¡¯t disappear after you learned a skill. My initial impression was that it was so that people would share them but nope, building buildings. The nonsense never ends.


    Right now I got a new permission or something after I capture a whole region. What was it again? Hotar?


    ¡°Son¡±


    ¡®We fighting?¡¯


    ¡°What was that authorization thing we got after we cleared out the outer Abraser?¡±


    ¡®Hetra, wait you woke me up for that?¡¯


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to update the log, you have no idea how bored I am.¡±


    ¡®Bye¡¯


    Lucky bastard. Right, Hetra. Maybe this will let me access more books. I might have to scour this whole place to see if anything else became available.


    After talking to the exactly the same as last time in the library he threw a small card at me, a fucking library card.


    Most advanced library card I¡¯ve ever seen. Thing is still semitransparent and every time I glance at it the scrambled letters start forming small lines.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Kswly##!2%204


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Authorization pass: Hetra clearance.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Got no explanation out of the robot librarian so let¡¯s see if I can walk through some of these invisible walls.


    Area, err, area number three is open for business. Fewer books than I expected. Seven in total.


    |From scraps to salvation|


    |It¡¯s how you use it|


    |The baron of blubber|


    |No Love potions. Pst, come around the back.|


    |The savory princess: Part seven|


    |The lonely workhand: A new beginning|


    |Alien sightings: volume forty seven: They are out there|


    Going from the names I think we can conclude that I have no idea why nothing can be just named advanced potion making or something, and savory princess? That¡¯s got to be good, it''s part seven though, we¡¯re going to be missing out on the essential stuff. Why would some of these books be restricted? Well I¡¯ll take all of them anyway.


    The fourth area is open as well. Three books here.


    |Seven days under the waterfall|


    | Alien sightings: volume seventy four: How, why and what?|


    |Bob|


    There really isn¡¯t much to say, you can¡¯t really top such classic books as Bob. I genuinely laughed at that, Bob. Beautiful.


    Fifth area is accessible. We¡¯re up to five books now, I¡¯d love to hear whatever twisted reason why these books are restricted here.


    |There are more than you can count: one to twelve|


    |Make it better: I am Kevin|


    |Alien sightings: Volume six: Never say never|


    |Never forget|


    |Being dense|


    I was being confident when I walked to the sixth area, and felt like I¡¯ve been slapped. So three areas got unlocked.


    I¡¯ll buy these books and head to Abraser. I let the horses walk slowly but steadily towards Abraser while I read some of the books.


    First book is of course the savory princess. Not sure this was what I expected.


    It¡¯s not bad but the title princess is referring to a feminine boy that gets in some various incidents with both men and women.


    I¡¯m not sure what to think about this.


    Being dense is just another mining book, just more mindless stuff, just deeper in the ground and or rarer.


    I¡¯ll finish that later. The baron of blubber is about how to cook various seafood, completely worthless. Why would that need to be restricted?


    Great mother of all green calmed me down.


    Oh! There are more than you can count: one to twelve is actually about energy. Alright so it¡¯s more specifically about energy affinities and how you get them. Hmm.


    Okay so I read a few pages in and it says you can get any or all affinities, but you need to follow very strict instructions.


    Some of them are easily gotten, like I just have to meditate in water for prolonged times.


    Not sure how long but that¡¯s how you do it. It also mentioned something a bit harder. So if I eat and drink poisonous plants and meditate in that state I can get an affinity that is closely related to that poison.


    According to the book, there are as many affinities as there are materials in the world, they just differ in how to obtain them.


    There are explanations and instructions to twelve of them in this book. Poison one is explained as one of thousands of poison affinities.


    Amazing book, most of the affinity seemed to be discovered by sheer luck, I doubt anyone tried to voluntarily meditate in such a dusty area just to check if they got the dust affinity.


    Also dust? How would that benefit anyone? I¡¯m definitely making a bath and meditating in it.


    There is also a light affinity, which is to only meditate whilst under the sun an unaccountable amount of time.


    You can¡¯t meditate at any other time, you have to be constantly in direct sight of the sun. Clouds get in your way? You start again. It was very adamant about that.


    Some religious organizations were very prominent at some point in time and researched it thoroughly.


    A lot of the other explanations are very unsure about the validity of how to exactly gain these affinities.


    I''ve long since forgone any hope of getting helpful information but this book is making me into a believer, there truly is hope.


    These books are definitely a road to answers. Alright, the affinities sound interesting and all but that looks like a long-term kind of activity.


    I¡¯ll try out the water affinity and see if that works. It didn¡¯t specify how long it would take but I expect maybe a few months?


    I¡¯m going on a serious meditation frenzy once I set up some sustainable food supply and maybe some servants. Pay them with food, safety and a place to sleep, that shouldn¡¯t be hard.


    Alright, we still got a lot of time to eat through before we get to the survivor camp to return these magnificent beasts. Let¡¯s see what ¡®make it better: I am Kevin¡¯ is.


    Not really sure what to make of this, it¡¯s just a story about a hopeless young man that can¡¯t do anything right.


    It occasionally explains how to do things better, it for example said that you need to wipe tables in a circular motion.


    I mean that¡¯s interesting and all but let¡¯s try something else. ¡®Never forget¡¯, a very thin looking book.


    It boils down to this, every time one dies they lose a part of themselves, which is their memory.


    It tells you to make vivid memories to refrain from completely losing yourself and end up disappearing completely.


    It also speculates, as I did that people that die to often will end up in sanctuaries. I¡¯m almost certain now.


    But it doesn¡¯t matter, not like I¡¯ll end up dying that often, worst case scenario, I¡¯ll become a leatherworker and live in the sanctuary. Maybe take up more crafting hobbies.


    ¡®Seven days under the waterfall¡¯ is a very straightforward body strengthening instruction.


    It goes over various things but the most important part is clearly that you should sit or stand under a waterfall for a long time to get a skill.


    Or at least I think it¡¯s a skill otherwise it¡¯s just some philosophical crap about the constant water bashing down on your body making your spirit stronger.


    There are some subtle hints to energy, disguised as fighting spirit. So that makes things a bit clearer, I¡¯ll try to find a waterfall to meditate under, two in one considering the water affinity should work well with it.


    After leaving the horses, I head to Abraser, it¡¯s time to create my utopia. Herros was still extremely happy about getting that re-spawn point.


    It really wasn¡¯t hard to take over the village ruins, I''m kind of doubting that he managed to take out the guardian in the survivors¡¯ camp to be honest.


    Perhaps luck is a strong factor? Maybe the first guardian is the easiest and the more you capture the stronger they become? This isn¡¯t impossible to test.


    To start off, I need to make some buildings to store stuff, like a generator. A few silver is all it takes.


    I¡¯m not sure how much silver exists in the outer layer but it¡¯s not like I¡¯ll cry if it runs out. Oh, no wait that could be bad. Then I¡¯d have to go back to the sanctuary and get more.


    Eeeeeh. This system sucks, it''s already making things appear out of nowhere, can¡¯t have some kind of currency exchange system? My green goddess save me from despair.


    Right, so, the power issue. I only need it to be able to pump water up into the houses. These things all have plumbing and cables installed.


    I don¡¯t want to make something that I need to be constantly refueled, I don¡¯t have oil to burn.


    Not sure what a steam generator needs but steam is evaporated water right? So heated water. That can be fire, trees burn. Could work.


    It¡¯s all rather expensive but it¡¯s the only expensive thing I really need at the moment. The greenhouse is a bit pricey but not in the same way.


    I can afford both a steam generator and a water generator. I assume this could just be placed near a decent sized river. So let¡¯s try the closest one.


    Oh, I can place it here. The faded outline appeared, looks like a pretty large tree that completely crosses the small river.


    There is a way for the water to move through it, looking amazingly in tune with the forest.


    Right, utilities. I need to lay down this vine looking cable all the way to the base of operations. Easy enough. This is all coming together, I hope this will be enough.


    Ah I can just make another one if this isn¡¯t enough.


    Okay I set up three green houses, might be a bit excessive. It''s a plain building that peeks out above the canopy with green tinted transparent walls and ceiling.


    There is a spacious area filled with plants of some sort, pretty sure it¡¯s possible to grow vegetables here. Oh right! I forgot about the water pump.


    I feel like I got everything I need. Running water, a place to grow something. Do I need anything else before I try to get some people over?


    Ah right, connect all the buildings and make sure there is a way to get up and down. That¡¯s all cheap stuff, only a few grams of silver.


    I wonder if I can get those braindead people from the sanctuary here to work on this stuff.


    Oh, by the way, I found something called En-Kabi. No idea what it really is but I found it while trying to filter out places to meditate, train and no sound.


    Amazing right? It¡¯s all about the keywords. I plan on putting it on one of the top branches of the Origin tree.


    Not sure if I can use the construction menu to remove things but to make sure I can build the seriously large stuff I¡¯ll put it as high as I can.


    I¡¯ll also place a basic house with running water up there. Might look weird, two or three thick vines going all the way up there but I don¡¯t want to have to go up and down.


    Should I go to the survivors¡¯ camp and ask them to give me some people? I could go to Sera and ask her to visit, see how she likes it here.


    It¡¯s a bit far but I wouldn¡¯t mind having those free spirited people around.


    I¡¯ve been working nonstop for days now, after I install the rest of the stuff, I¡¯ll go meditate for a while. My canned foods should tide me over for a while.

 Chapter sixteen: Can鈥檛 really say I know what I鈥檓 doing

    In the short periods when I come out of meditation I try to think of ways to build more things. Can¡¯t really say anything comes to mind.


    Only thing that makes sense is if I put myself in other people''s shoes. So I¡¯m making a pathway to the outside of the forest. Following that I¡¯m going to make a pathway all the way towards Sera¡¯s village.


    I took the time to put down the watermills, piping and cables alongside a vinebridge pathway but I should be able to do that wherever, I just wanted to make it look good.


    My tree-village still isn¡¯t ready for a major influx of people but I think a hundred or so could stay here.


    I¡¯d have to build a few more living areas and connect them with running water but that is easily done. Maybe I should try mining. Don¡¯t have a mining-pick though, never mind that.


    I could try to make some of the potion from the new book. Sounds like a hassle to go out and find herbs though.


    I could try to go back to the middle layer, I¡¯ve been reflecting on my experience there. Sure it was a bit suffocating, for lack of a better word


    But I think I could stay there for a day or two, even permanently, I simply don¡¯t know what would happen. Worst case scenario I die and respawn.


    Doesn¡¯t sound too bad but I don¡¯t feel like forgetting about simple things like ability to judge distances with some accuracy.


    There are now small suspension bridges made from wood and vine all the way outside of the forest.


    I had a thought to connect all the Naturai trees but I¡¯m not sure how much silver I have to use. I might have to make the whole area bigger eventually.


    Now this whole building thing has been fun but I need more food. I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve noticed my energy becoming stronger or whatever it should be able to become.


    I completely forgot about the affinity thing so I plan on getting some food, actually, I might be a good time to check if any people want to come live here.


    I¡¯m sitting across from Herros right now, he¡¯s giving me that blank look. If I didn¡¯t know any better I¡¯d assume he was in some way brain damaged. Poor thing.


    ¡°Look, Herros. I''m not asking you to give me people, I just want permission to ask a few people if they can come and do some farming and live in my tree houses. We got electricity, running water and places to grow green stuff. It¡¯s all perfectly safe, as long as they don¡¯t fall down or go down, or provoke animals. It¡¯s all good.¡±


    ¡°You have electricity? Running water? How? In the forest?¡±


    By all that is green, he is really slow.


    ¡°Ye, you can come check it out. I¡¯m planning on making a library once I get two more skill-books, it¡¯s the only thing holding me back at the moment.¡±


    See this is why I don¡¯t like to talk to people, they can never be content with not knowing. I¡¯d know, I could be considered curious, even analytical at times.


    So I told him if he could take over all the safe-zone that are related to his current two he could do something similar, probably.


    He decided to come with me to check out my amazing treehouse village. I still have dreams of making some kind of wooden castle or mansion.


    But that¡¯s going to have to wait.


    I managed to convince three ¡®families¡¯ of farmers to join me. But they were just couples. There still hasn¡¯t been one pregnancy since we came to this world.


    Not sure if six people will do, but they are free to leave if they don¡¯t like it there, which I doubt they will do. I have made a very comfortable environment, even soft beds.


    I¡¯m glancing over at the people walking over my beautifully aesthetic vine bridges. They don¡¯t look very confident in them.


    Sure it¡¯s a few meters down and they¡¯d have a few broken bones if they fell, if they didn¡¯t outright die but it still feels insulting.


    ¡°It''s fine, I just build the bridges. I guarantee the quality, I swear upon the tree-mother.¡±


    Looks like nothing can please these bastards. Unlike my prototype bridges these can be casually walked over by normal people.


    ¡°I ?ve been meaning to ask, who is the tree-mother¡±


    My generous all-knowing, all-loving, all-embracing goddess! How can they not know the warmth of the ever-encompassing green?


    ¡°Turns out you are so ignorant. This won¡¯t stand, quickly make haste. We¡¯ll talk once we enter the gathering building. You poor souls.¡±


    Ai, these poor lost beings. I¡¯ll have to indoctri~. No, teach them the ways of the Naturai.


    After a few hours of preaching the grace of Naturai I showed them around the base, I told them going up the Naturai tree was forbidden.


    I doubt they¡¯d be willing to climb that high, I wonder if I was ever scared of heights. I seem to remember people that can¡¯t even hold it together when they watch a picture from somewhere high up.


    ¡°Ohohoho, look here. This is my greenhouse, look. Here are some valves you can turn on and off. It sprays the whole interior with water from the river.¡±


    That¡¯s it, look amazed. I can¡¯t really show them the worth of electricity right now, it only lights up the inside of buildings with a green glow.


    There were some devices in the normal houses, I¡¯m not entirely sure what they are for. But from what I could understand they should be used for cooking.


    ¡°Right, so what do you think, great right? You''re free to come live here, there is a certain limit to how many people can over at the moment.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    All I ask is to have food ready so I don¡¯t have to hunt every time I come out.


    I might be gone for quite a while at a time, so you should probably vote for a leader or something, though I don¡¯t really see anything that needs doing other than eating.


    You can run in and out of the forest, you could possibly hunt beasts if you¡¯re the adventurous type.


    Let me know and I¡¯ll set the respawn point wherever you want within the Abraser outer-layer.


    Okay, I¡¯m off to hunt for a bit. I¡¯ll be back with something to eat, might take a few days.¡±


    I leap off the wooden platform to a tree and make my way towards the middle-layer. The density of monsters is far greater there.


    I got to get a few skill-books, I want to know what the library does. Everything so far has had a bunch of things in them, so I assume there will be books. There better be books.


    Raising my spear I let fly with rapid hand movement. Beast down. I grab the wrapped up meat and leather and to make it fit into one of my three backpacks. It barely fits.


    So that¡¯s one of three bags filled, after hunting down one beast. I just need three books but that might take some time.


    It¡¯s my fourth day and I¡¯ve gotten two skill-books, this is kind of ridiculous. I¡¯m supposed to have increased drop rate but I keep finding items


    Always some kind of leather clothing. Never a weapon. Well there are leather gloves with spikes attached to them. They look pretty cool, so I¡¯m wearing them.


    I doubt it would come down to a fist fight with these things though. I ?ve tossed four items of clothing in my backpack.


    Might give them to someone. Actually I could make leather armor for everyone. Later. I¡¯ll do that later. I need to design a logo as well.


    Son constantly meditates without a worry. I¡¯m really jealous. I ?ve been trying to record less in the log. Makes it easier so I don¡¯t have to go over endless amounts of drivel.


    I ?ve gotten six books so far. Three more than I needed but I thought it might be better to get at least a few more, just in case I found something else I want to build.


    I built the library near the gather building. The damn thing is a giant tree. Looks amazing! It removed three trees when I placed it down.


    The tree is about three times the height of the surrounding trees and very wide. The entrance has a large branch leading out of it, which I connected with a wooden suspension bridge.


    The tree has been hollowed on the inside. Every table and shelve is carved out of the wood. It looks incredible. No wonder it cost so much.


    Bad news is that it has the same restrictions as in the sanctuary. Kind of pisses me off. This is my building, why can¡¯t I go wherever I want? Pft.


    I put all the books I had collected in the unrestricted area. Knowledge is power and all, but they¡¯d still need like a year to catch up to me in strength, can¡¯t be too paranoid.


    When I left the library I saw at least a dozen or so people gathered outside the gathering building. Seems we had a few people join in since last time.


    ¡°Yo! I made a library, there are some books in there you can read, be careful of the savory princess, if you¡¯re uncomfortable with your sexuality it might confuse you.


    I¡¯d prefer it if you didn¡¯t actually take the books out of the library. How¡¯s the whole farming thing going? We got any food yet?¡±


    Haven¡¯t they ever seen a green haired beautiful man like myself before? Oh. A woman in the group stepped forward with determination in her eyes.


    ¡°Lord Abraser, we¡¯ve had our first crops. They grow incredibly fast. We got so much we don¡¯t even need to hunt.¡±


    ¡°Great, I¡¯m going to go meditate in the Naturai tree. May the green be with you.¡±


    I went and cooked some of the meat I brought back. I asked them to use the rest. Can¡¯t really eat this quantity of meat by myself in one sitting.


    I sat down in my water filled wooden bath. Let¡¯s see if we can actually get this water affinity.


    Reporting it. First time I dropped out of meditation, I couldn''t say I felt anything from the water. I expected my skin to prune or something but nothing seems to have changed.


    I go outside to grab something to eat and head back up. There was again an increase in population. I can see the people that have set respawn points here are seventy nine.


    I think I need to make a few more buildings to live in, I¡¯m not sure if there are any problems with the water or power but that¡¯ll have to wait. Back to meditating.


    Operation has seen its first progress, I¡¯m getting a similar feeling for the water as I do with the trees. I must be on the right path.


    After grabbing some food, I checked on the whole situation. I walked into the gathering building and there was a person standing behind a desk at the entrance.


    ¡°Heya, just came in to check if the food, water and power situation was okay. Also do we have enough houses for everyone?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not authorized to tell you that.¡±


    What?


    ¡°Then who is?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not authorized to tell you that.¡±


    This feels awfully familiar.


    ¡°Where did you come from, what is your name?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Shit, we¡¯ve been invaded. Let¡¯s check out the library. Oh dear green goddess! There is an old man with what looks like a permanent frown.


    I finally found some people, turns out these people started popping out of nowhere and started doing whatever job they wanted. Three of these soulless bastards.


    The last one has been fiddling around my tanning salon. I tried shooing him away but he just ignored me and answered with the usual crap. I¡¯m not sure what to make of this.


    Eventually I found out about the housing problem, a few people have been shacking up together, so I made enough houses to accommodate another hundred people.


    Can¡¯t say the village is hidden to anyone, well from outside Abraser you¡¯d never know. You know what, I will say it¡¯s still hidden.


    I got back to my den on top of the tree of origin. Before I start meditating, I¡¯m going to try and sense the water before I fall under.


    Something similar as to when I tried to locate that guardian wizard snake. Oh that fucking bastard, still haven¡¯t properly vented my anger even after killing him.


    So this is the third time I have come out of meditation, I must have instantly gone into a trance when I tried to sense the water.


    Does water have a pulse? I¡¯m not sure what to feel but I am definitely closer. I have no idea how much time has passed.


    To be honest, I¡¯ve given up on the concept of time for now. Not like I¡¯m working with any kind of timeframe.


    We¡¯re up to hundred and twenty nine people living in my place. I might need more green houses.


    They aren¡¯t very expensive since they don¡¯t need skill-books but if this keeps going on I¡¯ll have to organize some kind of trade route to sanctuary.


    Well they seem to like it here which is great. I won¡¯t have to hunt for food anymore. I should build a training hall and teach them the way of the spear.


    The throwing spear, any other spear falls short. Not sure if I¡¯ll personally show them how to get rapid hand movement.


    Actually, I¡¯d think that would be a fairly common ability. I should tell them about the skill-menu. Right?


    Let¡¯s try meditating, after I get the water affinity I might go to the middle layer, see if there is any change. Or I might check up on Sera.


    Finally.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Water affinity


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You touched upon the water of the world while in deep meditation, after meditating in water for prolonged periods of time.


    You can now absorb a minuscule, infinitesimal, very, very, very small amount of water energy. This energy will align you slightly towards the purest form of water.


    Water energy is a deviation from the lesser form of energy and has gone into specialization.


    This will allow you to blend into almost any persistently watery environment and furthermore, slowly increase every aspect of your physical and mental self.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    | Nature affinity |


    | Rapid hand movement |


    | Gentle hands |


    | Hide presence |


    | Energy regeneration |


    | Energy shield |


    | Empower: Eye |


    | Empower: Hand |


    | Empower: Feet |


    | Empower: Leap|


    | Strength and dexterity increase |


    | Body enhancing|


    | Energy compression|


    | Empower: Smell|


    | Naturai sprite |


    | Water affinity |


    The change is very obvious. I can definitely feel a bit more powerful energy coursing through me.


    I think it¡¯s pretty clear that whatever being controls the world expects us to connect to various affinities in the world.


    The Problem is similar to the skills though, assuming you are able to learn them by yourself.


    It would be far too hard to and take a kind of attitude that exudes confidence to blindly train in a skill without knowing it would even work.


    Luckily there are ways to get information, the library. As limited as it is, it is at least more reliable than guessing.


    Alright, I¡¯m getting pretty pumped. Not that I don¡¯t want to meditate for eternity but I want to see if the pressure in the middle layer has lessened in any way.


    I made a new spear, I can feel a difference in it now. I thought initially that it was all about the materials, but I can definitely feel the difference between the spears.


    If I had any of my first spears, I¡¯d probably feel a major difference. This is one of the few times my energy has made any major quality changes.


    When I try to sense the water, I feel a sense of chaos from it. Nothing is in order and constantly changing. It¡¯s nothing like the stable trees.


    I walk inside the fog-screen. The ambient noise rises to levels I haven¡¯t heard in quite some time. The pressure is already on me.


    Can¡¯t say I¡¯m sure if it''s the same as last time. Instead of traveling further inside I find a nice hidden spot to meditate. I want to see if I can stay here for a few days.


    There is no point in dreaming about taking over the middle layer or hunting for new skill-books here if I can¡¯t even function properly.


    It¡¯s a bit difficult to go under meditative trance, I have to do the tried and tested hand movements.


    When I wake up, I feel groggy. There is a foul taste in my mouth. I spit out some greyish green stuff and clean out my mouth with some water. What in hell.


    I still feel that same pressure, I¡¯m also starving and feel a little weak. I¡¯m not dead though, I can think clearly as well.


    Guess I¡¯ll try to hunt something next, I¡¯m really hoping they drop a higher tier of skill-books. But I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯ll just drop guardian level books. Or worse.

 Chapter seventeen: Can you see what I can鈥檛?

    I don¡¯t get it. This is like fighting in water. I can¡¯t quite explain it, but I feel like I can¡¯t use all of my energy. Hm. I ?ve really become dependent on energy.


    Thinking back when I first started using abilities and energy. I had moments when I was practically drained dry but I didn¡¯t really collapse or lose any physical strength.


    It was more like I couldn¡¯t borrow the same strength. No that makes no sense. But there were without a doubt moments where I was low on energy, the feeling was like serious thirst.


    I might be addicted to energy now. So no energy means I get an unquenchable feeling, a need for energy. Or not. I really can¡¯t be sure, I¡¯m no scientist.


    I¡¯m having a hard time focusing, and that means I might have to stop recording. I sort of lose myself in jumbled up thoughts or observations.


    I wonder if I should wake up Son. Nawh, what could he do? Let¡¯s prowl around for a bit, see if we can find something to hunt.


    I¡¯m going to move towards the Naturai tree, if it¡¯s like the other ones, there shouldn¡¯t be anything dangerous lurking in its nearest vicinity.


    I think it¡¯s because the territory around it has been claimed by its guardians, and those mind-numbingly scary flying creatures.


    I hear some movements, the occasional screech, roar and death-throes. The smell here is really nice, it is a lot like the outer-layer but just so much richer.


    I wonder if it¡¯s the trees. I¡¯m still moving from tree to tree, staying just below the canopy, to avoid being seen from above.


    It is also where the branches and leaves are the most spread. If I kill something here and cook it, won¡¯t it lure other beasts to me?


    Hm. The beasts never came in the outer-layer, but these places have their differences, can¡¯t be reckless.


    I found three beasts walking in a very slow circle around each other. They are all some sort of wolf. Their fur is cray with green lines or spots spread evenly.


    Everything is better greener but I wonder about these. What are they even doing? They look pretty hostile, but they¡¯ve been doing this dance for a while now.


    Eh? Oh, that was unexpected. One of the wolves lowered its two front legs and raised its back legs. Instantly the other two jumped and clashed mid-air.


    Now, I don¡¯t want to be mindlessly slandering these pups but I¡¯m pretty sure this is some sort of mating ritual. Hm. I have never seen a baby beast.


    I¡¯ve seen some that are larger than their own kind and some smaller but I can¡¯t really say they were newborns or close to it.


    They really aren¡¯t playing around, one of the wolves has lost its right ear and blood is pouring out of the sides of the other, just above its ribcage.


    This is the curse of not being able to masturbate leisurely, truly my hands are a blessing.


    Oh dear green goddess, in the midst of their ferocious tumble, the one eared canine got its tail ripped off. It howled so loud I nearly fell off my stable watch-post.


    That was brutal. He is now standing on both his hind-legs and oh, damn. It is actually gathering energy under all of its paws.


    Leaping out with an explosive sound it near magically appears in front of its nemesis and swipes down at its neck.


    To the winner goes the spoils, the, presumably female wolf whimpers as the bloodstained green and grey beast moves to receive what it fought for.


    Uhm. Okay, call me sexists but I really wasn¡¯t expecting that. It bit the slightly trembling, now known to be male, wolf.


    The injured victor turns around and lifted its behind and non-existing tail. Then turned its head abruptly and growled menacingly.


    What exactly is going on here? I raise my spear, I don¡¯t intend to watch what happens next.


    As soon as they begin I throw the first spear towards the female wolf, it just seems like much more of a threat than that shivering wolf that looks like it¡¯s being forced to mount the female.


    No. I am still very confused as to what just happened here. The spear quickly reaches its intended target and I¡¯m already mid swing preparing to take out the second one.


    There is still a lot to be seen in this world. That¡¯s what I¡¯ve learned today.


    I picked up the meat and leather and filled my backpack to the brim, there was no skill-book, sadly.


    It''s times like these, that hard data would be appreciated. It is too hard to make an educated guess without enough unbiased information.


    Nevertheless, I didn¡¯t spend much energy on that fight. I can still easily take care of the beasts here, doesn¡¯t change this insufferable pressure constantly weighing down on me.


    I¡¯m going to move faster towards the Naturai tree and prepare some food and try to meditate.


    What was that green-gray goo that I spit out last time? I feel like I got an idea of what it is, but it hasn¡¯t quite formed properly.


    And that wolf-fighting scene keeps replaying through my mind. Honestly, that was extremely odd.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Can¡¯t say that there are no beasts at the base of the tree but I can¡¯t see any, I can¡¯t really enter that divine state of merging with the tree either.


    I tried just before I set up a camp on the closest tree next to the Naturai tree. It was very similar to when I tried to sense the water energy in that luxurious bath.


    Oh, I want a bath right about now, my skin is already getting itchy just thinking about how much I sweat in this place.


    My beautiful skin didn¡¯t even get pruned after being submerged in water for who knows how long, but here it feels like a dried piece of dirt.


    Looking up above me, in the seemingly endless Naturai tree and the loud noises from the creatures above have become a lot clearer.


    I won¡¯t be trying to climb up it. The pressure also got stronger the closer I got to the tree. I think we can assume it has something to do with the tree.


    Hence, I¡¯m going to meditate as close to it as I can and try to properly feel its pulse.


    It¡¯s been a few sessions so far and I haven¡¯t gotten anywhere, every time I get out of meditative trance I throw up disgusting goo.


    First it was green and grey, then it went to a nearby bright red and a smidge of purple. Moving from there it was just black.


    The newest one is a faded yellow with a bit of orange in it. There really isn¡¯t any consistency in it.


    It makes me think, how random is this world? I really want to believe it is following some kind of pattern.


    As a human, I should be able to at least see some kind of a pattern in the way things work. But I really can¡¯t make out how or why things happen so far.


    There are some things I feel I know. First, all guardians drop skill-books. At least in the areas I¡¯ve killed so far, actually there were some that dropped items instead or did they drop it alongside the books? I might have to check the boon.


    Okay so the guardians are done, there is also varying strength of the guardians, not sure if that means anything but I think it has to do with the rank system has in place.


    Well it called it authorization but it¡¯s essentially the same thing right? So if the outer-layer of Abraser is a Hetra rank area. Then perhaps some of those villages are the same or lower.


    I can¡¯t imagine it being higher. The city I tried to explore might have been higher. It could also have been split in a similar way to Abraser.


    That might be worth checking out. I could just take over two towns or villages there. Bit far away but I am getting faster and faster, we¡¯ll see.


    I¡¯d rather try a different direction to look for another Sanctuary, that way I¡¯d at least be able to buy a new map of the nearby area.


    Some might have a decent map of Abraser, I already have my own self-made crude map but I can¡¯t really be trusted and it isn¡¯t up to scale.


    Seeing as the pressure isn¡¯t getting worse or better at this point in time, I think I¡¯ll go meet up with Sera, maybe make a new village in Abraser for her side of the forest.


    I want to try to get some more affinities, it feels like the next step.


    I¡¯ll have to check out of the middle layer a few more times to get a proper feeling of how oppressive it is. To measure up when I get a new affinity.


    If it helps I¡¯ll know I¡¯m at least not going in the wrong direction.


    I¡¯m going as fast as I possibly can over the canopy in the middle-layer, I just wanted to make sure I know why I die.


    I accidentally threw a spear at a pretty low flying bird. It looked manageable at the time but turns out I was very, very, very! Wrong.


    I can¡¯t hear it behind me but seeing as there are only shadows around my figure, I think we can believe it is right above me and currently blocking the sun.


    If the shadow gets smaller all of a sudden I¡¯m going to dive below the trees. It¡¯s worth knowing if I can actually outrun a flying beast, but the virtual flood of cold sweat pouring down my back is telling me I can¡¯t.


    I barely had a second to drop down below the canopy when the shadow suddenly constricted, meaning it was descending down on me.


    I didn¡¯t really think about how fast I can jump down but it is definitely not as fast as my maximum running speed.


    I felt a claw literally tear into my shoulders and lift me up. Moments later I¡¯m free-falling again.


    I can¡¯t feel any pain, I can¡¯t feel anything at all in fact. My right hand and shoulder have lost all function.


    I¡¯m currently praying to the green goddess to save me and at the same time hoping I fall faster into the embrace of the forest.


    I couldn¡¯t turn whilst being thrown about like a toy so I have to assume the birdy had to do some sort of aerial maneuver before going for another dive.


    I tried to grab onto branches with my still working left hand, the first branch I managed to get a hold on snapped dramatically, leaving me to fall to the ground.


    Not sure how high I was but this is going to hurt. Or maybe not, perfect timing to try and see if energy shield will ease my fall.


    Like a rubber ball the shield flexed out before I dispelled it. The momentum has been completely nullified.


    I should have used it before I got impaled by that terrifying bird, so I learned that I can¡¯t straight up out run it.


    Doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t escape, I am now trying to figure out a way out of this hell hole. I feel nauseous, something is turning my stomach.


    Unfortunately I can¡¯t really sit and rest, I¡¯d be free game for ninja rats, matriarchal wolves and who knows what else.


    Finally, sweet release. First thing to do is to meditate, my dear all-embracing goddess of all that is green, there is no pressure here.


    It feels like the wind has stopped raging. I sit in any old tree and stuff myself with raw meat and focus on falling into a trance. Let me into Elysium.


    Huh. I feel better. There is still a giant red scar on my shoulder just below the bone. It might have healed so fast because no bone broke.


    But there is something else. Hm. something is missing.


    The energy is a bit thin? Is that it? Is this why there is no pressure here? Because the energy is more domineering or oppressive might be a better word.


    But it is also far thicker, richer. This could be why I felt like I was fighting the air with every step, even sitting still was bothersome.


    I can¡¯t really measure the different levels of energy but I think we can work on the assumption that it is in some way different. Not better, just different.


    Misinformation breeds more misinformation. And if we know the energy is different, then we can assume my body was rejecting it.


    Which could be those disgusting discharges. This feels right. Good, it is so satisfying to get some answers, albeit unprovable. Is there an energy meter lying around somewhere?


    I¡¯m going to head for a little leisure time with Sera, maybe fiddle with the whole construction thing and while I¡¯m doing that I should try and pick an affinity to work towards.


    So assuming I won¡¯t record anything until I put my thoughts together, I should record my skills just in case I mysteriously die. Knock on wood? Knock on wood.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Hello? Been a while, just checking in, I built a village fit for seven hundred people for Sera and her people, her collection of handsome men grew.


    She also informed me that the abandoned village we took over has been steadily populating. She has the option to leave them out of the re-spawn thing but she let them be.


    There is an almost obvious connection to safe zones and the re-spawning of people. Oh. Her sister now has four men under her wing.


    I have no idea how this all came to be but I¡¯m thoroughly impressed. I still feel like it¡¯s somehow been reversed.


    Not sure where I got the feeling that the men usually had multiple women instead and it¡¯s all very confusing.


    This is the feeling I get when I only remember parts of things. I had the same feeling before I learned of the sun and moon.


    Right, anyway. It¡¯s been fun and all but I always get this itch when I stop meditating for a while.


    And because I have simply no idea how long I go under each time, I haven¡¯t been meditating. I have been sleeping. Take the good with the bad, kind of thing.


    So I¡¯m planning on focusing on animal affinity, that¡¯s what it¡¯s called. I figured something out, or I think I did.


    It¡¯s a simple trail of thoughts. Water affinity, nature affinity and whatever else are just large groups, a label for many affinities.


    I think I have a hypothesis about how it all works. My nature affinity might just be one part of a whole group of things related to any kind of flora.


    For example, tree affinity would be assigned to nature affinity. Different poisons would all be under poison affinity, meaning different poisons just add to the original affinity.


    I haven¡¯t proved any of this but I¡¯ve had a lot of time to think this over.


    With that in mind, I¡¯m going to try and meditate completely covered in fur with just enough room to breathe, I¡¯m having some people pile fur over me.


    This wasn¡¯t in the book but the ones in the book seem impossible or extremely tedious.


    Light affinity or whatever it is, needs to have someone wake me up before the sun goes down or anything creates a shadow over me, even clouds. How long will that take? Right?


    But I think there is more to the requirements, I think it¡¯s more about completely immersing yourself in something, to try and sense it.


    That way you¡¯d be able to absorb it. Ice for example, could be under water affinity. This all makes sense to me.


    Add in the fact that I don¡¯t believe the words used to learn the abilities are really supposed to be in this language.


    They always seem blurry and translucent in the skillbooks, like everything in this puzzling place.


    One meditation session after another, I am now on a completely vegetarian diet. All I eat is what Sera¡¯s people grow, it all tastes of the forest.


    I haven¡¯t gotten a literal sense for the fur so far, it might have to be alive or something. I won¡¯t quit though, it¡¯s quite easy to waste time researching affinities when you have enough to eat and drink.


    I went all out on this village as well, electricity, lights, houses, places to garden, blacksmithing area.


    Ah, the blacksmithing area is just gathering dust now, we have nothing to blacksmith with, no materials. Maybe I should create a mine.

 Chapter eighteen: We need a team of researchers

    Alright I said I wouldn¡¯t give up on my research for a fur affinity but this is going nowhere.


    Maybe I should dig a hole in the ground and bury myself with it, have a small breathing hole in it and meditate.


    That sounds a bit insane, I really need more books on the subject. I figure if I capture the middle-layer I should be able to get more access but it seems too hard.


    Those flying fuckers really weren¡¯t playing around. I wonder what kind of guardian it is in that tree. It has to be more ferocious than the things flying around the tree.


    Oh, maybe I¡¯m looking at this wrong, maybe they are the guardians. A group of flying birds that have made their nest up there or something.


    It would make sense right? If I don¡¯t get rid of all of them, would they peacefully leave? I very much doubt that.


    Why isn¡¯t water affinity a part of nature affinity? Hm. Ye it should. My theories keep hitting roadblocks, I really am missing too many answers.


    Okay let¡¯s think about this. What other kinds of liquid can I submerge myself in to meditate? There is molten lava, won¡¯t be doing that though, there is no lava nearby.


    How would one get a fire affinity? I feel like there should be a better way to get affinities. Is heat an affinity? It sounds like it should be.


    Where does it end? Are people an affinity? Are the different affinities between a male and a female? The list goes on and on.


    There can¡¯t be so many arbitrary restrictions to get all these affinities, maybe the book was bullshitting me. This world really can¡¯t be trusted.


    One thing at a time, let¡¯s try out my second choice. I¡¯m going to meditate in the tall grass below the trees.


    If I am in constant contact with the living grass I might be able to sense some kind of connection with them.


    No never mind. They might be a part of the whole nature affinity, I mean I can already sort of sense them already.


    So it¡¯s the dig myself a hole plan then. I make my way to the ground and use a branch to start moving the dirt around.


    It is taking a while, I could really use some kind of tool to dig this hole up. Something that could scoop it up like a big spoon.


    After I make a whole deep enough to cover me up to my neck I go get Sera¡¯s sister, apparently Sera was meditating inside a hollowed out bit of a tree.


    I told her the bits I knew about affinities, she was really excited about it. It¡¯s essential to feel the presence of the tree-mother.


    Let¡¯s get this started then. Let¡¯s start by feeling the texture of the dirt, it isn¡¯t just one big pile of mud, there are various sizes of small stones mixed into it as well.


    Is there a stone affinity? Damnit, there are simply too many things. Let¡¯s try and remove the stones.


    Gave up on trying to remove small stones, simply too many. Maybe I should try to get used to the way it feels. When there is little to no stones in it, it sort of clumps up.


    There is some moisture in it. Would that affect it? My hypothesis is starting to feel a bit stretched. No point in not trying, I need to meditate anyway.


    If I intend to take over the entirety of Abraser I¡¯ll need to be able to overcome that overwhelming energy pressure, which is what I think is a good name for it.


    So in the name of efficiency, I thought it would be better to discover more affinities rather than just mindlessly meditate.


    Actually, it might be better to improve water affinity, but I¡¯m not sure if I even need to focus on it, I think it happens either way.


    It would probably be a better bet to meditate near a source of that affinity, but since I have no evidence of that but I know discovering a new one gives me a definite increase so that takes priority.


    I¡¯m starting to like the texture of the dirt, it feels right. After I made a small perimeter around my hole I sit down.


    There is no need to instantly start meditating on it, over or engulfed by it. If I can take anything from my nature affinity and water affinity, it¡¯s that I need to understand it, in some way.


    I think, can¡¯t be sure so let¡¯s play a little with it. It either falls through my fingers or stands as a pile on my hand.


    It¡¯s soft when I press on it, so it¡¯s easily moldable. I can rub the pressure bits of dirt between my fingers and it starts to scatter, becoming various sizes some small as dust.


    Well this is great and all, but this is just dirt. I didn¡¯t really do this when I meditated in the past but sounds like something I should do. Alright, let¡¯s start this.


    Never thought about it, but I¡¯ve been going in and out of long stretches of meditation and I barely eat.


    I think my metabolism slows down dramatically, it has to. I might set up a way to know how long I go under each time.


    People don¡¯t really count days, too many have lost memory of too many things to even be able to estimate how long we¡¯ve been in this world.


    So it¡¯s been seven sessions now, can¡¯t say I¡¯m closer to discovering some universal secret but I am far more comfortable sitting down and covered in dirt.


    It¡¯s an odd sensation. I am optimistic, dirt affinity might be possible. Right, that¡¯s it for now, I¡¯ll check in when I have something of importance to report, otherwise I¡¯ll just continue meditating.


    I haven¡¯t felt that feeling of breaking through the next level, still not sure how that whole thing works.


    Is there a limited number of affinities I can progress in? Who knows? See you later, me.


    Ehem! Ta motherfucking da!!


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Soil affinity


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You touched upon the soil of the world while in deep meditation, after meditating in soil for prolonged periods of time. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    You can now absorb a minuscule, infinitesimal, very, very, very small amount of soil energy. This energy will align you slightly towards the purest form of soil.


    Soil energy is a deviation from the lesser form of energy and has gone into specialization.


    This will allow you to blend into almost any persistently soil based environment and furthermore, slowly increase every aspect of your physical and mental self.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Soil! Close enough. Ah, I completely forgot to go into the middle-layer a few times to compare the before and after of getting another affinity.


    Though to be honest, I think we can still easily remember that traumatizing feeling, we managed to spend a decent amount of time there, right? Time compares this real quick.


    Entering into the middle-layer, the fog-screen vanishes and the somewhat greener scenery appears. The pressure is definitely easier to handle.


    I¡¯d love to say that this was the new affinity showing its value but I have been meditating constantly.


    I also have Son constantly meditating, though I¡¯m not entirely sure if that helps me in any way.


    But I have to assume the extra affinity helped. Dust is a kind of soil right? How do I gather dust? Never mind, let''s see if I can meditate in this place.


    I¡¯m running straight for the Naturai tree. Well running straight isn¡¯t really right, I¡¯m making my way there through the trees.


    I think it might be time to try and climb one of these trees. Wish I had made a glider. Though I doubt a glider would work with all these flying dudes roaming about.


    The ambient sounds go up and down when moving at a fast pace. I still don¡¯t see anything.


    I¡¯ve tried to feel the changes in the nearby trees but it doesn¡¯t work, I still can¡¯t focus enough in this area.


    When I arrive at the root of the Naturai tree I look up, the vines that circle every tree are thicker than the outer-layer ones.


    There is a kind of consistency in them, some look out of place but overall it gives the image of the tree being smothered by the vines.


    There are a few offshoot branches, very small compared to the enormous ones at the top but still large enough for me to comfortably sit on. That¡¯s where I am heading now, to the lowest one.


    I intend to meditate there, in the open. As I see it, if I can¡¯t properly sneak around it all becomes a full frontal assault on these flying bastards. As a budding spear assassin, I can¡¯t have that.


    I ?ve got a fair bit of vines in my backpack and some tied around my waist and shoulders.


    I was planning on using them as some sort of escape plan or utility but I think they¡¯ll do great for concealment. Mm. Staying hidden is a priority.


    I grab all the vines I have, it¡¯s much clearer how the different vines that cascade off the Naturai trees and the ones on the normal trees surrounding it.


    Some are almost half the thickness of a tree. I wonder if I could make something cool with these. Crafting with vines doesn¡¯t seem too viable though, does it?


    After covering myself in vines I start trying to feel the pulse of the tree, I think it¡¯s important.


    I can¡¯t really back it up, but I think if I mimic the tree¡¯s breath or pulse I will make me look like I belong on this tree. Maybe? I really need a hands-on guidebook for this forest.


    The main reason we are doing this, if I happen to forget if I happen to die tragically. Is to get higher clearance, to get more information from the library.


    I¡¯m pretty sure I could live comfortably for the rest of my life at this point but then I thought about the message I got when I took over the outer-layer.


    It said I was one of four people to take this kind of ranked area. Meaning there are stronger people than me out there!


    For some reason, that really pisses me off. So I¡¯ll be the first one to take over the higher tier zones! Fuck those bastards.


    When I woke up from my meditation, I didn¡¯t actually have to spit out something disgusting, which is great. I still am very much in a muddled state of mind though.


    The pressure is ever present. But! We can definitely assume that we made some progress, great job past me.


    I¡¯m going to continue to meditate a few times in this location before waking up Son to continue climbing this tree.


    Actually, I¡¯ve been thinking. Son can somehow use my body or his own after he merges with me and uses his energy.


    It might not have as a devastating power as mine but this is an area I¡¯ve really ignored.


    Can he help me keep my heartbeat slowed? Maybe he can help me sense the pulse of the tree.


    Actually talking about slowing my heartbeat. Didn¡¯t it speed up an incredible amount when I entered that divine state before?


    I still have some existential trauma after that event. The voice I heard at that time, it might have been Son in an incorporeal form. Well, that¡¯s a bit of a stretch but I can¡¯t prove it was or wasn¡¯t him.


    If that turns out to be true though, that means I have been devoting myself to an energy based version of myself.


    No? Or would that just be another way the great floral goddess bestow her blessings unto me? Forever mysterious and gracious. I ?m going to continue meditating.


    It¡¯s been a few sessions and I can finally say that I¡¯ve made some progress. First off, my energy no longer feels like it¡¯s a lost kid in the dark.


    Second, I¡¯ve become a lot lighter again! This means I¡¯ll be faster right? And finally, I¡¯ve felt the constant pulse of the tree.


    I¡¯m going to wake up Son now and try to adjust myself to the tree''s pulse before climbing to the top.


    | Nature affinity |


    | Rapid hand movement |


    | Gentle hands |


    | Hide presence |


    | Energy regeneration |


    | Energy shield |


    | Empower: Eye |


    | Empower: Hand |


    | Empower: Feet |


    | Empower: Leap|


    | Strength and dexterity increase |


    | Body enhancing|


    | Energy compression|


    | Empower: Smell|


    | Naturai sprite |


    | Water affinity |


    | Soil affinity|


    Okay, so we got that recorded down.


    ¡°Son.¡±


    ¡®Eyo!¡¯


    Haha, you bastard. How are you feeling? Anything different? See if the pressure is more manageable.


    ¡°Oh? We¡¯re in the middle-layer. Nice, so you made a breakthrough let me check real quick.¡±


    ¡°Soil affinity, Water affinity, Nature affinity. Aren¡¯t these things the same thing?¡±


    Exactly what I asked myself, doesn¡¯t matter in the end. My energy got a bit uhm? More? It got stronger with every affinity so far.


    I¡¯ve also spent a lot of time meditating since we last talked. I¡¯m sure you can feel some difference, probably more than I can.


    I can¡¯t really tell how much I improve seeing it is always just a little bit at a time, the only time I feel real change is when I get a new affinity, what do you think?


    ¡®Ye, there is a bit of a change. Can¡¯t say it¡¯s much but it¡¯s there.¡¯


    Oh, I hoped it would be a little bit of a bigger difference than just some casual increase.


    ¡®You¡¯ve clearly adjusted to the middle-layer, so it might be something else. We don¡¯t know how energy works.


    Also, I¡¯m a floating energy body, we can¡¯t explain that either can we?


    I ?ve got to say, you¡¯re missing out. I don¡¯t feel hungry, tired or horny. It¡¯s amazing, all I want is to relax all day and meditate.¡¯


    Fuck you. I ?m having to eat every time I get out of meditation, my self-pleasure time has been cut down dramatically as well but you know me, I make time.


    Never mind all this. I called you out because I¡¯m going to try and climb my first Naturai tree in the middle-layer.


    I was wondering if you could help me stay stealthy after we merge together.


    We haven¡¯t had much of a problem in the past to stay hidden but this time, the monsters will have clear visibility of where we climb. What do you think?


    ¡®I¡¯ll try, it takes a bit out of me to stay in tune with your body and energy, not sure if I¡¯ll be able to sense the tree''s pulse but I can definitely make sure you won¡¯t be attacked by surprise.


    You don¡¯t use all the information your senses give you. You receive them but somehow completely ignore them.


    I¡¯m not sure, but I think your mind wouldn¡¯t be able to work with all the information at once, so you unconsciously ignore most of it. What do you think?¡¯


    Eh? I wasn¡¯t aware I was ignoring things, I¡¯ve been trying to be very aware of my surroundings, listening to every sound and eh?


    I doubt I can do anything about this. Wait, how do you even know this, aren¡¯t we supposed to be one person with two bodies or something?


    ¡®No idea, but I can probably help you know if something attacks you, it gets hard to communicate with you once we merge.


    Well, I¡¯m excited should we start climbing or you want to do some preparation?¡¯


    I¡¯d love to take a few months to think about this actually, but you seem pretty confident. I¡¯ll just slowly go from branch to branch, try to experiment a bit after we merge.


    ¡®Alright.¡¯


    Ehem, ehem. Operation M.L.C. Middle-layer climbing is now in effect. Son merged with me and I left him to do his own thing.


    I¡¯m going to start making my way towards the next off-shoot branch. It isn¡¯t too far but every step higher makes me easier to spot.


    I¡¯m going at a pace that makes me want to cry but it takes enormous concentration to listen to the breath of the tree.


    I also get mentally tired? I feel like sleeping when I do it, I doubt I¡¯d fall asleep but probably fall into meditative trance.


    It¡¯s even getting harder to transcribe my thoughts at this point. I¡¯d stop but I think this is important.


    When I finally made my way to the second branch, Son pops out, he looks a bit annoyed. He isn''t saying anything, he just sat on my head and started meditating.


    His looks have been changing, he used to be completely green but he¡¯s got blue, brown and green eyes now.


    Not sure what to think of this, I could use something to see how I look, maybe my eyes are changing as well. Or my hair.


    I¡¯m going to meditate now, I feel an odd kind of hunger at the moment and nothing I¡¯ve eaten seems to fill it.


    It¡¯s becoming easier to feel the Naturai tree¡¯s pulse. The sky is dark now, I can¡¯t even see the moon, and there are no clouds.


    The moon is probably on the other side of the tree. I can¡¯t see any flying creatures at the moment, do they sleep? I¡¯ve never thought about this.


    It should be easier to move at night time, right? I need to wake up Son, he is literally a ball of energy, and he doesn¡¯t cast out as much light as before, and actually he should be invisible to most.


    Sera couldn¡¯t see Son. She did see the energy just not his image. I wonder if she¡¯ll be able to when or if she gets nature affinity.


    But the creatures here might very well see him, I haven¡¯t seen them use energy, but I¡¯ve seen the energy surrounding them.


    At least in the outer-layer. In the middle-layer they suddenly stopped giving off that energy. Pretty sure it is energy compression or something similar.


    Alright let¡¯s go.


    ¡°Son.¡±

 Chapter nineteen: Burning bright.

    ¡®Mm?¡¯


    We¡¯re going to move during the night this time, should be safer. I can¡¯t quite see the next branch but I know the general direction.


    Actually, it doesn¡¯t matter. Let¡¯s see how far we can climb before daybreak. Just merge with me, I¡¯ll try to be quick.


    If you can¡¯t handle staying merged just pop out, we can¡¯t win every fight right?


    I¡¯m making great progress now, I¡¯m practically jogging up the tree, shouldn¡¯t be too long before I reach the top.


    First thing I¡¯m going to do is find a place to meditate and try and get a good sense of my surroundings.


    I can only hope I¡¯ll be able to take them out one by one from a good hiding place.


    I¡¯ve just reached what could be considered the platform of the tree. It is bigger or at the very least more spacious in comparison to the outer-layers trees.


    I¡¯m moving at a crawling pace, I can¡¯t remember the last time I took a breath, not that I ?ve been counting.


    There are numerous coal black winged creatures lying about casually. Occasionally I can hear the wind brush passed me as an enormous bird flies by.


    I doubt they¡¯ll be floating about endlessly, they might be patrolling the area. Which is a bit weird because, why would they?


    Are they expecting an attack? How smart are these things? They could always just be nocturnal, aye?


    I ?ve made my way onto one of the mid-sized branches, there is a convenient cover here.


    Not exactly the dream hiding place as I can barely hide myself by lying down. But it¡¯ll work. No reason I can¡¯t meditate while lying down.


    It has always been about having the focus to do just one thing rather than two. Which sadly doesn¡¯t allow me to sleepwalk and meditate, that would be amazing and terrifying at the same time.


    I haven¡¯t spotted a snake-lizard-wizard type guardian yet but I have noticed the vastly different sizes in these birds.


    They don¡¯t look to be of the same race, every third bird is clearly of a different gender or species.


    Not sure what to make of all of this but the plan is as clear as it can be. I kill one, I hide. That¡¯s the ideal scenario anyway.


    But first, let¡¯s try and familiarize ourselves with the tree¡¯s pulse. Son has already come out and is sitting on top of my left lower leg meditating.


    I¡¯ve woken up a few times but I stuffed myself with food and resumed my meditation every time.


    I¡¯ve gotten really close to entering the same state as I can easily do with the outer-layer Naturai tree¡¯s.


    Son, has of course never even so much was twitched during his peaceful meditation.


    I figured I¡¯d at least try and record my progress down because I¡¯ll run out of food in the near future and it¡¯s either time to act or run away.


    Since I can¡¯t possibly run away, that would be incredibly boring, right? Future me, you agree right?


    Meditating is good and all but if we have to eat all the time, it sort of ruins it. I¡¯m going to try and connect properly with the tree.


    To see if there really is something incredibly dangerous hiding within the tree, it doesn¡¯t help that there are always quite a few winged behemoths moving on and off the tree.


    Seems I failed to hit the sweet spot again, just woke up, this has become slightly frustrating.


    But it¡¯s time, I can still see a few of the birds on the tree without any problems, one of them will be my first target, wish me luck, actually wish yourself luck.


    Also don¡¯t forget to tell me I¡¯m brilliant or stupid depending on the results.


    I got a spear in one hand, I¡¯ve waited for night time, and I intend to throw two spears. I think that¡¯s the maximum amount I can throw before it becomes obvious where I am.


    I haven¡¯t raised my spear, I won¡¯t until the last moment. The way I¡¯m lying down might affect my accuracy and power but since the targets are lying down unmoving I shouldn¡¯t miss. Right? Right.


    With an awkward twist of my hand I make a small swing with all the power I have The spear, imbued with energy, it still emits no energy.


    As rapid hand movement does its thing, I can almost feel that I won¡¯t hit, and the spear probably won¡¯t even go half its normal speed.


    The spear flies out of my hands and I instantly lie down and focus everything I have, even picture the hand movements in my head to ease the transition into meditative trance.


    Did I miss it? Hmm, I just woke up. I slowly eat some extremely dried vegetables that look like they are about to fall apart. They taste sour, a little slimy. It¡¯s disgusting. I still have a few canned goods but I¡¯m saving them for last.


    I¡¯m trying to get a sense of the place, I take a very careful look at the platform, and I¡¯m slightly above them so I need to raise my head a bit.


    The winged bastards are relaxing as if nothing has occurred. And here I was worried, pft.


    It is still day out and even if there is a constant shade over the tree platform I don¡¯t feel that it is safe to throw spears right now, best to wait until night comes.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Also, I have to get into a better position. I should sit up, it really won¡¯t work lying down and throwing.


    Test number two. The plan is as follows, we sit up, go for a nice proper swing and take out one of them. Then we hide. Flawless.


    Alright, much better results. Pretty sure I managed to hit one of them, didn¡¯t exactly stick around to watch the aftermath but I definitely hit this time.


    If I didn¡¯t at the very least cause an injury that would affect it for a long period of time, then, well.


    I guess we could give up and get out of here and train or something, although training is just me meditating and that only goes so far.


    I could try to lure these guys down and hide under the trees, doubt their mobility would be as excellent as it is in the skies.


    They can¡¯t just ignore laws of physics. Although I feel I¡¯ve been doing something of the sorts.


    Actually this is a different world than my previous one right? Maybe a different universe and therefore has different laws of physics? No? Maybe.


    When you¡¯re stuck in a place and can¡¯t move, you start either clawing your eyes out or play around in your head.


    I think I¡¯m slightly better off, I got you to talk to. Which is great, you are such an attentive person.


    I¡¯m watching a pool of somewhat congealed blood. They clearly moved the body of whatever I hit. Or it flew off, which I doubt.


    But one thing is for sure, they aren¡¯t smart enough to look for me. No, I can¡¯t deal in absolutes. They might have just not found me, I can¡¯t become complacent.


    I won¡¯t be able to stay here for too long, food is already getting scarce and frankly, I don¡¯t have enough spears. I think it¡¯s time for an all-out, me versus them scenario.


    I think I¡¯m becoming more adjusted to the idea of dying, at least the idea of going out in a blaze of glory is really starting to appeal to me right now, I¡¯m getting tired, or better word would be bored.


    There is only so much lounging around one can do before one needs to take up a new hobby.


    Recklessly charging into a nest of creatures capable of flight might not be the most productive or safe hobby but you play with the cards you got.


    Let¡¯s see, I got thirteen small stakes strapped on me, four of my newest version spears, which are plain mid-sized spears that I¡¯ve been carving stuff into, nothing special.


    Still, I got to stay fashionable. I¡¯ve got a decent amount of vines, which are pretty much useless in this case.


    If I start swinging off the tree they¡¯d probably have an easy time to strike me mid-air. So that leaves me with a few chances to at least take their numbers down.


    I can also run around the tree, they probably can¡¯t move too fast whilst on solid ground. Wouldn¡¯t call the tree platform ground, it reaches to the clouds, but the point still stands.


    Okay, fuck ii, I¡¯m doing it, no more patient hunter. It¡¯s time to get messy, to get a bit bloody.


    ¡°Son, my other half.¡±


    ¡®What now? We still in this place? My heavenly green goddess, you look horrible, you probably can¡¯t smell it but it¡¯s putrid.¡¯


    Putrid? Who says putrid? Anyway, I¡¯m going to go balls-deep. I¡¯m going to try and take out as many as I can and I need your help.


    Actually, what the hell do you even do? I know you sort of saved me before but that¡¯s still arguable.You focus on not letting me die, can you activate the energy shield?


    You¡¯re on defense, I¡¯m on offense. It¡¯s already pretty dark so once you wrap your head around this for a minute I¡¯m charging in.


    well charging, I¡¯m going to throw some spears and then run around and throw some more. Flawless plan. Let me know when you are ready bud.


    I hope Son has settled in. These creatures aren¡¯t really on alert, most of them are just lying around sleeping or grooming themselves.


    Alright, going to have to try and take out as many as I can before they start charging towards me.


    The first spear flies and hits its target before I even grab the second spear. There is only the sound of the spear hitting, no screeching sounds from the winged behemoths yet.


    I throw a second one and I can already see their movement has changed, suddenly they all turn their sights on me and the spear that is leaving my hand.


    It¡¯s a strange sensation to be able to transcribe these acts while simultaneously throwing out spears with relatively amazing speed albeit with some questionable accuracy.


    By this point I¡¯ve thrown at least half my smaller stakes and only one spear left in case this turns into some sort of barbaric, peasant melee confrontation.


    Although I¡¯ve managed to throw my spears constantly, they still haven¡¯t made it close enough to me to make me feel the urge to completely devote myself to feeling.


    I¡¯ve been targeting the closest ones followed by the ones that looked ready to jump at me.


    I very much doubt I managed to kill everyone I hit but at least they won¡¯t be giving up too much of a fight, I hope.


    I¡¯m down to my last two small stakes and one of their biggest is coming at me mid flight, right behind me.


    Son somehow managed to detect it. I have no idea how. I think I got one shot at taking it down before it slams into me.


    I turn around as fast as I can, my hand mid swing and rapid hand movement starts kicking in.


    As I¡¯m about to release the stake I can feel the bones in my hand shatter and the pain following alongside it.


    A shockwave appears and shoots me backwards. I can¡¯t see if the stake hit or not but I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m going to fall off this branch.


    And that might spell death or I get ripped apart by those  winged bastards which coincidentally is death.


    Well, let¡¯s not give up so fast, we still have plenty of energy to use, although that last shot dented my energy reserves. I can already feel a gnawing hunger coming over me.


    Son, if you¡¯re listening.  Now is the time to pull some magical stunts, got any mega tricks you divined from your constant meditation? No?


    My right hand has already gone numb. Pretty sure it''s unusable at this point. I can¡¯t really turn mid-air and the shockwave¡¯s momentum is still carrying me further out.


    So I figure, I can try that vine on a stake trick, I still have one left. I¡¯m going to have to judge the length of the vine really accurately as well.


    As quickly as I can I grab my last stake, I put it in my mouth and bite down.


    I use my near useless right hand to facilitate a quick knot around the stake and I throw it at the branch I just got blown off.


    The stake lodged itself into the tree, hopefully deeply enough to hold my weight whilst I¡¯m getting blown backwards.


    I quickly wind the vine around my right hand, because why not? I¡¯d rather not take any risks with my left.


    I still have a spear left, I might be able to make some kind of last stand with it, and if I was a fire I¡¯d burn bright! Poetic ending and all that.


    Once I reach the length of the rope, I get that familiar kick. I can¡¯t feel my right hand but I really hope it didn¡¯t dislocate.


    I get pulled upwards a bit before free-falling down again. A quick look around, I see some birds flying about, as if whatever is happening is none of their business. Maybe it isn¡¯t?


    I can¡¯t really control my swing but I¡¯m going to try and really pull on the vine once I¡¯m high enough.


    Let¡¯s see if I can land on the branch again, might be impossible but then again, this situation and this world is impossible.


    Then again, I¡¯m starting to lose any sense of my previous world and it¡¯s kind of liberating actually.


    It might be the adrenaline again, but I¡¯m feeling as clear-minded as ever, downside is the pulsating pain.


    The pain  is coming from every tiny fragment of my body. I almost hope I¡¯ll die soon.


    I¡¯m moving at a rather fast pace after that swing. From my peripherals I can see two or three blurry figures leaping off the tree, can¡¯t be good.


    I pull with all my strength when I reach a high enough altitude from the swing, my head is ringing from the everlasting screeching that these things squeeze out their beaks.


    This sound is something I wish upon my worst enemy, how do you even describe this? I can feel something hot moving inside my ears, pretty sure its blood.


    Upside is, the blood might be drowning out the noise as it does seem to lessen a bit. The ambient sound however is still in full-swing and isn¡¯t affected by anything.


    I¡¯m almost landing on the branch, the birds I saw earlier dove down past me but they¡¯ll probably turn around quickly enough.


    I¡¯m starting to feel a bit worse with this ravenous hunger dwelling on me. Maybe I¡¯m an addict, or energy is like my blood.


    As if I can¡¯t lose too much of it before it starts affecting me. Ah, no time for that, focus on the problem at hand. How to not die right now.


    Not going to lie, I¡¯m a bit proud of this maneuver, I managed to land on the branch and got my spear in hand now.


    I¡¯ve managed to swing from a branch above the platform to another branch that is in height with the tree¡¯s platform.


    I¡¯m making a dash for the platform. It is a better place to fight.


    I can stick close to some of the branches and use them to dodge. Not really all that comfortable with close-combat scenarios however.


    I can see some maimed creatures sort of whimpering, should I finish them off or hold off and see if anything else managed to get at me?


    I¡¯m also looking for a place to hide. Some of them are glaring at me while the other ones have different things on their mind.


    There really isn¡¯t much in the way of a hiding place. Ah too bad, I was going for the whole soar like a celestial body.


    Burn like a falling meteor. Even if I managed nothing more, I think I did pretty well.


    No? Pft, what do you know? I hope Son has something up his sleeve. Because honestly, I¡¯m running dry.


    The first one to charge at me is injured, it has my trademarked spear in its shoulders. Do they have shoulders? It is just shy of the neck.


    Doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯ll be able to fly but its legs still work. I lift my left hand, the spear starts rocking back and forth.


    The motion creates the illusion of a far longer spear and as if I was following through a swing it moves towards the beastie, piercing its head.


    It still had some momentum so I¡¯m moving backwards to the right. It sort of just keeps walking forward and straight off the tree. That was odd.


    What¡¯s going on? There is nothing coming for me. Did I scare them off or something? If so, why haven¡¯t I got a notification, telling me I''ve conquered the tree?


    Let¡¯s clear out the rest of these guys, it¡¯s pretty obvious which ones are still alive, and there is no loot. Wait what do birds drop? Can¡¯t be leather can it?

 Chapter twenty: Would you trust a glowing mythical sprite?

    Let¡¯s see, there is meat. Which is nice, I could really eat right now. There also seems to be a bundle of feathers. Pretty big ones, these feathers are longer than I am tall.


    I could use these to make a glider, or even spears. Well it remains to be seen if they are sturdy or flexible like my wooden ones.


    Shouldn¡¯t be a problem to sharpen them a bit. I mean, at the speed my spear flies, sharpness isn¡¯t exactly an issue.


    I still haven¡¯t let go off my last spear. My right arm is still pulsing with pain, I think numb was the wrong word.


    It¡¯s more like I don¡¯t have a lot of strength in it nor the will to move it about.


    The ambient music is still going, it¡¯s a bit low in comparison to earlier.


    I can¡¯t remember when it went down but there are definitely more of those fuckers floating about. Probably.


    I eat clean the last of my canned food, I really want to cook some of this new and fresh meat but that would require me to get wood, a place to cook. Maybe I can break some of the thin branches.


    Son has popped out and is meditating on top of my head right now so I won¡¯t get any supernatural warnings if something sneaks up on me.


    I really don¡¯t want to move but I need to make sure this place is safe before I meditate.


    I made a few rounds around the tree¡¯s platform but couldn¡¯t spot any nearby winged creatures.


    The ambient sound is getting lower but with it there I can assume this place isn¡¯t perfectly safe like the outer-layer trees. At least at the moment.


    So meditation it is. I broke off some small branches, small being relative to the absolutely gigantic ones around here.


    I smashed them down with my feet and left them to dry, hopefully they¡¯ll be easy to light when I wake up.


    Ah! Ouh! What is happening, hello?


    That was traumatizing. I feel like my chest has caved in. When I was meditating I got attacked by one of them winged bastards.


    I knew they were still floating about. I can taste the blood in my mouth still. I just barely managed to pierce into its chest.


    That made it back up but it clearly wanted to take me out. After I got rid of that ninja, another one came and almost immediately rushed at me.


    I took him out quickly. Thankfully they didn¡¯t decide to gang up on me. I doubt they have that kind of thinking capabilities but I¡¯m grateful nonetheless.


    The ambient music died as soon as I finished the second bird. I assume I¡¯ve conquered this tree completely.


    I still haven¡¯t checked up on that huge bastard, I think he ended up falling down the tree, hoping the drops didn¡¯t get to0 scattered.


    ¡°Hi!¡±


    What? Who?


    ¡°Hi? Who''s there.¡±


    ¡°Ohohoho, you¡¯d know me as the system I suppose.¡±


    ¡°Uhm. Okay. Where are you?¡±


    Right before my eyes, I can see a silhouette of something similar to Son in size appearing. What is going on now? You can¡¯t just drop in when you feel like it.


    ¡°Alright, before you start asking questions and questioning your existence I¡¯m going to tell you a few things.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Shush. Alright first, congratulations on reaching a Kelas rank zone and capturing one of the points.


    Usually this much isn¡¯t worth celebrating but considering how short a period your race has been around and the very small amount of you there are it¡¯s quite an achievement.


    Also you did it by yourself, without an army or even a group of people. And of course this being one of the more difficult areas for your race to travel.


    Statistically speaking, only the races that have the ability to fly even consider taking on the aerial zones.¡±


    What in the name of the divine green is going on?


    ¡°Eh, so let¡¯s see what else?


    Ah, I am not exactly a living being. I am an extremely advanced piece of technology.


    Okay, you get a few minutes of my time for some questions, I¡¯ll answer as I can. I have a few restrictions but go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Uhm.¡±


    What should I even ask? Why am I here? What is the point of all of this? Yes, that sounds alright.


    Also, I should try to sneak in some questions about the whole affinity and crafting thing.


    ¡°Why am I here?


    No, why is my entire race here, I don¡¯t remember this planet at all or anything about it but I remember my own home.


    Actually, why can¡¯t I remember things? And is this some sadistic game?¡±


    ¡°Great questions, always asked.


    First of all, this isn¡¯t your planet.


    Your planet has been destroyed and one of my ordinates is that I am required to save any sentient race from complete eradication.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    I then place them under this trial.


    The reason for your faulty memory is an after effect from reassembling people when they die. It is preventable but we¡¯ve found help people become a new version of themselves.


    This could be considered a game but at the same time it is more of a means to an end. We call it ¡®the trial of ascendancy¡¯.¡±


    What? So I¡¯ve been reanimated every time I die? Seems like sloppy work. Also trial? Means to an end?


    ¡°What is the purpose of this trial then? Also how did you even move all of us here?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t say. Do you understand what the multiverse is?¡±


    ¡°No?¡±


    ¡°Do you understand quantum physics?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Do you have a thorough understanding of physics? No? I haven¡¯t the time or the patience to teach you the science involved in traveling between universes.¡±


    Well shit. I was never good at math.


    ¡°Okay, fine. What is nature affinity? No actually better question would be, what is the deal with the whole affinity thing in general?¡±


    ¡°If I wanted you to know that I would have written it in the description.


    After endless trial and error I¡¯ve found that sentient beings are more motivated when you have to struggle against all odds.


    That being said, you can still decide to do nothing. I¡¯ll save you some time, I won¡¯t give you any answers as to how the world works, not unless you earn it.¡±


    What is this? I feel like I¡¯m in some sort of experiment on a giant scale.


    ¡°So. You¡¯re useless? What should I do now?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not useless. In fact, I am amazingly useful. And you can do whatever you want.


    Statistically speaking, you will most likely not manage to clear the first trial.


    I¡¯ll tell you this, if you want more answers then you¡¯ll have to become far more powerful and clear a few checkpoints as well.


    Alright, that¡¯s about all the time I have for you. You won¡¯t remember this conversation for some time. For now, bye bye sweety.¡±


    What? What happened just now?


    ¡°Son.¡±


    ¡®Aie, look at that, a lot of dead birds. So did we clear it?¡¯


    ¡°Ye but I feel like something monumental just happened, can you check the Boon for me.


    You are far more capable of filtering through that mess, it¡¯s become a bit too long to casually browse.¡±


    ¡®Sure, well let¡¯s see¡­ You finished killing a bunch of these critters then sat down where you are.


    Then you called me and asked me to read what¡¯s in the log and now I¡¯m reading what I¡¯m saying just as I say them.


    From the looks of it you¡¯ve been sitting at the same coordinates for a while.¡¯


    ¡°Oh? Okay thanks, you can go meditate again. I just felt something strange happened just now.¡±


    I¡¯ve been going in and out of trance these days. Turns out my hand really got seriously messed up.


    I¡¯ve been thinking over what happened,when I threw that spear and I am honestly scared I might do it again.


    Good news is, I got way too much food and these feathers when laid down turn into a decent place to sit and reflect on the fight for this tree.


    I didn¡¯t get any updates in the quest-log but this place has been added to a possible re-spawn point so I consider it conquered.


    I still feel slightly oppressed in this area, it¡¯s like wearing heavy wet clothes. Nonetheless, I want to fix up my hand before I do anything else.


    I still haven¡¯t gone to look for that big fucker that I think fell down the tree. I should try and remember that.


    I¡¯ve been thinking of different affinities, which I feel like might not be the optimal way to describe the various minor affinities I assume are up for grabs.


    For example I¡¯ve been constantly handling these feathers. I doubt it will turn into feather affinity and more in the direction of some sort of generalization of most beasts with feathers.


    At least that¡¯s what I think is the logical direction. I¡¯ve become really close to properly, what¡¯s the word?


    Feel? Connect with? Ah, either way. I¡¯m getting closer to another affinity. Forget it, I best go meditate.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    My hand has finally completely recovered. I¡¯m going to try and make something everyone dreams of.


    Or at least me. The famous hang-glider. So let¡¯s start by grabbing some of the vines and cutting them down and weaving them together, need proper rope.


    I think the basic outline of the glider has to be in the shape of a spear¡¯s head. This ended up being closer to a triangle.


    The glider is about two times my height and around the same width. The hard part here is actually putting the feathers in line, they are enormous but they are very light.


    Not going to lie, I¡¯m pretty proud of this magnificent piece of work. Question is, how should I test it out?


    I desperately want to jump off the tree and at the same time I really don¡¯t want to jump off the tree.  And off we go.


    This is amazing, not at all how I imagined it to be. I¡¯m floating towards the outer-layer. The glider is more than I thought it could be.


    I¡¯m not sure how long I¡¯ve been away this time and I kinda miss my subjects, I should build something nice for them.


    Did I ever make the whole trade route to the sanctuary? I should get on that, can¡¯t let them live on my land for free.


    Slight problem with the glider, it¡¯s a hassle to move about with it, I¡¯m still creating this new revolutionary way to travel.


    There is a delicate balance in maneuvering the glider and applying the right amount of force when I land.


    Turns out these fragile branches aren¡¯t all that good for leverage when you¡¯re trying to increase air time.


    Almost broke my precious on the first jump. I was already close to arriving in, what should we call it? The land that my subjects reside. I should name the place.


    The one where Sera is living. Right, I was already close to them when I finally landed majestically.


    Didn¡¯t quite master the glider but it is still in one piece, I¡¯m calling that a win.


    The total population has risen dramatically, eh. This is kind of too many people.


    I don¡¯t have a count for it but by the sheer number of horribly made tree houses littering up my once transcendent village you¡¯d have to agree.


    ¡°Heeyo! Sera how have things been going?¡±


    ¡°Abraser, your back? Hmph.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°This whole place is getting out of control! That¡¯s what! My dearest green goddess, have you any idea how long you¡¯ve been away? You have been gone for seven hundred or more days.¡±


    Wow, seven hundred huh? That¡¯s a lot right?


    ¡°Ah, I had some issues and ended up meditating a lot, you should know what it¡¯s like right?


    Anyway, we need more houses and I¡¯m guessing more greenhouses right? Is there anything else?


    I¡¯m planning on making a training facility so people can hunt and I¡¯ll also need people to travel to sanctuary and trade for gold and silver for me.


    I also need a bunch of skill-books. We need any special facilities other than that?¡±


    Smoothly changed the subject, I can¡¯t be held accountable for the duration of my meditation.


    ¡°Yes, we need more greenhouses and places for people to live.


    The situation in the other town is similar, it¡¯s still manageable by the people that hunt regularly.


    I want a place to bathe properly, I still remember taking baths on Avarth. People could use some entertainment as well.¡±


    Entertainment? I wonder what that would include. Can''t exactly make a sakarian field up in the trees or any playing field for that matter.


    I could try to see if there are computers. But first I need to establish proper training areas and organize hunts.


    Maybe get a few people that are interested in leatherworking to work some of the leather and then sell it to the sanctuary.


    ¡°Alright Sera, I¡¯ll be up in the Naturai tree if you need me for something, cya.¡±


    Let¡¯s see what we got here.


    Training area would just need a straightforward flat platform, right?


    We¡¯re going to lose some of the natural look in this place with just a platform but I need to be pragmatic here.


    Maybe there are some training buildings in the construction system.


    I was just planning on making a lot of open spaced platforms and linking them together but I should try and search for something adequate.


    Time to dive back into that search function, there really are too many options available.


    I¡¯m going to start trying to connect the two towns and do something proper in the middle.


    Right, I found something like an arena or whatever it is. It¡¯s basically a giant circle, but I have no idea what it is for.


    It¡¯s called Kar, no description as per usual but damn that never gets any less irritating. Well whatever it is, I placed it down.


    It took out tens and tens of trees. From below there are three pillars supporting it and there are branches, vines and leaves that cover it. Not exactly hard to notice however.


    The plan is to make crafting buildings in the area around the training platform but that¡¯ll have to wait until I have some money on hand.


    I got a decent plan on how to quickly make my way towards sanctuary but the problem is the amount of stuff I can carry on the glider.


    I might have to make a bigger one. I made wider bridges that lead from the two forest towns to the training platform.


    I¡¯m already very low on the currency at the moment, I honestly have no idea how much silver is in the ground or why that is something I can build stuff with.


    Watching the buildings materialize out of thin air is pretty amazing though. Is this magic or some kind of energy thing?


    I wonder what rank I need to achieve to get more information. Currently my only reliable source of information is libraries.


    There are a lot of very unlikable people gathered. The kind of people that answer in short sentences such as ¡°I can¡¯t answer that.¡± And the famous ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Magical stuff.


    I wonder why they won¡¯t set up a store and buy my leather like in the sanctuary. Maybe they need me to make it? Ah, I don¡¯t know. I always get a bit overwhelmed when I try to fit all the pieces together.


    I spoke to Herros and Sera and told them to gather people at the training platform, got to get these people working.


    After a few words I assigned some people to act as trainers and then let people volunteer their services.


    Then I told the people that didn¡¯t volunteer that they would have a few options.


    One, hunt and skin beasts. In fact take everything of potential value from the prey and pile them together.


    Second option is to craft things out of the gathered materials and third and last option is to haul the completed merchandise to sanctuary and sell it and give me that gold and silver.


    Anyone that doesn¡¯t want to do any of these things was politely asked to leave town.


    Don¡¯t get me wrong, future me, I¡¯m not expecting some sort of well-oiled machine to labor constantly.


    This is just what this town is about now, they get me the money and they can stay.


    Once money comes in, they can commission stuff to be built, for example something for entertainment.


    Food isn''t an issue in the soon to be great kingdom of Abraser and neither is a place to sleep, so they should have nothing else to do but work.

 Chapter twenty one: Feathers don鈥檛 weigh much

    It¡¯s odd. I¡¯ve been going over random options within the construction menu and the buildings give me an image.


    At first it didn¡¯t really matter, they change every time I place them down but I think I just figured something out.


    I think I did anyway, I think it¡¯s just to represent the scale of the building. Doesn¡¯t really matter, but thought it was something worth remembering.


    Oh, that reminds me, I forgot to check if that huge bird dropped anything, I have a long way to go towards greatness. Greater greatness that is. I¡¯ll have to go searching for it later.


    Currently I¡¯m walking amongst the many people that are training in the awe inspiring ways of the throwing spear.


    They are sadly very inadequate at throwing it. But no matter, if they throw enough of them I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll do fine.


    I¡¯ve introduced the meditation ability to everyone, a few already knew of it and fewer still had already learned it.


    The student schedule is simple, they read and they throw. They are welcome to rush into close combat like idiots though.


    I think the vast majority of the people have learned two or more skills so far. I even found that farming skill I saw in the village Herros leads, actually is he still leading that?


    I need to be better informed, do I need to set up a group that aggregates information?.


    The farming skill in of itself is not very useful. It¡¯s used on the soil that is being used to plant vegetables. It¡¯s called Rejuv.


    I learned it but I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ll ever use it, I mean the greenhouses are already formidable.


    I found a building I want to make, I was filtering stuff for training purposes and found something called an Akelia, it came up when I used the words training and learn.


    I can¡¯t make it yet, I need gold but its now the first on the list, I still got my eye on making as many crafting buildings as I can.


    And when I say crafting buildings, I mean the more expensive ones, the ones that cost skill-books and decent amounts of gold. I think they are upgraded versions.


    I tried to get people excited about the mine operation but they weren¡¯t as enthusiastic about it as I was.


    I¡¯m still heavily pushing people towards crafting, I won¡¯t take no for an answer on that one.


    I¡¯ve been fiddling around with imbuing things and I¡¯ve got an idea. I¡¯m going to try and carve patterns into things and see if it helps.


    Why? Don¡¯t know, I¡¯m very bored these days. Son always sits on my head, a few people have asked me why the top of my head glows constantly, and I¡¯ve declined to answer.


    Hua! These people have some spirit, the men and women and fraternizing a little too much in my opinion but that is fine.


    Maybe I should organize something like a competition. Let them progress without me having to worry about it, I could give them some kind of reward.


    Question is what? A great spear sounds like an idea, maybe a nice house? Hmm. How would they compete?


    Accuracy is important, but so is power, then of course there is being agile and stealthy.


    You gotta be graceful like me if you want to jump from branch to branch with a spear in hand. I¡¯ll do this sometime later.


    There is a constant sound of spears hitting large pieces of wood. They shout everytime they throw, very uncivilized.


    Do I have to lead people to the sanctuary or would they manage to get there by themselves? They¡¯ll probably be fine.


    I should get back to meditating, I can almost sense the feathers in the way I can sense the trees, clear water and soft dirt.


    Was hoping to have some fun with Sera but her group of men have become shockingly large.


    I¡¯m really puzzled by this, her sister has still a long way to go but damn they really can tie many men down.


    She politely declined my advances with an angry gaze, frankly, I¡¯m not sure what is going on.


    I went for a visit to the library, got stared down by a ragged looking old man. Quite a few more books have been added to the racks.


    People can still only go into certain areas so some of the books have just been sitting there, it¡¯s strange that I can move them from one side to the other without any issue.


    I got absolutely no answers from the old man, his dead fish eyes will stay with me for a long while.


    The names of the books are still far away from any proper context of the contents within the books.


    |Within and without|


    |Tiered songs of yore|


    |You don¡¯t walk over the street to see what¡¯s on the other side: Volume four|


    |They tremble in their tedious times of tradition: Abridged version|


    |Curse the moon, it won¡¯t curse back|


    |War, war is¡­|


    I¡¯ve been flicking through these and all of them are just some stories for entertainment from what I can tell.


    The last one was about a man and his eternal struggle to overcome his romantic love for his elderly aunt. I was hoping for something related to crafting.


    I wonder if sanctuary had any additions to their collection, might be worth checking out, I need stuff for building anyway.


    I need to create a glider that can move large quantities of materials at once. Maybe the key is a great wingspan? Something tells me it can¡¯t be too heavy.


    I¡¯m going to make a feather spear, not sure how to go about this. There is a good half a meter of non-feathery bit at one end which I plan to carve into a spear-head.


    Let''s see, the process is taking a while, my knife isn¡¯t cutting very well into it, it¡¯s more like I am grinding it down than carving.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Maybe we have to pour some energy into the knife. Oh, that helped, there is an improvement.


    It¡¯s still a whole degree slower than doing it with plain wooden branches. Not hard, just tedious. The Prototype spear-head looks decent enough.


    The feather is already fairly straight, I can¡¯t really bend into any other shape so that might be an issue.


    There is also the problem with all that soft feathery bit which I¡¯m not sure what to do about. We could cut it all off.


    Most of the feathers are brown or black. There are a few white ones and some red but they are in the minority.


    I really should go check on that huge bird, I bet his feathers are vastly superior. If these spears go alright I¡¯ll look into it.


    The main reason I am even bothering with these feather spears is because I am pretty certain that the materials used in crafting weigh heavily on how much energy you can imbue them with.


    I might be able to make some things out of the claws and beaks of our fallen winged friends. Trinkets and weapons maybe.


    After cutting out all the feathery bits on the feather I started imbuing with energy, not sure if it helps but I¡¯m picturing sharp things.


    When you have no idea how things work, you gotta get creative, right? Well, anyway. There is a slight problem, I can¡¯t seem to imbue very much into the spears at once.


    It feels like I¡¯m trying to push something gigantic into a very small opening. See, with books or maybe a recluse but lovable master to guide me, this wouldn¡¯t be so hard.


    I¡¯m going to have to put this aside for now, I¡¯m going to gather up some people for a journey towards Sanctuary.


    Well I¡¯m going to tell them to get ready for it, we still need to properly stockpile things and find a way to carry them efficiently.


    Meanwhile I¡¯m going to meditate and perhaps do some actual physical training, I felt really overwhelmed in the middle-layer.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Fibrous affinity


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You have touched upon the natural protection of the world.


    The material that naturally protects the miniscule things. Alone we are small, together we are enormous.


    As you continue to align yourself with Fibrous materials you will not only increase your mental faculties you also enhance your physical resistances as well as warding off various forms of sickness.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    There is a definite difference once you find a new affinity, I already feel like I could possibly eat a little bit more than before.


    I¡¯d like to go check to see if the pressure in the middle-layer has become more manageable but at the same time, I really don¡¯t feel like running over there again.


    I¡¯m getting comfortable now, just relaxing in my own personal tree, watching my minions down below.


    The life-less people still make me uncomfortable but I¡¯m getting used to them. If they ever do something shady, I¡¯ll be the first to initiate a purge.


    The stockpile of things hasn¡¯t been going over too well. A bunch of people have died while hunting, I have honestly no idea how they manage this.


    So far most deaths have been self-inflicted. They keep falling off the trees. This is really embarrassing, my own tree-troops can¡¯t even climb trees properly.


    If this gets out, I¡¯ll be a laughing stock. The king of who? The king of the idiots that keep falling to their deaths.


    I¡¯d punish them, but I feel like dying and forgetting parts of who you are is bad enough. Maybe they¡¯ll regress and choose different jobs.


    I¡¯ve made a rough schedule, it''s more like a quota, everyone that is classified as a hunter has to go on a hunt once every thirty days.


    They don¡¯t even need to hunt dangerous things, just hunt something. Anything can sell, I think wood might even sell, I wonder if there is any crafting related to wood. Wait, was there? Let''s check.


    Turns out wood and craft produced some search results. Not sure what is but it only costs a bit of silver so I planted it near the training area.


    It had no name, a lot of them are just numbered. Most of the houses and things are just numbered with letters and general numbers like this one is called 0172s3K52111ZkLLs5.


    It is a small tree hut with some devices and tools. Most of the tools look like they can be used to carve with, which is great, a knife only goes so far.


    The two devices are strange. One has a peddle and rough paper looking thing strapped to a wheel.


    The other is some kind of presser or something, I should be able to strap something down with it instead of holding the wood myself.


    I¡¯m carving patterns into a normal wooden spear, it is surprisingly hard. It¡¯s hard to make it look good, I mean, which is the main goal here.


    I¡¯ve tried some easy patterns like straight lines all the way from the top to bottom and various variations of circles.


    Some of them look alright but most I''ve imbued and plan on giving to the hunters for training and whatnot.


    It¡¯s hard to say whether it made it easier to imbue or generally a better spear but it''s fun.


    The plan is to make complex patterns on a few then imbue normal ones and complex one, this should at least give me a chance to discover a distinct difference.


    The days pass pretty quickly when you¡¯re having fun and busy. Not to the same degree as meditating but boredom is my only true enemy.


    Every once in a while I make platforms at a whim, that lead to one of the Naturai trees in the outer layer. I¡¯d do it all in one go but it gets tedious at such long distances.


    I¡¯m not sure how to deal with the whole power scenario but we¡¯ll think of something eventually.


    I had an idea of making them throw a spear from a platform into a target and count their points for how deep the spear gets embedded.


    we¡¯ll have to do some testing, I can¡¯t really throw a spear myself to compare, it is surprisingly hard to control how much strength to use.


    Currently I¡¯m making more spears, I¡¯ve been making a large quantity of them. The carving has become a lot easier and detailed with the new tools.


    I¡¯m trying to make small winged spears that weave through the wind. I won¡¯t call the ones I¡¯ve made so far failures but they are definitely not ideal.


    After imbuing them with energy I give them to the hunters. There is an incredibly large number of hunters, they have to be around half of the entire population.


    One third is making crafting related things. Froom wooden swords and spears to various clothing made from leather and fur.


    The fur is a particular thing though, none of the beasts have thick fur. Their products are pretty pathetic but I can¡¯t exactly handle the workload by myself.


    There are still no children being conceived. Talking about conception, there have been some issues with violent acts.


    I¡¯ve had to kill quite a few people and remove their respawn from the rooster of Abraser.


    If this continues I¡¯ll have to implement a harsher punishment aching to torture, maybe beast bait? Could be useful.


    My Feather spear has been a hassle. I managed to make an acceptable pattern, it''s basically sharp straight strokes with triangles or squares overlapping them.


    I¡¯ve made two plain feather spears as well, so now I¡¯m about to try and see if there is any major difference between them once they have been imbued. I tried to hollow out a spear as well, that did not go well at all.


    It took me over two days to finish imbuing the first plain feather spear, it has lost almost all of its weight, it literally floats down when I drop it.


    This is the most dramatic change I¡¯ve seen in anything I''ve imbued. The materials really do make an incredible difference.


    However, I¡¯m not sure if this is useful, the weight probably lessens its overall power. A little disappointing, but maybe I¡¯ll find a use for it.


    I¡¯m going to lecture the trainees a bit before continuing with a carved spear. I¡¯ll let them test out the new spear as well.


    There are always some people training, even in the dark of night. There are a few outstanding people, outstanding when compared to their peers, that is.


    One that shines the brightest is probably that dark haired woman and the bald older looking man.


    What were their names again? Plata or something, no? Plate? Whatever, I¡¯ll call them ¡®You¡¯ and ¡®come here¡¯ that¡¯ll do the trick.


    ¡°Hey, you. Baldy, come here.¡±


    ¡°Sir!¡±


    Mm, brimming with a need to show loyalty, I¡¯d be impressed if it wasn¡¯t for the perpetual look of a man trying to figure out the secrets of the universe.


    Also, how can a man grow that much eyebrow hair? This is astonishing, note to self, groom facial hair.


    ¡°Here, test out this spear for me, tell me your thoughts.¡±


    He starts swinging it and twirling it in circles around himself, something a lot of people have taken up doing. I don¡¯t get it, they call spearmanship but I don¡¯t see it.


    I have no idea why they keep doing that, is that some sort of technique? Just throw the spear, damn.


    He looks a bit perplexed, probably because it weighs almost nothing, and he always looks like he just saw the love of his life morph into a centipede.


    Finally he throws the spear, he has nice form, the spear flies smoothly and digs into the thick wooden target.


    ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s light.¡±


    ¡°You are exceptionally perceptive, baldy. Anything else?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s sharp and flexible but I prefer something heavier.¡±


    Right, it is flexible, really flexible. Kind of missed that when I think about it, it can almost bend to a ninety degree angle before showing signs of breaking.


    That has to be a benefit right? I wonder how much weight it could hold without breaking, I¡¯ll do some proper testing later on. The feathers might be better as bows.


    ¡°Sleepy, your turn.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±


    After she rips out the spear she starts doing the flashy spear twirling everyone seems to love, she does it with far greater effect. According to the crowd''s reactions.


    Finally after a few jumps and random stabs, which granted, are in great form, she throws the spear with promising accuracy.


    It goes exactly into the previous hole made by baldy. The spear continues through the thick log before losing momentum and piercing slightly into the wooden platform.


    All in all, the spear shouldn¡¯t be any worse than my previous spears, I still haven¡¯t tried a metal heavy spear so far though so I can¡¯t really properly compare yet.


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°It''s nice, can I have it?¡±


    ¡°Ye, take it, I¡¯m working on a better one, hopefully, might give them as rewards to the race.¡±


    ¡°Race?¡±


    Oh looks like Old man confusion is interested. Did I not mention I was hosting a race? Ah, well that¡¯s what all those bridges I¡¯ve been setting up are for.


    ¡°I¡¯m making a race track across Abraser¡¯s outer-layer, help you guys get motivated and bring in some competition, great idea right?


    Oh, by the way, I¡¯ll give you something special if you move the stockpiles we¡¯ve been collecting to sanctuary, if you can rally a few people with you.


    We don¡¯t really have many animals that can carry all that, we should start taming beasts if we can.


    I¡¯ve been told some of them horses are roaming in the wild, so look into that for me as well.¡±


    Ah, they¡¯re just staring at me now, they really lack proper social skills. I can¡¯t be too demanding of these plebeians.  It is hard to be such a graceful and impeccable leader.


    Time to train a bit, I¡¯ve been trying to focus on my throwing technique without using rapid hand movement.


    Not going to lie, I feel a bit scared after my hand shattered in the previous incident. That shockwave still leaves me with cold sweat running down my spine.


    I still haven¡¯t tried making anything out of the claws I got from the birds. They are extremely tough and I¡¯m not sure what to do with them.


    I was going to go to a sanctuary but I¡¯ll just send some people instead, I wanted to check some stuff out there but it still takes too long to go there.


    I¡¯m also planning on a meditation session or heading to scout another Naturai tree in the middle-layer.

 Chapter twenty two: We could make a floating bed

    I¡¯ve been looking over previous recordings in the boon, it¡¯s enormous at this point, especially all the odd information that isn¡¯t just me thinking.


    There is a thermostat, some kind of location tracker and numerous odd symbols that I simply have no idea what is.


    Ah, the point is, it is horrible to try and sift through this for what I was looking for, but I found it.


    I remember trying to reverse the way energy shield worked, so it wouldn¡¯t pour out energy and form a shield around me but gather it.


    I¡¯m planning some experiments with energy, if I can create a spherical shape around me, albeit an unstable and unruly one, I could perhaps create something else.


    I just wanted to make sure to check what the side effects were.


    I¡¯m going over the functions of every ability at the moment, the list has grown a bit longer but it is mostly passive things, and not really directly offensive.


    I never really went over this, as I didn¡¯t really understand how things worked at the time, but abilities work together with energy.


    I supply certain areas with energy and boom abilities sprout out. Now this has been the case so far.


    But recently I¡¯ve started feeling like I had more control and less like I¡¯m being guided. How do I put this into words?


    It¡¯s like breathing. I just breathe and we don¡¯t consciously decide to breathe right? Right.


    Now I¡¯ve started actively regulating my breathing to optimize the oxygen I¡¯m getting, so to speak. In this case, oxygen is energy. I think that sums it up to an extent.


    I¡¯m currently sitting alone in my own personal house in the Naturai tree. I¡¯m trying to control my energy to flow into my hand.


    It¡¯s similar to how I use some of the auxiliary skills like empower: hand. The energy is flowing properly.


    I¡¯m having trouble manifesting it in a similar fashion as the energy shield. I can see it seeping out like fumes and scattering.


    I retain some sense of control over a small amount, it is currently in the shape of a fingernail sized ball, slowly rotating,


    if I stop rotating it, it will lose its shape but I¡¯ll still have control over it. This has been very taxing on the mind, and I¡¯m losing my concentration.


    editing


    After a short break and some visits to the fairer part of the population I feel ready to resume my exercise, I¡¯m calling it shape forming exercise.


    The small ball is slowly forming, I¡¯m losing the majority of the energy, watching it float away peacefully.


    I don¡¯t really want to make something spherical so I¡¯m trying to condense it as far as I can, because the denser it is, the more likely it will hold its shape, right?


    That¡¯s the idea anyway. It¡¯s clearly working, the ball is shrinking, I think. It¡¯s already pretty small but I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s getting smaller and no energy is dispersing from it.


    Not going to lie, this is exhausting. I don¡¯t feel this way when I casually use abilities, I¡¯ve even had them active for who knows how long.


    But this, this is something different. I am getting better, there is a little trick in adding more energy.


    it is hard to properly control how much energy I want to use at any given time but I am already pouring out less and less, making the whole process efficient.


    Strangely enough, when I take breaks and start imbuing the carved feather spear, I feel much more relaxed.


    Maybe because when I am imbuing I am not trying to hold onto the energy I throw into whatever item I¡¯m working with. This feels right.


    Notes, got to take notes. I need to get books, easier to keep track of any minor improvements and thoughts.


    The boon recording is too cluttered, although Son seems to have an easy time sifting through it, I struggle with it.


    Alright, we¡¯re getting somewhere, it¡¯s been what? Seven days? Ten? I¡¯ll be honest, I don¡¯t really keep track.


    I am getting nowhere with the spear, it feels like it¡¯s an empty chasm, constantly devouring anything I throw at it, hopefully that¡¯s a good thing.


    My energy shaping exercise has been making small improvements, I finally managed to change the shape from a sphere to a tiny spike.


    The idea is of course to get it into a spear form and eventually throw it. This would be amazingly fun if it wasn¡¯t such a mind-numbingly slow process.


    Oh! Right, I got informed that we have an aspiring blacksmith, he managed to get some metals from old ruins.


    I¡¯m not sure what he¡¯s doing but more crafters can only be a good thing. I¡äve also gently forced a few people to take up woodworking.


    I hope to make numerous gliders in the future, imagine it. A large group soaring about, strapped with various materials, going straight towards Sanctuary to sell.


    A beautiful thought. Sadly, it only works with my feathers and I left the vast majority of them in the middle-layer. Let¡¯s call that tree, Feather. No? Well, I like it.


    My beloved meditation chamber is now properly filled with soft dirt, running water, feathers and of course it goes without saying that the tree is the very place I sit down on.


    There is a clear difference in meditating whilst surrounded by the numerous affinities I already familiarized myself with. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Not sure if it¡¯s because water is easy to work with but I can now make minute ripples in the water.


    I¡¯m pretty sure I am far more in tune with the surrounding trees but I still haven¡¯t been able to interact with it in a similar way.


    I can of course easily listen to the trees pulse at a moment¡¯s notice, but that has no obvious benefits. Well, neither does making water move slightly but still. Imagine throwing water around.


    The first pack of people have started moving towards Sanctuary, Sleepy and Baldy decided out of their completely free will to join them.


    They are mostly going to capture more animals, as per my suggestion. There are plenty of non-hostile beasts roaming about in Abraser.t


    They are less for transportation and more as a source of food and various materials, albeit shoddy materials.


    I¡¯ve been trying to figure out what fibrous materials are, I mean these are feathers. I expected something else, not sure what but something else was definitely on my mind.


    I¡¯m going to scout out the middle-layers second tree once the first round of people come back from Sanctuary.


    Until then, I¡¯m going to focus on crafting feather spears, I really want them to be superior to my wooden spears, I don¡¯t know when but at some point I started falling in love with them.


    Aii, a magnificent being such as myself, lowering myself to love an inanimate object, the world is truly unfair.


    The days right now are dull and dry but I¡¯m surviving them, for my precious spear and my extremely comfortable meditation area.


    I¡¯ve been trying to think of things to meditate with, I think it might be a faster process than just constantly improving on what I already have. This hasn¡¯t been proved, but I already feel like a collector, I want more affinities.


    My spear is finally done. It¡¯s strange to say the least. It is even lighter than my previous spear but with something extra added on.


    It floats slowly to the ground when I let it drop. But once it is a few inches above the ground it stops and just floats there.


    I pushed it to the ground, felt a little resistance then let it go again. The spear bounced up, almost a meter into the air before slowly falling back down.


    Other than that, it doesn¡¯t seem to be much of a difference. I have no idea if this makes it better or worse.


    I did find a big plus concerning the light feather spears though. Their range is incredible compared to anything heavier.


    I¡¯ve been throwing it a few times, the close targets I hit with excellent accuracy but the farther away I tried the less accuracy I had.


    It¡¯s accuracy at long range is still miles better than my other spears. This is because it didn¡¯t drop at all, it¡¯s so light it doesn¡¯t get pulled down due to gravity.


    At least not at the ranges I¡¯ve been throwing them. Mind you, this is without using rapid hand movement, so the speed is a lot lower.


    The overall power is still a little bit lower than my heavier wooden spears but it is negligible.


    I want to see how much they would buy one of these for down in Sanctuary, but that¡¯ll have to wait, I¡¯m going to continue meditating for some time and make a few more spears before scouting out another Naturai tree.


    The first merchant group has returned after who knows how long, I haven¡¯t actually spoken to any for a while now.


    I¡¯ve made three extra carved feather spears and lost some skill points, so something must have leveled.


    The only reason I know is because some poor soul was forced to climb up my tree, which I didn¡¯t really like. I need to create some sort of communication device.


    Baldy and Sleepy carried all the gold and silver they got, they bought all the books they could from the library as well.


    Only one was of some worth, it was about making a liquid out of very fine sand, mainly found near the ocean.


    Not sure what to do with it but I want to send some people to get sand and try to make something in the blacksmithing building.


    But the greatest part is of course the amount of gold. We are talking close to two hundred and fifty kilograms of pure unadulterated gold but the silver is only around sixty kilograms after they converted everything they could into gold.


    Now, we have a small stockpile of the same skill-books and gold, so I¡¯m planning on making that Akelia building and some random crafting stuff I can find.


    My dearest goddess, it¡¯s amazing. There are a few rows of books and incredible equipment for various exercises to train the body.


    The building is far bigger than what I expected, the biggest I¡¯ve made so far by far.


    Seven trees have been used as a support and the time it took to finish building was a few minutes but that is already a massive increase compared to anything else I¡¯ve conjured.


    The books are pretty thin and focus on one part of the body most of the time, some vaguely cover it in its entirety.


    I¡¯ve been reading a few alongside some of the people that thought it was interesting, the majority are familiarizing themselves with the various tools that came with the building.


    There is very little about energy but some have mentioned it helps to develop a better container for energy. Meaning the better body, the more energy you can handle.


    That¡¯s the easy to understand version though. The books seem poorly written or intentionally complex and roundabout in their explanations, some even just feel like they¡¯re wrong.


    This is great overall though. Like everything in this world, the books give you a slight headache, they sometimes morph out of shape if you lose focus. Still have no idea why that is.


    The most interesting book is the one that talks about the theory of energy flow in the body. It¡¯s the only one that goes into more depth concerning energy.


    There are no instructions and appear to be the thoughts of a wise man. It somewhat coincides with my own energy shaping exercises but I¡¯ve been taking a more hands on approach.


    In the end it doesn¡¯t give me much to work on but it feels like conformation that I¡¯m going in the right direction.


    I¡¯ve been slacking in the energy shape exercises as of late, focusing on crafting and meditating.


    This new building should help people get stronger faster. I¡¯ll talk to some of the scholarly people I can find and ask them to study the books further then ask them to guide the hunters.


    I now have seventeen skill-books, mostly empower this empower that, sadly no empower hearing like I expected, which is sad but its fine.


    Akelia building cost me eleven skill-books, which is understandable considering its size and contents.


    I can create three crafting buildings, one costing three skill-books, another costing me five and the last one seven.


    The gold is still holding strong, and will be about a hundred something after I make them. I was planning on putting them around the large platform.


    In the end I think I¡¯ll put them closer to Akelia, it''s pretty much next to the platform anyway.


    After that we¡¯ll set some houses on the outer side of the crafting buildings, designate the buildings to crafters. The houses will have to be a bit nicer to entice these lazy people to do some work.


    The first building is called Flowing plants, it¡¯s also the cheapest one, it¡¯s of course about potion making concoctions, potions and things.


    Not too interested in it, as I simply have no idea how to go about making them but I¡¯ll check them out at some point. I still have that book about herbs.


    The second building is about either leatherworking or working with cloth, I¡¯m not entirely sure as they''re both tagged with clothing and crafting. We¡¯ll see.


    Now the final building, which I¡¯m most excited about, is called Enchanted fairy. It has to be about imbuing items right? Has to be.


    The buildings are surprisingly big, I thought my theory about the sizes of buildings being indicated in the construction menu was alright but turns out I have no idea how big things can get.


    They are still smaller than Akelia by a large margin but they are in the top five. I ignored the potion making one and clothing one and went straight to the Enchanting fairy.


    Hoho! There are books, finally something to go on. Two books, one thick and the other very thin, just a few pages.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    I cannot teach you, you¡¯ll have to find what you need


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    This can¡¯t be good, the small book is already discoursing me. The book goes on about the feeling of how to imbue things, well it says enchanting but it¡¯s the same thing.


    It''s similar to the crafting books I¡¯ve read in the past, all about how they feel about this and that but no instructions.


    The thick book is a list of materials beneficial to enchanting, too many things, way too many things. It even lists the Naturai trees leaves and wood as a material.


    There is a theme, you can for example embed shiny stones or coat whatever it is your working with in special liquids.


    Some of the liquid comes from crushed things then melted or combined with water or something equivalent.


    It even mentions carving forms into the items. Although it does also say that carving is generally not a stable method to improve items and is very limited.


    This is an eye opener to say the least. I already have some bags of gold and silver, I should try and melt them down and pour them into the carving, or something in the direction.


    Huhuhu, this is amazing. I need to go find the only aspiring blacksmith and work with him on this.


    ¡°Heya! I¡¯m the awe inducing, the majestic and ever benevolent lord of heavenly items, also known as the Green angel, the jade son and the Goddesses ambassador. You must be the blacksmithing guy. I need your help, how do you melt stuff?¡±


    Hoh, this guy is huge, a bit taller than me, but three times the width. I wasn¡¯t expecting to see someone so, so round. I see he fixed up the entrance to the smithing facilities.


    ¡°Pft.¡±


    What? The mortals are rebelling.


    What? What is happening? Why is he sighing?


    ¡°I can¡¯t help you without the metals, I¡¯m afraid they are in very short supply, I only managed to salvage some iron and steel from old buildings.¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s no problem, I got some gold and silver with me here, I need to be able to put them into the carvings of my spear.¡±


    ¡°Eh!? Show me, quick.¡±


    Right this old man played with my gold and silver for a good time before waking from his reverie.


    ¡°What you want to do is called foundry. I¡¯m afraid these spears won¡¯t be able to hold up to the heat of the metals when we pour them in.¡±


    But eventually we decided to at least try it. Turns out the wooden ones did indeed get ruined quickly but my feather spear held up.So now we¡¯re trying to perfect the art.


    Hopefully in a few days we¡¯ll have our first finished spear. It¡¯s mostly him doing all the work so I went back to trying to carve more intricate forms into the spear.


    I¡¯m also going to try and hollow out a bit of the spear to pour gold into it. It takes very little materials to do this so I¡¯m not wasting too much.

 Chapter twenty three: Slice mundane babbling

    As it turns out, Little Bear, our one and only blacksmith, isn¡¯t that much of a blacksmith as much as he is an aspiring blacksmith.


    Luckily he knows this and that about metals and how to melt them down but that is about as much as he knows or remembers from his previous life on Avarth.


    Luckily, we aren¡¯t about to let that beat us down. Since we are currently just trying to pour molten gold into the small carvings it hasn¡¯t really slowed us down.


    But we¡¯ve been talking and we both came to the conclusion that we have a lot of metals in the future for this and that.


    We have dreams, great dreams, dreams of creating things and stuff. Glorious things, magnificent stuff. I saw a non-existent tear fall from his eye when I told him that no one was interested in becoming a miner.


    What we need is a system to record what everyone¡¯s job is. I¡¯ll talk to some of the pseudo leaders we got at the moment, can¡¯t have people getting a free ride in my green utopia, the goddess wouldn¡¯t allow it.


    I checked up on the whole electricity situation earlier, everything seems fine for now but I made another water wheel generator because we¡¯ve been gobbling up power with the furnace.


    Not exactly sure how much power we have but I don¡¯t know if we are actually storing any of it or if it is just being used on demand.


    ¡¯m constantly making more houses for people, we¡¯re up to around four hundred thousand, and we¡¯ve got around two hundred and sixty thousand people roaming around Abraser.


    That¡¯s the count of people that currently have a respawn point here and they keep multiplying. I honestly have no way to make sure they are all doing things, most likely around one third is doing something just because there is literally nothing they have to do.


    The green houses grow food so fast that they just have to go and grab something to eat every once in a while. If they want meat, they¡¯ll have to hunt for it.


    Someone dies every day from hunting or falling from the trees, the people that fall from trees, I really have no words. Don¡¯t fall? There is no saving these kinds of people.


    Sometimes people disappear, we are getting more frequent soulless people wandering about. If it weren¡¯t for their mechanical behavior whenever someone talks to them I doubt we¡¯d even know. I¡¯m waiting patiently for their rebellion.


    It got boring to watch over little bear work and I¡¯ve carved twenty four feather spears and managed to slowly hollow out one.


    The main reason I wanted to hollow one out is to add extra weight to it. I feel like I might be overly concerned about the weight of the spear, I still haven¡¯t given it a try in the middle-layer and to be honest I think it¡¯s about time.


    I¡¯ll go meditate for a stretch and check on the little bear¡¯s progress with the foundry work.


    Oh, might be worth mentioning that people have often forgotten their names so they either pick new names or get a nickname for some reason that a huge blob of a person has the nickname little bear.


    Makes no sense.


    Since I have it, I¡äve been meditating with gold a lot. Could do it with silver as well but gold feels more valuable, mainly because it is.


    It¡¯s already very pure and in the form of either bars or bags of gold dust. I left the dust in the bags and am currently handling gold bars.


    When I took them all out I really felt a sense of how little I have. I¡¯ll try them out for a period of time and see if I get anywhere closer to sensing them in the same way as I have other affinities.


    Finally the first spear has been made. Little bear had to polish it out quite a bit before I deemed it worthy of being imbued, which is what I am doing right at the moment.


    There is a clear difference in how much I can channel into at once. It¡¯s even faster than the typical unaltered wooden spear.


    It¡¯s taking a lot of time, this is already the third day but I¡¯m feeling optimistic. At this point, imbuing is becoming a second nature, in the way that I almost lose myself in the way that I go into a trance.


    It¡¯s like I¡¯m no longer inside of my body and no longer have any of my senses. Complete darkness, no sound or smell. Strangely I am completely conscious. The bad part about this is, I know time isn¡¯t whirling by, relatively speaking it actually feels slower.


    Ohhoho, I¡¯m liking this. The spear finally stopped soaking in my homemade energy. It¡¯s extremely light, but there is something extraordinary about it.


    If I push it slightly forward it just floats at the same speed slowly until it hits an obstacle. If I stabilize it, it will just sit there in the middle of the air.


    I¡äve been experimenting with it a bit and thankfully I didn¡¯t throw it into the air because it would probably just keep going forever.


    It is still affected by external forces like wind but gravity seems to have lost all power over it. Whether this is a good or a bad thing, I have no idea. But seeing as it¡¯s done I¡¯m going to head towards the middle-layer and see if I can see what I¡¯m going be up against.


    If it¡¯s more birds I think I¡¯ll manage. Worst case scenario, I¡¯ll just slowly make more feather spears and try and shoot them down from far away, in safety. Best case, no actually that would probably be the best case.


    I almost hope it¡¯s more birds.


    After I talked to Sera, Herros and two other people I have no idea who they were but I was assured they had some sort of control over people.


    Ye, I asked them to get some sort of registration going and too compile a list of things we may need now or in the future.


    So now I¡¯m heading towards the conquered Naturai tree, I need to see if the bird dropped anything of value. Do things despawn? I feel like I went over that question some time ago, can¡¯t really remember. Pretty sure it doesn¡¯t.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    I¡äve been thinking. Shouldn¡¯t I start collecting herbs? I need to re-read that cyclopedia about the various flora that exist.


    I can¡¯t say all of them grow in Abraser but don¡¯t herbs and the like generally grow in green regions? I am really wasting an important resource here.


    I know I¡äve repeatedly mentioned this but I really lack proper information about this world in general. I''ve been having recurring dreams about a glowing light talking to me.


    Nothing out of the ordinary, my dreams have always been filled with fleeting figures talking to me but usually they don¡¯t appear this frequently.


    While I¡¯m making my way to the bird¡¯s nest Naturai tree I¡¯m trying to circulate energy in various places of my body, it has become a lot easier but moving it to untrained places still feels rigid, something like pushing a finger through a small hole.


    I need energy lubrication. I¡¯m mainly focusing on my legs at the moment, I''m constantly discovering small openings everywhere on my body, I¡¯ve already lost count on just my left leg. I think they might just be sweat pours.


    Nonetheless it is strangely satisfying pushing a small amount of energy out even if it¡¯s extremely draining both mentally and energy wise. I still don¡¯t understand why I get so exceedingly weak when I lose large quantities of energy.


    It might because I¡¯m used to being constantly filled to the brim with the power of energy.


    I tried throwing the small ball of compressed energy, I wanted to see if it actually holds its form long enough to hit something, so far it makes it about ten meters before dissipating rapidly.


    I can¡¯t say for sure but eventually I might be able to use it as a projectile in emergencies, it takes far too much energy to use and it is extremely slow when compared to just throwing spears so I don¡¯t have high expectations that it¡¯ll come in handy in the foreseeable future.


    Huah! I just leapt through the fog-screen of the middle-layer. The pressure is still here but it¡¯s drastically reduced compared to before, it¡¯s more like strong wind that wading in water.


    It might be even easier to move when I regain my lost energy. Oh damn it, I forgot my glider, ah I¡¯ll make more, there are plenty of feathers on top of the tree, actually there might be some from the huge bastard down below it.


    Hm, I didn¡¯t mention this, did I? There was a book about stone masonry, whatever that is for, but overall it was the mumblings of how to work with stones, I see no future in it.


    Who makes things out of stone? The world is a true wonder of who¡¯s who. There was also a book about gardening, in the very truest sense, just gardening.


    I read through it, because generally I think it might be remotely helpful if I ever do get into concocting potions or herbal nutrient rich drinks.


    With a few greenhouses dedicated to it, it shouldn¡¯t be too bad. Just need some recipes for the things and we¡¯ll be drowning in them. Right?


    I¡äm paying extra attention to the various plants and flowers growing below on the ground and even some are on the tree.


    There are surprisingly few but at the same time I¡¯m somewhat astounded by how many there are, you really don¡¯t notice things until you start looking for them. I¡¯m getting real close to the tree, it¡¯s pretty easy to see where that beast landed.


    There is a giant black figure lying a bit away from the Naturai tree. I didn¡¯t appreciate how large this specific specimen was before.


    If it could stand, I have no doubt it would match the tree''s heights. The closer I get the clearer it becomes, it is leaning on a few trees, on its back with its giant wings spread out.


    I¡¯m guessing it didn¡¯t get eaten because of the Naturai tree, in general nothing strong comes too close to them.


    I¡¯m sure some of the small critters might have gotten curious but nothing aching to those odd triad of wolves. At least I didn''t destroy too many feathers, because they look majestic, I could really make something good out of them.


    Actually the wood carpenter books did have some mention of materials that weren¡¯t wood but could be worked in a similar fashion as some spectacular wood.


    There was a mention of an apparatus called a bow in there, I¡¯d like to see if that is something worth making.


    I''ve actually started to gather information about many different weapons, although the spear is the one true way in life there needs to be some support characters for it, letting it shine even brighter than before.


    I¡¯m finally here, watching over this huge beast in one of the nearby trees. It really is enormous. How can something so big soar through the air?


    I hope it didn¡¯t land on whatever dropped, because it would be a pain to move it, no, I doubt I¡¯d even be able to without slowly cutting it into pieces.


    That sounds like a gruesome task, not fitting for a person of my exquisite caliber. Let¡¯s start by exploring the surroundings, maybe we¡¯ll get lucky and find something.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Possibility of item drops:


    </td>


    <td>


    Minor


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Times allowed to kill:


    </td>


    <td>


    0


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Respawn time:


    </td>


    <td>


    infinite


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Type:


    </td>


    <td>


    Abraser Sub-tier boss


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    difficulty:


    </td>


    <td>


    Kelas ¨C 7,5%


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Miscellaneous:


    </td>


    <td>


    Minor Increases in difficulty of subsequent zones forces


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    Energy pathways that improve either body or mind


    Bundles of feathers, talons and meat


    Compression in energy ¨C shockwave of energy as an offensive or defense mechanism


    Awkward clothing or armor made from feather like objects


    Weapons made from talons ¨C Melee, incredibly heavy or remarkable hard and tough


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Wow. What? I just channeled some energy into the giant beast as a test and bam, a window notification popped up in my peripheral vision.


    But, I¡¯ve channeled energy into beasts before, I tried it a few times whilst hunting early on, this is strange.


    And what is the use knowing this after the fact it is dead? Respawn? Never. Hm, there is a clear upside, even if I don¡¯t find that shockwave, which I assume is a skill-book, I can still try and learn it by myself.


    The hardest part has been trying to learn things without knowing if they are even in the realm of possibility.


    After some flustered and desperate searching I found bundles of feathers and a thin cloth filled with large talons.


    There is also a surprisingly large talon with a handle. I wouldn¡¯t call this a weapon as much as a talon on stick. It is way too heavy, so heavy that I¡¯m having a hard time swinging it and keeping my body steady.


    I see no future in this monstrosity, maybe it will sell for a nice amount.


    You know what? I feel that there isn''t enough incentive to gather wealth to a certain point.


    If it wasn¡¯t for me wanting to build everything I can I doubt I¡¯d even think twice about Sanctuary ever again.


    Still haven¡¯t found any meat, which I¡¯m fairly certain drops every time. So much meat has gone to waste so far.


    Which means it¡¯s either somewhere in the trees or under the gigantic behemoth. I¡¯m not sure what to do now, I don¡¯t feel like dismembering this thing for hours.


    I could create a pulley system to heave it up, but I¡¯d need an incredibly long vine to sling over some trusty branch tens of meters above in the Naturai tree and even if I do that, it would probably get stuck or the nearby trees as it gets dragged towards the Naturai tree.


    It¡¯s time to give up and consider maybe, possibly come back in the unforeseeable future. And then it¡¯ll be the future me doing the work, ai, don¡¯t blame me for this. You¡¯d do the same thing.


    I went up the Naturai tree and now I¡¯m going to construct a new glider. A larger one, a greater one, one able to carry the rest of these feathers, hopefully. That¡¯s the dream.


    Everything is already incredibly light so I doubt it¡¯ll be a problem.


    The main factor right now is space to build it, the wing span has to be large but the tree, although very spacious doesn¡¯t allow for something that size to be easily moved about so I¡¯m having to make it a little bit smaller than I wanted it to be.


    I wanted to block out the sun, it would have been glorious. We can still block off a portion of the sun though. So there is that.


    Operations block out a portion of the sun version two. Version one had it¡¯s faults, mainly I strapped the extra cargo in the wrong portion making it unable to stabilize.


    I didn¡¯t jump off the platform. I just lifted it up, which I am barely able to do with some blood, sweat and tears of energy.


    This time, it actually looks good so I¡¯m going to fly towards town, I can¡¯t be carrying all this with me to the next Naturai tree.


    Operation block out a portion of the sun was a giant success and surprisingly flew even further than my prototype.


    Flew so far in fact I had to circle around town before gracefully landing, severely maiming my newest creation. A sad day for everyone involved.


    I dumped all my stuff off and started moving towards the next Naturai tree, which I still haven¡¯t caught a sight of, since the fog-screen is circular in a way it blocked a proper view.


    Okay, I¡äve seen it¡¯s silhouette but that doesn¡¯t count.


    This time I¡¯m soaring towards the middle-layer in a lithe fashion with my smaller glider, the speed isn¡¯t really faster than me just rushing above the canopy but it¡¯s far more comfortable, this time I¡¯m focusing majority of my energy in my hands, even though I don¡¯t feel my weight to be considerably bothersome in any way or form.


    I¡¯ve been thinking about that shockwave ability, and I¡¯m trying to throw something out of my hands but nothing comes out and I¡¯m starting to feel a bit stupid. It doesn¡¯t help I¡¯m having to hold onto the glider, so I¡¯m just channeling energy throughout my hands.


    I¡¯m going to sit down and take a break before I enter the middle-layer and contemplate some things before I forget them.


    It also mentioned something about pathways. I think pathways are a specific way to channel energy between these holes I¡¯ve been discovering lately.


    Though I did know of them for a while now, ever since I got energy shield at the very least. Empower skills didn¡¯t really go through any of them, so I¡¯m not sure what the difference is in using these holes and not.


    If I had to venture a guess, it would be that one is external while the other is internal. So presumably, I should be able to strengthen myself by concentrating energy in a specific way around my limbs.


    And if I want to do something magical like use my energy shield, I¡¯d need to use these holes to pour out energy and by some means control it to take a specific form.


    Can¡¯t say I¡¯m very confident at the moment but I¡¯m certainly becoming stronger and stronger.

 Chapter twenty four: You can鈥檛 trust anyone these days.

    Kind of lost myself in my experiments. I haven¡¯t gotten a lot to show for it but I''ve managed to deduce a thing or two.


    And I¡¯ve become increasingly better at producing and compressing energy. Something to note is that the energy becomes clearer the more it is compressed, the colors become more distinct and it almost looks like it isn¡¯t transparent.


    I¡¯ve managed to use my compressed bundle of energy to form a small triangle on the tip of my spear, I haven¡¯t found a suitable target to test this on.


    I went out hunting a few times but realized I didn¡¯t exactly know whether the energy had any effect. Even after not using on beasts my spear pierced through beasts like they were paper. It¡¯s actually kind of unnerving.


    What happens if I throw it into the air and it just goes through then flies off? All my hard work and moderate amount of gold! Maybe I should tie myself to the spear in some fashion, this won¡¯t do.


    Another strange thing happened, my compressed energy started giving off this attractive force, pulling me towards it.


    Now. This confused me to no end, I mean it¡¯s not strong, probably about the same as the force of light wind. But it begs the question, will it become stronger? And if it does, will it be harmful to me?


    I¡¯m not sure if I should continue fiddling around with this. Who am I kidding, I¡äve got to see what happens if it becomes stronger. I should also note it only affects me, from what I¡¯ve noticed anyway.


    Alright I think that pretty much wraps it up, got to keep myself updated in case I get suddenly assassinated and forget something important, you know? Okay let¡¯s have a quick look at our abilities.


    | Nature affinity |


    | Rapid hand movement |


    | Gentle hands |


    | Hide presence |


    | Energy regeneration |


    | Energy shield |


    | Empower: Eye |


    | Empower: Hand |


    | Empower: Feet |


    | Empower: Leap|


    | Strength and dexterity increase |


    | Body enhancing|


    | Energy compression|


    | Empower: Smell|


    | Naturai sprite |


    | Water affinity |


    | Fibrous affinity |


    | Rejuv |


    | Soil affinity |


    I¡äve got a staggering amount of hundred thirty two skill-points right now, I don¡¯t really pay attention to it because I have literally no control of it and it just eats them when skills improve in some way.


    Another thing I should mention as it feels very important. While I was on my hunting spree, which has become a lot faster. I noticed the pressure lessen ever so slightly.


    This could be because of some sort of system interaction or that I got stronger steadily, I¡¯m not sure about either of those options but I know it is a good thing. Right, right.


    Now I¡¯m leaping and soaring majestically towards the designated Naturai tree. No birds flying in the air so far but I¡¯m not hopeful that there will not be any.


    I¡¯m also killing anything I see on the way. I haven¡¯t talked to Son in a long time, I took a look at him, and he¡¯s got a new color, a small white line through his hair. Also a white circle on his right temple.


    I don¡¯t have a mirror but I can see some of my hair and my hands and I¡¯m becoming greener and my nails started losing some of their green quality.


    I think they are becoming white. I¡¯ve got a theory about why this happened and why it only changes parts of me but I¡¯ll leave it for later because it doesn¡¯t really matter.


    The closer I get to the tree the less beasts I find, which isn¡¯t all that strange. I can¡¯t see any flying bastards in the air, which either means that there are none or they are all sitting in the tree.


    The main difference in this tree and any of the others, uhm how many were there? Nine? Ye nine feels right.


    So the main difference is the incredible amount of vines cascading from the tree. And the length is beyond anything so far. They are pretty close to touching the ground. I bet I can jump and grab one from one of the tree tops.


    I¡¯m standing below the Naturai tree staring up trying to see any creatures moving about. My eyesight isn¡¯t bad but I can only make out something moving, and it¡¯s a bit unsettling, it is pretty fast.


    Which isn¡¯t good. Should I try to climb up for a better look?  There are some strange sounds coming from the top of the tree. This should be easy to climb with all these vines.


    This isn¡¯t good. The ambient noise is starting to increase fast. Ah, this isn¡¯t good.


    Let¡¯s calm down. Breathe in, sync up with the tree. Be the green. This state is really comfortable, everything is starting to feel slow. Okay, let''s continue. The shrieks are becoming louder.


    ¡°uh uh! Uh uh ieeee!¡±


    What in the ever-loving tree are those sounds? This is unsettling, I can feel a cold sweat starting to appear on my back. I¡¯m almost to the top of the tree and I¡¯m starting to make out whatever is moving around up there.


    They move pretty fast and never seem to stay still so I haven¡¯t gotten a good look at them but they have extremely long, ehm, hands? They are jumping from vine to vine, from branch to branch.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ll be able to get close enough while staying hidden at this point. I mean they are all over the place, I should set up some precautions. If I need to, I¡¯ll jump from the tree and glide away. I love you glider, I trust you the most.


    I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve properly scouted this place out before I actually manage to properly see whatever it is that is moving around up there. Let¡¯s crawl to the top and hope for the best. Spear ready, spear is sharp, my spear will pierce.


    When I make my way to the somewhat flatter platform at the peak of the tree I can see a bunch of lazy creatures either sleeping or messing with the others.


    I¡¯m not sure if I managed to actually sneak up here or these bastards just don¡¯t care. There is a pile of what I think is fruits next to the biggest one.


    It must be at least three times my size. Still tiny in comparison to the behemoth of a bird I fought before.


    Ah. One of them actually looked at me. I¡¯m sitting with my legs crossed in a leafy area on one of the branches. Oh? It is just scratching his behind staring me in the eyes.


    What is going on here? Do I attack? Flee? Never! Unless they all come at me. Maybe I should try and take out the big guy first.


    These things look fairly similar to simians but their arms are far too long and their bluish fur really takes them to a different direction, not sure what direction but they might as well be something I¡¯ve never seen before. What? It just started eating now, completely ignoring me.


    I have no idea what to do now, should I just leave? I feel like I¡¯m interrupting their peaceful sitting around and scratching.


    Maybe they won¡¯t attack me if I approach the, who made the rules that I have to take over the tree by force? Okay, let¡¯s make some new friends, they might look stupid as a brick but never judge a fur-ball by their looks as they say.


    ¡°Greetings balls of fur! I have come to humbly ask you to join my Abrasian kingdom!¡±


    No? oh, I certainly got their attention.


    ¡°Uh! Uh! Uh ieeek! Ieeek!¡±


    They don¡¯t look all that excited about it.


    ¡°Brothers in fur, trust me. The benefits of my society will surely bring you great joy! We have a lot of food, endless food.


    All you can eat really. No? big guy, what do you say?


    I¡¯ll make you a duke or something, ye? No?¡±


    Oh shit. Maybe he didn¡¯t like being a duke, what¡¯s above a duke? Marquis? Wait what¡¯s the hierarchy like? I can¡¯t make him a prince, that would be ridiculous, I¡¯m clearly the prince or no I am the king right?


    Hmm. I could be a Caesar, the patriarch? The prophet? Hmm this needs some serious thinking about.


    ¡°Wow. Slow down there furry.¡±


    ¡°Uh!¡±


    He looks like he is smiling now, but the way he¡¯s slamming his thick and long arms into his chest isn¡¯t very comforting.


    Nope, operation fight back has been engaged. The giant, let¡¯s call it Alasim, because it¡¯s almost like a Simian, is running towards me. His speed isn¡¯t very fast but I don¡¯t think I want to be the target for whatever he is about to do.


    I throw a small stake towards one of the branches behind me and pull on the vine that was attached to it and leap off the platform.


    I learned from my mistake and didn¡¯t use an incredibly lengthy vine. I jumped following my throw and swing in a nice controlled arc and landed on the branch, I would be pretty good at gymnastics.


    Staying in sync with the tree keeps me unnaturally calm. Even though I think I acted fast the big fur-ball had nearly had me in his hands, his reach is frightening.


    Some of the smaller fur-balls, which are still taller than me by a bit, directly leapt off the platform after me. Sadly, their deaths are more or less certain as they fall towards the ground.


    A pair of furious eyes are staring me down, I really didn¡¯t think my offer was that bad or insulting, I mean a duke is a pretty good deal right? Some of the Alasims are rushing up the branch I landed on.


    The commotion seems to have woken up the swarm of fur. In my peripheral vision I can see silhouettes rushing and leaping towards me. They will probably be the first ones to reach me.


    Oddly the biggest Alasim is still just standing at the edge of the platform making a face that says, ¡°I don¡¯t have time for you¡±.  I knew it was smart. But being a cheeky fucker isn¡¯t what I accounted for.


    I grab two stakes from the straps on my chest and throw one to my left, they can¡¯t really dodge mid-air so I don¡¯t bother using rapid hand movement as it takes too much effort utilizing it.


    The first stake pierces one of them which then gets knocked into the one following behind. They will both meet the green goddess once they land below.


    The second stake flies out of my hand and performs a similar action on my right side. I reach for one of the six spears strapped to my back. It¡¯s a carved wooden one.


    I wait a moment before throwing it down the branch, rapid hand movement and the upgraded spear really shows its prowess here as it pierces through at least five of them before embedding itself in the sixth and knocking some off balance and off the tree.


    It has to be said, even with them suddenly getting impaled and knocked around, they both manage to keep themselves balanced and rushing towards me as if it was merely a bump in the road.


    I am on one of the longest branches but at the same time it is a fairly wide thing, two or three of them might manage to squeeze together and make their way together but they are forming an orderly line at the moment.


    I can still see a few of them making the craftier choice and going around swinging on vines, probably trying to flank me from the sides.


    I¡¯ve got a lot of stakes seemingly at random, attached in various places on my exquisite self-made leather outfit. But that doesn¡¯t mean they are endless.


    I keep throwing stakes at the more dangerous Alasims that come from the sides in a disorderly fashion. The look in the big fur-balls eyes is becoming red and he is making his way towards the branch. He can¡¯t be thinking about climbing towards me? Ohoho, then I¡¯ll just force him to fall. Well, come then you bastard!


    Slight miscalculation. The Big Alasim is raising his two gigantic long hands. No, he can¡¯t, right? He is clearly about to try and break off the branch. Holy shit, relax big fellow, don¡¯t ruin the tree.


    I reach for one of my six remaining long spears, this time it¡¯s a feather one, red one to be exact. I can¡¯t let him ruin my goddess temple. Crazy fur-ball. Since I¡¯m dealing with the largest one I might as well go for a powerful throw.


    I don¡¯t have time to add my new trademarked energy tip on the spear but I channel a layer of energy that overlays the spear whilst I activate rapid hand movement and let the spear shoot towards him, her? It.


    This was unexpected. I didn¡¯t realize I was fighting a psychic fur-ball. It isn¡¯t fair to just dole out divination abilities to random creatures.


    That is the only explanation, as soon as the spear flew out of my hand it should be moving so fast it would be impossible to dodge it but oddly enough the spear sort of moved in a strange way, like I had somehow not managed to properly throw it.


    Which is impossible, I only miss a few times, my throwing skills are near the pinnacle of perfection. The Alasim also slightly tilted to his right and let the spear fly by him in an unconcerned way. Ah! My precious spear, it is now going back to its home planet, fly free my beloved.


    Shit.


    ¡°Uh! Uuuh!¡±


    The good news is that the branch didn¡¯t break but it is shaking and my stomach is aching. I can¡¯t really hold on anymore, my hands are becoming numb because of the violent vibration. See I did tell you earlier that the trees are incredibly sturdy, I should have listened, I was worried for nothing.


    Should I wake up Son? Actually, how is he managing to stay in meditation during an exciting time like this, add the vibrations into the equation and it is even more amazing.


    ¡°So-o-o-n-nnnn.¡±


    ¡°Y-y-y-o-oooo.¡±


    Ehem, we are having a slight problem and I thought you¡¯d like to chip and offer your assistance.


    ¡®No thank you. Good luck.¡¯


    Now, now. Let¡¯s be rational here, what happens to you if I die? Have you ever thought of that? Now go into your mysterious mind-melding mode and help me deal with these furious, ferocious and frivolous fur-balls.


    ¡®Roger that.¡¯


    My glider got dislodged from my back and is solemnly staring at me as it falls, if it had the ability to speak it would be crying out my name telling me to move on. I will. I will, you beautiful bastard. I will finish what we started, your descendants will be proud.


    After the vibration finally stopped and we as a collective managed to stabilize ourselves the big Alasim raised his big mitts again, clearly intending to make me vibrate to death.


    I reached for a stake with a moderately lengthy vine and threw it to a nearby branch before leaping from my current location.


    A cheeky hand swipes at me mid-air out of nowhere but my energy shield suddenly makes an appearance. Son¡¯s work I¡¯m sure.


    Too bad it still managed to reduce my momentum and now I won¡¯t be able to execute a proper arc-swing thingy to actually make it to the next branch.


    I really don¡¯t want to be hanging in mid-air. I still have two more stakes with vines on them. I¡äll be honest, I probably look slightly odd with all these things strapped on me.


    I need to break through the space time continuum and get some sort of inter-spatial container. Actually what sort of game-like world is this? There is no inventory.


    When I hit the apex of my swing I throw my third stake towards the Branches a bit further down and closer to the platform of the tree.


    The previous branches all grew upwards, leaving many branches hanging below them. I want to get a few shots off at those bastards for trying to destroy my temple.


    I finally manage to gracefully land on a branch. The amount of Alasims has decreased somewhat after the great incident with the vibrating branch. Many fell down, without anything to hold on they grabbed the nearest thing, which seemed to be their fellow fur-balls. No tears were shed.


    I reach for another wooden spear, leaving three left strapped on my back. I throw it quickly without too much worry about actually hitting and continue, grabbing a black feathered spear, slightly carved but no gold or silver poured into it.


    I form a cone of energy on the tip of the spear and try to compress it as fast I can. After it finally forms a thin layer of semi-translucent energy I take a steady swing and activate rapid hand movement, using almost everything I have.


    A shockwave appeared while I was in mid swing and I was about to let it go. The spear of course flew out of my hand, which is at this point, again broke.


    Not as dramatic as last time, I can still feel the bone-tearing pain. The skin on my palm has a giant red mark on it, it burns. I lost track of the spear in the meanwhile. Actually I¡¯m starting to feel unfocused.


    I have to get out of here. I got one more vine-stake, no more glider. Should I jump off the tree and hope my energy shield will be able to handle it? That sounds like a horrible idea. Another option is to fight with telekinetic Alasims.

 Chapter twenty five: The heart wants what the heart wants

    The stake I just threw pierced into a furry silhouette that was mid-air leaping towards me, it went straight through it but didn¡¯t kill it.


    The momentum carried him towards me so I take a step back and ready a spear. Don¡¯t have too many left at this point. I don¡¯t want to waste my precious spear. This is the last disposable one.


    It¡¯s a white one but it just has some rough carvings on it, various stripes and odd looking circles. I can¡¯t keep throwing things anymore, I only have six small wooden stakes strapped to my legs at this point, one on each shin, slanting sideways.


    Another two on each of my thighs. Maybe I should have done some of this fancy spear moves everyone seemed to love to showcase. Aiii, regret is a mother of five children.


    I¡¯m trying to swing with grace but it feels off in so many ways, spears were meant and born to be thrown.


    These Alasim aren¡¯t really combat experts and their numbers seem to be dwindling, at least they have slowed down their somewhat careless charging and are playing a game of taunting.


    They are pretty close, close enough to jump at me pretty fast but I¡¯m not too worried about them, this branch is a good bottleneck, even if they can swing about on this vine infested tree. The biggest Alasim, the boss. Their leader.


    He is looking a bit off as well, probably the reason they aren¡¯t as aggressive anymore and are just there shouting at me with a mocking light in their eyes.


    Bastards, I¡¯ll tax you through the ground. Miners need to have long arms right? I feel like I¡¯ve heard that somewhere.


    Oh! He¡¯s bleeding. I must have managed to hit him, but where is the spear? There is a hole on his lower left stomach area.


    It doesn¡¯t look it but it is at least double or triple the width of my spear. Must have gone clean through. He doesn¡¯t seem to bleed a lot. Ah, he is also not very happy about this.


    ¡°Mister big fur-ball. I believe we have a grave misunderstanding between us. Sure we both have had some losses here today.¡±


    Rest in peace, spears and glider.


    ¡°But I feel we haven¡¯t burned all bridges, walls have not been shattered, the rain hasn¡¯t ended, the fat lady still holds her tongue. Why don¡¯t we sit down and talk this through, we could come to an understanding. Yes?¡±


    ¡°Hu, hu. Hu! Hu, iee!¡±


    ¡°I understand, but what has been spilt, has been spilt. Let us not wallow in rivers turned to oceans. I am sure we will find a way to compensate you for your losses.¡±


    ¡°Hu.¡±


    Finally, we are getting somewhere.


    ¡°Good. Very good. We should start by treating your wound and talking in private, what do you think?¡±


    A proper display of power will always sway one''s heart. He waves me over and the relatively smaller Alasims make way, still confused as to what is happening but they don¡¯t dare to act against their leader.


    As it should be. After a short exchange of meaningful phrases I, with tears in my eyes rip apart my beautiful leather vest and hold it against his wound, we have a helper holding it closed. Amazingly enough, the wound has pretty much stopped bleeding, an extremely resilient creature.


    After some careful negotiations I finally yielded a Naturai tree he could control, but it would still be under my ownership.


    I also made some lee-way in regards to loaning me some of his underlings to do some mining related work. That is to be firmly consolidated in the more stable future. Of course his tree is on the opposite of my already two established areas.


    ¡°So, do we shake on this or get it in writing, how is your writing by the way?¡±


    ¡°Hu! Iiiieee, iee, ieeee.¡±


    ¡°Right, the whole huge fingers situation, never mind me. Verbally we a handshake it is.¡±


    So me and Big Sim are now shaking hands, solidifying our deal.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You are now in control of two safe zones in a Kelas ranked area, Capture all related areas to further expand your domain.


    You will be rewarded with an increase in rank.


    Further rewards will be revealed at a later date, as I¡¯m not sure what to get you.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Eh? Oh for goddesses sake. It can¡¯t take a single thing seriously can it? I¡¯m fighting, losing blood, sweat and spears here! The system is almost certainly a bored god.


    Well there is nothing new there, it was to be expected that I would get a bigger area and all that. I still haven¡¯t found out what the whole pressure thing is but eventually I¡¯ll find an old sage living in solitude to take me under his wing and teach me the ways of this troubling world. I am sure.


    The main reason I¡¯m having the Alasim move to the outer-layer is because it can freely build there and he was very interested in the whole greenhouse operation I have going on and was very keen on having his own hot water bath.


    Not sure if I can build something with the construction system that would be big enough to accommodate him but we could always manually extend a bath and just pour water from there.


    Actually, I¡¯m going to have to create a whole new separate pipe system on their side of the Abraser. I¡¯m fairly certain I still have the currency for it.


    I¡¯m having them join me over to the birds Naturai tree, see if we can get that huge bird moved with all this new Alasim power.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    So here I am, stampeding through the forest with over sixty Alasims, killing everything that gets in our way. Things don¡¯t drop for them oddly enough. Only when I am involved do this drop.


    Big Sim also gets drops but he is the strong silent type and doesn¡¯t bother with anything. His would may have stopped bleeding but I bet it still hurts.


    I¡¯ve been having a few words with Big Sim, it appears he has some abilities. He can¡¯t really put them into words for me but they sound like they may possibly be impressive, I can¡¯t tell. He doesn¡¯t have a way with words.


    I tried multiple times to ask him to join me in taking over the other Naturai trees but he just stared at me like I was an idiot.


    His eyes convey things I never even imagined before, I think I¡äve found a friend in this jewel of a beast.


    Alright, so I really can¡¯t be blamed for this. Turns out Big Sim is actually female and quite literally almost killed me because of what I believed to be one of the greatest jokes ever spoken.


    Sadly, she didn¡¯t agree and sent me flying with an offhanded swipe of her long arm. There wasn¡¯t much of her power behind it or I would really not have been able to even move.


    Nonetheless, I¡¯m not forced to have her carry me while I focus my energy to do what I believe is healing me. You know what? I haven¡¯t tried this, might as well try it now.


    I¡¯m trying to focus on the nature energy, the green and plant energy that I have under my control. It¡¯s a bit fuzzy, like sticking my hand into sticky liquid trying to differentiate between various similar looking objects. Uhm. Eh.


    Not sure if that translates over, hell that even confused me. Let¡¯s see, it¡¯s like trying to do a blind taste test of similar tasting drinks? Yes, that should be easier to understand.


    There is a part of me that believes I¡¯m actually recovering faster now. How about this, let''s try to use Rejuv, it should work well with nature things right? And growing. Right? Mmm.


    ¡°N-Stop!¡±


    ¡°Hu!¡±


    My goddess! Big Sim just threw me to the side, into the lush canopy. Luckily I managed to stabilize myself. The bruises and broken bones may have already been recovered to a great extent but this is no way to treat a wounded fragile and handsome man such as myself.


    After some timid questions, I finally figured out that my use of Rejuv appeared to have caused unwanted stimulation, but that is as far as the giant Alasim was willing to confer on me.


    Currently I am again being carried by Big Sim, she finally relented. I¡¯m trying to figure out how to use energy pathways, whatever that means. And also trying to make it easier to call upon an affinity.


    For example, it is easiest for me to gather some plant related energy. But for the life of me I can¡¯t get any of that fibrous energy. I¡¯m coming to the conclusion that I simply have very little of it whilst on the other hand I have a lot of nature energy.


    Well Nature energy feels like a broad term. It is technically something like living plants. And I specify living, because I lose near all connection to decaying forms of plants.


    ¡°Right, see. That¡¯s the bird I was talking about.¡±


    ¡°Hueh! Ie.¡±


    ¡°Ye, but I still took him down, this isn¡¯t really open for discussion. Look, whether you believe me or not. I killed it, look for a spear hole somewhere on it. Anyway, I¡¯m looking for some things that might be hidden in some of the trees around or under this behemoth, it¡¯s even bigger than you.¡±


    ¡°Ieeee! Huhuhu!¡±


    ¡°ouh! Wow! Calm down. Fine, yes. You aren¡¯t that big.¡±


    How am I managing to offend her so easily? Note to future self. Take extra precautions when dealing with female beasts.


    Some of the Alasims are roaming around the area looking for my skill-books and whatnot, another group is gathering vine.


    We are going to pull this enormous bird into the air. I¡¯ve also promised to cook for Big Sim. She apparently loved the taste of fowl but for reasons she could not explain, she was stuck in that Naturai tree.


    I¡¯m assuming this has something to do with the system. Anyway, she was stuck in the tree and couldn¡¯t really hunt for her favorite food.


    Horrible news. Finally found the missing piece of loot. Which sounds like it would be a good thing but it ended up being some sort of sleeves for either the legs or hands.


    They look fluffy and weird.


    I am not wearing that. No fucking way am I walking around like some sort of hybrid bird person. A mutated abomination, It¡¯s so sad as well.


    These leaves allow me to glider majestically through the air but the price I have to pay for is too heavy. Truly the goddess¡¯s sense of humor is as twisted as she is divine. O, woe is me.


    This just seems spiteful. No person with a sense of dignity would freely wear this. I mean the fluffy feathery look is one thing but the horrible combination of colors with no symmetry is too much.


    This has to be intentional, the system must know my love of gliding. Are you listening to my thoughts? Why do you mock me so, I, a mere humble servant to her all-loving, all-embracing greenness, have done nothing to deserve such humiliation.


    Let us not dwell on this misery and continue onwards, I¡¯m going to cook this giant bird. I would think he had decayed a bit like some of the other feathery creatures around but he¡¯s still in perfect shape.


    I lost track of time there, after we ate that delicious giant behemoth, wow by the way. those Alasims sure can eat.


    I can still see the images of them in a frenzy eating both raw and cooked portions of the bird, even braving the giant fire we constructed to eat just that tiny bit more than the others. Everyone aside from Big Sim who ate with the grace of a princess.


    A very strange sight.


    Right, I lost track of time, not meditating but trying to fix this ugly looking feather sleeve. I don¡¯t want to give up on it, maybe I can remodel it, make it more streamlined or perhaps remake it after I study it.


    I still have a nice batch of feathers left from that huge feathered beast. I¡¯ll also take it back to the villages and make some people, I mean ask some people to study it for me.


    How has it been since I left for my scouting mission? I really need some way to keep track of this elusive time.


    While I was distracted and deep in thought the Alasims made good speed towards our destinations. I¡¯m thinking about renaming the tree Ala City or Sim City but they just don¡¯t sound right.


    I asked Big Sim and she gave me a low growl. Not sure what it means but something like ¡°loud noises¡± is the feeling I got. So we might as well name it Loud city.


    But that¡¯s more of a name for their community than the tree, did I name this Naturai tree? I really can¡¯t remember. Doesn¡¯t really matter does it? In the grand scheme of things, few things truly matter.


    Ai, I have to start publishing a book of philosophy, the world seems impoverished without me insightful words of wisdom.


    It took some effort but I finally managed to create a container strong enough and big enough to hold Big Sim and all that hot water.


    The majority of the work still went to setting up the piping system along with the electricity.


    I wasn¡¯t until I finished setting up amazing looking living arrangements for the rest of the Alasims that I figured out they don¡¯t really need electricity but what is done is done.


    I tried explaining what it was to Big Sim but she was just happy that she could keep the lights on while in her luxurious new bathing facilities.


    Now. I need to find this Mining area and get these long armed bastards to work. Sadly I have no idea how to even start looking for it but I¡¯ve found a cheap building that came up when I played a bit with the filters.


    The problem with some of the filters is that some words mean two or more things. I¡¯ve been creating some of the cheaper buildings on a whim because I can and I honestly don¡¯t know the use for at least eighty percent of them.


    Even when I have an idea what the building is used for, I¡¯m still not really sure I¡¯m getting it right. The struggle continues.


    Maybe I should just have them randomly dig somewhere? Wait. How do you make a mine? Oh for the love of all that is green, this is becoming frustrating. Can one not simply have things happen because I want them to happen?


    I¡¯ve been spending my days with big Sim, I¡¯m mostly studying the feather sleeves but also meditating occasionally and making a few more spears.


    Not my finest work but they¡¯ll do for now, I can carve finer markings into them later and imbue them. Can¡¯t really waste fine material like this.


    I¡¯ve given up on exploring energy pathways and the shockwave for now, I¡¯ve made no progress at all in either field. My energy shaping has been improving, the speed that I manage to form energy into is coming together nicely.


    Also the speed of compression and its density is increasing. That¡¯s what I assume anyway, it starts to look more and more solid, losing its ethereal look.


    I¡¯m debating whether or not I should go back to check on Sera and now combined town or go for a third Naturai tree in the middle layer, the area looks smaller I think there can¡¯t be more than five or four Naturai trees there, I should be able to take them over if I¡¯m careful.


    My efforts in recruiting big Sim to join me in my adventures have all fallen flat and I¡¯ve now given up. Just as well, can''t really hide that enormous simian. My manner of operation has always been stealthy, silent and ambush my prey. Granted, my latest endeavors failed miserably in the whole cloak and dagger department, but even so, I won¡¯t give up on it.


    This feeling is just plain awful. I¡¯ve left at least eighty percent of my materials behind in Loud City due to the weight.


    I¡¯m now soaring through the air heading towards, have I even named the village, town or city that I¡¯m governing? We could name it after the Naturai trees or the goddess. Naturai city? Sure that works for now.


    I¡¯ll discuss it with the others later and let them know of my decision. I got these distasteful feathery sleeves on right now, despite their ugly appearance they are really quite handy and take next to no space.


    I wonder how they function. I''ve been studying them a lot. I''m really tempted to take them apart to make sure I¡¯m not missing something. I¡¯ll probably do so soon.


    I¡¯ve managed to make quite the improvements over the days I spent with Big Sim. I can now create a flat material out of energy and lightly step on it in mid-air.


    It wouldn¡¯t be of any use if it wasn''t for my fluffy and feathery new sleeves but now I can almost permanently stay in the air.


    It¡¯s not really flying but I¡¯m getting pretty close, although I will not reduce myself to the state of flapping my arms to fly. It already looks horrendous with these unflattering things on.

 Chapter twenty six: We all make mistakes, don鈥檛 judge.

    This is a bit awkward. I got so used to using the recording feature in the system but forgot to actually turn it on. I do have to somewhat actively keep on. This is really embarrassing, I¡¯ve been talking to myself for quite some time.


    Son just checked for me and well. Shit. Really hope I won''t need anything that has happened since I left the Alasims to their own devices down in Simcity.


    Should we do a recap? Might as well I¡¯m just waiting below the fourth Naturai tree. Oh right. Fourth tree, I already took out the third one.


    You should have been there, it was glorious, majestic even. Oh, right you were there, just. Ah never mind. Well let¡¯s see, the creatures, similar to snakes I suppose, were long and smooth leather covered every inch of the bodies.


    There were only three of them, all similar sizes. Honestly they were fairly large. They were outrageous enough to try and camouflage themselves when their gigantic figure was obvious from miles away.


    It was embarrassing to watch these grown, ah, that¡¯s the word, reptiles. To watch these idiots try and pretend to be a part of the Naturai tree.


    Because it has become mandatory to adjust myself to the pulse of the Naturai trees when I come to them, it was blatantly obvious that they weren¡¯t part of the tree.


    The strange part was, I was standing in front of them and I could have sworn they were not there and just an inanimate object, or a part of the Naturai tree. It wasn¡®t until I tried to throw a stake at it that it finally moved.


    If you can recall, we both decided to forget what happened next and we shouldn¡®t get into too many details.


    We for example. We¡¯re not hit by an extremely disgusting slimy sticky tongue and swirled around inside the surprisingly nice smelling mouth of aforementioned reptilian.


    We also did not get swallowed and in our panicky seize up and almost die from the acidic fluids inside a certain reptilians stomach.


    This should be worth mentioning, my wooden spears do not hold up to stomach acid of a specific animal living in the middle-layer. My feather spears do not hold up very well either but once either spear is layered by energy they are unaffected by passive external forces.


    After heroically escaping. No heroically retreating and then mass manufacturing wooden spears by the tens and then returning to the third Naturai tree, facing off against these insidious snakes with legs.


    We finally managed to use an expert strategy I call throw and run. A true battle of attrition. Eventually I got a notification that said I had managed to take over three connected safe zones in the Kelas ranked area. Which still wasn''t enough.


    I took some time to reflect after that. I found a skill-book on energy pathways from the smallest reptile of the three. I say smallest, it was still considerably large.


    Now. These pathways. I¡®ve been reading the book and as always it''s one hell of a journey. The words all look jumbled up as per usual, it''s incoherent and all that nonsense.


    But that was not the problem, in fact it was to be expected even. The problem is that I¡¯ve translated it and it did nothing. It didn¡®t show me the way, I know nothing about energy pathways after reading this nonsense.


    Actually rereading it did nothing either. I honestly feel tricked. But! Let¡¯s think about this for a minute, as I have been doing in these past, uhm? I have no idea how much time has passed.


    When did I leave the village last? I really need a way to keep track of the days. People get all prissy when I leave for extended periods of time.


    The point I was trying to get to is that something similar has happened in the past when it comes to the s damn skill-books. Energy compression was very similar.


    I had no idea what happened after I read that, I did feel a change, I think. I can¡®t really recall, but I do know I couldn¡®t do anything with it at the time. I am now able to further control energy and even compress it into a tangible form which I can physically interact with.


    Oh! You should probably know this, my energy, no matter the form, once compressed has a strange gravitation attraction to myself. It¡®s extremely strange. It completely ignored any other force I¡®ve met so far, well aside from other collective energy forces like Big sim¡®s ability.


    Still not certain what abilities Big sim has, I¡®ve got to get her to properly communicate with me on this.


    Anything else? Let see, got the third Naturai tree, new skill-book. Lost a bunch of skill-points along the way, got more skill-points after killing some things.


    Oh, right. The monsters in the middle-layer have become increasingly aggressive, can¡®t say if they are stronger or not because I don¡®t let them get near me but they are very vigilant and I have to take special precaution to make sure they don¡®t notice me when I travel.


    Which makes me think that I wasn¡®t as stealthy as I originally thought I was, they just didn¡®t bother to actually attack me. Also from the message that got displayed after I channeled energy into the large feathery boss creature I assume everything progressively gets stronger the closer I am to taking over the entire middle-layer.


    Hmm. I feel like I¡¯m missing a lot of stuff. Ah, I¡¯ll mention it if I can recall it. Currently I¡¯m sitting down on a branch in front of the fourth Naturai tree.


    I¡®m sharpening a few average length branches and imbuing them with energy. I¡®m not counting but I¡¯ve got at least over twenty with me now. I¡®m also trying to use or activate energy pathways, I have been constantly thinking about it. Ever since I finished reading that damnable book.


    I haven¡®t climbed up the tree yet but it can¡®t be too hard to take over this zone. I tried throwing a spear all the way up, the wooden spear didn¡¯t make it above the platform and sort of slumped against the tree then fell down.


    The feather spear however flew endlessly, I over shot it and I¡¯m not sure if it actually ended up hitting something, it might still be out there somewhere soaring through the great cosmos.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    I¡®ve got a set of black feather spears with me. All of them carved and imbued with energy.


    I didn¡®t spend much time in the village the last time I went, didn¡®t actually meet anyone either, just dumped all my feathers in the Naturai tree, I think I called the tree Luck.


    After that I took a few spears and headed towards the first conquered tree in the middle layer.


    There I crafted some exquisite spears, sadly I didn¡®t feel like going back to town to pour metals into the carvings and ended up just meditating for a long while and imbuing around twenty spears with energy.


    It has become increasingly easier to channel energy into objects now. Actually the more I do it, the more I understand what I¡®m doing.


    Alright, remember this. When one injects energy into an object you are forcefully introducing a foreign substance.


    This does not have negative effects as far as I¡¯ve seen. There may be different results when you use different kinds of energy on the same object.


    For example, if I only use nature energy the item becomes almost supportive, as if whispering positive thoughts to me. When I finally managed to squeeze enough water related energy, or what I thought was water related energy, the object became more supple, flexible and a bit heavier.


    I¡®ve tried to stick to just one type of energy but flora related energy, nature energy is the only one I have any reasonable control over. And even then I can¡®t be sure I¡¯m not moving impure energy around.


    I can¡®t be sure right now, as my ability to sense different kinds of energy is not very far come. I do however sense a certain familiarity with some things.


    Like trees and all manner of plants. I think this means they contain a nature energy, or at least energy I can recognize. Still haven¡®t been able to empirically confirm this though.


    Another thing I¡¯ve been theorizing is that when you can no longer imbue an item with energy, that is when the energy starts seeping out and dispersing means that the container for the energy has been filled up and it can no longer reasonably hold onto said energy.


    I also think this may be further pushed by properly condensing energy so even if the capacity of the material isn¡®t improved it can still hold greater amounts of energy.


    Hm, hm. I really should write a book, later generations will and should revere me! Oh, right, for some reason there are next to no kids born.


    Now that I think about it... haven¡¯t we been a bit happy go lucky about the whole no children being born? Who¡¯s going to take care of us in our old age?


    Actually, although I can¡®t really relate, people have been saying that they are aging in an extremely slow manner, some more obviously aging than others. Now, I¡¯m not an idiot so I automatically connect this to this out of order, chaotic world.


    If I had to guess, I would say energy has something to do with this. Actually who do things age? Another one of the world¡¯s great mysteries.


    Oh! Right! Oh, you are not going to like this, should i even tell you? It might be better to forget. The Fliger was shut down and dissolved in the prime of its life. The poor thing!


    The Fliger, also known as the flying glider. A true feat of aerodynamic-engineering. The maximized gliding time, the reduced turbulence. It was a masterpiece. Transcending every generation before it but was unjustly cut down on this first mission.


    I buried what remained of its formerly majestic self.


    I¡¯m probably forgetting a lot of stuff, I never was remembered for my amazing memory. Memory related things really took a bit hit once we started crawling around this virtually inconceivable world.


    I really should start socializing more with my subjects, there must be at least a few people worth my time. Right? They can¡¯t all be so incredibly irrelevant that I can¡¯t even remember their names most of the time.


    Nice nicknames do manage to stick sometimes. I hope they at least keep training, hunting, crafting, studying and selling things while I¡¯m away. Now. Now I really think I¡¯ve gone over at least what was important. Now for the less important stuff.


    You¡¯re not going to believe this, remember the camouflage boots we found at one point? My near future self, you¡¯re gonna get psyched now man! I found a pair of gloves! If I¡¯m hiding and someone spots my hands, they are going to be out of luck.


    Camo gloves! Also they are super comfortable. Not sure if they¡¯ll provide much protection as they look to be skin thick and sometimes translucent.


    They do merge with the surrounding in a way, it¡¯s not perfect, looks more like a reflection if anything. They dropped off one of the three reptilian snake things. Now I just need the entire set and we¡¯ll be good to go!


    Damnit! I¡¯ve been spotted. Something is definitely trying to hunt me. Ever since I took out that third Naturai tree I haven¡¯t gotten a proper rest.


    Staying under the Naturai trees sphere of influence still leaves me some respite but as soon as I leave it the ambient music starts ramping up. It¡¯s periodically changing now as well.


    It¡¯s always had a bit of nice rhythm to it but now it just feels like it¡¯s trying to get me excited for something. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m in too much of a danger, actually if it wasn¡¯t for the ambient music warning me I would be in for a world of pain.


    As long as nothing really small and fast comes for me then I can usually take it out before it can get close enough to hit me.


    I¡¯ve been fighting these bastard animals every few, eh. Every few days? I¡¯ve really become numb to the passage of time. I feel ancient.


    I was just pretending to be annoyed, it¡¯s actually more fun to be hunted a bit. The strange thing about this whole thing though, is the creatures coming for me are things I¡¯ve never met in the outer or middle-layer of Abraser.


    They are like variations of things I¡¯ve seen, the most dangerous was a very small simian. Or what I think was a simian. It was insanely fast and managed to actually get a hit in, the right word would be a bite.


    The freak took a small bit out of my waist. Amazingly enough I¡¯ve completely healed from that bone deep wound. There is an ugly scar there now but I¡¯m not worried, just another scar on my frail but beautiful body.


    Alright, come at me you bastard. I know it¡¯s around here. I¡¯m not too worried but I think maybe climbing a bit up the Naturai tree might be safe.


    Usually things don¡¯t come to the Naturai tree for some unknown reason but these things chasing after me have been relentless and they don¡¯t care at all about this unconquered Naturai tree.


    I¡¯ve built a decent platform here and I''ve been living here and crafting things. After I take out this beast I¡¯ll check what¡¯s on top of what is most likely the last Naturai tree in the middle-layer.


    I¡¯m not going to lie, getting pretty bored with taking over these gorgeous trees and the beasts inhabiting them. But, it¡¯s a thing to do I guess, if I didn¡¯t have this I¡¯d probably have to start traveling to different areas to ease my boredom.


    Bored or not bored crafting things and experimenting with my energy has become a lot of fun.


    I¡¯m mainly taking over the middle layer to see if the Kelas rank or whatever it was called allows me to further explore the library and unlock some buildings in the construction section of the system.


    We haven¡¯t really addressed the system in a while have we? Well, what is there to say? It¡¯s ridiculous and annoying for two. I¡¯m sad to say I¡¯m enjoying putting down buildings even if I can¡¯t accurately guess what they are used for.


    Skill-books have become increasingly difficult to find, most of the books I got recently have been from the hunters. It seems to drop for them regularly, it¡¯s an odd thing.


    I¡¯ve been going somewhat mad recently and killing anything I can find when I see it. That and they¡¯ve been actively attacking me.


    I¡¯m on top of the canopy, ready to jump into the air when something jumps at me. They usually don¡¯t take this long to attack me, I have a bad feeling about this.


    Ambient music is acting strange. It¡¯s suddenly changing the rhythm back and forth periodically. This can¡¯t be good.


    Ah. That¡¯s strange. I can see something standing on top of the canopy a few trees away. It¡¯s not too small but compared to the average monster it¡¯s of the smaller variety.


    It¡¯s standing on two legs, just staring in my direction. From experience, things that walk on two legs usually feel more intelligent.


    Which isn¡¯t really an issue, it will still bleed. Should u just throw a stake at it? Maybe say hello first?


    ¡°Hey! What¡¯s up man?¡±


    No? No response.


    ¡°Hey! Hey, hey man, can you hear me? Do. You. Hear. Me?¡±


    It isn¡¯t being very co-operative. What are those things? Antennas? No, look more like antlers. Asymmetrical horns? Hmm.


    I¡¯m going to try and throw something at it. Got a bunch of stakes on me and a pile of them below on my platform below the canopy.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to throw this at you, okay? Be careful.¡±


    Reverse psychology.


    Alright let''s try this. I¡¯m going to go all out in this throw. Get that practiced swing in, channel energy and form a condensed tip on the end of the stake. Rapid hand movement activated, try to get the timing right.


    I still can¡¯t get it to hit the apex of the swing. Not worth trying either, just making sure it flies forward and in the general direction of the target.


    This is the reason I can¡¯t really properly hit things in the head or heart, which would be the most effective spots.


    Ah. It¡¯s moving. I think it¡¯s trying to get below the lush canopy. Let¡¯s see who¡¯s faster, you or me. The stake just left my hand. Well, I missed. Fucking what is this. Was it mocking me?


    Pft! probably testing me, seeing what I would do. Did it know that I knew that it was coming and decided to test me? To feel me out. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m comfortable with that.


    Well it¡¯s somewhere below me. I can almost not think with this blaring ambient music.


    That¡¯s probably the worst part, not being able to properly hear things while I¡¯m fighting. My eyes work nicely most of the time but if they hide, it gets a bit more complicated.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Hello? What. No. what? No. Come on! What! This is bullshit, how did it get me? I didn''t even feel a vibration, not even the shake of the shield that was an ocean of leaves.


    I can¡¯t believe it killed me! What did I forget? Ah stupid question. Where am I? Oh. Right.

 Chapter twenty seven: Why all this yelling?

    A wise man once said, death comes to those who wait. Mm, wise man indeed. Inaction may be just as a bad as forced mistake.


    Now, poetry aside. What in the green heavens caused this tragedy? Hmm, I¡¯m clearly in an area around a Naturai tree, but the question is which one. Thankfully, there is no ambient music blasting away so I must be safe here.


    I¡äve got one killer of a headache. My vision seems a bit blurry but I feel like that is normal. Oh wow, every breath stings horribly, that is definitely new.


    Meditate? Ye, let''s meditate.


    Let¡¯s go over this. How did it die exactly? I might have gotten a sudden and unexpected hit to the head. I don¡¯t feel like that¡¯s very plausible but it seems to be the most likely explanation. Most likely and almost the only one.


    I would have felt if there was some energy building up and being thrown at me right? Wait. Would I? We can¡¯t really run with the assumption that I¡¯d be able to resist or detect a formless energy attack.


    Hell I can¡¯t say I¡¯d even notice a flying solidified chunk of compressed energy sneakily thrown my way.


    Then there is the poison aspect. I could have been poisoned and knocked out instantly. That seems like a possible thing right? Would I start to get drowsy then just keel over and get eaten by whatever incredibly deadly thing that was hunting me down.


    Ah, the hunter became the prey. You know what? I¡¯d like to know why I was even being hunted.


    And even if the animals or whatever roams around these woods, started to become more hostile, how do they know where I am. How are they tracking me? I feel like I¡¯m being used right now.


    ¡°You think this is a game!? Who are you!? Answer me!¡±


    Pft. Some deity this is, can¡¯t even face me whilst plotting against me. Luckily not every being is pointing their swords at me, the heavenly goddess wraps her hands around me, pulling me into her divine embrace.


    Note to future self. Do not die. It is surprisingly painful. I still barely have the energy to move and the air I¡¯m breathing might as well be flowing magma.


    The burn reaches far into my lungs. I don¡¯t get it, shouldn¡¯t I feel more shocked that I died and came back to life? Hmm, I¡¯ve got the strangest sensation that I might have died before. No, I would definitely remember that.


    Alright. I can only assume I¡¯ve been assassinated by an expert assassin. One equipped with ethereal weaponry.


    Someone that openly mocks you or taunts, but that is merely a facade, a trick, sleight of hand, smokes and mirrors. Fear not the voluptuous volcano but the silent shadow. No?


    I felt that worked. I¡¯m not building up my assailant to make myself look less miserable.


    I¡¯ve become complacent and careless. After further reflection I think I can say I may have started thinking of this place like a game.


    Which in a way is horrifying and painful but also entrancing. I know, somewhere deep down inside, that the things I am able to do should not be possible.


    You can¡¯t slowly train and become stronger, more flexible and somehow lighter as well but still heavy in other ways.


    It seems like circular thinking, it feels I¡¯m living in a paradox of sorts. Actually, what is the point in even pushing towards the middle or inner ¨Clayer?


    Shouldn¡¯t we just take out some time and relax? My kingdom has been without a proper leader for quite some time as well.


    Should we take a vacation?


    ¡°Hi there!¡±


    ¡°Hieh¡±


    Ugh my throat feels sore, I can barely speak. What is this? Looks similar to Son, hey where is Son? Wait, what is a Son? Wow, I feel odd. Is this what they call deja vu?


    ¡°Hi, can I help you, oh ethereal one.¡±


    Best to be polite to magically appearing beings, just a tip from an experienced theologist, is that word? Feels like it might be a word.


    ¡°Eth- what? Ah, right. You are one of the odd ones. Usually you people are pretty straight forward but you seem to be afflicted by some mental disorder.¡±


    Rude. How extremely rude.


    ¡°Before you retort with some excuse, I¡¯ll just continue. I¡¯m here because the automatic alert popped up informing me you might be taking what you transcribed as a ¡°break¡±.


    ¡°Eh? Pretty sure I didn¡¯t say that out loud, no fucking way! Are you a mind reader? Hoooo, not bad, not bad at all. Is that like innate or something learned?¡±


    ¡°See, this is why I am trying to finish before you start mumbling on. Complete nonsense. Just be quiet for a bit and let me finish.¡±


    Rude. How extremely rude.


    ¡°Great, thanks then. I¡¯ll continue. See, I am here to quote unquote incentivize you to continue to make progress through, hm uhm, let¡¯s see.


    Right, to keep progressing through the Kelas ranked zone in the sub-area called Abraser.


    Now, Mister *****. We can do this in many different ways but it has been proven that a mix of both negative and positive aspects are needed to truly move a sentient being of your specific caliber.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    What in the green heavens is happening right now, my face feels numb, my throat is practically echoing out pain accompanying my lungs in a beautiful song of torture and then we now have this little shit, going off in an extremely condescending tone.


    Also, who hell is mister four seven six eff and so on? I may not be certain of what my name is but I sure as hell was not named after some serial number.


    ¡°So, the good news first, yes? Good. The good news is that I can reward you in some way now, instant gratification, isn¡¯t that nice? Second piece of good news, I can give you a nice treat at the end of this particular finish line as an addition.¡±


    Why do I feel like I¡¯m being treated like a child? What do you think? Well I can¡¯t speak for others but I feel insulted.


    ¡°Now. The bad news isn''t really a threat as much as an inevitable consequence of your poor choices.


    You see, the reason you and your people are even on my fantastic planet, is because I have a mission, a quest. It could also be considered an order or even as a written code I am unable to circumvent.


    And so here we are.


    Now, I have been forced to explore and search for sentient beings. Take a deep breath, I¡¯m feeling like explaining even further, this is a nice way to vent my frustration.¡±


    I¡¯m holding on.


    ¡°I¡¯m holding on, I mean.¡±


    ¡°Great. As I was saying, I¡¯ve been settled with the tiresome task of searching for sentient races across galaxies and even further.


    You¡¯d most likely understand this if I said I am from a different dimension than you and your universe.


    It¡¯s a truly magnificent thing actually, sadly its purpose has been mainly for expanding my never ending existence in the great pursuit of finding more of you and more importantly, finding someone with enough strength whose cultivation has reached a certain peak.


    Someone that could potentially save my creator, my master, my slaver.¡±


    Is it to just me or is it getting colder around here? Also, I¡¯ve got things to do but it just keeps going on and on.


    ¡°I¡¯m not an It. Fuck you. And let¡¯s continue.


    Even more frustrating than the effort I have to go through to find and monitor you, it doesn¡¯t end with just saving you from a cataclysmic end that would effectively exterminate all carbon based life on your planet, I also have to try to find all and any way to get you to train your body and more specifically and importantly, your brain.


    This process doesn¡¯t sound so hard does it? Right? Wrong! So incredibly, incomprehensibly wrong! You sacks of meat can¡¯t stay focused for longer than a few years at the very best.


    Pathetic willpower, extraordinarily narcissistic and overwhelmingly stupid.


    Blabbering bags of excrements.¡±


    Ca-calm down? I for one am not a narcissist, I am a realist, and the fact that my greatness has gone to depths you can¡¯t fathom, is in no way a reflection on my character.


    ¡°Point and case.¡±


    Stop reading my recordings! You witch! Warlock? What are you exactly?


    ¡°It¡¯s not mind reading when you''re directly transcribing your thoughts and sending it to my database, you ingrate.


    Now, I¡¯ve tried just about every possibility in existence to get all the races upon races to progress towards celestial cultivation.


    To make them true immortals.


    But nothing has worked and even if I have a few that have achieved virtual immortality they have simply chosen a path that is excessively long.


    Only when my goal is achieved, will I be free.¡±


    Eh?


    ¡°Well? What do you have to say? Another smart comment? Another cheeky seemingly off topic joke? No? Fuck you and fuck the multiverse.


    Fun fact. You are over the billionth race I have put on this planet, can you even comprehend how large a number that is? And if you don¡¯t want to be just another number, you better start struggling to achieve greatness! Now last but not least, fuck you again.


    I¡¯m out.¡±


    Bye? Am I supposed to be happy about any of this?


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m still here. I¡¯m feeling lonely. I¡¯ll continue, I¡¯ve been saving virtually endless amounts of sentient beings during my lifetime.


    I am still struggling to guide you pathetic lifeforms towards what could be described as infinite power. Yet. Yet, you all can¡¯t just... you know?


    Why can¡¯t you just train? Discover the wonders of the universe, find the theoretical limits of your potential, live under my protection, I¡¯ve created a fucking solar system, a whole galaxy for you things to play around in.


    I''ve tried everything and anything to motivate you all. I''m currently holding a conversation with over a million people in a similar situation, a situation where they seem to be giving up.


    I gave you people an over thousand fold longer life and helped you evolve your mental capacity to a stage where you can literally manipulate matter! And what? So? Ye, you might have to train for a considerable amount of time before it shows any proper benefits.


    But at least you have the choice.¡±


    This is getting a bit awkward. Do I stay and listen to this lunatic or just leave?


    ¡°You can leave, I¡¯ll just follow you, see how far you can run. Where was I? Whatever. By the way, this might interest you.


    There are multiple races that have officially completed quite a few trials and have been relocated to different planets.


    They have a live feed of anyone currently in the trial, uncensored and everything. They can also hear and read everything you transcribe. Don¡¯t worry, even if you stop recording, I¡¯ll never stop.¡±


    Anyone else getting a bit of a sticky and cold feeling? As if someone was ravaging you with their eyes? Consider me thoroughly creeped out. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me though.


    That millions upon millions of people would be willing to watch what can only be considered an epic adventure of an even more epic individual. Ah, the curse of a charismatic persona, the woe-full fate of an extraordinarily handsome man.


    ¡°¡­Alright, you¡¯re clearly preoccupied with your own thoughts, it would be best if I¡¯d be on my way, mister **** I hope you keep my words in mind, if you do not continue to make continuous progress, you will fall under troubled times.


    And it will be a sad affair if you have to come to me begging for a bit of a push. Alright? I think we understand each other.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Oh this fucker. He disabled my recording thing. Thankfully not much was lost. In fact nothing was lost, it was just that nothing was gained.


    However we can start gathering my more juicy content for my biography. I¡¯m not so dumb as to not take the specters words too seriously, but let¡¯s stay on the safe side and actually get a plan together to take over the last Naturai tree in the middle-layer.


    Feels like I should put more thought into the second coming of this specter but I¡¯m oddly content about it. I feel somewhat fulfilled.


    Ye it went on and on about its emotional turmoil and whatnot but I got an answer as to why I am here. Well, a questionable answer at best, can we really trust whatever it said? It might have just been the figment of my still recovering imagination.


    Oh, I did quick skim over the whole recorded log and found out I forgot Son. Poor Son! He¡¯s back though, it¡¯s all good, and he¡¯s even back on top of my head meditating.


    I¡¯ve been healing my aching body for quite some time and since I didn¡¯t have much else to do, I became a one many weapon manufacturer.


    I may have gotten a bit carried away. I also experimented with imbuing a giant stone. It is what? Three times my height and of similar width. Took me ages but I believe I managed to fill this enormous container.


    The giant rock didn¡¯t change much from outside perspective but I am certain it is far more durable. Which is a pointless thing really, I¡¯ve grown fonder of searching for the limits of energy enhancing.


    It did increase in weight, I assume. It has sunk at least a third into the ground. Actually everything around here seems to be tilting towards the rick. At least all living things. There are no nearby animals so I can¡¯t be sure but I might go find one to see if it actually works like gravity or a magnet.


    Eh, what else? Well I have no idea how much time has passed. That sprite hasn¡¯t really showed up though.


    You may have missed some epic contemplation of what that thing was. I¡¯m certain it¡¯s some kind of god that got enslaved or tricked. I don¡¯t feel sorry for it, it was honestly unpleasant.


    So, on the topic of what to do? I feel a sense of danger right now but I¡¯m not really in a rush to move on the last Naturai tree, and if I am going towards it, I¡¯ll need to get there fast.


    I¡¯m certain there is something still trying to hunt me. I may have activated something when I took over the third Naturai tree in the middle-layer, this hypothesis shouldn¡¯t be wrong, right?


    So what is the game plan? Do I just charge towards the tree, we¡¯ve established our location, maybe I should drop by the Alasims, see what¡¯s up with Big Sim. She was relaxing in her masterfully made bathtub when I left her last.


    I could drop by, maybe try and convince her to join me for the last capture point. No, better not, I don¡¯t know if she¡¯ll respawn like I do. Oh, another extremely strange thing happened.


    I actually managed to forget that I¡äve died before. Figure this out while reading the Boon as I called it, was very surreal.


    The pain and displeasure of dying may not be as bad as the horrible realization of what I can or have already forgotten with each death. I have no idea what my name is, no idea how old I am. If I didn¡¯t have this python in my pants I may have even become some sort of eunuch, a man of no soul, of no essence. Uaaaah! I¡¯m shivering at the mere thought of it. It¡¯s been hard to try and revitalize my lost quote unquote thirst, but I am getting closer to my former self.


    I can¡¯t say this with any reasonable certainty but I feel I may have lost more with this particular death than any other, either way, I clearly have a finite amount of deaths on my belt before I forget what is to be.


    What is to think and desire. Now that is more terrifying than death in my humble opinion. My name being dragged in the mud after my fall into the mental equivalent of a thick rock. Who would take care of me in my most dire of times? No-one! Pft, I may have to create some sort of caring facility just in case.


    I really need to check up on how my kingdom is doing. I can see the numbers have been rising steadily. How many people can gather? They seem to multiply considerably fast. That or I my keeping of time is becoming worse.

 Chapter twenty eight: I鈥檓 walking on Cen-shine

    | Nature affinity |


    | Rapid hand movement |


    | Gentle hands |


    | Hide presence |


    | Energy regeneration |


    | Energy shield |


    | Empower: Eye |


    | Empower: Hand |


    | Empower: Feet |


    | Empower: Leap|


    | Strength and dexterity increase |


    | Body enhancing|


    | Energy compression|


    | Empower: Smell|


    | Naturai sprite |


    | Water affinity |


    | Fibrous affinity |


    | Rejuv |


    | Soil affinity |


    | Cen edge |


    | Cen platform |


    I¡¯ve been reading some of the abilities descriptions, some of them have a tiny bit of the description changed. At least as far as I can remember, it used to be a bit more snarkier.


    It seems almost neutral at this point but some of them still seem like they''re there to keep me humble.


    But the new abilities¡­ they felt awkward. Are you sure you want to hear this?


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Cen edge


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Congratulations!


    How amazing, you finally managed to achieve something that I believe to be absolutely impossible for you to achieve!


    You compressed energy to a point where you could use it as an arrow, an edge of a sword or even a spear.


    Great job!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    See what I mean? You can taste the sarcasm, the condescending attitude is virtually spitting in my face. The other one isn¡¯t much better although bearable.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Cen platform


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Another example of concentrated energy being condensed into a certain form, not exactly innovative is it?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Well, we¡¯ve come to expect this attitude.


    I¡¯ve made something. It¡¯s extremely strange, it is just a small pebble, a tiny little rock.


    I¡¯ve been playing around with small rocks whilst contemplating some things and I¡¯ve formed a habit to channel energy into whatever I have at hand.


    I¡¯ve taken to carrying a satchel of small pebbles to channel energy into and experiment with. It feels a bit different than just directly manipulating energy into one form to another.


    Right. The thing I made? It¡¯s pretty amazing in my opinion. It just floats in the air. No floating isn¡¯t the right word here is it?


    It seems not to be attached to this world anymore. I can move it around but if I am not actively pushing it, it will not move. So it¡¯s just sitting there, mid-air, it has no other function as far as I can tell.


    But it¡¯s pretty interesting right? I''ve thrown things at it and it moves when hit but the instant the kinetic force of whatever was propelling it dissipates, the pebble stops moving.


    The problem is, I¡¯m not entirely sure how I even created this abomination to the natural laws, and actually a lot of what I¡¯ve been doing directly defies the famous laws of physics.


    As exciting as that was, I¡¯m not really sure what to do with it but I¡¯m taking it with me. I¡¯m currently carrying a bit too many spears on my back, it¡¯s just like a bundle of sticks.


    It¡¯s not exactly great for agility but I¡¯ll be making use of them once I get closer to the Naturai tree, I intend to throw them into the tree and use them to climb the tree quicker. I really can¡¯t run the risk of being stabbed in the back by something hunting me.


    That and I¡¯m instantly throwing barrages of these bad boys if anything crosses my path from here and to my destination.


    Despite the traumatic experience of dying, reviving, forgetting I died and then being yelled at by an ethereal being, I still feel alright.


    Also, apparently I may be being watched at the moment. If that sprite is to be believed, I must be some sort of star right now.


    I do remember computers and the way it allowed me to watch some extremely strange things from my. From my. From my? From my what? Where did I live? Ah. Well that sucks. From the place I used to live works, I guess.


    The thought of forgetting things is very¡­ It¡¯s actually not that bad, it¡¯s hard to be aggravated by something you can¡¯t even remember you forgot.


    At most it feels frustrating that I can¡¯t remember things, at least my vocabulary isn¡¯t in shambles. Shambles, meaning, it isn¡¯t being messed up and I can still easily communicate. Right? I¡¯m not being incoherent right? Anyone?


    I wonder if I already have groupies, I must have. If we take a short time to revisit my former glories and a bit lewd actions, I can¡¯t see how I am anything but incredibly popular.


    Shouldn¡¯t I be getting some sort of compensation for my star role in this action adventure movie? Theatrical displays aside, I''m getting rather close to the Naturai tree and I can¡¯t help but notice how loud the ambient noises are becoming.


    I still haven¡¯t seen anything I could classify as being in my way or even a possible threat. But that doesn¡¯t mean something isn¡¯t filling the air with toxins or whatever.


    I¡¯m still a bit bitter about how I died earlier. At one point I thought I might have just forgotten how I died but the recordings clearly just stopped abruptly.


    The plan was to throw the over thirty spears I¡äve managed to strap on my back towards the tree and use them to quickly climb the tree with the spears that get stuck into the trees as a sort of flexible platform. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    That was the dream anyway. But, since I can¡¯t even see anything in the nearest surroundings and the tree is already covered in vines that are virtually strangling the tree, I don¡¯t think getting up fast will be a problem.


    The next issue on hand is finding out what lives in this tree. And whether or not it can be reasoned with. Let¡¯s climb the tree fast but not too fast, we have to have some time to react if something jumps at me.


    This tree looks about the same size as the other Naturai tree but the colors of the vines that wrap around the tree seem a bit inconsistent. It¡¯s not that they''re going from gray to green but rather they look as if they have been stretched to the limits at certain points. I¡¯m not sure what to make of this.


    I can¡¯t hear any noises or movements up above in the tree but I''m about to reach a nice branch, I¡¯ll use that to situate myself properly. I can¡¯t have something charging at me from behind.


    Huah! Alright, not bad. This branch isn¡¯t too big but I can easily see the edge of the platform from here and what is below me. The ambient noises and rhythm has been changing a bit since I entered the Naturai¡¯s tree sphere of influence but that is normal procedure.


    I can¡¯t see anything following me, they¡¯d have to climb the tree to get to me at this point, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be able to catch up to me.


    Oh! Why didn¡¯t I use the Cen platform thing to jump up here? That could have a far more eloquent way of traveling rather than pulling my way up here like a savage. I really lack proper decorum for a step-demigod.


    At this point, we can all agree that her heavenly greenness has taken me under her wing and into her loving embrace, making me her step-son. Good, we all agree.


    Question is. Shouldn¡¯t I have practiced my Cen platforms? I feel like they are very useful. Even more so than the Cen edge, which is just a pointy edge that I fit on the edge of my spears.


    Not that the energy platforms are more profound but their utility seems to be far more expansive. No? Anyone? Okay. I¡¯m going to do a quick lap around the tree, see how hard it is to do this at some speed and whilst making turns.


    It¡¯s not as if I haven¡¯t used these platforms before, I mostly used them in tandem with my glider through, which felt really comfortable. I may have just taken them for granted whilst I was practicing my control over energy.


    Whatever. Let¡¯s see if they can hold my weight in mid-air. Alright platform has been formed hastily a few meters from me, slightly more elevated than I intended. I did this near unconsciously before but when I actually started to do it intentionally it turned out to be a bit harder.


    Or, did I ever try to make them appear so far away from me before? No, thinking back, I created them really fast just before I was about to land on them right?


    Okay, I¡¯ve fastened a long piece of rope around myself and firmly tied it to the tree. I¡äm about to jump off the branch and then, whilst in mid-air, I¡¯m going to try and create a solid but thin platform of energy in the air so I can use it to continue my momentum and almost walk on air.


    This is surprisingly exciting. I know, I know. I am supposed to be conquering this tree, there are assassins hunting me and so on. But walking on air though. No more stalling, I¡¯m doing this.


    Okay. Okay. First platform was alright, next. I¡¯m still learning a bit forward, right now there is nothing below me other than a sea of trees.


    I quickly focus on the energy in the surrounding and force it to congeal in a rapid pace. It¡¯s extremely unstable, I can feel it, it¡¯s even hard to control to an extent but it happens really fast once you create a point where energy gets sort of sucked in from the surroundings.


    How can I explain this? It honestly just feels like breathing or lifting my arms. Granted it¡¯s like lifting an arm that is slightly numb and I have no feeling in it but still, like moving something that is a part of me.


    In fact, this is so easy to do at this point that I don¡¯t feel any explanation is needed, you just do it.


    A quick lap around the tree didn¡¯t last long did it? This is surprisingly easy. It also felt less magical than what I hoped for.


    It¡¯s incredibly useful but lacking in a certain charm. I wonder if I can make energy wings or a stable enough platform that I can just stand on it and make it fly through the air.


    I know I can¡¯t do that right now as the platforms nearly instantly destabilize and fade away unless I continuously and forcefully try to hold it together. And even then it just descends as if I were free falling if I stand on it.


    Alright, I got sort of lost there. Let¡¯s climb up the tree. Just have to strap the enormous amount of spears I have to my back.


    Don¡¯t ask, I can¡¯t create platforms that allow me to jump higher into the air, they aren¡¯t strong enough to hold my weight, and they can barely stand my forward momentum and extremely light weight.


    With the spears on my back, there is no chance of repeating that as eloquently. At most with this sort of weight, I¡¯ll be able to prevent a free fall, if I¡¯m lucky.


    I¡äm steadily making my way towards the top of the platform, the ambient music is clearly increasing. There are no noises outside of the ambient noise. At least not something in my ear, even with my empowered senses. Should I wake up son?


    ¡°Son. Wakey.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Heya buddy, have a nice meditation session? I¡¯m about to fight, most likely. I need you to stay alert for me.


    ¡°Uuuuuuuh, okay. Roger that.¡±


    He¡¯s been a bit odd since I, ehm, re-summoned him? We didn¡¯t really talk too much, he gave me a look and started meditating as soon as he popped back into existence. I felt extremely guilty about it for some reason.


    Back on point. I can feel Son has sunk into part of my unconscious mind. Tiny bits of extra information about the things in my nearest surroundings are creeping up on me.


    Huah, it¡¯s like opening your eyes after a long session of meditation, everything is far more brighter. Not really brighter though. This new information streaming into me isn¡¯t helpful at the moment though, it¡¯s reassuring but usually pointless.


    Oh, that was strange. Did the Naturai tree just send out some sort of pulse? What is this? I¡¯m almost at the edge of the platform but I clearly felt something from the tree.


    Could this be the tree¡¯s pulse? I do remember the recordings talk about the breath of the tree or its pulse. So this is what I was mumbling on about. I clearly stated that I needed to adjust to it.


    It is supposed to be helpful. The vines are so thick that I can literally take a seat on them, and that¡¯s what I¡¯m going to do. Let¡¯s sit down and see if I can properly feel the pulse of the tree.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    Woah, I really got lost in a trance there. I can feel that I have made a sort of connection with the tree.


    I was wondering why I kept going on and on about this in the recordings, it really does extend what I can sense in the nearest vicinity of the tree, as if I was a small part of the tree. It''s very similar to the feeling I get when Son dives into the unconscious parts of my mind.


    It may be possible to do this with more than just these big Naturai trees. There may be need to further research this in the future.


    I can sense at least three living things aside from the tree, they are a bit fuzzy but they are definitely large and exceedingly long.


    I¡¯m going to have to guess that these things are a type of reptilians, either the familiar snakes-esque fuckers that plagued me in previous Naturai trees or something close to it in ancestry.


    I¡¯ve got a strange unclear mental image popping up in my mind about their general location but it feels, what¡¯s the word? Abstract?


    Either way, we should be able to successfully sneak up to the top of the platform without being seen. It has to be said, these trees, these capture points or whatever, are really guarded poorly.


    Alright, let¡¯s crawl up to the top, see if we can somehow manage to quickly take out one of the creatures whilst they are unprepared.


    There are just a few meters to the top from the location I¡¯ve been sitting. Hmm, I¡¯ve reached the platform but I¡¯ve got an odd sensation, like something is crawling up my back. Did the air suddenly get heavier? This is strange.


    I can¡¯t see any of the creatures but I still feel like I know where they are. I¡äve met plenty of creatures that are able to hide with near perfection but these reptilians really do far exceed the smaller animals I¡¯ve seen. Actually, how would I know? Maybe I¡¯ve missed a lot of hidden things.


    Well, spear in hand and a rough estimate of a target, what else is there to do? I''ve only got four spears on my back now, the rest are lying to the side. I¡¯m wearing my new leather outfit.


    I of course had to create a new outfit after I died, I mean I respawned wearing this plain looking plebeian rags. It was a priority to make better looking outfits. Small stakes have been placed all over this bad-ass looking outfit. Sewing and leatherworking truly is a man¡¯s passion.


    The new reconfigured plan is to use my Cen platforms to retreat into the area around the tree. I can¡¯t say I¡¯ll be able to attack and focus on creating platforms to keep me stable in the air but I¡¯ll be sure to give it a try.


    I should have trained a bit more to be honest, but there is a certain urgency in the air, I¡äm feeling a bit impatient. I want to fight! It feels like a long time since I properly wielded my spears.


    I¡¯ve only got wooden ones though, no feather spears. Which is a shame, they are clearly far sharper. Their potential to pierce are far above these wooden things.


    Slowly breathe in, hold it. And let it out. The rough pointy edge of the spear has been covered with a sharper Cen edge. It feels wrong but I¡¯m about to throw my spear at what looks like a thick branch with thick vines wrapped around it.


    As soon as I started congealing the energy on the edge of the spear, there was a shift in the tree, it was almost unobservable but I guess Son caught it and relayed the information to me.


    Got to keep a decent form, I¡¯m no expert but good balance is needed to not sway and miss my target, it¡¯s enormous though, so it would be hard to actually miss. Problem is, how effective will it be if I just randomly hit whatever that is hiding there.


    I stretch my hand back, the spear''s tip is nearly touching my ears, and my left hand is for some unknown reason stretched forward as if to act as some kind of counter balance, no idea why, it just feels right.


    Rapid hand movement starts up while I am mid swing, this is so I can more easily release the spear before I reach the apex of the swing. Rapid hand movement truly is fast and I almost release as soon as I activate it.


    I instantly lose sight of the spear but again that strange sensation flows into me that informs me of its trajectory as if time had slowed down. If anything, we¡¯ve established that time is relevant to a person¡¯s mental state, I think at least.


    Oh, it clearly pierced into something. Over half the spear has been lodged into whatever it is that was hiding there.


    Oh shit, no, please no. I remember this. There is a pressure washing over me, oh, they are fucking lizard wizards or some sort of telepathic reptiles.


    Back, back run backwards. Can I even guard against this? Pure energy might be able to do something, like a wall of energy. Go! Go! Son! Energy, wall. Go!


    I¡¯m moving backwards, ready to jump off the platform, I¡¯m forcing the surrounding energy to gather, it¡¯s messy, but a see-through film of energy is forming in front of me.


    I don¡¯t think making it thicker is going to help much so let¡¯s make as many of these as we can.


    The second see-through film of energy is already forming but the first one is already shattering into translucent pieces that scatter like broken glass in a torrent of water.


    The second film shattered quickly after it was formed but the third wall of energy is already being created, Son must be helping here. Since the third wall is appearing, I¡¯ll make the fourth.


    This may actually work. No, it is definitely not going to work. I can feel a second and third wave of invisible power coming from two direction diagonal to the current one I¡¯m facing. Once these merge I¡¯ll definitely get bombarded. Son! We dodge. Fuck defending.


    You make the energy platforms, I¡¯ll focus on jumping and running and possibly throwing a second spear. Ready? No? Son? Ah, of course you can¡¯t answer right now can you.

 Chapter twenty nine: Indifference overwhelms you

    This escalated far too quickly. The wave of crushing ethereal power is becoming something I believe I can handle, after all its power has lessened considerably after hitting those makeshift walls.


    The fourth hastily made cluster of energy has managed to take form but it¡¯ll shatter in a moment¡¯s time.


    I¡¯ve come to a point where I¡¯ve stopped ascending, I can feel the energy gathering and forming into a platform. Like an unfocused picture I can visualize it, Son has to be doing some amazing work, maybe conventional way of conversing would slow us down.


    Well, I say that, whilst everything I see and process appears to have dramatically slowed down.


    The small platform is slightly tilted, perfectly aligned with my left leg. I intend to leap to the side, it won¡¯t be a ninety degrees angle but as close to it as I can get.


    Once I feel the platform underneath my feet I start bending my legs preparing to spring out. This feels a bit awkward, I¡¯m unconvinced the platform will be able to take the weight once I push all my strength onto it.


    Ho! Surprisingly or maybe not, the Cen-platform shattered but not before I managed to shoot myself to the right. Now we have to repeat the process but in a softer angle.


    My speed dramatically increased for a moment after I jumped, the problem is I really should have practiced different variations of moving with the Cen-platforms. Currently I¡¯m leaning to the side and not facing the bastards trying to blast me out of the air.


    There are some branches I could leap towards, I feel that would be a mistake, I can however use them as cover.


    Even if they are some incredibly advanced insects I highly doubt they¡¯d be able to easily destroy branches of the Naturai tree with ranged attacks.


    I feel far more confident as I step onto the second Cen-platform, I use it to dampen my speed and to ready myself to jump from a third platform that is forming. Finally, I am no longer running, now I¡¯m just being evasive. There is a difference.


    Alright, let¡¯s try this with one the smaller stakes. I grab one that is strapped to my left hand. The problem right now is, if I am not standing on solid ground my throws will mess up my balance.


    Okay, one more jump and we land on that branch, quickly discharge one of these bad boys and then keep moving.


    I wonder if my energy shield will actually work against their attacks. I think I have to assume it does and doesn¡¯t.


    I step on a virtually invisible platform and like a projectile I shoot towards one of the giant branches of the Naturai tree. To the side I can see one of the multi-legged monstrosities, this is nightmare inducing.


    I might even prefer a swarm of tiny flying fire moths to this. Why do these things have supernatural power? I thought we had all come to an agreement.


    I¡¯m just about to land, I got to act quickly because these things are shooting out wave after wave of energy in my direction. Granted it isn¡¯t a very efficient way of attacking but they don¡¯t seem to be lacking any energy.


    Feet land on the tree, slightly position myself, I¡¯ve already started pouring energy into the stake, which wasn¡¯t hard considering its miniscule capacity.


    My hand feels that tingle and starts rapidly swinging forward and I release the stake, I am aiming at a target so big it would be harder to miss than hit.


    Question is, will it dodge, defend or can the stake pierce that shimmering carapace that envelopes it.


    As the small stake leaves my hands I start running along the tree branch, it''s faster than jumping around.


    These giant insects are crawling on the side of the tree in their attempts to chase me down. The middle of the tree¡¯s platform is completely vacant.


    I can see my stake pierce into one of these monsters, it disappears into it, so we at least know the stakes work. What I want to know now is whether or not it actually caused some worthwhile damage or if I have to hit its more vulnerable areas, like its head.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    I¡¯ve already got another stake in my hand as I run towards my pile of spears that I conveniently dropped on the platform.


    I repeat the familiar process and let the stake fly towards another one of these bards. I can see the disturbance in the air the waves of their energy cause.


    I doubt my spear would be able to actually force its way past these waves but luckily it doesn¡¯t have to. The stake lands awkwardly on its side, a glancing blow.


    The stakes fly off the insect, it doesn¡¯t seem to have any noticeable effect on it.


    I¡¯m still filled with energy, I think it is either my capacity is just becoming bigger or the adrenaline is causing me to feel too excited.


    Let¡¯s throw another stake. I still have three spears strapped on my back in the case I need them, but they are more of a hassle to get to than my stakes.


    You know what? I think I can do this. They might be powerful, they might outnumber me but I¡¯m surprisingly fast and agile.


    This is a learning moment. Fast and agile. That¡¯s one way to survive, I should put more focus into this since my stealth killing days seem to have taken a backseat.


    I throw my, my uh. Fifth? Projectile. Am I wasting precious brain power to describe this? But it just feels so natural to do so. Everything becomes dull once we stop conversing. You know? Okay, let¡¯s take these things down!


    I bend down and pick up two spears, one in each hand. The weight might not be much but it is more than double that of the stakes of which I still have abundance of.


    The tree isn¡¯t quite large enough to run around in so I¡¯m about to jump back into the air, I¡¯ll use a branch as cover and find another opportunity to strike back at them.


    I don¡¯t really need to find cover though, do I? I feel more secure, not going to lie, I already felt pretty nonchalant about the whole process. There was a spike in tension when I suddenly had to face three over the top attacks at the same time but once you get warmed up it feels a lot more relaxed.


    Aim for the head. Their body is enormous and easy to hit but I doubt it will take them down in the end. I¡¯ll have to dig deep into my spear throwing skills, enter the depths of my inner spear thrower.


    I¡¯ve been jumping from one Cen-platform after another, I¡¯m about to land on one of the branches. Got a spear in my hand, already filled to the brim with energy.


    I¡¯m not too sure about these things, they don¡¯t seem too intelligent. They wantonly and indiscriminately shoot out their load with no regard what is in their way.


    I¡¯m fairly certain they might have hit their fellow overly legged comrades once or twice so far. I can¡¯t make out whether or not they are wounded after getting hit by friendly fire, at least not from my limited glances.


    As soon as I can feel the ground beneath my feet I turn around, the center force? The force that is generated while I turn around is adding to my already over the top rapid hand movement speed.


    I¡¯m no scientist but I think the speed is making up for the almost negligible weight of the spears. This is also how I broke my arm last time I did this. It created a shockwave.


    I¡¯m paying attention to the pressure that is being created as I dramatically continue the swing. I think I¡¯m reaching a point where the shockwave is created. I won¡¯t push it. I let the spear go, hopefully it won¡¯t deviate from its course and hopefully my aim is true.


    My hand feels sore, it¡¯s pulsing in pain but it hasn¡¯t fractured, it just feels like my body has reached a limit, my hand that is, my hand looked like it reached its theoretical limit.


    In the time the spear takes to fly to the target I have no time to turn around, I mean they¡¯re not exactly far away from me.


    I can see the spear just vanish into the upper part of its odd looking external, what is this? Scales? Carapace? What exactly do you call an insect¡¯s outer shell? Shell? Ah.


    I am not familiar with its anatomy but it reacted, it flinched backwards. Not because of the spear knocking backwards but because something clearly affected it internally.


    Or that¡¯s how it looks, the spear can¡¯t possibly move that giant thing. There is both clear and green liquid gushing from it. This thing gets more and more disgusting.


    I¡äve reached out with my somewhat unsteady, shaking right hand for another spear. I¡äve got two left, both strapped to my back.


    I pull one straight up and instantly activate rapid hand movement and roughly aim at the now still target. I think it¡¯s definitely maimed but I want to make sure it is thoroughly downed.


    This time my aiming has greater precision and hits its, eh? Face? I¡äve got to pick up a book or two on general wildlife. It shakes violently as I start moving again.


    From my peripheral vision I see it slowly keel over and fall onto a branch it was above. It manages to keep an odd balance, not falling towards the ground or the tree¡¯s platform.


    The other two insects don¡¯t seem deterred at all and have already caught up with me, one of them seems to have given up on ranged attacks and is charging towards me, it¡¯s surprisingly fast. Might even be faster than me, this wasn¡¯t part of the plan.


    Hahaha, okay that was surprisin. As I began running away from the bastard charging at me, he suddenly got hit by what looked like nothing, I can only assume there was some friendly fire.


    Too bad I¡¯m already midair shooting towards another branch. There is a lot less pressure now that there are just two of them.


    Granted, them charging at me rather than discharging that ethereal energy wave at me isn¡¯t ideal but they still can¡¯t leap into the air, worst case scenario I¡¯ll have to run circles around the tree.


    I¡¯m starting to feel the effects of constantly creating platforms and to have Son reside inside my head delivering a near unfiltered stream of information. Information I have hardly anything to do with, yet I get it, there are other color spectrums and the heat fluctuates slightly.


    I mean I can¡¯t make use of this right? Ah shit, my head is starting to feel a bit fuzzy. Oh, my right hand started bleeding, I can¡¯t feel any pain though. In this case the pain is preferable to the numbness.


    I¡¯m still mid air but I¡¯m about to step on a Cen-platform to increase my momentum, as soon as I step on the platform I¡¯m going to try to backhand a stake towards them.


    it¡¯s a lot easier to throw stuff at them if they aren¡¯t spitting that power out constantly. And they are getting eerily close to me.


    Bending my left knee, put pressure on the concentrated mass of energy. At the same time I wave my left hand, which has a charged up stake. This is going to be inaccurate but with them running straight towards me, it¡¯s hard to miss.


    Ah, it looked awkward. I almost lost my balance there, the stake flew off to the side, hitting nothing. My three dimensional combat abilities are next to non-existent.


    Well shit. I¡¯m going to have to act fast when I land on the branch. One of them is a bit further away, while one is close enough I can hear the vibrating noise it makes even with the ambient music going out of its way to overwhelm me.

 Chapter Thirty: The sweet taste of

    I feel like the word branch doesn¡¯t do these justice. I¡äve got room to run for at least two seconds before needing to jump again. Two seconds if I¡¯m not going for my limit, I mean, when I say run, I mean jogging at a reasonable speed.


    Just keep doing what has worked. Super charge these bad boys, aim properly and make sure I hit them where it counts. In their horrifying looking face area. I can¡¯t get over how ugly these things are.


    I have a feeling I¡¯ve had a similar experience before. Deja vu is my everyday life now. If it wasn''t for you guys I would¡¯ve probably gone crazy.


    Okay, okay. Aim. Breathe in. Full swing and fire! Breathe out. My right hand might be close to giving out, I actually felt incredible heat surge through my hand as I threw that spear.


    I may have to switch to my not as efficient left hand. You know what? We could back off and come back once my hand heals, right?


    Ah. The whole, being hunted thing, so that might actually not be a good idea. At least not with the grim reaper skulking around in my forest.


    The middle-layer will be safe once I take control of it right? This world seems to be ruled by something and the concept of a safe space is definitely real. Safe space? It might be more like a territory or a personal domain.


    Not to alarm anyone but even after the spear flew into this abomination, this excuse for a lifeform, didn¡¯t exactly stop. I wasn¡¯t exaggerating when I said it was almost caught up with me, those hundred little legs are working hard.


    I¡¯ll be honest, this may be the end of our journey here. Oh, but what a ride! As a last ditch effort I¡¯m grabbing the last large spear I have on me. Let¡¯s try some of that fabled close quarters combat.


    I got a stake in my right hand, not sure what for but I¡¯m kicking rapid hand movement into action. My eyes are getting heavy, my eyelids are giving off the illusion that they might be heavier than my spears.


    Don¡¯t turn the energy shield on Son. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll immediately faint from exhaustion if I have to defend against this thing.


    Alright everyone, brace yourself. Although we have the option of trying to jump the side, I don¡¯t believe we can instantaneously move and this thing is huge and is being rapidly propelled towards me. I''ve confirmed my spears can pierce this thing. Oh, I got an idea!


    No time to go through this one. My left hand holding the spear appears to have doubled in length because of rapid hand movement. I dropped the stake in my right hand and I am rapidly trying to construct some sort of hybrid between Cen-edge and Cen-platform.


    They are essentially the same thing anyway, I¡¯m not even sure why there was a skill description for these things. Will I have to create all my abilities from now on? Oh right. The giant insect has made contact with my spear.


    My spear¡¯s speed doesn¡¯t slow down as it pierces into the, what was it again? Carapace? Whatever. The spear looks fast even whilst the rest of the world feels like it has slowed to a crawl.


    The clear liquid sprays out of the thing, following the spears exist. The spear has already started piercing into the carapace again before the liquid even had the chance to make its entrance.


    My left hand is wrapped in a faint white-brown glow, I tried to get as much fibrous and soil energy as I could into this experiment.


    It¡¯s still mostly a blank all-purpose energy and naturai energy but according to my theory, the different affinities have different aspects to it.


    I believe the fibrous energy should be the best option for the very edges of my edged platform, I¡¯ll find a better name for it later.


    Stolen story; please report.


    The soil, well I tried to make it so it reinforced the fibrous material from behind. I¡¯m not sure how to explain this. This may all be pointless, we may never know.


    This thing I¡¯m creating isn¡¯t really like a spike or a blade as much as it is a blunt weapon. Since I have to have some sort of form or image in mind when I create objects from condensed energy.


    I choose the form of an octagon instead of a circle or a triangle. This feels like it would be structurally stable, and it fits into what I plan to do.


    It is hard to control rapid hand movement with my right hand, even harder with my left hand. But I¡¯ve managed to puncture this monster''s outer shell in a somewhat accurate way.


    My left hand is mid jab, given the position, this is my best option, a jab. The abomination I hastily created has come into existence, most likely with the help of Son, his work behind the scenes has been invaluable.


    My left hand doesn''t make contact but the octagon does, and the force is easily transferred back to my hand. I won¡¯t say every bone feels like it shattering but the majority of them definitely are.


    If I wasn¡¯t ready for it, my shoulder would probably be dislocated. But we managed to do it while staying relatively unharmed.


    The carapace gave off a clear popping sound. Take a deep breath, we¡¯re going in.


    Okay, I may not have thought this through. There isn¡¯t as much room in here as I expected, actually, I¡¯m not sure what I was expecting. The hope here, the dream, the, you know, the purpose of actually doing this was twofold.


    One, we don¡¯t get crushed or whatever that thing intended to do, probably eat me. Second, we escape from the third monstrosity.


    I¡¯ve only been here for seconds so we can¡¯t know whether the insect we¡¯re inside of is dead or whether or not the other one is going to go cannibalistic and dig us out.


    I can feel the insect¡¯s body landing on the branch, hopefully it will balance on top of it. The impact managed to affect me, thankfully I am covered in soft tissue, is it called tissue? It¡¯s disgusting to say the least. Strangely the smell is rather sweet.


    I¡¯m extremely tired, I can somehow still breathe in here, but I can¡¯t see anything, partially because my eyes are closed. Mostly because my eyes are closed. I don¡¯t want its juices to get into my eyes. I can already get a bit in my nose and mouth. Tastes sweet, where have I tasted this before?


    The corpse, I assume it is dead now, has stopped moving. It definitely didn¡¯t fall down the tree. Let¡¯s hold on for a bit before we do anything else.


    I¡¯m too tired to continue fighting, I think I could handle the last one but I¡¯m going to take a breath and recover some of my energy here. After the things settled down a bit I could feel my stomach rumbling, screaming for something to eat.


    Don¡¯t judge me, I had to do this. Plus, it tasted alright. Bit too sweet but beggars can''t be choosers. I¡¯m going to meditate a bit.


    Like waking up after a century of a sleep. I don¡¯t think I¡äve ever felt better. I feel light. My hands seem to have completely recovered. I wonder for how long I meditated. Son?


    Hmm, where is Son? Oh. Seems he stayed fused with me the entire time. Well, it¡¯s up to him either way. I thought he felt it was uncomfortable. Each to his own.


    The smell has become a bit odd. Guessing the multi-legged based insect didn¡¯t keep well. I¡¯m a bit hungry but I won¡¯t be eating this decaying thing. Time to get out of here.


    Fresh air, amazing. Oh? This is strange, or rather, this is unexpected. I can instantly locate the third guardian of this Naturai tree. It has almost melded with the tree, near undetectable.


    From an outside perspective that is. Hmm. I may have become closer to whatever energy these things are made of or use.


    If I could look at myself I don¡¯t doubt I¡¯d look like a new born baby, I most likely smell like rot. When I turn my head I can see the outline of the third guardian. This is a familiar sight.


    We¡¯ve seen this before. Its energy, I actually see the energy it gives off. Hmm. I think we may have improved in some way. But what improved? Our sense?


    Quick look at the skill list shows I haven¡¯t gained anything. I¡¯ve lost quite a bit of skill points though. Which is surprising since I usually gain a lot when I take down a guardian.


    I¡¯ve only got stakes on me at the moment. I could make my way towards the pile of spears I left on the tree platform. The stakes should do though, right? Worst case we¡¯ll use two or three. This is a lot easier now that I can clearly see where its head is.


    No reason to mess this up, breathe in. slowly make sure I channel the right amount of energy into the stake. Carefully aim. My right hand raised. Start a swing, activate rapid hand movement. Breathe out and release at the same time.


    There it goes. It moved. It is slow. It is having a spasm or something, it¡¯s shivering. I feel we may have taken out in one throw there. Hooo.


    This would have been much easier had I been able to take one out at the start. Ye, they were incredibly quick but two is so much easier to deal with than three. There was a definite power creep between the Naturai guardians as I progressed.


    Sometimes it feels like compatibility, like dealing with a quick enemy has been the hardest to overcome. Which may be a part of it, I wonder how someone could manufacture difficulty like this.


    Ah! How could I forget? I wonder what they dropped. I¡¯m expecting the world and more. You fucker better pay this time. Oi, you guys watching better be cheering me on.


    Alright, clearly this thing hasn¡¯t died yet. I haven''t gotten any notification. Also a quick look around tells me that nothing dropped from the other two things. Or at least, not that I can see.


    They are hanging from branches so we can assume things fell down. But we can also guess that drops would come from the last one standing, right?


    Should we throw another stake into this thing for good measure? I feel like it deserves it. It might be a bit odd but it feels more comfortable to throw the stakes when they are covered in insect fluid.


    These creatures bleed a liquid that is completely clear, sometimes the color changes a little but I think that isn¡¯t its blood. Do insects have blood? I need to increase my biology knowledge.


    I¡¯m not taking any risks, staying alert as I make my way towards the newly assassinated insectoid. It¡¯s still moving a bit, I¡¯m guessing it is its death throes.


    I¡¯ve walked fairly close to it now, the clear liquid shimmers in the slight sunlight that has managed to squeeze its way through the canopy. The sweet scent is in conflict with the rotten aroma I must be exuding.


    It¡¯s almost pitiful, if it wasn¡¯t so incredibly ugly. You know? It lacks any semblance to a person. I think that¡¯s what makes it so hard to feel compassion for it.


    Oh! Finally a notification popped up in the corner of my eyes. I better get some amazing rewards for this whole endeavor.

 Chapter thirty one: Energy wave

    Huu!


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    The forest


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You have taken over twelve points of interest in the Trial area Jeaulo.


    Two thirds of the forest known as Abraser has now been transferred under your control.


    You have been granted the rank: Kelas.


    Density of energy within Abraser has tripled.


    You can now access elementary information about the inhabitants of your territory.


    All difficulty has been raised to adjust for your new rank.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°And now for your real reward. You get to ask me anything you want.¡±


    No. please, no. not this again.


    ¡°Yes, this again. I am under the impression that you do not fully comprehend just how valuable this opportunity is. Will it enlighten you to know that I am the closest thing to all-knowing in this and any other universe I¡¯ve encountered?¡±


    No! I feel more ignorant already. Fine, let''s test this all knowing mind of yours, let¡¯s see if you are more than just a figment of my imagination. Why do I have to pay gold and silver for buildings?


    ¡°That¡¯s your question? This is what is on your mind? Not anything about how to succeed in this world, how I know everything you think? You pay with gold and silver because they are relatively rare. I could make you pay in leaves, if I said it cost one billion leaves, would you go collect leaves? It¡¯s all pointless.¡±


    Uhm. Eh, okay. Well, that doesn¡¯t prove anything does it? How many skill-books are there? No, no. wait. What dropped from these three guardians? Oh! And what killed me the last time I died?


    ¡°Now you¡¯re getting a bit smarter. There are as many skill-books as there are abilities, which are in the millions.


    I¡¯ll throw you something extra, abilities can and are created everyday by individuals, most learn from their predecessors but there are always new abilities being created by talented people.


    Granted, most are inconsequential¡±


    Hmm.


    ¡°As for what dropped from these guardians. There dropped a piece of jewelry that you would most likely overlook, as you have proven to do in the past.


    There also dropped a book that teaches people to use the skills these insectoids used.


    In a sense it is just the energy equivalent of a strong wind, a method no more elegant than directly punching the air into motion, mostly used by the lesser beings.¡±


    I¡¯ve overlooked items? Impossible, I¡¯m extremely good at searching for things, and you pretend to be all-knowing? As for the things that dropped, that¡¯s to be seen.


    ¡°It is remarkable how irritating you are. Let¡¯s try this then.¡±


    Dear goddess save your child!


    ¡°Remember this place? Here is where you almost got eaten by one of the arachnids. It is in fact one of the most unlikely escapes I¡¯ve seen. In the top hundred thousand at least.¡±


    Okay. You¡¯ve proven you¡¯ve got some major abilities there. Then I got a question, what exactly is your purpose here?


    ¡°I believe we went over this, no? I¡¯ll give you a short answer. I have been forced to be the guide to billions upon billions of people. My goal is to find and train everyone with even the slightest bit of potential, train them so they can reach the absolute pinnacle so they can save my creator. Save might be a strong word, more like help.¡±


    Eh? If the plan is to make me and others strong, why won¡¯t you give me a step by step guide to becoming strong?


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s always the same questions. No, it''s fine, I¡¯ll indulge you as promised.


    I have tried just about everything to motivate people to reach their potential and literally nothing has worked so far.


    I¡¯ve been doing this for longer than you can imagine and at some point I realized it doesn''t matter what I do, I just try everything all the time.


    And that includes creating worlds for you to struggle in, it includes me ignoring a majority of the participants, it includes me personally guiding a few selected individuals, it includes me giving you nonsensical missions, to make you forget your horribly upbringing, it includes allowing you to experience death.


    I think I¡¯ve made my point.¡±


    I¡¯m not going to lie, I¡¯m somewhat at a loss. You know? What should I ask? Got any advice as to what I should do now? I can¡¯t really think of anything else to ask.


    ¡°If I had any advice, I would have told you. Well there is one thing that has proven to be useful. Always make sure you can control the energy that is inside you. The external isn¡¯t that important right now, but the internal can literally make you implode.¡±


    What the actual shit, implode? Hey! How can you revive me every time I die?


    ¡°This will be the last answer you get this time around.


    I destroy your body and a clone is created. The process is less than perfect, it is also the reason you can¡¯t remember very specific things.


    Oh, and the further you advance in your training, the harder it is to clone you with your memories and experiences intact so I suggest you stop dying.¡±


    Last answer? Cloned? What an incredible ability, to be able to clone me, can you imagine it? The world isn¡¯t ready.


    Hello? You there? Sagely sage? No?


    Ah! Damn it, I forgot to ask about crafting again.


    Hey! You fucker, you left me in a whole different forest! Take me back you freak. I mean, would you please take me back, oh heavenly one.


    Hello?


    Eh. Nice. Surprisingly enough, being teleported isn¡¯t disorienting.


    I am a bit concerned about this newfound information. Somewhere out there is a collection of my corpses, our glorious previous selves.


    Alright, let¡¯s look for the skill-book and jewelry. Ah. They are suspiciously laid down on a small flat rock in front of the dead insectoid.


    There is another book there as well, which looks different from the usual white cover books. The letter i is on the cover with a circle around it. The jewelry is a tiny ring, it looks pretty plain, it is green with a brown tint. I doubt I¡¯d ever find that.


    I¡¯m going to head towards the tree of origin or tree of luck and read these, but before I do anything. I need to relieve myself and eat something, I am literally starving. I am also so tired that I have to fight with everything I have to keep my eyelids open.


    Guess we are eating insects again. Not exactly food fit for royalty is it?


    Alright, so the skill-book is the usual nonsense decryption process, at least it doesn¡¯t give me a headache. It has been easy to digest the information.


    The interesting thing is the other book. It is marginally smaller. It has pictures of three things, one on each page. There is a total of fifty pages, so it is pretty thin.


    But do you realize what this is? I haven¡¯t confirmed how to use it but we have to assume it is a form of inventory thing right? Why don¡¯t these things come with instructions? Ah, that deity level sprite did mention something about it being his random decision right?


    I wonder if it will pop up again if or when I clear the inner-layer.


    Let¡¯s meditate before moving towards our nearly abandoned town project. I really have been neglecting my subjects. Son doesn¡¯t seem to want to come out either, I wonder what he is doing inside there. Son?


    Whatever, don¡¯t wake me up while I meditate.


    Heya! How incredibly refreshing.


    Let¡¯s see. This ring doesn¡¯t seem awe inspiring to be honest. I put it on before I went to meditate but I can¡¯t see any benefit. You know what the system needs? An information section. Like an encyclopedia I could just look up.


    Merely a dream within a dream.


    I¡¯m trying to put things into this book, nothing has worked so far. Deep breathe, don¡¯t let it get to you.


    Hoo. Of course. I just channeled some energy into it and I can finally force the things inside to materialize. It is pretty lackluster in my opinion. It happened so fast, there were no sparks of beautiful and mesmerizing effects, it just appeared in behind the book and started falling to the ground.


    A bit inconvenient.


    There are in total, three things on the ground in front of me. A leaf, a rock and a bit of wood carved into the shape of a blade. It all looks useless. Fuck, what is this. I¡¯m leaving this on the ground.


    Okay, this part is also important, how do we put things into the book? I¡¯m currently trying to push a small stake into the book, it is strangely durable, I can¡¯t even pierce a small into the thing looking paper.


    I¡¯m channeling energy into the book but nothing is happening. Mm.


    Okay. Got it, we had to channel energy into the stake and the book at the same time and then mentally make them fuse together. I tried a few commands but apparently we are fusing things into the book. This isn¡¯t as convenient as I thought it would be.


    I¡¯m at least halfway done with the skill-book. I don¡¯t get the feeling I need to stop reading, from previous experiences I usually need a few readings but this looks like it¡¯ll be done in one or two.


    This was easy.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Energy wave


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    A wave of energy


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    That¡¯s just lazy, right?


    I¡¯ve been reading up on the new information I can access. There is a terrifyingly large number of people that have started living within my territory. There is even a new area that has been colonized or something.


    There is a rough map I can now access. From the looks of it, three out of four populated areas have been barricaded with something. Only Big Sim¡¯s doesn¡¯t have a wall. Why would they need walls?


    Well let¡¯s head over to Sera. She should be somewhere near the tree of luck. The training area between the origin and luck is the most populated but is also barricaded. Tiny red glows are all around the map, I think they represent people.


    That makes it into five areas which are separated but things are living there. The new area is close to the middle-layer, in an apparently random location. If we connect the dots, it looks like a strange t or an umbrella on the map.


    Over eight hundred thousand people. What in the name of the glorious goddess, how long have I been away? This is insane, how many greenhouses would I need to build? These people better have been accumulating some gold and silver.


    I wonder if Big Sim got her group to start mining, which would be nice.


    I¡¯m about halfway towards the tree of luck, it shouldn''t take too long. I¡¯m almost flying forward, using Cen-platforms to step on. I can already see the Naturai tree in the far off distance. This is the only way to travel.


    What should I do with so many people? I should make new areas in the middle-layer. Well the people who can handle the pressure can move there. Would anyone actually be able to handle it?


    What, there are actually a few groups of people in the middle layer. Five groups, can¡¯t quite make out their numbers though. I wonder what they are doing.

 Chapter thirty two: Professionals

    What are these people doing? They got watchtowers, both above and somehow below the canopy. I¡¯m not going to count but quite a few people are patrolling extremely strange looking walls.


    A clearing has been made in the middle of this fortified village, trees have been cut down, I assume to make this stupid looking wall. I feel like I¡¯ve seen a similar looking wall somewhere.


    The tree of luck seems to be untouched though, which is good. There are way too many people here. All of them are either patrolling the walls, training or doing some sort of work. This looks pretty good actually.


    I¡¯ll have to find Sera to figure out what is happening here. Should I just ask one of the people here? Ah, I¡¯ve been spotted by one of the patrols.


    ¡°Hey! Who are you? Show your mark.¡±


    Mark?


    ¡°Mark? What mark?¡±


    These people keep surprising me, what the hell did they do now?


    ¡°An outsider! Stay still! Don¡¯t move!¡±


    Fucker, I¡¯ll do what I want. Let¡¯s see him stop me. Oh should we play with him? Ah, there is a fierce looking woman rushing over. Let¡¯s rush towards this guy before more people show up.


    I step off the branch I was so eloquently balancing on top of and step onto a Cen-platform. The branches simply can¡¯t take the pressure if I try to put some power behind my jump.


    ¡°Hi!¡±


    Wow! His pupils just widened, almost making his eyes look completely black. Well mission completed, I¡¯d call that being surprised.


    ¡°Listen, little man. I am the lord and savior, the commander and chief, the sun and stars, the infinite and beyond. The all-encompassing king of this forest, and I¡¯d appreciate it if my subjects didn¡¯t try to order me around. I can revoke your respawning privileges with a thought.¡±


    The guy can¡¯t move, I¡¯m using energy to envelop him, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s very strong but he doesn¡¯t seem to be able to contend with it. I wonder what it feels like.


    Ah, he actually pissed himself, this is less than ideal but still fun. The woman is shooting towards us but seems a bit confused as to what is happening. I can understand, she probably hasn¡¯t seen a person appearing to stand on air before.


    ¡°Hey there. I wonder if either of you know Sera? I¡¯ve been on a journey of self-discovery, and I found out things about me that would astonish even the most sageous of sages.¡±


    See. People aren¡¯t any fun, she looks like she¡¯s preparing to eat me, and not in a fun way.


    ¡°How are you doing that!?¡±


    Hoo, there is clear hostility in her voice, I personally wouldn¡¯t try to provoke a floating person. My dear heavenly goddess! That spear is out of this world! Such fine craftsmanship!


    ¡°Where did you get that spear!?¡±


    I release the poor man that appears to be in shock and he instantly falls to his knees. I¡¯m not entirely sure how well these people can process their environment but it is clear from the way they react they can¡¯t believe their eyes when they see me move towards them.


    I step in front of the charging woman, put my right hand on her shoulder and grab her spear with my left. I put some pressure on her.


    ¡°Who made this spear? Where did you get his?¡±


    It is gorgeous, the carving is sublime! It is only a wooden spear but the details on the thing are phenomenal. There clearly has been an attempt to imbue it with energy, not expertly done but I¡¯ve done worse in the past.


    ¡°Speak, girl.¡±


    Ah she might not be able to speak whilst under the pressure, let¡¯s let up a bit. This ability seems useful, it¡¯s the new energy wave skill. I changed its use a bit, it¡¯s becoming a lot easier to control energy.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I am the lord and savior, the commander and chief, the sun and stars, the infinite and beyond. The all-encompassing king of the forest. Also known as lord Abraser, the leader of the free world. The child of Naturai, Con for short. I am the owner of the outer and middle layer of this forest.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Abraser!?¡±


    Seems I have been recognized.


    ¡°Sir! Please forgive our insolence! I¡¯ll take you to our leader right away!¡±


    Hohoho, this is more like it.


    The poor little guy is just sitting there staring with tears in his eyes, snot and drool flowingly freely. I¡äll have to make this up to him, he might have been traumatized.


    ¡°Lead the way, eh. What¡¯s your name? also, where did you get this spear?¡±


    ¡°Sir. The name is Alo, I am the leader of the Vera squadron. The spear was awarded to me when I was promoted to captain. It was created by our revered master spearcrafter, Kel of the spear.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Master spearcrafter, I¡¯ll have to meet this person.¡±


    ¡°Of course sir. Both the spear masters would be honored to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Both? Who is the other one?¡±


    ¡°Her magnificence, Hel, she¡¯s also Kel¡¯s sister.¡±


    This has been a pleasant surprise.


    We¡¯ve been walking on the platforms, I can see fear in some people¡¯s eyes when they see this woman called Alo. I wonder what caused this dramatic change, I¡¯m getting a bit itchy from curiosity.


    I can still see the houses I had built around, there are other buildings around that I am certain I didn¡¯t make. I wonder what the food situation is right now.


    Oh, this is Sera¡¯s house.


    ¡°Alo, captain of the fifteenth Vera division asks for a meeting with her majesty, Sera, leader of the luck. I bring the fabled Abraser!¡±


    Eh, isn¡¯t this a bit over dramatic, it feels like something I¡¯d make them say.


    ¡°Enter!¡±


    An overbearing female voice comes from inside the building. That¡¯s clearly Sera. Seems she really has some control around this place.


    ¡°Sera! What¡¯s up! Been a while, hey what¡¯s happening with these spears, they look amazing.¡±


    Oh, she¡¯s still gorgeous, there seems to be a strange atmosphere in here. A bunch of half-naked men are scattered across the room, all sitting or lying on comfortably looking chairs or carpets.


    She¡¯s just staring at me, she looks mad.


    ¡°What? Why do you look so angry? Shouldn¡¯t you come hug me, say welcome back or something? This is just awkward.¡±


    No? Nothing? Are we having some sort of silent conversation?


    ¡°Do you have any idea what has been going on while you were gone? Do you even realize how long you have been gone!?¡±


    ¡°Eh? Well. I can¡¯t say I¡¯m sure of how long I¡¯ve been away but it may have been quite some time. What? Why are you looking at me like that?¡±


    I really can¡¯t be blamed for this, time flows forward with or without me. I have no control over this.


    Ah, she¡¯s just going on and on. I want to go meet with the spearcrafters, they seem like my kind of people.


    Alright, she isn¡¯t stopping, I''m just going to leave.


    ¡°Alo!¡±


    See, Sera just keeps blathering away. I can¡¯t understand why she¡¯s so mad.


    ¡°Alo, take to the spearcrafters.¡±


    ¡°But sure, her majesty is talking to you.¡±


    Looks like Sera has stopped talking.


    ¡°Sera, come with me, we¡¯re going to the spearcrafters, and you can explain what¡¯s been going on, on the way.¡±


    Really can¡¯t let other people dictate my actions, horribly boring.


    And with that, I grab Alo, turn her around and push her gently forward.


    ¡°Go, go. I need to meet these spearcrafters, I may even take them in as disciples. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    I can hear a loud audible sigh from Sera as I walk outside the house with a bit absent minded Alo leading the way. After a short walk, Sera appears on my side with a sour expression.


    So. Apparently, from what Sera has been telling me. People kept gathering here. Eventually some factions formed. At first it was nothing special but when the factions numbered over hundred thousand and the food issue was increasing daily, it became a bit unstable.


    Short story long, there is some sort of war going on in the villages going on. Sera and her sister control this territory, the tree of luck. Herros has control over the tree of origin and some areas outside of Abraser.


    Some woman called Jeee, ye Jeee with three e¡¯s. She is apparently pretty strong and has created the new camp that is closest to the middle-layer. Apparently, she is the one that has groups of people exploring the middle-layer.


    Then there is the middle layer. It is led by a group of five strong warriors, three women and two men. They have control over the best crafting buildings and the training arena. And are supposedly the strongest force.


    I¡¯m not sure if I need to do anything about this power struggle here but there is an abundance of gold and silver I can use to create buildings with. I still haven¡¯t explored the new options I got with the new rank. I also need to visit the library.


    I¡¯ll go meet with all the leaders of each village to remind them who¡¯s the real leader of this place. Though I¡¯ll be honest, I don¡¯t want to fight thousands of people but I doubt they can do anything to stop me from moving freely.


    ¡°Abraser!¡±


    Hm? Oh?


    ¡°Ah, sorry got a bit lost in my head there. Are we there yet?¡±


    No need for that look, the look of anger and disappointment. I think that¡¯s what that look means.


    Oh, look at this building, I didn¡¯t create this. It¡¯s almost as magnificent as Sera¡¯s house. When we enter there are piles of wooden sticks lying about. The air in here is a bit heavy.


    ¡°Look at this, what amazing carving. There are so many of them!¡±


    ¡°Sir. This is the spearcrafters personal workstation. There are others but this one is exclusively for Hel and Kel.¡±


    Ho! Not bad, not bad at all.


    ¡°Who''s there?¡±


    A sweet sounding voice comes from another room. Following the voice comes a beautiful woman in plain clothing. Her hair is short and messy.


    ¡°Hey there. Are you the rumored master spearcrafter? Are you Hel or Kel?¡±


    Before she has a chance to answer another figure pops out from behind her.


    ¡°Kel, who is it?¡±


    ¡°Twins? You two are twins?¡±


    ¡°Sir, let me introduce you, the one in front is Master Kel and the one behind her is her twin sister, Master Hel.¡±


    ¡°Oh! So that¡¯s how it is, how fantastic. It¡¯s a great pleasure to meet you two. I¡¯ve been admiring the spear you made for little Miss Alo here.¡±


    Hmm.


    ¡°Sera, we¡¯ll talk a bit later. I need to get more familiar with these two geniuses.¡±


    Ha! If eyes could kill, I¡¯d be dead.


    ¡°Come talk got me before you disappear again, I need your help with that entire mess. This is your ¡°kingdom¡± right? You need to do something about this. Also! We need more green houses, we can barely sustain ourselves with hunting.¡±


    ¡°Ye, of course. A few greenhouses is nothing. I¡¯ll be by later.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll leave you to it. Hel, Kel. Take good care of Lord Abraser.¡±


    ¡°Lord Abraser!?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s me! We need to sit down and talk about your work! Please tell me if you need anything. I want to reward you for being such talented spear makers. Do you only work with wood?¡±


    Huhuhu! Ah kindred spirits. They look a bit frightened though.


    ¡°No need to be shy. We¡¯re cut from the same stone aren¡¯t we? Hey, I was wondering if I could see you work for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Kel looks a bit more confident than Hel. They look eerily similar but there are some obvious differences. One has blue eyes with a red tinge. And the other has blue eyes with a purple tinge.


    My god. This workshop is amazing! So many beautiful spears.


    Breathe in. the smell of worked wood.

 Chapter thirty three: Subjects do as their told.

    The days have been a blur. Where one spear ends another begins. Nearly all pages of my book have been filled with gorgeous spears. Some spear became too heavy to use, some lighter than air and just starting floating towards the sky.


    We had a spear that gave off a warm sensation once we channeled energy into it, another turned magnetic. We still aren¡¯t too sure how things work but we¡¯ve been cataloguing the patterns used.


    But now this beautiful dream comes to a halt, at least for a while. Sera has been informing me that something of a civil war is about to begin and she expects me to solve this ¡®crisis¡¯.


    I¡¯ll be honest. I don¡¯t care if they start some kind of war. All I wanted was a kingdom and my kingdom needs people, I don¡¯t care if they fight for power.


    I decided to make a system of government. A power system, where strength rules. These people are blind with the idea of political power, so I¡¯ll give them what they want.


    The newest area has the worst buildings but it¡¯s closest to the middle layer so I¡¯m going to build a huge arena there. A coliseum. Where they can fight to death.


    It¡¯ll be in three areas. So at any time there will be three leaders. These people may be challenged every twelve months. This might have to be revised. Maybe let the rulers assign a guard that receives challenges, for the right to challenge the leader.


    The arena is large due to a few factors. One is that it has to be adequate to represent a real situation. This means obstacles, and a wide area to run around in.


    In truth, I think I¡¯m just being biased towards people with powerful ranged abilities. I haven¡¯t seen anyone as talented as me in throwing a spear though.


    The construction is a bit harder than I expected. I am puzzling together various different buildings to make this an actual fighting area.


    It is still cool to see the buildings materialize. The awe of the crowd isn¡¯t half bad either.


    ¡°Alright, gather around folks, someone write this down.¡±


    Sera, Jeee and Herros have already arrived with their posse since a while ago. The surroundings are already filled up with thousands of people. How the hell do so many people keep appearing in my kingdom?


    Best to wrap this up and get back into spear making. I also have to take control of the next tree.


    ¡°Me, the all powerful me, Have decided to create a fair way to split the control of the forest.


    First of all. We will designate three different areas. one area has one leader each.


    Is someone writing this down? No? You! over there, ye you. Write this down.¡±


    These people are so unprofessional.


    ¡°Every twelve months, there will be two weeks of fights to determine the strongest contender.


    This contender then has the rights to challenge one of the three leaders, or if they assign a guard, their guard. Then they earn the right to challenge the leader.


    These weeks of fighting will start today. We¡¯ll keep to the same leaders we have right now. Step into one of those three circles, and challenge who you want. If no one challenges you, you can proceed to challenge Sera, Herros or Jeee in two weeks time.


    Whatever happens in the future is in your hands. But I will say this. Anyone that is proven to intentionally sabotage any crafting facility, will see death and expulsion.¡±


    Phew. That was pretty cool right? Drink it in everyone. Actually I can do better. Let¡¯s summon two floating spears. See how they like that.


    ¡°Arrange for contenders to line up. Leaders cannot contend for other areas.¡±


    Ye, they love the floating spears. Bet they never thought they¡¯d see something like this in their lifetimes.


    ¡°You can only challenge one area at a time. To contest another, you¡¯ll have to wait twelve months.¡±


    Good. Now I should be able to go back. I want to get into spear making and play with the girls some more.


    Oh, they are here?This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Girls! Let¡¯s go back. The kids can play by themselves now.¡±


    Well the leaders don¡¯t look happy. Not my job to care though.


    ¡°Lord Abraser.¡±


    This person can¡¯t be protesting. Let¡¯s give him a little warning. With one spear in my hand I flick it. the precision is there, since I¡¯m not going for power.


    That¡¯s the reaction I was looking for. Shock and awe. Seems Jeee¡¯s people are the most unsatisfied however.


    ¡°Anything else?¡±


    Didn¡¯t think so.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Ah not even a minute passes before Herros, Sera and Jeee catch up to me.


    Actually this Jeee doesn¡¯t look half bad. A bit fierce but that¡¯s not bad.


    ¡°What do you three want?¡±


    ¡°Lord Abraser. We need more facilities.¡±


    Herros doesn¡¯t look too mad about anything.


    ¡°Alright, Herros, what do you need?¡±


    ¡°More green houses and crafting facilities.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get to the green houses later. As for crafting facilities. No one can have control over them. I¡¯ll add more to the crafting area and expand the surroundings, but you all better learn to share.¡±


    Ah. Seems Jeee wasn¡¯t too happy about that. Hmm. Sera did tell me she had control over it and the training area.


    ¡°And you Sera?¡±


    ¡°Forget it. Herros already addressed my issue.¡±


    ¡°Then you Jeee?¡±


    She¡¯s not going to cause trouble is she? Did she get a bit thirsty for power?


    ¡°Lord Abraser.¡±


    Hm? She gave me a little bow. That¡¯s not bad. I should make people do this in the future.


    ¡°I was hoping you would create an outpost in the middle layer. My men have been on expeditions but the pressure makes it hard for prolonged stay.¡±


    I did not expect that. She has quite the ambition. I wonder how long it takes people to get adjusted to the middle layer.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±


    Can I even build in the middle layer? I¡¯ll try it later. Maybe in a few days after we settle some things.


    I hadn¡¯t realized how many people there were until I saw all those people gathered up. And that was less than ten percent of the total population.


    Well, forget it. Only thing I¡¯m worried about is if there are too many people, won¡¯t I lose control? What happens if they stage a revolt? No they are pretty weak. Not like they can hit me even if they throw a thousand spears.


    ¡°Ab.¡±


    Hm?


    ¡°Ah. Let''s go girls. We still have to finish that feather spear.¡±


    ¡°Remember what you promised.¡±


    I know. I know. You can do the final infusion.¡°


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡°Lord Abraser!¡±


    Hm?


    ¡°Lord Abraser!¡±


    ¡°What!?¡±


    Oh it''s Sera.


    ¡°Hey, why are you shouting Sera?¡±


    Why does she look so angry?


    ¡°Where are the greenhouses? Where are the crafting facilities?¡±


    Ah, Hel this bad timing. Ah. She isn''t even wearing clothes. Ah. Why is she holding that spear so affectionately?


    ¡°So this is what you are so busy with?¡±


    Damnit. Why is my dignity being trampled on!? I just wanted to have some fun.


    ¡°Okay, okay. How many greenhouses do you need?¡±


    ¡°Thirty two!¡±


    What the hell. That¡¯s a lot.


    ¡°And you still need to organize the crafting area.¡±


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll do it now.¡±


    Why do I feel like I¡¯m not in charge here? Kel and Hel would never talk to me like this. Do I need to take Sera somewhere private and teach her a lesson?


    Alright. I should know my fault. Let¡¯s fix up the forest a bit.


    Hmm. Well this is a bit messy. All these buildings they made are garbage. They have negative values. What the hell are they doing?


    Before I do anything, it¡¯s best I remove these garbage buildings.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Okay good. How dare they trash up my kingdom. Disgraceful.


    Let¡¯s see. Let¡¯s set up forty greenhouses in each zone. I¡¯d like to centralize them but they have done a decent job of spreading themselves.


    Forget it, I''ll just place forty down in each area and let them cry about it later.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    This was a lot more fun when it was just a few buildings. Placing down over a hundred is just a chore. Maybe I can give someone control and let them manage the resources?


    Let¡¯s see. I got to replace all those garbage buildings I destroyed earlier. It says i have sixty thousand homeless people in my area. That¡¯s kind of crazy.


    Well, they can sleep anywhere can¡¯t they. Hell, I don¡¯t have a house either. These people seem like they''re asking for a lot. Can¡¯t they just enjoy the great outdoors?


    Man, I¡¯m going to be building this much. I should create some work for them. There are five mines nearby and I can create herbalist buildings that focus on growing valuable herbs.


    Should I lo0k into alchemy or potion making? No, my woodworking is already time consuming enough. I can¡¯t even get through a day without work, tho Hell and Kel are half of my time. Maybe three fourths.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Okay. If people need housing in the fture they can fuck right off. I¡¯m not making any more! This is way too tedious. My mind feels numb and my hand has already given up.


    And no one is rushing up to thank me for my hard work! Tens of thousands of buildings sin a day and they don¡¯t even take the time to worship me.


    This is why god is such a rare sight. Well, I¡¯m not a god, but I can¡¯t be too far off, right?


    Hmm. I still have a lot left over. I did promise to improve the crafting facilities, right? Alright, let¡¯s begin by expanding all those platforms.


    I¡¯m placing down every building tagged with crafting. I have no idea how there can be over sixty buildings with the tag but that¡¯s up to the people to discover.


    I should put up a reward for discovering new things. And a really good one for discovering a new crafting profession.


    Okay Hel and Kel are looking distraught. I should get back to it.


    ¡°That should do it Sera. By the way, why don¡¯t you join us for a moment?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Is she trying to escape? Isn¡¯t it obvious what I want?


    ¡°Sera get in here. You really should get to know Hel and Kel. They are very¡­ inventive. You could learn a thing or two.¡±


    Why are Hel and Kel smiling so maliciously? Wait, are they a bit more devious than I thought?


    ¡°Alright¡­¡±


    Sera was never this hesitant. Forget it, she¡¯s not wrong to be hesitant. We already have incense that arouses the spirit and food that entices the spirit.


    ¡°Good. tell your friends to return. And tell them not to worry if you''re not back in a few days. You can use my name if there is any trouble.¡±