Want to Come See My Cat?
"That said, it does not mean I can report every single action of the elves. The information I possess is merely fragmentary."
"That's fine! Just hearing news from the second floor is enough for me."
Everything I told the World Tree was sincere. Of course I was curious about what Syleia was doing right now, too — but what I wanted to know most was what had become of the elven village after I left.
"Then I shall begin. First, I must speak of the situation immediately after you left the elven village."
"Did something happen?"
"Nay — thanks to you dealing with the elder, all the elves were saved. Even so, a problem has befallen them."
Don't tell me the elves started fighting among themselves?
The classic plot where the common enemy vanishes and they turn on each other?
Fortunately, the problem the World Tree mentioned was far more trivial than I'd imagined.
"With the elder gone and the World Tree's seed passed into your hands, they have lost the focal point that bound them all together."
Wait, now that I hear it out loud, that doesn't sound trivial at all…
I'd heard that elves were born from the World Tree. So if I'd taken the World Tree's seed, hadn't that essentially driven them to extinction?
Just as guilt was about to hit me, the World Tree hastily cut me off.
"Hear me out fully before you judge, child. Of course, they have a way to resolve the problem."
"Aww, come on — you could've led with that."
"Well… the method is rather difficult to convey to you."
"Huh?"
Hearing this much, I feel like something's starting to click…
Like the puzzle pieces in my head weren't fully locked in yet. The final piece snapped into place with the World Tree's next words.
"The elves needed something to worship in my place after I vanished. That something is you. You have become the elves' new god."
Right — that conversation at the restaurant with Soli and Yeo Jeonghyeon!
They'd said the elves regarded me as a god. They'd even erected a statue modeled after me. Now I finally understood why.
The moment the puzzle clicked together, the World Tree continued with a supplementary explanation.
"Perhaps as a result of worshipping you as their god, several aspects of their nature have shifted to resemble those of humans. The most representative change is that male and female can now pair and bear offspring."
"Ah! So that's how the elven race managed to survive all the way into the distant future."
I felt certain I'd finally grasped the full picture of the second floor. And maybe because the tension had drained away, my mind wandered into completely inappropriate territory.
What did "lovers" even mean to elves until now?
Unlike humans, they didn't need to worry about offspring, so was it purely a relationship for pleasure? By that logic, it wouldn't even need to be opposite-sex. Rune's open-minded suspicion about my relationship with Syleia suddenly made a lot more sense.
Then when I paired up Velis and Nairak…?
Don't tell me it wasn't the wholesome romantic pairing I'd imagined?
"…"
My face went bright red from the embarrassing train of thought.
"That is all the information I can give you regarding the elves. Does it fall short of your expectations?"
Somehow the World Tree seemed to be gauging my reaction. For a being without physical form, she had a strangely hesitant air about her. Of course, that worry was completely unfounded.
"No, you've already been a huge help. By the way, there's one thing I'm curious about."
"Very well. Ask."
"You're not sharing my entire field of vision and thoughts, are you?"
This was actually a really important issue. If my inner thoughts were being shared in real time, I'd have no choice but to tearfully shut the World Tree off.
"I am not! I beg you to reconsider that decision. If I could read all your thoughts in the first place, I would have no reason to be this restless, would I?"
"Hmm."
On the surface, every word checked out. In practice, she didn't seem able to properly read my thoughts unless I deliberately projected them. But true to a tree that had lived tens of thousands of years, her words concealed another layer of meaning.
"So my field of vision is fully shared, then?"
"…"
"No peeking at anything naughty!"
From now on, I'd definitely shut the World Tree off before washing up. I still hadn't gotten used to looking at my own body — no way was I exposing it to the World Tree.
"Very well. When you bathe, it cannot be helped. But in ordinary times, I would appreciate it if you kept my consciousness active as much as possible. Spending time alone in a pitch-black void is rather lonely."
"Well, we've got to look out for each other. I can't just keep you switched off forever."
"I thank you. Thanks to your consideration, my loneliness seems to ease a little."
Hearing her gratitude left me feeling strangely moved. Of course, I'd never intended to seal the World Tree away for life in the first place. I just felt bad for half-jokingly threatening to lock her up.
From now on, I won't tease you by calling you a "resting tree."
A tree catching its breath inside my body, or a tree practicing social distancing. Those should be fine — the World Tree wouldn't get hurt by those. Definitely.
Whether she knew my inner thoughts or not, the World Tree addressed me in a cheerful tone.
"Child, next we shall discuss the ability you possess. That power to awaken wood has yet to draw even three-tenths of its potential. I can grant you enlightenment."
"Ah, the ability to awaken wood… you mean this?"
I slowly unclenched my tightly closed fist. And from my open palm, a cat-shaped wooden figurine was born. I'd thought of it as simply the ability to summon wood — was there more to it?
"Indeed, the concept of summoning is not wrong. However, the scope of it differs greatly. The garments you summoned, strictly speaking, are not wood, are they?"
"That's true. Though they all seemed to be natural materials derived from trees."
"Correct! The only thing limiting your ability is your imagination. Did I not also birth elves through seeds that originated from my own body?"
"It kind of feels similar to magic."
Magic was the power of imprinting my mental image onto mana and releasing it. That ability changed depending on how I defined it. My only magic, Dawn of Ash, was a perfect example — a magic that took my past as its ash, which was why even if my present self got caught in it, it had no effect. Clothes might burn, but the body stayed fine, didn't it?
Now that I'm being told to expand my imagination, I feel like I've hit a wall instead.
Like how the moment someone says "don't think of an elephant," an elephant pops into your head. Or how mentioning breathing or blinking makes you suddenly conscious of both. The word "wood" had become an obsession, and no proper ideas would come.
"Then try imagining a vast forest within your mind's eye."
"A forest?"
"…"
No answer came from the World Tree. Answering itself would restrict my imagination, I supposed. I lay back on the bed and began to think carefully.
What comes to mind when I think of a forest…?
Trees were too obvious — acorns, pinecones, butterflies? No, I shouldn't think only in material terms.
What would it feel like to step into a vast forest?
When I'd first arrived on the second floor, I'd opened my eyes among dense trees. Vision hemmed in on all sides, claustrophobic — and yet a warmth of unknown origin had wrapped gently around my entire body. If I had to put it into words…
"Like a fetus floating comfortably in its mother's womb?"
The warmth of a forest that cradled all things with a mother's loving kindness flashed through my mind.
"How about that? Pretty good interpretation, right?"
"That is not a domain for me to judge. Your thoughts shall become your own answer."
I hadn't really been expecting praise anyway. In this particular area, the World Tree had a strangely exacting air about her. So for the final step, I just needed to create a forest based on my mental image.
Like this, maybe?
I tried to envision a vast forest like a mother's embrace. Naturally, a forest settled into my mind's eye, encircling me protectively in a round embrace. Then the World Tree's voice reached me.
"It is not finished yet. Consider how you will govern the forest."
"Govern it?"
The answer was so abstract that grasping its meaning wasn't easy.
"Or maybe this…"
The forest spread across my mind's eye looked similar to the one I'd visited on the second floor. The difference was that my forest had no elven village at its center. The moment I registered that emptiness, an idea struck me.
"Let's put up a statue of me!"
Apparently the elven village had erected a statue modeled after me after I left. It'd be a shame if only my forest stood empty. And so a colossal statue rose at the heart of my forest. Gazing up at my own form, hundreds of meters tall and carved from wood, I finally felt like the vast forest was truly mine.
"That was not originally how I meant for you to govern the forest, but the result can be called good."
"Hold on! I'm not done yet."
I didn't like how bare my statue looked. If I put a decent staff in its hand, it'd look much better. At last, a staff standing in the room caught my eye — a staff I'd bought long ago at an elven shop.
Ever since gaining the ability to summon wood, I no longer needed to carry a physical staff around. I could just summon a new one whenever I needed it. But now — couldn't I send this staff the other way, into my mind's eye?
"Got it!"
The staff in my hand transferred to the statue's hand within my mental image. And I could call that staff back into my hand just as easily. Even more astonishing — every time I summoned it, the original staff's enchantments remained intact.
Magic Power: 5 (+5)
A staff with a lightening enchantment that settled perfectly into my grip. I no longer needed to worry about any performance gap between a staff summoned by my ability and the original.
"How about that? Feeling like praising me now?"
"Indeed — a magnificent achievement that surpasses even myself in my prime."
"Yahoo!"
That praise just now felt kind of half-hearted…
Well, whatever. At least I had the satisfaction of accomplishing something today. With this, I'd earned myself a free pass to play around for the rest of the day.
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I'd been so absorbed in training that I hadn't even read the messages from Soli. It wasn't even time to go for lunch yet — what could she want?
When I checked her messages, I nearly jumped out of my skin.
Isn't that one of those pickup lines that's been trending lately?
"Want to come over for ramen?" had gotten too cliché, so apparently the meta had shifted to cats. You go inside expecting a cat, and instead a girl in a cat cosplay outfit comes out, and then it goes straight to the main event…
Of course Soli would never do that.
Where had this cat even come from in the first place?
As I was fretting over how to reply, a sudden stomachache hit me.
"Ugh! My stomach…"
"What is suddenly the matter?"
"S-something… something huge is about to come out!"
"You little—! Then go to the bathroom!"
That's not what I meant…
Being in pain was bad enough — now I was being treated like I just needed to poop. I felt so wronged that my stomach hurt twice as much.