I Became the Land (4)
I Became the Land (4)
'Alright, this should be enough...'
Keeek...
I bound the fallen Lingering Thought, which had collapsed weakly, with earth. It didn't even struggle, just got captured meekly.
'I'm getting pretty used to this job. Should I like this or not? Just how many of them are there going to be?'
I picked up the captured Lingering Thought and headed back to my dwelling.
Several weeks had passed since parting with the puppy. If you asked what had happened in that time, I'd say a lot of things happened.
The most important among them was the increase in my power. The energy needed to move earth and perceive the world had grown.
'I can do more things now. The power needed to move objects has decreased too.'
And as my power grew, something else grew alongside it: proficiency.
Through repeated practice, I became skilled at handling things I couldn't manage well before, like tree branches and pebbles. My overall proficiency with my power had risen.
To what degree? Enough to move a clay doll, something I didn't even think of touching before, without any trouble.
'I was really excited back then. When I first moved it and it was perfect, without any collapsing parts, I was so happy.'
Ever since realizing I could move the clay doll, I've been trying to live using only it to move like a human. Things like lifting heavy stones or crouching down to watch the ants.
'If there's a slight regret, I guess it's that I can't mimic sensations at all.'
No matter how much I try to imitate being human, I guess what's impossible is impossible. The clay doll I'm controlling doesn't feel like me at all; it just looks like a puppet.
No matter how much the clay doll walks on the ground or lifts heavy objects, I just feel serene.
'Too bad. I wanted to taste things like food, or feel them.'
It's regrettable, but I have no choice but to give up. Unless a completely different means appears, for now, I have to be satisfied with imitating a human.
'Anyway, enough about this.'
I thought about the reason my power increased.
Before, it did increase bit by bit as I handled earth, but it never increased this much.
'It must be related to the puppy being engulfed in light.'
I noticed my power increased right after that, so it was certain.
'And the reason the puppy was engulfed in light was...'
What was at the end of my walk through the forest was the burnt tree. I had arrived at my dwelling.
'It was because of that tree.'
The moment the puppy touched the burnt tree, light erupted and my power increased. Meaning, that tree is connected to me.
'I actually felt a faint sense of connection when I focused my consciousness on the tree.'
So, is that tree my true body? No. My true body is this land itself. That's not wrong.
Then why am I connected to that tree? The answer was simple.
'That tree is connected to the barrier.'
Somehow, that tree is related to the barrier. Otherwise, there's no explanation for why I have a connection point with it.
'The problem is I got stuck from here.'
I realized the tree and the barrier are related, but I don't know how to actually break the barrier.
'Surely for things like this, you draw in some kind of magical formula or something, right? Then there should be traces...'
Maybe even those traces were hidden so I couldn't see them. No matter how hard I stared at the tree, nothing came out.
There was only one instance so far where the tree showed a reaction. When a Lingering Thought touched its body.
'Besides that, even if I tapped it, nothing happened...'
That the tree reacts to Lingering Thoughts could only be confirmed from the one case with the puppy, but that question was easily resolved.
Because a few weeks after the puppy first appeared, Lingering Thoughts began appearing more and more on this land.
'Before, it was one or two a week, but these days, they appear about one a day...'
Even that frequency was increasing. The day might come when this land becomes filled with Lingering Thoughts.
'But I won't let that happen.'
If Lingering Thoughts increase, the rate at which this land loses vitality accelerates. No matter how minute that speed, if the numbers increase, there's no answer.
'So I need to figure out this tree...'
Lingering Thoughts begin dying from the moment they enter this land. Because the vitality permeating the earth is in direct opposition to their negative aspects.
However, the speed at which the two cancel each other out is remarkably slow, so there's a problem: the land's vitality is continuously consumed while the Lingering Thought is alive.
The thing that could solve that was the burnt tree.
'Just touching this thing's body makes them disappear immediately.'
Whether the Lingering Thought's negative aspect remained or not, if it just touched the burnt tree, it would often immediately dissipate.
'And when they disappear like that, my power also increases.'
Simply burying a Lingering Thought in the ground to get rid of it is very convenient, but the land's vitality decreases and I gain nothing.
However, if I bring it to the burnt tree, the land's vitality isn't consumed and it even adds power to me. Naturally, the latter is more beneficial, right?
'There are still many questions left... but even excluding that, the beneficial aspect doesn't change.'
Why can this tree annihilate Lingering Thoughts? And why does my power increase when the tree annihilates them? I'm completely in the dark about all that, but this was the only method to deal with Lingering Thoughts without consuming this land's vitality.
I looked at the Lingering Thought the clay doll had brought. Their forms differed for each individual, but the one constant was that they dripped black sludge.
'You'll feel better soon too.'
I manipulated the clay doll to make the Lingering Thought touch the burnt tree. A bright light erupted and then subsided. Where the light subsided, nothing remained.
'...Well, guess that's it for today. It's starting to get dark.'
Let's go to sleep for now.
I focused my consciousness on the land. Watching the lifeforms living diligently in this land, unchanged, I fell asleep.
As expected, signs of a Lingering Thought appearing today were felt, so I manipulated the clay doll and headed to that location.
The uniquely gloomy atmosphere of a place where a Lingering Thought appears. But for some reason, it felt different from usual.
'What is it? It feels more concentrated or something...'
That's when it happened. Something flew in from beyond my perception range and just cut off the clay doll's arm.
'What?'
I was flustered by the unexpected situation. The Lingering Thoughts I've faced so far have been weak, so weak they couldn't even touch the clay doll.
'Is it a stronger Lingering Thought?'
It was still outside my perception range. Well, then I just needed to expand my perception range.
As my power increased, the range I could perceive also increased. I couldn't measure the exact distance, but it was enough to find it.
The appearance of the one I found like that was quite shocking. While being covered in black sludge was the same, it had a form that seemed like it wasn't a creature of this world.
It alternated between bipedal and quadrupedal walking, and its head was half-caved in. Its whole body was covered in wounds, and in places, flesh had been eaten away to reveal bone.
The most eye-catching thing was its tail. It was thin in thickness but very long, and the tip was extremely sharp. At a glance, it looked about the length of three clay dolls combined.
'Was that tail what attacked me earlier? But it doesn't look long enough to attack from beyond my perception range?'
I wondered briefly, but soon understood when I saw it attack. Its tail shot towards me at high speed, then, like a chainsword, it stretched out long and pierced through the clay doll's torso.
Of course, even if the clay doll gets pierced, it's no damage to me at all.
I tried to refill the pierced spot with earth again, but strangely, the earth wouldn't stick together. Only when I applied more force than usual did it finally stick.
'Aha. Since Lingering Thoughts and vitality are opposites, they can also resist my power.'
The Lingering Thoughts I've met so far were too weak, so even when I applied moderate force, they couldn't do much. But if a Lingering Thought is strong, it can sufficiently resist my power.
'Still, I can defeat the one in front of me.'
I manipulated the earth beneath its feet and bound its limbs so it couldn't run away.
The creature, only wary of the clay doll in front of it, couldn't react in time and had its limbs bound.
-!@#$%^&!! %^&@#$!!!
It made strange noises and struggled, but couldn't break free.
Seizing that opening, I tried to wrap its whole body in earth as usual to neutralize it, but suddenly its tail shot out and the recoil broke the restraints.
'Whoa, it escapes like that?'
I immediately chased the one that freed itself and ran away quickly.
I tried to catch it by moving earth along the path it fled. Its feet were quite nimble; it dodged the moving earth here and there, but was eventually caught.
'Where do you think you're going.'
It tried to escape using its tail again, but I wasn't going to fall for it twice. I pressured it, applying stronger force than before.
-!@#$%^&*!!
It struggled, but eventually was buried in the earth. Occasionally, its body twitched, but it was useless.
'Phew, got it. Now I need to get rid of it quickly.'
Having succeeded in neutralizing it, I immediately headed to my dwelling.
The vitality this one consumed was quite significant. Of course, it wasn't a fatal level, and over time, the consumed vitality would recover, but what's wasted is wasted. It was better to annihilate this one as soon as possible.
'Almost there. Now go well, you mysterious thing.'
Upon arriving at my dwelling, I immediately annihilated it. Watching it disappear, I thought to myself.
'That one was definitely stronger than the previous Lingering Thoughts... Might be that even stronger ones appear in the future.'
Among them, might there appear ones so strong my power doesn't work on them? The moment that question arose, I decided.
'I need to get stronger from now on.'
Until now, there haven't been any major problems, so I've been living leisurely, but now the situation has changed.
I have a reason to get stronger.