Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Became the Gallery's Only Reptile
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“Meow?! Myaong! Grrr!”
-Ch, Cheong is changing?!
I'm clearly flustered right now.
No, we're suddenly supposed to fight, but the enemy is going through a power-up event?
It's not like the protagonist is awakening or anything. What am I supposed to do if it suddenly gets this strong here?
‘Should I just hit it now?’
Currently, Cheong is in a defenseless state, showing the process of adapting to the massive life force flowing into it.
Honestly, to win this fight, attacking right now would be the smart move.
But...
‘Haa... It's not a do-or-die battle. Just wait.’
If it were a desperate fight for our lives, I'd attack to kill it right now, but this is just a spar.
A spar with a close friend, at that.
We're going to keep living together from now on, so I can't ruin our relationship over this.
-Wha, what?
Silpi responded in surprise to my call.
She must be shocked enough herself.
I said I'd help, but she probably never imagined I'd actually give this much.
Rumble...
Cheong's form changes under the life force given by the tree.
How much life force did it pass on for Cheong's appearance to transform like this, and for flowers and grass to bloom on the ground it's standing on?
If it weren't for this unusual tree, I'd have blocked the transfer right away and given it a scolding, but both Silpi and I just watched the process unfold.
-Yeah.
If the one giving away that life force had been a human or beast, I'd have stopped it immediately.
Giving life force means handing over your own life and the future time ahead of you.
-Hmm. Doesn't look like it's straining itself much? How much life force does that thing even have?!
Normally, expending life force would just shorten the remaining lifespan, but there are occasional exceptions.
Spirits are a prime example. And then there are fairies and dryads—races treated as lower than spirits but still deeply tied to nature—which fall into that exception category.
For them, no matter how much life force they expend, it fills back up after a few days of rest. It's more like stamina drain than anything permanent.
And what about a tree, which is nature incarnate?
Of course, doing it too often or in huge amounts at once could cause lifespan issues, but...
-Then we'd stop it, obviously. But no need to worry. It's refilling as fast as it's draining.
Silpi's words—that this was the first tree like this she'd ever seen since being born—made me grin involuntarily.
Yeah, of course.
I have to take a commemorative photo of this.
Click.
It kinda looks like a parent bragging about their kid, but I didn't edit the post or delete it.
I'm proud, after all!
And the reactions to my post? Unexpected, I guess.
I wasn't seriously thinking about a world tree, but seeing those snarky comments crushing my hype kinda rubs me the wrong way.
“Grrr...”
Oops, no time for the gallery now.
I was pondering whether to take on the whole gallery in a 1vMany brawl, but looks like that's off the table.
Cheong, who had transformed from a cat into a proper baby tiger, was staring at me with sparkling eyes.
The glossy fur and shining pupils were the same as ever, but now it was too big to call fluffy anymore—it had fully taken on the form of a baby white tiger.
-Y-Yeah, maybe?
It looks like a baby white tiger, but the power I'm sensing is on another level.
Way beyond sticking to the settings Silpi gave it before.
Crackle...
I drew up lightning energy to gauge Cheong's changed strength.
‘Just how much life force did it give?’
This feels like it straight-up awakened as a spirit beast. I clicked my tongue inwardly at the level of the power-up.
-Still, it doesn't seem permanent. More like a temporary boost.
I nodded at Silpi's observation as she closely examined the transformed Cheong, thinking it was obvious.
If that were permanent?
It's cheat-level even now, but making it stick forever would definitely cause bigger problems down the line.
‘If word of this spreads to others, it'd be 100% fight on sight.’
Even if that happens, to reliably protect those around me, I'd need to help everyone grow—including myself.
This spar is for Cheong's growth, in a way.
And to properly draw out the power boosted by the tree, I'll have to go all out too.
Rumble...
-El? Y-You!
“Gr, grrr?!”
Oh yeah. Come to think of it, this is the first time showing my full power in front of Silpi and Cheong since that fight with the man?
To the two of them staring at me with eyes wide as saucers, I felt some inexplicable thrill as I spoke.
Aura control incomparable to before.
Silpi blankly looked up at the clouds filling the sky at my command.
-Im, impossible.
-You! Even handling the Yeouiju's power, this is...!
Of course she'd be shocked.
I'm trying to control the weather in the sky right now.
Well, wielding the Yeouiju was beyond an imoogi's domain to begin with, right?
And I haven't exactly been slacking off in the meantime.
Gulp.
Silpi, peeking at the lightning flashing between the blackened clouds, broke out in a cold sweat as she spoke.
-You're not planning to drop that here, right?
-Hey! We'll all die!
Die? Who's dying?
-It's gonna be tough!
She's not saying it's impossible.
“Grr!”
-Ugh! Fine! I'll protect this kid then!
Silpi's words eased my worries about any of them getting hurt in the aftermath of our fight.
Alright then. Time to fight without holding back on the surroundings.
I'm ready.
Ready enough to drop lightning the instant the fight starts.
Squeeze.
Cheong glanced at the lightning streaking through the sky.
Then glanced at me, controlling it.
Finally glanced at Silpi and the tree she was protecting with a wind barrier, before its eyes gleamed fiercely as it adjusted its stance to pounce on me at any second.
“Grrr!”
As Cheong nodded, signaling the start of the fight...
I dropped lightning straight down on Cheong.
“This guy's interesting, huh?”
In a spot some distance away from where El and Cheong were locked in combat.
There, someone with jet-black wings spread wide smirked with amusement as they spoke.
Shrouded in darkness, their gender indeterminable, they gazed up at the sky—now filled only with black clouds after the lightning strike—and grinned.
“An imoogi wielding dragon authority.”
A sight never seen before in their entire life.
That's why it was so fascinating. Having experienced this unknown mystery, they spread their arms wide while observing El—from appearance to everything else—utterly unlike any ordinary imoogi.
“The Wind Spirit King. That workaholic said he had remnants from that imoogi, right?”
Whatever that item was, if it was connected to this bizarre imoogi, then those remnants were surely no ordinary thing either.
“I wanna research it!”
Deep down, they wanted to turn that imoogi into a research subject right then and there, but they were too curious about its future growth and story.
So instead, they'd have to sate their curiosity toward El by researching its byproducts.
Roar...
“Whoa, a fire pillar!”
Their eyes sparkled at the massive fire pillar shooting roughly toward the sky. They glanced around, then lightly flicked a finger.
“Can't have the others getting interested!”
The light tiger had already passed through before they arrived, but that was fine.
The light tiger wouldn't kill them right away—it planned to fight once they grew stronger later.
The reason they were erecting a barrier was simple curiosity.
Or to block the eyes of those who might kill off any potential future threats preemptively, just because.
Boom!
Having spread a barrier around the area to keep others from noticing, they turned their back on El and Cheong's battle.
“What a shame.”
They wanted to watch the fight to the end.
But to satisfy the burning urge to research right now, they had no choice but to head to the Wind Spirit King.
They might miss this battle, but they could see El's even stronger power in the future. However, the Wind Spirit King might deal with El's "remnants" immediately, so that took priority.
“So grow up quick, alright?”
Before leaving the area, the mysterious figure took one last look at El, flashed a mischievous grin, and spread darkness toward the place where the winds gathered.