I Am the Ruler of the Forest, the Slayer Half-Butterfly (1)
Still, I had to do what needed to be done.
After making it crystal clear to the tree that I wanted to learn magic, I opened my status window to check on my evolution.
Since the tree seemed to be preparing something to teach me, I figured I should use this time to take care of my own business.
I couldn't live as a half-butterfly forever.
Half-breeds faced so much discrimination.
If I went out into butterfly society like this, they'd definitely look down on me, calling me a half-baked loser who couldn't even spread its wings properly.
So, I had to become a proper butterfly.
Honestly, a giant caterpillar with half-grown wings just didn't look cool.
Sure, butterflies weren't exactly the epitome of coolness, but they had to be cooler than a caterpillar with half-sprouted wings.
Or at least pretty.
Actually, "pretty" suited butterflies better.
Even if I'm just a weak butterfly, becoming one is still a step up.
I needed to evolve quickly to become a Sickly Butterfly.
Displaying evolvable species.
★ Blood Worm Larva
★ Weak Blood Butterfly (Evolution conditions not met)
★ Weak Blood Moth
After checking the available evolution paths, I blinked several times, wondering if my eyes were playing tricks on me.
Why could I evolve into a moth but not a butterfly?
I definitely raised my level to 20, didn't I?
No, if the moth path was unlocked, it only made sense for the butterfly path to be unlocked too.
Then, a sudden realization hit me, and I looked up at the sky.
The sun, which should have been hanging high in the center of the sky, was already sinking below the horizon.
Right, one of the conditions for evolving into a butterfly was that the sun had to be up.
Apparently, I could only evolve into a butterfly when the sun was shining brightly in the sky.
And right now, I had just barely missed the window.
Am I an idiot?
"Gwek?"
Actually, I had already thought earlier that it wouldn't work today and that I should just do it tomorrow.
I guess the prospect of learning magic was so mind-blowing that it completely wiped the rest of my memory.
I had wanted to use magic so badly.
Whenever I watched the news, I was always so jealous of the mages.
Even though I had become a monster, I was thrilled that I could finally try using magic.
Besides, I'm still just a half-butterfly. There's no way my memory would be any good.
"Gweeeeek."
This was all because I was still a half-butterfly.
Ahem. Well, let's just quietly learn some magic then.
Deciding to evolve tomorrow once the sun rose, I watched to see what the tree was doing.
The nameless tree monster was doing something, though it wasn't floating in the air anymore.
However, since it didn't have a face to begin with, I had absolutely no idea what it was doing.
-What's wrong?
When are you going to teach me magic?
"Gweeeek."
How on earth did it know I was looking at it when it didn't even have eyes?
Did it have a face somewhere else that I didn't know about?
This tree monster was truly bizarre.
Back when I was still human, I used to look up different kinds of monsters out of boredom, but I had never seen a monster like this tree.
That probably meant it was a monster that had never been discovered before.
I had no idea what a monster like this was doing before it ended up stuffed in a sack and brought all the way here.
-Sorry. I really can't understand what you're saying.
I understand. I wouldn't understand me either.
"Gwek."
-I get the feeling you're understanding me, but I don't know the rest. I'm almost ready, so just wait a little longer.
Sure.
"Gwek."
I didn't even know if my own species could understand me, so there was no way a monster of a completely different species could.
I had to become a fairy as soon as possible.
It was so frustrating; I wanted to speak properly.
When I was just a caterpillar by myself, it wasn't this frustrating, but now that there was someone else who could talk, it was driving me crazy.
I couldn't evolve, and I couldn't learn magic!
What a mess!
I might as well go hunt.
I gestured frantically with my body to convey my intentions to the tree, then crawled off into the forest.
Since I remembered the tree's location perfectly, getting back wouldn't be an issue.
I'm a level 20 monster now.
Hurry up and become my prey, you primitive beasts!
I glided comfortably through the air, searching for prey.
Actually, maybe not that one...
Of course, when I ran into a tiger baring its teeth, I quietly changed direction.
Why on earth was there a tiger in a Korean forest?
And in a forest so close to human civilization, no less.
Weren't tigers in Korean forests supposed to be completely extinct?
Found you, water deer!
I steered clear of dangerous tigers and wolves, cherry-picking only the water deer.
As I roamed around doing that, I even managed to level up once.
Time to head back.
The time the tree asked me to wait had surely long passed.
The sun had already completely set, and the moon was hanging high overhead.
Just as I turned around to head back to the tree, something strange caught my eye.
The surrounding trees were all shattered, and the ground was completely overturned.
What is this? Who did this?
It looked as if some massive creature had gone on a rampage and completely destroyed the area.
It was a sight I had never once witnessed during my time living in this forest.
To cause this level of destruction, it had to be absolutely massive, but I had never seen a species large enough to pull this off.
Did a monster wander in?
Come to think of it, where exactly am I?
A question I had never thought to ask during my entire stay in this forest suddenly popped into my head.
Seeing buildings in the far distance, it didn't seem to be too far from human territory.
Yet, there were no monsters, and there were no humans.
How could a place exist in this world without either monsters or humans?
Monsters were constantly invading human territory, and humans were gradually encroaching on monster territory.
Whatever. I'll figure it out later. For now, let's just focus on evolving. If there are no dangerous monsters around, that's a win for me.
Leaving the unsettling sight behind, I returned to the tree.
-Why are you so late? Do you know how long I've been waiting?
I was out hunting.
"Gwek."
-As long as you're sorry. But what did you do? I felt like your status suddenly elevated.
This tree really just hears whatever it wants to hear, taking advantage of the fact that I can't speak properly.
And what did it mean by my status elevating?
Did the tree's level go up too because I leveled up?
-Never mind. There's no way you'd know. I'm going to teach you magic now, so focus.
This is ridiculous. This is blatant discrimination against half-butterflies.
"Gwek."
To think my master was a discriminator against half-breeds.
I was so sad I almost shed a tear.
No, I won't cry.
Magic is way more important than a little emotional damage.
Who knows how many threats I'll face living as a monster in the future? I need to secure at least one or two ways to protect myself.
-Magic is using the mana we possess to break and alter the laws of the world. You can create fire out of thin air, or make ice where there is no water.
I already knew all of this.
Still, since it was trying so hard to explain, I responded with a nod.
-Honestly, I'm not very confident in teaching magic either. As long as you can control mana with your own will, using magic comes naturally. Any monster with a decent level of intelligence knows how to manipulate mana. But you don't even know how to handle it.
What do you want me to do if I don't know how?
"Gwek."
-But I'll make sure to teach you properly so you can do it. Our souls are linked now, after all. I can't have you dying on me.
I could feel that the tree was truly putting its heart and soul into teaching me.
It explained with words, mimicked gestures, and even drew pictures on the ground with its roots.
In the end, it even showed me how to cast magic firsthand.
The problem was, no matter how much I watched and listened, I couldn't understand it at all.
As time dragged on, both of us grew increasingly frustrated.
-You can't even do this? I told you, you have to feel the mana flowing through your entire body first!
How the hell am I supposed to feel that? I can't even feel my own blood pumping, so how am I supposed to know when some formless energy is flowing?!
"Gweeeeeeek!"
-No, if you can't do that, you're not even a monster!
I'm a human!
"Gwek!"
It said that any monster should naturally be able to feel the mana flowing through their body, but I had no clue.
I could feel a sort of cool, heavy energy inside me.
But I had absolutely no idea where it was or how to move it.
Instinct, please do your job.
For some reason, the only thing I could rely on—my Instinct skill—wasn't helping at all.
Isn't it supposed to be a monster's instinct?
Then it should let me feel mana too...!
I grumbled uselessly at my Instinct skill and focused once more on trying to feel the mana.
-Keep this in mind. Mana exists throughout a monster's entire body. To the point where you could say mana is everything we are.
The tree didn't give up either.
No matter how frustrating it got, it kept giving me advice and helping me control the mana.
"Gweeeek..."
Yet, here I was, still unable to feel a thing.
I really didn't get it at all.
It felt like being told to move my blood at will. How was I supposed to do that?
But I really wanted to use magic.
Part of it was wanting to learn magic to become a fairy faster, but I also felt that a true fairy ought to be able to use magic.
To become a proper fairy, I had to master magic.
-Still, you worked hard.
You too.
"Gwe."
Exhausted to my core, I collapsed onto one of the tree's branches.
I had focused so hard that my head was throbbing.
The sun will rise soon, so I should evolve and then go to sleep...?
-Roaaar!!!
Just as I was about to rest, the roar of some beast echoed in my ears.
The sheer pressure behind it was on a completely different level from any wild beast's roar I had heard in this forest so far.
-What was that?
It seemed I wasn't the only one who heard it.
The tree had heard it too, and I could feel the entire forest growing restless.
I need to check what it is.
-I'm going to check it out. Are you coming?
The tree was thinking the exact same thing.
I answered with a nod.
I had to know what kind of threat was lurking in my territory.
Only then could I prepare for it.
It looked like I had just gained another reason to learn magic.
The beast, having awakened and tracked the foul stench, was absolutely furious because the smell refused to dissipate.
Whenever it reached a spot where the scent was thickest, there was only the smell itself—the source was nowhere to be found.
And the entire forest was filled with these phantom scents.
-Grrrrr...!
With its nose tingling and its sense of smell gradually failing, the beast was driven to the brink of madness.
Consumed by rage, there was nothing the beast could do but smash everything in the vicinity of the scent.
-Roaaar!!
Having completely lost its reason to rage and with its sense of smell ruined, it failed to realize that the sources of the scent were watching it from right nearby.
Nor did it realize that the eyes fixed upon it were looking at it as if it were nothing but prey.