Chapter 216 – World Tree (Four)

Beyond the clouds.

What lies above the island.

If I ascend there, perhaps I could look down upon the entire world, shrouded in mystery, in a single glance.

And perhaps I could gaze up at the unblemished, whole sky, unobstructed by anything.

My heart pounded.

My breath grew hot.

The emotion brimming over in the boy’s heart was a vivid green curiosity.

Resonating with it, the gem’s green mana cascaded down like a waterfall onto the soil where the seed was planted.

And then, soon.

Crunch—!

A sprout raised its head above the earth.

With a gesture announcing the dawn of life, it grew, and grew, and grew again, passing through infancy and youth in an instant, revealing a truly majestic form to the world.

“Good heavens…!”

“Huh… Is something like this really possible?”

The overwhelming speed of growth made everyone around them falter and step back.

In the eyes of the Elders who had raised their heads in disbelief, a giant tree stood, rivaling the height of Rael Row.

“I can’t believe my eyes. Can a tree this large truly exist in the world?”

“Look at the thickness of its base. It’s so thick that even if dozens of Dwarves joined hands and encircled it, they couldn’t wrap around it.”

Exclamations of wonder continued unabated.

Thousands of branches, stretching out like lightning bolts, were densely covered with transparent green leaves.

They shimmered in the faint sunlight, swaying gently, and the light passing through them was amplified several times, shining down upon the ground.

The shadows were not dark.

Rather, the view became brighter than before.

While everyone was speechless at the surreal sight.

Thud.

The boy who had wrought the miracle staggered and missed his step.

A girl quickly caught him.

“Are you okay?”

“…I’m fine. Veronica, let me go. I think I can still infuse more mana into the World Tree.”

“You look anything but fine… Your face looks so tired.”

“I don’t have expressions like that.”

“I know everything.”

Ray struggled to free himself from Veronica’s embrace.

But his body’s energy was completely drained; he couldn’t even move a finger.

Of course, he himself was not yet aware of his own condition.

“Veronica, did you use Enhancement Magic? No, that alone wouldn’t be this strong. You must have done a lot of strength training when Philip and I weren’t looking. Looking at you now, your arms seem thicker too.”

“Ray, do you want to die?”

Then Grine approached and spoke.

“I agree with Lady Veronica. I think it’s best for you to rest for now. You used the Life Stone’s mana for a full five minutes, and at an output level an ordinary person wouldn’t even dare attempt.”

“Five minutes? I only felt like 30 seconds had passed at most?”

Grine smiled.

“That must mean you were that focused, Ray-nim. Enough to disrupt your sharp sense of time.”

Ray was bewildered.

He thought it might be a lie, but checking the clock, that much time had indeed passed.

“Thank you. This is truly something only you could have accomplished, Ray-nim. I’ve never seen a World Tree radiating such powerful vitality. I couldn’t even have imagined it. It’s beautiful, and astonishingly wondrous.”

Her expression didn’t change much, but Grine’s Vessel was brimming with overwhelming emotion.

Meanwhile, the Dwarves brought a long chair.

Veronica laid Ray down, made a pillow of her lap, and with a satisfied expression, stroked his white hair.

“Ah, it’s so nice when you’re this well-behaved.”

“…….”

It happened in an instant, without a single chance for resistance.

Turning his head to the side, Ray continued his conversation with Grine with a stern and serious face.

“I think it’s too early to accept thanks. You said the World Tree in the Last Forest is so large it could cover an entire Sector. But this World Tree right now still seems far from reaching that size.”

“That’s right. It’s much smaller in size. But I think it’s sufficient as a space for us Elves to make a new start.”

Ray expressed doubt.

“How many Elves are in the Last Forest?”

“About 300, perhaps? I’m not sure as I’ve never counted precisely, but the number shouldn’t be too different from the Dwarves of Rael Row.”

“I can still grow the World Tree more.”

“Hmm, if further growth is possible, that would be good, but I feel we’ve already received too much help. I don’t wish to receive more help at the cost of harming your health, Ray-nim.”

“I was just tired for a moment. It didn’t particularly harm my health. Atmospheric Mana might be different, but the Gem’s Mana is of extremely high purity. I’ll be fine after resting a bit. Right? Veronica?”

“You do seem like it…….”

Veronica’s lips pouted discontentedly.

Shoooooo──

That afternoon, black rain fell.

A place where fewer Black Clouds had gathered than elsewhere.

But it wasn’t a level of rainfall that could be taken lightly.

“…….”

Atop the watchtower of Rael Row.

Is was gazing at the world that appeared and disappeared, hiding behind the raindrops.

Then.

“When do you think it’ll stop?”

“……!”

Startled by the voice from behind, he turned around.

Seeing Ray emerge from the door connecting to the interior, he let out a sigh of relief.

“Ah, it’s just you.”

“I wish it would stop as soon as possible.”

Ray, who had approached to stand beside him, stared intently at the scenery beyond the railing.

Is, who had been staring at Ray, moved his gaze forward accordingly.

“It’d be good if it stopped quickly. No one likes the black rain. It’s gloomy, dreary. It just makes the land sick. Well, it’s nice that the sunlight disappears so I can take off my helmet and coat.”

“Actually, I don’t really mind. It’s because Veronica hates it.”

“I’ve been curious for a while.”

Is’s voice grew serious.

“Is she your girlfriend?”

“Girlfriend?”

Ray’s answer came without hesitation.

“Yes. She’s a girl. And a friend.”

“…No, no. I mean, are you in a relationship?”

“We’re friends who hang out.”

“You’re pretending not to understand on purpose, aren’t you? I mean a loving relationship.”

“You’re asking if Veronica and I love each other?”

“Yeah, you punk.”

Ray fell deep into thought.

Love was an emotion whose true form he had never clearly identified, not even once, while observing the Vessels of people in the world.

Its silhouette and color were always changing.

Sometimes it looked like red anger.

Sometimes it looked like yellow joy.

Sometimes it looked like pink longing.

And other times, it looked like snow-white worry.

…No.

In fact, he wasn’t even sure if that was love.

While pairing emotions with colors.

One emotion he couldn’t associate with any color.

Only through a process of elimination did he come to know that this was the emotion people called love.

Therefore, the boy did not know the nature of love, and he suspected it was an emotion he would likely never comprehend in his lifetime.

Ray opened his mouth.

“I’m not sure.”

“About your feelings?”

“Whether it’s my feelings. Or Veronica’s feelings.”

“Are you an idiot? Why wouldn’t you know Veronica’s feelings? It’s obvious she likes you.”

After a moment’s thought, Ray spoke.

“That’s true. Veronica likes me.”

“Right. Even a third party can see that at a glance.”

“I also like Veronica.”

“Right. So you love each other… Wait, no. No.”

Is almost got caught up in Ray’s way of speaking.

“The ‘like’ you mentioned is just a simple matter of preference, right? I like beef stew. I like jerky. I like Veronica. That’s the level you meant.”

“Is there another meaning of ‘like’?”

“There’s the ‘like’ that means love.”

“I have no idea what love is.”

Is, who had been twisting his body this way and that in frustration, finally let out a deep sigh.

“I was going to ask for a little advice since you’re in a relationship, but this won’t do. It’s my fault for trying to ask you.”

“Advice?”

The story that followed was this.

Is, whose reputation had skyrocketed after defeating Vicious alongside Ray.

Since then, he had been mingling with many peers in Rael Row, and recently, there was one girl among them with whom things were getting a bit… ticklish.

“So, I’ve been diligently taking the height-increasing pills you gave me last time. Two pills a day. Trying to look a bit better, you know? How about it? Don’t I look a bit taller than last time you saw me?”

You do look taller.

About a thousandth of a centimeter.

“You’ve grown a lot. Just a little more and you’ll reach the sky.”

“Really? I knew it! I’m still in my growth spurt! And with the pills on top of that, I can’t help but grow!”

Even without the pills, Is was quite tall for a Dwarf.

By rough estimate, he seemed to be around 162-3 centimeters.

“If you need advice, I’ll introduce you to my friend Philip later. He’s the complete opposite of me, very adept at interpersonal relationships.”

“Hmm, a friend you vouch for like that. He must be quite capable.”

A brief silence followed.

It was Is who broke the silence again.

“You were amazing earlier. Not every Wizard can use such incredible abilities, right?”

“Probably not.”

“To be honest, before meeting you, I had a somewhat dismissive view of Magic. Dwarves are technological supremacists, and I’ve lived my whole life in an environment where that worldview was taken for granted. But seeing the spectacle unfolding before my eyes now… I think Magic holds infinitely more potential than technology.”

Is’s gaze turned to his surroundings.

Rael Row was now located right next to the World Tree.

The World Tree was slightly taller, and thanks to that, from the watchtower, one could see the branches and leaves draped all around up close.

Shoooo──!

Plop─! Plop-plop-plop─!

“Look at this. The branches and leaves are blocking all the rain like a giant umbrella. And they themselves seem completely unfazed. Something like this is still impossible with Rael Row’s technology.”

After looking around in admiration, Is returned to the original topic.

“That’s why I need to develop technology utilizing Magic in the future…”

It was a reflection on an outdated worldview.

He continued with a rather long and serious story… but Ray wasn’t listening at all, busy thinking about his future destination, how to deal with the Doctor, and the evening’s menu.

Then Is spoke.

“Hey, seems like the rain stopped? I don’t hear it at all. The weather looks a bit brighter too.”

Ray raised his head.

Through a small gap in the leaves, he could see the clear, open sky.

And also the underside of the Sky Island, visible as a small dot.

But only for a moment.

That small scenery was soon obscured by Black Clouds that swarmed in from the surroundings.

‘…Clouds that were in places where it wasn’t raining.’

Even though he had poured out all his Green Mana, the World Tree still hadn’t even reached the clouds.

Anxious, Ray muttered without realizing it.

“…I need to grow it taller. So it can reach the sky.”

Hearing that, Is looked blank for a moment, then made a face of deep contemplation.

After an intense internal conflict.

He fumbled in his pocket, pulled out the bottle containing the height-increasing pills, and held it out.

“Um… should I give these back?”