Excuse me?! All of a sudden, you want to “eliminate” me?! That doesn’t make sense. Besides, why are you acting all high and mighty like a god, you human-eater!
“You’re the one who is not making sense. Why are you objecting to plants eating animals?”
What are you talking about? I would think animals eat plants instead.
“Ah. You have a Tree Spirit and yet you are not informed of the truth. Certainly, odd things do occur in this world. Providing an explanation is rather troublesome, but...I do take pity on those that perish while lacking knowledge. I can provide some insight, I suppose. One thing is certain: your understanding is completely backward.”
Backward? What do you mean?
“Hmph, no matter. In any case, this is my Nursery. As I own these humans, I should be able to use them how I please.”
“Own” my butt. You can’t do something that selfish!
“What a waste of time this is. Is this not what a ‘ruler’ should be? How do you see me?”
Like an evil human-eating plant! Take this! Strength at one hundred percent; remove the shackles of fire, traveler!
Ding! “Confirmed activation of spell. Strength is at one hundred percent.” With a large whooshing sound, a huge fireball flew straight toward Gaokerena.
“Apple-san?! What the heck is going on?!”
“Hey, so is that thing actually an enemy?”
Fresa and Datil were surprised by my sudden attack, and the villagers were all crying with panic.
“Ack! Great Gaokerena!”
“It’s dangerous! Please flee!”
“Nooo! The Great Gaokerena!”
“Hm? Why are you using human magic? Do the wonders never cease?” Gaokerena said.
Laugh while you can! Turn to ashes with my magic! Yes, a direct hit! But the moment the fireball hit Gaokerena, it disappeared into the air. Wait, huh?! Wh-What?! I definitely hit you! I didn’t even get a system announcement about you resisting it! What’s going on?!
“Well, well. You seem to take delight in creating a fuss. I hope you understand now. A ruler such as myself cannot possibly be harmed by physical attacks. Indeed, I lack a physical existence to begin with.”
My attacks seriously don’t work on him?! How do I fight?! The villagers breathed sighs of relief upon confirming Gaokerena’s safety, and started singing a prayer. Damn you! Now it looks like I’m the bad guy here!
“You truly are uninformed. If both sides have a Tree Spirit, the only way to battle is by connecting paths and stealing the other’s belongings. But of course, between the two of us, it would not be much of a battle to begin with.”
Well, excuse me for being uninformed! So let me ask, what do you mean by “paths”?
Gaokerena paused before continuing. “Do you see these narrow tubes that span from myself to these humans? These are called ‘paths.’ These are our roots, branches, and perhaps even our trunks.”
Those threadlike things are paths?
“You have connected some paths yourself. Though it is impossible for you to see your own.”
What?! No way!
“It’s true! There’s something coming from Fresa-san and Datil-san’s heads, and they’re connected to you!” Grida said.
Seriously?! Wh-What?! When did I connect my paths to them?
“So you were unaware, it seems. I pity the ones that you leech. Using your paths, you have been sucking the essential life oil ‘dayquril’ from these humans’ souls.”
What?! I thought it was weird that I could move around without any food. I thought it was odd, but I never imagined I was receiving nutrients from them.
“Now then. Shall we begin? As I said earlier, those with Tree Spirits battle each other by connecting paths. The victor must dominate their opponent’s Tree Spirit.”
Bring it on! I’ll show you who’s boss!
“The key to this match is one’s mental fortitude—that is, the strength of one’s Tree Spirit.”
Great! I’m confident in that department! I’m nothing if not full of spirit!
“But you see, the more paths one creates, and the more dayquril one absorbs, the more one will be at an advantage. Let us compare, shall we? I have accumulated energy for a very long time at this Nursery, and you have created just two paths. It is clear who the victor will be.”
Shut up! Stop with the theatrics and just tell me how to connect these paths!
Gaokerena laughed. “Hah, you fool! I find it hard to believe that you are a descendant of the Fruit of Knowledge. How did you connect your paths with those two?”
I don’t know. I guess I made the connections without knowing. Besides, had I known I was gonna absorb their life force energy, I never would’ve created a path with them.
“I do not understand why you protect humans so much. Hmmm, well, perhaps I do. The Tree of Knowledge was brought down for precisely the same reason.”
I really don’t care about stuff like that. Just hurry and explain.
There was a brief moment of silence. “You are reckless and uninformed, but no matter. Your insolence will be punished with your eventual death. You are a fruit, are you not? To create a path, you should imagine yourself creating one from the seed.”
Seeds, you say? I never even thought about where my seeds are.
“Good luck, Furutsu!” Grida said.
Thanks! I’ve got this! So basically, I just need to be conscious of all my cells, right? Ah! Found it! All I need to do now is to stretch this thread from my seed. It goes through my stem, past it, and then outside!
“Very good. Now I shall absorb you, Tree Spirit dwarf, and your weak dayquril in an instant,” Gaokerena said. A white thread fell from the sky and stopped just above me.
“It’s connected with your string,” Grida said.
Gotcha. I can’t see my own, but I can feel it. My path is connected with Gaokerena now.
✦ ✦ ✦
Where am I? Everything around me went dark. I can’t sense Fresa, Datil, or any of the villagers. I can only see this thick white rope near my feet, and... “Who’s there?” I said.
At the end of the rope was a middle-aged man. He was tall and muscular, wrapped in a white garment. It was as though he came straight out of a mythology book. “Is it not obvious? I am Gaokerena.”
“What?! Why do you look like a human? Also, I can talk!”
“I do not look like a human. I merely created an item that resembles one. Hmph, it matters not. Let us begin our battle.”
Gaokerena picked up the rope by my feet. Wait, what?! Whoa! I have legs! And hands! And a face!
“What are you dawdling for? Pick up the path,” Gaokerena said.
“This...is a path?!” I just thought it was a thick white rope! What do I do with this? I obediently picked it up with both hands.