Chapter 16

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“This place is unnaturally lacking in monsters.”

As I walked through the forest while keeping my guard up, I arrived at a place where the treeline opened and light shone in. There stood a single tree which covered itself in a silent Kikou.

———-

Race: Spirit Tree

—-Skills

[Appraisal]

[Protect]

[Telepathy]

—-Race Skills

[Kikou]

<Color>

[Silver]

[Talisman]

[Wide-Area Detection]

———-

“[Telepathy]? Does that mean it can talk?”

I asked myself while approaching it.

((Talk, I can.))

“!!You can really talk!?”

((Yes. Although it has been some time since I conversed with a human.))

“So you’ve talked to a human before?”

Getting excited at my first chance of finding clues, I asked my first question.

((Yozakura Ritsu. You do not appear to have come from the sanctuary. To think a human had survived all this time outside of it. I acknowledge your unique status.))

“What do you know about the sanctuary?”

((Yes. Humans come out of the sanctuary once every year.))

The spirit tree didn’t have a face, but I could feel it smiling a little.

“Where did you all come from? What exactly is the sanctuary? Also, where is it located?”

I asked everything I was curious about, but hadn’t given too much thought thinking it useless.

((We are former residents of the phantom world. The phantom world is of a higher order than current world. Current world refers to the world you live in.))

“Why did you suddenly come here?”

Unable to handle all the information, I continued while keeping my head down.

((It would take a long time to explain everything.))

“That’s fine.”

((Very well. Monsters do not lurk around here. Sit and lend me your ear.))

The tree’s branch moved, and created a chair like place for me to sit.

“Yeah.”

I sat on the branch chair, while holding my head which was about to explode with all the information.

((The phantom world, is a world that embodies the ideals and fantasies of this world. All creatures found in our world, are born from the minds of creatures in your world, using their imagination as fuel. This fuel is termed as “Existence Value”. Current world creatures, by imagining and fantasizing, exhaust their EV. This is also why current world creatures are limited by lifespans, since they spend their EV everyday. On the other hand, creatures in the phantom world do not have a lifespan. Since we don not expend our EV. Did you understand all that?))

“Is it okay to say phantom world creatures are imaginary?”

I got lost by the second-half of its explanation, but gave an answer nonetheless.

((Correct. Let’s leave it at that for the time being. I shall continue.

Creatures from the phantom world do not have lifespans. That is why they live close to eternal lives, resulting in the birth of a select few with formidable powers. Due to their voluminous power, the phantom world started distorting, and ended up collapsed onto your world.))

“You seem really used to telling this story…”

I asked the Spirit Tree suspiciously, as it told its story so clearly.

((The people from the sanctuary asked me the same questions.))

It responded by shaking its leaves.

((But to survive alone for 50 years…Yozakura, you will appear quite foreign to the humans in the sanctuary.))

“50 years?”

((Yes, I believe 50 years have passed since the sanctuary opened…?))

“No, I’m sure it’s 4 years at most. I do not plan on staying in the forest for that long.”

I stood up from the branch chair, left confused.

((No, I am certain that 50 years have passed. The people from the sanctuary informed me of as much.))

The spirit tree shook its leaves once again.

((Yes, sages and sacred beasts have a significantly different sense of time as compared to humans. If you were alone all this time, then maybe it isn’t so surprising.))

“But that, that means, gramps is…”

Will I never be able to meet gramps again because of how much time I wasted?

((Humans normally have lifespans, but if your status level goes beyond 200, your lifespan limit almost ceases to exist. Do not despair yet, though reaching level 200 in 50 years is another story.))

“I, see…”

I noticed how uncomfortably still my heart was even now.

“Is this also, because I’m a sage…”

((Humans will step out again from the sanctuary 7 months later. You may stay here till then. You wouldn’t like being misplaced.))

The spirit tree created a tree-house on top of itself, and urged me to enter inside.

As I was about to enter,

((As for your condition for staying here, I have a request.))

“What is it?”

I went inside the tree-house, and sat on a branch.

((When creatures from the phantom world fell into the current world, those that could adapt turned into spirit trees and sacred beasts, while those that couldn’t turned into monsters. I thought I could adapt as well, but I shall soon face my limits. I haven’t the faintest clue when I shall turn into a monster, but on that occasion, I want you to defeat me.))

“There’s no way…..I see, I’ll do it.”

((I shall teach you how to hide your status, as well as information about this world. It shall prove useful once you enter the sanctuary.))

The spirit tree shook its leaves a little happily, made a human hand out of its branches, and asked for a handshake.

((A human greeting.))

“Yeah, I’ll be counting on you.”

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With this, we bring an end to the 1st arc of the series.

I hope you’re liking it, and if you do, share it with your friends as well.

See you in the next arc!

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