Night arrives quickly, but a faint trace of sunlight still allows a brief glimpse of the brown trees tinged with a subtle purple hue, along with numerous bushes so large and dense that they block any passage. Every leaf in this region bears purple stains. Almost nothing here lacks that color, whether in isolated spots or mixed with the dead green of the vegetation.
The ground is largely consumed by poisonous purple waters, lightly bubbling and releasing a toxic vapor capable of fouling the entire area.
In the muddy lands, a fly the size of a palm flies toward a black orchid attached to a tree trunk, releasing dark pollen. The fly approaches and lands on the flower when, suddenly, a tongue tipped with a spike pierces its body. A dark green frog swallows the fly and hops away, but as it leaps, just before returning to the water, it becomes trapped in a spider's web. It struggles, trying to free itself, but it's useless. Feeling the vibration of the web, the spider senses its prey, wastes no time, and approaches, injecting a powerful toxin. The frog's body darkens, becoming almost black. It trembles for a few moments before dying.
Almost at the same time, someone walks through the poisonous waters, passing close to the spider without even noticing it.
I stop for a moment to analyze my surroundings.
-(A swamp… and apparently a poisonous one.)
-(I'd better look more camouflaged.)
I look at my red hair.
-(This is a good time to change its color.)
I focus for a few moments, and soon my hair shifts from red to black.
-Better.
I continue walking, my feet sinking into the toxic water. With each step, my body sinks a little deeper, nearly reaching my knees. The strong stench in the air confirms my suspicion, this is an extremely poisonous swamp.
Even so, that doesn't stop me from continuing to train my Skills. In my right hand, I summon water, shaping it into a sphere that soon solidifies, turning into ice.
I observe it with approval.
-(Very good.)
I'm just testing. During the fights in which I had the help of the green tigers, I realized I could cool the water I summoned. That's when I thought I might be able to turn it into ice. Since that day, I've been practicing to master this application.
During the fight against that ogre, with the help of the green cats, I managed to demonstrate a certain level of control over the water's temperature, even keeping it in a liquid state despite the ogre's intense flames. With practice, I went beyond simply cooling and freezing, without relying on fire, I can now make it boil. Ever since, I've been pushing myself to refine this control.
As I notice my own progress, I try to smile, but all I feel is my lips moving, forming a forced, awful, empty smile. In the past few days, I've barely been able to express emotions. I suspect I'm still a little sad about parting ways with the tigers. They were my only company here.
But that feeling doesn't last long. When I reach the Silver Mountains, I'm sure I'll find a way to leave this place.
I look again at the ice in my right hand.
-(But I also managed to do something else.)
I focus a little more, and the sphere of ice rapidly condenses, transforming into vapor. The wave of steam spreads violently, strong enough to push the leaves of the trees above.
I force a smile.
-(I don't need fire to heat my water. But if I use my fire Skill together with water, I can create this concentration of steam.)
Even after practicing tirelessly, this is the most I can do for now, a pressure strong enough to push leaves aside.
I undo the ice and create new spheres. In each palm, I invoke a Skill. I create fire in my right hand and water in my left. I begin shaping them, giving both the perfect form of a sphere.
I use the Source as energy. I invoke my Skills more and more, letting them flow through my arms and into my hands. Immediately, I compress the Skills, preventing the spheres from growing in size. The amount of fire and water is violent and continuous, but I don't lose control.
The spheres grow, becoming larger than my hands. My body tenses up, my arms trembling slightly from the pressure of maintaining two Skills at the same time. Even so, my regeneration helps me endure the physical and mental strain, allowing me to continue.
In my right hand, the fire sphere becomes so dense that it illuminates everything around me. In my left, the compressed water takes on a dark blue hue, reminiscent of the depths of the sea. Both spheres begin to shake and deform, on the verge of exploding.
I realize this is my current limit, the point at which I can continuously feed and compress my Skills. I stop supplying energy and focus only on stabilizing them until they return to the perfect spherical shape. Then I make them shrink, reducing them to the size of a fist.
-(But it's not enough.)
-(I want them smaller.)
I widen my eyes and force them to compress further. They shrink slowly, but soon stagnate. It's not enough. I push my control even harder, clenching my hands tightly. When I realize I can't compress them any further, I interrupt the process and open my hands to look. Two marble-sized orbs rest on my palms, one an intense red, the other a deep dark blue.
I feel satisfied. After days of intense practice, I can say that I've refined my Skills. I admit I feel proud of this. My control is visibly more advanced. I can even manipulate them using only my mind, although that level of control is extremely draining and, for now, impractical in combat.
The two small orbs in my hands begin to tremble slightly. Realizing I can't lose focus, I close my hands to maintain control. My happiness, however, fades a little. Now I have two serious problems in my hands, literally.
-What do I do with these little spheres?
-It'll take far too long to safely disperse them without causing a disaster.
I look around for a safe place. Even at night, I can see a little better in the darkness. Constantly walking and fighting in the dark must have helped develop this ability.
As I search for a suitable spot to begin discharging them, I notice a monster appearing in front of me, blocking my path. In the darkness, I can't make out its shape. I open my right hand for a moment, releasing the glow of the fire orb, illuminating the creature.
It's roughly my height. Long purple hair covers its body, but through the gaps I see a blue, gelatinous mass. It has no arms, only two legs. It seems that beneath the hair, that's all there is.
-(Is it a slime?)
-(If so, it's the first one I've seen.)
The creature really does look like a humanoid slime. As expected, the cute, round ones I imagined don't exist here. Only strange beings like this one.
The monster moves with crooked steps. Its body wobbles like jelly, it's almost funny to watch. But as it approaches, I observe it with doubled attention.
With my fists clenched, I keep my guard up.
-...
When it gets close enough, the clumsy gait disappears. It starts running with precise steps, almost like a ninja. I react immediately and dodge to the side, but its hair moves incredibly fast and strikes me. I cross my arms in time, but I'm still thrown far away. I spin in the air and land on my feet in the poisonous water.
My arms take damage, my bones are definitely cracked. I trigger my regeneration to restore them. I see several strands of hair coming toward me, dodge aside, and advance.
A thick lock appears right in front of me. I crouch in a quick motion and roll underneath it. The hair strikes the tree beside me, and I watch the trunk disintegrate as the leaves wither, turning the entire tree into a bubbling paste that dissolves into the water. The stench of poison intensifies.
I stare at the slime in disbelief.
-(Wow… if my cloak's sleeves weren't so long, I would've suffered severe poisoning.)
Without hesitation, I advance. I run to close the distance, but the monster swings its hair with even greater force and speed. The strands lash toward me, and I manage to follow their movements, but there's too much hair. One of the locks grazes my face.
The affected area immediately turns purple.
-(It may be hair, but it cuts like a blade.)
I feel the effects instantly. Part of my face must be rotting, but I focus, letting my regeneration deal with it. Flames envelop my legs. I kick the air, launching a fire attack. The creature's hair gathers together, forming a wall that blocks the strike.
But I don't stop attacking. I press forward, kicking the air repeatedly. Each kick fires off like a bullet of flame, the blasts colliding with the creature's hair, but failing to break through its defense. I decide to strike with more power. I leap, concentrate a massive amount of flames into my right leg, and kick the air.
The kick fires like a blast. The wall of hair shatters in an explosion, sending the slime flying backward and tearing away a large portion of its hair. Its body burns in flames, twisting in pain, but the poisonous water engulfs it, extinguishing the fire on its body.
The surrounding trees and bushes catch fire. Smoke rises in thick clouds. The monster stands up and forces its way forward through the flames. The poisonous water is already high, almost covering its body, slowing its movements.
As soon as the slime pushes through the fire, it realizes something.
It lost its target.
A bad premonition rises. It looks down and sees a red glow rapidly emerging. There's no time to react. A fire-wreathed kick strikes the monster, burning it violently.
The moment it lost sight of me, I took advantage of the water's height to swim forward unseen, preparing this surprise attack.
The water slows me down, but I manage to move close to the slime. Desperate, the monster swings its hair wildly, but it's already too late, my foot is heavily charged with fire. The poisonous water around us begins to boil and evaporate.
When the tangled mass of hair is right in front of me, I unleash a devastating kick that sweeps everything in its path. The slime is swallowed by flames and hurled far away by the force of the blow, until it vanishes from sight.
The waters part for a brief moment, revealing a path of fire. I watch the flames consume everything before they fade. I turn to continue my journey.
But then, I feel multiple presences above me.
An attack comes from above. I dodge to the right and dive, swimming to escape. More strikes try to pierce me, but I manage to avoid being hit. I increase my swimming speed, yet hair emerges from all directions. I surface and see hair surrounding me everywhere.
I open my right hand, releasing the glow of the fire orb. The light reveals dozens of creatures similar to the slime, blue bodies, purple hair, and walking on two legs. They're spread across the trees, even clinging to the ones that were burned.
Everywhere I look, there are hairy monsters.
-(They seem to have been attracted by the noise and the light from the fire.)
I realize how clever they are. This isn't a coincidence. They deliberately formed a circle, trapping me at the center.
If I have to face all of them, and if each one carries the same level of poison as the first hairy slime, I won't make it out alive. The monsters draw closer. There's no time to waste. An idea forms as I look at my hands. In my right, the fire orb. I open my left hand, revealing the water orb.
I give a faint smile.
-(I wanted to deal with this concentration of Skills calmly, but I have no choice.)
-(I'll have to change my approach.)
Without ceremony, I throw both orbs into the air and release my control.
The night is suddenly lit by an intense red flash. The devastating explosion sweeps across the swamp and the surrounding areas. My water merges with the poisonous swamp water and, driven by the force of the blast, flows across the land, spreading toxins and poisoning everything in its path.
….
…
..
.
The blue sky, the bright sun, the clouds, and the giant birds make me smile. In the distance, I can see the five Silver Mountains.
I fly at high speed, my body partially broken, yet I keep smiling. Soon, I lose altitude and crash through trees and rocks, leaving a trail of destruction behind. When I hit the ground, I stand up as my body regenerates, still dizzy and unsteady. But this time, I don't lean against a tree. I simply wait for the dizziness to pass.
With my body healed, I resume my journey.
-That damn rat.
-It caught me by surprise.
Explosive rats are truly the plague of this forest. I was walking calmly, facing monsters and crossing biomes, when, as I pushed aside some bushes, I came face to face with a red-furred rat. It was already too late. Its tail sparked, and the explosion sent me flying.
I remember it with disgust.
-...
-But it's strange…
-The explosion it caused was powerful.
-Way too powerful.
I observe the destroyed trees restoring themselves almost instantly. The regeneration of this area is absurd, even when compared to other biomes.
I look at the dense forest ahead.
-(The closer I get to the Silver Mountains, the stronger the forest becomes… and the monsters as well.)
….
…
..
.
The next morning, the sun gradually illuminates the forest. Ahead of me, I see silvery ground. Curious, I walk in that direction and realize it's not just a road, but an entire forest.
-...
I stop at the edge of the entrance and observe carefully. The forest is completely silver. Trunks, leaves, grass, everything here is silver. I look back, comparing it to the ordinary forest, just to make sure I'm not imagining things.
I crouch down to take a closer look at the silvery grass.
-(It doesn't seem like I'm inside an illusion. This forest is really silver.)
I touch one of the leaves on the ground. It's rigid, harder than a normal leaf, but it doesn't quite feel like real silver.
I stand up and face the forest.
-(Very unusual. I don't want to go in.)
-(It's better to go around and find another route.)
I turn around, but in an instant, too fast to react, something hits me. A massive paw covered in silvery scales strikes me head-on, throwing me straight into the forest.
I disappear among the silver bushes and trees.
….
…
..
.