Chapter 12

The world is filled with a dazzling, hazy light that casts no shadow.

The shimmering Milky Way seems pitiful, as if it’s about to pour into me.

It’s been 200 days since I fell to this land.

At the summit of the volcano, I faced a massive dragon.

[It’s not a dragon, it’s a spirit. A fire spirit. A race classified as sentient in any dimension.]

“I know that.”

“What do you know, the oldest mortal?”

The deep voice of the spirit lingers in my ears.

It feels like a jab, and it’s annoying.

Hmm…

“Why do you insist on calling me a mortal?”

I’ve faced countless enemies so far.

The most important thing in the process was to gather information about the enemy.

My sharp senses detect the opponent’s body, and the Dimension Power I’ve spread around senses the inherent Magic Power.

From the information I gather, I estimate roughly.

Is it doable? Is it impossible?

If I fight with the resolve to die, how much will I have to sacrifice?

It’s the same now.

Even though it’s a spirit without a physical body, it’s even easier to figure out.

All I need to do is analyze the wavelength of its Magic Power.

That guy is weak.

Not even comparable to me.

After all, this world hasn’t even been around for five years.

Thinking back, the dinosaurs I saw at first were ridiculously strong, but everything else was just average.

So, this spirit has no reason to mess with me.

It’s not even a dinosaur.

I’m strong, and you’re weak.

If you can’t see this clear relationship, I prophesy you’ll be found dead soon.

“Ah, no! It’s just my way of speaking, there was no such intention. Please understand.”

When I showed aggression, it immediately lowered its stance.

In this aspect, it’s definitely sentient.

“I think mistakes aren’t repeated more than once.”

“I, I think so too. I sincerely apologize.”

If it were about something else, it wouldn’t have reacted so sensitively.

Mortal.

That word really bothered me.

Thinking about it again makes me angry.

Even though I’ve raised my heat resistance a lot, and it’s not as hot as before, I suddenly felt a rush of heat to my head.

Feeling uncomfortable, I looked at the spirit settled in the volcano’s crater.

“How were you born?”

Belva said that recently, many sentient beings have been popping up like mushrooms after the rain.

What kind of change has there been?

Coincidentally, the frequency of births has sharply increased almost overlapping with the time I absorbed Dimension Power.

There must be some connection between the two.

When I asked, the spirit pondered for a moment and said it heard a voice.

And it said it opened its eyes with the feeling of falling from the sky.

What kind of nonsense is that?

Not even a dream about growing taller.

I even tried to threaten it to speak in detail, but the spirit said it couldn’t remember more.

It doesn’t seem to be lying.

Then, it actually heard some voice and fell here…

“Do you remember what was said? Even just the general meaning?”

It said it doesn’t remember at all.

Another question arose.

Where did this spirit get its basic common sense and instincts from?

When I threatened the spirit, it definitely flinched.

That was a manifestation of the will to protect its own life.

It means it’s not a primitive life form like a newborn baby with no common sense in its head.

In fact, isn’t it strange that it’s talking to me so normally, being less than a year old?

It wasn’t a matter of learning ability.

The spirit was so large it could fill a crater a kilometer in diameter.

If it had moved anywhere, Belva couldn’t have missed it.

I carefully formed a hypothesis.

That the voice the spirit heard is sending sentient beings here.

In the process, it erases memories and sends them, or implants common sense. Leaving only survival instincts and communication abilities, then dropping them here.

That was my hypothesis.

And inevitably, that voice must be related to Belva.

Regardless of cognitive ability and the degree of self-development, Belva judged what was sentient and what was not.

It wasn’t a voluntary judgment.

Belva seemed to have some criteria received from someone, and when it didn’t match its own judgment, it showed a bewildered feeling.

If that judgment criterion is based on whether the voice the spirit mentioned sent it or not, everything can be explained.

[…It’s certainly a plausible story. But where I am, there’s no one who would do that.]

“Are you sure?”

[I’m sure. There’s no reason to.]

Through several conversations, I’ve confirmed that Belva isn’t just a message, but has a physical form.

Not human, though.

That makes me even more suspicious.

Now that I know the value of this dimension.

A world before the great cataclysm where Dimension Power was massively consumed.

Belva said that Dimension Power is a very precious and rare resource.

Those who know its true value would do anything to get it.

Then, are Belva’s people different?

Belva itself was envious…?

[…

Still, doubts linger.

It’s not a big deal to send intelligent beings over here, but it’s probably not out of pure goodwill either.

After telling Belva to double-check, I turned my gaze to the spirit.

“Hey.”

“…What’s up?”

“Can’t you bestow blessings or something?”

Honestly, I’ve been expecting this since we first met.

Blessings from a fire dragon. Blessings from a spirit.

You know, stuff like that.

There has to be something, right?

As I subtly drew out my magic power, the spirit quickly nodded.

“It’s possible! Absolutely possible! I was born to bestow blessings!”

“That’s a relief. What’s the effect?”

“Um, it adds an extra boost to all fire-related magic. And it increases fire resistance.”

“Don’t be vague, be specific. What’s this ‘extra boost’?”

“I’m not entirely sure… I just said what came to mind. But I’m confident it’s true.”

A memory I couldn’t fully trust.

It felt unsettling.

The thought of someone tampering with my memories made me uncomfortable.

First, I picked up the fox next to me, Miho. She was curled up like a spirit.

“Wake up, dude.”

She had gotten so chubby, she was almost the size of a small leopard.

Is she a fox or a pig, seriously?

Of course, a fox wouldn’t grow as big as a leopard just by gaining weight, but it was true that her body had puffed up like a steamed bun.

I’ll have to make her exercise later.

“A mysterious species, indeed. She holds a fierce fire within. Can I bestow a blessing upon her?”

“Sure.”

As I responded, a mysterious light flowed from the spirit’s body and soon condensed, seeping into the fox’s waist area.

Upon checking, a complex pattern was clearly engraved there.

Hmm…

It’s simpler than I thought.

[What is it?]

The blessing, I mean.

It was much lighter in structure than I expected.

It was definitely an interesting approach, but it didn’t seem particularly advantageous.

“Blessings aren’t something just anyone can bestow!”

“It’s just an auxiliary circuit. Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

At my words, the spirit shut its mouth.

Honestly, it wasn’t wrong.

While the complexity and precision were commendable, at its core, a blessing was nothing more than an auxiliary circuit.

Think of it like an external hard drive for a computer.

It’s about creating a small circuit outside the body’s main circuit to increase the amount of magic power you can handle.

That was the essence of a blessing.

“Still, it was a good learning experience. I never thought of it this way.”

Using the fact that magic power flows well even under the skin to engrave circuits like tattoos.

The idea is quite unique and innovative.

Though it’s a bit disappointing that it only helps with fire-related magic.

Oh well.

I’ll have to improve and re-engrave the blessing on Miho later.

Thinking that, I looked ahead and saw the spirit’s expression was incredibly gloomy.

It looked like it had lost the will to live.

Funny.

Anyone would think I plagiarized the idea or something.

[It’s kind of similar, though.]

True.

Right now, I feel like a bestselling author who copied an unknown writer’s story and published it.

I’ve never experienced it, but that’s how it feels.

This sense of guilt from stealing someone else’s work and making it my own.

It reminds me of a character named Phantom from a certain game.

Come to think of it, that was my favorite character.

Was I always into this kind of thing?

[Stop with the pervy talk and let’s get moving.]

Smiling at the despairing spirit, I moved on to the next destination.

There’s an intelligent being that’s almost on the verge of death, I hear.

Supposedly, it’s humanoid like me, so I can’t help but feel excited.

Finally, I can have some proper human-like conversations… well, high-level talks with non-verbal gestures.

Feels good.

The sky is still dark and quiet.

Ironically, there’s not a single streetlight for a modern person accustomed to neon signs.

If you close your eyes and walk, you can hear sounds in your ears.

Even if you cover your ears, you can still hear them.

The sound of blood gushing. Bones breaking. Screams of pain. Sobbing through clenched teeth.

The despair and agony that rise in your memory are clearer than reality.

It’s astonishing.

Well…

It’s all in the past now.

I walked leisurely under the ash-filled sky.

In my steps now, there’s no despair or pain.

Just a straight line leading to where I need to go.

A perfect straight line.