16 To Be Better
"I guess I'm far enough that none of the rabbits report anything to me." Nagan stretched his hands, trying to lay down on the ground and see the stars spread. "Well, they'll probably be too scared to approach the source of a loud explosion in the middle of the night. Either that, or they think Mako and Willow just felled a fat tree."
"They'll probably think that their Patriarch just wrestled a bear under the dusk."
Like a silent lullaby encroaching the stiff eyes, a silent entrance was taken by a figure with the hair of a golden dye, peeking just above the frame of Nagan's vision.
It was Owen, smiling gently like a wafting wisteria.
"Heh, I suppose they already saw me as a father figure."
Nagan didn't even realize it, but he actually just laid his head on Owen's lap.
Owen gestured her finger, as the whirring of space began to heal the fabric of Nagan's clothing into brand new.
"You aren't surprised that I'm here, which surprises me to an extent."
"I guess they say that the joy of seeing someone you're enamored with, overwhelm any kind of shock as an afterthought."
"My my~ I guess that's your true feeling for me?"
"I always lay my emotion like a mourning wreath."
Critter of the forest hummed to the ghostly wind that's caressing the soil. Faraway howling could be heard, praying to the four moonlights that were looming on the sky like a grand hall chandelier.
"It seems like something has been troubling your heart." Soothing as a carnation flower, Owen tenderly caressed the hair of her husband. "I heard that a human needs a same-minded companion from time to time, so that they won't die of loneliness."
"What am I, a rabbit?"
"Mmmmm~"
A smile was sculpted on Nagan's face. "Well, for one. A man without trouble is but an empty husk. The heart needs to contain all sorts of poison, so that it can mature and grow in a harsher environment. Like a soil that keeps on giving. Who knows, maybe strong enough to conserve a flower like you."
"My my~ getting cheeky, are we?"
Owen lightly pinched Nagan's ear.
"Ahahah… So what's bringing you here?"
"Who knows, maybe someone is lonely and in need of an answer."
"Lonely? Maybe. In need of an answer? I'm not an impatient person."
"I see. Anything you want so far~?"
"Just, stay there." Nagan closed his eyes, trying to wash away all sorts of clouds that were cluttering the fireside corner of his heart. "Everything is moving so fast, standing still makes me exhausted."
"Will a lullaby be sufficient to accompany that?"
"It is more than enough."
And so, the man who lays his emotion like a mourning wreath has decided to trust fully of the rabbit that he had vowed to be his partner. Everything from the bitter corner of his heart, he decided that every doubt he possessed will be shelved, only to be picked again once the view is more cloudy than the skyward billow.
"Lily is never a factor~"
So for now.
"When looked into the maw of a burning reactor~"
Maybe it's not that bad.
"And so your soul could soar~ with my heart on the altar~"
To have someone to be beside you for once.
"Of magic~"
Until the time and evermore.
"Like a resilient rock~"
The lullaby seeped into the forest, nurturing every soil, every tree, every mushroom, and every water. Any living thing within the forest was soothed into soothing trance, while those who possess the mind of a human, would be wrapped in sweet embrace.
It was the first night where the forest was truly asleep, with peace and compassion for nothing but their own existence to keep on living, and make the most of everything that life has to offer.
"Tis' most wondrous feeling, where is it coming from I wonder?"
"Willow, shall we stop sawing trees for a while?"
"Yeah, maybe a little rest is good."
"I wonder what the future will bring us."
"Are you scared of the future?"
"The opposite, actually. I'm excited to see what life can give us."
"Well, just like they say."
""When life gives you lemon, you make a lemonade!""
"That's so out of nowhere."
"I know, just like life."
The story had only just started.
And so, ten days uneventfully had passed.
"Is this just me…" Nagan uttered, "Or all of you have been getting taller."
Within the past ten days, the expedition team had successfully secured a firm foundation for the settlement to be referred to as an outpost. With the amount of trees that had been felled, the usalians had erected a perimeter of wooden walls, with a deep pit hugging the outside of the walls. A fast worker was an understatement for the usalian's work ethic.
A crude barrack had been built, ensuring that every usalians could rest on underneath a roof. Numerous contraptions such as a primitive ten meters long conveyor line made out of wood had been installed to ease up pushing large objects in and out the wayward portal.
Other than that, the Unnamed Kingdom had already upgraded their facility to accommodate smelting iron-like ores alongside a crude extension on the forgery for making tools other than a shovel. The expedition team had located numerous surface mineral reservoirs near the area of the cliffs, some of them were skarn deposits, a deposit filled with rare metamorphic rock. A great bauxite deposit had also been found, which was vital to produce aluminum and industrial products. However, the Unnamed Kingdom lacks the facilities and refinery to process these rare materials.
On the easier hand, the expedition team found a place with a large amount of clay. So currently, the crafters were fiddling with those.
"Huh, I didn't realize that we got taller."
"And my hair has grown too long, I need to tie it up."
It was fair to say that every usalian had already shown a sign of change from the stimulation of experience of their surrounding environment.
"New weapon, I have obtained! Continuing the duel, we shall!" Karasaki raised the dignified three-meters wooden pole with both hands. "Hopscotch, you rascal, face me in this bloodthirsty duel! It's now or forever!"
After a great deal of hunting and lifting, Karasaki had grown to 165cm in height from 145cm. Not only packing appropriate muscles and tone for a physique to accommodate her energetic activity, her pupils also began to evolve into a pair of concentric circles with deep red color and black hue on the outer layer. She claimed that she was able to overclock her brain to perceive everything as 20% slower than before.
As of now, she was rocking a twintail hairstyle with the claim that it will appear as if she possesses a pair of horns when running.
"I really don't know what to do with you…"
On the opposite site of the spectrum, Hopscotch only grew to 150cm in height. She seemed to be hoping that she had a better grip on things she held. Because of it, her hands mutated within the course of two days to form a red exoskeleton, carapace-like scales, with extra layers of muscles underneath it that increased her grip strength to be strong enough to crush minerals with bare hands.
She didn't like her hair troubling her daily activity, so she cut them short.
"Huwaa, they are fighting again, huh~? As one of the vanguard, you don't want to join, Jingo?"
Bluebell possessed the same growth as Karasaki in terms of height, putting her as the second tallest usalian amongst the group. There weren't many changes except that she had become more flexible and athletic as she let her hair grow straight and long. She could be seen practicing some form of dances at nighttime.
"... Not interested."
As one of the vanguard, Jingo also went through a great hunting regime. Taking a much more stealthy approach than the other two, her body just outright evolved to secrete light-bending smoke-like substances that blur herself with the surrounding. The smoke was odorless and worked greatly even during the day.
"Urgh! Just when will the next batch of provisional food arrive… I'm starving…!"
Clover was one of the most noticeable ones amongst the expedition team members when it came to new appearance. It might be possible that the eight millions informational packages about different species of Earth that she consumed influenced her mind greatly, that now she possessed a 2 meters black prehensile tail akin to that of a monkey, capable of using it to grab and hold her hanging body on a branch, and utilizing an extra weapon in fighting.
Her fangs also became prominent, and her bite force seemed to be stronger than the average.
"Now now~ no need to be agitated. Here, why not help me replace the traps on the southern skirt?"
Next to Clover in terms of drastic changes, comes Pippin. For unknown reason, some part of her hair began to shift into pink, along with her red eyes that were now could be seen with a cross-shaped pinkish hue on her pupils. It might be a hypothesis, but there seemed to be more evolution that happened inside her body.
The rest usalians within the expedition team only had their height grown within the range of 150cm and 160cm. Some of them seemed to also start to develop a special attribute, but it wasn't as noticeable as the currently mentioned usalians. For example, Hoppington reported that she felt an increasing level of focus when she started to think about something. Immortal Dragon Overlord on the other hand, her nails evolved to be stronger and sharper. It was unknown what led her body to undergo that change, even Immortal Dragon Overlord herself.
