Chapter 4: Home

Adam Hope's point of view:

"I've been walking for two days and I still haven't seen anything that isn't desert," I said frustrated as I watched the sun slowly approach the green horizon. "Green horizon?" Vegetation?!

—That is the Aurora Grove, there the level of danger will be much lower and the User will be able to find various resources.

"I want to make a shelter before the sun goes down," I said excitedly while using "Transfer" so that the space in front of me began to shake, so that when I crossed it the landscape would blur and change to that of the forest that could be seen. in the distance – Finally! –I shouted with my arms outstretched as I filled my eyes with the beautiful view of the giant forest. All the trees rivaled in height buildings between 8 and 12 floors, and I could notice that the smallest ones that did not exceed 10 or 20 meters in height were nothing more than growing shoots– The flora of this world is a bit… .big –I said a little dizzy looking towards the sky that was caressed by the treetops–

—Oaks, maples, firs, cypresses and Douglas firs are found in this forest. Its large size is due to the large amounts of sacred mana in the environment; as you move away from the center of the forest, the trees will return to their original size.

By the way, an anomaly was detected in the flora of this forest –He said extending a thin thread of mana that only I could see to guide me to the anomaly–

"Well, this is a nice surprise," I said, looking at the kilometer-long tree that was next to the river. It was a drunken stick, but its flowers were few and looked weak, almost as if it had not been able to give them all the nutrients necessary to grow–

—The anomaly turns out to be a Ceiba Speciosa. There should not be a tree from hot, humid climates in an environment with climates ranging from 30°C in summer and -5°C in winter. Most likely, the sacred mana keeps it protected from the cold temperatures, but its withered appearance is due to a plague of magical beasts that has been detected among its roots.

"Let's exterminate it," I said, heading to an opening between the roots that led to a spacious cave that was full of rabbits with antlers on their heads that were gnawing at the roots of the tree. They easily exceeded hundreds.

—The damage generated by horned rabbits is not enough to harm the tree, but if the damage has been prolonged for several decades that would explain its lack of nutrients and could end up killing it.

"Not under my guard, damn pests," I said, extending my hand over my head, creating a ball of water that began to rotate at high speed to shoot small, fast water bullets that would kill them without them being able to resist. And even though they started to flee at high speed, thanks to the assistance of "Machine Brain" I could predict their trajectories, so all the rabbits ended up dead – Problem solved, but I would like to heal the tree. Is that possible?

—If large amounts of sacred mana are used, it is possible to heal the tree's wounds.

—Sacred mana, eh... –Despite being related to all the elements, I am unable to use it because I do not believe in God. Which is ironic if we think that it was a god who brought me to this world, but luckily "Machine Brain" can use the sacred mana for me– Well do it then, heal him.

—Forming a dense ball of pure water and bathing it with large amounts of sacred mana. The spell "Drop of Life" will be created, which will be able to heal serious wounds in a matter of seconds. The User will be able to use the spell from now on thanks to the User/Skill link.

"Thank you," I said and then spent the next hour healing all the roots of the tree. "And this would be the last one, I can now focus on making myself a shelter, although I could very well make myself a pretty decent house thanks to my skills," I said as I left the cave. when I felt a tug of mana, almost as if they were clinging to my clothes to prevent me from leaving – What was that?

—All mana sources in the surrounding area were scanned. The tree is emitting pulses of mana and wrapping the User's arm with threads of mana.

—Can trees do that? Wait... Is he trying to eat me?! –I asked, upset, thinking that he had raised a crow and now he would gouge out my eyes–

—No, plants cannot eat animals, and those that can are classified as magical beasts. The tree is trying to communicate with the User.

-Communicate? Is it smart? –I asked surprised–

—Sacred trees can develop a certain intelligence after several centuries.

—Then how do I talk to him? Is it even possible?

—All horned rabbit cores will be used to create the skill "Intensified Non-Verbal Communication." This skill will be linked with "Nature's Favor" to turn it into "Telepathy". Now the User should be able to communicate with any intelligent being.

"Wow, that was incredible," I said, surprised that he had created a new skill just because he wanted to. But I couldn't stay distracted, now I could talk to the tree – What are you trying to tell me? –I asked, resting my hand on its roots, feeling the flow of mana that circulated throughout the tree, until a thought that was not mine crossed my head–

"Thank you," a female voice in my head said with difficulty. She was soft and sounded young, but above all she was relaxing and comforting–

-There is nothing to be thankful for. I didn't do it for you, but for a selfish reason – I said thinking of the drunken stick from my hometown –

"Thank you," he said once again despite my refusal.

—Okay, if you want to thank me, then let me live here.

—You can... live here.

"In that case, I'll be back soon, I need a couple of things from the forest," I said, leaving the cave to collect various resources for the next few hours until nightfall.

I ended up gathering several giant leaves, of which I could use the central vein as branches, several liters of water from the river, a few kilograms of mud and clay, and an oak branch that, despite being only one, was still the thickness of a normal size oak.

After collecting I spent the next few hours of the night making furniture and pottery, a grill, and left a large steel pot full of water over a campfire, in which the ants were cooking. During all that time I spent talking to the tree, whose name turned out to be Flora, and through my connection with "Machine Brain" the three of us were able to have long conversations. Thanks to that I could notice that "Machine Brain" had become more independent in terms of thinking, and that Flora had problems speaking because she had never spoken to anyone before in the millennia that she had existed in the forest.

Once I finished all the furniture I smoothed and flattened the floor, and defined the walls to then arrange them all. In my room I placed a bed made with soft leaves and vulture feathers, which would help to have a more comfortable sleep, and next to it I placed a nightstand which I would fill with clothes once I could make more, and in front I placed an oak cabinet. Then I separated the room with a beautiful limestone wall and set about making the kitchen, in which I raised a hollow piece of floor to make cabinets in which to store pots and pans and embedded an oven that would work with fire runes and cores. magic or my own mana, and then embedded a cupboard into the wall. Above the oven I made a stone hood with access to the outside and to one side I put a large oak table with several chairs around it. "Well, that's all I can do at the moment with the little I have," I said, quite proud of myself. new house – What do you think?

—It is a good house, the main needs of the User are covered by it –Said "Machine Brain" in an observation focused on usefulness–

"It's pretty, but... it doesn't have a bathroom," Flora said, appreciating the details of the floor, walls and furniture, but confused by the absence of a bathroom.

—Ah, that's because I don't need one. Thanks to "Machine Brain" I don't need to take a bath, as it keeps my body always clean, and if my clothes get dirty I can put them in my inventory, clean them, and take them out again in less than two seconds. As for a toilet, well, I don't need one either, by resting my hand on my belly I can use "Inventory" to get rid of all my waste. Although what I do is mix them with soil and turn them into fertilizer –I said naturally–

"Adam hardly seems human," he said with a small laugh.

-Hey? –Those words hit me hard, since I had not realized that the basic needs of a human such as hygiene and toileting were absent in me, even my need to sleep had been reduced to four hours instead of eight. Having a tree blame me for my growing lack of human aspects was a hard blow to me. "At least I still look human," I said to console myself while I put away the pot and entered the house to make a pair of paws appear on my plate. ant– I'm not a picky eater, but I would appreciate it if they didn't taste too bad.

—Goliath ant meat should have a flavor similar to that of lobster, so the User should not worry about the taste, and in case of eating bad-tasting food it is possible to momentarily turn off the sense of taste.

"Ah, it's a relief to have you by my side," I said, remembering all the times I had to eat rat meat or canned soups of unknown expiration date and then break the exoskeleton and take a bite of the tender ant flesh. Its flavor was like lobster, but more subdued, and its texture was soft and melted in the mouth. A tear began to fall from my eyes thinking that it had been years since I had eaten anything decent in a place I could call home.

After eating I lay down on my bed, which despite not being of great quality, the vulture feathers made up for it, and slept peacefully until the next morning.

"Good morning Adam," Flora said as she felt our mental connection becoming stronger, indicating that she was waking up. "

—Good morning Flora, Good morning "Machine Brain" –I said sitting on the edge of the bed and stretching my arms with a yawn–

—Good morning User, it's 4:12 a.m. –She said in response to a question that I didn't ask, but that I knew I would ask–

—There is still an hour and a half until the sun rises. What should I do? It wouldn't hurt me to work at home.

—The User could make a running water system, that way they could save having to use magic cores or their own mana to power the water runes in the sink.

—Hm, it's not a bad idea, you could also extend it to some part of the forest and make a small garden with what you find in the forest. Let's do it - I said, jumping out of bed and leaving the house to go to the river that was no more than 20 meters from where I decided to live - If I want to carry water everywhere I'm going to need pressure, so a rune of Air will do, but feeding it will still cost mana, so I was thinking about a solution. Wouldn't it be possible to mix these runes with a rune that has a similar function to active circulation? That way, by just applying an initial amount of mana to it, it could keep running on its own as long as there was mana in the environment, and this place is quite dense in ambient mana –I asked expectantly of whether my idea would be possible or not–

—That would be possible, you would just need to modify the runes and make sure that the desired spell does not require more mana than the average of the environment.

—Then let's make a water tank on some branch of Flora —As soon as we carved the suction rune on a stone tube, I went into the river and began to use earth magic to create an infrastructure by which the tube could support itself and reach up to a height of 100 meters where I made a large stone tank which would take the water to where it was needed. And from there I made another pipe that went directly down to a depth of two meters under the ground. "Ready, when I need water somewhere I just have to extend the pipe there and make a tap." I said, appreciating the plumbing system that was being illuminated by the light of dawn– Oh, I think it's time to get ready to go out. I would like to hunt something, but I have ant and rabbit meat for at least a year, so I will dedicate myself to collecting fruits, seeds, fruits, mushrooms and so on.

"Farewell," Flora said to say goodbye since our mental connection was cut more than 200 meters away. "

"See you later," I told him before turning around and heading into the forest.

Author's words:

This is a quieter chapter, but I hope you liked seeing this facet of the protagonist's life in which he enjoys being calm and in the company of his friends (even if they are a tree and a machine). Without further ado, look forward to next week's chapter.

Best regards, Don_miseria.