Huh? Where am I? I can only see about five metres in front of me before some kind of fog blocks my vision but from the looks of the ground I seem to be in some kind of forest.
"Ah~ I can't believe you put your life on the line for a sparring match."
Oh, now I know where I am.
[Kai] "you refurbished this place a little huh? Entity."
Turning around, I saw the familiar cosmic figure wearing a strange black and white kimono.
[Kai] "uh, what's with that?"
[Entity] "hm? I was looking through your memories and this looked comfortable."
[Kai] "oh well that explains it... not! Why were you looking through my memories!?"
[Entity] "you've been unconscious for three days. I was getting bored."
[Kai] "e-three days?"
[Entity] "indeed."
[Kai] "great. So why talk to me now?"
[Entity] "you've been keeping me entertained. So I thought I'd reward you again."
[Kai] "oh, uh, do you mind telling me what is was that entertained you?"
[Entity] "you're usage of your abilities. Normally, anyone I send to another world is all brawn no brain and end up getting themselves killed once they go mad with power and meet someone stronger."
[Kai] "I probably would have ended up the same way if I didn't meet these guys."
[Entity] "possibly. Now, what would you like to be rewarded with?"
[Kai] "I uh..."
[Entity] "hm? Not sure this time?"
It's true. I honestly have nothing. I can't think of anything I really need at this moment off the top of my head.
Entity tilted its head whilst placing a finger on its chin in a thinking pose.
[Entity] "how about this then. I'll speed up the healing process to get you back on your feet and give you a little hint at your future.
[Kai] "you're a fortune teller now?"
[Entity] "do you want it or not?"
[Kai] "I... suppose. I don't really have any better idea."
God clapped its hands together once at my reply and let show a wide smile.
[Entity] "take care of Mother Nature and be wary of the snake that swallows its own tail."
[Kai] "huh?"
[Entity] "see you next time~"
Entity waved to me with its fingers with the same wide grin on its face.
-
[Valentina] "what's going on?"
[Seyird] "hm? His wounds are healing?"
I opened my eyes as I sat up in a hurry, only for my head to hit something extremely hard.
[Valentina] "ow~"
I guess I got up so fast I headbutted Valentina so now she's standing there with her hand rubbing her forehead. Most likely in jest considering how powerful she is.
[Kai] "apologies."
[Valentina] "eh? No need to be so polite with me. Besides, I'm here to see what you would demand of me."
[Kai] "oh, okay then. Wait, what do you mean by my demands? I lost."
[Valentina] "heh. The deal was you last longer than the potion. Right before I hit you it ran out. So you won."
[Kai] "o-oh."
[Valentina] "so, what do you want me to do~?"
She said that last part rather seductively but sorry, even if I was interested, if I got in bed with you, you'd probably end up breaking me.
[Kai] "I want you to train me."
[Valentina] "huh? Okay, now it's my turn to be surprised. Why would you want that?"
[Kai] "you're strong and I want to be strong. What more is there to wonder?"
[Valentin] "hmm... it's just... I'm not sure how much I could teach you. I could go over the basics for hand to hand and most weapons but that's about it."
[Kai] "that would be fine too."
[Valentina] "hm, alright then. I'll take you as a student! Come see me when you want to learn."
[Kai] "will do. Thanks."
Valentina left the room with a smile on her face and news that she now had a new student that she would no doubt torment. Although, all things considered, that woman has a pretty good handle on how much strength she should be using or holding back. I look forward to learning from her.
[Seyird] "I must admit. It was a rather impressive display."
[Kai] "Seyird, was that a compliment?"
[Seyird] "not at all. Your futile struggling was quite amusing."
[Kai] "*grumble*"
[Seyird] "by the way. What is going on with your hand?"
[Kai] "hm?"
Oh, it's true. My hand is still firmly clenched and I'm assuming it's still full of mana.
[Kai] "don't worry about it. Just a little side effect of an ability I tried to use."
[Seyird] "that last one yes? It even had Valentina on edge. Not to mention everyone that was near you at the time reported feeling like the air became stale the moment you began charging that attack."
[Kai] "ah, yeah, is it alright if I explain it a bit later so I don't have to give everyone a seperate explanation?"
[Seyird] "I don't see a problem with that. I was simply hoping to quell my sense of curiosity. Oh, one more thing. Lady Lucile has been worried about you so you should visit her."
[Kai] "thanks. I'll do just that. Is she in her room?"
[Seyird] "she is in the garden. I will lead you there if you wish to go now."
[Kai] "alright, let's go."
I stood up off the bed and followed Seyird out the door. I received a few awed gazes from the groups of dawdling onlookers as we walked down the stairs. Eventually we reached the ground floor and began sauntering through an area I had never been in before. The dark hallway was lit only by a few sparse torches along the walls.
[Seyird] "we are here. You may enter."
[Kai] "thanks."
He motioned for me to enter through the wooden double doors so I complied, opening both of them with ease. When I entered the Garden I couldn't help but let out a small gasp of amazement at the beautiful plants that lined the area. The room was still inside the castle but due to a glass ceiling the plants all received the proper amount of sunshine. Multicoloured flowers of different shapes and sizes filled the room, all leading towards a large tree with blue leaves in the centre. Kneeling in the trees shade was a silver haired girl with her hands clasped in front of her. I began walking towards her but as I did, I noticed that the mana that was currently held within my left hand was reacting with the flowers at my side, bringing their beauty and brilliance out even more. I decided to ignore it for now and continue walking towards Lucile before stopping a short distance away.
[Kai] "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting."
Lucile's head peeked up before she turned it with astonishing speed, her eyes began to tear up as she ran towards me.
[Lucile] "Kai! What are you doing out of bed?! Are you alright?! How are you feeling?!-"
[Kai] "I'm alright, Lucile, I'm alright."
At my words Lucile seemed to calm down a bit, that is, until she realised that she had been touching my body all over frantically, not to mention the hug she gave me when she first saw me.
[Kai] "Thank you."
[Lucile] "h-huh? W-what for?"
[Kai] "for supporting me. It was thanks to you that I was able to stand that last time, I won thanks to your support."
For some reason her face went completely red at my words of thanks.
[Lucile] "y-y-you're w-we-welcome!"
[Kai] "so uh... this place..."
[Lucile] "oh! It is- was, my mothers. Now I take care of it. Though.... the plants aren't faring very well without her..."
[Kai] "hm? Why is that?"
[Lucile] "these plants... feed on mana. Because they aren't receiving enough anymore, they're slowly dying. I can't..."
She started to sob at the thought. So that's why they reacted to me. They were just hungry. Placing my hand near the flowers once again they began to bloom slowly, as if merely being close to this much mana was enough to sustain them, at least for the moment.
[Lucile] "this tree is the heart of the garden. The seed was imbued with a large amount of mana thousands of years ago which changed the colour, structure and size of the tree. As long as this tree has mana, it will feed the rest of the plants in here. It was my mothers. Now, under my care, it's going to die..."
[Kai] "*Sigh* no it's not."
I can't believe I'm doing this. I thought I decided that I'd only do what was necessary for me to survive so why am I trying to cheer this girl up? Why do I want to help her so much?
I raised my closed fist towards the tree, much to Lucile's surprise and confusion. Placing my hand upon the trees trunk, I slowly opened my palm.
I didn't need to do anything else before I could both see and feel the mana visibly being drained into the tree, being absorbed as it finally received its long awaited nutrients. The blue leaves shimmered as all the plants one by one, lifted and bloomed while releasing a soft blue glow into the air.
[Lucile] "w-wow..."
As I removed my hand, two golden fruits, slightly larger than my hand, fell from somewhere amongst the branches, landing in both of my palms.
[Kai] "what?"
[Lucile] "Sh-she's saying thank you..."
[Kai] "who is?"
[Lucile] "my mother..."