(A. N. New stats on auxiliar chapter)
The journey took a while longer than I originally though but I've finally reached the place the crow spoke off.
And... It's a sight to behold.
Instead of the poisonous smoke I was expecting what I found was a raimbow colored liquid.
This liquid was falling off the islands like a river, but after a certain distance it arched upwards into another island.
It looked like a bridge that connected all the islands.
Said island where not all the same, some looked like giant floating crystals or mountainous gaunt forests.
Others showed signs of human or at least intelligent life.
In fact from this distance o could clearly see some boats using said raimbow waters as way to go from one island to another.
How does it work?
"That rainbow water is poison."
!!
"Most of the old inhabitants of the continent couldn't survive it before but after this continent got crushed into its current state."
"Their only means to survival was by evolving into being able to coexist with it."
"Nowadays even though they can't survive direct contact with it..."
I looked at the boats.
"If they protect themselves with an hard magically enhanced material they'll probably be able to reach the other island with only about 30% or 40% casualitys."
40%!? If the casuality rate is that high why would they do it?
"Cause if they don't they die."
"You see, the lizard-folk that lived in the floating continent where part of the 'lazy races' as such they had their lives made easy."
"With exception to the poor ones they didn't have to fight or struggle to survive."
"Knowledge wasn't something they struggled to gain nor where mentors and teachers something they earned."
"They where weak, but once the continent blew up, they started having to fight for their survival."
"This specie used to run mainland in order to avoid this poison rivers but now they live right next to it."
"The smogs that it produced killed the weak and sickly, the lack of farmable land made it so those that where lazy died of hunger."
"They started earning their right to live and pitting in the effort to gain knowledge that allowed them to better survive."
"They became... Less lazy? Yeah that's the expression, less lazy *puipipipipi*."
Your saying that because of their new found.... 'dedication' they decided to embarc on a 40% death rate trip to bother island?
"Yes and no, you see the island they're going to?"
The island was huge, in fact it looked to be the biggest island on the surroundings.
"That's where the spider that rules this islands lives."
"As an child of the heavenly spider it has the ability to manipulate poisons and poison mana."
"The people that try to make the inter-island travels are usually the ones that are close to dying."
"Instead of just accepting their death and moving on, they decide to figh for it and face the poisonous rivers."
"All in the meager hope that the spider living in the middle island is as benevolent as her progenitor the heavenly spider. "
"... Their usually not so lucky."
Hmmm.... This kind of people seem like the ones that would fail at ascending to the after-life.
The type with a strong attachment to their lives.
Hmm... I've realized this for a while, but ever since I reencarnated I've never felt bad about death.
I was willing to kill my 'parent', shoot a spike at the wren and now I'm just looking as a boat filled with 40% soon to be dead people without caring.
I can only guess that once one figures out what's after death, life becomes cheaper.
If this people die, they'll most likely just be reencarnated without their memories or ascend to their chosen heaven.
That said... What about life? What is the meaning of the lives that we lead so far... If in the end they'll either be forgotten or abandoned?
As such, even if I find it a bothersome that I have to kill this spider in order to further evolve I don't find it bad or immoral.
"We're close I can feel it."
I can feel it too, this spider had a very strong aura, wich either due to lack of control or lack of consciousness was leaking all over it.
"Well, this is as far as I go spiky."
"I'll not be helping you with this fight."
"Hope you don't die, see ya later if you survive *puipuipipipi*"
This... Was to be expected honestly with the :" 'Lazy races' are bad!" or "We know how to raise or children to be strong!" mindset he has.
I know that he'll probably not leave me or anything, he's probably still somewhere around.
That doesn't mean he will help me though. Even if Im dying he probably won't help me until I learn how to survive on my own.
Damnit, I can even see him, going as far as hitting me while saying: "You can't trust anyone !" or some other lesson.
I can say this because we've been traveling together for 2 weeks now.
And if I didn't have a grasp of his personality after hearing his voice so much... I'd be an idiot.
Let's head into the island. I'm ready.