In no time, Kai got his answer.
To his right was a sprawling forest with red leaves. It felt familiar yet a bit different, like maple trees but with more twisted canopies.
To his left was the dark colored 'pirate ship' he had been on before. It looked imposing and a bit majestic too.
But what made the ash devil widen his bead-like eyes was the scene in front of him.
Endless clouds, extremely close to him as if he were at a high altitude.
He slowly swam ahead and reached the edge of the land he was on. He looked down, and by god, he would have gulped if he were not in ash form.
As Kai peered over the edge of the floating island, he was met with a dizzying view of an endless expanse below, shrouded in a fiery haze that seemed to stretch on forever. The distant ground was obscured by the thick, ominous clouds, giving the unsettling impression that he was hovering above the very depths of hell itself.
Kai immediately pulled back his extension, thinking, 'This... is concerning.'
Being on a magical floating island could be considered a mind-blowing and interesting experience, but the issue was... traveling.
He turned his body. He would have to find a ship like this.
'I do have the ticket to control the ship somehow, but I am not sure if those ether crystals will be on this island or not. And even if I get them, it's not like the people on the ship will accept a random person as their captain. I don't even know if they will go out to look for me after all they picked me up from some cave as their trophy or worse, experimental material. Who fucking knows.'
The quest had a big reward but that also meant that completing it would be extremely tough for the current him.
'This ship got consciousness though? I guess it saw my abilities and chose me.'
[Yes, it's a high grade airship with an aatma.]
'Aatma?'
[It's a term used for the budding consciousness of an inanimate object. The stage after aatma is having a soul.]
'So the ship aatma wants me to collect these ether crystals in return for becoming its master, huh? Oh, well…'
The ash body started moving towards the forest while thinking, 'Whatever the case is, I am sure of one thing, I need to get stronger and hunt more creatures.'
After all, might made right.
In his past life, Kai knew that money ruled everything. Money bought happiness, security, and the freedom to live life on your own terms. Now, in this new world, strength was the currency, and if he wanted to enjoy this rebirth—or more than that, live without regrets—he had to gain power.
He reflected on his hesitation earlier about killing the blue man. 'I still think of myself as human, with morals and boundaries. Maybe that'll change, and if it does, fine. But right now, acting against what feels right would just lead to regrets.'
And he hated regrets.
A subtle red glow flickered within his ashen form. 'Besides, didn't I get a nice reward in the form of horus gate pretty quickly? So let's go with the flow.'
His mood lifted, and his pace quickened without him realizing it. Speaking of horus gate… 'Is it on this island or somewhere else?'
[Horus gate is on this island.]
'Great.'
Kai thought of it for a moment and then decided to go to the horus gate, but first he would explore the forest and get skill points, of course. It'd be great if he got more cores.
The ash devil soon reached the edge of the forest and looked at the weird-looking trees. 'Alright then,' he dragged himself inside, unaware of the fact that the simple idea of exploration would change his life for better or for worse.
***
Fifteen minutes later, deep within the forest, besides the thick, gnarled shrubs and bushes, a grotesque blob of dark matter squirmed intensely. It painted a picture of horror, or at least bizarre fascination, for anyone who might chance upon it.
The ash devil writhed in frustration, 'Why the hell can't I find any monsters? Or at least a fucking animal? I didn't even find an edible plant!'
Bead-like eyes emerged on the ash, shifting and staring at the twisted tree canopy near him, 'Is it because of these trees?'
He couldn't think of anything else.
After all, when he looked at the other gnarled plants, he had no urge to eat them, but when he chanced upon a fallen leaf, he felt like devouring it. He would have done it if not for a sudden gust of wind that made it fly away, and he shrugged it off.
Oddly enough, that was the only leaf he had found in the past fifteen minutes. How was it even possible that only one leaf fell?
But this also made him conjecture that the trees were the only entities here that had mana. After all, his ability was to devour objects with mana.
'Eh, let's just ask my AI chat bot. System, what's with these trees?'
[They are called blood devouring conifers.]
Kai froze and then immediately wiggled himself away from the nearest tree. He looked up and observed the eerie tree canopies.
The branches were twisted into unnatural shapes, forming strange patterns, and the leaves weren't needle-like, so why call it a conifer? Kai guessed that it must be related to their blood-devouring nature.
Kai then noted that the sun was setting and it would be night soon.
Having that thought, the ash devil started moving and thought of getting out of this place as soon as he could.
'Do they attack?' While moving, he asked, 'I mean, why is their name like that? If they really attack, then why didn't you tell me this be—'
Kai stopped himself from questioning that. That was stupid. The system didn't have consciousness, and it only responded to him passively. The only active part of the system was quest generation, which clearly was on a situational basis.
'Anyway, brief me about this forest.'
[The blood devouring conifers, as the name suggests, attack any moving entity.]
'Wait, what? They don't consider me—'
The ash devil froze as he noticed the ground near the tree bark pulsate.
It was as if something was emerging from it.