Side Chapter: Ervas Becomes a Powerful...

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Two days have passed since Ervas befriended the little Life Attribute Spirit, Gaia, and he had gone through a slight increase in his capabilities.

By constantly conjuring several spells at the same time while using 'Mana Control' to shape his mana and 'Hardworking' to go beyond the capabilities of a half-demon child on its two years of age, Ervas had managed to increase his Mana Points and Magic stat.

Aside from leveling up, anyone was capable of receiving more stats through training. A warrior would train his muscles and do daily exercises, while a mage would train its magic and intellect, reading books and constantly manipulating Mana.

Mana was just like a muscle, it needed constant practice for it to show its true potential. And just like muscles, they would deteriorate if the user were to not use it for a while and leave himself untrained.

[The Levels of the [Demon Metabolism; Level 1], [Chant Revocation; Level 1], and [Mana Control; Level 1] Skills have increased!]

"Finally. We did it, Gaia. We got a bit stronger" said Ervas, his doll-like face releasing a very, almost unnoticeable smile.

"Muh…! Muh!" said Gaia, floating around with its small green bean-like body. Since Ervas befriended her, he had been constantly feeding her with his mana, this increased in its strength. Noticeable on its increase in size, by one centimeter, and its appearance, as a leaf had begun to sprout over the top of its bean body.

"However, not so much… well, it was only two days. We still haven't leveled up Spirit Magic, even when I've never stopped conjuring 'Plant Whisperer', even when father was at home"

Ervas's father, Jason, had a very bad Mana perception, and most of the time, unless Ervas were to make things float with his mana, he wouldn't notice his son casting silent spells that only affected the outside plants such as 'Plant Whisperer'.

After two days, a small group of grass, three young tree sprouts, and a long and spiky vine had become attached to Ervas's mana and had begun to obey simple commands.

Now, he had decided to finally hunt some monsters… of course not by himself, but by controlling such plants.

Sometimes, animals would show up to eat the grass or the young tree sprouts, and some of those animals could even be young and almost inoffensive monsters, such as recently born Horned Rabbits or Demon Rats.

"It's time to finally hunt for some Experience Points… though I think it will take a while to reach level cap…" muttered Ervas.

"Muh? Muh!" said Gaia, she was more cheerful than the gloomy demon boy.

"I guess you're right, we need to see the bright side of life," said Ervas, patting Gaia's tiny leaf.

Ervas quickly focused his thoughts, as he began to use 'Memory Retention' to recall the memories of him a few days ago activating 'Plant Whisperer'. This way, he did not even need to chant anything, not even mentally, greatly dimming the mental pressure put into his young brain.

He created waves of green-colored mana that were created with the help of Gaia, and through them, he contacted his group of 'Tamed' plants.

Plants barely possessed any consciousness, and those that were young, perhaps even less. But they did possess Souls. And through his mana, he could enhance the plant's souls and incentivize their mental growth, making their consciousness stronger, which in result made them obey him better.

The souls danced around by receiving the delicious Life-Attribute Mana created by Ervas and Gaia and quickly whispered to him that they were ready to obey his orders.

"Very well then… Sprouts, I will enhance your leaves so you become more juicy and attractive, and the grasses will become stickier… and vine, I will make your spikes sharper and your vine sturdier" said Evan, doing as he said. Using his knowledge of Mana, he knew which areas could be enhanced as he desired. He made the Mana rush through the plants inside, their very cells while enhancing their tiny souls.

���This will take a few minutes…" said Ervas, easily multi-tasking and beginning to practice No-Attribute Magic by making things float with 'Telekinesis'. He also split his consciousness a third time, continuing to read his mother's book.

What his mother's book taught were countless paragraphs in a strange language that he could barely grasp. From what he had learned, the book itself was about calling upon the 'outer gods', 'offering sacrifices', 'falling into madness', and 'the endless dreamer'.

Ervas, who had lived on Earth and had been exposed to several books of literature through media, was able to grasp a few things of what this truly meant.

"Am I really going to summon an Eldritch God from Lovecraft's books?" wondered Ervas.

However, if that were to be true, then it would be a powerful and valuable ally that could help him out through the harsh life that waits for him whenever the villagers get tired of wondering what his true identity was.

"Well… I am just making conjectures… but all of this thing about 'dreamers' and the 'dark ones'… Though I am a mere child, I do not think I would be able to summon a real eldritch god. Perhaps one of their pets or a young child?" thought Ervas.

"Well, whatever it is, an ally is an ally. Right, Gaia?" asked Ervas.

"Muh! Muh!" said Gaia.

Gaia was still quite a young Spirit and did not possess such a complex mind to do open conversations yet, but it was enough company for Ervas to maintain his sanity while his father was out working on the fields.

As Ervas immersed himself in the pages of the book, he felt a small alert from the plants. Something had finally been attracted to the delicious looking young leaves of the tree sprouts.

A small, chestnut-colored rabbit, with a tiny horn in the middle of its forehead, it seemed to be a recently born Horned Rabbit that had been lost in the wilderness.

It opened its mouth as it began to peacefully munch into the leaves.

The spiky vine, which was close by, began to move as if it were a snake.

"Now!" commanded Ervas.

The spike vine entangled the small rabbit's entire body as its spiky spines penetrated its skin, the spikes were poisonous, and after a few struggles, the small monster stopped moving.

"I did it…"

Ding!

[Experience Points have reached the required level!]

[Individual 'Rank' has increased from level 1 to level 6!]

[Furthermore, the Individual's 'Job' has increased from level 26 to level 29!]

At last, Ervas felt a rush of energy go through his entire body, the primordial essence that let beings grow stronger in Kritias, Experience Points!

He had already leveled up his Job through practicing No-Attribute Magic endlessly without even taking a break for two days straight, but even so, each time his Job leveled up this way, it didn't felt like there was any 'substance' to it, unlike doing so with Experience Points.

"I can really do it now…!"

Ervas commanded its plants to divide the corpse, by manipulating their roots, they moved part of the corpse below the ground, using a part of it as nourishment, while leaving the rest of the corpse rotting. By releasing its smell, it would attract monsters such as Demon Rats that would come for an easy meal, where the vines could once again take care of them as long as they were small enough.

Surprisingly, the forest was filled with life and monsters and animals going around everywhere, it did not take half an hour for a small, black-colored Demon Rat to take on the scent of the horned rabbit corpse.

Ervas's vine once again did its job well, the rat struggled more than the rabbit though, but it succumbed to the poison, nonetheless. And thanks to Ervas's Mana, the vine could be in perfect condition no matter how hard it worked.

"It seems that this vine is my main weapon… the others aren't as strong" muttered Ervas.

As the day went by, Ervas read the book and kept practicing No-Attribute Magic while using 'Plant Whisperer' to command his deadly vine and the other not-so-strong plants. When night fell and his father Jason came home, he had defeated six Demon Rats and two more horned rabbits, the soil below his 'Tamed' plants had become rich in nutrients, while a few corpses left behind will attract more prey.

[Experience Points have reached the required level!]

[Individual 'Rank' has increased from level 6 to level 21!]

[Furthermore, the Individual's 'Job' has increased from level 29 to level 37!]

[You acquired the [Botanist; Level 1] Skill!]

"I got Botanist sooner than I had expected… Perhaps I do have a talent with plants because of my father being a farmer?" wondered Ervas.

Just like demons inheriting skills to their offspring, talents in certain fields could also be inherited. Ervas in particular suspected that he had inherited the talent for attending and taking care of crops from his father.

"Hm? You look quite tired, Ervas… Are you okay?" asked Jason.

"Hm! Hm!" said Ervas, he couldn't talk yet.

"You're sweating all over… were you using Magic again? You little rascal! I told you not to do so, it's very taxing for your mind!" said Jason, carrying Ervas to a spall pot where he bathed his son.

"Time for a bath and then delicious carrot soup! And nothing of magic for the rest of the week!" said Jason.

"As if I were to obey you, father," thought Ervas.

"Muh? Muh!" said Gaia, Jason was incapable of seeing her. She danced around Jason and sat down over his head.

If someone were to tell the young farmer that a spirit of life itself was sitting over his head, he would never believe it.

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[Name: Ervas Igni

[Race: Half-Demon (Mother: Dagvaarder Demon)

[Age: 2

[Titles: Mysterious Child of the Evergreen Village (New!).

[Type: Demon/Human.

[Rank: 1

[Level: 021/100

[Job: Apprentice No-Attribute Mage.

[Job History: None.

[Level: 037/100

[Health Points: 15/15 > 17/17

[Mana Points: 156/156 > 183/183

[Strength: 12 > 16

[Defense: 6 > 10

[Magic: 89 > 116

[Resistance: 26 > 30

[Agility: 9 > 14

[Passive Skills]

[Memory Retention; Level 4]

[Special Five Senses; Level 6]

[Soul Form; Level 1 (Weakened!)]

[Mana Enlargement; Level 5]

[Magic Enlargement; Level 5]

[Demon Metabolism; Level 2]

[Night Vision; Level 1]

[Abnormal Status Resistance; Level 1]

[Mana Control; Level 2]

[Chant Revocation; Level 2]

[Active Skills]

[Hardworking; Level 7]

[Appraisal; Level 6]

[Mana Drain; Level 1]

[No-Attribute Magic; Level 2]

[Spirit Magic; Level 1]

[Botanist; Level 1] (New!)

[Befriended Spirits]

[Gaia, Young Spirit of Life and Nature]

[Plants on Command]

[Common Sticky Grass] x7

[Young Tree Sprout] x3

[Venomous Spiky Vine] x1