Chapter 73

It was a simple birch tree, with a candid bark and verdant leaves. Its branches swayed in the wind and its trunk stood alone in the middle of nowhere, as if in defiance of the barren land it was growing in.

Although there was no possibility it could be anything else but what I suspected it was, I decided to check, just for safety.

I reached out with my hand towards the tree and rested it against its smooth surface. Then I clawed it, sinking my fingers through the bark and ripping out a handful of wood. I tightened my grip and squeezed it until only a pulp remained.

I let it fall on the ground and I sat down waiting for what was about to happen. In a few minutes the wood pulp started to fall apart and change colour, assuming a familiar cerulean colour, while the tree's wound started to crystallise and slowly turned into wood.

Soon enough the removed portion had completely disappeared and the birch tree had returned to normal, like nothing had ever happened to it. This was a weed, same thing as the beasts but for the plant kingdom.

Although they could occasionally be dangerous, such as in the case of mutated carnivorous plants, weeds were normally harmless as they didn't have the tendency to attack people or even move around, which made them more well-liked by archs.

Not only that, they were also incredibly sought after, especially those with ligneous bodies, as they were more resilient and stable. Asported portions of weeds had a significantly longer decay time than beasts' corpses and they also yielded far more usable ether. Weeds were much easier to transport and process and for all these reasons they were more valued.

In theory, if appropriately managed, weeds could be pruned regularly and used indefinitely as ether sources, but unfortunately they were quite rare, as herbivores ate them even if they had no actual need to do so. Also, more often than not they were usually immediately uprooted by whoever discovered them, interested only in the immediate gain. Moreover, in practice, after a few cycles, weeds tended to die off and become unusable.

Anyway, even if it was a single tree, finding one in a region highly populated by beasts meant there was a good probability of finding even more around here. As if to prove me right, I just had to go over a hill to see a good amount of them scattered around the territory.

The plant population was incredibly diverse, going from high altitude pine trees to ferns and baobabs. The more I advanced towards the north-east, the more the vegetation became thicker. The barren land was slowly becoming more verdant.

Many beasts were concentrated around this area. Herbivores munched on leaves, branches and trunks without an actual reason or purpose and carnivores occasionally attacked them, getting a good chunk of meat out of them, which by the way couldn't be consumed as it quickly dissipated into thin air.

Everything I was seeing was the caricature of an ecosystem, with no truly living inhabitants, only a number of automatons going around and simulating whatever they resembled to the most. The only exception was the occasional deviant going around killing other beasts, apparently driven only by some sort of rudimentary form of sadism.

It was clear to me from this moment onwards that I wouldn't be able to proceed without getting discovered. There were too many beasts around, and nowhere to hide. Technically speaking, I could have carried on by digging through the ground like a mole, but it would have required a monstrous amount of time. Moreover, I would definitely get bored too much too quickly.

Without many options to choose from, I decided to follow a simple but usually reliable strategy, especially in situations where there were no good strategies. I hung to my side the mace I had kept in my hands for many days, and took a deep breath.

After that I started running. The ground cracked under my feet due to the unusually high level of force exercised by my calves and quadriceps. I flew through the air in a straight line, faster than I had ever done before.

As soon as I passed in front of a beast, it started to scream. Hell broke loose. Every single walking thing in a radius of kilometres heard the call and turned towards me. Once they locked their sight on me, they ran and ran, converging towards my position.

Luckily, I had already gained a good amount of momentum and I was able to keep them at a distance. The few beasts unlucky enough to find themselves directly on my path were rapidly disposed of by my burly body travelling at high speed. The more resilient ones got knocked to the side, while the more tender specimens exploded on impact.

Just before the collision I balled up and behaved as a meaty projectile, increasing my inertia with my aura and leading the charge with my head, making sure its hard surface would be the one to make contact first with the enemy. I quickly recovered from the multiple concussions I received.

The chase continued on endlessly. After a few days, the front of beasts hunting me had become so large I could not see the horizon behind me. Fortunately, the vegetation had continued growing thicker and thicker and I used it to my advantage as an obstacle for the pursuers or as a way to move through space three-dimensionally and avoid sudden ambushes.

And so I ran without ever stopping and without ever feeling any sense of tiredness. The air I breathed felt crisp and I got used to the rhythmic sound of my feet hitting the ground.

In spite of the enormous amount of ravenous beasts which for some reason seemed to have been implanted with the imperative of devouring me and were following me without never stopping, I wasn't worried; on the contrary, felt refreshed.

The situation could have seemed dire, but I knew I would be able to cut through the front of beasts and emerge on the other side had the need to do so arised, even at the cost of completely covering myself in my own blood.

I had put myself into a risky but not hopeless situation. My life was in danger, but I just needed to do things correctly to preserve it. All this was incredibly stimulating. Finally I was no longer bored.