Wood is composed of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen. It also contains calcium, potassium, sulfur, and magnesium—all elements that form the hydrocarbon chains that makeup wood.
The Wood Race of Elves!
‘Whether it be a strand of grass, a seed, or a shrub, I’m not feeling any differences in my sense of control over them.’ Pinaka thought as he stared at his hands, ‘If it means as long as the combination of these elements exist in a hydrocarbon chain to allow me to control it, then the same applies to my body, too.’
‘Even human bones are 15 percent Carbon by weight. So, it should be possible.’ Pinaka tied a strand of grass on his index finger to test the sprouting idea in his mind and brought all his attention to it.
Upon his will, the grass strand coiled itself to turn thinner. Next, Pinaka imposed the same will on the skin of his index finger.
Nothing happened.
‘If I had some reference, I think it’d be easier.’
But Mahnaka had never demonstrated such an ability. That meant he was on his own.
‘I am missing something.’
He frowned, grunted, and resumed germinating the wheat seeds planted in the soil. Even though he didn’t wish to work like a slave, he had to act his part, at least until he got a chance to flee, “There’s too much I don’t know yet.”
‘I have some idea of our power system now. I can think of ideas further from here.’ Pinaka then eyed the mortar wall, ‘But I do not know this place. The terrain, the building layout, and how far must I flee before I’m truly free?’
The rest of the day was uneventful. No one came to bother him, ‘The Humans don’t interfere as long as I produce the scheduled batch of wheat.’
“Humans?” he frowned. There was a strange disconnect in his phrasing. “I…am human…used to be human…”
He felt strange as if he were referring to someone else. He clutched his head, ruffling his fingers through his hair to mutter, “I am Pinaka, the Elf.”
“Shit!” Referring to himself as an Elf felt natural while Humans no longer seemed like his kin, despite his memories from Earth, “I’ve…only been here for two freaking days!”
Pinaka was already a different individual physically. And now, he was also stabilizing mentally to his new identity, ‘It doesn’t make sense otherwise that it took me an entire day to realize I was naked. It didn’t feel awkward for an instant, even when I was conversing with Mahnaka all along.’
Elves—Kin!
Humans—Enemies!
The distinction was sharp. Instinctual. Unshakable.
He would have to consciously make decisions by referencing his previous life’s memories to avoid harming Humans in the future. But… his experiences of the prior day—the pain, the torture—weren’t exactly pushing him toward sympathy for humanity.
“First, a self-analysis is necessary.”
Pinaka observed the field before him and grabbed a seedling. He twisted it and plucked it off. His eyes stung with grief. ‘I’ve never mourned a tree being cut before… this is new.’
He grabbed the strands of grass growing at spots across the field and casually placed them on his hip, “It feels strange to cover myself.”
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He compressed a strand of grass into a needle-thin stick and used it to draw two stick figures in the dirt—one human and one Elf. He stared at them, analyzing his emotions. He stared at both and inspected his feelings.
“I see. Elves were inherently compassionate toward all life. But their greatest priority was plant life.” He then drew some fire on the human figurines’ hands and a burning tree behind him, feeling mild anger seethe in him, “When someone harms plant life, I feel anger.”
“Do I care about all lives?” He drew a bunch of stick-like creatures, dogs, cats, and elephants, scribbling through their bodies like a ginormous sword was cutting them.
It wasn’t much, but he felt hurt at the action, “Elves mourn the loss of all life, regardless of the species.”
Pinaka spent the next hour experimenting to determine his current emotional disposition. “So, let me get this in order.”
“I grieve for all lives, but my plants take priority. Following them are animals and insects that live symbiotically in forests and help the plants with pollination, provide manure, and so on. At the bottom of this order are destructive creatures towards forests.” Pinaka concluded, “Humans are lower on the ladder since their Authority over Fire is naturally destructive towards Wood.”
“Next is perception,” Pinaka said, focusing on the World Tree’s task. “Let’s consider that the reward can transcend time and space.”
“If I think I’ll be reincarnated to my family irrespective of how long I live here…” He muttered after a few seconds of thought, “I’ll plan for twenty years extensively and perfectly break out of this prison.”
“Damn, no wonder we lost.” He massaged his forehead, realizing one of the reasons why the Elves may have lost the war.
‘Twenty years to me feel like what a day does to Humans.’
It’s as if he slept a bit longer than usual. That’s how an Elf perceived a timespan of twenty years, ‘In that time, the Humans would create an entire generation.’
“And if we’re comparing manpower logistics at war,” He shook his head and stared at the sky to eye the silhouette of the far-away World Tree. “I know that only the World Tree can produce Elves since I woke up there yesterday. And judging by how the Humans treated me upon introduction, it seems Elves aren’t being birthed fast.”
‘In comparison, Humans can mate with each other and raise their population at exponential rates.’ For a moment, he recalled the population of Humans on Earth, ‘They reached a billion at the start of the nineteenth century. And by the twenty-first century, they reached eight billion.’
‘So, in terms of numbers, we’re too few while our enemy is rapidly raising their population through the food we’re farming at massive rates here.’ Pinaka analyzed their situation, ‘In terms of raw power, Wood is weak to Fire. Even if I max out my Stats, I can’t solo an entire army.’
“Hmm…” He slumped to the ground and stared at the seedling before him, going in a daze as he recalled every statement Mahnaka had said. Soon, he broke into a smile, ‘Forest fires are dangerous. Mahnaka used that to conclude Wood can never win against Fire.’
“I think I'm starting to understand why the World Tree reincarnated Humans from Earth as Elves.” He chuckled, feeling enlightened, ‘Forest Fires can defeat Elves, but they’ll cripple the Human Race.’
Why? Because everyone needs food to survive.
Pinaka observed the soldiers stationed on the mortal walls, found a window when he wasn’t being observed, and sneaked into Mahnaka’s farm to ask, “Is there any Level 2 Elf here?”
“No, we’ll be killed when we reach Level 2.” Mahnaka shook his head, staring in confusion to see Pinaka chuckle in response.
“Any idea on how to reach it?” Pinaka asked.
“No, the Humans burnt every detail regarding it immediately after winning the war.” Mahnaka responded perplexedly, “Why? Are you planning something, Pinaka?”
“Nope, just satiating my curiosity.” Pinaka didn’t express anything else and returned to his farm, beginning to resume work as he thought, with a wide grin, ‘A large amount of food is necessary to upkeep the voracious appetite of a ginormous population. If it falls short, the population turns volatile upon itself.’
‘Pests among grains, poisoning the grains.’ Pinaka muttered, “There are ways to go about it. Since I now have a direction, I only need to work towards it while figuring out things along the way.”
That was why the Humans from Earth are reincarnating as Elves on Gangnea, ‘A pure-born Elf of this world would consider it blasphemous and would rather die than do it. But I…’
“It’ll surely hurt my feelings since I’m now an Elf. But,” Pinaka touched his scorched cheeks with a vicious glare, “When push comes to shove, I’m ready to burn down all plant life.”
‘A Level 2 Elf can create trees and live off its produce.’ He concluded, ‘If the world becomes a desert...only Elves will survive.’
“Project Desertification, it is.” He let out a laugh.
…
Gangnea Daily Article #7:
There’s no ceiling to the stats you can gain on Gangnea. You’re only limited by how long you’ve spent your life training.