Torill popped her head out of the tent moments after I flopped on the ground. She took me in with concern evident on her face.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I said, before dropping the meat I'd been carrying, and nosing it towards her. "I saved this for you."

To my dismay, I could see her nose wrinkle in disgust before she quickly schooled her features.

"Thank you very much, hun, that's very sweet of you. I know how much you value food. But you can go ahead and eat that, I've still got plenty left from this morning."

I looked down at my rejected gift with a critical eye, and felt my face heat up with embarrassment. The leg I had carried home was mangled from having been roughly torn off, but that was just the start. Not only were the teeth marks from my grip plainly evident, but it was soaked from being held in my mouth for the trip. It was also coated in a layer of dirt and leaves from having been set on the ground and rolled towards her.

Even a cursory examination of the dirty hunk of chewed meat and cracked bone was enough to tell me that by human standards it was disgusting. I shook my head, even after taking it in, it still looked delicious to me, so I ate it. When the evidence of how far my standards for what made a good meal had changed was dealt with, I laid my head on the ground and sighed.

While Torill busied herself starting a fire, I thought about how my new life had altered my perception of things. The mistake with the meat was an easy example. To my instincts, it was valuable food, and sharing food was a sincere display of how much I cared for Torill.

If I didn't have memories of Angela's life to allow me to understand just how unpalatable my offering had been, I would have been hurt by her rejection. The insult might have even made me angry. Who knew what path my instincts would lead me down if I had no context. It would be even worse if I couldn't talk.

My mind turned to the tree and its gift. It wanted to protect the world. Now that I'd had time to evaluate the communication I'd had with it. I didn’t give good odds of changing the way it thought. The memory it had shared with me had been packaged with background emotions that I hadn't fully registered at the time. Thanks to my improved memory, I could look back on an imprint of them.

The tree never wanted anyone to have to feel the fear and desperation it had endured the day its core broke. In its mind, its aura was an end to the fear of death for every person it infected.

When I'd been exploring its territory, I had come across a few poor souls who had been petrified. They were still alive, every bit of their body had been brought in line with the tree's nature. I wasn't sure about their minds, I would have to see if I could retrieve one, it was possible that they could be saved. I didn't have much hope that they would be in any sort of shape to live a normal life after years of being statues with Concepts running rampant through their minds. Some of them had probably been stone for longer than they had been flesh and blood.

I'm fairly certain the tree thought of their state as a perfect life. They weren't much different than it was, peacefully rooted in place as they were. I knew intimately what earth mana could do to your perception of the world. I strongly doubted I'd have any luck trying to convince the former spirit tree that it was doing something bad.

I heaved another sigh, wracking my brain to try and come up with a way to convince the tree that people were better off without its gift.

Then again, I didn't know if I should try. The tree was dangerously powerful, and beyond not understanding the perspective of normal sapients, it was under the constant influence of earth mana.

The very best outcome I could theoretically expect was for it to give up its goal. If it didn't have something pushing it to think, it would likely stop, that was how my mind had functioned under earth's influence before I learned to direct the Aspects I channeled. It would then be effectively dead to the world until something came to wake it up, at which point, it would probably become enraged. Then it would die, or go back to its old ways.

It was probably best for the world if I didn't even try. I just didn't know if I had it in me to kill a thinking being that didn't understand that it was doing something wrong.

My thoughts on the subject went back and forth, until Torill broke me out of the cycle by putting a bowl of divine smelling liquid in front of me. I looked at the catnip tea, then looked at her.

"Thanks, but, maybe later? I need to get my thoughts in order."

"You've been laying there sighing to yourself for hours already, I'd argue that you need to relax and give it a break. Maybe try telling me why you've been sighing to yourself and sulking all night since you came back from the forest. My servitor told me nothing happened, you just looked around for a bit and dug some tunnels. But you look like you've got a lot on your mind."

I sighed, again, and told her about the tree while I breathed in the steam rising from the delectable beverage.

"I see, so you feel bad for it, right?"

"Yeah, it doesn't actually mean any harm, and it has had its ability to understand others clearly severely handicapped."

Torill nodded, and gently ran her hand through my mane.

"Have you considered that the kindest thing you can do is end its life?"

I shook my head.

"How so?"

"Well, it has a Legend. Someone will probably pick it up as a Contractor. It'll get a chance to live what will very likely be a far less confusing life."

"Does everyone with a Legend become a contractor then?"

"I've heard that everyone with a Concept tied to their soul gets caught in the System's net and analyzed for compatibility at least."

"And all it takes to build a Legend is a few hundred people having an opinion about you?"

"Close. To generate a Concept a few hundred people need to think the same thing about you. A Legend is a story that has been told so many times, by so many people, that it carries a Conceptual weight of its own. The more it's told, the harder it is to forget, the more strongly prompts thoughts in the same direction. Legends continue to empower Concepts in you long after that life ends. Having a Legend is both wonderful and dangerous, since Legends can shift depending on the cultures that they are introduced to."

"Oh, I don't think I have a Legend then. I doubt my story was told very often after I died."

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Torill laughed and patted me on the shoulder.

"Be happy, Legends are rare. Though they are more common in worlds where people are less connected and have less entertainment. Young System worlds like this one spawn Legends a lot more easily. I'd advise you to try to avoid standing out too much so you never have to know what it's like, but sadly your contract might as well read 'become a Legend.' So, I don't think you can do that. You'll just have to try to create an image you can live with."

"Any advice on that? And do you have a Legend?"

"Of course I do! I made art! They'll be telling my story wherever my paintings are displayed. I'll admit, it's not a very powerful Legend, but it's still a Legend. As for advice, I hate to say it, but you should put everything you can spare into charisma. No offense, but I can tell you don't have a whole lot."

"Did you just call me ugly? I think you just called me ugly." I joked.

"I'd be calling myself ugly too. My charisma is only sixty, I'm not trying to stand out in this life." She looked down. "You'll generally find anyone close to, or above your own charisma attractive. We're both pretty average for our levels. Of course, it's not as simple as that, there's all sorts of personal and cultural preferences. But it's not about being attractive for you, it's about being frightening. A higher charisma will probably help you look less like a wild animal, more like a noble beast."

"I look like a wild animal, huh?" I lifted my head and pulled my legs under me, in an attempt to look more noble.

Torill giggled. "Yes you do, have you seen your mane today?"

"I think someone just volunteered to brush me." I said as I summoned my pack, it landed on the ground next to me with a soft thump.

"You sound like you're feeling better. Drink your tea before it gets cold, and I'll brush you. Then we can sleep. We can decide what we're going to do while we're in Belua's realm."

I sighed, and did as instructed. I couldn't say no to a nice relaxing drink combined with a brushing, I wasn't made of stone.

We ended up sleeping outside the tent, I didn't want to shift any smaller, and something about sleeping under the stars appealed strongly to my instincts.

Of course, I had to deal with some levels before the System allowed me to sleep. But I was pleasantly surprised by how few levels I'd managed to gain. It seemed only channeling a couple Aspects and digging some tunnels wasn't too impressive to the System.

Congratulations

For taking actions in accordance with your class, you have been rewarded by:

Level up × 5

Strength + 20

Constitution + 25

Agility + 20

Dexterity + 15

Intelligence + 10

Wisdom + 5

Perception + 5

Free stats + 25

When the System mana did its work, it barely tingled, I was able to relax through the whole process. When the prompt for my free stats came, I put them into perception. As much as I intended to heed Torill's advice and start putting them towards charisma, I needed to see if following Nefen's advice would help me with my focusing issues. It was a bit too early to tell how it was working.

When the System applied my choice, my senses fuzzed for a moment, it was barely uncomfortable. People who only had to deal with one level at a time had no idea how good they had it.

Out of habit, I checked my status.

Name Angel

Race : Spirit Beast

Level : 145

Class : Adventurer (Bestial Mana Shifter)

Str 476 Con 585

Agi 446 Dex 343

Int 470 Wis 438

Per 391 Cha 53

I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a part of me that was unhappy about the comparative lack of progress. But I'd bet taking out an entire forest full of monsters would make up for it. Besides, it was good to have a rest from time to time.

When we entered Belua's realm, the goddess was already in the doorway.

"I'll hire it. I promise. It has a good soul, it just needs guidance." Was her greeting.

After having her shift me to my new preferred demihuman form, I looked at her, and said, very sternly, "It needs a life free of influence so it can figure out who it is."

"I was thinking of putting it in one of your trees as a protector of your legacy. Those trees wouldn't normally form cores with how they handle mana, but I know a trick for that. In one of those bodies, it shouldn't ever be able to be truly influenced by mana. Does that work for you?"

The offer of my trees having a protector was too good to pass up. I could even ask Torill to visit it from time to time.

"How long will it take to do that? And please tell me you aren't going to give it any 'aids' like you did me."

"I can send the request tonight. If it's approved, I'll be able to move it in right away as long as it agrees. I won't give it any extra help beyond the normal contractor setup. I've learned my lesson, and I've already apologized."

"That makes me feel a lot better, thanks."

"Good. Remember, you are doing it a favor. Right now its Legend is used as an example of the folly of greed, and how something peaceful can be pushed to defend itself. The narrative would absolutely change if it started to expand its aura like the forecast says. You are really saving the poor thing from itself."

I nodded. I didn't love the idea of being its executioner, and I wasn't sure if my vague idea for taking it out quickly would work. But like it or not, Belua had given me the job. But something was bothering me.

"Did you plan to send me after it before I asked for those Concepts?"

"Oh dear, no, I would have called in a contractor from a higher tier to eliminate it."

"So if I don't kill it…"

"I'll have to figure out how to compensate someone for subjecting themselves to mana sickness. But it will still have to be put down before too long."

"I see." I said. "If my idea for how to take it out quickly doesn't work, you may have to."

"What's your idea?" She asked curiously.

I told her the bones of my plan. Both she and Torill seemed to think it would work.

"Do you want my help finding monsters?" Asked Belua.

"Sure, it would save me some time."

"I'll take care of the hunting, you just focus on testing."

I smiled at Torill. I was very glad that with my plan she wouldn't have to ask the spirits for much. I wouldn't need to be protected from its aura until the very end.

After our talk with Belua, Torill convinced me to spend the rest of the night painting. She knew I wasn't terribly enthusiastic about having to kill the tree, even if it was the kind thing to do.