Cassandra

Year 820 | Month 5 | Day 5

The pain is very similar to when I use The Calling of Wrath but even worse in so many ways. Almost like the process itself is less controlled and going purely based on instinct instead of whatever is guiding me through The Calling of Wrath’s skill.

And it’s hell on earth for me.

I continue screaming until my voice goes hoarse. Meanwhile Thrix 2 looks worried from several meters away. But doesn’t approach despite clearly looking like he wants to.

For a brief moment after that, I notice several other monsters within the surroundings that I felt before were far enough away suddenly running off. Almost as if they were in a panic.

Like they’re afraid of me for some reason.

The pain continues to grow worse and worse, meanwhile Wrath energy begins to leak out of me and into my surroundings, making Thrix 2 run even further away.

I barely link those two occurrences together before the pain grows so great that I black out. But only for a moment as I quickly regain consciousness as the pain rapidly fades.

And, to my surprise, I find myself lying in my normal form without any change to my body at all.

Except for the System note sitting in my view.

________________________

User has attempted to use Minor Wrath Manipulation to forcefully conduct a Wrath Transformation.

User has failed.

Wrath Transformation has progressed by 0.005% from this attempt.

Further attempts to transform within five hours of now may result in critical injuries to the user.

More attempts beyond that may result in the death of the user.

________________________

I stare at the note for several seconds before sitting up and looking around. But what I find is… surprising, to say the least.

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There are no monsters near me. Meanwhile the trees are all radiating an eerie red and black light, with each one being chock full of Wrath energy.

Which shouldn’t be possible considering that they’re not sapient.

How can a tree feel Wrath, after all?

I stand up before slowly walking over to the trees surrounding the cavern entrance. Ignoring that the barrier has also turned red. The one blocking the cavern from others.

Once I reach one of the trees, I feel a strange sort of connection with it. Like the little accident I just had filled it with my Wrath energy and mutated it into something bound to me.

Hmm. Unexpected, but probably not unwelcome. At least not yet.

I walk around the trees, grazing them with my fingers. And every time my fingers make contact, I feel the thing… reaching out to me. Kind of like a child would reach out to their mother.

Weird, but not dangerous.

Out of curiosity, I reach back. But other than a strange feeling of connection, I don’t really feel anything.

Maybe I can order them to do something?

I try to give the tree a mental order to bend a branch down, and to my surprise, it does.

Huh. Guess I got some tree guardians for this cave.

As for the barrier…

I glance over at the glowing red barrier.

Just what happened to it?

I slowly walk over to the barrier before stopping in front of it. Then I carefully reach out to touch the barrier, but I don’t feel any difference between the barrier from before and the barrier now. Except that it seems to be under my control now.

Almost like my little outburst took control of the barrier and made it powered by my Wrath energy instead of Leo’s mp.

That’s… a good thing, actually. So long as the barrier doesn’t harm anyone who passes through with my permission.

Speaking of others, I look around, searching for a certain hockathrix. And after a few minutes, I see said hockathrix pausing on the other side of the Wrath trees, giving the trees a wary look.

So I call out, “Come on over! They won’t hurt you!”

Thrix 2 looks nervous and worried for a second before seemingly mentally preparing itself – at least that’s what it looks like – and charging forwards through the trees with his eyes closed. And after he passes by the crimson trees safely, he charges straight at me and tackles me before rubbing his head up against my shoulder.

Huh. Thrix 2 is actually kinda cute like this.

I pet the little guy while looking at the trees. Then I spot a monster nearby. A shade at level eight.

The monster seems to be approaching the trees for some reason, only to then turn away and begin running. Like something had terrified it.

Hmm.

I walk over to the trees before putting my hand on one of them and thinking towards it, asking the tree if it’s able to defend itself. And as if to showcase that it can, the tree suddenly whips a vine down to slash at the ground, leaving a slightly electrically charged mark on the ground in its wake.

Wrath lightning? Not bad. Not bad at all.

The tree seems happy with my thoughts as it sends its feelings to me through this odd bond. Then I turn back around and reenter the cave through the barrier.

Nothing seems different though other than the barrier itself. But I do make sure that Thrix 2 can make it safely through the barrier. Not by testing it on him, but instead by grabbing a random monster hiding nearby and tossing it inside while giving it my permission.

After that works I just kill the monster and sit down inside of the cave while pondering over everything that just happened.

Guess there’s a cooldown on The Calling of Wrath for a reason.

And it’s not just to balance the power.

Although the fact that breaking that cooldown advances my Wrath Transformation more… that I could use.

Whether I want to use it or not, that’s a different matter altogether.

It’s painful to use and clearly has side effects on my surroundings.

But if I stick to using it in this forest… that could work.

So long as I steel myself to the pain.

First gotta wait for the cooldown to end though. Because I don’t want to break the rules too much.