The days spent with Sera and the girls have been amazing, turns out this whole village is very free spirited.

Sera has a hold on a lot of men but the general consensus is to do what you want as long as there is consent.

I’ve been trying to seduce a lot of women in this village, there are a few hundred people here and I’m pretty sure any desirable female has either rejected or accepted me at least once.

Think it’s time I scout out a new village, just the idea of helping Sera out fills me with determination. Didn’t know I’d like to help others.

Can’t say I’d run to the ends of the world for her but I’d at least make an effort to help. I’ve taught her how the |Empower| skills work, the ones I have anyway.

I’ve been making short excursions during my stay here, I was mostly looking for signs of where monsters would congregate.

I found what might be villages, off on the horizon. Sadly I haven’t found conclusive evidence of any sanctuary yet. Maybe they are rare and spread far apart?

I think it would be worth it to check if I had more access to the library or if they have different books.

I’ve been thinking about my equipment and frankly I don’t find it lacking. Sera and her sister found a light cloth shirt that was enhanced. It dropped from the guardian of their currently occupied village.

There is also the weapon situation, I mean most of the things in my arsenal are disposable, easy to make and replace.

It might be good to get a metallic spear of sorts, or whatever materials they could be made off.

Problem Is the general design of weapons aren’t up to par with my slim-easy-to-carry spears.

Wouldn’t hurt to get something with more firepower though. Actually what happened to guns? Well not like there are any people mass producing bullets, wouldn’t last long.

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...

So I found another village, it is about two times the size of Sera’s village, the buildings here have that weathered look everything abandoned has.

Oh! By the fucking way, I got informed how long a meter exactly was. You’re not going to believe this but the trees I’ve been climbing far exceed six or seven meters.

My ever-loving tree, you simply don’t know. I mean any one tree is comparable to a five story building at the very least.

The giant trees could be considered skyscrapers. They are a lot smaller than skyscrapers but in comparison to the surrounding trees they are orders of magnitude larger.

Meters man, I have to assume I forgot how long a meter was, anything else doesn’t make sense. Even though the world felt so natural. Memory is such a mysterious thing.

After lurking around the village ruins I start taking out the smaller wildlife to the more dangerous riff-raff.

I make sure not to kill the guardian. But that doesn’t stop me from throwing a few smaller stakes into its shoulders, arms and legs.

This guy is about the same level of strength as some of the more dangerous guys in the outer layer of Abraser. But it probably can’t hold a candle to some of the middle layer creatures.

Tough large body, slick fur with protruding hairs on his snout. It’s a large cat, I can’t say whether it’s a lion or a tiger, it just feels like a cat.

In no way is his hissing and growling adorable. Ah back on point, I gotta go get sera, have to let her have the finishing blow.

...

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…

“Hey Sera, I got a surprise for you. Since you accepted me so easily and I’ve come to treasure the few moments of decency I receive, I thought I’d do something to return the favour.

So you know how there is some kind of system in place that mocks us. Well, in my infinite greatness I found out another feature of it that allows you to create or establish respawn points.

Long story short, follow me to kill another guardian.”

Hm, maybe I should have gone a bit slower, the blank look on her face isn’t installing me with confidence. Ah, she seems to have collected her thoughts.

“Respawn point? Guardian?”

Looks like I haven’t explained this clearly enough for her but whatever. I also have to get her to move before she begins chatting again. She can even compete with me in a marathon of speech.

“It doesn’t really matter, I’ll fill you in on the way over there. It shouldn’t take us longer than a day to reach the other village, these things are usually relatively close to each other.

Actually, I haven’t seen a place that has been fully conquered but there should be some benefits, just getting two places makes a respawn point, meaning when you die you won’t be teleported to a new and unfamiliar area.

Just come with me”

Alright, so I expected her to jump on the opportunity to take over another village but it took some convincing, and it’s already dark out, this will have to wait until tomorrow.

Early the next day, I woke up next to four women. We had a little bit of fun yesterday.

I dragged Sera on her feet, she wanted to bring some people with her but they’ll be a lot slower than us.

I can’t be expected to wait for them, Sera already has a body in prime condition so she can at the very least jog all the way over there.

After we circumvented the mountain, which is fairly large but nothing to worry about, the forest area around the mountain allowed me to be like a fish in water.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

We finally saw the outline of the village I cleared out. When we got there, it was still filled with dead beasts that had taken up residence here.

Some of them had been dragged off, I assume eaten. I stamp the ground with empower feet to get the guardian out in the open.

A moment later I can hear I growl and hiss, it limped over with a hateful look in its eyes. Can’t say I blame it, it still has spears and stakes dug into its flesh.

“Alright, Sera. Just finish it off.”

“Finish it off? It's huge, what is going on, the one I killed before wasn’t nearly this big.”

Uhm, what? It’s only a big cat, I even thoroughly impaired its mobility.

“Alright, if you’re going to be difficult I’ll immobilize it but you’ll have to at least kill it.”

Raising the wooden spear in my hand I throw it into the overgrown beasts’ shoulders. Grabbing for another spear I repeatedly throw spears until it is lying down whimpering.

“Look, it shouldn’t be able to resist now, just hit it in the head, you can have a spear if you want to poke it to death. Actually, that would probably be best, here.”

Eventually Sera managed to end the pitiful creatures live, I told her how to get the quest-log up. It’s rather simple when you get the hang of it.

So she got zero point five percent increase in skill proficiency and the quest to capture additional nearby villages.

It of course doesn’t tell you how many there are but it shouldn’t be many, I mean they are located along the coastline.

But the main goal has been accomplished, I even got an option to switch my respawn point to the new region, turns out anyone can.

Anyone that doesn’t know how to access the quest-log or already have a respawn point are automatically added to it once they enter either village.

So I’ve been thinking, this place has been great and I was hoping to find a sanctuary while I was here, but that seems like a dead end.

I’ve spent quite a few days trying to locate areas with any sort of wildlife, it is rare to see anything move in the areas between village and town ruins or of course any area filled with trees.

I think it’s time I clear out all the guardians in the outer layer of Abraser. Sure there was that wizard snake but I think I can deal with it. Only issue is the middle layer, that place seems very disagreeable.

The guardian dropped a skill-book, I’m almost certain that they always do. But he also dropped gloves.

I tried them on and they seem to be about the same as the ones I already made. They are more comfortable but the enhancement on it must be similar.

Mine were after all made from one of Abrasers’ guardians. It’s the material that counts, it would also explain why near every strong beast drops a lot of leather.

I think it's a subtle hint that you should make your own armor. I ended up taking the gloves, the skill-book ended up being another meditation book. Looks like a common item from guardians.

Oh, I got some information that may or may not be important, apparently I smell like a tree. Every scent that comes from me is in some way related to the forest.

Turns out it’s really attractive, to most anyway. Some of the women clearly didn’t like my natural scent. The blessings of the tree-mother are truly boundless.

I’ve been trying to lift some heavy things and they all seem extremely light, even when I’m not in an overgrown area.

It really makes you wonder, how strong could I possibly come, the mocking of the system doesn’t hint at anything, I bet there is a system that shows attributes.

Before I left for Abraser I took some time to scout out the coastline, I was wondering if I could see the land on the other side.

According to the book it should be right over the horizon. All I see is the endless green-blue ocean.

Then again the proportions might be larger than I’m assuming. I couldn’t identify Abraser on the map but it must be one of the forests along the coastlines.

When I reach the outermost edge of Abraser I get that familiar smell lingering in the air. The faded sounds of beasts roaring in the distance.

Ah good to be home. I know the log told me to stay away from people and all that but I can’t remember why anymore.

Supposedly they are treacherous and vile to an extreme extent. Didn’t get that feeling with Sera and the girls though.

I do feel far better after arriving in Abraser, I’m getting excited to find out what happens when I capture the entire region.

You know, I’ve been thinking. I got that book that gave me a hemorrhage, So far I haven’t found any books that were that dreadful.

But I get the feeling I forced something open when I entered that state reaching naturai, a state that could be considered divinity.

I can’t help but think something changed from that point on. If we get a different perspective, a sort of birds’ eye view of my travels so far.

Hasn’t everything been deeply entwined with energy? So how do I improve my energy? Be it either quantity or quality. There should be enough information to make an educated guess.

The lesser beasts die easily and help us gain abilities, the guardians give us the power to absorb the world’s essence, in whatever form it is.

Then there is energy compression. I can’t help but believe that these two skills are more than just some passive increase in power.

I think it could be said to be the foundation. The foundation to whatever is expected of us. And when I say us, I don’t me, me and the other me but the entirety of the sentient beings placed into this giant mind warping environment.

The problem I face is yet again a lack of concrete information. I get the feeling that I am being guided through darkness with faint whispers, incoherent enough to fade into the background.

Regardless of any underlying reasons why the world spins the way it does, I will follow the will of Naturai.

It was a mistake to believe I needed some sort of outside help, it was wrong to believe that I’d even receive it.

It was all futile, the forest already provides me with the spark I need. I’ve held the thought that the forest breathed slowly, grew at a leisurely pace.

But it was during my heightened, most aware state that I reached the inklings of Naturai’s divinity.

I must have been losing myself in thought, before I knew it I was in front of the fifth tree. Breathe in, breathe out.

I’ve already done this a few times now, this shouldn’t be much more different. If I can estimate the danger by the size of the tree, I believe it is about as small as the Origin.

I’ve come to learn that size matters, in the cases of territories meant for capture.

Reaching the trees’ platform, I steady my breath before searching for the guardian. The underlying ambient noise is a bit lower than usual.

Looking at each and every individual branch, there are no traces of the guardian. It can’t be like a tree of Patience. Can it?

Sitting down, I focus on every pulse the tree gives out. I can feel the trees’ near sentient thoughts.

Every few minutes my heart beats, I can feel I'm about to lose myself to the trance.

Moments pass before I hear a second breath, another pulse. It’s almost in front of me, when I open my eyes I see what looks like a mirage, the faintest of waves.

It happens so fast I barely caught it. I reach for my spear and aim and throw. As the spear lands the entire snake comes into view.

Once I have a second spear in hand, I can feel that oppressive wave come over me. This time, I can still move, I haven’t lost my faculties yet.

With every inch of strength I have, I throw a second one. The guardian is already close enough to swallow me whole.

The spear leaves my hand, warm dark green-brown blood sprays over me while my body gets knocked back, nearly off the tree.

Take that you fucking wizard snake, motherfucking hiding and trying to ambush people? Fuck you. Ahhhhhh that feels so good.

The satisfaction, the warm blood running down my skin making me feel as if I am melting. Shit! I’m fucking melting!

I rip off my jacket and swipe away the residual liquid trying to devour me. By all that is green, this was almost as painful as being burned by a swarm of flying insects.

Sitting down I try to ignore the blistering pain, I make the hand motions to help me enter meditation.

Huah, that was unexpected. I must have popped something open, guardian blood has never reacted to me like that before.

I also felt that massive energy drain when my skin was bubbling over. It was exactly like when I got crushed by the other wizard snake.

Right, let’s see what this unforgivable thing dropped. Another skill-book, another one I haven’t read before, it might be the same as the other one I read.

I’ve learned from my last mistake. I’ve got to be at least prepared for the book trying to violate my mind.

Before I try to read the book, I think it’s a prudent decision to make new clothes from the leather I got. Maybe the quality is better.

I checked the quest-log and it updated to four trees captured. No other change. After outlining the design on the way too large skin of the guardian I start carving it up.

Fortunately I carry tailoring supplies on me from the sanctuary. Unfortunately, my backpack is covered in that dark green and brown liquid.

I think I’ll still be able to use it but I’ll have to clean it with water. At least it didn’t melt like my skin.

I changed the design up a little bit, the previous versions felt a bit tethering. So I made it a bit looser and more open.Should lessen the heat it holds at the very least.

Mindlessly working on the soothing leather-working and sowing I can finally feel calm again.

After finishing a new pair of pants, jacket and of course three new belts for my stakes, I start enhancing them.

I can’t see an improvement but I still get the feeling of more energy when I put them on.

Time to test out this new book, let’s see if it tries to implode my mind. Page one, well so far so good.

Page two, still going strong. Page three, ah there comes that smothering pressure we’ve come to know and love.

At least I am not bleeding out of my eyes, yet. At this pace, I could finish the book in maybe forty to sixty sittings, depending on how hard it is to adjust to the new information.

Going in a seemingly endless cycle of reading and meditating, I can finally feel some progress being made. Not from the book, mind you but nature affinity.

The feeling of being full is putting some pressure on me. I think I need a prolonged meditation session to break through this hurdle.

After counting my supply of canned goods and water I am ready to plunge into that deep trance.

I am not certain how to exactly go out of meditation but I will re-enter it if I drop out after I eat and drink.

See on the other side future me, you can take over now, remember to stay healthy, eat properly. Don’t get burned or melted alive by disgusting creatures, oh and good luck!

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…

Owh, damn. I can never get used to this kind of hunger, it gnaws at your soul.

I grab canned tuna fish and swallow it down, after five cans I drink one third of my water supply.

Before going back under, I try to digest the food. I can feel a stronger pressure than before, it isn't painful, it is more like lying in a pool of warm water.

Alright let’s get back to it. See you on the other side.