Chapter 2: Home

I was devoid of natural sight and touch; only darkness as my company. Before me was the two orbs of light spinning around; flickering beneath my closed eyelids.

Within slumber, I experience no dream this time; only silence, with an extra dip of nothingness.

When I finally opened my eyes, the sea of stars decorated this once-tranquil sight. A moon hung high with the array of constellations surrounding it, making the nights lit brighter than the show of superficial fireworks.

I felt a part of my body getting sore and some of the grass and dirt went to my eyes; thank goodness the air wasn't musty. Noticing my flesh all dirty, I walked back to my home. Now that I rested enough, what else to do?

It was enough to just go back and eat, as hunger assailed my stomach a bit.

In this vast grass plains with no soul or any landmarks; its landscape homogeneous and thus, confusing for some. It wasn't much a hurdle in my eyes. As I had traveled throughout these vast plains for quite some time, I had grown familiar with one patch of grass and another.

In fact, they're all pretty different. I saw the faint trail of lights emanating around it when I focused my eye on seeing its aura. It was quite luminous during the night; it's like I was walking among bio-luminescent plants containing myriad of colors akin to a sacred ceremony of procession.

Truthfully, the path one took to return to their homes was a ceremony by itself. When they went home from work, the day would also end for them. What's important had already been done.

To me, returning home was actually the beginning of everything, as I no longer  concern myself with things like work and responsibilities.

I was now free.

Following the trail with my own heart, I soon saw, among the plethora of colorful light, something so dim and dark; it stuck like a sore thumb. The wooden cabin of a triangular roof made out of the solitary tree I used to rest on when I first arrived.

The tree was so big; it took me a good while to topple. I spent a reasonable amount of effort to build a sturdy house.

As for the food, animals got lost here all the time; it's like a magnet. Fortunately, I was strong enough to kill everything which came across. One day, there was seemingly no end to it; that was the moment I had no more worries on how to eat.

I ate whatever could fill my palate at first, followed by thinking up an actually delicious dish with the minimum amount of effort. There's still a lot of meat which did not lose its freshness over a long time.

For the vegetables, I dug down an underground plantation in my home and buried the less-appetizing meats under the soil. There were various growing plants of all sorts I could find. The size of the plantation had grown over time; now it was around that of a regular classroom.

The animals did not attack at night; as all of them were asleep. During the day, they would approach this home, but they would no longer attack. If they ran away, I had lots of weapons that could kill them from a distance, but lately I didn't feel like doing it anymore. It's currently a moment of cease fire.

All that aside, the interior was still dark when I opened the door. So, I peered the  nearby cupboard; seeing a luminous potted plant glowing in white; It grew at the underground farm sometimes. When there's an excess, I simply use it as a seasoning. It tasted like mint; adding a fresh flavor which relieved my throat was antitussive a correct term for it? Who knows.

The pot itself was also one of the common plants growing underneath. It was extremely sturdy and love to cling on flat surfaces, but it loosens itself when my hands lifted it. The plant-pot live symbiotically with whoever was planted in it, even wild grasses and at some point where it didn't have a host, it would enter a self-sustain dormant mode.

When there's too many of them I could shatter and burn it to make a material akin to clay.

I took the pot and held its bum against the ceiling. The soil of it firmly holding the luminous vegetation in place; now it's just like an actual lamp.

As for how I had the appliances on cooking, I would not dare to say that everything was planted.

Let just say I managed to procure them from somewhere; it's not very important for now.

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I cooked some dinner: it was steak of a buffalo-shaped creature with sides of crunchy vegetables. The sauce was made by fermenting beans; it had a sour and spicy flavor in addition to the meat's salt and crunchiness.

Finishing the meal and doing the dishes, I went to the bathroom and chewed some leaves growing underneath which created lots of bubbles and cleansing liquid similar to a toothpastes. Except, I could gulp the bubbles and liquid, plus eating the leaves directly without any issue.

The water was piped underground. Actually, the piping was already there in the tree as I cut them, as a hollow canal where waters would pour in when I turned a trunk-shaped knob. I just made the hollow base of it as my home and built it from there.

It conveniently shaped itself in where hte sinks were present and at some random points in the bathroom where you need running water..

For the bed and all the wooden things, I crafted them somewhat. I still had tons of 'em in the storeroom. The cushioning were made from all the animal furs I dismantled and went on thorough cleaning.

As for the rest—there was nothing noteworthy. Just various cupboards containing clothing I sew from animal hides and furs. Weapon racks, toolboxes and such.

There didn't seem any indication of seasons and it stayed the same; just sunny days and rain.

The only thing I prepare in case of rain was a big leaf sitting at the door's side. When it was unfold, it could expand in size, to the point of canopying my entire body—it also had an extreme absorbance against water. It's evergreen colors also fascinate me.

Due to me having lots of sleep previously, I didn't feel like doing so again.

I spent the remainder of my night watching the movements of the stars, until one moment, the lights from the nearby grasses began to condense into small spheres.

..and all of them floated; all those different colors toward the sky.

So beautiful.

I wish to exclaim; shout and sing—if only I could.

...but, with no people around; just things I use to live and eat, I slowly began losing my voice.

I continued watching in silence until all of the lights were gone. Just as I was about to wrap it up and call it a day—and I began yawning again—a bright star came cruising down at the sky. As I watched, the visage became more and more apparent, as it had taken the form of a fairy-like young girl.

"Are you the one who cut down the World Tree?" she said

The me, who could no longer speak, could only nod.

"Why did you cut it?"

I could not explain, with my body languages alone, how best to tell her 'I need to build my home.'

Besides, how should I know, this was the world tree.

"I guess that does not matter. That tree was dying and for putting its misery, I could only say—thank you very much. Alas, I need a new tree to grow. Otherwise, all lives in here would cease to exist."

I have already killed most of them, what difference could it make?

"If you succeed on this task, you can have your own voice and form, along with powers so many long for. This was a tree which would give forth a new life and a new world. From the world that had ended, another one would rise."

She was right. I could not even tell whether I'm a male or female. Even if I had my own hair, I could not feel my biological tendencies.

I was just a lump of genderless, human-shaped flesh.

To her call, once again, I respond with a nod.

"Now then, it's about time for you to remember how it's like to work."

I jerked my body as I felt impending crisis.

"Do not worry. This work was not something meaningless. Because of your actions, a new world shall be born. A world you could shape with your own ideals. This was your journey. I was just there to help you. No need to fear, alright?"

I nod again.

Showing me the brightest smile I saw in a while, she patted my head and I felt something breaking away.

It's something so incredible that made me long for her and in turn, made me wish to become like her. Even though I knew, both of us were fundamentally different.

"Let us begin, my daug—ahem, children."

Wait, what? Did she just...

This was how a new world was supposedly created. As of this point, however, all I did was just going along with the flow.

All I felt was a genuine anticipation, on what new sceneries would unfold before me.