Genius Prismatic Mage Chapter 216

#216. World Tree (4)

Beyond the clouds.

What could be on the island?

If you climb up there, wouldn’t you be able to see the entire world full of questions at a glance?

Wouldn’t it also be possible to look up at the complete sky, unobstructed by anything?

My heart was pounding.

My breathing became hot.

The emotion that overflowed in the boy’s heart was a vivid green curiosity.

The green mana of the jewel that resonated with it poured down like a waterfall onto the ground where the seed was planted.

And soon.

Kkuddeuk─!

The sprout raised its head above the soil.

As a gesture announcing the birth of life, it grew, grew, and grew again, and in an instant, it passed through childhood and adolescence and revealed itself to the world in a truly magnificent form.

“oh my god…!”

“Huh… Is this really possible?”

The overwhelming growth rate made everyone around them hesitate and back away.

The elders, who had their heads raised, saw a large tree comparable in height to Lael Lowe.

“I can’t believe my eyes. Can a tree this big exist in the world?”

“Look at the thickness of the stump. It’s so thick that even if dozens of dwarves joined hands and surrounded it, they wouldn’t be able to wrap it all around.”

There was no end to the admiration.

On the thousands of branches that stretched out like lightning, transparent green leaves sprouted lushly.

Its body swayed and sparkled in the dim sunlight, and the light that passed through was amplified several times and struck the ground.

The dark shadow did not hold.

Rather, my vision became brighter than before.

When everyone is speechless at the unrealistic sight.

widely.

The boy who had performed the miracle stumbled and lost his footing.

The girl quickly accepted his body.

“are you okay?”

“… It’s okay. Veronica, let me go. I think I can still inject more mana into the World Tree.”

“I don’t think so at all… your face looks so tired.”

“I don’t have any facial expressions.”

“I know everything.”

Ray struggled to get out of Veronica’s arms.

But I couldn’t even move a finger because all the energy in my body was gone.

Of course, I wasn’t aware of my own condition yet.

“Veronica, did you use a strengthening spell? No, that alone is too strong. You must have been doing a lot of strength training while Philip and I weren’t watching. Now that I look at it, it looks like your arms have gotten thicker.”

“Ray, do you want to hide?”

Then Grine came and said.

“I agree with Veronica. I think it would be best for you to rest for now. You used the mana from the life stone for five whole minutes, and at a level that ordinary people would never be able to achieve.”

“Five minutes? By my count, it’s only been 30 seconds?”

Greene smiled.

“I guess that means Ray-nim was very focused. To the point where his sharp sense of time was disrupted.”

Ray was taken aback.

I thought I was lying, but when I checked my watch, that much time had really passed.

“Thank you. This is truly something only you, Ray, can do. I have never seen the World Tree radiate such a powerful life force. I could not have imagined it. It is beautiful and wonderfully wonderful.”

Although the change in expression was not great, Greene’s bowl was filled with overwhelming emotion.

Meanwhile, the dwarves brought a long chair.

Veronica laid Ray down and made him a pillow on her lap, then stroked his white hair with a satisfied look on her face.

“Oh my, how nice it is to be so quiet.”

“… … .”

It happened in an instant, without any resistance.

Ray turned his head to the side and continued his conversation with Grinne with a stern and serious expression.

“I think it’s too early to receive your thanks. You said that the World Tree in the last forest is large enough to cover an entire sector. But this World Tree is still far from that size.”

“Yes, it is much smaller. But I think it is enough space for our elves to make a fresh start.”

Ray expressed his doubts.

“How many elves are there in the last forest?”

“Maybe 300? I don’t know for sure because I’ve never actually counted them, but I think it’s not much different from the number of dwarves in Lael Row.”

“The world tree can still grow further.”

“Well, if it’s possible to grow further, that’s great, but I feel like I’ve already received too much help. I don’t want to receive more help than that at the risk of damaging Ray’s health.”

“I just got a little tired. It didn’t really hurt my health. I don’t know about the mana in the air, but the mana of the gem is of extremely high purity. I’ll be fine after a short rest. Right, Veronica?”

“It looks like that, but… … .”

Veronica’s lips quirked in discontent.

*

Swaaa …

That afternoon, black rain fell.

A place where there were fewer black clouds than other places.

But it wasn’t a level of rain that could be taken lightly.

“… … .”

The watchtower atop Rael Low.

Is was looking at the world that appeared and disappeared repeatedly, hiding behind raindrops.

And then.

“When do you think it will stop?”

“… … !”

I turned around in surprise at the voice I heard from behind me.

I sighed in relief when I saw Ray appearing through the door leading to the interior.

“Oh, what, it was you.”

“I hope it stops as quickly as possible.”

Ray, who came closer, stared at the scenery beyond the railing.

Iss, who had been staring at Ray, then moved his head forward.

“It would be nice if it stopped soon. No one likes black rain. It’s gloomy and dull. It makes the ground sick. Well, it’s nice that the sunlight disappears and I can take off my helmet and coat.”

“Actually, I don’t really care. It’s just that Veronica doesn’t like it.”

“I’ve been curious about this for a while.”

Iss’s voice became serious.

“Is this your girlfriend?”

“girl friend?”

Ray’s answer came without difficulty.

“That’s right. She’s a woman. And she’s a friend.”

“… No, no. I mean we’re dating.”

“We are dating as friends.”

“You’re just pretending not to know. We love each other.”

“Do Veronica and I love each other?”

“Yeah, you little punk.”

Ray was deep in thought.

Love was an emotion whose true nature had never been clearly confirmed while observing the vessels of the people of the world.

The silhouette and colors are always changing.

Even when it looks like red anger.

Even when it looks like yellow joy.

Even when it looks like a pink longing.

At other times, it looked like white worry, like snow.

…no.

In fact, I wasn’t even sure if it was love.

While pairing emotions and colors.

An emotion that could not be associated with any color.

As I went through the process of elimination, I came to realize that it was the emotion that people call love.

Because of this, the boy did not know what the nature of love was, and he guessed that it was probably an emotion that he would most likely never realize in his entire life.

Ray opened his mouth.

“I don’t know.”

“Your feelings?”

“My feelings. Veronica’s feelings.”

“Are you stupid? Why don’t you know how Veronica feels? You can tell just by looking at her that she likes you.”

Ray thought for a moment and said.

“That’s right. Veronica likes me.”

“Yes. Even a third party can tell at a glance.”

“I like Veronica too.”

“Yeah. Then you love each other… No. No.”

Iss almost got caught up in Ray’s speech.

“The likes you mentioned are simply likes and dislikes. I like beef stew. I like beef jerky. I like Veronica. That’s the extent of it.”

“Is there another meaning to liking?”

“There is a liking that means loving.”

“I don’t know what love is.”

Iss, who had been twisting his body this way and that, finally let out a deep sigh.

“I tried to ask for some advice while we were dating, but it didn’t work out. It was my fault for trying to ask you.”

“advice?”

The story continued like this.

Ys’s reputation skyrocketed as he defeated Vicious together with Ray.

Since then, I’ve been hanging out with a lot of people my age at Lael Row, and recently, there’s a girl I’ve been getting on really well with.

“So I’m diligently taking the growth pills you gave me last time. Two pills a day. Just so I can look a little better. What do you think? Don’t you think I’ve grown a little since the last time you saw me?”

I think it’s gotten bigger.

About a thousandth of a centimeter.

“You’ve grown so much. If you just grow a little more, you’ll reach the sky.”

“Really? That’s right! I’m still in the growing stage! And with all the medicine I take, I can’t help but grow!”

Even without the medicine, Iss was considered to be quite tall for a dwarf.

Even at a quick glance, he looked to be about 162-163 centimeters tall.

“If you need advice, I’ll introduce you to my friend Philip later. He’s very good at interpersonal relationships, unlike me.”

“Well, you’re the kind of friend who guarantees things like that. You must be quite capable.”

There was a brief silence after that.

It was Is who brought up the conversation again.

“You were amazing earlier. Not all wizards can use incredible abilities like yours, right?”

“maybe.”

“To be honest, before I met you, I had a secret desire to disregard magic. Dwarves are technologically omnipotent, and I have lived my entire life in an environment where such values are taken for granted. But now, looking at the scene before my eyes… I think that the possibilities of magic are far more limitless than those of technology.”

Iss’s gaze turned to his surroundings.

Lael Row is located right next to the World Tree.

The World Tree was slightly taller, allowing the watchtower to get a close look at its branches and leaves that spread out in all directions.

Swaaa …

Thud-thud-thud! Thud-thud-thud!

“Look at this. The branches and leaves are like a giant umbrella, blocking all the rain. But they themselves are completely untouched. This is not yet possible with Rael Lowe’s technology.”

Is, who had been looking around in admiration, returned to the original topic.

“Then, I will be able to apply magic in the future… .”

It was a reflection on old values.

They continued their rather long and serious conversation, but Ray wasn’t listening at all as he was thinking about his future destination, how to deal with the doctor, and what to have for dinner.

Then Esga said.

“Oh, it seems like the rain has stopped? I can’t hear any rain at all. The weather seems a bit brighter, too.”

Ray raised his head.

The clear, individual sky was visible through the small holes between the leaves.

And also the lower part of Sky Island, which appears as a small dot.

But that was only for a moment.

The small landscape was soon obscured by dark clouds gathering around it.

‘… clouds that were in other places where it didn’t rain.’

Even though I poured all my green mana into it, the World Tree still couldn’t even reach the clouds.

Ray muttered to himself in a state of nervousness.

“…I have to grow taller. So I can reach the sky.”

After hearing that, Iss was dumbfounded for a moment and then looked thoughtful for a long time.

After intense internal conflict.

He took out a bottle of growth pills from his bosom and held it out to me.

“Uh… Should I give it back?”