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#218. A view looking up (2)
The boy climbed to the top of the world tree and saw the world.
An endless yellow wilderness.
Gray roads stretched out like the palms of a hand.
Historic sites and abandoned vehicles everywhere.
Objects on the ground far below were reflected as dots and lines.
“ha.”
Is the shortness of breath due to the high altitude?
Or maybe it was the thrill that enveloped my body.
I couldn’t know for sure, but what was clear was that a world that had been hidden until now was revealing its true colors.
… of course not all of them.
Because the unfolding landscape was finite.
The galloping wilderness disappeared into the distant horizon, and roads were cut off here and there, revealing the limits of human exploration.
But that was enough.
The boy felt an overwhelming force of magnitude he had never experienced in his life.
“… … .”
The gaze that had been slowly turning stopped at one place.
‘mountain…?’
The silhouette visible at the northern horizon was in the shape of a huge mountain range.
A dazzling blue mana was surging across the heavens and earth, and when I strengthened my vision with magic, I could see that it was a fierce wind mixed with snow and ice.
I was taken aback.
In the winter season, it was an incredibly remote place.
… But even taking that into account, the climate difference was difficult to accept.
‘A phenomenon caused by differences in mana concentration in the atmosphere. There doesn’t seem to be any other way to explain it.’
Phenomena witnessed at other azimuth horizons support the conjecture.
A sky where lightning strikes ceaselessly.
A land where fierce flames rise up through the cracks.
A truly gigantic footprint.
All around these phenomena, colorful mana was running wild.
To the east, finally reaching the west and south, was the Elton River.
Thud── Thud──
The great, winding river continued beyond the horizon, and its end was unknown.
Then a huge black silhouette moving in the water came into view.
“… … .”
I wondered what it could be, but couldn’t come up with an answer, so I turned my thoughts to the sectors along the Elton River.
Sectors 36, 37, 38, and… … .
Unfortunately, I couldn’t see sector 50, which was the starting point, but I was able to take in quite a few sectors at a glance.
There was definitely a tendency for the gaps to narrow as you went up the sectors.
Sectors 28, 27, 26, and… … .
The boy, who was walking up the sector with his eyes, suddenly noticed something strange.
Sector 25 was not visible.
At the end of the outer road of Sector 26, which was supposed to lead to the next sector, there was only an empty wasteland.
This too was something incomprehensible.
Because I naturally assumed that there would be a sector up to number 1.
The boy, who had been wondering, strengthened his eyesight and was able to witness the mana rippling in the air throughout the wilderness.
‘Distortion field.’
It was a huge, dome-shaped structure that seemed to be made up of a dozen or so sectors combined.
It was not difficult to conclude that there was something hidden there.
Swish.
The boy finally raised his head.
The sky covered in dark clouds seemed close enough to touch, but when I actually reached out, it was far from there.
“… … .”
The height of the World Tree has not yet reached that of the Sky Island.
Although it didn’t meet my expectations, I wasn’t particularly disappointed.
Just seeing things I would never have seen on earth was already a great harvest.
Rustle. Rustle.
Then the leaves shook and a head appeared.
“Ugh! I finally caught up. What is that spirit thing? You can ride it─”
Iss, who was continuing his sentences in a breathless voice, looked around and lost his mind.
I stood next to Ray as if possessed and stared blankly at the world.
After a while, the mouth opened.
“This is… amazing. This is the first time I’ve seen such a view in my life. Ray, you too? Is this your first time being up in such a high place?”
Iss looked at Ray, as if he wanted to make sure that he wasn’t the only one feeling this way.
…high places.
Although he had climbed to the rooftops of many buildings during his journey, the pile of scrap metal in Sector 50 immediately came to Ray’s mind.
Sector 50, a pile of scrap metal in the dump.
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The boy used to sit on top of it and look out over the sector and the wasteland.
… that was all there was to the world.
But now, my perspective had clearly been raised, and there was more to see.
Then Iss looked up at the sky and asked.
“But it’s a shame. If I go up a little further, I think I’ll be able to see the sky beyond the clouds. By any chance, can’t we make the World Tree grow bigger here?”
“That’s impossible. We’ve already reached our growth limit.”
“Growth limits?”
Ray nodded.
The World Tree, which had already grown to a size far beyond its adult size, was now in a situation where the amount of mana it needed for its next growth had increased exponentially.
Even if you pour all of the green mana from the jewel into the world tree, the height of the world tree will no longer increase significantly.
It will continue to be like this in the future.
Unless our ability to handle green mana advances one step further.
“Es, do you usually feel a sense of belonging?”
“Huh, a sense of belonging? Where?”
“Rael Lowden, or Dwarf.”
Iss thought deeply for a moment and then answered.
“I can’t help but feel it. No matter how much I say I want to leave Rael Lowe, I can’t deny that it’s the place I’ve lived my whole life. And the fact that I’m a dwarf is something I can’t change. I can say that I feel a sense of belonging to both Rael Lowe and the dwarves, the place and the race.”
“If you had to pick a stronger one?”
“Hmm, dwarf? But that’s a really random question.”
“… … .”
Ray stared at the green emotion contained in Iss’s bowl without answering.
Actually, it wasn’t a sudden question.
The purpose was to explore emotions that could amplify the power of green mana through resonance.
Curiosity and belonging.
Curiosity is an emotion that we feel we have in abundance, whereas a sense of belonging is an emotion that we feel we have insufficient amounts.
‘…feel a sense of belonging to their own race.’
It was an idea that I had never tried before and thought would never be applied.
Humans are beings who live their entire lives counting down the days.
There were very few exceptions.
Rustle. Rustle.
“Eww! Ray! Stop your pet! I’m falling! I’m falling!”
I turned my head at the noise and saw Iss struggling on the branch.
As Lacria lifted her body, the entire branch and leaves shook.
“It’s not a pet. It’s a friend.”
“Friend or whatever! Try to calm him down first! Aaaah! If you move around like that with that big body! I’m going to die! A tall, handsome dwarf is going to die!”
Lacria was raised above the World Tree.
The body fluttering in the sky seemed to want to reach something beyond the clouds.
The bowl was emitting a vivid green light of belonging.
Ray spoke, placing his palm on the yellow scales.
‘Why? What’s over there?’
There was no significant reaction from the excited spirit.
I took my palm off.
After pulling up Iss who was hanging from a fallen branch, we moved to a less shaking location and opened the food pack together.
Boo-wook─
“Phew, I barely made it. I almost ended up on the list of dwarves who died. I got caught up in the spirits’ rampage and fell from the branches of the World Tree to my death, that’s how it is.”
“That’s an unusual list.”
“… That’s what I’m saying. There really isn’t such a list.”
The food packs contained canned meat, grain bars, and chocolate.
Issa said while we were eating.
“If I had finished building my flying machine, I could have gone higher from here.”
“Flying device?”
“Didn’t I tell you? One of my dreams is to go up to Sky Island.”
“I’ve heard that. But I think this is the first time I’ve heard about the flying machine.”
“I see. It’s nothing special. I have a machine device that I’m personally working on. It’s not that secret.”
Iss said he has been making wing-shaped flying devices that attach to his body since he was young.
“The response from those around me is not good. First of all, flying in the sky is technically an extremely difficult problem. It may be okay for a few seconds, but long-term flight of minutes is nearly impossible. And dwarves are a race that lives underground, so why would they want to go to the sky? Hearing that constantly, I started to think that I was struggling in vain. I thought I should just give up here─”
“That’s cool.”
“─Uh, yeah?”
“That’s cool.”
“Hiccup.”
Iss hiccuped in embarrassment.
Because unexpected words came from an unexpected person’s mouth.
It was as shocking as when Rockdeer suddenly started talking to humans.
“Hiccup, is it cool?”
“Philip said that. If you have a clear goal and are working towards it, you are living a great life. So, you can say that you are great.”
The word ‘cool’ echoed in the dwarf boy’s head.
“If you’re not going to eat that can, give it to me.”
“Oh, yeah. Hiccup, I can give you that.”
Ownership of the canned goods was transferred without anyone realizing it.
Meanwhile, Larkria, whose strength had drained and who had become smaller, climbed over the branch and wrapped herself around Ray’s arm.
After the meal, Ray moved to the outside branch where he could enjoy a wide view of the scenery and sat down.
and.
Square─ Square─ Square─
I began to capture the scenery I saw on a white piece of paper.
*
Those who saw the drawings in the sketchbook showed a variety of emotions.
“I see a lot of familiar landmarks. We’ve encountered them before during our long wanderings aboard Rael Low.
“But isn’t this snow-capped mountain a terrain you’ve never seen before?”
“It’s a new feeling to see the scenery we saw summarized like this.
The elders shared feelings of joy and longing for each other.
“I can tell at a glance! Elton River! The buildings clustered closely together on the side represent sectors! Hmm, but what does the shadow in the river represent?”
Veronica’s eyes sparkled with surprise and curiosity.
“As time goes by, I feel like my imagination is breaking down. The world is so vast and unknowable. Until a few months ago, I thought the last forest was the whole world.”
Greene showed his curiosity by looking at each magical natural phenomenon drawn at the end of the horizon.
And Curiosa.
“There is no sector 25…?”
I was in deep confusion and doubt.
“Kid, you’re not lying to me, are you?”
“You can sense other people’s emotions very strongly. In your opinion, do you think I’m lying?”
“… … .”
There was a long silence.
Ray continued asking questions.
“You said you’ve never been above sector 26 before?”
“That’s right. Up until now, I’ve only followed the doctor’s orders.”
“Ever thought about going up there?”
“Never.”
“Why?”
“Why… why… why?”
Curiosa, who had been repeating the same words for a long time, spoke in a voice that had come to light.
“Why didn’t I think of going up…?”
“It is possible that the doctor has placed mental restrictions on him.”
Ray continued speaking, meeting her gaze and her mask that had been raised in a flash.
“For example, hypnosis. Or some unknown sorcery like emotional manipulation. In terms of possibility, that would be the most likely.”
“… … .”
Curios was so shocked that he was dumbfounded for a while before speaking in a fierce voice.
“Chew them to death… So, the doctor wanted our executives to not move up to the upper sectors, and to act like puppets in their designated locations.”
Curiosa burst into laughter.
It was a laughter filled with intense anger.
*
Soon all the dwarves of Lael Low began preparing to build an underground city.
“Move! Hurry!”
“Team 3, this way!”
All kinds of equipment, including drills, were taken outside, and dwarves in outdoor gear were busily moving around.
Grinne, who was watching the scene, turned around and spoke to Ray.
“I’ll go to the last forest. I have to tell my people that I’ve found a new home.”
“… … .”
“Do you have anything to say?”
“Greene, you said that elves consider the forest as part of their community, that is, as part of their common affiliation?”
“That’s right. I’ve said that before.”
“then.”
Ray took a breath.
And then he spat it out.
“I’ll follow too. I have to meet the World Tree of the last forest.”