[Your Desire Has Begun To Exist.]
[Do you like to see it?]
Huh!... what is this... Nolan thought, looking at the screen in front of him.
The words were in bizarre text. If he remembered correctly, they closely resembled that of Sanskrit but were totally different from them as well. Even though he had no understanding of the language, he could understand it… somehow.
It was as if he didn't even need eyes to see or any other sense to perceive it.
If he were to put his words to it, then the words resembled more like thought... ancient thought, if anything else.
He moved his hand, and it went right through the screen.
'They aren't something physical…' thinking that, he looked, understanding the words.
Has it replied to my question...
Nolan remembered answering when the previous screen had asked him what his desire was, but nothing was said to him then. He hadn't thought it would reply, but here it was... a reply had indeed come.
And now he had to decide what to do with it.
He wanted nothing more than to reply with yes... and see what this desire of his was but Nolan stopped. Doing something when standing in the open like this was nothing short of giving an invitation to danger, and he wasn't in the mood anymore.
The water is up to no good...
Shaking his head, Nolan turned and began observing his surroundings in hopes of finding anything, something to protect himself with.
Previously he had only had an inkling... but as time had passed and the more he saw his environment, he had realized one thing.
He wasn't standing on Earth, his home planet, but in an entirely different world. And the more he saw the biome in front of himself... the truer it was becoming.
In front of him lay a barren field... devoid of any greenery. But the absence of greenery didn't mean there wasn't any life here... no, it was entirely different, sort of.
Everywhere his gaze could perceive, the open field was covered with mushrooms of different shapes, sizes, colours, or whatnot. And unlike the mushrooms or fungi of Earth that liked to grow in dark, humid environments, here they were growing in straight sunlight.
Not only that, Nolan could see mushrooms reaching a height of more than five meters as well. And there were many of them as well.
Even though he could only see plants from his position, he wasn't idiot enough to believe there weren't any monsters hiding here. After all, except for the monkey, the monsters of the forest had tried to avoid this place.
"...Which means the monsters will be on the stronger side as well!" he thought. He was about to turn his head when something caught his attention.
There in front of him, on the exact spot where he had killed the monkey, a tiny orb no greater than the size of a pearl was floating.
Looking at the orb, he felt some familiarity, but when he tried to remember, everything in his memory seemed blurry.
"What is that…
Is it something dangerous as well...? Doesn't look like it though."
When Nolan felt no hostility from the orb, he moved his hand... the moment his hand got close enough to the orb, it moved on its own and got sucked into his hand.
"Nooo... huh nothing??" he was about to panic, but stopped as a notification whispered in his ears:
[You have received an Ember.]
Nolan stared at the notification, but as quickly as it had come… it vanished just as fast. Except for that single line, it gave him no other information.
"I received a what? Ember? What even is that? That orb was an Ember?"
All sorts of questions formed in his mind, and it took all his strength just to put the flame of curiosity out.
Shaking his head, Nolan moved his eyes again, scanning the horizon in every direction, trying to find a safe place for himself. It seemed his luck had finally started to shine, as far in the distance he spotted a tree.
Not the mushroom kind—but a real tree. A tree with leaves, trunks, and branches.
"How could I miss it..."
Nolan couldn't help but question himself, especially after seeing the sheer size of the tree.
It towered, easily stretching hundreds of meters into the sky. From the ground, it looked like there was no end to its long, ancient body. Making up his mind, he began moving toward it.
"Will there be monsters in the tree… perhaps?"
He had made his decision, but caution was still his first priority. With how gargantuan the thing was, it could easily be home to all kinds of terrifying creatures.
But what other choice did he have?
He couldn't go back to the jungle. The ocean was far too deadly. And the open field was strange and unknown.
Sigh! Tree, here I come…
Nolan walked cautiously, making as little noise and movement as possible. It took some time, but eventually the tree's features began to come into focus.
As he got closer, he saw something strange— The thick trunk of the tree had grown out of a huge skull.
The trunk was already massive—its diameter spanned tens of meters—and the skull at its base was even larger. One hollow eye socket stared into the sky, while jagged, broken teeth jutted from its jaw, giving it a haunting presence.
Nolan stood in silence, wide-eyed.
"Whose skull could this even be...?" he wondered.
The idea of taking a different route briefly crossed his mind, but he shook it off. The skull was dead, and there was no reason to fear the dead.
Gulping, he stepped closer, and fortunately, nothing had happened. The skull remained still, silent. Taking a few deep breaths, Nolan climbed onto it and moved toward the base of the tree.
He grabbed at the bark and grooves, beginning his ascent. Despite the fatigue gnawing at every muscle, he pushed on. His arms screamed in protest, his legs weighed like lead—but he'd done this kind of thing before.
Bit by bit, he climbed. Higher and higher.
The bark was rough beneath his palms and the branches swayed slightly in the breeze. He climbed carefully, patiently. His breath stayed steady. His eyes locked forward.
Soon, he was high above the ground, surrounded by nothing but leaves, shadows, and silence.
The view was breathtaking, but Nolan wasn't here for the scenery. He let out a sigh, remembering the sensation—the presence—from before. And then, just as before, a familiar whisper echoed in his ears.
[Your Desire Has Begun To Exist.]
[Would you like to see it?]
This time, Nolan didn't hesitate and nodded.