NOVEL WEB Chapter 29: Chapter 29: An Impending Meeting
"A self-proclaimed Goddess of bugs with a monster capable of shapeshifting following her, huh?"
The large were beast let out a curious hum at the report.
"What should we do about her? Witch, Goddess, or whatever she is. If we allow this woman to remain as she is, she will become a serious threat." Aciea asked.
Looking up into the sky, the large creature licked his lips. His massive figure gleamed under the sun as his teal fur seemed to pulse with some kind of energy.
"A powerful being masquerading as a young human girl appeared around the same time as our young went missing. And then one of the top 100 Monsters falls to her as a convenient excuse…" He chuckled.
"What we should do is obvious, isn't it? Prepare some valuables to gift. Tomorrow, I'll go with a small envoy to see this goddess for myself. I, the Great Wolf Gravana, am curious to see what being would create such a blatant lie!"
Gravana let out a hearty laugh.
"In this [Forest of Ghosts and Ash], only the strong get to survive! I hope you're prepared, Young Godling!"
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"You made contact with the [Witch]? How did it go?" An old monkey sitting on a throne of silver wood questioned.
"O' Great King Rio, We were ambushed by wolves and lost two of our own. If not for the [Witch] and her servant intervening, the entire scouting party would likely have been wiped out. Although… We were not left unharmed in the chaos either." Ali reported directly.
The old king Rio looked at Ali, as if he was looking into her very soul.
"And their answer to our alliance?"
Ali looked down nervously.
"S… She said to "show some sincerity," whatever that means. She may very well be provoking us to see how we move."
Rio's closed eyes opened slightly, and a manic smile was painted across his face.
"Defeating Rank 96, [Baldock the Exile]. Attacking both sides without care. How interesting! How interesting, indeed! Grab the shadows; we leave at dawn!"
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"So so, Sapphi. Where do your crystals come from? Is it a protective layer, or are your antlers really made out of entirely inorganic matter?" Nera questioned, circling Sapphire in the air as they traveled through the forest.
They were already a few kilometers away from their settlement, and very few creatures tried to attack them. The poor few who did were already turned into experience, albeit not a lot, but it was better than nothing.
Unlike Sapphire, Nera exuded a powerful presence that normal animals didn't dare to approach. She tried to hide her presence by flying around in her [Minimalist Form], but it only helped so much.
While in this form, She looked like a somewhat normal moth. She was still far larger than one, about the size of a chihuahua, but Her four arms were hidden underneath her wings. To an onlooker not in the know, she was just your average, comically large moth.
"Uhm… I don't know. I've just always had them. What is Inorganic matter, though?"
"Oh right, although you're a [Mutant] like Mother Goddess, you still lived like a regular deer up until recently. Hmm, well, Matter is everything. You're made of matter, and so am I. Actually, Mother Goddess might not be… I'm not sure if Divine Power can be considered matter or not."
Nera pondered that question for a while but concluded that she had no way of knowing right now.
"Anyway, Organic Compounds are derived from or produced by living organisms and have carbon-hydrogen covalent bonds. Inorganic compounds are derived from nonliving components, and generally have ionic bonds, lack carbon-hydrogen bonds, and rarely, if ever, contain any carbon atoms." Nera explained.
Sapphire looked at Nera, dumbstruck.
"I… What?"
"If you're a living being like you or me, then you're probably made out of most Organic Matter. If you're a rock, you'd be made mostly of Inorganic matter. Is that easier to understand?"
Sapphire nodded, fully aware that she still didn't understand well and that Nera's words were making her head spin, but she was glad that Nera took the time to try to explain it to her!
While they moved forward, Nera checked her and Sapphire's status.
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"T-that aside. May I ask you something, Miss Nera?"
"Just call me Nera! Sapphi is technically my senior, even if you're not a horde member."
"Okay… Nera, then. How are you and Master Alchemy so strong? Or maybe it would be better to ask, what is this floating panel and voice that I hear in my head? The one you guys call the System."
Landing on Sapphire's head, Nera hummed for a few moments.
"I wouldn't call us strong. Compared to Mother Goddess in her prime, we're little more than newborns. That being said, I'm strong because Mother Goddess is as strong as she is. [Heroes] born from the system always have a starting strength similar to their creator. And as to what the system is…" Nera paused.
What was the System? Nera knew, but she couldn't think of a good way to explain it. Her first thought was to compare it to her control over gravity, but if Sapphire didn't know what organic matter was, chances are she didn't know how gravity worked.
"When you walk in a straight line, where do you end up?" Nera asked.
"Straight… Ahead?"
"Right. So why?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Why do you end up straight ahead of where you once were when you walk in a straight line? The answer is simply, "Because that's the reality." Just like how the sky is above, and the ground is below. The System is much the same to us. It's simply something that has always existed. The sky has always been up, the ground has always been down, and the system has always been something to aid us."
It wasn't a perfect explanation, but Nera was confident Sapphire would understand to some extent. It was a primal force and a natural law that existed since the beginning.
"In the same vain as your question, I wonder why the people of this land don't have the system. Perhaps it was an evolutionary trait? After all, if you're born on a planet without oxygen, you'd develop to live without it." Nera mused to herself.
"Does that mean you're from another world?"
Tilting her head, Nera nodded.
"Probably. Mother Goddess is at-"
Nera's words were interrupted by a flash of light coming toward them.
She changed her form with [Cycle of Wings] as quickly as she could, pushing Sapphire out of the way.