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Epic of Caterpillarchapter 1603: finding happiness in the most unexpected of places

Luminous flew across the skies as he looked around. Locating Stoneville was certainly very hard. He had gone into a big town he saw and espied at people. Using his [Light Reflection] magic, he was able to turn completely invisible to the people in the city, so he was able to spy at what they spoke. Eventually, he learned about Stoneville and its location.

However, he had been flying for more than half a day now, and nothing… He was beginning to lose a bit of his hope for this. But Kireina had contacted him and even said she was waiting for him. She might be closer…

"Sigh… I wonder what is she doing now that we are all separated- Eh? What is that?"

Across the vast skies, something brought the attention of Luminous within the ground below. There was a small village, this could be Stoneville.

However, what brough him attention wasn't that, but the tree that was growing from it. It was a tall and green tree, of at least twenty meters of height already, and it was constantly growing larger. Its branches already stretched upwards as many leaves decorated its entire body.

"S-So beautiful…"

Suddenly, strange visions flashed through Luminous mind.

Within them, he saw an enormous tree growing bigger than mountains, reaching the skies.

It was there, in the middle of the world.

A world without infertile lands.

It was a world of brightness, of life, and of light…

People lived in harmony with nature.

And disputes were not so many, as there was plenty for everyone.

"What is this?" He wondered. "Memories? No… a glimpse of the future?"

His God's powers were slowly awakening. It was said that Gods were able to see glimpses of the future when they saw someone important, or something that would change the world as a whole.

But in a world so filled with suffering, with disputes, with so much hunger and with such immense quantity of differences, could it be possible for all these things he saw to be actually real?

And then, he felt her presence.

"Kireina's there! Did she… did she created this tree out of nowhere?! Just what is she even capable of…?"

"An Yggdrasil… Yggdrasil tree?"

"Yggdrasil Tree…"

"Incredible, it does sounds like the world tree of legends…"

"Amazing… so this is the tree of legends?"

The villagers were almost enchanted by the tree's beauty, looking at it while seemingly feeling in a trance of sorts… I guess they had never seen trees like this before, huh?

"Guys, look!" Ariant said, her beautiful smile quickly brought everyone's attention.

The plants had already grown quite big, so we stopped feeding them too much Mana or they would die. Tierra underground will continue giving them Life and Nature Essence as long as there's Mana to feed him.

All the hybrid plants had grown, there were cactuses that gave out tomatoes, a big tree that had oranges, watermelons, and bananas. Another cactus with giant avocados the size of coconuts. There was also a mix of potatoes and carrots which could only be seen underground but was big enough to feed everyone and could grow quickly by just leaving a small piece of the root, and more.

The colorfulness and greenery of the plants enchanted everybody's eyes, as they began to cry tears of happiness. Many were kneeling in the floor. Some couldn't believe what they were seeing, thinking it was a dream.

And I… well, I was just looking with surprise.

It's incredible how much can the life of people change by merely doing something so easy for me… How much I can influence others… And see their reactions. It really does feels like I am a goddess, huh? Well, I had a giant divine realm which I could use to do even more fantastical things. But eventually, I grew somehow alienated with it to an extent.

I guess going back to square one in this world has also helped me a seeing the small picture too, seeing those beneath me, and experiencing the beauty and simplicity of existence and life…

This is… why is it so nice to see everyone so happy? I don't remember feeling particularly like this before. Maybe because I grew used to their smiles? Or… because my life was too concentrated in a single goal and a single place? Perhaps the total stress of having to constantly fight after fight… but even in this world, I've also needed to fight.

So what was it? What did cause me to feel this way? Has my mind changed? Maybe I am growing older… Or it is something else?

I just… I am so happy right now for some reason.

Even though I miss everyone back home so much…

I want to bring them here and show them this beautiful farm I've made, and these people I've made my friends.

It feels odd… maybe stepping out of my own world helped me develop my mentality in more ways than I had ever expected.

Life… is sure a beautiful thing, isn't it?

Yeah, I can feel it… a bit of it.

FLASH!

Suddenly, I felt a strange spark emerge within the depths of my soul.

Was this… my Origin Core?

Ding!

[You have comprehended a part of the Truth of Existence]

[Due to your amazing change in perspective, you've realized that everything in the vastness of existence matters]

[The Root] is impressed by your change of mind]

[Every life has a meaning]

[Every part of existence has a place]

[Every piece of soil, every tear of a person, the ray of the sunlight, the song of the birds, the movement of the sea…]

Eh? What is this?

I… comprehended a part of the Truth of Existence?!

What the heck is that?

Ah… well, I can't really learn anything right now.

But it seems that the Root has been spying me all this time.

What do you even mean by this though? Can you tell me?

[…]

Ah, no response I guess.

"L-Look!"

Suddenly, I heard someone pointing at the sky, as an enormous shadow obscured the entire village, covering the sunlight coming from the sky.

It was a beautiful and white feathered dragon, Luminous!

FLUOOOOSH!

However, aside from Luminous, to the opposite direction from where he was coming, something was approaching.

An enormous sandstorm, and from within, several signals of life… Can Monsters survive inside a sandstorm?

"A tree growing in my desert?! What is this sacrilege?! You, my new pawn! Make sure to burn it with your flames!"

And then, we heard the voice of a tyrannical man who I could already tell was the famous "Genie"…

BAAAM!

And from within the sandstorm, a figure clad in black armor surged, blazing with flames everywhere within its entire body. He looked oddly familiar!

"Overpowering… Sun…!" He said with a cold, and emotionless voice.

FLUOSH!

An enormous blazing sphere began to fall down over the Yggdrasil Tree, as everyone in the village started to panic.

BOOOOMMM!!!

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