My territory

This was the second time Nerida came to me. She had only been gone for three hours and now she was already back.

Her hand was bandaged and she looked even more furious than when she had left.

"What did you do?"

'I built a magic circle, nothing more.'

"You want to tell me that people start spitting blood because you built a magic circle? You did something to them! You monster!"

'They start spitting blood because they are weak. My magic circle attracts magic in great quantity and the resulting density is harmful to them.'

"Then stop!"

'Why? It is your choice to stay here. If, by chance, you don't like it, then leave.'

"So you're just going to drive us away?"

'I am tired of this discussion Nerida. You are free to stay but I won't hold back to protect you anymore. Just move the weakest away from me and they should feel better.'

"Fine."

I had the feeling she was about to say something insulting again but she just left.

Soon after, the townspeople commenced moving away from me. They seemed to know rather well how far the protective barrier reached and settled as close to it as possible.

Having dealt with that I resumed my own plans.

'System, remind me of my affinities.'

\u003cYou shouldn't rely on these things too much. As a tree with human consciousness, you have no true affinities, the things you heard about were mere standards regarding your proficiency in an element.\u003e

'So I can freely use every element?'

\u003cIndeed.\u003e

This was indeed fortunate for my plans. I had mastered nearly every known element to a basic degree in my previous life. This included magic for manipulating metals.

Now of the three metals I currently had, iron was the strongest. However, there was something I believed could be more useful and potentially dangerous.

I had copper, a metal that his highly conductive.

I must admit I haven't a clue what exactly that means but I was taught the base principle behind it at the academy back in my student days.

Electricity which is apparently the same as lightning travels from its source to the ground. On its way, it passes through objects and the higher their conductivity is the more of it goes through. And most importantly, this electricity is harmful to the human body and if strong enough it can be lethal. Just like lightning.

In conclusion, if I could use the copper to touch my enemy and send lightning along this copper-connection, they would die.

A great plan wasn't it!

The only difficulty would be that I would need great control over the copper to establish a connection. The best way to establish a stable connection would be to form multiple strings of copper and use them to bind the opponent. This method would not only allow me to shock them but also keep them restrained if they wanted to run.

I tried to see if I was capable to do such a feat in my current condition but was sorely disappointed. My control over the copper was lacking to say the least. I could at most change its shape.

So I spent the next six days practice my control over copper and absorbing an abundant amount of magic.

My control had improved by leaps and bounds and I could already manipulate the copper into strings to skewer things. The motion was completely one-directional though and there was still some progress to be made.

However, after these six days, Aldi had returned! And with an unexpected surprise nonetheless.

"You brought both silver and gold ore?"

"Pleasantly surprised aren't you. I decided to make a small investment and bring the gold along as well."

A small Investment? I began to doubt the mental image I had of this man. How could some middle-aged merchant see gold as a small investment? Also, how the hell did he stay safe with that kind of cargo and no bodyguards? He must be hiding his strength.

But now was not the time to ponder over such matters. I speedily absorbed the silver ore and began deduction. After ten minutes, the first silver ingot grew on one of my branches. It had taken a full minute to grow and confirmed one of my fears. I couldn't grow things instantaneously anymore.

It took me twenty minutes to grow the ingots required to trade for the gold ore. After obtaining it Aldi left in a hurry and I resumed my deductions for the gold ore.

Gold seemed even more complicated than silver. Three hours were consumed to get its structure and I had to wait 10 minutes for an ingot to grow.

Thankfully, growing was a passive process and I could grow multiple ingots simultaneously.

I would only need a few more days of absorbing magic to achieve all the conditions for my next evolution.