Time passed quickly as Ram returned to the stone house, watching the timer count down in the corner of his vision.
[00:00:03]
"Three... two...," Looking at the remaining three seconds, Ram hurriedly focused his thoughts towards his spiritual realm, eager to check the new changes.
He could feel the connection clearly. This time, there was no resistance—no walls blocking his consciousness out, but just before he could fully explore it, the timer hit zero.
Suddenly, his senses were overwhelmed by a brilliant golden light, and almost immediately after, he felt a huge pulling force dragging at his body.
His surroundings flashed as if the stars themselves shifted. In the blink of an eye, he found himself standing in a completely unfamiliar place, as his body disappeared from the stone house he was staying.
Yet, this abrupt anomaly did not affect the two Tier 3 cavemen guards who were guarding outside.
Ram subconsciously made a defensive action and then quickly glanced around. His heart raced for a moment until he realized nothing was threatening nearby.
Instead, what appeared before him was an open space, vast and expansive. The sky above had a hazy blue hue, and the land seemed to be stretched out for about a square kilometer, just like the Bronze Token had said.
The ground beneath his feet was black and barren, completely devoid of any life except for a few ordinary withered trees scattered about, and a small dry spring lay at the center of the space.
It was almost desolate, a stark contrast to the Wood Spirit World. Curious, Ram extended his consciousness, trying to sense beyond what his eyes could see.
His spiritual awareness flowed out effortlessly, covering the entire space as if everything here was under his control.
"Well, this is part of my spiritual realm after all," he thought to himself. "Perceiving everything here shouldn't be considered a big deal, right."
But as he scanned further, he frowned. "Nothing?" There were no creatures—just the empty land around him and something about this space from an old memory.
"Why does this place feel so much like... farm space?" He chuckled to himself, remembering the farm novels he used to read in his previous life, where the protagonist would gain some magical space farm where plants grow at an accelerated speed.
Beyond the open land was a thick layer of light blue fog, like an eggshell encasing the entire space.
Ram tried to push his perception further, expecting to hit a limit. However, instead of being blocked, his consciousness reached beyond the space's boundaries.
"What the...?" Ram gasped as his vision expanded, almost as though he was looking from a distant perspective, like a bird watching over its nest.
From his perspective, he saw a huge white wall in the distance. Curious, he activated his Spiritual Eye, expecting to gain information about it.
Curious, he activated his Spiritual Eye, expecting to gain information about it.
Unlike usual, the moment he did, a flood of unknown information surged into his mind, too much for him to process all at once.
The sheer volume of information caused his head to throb painfully, forcing him to pull his consciousness back.
Panting, still recovering from the sudden overload, Ram quickly steadied himself. Even though he felt the lingering aftereffects, he had noticed something strange before he withdrew.
[1. Life Spirit Body]: Converts the host's body into a Life Spirit Body, greatly increasing the host's capacity for Life Energy and Spiritual Power by tenfold, while boosting recovery rate by 300%.
[2. Kingdom Creation: Sylvan Soul Kingdom (bound)]: Upon activation, the Sylvan Soul Tree converts the host's Spiritual Realm into a virtual realm that becomes the foundation of the Sylvan Soul Kingdom. This domain spans across dimensions, rooted in both the material and spiritual realms.
[Effect]: The host becomes the Lord of the Sylvan Soul Kingdom, gaining the ability to expand and rule this virtual domain.]
[3. Soul Conversion: Sylvan Spirit Rebirth]: The Sylvan Soul Tree allows the Lord to channel life energy and spiritual power to transform the absorbed souls into Sylvan Wood Spirits, capable of combat, defense, and healing.
[Effect]: The Lord can freely convert souls, each with distinct abilities based on the nature of the soul absorbed. Their power differs with each absorbed soul, depending on the amount of Life Energy and Spiritual Power used, Host can preserve different abilities, memories, and special skills of the dead soul.
[ Abilities: Soul Tree]:
[1. Sylvan Soul Tree]: At the heart of the Sylvan Soul Kingdom, the Lord can summon the Soul Tree, a sacred tree that acts as a conduit for life and death.
[Effect]: The souls of those who die within or near the kingdom are absorbed by this tree, where they are nourished, healed, and can be reborn as Wood Spirits.
[2. Soul Tree Seeds]: Host can create seeds of the soul tree that are connected to the mother tree, which can be planted outside the Sylvan Soul Kingdom.
[Effect]: Souls absorbed by this Soul Trees are transported to the mother tree within a certain distance, depending upon the strength of the Sylvan Soul Tree.]
"It was indeed the Sylvan Soul Tree... did it awaken another ability?" Ram muttered as he stared at the attribute panel.
His eyes narrowed as he noticed a new ability on the attribute panel. His heart raced in excitement, realizing how powerful it was.
"Fuck it, ha ha... what a crazy ability!" Ram burst out laughing, forgetting the lingering pain from earlier.
His hands clenched into fists, trembling with adrenaline. He was hyped. He couldn't help but recall the soul he absorbed before—the Goddess of Wildfire.
"What if..." Although he didn't know how much Life Energy and Spiritual Power he'd need to convert her into a Wood Spirit, he was confident he could save enough reserves to give it a try.
The possibilities raced through his mind. While pondering, he sensed a faint presence in the space around him. It felt like Reiki, however, it was so scarce that it was almost nonexistent.
Ram focused more, tracing the source, and soon discovered that this Reiki was entering his spiritual realm through the white ribbon connected to the Wood Spirit World.
He felt that as time passed, more and more Reiki poured into the space, along with slight traces of Life Energy.
As the energy gathered, small changes began to happen. The once barren and desolate landscape began to stir.
The dry spring in the center of the space shimmered faintly, a few drops of water gathering at its base.
The withered trees seemed to twitch, their branches slightly less brittle, as if life was slowly breathing into them.
Even the soil, which had been cold and black, gained a faint tint of brown, becoming more fertile as grass began to appear in large areas.
He carefully felt the changes and couldn't help but think "Isn't this look more like a mother world feeding its child world?"