NOVEL NEXT Chapter 116: Third element?
The second I put the fruit in my mouth, my entire body froze as if I had been struck by lightning. The fruit immediately melted sending a torrent of favorable juice to my mouth, stimulating my taste buds. My mind cleared out as I unconsciously moaned in pleasure.
Closing my eyes, I did not move, and simply stood there rooted in place. My tastes exploded as It felt like a whole new world just opened before me. I do not know how to describe what I felt since It was the first time I ever tasted something this delicious.
I felt like I was in a daze after the first bite, and I only regained my senses when I realized that the abnormally large fruit that once stood before me was long gone. Confused I turned to look at my grandmother and the Tree Goddess who were both covering their mouths while chuckling sweetly.
Doubtful, I hesitantly glanced downwards at my human hands only to see a few remains from the soft fruit. 'I finished It all?' I thought in disbelief before slowly raising my fingers to my mouth and subconsciously licked the remains in a daze.
By this point, my grandmother couldn't control her laugher as she spoke, "Hahaha, how cute, he finished It before he even knew what was happening," She said, the Tree Goddess by her side nodded with a gentle smile.
"Reminds me of a certain someone," She replied with a teasing tone while shooting a casual glance towards my grandmother who coughed with a rarely seen embarrassed expression.
"Ahem, that, I was just a bit hungry at the time," She then replied earning her a hearty laugh from the Goddess.
"Yes, of course, just a little bit. It's not like you threatened to rip all of my branches out If I didn't give you another one," She said with a smile. Hearing that, grandmother turned her head to avoid looking at her and muttered under her breath.
“I said I was sorry, damn,”
Seeing that scene, I was momentarily surprised as I inwardly noted. ‘So grandma does have a shy part to her,’ I thought while I continued licking my fingers unconsciously. ‘Shit, well I understand why she would threaten her for more,’ I thought wistfully.
‘I didn’t even get to enjoy It before It was gone, almost like I was hypnotized,’ I inwardly lampooned. Just as I gathered my courage to ask for a second one, the ground suddenly seemed to rise and smack me in the face.
‘Eh? What happened?!’ I panicked before I realized that I had collapsed. Grandmother and the Goddess’ voice slowly carried to my ears. “So It started already,” Calmly said my grandmother, I couldn’t see her face, yet I was still able to sense her gaze.
“You do realize that his cover will be blown and he will revert to his original body, right?” Asked the Goddess.
“Yes, and that’s why I have you,” Answered grandma in a cheery tone before adding, “Help me cover his aura until he is done,” Clicking her tongue the Goddess answered, “While he is cute and all, why should I do that?” She asked with a teasing tone.
Silence quickly reigned after she said that, and I was unable to see my grandmother’s reaction, yet the Goddess’ reply quickly came, “Okay, Okay, I was joking!” She grumbled before countless green vines rose from the ground and surrounded me, effectively isolating me from the outer world.
The vines came together to form what I guessed to be a cocoon of sorts. Yet since I was still collapsed on the ground, I was unable to check my surroundings which turned dark from the vines preventing the light from shining through.
I laid there In silence and concern, I didn't feel any pain yet I wasn’t able to move my body either. It felt like I was paralyzed. The second I thought about that, I began to panic, yet It was then that I sensed my body slowly morphing back to normal.
My human hands were no more, replacing them were my familiar scaled arms and claws, I slowly regained my senses as I felt my wings behind my back. A sigh of relief silently escaped my mouth. I didn’t realize just how much I missed being in my ‘body’ until now.
Just as I was thinking about such things, a frown quickly made its way to my face. I was still unable to move my body, yet I could vaguely sense that I had grown larger than I was before. I could feel that I was at least twice my previous size.
‘Did that fruit help me grow larger? Maybe physically stronger as well?’ I thought. There was still no way to confirm my current strength as I was unable to move. Just as I was thinking about all the changes that occurred to my body, my vision suddenly swam before I found myself elsewhere.
‘My soul space? But I didn’t do anything?’ I wondered still confused. The world inside my soul space was still the same, with the unfinished dragon statue in the middle, surrounded by the blue world.
Looking down, I found myself still in my dragon form causing me to heave a sigh of relief. Just as I was about to scan for any changes that may have happened, a particular area in the ‘sky’ seemed to crack as If It was forcefully being opened by something or someone.
My first reaction was that someone was attempting to invade my soul space, causing me to subconscious channel all the water and cosmic mana inside towards the tear only to stop hesitantly. I didn’t sense any danger from the void that just opened, quite the opposite.
Taking a deep breath, I finally decided to trust my instincts and just watch over what will happen, and If I felt a hint of danger then I’d channel all my power to expel whatever was trying to make its way inside. It was a dangerous gamble, still, I truly felt no threat coming from the void crack and so I stayed my claw.
Strands of earth mana slowly seeped inside my world, It made its way towards a particular side and seemed to merge with the ground causing a small green plain to appear. ‘Earth...mana?’ I mumbled hesitantly. The elements that appeared inside my soul space were still rather weak, but they nonetheless presented Earth mana which cause me to halt in surprise as I recalled the fruit I just ate.
‘Impossible,’ I subconsciously muttered, ‘Could It be that fruit? But this is a completely different element, If the Gods have such power wouldn’t this mean that they are stronger than us?!’ Shaking my head, I quickly calmed down.
‘No, I still don’t understand what exactly happened and if this,’ I thought as I glanced at the grassland that suddenly appeared inside my soul space. ‘If this is normal or not,’