Chapter 343: Chapter 343
A green carpet spread across the ground. As these mosses grew, the first primitive ferns began to emerge. They shot up like weeds, spreading outward from the epicenter of the life force eruption at a speed visible to the naked eye. Soon, the most basic gymnosperms and angiosperms appeared. The average height of the flora increased, and slow-growing trees soared skyward.
The entire process was a stunning display of plant evolution in miniature, though it still relied on the seeds buried deep within the soil. Creating life from nothing was not a feat so easily accomplished.
Unfortunately, the only one able to witness this miraculous sight was Miss Miller, hovering in the sky.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, a flicker of intuition passing through her. She summoned her points of light and discovered a new green ability had appeared: [Accelerated Growth].
"Interesting," she remarked.
The cultists had almost all vanished, with very few lucky enough to escape. The small valley that once held the Ponton Winery had been transformed into a primeval forest. Snowflakes continued to drift down, gradually blanketing the ground in white once more.
A summer-like forest, encircled by winter hills—it was a bizarre, yet very real, scene.
Even after the plants reached the apex of their growth, the life force surging from the depths of the earth showed no signs of stopping.
The ground continued to vibrate. Amidst a thunderous roar, a thick branch tore through the soil, bursting from the ground and rapidly thickening as it climbed higher.
Miss Miller gazed at it for a moment, as if beholding a divine act, before remembering that Jenkins had yet to appear.
She flew toward the giant tree, her small black leather shoes touching down on a massive branch. Then, with astonishing balance, she walked toward the main trunk.
She soon spotted a cat walking toward her. Chocolate flicked its tail at her, then guided her to Jenkins, who was sitting at the very top of the canopy, agonizing over how he was supposed to get down.
The position was precarious, but the view was undeniably spectacular. The treetop was higher than the tallest nearby hill, offering a panoramic vista of the vast, white world.
Of course, it was also freezing up here.
Seeing Miss Miller approach, Jenkins offered an extremely awkward smile. The woman supported the man with her arm, and the man held the cat as they descended from the treetop.
The life force drawn from the undying silver monster had been far too immense. Fortunately, a part of Jenkins's soul essence corresponded to life itself.
When his Soul Emblem appeared automatically, the vast life force was immediately channeled into the earth in a peculiar way. At the same time, he could feel that this surging torrent was only a small fraction of the whole; most of it had been absorbed as if by his [Contact Healing].
But even that small fraction, due to the sheer magnitude of the initial amount, had caused the explosive growth of the surrounding vegetation and the formation of the forest. As for the cultists who had come to investigate, they all suffered grotesque mutations from absorbing too much of the stray life force. When the transformations reached their peak, their bodies simply ruptured into a pool of gore. Follow current novels on novèlfire.net
If not for a stroke of good luck, that might very well have been Jenkins's fate as well.
As for the hundred-meter-tall giant, a tree that could never have grown under normal circumstances, it had evolved from the seedling rooted in his chest.
He was a little disappointed. He had thought that after absorbing so much life energy, the seedling might become a permanent part of his body, a special weapon. Not only would it have looked impressive, but it would have been incredibly useful, like having an extra hand. But in the end, it had detached itself from his heart, carrying the last of the monster's life force with it to grow into its current form.
Looking up, he could see the great tree was still scattering specks of green, fluorescent light. Though the amount was small, it would likely continue for a very long time. If someone were to settle here, they could probably live to be a hundred with ease, provided they didn't die from an accident.
As for Jenkins's own body, absorbing so much life force had not only made him look younger but had brought other changes as well.
The most obvious was that his soul ability, [Contact Healing], had actually evolved. This was the first time he had ever known a soul ability could do such a thing.
The new ability was called [Breath of Healing], and it was still a green ability. He hadn't had a chance to test it yet, so he didn't know its exact effects, but the small sapling on his emblem had visibly grown larger.
He gave Miss Miller a brief explanation of what had happened underground, omitting any of his personal secrets, so there was nothing he needed to hide.
After hearing about the change to his Soul Emblem and seeing the altered sapling design for herself, she shook her head.
"A Soul Emblem is a reflection of the soul. Its change means your soul has undergone some kind of transformation. But from the looks of it, this is a beneficial mutation. After all, you've become younger for no reason, and your maximum lifespan has likely increased... That's an extraordinary change. Hmm, have your ears gotten a little pointier?"
Chocolate had also absorbed some of the life energy, but Jenkins couldn't see any changes in its appearance.
He wanted to hand the cat over to Miss Miller for a closer look, but it struggled so fiercely that he had to give up.
Miss Miller suggested that after they had dealt with the day's events, Jenkins should report the mutation of his Soul Emblem to the Church to determine whether the change was harmful.
"But... won't the Church connect the changes in this valley to the changes in me?" he asked worriedly.
"The world is full of inexplicable things, and Nolan hasn't exactly been short on strange incidents lately, has it? As long as you don't admit anything, I doubt anyone will truly believe there's a connection. Don't worry," she reassured him.
Since she put it that way, Jenkins agreed it was necessary to find out what was going on with his emblem.
The explosive plant growth had caused a phenomenon similar to an earthquake. Even though the winery was on the outskirts of Nolan, it couldn't have gone unnoticed.
Jenkins and Miss Miller left the area quickly, leaving the miraculous scenery of the valley behind for others to discover. As for the valley itself, it would likely remain this way for many years to come.
"Even though there was a third accident, the plan was still a great success!" Jenkins told himself, bringing Miss Miller back to his home for a short while.
On their way back to the city, they noticed many people hurrying toward the outskirts. It wasn't certain they were all heading for the valley, but the Orthodox Church had surely sensed that something was amiss.
The two rested for a while, examining the changes to Jenkins's emblem once more. Then, they ventured back out into the snow, heading toward the location of the day's final piece of trouble.