The Cursed Gamer, Book 3

469: An Archverse - The God Tree

Chapter 469: An Archverse - The God Tree

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It was an odd feeling for Neji.

As he sat under the God Tree, he felt at peace. Even his breathing felt peaceful. Though he suspected, more than the tree, it was the woman beside him who was doing this magic. His head rested on her shoulder and he relaxed into her.

Her hand gently caressed his hair, patting his head as she looked at him curiously.

"How old are you?"

"...."

"You can't speak?"

He shook his head. He wasn't surprised that she noticed it so fast. However, this prompted him to try something out. He focused his mana, turning it into Smoke, it was easy enough to manipulate elements at his power level, and formed those smokes into blocks of texts over his head.

It worked. [Hi.]

"Oh, hello," she smiled at the text. "That's a neat way to communicate. So how old are you? And your name?"

In this way, he could communicate. He could have used this to communicate with Kimi too, except he couldn't access his mana or any of his powers due to the chains that would let him manipulate smoke. Not that he would have done that anyway, since he distanced himself from her to keep her safe. He didn't want to bite her to death.

Neji hesitated from answering Life.

From what the She Beyond Omnipotence had said, all these debuffs were here for a reason. In that case, what could be the reason behind his speech blockage? If he spent a second thinking, it must be because he shouldn't be telling people around about his situation. In that case, he shouldn't tell his real name either. He didn't want to mess up the timeline.

[...Prima. It means just 'First' in Italian, a human language.] he said using the text above his head.

"Huh, interesting name," the Omniverse was vast, and people had many names, so Lady Life didn't find it weird. "And how old are you?"

Neji hesitated again, [It's different for my body, my soul, and my memories.]

"Tell me all."

[It's 17 for my body, 32 if I count my soul age, and 104 if I count my close memories. I also slept in the void for 153 years, and lastly I have the memory of a God aging a couple of billion years old.]

Lady Life blinked in surprise, "Huh. That is... curious." She hugged him, startling him a little as his face pushed against her chest. "So in truth, you're just 32? How terribly, terribly young you are for the pain you're suffering. Do you feel better now?"

She had healed his physical wounds with a wave of her hands, so he was doing fine. The pain he felt from his Status Defects, plus his mental limits, were also relieved by her presence.

Neji relaxed into her hug. [Yes.]

"I'm unsure what to do," she said. "I can feel that the moment I leave your side, you will return to your chaotic self. The God Tree's presence can help you a little, but it's not enough. But I can't stay by your side all day long, either... I have duties to see to the higher realm, I had only come down here to sprout a new God Tree in this Megaverse."

[....]

"But at the same time, I can't leave such a young child alone," she sighed, smiling at him. "Shall I ask Death to see my duties for a while? A few months shouldn't hurt anybody. And it's not as if I can't work from here."

Neji looked up at her. [You don't have to go that far for me.]

"Oh, of course I do. How can a mother let her child be in pain?" She gently held his face and pressed a kiss on his forehead. The gesture relaxed his body further, her life energy soothing him. "How about you take a nap now? I'll talk with Death in the meantime."