Chapter 93
“Where did the elder go?”
“I know where he is!”
At my shout, a young elf grabbed my hand and guided me.
The elder was meditating in a small hut beneath the World Tree.
As I approached, he slowly opened his eyes.
The moment he recognized me, surprise and delight rose across his face at once.
“Ohhh... Benefactor. I never expected you to come back.”
“Honestly, I didn’t expect to come back either.”
The elder rose from his seat and bowed politely.
I was still their benefactor.
And just as I was about to get to the point,
the elder’s gaze fell on the pendant around my neck.
His eyes widened.
“My goodness, you’ve accomplished two achievements?”
“Hm? Oh, this?”
The elf elder realized that I had fulfilled the elves’ long-held wish on the 29th floor.
The time I raided the dwarves’ royal palace and the pendant evolved.
‘I never slaughtered dwarves or destroyed a royal palace, though....’
In truth, I had a few things I wanted to argue with the elves about regarding this item.
I had no idea how much trouble those bizarre achievements had caused me when I ran into the dwarves.
And on top of that, it claimed I’d committed dwarven slaughter and plundered a royal palace I never even touched.
The item was full of problems in all sorts of ways. It did work well, though.
That was when it happened.
[Sand Worm complains that the air in this area somehow doesn’t suit it.]
Familiar telepathy rang out from the Sand Worm wrapped around my finger like a ring.
In an instant, the elder’s face went ghostly white.
The elder suddenly went pale and pointed at my finger.
“Th-th-that is...? Why is that blasphemous existence with you?”
Taken aback by the elder’s fierce reaction, I was confused.
“Huh? Blasphemous existence?”
“That worm! Isn’t that the legendary calamity that has been gnawing at the World Tree’s roots since the dawn of time!”
The elder retreated in terror.
Only then did I understand the situation and let out a deep sigh.
“It’s fine. My kid doesn’t bite.”
[Sand Worm insists that these pointy-eared folk need to be taught a lesson for daring to call the great Sand Worm a mere worm.]
“Hey. Quiet.”
After snapping at Sand Worm, I began explaining carefully to the elder.
“This one’s my summon, and it has nothing to do with the World Tree. Hey, it has absolutely nothing to do with it, right?”
[....]
“Looks like it has nothing to do with it. Good, let’s keep doing our best.”
“Uh....”
But even after my explanation, the elder still didn’t seem to let go of his caution.
[Sand Worm protests that it doesn’t like the way the other party is looking at it.]
I held my head.
“More importantly, Elder, there’s a reason I came here....”
Clearing away the awkward air, I finally got to the point.
I honestly explained that I was having trouble with astral-body monsters and was desperately trying to find a solution.
“Is there any way to deal with them?”
The elder nodded at my question.
“So that was the issue. Of course, I can help.”
As expected of elves. They already knew the solution.
“Really?”
“Yes. The most effective way to deal with beings like astral bodies and evil spirits is to receive the World Tree’s blessing.”
The elder continued his explanation.
He said that elves had a way of borrowing the World Tree’s power to bestow holy blessings on weapons, equipment, and even living beings.
That was exactly the solution I was looking for.
“That’s great. Then right away...”
“Receiving the blessing itself isn’t difficult. However....”
The elder trailed off.
Something must be wrong.
“However, we don’t currently have the necessary material.”
“Why not?”
“For the blessing ritual, we absolutely need dew of life, condensed from the purest essence of the World Tree. But the World Tree does not currently have the spare strength to form it.”
“It doesn’t have spare strength?”
“The World Tree’s main role is to purify all pollution flowing through this land and the air..... But there is still one place where the original source of that pollution remains.”
I frowned.
“Huh? Last time, I completely destroyed that polluted World Tree. I even wiped out the core and everything...”
“Of course. But what our benefactor defeated was only the result of the pollution.... To be precise, the source from which the substance that polluted the World Tree has been seeping out is still there.”
The elder pointed beyond the World Tree, deep into the forest.
“Right now, the World Tree is pouring all of its power into purifying that place. Because of that, it cannot spare the energy needed to bear the fruit required for blessings.”
“Then what should we do?”
“Just wait a little until the purification is complete.”
The elder’s answer was far too easygoing. I let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness. How long do we have to wait?”
The elder thought for a moment before answering with a benevolent smile.
“Fortunately, it seems you’ll only have to wait about a hundred years.”
“......”
“By then, those children over there will probably be about as tall as you, benefactor. Hahaha.”
I thought I’d misheard him.
A hundred years? Was he joking?
In a hundred years, either the tower would collapse or I’d have grown old and died.
This is exactly why elves are no good.
“Is there another way?”
“Well. Unless we purify the source directly...”
In the end, there was only one answer.
“I’ll purify it myself.”
“No, we can’t possibly ask that of our benefactor...”
“I’m in a hurry.”
I urged the elder and headed toward the place he called the source of the pollution.
“This is...?”
I froze at the sight before me.
A gigantic pit.
And inside it, shattered black debris lay piled in pieces.
There was no doubt.
“This is... the Black Tower.”
It was unmistakably the collapsed remains of the Black Tower, the very one that stood in the middle of a city on Earth.
Its shape was ruined, but the peculiar material and ominous aura were exactly the same.
To think the remains of another tower were inside the tower.
My mind spun with confusion.
But that wasn’t the only problem.
“How am I supposed to purify this?”
I felt utterly lost.
This wasn’t a monster.
It was nothing more than the ruins of a huge structure.
“Should I just turn it into sand for now?”
I went ahead and did just that.
I could feel strong resistance, but I forced my way through with all the power I had, and soon I was able to turn it all into sand.
“Is this good enough?”
“No.... The form has clearly changed, but the aura remains.”
“Hmm.... What now?”
Just as I was frowning and trying to figure out a clever move,
a familiar voice rang in my head.
[Sand Worm says to leave it to him.]
I looked at Sand Worm, who was brimming with confidence, for a moment.
“You? How are you going to do that?”
Instead of answering my question, Sand Worm showed me through action.
The little guy leaped from my finger to the ground.
Immediately after, the earth rumbled.
Kugu-gugugugung-!
From the center of the giant pit, the ground began to rise.
A massive maw of a sand worm with thousands of steel teeth appeared.
“Y-yes, I knew it! It really is a root-eating worm!”
The elder standing next to me screamed in fright.
“I told you before, my kid doesn’t eat people. He only steals snacks sometimes, but he’s safe.”
[Sand Worm sneers that the pointy-eared folk really do get scared over nothing.]
“Please just shut up.”
I focused on the scene before my eyes.
Sand Worm’s massive mouth opened.
The suction began.
Wooooooong-!
Like a giant vacuum cleaner, Sand Worm began sucking in everything around it.
Polluted sand was drawn into Sand Worm’s mouth like a vortex.
The elder stood there with his mouth open, unable to say a word.
Only a few seconds passed.
It was truly over in the blink of an eye.
The dirt full of pollution vanished.
[Sand Worm burps.]
Sand Worm’s huge body twitched.
Its whole body began to glow with a faint light.
It seemed to be the process of purifying and digesting the polluted energy it had just swallowed into its own power.
A moment later,
Puuuuuu-!
Sand Worm spat the purified soil and sand back onto the ground.
There was no trace of pollution at all.
It was, in fact, clean earth that even seemed to contain the breath of life.
“It really does look like worm castings.”
[.......]
“Ah, sorry. Good work. I’ll buy you something tasty later.”
[Sand Worm demands sushi and steak as the next offering.]
“... Where did he even learn that?”
Anyway, everything was over.
Sand Worm returned to my hand once more.
I approached the elder, who was sitting on the ground, and asked,
“Is it good now?”
“... I can’t believe it.”
The elder muttered as he stared blankly at the purified ground.
To think he had completed a purification that would have taken a hundred years in just a few seconds.
The elder no longer had any fear of Sand Worm in his eyes.
Only awe at overwhelming power remained.
“... I was foolish. Blinded by prejudice, I failed to recognize the sacred being accompanying our benefactor.”
The elder rose and bowed deeply to me.
I shrugged.
“Then can I get the blessing now?”
“Of course. I will return to the World Tree at once and prepare the ritual.”
The elder hurried ahead to lead the way.
When we returned, the World Tree’s leaves were glowing a far more vibrant green than before.
Large droplets of water clung to the tips of the leaves.
That must be the dew of life, the material for the blessing.
Though it was called dew, the droplet was as large as my head.
“Ohhh, the dew of life...!”
The elder cried out in an emotional voice.
With the root pollution gone, it seemed the World Tree had finally recovered all of its power.
Carefully, the elder lifted the dew clinging to the leaves with both hands.
The dew swayed like a water balloon.
“Where would you like the blessing? Your weapon, as before?”
“Hmm....”
I thought for a moment.
A blessing on my weapon? Not bad, but it felt like I was missing something.
Then one thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
“Right. My weapon isn’t a staff.”
My true weapon was sand.
Sand created from my own body, no less.
“I want it on my body.”
“That’s a fine choice. In that case, just drink this.”
I took the dew from the elder without hesitation.
I brought my mouth to the dew, as big as my head, and slurped it up.
Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.
It felt like I was chugging an entire water jug, which was kind of embarrassing.
“Krrr.”
One-shot complete.
I wiped my mouth with my sleeve.
At the same time, a powerful life force spread through my entire body.
It felt like a portion of the World Tree’s divine power had taken root inside me.
At the same time, I instinctively realized something.
This power could be used in two different ways.
One was the method I had used until now.
Eating something and staining my body with sand even further.
It was a path that transformed the body itself into a magical existence.
‘The area I can turn to sand right now goes only as far as below the heart.’
Turning my chest and head into sand would definitely have its merits.
And the second.
Converting some of the sand in my body into divine, sacred sand.
Something that was originally impossible.
But after directly using the power of faith on the 36th floor,
I realized a new path had opened to me.
That was tempting as well.
Besides, that was the goal I had come here for in the first place.
[Sand Worm says its master’s growth is amazing.]
[But it adds that this is an inefficient choice.]
‘Inefficient?’
[Normally, one should first reach the level of turning the entire body into sand and obtain a basic rank before building up divinity.]
[You are trying to skip a step.]
Sand Worm’s added explanation rang in my head.
According to him, it was no different from an undergrown sprout suddenly trying to bear fruit.
With such a weak foundation, trying to force power from a higher stage would naturally be inefficient.
‘Then how am I supposed to stain my whole body with sand?’
[Sand Worm explains that this is the same method as steadily building up rank until now.]
[It recommends devouring this kind of pure essence.]
In the end, it was something that would require both time and materials.
I thought for a moment.
As Sand Worm said, staining my body with sand might be the more correct long-term path.
But I didn’t have that kind of time.
‘I need a way to deal with astral-body monsters right away.’
I made my decision.
Though I knew it was inefficient, I had no choice.
I moved the divinity within my body.
I concentrated all of my power into the index finger of my left hand.
A fingerful of sand formed.
Sand glowing with the buff’s signature golden sheen.
“......”
Once the process was complete, an indescribable emptiness washed over me along with a strange sense of déjà vu.
When I had first awakened after eating dirt,
it was too similar to the moment my fingertips first turned to sand.
To think I was in a situation where only one finger was usable.
It felt like going back to the very beginning.
“Anyway, I fixed it.”
I clenched my fist tightly.
The very ability I had wanted.
I would no longer be helpless before astral-body monsters.
The trade had been successful.
It was about time to head back.
But it felt a little disappointing to leave just like this.
‘Could I get some faith points here too?’
Through my experience on the 36th floor, I had learned just how powerful and precious faith was.
The elves here worshipped me as their benefactor.
There was no better source of faith than this.
I pulled out the small hand flag I had secretly taken from the 36th-floor festival.
A little flag embroidered with my emblem.
“Elder.”
“Yes, benefactor.”
“Would you pray to this flag?”
At my sudden suggestion, a look of bewilderment crossed the elder’s face.