The Fruits of Yggdrasil

“TALKING FISH?!?!”

I managed to scream as I backpedaled away from the white fish that spoke to me in a strange voice. The sea creature seemed to have sighed in response to my confusion and terror.

“Enough Baxter! I’m asking if you can see us?”

“Yes! Yes, I can!” I answered loudly while still backing away. “What’s the deal!? What are you supposed to be!?”

Appearing out of nowhere was a whole congregation of the white fish. They came together and formed into the shape of a tree that harbored hundreds of long branches. The tree was as white as a pearl, and the light it let off was equal to that of the sun’s.

“We…are mana.”

“What…?”

“And if you can see us…that means that Death has chosen you to be its avatar.”

“D-Death? Avatar? What are you fishes talking about!? Can somebody please properly explain to me what is going on!?”

“…the answer to that is…”

The voices of the white fishes faded, and my body was carried to the top of the ocean. Air and returned and I found myself in the center of Eden once again.

I was standing on my two feet, fully energized and no longer covered in wounds. The dryads surrounded me crawling on all fours and snarling like rabid dogs. And there was Gnavu right behind them—staring at me with fearful eyes.

“How?!”

The female gargoyle shrieked as she pointed at me.

“You died! You should be dead!”

“That’s right! You tried to kill me!”

And as if the universe itself called out to me, the White Needle fell from the sky and landed right next to me. I couldn’t contain my smirk as I grabbed my weapon and aimed it towards my enemies.

“Now it’s time to kill you!”

Gnavu backed away and started to command the dryads.

“Dryads! Don’t leave a single piece of him remaining. I must follow my master’s orders! Tear him apart and rip his heart out!”

The nymphs released a horrifying roar as they jumped towards me with their fanged teeth. But there was no fear in my heart, I was as calm as ever.

“Now Baxter…”

“W-what?”

Out of nowhere, I heard the voice of Azriel in my ears. Her soft yet intimidating vocals nearly deafened me.

“It is time. Slice the fish.”

“Slice the—what the—“

Then it happened for the very first time…

The water was drowned in the same intense sea that flooded the library and I was able to see the black fish swimming around. But my attention was on the white fish that attached themselves to the dryads like flies.

“Slice them, Baxter.”

“Al…alright…”

I wasn’t really sure what I was doing but I decided to follow the orders of Azriel. I tried to move towards the dryads but that task alone was difficult. The waters made everything around me heavy and it took all my energy just to move my feet.

It took at least five minutes for me to reach one dryad and then with all the strength I could muster inside the current of the strange ocean, I was able to slice the first white fish.

After the deed was done, the water had vanished and reality returned to normal. But as that happened my body became extremely heavy and exhaustion came upon me as if someone had punched me in the back of the head.

The dryads that were ready to attack had backed away and started to cower in front of me.

“Huh? They’re scared of me?”

Gnavu, who was in the far back, was petrified with fear.

“H-how…HOW DID YOU DO THAT—BAXTER ALE!!”

Before I could question Gnavu’s strange behavior, the answer was given right to me on a silver platter. I looked down at my feet to see the very same dryad that had the white fish that I sliced on the ground her face in the mud.

Her green body started to dry out and turned into dead bark. The dryad was dead…I killed it.

“H-how? All I did was cut that fish…”

“Those fish are mana,” Azriel commented. “They are the fruits of Yggdrasil. And you are able to see them because you have accepted me.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“Congratulations Baxter Ale, you have mastered zen…”

“T-this is zen!? But I still don’t—“

“Enough, take care of the rest before you lose consciousness. From now on I will be a diligent fan and continue to read your ongoing story~…”

I could hear the creepy chuckling of Azriel fade in the back of my mind. I still had a million more questions but a lot of them would not be answered until after the battle.