CHAPTER 160

160 - The Grace of the Earth

He recalled his memory of being in that tower. He remembered seeing the roots of the World Tree and the priestess who offered her prayers there.
Permu was now free from the tower and had returned to her own world. She was probably still struggling to rebuild the forest and kingdom destroyed by Cain. The tower, left all alone, must have been a tempting prize for greedy beings.
'The World Tree's main body... wasn't there.'
The tower had the World Tree's roots, but he hadn't seen a trunk, branches, or leaves.
He had explored the area around the tower meticulously while drawing his map, but there was no World Tree and no lake. There was a stream nearby, but no place that seemed to be the World Tree's domain.
'Still, there must be a clue.'
Just examining the roots would be a sufficient clue. At the very least, it would be much better than searching with only the single piece of information that it was near a lake.
Fsss
Having conveyed its message to Jinwoo, the black root turned to ash and disappeared. The ash drifted in one direction, as if carried by the wind.
But it was completely different from the direction the wind was blowing. The wind was a southeasterly breeze, but the ash was flying in the opposite direction.
'It's that way.'
He knew the tower was in that direction. The root was gone, and the Seed remained in Jinwoo's hand.
Terham flew over to him.
"Y-You're even more incredible than I imagined..."
He must have witnessed Jinwoo's battle. Although the World Tree's roots had helped, Jinwoo was the one who had delivered the final blow.
He already knew Jinwoo was no ordinary being—one who had originally been with the World Tree. But there was a vast difference between hearing about it and seeing it with his own eyes.
"Ahem... I was a bit rude earlier..."
Commendably, Terham tried to apologize. He hadn't done anything so bad as to require bowing his head. Besides, Jinwoo wasn't angered by such words.
More importantly.
"Terham. This is your body."
"My..."
He intended to return the giant's body to him. Since he was the one who defeated it, the body was his spoils of war, but it was useless to him. Even if he took it and sold it, he would only get some money out of it.
But Jinwoo wasn't lacking financially, and a single connection in the Spirit Realm was far more precious. After all, hadn't his connection with Kanok allowed him to learn the God-Welcoming Spell, which he had put to good use?
"Are you giving it back to me?"
"What would I do with it?"
Even without a tangible reward, relationships were something to be cherished. If he were to sell the body, the pride of the giants, Terham would surely resent him.
There was no need to earn such resentment from someone weaker than himself. You never knew how favors and grudges might turn out.
"Thank... you. Thank you. Thank you."
Terham repeated his thanks several times, stroking his former body with a downcast expression.
A bitter taste spread thickly in his mouth. A sense of sorrow at how his pride had fallen so miserably. The thought that if his past self had been a little stronger, this end might have been avoided, bubbled up no matter how he tried to suppress it.
"When I was young, my father taught me the sword."
"The sword?"
"We would each pull up a suitably sized tree and clash them together for fun. Yes, it was a game."
For a giant of that size, a 'suitably sized tree' would have been one that pierced the heavens. He could imagine giants pulling them out whole and having sword fights.
A battle of giants where the earth trembled with each step and the air crumpled into a windstorm with each swing of their arms.
Though they called it a game, for smaller creatures like humans, it must have been a cataclysmic event.
"A strong body houses a strong mind. And a strong mind forges our souls."
"Is that how giants train?"
"Yes. And the forged soul continues the lineage of our race. The history of giants begins with a strong body. My father always impressed that upon me."
But Terham had been defeated. He couldn't overcome the Seed's Erosion and had surrendered his body.
Even the one who saved him wasn't himself. It was the World Tree. He had barely managed to protect his soul by borrowing another's power to sever his body.
"Should I not have abandoned it? For a giant, abandoning the body is abandoning the history of our species... I... perhaps I should have perished along with my blackened flesh."
Deep regret. He hadn't thought this far when he cast it off with the Seed. Back then, he was desperate to survive, to avoid annihilation.

But now, seeing his own body die and disappear, an emotion that couldn't be summed up in a single word washed over him. Had he undergone deeper, longer training, he might have been free from all attachments, but Terham had not reached that state.
Just then, Larna appeared and spoke up.
"Can I eat this?"
"Wh-What!?"
The somber atmosphere Terham had carefully crafted was shattered in an instant. There was not a hint of hesitation in Larna's words.
Like a pure child craving candy, she licked her lips at the giant's corpse.
To her, who possessed the power of Predation, what a tempting meal the dead giant was. It was clear that eating this would make her own body much stronger. She might even be able to break through to the next stage.
"No, you can't! Go away!"
Naturally, Terham was horrified and shooed Larna away. But Larna was not someone who listened to such words. She drew her sword, sliced through Terham's mana, and thrust it toward his head, from which his mental energy emanated.
"Stop."
At Jinwoo's word, her sword halted abruptly. The blade, which had torn through Terham's resisting mana like paper, froze solid exactly 1mm from his forehead.
"That corpse originally belonged to Terham, so give it back."
"Tch."
Pouting in dissatisfaction, Larna sheathed her sword. Terham, having narrowly escaped death, let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you. For stopping that ferocious creature."
"Take it away quickly. She's still drooling."
"Ah, yes."
After all that had happened, Terham's voice became much more polite. Before, though his speech was formal, his tone held no respect for Jinwoo. Now, he clearly recognized him as a superior being. Beyond being indebted to him, a clear hierarchy had been established.
"I'm hungry..."
"You're always hungry."
"That's true."
As Larna spoke in a listless voice, Jinwoo took a suitable fruit from his inventory and tossed it to her. Larna caught it, her face lighting up as she chewed and swallowed it greedily, then licked the juice that ran down her palm. When she pleaded for more, Jinwoo willingly gave her more food.
'If I can tame a Monarch just by sharing some food, it's a profitable trade.'
He could have just given her orders through the Seed without doing this, but wasn't it better to make her follow him willingly?
Whether she knew Jinwoo's intentions or not, Larna readily accepted the food he gave her.

"Terham."
"Yes."
"I'll take this Seed."
The Seed that had been embedded in Terham's body. He had no intention of handing it over anyway, but he said it to make the ownership clear.
"Of course. In fact, I would be grateful if you took it."
Terham naturally nodded and even stepped back, lest he interfere with Jinwoo's absorption of the Seed.
Jinwoo plopped down next to Larna, who was engrossed in eating. And the Seed on his palm...

He took it into his body, just as he always did. He accepted the core of the Seed. This Seed was a little different from the ones before. Instead of settling quietly in the center, it began to spread its energy throughout his entire body, dispersing it.
'My body is...'
So, this was the kind of Seed that was drawn to and settled within the giant race.
Terham's Seed was one that dwelled in the flesh. It didn't interfere with the mind or soul at all, only elevating the physical body to the realm of spirits. It had a certain resemblance to the pride held by the giant race.
Jinwoo fully absorbed the Seed, and Terham buried his own former body, hoping it would return to the earth that embraces all life.
Larna, having already finished the food he'd given her, hugged her knees and watched Jinwoo. As Jinwoo gradually absorbed Terham's Seed, the mysterious pull she felt towards him grew slightly stronger. It was no longer an attraction that could be dismissed as mere instinct.

With their respective tasks completed, they concluded their ritual here.

"Is it okay for you to follow me and leave the fairies behind?"
Jinwoo was walking along the lakeside. He was heading in the direction where the ashes of the World Tree had disappeared—the path toward the now-ruined White Tower.
Terham was following him, keeping watch by his side. Smaller than the palm of a hand, he floated in the air near Jinwoo's shoulder, sitting cross-legged.

"You said you are going to save Her. Please, allow me to accompany you. I will not be a hindrance."
"I don't think you'll be a hindrance... but what about the fairies?"
"I tidied up their home before I left. They are beings who can live anywhere in the lake, so as long as the lake itself is fine, there should be no problem."
Jinwoo looked at the lake. The lake, which had been horribly polluted when the Seed appeared, was now clean. It wasn't as pristine as when he first saw it, but it had been sufficiently restored.
"To think you could use purification magic on this scale. That's incredible."
"The secret arts of the giants are not to be underestimated, are they?"
Terham smiled at Jinwoo's compliment. What remained for him, having lost his body, was his vast mana and the giants' secret arts he could wield with it.
"Giants do pursue physical strength, of course, but we are not solely fixated on it. Our ultimate goal is to achieve a trinity of body, mind, and soul to reach the realm of spirits."
"I see. A giant who has become a spirit would naturally have a mind as strong as their body."
"The secret arts of the giants have their roots in the earth. The earth, which embraces all living things, is like a mother who embraces her children, accepting all filth and evil into her body."
"Is it similar to how the elves revere the World Tree, calling it their mother?"
"I don't know the extent of the elves' faith, but to call it 'mother' must be the highest form of respect. At least, it is for us."
The power of giants comes from the ground. They draw the earth's power from their firmly planted feet, circulate it through their bodies, and then unleash it through their arms.
"Among them, those who received the Grace of the Earth were special. They received a blessing several times greater than others and would rule the giant race."
"You're saying you were one of them."
"Haha. I didn't bring it up to brag, but..."
Terham had said he was once the leader of his clan. That meant he, too, had a body that received the special Grace of the Earth.
Jinwoo looked down at the ground he was treading. It was an earthen floor where nameless grasses grew. He rubbed his foot against it to clear a small spot and planted his foot firmly.
The Seed embedded in Terham's body had taken everything from it. It was so strongly bound that Terham himself had made the decision to abandon his body just to protect his soul.
Thus, the Seed had taken everything the giant's body possessed, including the Grace of the Earth that Terham had enjoyed.
'Like this?'
His foot pressed against the ground. A cool sensation was felt from the sole of his foot, flowing up his leg and spreading throughout his entire body. His hands began to itch, making him want to draw his sword.
Is this the Grace of the Earth that the giants enjoy?
"No..."
Terham stared at Jinwoo, at a loss for words. How could a human feel the grace that only giants could enjoy? And it was even more powerful than what he had enjoyed in the past.
He felt a grace that could be called blatant favoritism. A power that inspired not jealousy, but awe.