chapter 29: child

"Please explain in detail what you want me to achieve for you and if possible add in the do's and don'ts."

One could call Nobe prideful or disrespectful but to him what he was doing was sane, in his eyes at least. First off despite her 'claiming' to be Mother Nature there was nothing indicating that she was, despite the huge tree behind her but that was virtually it and as such Nobe had no reason to believe her claims. Though her strength is undoubtably real and that's a separate matter up for debate.

Well, Nobe's current confidence didn't come from nowhere either he was assured that if she tried to kill her here, he would still live. Why? Due to the abundance of mana in this field, with this amount of mana at this density he was able to use some of his spells and actives back-to-back and though he assured he would still lose to her he was 100% confident in his ability to escape alive.

Nobe knew she heard his thoughts as well as his intentions but since they were more inclined towards self-defense and a desire to live, Nature really didn't care after all he is weak, and he is in a new location that he has no Idea on how he got here and much less there is a powerful stranger trapped with him.

Nature was actually more interested in his 'Assured escape plan 101', as he put it, since he was so confident about it he was bragging to himself (in his mind) on how amazing and smart he is.

'Idiotically placing your life on one plan with no room to think of another, tendencies of the inexperienced. He's still young after all, so I don't blame him.'

Nobe was part of something that he was unaware of but luckily for the fool, it wasn't time yet so had time to relax and enjoy himself, of course with training. Nature vaguely knew this child's purpose and be it funny or not he really wasn't chosen by her, he was chosen by someone else. He was only here with her because that person discarded him and although Nature isn't really kind per se, she wanted to know the reason why he was chosen and discarded so she chose him once more out of curiosity.

"Nobe, what do you want? power? Money? fame?"

Nature asked in genuine curiosity, 'Was it his desire that amazed him when he chose this child?' was one of her long time guesses but the fact that he was discarded meant he probably lost his original desire but either way she wanted to know.

Nobe finally stopped praising himself and looked at her, he had no idea as to why she would ask a question like that, but he guess she asked because she could grant it for him once he completed what he was 'chosen' to do.

"Me? What I want is simple, to become a chef."

It was stupid but true, this fool and his house are cooking addicts and the title 'Chef' gets them high and they all want a taste of that euphoria.

Nature kept her smile and continuously looked at him, 'Was that why he was discarded?', was all that could come to Nature's mind. Since she has never put interest in human activities or humans in general she was unaware of the desires of the houses, no, she was unaware of the houses entirely.

Inwardly she was really surprised, his desire was not some complex thing to achieve but was a complex thing to grant, she knew what the word meant but she had no idea to grant him the status 'chef'. To her it sounded like he wanted to be a dignified cook, which literally was what he wanted.

It was an odd desire, as she was still in her thoughts on how stupid such a request that was a sudden pulse swept the entire field and for the first time since his arrival, Nobe witnessed to tree sway.

Nature sighed and pushed back her 'chef related thoughts' and looked at Nobe. Nobe had enough brain cells to know that pulse signified something but not exactly what and it was also his first-time hearing Nature sigh.

'A lot of first's today huh?' Nobe's thought process never failed to amaze Nature.

As of now not much could be told to Nobe, more like not much told to him would be of any use.

"What I want you to do is simple."

At this sentence Nobe gave all his attention to her. His expectations of what she wanted were high, after all an elemental deity and more passing on information to a guy who isn't sure his dead yet is quite special, but then again he wasn't sure he would be able to accomplish even half of his mission. But despite that he was still willing to listen and try to the best of his ability since she saved his life.

"Nothing."

Were his thoughts of determination until he heard her final word. Not sentence but word. That enough was odd on its own but the word itself made it worse.

Nobe froze and blankly stared at her in confusion while still kept that smile which he had no idea meant.

"Nothing? You called me here, told me about some corruption thing I should avoid and now 'nothing'? there's more to that right? Like…you maybe got confused midway during your sentence?"

Nobe wasn't annoyed, actually it was quite the opposite he was partially relived that he had to not risk his life in whatever she wanted him to do, he's lazy in his own right. But he also gets bored and now he was considering this 'mission' granted by Nature as a way to cure his possible future boredom. And naturally Nature knew this and that was partially why she said 'nothing'.

Enjoying Nobe disappointment and confusion inwardly she continued.

"You can't do anything as you are now. Basically you're useless. And you don't meet the requirements yet, so until you become less useless you shall go about your daily life. You weren't meant to come here this soon, but you did."

She wasn't wrong, Nobe is weak. His only advantage against virtually anyone is his element and that's it. His physical prowess really isn't anything much nor is his knowledge and he has virtually no combat experience, though he does have his strong sides, cooking, and some experience in the art of survival as well his ability to adapt to nearly anything there isn't much to him.

He himself knew that, and that was enough to make him understand that he really wasn't able to do anything she asked of him after all, if someone of her level is asking him to help her with something obviously the enemies and the task itself won't be some easy difficulty type stuff.

Understanding his situation Nobe didn't feel down, nor motivated, instead what caught his attention were the 'requirements' she spoke of. Since he was chosen he thought that he already meets these conditions unless they were more. Nature liked his attitude, not wasting time sulking and clenching his fist angry at himself for being weak, she hated that shit, instead accept your failure, and short comings and find another way to reach your goal, well more like he ignored his short comings, but it was still better than wasting time and self-loathing oneself.

Nobe was planning to ask what these requirements were and, at this point you all should know that Nature already knows, Nature opened her mouth before him.

"You have overstayed your welcome, bye."

Nobe lagged for a moment not understanding, since this was a field not a home, he was confused about it for a moment then understood but despite that he still wanted to ask his question, and so he tried once more but Nature was faster and sent him away.

No, 'sending him away' was a nice way to put it, Nature lobbed of his head before he could say anything without a single movement. Nobe saw his body standing headless and blood in small globules sounding his vision, and finally the sight of Nature's smile that hadn't changed nor left her beautiful face ever since he meet her, all in slow motion.

This wasn't a foresight since he saw it the moment he was beheaded. But the blood coupled with Nature's beautiful appearance and the grand tree in the back made and amazing image in Nobe's head.

And the only thing that crossed his mind was, 'I never actually ate anything.' Then everything went black.

"Why was that your dying thought?." Nature mutter in utter disbelief, Nobe's thought's still never failed to amaze her.