Chapter 20 - Animate Object

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With his hands still wet, the boy wipes the blood from his face with his shirt and mentally plans a new strategy.

His psyche, despite the slight shock caused by the boar's death, remains somewhat stable — at least for now.

After all... how could it not be? The creature's body still lies on the ground in front of him.

"Alright, let's do this."

The student opens his status and, intending to test a new skill, speaks:

[Animate Object]

He crouches down and places both hands on a massive rock beside him.

He follows the fundamental requirements for activating the skill, just as described in its side panel.

After a few seconds, the rock becomes mobile.

It begins to move as if it had taken on a life of its own, dragging itself towards the corpse.

It moves according to the configurations set by the boy, like a remote-controlled electric car.

[Telekinesis]

The boar slowly levitates from its initial position, floating in the air under Rei's control.

The boy tries using his fingers as a form of control and, with them, begins moving the animal's enormous body.

With his index finger, he guides the creature's body and drops it onto the rock.

"Damn, this is insane! It actually worked."

"Perfect... Hehe."

"Animating objects is quite a useful skill. Now that I think about it, I could have just used telekinesis to move the boar to where the others are..."

"Well, no use thinking about it now! There are countless ways to use this skill... Hehe..."

The corners of Rei's mouth curled into a small grin. He had a general idea of how his Animate Object skill would work, but what actually happened was beyond his imagination.

In the best-case scenario, he could animate and coordinate numerous objects to complete tasks, manufacture goods, or do anything of the sort.

The student seems ecstatic and happy, — as if nothing unpleasant had happened to him. All his emotions about the boar's death have become null.

- ...

"I better get going, the others are probably worried."

Rei turns and walks in the direction he came from, where he had marked a few trees by their bark to avoid getting lost on his way back.

Even though he had lived in the city all his life, he had still learned a few lessons from his mother.

His mother, Mrs. Emi, was an extremely competent person, and through her work as a biologist, she had learned some survival and first aid skills.

Later, she passed this knowledge on to Rei from a young age, although he never paid much attention to it.

After all, what use would that be for a child living in a big city? Absolutely none.

"Who would've thought that one day, this pile of 'useless knowledge' would actually come in handy."

...

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As he makes his way along the path, past trees, rocks, and twisted vines that only serve to make passage more difficult, the boy takes the opportunity to collect some of the herbs, mushrooms, and fruit-bearing plants that grow in the area.

He uses his Telekinesis skill, applying just enough force by gesturing movements with his index finger.

Behind him, the animated rock is dragged along as he moves through the dense vegetation.

Surely, if anyone were in the forest at this moment, their vision would be clouded by the sight of a boy levitating plants and herbs, accompanied by a rock carving a trail of dirt and destruction across the area.

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[25 minutes later]

As soon as he emerges from the dense forest, the boy sees from a distance the figures of Kazuki, Mia, Takayo and the trader, all gathered near a campfire.

"A fire?"

Yeah, maybe they made one... After all, the weather was getting colder and night had already fallen.

Though it's a great source of warmth, a fire can also attract creatures and animals from the surrounding area... That's very likely, especially considering their current situation.

Another risk would be the Demon Kingdom's army. What would be the point of running away if the slightest attention could be drawn to them? It's a possibility.

Lost in thought, these little dilemmas settle in the boy's mind as he tries to come up with a plausible alternative.

From a different perspective, Kazuki notices with a glance to the side that the boy is standing still near them, his index finger resting on his chin.

An hour had passed since the boy had left. The following silence, the uncertainty and the whole depressing atmosphere had consumed everyone... The only one who had tried to start a conversation was the merchant, but he had failed miserably.

Kazuki, who was sitting at the fire, gets up and marches towards Rei.

— Hey, are you alright?

— Yo, what's up, man? Yeah, I'm good! Sorry for the delay, as you can see, I was busy with some things.

Kazuki tilts his head to the side and examines what's behind the boy.

He is surprised to see the creature on top of the rock, but what truly shocks him is the trail on the ground, —as if the entire earth behind him had been torn apart.

— Is that a Jacarix aphelix? Did you kill it?

— What the hell is that? Isn't it just a boar?

When he heard the boy's answer, Kazuki looked at him with a surprised expression before he let out a small chuckle.

— No, Rei. They're from the same family, but can you see this? — He points to the snout of the creature. — This part is red, a characteristic of the Jacarix species. Even though they look like boars, there are still some differences.

— I understand, but are there any other differences besides the physical ones? For example, is it poisonous or something? No problem to eat it, right?

— No, you don't have to worry. No poison or anything like that. They're good. To be honest... — Kazuki stops himself as soon as he notices the immense amount of dried blood and the torn shirt Rei is wearing.