I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism! - I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 32

I worried for a while that the mercenary who escaped might return looking for revenge, but after a year passed with no sign of him, I believed I was in the clear. Instead, I began to focus on myself. Killing two humans had caused me to level, and not just a little bit.

I went from level 1 all the way to level 5. Humans were worth far more experience. I supposed the discrepancy between a small multicellular organism and a human was too great. If I hadn’t taken advantage of the water to drown them, it would have been impossible for me to hurt these humans. In fact, without stepping into my pond, my ability to hurt them slipped close to zero. That’s why I was so afraid of him returning.

Thankfully, the man never returned, and I had a few new skills to practice. Unification was a control skill that allowed me to combine my body more easily. Normally, I’d have to use fibrinous material and practically tie my cells together like a bunch of logs. Now, my cells had an inherent stickiness to them. I could more easily create sheets of tissue, and that tissue had a greater strength to it.

Organ Reinforcement was a defensive skill that allowed me to strengthen my tissues but surrounding them with an impact-resistant viscera. It further allowed me to gain strength in my tissue use. The next skill was Externalized Control. It gave me a sort of forcefield of control outside of my eternal environment. I imagined if I wore clothing, it’d allow me to protect the clothing so it didn’t destroy me, although, in my current state, it allowed me to control the water flow between cells directly.

In the past, the only way I could move water was to either use Cilia or Water Jet. Now I could seem to exude control over it outside of my cells. Along with my cells now having four billion cell bodies, I was able to put the entire pond under my control. Nothing was outside of my grasp any longer. The last skill I unlocked solidified that, Mind Division. This support skill allowed me to split my mind and focus on dozens of tasks at a time. The result was that I was able to manage the pond smoother than ever.

Something about meeting humans in this world had reinvigorated me. I decided to clean up shop. I made my pond crystal clear. I got rid of all the algae and fungus and replaced those parts with my cells. At this point, I had replaced the pond entirely with my cells. Although my evolution level said I was a multicellular organism, I was closer to an ecosystem, but that was fine with me.

Cleaning up the pond seemed to attract more birds and animals, and while I had my annoyances as they occasionally made messes, there was a calm, zen-like quality to my new life as a pond. Living lazily like this every day, being a source of water and food for animals wasn’t all that bad either.

That’s when a familiar face walked up to my shore. It had been almost eighteen months, and the guy’s baby fat seemed to have left his face. He looked like he was growing into a fine young man. However, his wife and the baby weren’t there, which made me to worry a bit. The young man looked at the pond for a bit and then kneeled.

“Water spirit, I’ve returned.”

I didn’t bother to respond. It’d be stranger if a pond started talking back to someone anyway. I had just met this guy. I had no reason to trust him, so the less he knew about me, the better. He thought I was some kind of water spirit. I didn’t know if water spirits talked in this world, but I was going to guess that they didn’t. At least, when I didn’t respond, he didn’t seem particularly angry.

“You saved us,” he continued. “Without you, I would have lost my wife and my child. I’ve since managed to… fake our deaths. We will no longer be pursued.”

I felt surprised at my relief. I didn’t care about this man or his wife. The baby, however, didn’t deserve to be killed for the actions of his parents.

“My family… can never live a luxurious life again,” he was half speaking to himself. “We must lay low. This land was abandoned three generations ago. It’s a three-day ride from the nearest town. It’s as close to nowhere as one could be. Yet, it has its charm. This place is beautiful.”

If I had eyes, I might have narrowed them. What are you trying to say? Stop using flowery language and get on with it.

I realized that my years of solitude had made me somewhat unused to the human way of talking in a roundabout manner. If this guy had something to say, he should just spit it out.

“I left my wife and daughter in the town while I came to speak to you. She has some doubts, but I believe you to be a righteous and benevolent spirit. I can see by the clear waters of your pond that your soul is clear and unmuddied. It was dark before. I would have sworn this place didn’t look so beautiful last time I was here.”

My cell bodies squirmed awkwardly. He wasn’t seeing things. After all, when they had hidden in my waters a year ago, I had let myself go. I had let the pond grow stagnant at the time. It had been his appearance that prompted me to clean up a little. Now, my waters were as clear as a mountain spring.

“I would like to ask your permission to live here. Ah… what I mean is over on that hill.” He pointed in the direction. “I’d like to build a farm here for my wife and daughter. I can use the lumber from the forest, and water from your pond. Ah! Only for a while. I will eventually build a well and take my water from that, but I hope you can accept us as neighbors.”

He lowered his head once again. I watched this guy incredulously. I had a mixed bag of emotions. I had lived here for untold eons, and this guy just wanted to come move in. More than that, he wanted to butcher the woods and take water from my pond. Humans were presumptuous. There were no benefits for me. He was asking me to give him a bunch of goodies, and I’d get nothing in return! I was about to send him flying with a wave of water, but he spoke again.

“Of course, I’m not saying we’ll stay for free,” he quickly stated, almost like he could read my mood. “If you need anything, I can bring it to you. I go to the market regularly, so I can bring you any sacrifices you want. Ah, as long as they don’t hurt people. Once I get animals growing, I can even spare you a goat now and then.”

I was about to ignore him, but then a thought came to me. Maybe, there was something he could do for me. More than that, I was rather bored. If he left for good, it’d be back to a life of mindlessly running my pond. Wouldn’t a neighbor keep things a bit more interesting? However, there was one other reason that I wanted him.

My waters surged forward, lapping up onto the shore. He took a few steps back in alarm. When the water pulled back, there was an image sketched into the pond. It was a simple picture, but it was pretty obvious what it was.

“A fish?” He asked, looking down at it, and then he cried out. “Oh! You’re saying you want fish as a sacrifice! Oh, I can do that!”

I had killed all the fish in my pond, and there was no real way of bringing them back. If he brought me new fish, I could create a fish husbandry and raise them for slaughter. I could start farming points again. The occasional goat might be nice too, but I wasn’t sure how much experience I’d gain from that. At least, with the first, I could slowly begin to level once again.

“So…” Silence had lingered a bit, and the guy held out his hands. “Are we in agreement?”

I caused a sudden splash. He bit his lip.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Thank you, water spirit. You won’t regret it.” He turned to walk away, but then stopped and looked back. “Oh, I almost forgot. My name is Tanner. My daughter is Mara, and my wife’s name is Carolina. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

He waved and then walked away. As I watched him leave, I snorted to myself. I still didn’t trust the guy. I didn’t trust any human. It couldn’t hurt too much giving this a shot though, right?