I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism! - I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 38

This was happening because Tanner had evolved? What the hell was tribulation? I didn’t need to wait long to find out, because as Carolina and Maya escaped into the forest a funnel seemed to appear in the air directly over Tanner. Lightning and thunder cracked overhead. It was too late to dwell on it any longer.

A bolt of lightning slammed into Tanner, and my vision went white as electricity shot through the air. Tanner’s body convulsed with ten thousand amps of current. I absorbed the electricity using my own Electrogenesis. Since I could generate electricity, I could naturally dispel it as well. I quickly constructed a conduit to avoid any harm to my fish.

I didn’t need to do much. Water was not such a good conductor of electricity. I wondered if I had experienced similar lightning tribulations. If I had, I never realized it because of my location. Lightning that struck water would spread across the surface and disperse without affecting the creatures underneath. Electricity was laughably useless against underwater creatures. If lightning posed a danger, then there would be countless dead fish every lightning storm.

The reason that my old world encouraged people to stay away from bodies of water during a lightning storm came in two parts. First off, the lightning dispersed across the surface, so unless someone happened to be submerged, they would get struck if the lightning hit anywhere close by. Secondly, lightning traveled the path of least resistance, and solid objects transferred electricity better than air. Thus, the tallest object was where the strike would occur. In a pool of water where everything is flat, your head becomes the highest thing in the immediate area, and the best spot for lightning to strike.

Therefore, it stood to reason that I might have experienced tribulations with every evolution but had never felt them. The same layer of film that I had considered my prison had also protected me. Furthermore, Tanner was experiencing his second evolution, and he was being struck by dozens of bolts of lightning. If it stood to reason that if these tribulations became greater at every level, then a rank eight tribulation was far stronger than what he was experiencing.

I had always wondered why I lived in a desolate pond avoided by animals. I had thought it was just because of poor maintenance, but perhaps it was something more. Perhaps, I had unknowingly experienced these tribulations, and they had been natural catastrophes that had burned down the forest around me and left the pond with an aura that repelled most animals. Well, this was all just theories. I couldn’t validate it unless I evolved again.

As for now, I wasn’t particularly worried about a couple of lightning bolts. I continued to watch Tanner. Even though he was injured he held on. Tanner was struck by several more lightning bolts. His skin sizzled and his body shook. Finally, the clouds started to clear, and a steaming and naked Tanner collapsed. With him inside my pool, I could gain a good sense of his condition, and I couldn’t help but hiss. He was in bad shape. It was to the level that he might seriously die without intervention.

Thankfully, he didn’t fall into a normal pond filled with bacteria and germs. He fell into me. I began to get to work keeping him alive. Meanwhile, the sun disappeared, plunging us into the night. The only light was the burning house which Tanner had spent months building. I couldn’t do anything about their home. Even if I could send water that far, I would have to send half my pond to put out that inferno. I could do nothing but support the unconscious Tanner as their home turned to ash.

I began suppressing his wounds. He was in a state where his body could dehydrate easily, so I made his external environment match his current salinity. I used my cells to create patches, covering the burns and allowing him to heal. He remained like that unmoving for the entire night. It was early the next morning that Carolina returned with Mara still in her arms. She and Mara looked haggard, dirty, and hungry. It looked like they hadn’t stopped moving since they fled from the tribulation.

Seeing Mara, in particular, silently crying and holding her mom, I beckoned them with a few splashes. The two girls stumbled over to the pond, barely able to remain standing.  I selected some of the older and lower-level fish and I tossed them out. Carolina seemed to understand my intentions, and moving like a zombie, she started a fire in the same spot her husband had back a few months before and cooked up the fish for her daughter.

Once she finally ate, Mara curled up and fell into a slumber. Carolina was fighting sleep, but it was clear she still had other worries on her mind.

“Wh-where is my husband?” She asked breathlessly.

I pulled Tanner up, raising him out of the water. She let out a gasp.

“Is he… is he alive?”

I made bubbles as I brought him back underwater. I couldn’t manage his fluid levels unless he was in the water. I was managing nearly a dozen things at once, including oxygen and infection prevention. With Parallel Processing and Mind Division, it wasn’t too difficult to manage, but I knew I was uniquely someone who could help him live through this.

“You’re… keeping him alive?” Carolina seemed to notice too.

I made bubbled again. She gave a slight nod, her head tilting until she fell asleep with Maya on her chest. As the sun rose and fell, I was surprised to find Tanner twitching. I removed some of the dead skin to see fresh pink skin growing underneath. He had third-degree burns on over half of his body, and it was now healing up at an incredible rate.

I realized I wasn’t needed anymore, and thus I brought him to the edge of the pond. It was only a few hours later that he woke up. Although he was still heavily wounded, he stood up and limped over to his family. His wife woke up with a gasp.

“Tanner?” She held her hand above her eyes and then broke into a sob.

His movements seemed to wake up Maya, and as the two females realized Tanner was alive and safe, they started sobbing and holding him. The three of them collapsed on the bank of my pond, crying and clinging to each other. Tanner had very nearly given his life to protect his wife and his daughter. It must have been nice to have a father like that. Tanner was no older than I was when I took off from home, and yet he shouldered so much responsibility.

Meanwhile, it was clear that his wife and child adored him. They had just lost everything. Their home had been burned to the ground. Yet, they were laughing and smiling. It gave me complicated feelings as I thought back to my own life, and the cruel ending I experienced at the hands of my sister. Could I have ever had a life like that? I shook my non-existent head and slipped back into the recesses of my pond. That kind of life wasn’t my life.

The next day, I heard the sounds of a building. Tanner was back to work rebuilding the cottage. However, with his evolution, he appeared to be even stronger and faster. He could knock down a tree with a single swipe of his axe, lift the entire tree over his shoulder, and carry it back easily. His new evolution enhanced him, and he was able to work day and night.

He did so because Carolina chose to remain by his side. I didn’t hear most of their conversation, but something about her not wanting to work cleaning noble’s houses again. Tanner didn’t seem to have it in him to push her away, so they both spent their days rebuilding. Carolina worked hard too. When she wasn’t helping Tanner or cooking, she was slowly preparing a field to plant and farm.

Keeping herself busy meant that Mara wasn’t being watched as much, and for some weird reason, whenever Mara was bored, she’d come to me. I’d squirt her with water to get her to leave, but she would only giggle and continue to play by the shore. She would jump in too, swimming in my waters. I pulled the water back, but then she would only run deeper in. Eventually, one of her parents would realize what she was doing and would come to chastise her, but she’d be back to it before too long.

It was all very annoying, and yet those days seemed to go by all too quick.