I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism! - I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 46

“You don’t need to look for me,” a voice said from up the hill.

Tanner was walking down from the house. He was wearing an unbuttoned worker outfit, exposing his muscular chest and abdomen. Of course, he’d come to show off when there was a pretty girl around. Well, when I was a human, I wasn’t much better. I did say the pair of us got along.

As he approached, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of relief. Unfortunately, I knew far too little about this world. I could feel the pressure given off by these five, and I was beginning to realize that this pressure was evidence of a paragon.

I didn’t have a lot of experience with paragons, but I had raised various kingfish, so I was starting to get a better idea of what levels of pressure indicated what level of paragons. The woman appeared to be evolved while three of her guards were flawless. The fourth guard, who appeared to be the oldest, was a champion. I was pretty sure of it. Thinking about how much trouble the fish at that evolution level gave me, I could only gulp.

I didn’t dare squirt water or make a bubble. Instead, I sunk deep inside the pond, depending heavily on the mimic. I depended on a mimicked fish to listen for me, and it didn’t hear in the traditional sense, so all of the words sounded muffled and hard to comprehend. By the time I had adjusted, they were already in the middle of a conversation.

“-I even traced the tribulation epicenter to this pool,” the girl was saying with a frown. “How can you say that nothing happened here?”

Although she was beautiful, she was also quite young, perhaps sixteen. She spoke with a haughty, almost petulant manner. However, it didn’t seem to take away from her cuteness at all.

“Do you see traces of tribulation?” Tanner asked, looking over the pool with the best confused look he could manage.

She winced. “No… I don’t, but that doesn’t mean-”

“That someone covered it up?” He put out the idea before she could. “If someone had the power to cover up a tribulation. How could a mere farmer like me know?”

“You’re honestly telling me you saw no tribulation?”

“Of course I saw a tribulation!” He laughed. “Everyone in town saw it. I’m not blind. As soon as I saw a bolt of lightning, I hid inside. Why would I stick around to see something evolving? That’d be dangerous for my family. All I know is that it was somewhere this way.”

He randomly gestured, implying it was off somewhere in the farmland that used to be a forest.

The girl frowned. “I suppose that’s possible, but I’m almost certain the pond is the epicenter, and the pond is on your property…”

He let out a laugh. “Maybe it was a fish evolving. You never know out here.”

I couldn’t help but wince. He had guessed it properly, although he didn’t believe it had been a fish. He thought it was me who evolved. As for the girl, she seemed to be taking his word seriously.

After a second, she shook her head. “Out in the great sea, it’s common for fish to evolve into serpents and dragons. For a fish to evolve in such a small pond… to that level, it is almost impossible, especially a pond that is regularly fished. I’ve calculated a 4^th tier evolution. The only reason I haven’t called for reinforcements is because you are all fine. That means that the paragon didn’t intend you any harm. Otherwise, the entire city might have been wiped out.”

For the first time, Tanner seemed genuinely shocked. He couldn’t help but look at the pond, his mouth slightly opened. Ah, geez. He had thought I was a Champion. I had never corrected him, but now he must believe I was even a level higher. It didn’t matter. If he knew my true evolution level, he’d probably faint.

“Are you sure about that?” Tanner asked, still in disbelief.

She puffed up. “I’m the youngest member of the academy. My studies encompass everything regarding tribulations and evolutions. I’ve studied the nine evolutions to godhood all my life. You doubt me?”

“You’re academy-trained?” His eyebrow rose, and then he bowed his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.”

She smirked. “It’s forgiven. You didn’t know. Let me give you a little lesson. The Audra Lightning Province controls seven kingdoms, ruled by seven kings.”

“I’ve heard of that…” He frowned slightly.

“Well, did you hear that king isn’t just their rank in government, but their established evolution level too?” She smirked, quite proud of herself when he looked confused. “Mortal, Evolved, Flawless, Champion, Prestiged, and Lord are the first six states of man. However, after that, you become a King, and then the 7^th state is emperor. The seven kings are all sixth-level paragons, and the emperor is a 7^th level.”

“I-I thought… no one is higher than a lord.” Tanner seemed shocked.

“It’s true… the city of Arcford and this entire region falls under Lord Nikola, but the higher level you reach, the more of the world you can see.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that last comment. I had gone through eight evolutions, and while it was true that my world expanded, that world was still only the size of a pond. I was still a level higher than the emperor of this region, and yet I controlled a little puddle in the backcountry. With growth at that level, how could anyone see the world?

However, if the emperor only ruled this one province, then didn’t that mean that there were other provinces and potentially greater paragons? Well, it was interesting, but it was ultimately none of my concern. Although, she did say something else that interested me. Nine evolutions to godhood? If I was eight, wouldn’t a ninth level mean I was a god? Eh, that probably wasn’t true. Maybe, I’d never even be able to evolve into the ninth level, who knew?

“I see… thank you for the lesson.” He spoke while giving a respectful bow, and she squeaked slightly in surprise. “If you have nothing else for me, I do have work to do.”

“Y-yes…” She responded, looking flustered. “I will call you if I need anything else.”

“Then, I will go.” He shot me one last look before grabbing his daughter and heading back upside.

She watched him until he disappeared in the house, and then shook her head. “That was a proper bow of respect for an academy student. Only those from the capital should know such etiquette. His background is not normal.”

“He tried to hide it, but he is a low-level paragon,” the high-level guard said.

“Is he the one?” she asked in surprise.

“If he wasn’t so high a paragon, I wouldn’t have been able to tell.” He shook his head. “He has no lightning left. I don’t believe he has faced tribulation in years.”

“I see…” She looked on thoughtfully. “Did he seem familiar to you?”

“Familiar?”

“It’s just… he resembles… never mind. It’s not important.”

“Should we investigate further? You have to admit, he’s suspicious.”

The girl glanced back at the house for a second and then shook her head. “His secrets are his own. We don’t need to pry. Besides, it isn’t what we were sent to do. We should focus on our tasks.”

He gave a curt nod. “How should we proceed then? We’ve already interviewed everyone useful in town. The rest just want to gawk and waste our time.”

“I must check the epicenter myself.” She looked out into the pond.

His vision followed hers, and he made a face when he saw the murky water. “Is that necessary? This place looks disgusting.”

“This is the first job I’ve ever been sent on. If I don’t give them a full report, how will I ever get them to take me seriously?” She asked, and she blushed. “Please tell your men to keep watch… a-and no peaking!”

He stiffened when he saw her starting to unbutton the back of her dress. Then he spun around to his men.

“You heard her! March!”

The men grumbled, but they followed his orders, spreading out in a pattern to block anyone coming toward the pond. She continued to undress without being aware of my presence. It wasn’t like I was a peeping tom, I was just watching her to make sure she didn’t try anything funny.

When she was down to her slip, she took one last look at the guard who had his back to her, and then walked into the pond. I was confident that a low-level paragon like her wouldn’t be able to see past my mimic. I remained docile, although I could feel her entire body as she entered my pond. If I wanted to, I could have read off her dimensions.

When the water got too deep, she ended up swimming. At this point, I noticed the guard taking peeks back. I also noticed that her slip did nothing to hide her body. It was white, and as soon as it got wet, it became completely see-through. I didn’t want to be caught, but seeing this guy try to peek at this girl annoyed me slightly.

I created a low-hanging fog, and it quickly obscured her features. The guard frowned but wasn’t able to see anything. As for the girl, she stopped in the middle of the pool, and then a power erupted from her body. When she dived down, a bubble of air had formed around her head, allowing her to see better and not get pond scum in her eye, not that there was any. Everything in the pond was an illusion.

Shockingly, she swam exactly to where the majority of the battle between me and the fish took place. After looking for a bit, she frowned and returned. As she left the pool, she wasn’t watching the guard who was trying to get a look at her body. However, the fog clung to her body exactly in a way like certain cartoons I had seen, keeping her from being exposed.

When she finally looked up, he had already turned away. She used another spell, and her body instantly dried. Then, she put her dress back on. She was lost, staring out at the pond when the man finally turned back.

“What is it?” He asked.

“I swam through all that sludge and pond scum, but I don’t feel dirty in the slightest.”

“Huh?”

She shook her head. “Never mind. I confirmed the creature that faced tribulation died during it. Perhaps, they tried to hide underwater to avoid it, but at their level, it destroyed them anyway.”

“Hmph… coward. Hiding from tribulation makes you weaker in the end.”

The pair ended it with that. They left the Ramphart region the next day, and like that, we avoided disaster.