Chapter 1532 Envy [1]
Damien didn't know what he was expecting, but the trials he had to undergo weren't all that exciting.
In fact, rather than tests of strength or ability, which was what these kinds of entities usually tested, these trials were tests of character disguised as other things.
For instance, the first scenario Damien encountered when he was ascending the mountain on foot was a small fox being hunted by three coyote-like creatures.
Within his mind, he was suddenly provoked to interfere in the conflict, whether to save the fox or do something completely different.
It seemed the correct answer was to save the fox and allow it to see another day, but that wasn't what Damien did.
After all, this mountain was a cruel place.
All beasts needed to survive, whether it was the hunted or the hunters. If he saved the fox, sure, that one fox would live another day.
But since it was here, cornered by its predators, its pack had obviously abandoned it, and that was if it had one to begin with.
That fox wouldn't survive past the next day even if it was saved now.
On the other hand, how many mouths would be fed by its meat once it was killed?
Ecosystems existed for a reason. They were born from the natural relationships multiple species had with each other.
And when they existed, they usually existed in balance.
Unless an invasive species came and interrupted that balance, the ecosystem would continue to thrive and become more complex.
Damien was invasive here. This wasn't his food chain to meddle in, and if the foxes were being hunted for food, it was likely they were also hunting smaller beasts in the same way.
This mountain didn't have enough vegetation to support herbivores. That was certain.
Nevertheless, Damien's nonintervention didn't coincide with the given scenario, so he felt a strange pulse in his mind like something was rejecting him.
'What an annoying tree.' He thought as he sensed it.
He understood its intentions.
The Harmony Fruit had abilities that the first person who consumed it never dreamed of. If he had been a practitioner, he would've already been one of the peak forces of the world.
To create an absolute connection between the mind, body, and soul would increase one's power manifold. And since it couldn't be broken, in most situations one could be considered semi-immortal.
After all, just like in Damien's case, unless all three were destroyed at the same time, they wouldn't die.
Of course, the level of immortality didn't compare to Damien's, since his connection of mind, body, and soul also gave all three aspects the blessing of the Void.
However, especially for a Divinity, and even more so for a True God, achieving this state and keeping it unbroken was deeply interconnected with their power progression.
That tree didn't want the Harmony Fruit to end up in the hands of someone with a corrupted soul. It didn't want to create a monster that terrorized others, for, as the nature of the fruit it bore suggested, the tree was a pacifist.
It produced harmony and embraced it.
It simply couldn't allow the creation of a character that would plunge the world into chaos.
That was all good and fine, but Damien had many other ways to prove that he wasn't such a person.
For instance, he literally had the concept of harmony comprehended. If he just had an opportunity to show that to the tree, it would probably hand over its fruit without much of a fuss.
'The problem is that old entities like these are stubborn.'
Unless Damien underwent the trials in some way, shape, or form, the tree would refuse to acknowledge his "sincerity."
In essence, his climb right now was for courtesy purposes at most.
Still, it was something he had to do, so he did it diligently.
Several similar trials presented themselves as he continued his climb.
Philosophical problems, testing his morals and his desire to help the weak.
Damien…didn't have much of the latter, but he did like bullying the strong.
His morals had become a lot more neutral with time.
To him, right and wrong couldn't be judged by an outside party, because each side had their own version of right and wrong.
Instead, he would look at the entire situation and judge based on facts alone. Like he did with the fox, he simply wouldn't judge right or wrong. Since the coyotes were justified, he let them be.
Though, it wasn't like Damien didn't have his own views on what right and wrong were.
If he thought something was acceptable, he'd leave it be.
However, those things that he found unacceptable were different.
If even Damien was forced to acknowledge that something was blatantly wrong, then that thing was not allowed to exist in the world anymore.
That quality of his was also shown in the trials.
It was difficult to understand Damien's thought process anymore.
Things that made sense to him just made sense.
If others didn't agree, then fine. If his opinion didn't fit conventions, that was fine as well.
As long as he was acting in the best interests of himself and the people he was close to, as long as his heart wouldn't feel burdened, he would do as he pleased.
And the world would have to accept him for what he was.
Either that…
Or it could cope.
Because he wasn't willing to put on a front for anyone or anything, even the tree that was his father's lifeline.
He believed that sincerity, without the quotations this time, was a better way to gain someone's favor than showing them a pretty picture of what they wanted to see.
Was his thought process valid? Or was it just childish?
The more Damien experienced, the harder he found it to concern himself with matters outside his own.
That was why he went through the trials giving mostly answers that disappointed the tree, but answers it couldn't deny.
Damien's progress was fast. He moved rapidly in comparison to any other travelers who had dared to scale the mountain, and he made decisions without even an ounce of hesitation.
Despite the fact that it didn't agree with Damien's moral code, it couldn't help but respect his confidence in his actions.
And no matter how much it wanted to reject his opinions, it couldn't say that he was wrong.
After all, it lived on this mountain and it understood the ecosystem that had formed here.
It wanted Damien to be more benevolent, but at the end of the day, its beliefs still leaned towards harmony.
And Damien was practically a personification of absolute harmony.
Good and evil that had to exist for balance would not be touched. However, anything disrupting that balance would be destroyed.
It was indeed a respectable code.
But that was all in the past.
What the tree wanted to see most…
…was how Damien would react to someone teetering on the edge of that balance.
He made it almost three-fourths of the way up the mountain in a matter of days. His pace allowed him to do something unthinkable to most.
He'd caught up to the climber ahead of him.
And now he was facing Envy of the Four Evils, whose eyes were as wide as saucers from the moment she realized who had approached her.
Was their battle inevitable?
Or…
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