Meanwhile, Kashi's expression turned even uglier if that was even possible. In the midst of the explosive, tendon-cutting pain, he barely felt mana begin to pour into his body at an increased pace. Naturally, this caused the pain he suffered to triple, but at this point, there wasn't really much difference between the levels of pain to the daeben.

More importantly, the daeben was concerned by the mana that disappeared as soon as it entered his body. Perhaps it was because of Razznik's warning, but Kashi was hyper-aware of anything related to Ferulic, Yggdrasil included.

Kashi, who intended on using the mana as the springboard to restart his body training, tried to block Yggdrasil from absorbing mana, at least until he was finished. However, for the first time, Kashi felt like Yggdrasil was a separate conscious entity. Try as he might, he could not stop the suction force in his heart that rapidly swallowed all the mana around him.

Fortunately, the rapid pace at which mana stormed Kashi's body correspondingly increased the rate at which his cells were broken down. Now, normally, this would have killed the daeben as the cells would not have reconstructed in time. Luckily, however, Yggdrasil poured out healing aura in excess, as if in recompense for stealing the mana. This gave rise to a unique situation neither Razznik nor Kashi could have imagined.

Kashi never knew Yggdrassil could pour out healing aura this quickly. Usually, he had to open a portal. Only then would Yggdrasil's aura be free to pour out. This time, however, it felt like a direct channel had been opened to the World Tree. If this was possible, Kashi could very well consider himself an immortal, as the rate at which he was getting healed was much faster than any being could really kill him.

All these thoughts ran through Kashi's head, but rather than be overjoyed, he instantly became skeptical and paranoid. Not just because of Razznik's warning, but also because more than most, he understood King's Journey, and in turn, Live No Evil's, obsession with karmic justice. No one received a massive boon without paying the appropriate price in both games.

If Kashi came across this immortal healing ability after conquering the world, slaying Razznik, subduing the gods and every mythological creature known to man, he could accept it. But, for some barely above Lv. 150 hume to achieve such a reality-breaking ability? Not possible. There had to be a dangerous catch somewhere that he wasn't seeing.

Unfortunately, despite Kashi's wariness, all attempts to stop Yggdrasil proved futile. The tree relentlessly absorbed the mana, which in turn forced Kashi to focus on reaping as many benefits from this disaster as possible. The daeben shut his eyes, pushed the pain to the back of his mind, and then focused on his body, willing his cells to stop resisting the mana.

Kashi's absolute destruction followed this decision, including his bones and internal organs. Several times, death lovingly wrapped her hands over the daeben's shoulders, but she was rebuffed just as many times by Yggdrasil's healing. Thankfully, the daeben's torture began to pay off. Initially, the mana completely destroyed his cells, but as time passed, those cells became harder to break down, signifying their improved mana absorption.

Kashi would have squealed in triumph were his mouth not already occupied by pained screams. Regardless, as time passed, the pain eventually reduced as his cells became tougher to breakdown. This finally allowed Kashi to regain enough mental clarity to take a peek into his inner world. The daeben gathered his wits, concentrated, and then forcefully delved into Orez, where he was met with a shocking sight.

A heavy storm raged in Orez. Rain poured down as a powerful thunderstorm rend through the sky. Yggdrasil's branches waved and shook violently as if praising three massive tornadoes above it. If one looked closely, they would notice that most of the rain was concentrated onto these tornadoes.

Below Yggdrasil, several centaurs closed their eyes and happily soaked in the rain. Like the humes, the beasts also forgot about hunting each other, instead, they sat next to each other on the open plains, willingly allowing the rain to soak their furs and skin.

Elsewhere, Rayatha's eyes would have popped out if he were present to see several plants grew at rapid speed from a set of flower beds he cultivated. Even for Orez' mana rich world, this was a stupendous growth rate.

Kashi appeared in the sky and took in the sights. He then glanced suspiciously at Yggdrasil, but he could not see any sign of the tree absorbing the mana for itself. For all intents and purposes, it appeared the mana was absorbed primarily into the three whirlpools, and the rest were then distributed to the rest of the realm.

'Ugh.' Kashi groaned, and then doubled over, clutching his head in pain. It appeared entering Orez did not eliminate the sensation of pain from his real body. Well, this was good information. Painful as it was. The daeben bit his lips, and then, focusing on that pain, flew over to inspect the whirlpools.

'What the?' One cocoon and two massive eggs sat at the center of each tornado, greedily sucking in the surrounding mana. Why was Yggdrasil forcefully nurturing the Hydra eggs and Kira? Even more so, judging by how frantically the mana was pouring into the realm, the World Tree appeared anxious.

Kashi turned his attention to Kira's cocoon. Despite trying to play it cool, the daeben's eyes lit up. It had to be understood that Kira was his oldest companion. She had been by his side through thick and thin. Not having her by his side felt weird and uncomfortable. His eyes shook with anticipation, hoping she awoke from her slumber.

CRACK!

Suddenly, a tiny, minuscule crack rang out, almost buried beneath the raging thunder. To Kashi, however, this crack resounded like the loudest explosion! The daeben's eyes widened as he paid close attention to Kira's cocoon.

...

Unfortunately, after a while, it became clear the crack did not come from Kira's cocoon. Disappointed, Kashi then examined the eggs. As expected, both eggs now bore new sets of cracks across their shells.

As if in anticipation, the eggs' tornadoes suddenly merged, creating a mega funnel that forcefully sucked in even more mana compared to their previous total. Fuelled by the relentless absorption, the cracks slowly spread across the shells as the beings within began to push against their shells.

At the moment, however, the baby hydras were still too weak, and so they absorbed even more mana, causing their tornado to rotate even more violently. As a result, the hydra eggs seized the lion's share of the incoming mana, leaving very little for Kira or the world itself.

Kashi frowned, but could not bring himself to attempt stopping them. Since they were so close to birth, it was only fair he allowed them that final push. Kira would come along shortly. And so he watched as the cracks spread, till they formed a complex web pattern around the eggs, and then...

BOOM!

The tornado blasted the eggs like shells like and artillery into the sky. Kashi watched, dumbfounded, as tiny heads pierced through the shells while airborne before both eggs suddenly crashed into the ocean. BOOM! Following the crash, two massive geysers erupted.

Kashi flew over the sea and kept his eyes peeled. Eventually, fourteen, black, snake-like heads peaked out of the sea. All fourteen heads turned to Kashi in rapt attention, eel-like feelers floating in his direction. A short pause followed. After which, one head let out a strange cry as it bobbed up and down. Following this cry, the other heads simultaneously let out frantic cries as their feelers stretched toward the daeben as if wishing to 'touch' him.

Suzuki did not have pets growing up. Razznik was not interested in having one. Kira as a cub would have loved nothing more than to grind Kashi into paste. As a result of these 'experiences,' Kashi was not sure how to respond to these cries. However, perhaps as a result of instinct in all living creatures, Kashi sensed they were calling out to him.

This instinct, coupled with the knowledge that the hydras had, at some point, been conquered by his world, gave Kashi the courage to descend into their midst. Kashi's descent into the mass of heads was akin to throwing catnip amongst a group of cats. The hydras' heads squealed in delight as the heads took violent turns rubbing up against Kashi's chest.

By the way, tiny is relative. Tiny by human terms is a baby. Tiny by Hydra terms is a horse-sized being, with 6 foot long necks and a head larger than the average human's chest.

Despite his pain, Kashi allowed himself to laugh as he patted the hydras' heads. Emboldened by the daeben's acceptance, a head bit his shoulder, and then yanked him onto its back. Only now did Kashi realize that the fourteen heads were actually two pairs of seven heads as the massive bodies emerged from below the sea.

Two heads played with Kashi, Three hissed at the other hydra and the last two paid looked ahead as the hydra suddenly sped across the sea like a bat out of hell. Kashi suppressed a yell as he tightly grabbed onto the hydra's neck. Jesus Submerging Christ! The fuck was that!?

Apparently the hydra found Kashi's expression delightful as its heads bobbed in place, making strange cackling sounds that sounded suspiciously like laughter. Kashi glared at the heads playing with him, but apparently, the Hydra's youthful exuberance had yet to understand fear. So, it only cackled louder as it sped up, sending sea spray flying into Kashi's eyes and hair.

The hydra's sibling cried out from the side as if offended by Kashi's decision to stay with it. Kashi, for his part, laughed and then, after a minute, jumped from one hydra to the next. He nearly fell, but luckily, the hydra bit into his shoulder, stabilizing him before he slipped off.

Kashi had barely muttered thanks, when this hydra, proving its more adventurous nature, suddenly delved into the ocean. Kashi's eyes shot wide as he stared at the open sea. The duo blasted past thousands of interesting flora, but unfortunately, there was no aquatic life to populate the environment.

The daeben barely had time to ponder on how to fix this, when the first hydra zipped overhead and slyly stole him away. Kashi nearly threw up from the whiplash, but at the same time, he felt strangely liberated as he was pulled away. That sense of liberation only intensified as the hydras fought over him like children over a beach, only with supercharged speed.

That feeling intensified, reached its boiling point, and then... BOOM!

Kashi's eyes widened as the hydra burst out of the ocean. The storm had cleared at some point, issuing in beautiful sunshine. Beautiful droplets captured the sunlight, sparkling like little, fleeting diamonds. A smile suddenly spread across the daeben's lips, and then slowly morphed into full-blown laughter.

Sensing Kashi's mood, the hydras cackled as they gently brought him to the shore. When they reached the shore, Kashi hopped off the hydra's back and then waded his way to the banks. He then collapsed onto the ground, taking huge gulps of air to regulate his breathing.

Kashi sighed and then raised his hand, blocking out the sun. Seconds later, however, that proved unnecessary as dense net of necks formed a blockade. Kashi sat up and then looked at the hydras. Just as he was wondering what he should do about these two, Kashi got a notification.

Kashi suffered a roller-coaster of emotions as he read through the prompts. On the one hand, he was overjoyed by his newfound abilities, but on the other, he could not help but glance worryingly at the baby hydras. Granted, right now they seemed to be at peace with each other, but the daeben was certain that by the time they reached adolescence, they would begin to battle each other until one dies.

Unfortunately, this was as instinctive to these creatures as breathing. Even though they were both subservient to him, Kashi could not force either to accept the other. Similarly, he could not force them to stop breathing.

Luckily, Kashi only pondered on the issue for a brief moment before quickly coming up with a solution. It was crazy, but it just might work. However, it would be a while before he could test it out.

Having come to a conclusion, Kashi stood up and then patted the baby hydras. "Let's see. You both need names. Uh..." The daeben gave both of them a once-over searching for any distinct marks. Failing to find anything, he gave up and pointed at the left, "From now on, you are Squiddly Diddly. Dee for short." He then looked at the one on the right. "You are Seven-Faced Willie. Willie for short." He nodded, satisfied with the names, and then said, "Dee and Will. God, I hope I got the genders right."

Despite his words, the daeben's nonchalant expression revealed his true feelings. "Alright, I'll see you guys later," Kashi said, as he stepped onto the air. He waved goodbye to the 'cute' hydras, watched them waddle back into the river, and then flew back to Yggdrassil.

Kashi landed on one of Yggdrasil's branches and then walked over to a black fruit hanging overhead. Closer inspection revealed that the 'fruit' was actually Kira's cocoon. At some point, it had transformed from milky-white to midnight-black. Simultaneously, the pressure oozing off the cocoon had shot up! So much so that even Kashi had a hard time just standing in its presence.

'Just how strong are you trying to get?' Kashi muttered, his gaze a mixture of joy and frustration. Unfortunately, the daeben knew that this process was necessary for Kira to achieve a perfect rebirth. All he could do was wait.

"Okay then," Kashi muttered. He then sat and placed his hands on the tree branch. "We need to have a conversation. I cannot have you taking over my body like that. What the hell was that?"

Yggdrasil's leaves rustled slightly, causing Kashi to frown. The tree could not communicate directly, but he sensed from its intentions that it did not mean any harm. Yggdrasil claimed it did all that for Kashi's benefit. After the daeben's brief death, it realized Kashi quickly needed power. It panicked and as a result, pushed everything it had to birth Kira and the hydras. Unfortunately, Kira did not wake up before the mana was consumed.

Upon hearing this story, Kashi sighed. He could not fault Yggdrasil's train of thought. However, the execution did lead much to be desired. "Alright then," said Kashi. "But next time, run it by me first before you take any action. The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Yggdrasil rustled its leaves, causing a gentle breeze to caress the daeben as if soothing an angry friend.

Kashi chuckled, and then asked the real question that had been bothering him. "How did you heal me that fast? I never knew you could do that." Yggdrasil's left him with mixed emotions. Apparently, it did not heal him. Not directly anyway. What Kashi experienced was one of his Essence seeds exploding from his heart. This particular seed was formed from Yggdrasil's concentrated healing aura from the day it was born until that moment.

Unlike regular blood, Essence Seeds took a long time to replenish. So, Kashi would have to wait at least a week or two, for enough mana to concentrate into an Essence Seed.

Through this, Kashi was made aware of the fact that he, unlike most humes, was in possession of three Essence Seeds as opposed to one. The first came from himself (before he became draconian), the second came from Yggdrasil, and the final from the dragon in his heart. Unfortunately, the first, once consumed, would no longer regenerate, as his ki and blood were both draconian in nature.

Finally, it appeared Yggdrasil could forcefully activate these Essence Blood. Which, again was a marked difference from 99% of all living species. However, perhaps because of his recent run-in with Razznik, Kashi viewed this news with wariness.

Kashi decided to continue acting like he did not know of their existence. The second he began relying on short power-ups, he would lose sight of the importance of self-growth. The daeben thus took a minute to breathe in Orez's clean air and organized his thoughts.

Eventually, Kashi's eyes opened, a newfound zeal and conviction in them. The daeben rose to his feet. "Alright. See you later, Ygg." With those words, the daeben disappeared from the world.

Moments later, sat at the bottom of a crater in Nornesh's lair, Kashi opened his eyes to a deluge of crazy notifications. However, the daeben barely had time to go through them as a pair of burning hands grasped his shoulders, followed by a giant, equally flaming head.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

A/N: Well, someone's in a bit of a mood, isn't he? Also, what the hell are all those notifications? Orez wasn't enough Kashi!?

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