Chapter 232: Grass. (1/2)
Night was shadowed by some really tall objects even though he was in his dragon form. At first glance, it would appear that he was inside a very dense forest. But if you looked up, you would see that what is causing the shadows are not trees at all.
Karma was touching one of those 'objects' in curiosity along with Ganesha and Raylein.
”Verdict?” Night asked them after transforming back into a human.
”Yes, no doubt,” Karma nodded.
”Indeed,” Ganesha rubbed his chin.
”Truly. It is…” Raylein sighed.
Night groaned and pinched the green 'wall'.
”So… this is just grass, huh?”
”Yes.”
”You're correct.”
”Grass.”
Everyone fell silent and the wind whistled. The green 'objects' fluttered and produced a really familiar rustling noise.
”…What do we do now?” Raylein broke the silence and Night sighed noisily.
”Let's start by finding someone. Let's hope that things are not what they seem to be.”
Ganesha laughed. ”I think that your hopes have high chances to be betrayed.”
”You didn't need to say that,” Night retorted and turned toward Karma. ”Can you try to cut them?”
”Sure,” she complied and summoned a copy of herself. She grabbed the katana and swung it lightly. In an instant, thousands of strands of grass were cut and fell. Karma's eyes widened as she looked at her handiwork. She hadn't expected that result.
Raylein frowned. ”How is it?”
” I don't know how to say it…” Karma was a bit disconcerted. ”…It's less?”
”'Less'?”
”Yes, the toughness is lesser than in our Reality,” Karma affirmed and cut a few more strands with a swing.
Night mused and picked up one of them. He played with it and threw it in the air. His expression went through a change. ”The mass is the exact same but the size and toughness differ… that would mean things aren't really bigger here. They're just expanded.”
”What's the difference?” Karma questioned.
”Well, you can take me as an example. My original form is that of a dragon. Then naturally, it's when I'm in that form that my body is the most 'stable'. But, if for example, I try to use magic to become bigger or smaller, I will have to either compress my body or expand it.”
”Because no matter who, or what you are, you can't erase or create the matter composing you. So, when you become smaller, you have to compress that matter and when you turn bigger, you have to expand it. But in each case, your body will lose consistency and become frailer.”
”And if you become too big or too small, there will be large consequences. If you're too small, meaning that your molecules are too compressed, your body will be tougher, harder, but the moment you suffer an external shock, you might implode.”
”While if you're too expanded, you will have the figure of a giant but you'll become an empty shell that can be destroyed in a single attack,” Night explained and looked at the grass lying on the ground.
”This grass is larger than what we know but has the same mass. Which means is it expanded compared to our standards,” Ganesha and Raylein had perfectly understood at this point.
”Basically, this Reality may have a completely different scale but in fact, everything is also a lot more vulnerable than what we know,” Karma said and Night nodded.
”Fine, I suppose it's good to know. Then what are we supposed to do now? How do we find the Pillars and Guardians?” Raylein asked.
”We should start by finding a village or something like that. There's no choice but to gather information at the moment. Even if it's shallow,” Night responded and someone suddenly pulled on his sleeve. ”Hm? What's wrong?”
Karma pointed at something with her finger. Her mouth was wide open. Night raised an eyebrow and followed her line of sight. He immediately froze. A colossal beetle was staring at them from one of the uncut strands.
”That's kinda scary… and gross,” Karma commented and Night slowly nodded. He observed the insect and a thought struck him.
He extended his hand and cast a fireball. It flew and hit the beetle on its carapace. But it just popped and did absolutely no damage. Everyone looked at him with strange eyes.
”What was that about?” Ganesha questioned and Night forced a cough.
”Well… I conjured a magic that should've easily been able to kill something so weak. I literally used just enough power to kill an insect,” he said and looked at his teammates. They were utterly confused by his explanation. He scratched his hair. ”To be exact, I used an amount of mana that should've been enough to beat it.”
”Ah…” Karma exclaimed in understanding but the other two were still perplexed. She looked at them and pondered a little. ”How to explain this…? Arima mentioned this once, I think. 'Power balance'. Things can change from one Reality to another. Especially magic theories and circuits; since our own legends and science might not be the same here.”
”At first, I thought there was no apparent difference in this Reality except those legends,” Night added and his expression darkened. ”But now I realize that, as much as everything here is expanded, the circuits are too. If we want to use our magic, not only do we have to use techniques that don't require theories concerning legends or historical facts, but we also have to use a proportional amount of mana to fit the size of the magic circuits.”
”Oh… shit,” Raylein got it and instantly cursed.
Night bitterly smiled. ”It means that, for example, if things are twenty times bigger here, we have to use twenty times more mana.”