Life Creation

Mona had originally been quite interested in watching people's inventions.

But he soon noticed that the large bird people had captured looked somewhat familiar.

It was clearly the same species as the One-Eyed Green Bird he had seen on the flying island before, the one that had planted Shamon Fruit.

He just did not know whether it was the very same bird.

He looked at the dying bird.

In the end, he decided to collect it.

From the [Divine Artifact], he selected the [Dropper].

This tool, capable of drawing higher-grade colors that represented the essence of things, was finally useful once more.

[You are extracting a high-grade color.]

[All colors of the Sylvie Bird have been drawn into the Dropper.]

"Sylvie Bird?"

Looking at the name that appeared, Mona learned the One-Eyed Green Bird's name for the first time.

His gaze lingered briefly over the name before shifting to his Dropper.

The strange liquid he had extracted began to change.

The formerly murky liquid visibly separated into several layers of different liquids arranged vertically.

[You have unlocked three new colors.]

[You have obtained: Sylvie Bird Soul ×1]

[You have obtained: Sylvie Bird Life Essence ×1]

[You have obtained: Land Essence ×2]

[You have obtained: Forest Essence ×10]

[You have obtained: Flight Essence ×5]

Mona quietly poured the colors from the Dropper into his [Palette].

The colors that had previously been somewhat murky had now become pale, beautiful, and captivating shades within the Palette.

These beautiful colors were not still.

Like starlight, they flowed and shimmered continuously through the compartments in a steady rhythm, as though they carried the pulse and cadence of life.

Mona could sense that the vitality and soul strength contained within these flowing, radiant colors were far more substantial than those of other animals.

His hand curled gently through the air.

The [Soul of Sylvie Bird] within the Palette floated out as well.

[One-Eyed Giant Bird lv1] Sylvie Bird

[Age]: 12 years old

[Traits]: "Plant Scent lv1"

[Habits]: None

[Sequence]: None

[A blue-green One-Eyed Giant Bird that lives in vast forests. A herbivorous creature that especially enjoys eating fruit, it is one of the best helpers in spreading plant seeds.]

Though its soul and life were far denser than those of certain creatures on the islands, this Sylvie Bird was not fundamentally very different from ordinary birds.

He had previously extracted [Flight Essence] from some birds and beasts as well. This high-grade color could temporarily extend his field of vision upward by a certain distance.

If the Sylvie Bird had anything special about it, it was the newly appearing [Essence of Forest].

[Essence of Forest]: A mysterious essence nurtured by numerous producers and decomposers. It can be used as material for creating creatures or absorbed—when creating colors next time, failure has a chance of yielding decomposition byproducts.

"So when creating colors, I can randomly obtain some other colors?"

Mona found this novel and thought it was a rather useful effect for him.

After absorbing some of the Forest Essence, he decided to begin creating while the effect was active. Mona opened the [Divine Artifact].

Within it, he selected the [Bucket].

It was a new Divine Artifact he had created for the high-grade colors he had obtained earlier.

[Bucket]: A tool that uses "water" to restore colors and grant them solubility.

The "water" in the Bucket could dilute the [Divine Colors] in his Palette, allowing colors filled with divine power to gradually return to their original forms.

After losing their powerful divinity,

the colors became capable of breaking down, gaining a kind of "fusibility."

They could dissolve and blend together more easily.

Simply put, it became easier to synthesize colors and thereby create new ones.

For example, the colors of stone and stone could be mixed in water to create a new kind of stone.

The colors of plant and plant could likewise be mixed together to create a new kind of plant.

However, when fusing colors, Mona had to follow certain rules:

Colors with excessively low compatibility were nearly impossible to fuse.

Such as water and fire.

Metal and plants.

Furthermore,

using high-grade colors as materials for fusion and creation was much more difficult than using low-grade colors.

"If I want to create life, it seems there's still quite some difficulty involved."

Mona had already tried using the Bucket to fuse colors in an attempt to create a living creature, but he had failed repeatedly.

Creating life, especially higher lifeforms, was extraordinarily difficult.

Not to mention intelligent life.

That required "inspiration" to create.

But Mona did not care about those failures. Instead, they only deepened his interest.

This time,

he began creating once again.

He dripped [Sylvie Bird Life Essence] and [Brown Rat Life Essence] into the same compartment.

Then he poured nearly half of the [Flight Essence] he had collected into it.

Finally, he added [Soul of Sylvie Bird].

[You mixed the colors together.]

[Over a long period of time, these flowing colors gradually began to merge, gathering into an extremely somber drop of gray.]

This time, when he applied the mixed colors from the Dropper,

a pale gray ripple spread across the canvas.

A strange giant egg abruptly appeared within a crevice in the exceedingly barren cliffside.

Then, after several dozen days and nights had passed,

a bat-like creature cracked out of its shell and appeared on the mountain.

Its curled body gradually unfolded.

When its enormous membranous wings spread open, sharp bony spurs pierced through them.

At the same time, its dim body, hidden in the shadows, was exposed to the sunlight—

A small one-eyed head was fused to an undeveloped torso and limbs, with none of them differentiated.

When this malformed thing instinctively spread its wings in an attempt to do something,

Mona saw something in its lightless pupil and merely shook his head.

There was nothing.

The color of this creature's flesh was too intense, even reaching a bewitching degree.

That hint of life's color overwhelmed the color of its soul, ultimately causing it to lose its soul entirely.

Like diseased cells that knew only how to reproduce without end.

Such a thing would wither quickly after reaching its peak.

As though confirming a prophecy,

the next instant, that empty shell began to writhe and convulse.

In that moment, the bat-like malformed husk seemed to undergo the passage of endless years across its surface at an accelerated pace. Every part of its body rapidly aged, melted away, and decomposed.

In the end, only its skeleton remained.

Within just a few breaths, this new color he had created returned to nothingness once more.

It had died.

But calling it death was not accurate.

At most, an empty shell had dispersed.

"This creation has failed again."

Mona looked at the shriveled thing that had fallen to the ground, watching the several colors that had once formed it irreversibly fade and change.

But he soon discovered a strange new color suddenly appearing within the shriveled object.

[You have obtained: Decay Essence ×1]

[Decay Essence]: A mysterious essence possessing the power to decay animals and plants. It can be used as material for creating creatures or absorbed—speeds up the next color synthesis ↑

After his Dropper extracted the colors that were about to dissipate, the skeleton slowly scattered into dust.

"Although I didn't successfully create a new creature, I obtained a new essence because of the Forest Essence effect."

Mona looked at the gray color in his Dropper. After examining it, he placed this sole byproduct into the Palette rather than absorbing it.

This experiment had not been a success, but neither had it been a complete failure.

Yet there was neither joy nor disappointment in his heart.

There was only a pure and steadily growing interest in this matter.

"It's time to stop for a while."

Mona looked at the Drawing Board and waved his hand lightly.

All the colors upon it vanished.

During this period, he wanted to temporarily stop observing the outside world, withdraw all his awareness, and properly study how to create life.

Life remained a mysterious miracle even to gods.

It was also a profound discipline belonging to gods alone.