4 Trial by thunder

'If this thunderstorm is a problem shouldn't you do something?'

<Processing...>

The light began to fade away as the sky was covered in gray storm clouds. Not that I could truly see it, I merely noted the absence of light and the eerie feeling.

'System?'

<Processing...>

'What do you mean processing, is there something wrong with you?'

<Viable solution found. Host must divert 40 percent of all lightning strikes to himself. Damage to host should be sustainable.>

'So essentially I'll face the brunt of it to save the forest. Let's get it over with then. Tell me what to do.'

<Host must simply focus on pulling thunder energy toward him, attracting all the lighting until danger of a forest fire has passed.>

So I gathered all the thunder energy I could get and proceeded to wait. The first lightning bolt came not too long after but couldn't even penetrate through all my branches. Only the outer ones were scorched.

'Wait. My apples! My apples are being destroyed, the fruits of my labor!'

Now lighting bolts were coming down one after another, thunder crackled in the air and a gale force wind was blasting through the forest. I wanted to disperse the thunder energy to maybe save a few apples but noticed it was already too late. All my apples were ash now. And as though it was mocking me the system prompt could be heard at once.

<40 percent of the thunderstorm has been neutralized. Gathered thunder energy can now be released.>

'Like hell, all my sweat, and tears of half a year's effort was just reduced to ashes. I will take on every last bolt of lightning this storm has. Come at me with everything you have.'

Fueled by my anger I kept a firm hold on the thunder energy and stood my ground. Not like I could actually run away. Thus, the lightning bolts kept crashing down on me in quick succession. My branches were continuously being thinned out. Soon the first strike reached the top of my trunk. With an audible snap, a piece of wood was sent flying, deep scorch marks in it. The storm didn't let up, as my body began shrinking from all the wood that was blasted off. I felt pain, physically this time but different from what I was used to. In my last life pain had felt sharp like a needle. Now it felt more like a dull ache. Could I not perceive the bolts of lighting ravaging my half scorched body I'd think I had fallen down and hit the ground.

And so the night passed and in the morning the whole forest was as pristine as ever, with the exception of one nearly burnt down tree. And this tree, unexpectedly, was me. The storm had calmed and was now only a light drizzle coming from up above.

<Congratulation to host for surviving self-imposed [thunder trial], host has earned title [guardian of nature] for not letting a single tree be harmed under your watch. The forest is now even more connected to you and nature will submit to your will.>

'Yes, yes whatever you say.'

At the time I had other more pressing issues to deal with. Like repairing my body and growing all my apples anew. The former was quickly done by just channeling magic to the damaged parts, so basically everywhere and seeing it quickly regenerated. But regrowing my apples would require time, which I without any doubt had.

Since I had mastered the process of growing an apple, it took little to no concentration and I could set my mind on other things. The most pressing issue at the moment was the memory flood I had yet to digest. Because while the information was all present, it felt more like a dream that I could perfectly recall. The main point here was that I had to actively recall them which would take way to much time in a situation where I needed it.

So I would have to go through each bit of memory and completely assimilate it. And that's what I did. First and foremost I reviewed the general happenings during my life, I would go into details later.

The earliest memories were rather foggy, glimpses of a ruined childhood, horrible upbringing and all that you wouldn't want to experience. I was kind of disappointed that there was no sad music playing along while I went through this bloody tragedy. Then at the age of nine a ray of hope. It had come in the form of an old lady that had been hailed as a saint in her youth. She had taken pity on me and, due to my talent for magic, given me a place to stay and learn magic.

Once I had reached adulthood I left. Making my way to the capital I began to study at an academy for magic. Dreadfully overpriced and not really worth the money it cost. I left after one year. That was when my first experiments started, the only way of advancing further in both power and knowledge. Often dangerous and filled with risks, these experiments brought great benefits and I broke through to the rank of high mage at an unprecedented age. I left to travel the world. Decades past and I reached the pinnacle of all high mages, being on the verge of stepping into the domain of archmages. And then I found out. The experiments I had made and used to gain growth in power had been burning my potential and would make it impossible to reach any higher rank.

Now if any of you made some rough calculations you probably figured out that this only covers at most a hundred years. As for the rest of my 1200 years of life. All spent researching various fields of magic. Fields I would all be going through or maybe I'd just drop out halfway, sounds more like me.

Thus I now began assimilating a more complex topic. Runes. The thing I had already, albeit in a very crude way, used to kill the squirrel.