As she flew over Arcadia, Ariana thought of Kon.

  The memory surfaced naturally, almost involuntarily, and without hesitation she directed her perception to where she felt his presence. In just a few moments, she crossed the sky and reached the location. What she found made her stop midair, surprised.

  Kon was sleeping.

  But he was no longer the same small creature as before.

  His body was far larger now, resting calmly among the roots of an ancient tree. His appearance had completely changed. He resembled a massive fox, with an imposing posture and a commanding presence. His fur remained blue, softly shimmering under the world’s light, and his eyes were still black and deep—but there was something different about them. Something more mature. More alert. More… alive.

  Kon looked majestic.

  Ariana descended carefully and began to approach. She moved silently, observing every detail, until she accidentally stepped on a dry branch. The crack echoed through the area.

  Kon’s eyes snapped open instantly.

  Large.

  Focused.

  Locked onto her.

  For a brief moment, the creature’s body moved with surprising speed. Kon leaped to his feet and charged toward Ariana, as if to attack. The movement was fast, instinctive, powerful.

  But the moment he got close, everything changed.

  Kon stopped abruptly, sat down in front of her, and lowered his head. His massive tail began swaying back and forth, gently brushing the ground in an almost impatient rhythm.

  He stared at her.

  Not with anger.

  Not with aggression.

  But as if asking where she had been all this time.

  As if silently complaining that she had disappeared without warning. Without visits. Without sweet fruit. Without the treats she used to bring. During those five years, Kon had adapted on his own. His diet, once limited to fruit, now included chickens and rabbits. He had grown. Learned. Survived.

  Warmth spread through Ariana’s chest.

  She stepped closer and began to pet Kon, running her hand through his thick fur, examining him from every angle. There was pride in her gaze. And relief.

  An interface appeared before her eyes.

  [Name: Kon]

  [Classification: ???]

  [Average Level: 3]

  [Attributes:]

  Strength: 40

  Agility: 30

  Vitality: 40

  Intelligence: 18

  Mana: 16

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  Ariana remained silent for several seconds.

  Before the time acceleration, Kon had only been Level 1.

  Now, he was Level 3.

  He hadn’t merely survived five years without her. He had grown remarkably. Stronger. Tougher. And, for the first time, he possessed mana of his own.

  Ariana could see it.

  Not with ordinary sight, but with that deeper perception that had become part of her existence. It was as if there was a core within Kon—a luminous point, slowly pulsing. That was his mana. Alive. Stable. A part of who he had become.

  Curious, Ariana shifted her perception toward other points in the world where she sensed that same energy.

  There were many.

  Some were small, almost fragile—like newly born sparks. Others were larger, denser, carrying a clear and constant presence. Watching closely, Ariana quickly reached a conclusion.

  The three largest cores belonged to the unicorns.

  From birth, they had been magical creatures. It made sense that they would concentrate so much mana. And yet, something caught her attention. Among those presences, there was one that felt different. Not weak—but not behaving quite like the unicorns’ mana either.

  It was… strange.

  Ariana gave Kon one last affectionate pat, then took to the sky, flying toward that unusual energy.

  As she approached, she instinctively turned invisible, concealing her presence. The closer she got, the stronger the sensation became—until she finally reached its source.

  It wasn’t an animal.

  It was a tree.

  A massive tree—the largest in that region. Its trunk was thick and twisted, saturated with dense mana. But that wasn’t what made Ariana stop. There was one detail that immediately filled her with unease.

  The tree had a face.

  It wasn’t perfectly human, but eyes had naturally formed in the wood, and an irregular mouth shaped by cracks in the trunk—as if growth itself had carved that expression over time.

  The feeling was… wrong.

  Ariana examined the area more carefully and, little by little, understood what had happened. This region was where the unicorns spent most of their time. They slept there. Rested there. Naturally gathered mana.

  For years.

  The constant concentration of magical energy had affected the tree.

  It hadn’t been created as a conscious life-form.

  It had awakened.

  As Ariana watched, one of the tree’s roots slowly moved beneath the soil. At first, the motion was almost imperceptible, sliding through the earth toward a small group of rabbits feeding nearby.

  The root crept closer, centimeter by centimeter.

  Then, without warning, it lunged with terrifying speed.

  The root seized one of the rabbits and immediately recoiled, dragging it toward the trunk. The animal barely had time to react. The root coiled around its body like a living serpent, crushing it with brutal force.

  The rabbit struggled for only a few seconds.

  Soon, its body began to wither.

  It was as if all life energy was being drained away. Flesh shrank, skin tightened over bone, and the light vanished from its eyes in moments. When nothing remained but a dry, twisted corpse, the root released it.

  Without care.

  The body was flung toward an irregular opening in the trunk—the tree’s mouth—and vanished inside.

  Ariana felt her stomach twist.

  Her expression hardened.

  She had no time to react.

  She could only witness the grotesque scene in silence, feeling—for the first time since awakening as a goddess—genuine discomfort at something she hadn’t planned… nor directly created.

  For a brief moment after witnessing the act, something changed within Ariana.

  A powerful energy gathered in her hand almost instinctively. It was dense, cold, dangerous. Her eyes shone with a hard, emotionless light. In that instant, Ariana thought of erasing the creature on the spot. A single gesture. A single thought. The tree would cease to exist.

  She had the power to do it.

  But she didn’t.

  The energy slowly dispersed between her fingers, responding to the shift in her resolve. Ariana clenched her hand and took a deep breath. Her heart was still racing, but her thoughts had already turned in another direction.

  If she destroyed the creature now, she would be directly interfering with something the world itself had created on its own. If she prevented that kind of evolution, Arcadia would never learn to adjust by itself.

  “If I intervene every time…” she thought, “…then it will never truly grow.”

  Creatures like this would appear again. Not this exact one, but others. Different life-forms. Unexpected adaptations. Natural responses to the environment and accumulated energy. This wasn’t an absolute error.

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