A few days passed. The wildlife seemed to treat the lake as some kind of safe zone. No matter if they were prey or predator, no animal dared to fight next to the lake and jeopardise the peace. Alice appreciated that, so she did most of her activities close to or right next to the lake. At one point, while she was meditating, she saw a huge tiger roll out of the shadows. She almost had a heart attack when it looked at her, before casually going back to lapping the water.

After that, Alice learned to be a bit more cautious, spending most of her time in trees. There was no doubt that the tiger and other powerful predators could knock down these trees with ease, but it still presented another layer of concealment and defence. She certainly appreciated that thin veneer of security.

For most of her free time, Alice was playing around with her Energy. She gained a more refined control over it, now able to expel it in precise quantities from pinpoint areas of her body at decent speeds. She didn't know when she would need to shoot wind from her forehead, but she now had the option.

Learning more methods of using her Energy was also high up on her list as well. After all, her Energy was her greatest asset. She would be foolish for not developing it. For example, Alice was no longer just limited to using powerful wind blades. She could now use air deprivation, removing all the air from a select space. She could also shoot concentrated wind bullets that could punch clean holes through tree bark and shatter rocks.

Her most important development was the discovery of a completely new use of her Energy; manipulating nature. If she tried hard enough, Alice could latch onto the Energy within plants, trees and fauna and control it as she wished. The difficulty of doing so was certainly higher than manifesting powerful gusts of wind, but it provided another avenue for fighting.

Thick, green vines winded all around her, wrapping around her arms like clingy lovers. They were covered in thorns that strutted outwards, fiercely guarding her from any would-be attackers. It took a bit of concentration to control these conjured vines like this, but once she got some more practice, it would become a useful technique.

Feeling her Energy complain again, Alice withdrew all of it from her vines and let them fall limp to the ground. The girl had already been practising for a few hours now after discovering her link to nature, feverishly draining her Energy like there was no tomorrow. It was fascinating to see trees bend to her will.

Using these new powers gave Alice a good idea. She could now better construct herself a nice home! Sleeping in trees with leaf padding was nice and all, but the back pains and awkward postures were getting on her nerves. If she spent a bit of time, Alice could manipulate some wood into the rough shape of a home.

'That's it, I'm going to make a home. First, I need to find an isolated area that animals won't easily find.'

Which was, unsurprisingly, hard to find. The forests were mostly flatlands, covered in more and more trees. These animals were spread out relatively evenly, with the exception of areas like water sources that provided a convenience to everyone. Not only that, but their sense of hearing and smell was very good, meaning that most homes would be found by a curious rabbit or wolf.

Which meant she needed to find a place where animals couldn't or wouldn't go to or couldn't sense whatsoever. It was best that both conditions were applied.

She sighed, brainstorming possible locations that she had inadvertently discovered while using her Wind Probe (yes, this was what she named it). There were a few decent locations, but nothing that would fulfil her needs in the long term. She didn’t really want to live in a cave, nor did she want to live in a tree.

A tree branch lazily patted her on the head, as if comforting her. Agonising over the matter of her future accommodation was really tiring. She hated stagnating over any single issue or process. It felt like she was going against her own principles. The wind stopped for nothing, and she was its willing passenger. Standing still and going against the wind violated their contract, their bond.

'Let's go somewhere else for a change.' Alice had used Wind Probe a few more times during her stay here, searching ten kilometres in specific directions. She had managed to find a waterfall that she wanted to visit. It was situated at the sharp end of a cliff that protruded outwards, resulting in a waterfall that created a river winding outside of her range.

She stood up, took a few more mouthfuls of water and left.

---

The sound of tonnes of water crashing into a lake all at once was very loud. Alice didn’t let that distract her from the breathtaking sight of the waterfall. It stood tall, perhaps seventy metres tall, and cast a huge shadow over its surroundings.

The water here seemed even purer than the one at the previous lake. The reflection of her face on the water’s surface was a bit jittery due to the waterfall, but she could tell that it shone with greater clarity.

Using a combination of her Wind Blades and wood manipulation, Alice had managed to carve out a wooden canteen for herself. She thoroughly washed it and polished it by barraging it with micro Wind Blades before filling it up with water and taking a big swig.

The round, clean surface was a testament to how far her control had come. It was satisfying.

She looked up the cliff, noticing a few trees that had miraculously grown on the side of the cliff. They were crooked and small, but tenacious. Alice, slightly bored, decided to test out another one of her ideas.

Her Energy latched onto the tree roots and then pushed themselves in, vitalising the entire tree. In an instant, the roots and branches began to shake, stretch and expand. Cracks showed where the roots were trying to break through as they grew rapidly. It was only a matter of time when the rocks gave away, and roots spiralled out, growing into another offshoot of the tree. Branches and leaves sprouted out of the new tree that was seeing the sun for the first time, developing into a majestic (sideways) tree.

Indeed, she could greatly accelerate growth in plants. Before, she did this on a much smaller scale by extending vines but she had never grown an entirely new tree. Changing the environment around her was beneficial if she wanted to create an opportunity/to flip the tables in a fight.

Alice grimaced.

'Why am I always thinking about the combat applications of my abilities? Growing trees should be used to enrich the forest, not further my fighting strength.'

The young girl didn’t know why her mind always tended to lean towards a more aggressive style of thinking. It was really strange because whenever she did get into a fight, she never thought about trying to kill her opponent. Some of the wildlife here was dangerous, and the only life she had taken was a snake that tried to ambush her. And that was only due to her poor control of her Wind Blades at the time. If the same snake tried to attack her now, she would’ve just blown it far away from her.

She looked down at her two hands. For this past week, Alice had been climbing, running, crafting and fighting beasts. She had incurred a few cuts, bruises and injuries, but they never lingered. Every morning after she woke up, all of her wounds would be magically healed. Her pale, thin hands were as flawless as ever. No calluses had formed at all. Her memories were all but gone, with only a name remaining. She had access to strange, powerful abilities that she knew were abnormal.

This whole time, Alice had been ignoring this incongruity, keeping it locked away in a corner. Now, she was disturbed by the way her mind was being influenced. Or maybe this was just how she always thought. The her, before she lost all her memories.

Alice didn’t believe that she was nobody before waking up. These thoughts, this common sense, these abilities… Alice didn’t believe it whatsoever. There had to be a guiding hand behind all of this.

"Who am I?" She murmured.

"You are an Immortal. Our newest sister."

A bewitching feminine voice made Alice’s ears shiver. Her mind temporarily turned blank as she froze up. Someone was behind her.

"Sorry, I forgot to fully suppress myself."

She turned around to see her first visitor. There stood a tall woman on a tree, watching her with curious and bemused eyes. Her black dress billowed behind her, as dark as the night sky. It melded perfectly with the woman’s ultramarine hair that was styled elegantly, wavy and lustrous. Alice found herself speechless, unable to fully react. It was far worse than when she saw her own face.

“My name is Jeanne Evergreen. What’s yours?” Alice felt her ears vibrate again.

“Ah… Um, my name is Alice Gray.”

”Alice. A good name…”

She couldn’t read the emotion on the woman’s face, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"What do you mean by 'Immortal'? Since you’re calling me your sister, does that mean you’re an 'Immortal' as well?" Alice asked.

"That’s right. We are both Immortals, naturally born beings with great power and the ability to live forever. Many people witnessed your Birth a week ago. I decided to visit today after you regained your bearings."

Her revelation answered a few questions. About her abilities, about her apparent regeneration, and about her lost memories. It was all still a bit jarring, but Alice felt more grounded with this new information. The girl felt a natural affinity with this woman, someone who had appeared out of nowhere, conveniently answering many of her questions. She felt like this woman was trustworthy. It was yet another 'feeling' that couldn’t be explained or justified, but Alice could do nothing except believe in it for now.

"I see."

"You seem very calm upon receiving this news." Her words seemingly expressed surprise, but her tone was flat.

"I've had some time to ruminate on the mystery of my existence. Your explanation only helped string it all together, I suppose."

"Many Immortals before you weren’t so calm."

”I think a lot.”

Jeanne's lips inched upwards. "How about we go to a more comfortable place" She snapped her fingers.

In an instant, the scenery changed. The roar of the waterfall, the chirping of birds and the groan of the wind disappeared. In its placed was what could only be described as a wonderland of nature. Around her were gigantic trees of various shapes, bright colours and contours. Some were bright pink, some were vibrant green, and others were furious red. The sky was clear and purple, merging with the dying rays of a setting sun. Even the grass underneath her feet was fantastical in some way; they were alive, waving at her and tickling her feet. Lamps were hung on the trees, illuminating the wood table in the middle of the clearing. The dark table was elegant, holding up a collection of biscuits, cakes and snacks. Two cups of tea were steaming, positioned on opposite ends of the table. The tall windows at the side showed a picturesque view of the sunset, blazing across the horizon.

They were now sitting facing each other, immersed in the atmosphere. It was a drastic change from the previous environment so Alice had to rub her eyes and look around in wonder. She had an idea of an Immortal’s powers due to her immature wind abilities, but this blew all of her expectations out of the water.

"How is it? I spent a good hour designing this to welcome you."

"It’s very nice…" Alice kept looking around.

"This is my Concept, called Trickery. I embody deceit, illusions, dreams and lies. This world I've created is all fake, merely an illusion." Jeanne explained patiently.

The girl ran a finger across the table, feeling the wood underneath her fingertips. She gingerly picked up a cookie and bit into it. A mellow, sweet taste enveloped her mouth as the cookie broke into smaller pieces with each bite before she swallowed. Everything felt real. The only indication that it wasn't an illusion was that the wind wasn't blowing against her skin.

"Concept... It sounds familiar..."

"It should. Each Immortal has inherited memories and a persona from the moment they are born. You should know your name, a degree of common sense and your Concept. Without it, us Immortals would be nearly defenceless when we are born."

When she tried to think about her Concept, it suddenly popped into her thoughts, as if it was there the whole time and waiting. "My Concept is... Freedom."

Freedom. The idea of liberty, independence and self-thought, without being subject to foreign control or domination. To be free was to only consider oneself, never giving others a controlling factor in one's life. It could be, at times, the ultimate expression of rational selfishness and self-satisfaction. Yet, Alice couldn't help but be enthralled with the Concept of Freedom.

"Freedom... Indeed, you are the embodiment of Freedom." The other Immortal scanned Alice's body up and down, her lips twitching. She blushed, feeling the other's amused eyes.

"I... I didn't know where to get clothes."

"Let me make you some." With a wave of her hand, a dress weaved itself in the air. It was a sleeveless wrap dress, with a theme of white and floral prints all over. The curving flowers, stems and petals drew her eyes, especially with how lifelike they were. The hem reached down to her upper calves while being slightly voluminous. Beside it, a pair of underwear and brown boots were being created as well. The underwear were similar in theme to the dress and were quite conservative. It made her relieved.

A moment of realisation hit Alice. "Is this an illusion too?"

Jeanne chuckled, "Yes, it is. However, my ability makes these illusions the realest in the world. While my illusions will never be real, they'll be close enough that nobody will care. I assure you this is real enough to suit your needs."

As soon as the clothing was finished, they floated down into Alice's waiting arms. She held up the dress, pinching and caressing the fabric to confirm it was actually 'real'. It didn't disappoint. The softness and silkiness of the fabric were unmatched (not that she had a wide frame of reference) while being high quality. It felt very sturdy yet flexible in her hands, allowing great freedom of movement yet able to endure lots of punishment.

When Jeanne turned around, Alice blushed a bit and took the hint, taking off her leaf clothing and putting on the new underwear and dress. The rustling stopped and Jeanne turned around, inspecting her new creation.

She nodded in satisfaction, exclaiming "You now look like an Immortal."

Alice looked down at herself, twisting and pulling at the dress as she tried to get used to the fabric hugging her body. It was much more comfortable than her previous clothing.

"Thank you for the dress. I don’t know how much longer I would’ve had to wear that…"

"No need to be so stiff. We are sisters after all." She merely patted the girl’s head, like an older sibling reassuring their younger sibling.

The two sat back down at the table and partook in the food and drink. Fake as it may be, the taste was still good so Alice didn’t mind experiencing all of these new delicacies. She was getting a bit bored of eating fruits and such.

They made small talk for a while, with Jeanne regaling Alice with tales of the outside world.

"There are three continents in this Realm. You are currently on the Able Continent, the largest of the three, as well as the most populated. This forest is called the Paradise Forest, due to its relative mediocrity. Very little mana is present here, meaning most of the life in this forest is normal. There are worse places you could’ve been born in." Jeanne said, taking a sip of tea.

She added, "Not that it mattered much since we would’ve taken you out of any dangerous areas."

”We? Other Immortals are watching too?”

"Yes. They’re very curious about you, Alice. You’re the first Birth in a very long time after all."

The girl felt nervous. Jeanne was friendly but her aura was very powerful and foreboding. Knowing that she was receiving the attention of multiple such beings only increased her anxiety. She didn’t quite feel like an all-powerful Immortal yet.

"I watched you for a while before meeting you today. My purpose in coming here was to introduce you to the world, as well as to invite you back with me. If you so wish, you can leave this forest and come back to civilisation. Helping you to learn about yourself, your powers and your siblings is my duty as a senior Immortal."

Alice bit her lip. On one hand, it was very beneficial for her to go back with Jeanne and learn many new things. On the other hand, her mind told her to stay in this forest and explore a bit more. Even if Jeanne had the best intentions, it would still feel like she was being chained down. Like her decisions were being interfered with by an outside force. Alice felt that it was her Concept trying to influence her.

There was a prolonged silence as two sides of her mind fought each other. The rational side told her to take Jeanne’s offer while her emotions told her to refuse.

"If you don’t know yet, I can wait. It’s probably your Concept that’s causing this, right?"

Alice nodded.

"That’s fine. Concepts are hard to overcome. For now, I’ll leave you here and gift you some things. Take this so you can contact me at any time." Jeanne handed over a black feather the size of her palm. It reflected several shades of light at the edges, giving it a mystic appearance.

"When you channel mana into this feather, it’ll send me a message and break after. Take this necklace as well." She then handed over a simple chain necklace with a gem. Alice could sense distortions around the gem.

"This is a Spatial Storage Device in the form of a necklace. It contains a lot of things that will be helpful to you on your journey. You can use it to store a lot of things. Keep it hidden from other people because these are very rare and valuable. The Immortal of Space gives her greetings through this gift. The feather is mine though." She finished the explanation with a wry smile.

"Ah… thank you very much."

”Like I said before, you don’t need to be so polite to me. We are going to know each other for a long, long time.”

Alice nodded numbly for the nth time now.

---