As much as I would love to see what's on the other side of this ocean, I decide to turn around instead. While I can swim and, given my size, could easy make it to the other side. A large portion of my shell would be submerged. While I could alleviate this problem using a combination of air and water manipulation, or just simply flying over it using telekinesis I'm not at all confident I could keep it up for the entire time it would take to reach the other side.
So now I'm heading back west. Well, technically west by northwest, so I'm not heading back the exact direction I came from. As I walk, I can't help but feel like I should have gone far enough north to feel the temperature start to change by now. Which could mean the planets climate is changing more rapidly than I thought. Fortunately, my entire reason for bringing them along to start with has begun paying off. As they build their settlements and communities, they will occasionally get injured. When this happens, they turn to me for healing. This of course results in my experience points slowly climbing up and up.
Eventually it happens, A spontaneous level up. A sprained ankle of all things was what finally pushed me over the threshold. Personally, I would have put money on the number of people getting motion sickness because of my shells constant movement while I walk being what pushed me over the threshold. Still a level up is a level up, I'm certainly not going to complain about how I got it. I am however going to grab some skill points again.
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Several things run through my mind as I look over my new stats. The first thing that catches my eye is my size. If my previous growth patterns are anything to go by, I'll soon be large enough to affect the planets gravity. After all I'm not just growing longer and wider, I'm also growing taller. I've been more or less maintaining the same basic shape I had when I was first reincarnated into this form, or at least the first time I recall gaining consciousness in this form. Meaning a still look like what you'd expect a land turtle to look like, just much much bigger.
That in turn leads to my next thought. I should work on gravity manipulation next, call it a hunch but I have a feeling that's going to be important sooner than I'd like. Especially seeing as I'm starting to get to a point where there are weather patterns forming as a result of my presence. As I once again work to add more dirt to my shell, I can't help but think about the future. Am I eventually going to have my own weather. I mean, as long as I continue to grow it does seem rather inevitable.
That in turn leads me to another thought. I need to start thinking about a sustainable ecosystem. With that in mind I start to pick up various nonedible plants and scattering the seeds along my shell. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be to make sure I don't miss any types or variations of types of plants. I eventually plan to add various animals, but plants are the foundation of any ecosystem. I will add herbivores once the plants start to get out of hand. I also need to add a watering hole for animals to drink from. I'll probably wait for one more level up to do that as the ambient moisture in the air is enough for most of the plants, I have on my shell now.
Lastly there is the fact that I did not receive a new talent. It's been a while since I got a new talent, so I was kind of hoping I would get one this time. That didn't happen unfortunately, which causes me to worry that I might not get any more talents. I'm only a little worried for now though. If two or three more levels pass without another talent appearing, then I would really start to worry because that would pretty much confirm it.
