CHAPTER 9
RECALLING THE ROOTS
The mention of the black-haired elf made Hans recall the two incidents: when he was crushing one in dreams and when he saw a girl called Goddess Aadya, reminiscing before a grave. “So Osiris didn’t exist in your time?” He asked him promptly.
“Yes. I told you, the religion is quite new. It emerged around year six…no, maybe seven hundred, and only nobles of Parv were allowed to follow the teachings. It was your father who broke that restriction and made Osiris’ teachings available to commoners. Hence, come his popularity as the king who thought of his people. I’ve heard you fought his husk and lived to tell the tale.”
“Fought as if,” Hans scoffed, “I had to beg for my life, and it somehow touched his undead heart, I guess? That’s what happened.” Hans paused, “My blunder gave Xandor a very powerful weapon. Tsk!”
“So how do you feel about it?” Dietrich asked.
“Annoyed. Angry. Deli said something, and it helped that time, but I still feel pissed. That bastard desecrated my father and made him his pawn.” Hans tightened his fist, emitting a frustrated groan, prompting Dietrich to offer his words of wisdom.
“Anger is an ugly emotion, unbridled rage even more so.” Dietrich gently patted Hans’s chest, his beating heart racing and continued in a soothing voice, “Channel it before it brings harm to yourself.”
“How?” Hans asked, confused.
“You gave him that cursed sword, and you’ve received something back, didn't you?” Dietrich pointed at Hans’s waist bag.
Hans took out the second book and retold everything he had read.
“Tree of the day…”Dietrich was surprised, “I didn’t know someone could find that buried history…”
He asked Hans to open it, and it began.
Decrypting…
“After the fall of the Tree of Day,” Hans resumed, “the seed it yielded in hopes of revitalising it was all for naught. I made a deal with Reina and got one for you, the best they had. Turn the page and feed it your blood. The secret shall reveal itself.”
Hans turned to Dietrich, and the Chairman of Concordia asked him to proceed. With a small prick in his finger, he signed the next page in red. The page drank it and expelled a tiny black-brown sphere with a distinctive texture of multiple facets on its surface. It felt rough in his hand, but Dietrich confirmed it as the real one. “I’ve seen many, but not even one of them was this pure.”
“We got it out, now what?” Hans asked, puzzled.
“Don’t look at me,” Dietrich immediately responded. “I ain't the one reading.”
“Ooh, right?” Hans saw some more patterns emerging from where the facet seed ejected. “Eat it.” He read aloud and shared the puzzled expression with Dietrich. After a brief, awkward pause between them, Dietrich urged him to follow.
Hans closed his eyes and gulped the textured seed. It tasted bad, so his face was contorted. However, when he opened his eyes, he saw the once-vibrant grassland lay in desolation, transformed into a haunting landscape. “What happened?” he asked, confused. The grass, once a lush carpet that swayed in the breeze, now bore the scars of someone’s rampage. It was like a monster had stepped on everything and left a lot of mess in its wake.
Dietrich, not too far from him, came zapping,“So you finally came to your senses?”
“What is this?” Hans asked, still confused.
Dietrich threw the book in his hand and asked, “You ran here destroying everything for almost two hours.”
“Two hours, don’t joke…” He looked at the sky, the sun, which should’ve been high in the sky, was not too far from the horizon. “I really did this? How?” He asked, still in doubt.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“The moment you ate the day seed, you transformed into a complete Elderwood. You have no idea, how hard it is for me to hold back, so I won’t accidentally kill something.”
“I really don’t remember.” Hans looked the book again and murmured, “Maybe, from the next time, before doing it first, I should read it completely.” He then opened the page and read it silently.
Decrypting…
“Make sure you are isolated and have someone powerful watching over you. You might show some erratic behaviour for a few hours until the seed settles inside you. It is a powerful thing, don’t take it lightly.”
Seeing Hans murmuring to himself, Dietrich asked,“So what does it say?”
“Nothing, just some trivial stuff.” Hans rolled his eyes and the page in sync. “I really don’t want to hear him nag. Thats all, this is not lying.” Hans convinced himself and focussed on the words.
Decrypting…
The purpose of this book was to hand you this seed of the day. It was possible that if I subjected the infant you to the day seed, the remnants of the elderwood could come back into you. So, I have waited until now for when you’ll have good control over your will. Hopefully Walter didn't give you too much trouble in the handover.
“No shit father. You really trusted the wrong person. That bastard of a professor sold it to Xandor.” Hans grumbled and turning to Dietrich, he asked, “Why didn’t you do something when Xandor was making a deal with Walter. You obviously knew, right?”
“Of course, I did.” Dietrich said with the confidence, masking his expressions that he really didn’t know about it. There was close to nothing that escaped his eyes in Concordia but just like Hans, Dietrich had the habit of not loosing the face. So he gloss over saying, “Haven’t I told you. I like to play god. If I do everything for you, then what is the use of your own will. One has to make his own decision to grow up.”
“Yes. Yes. My dear ancestor.” Hans said insincerely and focussed on the book again.
Decrypting…
Just as I’ve said, handing over the seed, the book did its job. Now what comes next is, you’ll have to find book of power. As I’ve written- others might’ve told you that it doesn’t exist and it doesn’t yet. Bring out the first book and place them side by side.
Hans did what he was told and Dietrich stayed by his side, doing nothing but observe carefully. He didn’t want any more incident like Hans rampaging in the Elderwood form. As the both book came close, Hans’s augmented display changed
Permission to Deploy Chrono Confluence integrator
“Yeah, I guess” Hans hesitatingly answered.
As those words left Hans’s mouth, the cover of Solar mage book detached itself and transformed into a prism, showering its light on both the books. Then in a fantasy like moment, the mysterious light caused the pages of second book to gracefully detach, suspended in the air. Simultaneously, the first book Limitless’s pages followed suit. As if drawn by an unseen force, the pages seamlessly intertwined, creating a dance of literature. Words and worlds collided, forming a singular entity and the cover of limitless transformed into something much older. The tanning of leather became darker and the words etched in them changed.
Hans read aloud as the unified book fell on his hands, “Book of Power: Dominance.” As he read the title, a smirk etched on his face and he said, “All the world is searching for you. And here you are falling into my lap.”
“Whats with your expressions?” Dietrich literally poured cold water into Hans and added, “You are creeping me out you know. It looked liked you got a lady you’ve been chasing all your life.”
Wiping off the water, Hans pouted, “You are just jealous.” And opened the first page.
Decrypting…
To Master the Solar power, you’ve to learn how to Assimilate the sun energy. According to the Godland archives, its what a plant do to sustain its life. The process called Photosynthesis. I’ve confirmed the Elderwood doing it so you can too.
Photocharge
With the seed inside, aiding you. The traits of Elderwood will become prominent. Just as the foundation of Limitless, you learnt to create a seed out of surrounding mana. The Photocharge is also the foundation to become a solar mage. If you learn it well, you could survive without food for days. We learned it the hard way on subduing the Elderwood; this trait is really a pain to fight against.
Hans was jumping in joy. “So tell me, how?” He asked and read the next paragraph.
And the best thing about it is that you don’t have to learn this. Just as we humans breath. The plant life does this without practice. You can only increase the process. Connect yourself with the ground, and it will greatly increase.
Hans wasted no time, and small microscopic roots came out of his legs and connected to the ground. “Woah, woah!” Surprised, Hans shouted in ecstasy, “What is this? I feel…different…energised—”
“You look different too. Foolish descendant, what did you do? You are glowing like a lamp.”
“I don’t know, I feel hot, but it doesn’t hurt or anything—”
“Try hitting me.” Dietrich offered his right palm. “Come on, what are you waiting for? Punch.” He stressed, and Hans did. “Boom!” With a swift punch, the stored power surged forth, creating a visible shockwave upon impact, pushing Dietrich’s hand back and leaving him to say in wonder, “This is sunstone power.”
Hans felt familiar with this power, but wasn’t able to point it out until Dietrich mentioned it. He did collide two sunstones against Samson during the fight. “Parv, use these in your magic weapons.” Hans muttered, making Dietrich laugh to his fill.
“People are madly gathering the sunstones because of its devastating energy, and now my foolish descendant can create it like nothing. I don’t even have words. I’m ecstatic right now.” He turned to Hans, raising both of his hands for some boxing practice and asked, “What are you waiting for? Keep them coming.”
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