I debated whether I should actually wait till morning to do it. Reason was it felt like I was overstepping my bounds if I changed his body on a molecular level. He could easily say no and I had to respect that.

With that in mind, I simply started using [Enhance] with the minimum amount of mana on various abilities or items I had.

[Marksmanship (Level 3)] changed to [Advanced Marksmanship (Level 1)]. It turns out that [Enhancing] an ability seemed to cause it to drop in levels. With [Advanced Marksmanship], I didn't actually have to manually activate it. It became a passive ability and the benefits of improved target hitting was always present.

[Close Weapon Mastery (Level 2)] improved to [Master-at-arms (Level 1)]. The second I enhanced it, I felt knowledge flood into my mind. The swing of an axe, the stab of a lance and the parry of a sword. The movements and intricacies entered into me. I felt stronger and all I needed to do was put it into practice.

Finally, [Enhanced] my bow and it turned into a Reinforced Bow. The quality of wood was tougher yet more supple and the drawstrings were made of some kind of hard resin which could hold higher tension.

I continued gaining mana the rest of the early hours, waiting for my father to rise.

Just before the sun rose, I felt movement coming from my parents bedroom. Heavy steps meant it was my father. Without even turning, I said, “Good morning.”

He croaked out some semblance of a reply and headed downstairs.

I waited for the water to boil and for him to brew his morning kraffe. The deep woody smell brought a small smile to my face.

I sat down with him and waited for him to wake up.

He took a few sips of his bitter drink and looked up at me, “So what are we doing today?”

I paused for a moment. I was thinking how much detail I needed to say. He beat me to it.

“I can tell you want to say something son, just say it. You look constipated when you hold it in.”

“Hmph. Look Father, I would like to make you stronger…but it would mean changing your body.”

“What?! Changing my body?”

“Yea, it's not an easy decision and I can't say how exactly it will change but generally it will be for the better.”

“You don't have to keep convincing me son, after seeing magical beasts show up and a monster that can disappear and reappear at will, Im happy to get out of this old bag of bones I have. Your mother will no doubt be thrilled about this,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Hah, that got a small chuckle out of me. Without wasting a moment-

“Hold on son, lemme at least finish my kraffe…glug…glug…ok done”

I rolled my eyes and selected [Enhance] on my father.

Once more the vast open space of blackness surrounded us. All the mana drained out of my Destiny Core. The multicolored pole showed up and this time it was more disappointing. The color only went up to green - magical.

[No Bloodline availability for target…switching to physique…found two of equal compatibility…Host please select one option to proceed]

[Option 1 - Oak physique - Like a mighty oak, your physique will allow you to remain unflinching and unmoved regardless of storm, sleet or flood.]

[Option 2 - Earth Golem physique - Like the earth beneath you, each breath a tremor, each footfall an earthquake]

I read out the descriptions to my Father. He thought a little while before saying, “Give me the tree boy. At least I know what that is.”

And so I selected it.

Once more energy, symbols and signs manifested around my father, and just like my daughter before him, a countdown occurred.

I carried my father back to bed and explained it to my mother to not alarm her.

With my father being out of commission, I had to remain on the farm. The good thing about the [Yin-Yang Universal Equilibrium] method was that it also helped alleviate tiredness. All I needed was a few cat naps and I felt alright to keep watch over the farm.

Lylia was really energetic today. Under my direct observation, I let her hold the battleaxe. It was a tad too heavy for her still and she needed to use two hands to hold it but she smiled at me in triumph and claimed she won. I feigned ignorance but she cutely put her hands on her hips and told me the promise I made word for word. Because of that, I promised that I would get her her own axe and start teaching her.

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My mother spent the day going through our resources of food and even took stock of our water supply. The snow was slowly starting to melt as the season was changing. The well we had however was still frozen but we had enough to last us the next few weeks. I had prepared them for a hard winter so it was not a surprise we still had a good supply of provisions.

The final part of our family seemed to be Snowie. She had now grown rather close to my daughter. Throughout her entire stay, she remained placid and unaggressive. Her snow white fur and cute looks meant that both my parents had already taken to her. She was also extremely intelligent and that helped her stay out of causing any trouble for us.

I watched as they played in the front yard. It was the one area free of traps and we made sure to tell both Lylia and Snowie to avoid anywhere else. Seeing them play and laugh allowed us to feel like the darkness around us receded a little bit.

At about early afternoon, Father woke up. Everyone was keen to take a look at him but it was more of a letdown. He looked much like his previous self except that should you look closely, his previous sun-kissed skin was slightly more bark-like. He walked outside without his shoes the second he came down the stairs. The moment his bare feet touched the ground, he shuddered in what seemed like ecstasy.

“This feels sooooo good!” He then started jumping around and dancing with both his wife and my daughter in turns. Snowie was busy prancing around them.

“All my aches and pains are gone. When I step on the ground, it feels like I can fight off anything that comes our way, HAHAHA”

Intrigued, I cast [Greater Inspection] on him

—

Name: August Delcia

Mana core: ??

Level: 2-3

Exp: ??

Physique: Oaken

Status: Healthy

Stats:

Strength: Muscular

Dexterity: Slow

Vitality: Vibrant

Perception: Normal

Cognition: Normal

Inflection: Deep

Innate Ability: ??

Abilities: Root sense (Level ??), Take Root (Level ??), Farming (Level ??), Animal husbandry (Level ??), Carpentry (Level ??)

Misc Abilities: multiple

—

It seems his dexterity dropped but he gained two new abilities. I was unclear what they were so I asked my father to check.

Turns out that the two new abilities were great. [Take root] was the act of connecting with the ground. The mere act of touching the ground allowed my father to be revitalized like he was drawing his sustenance from the ground.

[Root sense]l was a wide area sensory ability. It allowed the user to feel the small tremors coming from a designated area. However it could only be used if the user was rooted.

I went and grabbed the spear and calmed my father down. Now that he was awake, I could go have some rest. I showed him a few different stabs and corrected his posture as he did so. I also asked if he could find the time to make a wooden axe for Lylia.

I felt secure when I finally went to sleep.

—

AUGUST

I had never felt so alive.

My son had said this was the apocalypse but apart from that terror attack by that strange beast, I am actually having fun.

The ground that I had worked on my whole life as a farmer never felt so alive to me. Each time I put my feet on the ground and the ability [Take Root] activated, it was like the earth itself was giving me energy.

If I closed my eyes, I could feel the area around the farmstead. The little worms in the ground, the footfalls of Lydia and that little white calf were all obvious in my mind.

No longer did I feel afraid of this new world. I grabbed the spear and started practicing like how my son showed me. With the ground beneath me sustaining me, I didn't feel tired no matter how many times I stabbed.

From time to time, I simply closed my eyes and I could tell where everyone was…as long as they were on the ground. The second they stepped indoors, I lost track of them. The house and barn obscured my sight and I even thought about maybe demolishing them. Let us all sleep on the wondrous soil!

No, that was crazy! Hahah maybe I am going crazy. The joy of feeling like a young man again, that boundless energy had certainly revitalized me.

I felt a small tug on my shirt. Lydia was asking for me.

“Grandpa, grandpa, my daddy asked you to make an axe for me. Can you please do that?”

“BWAHAHA make an axe for you? Why do you need an axe little girl? With me around, no monsters can ever step foot on this farm!”

“But but..”

“I'm joking. I know you want to swing that mighty axe just like yer Dad. Cut down the bad nasties eh?”

“Yea, I want to protect everyone. No nasty monster is going to eat us!”

“BWAHAHA, thats my granddaughter,”

“Ok you two, dinner is ready, wash up and come in,” yelled my wife.

Watching my granddaughter go into the house and my wife hold her hand made me sober up. Yes, it felt great and I could pretend this was nothing but a gift but I know deep down that I had a responsibility to protect this place and my loved ones. My son had tirelessly protected us so far so it was my turn to help him. He was not as strong as he looked or acted. I saw it in the slight tremor in his hand as he killed or had blood splatter on him.

I clenched my hands around the spear and focused my mind.

Jab

Jab

Jab