It was unexpected.
Root watched as the group of mortals kneeled before his form, crying, begging. His children- Leaf, Lily, Ahteus, and Zylph, stood before him.
Ah, what is he going to do?
Year 10, Day 15
Root gave Ahteus a few little helpers in the form of Lesser Earth Spirits, they all manifested as small moles with big red noses and large claws used for digging, some also would manifest like small snakes, rats, and there was even a small golden fox! This one was Ahteus' favorite spirit, he named it Goldie and it would follow him everywhere. Leaf had reached the [Qi Gathering (Stage 5)] realm after some hard work, making Root proud of his boy's talent! He also developed the first step towards his sword technique in the future, as did Lily! Well, she started to make her own technique for fighting, as did Ahteus after they both received their gifts in the form of two items.
Lily received a violin alongside a lot of Root's knowledge on classic music.
Ahteus received a large (for his body) hammer alongside a large amount of knowledge on building- Well, Root was a nerd in his past life, he had read a lot of Wikipedia pages about ancient constructions and how they were made! Ever since he got the skill [Root of Knowledge] he could go to the root of all his own knowledge, his brain, and retrieve every single knowledge he ever knew in his past life- Even the most useless things.
[Violin of Death Songs
Rank: C
Description: A black violin made out of wood filled with Death Qi and Nature Qi, strings made out of Silk made from Death Qi.
Abilities -
Songs of Death - Rank C: Being able to easily channel Death Qi through song, this violin can make even the softest songs into a Death Sonata. Can be used to turn music into qi techniques easily.
Protection from the Grave - Rank D: Upon being in mortal danger, a barrier of bones and Death Qi will protect you from the attack.]
Lily absolutely loved this violin! She was interested in music after Root sang for her to sleep once, because she didn't want to go to sleep- Even though his children had the awareness and even maturity of adults, they were still children at heart. A specific song Root gave her was the Devil's Trill Sonata song, she loved the great masterpiece that was that song, she trained every day and tried to play the song in her memories as much as possible so she could one day play this masterpiece. With her violin, she could easily control the Death Qi from beneath the ground, she could also use it to cultivate by pulling the Death Qi into herself. She could use the violin to use her qi techniques, most of them were long distance constant attacks, and they were named after the songs she played to use the techniques. She had three techniques she created based on three different songs- Her father called it "Corrupted Violin Fencer Boss Theme Song" and it was a masterpiece in her mind.
Another one she heard was called "Obscurity" and the last one was "The Death of a Violin" and she cried when she heard this song. So, one song that brings excitement and dread, one that raised her heart above the clouds with happiness made her feel like she was in a battle amongst powerful beings, and a song that broke her heart and made her cry.
Her father's wisdom was endless and beautiful.
[Hammer of Great Creation and Destruction
Rank: B
Description: A grand hammer made from a condensed and purified form of Earth Qi mixed with Nature Qi and Spirit Qi.
Abilities -
Destruction Impact - Rank C: Using Earth Qi, the user of this hammer can create a large destructive impact against any surface, creating a large explosion that can be easily controlled by the user to cause controlled or uncontrolled destruction. The more Qi used, the greater the explosion.
Earthly Creation - Rank B: Using Earth Qi, the user of this hammer can control a large amount of earth and earth adjacent elements, capable of shaping, controlling, reinforcing, and much more.
Mountainous Might - Rank C: The user of this hammer receives the power of a mountain! They can withstand powerful attacks without much damage to their bodies, as their might and willpower alone can take the damage from those attacks.]
Ahteus was enamored with this hammer the moment he held it in his hands, it was easily triple his size but it was lifted by him without much of an issue, making him the strongest child Root has. When Root explained to him what his hammer could do, Ahteus cried with happiness, soon going deep under Root's- well, roots! - and made there something for himself and his father. The moment his father told him stories about the many legendary blacksmiths he knew about, Ahteus grew a desire to be like them. And the hammer? It made him more than happy to try it! He made a black stone anvil following his father's instructions and tried shaping the another stone with his hammer, he ended up making a small stone blade and he was extremely excited to give it to Root:
[Worthless Stone Blade
Rank: Trash (Beneath F)
Description: A worthless piece of dull rock that has the shape of a blade.]
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Root kept it with him, forever. It's not worthless! It's the first thing his child made, so of course he'll keep it close to him. He praised Ahteus and continued to give him ideas about what he could try, maybe to make everything he makes better! Try circulating the Earth Qi he has to try and shape the blade- but he didn't have enough Qi, so he had Ahteus cultivate, as did Leaf, and as did Lily.
While all his children were Cultivating, he decided to have another one. This time, his child would be another girl- why? Because he wanted Lily to have a sister so they could have their girl talk or whatever else they could have! It was easy to decide which type of Qi to use for this child, and he made her seed with Air Qi, granting the seed a pale green mixed with silver. She was born and immediately started to fly around him, very talkative: "Wow! Hi dad, are you my dad? You feel like my dad, so I'll call you dad- where am I, dad? What is this? Ooh it feels tingly!" She was free and ever-changing like the wind, going from one place to the other, with a large grin on her face: "Zylph." A simple word made her stop mid-air. She floated like the other spirits (except Ahteus) but it was different from them- Her floating was aided by the wind itself, granting her a higher amount of speed and even a greater maneuverability in the air. She could make sharp turns without losing speed. "What? Who?" Root chuckled- His voice sounded like the very forest, and it laughed with him, making Zylph grin at him: "It's you. Your name, Zylph." She was like the others, small, humanoid with elven features like sharp and pointy ears, but contrary to them, her hair was long! Like, way too long.
For a being of her size, the size of her hair was too much. It was easily 10 times her body size, and yet, it floated easily with the wind. It was of a silver coloration too. "Oooh~ What does that mean?" She was the very first one of her siblings to ask what her name meant! Root grinned internally as he explained to her: "Your name comes from the wind, free and unbound by the worries of others, you are the wind my dear. Like how your siblings are Nature, Death, and Earth." She seemed very excited to hear that she had, in fact, siblings!
She met them later, and they were happy to see another one of their siblings! Ahteus was a little disappointed that she could fly, which made him ask his dad if he could fly one day- To which Root said it was possible, but he'd need a high Cultivation to even achieve such deeds, and that his method of flight would be very different from his siblings.
Let's take a look at Zylph's status!
[Status]
Name: Zylph
Species: Wind Spirit
Cultivation Root: Wind, Nature, Light [Average Quality]
Age: 0 Years
Qi Realm: Qi Gathering (1st Stage)
Techniques -
F RANK: [Wind Spirit Cultivation]
E RANK: [Wind Spirit Flight]
E RANK: [Spirit Sight]
She was immediately taken by Lily- I mean, she loved her older sister to a fault! The moment she heard Lily play the violin, she began to sing, and like that they became inseparable. Together they played a beautiful yet haunting melody, Zylph loved singing so Root gave her knowledge of a few folk songs he knew and a few other songs he knew too. That was how Zylph started singing "Come Little Children" as Lily played the violin, their Qi in a state of synchronization- Zylph's Air Qi would spread Lily's Death Qi further, increasing the range of Lily's techniques by a lot.
[Status]
Name: Root
Species: Spirit Tree
Cultivation Root: Nature [Heavenly Pure Quality]
Age: 110 years
Qi Realm: Core Formation (2nd Stage)
Special Achievements:
[Crafter]
[Death Conqueror]
Skills -
F RANK: [Flower Make]
F RANK: [Silk Make]
E RANK: [Hibernation]
D RANK: [Wood Make]
A RANK: [Seed Make]
S RANK: [Purification]
S RANK: [Pain Resistance]
Techniques -
F RANK: [Tree Breathing Technique]
B RANK: [Mycorrhizal Network]
B RANK: [Root of Knowledge]
A RANK: [Twilight Qi Conversion Technique]
Sect - Spirit Forest Sect
Great Ancestor: Root [Core Formation (2nd Stage)]
Sect Master: Leaf [Qi Gathering (5th Stage)]
Unnamed Lesser Nature Spirit (×12,876,870)
Members:
Death Branch Master: Lily [Qi Gathering (3rd Stage)]
Unnamed Lesser Death Spirits (×522)
Earth Branch Master: Ahteus [Qi Gathering (2nd Stage)]
Unnamed Lesser Earth Spirits (×330)
Wind Branch Master: Zylph [Qi Gathering (1st Stage)]
Unnamed Lesser Wind Spirits (×134)
Inventory -
SSS Rank: Tea of Heaven (Recipe)
Trash: Worthless Stone Blade]
His status already showed how he wanted to separate his sect and how it would grow in the future. He wanted a few more children to be the masters of more branches- The Earth branch, as Ahteus wanted, would be focused on blacksmithing and crafting! While the Death Branch as Lily wished, would focus on musicians and instruments as a means of controlling Death. Which is a good idea, because if you use Death Qi through an item, your body won't suffer the effects of Death Qi! Zylph wanted her branch to focus on freedom and doing what they wanted, while Leaf wanted his branch to be the guards of the sect, to instill the law of their father.
Root still wanted to have a Light Qi Child, a Fire Qi Child, a Water Qi child, a Life Qi Child, a Dark Qi Child, an Ice Qi Child, a Yin Qi Child, a Yang Qi Child, a Lightning Qi Child, and as many qi children as he could!
Year 10, Day 20
So, mortals.
Root didn't know much about them in this world, neither did his children except for Leaf. So when he, connected to one of his Lesser Nature Spirit children, saw a group of mortals wearing garbs and walking aimlessly towards his forest, he felt apprehensive. As they approached, he communicated to his children: "Human mortals are approaching our home, my children, be prepared for anything." They all stopped what they were doing as they heard his voice. Leaf stopped slashing his sword up and down, Lily stopped playing her violin, Zylph stopped playing with her lesser siblings, and Ahteus rose from the ground right before his father. "Father, do you wish for me to interfere?" Leaf was the only one with knowledge of mortals of this realm, so it was wise for him to- However, Root beckoned Leaf to approach and asked for the knowledge of the mortal language of this world, to which Leaf gladly agreed.
Soon, the group of mortals arrived- They traversed through the greenery like it was a sight from the gods above, their weary eyes stared ahead until Leaf spoke out loud, catching their attention- "Halt." His voice echoed with power and authority: "Who dares enter the sacred grounds of the-" Root whispered in his mind, making him repeat: "-Heavenly Spirit Forest Sect?" Hearing that they were on the territory of a sect, they threw themselves to the ground in fear: "Great Immortal, we weren't aware we were intruding-"
"SILENCE." Leaf shouted, surprising even his siblings at how harsh he could sound if he wanted to: "My father shall judge you of your sins."
Root hummed, as the mortals were beckoned to approach- They saw the most majestic tree they ever saw in their lives, surrounded by several floating spirits, but what caught their attention were the four small humanoids, but even though they were small, they each emanated power with their very presence.
The group of 50 mortals started to despair a little, for they didn't know what was to happen of them.
Well, a sect needs servants, doesn't It?