When he looked around, he felt different; he could see the green particles still, dim, but there, they existed, and he was a part of them now.
"Now go, place your palm on a tree, and focus on controlling it, feel it, become one with it, then guide it. Guide its growth as if it were a part of you, then manipulate the growth into a tool, weaponry, or a piece of attire."
"Yes, Master Chi."
Tasim stood, feeling rejuvenated. He approached the bark and reached out with one hand, pressing his right palm against the trunk, and closed his eyes. He felt as if the tree had a heartbeat, much quicker than that of a human, badum, badum, badum, many times a second. He felt the nutrients radiating from the roots and climbing up internally through the use of negative pressure. Then Tasim felt as if the nutrients disappeared once they had reached their destination. He could feel the growth of the plant and could sense where each root led, how it intertwined with other trees, creating a blanket underneath the grass.
As Tasim became more invested and focused on the tree, its internal structure, and how it worked, he found himself becoming one with it. Tasim imagined the tree creating a new limb near his height, just that of a plain old stick, and it slowly formed. He didn't open his eyes yet, but he could sense it. The branch was perfectly circular with one pointy end, similar to a spear; the rest of the branch was smooth, as if the finest woodworker in this empire had made it.
Once it had reached a usable size, the growth ceased, and Tasim opened his eyes as he finally realized what he had just done. This was the same thing that the mysterious woman in his vision had done. Yes, it was a much simpler object, but he had done it.
"Congrats, you did that quite quickly. Most brats can barely make a mound on the tree."
Tasim looked at it, then broke it off; it snapped off cleanly, and the part of the tree from which the branch was born began to heal itself and shape back to normal. Tasim touched the pointy end to see how sharp it was, and to his surprise, it was just as sharp as a splinter. Tasim spun it around to find it to be quite light, well-balanced, and an overall excellent tool. Though when Tasim raised his eyes to glance around, he could no longer see the green orbs that once floated around.
"If you are looking for the 'green orbs,' then you should not see them; you must resonate with nature again to do such a thing, unless you become adept. Now then, brat, I'm going to rest, it's time for a nap." The old man said grumpily as he turned around, using his walking cane to return to his home.
Tasim followed a while later, returning inside. Once he opened the door, a strong, delectable aroma of beef stew filled his nostrils, and small bits of drool escaped the side of his mouth as he closed the door behind him. The sound of the creaking door caused the elderly woman to glance at Tasim as he entered.
"Oh, hello, deary. How did my husband's training with you go? He better not have worn you out." She said with a soft, motherly voice.
"Exhausting, but he taught me a lot, so I am thankful."
"Oh, I'm so happy to hear that. If you ever want my help on anything, I am here."
"No, thank you, Ma'am."
"Well, sit, food will be ready soon, eat to your hearts' content and no sooner."
"Thank you, ma'am."
"Of course, dear."
"What are you making, ma'am?" Tasim asked respectfully.
"I am making beef stew with diced mushrooms, carrots, celery, and onions. Beef broth and garlic with some thyme. And of course, beef cut into cubes."
"Oh, that sounds exquisite." He said excitedly.
'Oh lord, I am starting to sound like them.'
"Well, eat until you are full and energized, dear."
Tasim sat down, dragging the chair against the floor as Master Chi entered the room.
"Don't scratch up my floors, you brat."
Tasim quickly stopped dragging the chair and picked it up by the back instead, then set it down at an appropriate distance from the table and sat opposite the elderly man.
"I'm sorry, Master Chi."
"You'd better be after I taught you so much today."
Tasim rolled his eyes at the remark, and Master Chi gave him a look of disdain.
"Do that again, you brat, and I'm gonna hit you."
"Sorry, Master Chi." He sat his forehead on his palm, looking at the table, thinking Master Chi couldn't see his eyes, then Tasim rolled his eyes again.
Master Chi, in fact, could not see them, but-
"Did you just do it again? Don't think just because I am elderly that you can easily trick me."
"No, Master Chi, I didn't."
"Then sit up and wait for my lovely wife to make us food, though I should be sending you out to gather the food instead."
"Yes, Master Chi."
Tasim sat up and glanced towards the kitchen, where the elder woman was taking off her apron and finishing the stew with a final stir of her large wooden spoon. She looked like a witch due to the small black wart on her nose, but Tasim knew differently. The woman carried the pot over, placing the large pot onto the table as the aroma filled Tasim's nose.
'It smells so good.'
"Thank you for the food, ma'am."
"Of course, dear. Thank you for entertaining my husband; he talks well about you, and he shared how much he likes you when you were out with your friends.
"They aren't my f-"
"I don't like that, brat, don't talk nonsense." The old man retorted, scoffing as he picked up the ladle and poured him a bowl along with his wife.
"Oh sure, honey." She said as she grabbed her wooden spoon, bringing some of the stew she just made to her lips.
"Master Chi."
"Yes, brat?"
"Thank you for your help."
"Uh-huh, whatever."
Tasim soon followed after Master Chi began to eat, not wanting to eat first due to respect, which he didn't know much about. He picked up some food with his own wooden spoon, a cubed potato on his spoon that was soaked in the broth and smelled amazing.
'Thank you for the food, whatever entity created this world.'
Tasim put the spoon in his mouth and began to chew up the potato, after removing the spoon, the food was just as decadent as the smell had led him to believe, even more so. Tasim soon forgot about table manners, the ones that he had been taught to stay with this family. He began to eat much more quickly than before, his chin dripping as a lot of broth escaped his lips with each new bite.
Master Chi picked up his cane that was leaning against the table and slammed it down on the ground, producing a loud bang, causing Tasim to look up quickly, his mouth in the middle of chewing.
"Swallow, and clean your face."
Tasim gulped the food down, hitting his chest to force it down and gasping for air once he had finished.
"Yes, Master Chi."
Tasim picked up a napkin he had been given and wiped his face off, causing the napkin to turn orange and transparent.
"Don't make a mess again." The elder man once more reprimanded Tasim.
"Yes, Master Chi."
Tasim once again began to eat as the elderly man took another bite, but this time he did it with much more patience, taking longer to chew, to swallow, and to move the spoon back and forth from the bowl to his lips. His lips soon became parched as he finished the bowl of food, and he grabbed his glass of tea that he had poured from the pot that Master Chi always had filled.
The meal that he just finished was amazing, and he sat up, cleaned his part of the table, then once again thanked the elderly woman, addressing both the elderly woman and Master Chi.
"Thank you, ma'am, for the food, and Master Chi, may I go meditate?"
"Just remember to clean up once you are back."
"Yes, you may, you brat."
Tasim went back to the temporary room he was staying in and changed into a white blouse with white pants and a brown belt across his waist. Tasim pushed up his circular glasses and thus left the house. He went back to the area he was training at not too long ago with Master Chi, and sat on the bench.
'I need to get back with those people, and get the scrolls appraised and split the rings and rewards we have received. And I need to go back to the dungeon and back to that treasure room.'
Tasim scoffed internally and just closed his eyes as he crossed his legs in preparation to meditate.
'I will worry about it later.'
He slowly began to go through the meditation process, the same process he had gone through earlier, relaxing the body, relaxing the mind, erasing all thoughts until you thought of nature as part of yourself, until you became one with the environment. The green orbs that seemed to float around like spirits once again came into view, and after a while, blue orbs came into view as well, which symbolized his connection to water magic, hydromancy.
He watched as the orbs once again began to stream through the air into the surrounding vegetation and into his own core. The green essence no longer seemed to develop his mana core, and instead it seemed to just feed him mana, helping his body repair itself, and making him more vital. Meanwhile, the essence representing water did fuel his core, helping it grow.
Tasim sat there, meditating, losing track of time, and eventually an hour passed of him sitting in complete silence, listening to the sounds of nature that surrounded him. The sun was nearing its final act, dusk was drawing near, but Tasim decided it was time to go on a walk. He entered town, where he had met Anemone, and began to walk down the streets that once held many stalls for the festival.
He entered an average store with a wide selection, immediately going to the clerk.
"One pot of tallow."
The large man who sat behind the desk, wearing overalls and a dirty white shirt, stood, taking the cigar out of his mouth and putting it inside a tray.
"Sure, kid."
The man walked into a different room and returned with a heavy pot as he slammed it down onto the wooden counter, causing it to rumble.
"One silver." The man said lazily as he sat back, kicking his feet up onto the counter right beside the pot and taking the cigar back into his mouth.
'greedy bastard.'
"I know that look in your eye, this is premium stuff, kid, buy it or get lost."
"Whatever."
The man cleaned his mustache of debris and puffed out smoke. Meanwhile, Tasim pulled out one coin and put it on the counter with a loud click as the coin connected to the counter. Tasim finally picked up the pot, then it vanished in his hands as he stored it in his ring and walked out of the store.
"I need sleep; today was exhausting," Tasim said with a sigh as he walked down the street.
As Tasim continued his journey down the barren street devoid of any life, out of one of the alleyways, a stray, starving dog began to follow him. Tasim tried not to turn to show the dog that he had noticed him, but Tasim's conscience got the better of him. With another sigh, Tasim entered the closest shop near him, where a young lady resided; her stature and looks being similar to Anemone.