Rowan sat at the very top of the Great Tree, gazing at his gradually greening homeland. His posture was just like Pain sitting on the tongue statue. The only thing missing was the rain.
Rowan looked up at the sun, staring at it for a while.
"So boring. So, so boring. I don't even know what to do." Rowan felt dazed. His body tilted, and he fell straight down.
A black shadow plunged straight into the ground, bouncing a passing pedestrian off his feet.
Rowan dug himself out of the ground and looked at his arms. The left one was broken, and the right one was broken. Rowan bit his arm. Immense Dendro energy surged out, and soon, a pair of brand-new arms appeared on his body.
Rowan felt that not being human was actually pretty nice.
"Rowan, if you're so bored, why not go for a walk? Or study with your mother."
Rowan turned around. The Goddess of Flowers, Nabu Malikata, had appeared behind him. He was a bit puzzled. *Why is she looking for me?*
Rowan didn't really like this Seelie. Sure, she was beautiful, her voice was sweet, she wore revealing clothes, liked to show off her midriff, and danced beautifully. But she was always hanging around his mother, which he found annoying. And the way she talked...
"How come you're talking normally? Shouldn't you be talking like this?
'O, child of the forest, if you feel boredom, you may roam the wide earth and feel the beauty of the world.'"
That's right. This Seelie usually talked just like that. It might be a Seelie thing, their race's natural inclination to guide human language and natural philosophy, which made her sound extremely philosophical whenever she opened her mouth.
Nabu: ..."So you *do* possess refinement, you just choose not to use it?"
Rowan: ...
"Forget it. Goodbye. I just remembered something I have to do."
Rowan's body launched forward like a cannonball.
The Goddess of Flowers watched Rowan dash off, lost in thought.
As a race created by the Primordial One, she held more hatred for the Second Who Came. She even wanted to use the Scarlet King in a grand scheme. But she couldn't bear to see him utterly destroyed, so she sought out the wise Rukkhadevata to preserve the spark of his kingdom. But Rowan... he was a complete accident within an accident. She couldn't understand how a user of Dendro, an element of seeds, could produce such a weirdo who ran around stabbing people with wooden sticks!
*A fierce and valiant son of the forest would not bring mercy to others. The forest is full of feeling, but it is also the most unfeeling.*
Especially that "Dark Forest" concept he mentioned. This was an extremely rational monster.
The Goddess of Flowers recalled Rowan's past advice: "Kill all the nearby demon gods, leave none alive. As for their subjects, let the obedient ones live, and kill the disobedient." Listen to that! Are those the words of a human?!
Then she discovered it. This guy's soul was asymmetrical. It was complete, but the left side was bright!
And the right side was dark!
What was going on?!
!
!
If she went ahead with her plan, his existence would be devastating. She had to take some emergency measures.
One day, the Goddess of Flowers found Rukkhadevata. "O, wise Rukkhadevata, do you know that your child's sharp-edged soul is... unusual?"
"I know. His soul is unbalanced. One side is overly dim, while the other is overly bright."
"O, wise Rukkhadevata, please use your boundless wisdom to explain why this is?"
Rukkhadevata felt her mood improve instantly. *See? This is refinement. This is culture. This is quality. This is professional. I just love talking to people like this. She speaks so pleasantly, and she's beautiful to look at. Not like my own brat, who's always thinking about either farming or killing people. And when he's idle, he just... thinks about nothing. I can't even read his mind.*
"According to my research, the soul resides in the brain. Analysis indicates that the left and right hemispheres of the brain have different functions. The left brain is rational, while the right brain is emotional. Creatures with a dominant left brain are better at judgment, analysis, and logic, and tend to be more rational. Those with a dominant right brain are more artistic and more emotional."
The Goddess of Flowers asked: "So?"
"Correct. He is somewhat emotionally stunted. I've actually been trying to find a way to solve this problem, but it's like searching for a single leaf in a forest."
"O, wise Rukkhadevata, has he ever laughed?"
"He has been angry, and sad. But never happy. To be honest, I've never seen him laugh. The strange thing is, his personality *does* have a sense of humor, it's just not very... lively."
"O, wise Rukkhadevata!
I believe the child of the forest needs to experience the mortal world's tenderness."
"You mean?"