Chapter 8: To love is a wonderful thing
Whenever Sam became absorbed by his efforts at cultivation, time always seemed to fly by. Just like that, it seemed time to begin getting ready for bed. Even though he really liked this tree, he was still more comfortable with the spiritual Narra trees, perhaps because by this point in time he’d been spending nearly half his time in the tutorial within the safety of its embrace. Making up his mind, and deciding that he could give sleeping in the cherry trees a try the following night, he descended from his position and climbed up the sole Narra tree on the little non island that he was on. After his evening prayers, wishing for the safety of the few people he truly loved, sleep came rather easily considering the substantial distances he covered over the past day.
Sam had not dreamed so far during the tutorial. He probably did, but promptly forgot them upon waking up, as is normal. Tonight however, was different. Tonight, Sam dreamt. In his slumber, he saw an aged man with warm skin tones and an even warmer smile. He recognized this man, even though he never had the privilege of meeting him in life. This was his great grandfather whom he’d seen before through pictures that his father showed him. The man died long before Sam was ever born so they never got the chance to meet, even as an infant. His father always spoke greatly of the man, and though he rarely talked about him it was clear to Sam that his father deeply wished for them to have reached each other; there was always a deep and mournful longing when his father spoke about his great grandfather and from his father’s stories it did seem like his great grandfather was a driving force in the formation of dad’s character. Alas time is one of the few obstacles that humans couldn’t transcend. Whether this was a visit from beyond or simply just a dream, the affection felt just as real all the same. The man who looked to be his great grandfather embraced him and with that he slowly regained consciousness as though he were roused gently by a loved one who didn’t want him to miss something important.
Opening his eyes from the unexpected dream Sam was greeted by an even more surprising view. For the first time of all the nights he’d been in the tutorial, the night was not dark. All around him the cherry blossoms fluttered in the wind, each petal emitting a soft pink glow that all together lit the night. Each flower, each petal, though glowing softly seemed to exude such a grandiose presence of energy and evoked a mix of emotions. They danced in the air, carried by the breeze and Sam was just a rock amidst the river of beauty that unveiled itself before him. He didn’t know it yet but by the time his eyes opened Sam was subconsciously practicing his cultivation and stimulating his trait. He was in such awe at the scene, in ways that pulled on melancholic but beloved memories, that for the first time in a long while tears were falling down his face– creating a veritable river of their own. The flowers and their light danced their way through the night in the air taking winding paths like a river would. With every cycle around the grove that they took it was like they were making a statement. They were defending their existence and yet letting the world know that their beauty was all the more powerful because of its transience. After all, what meaning was there to be found if change did not follow? There was nothing to see in a stagnant world, and in their defiance these flowers brought beauty, they brought life and wonder. The choreography of the glowing petals reached its climax as they all came together like a great wave and crashed upon the Narra tree that Sam was on. Each petal that touched him suddenly disappeared like it was never there in the first place, and even though he was overcome with emotion he could feel something reach the very depths of his soul. The display made him reexamine his grief over his father’s passing that he had not been truly able to process yet; the pain of loss only being further testament to the truth of the love that had been there. Despite all of the hurt that he didn’t know where to direct, Sam still felt lucky that he had even one person in his life whose absence could cause so pain; he had read somewhere before that grief was just love with nowhere to go, and now he had an intimate understanding of what that meant; to love is a wonderful thing. The flowers coalesced at the base of the spiritual Narra tree and promptly began to disappear revealing a door of the same color as the flowers that seemingly formed it.
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Before curiosity could take hold at the events he just witnessed, Sam was more speedily taken by unconsciousness. He immediately passed out while sitting in his position upon the great tree branch.
[Radiant Soul Cherry Blossoms recorded in your Archive of Creation]
[Ancient Spiritual Narra Tree recorded in your Archive of Creation]
[Cultivation core, seed sown]
Opening his eyes, now well into the morning, Sam was greeted by some messages from the system. “I really need to stop passing out after experiencing something cool,” Sam groaned to himself as he rose to wakefulness. Seeing that first message from the system, and considering the fact that there did not seem to be any immediate threats in his surroundings, Sam nudged his trait to enter his soul space.
Within it he saw that the spiritual Narra tree was no longer alone. Its new companions however were incredibly interesting. The description of his trait mentioned that he could archive things he experienced and it seemed that this would not simply be limited to specific things or static objects. Adjacent to where the spiritual Narra tree was in his soul space was a new occupant. Within a transparent dome was a handful of the cherry trees with an imposing Narra tree in their midst and a similar scene to what he had witnessed of the petals dancing in the wind was unfolding except sped up and looping. It reminded him of a snowglobe just far larger and more magical in nature. The bookshelf to the side of these trees also now contained another tome. Satisfied for now, he exited and brought his awareness back to reality.
Before descending from the embrace of the ancient spiritual Narra, a distinction that the system seemed to make from just the regular spiritual Narra trees, Sam had some breakfast. Once more his thermos did not disappoint. Just as tantalizing as any of the meals he’d eaten from it beforehand, this time he was presented with a heaping thermos of braised tofu and steamed white rice. That same tingling spread throughout his body as it always did and his tastebuds remained just as satisfied as they had ever been.
After a quick prayer, he eagerly descended from his perch upon one of the branches. On the ground his attention was grabbed by what must’ve been a sizable and sturdy piece of branch that fell from the tree. Immediately Sam knew it would be perfect for him to carve into a walking stick, so with nothing better to put in his remaining inventory slots he placed the wood there. It was amusing to him what the contents of his personal inventory were. The mix was just a little odd and quite appropriately felt like him, the spear, the cold water gourd, the tasty making thermos, and a simple stick. As much as he wanted to start making the walking stick right now, he did not have the proper tools and there was still one more system message to go over.
[Cultivation core, seed sown]
It would appear that his efforts so far were not mere delusion; perhaps to form the core there just needed to be some sort of catalyst and energy injection which the glowing petals must have fulfilled the requirements for. He really wished that he had a sagely old martial master right now for guidance, though he supposed there was a chance he could go on a walk to find one after the tutorial was over. There wasn’t much in the way of descriptions regarding the cultivation really, it only seemed to notify him that he now had the beginnings of a core and not much else. He tested out his walking skill by taking a stroll about the island and he noticed a significant difference with the ease of activation and in the efficiency of resource consumption. Sam wasn’t certain but it also now felt like the maximum distance he could traverse in one activation was greater than it had been. Considering his skill used spiritual power, Sam wondered if spiritual power was essentially like the qi from martial arts novels. That would make sense considering cultivation cores always seemed to be heavily related to the usage and production of qi in those stories so if that was the case the improvements to his walking skill made a lot of sense. With not much else to see from the system, Sam turned his eyes toward the most interesting result of last night; the pink door that was now at the base of the Ancient Spiritual Narra tree stood there waiting to be opened and explored.
