Root Maker: Tree Cultivation

Year 11, Day 89

Beneath an Endless sea of Green

A swishing sound- wind being cut, a sharp object moving through the air at great speeds, or simply the very air moving -echoed through the endless expanse of trees. The sea of different shades of greens (from darker leaves, thicker roots and vines, to soft pale dew droplets that reflected the Nature Qi in the air) and soft shades of browns (the soft mounds of earth and brown moss full of Earth Qi) expanded through the horizon, and in the deepest parts of this endless sea of brown and green, a lonely figure stood still. Holding two swords in his two hands, Leaf softly floated a few feet above the root filled ground while he stared firmly forward, his pale green eyes stared deeply into the horizon of trees upon trees on end: “-!!!” With a swift movement of his arms in an X motion, the swords on both his hands blurred in motion for a moment before there was only silence- 

And with a soft melody of a whispering wind, this thin line appeared as far as the horizon could be seen. There was a wave of leaves that flowed through the wind, the scent of morning dew, and a soft wave of Nature Qi that flowed everywhere. 

-and all the leaves that were falling from the trees around him, were cut in half right in the middle, leaving the cut leaves in two perfectly equal pieces. As they fell, he moved his hands again, the swords seemed to almost vanish from his hands before all the leaves seemed to disappear, but if you looked closely, there were thousands upon millions of little pieces of greens. 

“Huff…” With a sigh, Leaf opened his eyes- sharp, relentless and full of will. He stretched out his arms, feeling them a little tired even though he was a being made into plant-like matter, making his body both physical and made of Qi. “This is… Amazing.” With a bright and warm smile, Leaf turned to look above him, where he felt the presence and weight of his father's mind and soul: “Thank you, dad, for this- it's amazing!” 

[Status]

Name: Leaf

Species: Greater Nature Spirit

Cultivation Root: Nature, Sun, Water [Legendary]

Age: 10 Years

Qi Realm: Core Formation (5th Stage)

Daos - 

Sword Dao (5%)

Equipment: 

Thousand Cuts Needle - 1st Sword

Thorn of Pain and Protection - 2nd Sword

Techniques -

F RANK: [Nature Spirit Cultivation]

F RANK: [Nature Spirit Floating]

E RANK: [Nature Spirit Authority]

D RANK: [Qi Connectivity]

C RANK: [Spirit Sight] 

A RANK: [Leaf in the Wind Technique]

S RANK: [Soft and Hard Blade Technique]

S RANK: [Sword Domain]

Dao. 

The understanding of a concept of something that is fundamental to the world.

His son, Leaf, had developed a Dao! “You're very welcome, dear.” Root stretched out his mind, surrounding Leaf's body in a warm hug from all sides, making the spirit boy grin as he spread out his arms. It was a good, strong hug! “Now that you understand a little bit of the Sword Dao, how do you feel about the techniques Tahsm has shown you?” Root pulled out a thin thread of a memory- A simple image of a man with hawk eyes holding a giant black sword swinging down and cutting the sky itself. “It seems simple enough now that you understand the Sword Dao, doesn't it? I bet you can do it- Well, you could do it, albeit with more brutal force than with skill and precision.” Leaf blushed a bit, feeling embarrassed as he remembered cutting meters and meters of his father's forest in half… The majority of the trees were put back in their place, but some of them were given to the mortals for their free use. 

Because those fallen trees didn't really need to be replanted. 

“I think I can… I'd rather not, you know, cut through the majority of your forest again, Father…” Leaf lifted his swords for a moment, looking up at the clouds in the sky- He concentrated for a moment, feeling his father's eyes focusing upon him, reading his Qi as it interacted with the Dao of Sword. The Sword Qi vibrated against the blades of his swords. Sword Qi, or Weapon Qi in general, was produced whenever something recognized as a Weapon is used, which was what he used to use his new technique that he just created: “[Sword Domain].” With a whisper in the wind, he swung his swords- 

The clouds above were immediately split in two. 

Root was really happy- he had given Leaf the last item he had received earlier today: 

[Dao Seed 

Rank: SSS

Description: A seed made from the wisdom and understanding of the Heavens. A seed that contains the physical manifestation of Dao Qi, which is only produced and can only be used once someone fully understands a Dao and uses that Dao. A single seed the size of a rice seed that contains wisdom, power, desire, destruction, dreams, and even death. 

Method of Consumption: By any means that can get the seed to reach the soul of the one who eats it. After consuming this seed, the seed will grow and blossom within the soul of the target into a beautiful flower that will wither and introduce the soul of the consumer to a Dao that they have the most familiarity to. 

Manifestation: Upon consuming the seed, the Dao will manifest itself quickly. It is recommended that the one who consumes it to be within touching distance of someone who has a good understanding of the Spirit Dao and is ready to help stabilize the consumer's soul. Failure on doing such will cause harsh damage to the consumer's Spirit and Soul Space.

Miraculous Understand: After manifestation, the Dao will give the consumer of the Dao Seed a Technique. This Technique might have any nature, but it'll be connected to the Dao that the consumer has manifested.

Understanding: This Dao Seed only manifests and makes a connection with a Dao for the Cultivator. Understanding the Dao is something they need to work hard on themselves.] 

He could have eaten it, but he didn't. He has too many Daos- Seriously!

[Daos - 

Spirit - 80%

Nature - 75%

Transformation/Change - 65%

Fate/Destiny - 50%

Lightning - 10%]

‘...Thinking about it, I should probably look into this Lightning Dao thing…’ He stopped for a moment before a grin formed within his mind, and with a single nudge of his spirit, Tahsm sent a message to Thrümm to meet their father. ‘Time to see if I can teach the Dao of Lightning to my himbo son.’ 

Year 11, Day 89

Lightning, Thunder, Shock

Thrümm was well aware of his limitations. 

He was not naturally gifted with the gift of leadership like Leaf is. He is not gifted with swords like Leaf is, he does not understand what he is doing- unlike Leaf, who knows everything.

He is not a great musician like Lily, nor does he sing as beautifully as Zylph. He does not share their special connection that even their Father praises and cherishes deeply.

He does not forge weapons like Ahteus. He cannot make things like Ahteus can, he cannot even make a simple thin stick sharp! He literally breaks everything he touches. 

He does not dance like Fiero. He does not have fire in his feet like Fiero, he does not guide cultivators that respect and fear him like Fiero does.

He does not sleep or enchants things like Namis. He does not have the same defensive techniques she has, he does not share her laziness. 

He does not change the world around him like Chaos can. He cannot appear and disappear like Chaos, he cannot bend and twist reality like Chaos.

He does not shine like Lumin. He does not burn like Lumin, he does not rage like Lumin. He cannot go supernova like Lumin can, he cannot even change the color of his lightning! 

He does not share the same connection Freeze and Frost have. He does not share the same synchronization they have, he doesn't even dream of achieving the same level of Resonance that they have- They can wield twice the amount of Qi they have, and they do it so beautifully. 

He does not have access to everyone's soul like Tahsm has, he does not speak to everyone's mind like he does, and neither does he have a radio show like he does. 

He cannot bend and break bones in an effort to study and catalog them like Bones can. He cannot understand a single word or even a single drawing of the book Bones had read over and over again, and he cannot even fathom what Bones is doing whenever his branches move. 

He is not as calm as Flare. He is not as serene and patient as the enormous magma tree that stood atop the Flareburn Peak, and he was not even patient enough to even dream of being rooted in one place. There was nobody relying on him like those Flareburns rely on her, and he doesn't know how to feel about it yet… He wants people to depend on him, but he also doesn't want the responsibilities that come with it. 

He is not as smart as Chrysalis- In fact, he is the complete opposite of smart. He was the dumbest, simplest of his siblings, and he knew it. He knew his father was a little disappointed when he was born so stupid, but Thrümm can't help it- Chrysalis was born to ever grow, ever change, always improve and always make something new!

But what does he have? His own deficient mind that cannot even understand a sliver of what his siblings deal with every single damn day! He cannot, for the life of him, stay still. He fights, he moves, he dances stupid little movements, he spends time with his Lesser Siblings of all Qi types and shapes, and he spends the majority of his time constantly pestering his siblings. He cannot, for the life of him, stay still and cultivate. He knows this, and he knows his father will be extremely disappointed with him because of it too, because he will lag behind and will never be able to fucking cultivate properly- His father, who birthed him from the lightning of the angry heavens, will learn of how big of a failure he was… And he fears. He fears that disappointment, he fears what his father will think of him, he fears what his father will tell him-

But he went, regardless. 

“Father.” With no fear in his voice, Thrümm stood before the enormous tree that was his old man. He knew that the scar, the enormous crack-like scar that had moss grown over it was a result of him being struck by the lightning from the heavens, and even after being separated from Heaven's Will, Thrümm couldn't help but feel slightly guilty about the damage it had caused his pops: “I am here, at your command.” 

“Thrümm, my son.” Thousands of voices whispered- to him, it sounded like several thousand thunder echoes in the distant horizon, but that changes to anyone who hears it! “I've seen that you have not made progress yet… Is there a reason for such a thing?” Even when his voices sounded calm and collected, Thrümm could feel the familiar weight of his dad's soul, of his dad's presence.

“I…” He struggled with the words: “I-... I'm useless, dad… I can't sit still, I can't cultivate, I can't even understand what I'm doing! Leaf has tried to teach me how to use a sword, Lily and Zylph tried to teach me music, Ahteus tried to teach me how to forge, Fiero tried to teach me how to dance, Namis tried to teach me how to be lazy and sleep, Chaos tried to teach me how to change the world around me, Lumin tried to teach me how to change my Qi, Freeze and Frost tried to teach me Resonance, Tahsm tried to teach me a few “basic” applications of lightning, Bones tried to teach me how to stitch skin, Flare tried to teach me how to relax… But I can't- I can't sit still! I can't- I'm useless… I'm broken.” 

“Oh, child… You're not broken.” His father's voice soothed his worries as a green hand with thousands upon hundreds of thousands of little roots touched his chin, making him look at the enormous tree once more: “You're different, Thrümm, and you need to learn differently… You can't sit still? Then don't. I'll teach you how to convert Static Electricity into Lightning Qi for you to constantly cultivate by simply being constantly on the move… I love you my darlin’ boy, and I mean it with my whole heart- or hearts, depending on how you see it -but you are not useless.” A powerful force lifted him to the sky, he soared and soon stood above the enormous sky, approaching clouds faster and faster-

“You are Thrümm. You are my son.” 

“...yes, father.” 

[Status]

Name: Thrümm 

Species: Greater Lightning Spirit

Cultivation Root: Lightning Qi, Wind Qi, Light Qi [Legendary]

Age: 0 Years

Qi Realm: Foundation Formation (1st Stage)

Techniques -

F RANK: [Lightning Spirit Cultivation]

F RANK: [Lightning Spirit Speed Flight]

A RANK: [Constant Awareness]

A RANK: [Lightning Reaction Speed]

Blessing: [Blessing of the Heavens]

-Author-

Thank you: Dallas Meck, jean, Kaleb, underdog121, DarksoulS, Maxwell Joseph, Ether's Blessed One, Jared Tate, Sin of Sloth, Harrison Brown, Golden Mold, Yerock, Robbie, Jeremy, ry10970, Me Me, Gabriel, Captain Dragnee, and Tah Ma for your support.

Yes- Thrümm has something similar to ADHD. Thrümm is the hyperactive lightning goofball jock. He is not stupid. His mind works too differently from others, only Tahsm and Root could understand his mind.