A new day, new adventures. No, a new day is a day you can laze under sunlight.
Marwa has continued his meditation. All the energy he could absorb from earth, air and sun was accumulating in the tree trunk. Excess energy was moving to the branches and causing the tree to prolong its length.
Marwa could now feel its whole tree body. But these feelings were somehow false. Not really was like his own…
Everything was connected to his soul. The woody texture of the tree was surrounding his soul. The tree was using his soul to improve and his soul was using it as a container to exist. This was not really perfect situation because he wasn't able to lead the earth element energy more. Just absorbing all kind energies. Since it was rooted, so earth energy was the most he has.
Despite this, his soul power was still impressive, and he could perceive miles away. It was able to see what is going at the other end of the continent. And it also detected many changes. The energy level of the planet was much more when he was a shaman god. As the amount of energy increased, it became easier to sense and control the energies too.
Humans… There were so many shamans among people. The number of shamans was eight times the previous one. That was a huge ratio… He didn't know what that Immortal guy did to cause this and those weird abilities to awaken.
However, he recalled that he had died during an explosion and that the energy on the planet had been drained almost completely. What did Immortal do to get it back? Why did the planet's energy rise again? There were many questions he couldn't answer.
He also didn't expect his power up would effect colour of the apples but can understand the reason. Due to his new body and his soul affecting each other, the extension of of his body, like apples and leaves, had an effect to store energy much more than any other ordinary fruits.
- Morning, Tiny. Do you like this new apples?
Marwa no longer created uncontrollable breezes when he talked, but his voice was still unclear. When he spoke, the branches and leaves were rustling.
The tiny red scorpion had never changed. Every morning, after wandering over all the apples, he was coming back. The only difference was that since the size of the apples grew, it's travel took longer time than before.
For Marwa, this monotonous life was quite enjoyable.
At afternoon, a group of people approached the tree. Meng Hao and Xiao Yan were also there. They all were wearing a green robe and had yellow straw hats.
The other group members could not hide their surprise when they saw the tree. The golden apple tree was about 65 meters long and the apples were the size of a melon. They were not able to utter any word for a while.
"We found this apple tree" Xiao Yan wanted to remind that they made a big contribution, so spoke with a forced smile.
A middle aged man among them walked slowly to the apple tree.
"You wouldn��t even tell us about this if those apples would help you to breakthrough continuously."
"Effects decrease after consuming more than ten apples. And it helps much more to people with earth or plant type energy types" Meng Hao said.
While Meng Hao and Xiao Yan leaned their heads forward in shame, the Union Leader spoke again.
" Specialists, begin to examine the tree. Remove all living things in one kilometre. Secure this area completely with formations and defensive barriers. Get all the core members here. I want to know all healing abilities of this tree can offer."
Union Leader gave orders one after another.
Within days, many green-robed people came into the forest. The apple tree was surrounded by thick and high plant walls which tries to camouflage it but not really succesful one, especially at nights. The small shrubs in the forest were destroyed and the trees were pruned. Shelters were built in many different ways with plant walls.
One of these shelters was built on the apple tree. It was obvious that this shelter was higher level than the others. It looked like a bud of a flower. A safe distance from the charm of apples, twenty young and beautiful ladies were waiting for orders with respect. In this beautiful looking shelter, a woman lay on a bed of cotton laid on a tree branch. The woman was in her 30s and had a peaceful appearance. Beside her, the Union Leader, a middle-aged, charismatic man, was feeding her some golden apples that he had sliced.
"Rikka, how do you feel?" The Union leader looked into the beautiful woman's eyes and spoke in a voice low and gentle tone, in which nobody was accustomed.
"Xiao Chen, I'm fine. I know you're busy. You don't have to spend time with me every day. Do not worry. Meng Hao is frequently visiting me. I don't feel bored." said, young woman. Rikka was the wife of Union Leader Xiao Chen and Meng Hao's sister. This beautiful woman had been doomed to bed since she was a teenager.
"None of the girls in charge is able to withstand the appeal of this apple. Only me, I can do this task. And what can be more important than being near my wife?" Xiao Chen spoke as he was cleaning the juices on the woman's cheeks with a leaf.
Rikka's health seemed to be better, thanks to this apple. Her cheeks were more colourful and her eyes were full of life. When the experts said that everyone could consume this apple, Union Leader brought his wife next to this tree. What was more suprising was the legs of Rikka which doesn't feel anything could feel it when contacted to the tree! So Xiao Chen did everything he can to prepare a mini house his wife can stay on the tree in touch.
"…Xia-…" Rikka had a big smile on her face and she later closed her eyes. From the edges of her eyes, two drops of tears flowed from her cheeks. She tried to smile, but she couldn't stop crying. It was impossible for her to control her tears.
Her husband, Xiao Chen, was the leader of an organization that protected people from creatures and was also a shaman that needed work. Around her, there were always servants whom her husband had chosen, but she was not able to see her husband. She could only see him once, once a year, sometimes once in two years. To try not to worry him, she tried to smile whenever they were together…
The last time she had seen her husband was last year. And now, thanks to the apple tree, her husband was coming to visit her every day. He was staying with her for a little while and feeding her. This was making her very happy. She tried to smile. But it was difficult to smile. Tears of happiness left her in trouble. In the end, she couldn't stop them. Her tears flowed. While her smile was busy to stop tears of happiness, then tears started to flow from sorrow. How did she live without him until now?
She had been alone for a long time and was used to it. She tried to remember the lonely days she had become accustomed to not cry any more. But now, next to her there was her beloved husband. How could she think of these lonely days? She looked at this man's face with love, which she could see once a year. She had to memorize every detail. Has he changed? Was the scar from last year healed? Why did the wrinkles under his eyes increase? Was he having a bad time? Did he feel lonely because she couldn't be near him?
"I'm sorry for not being next to you every time, Rikka." Xiao Chen's brow wrinkled, and he had tears in his eyes as well. He gently hugged his wife, whom he watched as a precious vase and was afraid to break. He kissed her cheek slowly.
Natsume Rikka and Xiao Chen were each other's childhood loves. Their houses were next to each other. They were always having fun together. When they reached puberty, they decided to continue the journey of life together too. When Xiao Chen appeared to have the ability to be a shaman, they were delighted and celebrated this for days. His harmony with plants in nature was high. He could help farmers harvest early and grow healthier plants. He was now a respectable shaman!
But fate did not allow these young lovers to remain happy. Xiao Chen left the village for a short period of time for shamanism training with his teacher. When he returned, the village was in ruins. All the houses were destroyed and the plants in the fields were destroyed. There were traces of blood everywhere. He couldn't find Rikka. He felt his eyes darkened. But with one last effort, he went to the nearest shaman union.
He was lucky. The village was attacked by a group of creatures called Hyugnost. These creatures were disgusting humanoid creatures. Their skins were purple and did not have high intelligence. Their most disgusting features, even after their pieces were cut off, were able to move with instinct. Stabbing to their hearts or cutting their heads wasn't enough to stop them. The shaman warriors came to help the village, though late. And Rikka was able to survive. Rikka and Chen embraced each other with great longing.
Rikka tried to escape from the village with many people. She saw her friends and relatives eaten by monsters. The crying of small children was still in her ears. She could not remove these terrible memories from her mind. Her legs were shaking in fear.
Xiao Chen and Rikka chose not to mention these bad memories and started a new life. But the tremors in Rikka's legs turned into numbness over time. Rikka couldn't feel her legs completely. The doctors thought it was a psychological problem from her trauma, and they recommended her to reduce the stress in her life. Every night, Rikka had random dreams. They were just dreams... Sometimes she was only mentioning those dreams to her husband to laugh.
But one night, Rikka woke up from her bed with a scream. She had dreamed that the Hyugnosts had attacked a village. Xiao Chen tried to calm her down, but all Rikka had wanted was the rescue of the villagers. But, Xiao Chen, how could he convince people to that? It was just a dream.
Xiao Chen was unable to deny his wife's request. With all his savings, he hired a caregiver to his wife and took home supplies. Afterwards, he borrowed money from a shaman's guild and went to the village that his wife had mentioned. He filled every place with formations.
As Rikka had predicted, one night, the village was attacked by creatures. Xiao Chen saved many people and managed to keep the monsters until the shaman's guild warriors arrived. But this did not change the result he tried to prevent. The village had become unusable and people were scared. They didn't want to go back.
When Xiao Chen returned home, he found Rikka while she was smiling at him.
- Thank you, Xiao Chen.
But fate…
Rikka could no longer walk.