"Eighteen thousand years?!?!" Kalim jumped with shocked expression, "That's a long time!"
"He was determined not to fail." Lotus replied, "After eighteen thousand years, pangu continued to push the sky and the earth apart while him and the distance grew till it was thirty thousand miles apart. And, when this distance was established, the sky grew firm and solid above as the earth was solidified in its place far below it. Pangu looked around and believed that the earth and sky would not fuse together again. With this, the darkness would never enshroud the universe again. Finally, he felt that he could finally rest frail and old body. He breathed a heavy sigh before closing his eyes and never waking up again. But, as he died, his vast body were miraculously turned to create the world as the mortals know it."
"His entire body became the world?" Kalim looked to her in confusion.
"Have you ever looked at someone's eyes and compare it to as blue as the ocean if it were blue or as black as the night if it was black?" Lotus explained as she noticed Kalim nodded, "Now imagine if, when the entire body becomes the earth, those blue eyes would become a small body of water. The people in my birthplace enjoy using such analysis. When Pangu, the Giant, died, his body became part of the landscape we see today. His large head became the mountain, so tall that we can hardly see what is at the top. His rushing blood became the rushing rivers and streams. The hair on his head turned into brilliant and frangrant flowers. The flesh of his body became what nourished trees and soil. His left eye became the sun and the right eye became the moon. His last breath became the wind and the clouds. His voice became the lightning and thunder. Finally, his sweat and tears became the rain and morning dew. When the people would later come to live in this universe, they would worship this giant god as the great creator and they would display great respect for the natural elements believing they came from his sacrifice and body spread out like a giant carpet under the vast blue skies."
Awed, Kalim took a deep breath as he claimed in admiration, "That's amazing! I had no idea your folks had such a cool god! You said that this is a story that everyone knows about? They must really respect the natural environment and are knowledgeable about plants, like you do!"
"That was before." Peony shook her head with a scowl, "That was a very long time ago. Though there are still believers now, they'd best have kept their mouth shut around others."
"Huh? Why is that?" Kalim looked to her in confusion.
"Because people in my birthplace no longer hold him in high regards as before." Peony answered.
"But, didn't he had many worshipers before? What happened?"
Ren did not say anything, but, inside, he could feel a pit in his chest. He doesn't want to know.
"I say mortals for a reason. It does not matter if you were a human, a beast, or even just a weed. Over time, these mortals would later become greedy and want more resources. Some of these people want more of the natural resources provided by his sacrifice specifically rather than those descended from the original first plant. In their studies and growth, the closer to the original that came from his body, the more potent and powerful it was. Thanks to this, many of the first plant species of their kind was sought after and torn out from the earth. This greed later spouted discontent when those resources ran out. No matter of money or labor could regain the first group of plant species in the world. Yet, they did not cared. The animals and beasts wanted to eat these to survive and become stronger. The merfolk wanted these plants to protect themselves with their newfound powers that came from eating these mythical plants. The ghosts who still roamed the earth wished to attain these plants to regain a body or to not move on in their life. Rebirth. Then, there was the humans who wanted these plants to attain the impossible thing in life. Immortality. Eventually, these desires would later clash against one another and rise conflict. Small arguments and fights sprung from these disagreements as the parties did not wish to split the resources or to come to a mutual agreement and understanding. Wars broke out shortly after that. Since then, it is known that, if you acquire something as valuable as those plants species, it will either create miracles from utilizing it or bring about chaos and destruction from the wars and greed of others."
"Huh? But, why can't they come to an agreement?" Kalim questioned in confusion.
"Because, when these species or artifacts are around, no one can control their desires for it. Animals would lose all sense of caution and humans would lose all sense of reason. However, as though those are not terrifying enough, these artifacts or species can only be utilized properly if those utilizing it are strong enough to tame the wild and untamed energy emitting from it."
"How bad is it?" Ren questioned her curiously.
"It is said that those who approach it suffocate under a very heavy pressure that is no different to the weight of a few mountains. Those who can't even take the first step do not even collapse. They are crushed so badly that not even the human shape is retained. It would be best explained as being crushed into nothing but a pool of flesh."
"So gruesome!" Kalim stammered in horror upon hearing this.
"What happens if the person can overcome this challenge?" Ren questioned in confusion, "Is there also a challenge after that?"
"There is." Lotus nodded, "The next would be to hold it in your hands. If you are not strong enough, most will simply kill you upon contact while others would be too heavy or fragile to be held. For plants, there are some that causes illusions or deadly poison. When you overcome this, items such as iron ores or magic infused stones require a equipment just as powerful to process them. Otherwise, not only would they break, but they would also cause harm to those around them and themselves. For plants, if you are not strong enough, the things they could do are numerous, but, one thing for certain, it will either make you unable to utilize magic again or it will kill you."
"And, people want these things?" Kalim questioned in confusion.
"If you can overcome these obstacles, you will gain something extraordinary as they say. However, I have seen records dating back to thousands of years. The last person that obtained one of these items attempted to created a weapon to dominate other kingdoms. However, during the process of refining a small piece of metal ore, the ore sent an explosive energy destroying the entire kingdom. When their king returned to his kingdom from a hunting party after feeling the vibration in the earth, he discovered his kingdom reduced to ashes and the palace was nothing but a giant hole so deep you could not hear a bar of metal hit the ground if released. Shortly after, his people was quickly attacked and conquered by neighboring kingdoms to attain this material. In the end, this material was lost in all the chaos that erupted after that incident. The person who recorded this information was the last survivor of that kingdom. That person was once a noble who had been reduced to a soldier during the war. After they were conquered, he was made into a slave before he escaped and made this record. Kings who sought the materials believed the last survivor would know something about it and was hunted down. However, when they came upon his small hut, the man had already taken his own life. All that was left was the old records of the old kingdom and those wars."
"Woah! So, those things are real!" Kalim gasped in disbelief.
"It would seem so." Ren muttered in confusion, "But to take his own life..."
"Really, it was probably his last effort not to get caught. For him, getting caught is the worst scenario in this case." Lotus explained, "Before the Red Dragon Country burnt a lot of their history books, the land was split amongst a number of smaller kingdoms and tribes. Wars shouldn't have been uncommon. But for my tribe, there was records of all the kingdoms fighting to get their hands on the next most powerful artifacts. Children, women, elderly, and even their own members of the royal family would be sacrificed just to attain them. It was not just the strong and noble men, but even expecting mothers were also considered. Those war orphans would become the first to be considered before all others. After all, with no one to care for them, people would not raise concerns or doubt over their disappearances. It's usually a common idea for those who want to achieve something at any cost, even throwing away their own morals as a human or a living being. Perhaps that was where this saying came from."
"A saying?" Kalim noted curiously.
"There is an old saying known for a long time. No matter how ferocious a tiger is, it will never harm their own cubs."
"What does that mean?" Kalim pondered in confusion.
"Harming one's own family member and children was considered a horrible thing to do to the point that people question if they were still humans by doing so. Hence, if they intentionally harm their own kids or even younger members of their bloodline, they are thought to be lower than an animal." Lotus sighed, "It's rather crude, but this was the way people thought back then and most still do to this day. Animals already lack the compassion to hunt for their own survival, but not even a mother tiger, that was thought to have been the most ferocious creature, would take the lives of her own cub. No matter what they think or what they do, they are still their children or descendants."
"I think I'm starting to understand what your saying a little now. That's actually a rather kind way of thinking, then." Kalim nodded with a smile, "If life back then was so difficult, it is still nice to know that they always put their family first."
"However, this does have their own drawbacks." Lotus shook her head.