“The first thing you will need is the ability to sense your Spirit Root," Duk said. "To do this, you must clear your mind for any distraction and meditate until you feel the Spirit Root inside you. I don’t exactly know what the Spirit Root is or its appearance, as it is only taught by our elders. They say Mortals will know once they sense it. It’s a bit complicated, but I’m sure you can do it!"
"That’s a bit vague, don’t you think?" Cleo unconfidently said. "What kind of meditation do I need? Is there a specific place I need to go or an exact time? There are so many variables in your explanation; is that all you can give me?"
"I’m sorry, as the knowledge was only passed down by our ancestors. Currently, there are only a few contracts to our Realm, and such knowledge is hard to learn, as we can’t experience it ourselves. We can only rely upon the explanation of Mortals, who have different views on cultivating. So, I can’t give you information that might not be beneficial to you. But don’t worry, no Mortals who have formed a contract with us before fail to sense it. They just vary on how much time they take to succeed."
"If you say so, is there any advice you can give me at least?"
"Hmm… Ah yes! Most Mortals prefer to meditate in a quiet place!" Duk exclaimed.
He sighed. The advice wasn’t helpful, as he too knew that.
"Ok, thank you, I guess," he said.
Duk chuckled. It seemed he liked being appreciated. He better remember that, so he knew how to handle him when he sulked—not that he had any plan to hurt his feelings.
"I’ll try meditating later, as this is not the time to do it anyway," he said while glancing at the noisy monkey still annoying him with its request.
Ending the conversation, he scrutinized the beautiful plant beside him. Its appearance looked magical, as the leaves were shaped like a crescent moon, while the unique blue color enhanced the plant's beauty. Although he had seen a few plants in his life, he knew there was nothing like this in the entire world! What kind of fruit would it bear? Considering its appearance, it would no doubt be magical too!
"Duk, can you say the name of this plant again?" He requested, as he wanted to call it by its name.
"It’s Lu’na Fr’uctu’m," Duk said with no difficulty.
It was rather amazing that he didn’t bite his tongue while saying the name.
"Am I the only one who thinks that your kind naming sense is a bit difficult to pronounce?" He asked, frowning at Duk.
"No, don’t worry; almost all Mortals have the same problems," Duk smilingly said. "You can rename it if you want; that’s what other Mortals do, so if there’s a time you see the exact plant in another Realm but it has a different name, that’s what happens."
Different Realm? He couldn’t even leave the island; how could he go to another Realm? Now that he thought about leaving the island, he remembered that he sought to ask Duk if he had methods for him to return.
"By the way, Duk, I have something important to ask you," he said with a serious tone.
Duk seemed to understand the seriousness of the topic, as he stopped smiling and focused on listening. "What is it?"
"You see, you might not know this, but we are on a deserted island. Without help, going back home will be difficult," he explained. "But you see, I don’t think help will come to me if we consider what you said about your kind and the Dragon. The world must be in a panic about all the changes that are happening.
"I need to go home as soon as possible. I’m worried that my family needs my help right now. That’s why I’m asking you: do you have any method for me to go back home?"
"Now I understand why I didn’t find any Mortals in the last few days. I thought Mortals were just scarce in this world." Duk nodded in understanding. "Let me think if there’s any plant that can help you."
He held his breath, afraid of the worst answer.
"Yes! That can help you!" Duk exclaimed in excitement. But then his mood changed, and he became uncertain.
"What, what is it?" He worriedly asked.
"There’s one plant that can solve your problem, but…" Duk lingered, hesitating to continue.
"But what?" His heart sank, seeing the difficulty on Duk’s face.
What if he needed to do something evil to obtain it? Or exchange his whole life for it? All kinds of thoughts force their way inside his mind, making his already worried heart beat even faster.
"You will need seven years' worth of Life Force to create that seed," Duk sadly said.
"What? That’s all that I need to do?" He sighed in relief.
He already imagined all the worst things, but thankfully, he was just thinking too much.
"What do you mean, that’s all?" Duk said while the worry on his face was visible. "Didn’t you listen to my explanation earlier? The limit of your Life Force is only five years. If you forcefully created the seed, your body might not handle it, and the worst outcome is you dying!"
"You misunderstand me; I have no plan on creating the seed right now. After all, it’s not worth it if I’m dead. Didn’t you say that I can expand my Life Force limit by cultivating my Spirit Root? That’s what I’m going to do. As long as there’s a way home, that's enough for me! Thank you, Duk; without you here, I probably have no chance of getting back. I’m really glad I met you."
"Really! Me too; I’m glad I met you!" Duk returned to his sunny personality after the misunderstanding was cleared.
Having a goal in mind brought his motivation through the roof. Cultivation? He would definitely achieve it, no matter what!
However, before he could start meditating, what must be done must be done.
Looking back on the magical plant, He decided what to call it.
"Let’s call this one Lunaria, as it needs the moon to produce fruit. It’s also simple and easy to remember," he said while admiring the beauty of the plant.
"I like that!" Duk uttered, admiring him for giving it a good name.
Now, all he needed was to wait for the full moon to rise. For the time being, he must find a way to make the monkey stop its crazy antics. If he could just find a way to make it understand him. As his sight fell on Duk, he recalled that his language was universal and everyone could understand it. Was it possible that the monkey belonged to this category?
"Duk, do you think that monkey can understand your language?" He said to Duk while pointing his index finger to the jumpy monkey.
Duk glanced at the monkey, then back at him. "I think so," Duk said with uncertainty. "I tried talking to it yesterday, but I don’t know if it understands me, but let me try again."
"Then can you tell it to wait until the sun is on top of us?" He requested.
Looking at the sky, it was only a matter of minutes before the sun covered the earth in a golden blanket, so the monkey didn’t have to wait for too long. Even though he was used to having someone with a lot of energy—because of his daughter—the monkey was an entirely different matter. At least the monkey didn’t have an intention to harm him because, if it wanted to, it had already done it while he was sleeping.
"Can. You. Wait. Until. The. Sun. Is. Up. There?" Duk said very slowly to the monkey, gesturing in the form of the sunrise while he spoke.
The monkey stopped; it seemed it understood Duk’s words.
"Hu hu ha ha." The monkey replied with a lot of hand movement.
Seeing the monkey and a bear who had the same height conversing with each other was a surreal experience. Life sure was an unpredictable thing, as no one would have guessed this situation would one day occur to him.
"What did the monkey say?" He asked Duk, curious about the monkeys' words.
"It’s hard to understand; I feel like talking to a baby." Duk tilted his head. "It said that he wants the delicious thing, as it is very hungry."
"Tell him, if he doesn’t stop, I’m not going to give him that delicious thing."
Duk agreed and repeated his words to the monkey. It appeared his threat worked as the monkey quietened and sat on the grass. It was obviously sad, but he wasn’t going to fall for it; his daughter always used that tactic against him. He was already immune to that.
Sighing, he sauntered to his shelter and sat in front of it, while appreciating the sound of waves and the cries of birds. Duk followed suit, copying his actions.
After lingering for a while, he must now list what he had to do. First, a tool to boil water. Duk probably had a plant that could filter or even better produce water, but he wasn’t going to waste his Life Force if he could get it in the wild. The question was, where should he look for that?
Second, food sources. He must search for one, at least until the Lunaria produced fruits. Maybe he could find some on the west side of the sweet potato farm.
Lastly, he must upgrade his shelter, as it looked like he would stay on the island a little longer than anticipated. A comfortable place to sleep, not just for him but also for Duk and the monkey.
Finished with his listing, he stood. The sun was ready, so he could now create a fire.
After creating a fire and cooking the sweet potatoes, the three very different yet compatible creatures enjoy their warm breakfast while talking to each other like friends. If someone laid eyes on them, they would think that they live happily without worry.
But that wasn’t the case at all; his food supply was in dire need of replenishment; if he couldn’t find any food, they wouldn’t have anything to eat today.
By the time he was done resting, he had decided to search the forest for its blessing. But before he could prepare, something caught his attention, which he forgot about yesterday. The coconut was sitting there beside his shelter. He was supposed to open it using the plane debris, but too many things happened that it slipped out of his mind.
If he succeeded in opening the coconut, he could solve a problem with food and water for a few days, as there were a lot of them scattered on the beach.
Picking it up, he brought it with him and walked towards where he gathered the plane debris. Luckily, the debris was still there, in a rocky part of the beach. He put it there so it wouldn't accidentally cut him; after all, the edges were quite sharp.
Behind him was Duk, following him as the little bear probably didn’t have better things to do. While the monkey went back to its lazy activity.
"What are you doing?" Duk asked.
"I want to see if I can crack open this coconut," he explained. "Although we plant Lunaria, we still need food before it produces fruits."
The plane debris was heavy, so it wasn’t wise to lift it and use it like an axe. Therefore, he chose to place the plane debris between two rocks, while its sharp edge stuck out. Lifting the coconut, he carefully aimed it to the edge, wanting to cut it open using the sharpness of the plane debris.
With one swoop, he used all his force to bring down the coconut. A loud bang reverberated on the island when the coconut landed. All the anticipation and hope disintegrated into dust, as the debris didn’t manage to cut it open. Instead, the debris form was altered when the coconut landed against it. He didn’t realize the debris wasn’t that tough, as the coconut was able to bend it. But what surprised him more was the coconut's sturdiness, as it only had small damage to its surface; he hadn’t recognized its shell hardness until now.
"Do you want my help?" Duk asked.
He nodded his head absentmindedly, still in disbelief at what happened. Duk took the coconut from his hand, and then a retractable claw protruded from his paws. With a swift motion of his claw, the coconut was cut in half like butter.
