Arc 1 (Conception): (18) One-leaf
The next day, I stopped Quina from starting another war of sex again.
"Qunia, now we have all our lives to live together, and I want to make sure that this happens. I do not want another of my loved ones to be taken away from me, and all I do is amend with that new reality. So, I need your help. I need to be strong to protect you." and I kissed her on lips.
I know that I have strong skills to help me do whatever I plan with my future. But I have to make sure that my image of a backward village's weak merchant has to change gradually without raising any suspicion. I have many meteoric feasts to accomplish and cannot die here due to my impulsive behavior. So, Qunia, not only was my official wife but also a very crucial person for this change to come. I can do nothing without making her part of my plan and use her as a smokescreen to shield what has to come.
"I will do anything in my power and beyond for you, darling. Please just command, I am all yours." (Qunia)
"I need to level up first to level one. So, Next time you go for a hunt, we will go together."
"Sure, darling!" (Quina)
Soon we left for the fields since we toke all the lands and property of Zuya's family. We need to give extra time and effort to maintain all farms and animal ranch. With the sudden increase in the work, Pata and Rena also work on the farms, and so do I. It will be Qunia's first day on the fields.
While everyone is busy working in the fields, I could not help but remember Zuya. It can not be helped; she has left her memories in my mind and on the body and everywhere around me. When I see all the property, she handed over to our family through Tuner, all I could feel, as if she is telling me to never forget her. Look for her, try to bring her back to my side. It really does pains to remember her, but not finding her by my side. All memories cry to me as if asking, Why could we not be together?
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Today, I am focusing on collecting mature green-mist healing herbs. This is the best and most safe way for your level-up. It is said that all plants with healing magic are blessed with the High-Goddess of Plant-woods' blessing. Ironically, most life in this world survives by eating the plants and fruits created by her. Even so, no temple is sanctified to her or the High-God of creation and space-time. But it is said that High-God has transcendence space-time and is present in each and every being in this worlds, even other gods-goddesses. Thus, eventually, indirectly getting prayer. The only pitiful being is the High-Goddess of plants-wood.
Sometimes, I think, if I make a temple for praying to her. Will she be happy, or other god-goddesses be angry. This looks like the best way to get my revenge on all other god-goddess for what they did to Zuya, who are beings way out of my reach. I could not help in my mind but laugh at myself for devising such an innovative plan. The best place to revere the Goddess of plant-woods is a big tree in the ancient forest.
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In the afternoon, I reached to Qunia and said, "Hey, Qunia! how does the idea of going to the forest now, sound to you?"
"Good, darling! looks like my dear could not get enough of me last night..." She whispered the last part in my ears.
Her nymphomaniac like behavior, asking me to be her partner for sex every time, makes me realize how different Quina and Zuya are from each other and similar. They both will do anything for me if I ask, but while one is always ready to eat me, the other will behave as if mine and her having sex is just a job and does not affect her. Was her relation to me really her choice, or she chooses not to get exposed to having her first experience with me or was she following someone's commend. I still can not understand girls.
After giving tools and harvested green-mist grass to Pata, we left. Since my marriage, Qunia is always by my side. This added with the fact that now I am an awaken assures my parents of my safety and put them at ease, allowing me to move freely.
As Qunia is the only fighting power, I asked Qunia to not seek animals for the hunt. If possible, then avoid them. My target was to find a deep enough and big tree for making a temple. I know, what I want is, like fighting the system created and approved by gods. So, I need a god by myself to protect me for any gods wrath on me. After running for three hours, we stopped under a very regular tree. If you think about our running speed, we should have reached about 30 km in the forest. Qunia was fine even after running for so long, thanks to her level-1, hunter, and barbarian skill, but I was exhausted. I might have more skills but still was a level-0 human. I needed rest, so when I reach the nearest tree to sit under for resting. I realized who said that the tree we make a temple for praying has to be special or unique. Since she is the High-Goddess of plant-woods, does not that means she exists in all trees and plants.
To avoid looking like a fool, I made a story for Qunia, "Qunia, yesterday night I had a dream of a goddess, who asked me to come to this very tree and pray under it."
Listening to this, she could not help shy in shame, and her whole body looks as red as blood. Having the vision of a goddess on their wedding night means that the Goddess was paying attention to them and show everything they did. Due to her fear for the Goddess or her shame on knowing how a goddess saw her bold moves last night, she could only feel shy and did not even ask for details like which Goddess, etc.
We were kneeling before the same tree we stopped at; I prayed for high-goddess help becoming strong.
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Unknown to me, I was just acting on the suggestions inducted in my mind by the powerful being I am trying to please. What appears to be my idea was a projection to my mind of the High-goddess's inducted idea on achieving her goals. How could a mare human have an idea of on Gods-Goddesses? Even what was real and what was false and the illusion of someone else's thoughts are hard to differentiate if you start believing them to be true. It was like bigger than God is the name of God.
Therefore, the High-Goddess felt very happy about successfully getting the desired results of creating her first temple or sanctuary without even other gods knowing about her presence in the world. In her delightful moment, she gifted both of them one leaf. This simple looking leaf was no ordinary leaf as instead of falling to the ground, it was absorbed into both of their body. This gift very swiftly spread into their body, giving them some newfound knowledge lost in time.
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Due to the sudden increase of never known knowledge in their brain made them open their eyes together. Kola and Qunia surprised looked at each other. They were looking for clues of what was it they are feeling? Did you also think it was real? And so on. Anyone will feel that way if by just kneeling to a regular tree can give to a cultivation path, the whole world would do it the first thing to the tree each day.
Soon, they could feel a calm wave of energy flowing to and fro in their body. This energy was cleansing all the impurities and old wounds hidden in the body. After some time their body was surrounded by the bad-smelling stench of sweat from their body. The could not help but feel disgusted to this filth on their body and could not believe this was in their body all this time.
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That simple tree leaf was actually the cultivation method 'one-leaf.' This method is named one-leaf because its cultivation always starts with a leaf from a 'one-leaf cultivator.' Forceful absorption of any other external one-leaf by any existing cultivator will destroy all his past cultivation. This weakness was utilized to kill off all the cultivators of this technique from the world in the past. It was last seen so long ago in the world that all records are either lost or lying in some pretty old library corner.
Anyone with two or less awakened skills is not even qualified to learn any cultivation technique in this world. This practice has made sure that ordinary people do not grow too powerful to control and are merely cattle they raise to increase the chances of the birth of the spuriously occurring rare talents for this world's power-society.
Each level-up gives a human body increase in body attributes best suited for the body to adapt to the skill's burden. But this increase by skill or body level-up is never optimal for the body and waste potential of the body at each level-up done without the cultivation of the body. Hence leaving such people much weaker than any person who does cultivate and ensured that any commoner is much more fragile than nobles or royals, no matter how much new special is your awakened skills. So, an ordinary man's powerful skills make him more like a glass cannon than a strong deterrence.
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I thought qunia only had 2 skills
Yes, she does. but the restriction of only people with 3 or more skills allowed to cultivate was imposed by nobles and the ruling class of the society. Never imposed by world system made by Gods