The Story Of The World Tree And The Shadow

 

 

Tongqiu's nameless villa, main hall.

 

It was already morning and almost reaching noon; their routine has already ended and the maids were having an extra day off this week, which was today.

Since Tongqiu and Diana would be having an almost entire day for themselves, his maids and Natalia would have a girl's time, maybe? While the villa was devoid of any Tongqius or any Dianas, while they themselves had fun in another place, so why the the hell not.

At this moment, Tongqiu was coming back to his room from having showered after his morning routine, he had a light green shirt and white and black long stripped shorts on while the little of hair he had was still wet.

Natalia came out right at this moment with her hands grasping onto something, once she saw him she immediately came closer and said with a beaming smile: "Hello, dear Tongqiu, guess what?!"

Opening his eyes in surprise and speechlessness to this wild Natalia's antics, he was about to speak back when she best him at speaking first: "Here are some for you, these are from the medicinal bottle you THREW in the trash bin, sigh. They're pretty useful, you know? Here, you can grab all of these and bring with you a couple of them. In case of need, you know?"

Natalia then passed on whatever she had onto his hands while also finishing speaking with a completely doting and pampering beautiful smile on her face that was followed by a blink of one of her gorgeous eyes. He got enchanted.

By the time he reacted, she had already gone away down the stairs. With how she was walking, she opt to have a bikini underneath her clothes. There was a clean and big ass pool in the villa so it was more than obvious what kind of fun she and his maids were about to have.

Looking at those plump buttocks with freckles he already missed even though he just played with them not so long ago in the deep of the night, and for so long, made Tongqiu's mind become foolish for a good pair of minutes.

Shaking his head with the purpose of sobering up and freeing his mind from such a beauty, he looked to what was on his hands, it was a lot of things and he could barely keep them all on his hands.

Quickly walking towards his room, he put them on the bed as he inspected them. It was that light blue liquid that he used on Itnia that one time, to ensure she didn't have any problem when working the next day...

'Oh boy.' Oh boy indeed, Tongqiu had just now understood her meaning. Was she telling him to be careful when he 'acts'? But... Shouldn't she be a little more shy? Blushing, lowering her head and even trying to be quick on passing the 'message'?

'Oh right, she flew the moment she finished talking. Tsk, tsk; I don't even know what to think... of it.' He was once again falling into many, many images without restraint. After another couple of minutes of being idiotically daydreaming, he put on his gauntlets before entering Rising Essence.

In any case, he'd already spoke with Diana and in the course from 1 hour to 2 hours or so, she would be ready so he'd use this time to check upon his sub-classes and those jade pieces the 'young' man had previously gave him.

***

 

Rising Essence, on a random location of the Azure Dragon Sub-Division that was still limited by the endless forest surrounding them.

 

Appearing at the previous desolated area he disconnected at before, Tongqiu checked his surroundings 'properly' with his senses before diving deep into his Forge and Create sub-class branch, which was ultimately an unique sort of 'one for all' type of sub-class, if everything's according to his deductions that is.

Tshin~~

At that moment, an intense white glow surfaced from atop Tongqiu's head and moved onto the ground as it transformed into an exquisite short, beautiful and mighty woman!

As Tonkia appeared, Tongqiu immediately realized Irllytia must be having some training time herself so he didn't bother Tonkia about it. Merely flashing her a grin full of affection before going back to read his Forge and Create information. Tonkia didn't mind as she understood very well that words were not his first course of action of his choice, he threw herself at him. Her arms locking at his neck and her head resting on his right arm which was being supported by his right knee as well.

After looking at his face for a good while, she gave him a quick peck at the cheek before proceeding to read what he was reading. She didn't even need to ask as Tongqiu had already opened his Forge and Create window for her to read as well. They passed some time checking that up, with Tonkia pointing out at some articles -which was basically some crafteable items and the like- to which Tongqiu imprinted into his mind for some future projects perhaps.

At some point, Tongqiu discovered something utterly incredible. His eyes immediately widened at the sight of the article he just had his eyes set upon, his mind growing heated from all mechanisms in his head being worked up to beyond limits!

'Hoho, even if I didn't wanted to, I seem to be obliged to do some stuff, eh?' Having a grin form at his lips and bitterly shaking his head towards his old 'acquaintances', namely that young girl whom bestowed upon him the True Wish relic and her old man, Tongqiu proceeded to further more study the article he just now and then decided to look forwards to in a semi-near future.

Tonkia, however, was truly puzzled at his antics. Wasn't that thing something simple? Sure it seemed quite handy but, from the simple description of uses of that thing, it surely wasn't that important, right?

Shaking her head, since she didn't need to bother him about it nor overthink it for nothing, she simply relaxed as she placed her head on his shoulder from his back, lazily accompanying him at reading his seemingly boundless sub-class branch which contained maybe endless amount of information...

She may not understand much of it, but she did understood how Tongqiu's confidence was becoming higher and more solid with each article he paused for a moment to read.

Even then, there were some entire pages which were totally blackened, impossible to read nor even wonder what their appearance looked like.

Frowning, Tongqiu had one sole thought: 'Maybe is something from the next... or maybe an even more distant update? Something bigger perhaps?'

Meh, there was not a need to burn his brain juices like this, he simply engrossed himself with calmly keep on reading all that he could at the moment while also enjoying Tonkia's presence, silence, breathing and smell. He so much liked this little woman before him, which was always so tenderly awaiting his arrival without asking for anything else, if only he could bring her with him to the real world.

How beautiful could that be?

But how creepy would it be if there's actually a way to do it? Like using a robotic body while putting her data created from an AI inside it?

Tongqiu shook his head abruptly, such a thing he did not want to imagine, he wanted HIS Tonkia, not a superficially made one.

Befuddled at his even weirder antics, Tonkia had her eyes wide open while looking at his shaking head from behind; tilting her head, her eyes started to narrow as her face became warmer and warmer. She didn't know what was going on through this man of hers but, she felt he was thinking about her, that alone made her go 'puff' as her body completely fell on his back.

. . .

 

Between a span time of 40 to 50 minutes, Tongqiu finished reading all of the contents he could read -at his current level- from the Forge and Create sub-class branch window and proceeded to lay his back on the grass, deeply enjoying his body taking another pose from having been sitting for almost an hour in one sole position.

His lungs feeling as if he was finally allowed to free himself from some kind of pressure around them, his neck and arms relaxing painfully yet refreshingly, and a sweet, cute and full of hidden power little Tonkia falling on his stomach from having fell asleep earlier.

Plop!

"Aaah, Tonqiu~~, you woke up this little wifey of yours! Wah, you have to make it up for me, okay?"

Her sweet voice, however, traveled into his ears as a really foolish smile with his eyes almost closed formed. He burst into a couple of muffled laughter from having his mouth closed, as he then said in a playful tone: "Come here and cuddle then, I have a date with Diana today, which she so much deserves! So, before I'm cruelly abducted by that devilish minx, come and enjoy me completely, okay?"

Being given a harsh reply, she could only bring herself to her unavoidable fate and acquiesce! Her body falling dead weight onto him with the intention of making this evil-spawn crumble before her mighty, tender body!

Only to fail as her body was truly way too adorable for her own good, her blonde hair was plastered on his stomach, looking somewhat erotic. And her light eyelids closed were merely formed by the natural enjoyment from smelling his own unique fragrance, and from feeling the body she has had so much intimate interaction with that she can no longer feel troubled as long as she is just slightly touched by it.

She turned her head just enough so that she would be looking at the Tongqiu who was peacefully taking in the image of her blonde, emerald eyes that would change into a celeste colored eyes upon certain points in time that were still impossible for Tongqiu to decipher.

"Hehe." A small, simple laughter rang out as she smiled a little before lightly biting on his stomach, prompting another set of muffled laughter from Tongqiu.

After that, both of them silently looked at each other. Tonkia closed in on his head, allowing her entire little body to rest on Tongqiu's her legs reaching somewhere around his knees and her head being curved onto below his chin, resting upon his neck as a suffocating yet comforting feeling softly invaded his senses.

After some time passed, Tongqiu took out one of his few jade pieces and looked at it while having his arm extending to the sky. He contemplated what to do with them.

"Oh~, books!" Hearing her sudden voice come about as she sounded surprised and excited, Tongqiu looked at her without a care if his face looked more or less ugly with such an angle, and softly asked her: "Oh mm? You know them, Tonkia?"

Hearing his vibrations through his chest and neck, Tonkia's ears became slightly red and her face was one filled with enjoyment as she had one of her hands extend to the best of her capabilities to the one Tongqiu was extending upwards to no avail, as she then responded in a relaxing, sighing voice: "Yes! I had many of these when I was little, but they crumbled to dust after reading them a couple of dozens of times, waaah, I really liked them! Remembering about them made me a little sad. Tongqiu, husband, let's read them, okay? Together, that way we'll be able to read them completely at the same time in case they break after just one little glance!"

Hearing her speak of her past made Tongqiu have his entire body sweetened a little, and further more hearing her go 'Yes, yes, yes, yeees~?' killed it as he right away nodded and patted her bum in comfort.

"Alright, firs this, we can't check others after." He said those words calmly and as to make her feel even better, however, he didn't notice -or maybe he 'did'- her eyes go as wide as saucers and her body stiff before gingerly turning her head to look at him again.

Their faces were right in front of each other, Tongqiu had the perfect pov to look at this little matured beauty's entirely excited and cheery face, he then heard her speak in aggressive, uncontrollable joy: "WHAAAT! How can you have more than one?! Yay! Hurry up, hurry up, start reading, reaaaaad iiiiiiiiit~!!"

She then jumped on his stomach with her entire body once again as her head turned towards the sky, her hands also forcing his arm fall down as it brought the jade piece right in front of the two of them.

Information came upon his head as soon as he had the jade piece be in front of the two of them, Tonkia really behaved like a little girl being told some little stories to sleep, he felt different kinds of warmth form more than a couple of imaginable scenarios as he then focused on reading the damned, opportune thing to which he was now thankful for.

There was a title on it, and there was also information right after, he didn't have a single iota of an instant before he was 'forced' to read through it. After checking that Tonkia was nowhere near scared and instead had her eyes bright in a celeste color, he felt relaxed and allowed those dumps of information engulf his mind.

[The World Tree and the Shadow]

Also known as World Tree and its Shadow, or, World Tree and its Protector.

"There is this type of little bedtime story circulating around the entirety of all existence; one of beauty and complete magnificence. The stories vary, but every single one of them is true, as they are merely different point of views. Some talk about how a shadow was the plant that gave life to the surrounding life! Other talk about how a seed became what is now known, or was known, as the World Tree! Both have unthinkable origins, both are the ultimate type of existences across all life existing and even death forming! But one thing is clear to all those stories, all of them talk of only what they were known as. The story that the mindless, instinctive Shadow and the eternally cold, unresponsive, merciless World Tree had, is one that existences can not erase no matter how many of them had gone by. It was an utterly pity, when both of them were separated."

As the world crumbled, laws faltered and reality was shaken... So was their closeness, but not their connection! They've been living as one for who know how many existences! And the every moment they shared was but one were warmth, devoutness and infatuation would be ever so short for us, puny mortal beings, to understand of!"

"At the beginning, there was the Shadow. Later on, a seed was nurtured until it grew and grew! Becoming the majestic, omnipresent World Tree! With utmost care and since thankfulness, the World Tree decided to thank the Shadow for its selflessness and unasked for philanthropy. But, when it realized that 'its' Shadow was but a mindless, non-sentient being, its thoughts changed. The World Tree could've already taken the Shadow's existence for its own future nutrition and be done with it! Since it had not a consciousness nor intelligence, it wouldn't be different from massacring entire races and civilizations that would come with the intentions of taking the World Tree itself or/and its treasures for themselves, it would also crown itself as the overlord of countless universes!"

"But the World Tree's only thoughts and desire was... To give back what the Shadow had given 'it' back. World Tree had already decided to allow Shadow to take half of its consciousness, that way it'd have intelligence that'd let the two of them, omnipotent beings beyond the scope of even those at the apex, to be 'together'."

"But the Shadow was not capable, it had no Master and it had no emotion, let alone thoughts. Its only existence was that of nothing being formed into... nothing, for the Shadow, as invincible and immortal as it was, was not a living being. Deep in sorrow, World Tree became utterly hopeless and its entire body became withered. As many experts at the apex of knowledge learnt of this, they all hurried towards it with the purpose of killing it and the Shadow, and growing omnipotent themselves!"

"It was a pity that they didn't know that, even if they for some absurd reason managed to take the two existence's down, that was not the way to grow in power. In any case, when they arrived as World Tree was becoming lifeless, Shadow made its move!"

"It first went forwards, touching even less of an iota of their skin or hair with its own 'body', immediately making all of those 'experts' to be gobbled down to a complete nonexistence! Then, with the entire world as its enemy, it went through all planes, all universes and all realities to take down all life and create instead a wholly empty... everything, into 'nothing'."

"When World Tree woke up from its slumber after almost sending itself down to the unthinkable death, it became completely aware of Shadow's doings, as well as the reason behind it. World Tree was not scared, nor alerted by Shadow, World Tree instead... Became the Shadow's very own little obedient tree, its shadow."

"For who knows how long, Shadow exterminated the entire existence of everything! Over and over, and over, and over again! Nothing was ever left, nothing was the only result from Shadow's doing! Every time, all races would grown greedy, lustful and pathetic! Every time, Shadow would strike! World Tree, as the only living form going through all this, had Shadow become its own very shadow. At some point, there was no longer a mention or memory of Shadow existing, and the stories between became instead of the World Tree and its Shadow, always present as the World Tree existed. Even though it was in the middle of nowhere, in the universe, there was a shadow underneath the World Tree. Even if everything around them was completely devoid of light except for the World Tree's own magnificence, the Shadow would pervail, always taking care of its own little tree which was in fact, its own shadow."

"Until... World Tree's plans finally gave success. And both of them, separated by life itself, coexisted while at the same time being far away from each other."

"There's only a few words who can be heard at the moment of the World Tree's and Shadow's disappearance."

"Beloved one, you've waited for so long. Now I will wait until you come, I'll wait... I'll wait... find me, my love."

. . .

 

Blinking, exasperated, Tongqiu sniffed in harshly after reading through these contents in his head.

Just what was it? What was that? How come such information is... 'there'! Just like that?!

Sigh~

Leaving it be for a while, Tongqiu swiped his senses over Tonkia, she was completely still but he felt her mind be a little... chaotic.

"Wuuu... wuuu, wah, husband~~!!!" Crying noises, teary voice, Tongqiu immediately after took a hold of her as he had a warm grin plastered on his mouth, as if he were to do that, she'd be comforted more easily and quicker.

"There, there... they'll find each other, alright? Didn't you see it yourself? How much time they lived together? World Tree is surely waiting for Shadow right now, it's okay, ha...  hahaha, come on dear little thing, kiss me." As Tongqiu was properly comforting her little emotional wifey, he couldn't help but feel back to the times he would coax that little someone over and over again, all while having some bruises himself in one way or another.

He also thought of how this well 'matured' wifey of his behaved like a little girl right now, laughter was unavoidable but it seemed to work better than his warm grin from before as Tonkia responded by suddenly stopping crying and instead frowning at the little devil that Tongqiu was.

Her emerald eyes coming back, she gazed at the Tongqiu who would never separate himself from her.

'Such a treasure... I do am damn lucky, I'll... protect you all, forever.'

With those thoughts, Tongqiu checked the time after longingly gazing back at her little wifey, there was still 30 minutes or so before the two hours so he could afford to make the best of his and Tonkia's time before going out with his dear little Diana. Even if the first update in Rising Essence had already come out, he would still do the same, they were his source of desire in life, his... Shadow.

 

...