Bab 5: Chapter Five
With his ax, basic hoe, and manual on flowers in hand, Celius finally reached the plot that was assigned to him. He knew that the area in front of him was the plot because of a small sign which stated the plot name and because of the bright red ribbon that circled the plot to outline the perimeter. Looking at the ground, he saw that the area was covered in trees and large boulders. There were even some small animals and nests around. He sighed and dropped his supplies within the perimeter.
'Let's see how much land I have really.' He only had a rough idea in his head because of the outline in the map he was shown by the old man. He didn't know how large the plot really was. He grabbed onto the bright red ribbon and began to follow it.
Following the ribbon, he saw that the density of trees was quite high and the ponds that he saw before were much further than he thought. Having ponds nearby was a good thing, of course, it gave him easy access to water and possibly aquatic life, but since they were a little further, it was more of a nuisance.
Walking for about fifteen minutes, he finally circled the plot and arrived back at his previous spot. It was large, but not humongous. "If I work fast enough, I should be able to get rid of all of these trees and rocks within two to three days. I could then begin planting, hopefully." Taking his top off, he picked up his ax and began to chop the nearest tree. Luckily, the trees weren't extremely thick like the ones he was used to chopping. They were much thinner, which made him progress faster.
His task for the day was to cut as many trees as possible, hopefully, all of them. He ignored the boulders altogether. As for the roots of the tree and the stump left over, he was going to leave that for a different day since they were extremely difficult to remove. Celius first wanted to remove as many trees possible. Plus, he could sell the wood for some extra money.
Half a day went by quite quickly, and with his current strength, he was able to quickly get rid of about half the trees. He was taking a break from cutting trees and gazed into the light blue sky. The puffy white clouds just floated in the air calmly, instigating some jealousy from Celius. 'Sometimes, I wish I was a cloud. I wouldn't need to worry about death, surviving, or any struggles. I could just fly about calmly and silently. No distractions or pressures, just going wherever.' He didn't hate his life, but it did make him extremely tired and depressed.
After his parents and uncle died, he was forced to take all the hatred on their behalf. Thoughts of ending his life occurred many times. The pressure was just too much, and the pain of losing his parents never went away. Being responsible for caring for his siblings, making sure they lived a happy life, facing the anger and humiliation from his clan; he was fed up.
In the end, he knew that death would just make his siblings suffer. He couldn't do that to them. His dad taught him to be a role model for his siblings, someone they could depend on when they struggled, someone they could go to in their worst times.
All these issues made him love and hate clouds. They were things that wouldn't feel such pain. Even trees and plants faced threats to their lives.
"One day when Rislia, Alura, and Elrith grow up and move on with their own lives, what will I do? Should I finally leave the world and go to mom and dad? Maybe only then can I finally free myself of this world. This painful world." His eyes showed great fatigue and pain as he thought about the long road ahead of him and how he needed to face it mostly alone. His grandpa would eventually become too old to help him.
Celius continued to lay there on the ground for a few more minutes before getting up. Picking up his ax, he began to chop at the trees, but this time with much greater strength. 'This is a good way to cultivate my body. Over the three years, my physical body has strengthened greatly because of this constant work. Maybe I can speed up my progress in Physique Purge by doing this more.'
The sun began to set, darkening the sky. Celius had finished chopping down all the trees a while ago and was gathering and stacking them to one side. He counted them all to make a rough guess on how much money he could make from selling them.
"There are fifty-three of them. Since they are thinner than the other trees, I would make about twenty copper from each. That should be about ten silver and sixty copper coins. Not a bad amount." This was the greatest benefit he saw with having a new plot. Although it was a one-time thing, it was better than not making anything at all.
He looked at the pile of chopped wood happily before turning his head and looking at all the stumps and roots. 'The easy part is done. How should I remove the stumps as quickly as possible?' This was the biggest problem. Removing tree stumps was usually left to people in Essence Engulfing since they had great strength. They could lift a few trees on their own. Some with exceptional strength could completely pull a tree, including its roots, out of the ground altogether. Of course, they would have to be in Essence Engulfing - Hell at least.
Since he didn't have such strength, nor enough money to hire such a person, he needed to think of other alternatives. 'Worst case scenario, I can ask grandpa to get rid of these roots. He is strong enough for it.' This was his last option. He didn't want to strain his grandpa since he was already quite old.
After making sure everything was in order, he picked up his manual with information on the flower and began to read through it to see what kind of environment and land would be considered perfect.
White Boulder Flower: A large flower with a white stem with green linings, and white spiky petals. It has a grey boulder shaped ovary and rocky stigma. It can be used to craft body strengthening elixirs, pills, and soups. Eating it raw will also help to slightly strengthen the physical body, but such a method will turn parts of consumers body as hard as a rock, bringing immense pain. Best grown in a rocky environment. The most efficient method is to place seeds inside rocks and then burying them. Avoid getting water on ovaries of the flower, or else it will slow in growth or even die from corrosion. At full maturity, the flower should weigh anywhere from one hundred to two hundred pounds.
Celius continued to read the information. He didn't find it shocking that such a plant existed since in the world there are even weirder plants and creatures. The only thing that made him frown was the weight of the flower. It was extremely heavy, but that wasn't the worst problem. As the flower was an essence herb, its roots were extremely hard to pull out.
He continued to read the manual and found various ways to harvest the flower. Using the trowel to dig it out was a dumb idea because it would damage the plant, plus the roots were so long that it was impossible to use it unless he dug very deep, but that would only damage the land and waste his time. He also couldn't cut the stems since the flower was as hard as a rock, and his strength was just not high enough.
Reading more and more, he finally found a usable method. It was to make small hills of soil and place the rocks at the peak. With that, he still needed to dig them out, but he just wouldn't need to go as deep. It reduced the number of flowers he could grow, but with his strength, it was the best method.
Completing the manual and understanding some other information that could be useful, such as the amount of water, exposure to sunlight, and the best rocks to use, Celius began to calculate the approximate number of seeds he could plant in each batch.
"Each hill has to be at least a meter high which makes each hill take a good amount of space. I could maybe grow thirty to forty flowers at a time." This was his guess. His plot was pretty large. Plus, not everything had to be hills on the surface, he could make craters and place seeds in those as well. Of course, those seeds wouldn't be up for harvest since they would be too difficult to remove. It was a long process, but the gains were pretty good.
He picked up his ax and unused hoe, before heading back. It was dark and he needed to get home before his siblings began making a ruckus.
"Ehhh! I want brother!" As he got closer to his house, he heard a little girl's voice. "Me too! Where is brother! I want brother!" He heard another voice, but this time it was that of a boy.
Celius hurried his steps and quickly entered the house. He saw Rislia, Alura, and Elrith bawling their eyes out. Grandpa Amlenor was trying his best, but nothing was working. "Rislia, don't cry, your brother will be home soon. Don't cry. Elrith, Alura, stop crying. Do you want some candy?"
"No, we want brother! Where is he?!" Alura shouted sadly as tears streamed down her cheek. Her cheeks were a little red, as snot came out her nose.
Celius was surprised to see such a scene. He quickly placed his supplies down. "Guys, I'm back. Why are you crying?"
When the three heard his voice, they quieted down for a second before bawling again. Alura and Elrith came running to Celius as Rislia struggled out from her grandpa's arms.
"Brother! Brother!" Elrith and Alura had snot and tears covering their faces as they wiped it on his pants. Rislia finally struggled out from her grandpa's arms and ran to him as well. "Brother, where were you?!"
Celius sat down on the ground and began to wipe their faces with his shirt which was on his shoulder. He didn't wear it when he was working so it wasn't sweaty, but there was grass here and there. "Come on guys, stop crying. I'm home now, aren't I?" Alura was the first to calm down as she just grabbed his arm and sat down, playing with his hand. Elrith, on the other hand, continued to cry.
"Where were you the whole time? Why did you come so late?" He didn't have his stick in hand and just kept talking.
Sighing helplessly, he placed both Elrith and Rislia on his lap as he calmed them down. "Alright, tell me why you guys were crying. Aren't you guys big kids now? And what about grandpa? He is so old that he can't keep hearing you guys cry or he will go crazy."
"Hehe." Elrith giggled a little through his tears. "You took so long. Why were you late?" He asked again.
"Brother was busy with work." He didn't know how to explain it to them. He then looked at Alura who was quietly playing with his hand as she sniffled silently. "Alura, why are you crying? You're their big sister. You should take care of them."
She looked up and stared at Celius before going back to playing with his hand. "I just missed you. Mom and dad are always working too, we never see them. I don't want you to work forever like mom and dad." Hearing her words, both Celius and Grandpa Amlenor stiffened. They looked at each other as their faces became a little heavy.
Alura mumbled these words, but both of them could hear the loneliness in her voice. Celius patted her head with the hand she was playing with and smiled gently. "Alura, I won't work like mom and dad. I won't ever, alright? So, come and give brother a kiss." Seeing him smile at her, Alura got up and walked to him slowly before planting a kiss on his cheek.
Elrith also got off his lap and kissed him. Rislia followed her siblings and gave Celius a large kiss. "Ok, haha, that's enough." Feeling their small lips tickling his face, he couldn't help but laugh.
Then a thought suddenly struck him. He turned his head and looked at his grandpa. "Grandpa, isn't aunty Esadora coming to the clan soon?"
Grandpa Amlenor pondered for a moment before a bright smile appeared on his face. "That's right, she should be coming within the week."
Celius smiled brightly thinking about his aunt before looking at his siblings. "Did you hear that? Aunty Esadora is coming to visit you guys soon."
"Aunty? She's coming? Yay!" Alura and Elrith still had some memories that they recalled with their aunt who visited them twice a year. Rislia, on the other hand, was confused as she looked at her cheering siblings suspiciously.
"Who is aunty?" She looked at Celius and asked while grabbing both his cheeks.
"Rislia, aunty is dad's little sister. She always brings you toys to play with." Aunty Esadora was his dad's younger sister, meaning his grandpa's only surviving child. She was married many years ago and lived with her husband in a nearby town. Since she lived a little bit away, plus traveling was difficult without proper protection, she could at most visit twice a year.
Aunty Esadora would visit and bring her two kids along every time. The oldest was three years younger than Celius, while the youngest five years younger than him. The former was a boy, while the latter a girl. Celius could be considered an old playmate of his male cousin, but that was before his parents died. After that, he had no time to play and the two drifted apart.
"I want to play with Aunty. Where is she?" Rislia looked around quickly, causing both Celius and Grandpa Amlenor to laugh.
"She isn't here yet, but she will come soon." Celius stroked his youngest sisters' silky hair as he explained.
He then got up from his spot, not picking Rislia up. "Alright, I'm going to quickly get washed up. Do you guys want to eat at home or go out and buy some food?" Unlike the time when he went to the Grey Tiger shop, he would usually take his siblings to much cheaper shops to get some food when they would get sick of fish and clams. Plus, it was not always healthy to eat the same thing over and over again. His siblings needed to eat vegetables and other foods as well.
"We want brother's cooking." All three screamed at the same time. Celius nodded his head and walked into the kitchen to see what he could make. He opened up different cabinets and even the icebox. He only had a few fish and clams, and a couple of potatoes.
'I forgot to get ingredients for dinner today.' He walked out and looked at the three. "Alright, let's go to the market and buy some ingredients. You guys can also pick what you like." Since he had a few silvers left he could get lots of ingredients.
The three of them cheered. Celius looked at Grandpa Amlenor, who shook his hand at him. "You go ahead, I can't join you for today. I need to go and get some paperwork done for the clan." Celius nodded his head.
"Oh right, grandpa, would it be possible for you to inform the elder in charge of wood to send someone to me tomorrow? I have fifty-three Kama Trees that I want to sell to them. You can discuss the price for me, but make sure to keep the price for each tree at a minimum of fifteen copper." Grandpa Amlenor agreed and left the house right after.
Celius quickly got washed and also readied his siblings before heading out as well.
Ennie looked at her mother who was prepared to go out. "Mom, are you going to the night market?" The night market was similar to the normal market, but it was filled with lights under the night sky, and there would be random kid games here and there. It was almost like a festival.
"Yeah, do you want to come along? I wanted to get your sister some clothes." Ennie nodded and quickly went to get changed. Coming back out, she was wearing a pretty blue skirt which outlined her stunning figure. Although Ennie focused on cultivating, she loved to show off her looks which were considered exceptional.
Her mother laughed seeing her daughter. "Let's go then." They set off.
Celius arrived at the night market with his siblings. "Brother, are you making a meat dish or a vegetable one?" Elrith looked at him and asked. Arnin tapped his little nose before saying with a smirk.
"I know you want a meat one, but this time I'm making a vegetable. You have to eat everything, or you'll never grow up to be a strong swordsman." This was Celius' favorite threat to use against Elrith. It would make him do anything.
"Ah!" Elrith showed a shocked expression before it became serious. "I will eat! I must become the strongest swordsman." Seeing such a scene made Celius and his sisters giggle.
"You're so weird, Elrith." Alura tapped his forehead as she spoke, trying to act like a big girl.
"Weird? Why?" He looked at his twin sister in confusion. She always called him weird, but it never made sense as to why she did.
She giggled as she tapped his forehead again. "I don't know. You're just weird." After saying that, she grabbed Celius' hand and continued to walk.
Elrith grunted before following behind. He couldn't hold Celius' other hand since he was carrying Rislia, so he just held his trousers. Elrith then looked up and stared at his youngest sister before asking, "Rislia, am I weird?"
Rislia looked down in confusion. She then shook her head. "No, you're Elrith."
"Pfft!" Celius couldn't help but choke a little. He looked at his adorable sister and kissed her cheek. Looking down, he smiled at Elrith. "You're good weird, like me and grandpa. Uncle was also weird, so don't get angry. Alright?"
Hearing his words, Elrith pondered for a moment before smiling and nodding his head. He then looked at Alura smugly. "See, I'm good weird. Good weird."
"No, you're just weird." Listening to the two argue, Celius began to feel his head hurt.
After walking for a while, they finally reached a stall which was selling different herbs and vegetables. There was a middle-aged woman behind this stall and Celius nodded towards her. Wrapped around his arm was a large empty bag for him to carry the ingredients.
He then began to feel and smell each item, finding the good quality ones. The middle-aged woman didn't say anything since this was quite normal, plus not many liked speaking with Celius.
"Miss, give me these two, these three, a stalk of this, and…" He named about ten different items. The woman did just that and then wrapped it up for Celius. The total was seventy copper, which Celius paid happily. Ingredients were much cheaper than full dishes. Especially vegetables, they were the cheapest.
Getting what he needed, he put them into his bag before walking to another stall. This time, he chose a bunch of different fruits. The total was about fifty copper. Next, he walked to a stall selling spices. He went to different stalls, and finally got everything he needed. From his initial two silver, he was left with barely twenty copper, luckily, he got enough ingredients to last him a month.
"Let's go home, guys. Celius placed Rislia on the ground and pulled her little arm while calling out to Alura and Elrith. Both of them nodded and followed along.
"Up, up!" Rislia stopped walking after a few minutes and raised her arms to Celius. The latter saw this and sighed, He picked her up and carried her again.
"Me too. Put me on your shoulders." Elrith also whined a little. Celius nodded his head and knelt on the ground, letting Elrith climb on. Alura was forced to stay on the ground because there was no more space in his arms, but she didn't seem to mind.
"Sorry, Alura. Do you want to take turns with Elrith?" Alura shook her head and smiled sweetly.
"I'm alright, I like walking. Plus, you're tired brother." The way she spoke made Celius really happy.
"Wow, you're such a good girl Alura. When we get home, do you want to make the food with me?" Unlike Elrith, Alura didn't really have much of a passion. She just did whatever, so Celius would try to get her to do many things with him. Sometimes cooking, gardening, and even catching fish. His goal was to get her to like something with a passion so that she could concentrate on something.
"Sure, I will help." She smiled back sweetly.
Ennie had arrived with her mom and sister to the market a while ago. They already got the clothes and were heading back home. Being curious about the surroundings, Ennie's little sister suddenly saw something and screamed a little.
"Mommy, me too, me too. Hold me like that, it looks fun." Her mother looked over and said with some surprise while looking at Ennie.
"Isn't that the person you were talking about today, Ennie? Celius?" Hearing her mother's words, Ennie turned her head quickly and saw a young boy, taller than herself, holding onto a large bag in one hand, a little girl in the other, with a little boy on his shoulder. There was also a small girl walking beside him, holding onto his trousers.
"Do you want to go and say hello?" She asked Ennie with a small smile. Although people disliked Celius because his dad and uncles' actions in the past, Ennie's mother didn't truly care about such things. She was one of the few that did pity him slightly. Of course, she didn't extend much of a helping hand since she herself had so much on her plate.
"Yeah, let's go." Ennie quickened her speed and rushed towards Celius. Her sister and mother followed closely behind albeit a little slower.
"Elrith, hold on tightly, but don't pinch my ears, that hurts." Celius felt a little speechless with his little brother. Not only was he sitting on his shoulders when he was carrying such a load, Elrith kept playing with his ears, pinching and twisting them, trying to make him do weird turns.
"Hehe, come on brother, it's fun." Elrith replied rather cheekily.
"No, it hurts. Just sit tight, and don��t fool around." He sighed a little.
"Celius!" Suddenly, he heard a feminine voice coming from behind. It sounded familiar. Slowly, he turned his body, trying not to drop anything or anyone. He saw a pretty girl running towards him with a middle-aged woman holding a small child following closely behind. "Ennie?"
He walked towards her with a smile.
"What are you doing here?" She asked him this since she couldn't really see inside the closed bag.
"Just here to get some ingredients for dinner. What about you? Are you here with your mother?" He looked behind Ennie and saw that the woman finally caught up. "Hello, miss."
A gentle smile appeared on his face as he looked at Ennie's little sister. "Hey, little one, who might you be?"
The little girl looked at Celius' gentle smile and couldn't help but giggle a little. "I'm Luna." Her voice was very cute, plus she was younger than Rislia, so she even looked more baby-like.
"Wow, what a pretty name. Just like the moon, right?" Celius had loads of experience with children since he raised his siblings. To him, talking with a child was very easy.
Luna's eyes brightened as she looked at the large white moon. "Yeah, like the moon. Hehe." Her mother also smiled a little as she looked at Rislia, Elrith, and Alura.
"You three are out here with your brother? Having fun?" She felt a little speechless seeing Celius being held by the three so tightly but also felt more pity. 'Really, such a good brother. His life is really difficult.'
"Yeah, it's fun, aunty. I'm going to help brother make dinner today. Hehe." Alura was the first to speak out. Elrith followed closely behind. "Yeah, while she helps brother make food, I'm going to fight the demons and protect Rislia with my sword." He patted his chest and showed a heroic look on his face.
The mother couldn't help but laugh. She then looked at Rislia, who snuggled deeply into Celius' chest. "What about you, cutie?"
"I-I'm going to play with brother." She spoke in a mouse-like voice. Out of the three, she was the worst with strangers.
Hearing her reply, the mother smiled and nodded her head. She then focused on Celius who was quietly conversing with Ennie.
"Celius, how are you doing?" She asked with a little bit of sadness in her tone.
The way she spoke didn't really catch a reaction from Celius as he looked at her with a normal expression on his face. "I am fine, Miss. What about yourself?"
Although his reply was normal, the mother noticed that he acted a little distant. Rather than calling her aunty or anything alike, he referred to her as miss. She felt a little uncomfortable being called that by a nephew, but she couldn't say anything either. Although she pitied him and never did anything wrong to him, she also didn't extend a hand to him during his worst times. The only people to support him were his aunt Esadora, his grandpa, and a rare few friends.
"I'm fine as well. So, what were you planning on making for dinner? Maybe I could learn something." She laughed a little, but there was no mockery or undermining in her tone. Just curiosity and bits of concern. 'If he doesn't have anything nice to make, I could help him now. Now that I see him, I feel bad for not helping him before.'
Celius shook his head before smiling plainly. "Nothing too great, just a dish my mom used to make. Potatoes with spinach and garlic, plus a few spices. Only a simple dish." Hearing Celius mention his dead mother, Yinsi, made the woman a little sorrowful.
Nodding her head, the woman thought for a moment before her eyes brightened a little. "Celius, why not come to my place for dinner tonight?" Caught off guard, both Ennie and Celius were shocked.
Hesitating for a moment, he declined politely. "Thank you for the offer, Miss, but it is better if I don't." Celius spoke slowly, trying to give the mother a message indirectly, which she of course understood. The mother sighed a little asking speaking more.
"Don't worry about such things Celius. Come over and have dinner with us, we would all be happy to have you over." Ennie also looked at Celius. After speaking to Celius and learning from him about being an older sibling, she felt like she understood him a little more. This made her want to hang around him more.
"Yeah, Celius, just come. Look, it will be fun, plus Rislia and Luna are similar in ages so they could become friends." Ennie persisted which made Celius a little hesitant. He then looked at the mother before asking slowly.
"Will your husband be alright with this." She knew the reason he was asking this. It was mostly the males in the clan that looked badly at Celius, with some even mistreating him openly.
"It's alright, he won't mind." After confirming with her, he agreed reluctantly.
"Thank you very much then. Would it be alright if I dropped these things off at home first then?" The mother nodded her head happily.
"Of course. Let us come along since we are already together." Celius accepted and all of them walked towards his home together. Ennie's mother was called Vena Illeaf so the three kids referred to her as aunty Vena while Celius continued to call her Miss Vena.
As they walked towards Celius' home, Aunty Vena noticed that it was quite isolated from the others. She couldn't help but sigh a little.
When they finally reached his home, Celius invited them in for a bit as he quickly stored the ingredients. "Miss Vena, would you like to use any spices? I got fresh fruits and vegetables as well if you would like to see."
"Sure." Aunt Vena walked into the kitchen and looked at everything that Celius got. She couldn't help but feel astonished. "Celius, you really have an eye for the good stuff."
Celius smiled at her as he slowly stored some items. "One gets better with more practice, plus I am still lacking when compared to veterans like you, hehe." Hearing his humble words, Aunt Vena smiled slightly. As she helped him with storing items, she saw a weird fruit and couldn't help but lift it up.
"Ashe Fruit? What do you use this for? I didn't know this could be used for cooking." She became curious as her eyes were glued onto the round, black fruit which was covered in dust like sprinkles.
Celius walked over and took the fruit. "Let me show you. It is a trick that my aunt Esadora showed me." He grabbed a knife before cutting it into half. A grey fluid came out of the center. Celius grabbed a red spice from the cabinets and a bowl. He poured the grey liquid into the bowl before adding the red spice. He then grabbed another smaller fruit, which resembled a grape, but it was yellowish pink. He peeled its skin and placed it into the bowl before adding a bit of salt and more red spice, he also added a bit of water. He mixed it together before getting a spoon and handing the bowl to aunt Vena. "Try it, my aunt calls it Ashe Fruit Soup."
Aunt Vena saw all the professional and experienced moves that Celius made and couldn't help but nod in approval. She looked into the bowl in front of her. It was surprisingly a pinkish colored liquid, rather than grey or black. It also gave off a very nice aroma. She took the bowl before tasting the soup.
"Wow, it tastes amazing." She was pleasantly shocked as she took another soup. "Esadora came up with this? She is amazing. And you for being able to make it, so good." Celius smiled as he cleaned the table and wrapped the remaining Ashe Fruit half and placing it into the icebox.
Quickly finishing the soup, Aunt Vena gave the bowl to Celius. "Thank you, it was delicious. I didn't know Ashe Fruit could be turned into something so delicious."
"No problem. Now that we are done here, would you like to head out?" Aunt Vena nodded her head. She walked into the living room to see Rislia and Luna playing around happily. Celius also saw this and couldn't help but feel extremely happy. Other than Alura and Elrith, Rislia didn't play with anyone else her age. So, such a scene of course made him happy.
"Alright you guys, are you ready to go?" Celius looked at the four children who quickly got up and nodded their heads. Ennie also got up, patting her dress slightly. "Let us go then."
All of them walked out of the house, with Aunt Vena and Ennie taking the lead. Rislia clung onto Celius like normal, but this time even Luna was held by him. It wasn't because she suddenly got attached to him, but because she wanted to continue playing with Rislia, plus she did like Celius.
Aunt Vena could only thank him before berating Luna.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone