Birthday Presents III

"Marielle honey..."

Bari kneeled down behind Marielle and turned her around after Marielle asked some innocent questions regarding their love life

"Philip can't answer questions right now, so you can give him the gift that you prepared for his birthday, okay?"

"Ooh, okie!"

Bari stood back up while still blushing. She suddenly remembered the time where Philip kept carrying her in the Floral Empire and how they seldomly share skinship due to circumstances

Marielle also faced Philip back and gave her a bright smile

'Looks like her despair from being trapped and corrupted back in the Floral Empire is disappearing at a faster rate...'

Philip smiled slightly knowing that he helped someone change their life again. But that smile immediately disappeared because he knows that he only did that so that he could use capable beings for his own selfish ultimate goal

He doesn't consider them as tools, he avoids considering them as such as much as possible. They're people with feelings after all

Although, he also considers a possibility that all of his empathy and emotions will disappear and he will consider everyone as disposable tools, not caring about their emotions or status

"What do you have for me?"

Philip's smile returned and he patted Marielle's head with his left hand

"This is the Heart of Thorn..."

Marielle put together the edge of her palms and reached it forward

Several thorns started to fly above her palms and converge towards each other. The thorns created a ball of spike until it shaped into a unique thorn

The thorn is brown in color, almost green, and it's slightly curved twice oppositely. It's almost an "S" shape

The center of the thorn looks like a cage that houses a green ball of spikes that thumps softly

Thorns then grew around the [Heart of Thorn] and hid the cage

"What is this?"

Philip was curious about the thorn in front of him

"The Heart of Thorn is the heart of thorns... It will allow you to control and manipulate thorns to a certain degree. This is also a catalyst that can be ignited to unleash a powerful wave of energy"

"Oh, really? Interesting..."

"Yup!"

"Thank you so much!"

Philip tried to grab the [Heart of Thorn], but instead, the thorn moved by itself and dodged his hand

"Hm?"

"Be careful, big brother Philip..."

'Wha-?!'

"The Heart of Thorn is incredibly dangerous. Anyone who touches this will hurt them by impaling hundreds of thorns into their hand from itself"

"Ah, I see..."

Philip gave a wry smile. He decided to be careful since he doesn't want to experience another obliteration of his hand that gives him immense pain and energy to recover

He then reach his hand and the [Heart of Thorn] hovered toward his palm on its own

『 Condition requirement has been met! 』

「 Pulling the Heart of Thorn to the World of Absolute Nothingness... 」

"..."

*Fwoosh*

"...?"

"Hm?"

"Uh, big brother Philip? Where did the Heart of Thorn go?"

Everyone noticed that the [Heart of Thorn] suddenly disappeared form out of nowhere like a bubble. Even the gods were incredibly confused as to what happened

"Oh, uh... Tenshi just got it and kept it for now, so no one will get hurt"

"Ah yes! I've hid it with my power for now"

"Oh, I see! That's good then!"

Philip and Tenshi lied through their teeth and managed to fool Marielle and a few people. But they couldn't fool the powerful individuals, much less the gods

They saw the [Heart of Thorn] disappear from their eyes. They just couldn't comprehend what happened and thought that it was some kind of invisibility ability or a dimensional storage

"..."

Though, only Alucard and Camille seems to know the truth to some extent. They just know that the [Heart of Thorn] just disappeared in the world and it couldn't be hid somewhere else or under a lid

"That's it for my present then! Happy birthday!"

"Thank you very much!"

Marielle then turned around and went next to Bari

'Emily, what was that?!'

「 It was needed to happen 」

'Why?'

「 This is not just an ordinary thorn... It's a mythical weapon 」

'Really?! Marielle just happened to have it???'

「 It seems so... 」

'I see...'

"Mei?"

After Marielle gave Philip her gift, Bari then urged Mei'er to step forward by patting her back

"...!"

Mei'er seemed to recognize what was happening. Her eyes sparkled, even though it still looks dead, and her face beamed, even though it still looks emotionless

The thing that showed the most reaction is the Crystal Flower above her head

It spun faster than before that it could almost turn into a propeller. As it spun, its colorful crystalline structure refracted light of different colors and it shone in a dazzling and brilliant light. The core also slightly glowed, like a candle inside a sky lantern

"..."

Philip just looked directly at Mei'er's eyes. He's slightly melancholic towards Mei'er because he's blaming a part of himself for the reason why she became like this

"..."

Mei'er slightly smiled after sensing that Philip is in front of her. She raised her hands and put together the edge of her palms

The Crystal Flower hovered down from her head towards above her palms. The Crystal Flower kept spinning and blooming as the Crystal Petals spread apart

"Mu..."

Mei'er let out a quiet sound and four Crystal Petals was plucked off of the Crystal Flower. The Crystal Petals did a swirl and flew towards Philip's hands. New Crystal Petals regrew in the Crystal Flower

The Crystal Petals landed on Philip's palm and he closed it to secure them

"Ha... Haa... Happy birthday..."

Mei'er had difficulty speaking and the people that thought that she was mute still couldn't believe that she can actually speak all this time

"Thank you very much, Mei'er..."

Philip smiled and caressed her head

"Mei'er, come back to us, okay? Awaken..."

Philip whispered on to Mei'er's ears that no one else could hear

"...!"

Mei'er heard Philip's voice clearly and she felt vertigo wash over her. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt like she was entering hyperspace drive

In just a second, she returned back to herself, but she's still stunned. She unconsciously walked back to Bari while being unable to process what just happened

The color of her body started to return and the light on her eyes also began to return

No one noticed Mei'er's change, not even herself nor Philip himself. Philip is unaware that he caused another change on her

While this is happening, Bari stepped forward

"Bari..."

Philip exclaimed softly as Bari came closer

"..."

Bari did not have a reaction as her previous expression has disappeared. She currently has a soft and mellow expression. It just shows how an adult such as her is an expert in manipulating their emotions

"Philip... The first time we met, I didn't know what to think of you... But, you have been a nice person that you went out of your way to help us and free us from our fates, including my beloved daughter Marielle..."

"It's all for Mei'er..."

"And I thank you for that! Now, our family has reunited with the only exception of my missing husband..."

'Hm... Now that I think about it... Why did Bari return in the Terra Spirit World?'

Fate and destiny are different. Philip pondered as to why Bari returned to the Terra Spirit World in the first place and left Mei'er, which caused her husband to go missing

He then pondered whether he should dig on it further or not. Still, in the long run, he may encounter this matter in the future and it could resurface. He just doesn't know the importance of her missing husband or her departure to the Terra Spirit World

"With that in mind and your birthday... I have a special gift for you"

"..."

Bari raised her right hand and swirled it in different gestures. Her hand motions were fluid and majestic. As she moved her hand, her hand glowed and released sparkles of light

After a while, Bari opened her palm and a majestic flower bloomed above her hand

Initially a sprout grew above her palm, but this sprout quickly turned into swirling vine and grew a bud. The bud then bloomed into an astronomically beautiful flower

"...!"

"Waaah~!"

"Haha!"

"Hmph..."

Everyone had different reactions after seeing the magnificent flower that couldn't or shouldn't exist in the world

"As expected of the Spirit King of Flowers!"

"That's a flower that can be mistaken as a flower in the Divine Realm..."

"So beautiful!"

Even the gods were mesmerized by the beauty of the flower

After the flower bloomed, extremely sharp thorns grew from its stem and the vibrant leaves under the petals became even more vibrant

The petals became very vibrant as it turn redder than red itself. The bud of the flower is perfect across the width, length, thickness, softness, and pigmentation. The spaces between the petals are also perfect and the petals itself are slightly illuminated by light

"This is the Everlasting Thorned Rose... It is a flower that will protect you in all, if not, most evil and dangers. The thorns will be cut off or deployed if someone tried to hurt you in a way you deem necessary. However, if you got hurt through evil, forbidden, and destructive means, one petal will be plucked off and wilt. Finally, if you were mortally wounded to the point that you'll die, the entire flower will wilt and die. Think of it like your second chance, a resurrection catalyst of some sort"

"..."

「 ... 」

『 ... 』

...

"S-such object...!"

Katara exclaimed in disbelief

"This is a flower that have been cultivated since the creation of the Spirit World. Just like the Heavenly Skylar Flower, this flower is the same in origin... It's also considered as a National Treasure of our empire, but since the empire has been destroyed, this flower has no uses... Therefore, I'm giving this to you as a gift because you are precious to a lot of people. They'll be sad if you got hurt or die out of nowhere after all! Happy birthday!"

"..."

"..."

Everyone was silent as they heard Bari. What she said was mostly true and they're opinions on Bari skyrocketed after she thought of Philip's safety first and everybody else's sanity if Philip were to disappear

"..."

Meanwhile, Philip was just staring at the flower. His eyes are shaking and his hands are trembling as he slowly reached for Bari's gift

This flower that gives him a second chance in life is an object that goes against his ultimate goal after all. He doesn't want to receive this gift, but it'll be incredibly rude and disrespectful if he rejected it

"..."

In the end, he made a realization. He didn't need to take the flower to himself, but he could give it to others

'I'm sure Bari is fine if I lent this to others... There's a common trope that the gifter doesn't care what the gifted will do to their gift because it's theirs after all. Just don't show or tell the gifter what they'll do to the gift'

He doesn't need an item that gives him a second life. He has a forbidden ability of [Resurrection] after all, as well as his Ultimate Skill of Save and Load, including the 73rd Pureblood ability, his immunities, the condition of his body, his souls, shards, and many more

'I know what to do with this flower...'

Philip's eyes stopped shaking after he closed his eyes and he finally grabbed the flower after his hands stopped trembling

"..."

Bari slightly pushed her hand forward and the rose floated towards Philip's hand. He was slightly startled because he didn't know how to hold the thorned rose because it almost has no clear surface to be held due to the thorns

The rose floated above his hand. In this moment, he knew what he had to do

「 Blood Manipulation 」

He put his other hand above the rose and blood spewed out from both of his palms. The blood combined together and formed a dome or a terrarium around the rose. The blood became transparent, but it's still tinted that it's still red

"Thank you for the gift... This will be very useful"

"I'm glad..."

The terrarium in Philip's hands looked like a rose inside a glass of a specific princess movie where the castle was cursed

Philip then placed the blood glass terrarium on the floor to his left. The [Everlasting Thorned Rose] floated in the center of the terrarium

"Oh! You're here already"

As Philip placed down the terrarium, Bari and the two sisters already left. At the same time, Bea just arrived in front of Philip while holding two heavy books. Despite her size, she can carry both books by herself

"Happy birthday! Thank you for what you have done... These are my gifts!"

Bea spoke timidly because of the eyes being put on her. If she and Philip are alone, she would speak more than often because she feels comfortable around her

Bea reached her arms and the books towards Philip. He quickly got the books because he thought that Bea's arms would snap due to the size of the books. He placed each books on each hand

The book on his left hand is mostly yellow, white, and green in color. There is a Sun with at least 16 rays and a planetary system surrounding the Sun. There are also galaxies and other heavenly bodies present across its cover

The elements of the cover are not just tinted, but engraved into the thick cover. Philip could also see that some of the parts of the cover can probably be moved. There are also a few empty slots that have specific objects that can be placed

There are circular, rectangular, and triangular empty slots on some planets. There are also keyholes at the edge of the book for some reason

It is clear that there are certain keys and items that is needed to be placed in the slots to maybe unlock a secret part of the book

The book on his right hand is darker in color, almost like charcoal or mold. Very dark and quite rough on the touch

The book is encased in black iron frame. The cover of the book is very creepy in and on itself. The engravings had warped skulls that seemed to be screaming. There is also an embedded cross as skulls and bones. There are also thorned chains, as well as smokes that looks like souls

"What are these book?"

"Book of Universal Knowledge and the Copy of the Book of the Dead"

"!!!"

"!!!"

"!!!"