The earth has feelings

"Riku! Fight me!" Herman shouted at the drill yard the next morning.

Almost instantly, two slippers, a cog, and a boot went flying out from various rooms at him.

"Fight me in person, by yourself, if you have the guts!" Herman shouted, trying to avoid the shoes. One slipper hit him in the side of the head anyway. It was a luxuriously decorated bedroom slipper, most likely Madam Huang's…

"Just a minute! Stop yelling! I'll be there in a minute!" Riku barked back.

"Don't you dare run away now!" Herman threatened.

Riku came out, stretched a bit, formed Stone Skin – Full body granite, and took on the Firm Mountain stance. "Come at me!"

Herman charged. He had on Stone Skin - Full Body Sandstone and immediately used his most powerful technique, the Iron Bull tackle…

BOOM! The collision actually formed a little shockwave. They stood there like that for a while, as if stuck together. Riku expected Herman to step back and start punching and kicking, but Herman didn't move. He stood there, as if leaning his head against Riku's granite shoulder, completely motionless.

"Herman? Dude, I don't swing that way…" Riku cleared his throat. "Santiago? Helloooo…?"

Herman slumped down onto the ground, the Stone Skin relaxing to normal skin. He collapsed in a heap, unconscious.

"That's it? One charge and you're done?" Riku was half-disappointed. He had been hoping to Observe more techniques from the guy, but one crash and he was already flat out on the floor.

Feeling short-changed, Riku yelled, "Jin! Fight me!"

Three slippers, two cogs and the other boot went flying at Riku. Riku tried to dodge, but the boot, the cog and one of the slippers whapped him on his granite-covered head.

"Just a minute!" Jin yelled. "I'll come out there and teach you a lesson for ringing the bell on me last night!"

Jin came out, stretched a bit, did a few jumping jacks to warm up, and then took on the Firm Mountain Stance and said, "Come at me!"

Riku charged at him. He not only had the Stone Skin – Full Body Granite Version on, he hardened his fist further to Iron Skin, and tested what little he knew of the Iron Bull technique even though it hadn't been fully Observed, much less Analyzed or Adapted, thinking experimentation could help him figure it out faster…

Jin reacted. Bronze light shimmered; his fist turned to iron; yellow light burst out from his knuckles…

POW! The collision formed a three-foot shockwave. They stood there like that for a while, as if stuck together. Riku stood there, as if leaning his head against Riku's granite shoulder, completely motionless.

Jin backed off. "Dude, I don't swing that way…"

Riku collapsed onto the ground, flat out.

"Riku…? Helloooo?" Jin looked him over.

Riku just let out a low groan.

"That's it? One charge and you're done?" Jin protested. "I came all the way out here at this early hour just for one charge?! Oh, come on!"

Riku merely let out another groan. He did not get up.

"I'm not satisfied! Mu!" Jin shouted. "Fight me!"

This time, Master Huang's boot came flying out of the window at breakneck speed and whapped Jin on the head. BOOM!

"Wait! One minute!" Mu yelled down.

Jin coughed, flat on his back and his entire body half-buried three inches into the drill yard. He raised a feeble, shaky hand. "Never mind! D-don't bother!"

Mu came out to see three guys lying flat on the ground one after the other, and went over to inspect Jin. She slowly, softly pawed him on the nose. "Bang. I win."

Then she skipped away merrily, leaving the three of them in the dirt behind her.

***

Jin had to be pried out of the floor with a shovel. After a very quiet, embarrassed breakfast, Riku belatedly tended to the garden he should have tended before the meal.

He usually didn't have to do anything much. Most of his work appeared to be simply harvesting the fruits from the plants that practically grew by themselves.

Today, however, there was someone waiting for him. Madam Huang was there, and she had a basket of seedlings in her hands.

Riku saluted her. "Madam Huang."

"Riku. These are the Black Starlight Flower seedlings." Madam Huang showed them to him. There were ten in little pots, sprouts just a couple of inches tall. "I have taken painstaking care of them this past week, and it is time for them to be rooted in the earth."

"Black Starlight Flower seedlings… isn't this…" Riku trailed off.

"They are spiritual herbs." Madam Huang nodded. "Useful for stabilizing Life Force that has gotten chaotic. Especially useful if someone's cultivation goes awry. These Black Starlight Flowers have the potential to reach Tier 3 if they had ideal conditions. Here, the best I can hope for is Tier 2. Whether or not they do… it all depends on your care."

"So when you said you wanted a Tier 2 Black Starlight Flower… you wanted me to take care of your plants." Riku realized. "That is why you specified that it had to be grown by my own hand."

"Exactly. I want at least one of these ten to reach Tier 2 in a month." Madam Huang said. "The rest can take up to a year if necessary."

"Right. So… where do we plant them?" Riku asked. "Somewhere with lots of sunlight? Or little? Lots of moisture? Or someplace arid? What kind of soil quality do they need?"

"We look for the place with the most heart." Madam Huang said. That was all.

Riku paused. "The place with most heart… isn't that… Tu's grave?"

Madam Huang blinked at him in surprise for a moment, then her eyes filled with realization and she slowly nodded. "Come to think of it… that is actually correct."

They laid out a bed of rich loam. Riku itched to try 21st century no-weed gardening, but while compost and mulch would be easy, this world did not have cheap newspapers or cardboard. Short of laying down planks, it would be hard to scrounge up a weed barrier.

Never mind. These plants were going to receive his utmost attention anyway. Weeding and watering would be the least he could do. What else would he need to raise their spiritual strength? Madam Huang mentioned 'heart', indicating 'emotions'. Would he need care-bear beams? Music?

If it needed music, Riku was going to need an instrument. The closest thing he had seen to an instrument around Summer Courtyard was the bronze bell and there was no bringing it here. Besides, Jin might have something to say about it. What was he doing in it, anyway? Probably training the Bronze Bell Defense Technique, trying to find enlightenment or something…

Having the bed ready, Madam Huang picked up the first seedling pot. Riku expected her to gingerly, carefully extract the plant, but instead, she clenched her fist and directly shattered the pot.

Right. The pot was nowhere near as valuable as the herb. Rather than risk hurting the plant or the roots, it was safer to simply break the pot itself.

Riku hurriedly cleared a hole in the bed for Madam Huang to lay the seedling down, roots, pot-soil and all. One after the other they were laid in a straight row, roughly two feet between each. How big did these plants grow to, anyway? Riku felt nervous at how seriously Madam Huang paid attention to the spacing, and the positioning of each precious seedling.

"So… how exactly do I take care of these plants? Anything special?"

"The land is good. This is a place filled with fond memories and longing." Madam Huang looked over the grave of the late Huang Tu sadly. "And much emotion. You were right. This is the land in all the Summer Courtyard with the most heart. That emotion is key. The earth resonance is key."

"Earth resonance?" Riku perked up. Those words sounded very, very important.

"You should be able to sense it more than I." Madam Huang said. "This is why you were given charge over the garden and replaced Mu. You have the Earth Element in your blood. The way Huo has Fire Element, and Mu has Wood Element. Can't you sense it? Can't you feel the earth?"

"Uh… I guess?" Riku scratched his head. "I take it you don't mean feeling it physically…?"

"In your soul. You should be able to tell… what the earth feels."

What the earth feels…? Riku paused, looking at the rich, caring soil, and realized she was right.

"It feels friendly. It feels caring. It feels… concerned for the seedlings." Riku was amazed. He had thought it was just his imagination, a result of wistful childish fancy…

But now it sounded like something more. Much, much more.

[System! Is she right? Do I have Earth Element in my blood?]

[Error. The majority of your blood content is hydrogen.]

[Right. Because it's mainly water, and water is two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen…] Riku shook his head. [How do I reconcile the five elements concept with my memories of the periodic table?]

System shifted. [Observe, analyze and adapt. All elements are matter. All earth is matter.]

Riku suddenly felt like he'd realized something deadly important almost by accident. That was it, wasn't it? Everything was matter. In a sense, everything solid was earth! All metals, all wood, even water was matter… [Wait. What about fire?]

[Fire is a different state of matter, the fourth state known as plasma.]

Riku's brain ticked. The four states of matter were; solid, liquid, gas, and plasma… wait. Wasn't that… [The four element system? Earth, water, air and fire are basically the Four States of Matter…]

But the five elements system was different. Riku couldn't find anything in 21st century science to correlate to metal and wood being separate from 'solid matter', from 'earth'.

In his head he knew that metal was refined, smelted, purified, maybe even alloyed, but did human modification really create a different element from the rocks from which ore was smelted?

Also, wood was grown. It was bio-matter, it lived and died, and decomposed… but it decomposed back into soil. From dust to dust. It came from the earth, and it returned to the earth.

System was right. All of it was earth.

[So basically… having Earth Resonance means… I should be able to use all of it! Every technique in the Five Elements! All metal, all wood, even water, even fire! Whatever state of matter it's in, matter is matter!]

[That's not it. With Observation, Analysis and Adaptation, you could use all those elemental techniques anyway. Earth Resonance is more than that. It is being friends with the land.]

"Riku? All you all right?" Madam Huang was looking at him concernedly.

"Uh… I might have taken too hard a hit this morning." Riku said, trying to explain away the dazed look on his face.