Chapter Thirty Three - Water and Fire

The path that Ren Zexian guided Tyler onto was not without its forks; a man as stubbornly clingy to pre-apocalyptic common sense as Tyler would never accept the way of cultivation after just once meditative experience. A man such as Tyler must be coaxed, encouraged, flattered and gently pressed into choosing the correct path. For example, even though his first meditation took over six hours despite seeming only six minutes, Tyler would likely claim some hypnotic trickery to explain the time lapse.

So once he was aware just how much time had past, Ren Zexian did not allow him to overthink nor draw his own conclusions. "You have done excellently," he praised in his calm way that brook no argument nor denial. "As expected of a rare talent such as yourself."

As much as his ego enjoyed the petting, Tyler was not without suspicion; "What do you mean?"

"You may have heard me speak of elemental roots?" Ren Zexian replied, lightly. "Or perhaps heard Dexter or Patrick speak of this." Tyler could not deny this; Patrick was especially vocal on the subject once he had been found to hold two 'dormant roots'. At that time, Tyler had completely dismissed the whole idea, however once Patrick's roots were 'awakened' and he proved some of his ability, he had to allow Ren Zexian some face.

But the blond haired man wouldn't admit that easily, so simply nodded in response.

Ren Zexian's smile did not falter. "Roots are divided into category and an average Cultivator might have two or more roots. But the fact remains that those with more than a single root have more difficulties when trying to advance. That is part of your fortune; you have one lone root, such obstacles others will suffer have already been cleared. The other half of your fortune lies in the type of root you possess." He paused to allow Tyler to absorb this information, stirring both his pride and his curiosity.

True to his nature, Tyler could not help but want more information, but said his words nonchalantly as if the answer didn't really matter to him. "Go on."

He failed to notice the satisfied glint in Ren Zexian's eyes as the man continued; "Your root is Water, this is considered one of the five primary roots. Having a primary root is not a rare thing, but most who do will also have a secondary or even three or more roots reducing their abilities. For a person to have a lone, primary root is very rare indeed. If you were of my original people, many Masters would have sought to train you and give you assistance upon your journey. You would have had access to many treasures that other lesser cultivators could only dream of."

Tyler didn't care too much about other Masters and treasurers, he had always been a man who relied on himself. However, it was nice to know that his ability could be considered rare and great.

Since the first wave of turned zombies threw the country into a panic, he had lamented that he could just produce water and could not fight and protect himself.  Before the end, he was not a physical man and his job did not require him to be.  He simply jogged and swam occasionally to keep in shape.  He'd also worried that as they now had a second person here to produce water, he would find his role redundant, something he'd never worried about before.  After all, the lost base had many mouths to feed and only a handful of people able to produce water.  But if what Ren Zexian was saying was true, then Nathan's abilities while double his, were also lacking compared to his lone ability.  Thus Ren Zexian's words helped ease his dissatisfaction with himself a little bit.

"And you really believe this meditation thing can make my powers better?" Tyler questioned.  Could he really create more water in the long term and better yet ice?  With ice, he could even imagine himself standing beside Dexter and killing zombies with icicles or freezing their legs so they could not move.

Ren Zexian nodded and smiled encouragingly, hence convincing Tyler to attempt to meditate a few more times while telling himself that if there were no noticeable changes, he would simply go back to the more scientific process of producing water daily in order to increase his ability.  The effect had been small, but he could produce a almost two litres more water using this method than when Ren Zexian had first suggested this to him.

Tyler had to completely swallow any doubts after just one week, when he found that his capacity for producing water increased by two litres in just these seven days alone and he had only cultivated three times!

*****

While Tyler was being convinced that cultivating was the path he ought to take, others were worrying about another issue; fire.  Or more specifically, how to produce it in terms of cooking. 

Although everyone was now aware that Nathan actually had a working oven, they did not make a fuss over this for two reasons; the wood pile that Nathan relied on was dwindling and none of them knew many dishes that could be produced from scratch with an oven anyway.  Jacket potatoes were an exception.  However, Winston had to point out that they were down to their last gas canister for the small camping stove.

Their next option was to rely on one of the two barbecues they had grabbed from the village; one ran on gas and the other on charcoal.  But the charcoal they would rather keep for winter as there were a couple of open fireplaces that they could rely on and attempting to cook a pot of stew on a barbecue seemed wasteful of gas.  Plus, it would only be a solution in the dry months.  No one was stupid enough to attempt to adapt the large canister for use on the small camp stove.

There was the old range oven in the kitchen, like in Nathan's cottage, but no one had used this and no one knew if it could still work. Plus there was the added point that fuel would still be required to work it.

"There's a few dead trees in and around the village," Dexter pointed out. This was true, but even with those trees chopped down, how long would the wood need to be dried out if those trees died during this year?

"The bags of coal can be used as well," Patrick mentioned, though they had planned on keeping this for winter, but they needed to eat to survive until then and not all vegetables and fruit could be eaten raw. He turned to Nathan, who had been asked to come over to teach them to use the old stove. "Is there anything else we need to do before trying to use the stove?"

"It's dusty, you should clean it," Nathan said matter of factly.

Winston and Harry snickered slightly behind the boy's back, while Tyler just rolled his eyes. "What about the chimneys?" The man drawled as he glanced up at the metal pipe attached to the back of the stove.

"What about them?" Patrick asked.

"Well you can't use a fireplace without the chimney being unblocked and free of debris," Tyler replied in his usual harsh tones. Meditation had not calmed nor settled his temper in any way. "I am assuming it is the same principal."

"Mother hires someone to clean out the chimneys in the autumn," Nathan mentioned. "They clean out the chimney at my cottage too." They glanced at Nathan with obvious sympathy in their eyes, all thinking pretty much the same thing; who knew if the youth's mother was even alive anymore? But Nathan failed to notice what was held in their expressions. Ren Zexian looked thoughtful and pressed his hand against the metal pipe, before closing his eyes.

"There is a blockage, it is some way up the chimney," he mentioned, before adding. "It is of no hardship to deal with." The ability users felt rather than saw the air stirring about them before an audible 'pop' occurred outside. "It is clear now." With the exception of Nathan, the others looked at him incredulously. Using such a powerful ability, one that could cleanly slice the head off of a weak Zombie without being seen, for household maintenance... it just seemed a little much. "As for fuel," Ren Zexian continued as if it was not a big issue, "I have an idea."