What is Life?

Flower Garden

Amelia and Loki were standing next to each other as from today, Loki's training with Amelia started.

Loki had a puzzled look on his face as he looked at Amelia's hand.

She was smiling at him while carrying a flower pot that had a withered flower.

"Son, your first assignment is to bring this flower back to life," she announced while lifting the pot.

"How?" he questioned.

"Lemme explain."

"What is Life?" she inquired matching my eye.

"Hmm… Life is a journey from your childhood to death. It's the process of continuous learning and growing with the time." He responded with a thoughtful look.

"Correct!" she happily replied then responded her own answer.

Everyone has their own answer. For me, 

" Life is like a piece of art

 Carved Beautifully from the bottom of your heart

 It's perspective changes throughout your journey

 From the beginning till the end with only death apart.

 Will it be colorful like that rainbow or

 Will it wither like this flower and fell

 Who knows? Only time can tell. " (I tried ok!, don't judge me. XD)

---

clap clap clap

He clapped as tears welled up in his eyes. It reminded him of his past.

"Anyway, the Life element has a healing nature. So, you can utilize it properly if you have a pure heart. 

The first skill you will be learning is [Healing Touch]. It's a basic skill that heals the target. I will demonstrate it once, then try practicing it on this flower." 

She handed him the pot and walked towards a dead flower. Her hand glowed slightly with green light and then the dead flower blossomed under her touch.

"Woah!" 

Loki became amazed and excited viewing the blooming flower then looked at his flower.

A determined look appeared on his face as he tried copying her.

He delicately controlled the life element and poured its vitality towards the flower. The flower was slowly attempting to rise when suddenly all the eden in his body got sucked and vanished.

ughh

Loki felt a slight discomfort near his heart and he stopped channeling eden to the flower.

"Did you realize the problem?" 

"Yes, My control over Eden was very poor. I need to master [Grimheart Eden Manipulation Sutra] properly to efficiently utilize Eden.

I understand!"

He quietly pondered while staring at his hand.

A gush of air escaped his nostrils as he took a deep breath and then controlled the eden around him rhythmically.

inhale exhale

All the surrounding Eden flew towards him and he felt an illusory barrier around his heart.

He pushed through the barrier and instantly felt like his senses became more heightened and his control became more smooth.

huff

[Ding! Host achieved a breakthrough…]

"Status"

[Name: Loki GrimHeart]

[Age: 13]

[Rank: mid-Iron]

[Affinities: Life, Order]

[Abilities]

[Inspect: Host can observe target's status.]

[Fool's gaze: Host can copy the target's ability, skills, affinities, or items after the copied conditions are met or if you defeat him.]

[Deceit Robe: Host can negate any mental or spiritual ability]

[...]

[...]

 "Did you just achieve a breakthrough?" Mom asked with disbelief etched on her face.

"Yes," Loki replied only to notice a beautiful smile across her face.

"Good! I was a bit worried before but now I can go all out." 

A sudden chill ran down his spine as he witnessed her smile which looked a little devilish now.

After that, she continued training him until the evening. He was tired both physically and mentally but she still didn't stop as his sudden breakthrough seemed to have awakened something inside her.

Loki took a quick shower and then went to entertain his little sister for a while.

Later, while having dinner Amelia boasted Loki's sudden breakthrough to William whose face was also slightly shocked. He nodded his head at Amelia's words and intensely stared at Loki as if he was plotting something evil.

Loki quickly finished his meal and went to his room. It was quite a tiring day so he instantly fell asleep.

Next day

"Today we will explore the creation aspect of Life," Amelia announced and created a flower out of thin air.

Everything is created through life. Only inanimate objects don't have life in them. Creating a living being is way out of your league and even mine but you can create simple things or even creatures after the creation aspect.

To create something first, you have to visualize it. Then create its shape using the eden and fill it with life energy.

It may sound simple but believe me it's not. Some people have taken countless years just to create a simple creature.

Amelia continued her explanations while Loki controlled his urge to imitate her.

He knows playing with things like life or death comes with heavy restrictions. He might look like a child but he was an adult, Kinda.

Anyway, After her explanation, she taught him a simple creation skill called [Lifebloom]. It allows you to create flowers and vines and we could even add elemental properties. 

boom

An explosion occurred in the training room as Loki deflected backwards and crashed on the floor while Amelia simply shielded herself.

ouch

A groan escaped from his lips as he struggled to stand up.

"Did you realize your problem?"

"Yes. I think I overloaded the eden with too much life energy." He earnestly replied.

"Not quite. You made two mistakes. First, you became distracted during your visualization process which made the eden unstable. Second, You didn't check the flow of life energy properly which caused the explosion."

"Remember, You have to always remain patient and concentrate properly while handling eden." She reprimanded me.

He thanked her and continued his practice. Creation is hard, way harder than he had thought it would be. It took him nearly a week to create a single flower. 

His training continued with his Mother and sometimes he would spar with with Father practicing the [Life-Severing Sword Art]. 

Two years flew by as he engrossed himself in his training.