Chapter 79: The Tree Of Solace (2/2)

By now, Arion had begun to address Old Zi as 'Master' since he felt that this old man was the best teacher he could ask for and even had his wellbeing in his mind.

He could already see that Old Zi was the kind of man who would be very dedicated in whatever he does, including teaching his disciples.

Old Zi felt happy and proud that Arion had already recognized him as his Master, and he was quite excited to teach Arion.

Hearing Arion's question, he looked at the tree and answered, ”Actually, this tree has a name. It is called the Tree of Solace. The reason it was given this name was that whoever sat in the presence of this tree for a long time or touched it would feel a comforting feeling over their soul and body. Even if a sad person were to touch it, they would feel hope and find solace.”

”No one knew why they were able to feel so, but the legend regarding this tree might answer it. However, I never heard of anyone hearing any voice or feeling sad emotions like you did. It just seems contrary to how I or others experienced it. But maybe it makes sense considering the legend.”

Arion knitted his brows and asked, ”What is the legend? How did this tree come to be?”

Old Zi took in a deep breath and answered as he looked at the horizon, ”Some untold thousands of years ago, when this world was not plagued by Dreadlings or existed in our world, there once lived a noblewoman who fell in love with a low-born man. The man was considered low-born since he was not a Defier, while the woman was a very powerful Defier. But during those times, there was extreme prejudice and ostracization of Inerts or people who were not born with a pranic heart.”

Hearing this, Arion was surprised that there was a time in history where Dreadlings didn't exist, and there was even a social bias against Inerts. However, the bias he could understand since usually stronger people would look down on the weaker ones and tag them as 'low-born' or something else.

And this would have been more prevalent in a world with powers or people like Defiers. In fact, he was surprised that in the present time, he saw no bias against Inerts, at least not explicitly.

Old Zi continued, ”But the woman and the man were brave enough to fall in love with each other despite the social backlash they might face and incur the wrath of the high borns. But in fear for the man's life, the woman convinced the man to leave with her to someplace where no one would find them or someplace too far for people to come after. And so they came and stayed in this very place where we are right now.”

Arion had a look of disbelief as he took a quick glance around and felt it a bit strange that the couple in the story lived in the same place he was standing right now.

Old Zi went on with a pitiful glint in his eyes, ”But the woman's noble family were too relentless and pursued the couple all the way here since her father was a man who valued his status and society's opinions of them very much. And he was very angry since his daughter eloping with the low-born man had made him feel as if his reputation was smeared and humiliated. So, he took the cruel decision of killing them both discreetly by coming here alone.”

Arion had a bad feeling as he could guess how the rest of the story goes, but at the same time, he felt bad for the couple since all they wanted was to love each other and live peacefully, but the society and their families stood against them.

”Even though the woman was a powerful Defier, her father was even more powerful. So, the woman already knew the outcome was bleak, and in the end, the father was easily able to deal a fatal blow to his own daughter since she was distracted as well in trying to protect the man. However, even if she was dying, she was able to use the last of her powers to help the man escape before her father could kill him. Sigh, such tragic lives,” Old Zi shook his head with a sigh of pity.

Arion didn't expect that the man escaped and thought that both had died. Still, he didn't understand one thing and asked, ”But how is this tree related to them?”

Old Zi softly smiled and said, ”Just before the woman was about to die, her final moments moved the Heavenly Mother, and she blessed the woman so that her remains were turned into an everlasting tree that would stand the test of time and be a beacon of love to others. That is why this tree was considered sacred and most probably the reason why no Dreadlings ever dare to approach this spot.”