Chapter 33 Chapter Thirty Three - Water and Fire (1/2)

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!