Elven Legacy

Chapter 8: Spirit Root Knowledge

Seeing how everyone's facial expression changed listening to grandmother's words, I wanted to know more about who this 'Lordess' was to have gained so much respect and admiration from both my parents and grandparents.

"Who is Lordess' grandmother?" Asked Elif with evident interest in his voice.

When I voiced my question, everyone's focus shifted back over to me before grandmother answered my question.

"First things first dear, as this is your first time hearing our progenitor's name, you don't know this, but it is required that whenever you mention her name, you must call her 'Progenitor Lordess' as it is a sign of respect within the Elven Empire. Even if you're the Crown Prince, mispronouncing her name will result in serious punishment." Said Tiana to Elif with a severe expression.

Looking at grandmother's face, which exuded seriousness, slightly scared me as I'd never seen her act like that, let alone with her directing it at me.

"Y-Yes, grandmother." Replied Elif with a slight stutter.

"Mother, calm down; you're scaring Elif with your serious demeanor." Remarked Maria as she picked up Elif, sitting between her and Marcus, and set him down on her lap.

"I didn't mean to scare him, but he needs to understand the importance of Progenitor Lordess, and since he is the crown Prince, it will affect him even more if he doesn't know about our origins." Replied Tiana, defending her actions.

"Mother is right, Maria; as the Crown Prince, he is required to learn more about progenitor Lordess than even the nobles, but also mother, it isn't the correct time for Elif to learn about our origins; he still has a couple of years left." Said Marcus to both Maria and Tiana while still carrying Elaine in his arms.

"Marcus is correct, so let us change the topic of the conversation to what we were talking about before, explaining the concept of Spirit Roots to Elif." Declared Tyler, who had just finished drinking his tea.

While sitting on my mother's lap, listening to them arguing, I was somewhat confused about what they were talking about.

'Origins? Not yet, time to know? Is there some secret regarding the Royal Elfs?' Thought Elif, wondering what could possibly be the secret.

"Now, Elif, we have explained the difference and the rarity of the ranks in spirit roots, so let us move on to the last piece of basic knowledge you need to know, which is the strength of the different ranks in Spirit Roots." Said Tyler, gaining Elifs attention again, who was previously lost in thought while sitting on Maria's lap.

"Hmm, to explain it easier, I'll give you an analogy to compare the difference between each rank." Uttered Tyler while rubbing his chin.

I don't know what the word analogy means; nonetheless, I'm still interested to know what grandfather is going to say, as since I have the supposed highest spirit root, it must be powerful.

"Let us say someone with a low Mortal spirit root can absorb one unit of Qi in one day, and it takes two-hundred fifty units of Qi to open all the meridians in the body, which by the way, is the first step in cultivation, and you'll learn about it soon. By that example, it would take two-hundred fifty days for that person to advance to the next stage of cultivation, but let's change it and say someone with a middle Mortal spirit root can absorb thirty percent more than someone with a low Mortal spirit root, which in that case would mean they could absorb one point three units of Qi, how many days would it take them to advance their cultivation?" Voiced out Tyler, asking Elif after finishing with his lengthy explanation.

'So if someone with a low Mortal spirit root takes two-hundred fifty days to collect all the Qi needed, then it would take someone with a middle Mortal spirit root, umm, I don't how long, I'm only four years old, I can't answer advance questions like these!' Thought Elif in frustration, before going ahead and asking someone else.