'H-how did that old man change so fast?'
The elderly man approached Tasim, in his hand was a cane, but a new one, made out of cane, and was obviously created by an expert. The man holding the cane looked up at Tasim with a look of frustration.
"Grab a mattock, you brat."
"Yes, Master Chi."
Leaning against the exterior of the well-kept house were many tools, one of which was a mattock, so as ordered, Tasim grabbed the mattock, which had one end similar to a pickaxe, and the other side was similar to a hoe. Tasim lifted the object and stood, ready to continue.
"Now go break up the patch of grass in the corner."
In the corner of the fenced-off garden was a patch of grass, in front of it was a small batch of tomatoes with a trellis above it, while to the side were onions.
"Don't you dare step on my plants!" The man ordered.
Sensing that he would be punished if he disobeyed, Tasim made sure not to even get near his plants, so he walked diligently in between the rows of plants until he found himself at the corner with the patch of grass that was in pristine condition, but not too tall.
"Hurry up, you brat, I would have been done by now. Even my mom is faster than you."
'How old is she?' Tasim wanted to ask, but he determined not to.
Tasim picked the mattock above his head like he was about to swing an axe to split a log.
"Terrible form, the ground isn't that tough, put it just over your shoulder, now over your head!" The man yelled with disdain.
'Okay, okay, no need to yell.' Tasim continued not to respond, but he did listen. He lowered the mattock just above his shoulder and then swung the wide and flat side into the ground.
"Now pull it toward you to break up the dirt and grass, then do that with the rest. I'll be back."
The man disappeared as Tasim struggled to keep pace, breaking up the dirt and pulling it toward himself, but he eventually did it all; now there was little greenery as most of it had been turned over.
Meanwhile, the elderly man was walking up to a tree, out of sight from Tasim, and kneeled before it, praying or weeping to an unknown entity. The man's eyes turned red as he finished what he was doing, then began to walk back.
"I shouldn't mention my mother again." The man sniffled as he returned, wiping his eyes not to look weak. He came back to see Tasim, finished with his work, to his surprise, thus he began another order.
"Now grab the rake and pull it along to prepare the soil for planting."
Tasim did exactly as he was told, his breathing slowly becoming labored and his face drenched in sweat.
"Now get down on your knees and make holes all over, only make them up to your fingernail."
Tasim slowly got down on his knees, the soil slightly caving in beneath his weight as he began to make holes. Soon, he had already finished making one hundred different small holes.
"Put one marigold seed in each."
Tasim, breathing heavily, slowly got up on his feet.
"One moment, I need to rest." He said, his breathing interrupting him.
"No, you don't get rest until you finish. Do you think people care if you want to rest? NO! They don't. Now keep going."
Tasim slowly stood, then went beside the house again, grabbed the seeds, and began to plant them.
"Hurry up, you brat. Even a child would be done by now."
"Okay, okay." He said, as he slowly began to get down on his knees again and cover each hole, one by one.
"Don't back-talk me." The elderly man said with a glare.
"Yes, Master Chi."
An hour later, Tasim finished, his arms tired as he stood, ready for the next step.
"Did you pat each one into place to condense it?"
"…" Tasim stood, silently, as he wanted to give up.
"Get to work."
A few minutes passed of Tasim solidifying each pile of dirt until it was flat, he was taking a quick break when the old man held out a tool with a flat base on the bottom.
"Use this, I don't have all day."
"Yes, Master Chi."
Tasim grabbed the tamper and began to compact every space until it was even.
"Now go grab a watering can and water it."
"Yes… Master Chi…" Tasim walked breathlessly back over the garden to the side of the house, then went to a nearby water well and filled the watering can. Once finished, he returned, passed through the small garden, and began to water the crops again.
Tasim held out the watering can as water flowed through the small holes, covering each grounded seed that he had planted not long ago. This process was much more difficult than he had imagined, but he had known the man known as Master Chi for quite some time now. And despite his dreadful disposition, he had his reasons for making Tasim do this; he knew that in the end, he would learn to become a more adept practitioner of the healing arts.
"Now get down on your knees, find a seed, don't look for it or run your hands on the ground, in fact, close your eyes. Sense it with your mana, let your hands hover over the dirt without touching it. Then, once you have the seed, let your mana flow into it, let it sprout, and begin to grow. First, the roots it will need to thrive, then the stem, then the yellow bulbs."
"Yes… Master Chi," he responded, his voice tired as he got to his knees, closing his eyes.
The soft dirt was enveloped by a soft, radiant emerald light. The light was spread throughout as Tasim focused on the ground beneath him, his head flicking in random directions as he pictured his mana flowing out through his limbs, into the dirt, and becoming nutrients and helping the growth of each seed it brushed against.
Tasim's arms slowly moved, with just a hair's distance between them and the ground. Tasim's limbs became stationary as he found a target. Just like all the others, it was a singular seed; he just decided to focus on one instead of many, but he found he wasn't adept enough to do such a feat just yet. Tasim imagined a well of water deep in his soul, letting it flow up his chest, and out through his arms, then pictured it affecting the seeds, and it did just that. A soft glow radiated from his arms and burrowed through the ground towards the marigold.
The ground shifted slightly as Tasim felt the seed's presence change as well; it had sprouted. Now the roots began to take hold as he felt his power draining. The roots dug through the ground, planting themselves and producing a sturdy base for the stem to live on. Then the stem began to grow, hitting against Tasim's palm. Tasim reacted by moving his hand just out of the way, but still right beside it, the stem's growth hastened, the stem thickened, producing a strong enough base for the flower to bloom.
The stem soon became thick enough to have branches of greenery bloom off in all directions, and then the bulb began to sprout, starting as a hundred small yellow flower petals that seemed to be hugging itself, then began to unravel, transforming into a bright yellow flower head.
"Now repeat it until you're all out of mana."
Tasim felt his body just go completely limp as he received his directions, then he felt his brain want to shut off and just reset for the day, to get this nightmare over with, but Tasim knew that this would help him grow. Ever since he met the man known as Master Chi and his wife, he had become a better mage, mainly in the use of hydromancy, thus far, but now he was practicing the healing arts at last.
A while later, Tasim finished nearly twenty marigold seeds, turning them into thriving, fully grown plants, but in doing so, his mana was depleted, as barren as a desert, and he needed rest, but Master Chi didn't allow it.
Tasim stood, his arms unable to move, barely able to take a singular step, though he persisted.
"Now follow me, don't fall down, I'm not picking you up."
"Yes.. Master… Chi…" Tasim responded tiredly, despite the sun now being at high noon.
Tasim slowly followed the man known as Master Chi and found himself in front of a batch of lush greenery. There was a small patch through the greenery, and in the middle, there stood a bench.
"Now go, sit, calm yourself, feel the nature envelop you within its calming embrace."
Tasim stumbled to the wooden bench as it creaked beneath his weight. He picked his feet up and began to lie down, his arms crossing on his chest as if he lay in a coffin. He closed his eyes and tried to sense the world around him, to become one with nature, but he felt nothing; he only felt himself and the older man's presence.
"Put your focus internally, you must know oneself before you can know others, and you must be able to sense things before you become one with them. Now steady your breathing, relax your muscles from head to toe, feel the wind ride up your arms, hear the leaves falling in the distance, the crunching of leaves, the chirping of the birds, calm your thoughts."
Tasim focused on Master Chi's voice as he listened. He tried to calm his thoughts, to no avail, but he found the way to calm them was not to think of calming oneself at all. He focused on relaxing his body, relaxing his neck and letting it find its own comfortable position, then his arms, which held themselves together through friction, but now they were fully relaxed, then his legs, he relaxed every part of his being.
The only part of Tasim's being that stayed active was his mind, but not his thoughts; his thoughts calmed, and he found himself fully able to focus on the nature that surrounds him. The rustling of leaves, the sounds of birds chirping, the sound of woodpeckers knocking on wood, small critters crawling through the grass, the falling and crunching of leaves as animals walked over them, and eventually, he found nature's presence.
It was as soft as a mother's embrace, warming to the touch, calming, and loving. He could sense Mother Nature rejuvenating him, filling him back up with energy. He felt the barren wasteland of mana within him begin to fill back up into an endless, overflowing well. His eyes opened, not physically, but spiritually, and he could see small green particles that were not there before, watching as the ones that collided with him ceased to disappear, and as each one collided with him, he felt his energy return.
He reached out with his spiritual body, instinctively grabbing with his left, and as he did, the marking on his wrist began to glow with a dark, forest green, excess energy that was not accepted by his body, and was beginning to store itself in this area, becoming a darker and darker green until it was black as a void. The darkness produced a gradient, which was the threads, or vines, that branched off from the cufflink that was made from the chains. The marking that existed on his wrist eventually became a bright radiance, but then the realm he was currently in was no longer; his eyes opened, and he looked around.