Cultivating Plants

Cultivation

So yes, that was the story of Life's ascension. There is not much else to be said about Aloe Ayad and what she did in Khaffat. Sure, her influence was far-reaching with the concept of Mother Nature alone without even taking into account her 'seeds', but there is not much else to be said about her that you already don't know. She's been laying low for the last millennia and you have already accounted for her actions.

Hmm… I guess I could talk about it. At least mention it.

We have talked about Khaffat's trifecta of power systems: the vital arts. Whilst rather weak compared to other power systems, when Enlightenment, Nurture, and Evolution are all combined into one they can produce quite potent effects. I will not say it was easy, but compared to other Incarnations, Life's effort with the power system was minimal.

I am not talking here about how she did not manage to even scratch the surface – especially Evolution and Enlightenment, those had quite the infinite potential – but how she became what you might classify as a divinity in a matter of centuries with passive effort.

…

I literally mentioned against this being easy. There was pain involved, but like a landlord reaping the benefits of rent, Mother Nature's power could be classified as passive income. She became an aspect of reality itself by simply existing for a long time.

So that is why she destroyed the vital arts.

She did not even need to combine all of them to create infinite and rather fast power backlogging, so of course, they had to go. Imagine if she had managed to combine all three vital arts during her mortal time. We wouldn't be speaking of centuries to consolidate her power, but decades. Much like what almost had happened with her disciple, the Prince of Flowers.

Because all of the vital arts were related to the Aspect of Life, she as its Primordial was able to modify it on their turf of the Creation of Life. Instead of erasing them – which would have led to some Existential issues – she combined the three vital arts into a new unique power system.

Yes, sort of like the sub-system of Infusion.

This new power system is the one commonly known as Cultivation, and yes, it is one of the most common power systems in Existence. Also, the first power system composed of a Primordial Aspect rather than a regular one. There are certain problems with a Primordial having their own power system, but I will not dwindle on them. I cannot explain anything about Cultivation that you do not already know, but I think there is merit in exploring the parts that compose it.

Even though Nurture was her most hated vital art, Cultivation's foundation could be summarized as Nurture two-point-oh. Strengthening the body, cultivating one's mind, commanding the heavens, and whatnot.

Yes, as much as she hated Nurture and her original belief of Sulnaya, Cultivation ended up becoming the mixture of the two.

There are a lot of drugs – or pills as the cultivators like to call them – in Cultivation, and this is the result of the merging with Enlightenment. Yet this is not the greatest contribution of the power system of the assassins to the new one.

No, not even the whole 'cultivate the mind and polish one's soul' part of the doctrine.

Enlightenment's influence comes from the fact of being able to draw power from the cognitive plane. Cultivation is a rather corporeal – or earthly, as those cultivators call it – power system, but there are many acts that come close to common acts of magic like flying swords, summoning of spirits, and elemental displays. These are of course the byproduct of the merging of the component of the cognitive component of Enlightenment with the other vital arts.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Finally, Evolution.

Truth be told, Life was quite aware that Evolution was the most problematic of the three power systems. Yes, one might have incentivized rape and the other drug abuse, but incentive is not moral imperative. There were alternatives to both, yet the inhabitants of Khaffat failed to find them as they always took the easy path. Aloe Ayad, on the other hand, knew that there was only one path through Evolution that she herself took. And even then, that was only scratching the surface. It could have been way worse. And with all of that, it was Evolution that ended up destroying the planet, not Nurture or Enlightenment.

When creating Cultivation, Life decided to put the least amount of Evolution she could in the mix. This does not mean Evolution is not part of Cultivation, not in the slightest. We can see the effects of Cultivation easily in the way cultivators can reinforce their body without having the appropriate muscle mass or bone strength, and also the presence and usage of 'spiritual' flora and fauna.

All of this is the consequence of Evolution.

And all of these three vital arts form the Cultivation we know about.

Though the charade of young masters is quite the ironic take considering how its creator deeply hated imperialism and nobility.

Notes of a Wanderer

It has been quite an odyssey but after making my way into the gaia world of Khaffat, I think I have found a way to use the constituent components of Cultivation, the vital arts as they were once called ages ago.

Cultivation has great potential and is – in a way – more limitless than other power systems due to its organic nature, but alas, an Unaligned being like myself cannot use it. That was such a saddening realization, being unable to use one of the most common power systems. Thankfully, for my intent and purposes, it's not a strict requirement as a power system. But it's components… that's another subject.

But not all vital arts are created equal.

Nurture is by far the most useless of all for me. Not only I cannot accumulate vitality into my body as its power is aligned to Life, but the stat increases are rather useless. Why would I want to be physically tougher when some fuckers out there are bisecting space-time as simply as they breathe? Nah, useless power system. I doubt Mother Nature in her prime could have survived a black hole. Even with infinite power, there are limited ways to express that through organic means. One cannot become all-powerful with only one of the nine Aspects of Existence.

Enlightenment is far more adequate in that aspect. Because it partially works through the cognitive plane, it already covers one of the three main possible ways someone can attack through. Of course, it has a massive downside. Intoxication is less than commendable during combat. Though its effects outside of it… those are massive. And either way, the greatest combatant is the one who never steps foot inside a fight. But I won't deny using Enlightenment against a gnosiamancer, neuromancer, psionic, or Sage is certainly one of the easiest matchups in Existence. Perhaps that was why she had blocked access to that power system.

That or the fact that the 'modern' medicine tried with the original Enlightenment was quite pathetic. If hashish seemed a powerful drug, it was because those assassins hadn't tried fentanyl yet. I've heard that Incarnations gain an intrinsic understanding of their Aspect whenever they ascend, much like Information's omniscience but limited to their field, so Life must have seen what assassins could have done if their continued existence was allowed.

Finally, Evolution. That is the one that has piqued my interest. According to Information's rambling, there is this plant – if it can be called that – known as the Seed of Rebirth. Now, this is very interesting. As an Unaligned being, this would be my opportunity to become Aligned, but alas, I have to remain the way I am for my quest. As infuriating as it is. But nothing states that a rebirthed being must be Aligned to anything.

Here is my pet peeve theory: if I manage to be reborn, I could mutate myself to be something like a Speaker, a mage, a psionic, a Veiled, or fuck it, all of them. This would give me access to more power systems, to the genetic ones, instead of just the obtainable ones like Grace and Agatecraft. These have potential, but they are not enough. Pictomancy wasn't the answer either, unfortunately, and I had hopes for it considering its reality-bending nature.

This might be the answer to save Existence, yet this is probably the most dangerous wander I have made yet. I will have to make it deep into Life's domain, and something tells me I will die. And as much as I hate dying, something tells me that the woman will not be satisfied with a simple death.

Ah, it is hard being a pawn in a great game.