Wood Bestowed by the Gods

Richie arrived at Blair's home.

In the small stone house were countless exquisite little trinkets, while every clay jar was filled with remarkable things.

"Chief, look. That white stuff in this jar is fish glue. It's extremely sticky and can be used to repair things."

Blair explained the novel items in his home to the tribesmen one by one.

Seeing so many people visiting his home, the frail young man spoke somewhat awkwardly and stiffly, nervous enough to be drenched in sweat.

Yet when he spoke of his own inventions, his tone gradually became unusually excited.

Before long, he was speaking more and more smoothly.

He quickly picked up another little object shaped like a skull and began introducing it.

"I call this little thing a Wailing Whistle. It can make a piercing sound like a woman screaming. I normally only dare to test how loud it is on an empty beach."

Richie curiously examined the oddly shaped objects one by one.

His gaze soon fell upon the skull-shaped whistle in Blair's hand.

There was no other reason.

The whistle simply looked extremely strange.

It felt warm and smooth to the touch, nothing like clay.

Richie brought it to his lips and blew hard.

A terrifying shriek rang out.

It sounded like a deathly cry summoned from hell.

Everyone jumped at the sound.

One young guard jolted at the sudden noise and nearly fell flat on his backside.

"Blair, the things you make are truly interesting. This whistle would probably be quite good for scaring people."

The guards burst into laughter.

Richie was smiling as well.

After signaling everyone to quiet down, Richie whispered a few words to the guard beside him and ordered someone to fetch a Return Fruit.

He had decided to give this creative Artisan the reward he deserved.

"Chief, I... I want something else."

Blair knelt on the ground, stammering for a long while.

After a moment of hesitation,

he finally spoke tentatively and cautiously.

"I want some better wood."

"Better wood?"

Blair did not dare raise his head.

After a long while, he finally spoke as though he had made up his mind.

"I want to try taking some wood from the Red Trees bestowed upon us by the gods. Even just a little would do. I want to study the great wood granted by the gods."

The moment he said this,

the elders who had come along could no longer sit still.

"Outrageous!"

"You have no reverence!"

"The Red Trees are a gift from the gods to the Tribe. A single redwood takes a hundred years to grow. How can we allow you to cut one down without permission?"

Although Richie admired the young man, he could not help but freeze upon hearing this rather offensive request.

"Can you tell me why you want the Red Trees bestowed by the gods rather than other trees?"

After all, there were White Trees on the island with short growth cycles.

These trees were often cut down in daily life.

They were used as torches and charcoal, or made into valuable, comfortable furniture.

Logically speaking,

if they were to be used as crafting materials, White Wood was hard enough.

Blair merely remained silent and did not answer.

Looking at the silent young man, Richie could not help sighing.

He could tell that the young man was not disrespectful toward the gods.

In him, Richie vaguely saw a glimpse of his younger self.

That desire to explore, that curiosity about everything.

"I cannot allow you to cut down a Red Tree."

Richie shook his head.

He did not agree to Blair's request.

But he offered him another promise in its place.

"However, there is a fallen redwood stored in my cave. If you can make more useful wooden tools like these, I can grant you that precious redwood as a reward."

That was what Richie said.

When he had first taken over the chief's cave,

apart from the food,

several pieces of divinely bestowed redwood and redwood seeds had also been stored within the stone cavern.

Among them was one charred piece of redwood.

It was said that during a thunderstorm,

a piece of redwood had been struck by lightning and collapsed.

It and its seeds had thus been preserved.

Successive leaders had cultivated them along the shore, and only after nearly a century had they harvested several new pieces of redwood.

The previous leader, however, had privately ordered several pieces of redwood cut down, intending to turn them into luxurious furniture.

But before he could do so, Richie had taken his position.

Now, those pieces of redwood had fallen into Richie's hands.

Within that charred Divine Wood lay a subtle, strange divine power even greater than that of the other massive redwoods.

Richie believed

it might prove more useful in Blair's hands.

So he was willing to generously give that treasure to the young man.

But for now, he had not revealed the secret of the charred redwood to him.

He still needed time to assess him.

Word spread that Blair, as a carpenter, had been received by the chief and granted the chief's promise.

Some somewhat talented artisans felt dissatisfied and came to challenge him.

But those proud artisans were soon won over by Blair's astonishing practical skills.

The craftsmen submitted to Blair.

Like eager apprentices, they began learning handicrafts alongside Blair.

Blair often gathered with a group of craftsmen, animatedly discussing something. It looked as though they were fiercely debating certain problems.

Sometimes, people would carry over several logs and chop away with loud cracks.

Sometimes, they would bring over several stones and hammer at them with clanging blows.

Sometimes, the artisans would even rush into Blair's stone house in the middle of the night to ask him about certain problems.

This led people to misunderstand.

Some strange rumors began spreading through the Tribe.

However, those rumors were soon drowned out by a number of novel creations.

Things jointly crafted by Blair and the artisans began appearing throughout the Tribe.

For example, more handy hoes.

Ladders that allowed people to climb to high places more safely and conveniently.

And finally, roller boards for moving heavy objects.

The name Blair, who created all kinds of convenient items, soon spread throughout the entire Tribe.

One year later,

Richie knew it was time to fulfill his promise.

After confirming the man's wisdom and his devout heart toward the gods and the Tribe,

he decided to give him that extraordinary Divine Wood.

"Gods, have you seen him? This young man possesses great courage and wisdom. With his own hands and intellect, he is carving out a future for the Tribe. Gods, your believer wishes to put your gift to proper use rather than let it lie in that cold cave."

Richie knelt devoutly in the Temple.

He spoke to the gods.

In the end, he earnestly informed them of what he was about to do.

Mona soon saw Richie instruct the guards to carefully wrap their hands in animal hides and carry a charred piece of redwood out from the depths of the cave.

"That lightning-struck wood?"

Mona suddenly understood.

His thoughts drifted back a hundred years.

To that stormy night.

An unprecedentedly powerful bolt of lightning had struck the island.

After absorbing all of that terrifying thunder, the towering redwood had shielded the island's living creatures from disaster, then collapsed with all life extinguished.

The Great Divine Trees he had bestowed did far more than merely resist tsunamis and violent winds.

The Great Divine Trees also possessed resistance against other natural disasters.

They could store the energy of natural calamities within themselves and convert it into the energy needed for survival.

For example, after resisting a tsunami, redwoods would gradually store large amounts of saltwater in their roots, converting and absorbing it.

Amid violent winds, they could also gradually convert the power of the wind into flexibility and restore their original posture.

However, there was always a limit to such storage.

This charred wood had died precisely because it had absorbed an overload of lightning.

Therefore, that dead redwood did indeed contain the wondrous power of lightning that had yet to be converted.

It was a piece of wood imbued with the wondrous element of lightning.