"Sorry, I forgot about that. But my hands are too big to make a bowl, and I can't control my power well enough yet to make one out of clay," Kai explained.
Kai looked at his sister's hand and suddenly held it. "This should work," he said.
Rose was confused by her brother's behavior, touching her hand like that, but she felt a little shy.
She glanced at the tree and smirked. "Watch this, you pervy tree."
"Err, brother, I know you love my hand, but we're siblings. This would be forbidden love... but for today, I'll give you a chance to touch it gently," she teased, trying to lighten the mood.
Kai rolled his eyes but couldn't help smiling. "Focus, Rose. I'm trying to see if your hand can help shape the clay into a bowl. Let's see if this works."
Rose laughed, realizing his intention. "Oh, okay! Let's give it a try then."
They went to the river and searched for clay. For educational purposes, clay is usually gray or reddish and sticky when wet.
After finding some, Kai handed it to Rose.
"Okay, Rose, now just do as I say, alright?"
"First, clean the clay by removing any small stones or dirt stuck to it."
Rose then gently wiped the clay with her hands, carefully picking out any small stones or debris. After a while, it was clean.
"Nice, it looks clean now. Okay, for the next step, add a little water bit by bit to the clay and make sure it's easy to shape."
She did as he instructed.
For the next step, Kai sat behind her and held her hands, guiding her.
"First, take a lump of clay and shape it into a ball. Now, I'll hold your thumb, and we'll press it into the center of the ball to create a hollow."
After that, he let go of her hands and said, "Now, use your stone knife to shape the walls of the bowl according to your creativity. Make sure the walls aren't too thin, okay?"
Rose carefully followed his instructions, shaping the bowl with full concentration and care.
Together, they worked on shaping the clay, using Rose's smaller hands to mold it into a bowl while Kai used his strength to stabilize it. It was a messy process, but they managed to create a rough but functional bowl.
"See? Teamwork," Kai said proudly.
Rose grinned. "Yeah, and I thought you were just being weird for a second there."
Kai chuckled. "Don't get any ideas, little sister. Now let's use this bowl to water the garden."
As they worked together, Rose couldn't help but glance at the tree and stick her tongue out playfully. "Take that, pervy tree!"
They used the bowl to water the garden. It was a bit challenging, but they managed to finish the task. Then, Rose used her power to speed up the growth of one of each vegetable.
But her curiosity as a schoolgirl was overwhelming. She kept staring at the process, trying to figure out how her power worked, but she still couldn't find the answer.
I noticed her confusion as she squeezed the plant with the face of someone eager to learn.
"What are you doing, staring at the plant with that weird face, sister?" I asked.
She looked at me with an excited expression, as if waiting for me to ask her something.
"How does my power work on this plant? Why can't we do this in our world?"
"Ahh, how am I supposed to answer this?" I thought, feeling a bit overwhelmed. But as her brother, I decided to teach her the basics.
"Let me ask you first: how do plants and animals grow in our world?"
She raised her hand and answered, "Photosynthesis for plants and food (calories) for animals."
"Good. While magic doesn't exist in our world, if I explain it using our world's concepts, it would be like energy transfer, hormonal regulation, and genetic manipulation.
In magic or fantasy, energy is directly infused into the plant or animal to speed up their growth.
In reality, growth requires energy. Plants use sunlight (photosynthesis) to convert energy into growth, while animals rely on food (calories). If a fantasy 'power' acts as an energy source, it could theoretically fuel rapid growth by providing an overwhelming amount of energy.
Is that clear enough?"
Her eyes were shining, eager to learn more details.
"That's enough. I'm not your teacher . I won't explain any further.
It would scare me if she learned to manipulate genetics and hormones in animals and human , ended up creating some kind of monstrous creature... I should thank the tree for only giving us basic knowledge about this powers.
"Even my power isn't boosted—it's because gravity and wind manipulation make my strength and speed inhuman."
She felt a bit sad because I didn't want to explain further. She started plucking grass one by one, sulking.
As her brother, that cute action made me soften.
"Okay, okay, I'll explain later. Should we eat something this afternoon? Maybe something wrapped, since we don't have salt or oil. That should be better, right?"
Rose, who had been sulking, started to smile again.
"Okay, but I'll choose the ingredients."
She walked around gathering the ingredients:
- Lettuce (large leaves for wrapping)
- Radishes
- Broccoli
- Tomatoes
- Parsley
After gathering the ingredients, I sat under the World Tree, watching Rose excitedly prepare something she knew how to make.
She washed and chopped all the vegetables, then placed slices of radish, broccoli, tomato, and parsley on top of a lettuce leaf.
Next, she rolled the lettuce leaf like a wrap, and it was ready. We ate it together fresh. Even without proper seasoning, it still tasted delicious.
While eating, Rose asked, "Brother, should we make a tiny house? At least we'd have a place to take shelter. With your speed and power, it wouldn't take too long, right?"
"It's not the right time yet. Maybe we can start with a small hut—that would be better. I'm not willing to give my sister something that's poorly made. If I'm going to do it, I'll make it at least comfortable for both of us."