Chapter 5: Papa

“Really?!” The Spirit Queen excitedly said, causing her eyes widen in delight and her wings to flutter.

Satisfied with her reaction, Yu lightly smiled as he explained: “It’ll be best if we do it outside, I don’t want to ruin your home after all.”

“Okay, let’s go!” The Spirit Queen agreed, pulling Yu’s hand as the two of them went outside. Yu, who had never held the hands of another girl outside his family, lightly blushed as he felt the Spirit Queen’s soft and warm hand. Fortunately, the Spirit Queen was too excited to notice this, let alone see his blushing appearance.

Unaware of her intimate action, the Spirit Queen stared at Yu, still holding his hand.

Coughing lightly, Yu spoke in a joking manner, still somewhat flustered: “My dear Spirit Queen, as much as I enjoy holding your hand, you should let go for now.”

Realizing that she’s been holding his hand, the Spirit Queen let go. Wishing to find a hole to hide in as her face, all the way to her long and drooping ears, became as bright as a tomato.

Finding her more and more adorable, Yu decided to fulfill her wish of seeing something similar to his soul. Since letting all his strength out at once could cause some damage, Yu decided to slowly increase his strength.

Released 1/10ths of his strength, causing the Spirit Queen to be surprised as she can see a beautiful light emanate from Yu. Soon, he released 2/10ths, causing a greenish blue light to glow off of is his body, but the Spirit Queen see’s things differently as the light emanating from Yu grew twice as vivid and beautiful than before.

“Beautiful…” The Spirit Queen muttered as she was lost in the beautiful light that Yu emitted. Though she was not alone as spirits from all over started gathering around Yu’s aura.

Seeing her dumbfounded appearance, a sense of pride grew in Yu’s heart before he released 4/10ths of his strength, causing the air to fluctuate and his greenish blue aura to rise to the height of 4 meters.

“Saint level expert!” The Spirit Queen exclaimed.

“Saint level expert? What does it mean?” Yu asked as he found this to be the perfect opportunity to ask, after all, the Spirit Queen already knew what kind of person Yu is.

“Hmmm, in this world, cultivation is divided into 9 stages, the 1st being Body Tempering Stage, 2nd is Apprentice Stage, 3rd is the Intermediate Stage, 4th is the Blood Tempering Stage, 5th is the Advanced Stage, 6th is the Spirit Stage and is widely considered to the level of strength needed before one can be considered as a powerhouse in this world, 7th is the Master Stage, 8th is the Origin Stage, when one is able to gather enough Qi to fly and last but not the least is the 9th stage, the Saint Stage, the peak of this world!” The Spirit Queen explained.

“Fufufu, not to brag, but I myself am one of the few Spirit Stage expert this world!” The Spirit Queen proudly stated, but in Yu’s eyes, he can’t help but want to pat her head as she was too adorable!

“I see, though I’m not done yet?” Yu exclaimed as he released 5/10ths of his strength making the winds blow stronger and his aura to rise to the height of over 5 meters!

“Saint Stage Peak?!” The Spirit Queen exclaimed, finding it hard to believe. But remembering his story, she calmed down as she continued to watch. Soon, the whole area inside the Great Spirit Tree became greenish blue as Yu’s aura painted the interior its color.

What was amazing is that the surrounding grass started growing more vivid, the spirits around them became brighter and more filled with life, as if Yu’s aura was making them grow. It wouldn’t be strange, after all, the soul is the root of all life! To receive nourishment for the souls is far more effective than receiving the physical kind, even more potent than Qi, the main source of energy for experts!

Seeing this wondrous scene play out, the Spirit Queen can’t help but be shocked! As Yu doesn’t only attract spirits, he can also nurture them to become more powerful just by existing! Terrifying! His soul is too terrifying!

Sadly, the Spirit Queen isn’t given any time to regain her composure as Yu releases 7/10ths of his strength! Causing his aura to soar to a terrifying height of 7-8 meters! It’s width and thickness expanded as well, making it look like an enormous greenish blue flame, lighting up the interior of the Great Spirit Tree.

The grass, plants and all manners of life around Yu grew exponentially faster! To the point where one could see a flower nearby bloom from being a small bud into a full flower! Slowly but surely, even the Great Spirit Tree is undergoing changes as the interwoven vines that make up its body started moving, slowly crawling upwards as the entire tree changes its shape.

Yu who was fascinated by this change decided to go all out! Releasing all of his strength, causing the nearby Spirit Queen to be scared witless!

His aura soared, reaching 13 or so meters into the air, lighting up the entire tree with its light, even pulsating as it glows, blowing powerful gales as it did. The plant life around him exploded in growth! Like a wave of water in a desert, his aura caused the plants to emit a glow with each of his Aura’s pulse and as for the spirits, they eventually evolved! Evolving into a Spirit Elf! Yaya, on the other hand, had her butterfly like wings grow larger as it increased three folds in size!

What is he?! His soul is actually this powerful! Reaching a realm above saints… a Demigod?! The Spirit Queen thought as she could not find any other explanation as to how his soul can cause such a disturbance. Even she could feel her power grow stronger by basking in Yu’s powerful soul, if she could stay like this for a few months then she could without a doubt reach the peak of Saint Stage! A dream of every expert in this world!

The Great Spirit Tree’s glow became more intense, as its originally light blue glow became pure white! Its body grew larger, possibly exceeding 800 meters as it’s interwoven walls grew thicker! Shedding its multi colored leaves, it instead got replaced by pure white leaves that emit a silver light! The Great Spirit Tree evolved! Its roots dug deeper and reached a much further range, causing the ground surrounding the Great Spirit Tree to deform, but also start to receive change as the surrounding tree begin to emit a light blue glow!

Feeling that he might have overdone things, Yu slowly suppressed his strength, as to calm things down.

However, the sudden disappearance of the aura didn’t stop the growth of his surroundings, as they grew nonetheless, albeit slower. The spirits, now Spirit Elves, flew all around the Great Spirit Tree’s interior as if they were playing around with their new found forms.

The Spirit Queen who was the first to recover from such groundbreaking changes stared at Yu with a complex expression. On one side, she wanted to thank him for these changes, on the other, she wants to ask many many more questions.

Not knowing how to respond, her train of thought got disturbed by Yu as he spoke: “I think I may have over did things… Ha hah…” Scratching the back of his head, he wanted to apologize to the Spirit Queen.

“N-no… It’s fine, actually, I should be giving you my thanks! The Great Spirit tree has grown so much, the same can be said for the spirits. It’s amazing you know? What you did just now.” The Spirit Queen did not hold back on the praises as she gave Yu a warm smile.

“Thanks? I mean, I didn’t expect this to happen honestly, I just wanted to see what would happen so I got a little bit careless…” Yu replied apologetically.

“It’s fine! It’s fine, really! Thank you for what you did, the Great Spirit Tree managed to reach its next state in life, thought it wouldn’t be appropriate to call it the Great Spirit Tree now as it became a higher being.” The Spirit Queen explained excitedly.

“A higher being? What did it turn into?” Yu asked curiously.

“A Great Divine tree, the records left by my ancestors call this kind of tree Yggdrasil, the highest state a form of plant life can reach. It’s amazing you know?!” The Spirit Queen exclaimed, delighted by these changes as her home grew more grand and beautiful.

“This tree is very important to me as a Spirit Queen, it and I share a connection allowing me to control it. Not only does it serve a home for me, but a home to all my children, the spirits. It’s a sacred and holy place for spirit kind.” The Spirit Queen continued to explain.

However, she soon grew quiet as she started to ponder over a few things. Yu who has been staring at the Spirit Queen all this time wanted to say something, but seeing her troubled expression, he decided to keep quiet for now.

Soon, the Spirit Queen firmly decided, heading back inside her small home as she searched for an item. In a few seconds, the Spirit Queen came out and in her hands was a beautiful silver pendant that has a beautiful greenish blue crystal embedded in the middle of the pendant, emitting a faint glow.

“This is my spirit pendant, it’s a very special pendant so take very good care of it!” The Spirit Queen warned, emphasizing on the word “special” as she gave it to Yu.

“Why so?” Yu asked as he accepted the pendant.

His question made the Spirit Queen turn bright red as she is unable to look him in the eyes. Quiet, apart from the blowing of the wind and the noise the Spirit Elves made, it was quiet. Yaya who woke up from her stupor from receiving strength from Yu flew towards the Spirit Queen.

Quickly spotting the Pendant in Yu’s hand, Yaya immediately spoke: “Papa?”

“Eh?” Yu exclaimed, causing the nearby Spirit Queen started to turn burning hot as steam started rising from her head and her wings violently fluttering.

“Papa?” Yu asked Yaya, still recovering from her words.

“Un! Papa!” Yaya excitedly exclaimed as she floated towards Yu.

“What do you mean by Papa?” Yu asked, not wanting to believe that a spirit he’s met today is calling him Papa, somewhat hoping that it has another meaning at the same time not.

“Papa means papa!” Yaya exclaimed, unable to read the mood between Yu and the Spirit Queen.

Still confused, Yu glanced at the Spirit Queen, but became terrified as she looked as if she was about to pass out at any moment! She was burning hot! Her eyes lost focus as beads of sweat started perspiring on her forehead and her wings spasms violently.

Afraid that she might collapse, Yu went forward, grabbing the Spirit Queen’s shoulder to wake her up. But doing so only made the already flustered Spirit Queen to break from her trance as she started squirming about.

This unexpected action caused the two of them to lose balance, with Yu falling backwards and the Spirit Queen following after.

“Oh!” Yaya exclaimed as she saw something she probably shouldn’t have.

As the two fell, their lips just happened to be aligned causing them to overlap.

Silence, absolute silence! The two could not respond, and by the time they did, more than a minute has passed! Finally breaking loose of the long kiss, the Spirit Queen did not jump back, nor did she scold Yu, instead she only lifted her head a few inches away from Yu, staring intently at his gentle eyes.

Yu did the same, not squirming and instead staring back, as if the two mutually understood each other with just a glance. More time pass as the two just stared at each other and before long, Yu slowly closed his eyes leaning his head forward as the Spirit Queen did the same, locking lips with each other as the two had another fit of passion.

Yaya who was witnessing this exclaimed: “Oh my!” as she turned away, extremely shy.

More time pass as the two figures lying on the ground continued their showcase of newfound love. The scenery grew sweet as Yu hugged the Spirit Queen’s waist as she entrusted her body weight onto his.

Eventually, the two lips part and their eyes meet.

“Will you take responsibility?” The Spirit Queen asked as she began to worry, not breaking contact with Yu’s clear and gentle eyes, as if she was trying to sense any changes. But of course, as Yu was someone who could not tell a lie when someone looked him in the eyes, she did not find any as his eyes remained clear and serene, granting the Spirit Queen a sense of comfort.

Lightly smiling, Yu replied as he gave her forehead a kiss: “Of course.”

“Do you like me?” The Spirit Queen asked bashfully.

“I do, I like you very much.” Yu replied as he gave a wonderful smile.

“You won’t oppose to having me as your wife?” The Spirit Queen asked, seemingly worried.

“Will you oppose to having me as your husband? What if I’m actually an evil fellow who’s acting good to get to you?” Yu playfully replied.

“I don’t believe that you’re that kind of person. Your soul is pure and kind, without the slightest impurity.” The spirit Queen decisively said.

“Then do you believe that I will oppose to having a person like you as my wife?” Yu asked.

“No… You won’t…” The Spirit Queen replied with a slight blush.

Hearing her answer, Yu smiled as he said: “Well, I may just like you for now, but I’m sure that I will learn to love your adorable self as time goes on.”

Hearing his words caused the Spirit Queen to blush further, as she tried her best to reply: “I will learn to l-l-love you as well…”

With those words, the two stood up, cheeks rosy as they dusted the dirt off their clothes.

Coughing lightly, the Spirit Queen stood in front of Yu helping him put on the Spirit pendant and soon, the greenish blue crystal lit up immensely, forcing the two to close their eyes! Engulfing the pair of lovers as it did and eventually, the light died down and their two figures revealed.

Opening his eyes, he discovered that the pendant became smaller, although more beautiful as it became covered in silvery white runes. In front of him stood the Spirit Queen, with the same necklace around her neck, increasing her loveliness by a few folds.

“It looks good on you.” Yu teased, satisfied in his heart.

“It looks good on you too…” The Spirit Queen bashfully replied as her wings fluttered, nearly making Yu’s heart melt. Unable to hold back, he hugged her waist and pulling her closer.

“So…” He whispered into her ears.

As her ears were quite sensitive, the Spirit Queen shuddered before replying: “Yes?”

“Does this makes us husband and wife?” Yu replied gently.

Not uttering a word, she gave a small nod, hugging Yu back with her slender arms.

Satisfied with her answer, Yu hugged her tightly. The two did not separate for a while, as they sought

each other’s warmth, ignoring the events that were happening around them.

Actually, the Spirits that became Spirit Elves had already stopped wandering about as they surrounded Yu and the Spirit Queen, but under the leadership of Yaya, they did not disturb the two lovers.

An hour passes, but the two did seem to tire as they remained in place, standing in each other’s arms. But reluctantly, the two separate.

Holding onto her hands, Yu gently said: “Does my beloved wife want a name?