[NR] Why Did You Like Those Stories - Chapter 589 (Patreon)

Jason ended up dressed in some nice brown corduroy pants, a short sleeve button-up shirt, brown leather slip-on shoes, and an aqua colored tie. He could have dressed up even more. In fact, compared to some of his options, this was sinfully slumming it. Which fit with his mom’s plans. She understood that he was busy and so had planned a sinful breakfast. Name as such because the place they were going had a “heaven” theme going on and this was going to be their specialty event that only happened on days off.

After a bit of work with a comb, Jason was satisfied with his hair, kept short by the capsule so it could just be combed to the side. Thus ready, he stepped out and met his mom at the apartment’s entrance.

Jenny smiled, “Nice to see you in the flesh! Work has kept me running around and we both know you’ve got your own troubles brewing. If the apartment system is right though, you just recently had a bit of time off. Surprised it took so long to die. Most people like to push things in the tutorial stage and get a death or two in quick.”

Jason shrugged, “It was completely my fault. Didn’t even die in battle or anything. Just managed to mess up something I was working on and it ended up killing me.”

Jenny nodded, “While I’m sure you aren’t some kind of alchemist, that sounds very much like what I usually hear from my company’s alchemy and chemistry department.”

Jason laughed, “Going by some definitions you could technically call me an alchemist.”

Jenny stopped as she was about to get in the auto-cab. “You going old school and trying to cultivate? That isn’t exactly the most popular route, even in the eastern regions of the world where those stories come from.”

Jason takes her pause as a chance to slip into the cab ahead of her. “Quick pick up there. Not many remember the eastern alchemists and their connection to cultivation.”

Jenny rolls her eyes as she gets in next to him. “As if I could forget. Not every parent has to sign permission slips for reading material that isn’t ‘spicy’ or ‘mature’. For a while there you had me collecting piles of those permission requests so you would be able to read stuff like Journey to the West and, of course all those pre-change cultivation web novels. I don’t know how you originally got turned onto them, but I do admit they had an interesting perspective.”

Jason shrugs, he hadn’t exactly meant to cause trouble back then. It was just that learning that this world had some concept of what cultivation was had piqued his interest. So, of course, he had to take a look at it. Whether it was the truly ancient source material, the early web age novels that took cues from it, or the modern interpretations that had honestly been quite tainted by NeoRealm. “Well, cultivation just has a certain je ne sais quoi to it that western mythology lacks. Even the modern stuff has honestly lost much of that feeling. An inevitable result when much of the old got burned down because of the abuse inherent in many of the systems. Even those that could be counted as innocent got dinged during that time.”

Jenny raised an eyebrow, “It isn’t like religion is gone or anything.”

Jason shakes his head, “I’m not saying it is. People will always have something they want to believe in and I won’t ever say deities aren’t out there.”

Jenny, “Which is downright odd! You’re my son, but honestly? You’re the only person I know of who believes that there are gods, but doesn’t worship them in any manner. Even those who take on the philosophy that a god or gods probably exist out there tend to have some level of veneration.”

Jason shrugs again, “Eh, they don’t need my help.” ‘They already got enough help from me.’

The cab goes silent for a few minutes before Jenny speaks up again, “You said ‘je ne sais quoi’, but could you try to explain it? I didn’t exactly take it seriously when you were a kid, but since you still hold on to, I want to try and understand.”

Jason takes a moment to gather his thoughts. “I could try? Besides, it likely isn’t truly something that can’t be described. In fact, maybe in trying to explain it, I can figure it out for myself. It might even help me.

“Anyway, most myths from around here or basically most other places that are similar to us and steeped in our strange mix of religions that eventually got distilled to basically the same one that was shattered into so many variants. The sword in the stone, the grail, various demigods, those bathed in the heart-blood of a dragon, dipped into a river for near immunity, picked by some god or another, inheritors of ancient lineages, so many prophets, and so on. All of it is gaining power from an outside source. Whether it is a bloodline or a deity. Even the early information age had this with their superheroes. You receive power and that’s it.

“This actually caused a bunch of problems for the early age of video games. After all, rpg elements are one of the older concepts and superheroes don’t ‘level up’ as it were. Can they gain more powers or unlock stuff? Sure, but it isn’t going to be something like plus five strength every other level or anything. And that brings us to cultivation.

“The idea of going against the heavens? To grow yourself instead of being granted power? I’m honestly surprised it took so long in the past for those beliefs to be implanted into the video games from our region. It might not have been a perfect match, but most things aren’t. Now, I must admit, even in the modern era, there are a bunch of texts that haven’t been translated. My understanding comes mostly from the later, early internet age stories. So I can’t exactly point to old religious doctrine to explain why this was on their side.

“However, I can certainly do so for our myths. The classic story of the sword in the stone? Both proof of the one who pulled its lineage as well as power granted. Then there is the grail, which is literally a heavenly relic. I’m sure there are some myths where a person starts from the bottom and grows until they reach the top, but they aren’t exactly coming to mind for me right now. Once again, this might just be the result of this having happened so long ago.

“Except one of the eastern religions was literally named after someone who gained enlightenment. Well, their title, but you get the idea. It is quite rough, but on the one hand you have powers being granted by the external and on the other power from within. I can’t tell you what originally got me started on it, but that sort of thing truly captured my mind. This is especially true when so many stories on one side include gotchas to their power where you lose it if you step wrong. Whether it was having your hair shaved, a specific ankle targeted, or just a piece of dirt from your original home nearby.

“Cultivated strength felt different to me. While their stories also included the powerful being humbled. It wasn’t ever because their power left them or was withdrawn. It was always some outside force chaining them or damaging them. For someone to lose their power because of getting their head shaved, it would be because they had stored their power there and not because some god decided that was your weakness. If you developed a weakness, it wasn’t because when your mother dipped you in a river, some of the water didn’t get to where she was holding you, but rather because while training you neglected the area or your training method sucked.”

The cab fell into silence as Jenny thought things over. It wasn’t until they arrived at their destination that she spoke up. “Fair enough. Having worked my way up the corporate ladder, I can see where you’re coming from. All of my power in the company technically vanishes the moment I quit or get fired. Compared to someone who managed to create and grow their own private company, my power is ephemeral.”