Chapter 5: Awesome!

Ethan was totally stoked as he watched the time roll on. Nathan and his wife were living the dream, the old-school way with him farming and her weaving. Meanwhile, Nathan was also hustling to level up his psychic powers.

Year Five:

Nathan, through sheer grit, broke through to level three of Foundational Energy.

That same year, Luna was pregnant and gave birth to a boy named Lucas Blackwood!

"Congrats! Your family just got bigger, Spiritual Tribute +10!"

"Finally, he's here!" Ethan couldn't contain his excitement and took a huge swig of Coke.

In the game, Nathan was outside the house, dancing with joy, "Forebearer's magic at work, it's a boy! The Blackwood line continues!"

The scene quickly shifted.

Nathan, holding his newborn, was crying tears of joy in front of the Forebearer altar.

"Forebearer, check out our family's chubby little champ, my boy Lucas has the makings of a sage!"

Rewards were definitely in order!

"Using 'Forebearer's Blessing - Love of the Forebearer,' consuming 4 Spiritual Tribute points."

In a flash, a radiant light enveloped Nathan and his son.

"Son, see that? The Forebearer's shown up again, blessing my boy to be healthy and trouble-free!"

"Spiritual Tribute +2"

After the celebration,

Ethan quickly checked the newborn's stats.

Compared to Nathan's mixed Psychic Constitution, Lucas seemed to have a better start.

"Wood Psychic Constitution: 56"

Though it's still a mixed Psychic Constitution, each type has its strengths, and reaching 100 points means a complete Psychic Constitution. 56 points is pretty decent.

It's way better than Nathan's Metal Psychic Constitution at 38 points.

"The Blackwoods are on the rise!"

Then Ethan, feeling good, had Lisa whip up some late-night snacks. After munching down, he continued his all-night gaming session.

That's the perk of cultivating psychic powers, you can pull an all-nighter without feeling beat.

He quietly watched the Blackwoods thrive.

Since the baby arrived, there were noticeable changes in the Blackwood household in the game.

Nathan fixed up the house, making it much bigger, and even expanded the farmland.

It seemed like the game had seasons too, and Ethan could see the fields lying fallow at times. But since Nathan was a psychic power cultivator and a hunter, they weren't worried about going hungry.

Before long,A new action on the dashboard caught Ethan's eye.

Nathan wiped out all the wild boars in Mystic Boar Forest and snagged the 'Boar Slayer' trait!

"Whaaat?"

What kind of wild trait is that?

Ethan checked it out.

[Boar Slayer: Combat power up by 10%, damage to pig-like creatures increased by 200%.]

"Badass."

Ethan gave a thumbs up, looking like his descendants were making some serious strides in their niche.

After adding another member to the family,The little Blackwood homestead was buzzing with life.

Ethan even saw little Lucas, barely crawling, being taken by Nathan to the altar for a blessing, clearly starting 'em young on that Ancestral Communion thing.

[Spiritual Tribute +3]

Next thing,Ethan noticed Luna's belly was growing again!

He glanced at the game's timeline, Year Seven.

"True man, my descendants!"

Soon after,

[Luna successfully gave birth to a girl, named 'Amelia Blackwood'!]

[Congrats on the new addition to the Blackwood family, Spiritual Tribute +10]

Then, the same scene at the altar,

"Nathan, crying his eyes out, seemed to think he'd let the Forebearer down by not having another boy, 'Please forgive me, Forebearer!'"

He was holding clueless Lucas, while Luna held the newborn girl, looking pretty down.

"What's this? Preferring boys over girls?"

Ethan frowned, to him, as long as the descendants brought blessings to the family, the gender didn't matter. Favoring one gender over another was not cool.

After a moment of thought,

[Using 'Forebearer's Blessing - Love of the Forebearer,' consuming 2 Spiritual Tribute points.]

But this time, the skill was used only on Amelia, not on anyone else!

In that moment,

Nathan seemed to get Ethan's point, his next prayers were a bit sheepish.

"Forebearer, calm your wrath, Nathan gets it now, all Blackwood kids are cherished, thanks for blessing Amelia!"

[Spiritual Tribute +3]

Seeing this, Ethan's expression eased a bit. Although he couldn't talk to the game characters directly, he could make his point known in other ways.

Last time he used 'Love of the Forebearer' on everyone, this time just on Amelia, couldn't be clearer.

Later, as the family kept going,Ethan checked out Amelia's stats.

This kid's talents were a bit lower, even less than Nathan's, with just a mere 20 points in Mystic Water Psychic Constitution.

But no biggie, as long as the family grew, they'd contribute to the family's efforts, more hands for farming too.

Ethan then glanced at the top right corner.

Year eight rolled around, and the Blackwood descendants kept hitting up the altar with their prayers.

Ethan was getting the hang of this 'Spiritual Tribute' thing—it seemed to rack up points whenever the kids showed some serious devotion or when something big went down.

Now, his Spiritual Tribute was sitting pretty at 38 points.

By this time, Lucas was running all over the place. Only three, but maybe thanks to a steady diet of meat, he was bulkier than most kids his age. Nathan even handed him a wooden sword to start his training early.

Gotta start 'em young on those psychic powers, though three is hardly the age to get the hang of it.

Little Amelia, just a year old, wasn't too keen on training. Instead, she was often seen crawling towards the veggie garden, curiously watching Nathan irrigate the fields.

Then,Under Ethan's amazed gaze, Nathan's wife, fresh from childbirth at the start of the year, was expecting again!

"Forebearer bless us, unworthy descendant Nathan and wife bow before you, grateful for another son you've bestowed upon us!"

Awesome!

Ethan didn't hesitate to shower Nathan with 'Love of the Forebearer.'

"Thank you, Forebearer, always watching over your unworthy descendant. Rest assured, with your blessing, my wife will surely bear more children to glorify our Blackwood line!"

[Spiritual Tribute +2]

Ethan was pretty pleased.

Look at Nathan's lineage—might not be the sharpest tools in the shed, but they sure knew how to keep the family growing, making a Forebearer proud.