Rui stiffened at those words.
The Elder Tree was right on the money.
When Rui thought of responsibility, he thought of his father. The man who bore more responsibility than any other person he had ever known. The Emperor of Harmony was, in many ways, the model ruler and the ultimate responsibility-bearer
His life was the throne.
The throne was his life.
There was no separation between the two, as far as Emperor Rael was concerned. Everything he did, he did for the Kandrian Empire; even his personality and temperant had grown to develop around this fundantal responsibility he had adopted.
Rui had deep respect for his father for how he bore responsibility, but he could never ever see himself being that way. It was why he had recoiled at the thought of being Emperor.
Your father made his responsibility the essence of his identity, the Elder Tree mused knowingly. And you have co to assu that this is the only way that responsibility can be fulfilled. But that is a deeply limited perspective. You are not your father. You cannot fulfill the responsibility the way he did. But you can fulfill it in your own way. The Rui Quarrier way. Think back to the tis in your life where you grew the fastest, and your Martial Drive was the strongest. What mont in your life has your drive been the strongest?
Rui could think of several monts.
They ca to his mind imdiately because of how deep an imprint they made on him. The mont that first popped into his mind was one of many, many decades ago.
"It was when I was running away from the now-destroyed Shionel Confederation," Rui murmured. "I ran away from Chairman Deacon, and I felt a desperation that I had not felt at all for the first nineteen years of my life at that point."
He thought back to that period in his life.
In hindsight, it was a transitional period in his life.
He grew more serious. His life grew more serious. His drive grew more serious.
Before that point in his life, he had been very jovial. Everything was fun and playful. He did get into serious missions with his life on the line, but ultimately, he treated it as a very dangerous and very realistic RPG with so real consequences to spice up the ga.
That attitude had changed when he had made an enemy of Chairman Deacon after the man discovered his true identity. It forced him to flee from the Shionel Confederation along with Kane, and it was when his life transitioned from a highly realistic RPG with so stakes to make the ga more spicy to sothing that was truly and genuinely real with consequences that extended to his family; the Quarrier Orphanage.
The period where he was on the run from Chaiman Deacon had been the period of his life where his desperation was most raw and real, aside from his identity crisis.
And it ca because the stakes had gone beyond him and had now engulfed his family.
"Stakes..." His ethereal eyes widened with realization. "I see, that was a form of responsibility."
Indeed, you felt responsible for those who would be affected by your actions. That is why you perceived them as part of the ’stakes,’ of whatever situation you had found yourself in, the Elder Tree replied. And did that desperation make you stronger?
Rui nodded as his ethereal eyes grew hazy with recollection. "It made the youngest Martial Senior in history. I don’t think I would have been that driven if not for what was at stake... if not for the responsibility I felt for the well-being of my family."
You had inadvertently turned responsibility into a source of power and growth, the Elder Tree remarked. As I said, responsibility can be an impedint or a propellant; it can be anything you want, and you must decide your relationship with it. It is not enough to simply accept responsibility reluctantly and with a negative mindset. You must understand what responsibility ans to you, and you must ensure that you fulfill it in a manner consistent with your identity. Then, you will turn it into a source of power, fulfillnt, and growth, and ultimately a blessing that you will never want to get rid of.
The wisdom of the Elder Tree gave Rui a profound amount of clarity as it shifted his mindset.
"Responsibility is Water."
The realization had finally sunk in for him as it expanded the overlap between the essence of his Martial Art and the world itself. He saw more Water in the world than he had ever had before, while he took another step closer down his Martial Path towards the Gates of Transcendence.
The Elder Tree remained silent as it simply watched Rui’s mind shift as the little enlightennt changed his ntality.
When he opened his ethereal eyes, the reluctance was gone.
A deep willingness could be seen within it.
The darkness that seed to resonate with his pitch-black irises was dispelled.
If, before, it seed like he was forcing himself to accept a curse that he wished he didn’t have to, now it seed like he was eager for a blessing that would improve his life and his path to Project Water.
"I was a fool."
His voice was one of frustration.
"If I hadn’t made this realization, then... things would have beco disastrous."
He would have tried to beco an emperor like his father before him out of a guilty sense of responsibility, which would have impeded his Martial Path and Project Water exactly like he would have expected. This would have made him more and more miserable, and he would have neither fulfilled his responsibility nor Project Water very well.
He gazed at the Elder Tree with an expression of gratitude. "Thank you, my friend. You have helped gain clarity. You have helped avert a really bad future. I’m glad I decided to co speak with you while fulfilling so important errands. You have allowed to understand that responsibility could help fulfill Project Water. And how Project Water can help fulfill my responsibility."
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