Acquiring a concept fragment is not as easy as I thought it would be. My first attempt had ended in failure.

This was because I didn't know where to start. What was I supposed to be thinking about? Did I have to empty my mind? How would I know once I got the fragment? Did some memories work better than others?

All those questions just led to a fruitless session with no progress being made. I still believed that this method was the way to go, but I probably needed to think more about the approach.

Just jumping head first without a solid gameplan was not the move.

That, however, wasn't the only reason I had stopped meditating. During my attempt, I had felt the birth of something new. It felt like the Valhkrano but weaker, yet more esoteric. That was what had fully drawn me out of my attempt.

As I observed the universe, it quickly came to my attention that a new plane of existence had been born. Its only inhabitant being a creature that resembled the female that I had taken.

It was weird to describe. Since it seemed as if she simultaneously had a physical form yet was a mass of energy.

I observed from a distance and was shocked by my discovery. This was a natural-born god or goddess. The process wasn't immediately clear to me, but as I peered into the past I saw what had happened. Somehow that woman had managed to birth divinity.

That wasn't the only surprising turn of events. After I saved the man from death, I honestly thought that not much else of interest would happen, but clearly, I was wrong.

They had managed to advance cultivation by leaps and bounds. Their territory had been expanded, and they had managed to domesticate some of the wildlife.

These were things I expected of the next couple of generations, but they clearly weren't wasting time.

I decided against going to see the newborn god. It would be better if It had some time to develop on its own. Plus, I didn't really know what the purpose of such a meeting would be. Simple introductions weren't something that really fit Mazzain.

It did cross my mind to make a new persona to meet her, but I held off on the idea. I had been jumping into things too quickly lately. I would need to think about this before I did it.

This had too much potential for me not to be a little cautious.

So, I decided to take a deep dive into the past and fully observe everything that had happened. After all, what made me most excited about this power was the ability to see stories play out.

I conjured up a chair before diving into the memories.

And I wasn't disappointed in the slightest.

They had really outdone themselves.

If their previous actions hadn't been impressive enough, what I discovered definitely was.

That woman was a mad genius. She had set up plans for the future that I would never have thought of. She might be weaker than her husband who's name was apparently Arnaud, but without question, she was the more influential character.

Her plans would have effects far into the future if they panned out, and they were already beginning to happen.

This is impressive since her prophetic visions didn't stretch all that far into the future, nor were they completely accurate.

It looked like she wouldn't be coming back after all. At least, not in the next couple of days.

This was the epitome of what I had dreamed of. My biggest worry had been that they wouldn't do anything unless pushed to do so. That was clearly not something I not should have worried about.

Several new different techniques have been created that I could potentially learn to use. They had created multiple systems of power, and they hadn't even begun to touch the eldritch books. In fact, they for the most part completely avoided them. Courtesy of the new goddess Deventus.

The only person who was even attempting to decipher them was the woman Alexis, and she did so with utmost caution and care.

I doubted that she would fall for the allure of the books since, after all, she had a divine being backing her up.

She hadn't made much progress, but once she did, I didn't doubt for a second that she would have them sealed away.

It wasn't something I was happy about. But with all the other alternatives that have been made by them, I would let it slide.

Arnaud himself was the perfect example of how to cultivate. He perfectly documented and organized his advancements, something that would be of great use to me.

As I caught up to the present moment, I decided to continue observing their actions.

It was a bit strange since there was a big-time differential, but I was still able to see everything.

While Arnaud and Alexis had been rather impressive, their children hadn't been slouching either. While none of them had been able to contribute massively, like their parents, they had still made sure that all things flowed smoothly.

They had been the ones that domesticated the water deer. They even played a part in creating some of the qi abilities.

Several of them had bonded with newly created wind spirits and had managed to draw power from them. The spirits gained access to their cultivation and, as they moved up the stages, the spirits grew stronger.

Not all of them were able to bond with spirits for some reason. It looked as if certain requirements had to be met.

It wasn't something available to me, but it was impressive nonetheless.

Perhaps the most impressive of the children was William. He had decided to trek out by himself and managed to barely survive.

He was the only child to create his very own system of power. He managed to figure out a way to draw the spirits of beasts from the cores that formed within them. He had then somehow managed to fuse that with his body. A feat that the universe recognized as he was then given the title [The Chimera].

Plus, his sacrificing of his two previous titles was entirely new to me. This was not something I thought about when I first created this system, but apparently, it was something you could do.

It did come with benefits. He had gained the ability to hinder the powers of numerators or beings related to the north wind. That plus, the fact that he still kept some of his older abilities was rather impressive. So far, the drawbacks hadn't made themselves clear.

Which is how he somehow managed to keep up with his father in combat. Perhaps keep up is a bit too generous of a term. It was how he managed to not be thoroughly annihilated.

Which was still impressive as he was fighting somebody 9 stages ahead of him and hadn't immediately lost.

That fight showed the difference between someone with a title granted by me and someone with a title from the universe.

It wasn't fair.

Even with the protection granted by the sacrifice of his two titles that fight was one-sided. His father's rate of growth was something he could not have been prepared for.

The fight in itself brought many questions to my mind, but I could only watch for now. They would have to be answered at a later date.

I continued to watch the progression of mankind for the next couple of decades. Alexis had entombed herself in a vat of herb and had told her children to bury her.

This was her way of achieving pseudo immortality. It was a plan that would take ages to bear fruit, but it definitely had my support.

Her plan required certain conditions to be met so that she could be resurrected in the future.

Those requirements were written on her tomb, and she directly gave her children the mission of accomplishing them

Not that they would in this lifetime, but it was all according to her plan.

The children continued to advance and grow. More buildings and infrastructure continued to pop up over the years. What had originally been 2 humans had now turned into 78 people.

A civilization was being born, and it was honestly magnificent.

It had tempted me to remove their protection, but I knew that as they were, they would not survive. It was better to just let them be.

Only several decades later did Arnaud finally come to his grave. He had made many advancements in his cultivation, but after a while, he simply left the protection zone and fought all beast that he came across.

He was, after all, the one who wanted to return to his world. Without the presence of Alexis, his will to remain was no longer present.

I wonder if it'll be worth it for him?

As he died, I pulled my attention away from the universe. My attention focused on the slowly materializing form of Arnaud. He had held his end of the bargain, and it was time for me to hold up mine. He still believed that I had control over whether or not he could return home. Which wasn't true, but there was no point in telling him that.

It had been nearly two days since he'd died. This would be considered a miracle.

Quickly I transformed into Mazzain and waited until his form fully came into being.

Once he appeared, I could feel Iz's excitement, but I reeled him in. There was no point in mentally scarring the man.

"You have held up your end of the bargain, and it is time for me to hold up mine." My voice echoed on the misty island as it came from all directions.

He did not respond, but rather, he stared me down. It was only when his fist was inches in front of my face that I realized what was happening. He was testing me.

His fist never landed. He was held in space with a fist almost at my face. So close yet so far.

I didn't outwardly react or acknowledge what had happened. It didn't seem like something Mazzain would do.

But I was feeling a bit annoyed, and my plans from earlier had flashed through my mind. I was whining about souls being hard to find. There was one perfectly good one in front of me right now.

It was required of me to send him back alive, but it never stated that he had to be completely intact on his return.

It was time to see whether or not a soul could be used as a sheath.

I pressed my hand against his forehead, and I watched as he screamed in pain. Where my palm had been, a symbol was slowly being etched out.

Never once in the process did he let up his screams. It was only as the symbol was finished that he screamed no longer.

The purpose of the rune itself was a simple strength booster. I didn't want to give him something too powerful just in case he got any ideas. It seemed like something simple enough to test out whether or not it could work.

The rune had more facets to it than simple strengthening, but those required that certain conditions be met.

I would also be alerted every time he used it. I wouldn't know if my experiment worked if I couldn't tell when it was used.

In the void that was the fulcrum, a portal appeared above Arnaud. It flashed with green energy ad power. On the other side of the portal, the planet earth could be seen.

All these flashy lights weren't required, but I wanted it to be rememberable in his mind.

The next instant, he was hurled into the portal and pushed out of the fulcrum.

That should do it.

Now my attention turned to cultivation.