As the rising sun cast its first light into the house, the sleeping Lucius was snatched from his mother’s bosom by his older brother and was dragged out of his bed.

“Fuck. Stop moving me!” Delton then escaped from the body and stretched, shouting, “Man, I slept like a baby! Haha!”

Nerves protruded from the young man Lucius’ forehead, as he shouted, “Enough with these stupid ass jokes! Go train already! I’m getting tired of following your lazy ass already!”

Delton scratched the back of his head, then turned his body into corporeal form to follow Marcus and the toddler Lucius to the training ground.

Performing the morning training routine, Delton found that he could do it with much greater ease compared to yesterday. With his chest out, he started to perform the routine with much more energy. By the end of it, he was still panting on the ground, causing Lucius to shake his head at the sight.

After recovering with the mother-son image, Delton saw the villagers and the children rushing to the village entrance. Shrugging his shoulders and letting out a sigh, Delton followed.

He saw Fortissimus waiting at the head of the group as the village entrance opened. The group of hunters had returned to their village and were met with cheers. Several women hugged their husbands, and several children latched onto their fathers. The toddler Lucius was one of them as he climbed and sat on his father’s head, much to the laughter of the other hunters.

Fortissimus called for the hunters to congregate in the town hall, leaving behind the children. The toddler Lucius, then tailed behind Marcus, who went to the perimeter of the village and began to train with several boulders.

Seeing Marcus start sweating, Delton then changed his form into the ephemeral state and tried to enter Marcus’ mind. However, his soul merely bounced off the head.

Reappearing outside, his soul body now had a dislocated arm. “What’s going on, old man?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Your soul’s too weak.”

“But this kid’s barely 8 years old. How is his soul that powerful?”

“Hehe. It’s because he’s been training under that monster. Don’t worry possess my younger self. He’s gonna start training soon.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if I train the same by myself?”

“Yes, but you can’t create weights in my dreams now can you?”

Delton then asked, “Can you do that thing you did last night with my arm? I don’t know how to repair such a thing.”

“Hmph, what am I to you your doctor?” Lucius snapped his finger, releasing a mist-like energy directed at Delton’s arm, causing Delton to smirk. In the next second, a sharp pain emanated from his dislocated arm, as a snap sounded out.

A tear fell down his cheek, “Fuck! Why did this one hurt compared to last nights?”

“I think we both know the answer to that question,” Lucius sneered at Delton.

Grumbling, Delton switched to ephemeral form and entered Lucius’ mind. After a couple of minutes, their father approached them.

Seeing Marcus work hard, he beamed with a wide smile. He, then turned to Lucius and said, “Your brother shouldn’t be the only one training, my son.”

He then picked up Lucius from the back of his furs then placed him standing up, “I heard from the training leader that you’ve started to perform the morning training exercises. That’s good! You make me proud!”

These words caused the toddler Lucius to giggle, but the stern look from his father caused him to stop. His father continued, “I will impart with you the exercise that the village head has given to us soldiers. Your body will probably not be able to handle all of it at once, but I will be more present in the following days.”

“Yes, dad! But what about brother?”

“Don’t worry about him. He’s being trained by Caelus, and that kid’s already stronger than me, so Marcus doesn’t need it. Now let’s warm up!”

Delton grinned as the father and child pair began a new set of exercises. However, only after a handful of forms, the toddler Lucius was already sweating all over.

“I’ll go easy on you for today! I shouldn’t be saying this to you as a child, but you need to be strong. For Marcus and for your mother!”

Gritting his teeth, the toddler Lucius looked at his father and Marcus, and nodded with an “En!”

Delton felt his body burn up with these new exercises, and like an outsider looking in, he could see the energy flowing in and out of the body. Unlike the morning training set, these exercises were more focused on endurance and explosive power.

After Lucius’ father stopped moving, “This is the first set. The following days we’ll go over the rest.” After the session, Lucius passed out, and Delton exited the mind. His father shouted out to Marcus, “Kid, train well. I’m taking little Lucius home today!”

“Yes, father!”

His father then carried the passed out Lucius back to the house. After greeting his wife, who was asleep, he placed Lucius beside her. As his father watched him sleep, he softly spoke, “Forgive me for not being there when you’re growing up. The village head thought of a plan, so I will no longer be away from you this often.”

His father got up to leave the room, then he looked at the snoring Lucius once more and said, “You are the light that guided me during these dark times.”

The older Lucius then said, “You know, kid. My father may not have been perfect, but he’s one of the few people I look up to.”

“Yeah. He sounds like a good man.”

Lucius threw a glance at Delton then asked, “I’m curious. I saw what regular family units are like from your phone. But why are they like this? Why is your family separated from one another? Most mortal societies I’ve encountered aren’t like that.”

“What do you mean? It’s just how life has always been like. Kids are separated from their parents once they enter school at the age of 6. They stay at school for 8 or so years until First Awakening, then they spend a couple of years on a career excursion. That’s where I am now. Actually from watching your family, it’s really weird seeing such a close relationship.”

“You don’t have a close relationship with your parents?”

“Not really. I talk with them once a month or so. I’m closer to my siblings. But that’s just how it is,” Delton and Lucius shrugged their shoulders.

Watching the sleeping Lucius with his mother, he then said, “Maybe this way could be better, but it’s definitely less efficient for what the corporations need.”

Delton then flew towards Caelus, who was standing on his house’s roof with his father. They were staring in a certain direction for quite some time.

Focusing at the same direction, Delton’s view accelerated to that of the clearing from yesterday.

A group of a hundred draconians had come upon it. Upon smelling the air here, some of their eyes became bloodshot and their bodies tensed up, growing angrier and angrier. The one leading them was a blue draconians laying his eyes upon a tree next to an ash ice, he roared, “Haouck! I will kill you!”

Some of the draconians asked others, “What did it say?”

“‘Thank you for your hard work.’ This was even signed by that General Haouck of theirs,” said one of the bigger draconians, who was now breathing heavily through his nose.

The blue draconian yelled, “Soldiers!”

The group immediately stood in formation and responded, “Yes, captain!”

“I cannot live under the same sky as that foul creature that killed my brother! Follow me in finding them and ending his sorry life!”

“We will follow you to our deaths!” The draconians yelled out, some even wielding their weapons to the sky.

“March towards Kiawkrough as fast as possible. Chinthon! Tell the general of my change in plans!” The blue draconian led his group towards a direction opposite of Fortissimus’ village.

After they departed, Delton’s view then changed to Fortissimus and his son, who were now celebrating and laughing.

Delton then looked towards Caelus and asked, “Did anything else happen today?”

“Hmmm. Not really,” Lucius responded.

“Damn it. Might as well just train, then! Don’t want to spoil myself like last time,” Delton laughed at himself.

And so the next four days passed by without issue. Delton mainly followed Marcus and the toddler Lucius throughout the day. He learned more of the soldier exercises from Lucius’ father. Not bothering to follow Caelus since he’s too weak, Delton trained inside the village. When it turned to night and his soul became tired, he entered the toddler Lucius’ mind and went to sleep, much to the older Lucius’ chagrin.

Going to sleep on the fifth night, Lucius could not help, but shake his head, “I still can’t believe this lazy idiot. Most cultivators would take such a rare opportunity as training their should to its full potential. Fucking fuck fate.”

_____

An alarm beeps, as a previously dark room brightens up and becomes transparent, exposing an orange sky.

“Wake up, Delton. You have no other appointments for today.”

“Fuck’s sake. I wake up too damn early this past week and forgot to turn off these alarms,” Delton laid on his bed cradling his head with his hands.

Feeling his head, he paused for a moment as his groggy eyes became clearer. He, then felt the blanket on his body with his fingers, touching the blanket again and again. Then he grabbed the blanket and pulled it towards him. “Hahaha! Object permanence no longer exists! To think the feeling of moving objects could feel so genuine.”

He quickly got up and after taking a step, he put too much force on his leg swing, causing him to tumble forward. A loud laughter erupted from behind him, “Bahahaha! You gotta take your time, kid. You gotta get used to your regular body again. It’s been five days after all.”

Slowly getting up and grumbling, Delton took small steps forward, sometimes stopping on the ground. Slowly but surely, he made his way to the dining table and slouched on the chair.

He looked at his notifications and saw several messages from friends and family. All of them had to do with the news again.

Slapping the table loudly, Delton then tapped his temple to see the news articles that were written about him.

Mom Sol Delton Cloud assaulted manufacturer

Delton Cloud, Mom Sol affiliate?

Manufacturers beware of Delton Cloud

Growing more furious with each article, Delton turned off his view, coldly saying, “Stupid rumors. Do we manufacturers really not have anything better to do but gossip.”

Groaning, Delton answered all of the questions and messages with, “Everything’s alright. Don’t worry. None of that’s real.”

He then received a message from Tekle, who was wondering if he’s doing fine. Delton simply responded with the routine answer, but added, “I don’t think I’ll be going out for a while again haha”

He tapped his temple and ordered, “Prepare a serving of breakfast please.”

Ignoring the response, Delton continued to look through the messages. He did not see any messages from Jade, making his already sour mood into one of sadness.

Looking at the clock, Delton grimaced, “Say, old man. Can’t I just eat and go back to sleep? I want to keep dreaming some more.”

Lucius responded, “I won’t let you. You gotta train your physical body or else your body will be strained by the stronger soul.”

“Fine. I’ll just train till I drop throughout the day. Your memories, while plain, are the escape I need right now.”

“Hmm. We’ll see if you can say the same by the end go your break.”

“Fuck. I don’t want to go back to work, yet.”

In this way, another week passed, but in Delton’s mind more than a month had passed. He had not bothered to answer any more messages, except from his family, but he still only gave them laconic answers. From this week, his body had grown sturdier and stronger, but his clothes hid the explosive energy underneath.

Delton finished performing the morning training exercise with much ease, only sweating pools rather than completely passing out. After eating breakfast, he walked out of his apartment after a week of complete isolation.