Divine Realm, Planet Earth, Nantes. Despite the embarrassment that I felt at her compliments, the warmth that appeared in my heart made up for it big times. It felt so great to have such an amazing mom. Even if I wasn't religious, I did feel blessed at that moment. As the two of us were basking into a comfortable silence, each lost in our own thoughts, I suddenly heard Ali's voice in my mind. [Hey Lucas. Do you mind if I asked a few questions to your mom for her scripture?] Great! She heard every embarrassing details of that conversation. SO AWKWARD! My inner thoughts were probably visible on my face since my mom asked me. “What's wrong mon chéri?[A/N: my dear] You look like you've eaten a fly?” Hearing her question, I felt even more embarrassed, so instead of answering her, I decided to share Ali's request. “Forget it Mom. Ali just asked me if you don't mind talking to her for a bit to choose which kind of scripture you want.” Thanks to my enhanced senses and thought process, I realized that I was able to notice many things that I never payed attention to before. Like the fake expression of puzzlement on my mother's face when she heard me deflecting the question, which, from her knowledge of my behavior, probably clued her in on the why of my reaction. I'd just ignore it for now. She replied with a smile. “Sure. How would that work, though?” [Like this, miss Camille.] That surprised her quite a bit, but she readjusted herself quickly. My mom was a tough one, after all, and not even a cosmic entity with unlimited power would be able to faze her. “Oh my. Hello there, miss Ali. You can call me Camille. There's no need for honorifics.” The two of us could hear Ali's crystal clear laugh full of delight before she said. [Very well. You can also call me Ali then.] She paused for a second before continuing. [I will need a few specifications before creating a scripture that suits you. Do you mind answering a few of my questions?] To which my mother replied. “I don't mind. Ask away.” [Alright. First, if you had magic power what would you want to use it for? It can be a broad answer as long as I have a direction.] That made the other woman ponder for a few moments before she answered, hesitant. “Is healing a possibility?” Ali replied. [Of course. Understand that it is a very broad direction though. After all, one can heal with magic pills, enchanted gears, potions, or simply magic itself. You could divide it into external and internal. Each of them have advantages and disadvantages.] “So the difference would between having to create an item to heal, or using my internal magic to heal, correct?” [Exactly. External healing allowed for a lower skill and precision level in exchange for the need of special materials. The cultivation base needed is also lower. The opposite would be internal healing. It needs a high cultivation base and a high mastery over the Laws you comprehended. For example, while being a Rank 1 Cultivator [A/N: Level 1 to 3 Mortal Layer. The noobs basically^^.], you would only be able to heal yourself since you would not be able to use the Laws you comprehended outside of your body.] That made her think deeply about her choice. Hearing her explanation, I intervened by asking a question. “The so-called materials should be hard to find, right?” Ali confirmed. [Yes. But also no. If you take a Grade 1 planet, then you could find Rank 1 materials, with Level 1 being abundant and Level 3 being rare. But it would be impossible to find Rank 2 and higher materials. Unless it was brought back from somewhere else.] After deliberating for a few minutes, my mother finally made her choice. “Okay, I'll choose the internal way. I feel like it fits me more than the other.” [Very well. Next I'll test your body to see which affinity you have.] As soon as she finished talking, I felt something in the air. It was hard to describe clearly. A presence, maybe? However, I seemed to be the only one aware of it since my mother seemed oblivious to it. Maybe it had to do with the soul bond Ali and I shared together. After all, even if I was a cultivator, her Level was too high compare to mine so it would be impossible to feel it otherwise. After no more than a second, Ali resumed talking. [It is done.] “Already?” To which Ali answered mischievously. [It was already very slow.] That made me roll my eyes. [Anyhow, you have a good affinity with the Law of Wood, which is the best Mortal Layer Law for healing there is. No wonder you felt like choosing internal healing.] [Let me think for a second and I will transfer a scripture directly into your mind.] As Ali said, it only took a few seconds as I noticed my mom's expression slack, probably due to receiving all that information. While she was digesting everything, Ali started to talk to me. [I only let her digest the detailed information about the Rank 1 part of her scripture. As for the rest, I sealed it away in her mind. She would only have access to it once she breakthrough to the corresponding Rank. I also added healing techniques. She only has to practice them to improve her skills.] I nodded and sent her. “Her mind would break with the quantity of information otherwise, right? Thanks, by the way. Having you behind me to take care of my family that way is great. *Sigh* I do understand that the world we're going towards will not be a peaceful one and being the strongest cultivator of the planet will make me a target. And my closest ones too, by association.” [It's fine. That way, you will be able to focus on important things that will impact the planet instead of being bothered by the threat towards your family. Now that it is done, tell me a bit more about your past.] I felt puzzled. “Can't you read my mind? Don't you already know everything about me?” [Not exactly. I can read you surface thoughts since you have basically no control over them. And I can also read what you allow me to read. But I prefer that you telling me about it yourself. It feels more enjoyable. Hehe.] A smile appeared on my face unknowingly and I started to share some anecdotes and stories of the past. An hour later, my mother seemed to wake up and I let her in the conversation, which she thanked me for by telling Ali about some embarrassing stories about me. That day I knew that any form of face would never be given to me by those two women. *Sigh* Well, at least that was between us. If they did the same with strangers around, THAT would be the worst. Anyway, after a few hours of discussion, we all noticed the sun setting, which prompted me to say goodbye to my mother. I didn't forget to remind her again to call my siblings. To which she replied. “Stop nagging, old man. I got it!” See what I have to endure all the time? *Sigh* At least that me Ali laugh. So, that's a win in my book. As we left the house, my partner asked me to walk instead of running back, so that I could practice a bit of Aura training. In case I needed to go somewhere quickly and avoid destroying everything around me. ****** [Ali's POV] As Lucas was talking to himself, practicing a skill that he would probably need a day or more to master, Ali was silently pondering about the recent days. After receiving those injuries a long time ago, she had to flee her enemy and frankly any Chaos Layer Cultivator she came across. In fact, she was so weak that even the weakest of them could kill her easily. The problem was that she did not know, at least at first, how to heal herself properly. That was honestly the worst part of her 'short' life. She liked to think it short, despite having lived for billions of years, simply because time itself lost much of his meaning once one reached the Chaos Layer and most of them had existed for so long that no language has the right words to qualify it. Which meant that in her mind, she was only a young lady. Maybe even a teenager. Anyway, as she fled again and again from everyone and everything, her injuries became worst and worst until she had to stop in the middle of nowhere in the Chaos Ocean, with a group of unaffiliated Cultivators encircling her, trying to capture and enslave her. She was a rare Chaos Item after all, and despite her former power, at that time, even that riffraff could do anything to her without her being able to retaliate. As she was hesitating between exploding her essence and letting herself be captured, she noticed those rubbish disintegrating all around her until there was no one left. That was when that man appeared in front of her. It felt a bit surreal since she could not see him in details due to... something emanating from him that disturbed his physical appearance, or at least her vision of the latter. “Hello child. I am God...” He said, while she was trying to process the situation. “What?” Was her answer, which admittedly was not the smartest response she could have mustered, but she admittedly was not at her best physically and mentally, so she did what she could. When that man heard her answer, he burst out laughing like a kid who just succeeded with his prank. After a few minutes of Ali looking at him blankly while he was chuckling hard, he started to calm down. That was when the... something emanating from him disappeared and his body was revealed. Despite this, the memory of his face was still vague, as if he was someone too powerful to be remembered by other weaker people. Well, with her knowledge on cultivation, that was probably exactly what it was. So, she could only remember that he was handsome and had beautiful long black hair. “Alright, kid. Jokes aside, you can call me uncle Wanderer. I had a Mortal name a long time ago, but I don't use it anymore, so use that one.” She nodded to him, puzzled as to why that kind of being saved her. “I can guess what you're currently wondering about, so let me allay your concern. The main reason I saved you was because I was bored. As in REALLY bored. So I started a few projects, which I won't share with you little lass yet. But what I will share with you is what I want you to do in exchange for saving your life.” Ali nodded and said. “As long as it does not go against who I am, I do not mind helping you.” He chuckled at her cute answer and replied. “Don't worry, it won't. On the contrary, it will be even more beneficial for you than for me.” He coughed a few time in preparation for his explanation. “I will send you into one of my personal little universes called the Wanderer's Realm...” As he saw the amusement in her eyes, he rolled his attractive eyes and continued. “Don't laugh, I named that toy when I was very young, probably a few trillion years old, and I wasn't exactly good at naming things.” He shook his head and resumed his explanation. “Anyway, I will send you there and help you connect with the origin of that universe so that you can absorb Chaos energy from the outside without breaking the whole thing. From there, I will give a special contract that you will be able to use to connect with someone of your choice in that universe. You will then help him or her cultivate the Chaos Scripture, and as he or she improves, it will help heal your damaged spirit and even reach a higher Level that you were previously by combining both of your insights in cultivation.” “Of course, the requirements for that person will be up to you and you would be free to change him or her if you realized that they didn't fit you. After all, the contract will start with a partial soul bond, until you feel yourself ready to move on to a permanent one. Do you have any question?” He said with a smile on his face, seemingly delighted by his own plan. Ali nodded and replied. “Yes. Your plan sounds great to me. Honestly, it sounds a bit too good even. But I do not see how it would help you. Could you let me know? After all, I do not like taking advantage of others' sympathy.” What she did not tell him directly, but was implied, was that it was too good to be true and her creator always said that if it was the case, then it was probably a trap. Although her creator could be a clown at times, when he was seriously giving advice, she realized early on that she should always listened to him. “Like I told you earlier, I am bored. So, by letting you heal up in my universe, I will have the time to observe you and see if you are worthy of my trust. If that's the case then you would simply join my newly created group. It's as simple as that.” It felt a bit too simple of an explanation to her, but then again, when you possessed everything, then it was hard to find anything exciting anymore. Especially when you had been alone for an untold amount of time. So she was not completely surprised by the proposal. However, she still asked something that puzzled her. “You mentioned a group. How many people are in it?” When he heard her question, he turned his head to the side while coughing embarrassment before replying. “Well, it's only me for now. I've just started my projects after all.” Ali was wondering about the reason why he would not go meet with other Chaos Cultivators if he felt so lonely. She pondered. “Could he be an introvert? No way! He probably does not like those people around here. Well, whatever the case, his proposition suits me just fine.” She thought before saying out loud. “I agree then.” Wanderer then nodded with a smile and said. “Perfect. Have fun, then!” After which she felt herself transported instantly into what was probably the small universe she heard about previously. After arriving there, she instantly started to look for potential partners everywhere. She found many interesting ones from all genders and races, but they all lacked something or had a particular traits that she did not like. So, she gave up on them all and erased their memories of her, while some of them who became monsters (in her eyes at least) were simply killed off by her. She may be injured, but any cultivators under the Chaos Layer would still be powerless in front of her. Many years passed by until she came to that insignificant planet named Earth by its inhabitants. Not very original, in her opinion, however she did not really mind it. Anyway, that was where she decided to change her method of looking for someone. Instead of searching for someone 'perfect' at the get go, she could find someone imperfect who thirsted for improvement. Someone who did not like his current life, but who still appreciated some aspect of it. Someone kind at heart, but who could also learn to be ruthless with time. A contradictory being, in conclusion. There were many other requirements she had, but she decided to not be too strict, or she knew that she would not find anyone otherwise. That was when she found Lucas. He was severely imperfect, liked to complain and was not attractive physically. But she could feel that he had a certain spark that she did not yet find in other beings. It was a thirst for change and discovery. Something so overpowering that he subconsciously had to seal it deeply inside of him, or he might not be able to live in his bland world anymore, choosing to end it instead. That was when she felt that she might have found the right 'partner' as Wanderer put it. But she still had to test him first. After all, she would be by his side forever, at least as a friend. So, she could not make any mistake. ****** [Lucas POV] “Controlling my Aura is so hard.” I said while looking at the beast of hel... *Cough* I meant the chihuahua running away from me with its owner. Probably had to do with my amazingly powerful Aura. *Sigh* It was so lonely at the top.