It took him a while to gather his composure after that.

Then, when he thought they were good, his mother chastised him for not having gone to see Grammy yet. That hit home just how fleeting life was. His father had… died. So had most of his extended family, if what they said was true…. And he really didn’t have any grounds to dismiss their claims.

A dozen projects suddenly came to his mind that he could be working on instead of heading to the infirmary. Heck, even going to the Heavenly Archive to make sure that it hadn’t taken any damage from its portal being destroyed was super important.

But not more important than family.

And that’s how he found himself standing by Grammy’s bed, staring down at her broken form. He was very glad that Avi had dressed all her wounds, covering up what was missing. It was odd to see a breathing tube in this universe. Surreal to hear the soft beeping of the medical equipment. Seeing the artificial glow coming from the various electronics.

He was proud of how much Avi had been able to recreate and reproduce in the short years she’d been working on it all. Sure, it wasn’t state-of-the-art equipment, but stuff that reminded him a bit of the 50s back home, mashed up with futuristic tech. Like the holographic display above a desk in the corner showing the internal damage Grammy had suffered.

He pulled his gaze away from the disturbing display and looked once again on his great-grandmother’s comatose form.

She looked so young. Well, from the parts he could see that the bandages didn’t cover. She really could pass as his mother’s older sister.

Joram reached over and pulled a chair over and sat in it, kneed up against the bed.

“I’m sorry, Grammy,” he said, pausing to let the lump in his throat pass. “I wasn’t strong enough to protect everyone.”

*Beep… beep… beep…*

There really wasn’t much he could say that wouldn’t sound… asinine. Stupid. Prideful. Self-centred. Egotistical. Like the entirety of the event was his fault. He felt that he should have known something like this would happen, and that he could have had the Clan prepared and ready to fight off the attack.

But that was just self indulgence. Self pity. Regret twisted into something venomous that would eat the heart out of whomever it seeped into, hollowing them out until only a husk remained.

Was he mad at himself for not focussing exclusively on his cultivation over the course of his life? Only a little.

He knew that the universe threw all sorts of shit around and that eventually some of it would hit him and those he loved. There wasn’t a damn thing you could do about it except get back up and wash yourself off.

Sure, he was going to be on such a self-improvement kick that every training montage ever would pale in comparison to it. But. That was all he could do to prepare for any shit storms that might still be coming their way.

He shifted his chair over a bit so that he’d be closer to her head, then leaned forward, placing both hands upon her head, then closed his eyes.

He sent his consciousness into her body, getting a more thorough understanding of what she’d been through than any of the machines would possibly tell him.

He felt how her meridians were basically shattered, how those energy channels were effectively broken highways that nothing would ever go down again.

Joram could tell that Avi had done well in stabilizing her condition. He could still feel the residue of psionic healing in her system, clearly showing him that the gem he’d given her had done its work. But hadn’t been enough.

He could even feel faint traces of a foreign energy in her system, likely from her attacker. But what got him was her Knowledge Sea.

It was shattered.

It felt like someone had taken one of those ten thousand piece jigsaw puzzles, that someone had put so much effort into assembling, and thrown it on the floor. Some of the parts were only a few pieces large, while others contained parts large enough that one might be able to start guessing at what that part of the image had held.

He sent a [Delve] into her body then and sighed in relief as it appeared as though the physical structure of her brain was still intact. Sure, there had been some hemorrhaging, but that had been healed up. He then went back to paying attention to her Knowledge Sea, observing how the pieces… activated. Like how sometimes a broken display would flash a clearer picture, but then go back to showing random coloured lines, or even nothing at all.

Then a thought occurred to him, so he set M3 to paying attention to which parts of Grammy’s brain were activating while he paid attention to the fragments in her Knowledge Sea.

It felt… pointless at first. He was very glad that [Delve] could be held so long as a power that had a duration of Concentration, because he was there for what felt like hours.

At length, he opened his eyes again and removed his hands from Grammy’s head. He wanted to believe that there was a correlation between the fragments of her Knowledge Sea firing and her synapses firing, but he hadn’t found any discernible pattern. Yet.

He nearly jumped when he noticed his mother laying in a recliner on the other side of the bed, his sister asleep on her chest.

He got up and pulled the blanket up a bit higher on Grammy before doing the same for his mother and little sister, then [Teleport]ed back to his workshop.

This time he did jump when he saw that he wasn’t alone. Avi stood there, telepathically conversing with Kinkade over a tablet that she held. Which made him frown. Because… stuff.

Joram: OK, open ‘er up!

Kinkade looked over at Joram and nodded, allowing everything in his “mind” to flow into Joram.

Kinkade: Didn’t want to distract you.

Joram just nodded, now caught up on what he’d been up to. Which wasn’t much until Avi had dropped by to compare notes.

“So, what do you think?” She asked, tossing the tablet’s display over to his omni-tool where the program was caught then displayed above his forearm.

“I think that I’ll have some time before you’re ready with all of your installations,” he said in a dry tone as he looked over what was needed to get all of her subterranean factories, warehouses, and such ready for when [Genesis] would be completed.

“True. I’d appreciate about a year to have everything ready to where I’d like it to be,” she said, looking tired. “But at the same time the important infrastructure should be ready to go in about half that time.”

“Nah, it’ll not only take a while to get [Genesis] up and going, but I’d also like to keep as much of our fields, orchards, and gardens from being destroyed as we can.”

Avi nodded to that, looking relieved. Which bothered him a bit, as he wasn’t the kind of person who’d wreck someone else’s hard work just to do something that he wanted to do.

“You’ve made this realm what it is today, Avi. I wouldn’t ruin that.”

Avi paused a moment before speaking. “I know Joram, but I too want to get things ready as soon as possible. Plants can regrow, but people…”

Joram ran a hand over his face, then motioned for Avi to join him on a couch in the corner of his workshop. Kinkade was already back working on the replicator designs.

“Yeah,” he started as Avi practically floated down as she sat beside him. “Well, if I do this right, then things shouldn’t be messed up too much here. As ridiculous as this might sound: I’m glad that the realm hadn’t gotten any larger than this already.”

It seemed that Avi agreed that that sounded ridiculous because one exquisitely arched eyebrow rose up.

“Yes, I know that it is massive compared to the ones you’d find on Golarion. But. When this new [Genesis] gets finished, it won’t take long to get a realm up to this size. Like, maybe a couple of years.”

Avi gave him a skeptical look, but waited for him to finish.

“Yeah, that’s a claim and a half. But I’m also running tests on the new… psijic energy and I think that it’ll be what I need to get the power needed for [Genesis].”

“I’ve felt how… puissant psijic energy is…. But it’s also very hard to control, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but I think that I’m getting a handle on it. A bit more time, and I think that I may be able to get a cultivation method up and running for it.”

Avi’s eyebrow went up again. “Really?”

“It’s not easy by any metric,” he said, leaning forward to place his forearms across his knees. “But once I get that next iteration of [Schism] completed, I’ll be able to focus on my cultivation almost exclusively.”

The conversation then went into more depth regarding his progress with [Schism] and what progress she’d made on it. Notes were compared, insights shared, and confidence boosted.

Then Avi brought him back down to earth again.

“I’m not sure that Tatia will be able to recover, Joram.”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that too,” he said, now rubbing a hand through his purple hair. “I think that she’ll need a new body.”

Avi was already nodding.

“I’ve made some good progress with the cloning tanks, and I think that I can get her a decent body grown.”

“But?”

“She’d have to start her cultivation all over again.”

“… That’s not unexpected.”

“No,” Avi said, letting out a breath. “But, it will give me someone to cultivate with.”

That snapped Joram’s head around so fast that he heard his neck pop.

“You want to start cultivating?” He asked, a twinkle sparking in his eye.

“Well, I’m not sure what cultivation method Tatia will choose this time around, but I was wanting to follow in your footsteps with cultivating Encompass the Universe and the Adamantium Body Technique,” she said with a grin.

Joram’s jaw dropped.

“You realize that I still haven’t quite figured out what happened and all the circumstances around that, right?”

“Yes, but we’ve got most of it, so I’m confident that I can at least follow in your footsteps.”

“How many times did I almost die due to those ‘incidents’?” He asked, his tone flatter than a twin-block caliper set.

*Cough*

“Yeah, I thought so,” he said, trying his best to stare a hole through her head.

“Yes, but we need people, strong people. People who won’t die if their body blows up.”

Joram’s jaw dropped.

“Just what are you planning, exactly?”

“Well…”

- - - - -

Joram couldn’t believe how… audacious, how ambitious Avi’s plan was. He wasn’t even sure it would be possible.

Cultivation changed a person on a fundamental level. Depending on who you spoke with, it not only changed ones’ physical body, but it also changed your soul.

Now, he was no expert on the soul. Not at all. About the only thing that he’d believed about the soul before coming to this world were two things. One: that it existed. Two: that it was immortal. Those were the things he’d been taught and had grown to believe. Well, there was a third one as well. And that was that it could continue to grow and develop after leaving the mortal coil.

How did those beliefs translate to his new reality?

Hell if I know, he thought as he pondered.

Altaea had come from a world where magic was very much a thing. So were gods and divine magic. A high priest/cleric of a religion could actually converse with their deity should said deity decide to grace them with their presence. They could even converse with the souls of the departed.

It was a thing.

But here, in this universe? He didn’t know. But what he did know was that there seemed to be fundamental differences in how souls were taken care of here.

Case in point: [Astral Seed]. He should have taken no more than ten days to reform his body and revive. But was that due to how the universe worked here or some outside interference? He suspected the latter given how he was reborn into a clan that Altaea herself had founded twenty millennia ago, into a family that would be able to nurture and care for him.

And so: back to souls. He had put off trying to shift into any of his other forms, not wanting to risk some adverse effect to his current cultivation and development. But after his conversation with Avi, he realized just how silly he’d been.

Each of his forms, from his retained, original, human form all the way to his outsider form were… him. Not disguises. Not some borrowed thing. All were facets of him. Exactly how Altaea had her other forms. Exactly how he’d requested Altaea make him. She’d made him to be like her.

Which meant that he also, in his outsider form, had access to the very same natural spellcasting that she had. The very same spells she’d naturally had access to. And, just as she’d eventually learned to do, she’d also given him the same ability: the ability to use his mana or psionic pool to fuel his natural spells.

Which meant that if he could get his head out of his ass, he’d be able to use [True Resurrection] just like Altaea could.

But would it work here?

That was what paralyzed him. That simple question that most people would ask, then promptly test. But that was the very question that froze his heart solid.

Did he dare to hope? Could he open his heart to such a monumental risk of failure?

Those thoughts started his heart racing, his blood pressure soaring. He didn’t realize it, but sweat started to bead on his forehead as his thoughts became a tangled thornbush.

But Avi noticed. So, she reached out and brought Joram into an embrace, cradling him into her bosom until she felt his heart calm and his breathing steady.

She very much suspected that his thoughts had turned to the future. To the distant possibility of returning to Earth and what having access to [True Resurrection] might mean for his daughters.

“Joram?”

“…”

“Do you want to try?”

His breath hitched before resuming. “… could we try someone I don’t know?” He asked, very quietly.

That made sense. To try on someone you knew, getting your hopes up, then failing would be a blow that could very well derail his heart for a very long time, possibly creating what cultivators called a “heart demon”. A deep-rooted fear that would prevent any meaningful progress in the persons’ future efforts at cultivation.

But if he tried on someone he didn’t know, like one of the invaders, then failure wouldn’t really matter all that much. Sure, it would mean that he couldn’t bring back his loved one, but at the same time, he wouldn’t have failed to bring back a loved one.

“Yes, I think that I have someone suitable for that,” she said, remembering one of the weaker people she’d killed just a few days ago.

Well, “weaker” still meant that they were Tier 4, or what they’d call “Earth Realm”. Why there wasn’t just one way to refer to the levels of cultivation still annoyed her. Sure, different philosophies and all that junk. But!

“I’ll set up a containment area,” she said as she finally released Joram.

He looked a bit embarrassed, turning his head slightly so that he could surreptitiously wipe away a tear.

“Well, if this works, then I’m sure that we’ll be able to get your crazy plan going,” he said gruffly. Or tried to as his voice cracked slightly, causing a blush to flood his cheeks.

“Fucking puberty,” he said, vanishing from sight a moment later.

Avi just laughed. Not just because of his antics, but because that was the first time she’d heard him use the “F-Bomb”, as he called it.

- - - - -

Joram was now standing in what looked like a sci-fi version of a jail cell. Well, in the hallway of a jail.

It very much reminded him of a mishmash of a Star Fleet and Star Wars jail cell. Both featured an energy shield in-lieu of a door. Though, the bunk bolted to the wall was very much of the latter’s theme.

But the design aspects of the cell were very much background to the corpse laying in the middle of the floor.

It looked like it had been a young woman in life, with raven black hair and black eyes that probably would have sparkled in life, but were now slightly clouded and glassy in death.

Her death wound was very much evident, though. He was pretty sure that the scorched hole through her heart had been caused by an omni-blade, for no lightsaber would leave a cauterized wound in that shape.

He stopped staring at the grisly wound and turned to regard Avi.

He hadn’t had much time to appreciate, really appreciate, just how much work she’d put into not only the tech she’d recreated, but in her body. Her honest-to-goodness flesh and blood body. She still stood about 7 inches taller than him, with the same crazy beautiful hair that Altaea had. Less busty than Altaea, but that was probably for the best. Even he didn’t understand how she’d been able to function as well she had. Sure, it was nice eye candy, but wildly impractical and, in a lesser being, would have likely caused crippling back issues as she aged.

He mentally shook those thoughts out of this head as he noticed Avi’s eyes narrowing slightly as she noticed where his attention had been focussed.

He was reasonably sure, as he hadn’t gotten the courage to ask her if he could [Delve] her yet, that she was an almost perfect clone of Altaea, which meant that she had the same abilities that Altaea did. Or, rather, that she had the same potential as Altaea.

One weird quirk about their shared physiology seemed to be that their potential was only unlocked as they strengthened their body through training, meditation, and improving their psionic abilities. Which, weirdly, improved their nascent magical abilities too.

All that said, he was very curious if she would develop talents and abilities that differed from Altaea’s. He knew that genetics were very important in a person’s development, but also knew that even if you perfectly cloned a person that you’d still get a different personality as the clone developed. And if he was right, especially for their highly adaptable race, then Avi would definitely develop different abilities than Altaea.

“Are you ready?” Avi asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Just be bit nervous,” he said, finishing with his weird grunt/chuckle that ended with his voice cracking again. “I’m very much looking forward to the next phase of the Adamantium Body Technique,” he said, grumbling.

Avi threw him a bone. “Just concentrate on activating that innate spell, focussing on the person you want to return. In this case, that person,” she said with a slight frown.

“I got it,” he mumbled as he looked down at the corpse, then stepped forward.

With the molten silicone carbide had come a heat so intense that it had burnt away a good deal of cloth on the woman’s torso, exposing her breasts to the world. If this worked, he was fairly sure that she’d appreciate being cover up, so he took the thin blanket from the bunk on the wall and draped it over her, leaving only her head exposed.

Did an enemy who’d travelled halfway across their staggeringly titanic world just to end his clan deserve such considerations? He was sure that many people would resoundingly shout “No!” to that question. They would probably insist upon subjecting her to many other indignities much more egregious than an exposed breast.

Did his heart race at the thought of exacting vengeance upon her once he’d revived her? Did his hackles rise at the thought of having to have anything to do with her? She represented a concept so foreign, so repulsive and vile to him that he was considering leaving this experiment to die in its planning phase.

To answer. Yes. Yes, people were still people. People still deserved dignity. He didn’t have to interact with those people. He didn’t have to even like them. But he did respect that people had different… educations. Different opinions on what was right and wrong. And if those people came to exercise their views on him in a less than friendly manner, he’d reply in his own way.

But he wouldn’t stoop so low as to treat someone else as less than human because their opinions and values varied from his. He’d kill enemies, especially anyone coming to kill him or his own. He’d stop innocents from being oppressed if it was in his power.

But could he bring himself to bring back a killer? That same kind of person who’d travel just to eradicate a scholarly clan? To kill indiscriminately?

He shook his head, ridding himself of his ruminations. They weren’t helping here, but instead causing harm.

“I can do this once I’ve gotten strong enough, you know,” Avi said from behind, her voice gentle.

Joram didn’t turn around as he nodded, still staring down at the woman’s face. She still looked surprised. But what really got him was the hint on sadness there.

“Just be ready to get the containment field up,” he said, shifting to his outsider form.

One moment he was a gangly teenager, then next he was taller than Avi with an Olympian build. His hair was once again short, dark brown at the roots then transitioning to a deep, fiery red at the tips. His complexion paled slightly, but also grew more… healthy, vibrant.

He looked down at his hands as he flexed them, appreciating his old form.

“I’d almost forgotten how handsome you were,” Avi said teasingly from beside him.

Joram turned and smiled at her. “Now don’t do teasing my like Altaea, I’m not sure I can handle it yet.”

Avi just smiled at him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Not a flirty touch, but a firm pressure of reassurance and solidarity. “Just stating fact, my man.”

Joram heaved a mental sigh, turning his attention to his magical nature.

When Altaea had taken that elixir from Dr Gally, she’d changed in deep and profound ways. One of those changes the elixir had brought about was a change to her race. Not only had Dr Gally managed to create an elixir that give Altaea the traits and abilities of Positive Energy and Negative Energy Elemental, but she’d managed to combine each of those with planars. Positive Energy Elemental had been combined with Celestial heritage. While the Negative Energy Elemental had been combined with Demonic heritage, specifically a succubus.

What had come out of that had been an addition to the forms Altaea could take. It was nothing their universe had ever seen before, and likely what had caused Asmodeus to have such a deep-rooted hatred for Altaea.

She’d received the best of both worlds. The positive energy elemental had complimented the celestial heritage such that everything about it had been empowered and improved. The same had happened with the other side. And when somehow combined they’d, against almost all odds, managed to make a ridiculously powerful end product.

From what he knew, she’d almost died because of how violent the changes to her nature and being had been. But in the end the, what they had called, spell-like abilities she’d gained from the transformation- not to mention the legion of other abilities she’d gained- had been empowered and upgraded significantly.

Well, at least he thought so. Any of the good or evil aligned spells had either been replaced with something else entirely, or they had been changed to something neutrally aligned. Heck, even the law/chaos themes had been removed.

The capstone ability she’d gained, though, had been [True Resurrection] instead of the standard [Resurrection] that half-celestials received. Probably due to the fusing of the positive energy elemental.

Now, there were other cool things in there but that was the important part.

So, Joram activated [True Resurrection] and felt the magic well up from within him. It was probably not as potent as what Altaea could produce seeing as how she hadn’t quite been able to replicate elemental side of herself yet, but it was still potent.

The seconds ticked by as he focussed on the corpse in front of him, feeling how the spell-like ability formed itself and started taking effect.

He knelt and had M3 activate [Delve] so that he could try to follow what was happening in her body.

Suffice it to say, he failed to follow. It was so complex, so profound, that all he could follow was the revitalization of her tissues. Now, that wasn’t very hard, as Avi had dropped her into his stasis storage area moments after her demise, so she was very “fresh”.

No, that part seemed to be “easy”. What he then sensed was the rush of energy that flooded her body, how her blood began pumping just before he felt her lungs suddenly gasp for air. Then he felt himself being pulled out of the cell, his connection to her with [Delve] snapping as his hand came away from her body.

As he got to his feet, Avi’s hand still on his shoulder, the woman sat up, eyes wide.