Bab 3: The Rise
A comfortable feeling gradually spread across his entire body as his breathing became longer and more rhythmic. Strangely, however, the tempo almost seemed to resonate with the natural atmosphere, causing the sunlight to alternate faintly from bright to dim at a slow pace. Very subtlety, the world halted to a stop like a still painting.
Cyrus felt like he was receiving a hug from his mother as a calm tranquility proliferated throughout the hut. That feeling of security seemed to block out everything bad in the world. Recently, he had been experiencing this sensation everyday like a routine. It was almost as if his body were guiding him to do this instinctively.
The first time it happened to Cyrus, it was not all sunshine and rainbows. No, it was especially awful because his vision went dark and his thoughts, against his will, slowed down. His consciousness felt like it was gradually seeping into a deep quagmire, with no path of return. But as he sank further in, a hazy map of his veins, organs, origin points and other fine details emerged.
Cyrus could vaguely make out specks of glimmering starlight in his blood that had a strange type of heavy quality. While trying to get a better visual, a golden colored heart pumping out these shinning particles grabbed his attention.
He felt he was some sort of mutant monster. Everything he had discovered left him bewildered, and he could not help but wonder if all humans were like this. In the back of his mind, however, he remembered those stories of talented cultivators with special characteristics. Just as he thought about it, that idea became much more prominent as he calmy rationalized the situation. Maybe with the tiniest of possibilities, he could be one of those super special existences.
"Hehehe, I might be pretty talented. Dad probably never expected something like this. Hahaha! Next stop, world domination!"
Jumping on his bed while giggling to himself, the excitement that Cyrus felt was palpable. Celebrating for a few more seconds, he sat back down and slapped both his cheeks; trying to bring himself back to reality. He still needed to focus on the surging heat that was engulfing his entire body. Looking again, those brightly shining dots gradually multiplied. The only reason he noticed the few that were formed was some primal instinct from his body, almost like breathing.
Since that day, he kept meditating by that window after his parents left and stopped when they came back. Every time after a session, he would be covered in a thick film of black, green dirt. The sweat left a smelly side effect that was a bit of a hassle to wash, especially the lingering scent. Over time, the residue became less and less until it was nonexistent, and Cyrus had a feeling as if every cell in his body was brimming with energy.
6 months later, Cyrus showed noticeable changes. From the size of a 3-year-old child, he looked around 5 years old now with healthy, glowing wheat skin. As a kid he had always been extremely adorable, with those pinch-able chubby cheeks, but his boyish face clearly manifested immature sword like brows and a budding sharpness. Just from this early glimpse, one could tell that he would grow up and break many hearts. Those golden eyes and their inquisitive gaze gave off an unnatural pressure for an adolescent.
After the first few months, his parents quickly took notice of these increasingly progressive changes, leaving them a little worried. However, when Cyrus tried to explain to them what happened, they were completely lost on the details. Angel stubbornly persisted to knowing the reason and kept pestering him to the point of driving him insane. Even a 3-year-old like Cyrus thought she was acting immature after a few hours.
Fed up, Cyrus said, "Mom, I already told you like a thousand times. Just think of it like those magical arts that dad said those people cultivate to become strong."
Angel looked him up and down, puffed out her cheeks, and said, "Fine, but you better let us know about any other changes that happen." Pinching both of his cheeks, she stared into his eyes with endless love and continued lecturing him.
"We want to know what's happening with our little baby. So no matter what, you have to deal with it until we think you can take care of yourself. Until then, you 're still our responsibility whether or not you like it." Smacking him on the back of the head with no warning, she changed her tone completely. "Also, don't forget you 're still a kid so watch how you speak to me! You haven't grown up just yet!"
She turned around and stomped away, muttering about a 3-year-old patronizing his own mother. Seeing that, Cyrus could not help but chuckle a bit, only to see his mom look back with an evil glint in her eyes. With chills crawling down his spine, he almost swallowed his own tongue, trying to shut his mouth as quick as possible.
Raymond, watching this whole incident from the sideline, felt somewhat bad for the kid. As a person who has experienced those same evil eyes, he gladly welcomed a new fellow sufferer to split the attention. He knew that when she activates her female tigress mode, bad things are bound to come.
Pondering over a brighter future, Raymond walked over and rubbed Cyrus's head, speaking to him with a grateful smile. "How does an adventure outside sound? We can go out tomorrow but you need to listen to everything I say, otherwise I will take you right back."
Despite lecturing him again about listening, that bright light in his son's eyes only grew. "haaaa, It's not nearly as great out there as you think it is. Just stick close to me and behave yourself when we go out." He knew how energetic this kid could be sometimes. Thinking to himself, 'he probably won't cause any problems, right?'
Seeing how serious his dad was, Cyrus tried putting on that same stoic expression but failed miserably. Looking at this kid, all hope for a normal day went up in a puff of smoke. Shaking his head, Raymond could only accept the fact that this son was a cheeky bastard that would always leave him worried.
"Heh, think you can cause me so many issues without being disciplined!" A malicious smile grew on his face as he stared at Cyrus like a predator stalking its prey. Before the kid could run, screams of pain and hearty laughter rang out as a delicious smell covered the home.
That familiar delectable scent from his mother's porridge had his belly grumbling almost immediately. Struggling out of his father's grip, he ran towards the kitchen, which instantly soured his good mood.
Since young, Cyrus was self-conscious of his enormous appetite that consumed a large majority of what little rations they had. Recently, it almost felt as if his stomach was replaced with a bottomless abyss, but even then his parents refused to compromise and made him eat till he was full.
He felt sad looking at his own portion of food that was twice the size of his fathers. Cyrus could only add this debt to the long list he swore to repay one day. Since he had the opportunity to go outside tomorrow, maybe he could find something to ease his parents' worries.
Running towards the kitchen to help his mother, he thought to himself, "might as well start now."
...
After helping wash the plants, trim the roots, and separating the nuts, Cyrus quickly began cutting them into smaller portions to mix into the porridge. While cutting the vegetables and caught up in his own imagination, he accidentally cut his finger in a lapse of judgement. Surprisingly, the wound barely broke skin, shocking him out of the pain he was currently feeling.
"What the.....". Like a rapid time speed up, he felt an unbearable itch covering his finger. But before Cyrus could react, he realized the cut healed while he was not paying attention.
Stunned, he muttered under his breath, "T-that didn't even take 30 seconds!"
After it completely closed, his mind raced to find a plausible explanation. "I definitely didn't use to heal this fast. What in the world.... wait, wait, wait. The morning meditations are weird as well. Maybe that's the cause? After all, that black stuff coming out of my body did not seem like anything worth keeping."
His mom had a completely different response. Angel had only looked over before seeing blood dripping from one hand and a knife in the other. Scare out of her wits, she ran over with her eyes bulging out.
"CYRUS! Are you alright? Who allowed you to use a knife??" Angel rushed over in a panicked manner as she washed his hands with the meager amount of water left. However, she was astonished by the fact that there was no visible wound on his hand, confusing her greatly.
Cyrus, almost immediately, took advantage of her quick lapse in attention said in a hurried manner, "Mom, don't worry, I just got a little distracted thinking about tomorrow. I need to go to the bathroom. I'll be back later!"
And just like that, he was out of the room before she could even recover her senses. Now that she had time to think properly, she realized his hand must have healed instantly. Angel was definitely not a dumb person, or else she would not be able to survive until this day. Quick observation abilities and decisive decision making were a necessary survival requirement.
Just as she was about to look for Raymond, he arrived and quickly asked about what happened earlier.
'Speak of the devil and he arrives,' she thought under her breath. Now that he was here, she could voice out some of her earlier suspicions.
"That little monster of yours seems to get weirder and weirder lately. You need to keep an eye out for him tomorrow."
After that, she quickly explained what happened earlier before grilling Raymond with some serious questions. "Did you teach him how to use a knife by any chance? Because I am positive that I most certainly did not." As she was asking, she also looked at those vegetables that were perfectly diced. They resembled her own skills to almost an identical degree.
Raymond, on the other hand, was surprisingly smiling after hearing her speak. Not wanting to keep his wife in suspense, because he knew all too well that was a bad idea, answered "Yeah, I taught him and he memorized it really quickly. Angel, I think our son might be really talented. I overheard some of the people say that those children that passed the guard test seemed to have special qualities when they were young!"
Angel, however, did not care as much and stared at him fiercely for a good minute before saying really forcefully, "Just make sure my baby doesn't get hurt or will have issues."
Noticing the situation, like any smart man, admitted his mistakes and appeased his wife with all sorts of compromises and sweet nothings. Inwardly though, Raymond kept thinking back to that idea he made with a few of the guys. It seemed he might still be able to pull it off with the talent Cyrus was showing.
Pondering deeply, he realized he needed to start his preparations, because being too special had its own problems as well.
With dinner passing and the night slowly taking over the day, the family of three went asleep a bit earlier for a head start in the morning.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone