บท 6: We Are Dead

Aire tried to calm his emotions as he asked another question. 'Moving on. Does that mean I'm not going to be human anymore?'

Stella immediately shook her head as she replied, 'Of course not! Aire will still be human. All your bodily functions will work perfectly fine. It's just that they'll be much better than anyone else. On the outside, you will look just as you always did.'

Aire was a little relieved by that.

'Well, that's something,' said Aire as he continued, 'I would hate to find out that my appearance had suddenly changed.'

Stella nodded as she said, 'Exactly. Your body still works just like any other human. You pee and poop like everyone else. If Aire decides to have sex with a woman, she will still bear your child. Well, since your child has half of your DNA, he or she will be much stronger than your average human as well. Isn't that great?'

Aire let out cold sweat after hearing that. 'S-Sex?!'

Aire was nothing more than a boy from a small town. Obviously, he had no experience in this topic whatsoever... especially with his personality that kept others at bay. Well, that is if one didn't consider some 'internet resources.' As for children, that was even more out of the question.

Stella didn't know that, though. 'Yes! In fact, Aire, you will be very successful in bed. I'm sure they will love your manhood.'

'Th-they?!'

'But of course! The best thing is for you to spread your seed as much as possible. Well, considering how good of a material you will become, there should be no lack of females wanting to bear your children. That's how nature works. The females always select the strongest male to have children with.'

Aire felt like crying already as he said, 'To hell with that! I'm absolutely not having more than one woman in my life. I want to find the right person and live a calm life with her! What bullshit are you talking about? Spread my seed? I'll kick everyone else out!'

'But...' Stella was taken aback. 'Your superior seed...'

'Superior seed your ass! Do you even know the laws? I would need to provide for each child of mine. Besides, do you think I would simply impregnate someone and leave right after? I'm not a beast!'

Stella felt sad as she muttered, 'That...would be such a waste...'

'Fuck you and your waste! First of all, I have no intention of starting a relationship anytime soon. I still don't know how to get my calm life back, let alone thinking about starting a family.'

Aire finally calmed down sometime later as he thought, 'She acts like a kid most of the time and can still do that while talking about sex. Just what kind of...of...' Aire then remembered something. 'I still don't know what she is. But...I also don't want to know so that I won't get involved. Then again, I don't want to explode either.'

Eventually, Aire gave up and asked Stella, 'Sigh...alright. Forget about sex, okay? That's something for me to decide, not you.'

Stella didn't mind as she replied, 'Okay, Aire. But if you change your mind, I'll give it my all to help spread your seed through the Universe.'

'FORGET ABOUT MY SEED!'

Stella got scared and almost cried again.

'So-Sorry, Aire~.'

'Forget it.' Aire then took in a deep breath and calmed down again as he asked, 'First, tell me. What exactly are you?'

Stella became excited again. It was impressive how Stella's emotions fluctuated so fast.

At the moment, everything was black to Aire. He couldn't see anything since he couldn't even open his eyes. However, some kind of 'field' appeared in his mind. Even he couldn't tell how that happened, but he could truly see an enormous open space now. It's just that Aire couldn't see himself. He could move his vision everywhere, and at any distance he wanted, but that was about it.

Right in the middle of that space, a little girl appeared. Her body was ethereal, but she definitely looked like a human. She had black straight hair with clear eyes. She also used a few clothes that matched her body very well. Simply put, she was quite cute.

There was one problem, though. Aire recognized that little girl as he asked himself, 'Why am I seeing my younger sister?'

Stella smiled in Aire's direction before saying, 'This is the first image that came into your mind when I tried to condense a visual body. Nila Ruehnar, right? This shows that she has a very important spot in your heart. I see... so that's Aire's sister. She's very cute. I like her!'

'Choose someone else.' Aire didn't like that, though. 'It creeps me out to see my sister's body talking to me with someone else's voice.'

Stella looked away with a bitter smile as she said, 'Errr... I can't do that anymore. The first chosen image is the one to last. But, but! I will grow up just like everyone else, even in this image. So you'll be able to see how your sister will look in the future even if you can't contact her. That should make you very happy. Isn't that great?'

'Do you think I'm a siscon or something like that?' Aire couldn't help but ask while feeling annoyed.

Stella was puzzled as she asked, 'What's a siscon?'

Aire sighed helplessly. 'Oh, well. Whatever. Even though your voice is different, it's still a kid's voice, at least. It matches Nila's appearance.'

In fact, Aire was incredibly annoyed because it matched way too well.

'So, will you tell me what you are?'

'Ah! That's right!'

Stella then put on a serious face...that looked anything but serious...and began to explain, 'I'm an Ascension Age Soul Assistant. I was chosen between countless candidates by Gigan and Gigon to come to this Universe and help a compatible host break out of it. I'm fully trained in several supporting skills that will help you become the best!'

Aire was taken aback as he asked soon after, 'Gigon and Gigan? You mean the ones who started the Ascension Age?'

Stella nodded as she said, 'Yes! It seems like everyone still remembers him and her.'

'Why would you leave that place and come here?' Aire couldn't help but ask. 'Isn't the outside much better?'

Stella shook her head as she answered, 'I don't know? I was chosen when I was born and was transformed into an Assistant. I have no idea how things are outside the Universe.'

Aire felt a chill on his back as he asked her, 'Are you okay with that? I mean... what about your parents? Wait, does your race even have genders, parents, and things like that?'

Stella nodded with an angry expression, saying, 'Of course, we have! Aire, we're not aberrations, okay? Have you ever heard of genetic variability? That's the key to evolution, and even the ones outside are no different.'

Stella then continued, 'But...I can't tell you about my parents.'

'Is that a secret?'

'No...it's just that...I don't remember them.'

Aire narrowed his eyes... or he would if he could. He really didn't like this thing about taking a newborn's soul to use for whatever reason. However, Aire didn't know the situation outside. Plus, it wasn't like the Universe they were in at the moment was a flower garden either. Besides, he could feel the empty feeling from Stella when she talked about it.

'Okay, forget about that. The important thing is that you're alive now, right? Who knows? You might be able to meet them in the future.'

Stella immediately brightened up again.

'Yes! And Aire will help me get there, right?'

Aire wanted to refuse that. But when he looked at Stella's excited expression, he somewhat couldn't bring himself to say no.

Using my little sister's face is not fair!

'Oh, right!' However, the topic of his future 'explosion' was more important at the moment. So, he changed the topic. 'You said that I need to improve if I don't want to die with you. What do you mean by that?'

Stella then explained, 'I meant exactly just that. You need to increase your strength if you don't want your body to collapse with me. At the moment, you're at the very 1st Stage of Stellar Body Transformation. The only reason you can hold my existence at the moment is that most of my abilities are sealed. Otherwise, we would be both dead already. Hahaha!'

Aire felt like giving the girl a beating. Sadly, he didn't have a body in that mind world. Aire then calmed down and thought about what she said.

Stellar Body Transformation. That was the first Level that all living beings of the Universe were in at the start. This was also the Level where the Stellar Risers would train their bodies to be fully compatible with Stellar Energy.

In total, it had four stages: Stellar Blood Stage, Stellar Bones Stage, Stellar Organs Stage, and Stellar Paths Stage. Aire, obviously, was at the very first Stage, Stellar Blood. He had to absorb Stellar Energy little by little, making all of his red blood cells compatible with Stellar Energy.

Naturally, the Stellar Bones and Stellar Organs Stage had the same mechanics. He would use his blood cells to bring Stellar Energy to his Bones first, completing the transformation of the bones. After that, only the organs remained as the process was repeated. Once all three stages were done, he would start the last one, the Stellar Paths Stage.

During this stage, one would create channels that worked the same way as blood vessels. The only difference was that it was only used for Stellar Energy alone. Not only that, but it was several times better than using red blood cells to do the work.

'How far do I need to go to hold you back?'

Stella pondered for a bit and then answered, 'I need you to reach the Stellar Manipulation Level.'

Stellar Manipulation Level. That was the Level that came right after Stellar Body Transformation.

'I see... Oh, well. We can take our time to slowly move in that direction.'

However...Stella had other plans. 'Aire, that won't do. It'll take just one year for my first ability to be unsealed. If you don't get there in time, we'll both be dead.'

'What?!'

Aire instantly felt like crying.

One year! Only the top geniuses would be able to create such a miracle, and that was because they had the resources for that. Aire didn't even have a place to fall dead, let alone afford the resources for such a thing.

However, it was then that he remembered something. 'Oh, right! You said you have abilities as an Ascension Age Soul Assistant, didn't you?'

Stella immediately nodded as she replied, 'Yes! They're mostly sealed. However, the best one is still open.'

'So, which one is open?'

Stella brightly smiled as she answered, 'I have the ability to cheer you up!'

Aire's heart froze for a moment as he instantly thought, 'Alright, we're definitely dead.'