Somay stood up from his desk, shouting at Maimoun. "Really? Are you serious about what you're saying!?"
Maimoun was surprised by Somay's enthusiastic reaction. He didn't expect to see such expressions on his face after that lie. Was Somay exaggerating? Or was this unusual state (a glimpse into a new world), something that warranted such a reaction? Maimoun didn't know which was truer. All he knew was that he had to continue the story he had fabricated.
"Y-yes, what I'm saying is true."
"Tell me quickly what you saw," Somay said eagerly, his excitement barely contained. For some reason, his enthusiasm seemed almost boundless.
"Alright, where should I start?"
Maimoun began to recount to Somay the events that had happened to him over the past year before he entered this world. He didn't want to narrate his entire life story, as it would be an exaggeration. After all, Maimoun's real age matched the age of this body, so it would be exaggerated to say that he had lived for as long in one night as he had in this world.
As Maimoun delved into the details of that world's events, Somay's eyes sparkled with excitement. Maimoun told him about some landmarks of his real world superficially, which made Somay wonder.
"A car? What is this thing called a car? Is it a magical creature?"
.
.
"Buildings with thirty floors or more! You must be joking, aren't you?"
.
.
"People speaking to each other from thousands of kilometers away!... Well, we also have something similar."
This made Maimoun feel like he was talking to a young boy. Then he tried to change the subject from tangible matters to internal feelings, telling Somay about his desire to excel in studies to find a job to support his family, then about his illness and hospitalization, and his suffering.
"...That was a new and difficult experience for me..."
Maimoun showed to Somay how much this new environment had affected him as the old spoiled Fayte: little money, poor health, and loneliness in the hospital. The only thing that eased his suffering was the close-knit family.
Remembering those days made Maimoun genuinely express sadness, and Somay noticed it clearly.
'Such an expression... it surely doesn't lie, at least not in this moment,' Somay thought to himself, even feeling a bit envious of this family that made his son show such emotions towards them.
Those days helped Maimoun, or Fayte as he narrated to Somay, to see the blessings he had before. That was the turning point in his personality, and ultimately, he twisted one thing before concluding his speech, which contained a bit of truth. Maimoun pretended that he died in the end.
"That's all I dreamed of."
As he finished narrating, Somay jumped on Maimoun, lifting him from his armpits to the sky, as if a father saw his baby for the first time, shouting with joy.
"My genius son, my genius son, let's see who dares to mock my son from now on!"
"Put me down, f-father, put me down to the ground."
Maimoun felt embarrassed to be treated as if he were a baby. Because Somay was experiencing moments of ecstasy now, he didn't listen to him at all.
"Don't you listen to what I say? Put me...!!" Then Somay started spinning in place, holding Maimoun, who couldn't escape from this situation.
"Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah for the Stoneheart family!"
'You must be joking with me... It's good that no one else is here, or I don't know how I will face them after this,' Maimoun thought to himself.
And when Maimoun saw that his words didn't reach Somay at all, he had no choice but to accept the reality. This lie made him feel ashamed because he made the poor father fly with joy for an unreal reason.
'In the end, I deserve this humiliation.'
While Maimoun was busy with his thoughts, he suddenly felt like he was flying in the air.
'...!! Just kill me.'
He was thrown into the air, then caught, then thrown again, unable to escape from this baby-like treatment. Maimoun couldn't find anything to say after that. He decided to tread on his dignity and let Somay do what he wanted. He decided that this humiliation would be the price he paid for lying to this poor father, who didn't know that what made him happy was probably not real.
"cough..cough, I apologize for what I did now."
After a while of pushing, holding, patting on the head, and a kiss on the cheek, Somay decided that he had taken his deserved share, so he coughed and apologized.
"Sigh, it's okay, but please don't let me go through this again."
"...Alright? I mean, alright, alright."
"...Are you joking? Don't you know that I am a fifteen-year-old yong man and not a baby?"
"...Anyway, please don't let anyone know about the situation I went through."
"And why is that?" Maimoun was about to argue with Somay when he saw the seriousness in his expressions, so he decided to go along with him.
"It's a sign that you're a genius, not just any genius, but probably a genius among geniuses. So if the enemies of the family knew, they would try to eliminate you in the cradle before you develop. Let them think that you are still useless, develop silently before surprising them with unexpected results at the right time."
"...So, if that's the case, why haven't we ever heard of the importance of such a rare condition?"
"Yes, it is, and it's not surprising that you don't know much about it because it's a term used by ordinary people who didn't choose the path of the Primal Body over the long and strange dreams. But those of us who chose this path or even the other paths know the true nature of this condition and how rare it is."
"Especially for a case like yours, this path needs it more than the other paths."
Maimoun fell silent for a moment to absorb what Somay said. He realized that the term Somay mentioned, the Primal Body, referred to a method of cultivation that made one superhuman in strength and long-lived. But what most people didn't know was the true nature of this condition, (a glimpse into a new world).
"So what is this truth that i and people dont know?"
"I can't tell you now because it will negatively affect your training, but I can tell you that if you reach the peak of the third level called the Near-Perfect Human level, it will help you a lot to jump to the fourth level, the Ancient Human level."
"Really!"
Maimoun felt joy upon hearing such a response. He knew how challenging it was to navigate this path and leap between levels, despite it consisting of only seven stages. But of all those jumps between stages are very hard, especially the transition from the third stage, called 'Near-Perfect Human,' to the fourth stage, known as 'Ancient Human,' posed the greatest difficulty.
"Yes, in fact, I assure you that if you reach the peak of the third level, you will definitely surpass me."
"Whaaaat!!"
Maimoun was shocked to hear this information because he knew Somay was one of the strongest people in the world overall. After all, he had reached the fifth level, the Wall of Human level. Some might think that's just the fifth level and there's still the sixth and seventh, but in reality, that's the ultimate threshold for 99.99% of prodigies who have conquered this path.
"Are you serious about this?" Maimoun stuttered.
When we speak about prodigies, it doesn't just mean they're geniuses; they also have wealth, power, and luck. Despite all that, they can only progress to the sixth level, let alone those who don't have such an advantage. The sixth level is the limit for the geniuses of geniuses throughout history.
"Does that mean I'll reach the legendary level, the sixth level... the Transcendent Human level?" Maimoun asked, incredulous.
Somay laughed at Maimoun's enthusiasm. He didn't want to raise his hopes too much, nor did he want to dampen his spirits by dousing him with cold water. He didn't want to extinguish this enthusiasm, not with his son, who had finally become interested in this path.
"It's good to see you're optimistic to this extent. But don't jump to conclusions too quickly. From now on, you just need to train hard to reach the third level. Then, we'll delve deeper into this matter."
"Alright, I promise I'll be a boy you'll be proud of from now on."
"Very well. I believe you will be."
"Okay, I'm going now. I have a lot of things to do about this situation, and I also need to repair my relationships with the people in the palace... sigh, I have a lot to do."
"Yes, you may go, but before that, what do you think about a family dinner? You, me, and Stella. Let's enjoy dinner as a family."
Maimoun liked the idea. It was a chance to make up for Fayte's mistakes and his lack of communication with both Somay and Stella.
"Yes, that's a good idea. I'll definitely be there for dinner."
"Then I'll leave it to you to inform Stella."
After getting permission, Maimoun stood up from his seat and left the room. At that moment, he felt relieved, while Somay watched him silently, deep in thought. Before Maimoun left the room, Somay took something out of his pocket.
"....Fayte."
"Hmm? Yes, Father?"
As Maimoun turned in response to Somay's call, something caught his eye, almost colliding with his forehead. Reacting instinctively, he raised his hand to catch the object.
"This..."
