Simon's Perspective

I watched them being happy sending me off to college. They even helped in moving my things to my dormitory.

Dad, Larson as he is named, my biological dad, paid extra in getting me a single unit and more, not that I would not mind having to share someone with. But when we learned that a room would house four students, I immediately informed my parents of how crowded it would be and that it might affect my studies. 

I honestly did not mind sharing with a room of people. But I believed myself to be an ambivert. 

I could be pretty outgoing, having had many friends, though I could only count one as my trusted friend in high school. But then that guy turned out to be my heartbreaker. 

Sam, my best friend in high school, a football jock, broke my heart when I saw him having sex with my boyfriend during a post-celebratory party after graduation. 

The thing here is that Sam had been my long-time crush. I relegated him to a best friend status because I found him to be too outgoing. That means he was fucking around, boys and girls. I even learned per his sharing of a story that he fucked one of our male teachers since he had a thing for older men. And as his best friend, I believed him. 

Sam is a walking dreamboat. Tall, very handsome, and astoundingly well-built.

But then he is also a traitor. He betrayed my trust when he snagged my boyfriend who happened to be his football buddy. I only learned that they had been fuckbuddies for two years during my dating period with Rod. 

After his betrayal, I stopped my communication with Sam.

I thought that the guy would leave me at peace. But his reappearance later in my life almost wrecked my family.

But as of the present, I find myself alone in my dorm room. 

Dad found me a good one. It is spacious with two bedrooms and my bathroom with a tub and shower hall as well as a laundry room. One bedroom is mine while the other is a guest room with a bathroom in case my parents or one of them will be around to visit me. 

The design was a mix of modern Zen and traditional with light-colored wood that seemed to be infused with magic. The whole room is installed with a magical security device to make it not only burglar-free but also soundproof.  

I happened to learn that Dad purchased this as my high school graduation present. Meanwhile, Marcus gifted me an electric vehicle, a midsize SUV instead of a sports EV.   

I never thought that a college dorm could be purchased. But then Dad told me that the dorm building was a premium one compared to the ordinary dorm building for students. The property could be purchased for primary use and then turned into an investment vehicle when I finished my years in college. 

As to why Dad managed to circumvent my rooming method in college, well, he informed me that he was an alumnus and then became a big donor after he worked there for security as one of the primary mages. 

My old man is a mage cultivator. While he taught me cultivation magic, I never got the hang of it at first as I felt that being a mortal was cooler. He was understanding when I flatly told him about my love for sports rather than learning magic and cultivation stuff at 12. However, I knew that my strength was not on par with mortals. Hence, my athleticism in high school was somehow attributed to my prowess though it was within the mortal range in case some would complain about my strength level. 

But after Sam’s betrayal, I told my dad about my desire to learn magic. 

And so at 19, I am in level 3 of the first cultivation rank, Spiritual Energy Condensation. But my rank can’t pose a threat to mortals. It shouldn’t. Instead, I have even been hired as part of the university’s security department per my father’s recommendation.

That explains my privileged accommodation as I need to be solitary from other mortals and I would have to work under the school’s security department. 

*****

It was a sunny one as I lounged on a recliner while my body was under the heat of the sun. Having my balcony in a premium dorm room and then installed with a mid-sized, bubbling circular pool was privileged. 

It was late in the afternoon after I was done sorting out many things in my dorm room. It is nice to learn magic to get things done easily. 

During my free time, I  elected to stay on the balcony reading romance cultivation stories. Reading while cultivating using solar energy seems multi-tasking though. And that is what I am doing.

As I was reading a cultivation novel about a gay couple working their way through the cultivation world as Dao companions as their desire for immortality was as strong as their will to live together and weather whatever challenges they might have to face, I had come to parallel the characters with my parents. 

My Dad, the biological one, was a superior in the University’s security department. He took Marcus under his wing while the latter was a student. 

Being a member of a cultivation clan, Marcus had the privilege of studying at the university, which mostly admitted mortals as its students. But being a cultivator, he must work in the security department. 

In this modern world, young cultivators worked their way up as part of the security forces of the continent, countries, cities, and towns. At the local level, their employment was already written for them though mostly they upgraded in the corporate world when they advanced in age.  But many would remain working in the security forces as the cultivators of the modern world have the primary purpose of attaining and maintaining peace in the mortal realm.

Contrary to those who believe that cultivators are completely elusive, in the continent of Ermedeum, the cultivators have very important roles. Past millennia ago, cultivators were almost equal in population as the mortals. 

After many centuries, the number of cultivator population was slowly dwindling. 

In recent times, their number is even less than one percent of the total population of the continent.

In my country of Serfem, the number of cultivators would be around five percent, higher than that of the continent. This information comes from my father who has been working in a corporation selling information and big data.

It is a wonder how my relationship with my father, the biological one, is strictly authoritarian. I listen to his words as I should. When he taught me cultivation techniques, I should pay close attention to every detail. And yes, it is very authoritarian as one mistake might warrant me to earn his punishment. 

In each punishment, I had to endure a scorching burn on my skin. After the period of him teaching me though, he always handed me a recovery potion and then a pat on my shoulder. Without the potion and his fatherly pat and concern on his face, I would complain about these things as part of parental abuses. But then my father tried to be the father I wanted him to be: authoritarian but with fatherly love. Always.  

The hugs and the aftercare were often functioned by Marcus. My other dad, whom I called Daddy, would always make sure that the teachings had been internalized well. So after my Dad taught me strictly, Daddy would follow up with a more friendly approach in teaching me the methods and techniques.  

Somehow, their teaching dynamics helped in getting me upgraded to three cultivation levels after I decided to become a cultivator at the age of 18. My age seems too late, especially for someone who belongs to a cultivation clan. However, the stringent requirements in cultivation clans for their young members are often relegated to the geniuses. I am no genius. That is what I always thought. 

Though Dad my biological father is strict, he still finds a way to make himself approachable. Living among mortals, he would always allot time for his family to attend the games in sports we like. We also came in horse racing even though the whole stadium is magically suppressed. 

Dad is fond of equestrian sport. As a family living on acres of big farmland, we have a slew of horses to tame and groom though the tasks of taking care of the horses including the livestock and farms are now in the hands of Marcus and his paid workers.

Dad is often away from home as he is one of the executives of a conglomerate in which one of the businesses including the farms Marcus has been operating as a hands-on CEO. 

Thinking of my Dad and Daddy, I now believe my parents’ important role in molding me. 

Within the day since my move to this dorm, I feel missing them already. 

The cultivation novel that I have been reading is about an older cultivator who became entangled in a relationship with an apprentice, whom he accepted at the age of 12. 

I would discard this kind of novel if it has a pedophilic theme. But it surprised me that the apprentice made the first move to court his master when his age in the cultivation world was already 101. Everything started platonic as both the Master and the apprentice had gone through many challenges together in different realms. But then the apprentice started showing his romantic side when the Master seemed to be oblivious about love and romance and started to become indifferent to the point of being self-destructive. 

As to why I parallel this story with my parents, I think it has something to do with the information I learned that Marcus made the first move in courting my father. It took Marcus six months to earn Dad’s reciprocation. But this was after years of being in a superior-student relationship.

Because of the rule prohibiting students from having a relationship with their superiors working as regulars in the same department, Marcus started courting my father after his college graduation.   

A beep from my mobile phone ended my temporary reverie. It indicated a message, which said: “Dinner at 6. Come at Luxe.” 

A text from Marcus who also shared a link to the location of the restaurant. 

Well, there is no indication of what to wear. But a check of the restaurant proves that it is an upscale one. So I should wear my best but not too flashy.

As I spent myself preparing for the family dinner, I tried to reminisce about the best times I had with my parents. The other one may be a step-parent, not blood-related, but his role is both of a co-parent and big brother. I added my best friend to Marcus’ role after losing only best friend. 

Looking at myself in the mirror, I could say I am my father’s son. Handsome and tall as Larson with an aristocratic bearing befitting of a noble mage.

This is going to be a new chapter in my life as I ditched those heartbreaks in the past as I decided to move on.