Adams room

Adam could be seen frantically pacing in his room. Ever since he's received the additional information from his increased clearance, something has been nagging him. His instinct was practically screaming at him that he had to get the answers he needs, that once he gets them, he will be forever changed, and that he needs this change. Unable to sit still, he decides to head to his sponsor. Walking through the hallways, following the owl, his thoughts continue wandering. Not even realizing that he's stopped walking, he's still lost in thought until he feels a small mental nudge. Startled he looks up and realizes he's arrived in front of his target. Greeting her with a small nod "I apologize, Lady Fay, I've been vexed lately." Raising a brow the magus inquires "And what is the problem?"

" I would like to know if it's possible to acquire a higher clearance, or maybe you could answer my questions? I've been unable to calm myself, even regulating my hormonal secretions has not helped, my thoughts keep spiraling out of control. Without answers, I will not be able to rest." Not even caring of his host's status, Adam flops on the ground, and under her amused stare, takes out a gold cigarette case and lights a joint. Fay, still amused and watching him smoke chuckles softly "Ahh you're one of those. Someone who can't accept ignorance. An admirable trait, but a dangerous one nonetheless. Some people may take offense to that."

Adam, who at this point gave up, lazily waves "Lady Fay, I risked my life just for a chance, a small one at that, to learn more about the world. I know that it may kill me one day, but not knowing feels worse than a supposed eternal rest.", flicking the ash from his joint, under Fay's twitching lips, he continues " I am human Lady Fay, with all the vices, sins and virtues. While I believe myself to be above the common rabble, I never believed myself to be inhuman. If my greed for knowledge kills me, so be it. I have sacrificed lives on my path to knowledge, it is only fair to accept my own as sacrifice should it ever happen."

Fay was not surprised by his take on life. On the path to greatness and power, you need to be prepared to die not because it is dangerous, simply because other beings travel the same path. Beings of complex thoughts, with their own lives and stories. Where there are people, there is strife. 

"While I understand, I only have a grade 8 clearance myself. One can only grant someone clearance a grade lower than theirs. I have a feeling that the answers you seek are not something I possess let alone something I can grant." 

She paused for a few minutes. Seemingly coming to some sort of decision she continues "I do know someone who can provide you the answers you seek. Be ready for refusal, though I doubt it. You are lucky, anyone else may not have been able to offer you this chance. Let's go, it looks like you're unable to wait." Getting up she proceeds to leave the room. Adam still smoking, hurriedly follows her. Looking at his joint, he's unwilling to waste it. He still hasn't had the chance to use the seeds he brought to grow some more. Shrugging he continues smoking.

 Stepping on the elevator with Fay, they get to the first floor. Once outside the tower, Adam looks around properly for the first time since his arrival. Seeing nothing for a few kilometers around he mentally shrugs and follows Fay. Sensing his change of mood Fay asks him curiously "What did you smoke? It's almost like you're a different person.". Adam without looking at her answers "It is a plant. The official name for it back in my world was Marijuana. It has many uses, from the manufacturing industry to the medical industry. My mind tends to wander, a lot, so this helps me relax. I generally do not care, but like in this case, it can get exhausting, so smoking some helps me relax a little." Satisfied with the answer, Fay advises him "We're about to fly. Try not to flail around, you could hurt yourself." and without waiting for his answer lifts him alongside her in the air. 

Adam, in the air, sobers up instantly. While not flying using his own capabilities, the feeling is hard to put in words. For someone from a planet where the supernatural has long been extinct, dreams of flying high could only remain as such, dreams. Now, while he can't feel the air against his skin, he is still in a trance. Getting a birds-eye view of the city with nothing protecting him from falling is an exhilarating feeling, adding to the fact that he can't control his own body in mid-air, his adrenaline was at an all-time high. He's almost scared, scared of how much he enjoys the adrenaline rush. He's always prided himself in his sense of control. Granted he lost it soon after he got some new knowledge, it was still something he was proud of. But discovering this new facet of himself, he's not sure how to feel. He always found the idea of risking oneself in the pursuit of enjoyment to be something only the insane would do. Discovering he has the potential of being one of these 'adrenaline-junkies' left him with mixed feelings.

Getting ahold of himself upon feeling solid ground on his feet, he looks around. Looking ahead, he spots the city gate he came through. He's facing, if the signboard is to be trusted, a tavern. Looking at the buildings all around him, he notices everything is made of wood, even the multi-story ones. Reminding himself to check in zero's database for the reason, he follows Fay in the noisy building. It was currently night but the tavern was full. Despite the lack of a moon, the city was still relatively bright. Every road was lit up by hanging spheres. Ignoring the crowd, Fay steps past everyone and heads deeper in the bar, where a 'employees only' sign hung. Once past the door separating the main floor and the back, she walks straight to a door marked 'Lady Boss'. Slightly amused at the sign, he waits as Fay knocks on the door. A few minutes later they hear "Come in". 

Once inside, Adam looks at their host. She looked like your average grandmother, kind face, short, slightly hunched with white hair. Only her eye seemed to shine in the dark, the same electric blue as Fay.

"Good evening Mother, how have you been lately?" Fay greets respectfully. Somewhat expecting it, from the eyes, Adam remains quiet.

"Ah my darling, you never come to see me. Only when you need something. Where did my little Fay go? I remember how you used to ask me 'mama, up, go up'. ahh, the good days." Fay, with a slight blush, clears her throat " Mother, please, I've brought someone with me. I promise to visit more often, but you know I'm busy trying to break through the next tier. And I have an excursion coming up. I barely have time for myself." Sighing the more she spoke Fay slumps her shoulders slightly. Looking at this scene, Adam internally mourns his late mother. She passed away in her sleep, peacefully, but he still wishes he could listen to her nagging. Forgetting his original purpose here, Adam zones out the two other occupants, lost in his childhood memories.

Coming back to his senses, Adam realizes the room is a bit quiet. Both mother and daughter were looking at him. "Apologies, I was lost in thoughts. Greetings, My name is Adam, I don't believe we've been introduced." He greets with a slight bow of his head. The older of the pair looks at him amused "Would you look at that, a new citizen of our great world. What happened little lamb? Got lost on your way back and stumbled here? or maybe you understand the greatness of this world and decided to stay? haaah if only other invaders had half the smarts you have, we could focus on invading others instead of worrying about a few bugs in our backyard." Adam, taken aback, looks at Fay. She gives him a wry smile and answers in his stead " Mother, he's someone I decided to sponsor. His world was either low or devoid of ambient mana. From what he told me, Gods used to be the main focus of his planet, but it is now dying." Her mother upon hearing that Gods were involved sneered "Hmph those leeches, unable to look past their own bloated stomachs. So weak yet so arrogant. Anyways kid, you can call me granny. My daughter has sponsored quite a few talents but you're the first one she brought around. Who knows you may be special. Now step out and let me see why my darling has brought you here." 

"Yes, I shall be outside." Closing the door behind him, Adam thinks back to the words he just heard. 'It looks like Gods aren't as strong as he thought. Or maybe we are thinking of two different types of beings. But them being leeches fits their descriptions. From what I understand, the reason the Gods back in his world were so interested in creating empires was to gather followers. Following that logic, they probably gained something from the worship of their believers, hence leeches. I should see if I can get rid of my soul oath. Bringing over leeches to a new world is just bad manners.' Chuckling to himself, he waits for Fay and her mother to beckon him. 

A few minutes later, he hears Fay call him. Once inside, he finds them both sitting on a couch not far from the earlier desk. The room itself was bare except for two couches, a coffee table, and the desk. Approaching them, Fay motions him to the opposite couch. Once seated the old lady starts speaking "Listen kid, my daughter, while old enough to know better is still not as smart as she likes to think. That chip and those nanomachines of yours, while impressive, are not impressive enough to grant you a sponsorship under a rank 7 magus. Of course, we will not dismiss you. I just wanted you to have an accurate understanding of the value of the things you possess lest you cause misunderstandings in the future that could create problems for yourself and my daughter." While surprised a little, Adam was not really shocked. He never really planned to take advantage of his personal assistance and nanomachines to get resources. Fay may have had such plans, but that's something he was planning to deal with in the future. And if he's not mistaken, they were as valuable as Fay thought, just not in the way they were expecting. Multitasking is a valuable skill. From the glint in the old lady's eyes, she seems to know that as well. Why she is not telling her daughter, that's none of his business. 

"Thank you, I appreciate the advice" He promptly thanked her. The old lady and Adam locked eyes for a few seconds. Once sure he would keep his mouth shut, the old lady give him an appreciative smile "Alright kid, my little Fay tells me you want information not privy to her and definitely outside your level. I would usually refuse her that information. While not useful for the average magus, it could cause problems in peoples state of mind. But I like the cut of your face, you remind me of one of my old lovers, ahh such a sweet lover he was..." The lady started reminiscing while both Adam and Fay shivered at the mental image. Fay knows that her mother's current body is only an avatar, but an old lady speaking of past lovers would make anyone shiver.

The old lady, after being done reminiscing, glares at her daughter, who looks away. Adam, nodding, agrees "Yes ma'am, I am known to be a great lover. I've gotten great reviews." As far as he was concerned, to get rid of that atrocious nagging feeling, to get the knowledge he seeks, he will agree to almost anything. Keyword being almost. Agreeing to an old lady's nonsense seems like a pitiful price to pay. Even if said old lady could blink away his existence. 

Both mother and daughter got stunned for a second, until the old lady guffawed "Haah I knew I liked you, let's go, it's gonna be a long conversation. Better use my main body." 'Main body, what did she-' Cut off mid-thought, Adam was teleported to a different location. Startled, he reaches for the knife sheathed at his hip, while warily looking around. Getting a good look, he's stunned by what he's currently seeing. The floating world of Aurora. That's right, Adam is currently in space, standing in a completely transparent room. Surrounded by nothing but darkness and stars in the distance. Still gaping at the sight of Aurora, Adam hears someone speaking to him, in his head. Startled, he yells "Who!?" while looking around. Hearing the voice again "Here boy, did you forget about little old me already, ah the younguns these days."

Remembering his purpose here and who brought him, he calms down and finally spots his host. Though his expectations and reality did not exactly align in this case. Expecting the old lady, what meets him is a grotesque yet beautiful sight. A floating spine connected to a brain both crystallized and glowing like the most beautiful diamond. "What the fuck is that?!" Adam yells while stepping away from this monstrous sight. He rarely curses, or more like, he would love to curse more often but holds back. Facing this grotesque sight, he could not and would not hold back. 

"Ahh, I forgot, I rarely meet a lower-tiered being with my main body." While lamenting, the surrounding mana gathers towards the floating spine and brain, transforming into an older-looking Fay. She could pass as her older twin if he didn't know her. The only difference he could find would be that she looks more human than Fay does. Fay, if you meet her for the first time, gives you the feeling she sees through you. Her mother only looks like a beautiful woman, nothing supernatural. He assumes that's due to him being so weak he can't accurately understand her existence.

"So kid, I remember you flaunting your skills earlier, willing to give this old lady a sneak peek?" She teases him, running her hands on her body. Remembering the previous sight, Adam shivers "Please uh..granny? I was simply joking. As a guest, playing along with my host is only natural. hahaha..." Awkwardly laughing, Adam continues to slowly step away from this human-looking creature. Slightly pouting, the old lady finally gives up and sighs " Alright alright, sit down kid. You wanted to learn right, well sit down. Before I begin, as payment, I will read all that you are. What I mean, is from your birth to now, everything. Although it's not worth even you meeting me, I still need to gain something, if only to feel good about myself." The lady smirks at him. Understanding what she means and knowing that even if he refuses she can still do what she wants, he agrees. " No problem, but before we start, I have a soul oath, made from a transaction with a God native to my world. Could you get rid of it for me?"

The lady looks at him in curiosity "Ooh let me see, hmm, that's a soul oath alright. And this divinity, hmmm, while currently weakened it belongs to a pretty high-ranked God. Wow, kid, if I wasn't going to already peek at your darkest and deepest secrets I would almost be tempted to go through your mind and see what the story is. You're lucky to have met me, you can only get rid of soul oaths if you've delved into the concept of karma. I am the foremost expert on karma in this world. What a fateful meeting, ahh if I was any younger I would have believed you to be my soul mate." She smirks at him while getting rid of the soul oath. Once gone, Adam feels a little lighter, metaphysically speaking. Heaving a sigh of relief, he's not worried about her seeing his deal with Odin. With the oath gone, they both understand that the Allfather got bamboozled.

"Well, let's get to it, don't worry, with your age it will only take a few seconds. You won't feel anything." A few seconds later, the lady whistles "Look at you, didn't you feel bad killing all those defenseless people. ahh, where has the innocence gone? Your world seemed pretty peaceful, minus the social disparity between the rich and the poor. The wonders of the human mind, if nothing seeks to hurt you, you hurt each other. You had loving parents, not married but a few lovers here and there, never taken a life before. Even had a cat, yet when you decided something, you ended a few families just for your goal. If I did not have your memories, I would have thought you mentally ill. wow." 

Unbothered by her remarks, he shrugs "At the end of the day, people die. Whether by my hand or the hands of time, the ending is all the same. I did not torture them, nor did I do it out of pleasure. I had my goal, they were needed. I made sure to give them a painless death. More than most get. I was already risking my own life, understanding that I could die if my plan failed. I would've gathered even more if that'd help me raise my chances of survival. Given your society of conquering and plundering other worlds, I expect even more brutal things to happen during those battles. am I wrong?"

The lady looked at him oddly "Kid, I wasn't expecting a speech out of you. Had I known I would've shut my mouth. I don't care about the lives of others. But in the Council, we try to prevent magi from murdering each other. One less magus is one less lackey. Even a rank 1 has his uses. If they die on the battlefield, so be it, but dying on their homeworld, now that's just shameful. Of course, we can't control everything, but we do make sure we punish those caught. We got mind-readers, not many get away. Even an idiot has his uses. Resources are aplenty, nothing is stopping you from getting to the top. If you're useless, we send you to inscribe products to keep our society running, if you're useful, we pump you full of resources and send you to bring back more from other worlds. We got a good thing going, don't need idiots trying to mess it up." 

As Adam was about to ask her to elaborate, she cuts him off " Ah ah ah, let me bring you in my mindscape, if we speak out here we'll waste too much time. I like my main body free. Don't move." Holding back his question, Adam lays down on the floor and stays still. A moment later, he feels his mind leave his body. It was a weird feeling, he could feel himself connected to his body, and can tell that his body is still breathing normally. Opening his eyes, he finds himself floating in space surrounded by glittering stars. Trying to focus on the stars, he's interrupted by a voice coming from the space itself, like surround speakers, just from everywhere. "What do you think, I designed it myself" snickering the voice starts lowering in volume until he hears it from behind. Turning around, he spots the lady again. 

He raises a brow "You designed space and stars? and can you please give me a name to call you by, calling you granny doesn't feel right when you look as young as you do"

"Are you calling me young? Ah, compliments like this will get you anywhere, even my pants. You charmer you. Call me whatever you want, I'm going through a phase, you'll understand when you get the knowledge you want." Ignoring her cheap attempt at flirting, he agrees "Fine, I will call you Lady Olivia." 

"Ooooh, who's that, one of your past lovers?", Adam shakes his head "First name that popped into my head, now could you elaborate on your previous statements. About the way the Council functions?"

Shrugging she replies "I will but first, we will have to start from the beginning. I assume you have all the knowledge needed to reach tier 6?" Seeing him nod, she continues "Well, at tier 7 or rank 7, whatever you want to call it, one has to condense a domain. Using their understanding of their elements and mana in general, one has to bring the area around them under their control. Even if it is only 1 cm, as long as they do it, their core will solidify this domain, turning into an intrinsic part of their being. The domain will typically grow to its natural limits within a few days. Those limits are a representation of the quality of their core. The more refined their core is the larger their domain. You need to understand something before we proceed. The way to rank 6 is something every magus will instinctively know. Although their instinct will not be as accurate as the information amassed over the years, it is still possible to reach that stage by one's self. That's courtesy of our world's mana. Past rank 6 however is something that we, The Ascended, the rank 9s, had to develop. There are currently 6 human Ascended. We were the first and no new ones have appeared so far. It has been like this for a few thousand years."

 Stunned by the indirect admission of her age, he was wary but still had to ask "If you've been alive that long, how come you're so......lively?" Giving him a glare that caused even his mental projection to sweat, she huffed "Stop being so impatient, you will understand later. Anyways, the reason we ensured that the future generation had a domain was to prepare them for their ascension. For rank 8. Even we were clueless on how to proceed past rank 6 back then." She paused for a second, reminiscing the past. "Anyways, we were looking for the path forward everywhere we could. We scoured many different worlds, hoping to find an answer. We went to cultivation worlds, with their obnoxious philosophy and metaphors. We went to bestial planets hoping to find a different way of empowering ourselves. We went to worlds ruled by the Gods, thinking that their way was the right way. We found nothing until we went to a technological world. We found our solution in the most unexpected of places. In a school! hahahahaha.." Laughing for a while, she stopped to wipe an imaginary tear and see if Adam was laughing with her. Seeing him stoic and waiting for her, she sighs "Ahh you're no fun, anyways, we were listening to a teacher describe the human body and the way it functioned. Keep in mind, that was our first technological world. While we were in awe at their contraptions and inventions, we also disdained them, for wasting their time in such meaningless pursuits. That was until we listened to that teacher. We decided to find a library and started our research. We entrenched ourselves in that world for a few decades. Through the sacrifice of a few of our rank 6 peers at the time. We managed to find a way forward. Even finding some similarities to what those darned cultivators mentioned in their 'Profound Scripture', " She paused to spit at those words and continued " We discovered the path forward for the elemental magi and the psychics, a name we decided once we finished our research. The bloodline magi only needed time, energy, and a suitable bloodline ancestor to advance." She paused to take a sip of a drink, that appeared out of nowhere. She was drinking....in her mindscape.....

Adam at the edge of his figurative seat could not stand it anymore "What was the way?". Giving him a look, she started snickering "Ahh the young of today, no patience. Anyways, from our newly gained knowledge and dissection of other ranks 6 magi, we found out what our core used as a base to form themselves. For the psychics, the core used the pineal gland, the things those cultivation hacks called the third eye. The mana would slowly refine it until full crystalization. For the elemental magi, the core used the thalamus, the part of the brain responsible for our visual and somatosensory senses, among other things. It was also then we discovered how different worlds have different interactions with mana, or whatever they call it. Our world focused on refining our senses as a base, but after that? We were lost. It's not like we could directly ask it, mana in and of itself has no sapience or consciousness, only an instinct, almost like a plant, it has a job and it performs it. Anything else? up to us. So with our newly equipped knowledge of the human body, we returned to the previous worlds, trying to see if the way mana acts there can inspire us. Some worlds focus on the body, some on the mind, some on the senses like us, some on energy storage. The cultivators were big on energy storage, believing more is always good. Almost feels like they're compensating hehehehe.." Quietly snickering to herself, unaware or ignoring Adam giving her an odd look. He hesitates before asking "What have those cultivators done to you? you seem to dislike them."

She snaps at him "Dislike?! I hate them, so arrogant and pompous. When we first visited them for pointers you know what they said? 'Our way is not your way, your way is flawed and has tainted you.' Can you believe that? tainted? what does that even mean? Speak clearly you old doddering buffoon. The arrogance! To think themselves better than everybody, look at them now, HA, shivering at the name of our world. Not only that, their younger generation has no respect. Constantly trying to force me to join their harems as if it was a great honor. The amount of them I had to castrate...haaaaa...that's the only good memory of their cursed worlds...."

Speechless, Adam could only wait until she was ready to speak again. A few minutes of angry muttering later she continued "Anyways, once we restarted our travels, with fresh eyes and plenty of dissections, we found out that each world's mana has its own way of empowering its denizens. Almost like it was experimenting. The successful worlds had higher-tiered beings (rank 7-9), but no matter the number of worlds we visited, the number of worlds with tier 9s on them could be counted on one hand. Considering the size of the cosmos, that number was outrageously low. So we decided, no matter how, we had to be one of those worlds. Some worlds were also on the verge of destruction, we never found the reason until we became high-tier existences ourselves. A high-tier being's existence leaves its imprint in its world's mana, ensuring that the future generation can find their own path with hard work. The imprint is also like a seal of quality like 'Hey this world produces good quality beings, let us live'" Adam cut her off "Why is having a high-tier existence so important that the world's existence depends on it?" Annoyed at Adam cutting her off, she snap "Shut it kid, you'll get your answers later. Anyways, back to how we progressed past rank 6, we had an idea of how to progress after our research but we didn't have the necessary control to pursue our idea. We weren't willing to give up our idea, almost like the world itself was pushing us. We knew that if we accomplished our goal, the path to tier 9, the peak, would be attainable. So with our newfound knowledge, especially knowledge from the Gods, we figured getting a domain would enable us to reach the required level of control needed. Once we progress to rank 7 and refined our domain, we reach the point of no return. Either we succeed, or fail and leave the job to the future generations." 

Pausing to take a sip and ignoring Adams aggrieved face at the cliffhanger, she continues "Using our domain, we decided to forgo our cores, or rather, instead of having just our cores crystallized, we decided to crystallize our whole nervous system, the main parts of it to be specific. The central nervous system, the brain, and the spine. We found out in the technological world, that the central nervous system is one of the most important parts of the human body, the brain is also the part where our thoughts are processed, but the brain by itself wasn't enough. We knew that the rest of our organs were superfluous once we reached high-tier. But the brain wasn't and by its connection, the spine as well. So using our enhanced control, we refined EVERY single part of our CNS (central nervous system). We could not take the chance of any mistakes occurring due to refining our CNS out of order, an order we are still ignorant of. Hence we did the whole process simultaneously, it took us a lot less time than we expected. The reason being that we didn't take into account the higher tier of mana at our disposal as opposed to what we had when we first refined our cores. The higher the tier of the existence, the higher tier mana available to it. So once we successfully reached rank 8, our whole existence effectively ascended. We were no longer human, what you saw earlier was my true body. But knowing we still hadn't reached the peak, tier 9, we still held off on calling ourselves Ascended. That would have been simply arrogance. Not only that, once we reached tier 8, we sensed the presence of concepts. We could barely sense them at rank 6 and slightly more at rank 7 but we understood that focusing on them at the time would have been a waste of time. We didn't have the right equipment, so to speak, to interact with the concepts. But once we reached rank 8, we understood our path to the peak. It was to integrate with said concepts, make them an integral part of our beings. It may be hard to understand at your current level, 'how can you integrate something intangible into you'. As I said, you don't have the right equipment" Snickering at a probably sexual joke, she waited for Adam to process all this new information. 

Adam himself is at a loss for words. Disregarding the newfound respect for this shameless lady, what he just heard sounds impossible. Yet the proof in front of him is enough to dispel any inkling of denial. He sort of understood what happened to them, refining their main thought center with mana, adds an additional weight to the existence of their thoughts. Even before the refining, their thoughts alone, with the help of mana, could alter their environment. Now it probably brought their thoughts, something intangible, into reality. She could probably condense her thoughts into something physical. A shocking thought for sure. That alone would be worth it, disregarding other potential applications such a transformation could provide. Things he was sure he could not think of at his level.

"Ha, I know that look, let me give you some motivation. This transformation has unlocked our mindscape as an energy reservoir because our thoughts are basically transformed into mana. ha eat it cultivator fogies" muttering under her breath, she then continues "Now imagine, you have your mindscape as a mana reservoir, with no theoretical limit given its intangible state. Every thought of yours is composed of mana, which fills your reservoirs. As long as you're able to think, mana will be produced. Do you understand what I am saying, and do you understand why we consider ourselves at the top, even among other tier 9s?" She looks at him smugly. In the case of Adam, he's shellshocked 'Have they just turned themselves into a mana generator? powered by thoughts?!?! what kind of nonsense is this? how is this possible? Isn't that too overpowered?'

Sensing his thoughts spiraling out of control she stops him "It's not all peaches and roses, while we gained almost infinite reserves of mana there's a downside to living in such a state." Adam, reigning his thoughts, once again pays attention to her "We're no longer human, our thought process is slowly but surely becoming alien. Not robotic, just different. We started seeing humans as cattle. We herd them, make sure they follow the rules, make sure they're taken care of, just like a pet. That's why we run the Council like we do. Letting your pets kill each other doesn't make sense after all." She sighs despondently "If we were born as such, we would not mind, but being born human, our memories, even if we don't feel them as much as we used to, are still present. So, like the old tavern lady you saw earlier, we spread different bodies throughout the cosmos. With our thoughts transformed into mana, it is simple enough to produce a whole mental persona out of crystallized mana and create a body to house it. We do this in the hopes that even if we lose our humanity we can at least fake it enough to eventually gain back a small part of it.". 

Nothing was said after, leaving Adam to his thoughts. 'Would I accept transforming into such a being? Yes without a doubt. They can still interact via proxies, albeit faking it, it is still enough as long as I can gain knowledge and experience new things.' Thinking up to there he asked her an embarrassing yet important question " Do you still appreciate the joys of the flesh?". Olivia stunned out of her depression by his question laughs out loud "Are you coming on to me kid, hahaha you're a few thousand years too young, hahahaha!". Adam slightly embarrassed rephrased his question "Apologies, I meant, do you still enjoy the simple things in life, food, music, entertainment, socializing, love, sex. The things that humans typically experience and use to enhance and appreciate their lives." Olivia looked at him for a second then answered "Our proxy bodies feel everything the way a regular human does. We make sure to secrete the hormones in charge of the human emotional spectrum. But in the back of our minds, we always know that we are just amusing ourselves by playing with lower beings. We don't actively think as such, it's more like the feeling you get when playing with one of your pets. You don't actively think of your pet as a lower being, you may even consider it family, but there is this subconscious part of you, that knows that you are on top and they aren't and will never be able to see eye to eye unless they evolve from the lower-life form that they are. Keep in mind, we don't want to feel this way, we just do. As for sex, it's fun while it lasts, you feel as good as any other person, but the first few times after Ascending are the hardest. It feels like you're sleeping around with animals. There's an innate disgust making it hard to get aroused unless you force your physical container to get turned on. If you ever do get to our level and go through that experience, I recommend starting with fellatio, while still feeling that disgust, it is a lot less pronounced when you have your partner on their knees. I guess it's the symbolism calming down your revulsion." Adam, processing this new information, finally asks the question that kept nagging at him, ever since he arrived in this world. Looking at her in the eyes "Lady Olivia, What is mana? How does mana do all these things and more? It does not make sense."

Olivia looked at him for a second a gave him a smirk "That's the million credit question, isn't it? Indeed, what is Mana? Mana is...."

Author note: Booooya, Cliffhanger!!. To be fair I did not want a cliffhanger, but the next subject would have extended the chapter longer than it already was. And this chapter, ah this chapter. I'm personally proud of the way I created their power structure. I've always disliked how most powers work. If you asked anybody the answer would be "It's magic duh" as if that makes sense. NO! I say, we need structure, we need SCIENCE! I explained how humans, living in a mana-rich world, affected by said mana, gain their powers, and advance said powers. At least in the later tiers. The first few tiers aren't as exciting, unfortunately. The next chapter will be my take on the Omniverse at large, yes OMNIverse. With plenty of small multiverses inside. Said Omniverse will include all our favorite fictional stories although they won't be mentioned. This is just for the sequel, when the mc will explore the Omniverse. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it (Very).