Prime Evolver System

A couple of hours have gone by in a flash and the daylight was already transforming into the nightly, darker gradient shades. Lucien and Sera were sitting on a cushioned bench on the porch, in front of the little wooden shack.

Lucien was still feeling slightly uncomfortable from the arduous inspection he had to go through. After waking up from his afternoon 'rest' Sera didn't waste time checking every part of his body besides his most precious to make sure there were no abnormalities.

Whilst her action carried no underlying notion, it was still a pretty difficult process to go through. She rubbed and felt around every inch and square of his body, his newly formed visible abs, his toned, hard chest, the small bulging lines of muscles in his left arm…

Strangely though, as if she was aware of the peculiarities of his right arm, she barely spent any time checking it, he focused more on the other 3 limbs.

Anyway, after bearing it through, when he thought this torturous session was finally over, he was quickly brought to reality when he felt the familiar warm sensation reach his back and slowly spread out through his body. The energy entered his body, slowly merging with his biomass.

The system's notification that came a moment later only served as confirmation, that Sera now used her mysterious holy energy to finish up her check-up.

[…::: Holy Essence absorbed! Restoration not possible, excess energy is being slowly converted to increase current vitality. :::…]

[…::: Holy Energy is being converted to Health and Energy… Progress: N/A :::…]

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[…::: Holy Energy is being converted to Health and Energy… Progress: N/A :::…]

This strange line kept repeating every couple of seconds, which although for some reason couldn't show any progress, still informed him that Sera was still in the midst of scanning the insides of his body, making sure that everything is still stable.

Though he wasn't sure if allowing this was a wise choice, as he wasn't sure that his other self, the source of this strange system was visible under her magical scan or not, in the end, he decided to trust the woman. There was no point for him to still being too suspicious, wary, and guarded against her that much, as everything she did served his benefit only.

She also probably risked a lot by revealing some of her powers back in the Lewis pair's home, but she did it without hesitation. Adding to the fact of her tale about this old man, his predecessor, and the careful teachings and assistance in the forest. He could no longer keep up his distant, cold attitude any longer.

After spending what seemed like almost an hour arduously inspecting everything she could about the boy, she was finally done. She dismissed the bright glow, her holy powers faded and she returned to her normal state.

As the warmth left Lucien's body, his eyes slowly peeled open. A small barely perceptible smile was thinning his lips. The last few lines of the system's message log were particularly interesting, giving Lucien several new thoughts on how to go forward.

[…::: Holy Energy is being converted to Health and Energy… Progress: N/A :::…]

[…::: Warning: Energy Transfer interrupted! Conversion Process stopped! :::…]

[…::: Conversion Process Results: +0.78 Maximum Health, +0.39 Maximum Energy. Updating current values… :::…]

[…::: Changes has been assimilated, Character Status updated. :::…]

Surprisingly, being subjected to Sera's energy didn't only carry restorative traits, but it was also strengthening his vitality.

After that, they both went out to the porch and sat down on the bench, staring at the calm, tranquil little world this small pocket, a sub-dimension of the real one, untainted, free of corruption from the outside.

While it still had dangerous predators and even magical beasts, but that was to be expected. Evolution was a constant thing, and as this space is very rich in energy, some of the dominant species would eventually begin to change and transform. The cycle of life was eternal.

Sitting on the comfy cushion, Lucien slowly closed his eyes, taking in a large gasp of the fresh air. Keeping it down for a couple of brief seconds, he slowly began to exhale it. What he was doing was one of the most basic methods of clearing your mind of thoughts, a sort of basic meditation method.

He learned the basics in his years back in the orphanage. Reading books was his only pastime, if not counting his barnyard friends. He read a lot of books about eastern culture, he was quite fascinated by their unique outlook on life, their centuries… no, several millennium-old traditions.

While he also read several books and even novels about their way of life, immortals, cultivation, and whatnot, he always thought nothing more of them than just mere stories, fairy tales that the elders told to their young.

Still, he couldn't help but be fascinated by them, he couldn't help but try them out. The meditation techniques, for example, were one particular subject that was well-grounded, it appeared not just in the fantasies but also in regular studies as well.

After a while, he learned a few basic principles, most of them aimed at keeping him level-headed, or clearing his head. When he felt his mind and heart being overcome by sadness, sorrow, grief… or any kind of negative emotion, he went somewhere secluded and tried one of these methods.

This particular breathing technique was one of those he had learned and tried out countless times over the years. Whenever he couldn't calm down he used this simple breathing technique: Inhale for 4 seconds, keep it in for 4 more seconds before slowly exhaling over the course of 6 seconds. Then rinse and repeat until you could feel its effects.

After his session with Sera back in the living room, he felt he needed this bit of time, to clear his head from all the ill thoughts and regain his cool. He kept his breathing to the same steady slow rhythm, gradually shutting down all of his senses as his breathing continued.

Meanwhile, Sera was humming silently, with a gentle, kind smile stretching across her angelic face, elevating her already transcending beauty to new heights. Although she wasn't looking at the boy, she was still focusing on him, she was carefully monitoring his mental health whilst enjoying the occasional cool breeze that wafted through them.

She was looking at the distance, watching the seemingly endless stretch of treeline, watching as the bright orange ball of fire slowly kept descending below the horizon.

By the time, it has ducked more than half of its frame below the surface, its last darker-toned orange, red, and even grayish rays painted a picturesque scene in front of the pair.

"Take a look around us, Lucien." Finally, Sera broke the long silence, voicing a request whilst keeping her gaze at the distance. A thin, distant smile could be seen edging the corners of her lips, while she had this difficult-to-read expression plastered over her face.

"What do you mean?" Not sure what to make of the request, Lucien looked at the girl with confusion, waiting for her to explain further.

There was no change in her outlook as she answered. Her mind seemed as it has embarked on a journey, her voice was fleeting, powerless, a meager whisper going against the nightly wind.

"Look around you, Aiden. What do you see, what do you feel?" She asked again, however, without waiting for an actual response, she continued on this time. "It is all around us, we are bathed in it, live in it, yet so few of us even realize it. This primal energy, this power… this is life itself. The small particles, essences, energies in the air, this what scientists call as 'Ancient, Cosmic Radiation', and have yet to understand what it truly is…"

As she got to this point, she heaved a heavy sigh filled with emotions that weighed on her heart, she continued.

"This is the power, the strength. This is what will change the course of history." She stopped once more and turned to look at the boy, before continuing. Her eyes were slowly turning hazy with tears, she had a very complex look over her face. Lucien felt strange, despite barely understanding anything, he still had a strange, drowsiness entering his mind, turning his head heavier and heavier.

He felt a numbing sensation, a faint searing pain entering the back of his head, bringing forth strange unfamiliar images from the past.

He reached for the place where he felt his head hurt, gritting his teeth in the process. Strange, blurry images resurfaced in his mind. He could see distorted visions of looking at Sera's face from below, carried in her arms. From what he could make out, he seemed to be only a baby, a newborn.

It seemed to be a late-night, the sky was dark, as she crossed through the streets and alleyways with hasty, hurried steps, zig-zagging through the streets of this strange, yet somehow still a familiar section of what seemed to be like a modern city.