Time slowly passed by, Adir’s core continued to absorb energy and Juliet had officially adopted him leaving his name unchanged. She was glad he didn’t cry too much and would mostly eat and sleep. Juliet’s kids didn’t like the idea of a step brother at first but after a few weeks even they took a liking to him. You would often see them either playing or sleeping with him.
Vigo had been undergoing training since Adir’s arrival and had just reached the beginning stages of the experienced level. It was the sixth stage of the mortal realm for a total of nine stages. He was sure he’d need to reach at least the seventh level so he continued training with one goal in mind. Reach the seventh level, proficient. He had many cultivation fruits stored for if he ever reached a bottleneck. The town chief had gifted them to him since he was expected to reach great heights in the cultivation world. He would need to use them now in order to reach his goal in the next couple years.
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Unbeknownst to the town, the forest was undergoing many changes. The dire wolf had been crowned the king of the forest and no beast dared approach it. The previous king was a giant serpent. The dire wolf didn’t even need to fight for the crown either. The dire wolf had only entered a dark cave the serpent was inhabiting and it dared not pick a fight. It just cautiously slithered away and searched for a new home. Its animal instinct told it not to fight or it’d be its doom.
The direwolf’s companion, the phoenix, would spend most of its time watching from the skies and from the trees making sure Adir was safe. At night the dire wolf would be watching from the darkness while the phoenix rested in the same cave.
Years slowly passed in this manner, the town had been rather peaceful for the past few years and hadn’t encountered any problems they couldn’t fix as of yet.
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4 Years Later
Juliet was teaching Adir to read, he was a very smart child and she had begun to teach him to read and write since he was three years old. Never before had she seen such a brilliant child and she thought it’d be a waste not to put it to good use. He quickly learned to read and write and would rarely need her to pronounce him a few words or spell them for him.
He was really fascinated with books about cultivation, the mortal realm and the dantian. She would often see him reading the books her husband left behind before passing away. Adir’s birth mark had faded away in the past few years and no trace of it could be seen. He had dark black hair and perfect white skin. He would be a handsome young man by the looks of it.
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As the day continued it was time for bed. Adir was lying in bed and continued to think about the mortal realm and its levels. He wanted to enter this mortal realm.
I want to enter the mortal realm, I want to cultivate, I want to be strong and see all those places from the books and battle ferocious monsters! – thought Adir.
With those thoughts Adir went to sleep. Adir’s core almost as if by command was finally about to enter the mortal realm, it had finally filled up with mana and was ready to take the next step. It slowly started to shake as cracks started to spread across it. It was the size of a bean and was slowly expanding as well. What was first the size of a rice was now the size of a bean and situated in the epigastric region.
Adir’s body was now channeling energy up and down, his muscle fibers were now using mana to toughen themselves and his bones were gaining toughness. Previously only his core was storing the energy in order to enter the realm but now his entire body could start using mana to better itself.
Adir, the four year old, had entered the mortal realm. He was now an initiate and the fastest to enter the mortal realm in the entire town probably even this entire region!
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In the forest a dire wolf had been watching the event take place, it could feel Adir going a transformation in his core.
It had happened sooner than it thought but it was fine nonetheless. The phoenix and itself were in a way family with Adir so they felt the difference in Adir when it happened but couldn’t directly see it. The bracelet on Adir would hide his cultivation, as long as he had it on it’d be impossible for anyone in town to see his level.
It continued to watch from the darkness making sure Adir was safe.
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“Adir, wake up. You’re really dirty, let’s get you cleaned up. Just look at you, what did you cover yourself up in last night. Come on, get up.” – said Juliet, she was going to wake Adir up in order to give him breakfast when she saw how dirty he was.
She hadn’t seen something like this, he was really oily and sticky and although it didn’t stink, it was unpleasant to the nose. It was as if he had covered himself up in oil before bed. She quickly started to wake him up to give him a shower instead. Breakfast could wait, a shower could not.
“Uhh, what is this mommy? What did you put on me? Ewww its gross!” – exclaimed Adir, he thought Juliet had been the cause of this.
“What? Don’t play games Adir, come on. Let’s go.” – Juliet said as she grabbed Adir and walked to the shower.
They quickly arrived to the shower where he had all the oil removed from himself. His already soft skin had a shine to it along with his hair. His small muscles were a bit thicker and softly outlined, for a four year old he looked like he did plenty of exercise. Juliet was shocked to see him, she definitely didn’t recall him looking this fit at all. He was four years old after all and she had been caring to him every day. She wouldn’t miss something like this.
Adir, seeing Juliet’s shocked face couldn’t help but question, “What’s wrong mom?”.