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Miscellaneous Stories
Chapter 1: Understanding the Situation

Chapter 1: Understanding the Situation

Michael Garren was a peculiar child. As a baby, when he slept, he would unconsciously shed tears and cry out, and no matter how his parents tried to comfort him, the sobbing would not stop. They couldn’t get an answer from the doctors they visited, other than, he was a perfectly healthy baby, so out of helplessness, they could only choose to ignore the crying, no matter how much stress it caused.

As Michael grew older, the crying turned into night terrors and he would unconsciously yell out in a strange language that no one could understand. At this point, Michael’s parents could only sound proof Michael’s bed room. Although it was strange, Michael did not seem to be affected by it, as he lived out his life normally.

After he was 10 years old, the night terrors stopped, but Michael’s dreams became much more vivid, and he would subconsciously remember things that were not part of his life. Michael did not want to bother his parents about this, as he knew it would only make them worried, so he kept it to himself.

But these memories began to accumulate and no matter how he tried to ignore them, these memories slowly integrated into his personality. Then, when Michael was 18 and had just finished high school, Michael went into a deep coma.

A year later, Amond Carenne had opened his eyes once more…

A dreadful pressure filled the room as Michael blankly stared within the hospital room, as if an ancient beast had just awoken and it was unknown what havoc it would cause. Had anyone been there to witness it, they would have suffocated from the ever increasing pressure.

The lights within the room and the monitoring systems attached to Michael flickered on and off, affected by an unknown force. Then, when it seemed the pressure would peak and destroy everything within the room, all became still as Michael’s mind regained clarity.

It took a moment for Michael to realize what had happened, but as an immense amount of memories became clear, he suddenly burst out laughing.

Michael’s sister, Karina, was walking to Michael’s room for her daily visit with a downcast face. She has been suffering from panic attacks lately, as worry for her brother filled her to the point where it affected her health. It’s already been a year… He’s young and healthy, so there should be no reason for this coma. It’s impossible that he’ll stay that way forever. I just need to keep coming, and we’ll wake up eventually. Karina thought, trying to convince herself of her words. But uncertainty and worry was still reflected on her face, triggered by the familiar hospital walls, as she walked towards Michael’s door.

“Hahahaha…”

At the familiar sound of laughter, excitement and hope subconsciously filled Karina as she rushed into the door, to see her brother smiling to himself.

“Brother!” Karina exclaimed in excitement as she rushed up to hug Michael.

“Hmm, hey there little girl. Wow, you’ve grown much bigger since I’ve last seen you.” Michael said as he rubbed his little sister’s head.

Tears filled Karina’s face, but unlike previously, these were tears of happiness. “Brother… brother. I’ve missed you.” She said with as she sobbed.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay. I’m here now. I’m here now.” Michael said, patting Karina’s head, as determination filled his eyes. Yes, I’m here now… Michael thought as his mind began to plan for the future.

….

Bam!

The door was pushed forward in a rush, as Michael’s excited parents came through the door.

“Son!”

“My boy!”

His parents exclamations sounded out, as they surrounded Michael, and embraced him tight.

“Hehe, easy. I’m not going anywhere.” Michael said with a smile, as his eyes wandered with his thoughts. I have family again… This is already more than I could have hoped for. Michael thought as tears filled his eyes. All the years of loneliness and regret have found a place to vent with these tears. Although it could not make up for his losses at that time, what he currently had was already much more valuable than anything he ever expected for himself.

“Don’t cry, baby boy. You’re back now, and we’re a family again.” Michael’s mom said as tears also filled her face.

“Right. Man up, kid. You can’t let your little sister see your tears.” Michael’s dad said, as he looked to the side to hide a sparkle that was barely visible in the corner of his eye.

Michael suddenly laughed. When Karina came in, he couldn’t muster up these tears as the older brother, but still acted as a child in front of his parents. The thought gave him joy, as life refilled his tired mind. To Amond Carenne, Michael’s memories as a mortal and his experience and personality as a child who grew up in this world was refreshing to him. A part of him wouldn’t mind giving up Amond Carenne completely just to live a normal life as Michael, but unfortunately, as someone who has stood atop the universe, his desire and greed was outside the scope of this world.

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…..

As Michael once again lied in his own room he began to organize his thoughts.

Although has severely weakened due to the reincarnation process it was still much more powerful than regular people and it was enough to do some basic investigations.

First Michael checked out his body.

In his past life, Michael has been to multiple worlds and several different universes, and although his experience was considered insignificant on the scale of the multiverse, he had a certain amount of understanding of different lifeforms and environments, including possible cultivation systems involving variations of what he has seen. And from what he's seen, different the cultivation systems, or at least most of them, towards the peak of the system, tend to revolve around altering and creating universal laws or manipulating the laws, which could sometimes reach a very large scale. But in the beginning, because of differences in lifeforms and their environments these systems are much more unique.

Michael scanned his body with his soul and realized that he had no energy circulation system whatsoever.

Huh, so basically I have the body and soul to work with. Michael thought with slight disappointment.

Michael then focused his soul and began to sense the surroundings. Although normally, his soul would be too weak to sense the laws of the universe, but with Michael's experience, he was still able to tell that laws of the universe were pretty much standard.

I don’t sense anything weird from the laws, which either means that there is probably no peak being on this world.

Michael continued to investigate and discovered a peculiar energy in the air. Element particles! Michael exclaimed.

Michael then checked his mind once again, and as expected, he discovered a sea of consciousness.

Michael felt slightly relieved that he discovered the situation familiar, as Michael did not presume to be all knowing in the vast extent of existence. With the current situation, Michael could skip the research phase that involved any strange cultivation presets.

There are probably mages on this world. And if my experiences aren’t too different from the situation here, there are probably knights here too…

From Michael's experience, a standard part of a mage’s personality is that they have inquisitive minds and if mage’s have already been part of this world's history for a sufficient amount of time, then they most likely have investigated the human body and unlocked the secrets of gene advancement is some way, shape or form.

Michael smiled at this discovery. To be honest, it would be perfectly normal if Michael found himself born in a world with no existing cultivation system, and he was perfectly fine with thriving in such an environment. But now he realized that there was most likely mages on this world, considering the both the elemental particles and the level of modern technology. Michael smiled as this meant that his time on this world would be a little more colorful than he expected.

But this also meant that there were more possible threats out there for his family and friends, and as such, Michael would have to prepare.

….

Michael began to come up with a cultivation plan. Unfortunately gene advancement would take some preparation as he had neither the resources nor the capability at the moment. And unfortunately he couldn’t cultivate world energy, as he had no energy circulation system. Although he could solve this problem with some surgery, but likewise, he didn’t have the resources. But elemental particles existed in this world, so the mage path was open to him. But this wasn’t the only opportunity the sea of consciousness and elemental particles offered him.

He could also concentrate on cultivating his soul. Although focusing on the mage path would sometimes inadvertently affected the soul, it was more focused on the power of the mind. The soul was completely different and much more mysterious. Also, from Michael’s understanding, it was very rare for a civilization to even have the most basic understanding of the soul as it involved a much deeper knowledge of existence.

The basic requirements of cultivating the soul was easily found in living things, but it is one of the hardest paths to advance in, and as such, cultivators of the soul, on any level, are some of the most fearsome opponents.

What Michael had to do now was test his talent in relation to his affinity to different element particles. Although this wasn’t significant to Michael’s development it would still be helpful if he had a strong affinity with an element.

Michael began to initiate a simple meditation technique with the purpose of probing one's talent. It was a very easy process for someone with Michael's experience, but sadly the results weren't great.

In comparison to average people, he had slightly more talent, but to other mages, Michael's affinity to the six elements of earth, water, fire, air, light and dark, was low. Although he probably had the same overall affinity as a mage who specialized in one element, Michael would still prefer to have an element that he could specialize in, as it would be the most efficient method of cultivation.

But to be honest, this isn’t bad. If I took the controller mage path, the progress would still be smooth with my experience, albeit not as efficient as specializing…

Michael had an advantage that average mages didn’t have, which was that he understood the elements from a higher perspective, so his progress would definitely not be slow. Also, there were ways to increase this affinity. In fact, Michael expected his affinity for these elements to increase simply because he had regained his memories.

After having an understanding of the situation, Michael had a basic plan in mind.

For now he would have to take his time and gather element particles into his sea of consciousness. But before that, he would have to earn some money, as resources were important to all cultivators.

What Michael would really like to do, is create something like an anti-aging cream with miraculous effects and sell it for a high price, but he wouldn’t be taken seriously as he had neither the connections nor the reputation. He also didn’t want to disturb the natural order, as he didn’t understand the relationship between mages and regular people, and doing something like that might break some unwritten rules.

It seems like my only option is to do something shady, Michael thought with slight amusement.