Dave had learned that cultivating at his current stage was more refreshing than a night of sleep, so he sat down with his legs crossed and started cultivating. He awoke to a burning smell. He had cleaned up the area around himself before he had started his cultivation, but Lydia had jumped out of her crib again and what he was smelling were her clothes being carbonized as she came too close to him.
Grabbing her, he hurried to put out the embers in her clothing and searched for new clothes to put on her. It was a recurring issue that Lydia got out of her crib. In the beginning, she had to slowly and painstakingly scale the bars of her crib, but with the assistance of her cultivation, Lydia quickly figured out how to jump in a manner that would land her on the floor. Of course, she had yet to figure out how to stick the landing. She usually just tumbled onto the ground in a heap, until she could get back up on all fours.
She seemed to age more rapidly than other babies her age, growing past the age where babies could only lift their heads within a single day. Her weight was also rapidly increasing, even without any milk or other sustenance. He had tried giving her to a midwife to keep her fed, but Lydia had raised a stink and did not want to drink milk from human breasts. It was a very bizarre situation where a baby unwilling even to drink milk was growing at a rapid pace.
Dave appreciated all the help he was receiving from the sect in return for boosting the collective cultivation a few stages.
Dave thought it would take some encouragement to teach her how to walk. She seemed perfectly content to continue crawling on all four, maybe resulting from her being born a wolf and living as such for a long time.
After he put the new clothes on Lydia, he started teaching her how to walk by grabbing her hands and lifting her into an upright position, so her feet touched the ground. Then he walked her slowly around the house while putting more and more weight onto her feet. He continued doing so while slowly talking to her. Hoping that she would remember the words so she could reuse them when she finally became aware of the intricacies of spoken language. When he finally let go of her she continued to walk on two legs for a little while after he let go, but soon she was crawling around at speeds that were impossible for any normal baby.
Dave needed to figure out where he could get a mother figure for Lydia. Someone who could watch her and teach while he was out and about. The sect had something like a proto-kindergarten, but Lydia was still too young to attend. She needed to at least be old enough to walk and talk a few words. Children were raised at least to that point in the home of the parents. Only then would they be introduced to wider society. He direly needed a mother for her.
Dave thought about maybe posting a mission for a babysitter that wouldn’t die if Lydia decided to slap their leg, so at least someone in core formation or higher.
He went outside into the heat of a certain squirrel and headed towards the mission square. There was a small administrative building with an open door adjacent to the square with roofed boards that housed the missions that were available to the different stages of cultivation.
He headed inside to a counter with a secretary. “Hello, I would like to post a mission on the core formation board.”, He said to the secretary. “Sure, what will it be about?”, She asked him back. “I need someone to babysit my wandering immortal stage spirit beast that has attained a human form. There’s just one problem, the monstrous beast in question has taken the form of a baby and needs to be raised as one.” He said and the secretary scribbled it all down on a piece of paper. “Can the sect cover the cost of this mission, since I’m a grand elder, because I don’t have the funds right now?”, He shamefully added. “Sure, we can do that. We will just ask for a proportional favor at a later date. Do not worry, it will be proportional to the monetary assistance you received.” She said. He apologized and headed back home. A few hours later someone knocked on his door. It was Mo. She was standing at his door and looked even younger than she had before, with glossy skin and a smile on her face. Dave let her inside and she said, “I heard about the mission. Everyone else thought it was fake since none of us had ever heard about a tamed spirit beast at the wandering immortal level, however, I recognized your name and figured that I could watch over your beast.” Dave bewildered asked, “How could a mission be fake, can anyone just walk up and post a fake mission?” She answered with a raised eyebrow and said, “No, but pranks still happened. A few years ago someone kept sending disciples to one of the elders he did not like with inane tasks. It took a few days until he was caught and reprimanded.” Dave shrugged and said, “No matter, I’m glad you came. Let me introduce you. This is Lydia.” He took her out of the crib that would soon be too small for her and handed her to Mo. “She’s so cute.” Mo squealed. “Yeah, she sure is,” Dave said in agreement. “She looks a little like you.”, Mo said, “She has your eyes.” Dave looked a little closer and Lydia indeed had European eyes instead of the Asian ones that were so common around here. A detail he had overlooked until now. He wondered what that said about the heavenly tribulation that had put Lydia in this state.
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“I’m going out to run some errands, can you watch over her?” Dave said. “Sure, I can do that. Anything I should know about her before you go?” Mo asked Dave. “Yeah, please teach her how to walk and keep talking with her, she likely already understands us.” Dave elaborated with a shrug.
Dave left the house and headed for the artisan district across the street from his house. He walked through the district and noticed some interesting shops, including one old dilapidated shop that seemingly dealt in small trinkets. Dave wondered if he could commission a small clock from them or a thermometer. The weather had gotten uncomfortably hot ever since a certain squirrel had arrived. Maybe he could visit them later, now that Mo was watching over Lydia and he no longer had to worry about coming home to a wrecked house. He walked through the district and arrived in front of the shop with various flying swords displayed in front. He walked inside and found the same female artisan at the counter from last time, he asked, “Greetings, do you have a suitable flying sword for a wandering immortal?”
“There is no way we would. You are the first one in our sect’s history. There might be a few artifacts in the sect treasury designed for nascent soul cultivators.” She answered.
“How would I go about obtaining one of those artifacts?” He asked her politely. “You would have to request it directly from the sect master, as those artifacts are highly prized and sometimes even family heirlooms.” She answered.
Dave thanked her and headed to the administrative building with the sect master’s office. He asked the secretary to be let inside, but there was someone visiting the sect master already so he had to wait a few minutes. The secretary let Dave inside the sect master’s office and Dave asked him, “Sect master, I would like to acquire one of the nascent soul artifacts, is that possible?”
The sect master nodded and said, “We have four nascent soul artifacts that are dedicated to flying. Two of them are heirlooms and the other two are in my possession. However, before that, I have a favor to ask.” Dave shrugged and said, “Sure, as long as I don’t have to kill anyone.” The sect master laughed and said, “No, no. I just want you to be there when I face my tribulation today. I already got my affairs in order in case I do not survive, but it would calm my nerves if you were present to act as a witness and ensure that no one interferes with my tribulation.”
Dave did not even have to think for a second, before he answered, “Sure, I’ll be there, just tell me when.” The sect master grinned and said, “Just follow me, I will ascend one rank after we get you that nascent soul blade.”
Dave followed the sect master into an underground room, where they stored all kinds of weapons and materials. “Pick one.” The sect master said. In front of him were two swords. One was disproportionate and very large, the size of a large surfboard, and the other small, almost the size of a normal sword. Dave had used his flying artifact to ferry Lydia and at times other people, so he naturally gravitated towards the large sword. He would however have to get a larger spacial ring to carry it. “Sect master, my current ring can’t carry this sword, can you get me a bigger one?” He shamelessly asked the sect master. The sect master nodded, walked over to a seemingly random table, and threw him a ring. “This one should have a suitable size. It is an artifact that also drastically slows time, used to temporarily store herbs until they can be processed. Nowadays we have special jade boxes created that help retain the herb's medicinal properties.” The sect leader said.
They left the administrative building and walked out into the square where several important-looking officials were already waiting for them.