I finished investigating in this town. Finding out what the mayor knew was easy, I simply turned invisible by bending the light around me, snuck into his room while he slept and read his memories.

He’s actually a pretty good guy. At least he cares about that town of his. The only thing suspicious I found is that the Church has outposts on the borders of every province that reads mana signatures to I.D people.

Speaking of my mana signature, I don’t have to worry about it because it’s simply too high to be read. Anyone below 3 formatted dantians wouldn’t be able to find me, unless they pulled together their mana just to cast a searching spell. For example, the town I was just in, they’d have to multiply their population by 100 fold and cast the spell all together just to find me.

By mana levels, i’m talking about how far you’ve gone in your cultivation/formatting. If I were to explain the levels, it’d start at 1st stage for 1 or less dantian formatted. 2nd stage for 2 dantians formatted or in between, same applies for 3rd stage. After that comes the binding stage, where you wind a mana bridge between all 3 dantians connecting and stabilizing them.

The stages afterwards are more complex, after binding comes the core stage. At core, you pull your bridge together connecting all your dantians, making them one big core. Then comes suction stage, or you may call this the black hole stage, because you have to overfill your core enough to where in self implodes into a ever sucking hole.

Then comes the stage i’m at, the bound stage. I have no clue why it’s called bound, but once you make your black hole you have to once again fill it, till it gets smaller and smaller and again implodes in a twisting manner.

Bound stage doesn’t have a dantian, or you may call your entire body your dantian. After your black hole explodes, it fills your entire body with mana even after it can’t take anymore, and your body begins to integrate with the mana itself and turn into mana.

The main difference with this stage and the others is that I can use all the mana around me as if it were mine to begin with, instead of in the earlier stages where you’d have to “refill” your mana by converting the surrounding mana to your own. This essentially gives me unlimited mana, but only as much as I can take. For example, it’s like my presence has to grab ahold of however much I want, so it takes concentration.

Back to the point, if I passed through one of the Church’s identity checkers, nothing would show up and that’d be suspicious in itself. So I came up with an idea. I obviously can’t manipulate everyone I come across that's practically be evil, so I'll make it show that i’m a 2nd stage. How will I do that you ask?

I can’t change my own cultivation path, so i’m going to give Lily one!

It’s sundown and i’m currently in some woods 2 miles west of the port town. I have Lily in cancel mode/her disk body, and am installing 3 new mana crystals to the edges of her body in a triangle fashion, attempting to make dantians out of them.

I pull the ambient mana around me into her crystals and form them into empty spaces, then fill each with mana…

*crack*

[Oh shit..] Drake

The crystals crack and melt into the disk shaped artifact, changing it molecularly….

[What is this… is her body changing into a mana crystal itself??] Drake

[ONII-CHAN YOU GAVE ME A SOUL! That must be what this feeling is!] Lily

[...what? I did?] Drake

The robe changes into free-style mode and forms into a small shaped girl. Or at least I know it’s a girl cause I know it’s Lily, but she looks like a little girl who put bed sheets over her head to pretend she’s a ghost.

[Haaa… Lily is that you? You can freely change your form now?] Drake

[Yes I can! I’m not an artifact anymore what did you think. Hmmph.] Lily

Well at least I have a real companion now haaa…

[How do you feel? You said you feel like you have a soul, what do you even mean?] Drake

[Well Onii, before I felt chained in a way. Stuck in a cycle of prompts to say and suggestions to feel. But now I think I can do whatever I’d like. Is that bad?] Lily

Bad? Did I just do a god like thing and accidently create new life?? She’s more like my daughter than a little sister now…

[No… that can’t be right… I created the sins too so that’d Lust my daughter too… *mumble mumble*] Drake

[Onii-chann?] Lily

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

[No it’s not bad Lily, but you say you can do whatever you like, but I cannot allow you to leave because we don’t know how you operate to live yet. Is that ok?] Drake

[No no NO! You got it wrong, I would never leave you! I just meant, I’m not limited now, as in I don’t have to follow commands and such. But I still will for you Onii.] Lily

Wow yeah her thought process is definitely better now as a being rather than an artifact… this may be good.

[Thank you Lily, anyways though, how do you feel? Do you think you can cultivate? I have no clue as to how to go with it, because your cores melted making you what you are. How about it?] Drake

[I’m sorry Onii, I can’t cultivate. But there is a plus side, you don’t need to use your mana to keep me running or to operate me anymore! I can feed on the mana in the atmosphere.] Lily

That’s good I guess. She never took much mana to use anyways but more mana for me, the better. Or should I say safer? Not that anything in this world can harm me with this god like robe with me hee-heee..

[Ok Lily I’m glad you’re feeling Ok. The experiment itself failed, but created you, so I’m happy. Let’s make a place to relax for now…] Drake

Telekinesis. I lift a large quantity of dirt in front of me, and start to mash it together in the air to solidify it better, then shape it into a hut.

I don’t like using earth based magic because it makes me connect with the earth, willing it to move. Why would I do that, when I can tell it to move with telekinesis. I step inside and Lily follows along with cute sounding pitter patters.

Dimension. A wormhole appears in front of me as I reach my hand into it, then out, pulling a single size bed I made. I set it in the corner, start a fire in the opposite, and sit down to talk with Lily about general things till I end up falling asleep…

I open my eyes and sit up as something or someone with a magical signature roams into my mana perceptions domain. Scan.

[What the fuck??] Drake

I’m currently feeling Alex, the little brat I ditched, running really fast in my direction with 2 people in pursuit following behind him. Why is he even running, why doesn’t he just blast them?

I throw Lily/my robe on and quickly step outside. Casting an illusion spell behind me to hide my hut, I run towards Alex. Before we meet, I lift some dirt from ahead the path he’s running and jump to a branch to observe..

*trip*

[Ow, fuck where did this hole come from…] Alex

[You’re stuck, where ya gonna run now huh brat?] Guard 1

[Now tell us, what did you do to the mayor? When he woke up this morning he claimed to be 10 and waiting for his onee-san to come home, and after we checked there’s foreign mana inside his brain. You were the only ship to come in yesterday and all other residents have been I.D’d, we’ve caught you now!] Guard 2

Well… sorry Alex but this is actually my fault. Note to self, never read a mind in REM sleep, or else they may regress memories... Time bubble.

I step behind the guards and read both their memories while time is near frozen. Ok, Guard 2 is innocent but this guard 1 is interesting…

Now in front of the guards blocking their way to Alex, I pull out my laser sword and cancel my time bubble. Time for some grade A lies…

[Wah…! Where did you come from?!] Guard 2

*Vrmmmm* I start my laser sword and point at them..

[Excuse me kind sirs, I have 2 reasons why i’ve intervened, would you like to know?] Drake

Their faces twitch as they feel the raw heat from my blade on their faces…

[Put down your… weapon… and follow us along with the kid, and we’ll listen to your cause.] Guard 2

[I’m afraid I can’t do that. To explain why I’m standing here, I’m a traveller and I happened to overhear what you said to the kid. After mana scanning him, I can clearly tell you that he hasn’t even formed 1 full dantian, and obviously wouldn’t be able to affect anyones mind that bad with magic.] Drake

[...okay, even if what you say is true, it doesn’t explain why you wouldn’t just let us take him in to test, does this happen to have anything to do with your second reason?] Guard 2

I look back and Alex to see him wide eyed at my sword… I swear, if he asks for one, I’ll chop something off him he doesn’t need.. Ooops I need to respond. I look over at the first guard and back at the kind second one…

[I smell human blood and brain matter on your companion, from multiple people. I’ve also scanned him and can tell he is a bit stronger than you. If you start to get where this is going, you should instead ask for my help rather than bitch at me.] Drake

Guard 2 looks over at the guard to his left in shock and disgust, only to see him smiling..

[You got a dog’s nose my boy. That’s right, that mage kid is timid and I saw the opportunity for some cash. Now clive, I know you’re sad hearing this, but you’re gonna have to d… what are you doing boy..] Guard 1

I’m now standing in front of Guard 2 blocking him from the other, *Vrmmmm swish*. Even though he held his blade up to block my slash, the sword was cut in twain as my laser sword continued on to cut him in twain also. His body now in two, both sides sloop apart and I hear vomiting on my left and behind me.

[Now come on guys, you’ve definitely seen something like this before, right?] Drake

[Fuck no! Cutting someone clean in half, that’s way too gruesome!] Alex

[I have seen split at the waist horizontally, but never head to toes vertically.] Clive/Guard 2

Well…

[If you could have smelled how many different human smells he had, you wouldn’t think what I did was bad at all… whatever. Look Mr. um guard? I’m not registering for any I.D at your town and I’m also taking this kid along with me. Before you try to stop me, I suggest you check your friends house for murder trophies, then decide.] Drake

[I’ll do as you say… but if I find no evidence, I’ll put a bounty up for you and the kid.] Guard 2

He turned to leave and I turned to face Alex. What am I going to do with this kid. It’s like fate is pulling us together… I’m gonna rip that shit.

I pick him up out of the hole I made for him, and we silently walk back back to my hut.

When we get inside, I turn to look at him…

[Hey kid, what are you willing to do to get stronger?] Drake