[ Astral Royal Castle - Royal Garden ]

Chronos sat with his elbows on the table and his chin in his hands, mulling over the words that had just been spoken. His eyes were fixed on a point in the distance, as if he were looking through the table and the floor and into some distant realm of contemplation.

The savant's mind raced with a rapid-fire stream of thoughts and observations. He recollected the entire encounter between his parents and the higher powers from the day before. He could see every detail with perfect clarity, his photographic memory pulling up each image with pinpoint accuracy.

With each new image, his analytical mind whirred into action, dissecting and examining every detail with laser-like precision. He could see patterns and connections that eluded even the most seasoned observers, his mind sifting through a vast wealth of information and drawing conclusions that were often astounding in their accuracy.

Chronos's focus was absolute, his mind consumed by the task at hand. His body seemed to disappear, his mind transcending the physical world as he delved deeper and deeper into the images that lay before him.

With each new discovery, Chronos's excitement grew, his mind racing with new possibilities and insights. He knew that the information he was gathering were the first steps to unlocking the secrets of this new world, and he was determined to uncover every last detail.

Suddenly, Chronos, who was lost in thought was interrupted by the roar of his eldest sister.

" Why you little… Are you looking down on your big sister!!! " Athena exclaimed, about to stand up. Grandmama swayed her magic finger and she was fixated mid-stride.

" Tell me baby boy… what do you mean by, is that it?" Grandmama asked with a proud smile on a face before letting out a light cough.

'So my baby boy doesn't just take after his mischievous, chaos mongering father!' recollecting the day of her grandson's awakening and how he willfully cursed at even the gods.

Chronos filtered through and organized his previous considerations. His brow furrowed in concentration, and his lips moved silently as he formulated his response.

Despite his intensity, there was a sense of calm and serenity that surrounded the young boy, a sense of peace that radiated from his stillness. He seemed like he was in a realm of thought that no one else could enter.

Sophia observed Chronos intently, she herself was known as a child prodigy but there was an aura of elegance and beauty to the way Chronos was wielding his mind.

He seemed to be at peace with himself, comfortable in his own mind. This was where Chronos felt most comfortable. While he was slowly drowning in the cruel, abusive and harsh world of his Pre-Birth Simulation experience, his mind was his only sanctuary and his greatest weapon.

It was the only helping hand in his world of abusive fists, gang signs and prying thieves.

After a moment of silence, the boy slowly raised his head, a faint smile played on his lips as he replied,

" Well… It's just pretty strange that in a world of the supernatural that there are so few levels…"

" I mean… as cool as affecting the fabrics of nature sounds… It seems… limited?"

" Back on Earth, more accurately, during my PBS, most theistic Gods had myths of creation, whether it's the world we live in, or the life we possess, where did it all come from?"

" Sister Athena, can you create a world of your own? Or even create complex living beings from nothing?"

Sister Athena blinked her eyes, unable to move much less answer me. I turned to Sophia and looked at her curiously. She thought about for awhile and said,

" I've never thought of it like that before, but come to think of it, I am more like a being with super-powers than a God."

Grandmama nodded in approval and asked, "What else?"

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" Well… Sister Athena mentioned that the Principle Stage was the 'ceiling' imposed upon by the laws of Tertius…"

" Firstly if dimensional energy and our cultivation are natural constructs, the idea of a ceiling seems extremely unnatural."

" Secondly, if laws can be imposed, there must be a sentience that decided on the laws in the first place, this means that there is a higher level of power no?"

Sophia stared at her little brother, her eyes widened as the realization hit her like a sudden bolt of lightning. She stood frozen in place, her body tense and rigid as she struggled to process the enormity of what she had just learned.

For a moment, the young lady seemed lost in her thoughts, her eyes darting back and forth as if searching for some escape from the truth that had just been revealed. Her hands fluttered nervously at her sides, as if she were grappling with some invisible force.

Grandmama peered at Chronos. She felt a sense of pride and joy welling up inside her, after a moment of silence asked,

" Let's say the Principle stage isn't the end, what do you think is next?"

"ME…? Hellooo... I'm only three days old?" Chronos replied, jumping up onto his chair dramatically while pointing to his nose, the serious savant deep in thought now now where to be seen.

"Humor me…"

Grandmama gave out a light chuckle. She felt a growing sense of awe and wonder. The depth of her grandson's observation abilities and intelligence with which he spoke was nothing short of remarkable. It was as if she was witnessing a prodigy in action, a genius at work.

'Sigh... As hard as I try, there's no hiding my genius...' Chronos thought shamefully as he sunk back down to his seat.

"Hmm… well if the Principle Stage encompasses fully understanding specific types of foundational energy of our world and the ability to manipulate the building blocks of nature… then isn't the next step to build something?" Chronos muttered.

"Build what?"

Sophia interjected, the gears in her brain perceptibly working in overdrive. Her breathing grew shallow and ragged, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she struggled to keep her composure. A look of fear flashed across her face, followed by a deep sense of uncertainty.

Chronos rolled his eyes at the absurdity of the situation, shouldn't he be the newbie asking for knowledge and guidance in this new world??!

All he could do was look innocently at his Grandmama. She let out a stifled laughter and waved her finger.

*Thud*

Athena fell back into her chair, by this point, it felt like she was already used to it. Grandmama proceeded to tease,

"Why don't you take a guess? Sophia, Athena, Little Chronos looks like he's about to cry so why don't you try first?"

" Hey... I'm not going to…. "

Sophia interrupted him, perceptibly deep in thought,

" I've found it strange too… I am at the supposed peak of cultivation but I still have very little control over my gift of foresight… My Principles are Space, mainly gravitational control which I think I have reached the Pinnacle of, but the Principle of Time is so profound..."

" Honestly, I feel like I barely broke through into the Principle Stage for Time, more so due to natural-born talent and intuition than actual mastery"

" I had always assumed that the next steps are to perfect every Principle, but little Chronos makes sense… Build what… hmmm"

Athena cut in, " You're blabbering off your own train of thoughts AGAIN… well unlike you freaks I only have one Principle - Space."

" I've always focused on teleportation for combat purposes, I worked on my martial skills and body augmentation to deal damage but have always envied other Sigil owners for being able to form various attacks and spells."

" For the longest time I thought that there was no way the Principle of Space could be used as a direct form of attack…. until I saw Grandmama creating a black hole in her palm the other day…"

" So maybe the next stage is to build some sort of attack or weapon?"

Athena hugged Grandmama's arm, batted her long eyelashes and acted as cute as she could, " Am I right? Will the bestest grandmama in the world teach her cute granddaughter her cool black hole skill?"

Grandmama rolled her eyes,

" I wonder how you even managed to reach the Principle Stage, even before the Core stage cultivators can form attack skills and weapons with dimensional energy, just because the Sigil of Space and Time are unique, don't overlook common sense!"

Athena was about to ask another question when Grandmama chided,

" I'll teach you when you give me a great-grandchild!"

Athena deflated onto the table mumbling under her breath.

" Building blocks … controlling dimensional energy… foundations… I GOT IT!" Sophia slammed the table, completely in her own world.

" A Zone! If Principles are building blocks then using them to build an area around me I control should be the next step!" Sophia grinned proudly as she looked back and forth between Grandmama and I."

Grandmama lightly nodded and asked Chronos, " What do you think?"

" Sophia makes a lot of sense but the zone she described seems to still be within the constraints of the Principle Stage, perhaps that might signify the Pinnacle instead?"

Sophia whipped her head in my direction, opening her mouth to argue, but the thread eluded her. She remained rooted to the spot, her mind racing as she grappled with the implications of what she had just learned. Her thoughts were a jumble of confusion and disbelief, as she struggled to reconcile the truth with the reality that she had known until now.

As the shock began to wear off, Sophia's expression softened into one of sadness and regret. She had always prided herself on her intelligence and her ability to see through the façade, but now she realized that she had been blind to the truth all along.

Athena started showing interest in the conversation and blurted out:

" What? I'm at the Pinnacle but have never heard of a zone before!"

Chronos shook his head lightly and said,

" I don't know if you were able to see our parents face off against the higher power right after my awakening… but they have definitely superseded the Principle Stage Sophia described earlier…"

" It's either they have managed to avoid the detection of the laws that govern Tertius and have already broken past the Principle Stage or that they are truly at the Pinnacle."

Grandmama sat nodding with approval with a bright smile,

" Explain to your sister why you think that the zone Sophia spoke of is still within the Principle Stage"

' What is this... quiz the newborn day?'

Chronos quietly grumbled in his mind but continued to reply,

"Well… a zone seems to be still manipulating Principles just to a greater degree, seems to me like it's more arranging and expanding than building something new?"

A spark shone from Grandmama's eyes, she praised:

"Well said my dear! Now if a zone isn't the answer what do you think is the next step?"

Chronos pinched his chin lightly with his thumb and index finger and elaborated:

" If Principles are the mastery of a type of building block, the biggest clue to what's next then is what the building block is already a part of, not what it can possibly build…"

Sophia audibly gasped.

Just as he was about to continue, Grandmama stood up and walked toward him. She bent down so that they were at eye level. Patting her beloved grandson's head, she peered deeply into Chronos's eyes. For the first time, Chronos noticed that they had the same whitish-silver and purple bi-colored eyes. She shot him a caring smile and posed:

" That's enough about that for today, I know it might be too early to ask this but you seem to be a very smart boy, so I'm curious… what do you want to achieve in this life?"