The conversation between Samael and Tarzan took a few hours, and just after being dropped off at Veronica's house, Samael asked the girl to tell his mom that he had been with her for a long time.
The girl saw no reason not to and agreed to lie. Soon afterward, Samael returned home with Veronica, "Mom, I'm back.''
Valery was in the living room and didn't seem too irritated by Samael's delay, but she was a little annoyed, ''The food is already cold....'' She was about to continue talking, but when she saw Veronica with Samael, she just smiled and said, ''Well, the important thing is that you've arrived. How was your afternoon?''
Veronica, who, although she didn't understand much of Samael's heavy talk, still knew how to pick up on social cues, ''It was great! Samael and I played a lot today.''
'' Yeah? And what did you play?''
''Doctor!'' Veronica answered innocently and Samael, who had gone into the kitchen to help himself and take a drink of water, almost spat out what he had taken.
'' OH?'' Valery noticed her son's action and knew that he knew what playing doctor meant while Veronica clearly didn't. So, to play a little with her usually calm son, she continued by asking, ''And how was that?''
'' Well, we-''
COUGH
After feigning a cough, Samael went towards Veronica and started dragging her into the kitchen before she could say something that could be interpreted differently, ''Veronica, go sit on the table. And mom, it's not at all what you think.''
Valery smiled mischievously, ''And what was I thinking, huh?''
Samael could see the smile on his mom's eyes and knew he had lost, '' ... Sigh. Nothing, just forget what she said.''
Even with all his knowledge, it seems he still can't win against his mom. It was like that in all his other cycles, but Samael didn't mind that one bit, as he loved his mom.
So, ignoring Valery for now, Veronica and Samael sat at the table and started to put food on their respective plates.
Veronica, though, was a little bit confused, as she noted the laughing face of Valery, '' Why did your mom react like that when I said we played doctor?''
Samael again almost dropped what was on his hands. But, with twitching lips, he answered, '' ... You're still too young to know that.''
Veronica found that a little annoying, as they clearly are of the same age. But she trusted Samael, '' Ok, but when I'm older, tell me.''
'' No problem.''
And, after they ate, both of them went to Samael's room while Valery stayed in the same place, but Samael could see the smirk in her eyes.
' ... Mom, please. We are only 10 !' Samael thought as he entered his room and closed the door.
Veronica, almost like a reflex, went and laid on Samael's bed, who didn't seem to mind. That showed how close their friendship was, as they were almost inseparable.
'' So, did you finish it?'' As mentioned before, while she didn't know what it meant, Veronica was still in the loop regarding Samael and his upgraded gadgets.
'' Yup.'' Samael showed her his finished Omni-tool, '' What you're seeing now is the best the galaxy has to offer. For the next 20 years, anyway.''
'' OHHHH. Can you give me one?''
'' Sure. But not now. In a few days or weeks.''
'' Aww..... ok then.''
As soon as he finished showing her the omni-tool, it flashed, indicating something happened to one of his Samael accounts in the bank. Sure enough, he saw 350.000 Credits deposited there.
He smiled but soon his facial expression became serious. ' I can now start...' Samael looked at Veronica, ' It's time to see which path you'll take.'
While Veronica usually follows Samael around in their childhood, in a few cycles, she stopped listening to his pieces of advice when she became an adult. While always a pilot, she could potentially not be on the good side of the law, if things don't go right.
But, Samael didn't mind that one bit, because himself also went to the wrong side of the law in a few cycles. It really didn't matter if she became a bandit or not, but as this was supposed to be his real last cycle, he wanted his close friend to live a comfortable life.
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So, now he was going to propose something to her. Something he didn't do even in his past cycles, '' Veronica.''
The girl was meddling with Samael's omni-tool when she heard that. She found his voice a little weird, and when she looked at his face, she noticed it was serious. A face she had never seen before, so the kid became a little apprehensive as a reflex, '' Ye- Yes?''
Samael continued with his serious attitude, '' What I'm about to ask you could potentially change your entire future, your entire life. You do not need to answer right away, do you understand?''
The girl, still confused, could only nod.
'' Good... What do you want to be when you grow up.''
Immediately, and as if all the anxiousness went away, Veronica answered, '' A pilot!''
Samael smiled internally, but continued with his serious face, '' Good. Now, do you want my help to become the best pilot in the galaxy?''
It wasn't an empty promise. He had the intellect and knowledge to make her the best, and he had done so in a past cycle. But now, she just had to say yes, and he would do that sooner.
Veronica found the whole conversation a little bit weird, but she didn't find any reason to not say yes. So, she said, '' Yes!''
Samael smiled at the naive girl, who just said yes to going through a hell lot of training, '' No takes back. Let's start right now!''
'' Now?'' Veronica was surprised by the sudden announcement. And it was already night, so it didn't make much sense.
'' Yes, there's no time to lose.'' Samael then said to her, '' Let's go.''
The duo then went out of the room, passed Valery in the living room, and said, '' We are going out.''
''Don't be too late. While you don't have school, Veronica does.'' Valery wasn't worried about anything happening to both, as the people from the slums usually don't mess with the people from the slums unless they do something wrong. Besides, she would not tell Samael, but she knew he trained to fight or whatever that was when he was alone in his room.
'' Sure!''
Samael, alongside Veronica, started to look around for an empty area within the slums with enough space for the training. He did find a suitable place soon after.
'' Here. In the future, we will come here often to train.'' Samuel thought about sending Tarzan a message saying he wanted this place,' I don't think it's unreasonable. He will accept... probably.'
He could even build a gym or something like that here, for his use and maybe for the people of the slums to enjoy too.
Samael ended that train of thought when he noticed Veronica looking around the place, confused. He then started to say, without waiting for her to adapt, '' So, as I said before, I will train you to be the best pilot in the galaxy. Tell me, what do you think it's the best thing a pilot should have?''
'' A good ship!'' Veronica immediately answered.
Samael's eyebrows twitched a little, '' That too, but no. The best thing a pilot could have is experience. But, as we can't pilot a ship right now, we will do the next best thing.''
'' Which is?'' Veronica asked with apprehension in her voice, as she could see Samael crack his knuckles.
'' Train your body and a little bit of martial arts. I'll do both with you, so prepare yourself.''
Veronica suddenly started to regret her decision.
----
1 HOUR LATER
Veronica was on the ground, painting and with a lot of bruises here and there. Samael didn't go easy on her just because she was a kid or a girl. He trained her seriously, as he wanted her to shine. That did put a lot of strain on her body, but Samael knew she could handle it. After all, he wanted her to live a long life.
His 'training' was simple. First, he did some basic sets of push-ups and a few runs around the area. Second and last for the day, he said to her to attack him seriously, like she wanted to kill him.
Veronica hesitated a little, as even though she knew he trained his body a lot if she hit him, he could still be hurt.
Samael sensed her hesitation and smirked, '' Don't worry, I doubt you will land a single hit, so feel free to try.''
Veronica got pissed at that provocation and jumped at Samael, who simply stepped aside and tripped her, making the girl fall hard on the ground.
The girl then held her head in pain, as she fell on it. She wanted to stop already and even started to tear up a little.
Just when she was going to give up already, she heard Samael's voice, '' If you're thinking about giving up, then just do it. I said before it's going to be difficult and this is just the beginning. There will be A LOT more pain and hardships in the future... But if you continue, I can guarantee you that you'll be one of the best of the best within the galaxy.''
Even though she was young and a little naive, Veronica wasn't dumb. She had known Samael since they were toddlers and knew he was special, as everything he said he was going to do, he did, and everything he said was going to happen, did happen.
So, the prospect of being the best pilot in the galaxy gave her enough motivation to get up, wipe the tears, and say, '' Let's continue.''
Samael smiled, as at least for now, this indicated she would follow the hard path, and not the easy one. The cycle she went to the wrong side of the law was when she didn't have enough will to preserve.
'' Good. Let's continue then!''
You might think this train was useless but no. The serum Samael was planning on making had a lot of things inside, like the DNA of other races, the ones with strength above humans. So, the person had to have a strong body, to be able to endure the effect of the serum.
After all, something that makes you live longer than you should isn't to be taken lightly. Also, while the serum gives you a longer lifespan, it also makes you stronger, faster, and better than normal.
That's why you need a strong body, otherwise, you will explode. Literally.
Samael didn't plan on monopolizing the serum he was going to make, so, he was making sure Veronica had a strong body, as he would give her the serum in the future. He then carried the exhausted Veronica in a princess care, towards her home. By the way, she didn't lend a single hit on Samael.
'' Ho- how are you so ... strong?'' While she knew his body and that he trained, it never crossed her mind that she would not be able to hit him, not even once.
'' I lift!''
---
What Samael didn't know at the moment, was that the serum he wanted to make, had some side effect that neither he nor Mordius could anticipate.
As Samael usually only lived until 28, the side effects never had the chance to show, as he didn't have the chance to find out about it.
But, if Samael knew about it, he would probably still take it, as the Reapers and the other's threats were formidable enough for him to make that decision.