“What was that sweetheart? Are you talking to mommy?” Isis Trilleck spoke sternly, but there was a smile in her eyes as she glanced at the little boy in her lap and gave him a brief motherly scolding, “Remember little Joe, always project your voice when you speak.”
“Yes, ma,” sighed Jodye Trill. His mother’s ears were genuinely terrifying. He had barely made any sound, yet he could swear she heard exactly what he said.
Lady Isis frowned a little. Her son seemed to have the habit of abbreviating words with multiple syllables. Instead of calling her ‘mother’ he would often say ‘ma.’ At first, she thought the boy was merely mispronouncing mom, as children his age often do. However, this no longer seemed to be the case. The boy was getting smarter and more eloquent every day, so it was apparently an intentional rebellion.
She was unhappy with this, as in her opinion it was improper and lazy. However, she felt her son was just acting out to show his independence. This shouldn’t be considered a bad thing. They were of very high status, after all, whether it was here or back in the land of her origin.
Merely, how old was this boy?
Wasn’t it amazing that he even had the mind to shorten terms for convenience? Thus, she just smiled brilliantly as her hand played in little Jodye’s curly head of hair. She was using some kind of magic force to twist and braid it in different styles. It seemed as if nothing in the world could enter her eyes, other than her son.
As for the rest of the ladies at the table, they were all, fond of this little guy with sapphire eyes, to a lesser or greater degree. Looking into his eyes as he spoke to you would make one’s heartbeat accelerate unnoticeably. He had a natural charm and glamor that was difficult to resist. Toddlers were cute, to begin with, after all. One would often relax their guard in the presence of children. One of the wives, a woman with pretty green eyes wearing a blue robe giggled. The mantle had strange symbols dancing around depicted a silver flood dragon dancing in water lilies patterned on the back. The dress was deeply parted, showing off her generous assets.
She spoke candidly, “First sister, little Jo Jo is growing so eloquent! It’s hard to believe he is but barely over a year old. Why he is the talk of the entire Saint Anubis City this year! So, do you think you could teach my little Milly how to speak so well?”
This was Jodye’s third mother and the mother of Kamila Trilleck. Her name Omotolani Congo, and she was also the younger sister of the current Pharaoh of the Anubis Dynasty, Anubis Congo. Her status in Saint Anubis City could be imagined, so the fact that she was merely Jodye’s third mother and not the first lady spoke volumes of his father’s glory! Jodye suddenly realized that he had underestimated that goofy guy that use to toss him dozens of feet into the air.
“Yes, the third sister is definitely right,” snorted a petite woman with cute features. She was the most normal among the women here, Jodye thought her beauty could only be graded a ‘B’ in his former world. As for her attitude, it was a hard D-, at best, “First sister, our little Jo will surely grow into a world-renowned scholar. Have you heard of any scholars of today who first learned to walk, then learned to talk, and all this before the end of the first year of his little life? Little Jo had barely known how to properly drink your milk before he learned to ask for it!”
This sarcastic voice was from the woman cradling an infant in her arms, Osiris Trilleck’s petite, but still the beautiful fourth wife, Enora Morning!
She was the mother of his latest baby brother, Jumoke Trilleck. She sat there with poise and elegance, wearing a white dress made of fluffy material that fit her demeanor. She sat with a beautiful quilt draped over her shoulder, as she breastfed her son. Her tone reeked of sarcasm, which didn’t go unnoticed around the table, although her words and smile seemed pleasant.
Jodye made a mental note to be cautious of this new infant.
The mother was apparently a bitch, after all. As they say, a bitch mother will usually raise a reckless pup. Jodye wouldn’t be careless, whether it was kin or no kin. He knew enough about politics to understand that noble houses were the most dangerous to grow up in! Siblings of such homes had to compete with each other, it was a dog eat dog lifestyle.
Other then his mother, and maybe his older sister, he had not really formed an intimate bond with any of these people. Besides, his mother just didn’t bother to speak with these women most of the time. Although she always smiled and remained more than cordial with his father’s third wife, Omotolani Congo. Their relationship always seemed reasonably good, but Jodye was still a bit skeptical.
Why would only these two be close?
“Indeed little Fifth. Oh my, excuse me, I mean First Sister.” The beautiful lady in violet who spoke was apparently a bit more mature than the rest. The equally beautiful and incomparably elegant pregnant woman begins to frown when she heard the other speak. They looked identical and were clearly blood sisters.
They had oval faces with no blemishes, and a superior air hung around them. The first woman seemed a little harder to deal with and wore a violet dress that gently hugged her voluptuous body. She had a tiny waist, with a round and full behind shaped like a peach. This was the woman whose picture they should put next to the word ‘sexy’ in the dictionaries of his former world.
This woman was Lylian Barong, and next to her was her pregnant twin sister Vivian Barong.
Jodye Trill admired Lylian’s beautiful countenance from the bottom of his heart, but luckily he was only a child.
Otherwise, he would surely be endlessly jealous of Osiris Trilleck.
If he wasn’t a child, he might even war with his father over her. He just couldn’t bring himself to dislike her, in spite of her excessively petty attitude. Merely, he had no sexual urges to speak of currently. This was quite therapeutic for him. His last life was full of debauchery, he wanted to start fresh and change the way he treated women.
He never wanted to see someone suffer the way Lulu did.
Unfortunately, his adult-level thoughts remained genuinely impure. He could do nothing about this. This woman was his father’s second wife, Lylian Barong, and the mother of his eldest brother Horus Trilleck. The brother whom he had yet to meet.
“I must admit, I am very anxious to see what kind of force little Joseph will trigger in his test two years from now. Him being a Sage body is almost a certainty, after all. It’s certain to be interesting.” Lylian Barong didn’t look up from the small pink crystal mirror in her hand once while she spoke flatly.
However, to Jodye this didn’t sound like sarcasm, or hidden slander, ‘Hah! I think she likes m…hey what is that thing?’
As a one-year-old, Jodye sometimes struggled with focusing on one thought. Actually, he previously struggled with this even at 33.
In Jodye Trill’s view, this stunning lady was sitting elegantly, while playing with some kind of little magic silver-pink light panel on the pink crystal mirror in her palm. It was like looking at someone using their cellphone back on earth. Only cellphones couldn’t create a board made of lights in the air. The violet crystal mirror lit up with different symbols and colors as Lylian Barong interfaced with it.
Jodye Trill’s bright blue eyes seemed to sparkle as he marveled at such a tool.
What was it?
He could vaguely recognize the serene glow it emitted. Just looking at the mirror calmed his easily excited heart. Though Jodye had the soul of a 33-year-old man, he was ultimately barely one year old at the moment. He was easily worked up and could do nothing about this. Hormones were mighty! Nonetheless, he made a mental note that he must remember to ask his mother about this mirror later.
Just after Lylian had finished her statement, there was an outburst of boisterous laughter followed by a deep and masculine voice filled with majesty, “I agree! Who could be called a genius in the presence of my boy? I spit on other geniuses, pah! I do anticipate his third year’s testing, hahaha! Very much so, in fact,” In walked a young man who appeared around 30 years old. He was wearing luxurious white and gold robes with heavenly dog designs and symbols. He walked in with an elegant air, and long black dreadlocks braided into a ponytail that was hanging casually over his shoulder.
“My love!”
“Husband!”
“Father!”
“Master!”
As soon as this man appeared the women and children stood up in greeting, as the servants all bowed. Some servants even begin to kowtow. Jodye Trill also called out in his cute little voice.
“Pops!”
This young man who appeared just over 30 wore wolf fang ear gauges that seem to be made from diamond. Who would this be but the lord of House Trilleck, Lord Osiris Trilleck? Lord Osiris smiled brilliantly when he heard this third child of his speaking.
“At ease,” Lord Osiris gestured with his hands to dismiss the servants in front of him, before he walked over to the dining table and sat opposite of Lady Isis, gesturing that they should all sit. He then fondly spoke to Jodye, “Little Jo, come sit next to papa.”
Jodye Trill looked up at his mother, who smiled. After seeing her smile, he immediately hopped down from his mother’s lap and ran over to his father in an adorable way, before jumping and climbing into his lap.
All the women, including Isis, twitched a bit at this. It had to be known that the lords of any territory in the West Ward were expected to remain aloof, and fierce. The ward was bloodthirsty and dangerous, any displays of weakness would definitely be exploited by others.
This section of the continent was ruthless and violent.
This made the child’s actions wildly inappropriate. Merely, wasn’t he barely even a year old? Thus, no one had it in them to find fault with him. So instead, they found fault with his mother.
“Little First, this is a bit too much no? Are you teaching this cutie properly?” Lylian Barong sipped on her wine glass, as she berated. The usually quiet Vivian Barong lost patience at this moment, “Will you two stop? It’s so childish.”
Jodye got goosebumps when she called him cute but was annoyed at her picking a fight with his mother. He looked up at his father and asked, “Dad, did I do something bad?”
The Lord himself never even bothered to consider this. He looked into those bright blue eyes that seemed like a peerless jewel and asked, “Less of that. How have your days here been lately, my boy? Are you unhappy at all?”
Jodye Trill was just about to respond when he again looked at the mirror in his second aunt’s hand. Then looked up at this father of his, and birthed an idea.
“Pops, what is second mother using? Can I have one?” Jodye Trill asked in his childish and heart-melting voice. He made sure to call her ‘mother’ instead of ‘aunt,’ as it would reflect poorly on his mother if he didn’t.
Unfortunately, this made Isis frown and Lylian smirk.
‘Well, can’t win them all…’ thought Jodye.
The Lord’s voice boomed through the hall as he laughed and begin to explain, “My son, that is a magic mirror made from serenity crystal glass. We’ve talked before about the mighty warriors in this world, yes?”
“Yes!” nodded little Jodye. His father had indeed told him many wondrous stories about the mighty and brave hero race that dominated the universe!
“Tell this lord what you know,” said Lord Osiris with a stroke of his chin hair.
“The mighty warriors of Gaea possess enormous strength! Wars are fought every day among these peerless warrior factions, to the extent that there hasn’t been an era of peace for 10,000 years! Many warriors possess amazing powers and unique souls, or some jazz like that.
“The weakest among them can slap a mortal man into meat paste, wham! The strongest among them can crush mountains and evaporate rivers, whoosh!” Jodye Trill repeated his father’s previous words back to him verbatim, he even repeated the actions of the old man from the first time his father ever told him this at two months past.
The House Lord and every lady at the table were totally shocked!
This kid was actually so smart already?
Was his memory innately eidetic?
The House Lord continued to rub his chin and observe this boy that wore his own face with his wife’s eyes and skin. Had they honestly given birth to such a genius?
This was more than crazy.
“Indeed, my boy. In this world there exist not only powerful warriors as you said, capable of crushing mountains and evaporating rivers, haha. There is also a thing called magic, you see,” the lord gestured with his hands, and Lylian Barong walked over to him, reluctantly handing the magic mirror to little Jodye.
Jodye Trill sneered inwardly at his successful plot. Although Lylian couldn’t stand surrendering her possessions to anyone, she couldn’t deny her slight interest in the blue-eyed young clone of her heart’s desire. This kid was like a recorder, he seems to have instant playback features. Not to mention, she was confident that her lord would surely reward her obedience with a night visit.
As for the magic mirror, was it hard to obtain another? For the wife of the lord of House Trilleck, the answer was a firm no.
“See this, Jodye? This is a Serene Sound Mirror, and it can be used as a communication device and an image recorder. This is actually only the lowest level of its functionality. Serenity crystals that originate from the same vein are in complete harmony with each other and are capable of communication and synchrony. Of course, this can only be achieved with the help of certain magical arrays.” Osiris Trilleck interfaced with the mirror in little Jodye Trill’s hands.
Jodye Trill was able to barely feel some pressure and heat from a violet blob of energy coming from his father’s hand. That violet blob sunk into the mirror, before the reflection disappeared and a panel full of colorful lights and runic symbols appeared before Jodye Trill’s face. The kid was instantly dumbfounded.
“What’s this now?” Jodye Trill grabbed the mirror from his father, “Pops, how are you doing this? There’s something weird with your hand,” Jodye Trill reached out to hold the hand that was interfacing with the little silver-pink magic mirror, but a strange air current prevented him from approaching. Jodye was stunned once again as his jaw lowered.
How could there be any wind here?
“Is there really magic in the world, pop?” Jodye Trill’s oceanic crystal-like eyes were dripping with excitement and a hint of skepticism. He just didn’t believe in things like magic from a logical standpoint.
Superpowers? Maybe. He had seen this before.
Highly advanced technology? Obviously. Such a thing wasn’t so difficult to accept.
But magic?
In spite of these doubts, his eyes still shined brightly. Lord Osiris laughed out loud, in his heroic and boisterous manner. Seeing his own son listening so intently delighted him. He couldn’t even pay his other children their weight in crystal coins to focus on his words so much. Of course, the lord had never faulted them for this. After all, they were merely children. It was to be expected that they took a long time to retain information.
Horus caught on after a while, and the lord was confident Kamila would as well.
On the other hand, this boy in his lap was actually far more abnormal.
Jodye Trill suddenly had a good impression of this new world, as well as of this father of his. Not everyone would teach a child so seriously, out of fear of wasted time, or simple lack of interest. Osiris Trilleck was obviously not everyone. He was flexible. The more intelligence Jodye showed, the more knowledge the lord would present to him. Besides, being a rich kid was kind of fun.
Without taking more then half a breathe, Jodye Trill rampaged through more questions, “Also, what are these serenity crystals you spoke of? I haven’t heard of this yet. Can you make more than talking glass with it? Oh yeah, and what’s an array? Can I have a serenity crystal? No, a bunch! Like dozens! NO, an array AND serenity crystals.” Jodye Trill’s excitement was apparently getting the best of him. Due to his age, he would still lose his composure when he got riled up, in spite of his efforts.
“Hahaha…” the lord laughed out loud in the usual manner, “How inquisitive… I wonder how your little brain can store all this information, with your infantile age? Should this not be impossible? Though, as the enigma in question, perhaps you wouldn’t see it as strange…how intriguing. Since you have asked I will tell you that this is indeed a world of magic, Joseph.”
Little Jodye Trill had a struggling look on his face as if he just couldn’t figure something out. He asked once more, “But…like…what IS magic, pops? Like are there mages or witches, and wizards or sorcerers, who wield wands to cast spells and fight the forces of darkness in the name of justice and the American way?” Jodye Trill was waving his hands as if he was casting spells.
“The American what now? Where on Gaea did you hear any of this, kid?” Osiris Trilleck was tickled by what his son had asked but also astounded. The kid spoke of many things that most mortals are unaware of, in detail, as if he had grown up in a mortal household with years of misconceptions. And what the hell was an America? “What dog butt witch or sorcerer, wands and spells? I, your daddy, disdain such cowards who attack from the shadows. Indeed there exist many such magicians, and though I respect any man who can comprehend the complexities of supernatural life force, these forces pale in comparison to the might of true Sages.”
“Sage?” asked Jodye Trill as if in thought. His father had mentioned Sages to him before. A sage was the master of a myriad of power forces using their pure life force as a medium between the forces of the heavens and the earth. This was one of the paths of the warriors of humanity, the Sage path of the Dao of Origin!
Jodye would often eavesdrop on his mother teaching her alchemy apprentice26apprenticeAn apprentice or student is someone who is learning something from a teacher. While the relation is sacred, and there are mutual obligations between the apprentice and the teacher, there is no commitment between them. A disciple40discipleone who accepts the knowledge of and assists in spreading the doctrines of another, taking them as a master., on the other hand, has committed himself to the master, and the art of his master. The disciple has committed to entering and mastering a secret branch of knowledge and has requested the master to accept him into the arcane path. The relationship is very sacred and the obligations are binding., Emilee Shu. During these lessons, his mother had often mentioned the heavenly dao, and how humanity had managed to create two paths that evolved from celestial dao fragments, changing their status from a low-level race to a high-level race!
These were the Heavenly Dao of Essence and the Heavenly Dao of Origin! They corresponded to the Saint path and the Sage path respectively.
“Wands…in truth may be mighty, my son. Even terrifying! However, far too few of them exist. Finding a wand is the same as seeing a fortune in your shoe. It’s merely highly unlikely. Wands are natural treasures made by forces; it will take a long time to understand… One can basically ignore these in the short term. Even your father, I, have only seen a wand once in my lifetime! This was in the central ward.
“Hmph. In fact, a powerful Saint is a regular magician’s worst nightmare. However, the Magi ranks are major milestones on the path to becoming a powerful Sage Daoist.” Lord Osiris’ suddenly swam with golden lights, “Mhm. Mage rank sage Daoist are not to be easily trifled with, and that’s for sure. It is safe to be wary of those who dare to wear the title of Mage. As far as Wizards…it is too early for you to know of such a level. In this land, only a Wizard can wear the title of a Pharaoh.”
“But pops, what is all that stuff, about saints and sages, mages and wizards? I thought Pharaoh’s were gods!” Jodye Trill felt like his head was spinning a bit. His father had spoken very briefly about things which he didn’t completely understand. However, Lord Osiris laughed boisterously again at his son’s response.
Hearing his wild laughter, the four women around the table slowly begin to turn their attention to the conversation between this father and son. Kamila Trilleck’s green eyes were as bright as little emerald stars as she listened to their father and Jodye converse without blinking. Her father had never spoken to herself this much, but in her little mind, she only felt excited rather than jealous. She enjoyed Jodye’s fortune as if it was her own, and had been tuned in since the very beginning. Every time Jodye asked a question, she would nod her head eagerly in anticipation of the answer. She never dared to ask her dad such matters, it was far too embarrassing.
“Since you seem to truly want to know I will tell you, young pup. Listen closely… All across these lands, there are those known as Sages, as well as those known as Saints. They are all powerful warriors who seek either the divine, origin, or essence paths. As for the Universal Dao, born from the Heavenly Dao Ennead, this is the desire of the Pharaoh. This, its path of true strength my son, ” Lord Osiris noticed his son’s eyes light up at the mention of strength, and took note of this, “Either a Saint or a Sage can walk the path of the Pharaoh, but this is far too difficult to achieve in reality. It takes an enormous amount of luck and resources. That is why there is only one Pharaoh in every Outer Ward of Pangaea, and these are Pharaoh only in name…”
“My lord!” Lady Isis who had been quiet so far finally interjected, her face furious, “Should you be teaching such disrespectful words so casually? He doesn’t have the same realm and status as you, now does he?
Lord Osiris merely waved his wife off, “Anyway, pup. Sage’s are powerful individuals who grow strong by using their force genesis to interface with unique artifacts, allowing them to awaken their powerful combat souls.”
“Combat wah? Wait pops, what’s a force genesis?” asked little Jodye Trill. His mother was impressed that Jodye was actually able to comprehend all these things so well. At first, she believed he was asking casually because he missed his father and wanted to chat. To her shock, the boy was genuinely conversing with her man.
She had never told him any of this because she figured he was too young to understand. It seemed now show had underestimated this flesh of her own flesh, she felt disgusted with herself. How could the son of herself not be amazing, how could he not be a genius? She would push him harder in the future.
Of course, no one knew how she would feel if she knew her son had retained the memories of another life. On the mental level, he was merely an adult.
“Good question, son,” Osiris Trilleck then placed his finger on his sons lower abdomen and sent a wisp of abstruse energy inside of him. Jodye Trill could feel the hot energy weirdly moving through himself, as he grimaced until it reached some kind of space within him, “This tiny space is called an Origin Pool. Deep inside this pool of energy exists a small sphere of light. Within this light is a tiny little jewel made of concentrated pure origin life force. That is your force genesis!
“A force genesis is the core of your body’s energy. It also stores the power produced by the law comprehensions resonating in your soul. Due to the extra burden on the soul, Sage practitioner’s are born with stronger physiques called the Sage Body, that allows them to absorb origin energy naturally. Combat Souls are mysterious gifts from the divine. Not everyone will possess one. While some people have the means or the fate to possess two. There are even legends of Sages with three Combat Souls!”
