3 Chapter – 3: Pursuit begins – Final

[Third person POV]

"You said I can't choose my parents, clan, etc. right? If I buy a bloodline from you, how will I get it?" asked Aston.

"No, that is not how it works. Let's say you want to be an Uchiha, the most I can do is make the probability of you being born as one go up. The more KPs you spend, the more the probability. But it will never reach a hundred percent," says Sophos.

"So, what you mean is there will always be a chance of failure to get the bloodline I wanted?"

"Yes"

"And if I want to have multiple bloodlines together?"

"That's tricky, I will have to increase the probability of two people from different clans marrying and conceiving a child. But mind you, that is too unpredictable and it will have a very low probability of success."

"Fine, can I think for some time before making any more transactions?"

"That is fine, I have all day," grins Sophos, "But keep in mind, I cannot give you any knowledge. The Almighty has set a rule, Knowledge not learned is Knowledge not earned. You have to earn what you want."

"Got it." Aston nods and starts to think.

'What do I want to do with my new life? That too in a fantasy world?' Aston thinks hard on a goal for his new life. He wants to buy stuff that will help him advance towards the new goal instead of spending them on some bloodlines that he might not even get in the end.

'Everything that can be attained through practice, I will do it myself. No need to waste KPs on them, like chakra control, etc. and knowledge about Fuinjutsu, Ninjutsu, etc. are off the table too. What to get?'

After spending some time pondering on what to do, he doesn't know why, a dialogue or a vow from one of the novels he read keeps repeating itself. Like a seed, the idea gets struck in his head and won't go away.

'I swear! I will forever be in the Pursuit of Truth!'

'I swear! I will forever be in the Pursuit of Truth!'

'I swear! I will forever be in the Pursuit of Truth!'

..

.

'I have and will always be a researcher. I will find the truth of this world! I will find the secrets of immortality!' he made up his mind. It's something he developed in his previous life, once he sets his mind to it, nothing can shake his resolve anymore.

'Now that I have decided on the goal, what do I need most to advance towards it?'

'In the world of Naruto, what determines one's power is Bloodline, Alien Bloodline. So, I will need to research that in-depth.'

'There are two main things I will need for that, first one is obviously a lab. I can't do anything without an outstanding lab. It will be better if it is on a different dimension like Kamui dimension that I can go whenever I want without worrying someone might find my lab.'

'The second is, I will need an assistant like Leylin's A. I chip to analyze and sort out my research data.'

'I think that should be enough' decides Aston.

"I have decided," says Aston.

"Let's hear it!" Sophos looks expectantly. Although he could read it off his mind, he resists the urge. It's more fun this way.

"First, I need a personal laboratory space. It doesn't need to be huge, like a world or anything, just fill it with all the top lab equipment from Naruto world. I need to be able to enter and exit it with just a thought. If possible, from the space I can travel to any marker I have previously left, you know like Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God."

"Mmm," Sophos ponders for a while, "Space ha, It is indeed possible, but it won't be a dimension, I can give you an artifact instead that has a small space, by small I mean when compared to a world. It's a soul-bound artifact, so you don't have to worry about someone stealing it from you. The best part is since it's soul bound, it grows with your soul. But, there is a catch when you are inside the artifact, the artifact is outside of you. When you are outside, the artifact is inside of you. Don't worry, you can control what it looks like when it's outside. You can even make it look like a common dirt particle if you want to. No one below a Two-Winged angel will be able to find. Awesome, isn't it?" he says proudly.

"The lab equipment is not a problem, but I can only give the best equipment till the time of your birth in the Naruto World."

"The last one has to be a joke, right? That's not possible at all. But let me give you a tip. If someday you really did master the Flying Thunder God, you can combine it with this artifact. How a soul-bound artifact works is, the instant you are outside of the artifact it will return to your soul. So, once you start to teleport to your marker with FTG, the instant you leave the artifact, it's already inside you. So, that's basically what you wanted, right?"

Aston could only nod after hearing it. This fits all his requirements, although he must learn FTG himself, it's fine, one day he will do it, so he says "Ok, that will do. How much is it? And will you give it now?"

"The Price including all the equipment is Forty million", says Sophos which causes Aston to raise his eyebrows at how much it costs, "Not negotiable, I am already quoting 10% less on top of all the discounts. And yes, I will give it to you at the end of our deal, it has to be inside your soul before you enter the cycle of reincarnation again."

"Sure, I will take it. Second, can I get the A. I chip the Leylin had in WMW?"

"Can you get the exact one? No! But I can create something similar for you. But it will be costly to make an Eight-Winged angel work," grins Sophos.

At this point, Aston was already numb to it, so he just directly asks, "How much?"

"Thirty-five million," says Sophos.

'If I didn't believe him on the Almighty Will thing, I would have thought he is scamming me. Although I do think he is overcharging, it shouldn't be much,' thinks Aston.

"Sure"

"You have Fifteen million left"

Aston thinks he already got everything he wanted. Suddenly he asks, "Mr. Sophos, you said that KPs could be used to increase the probability of being born into a clan, right?"

"Yes, what of it?" asks Sophos bewildered by the sudden question.

"What is the probability if I spend Five million?"

"That depends on the clan you want, as the strength of the bloodline increases, difficulty to be born into it also increases. And the difficulty increases as the probability increases too. For example, if 10% costs one million, for 20% you might think it's two million but that's not true. It might cost so much more."

"Uchiha, Hyuuga, and Senju tell me the probabilities for them."

Sophos does his calculator thing again and says, "I can give you 30% for those"

Aston suddenly gets an idea, "Ok do it like this, from the remaining Fifteen million get me 30% probabilities for each of those clans," says Aston with a huge grin.

Even Sophos marvels at this simple yet brilliant plan. Now, instead of spending dozens of millions, he just got a 90% probability of being born as a descendent of Kaguya at a relatively cheap price. What an awesome idea. Sophos is definitely impressed.

'This guy will definitely become someone outstanding someday, better make some karma with him now,' Sophos thinks, 'Mr. Carter, be ready for my surprise.'

"It shall be done!" says Sophos, "Mr. Carter, Now, if you please, step this way."

With that, he leads Aston towards an altar. When Aston's gaze falls on it, he could instantly tell the power it held. It had this archaic aura surrounding it. Even with that it almost felt sacred, like it was forcing him to kneel and worship it, but he resists the urge to bow down with all his might.

"You are very good, most people would just … embrace that feeling," says Sophos feeling embarrassed about something that happened long back when he first saw the altar, but he quickly hides it. But Aston is too busy admiring the altar to notice it, until, "Alright, it's time. Step on to the altar with me, we will complete the deal."

Both Aston and Sophos stand facing each other with their hands held in a handshake. Sophos says, "Now repeat after me"

"I Eight-Winged Angel Sophos, with the Will of Almighty as witness promise to complete my end of the deal to the best of my abilities."

"I Aston Carter, with the Will of Almighty as witness promise to complete my end of the deal to the best of my abilities."

With those words, the runes on the altar start to glow red. Two golden lights emerge Sophos's body and start to merge into Aston's soul body as it starts to disintegrate into white lights and float upwards because of some mysterious power from the altar.

'Goodbye, Mr. Carter. Hope you like the gift I sent you,' grins Sophos.