Chapter 1 - The Boy

On the 200th anniversary of WWIII, a man with winged sandals was floating above what is left of Europe. He was wearing a white toga and a golden helm with wings. The man had pure white skin as if he was never in the sun.

Looking down, he could see the crater where the biggest piece of Zeus crashed. The cavity was filled mainly with water and a never-ending thunderstorm at the epicenter.

After losing Zeus, Hermes damaged his own cultivation level to Construct Evolution power level to sneak into Earth's Universe Dimension to visit Zeus' resting place and protect it from Adam and other powerhouses from invading.

Shaking his head, Hermes said, "Zeus, I'm sorry, I was away during your final battle."

"In the end, you still succeeded, and your death stopped Adam from draining Earth and its solar system's energy and in doing so allowed life to breathe energy again."

"With this being the only place with energy in this universe, Adam's clones and others are sure to target this domain though. Brother….I will protect this place with my life."

Sticking out his hand, Hermes could feel the energy drift through his fingers. Energy is the essence of the universe. The sun, the stars, the seas, the plants, and even the dirt on the ground releases energy. Thanks to Zeus, the Solar System's energy can stay and strengthen all life around the sun. Hermes smiled, knowing Zeus' sacrifice gave Earth back its energy.

Many artificial intelligence sprites appeared around Hermes. "Mr. Hermes, several creatures are rampaging," said pink one.

"It seems they have discovered how to absorb energy through instinct," chimed in another sprite.

"The humans are ignorant of the old ways of cultivation, master," replied another.

"Sir, I sense a sea creature that just reached Beast Avatar level and is on a rampage in the Pacific Ocean," replied the blue sprite.

"Alright, Aqua. I have mourned my brother long enough. Let's check out the first creature to reach Avatar phase since the Earth can use energy again."

The flying man and his seven sprites flew off towards North America. When Hermes was flying over the old country of the United States, the group paused in the country's old capital. In the now destroyed Washington D.C, monsters reigned supreme. Humans fled and hid due to no longer being at the top of the food chain.

Aqua sensed something below and said, "Sir, I believe there is a dying life sign below. If we act now, we can save it."

Hermes nodded and flew down. He then spotted a dead woman clawed to death. She laid on top of a beat-up refrigerator. Dried tears on the woman's cheeks and the deep wounds on her back told Hermes and the sprites that she had died an excruciating death. She seemed to be protecting whatever was in the refrigerator.

"Mr. Hermes, that woman is deceased. She seems to have died of blood loss," replied the pink sprite.

"Sir, I detected the life source in that refrigerator," said Aqua.

"Poor mortal woman, the humans here always face so many tragedies." Hermes also grew up in this world and knew life was never fair.

Hermes picked up the woman and moved her to the side. He opened the refrigerator door and looked inside. The boy was no more than five years old with a fatal wound on his back. The young black-haired and tan-skinned boy was unconscious. Hermes was touched by the mother's sacrifice.

"Sir, the chances of this kid surviving on his own is 3.725%," Aqua stated.

Hermes pondered for a minute. He looked at his sprites and then the boy. A thought came to Hermes that would change everything.

He then asked Aqua, "Aqua, if you were with the child guiding him in cultivation. What would be his chance of survival?"

"His chances would increase to at least 64.567%."

"Alright then. Aqua, we will part ways then." He motioned for all the other sprites to say goodbye. The colorful sprites all said goodbye in their own way. He then looked at Aqua. "Execute process 1 9 9 2 from now till when you were created."

"Confirmation to delete my memory, Sir," affirmed the AI sprite.

"Confirmed. Goodbye Aqua. Treat the boy well."

"Goodbye, Sir."

*Booooooopp…..* Sounded the AI as it powered down. The sprite turned into a small silver ball and landed in Hermes' hand.

Hermes bent down and touched the silver ball to the boy's wrist. The ball fused with his arm. Soon many nanites from the ball spread throughout the boy's body, speeding up his recovery.

-------------------------------------------------

The boy awoke, in the refrigerator, with the door open. He looked up upon the dark morning sky. The boy realized the last thing that happened was a wild beast attacking him and his mother. Touching his back where his wound was, it seemed to have magically healed.

Thinking of his mother, he says, "Mommy?!" He sits up and spots her lying dead next to the refrigerator, covered in wounds and dried blood. "Mommy, can you hear me?" He begins to cry, knowing something wrong.

A robotic voice jolts him out of his crying fit.

"Sir, I am glad to see you have awoken. New Master, please state your name."

Looking down at his wrist, he spots an embedded silver sphere. He responds, half sniffling, "Who…" *sniff* "….are you..?"

"I am a S.P.R.I.T.E. It stands for Specialized Portable Remote Intelligence Technology Entity.

"Hello, Sprite. My name..." *sniff* "...is Leonardo. My mommy calls me Leo."

"Registering new master Leonardo...Registration complete. Sir, I must tell you Sprite is not my name."

"Okay, Sprite."

"Name registered." if the AI could sigh, it would've. "Sir, I must inform you; I was given to you to protect you. Since you have lost your guardian, I recommend we leave before any beast arrives."

"No…I don't want to leave mommy."

Searching his standard database, the AI responds with, "Sir, I suggest we bury your mother and vacant this area for shelter."

Sprite's creator built in a default knowledge of cultivation, science, and lifestyle skills to aid underdeveloped civilizations.

"Bury…."

"Yes, humans have buried their dead for many reasons over facades of time. You will need to dig a hole, 2x1x2 meter wide approximately, but calculating the master's strength, I think you will only be able to dig it 1 meter deep before exhaustion takes over."

Leo looked at his mother and walked a few feet. He grabbed a scrap piece of metal and began digging the hole. With Sprite's directions, the grave was finished in about 3 hours.

Leo looked at his mother and started crying again. Sprite informed him that his mother could not return to life no matter what he did.

"Sir, this is common. Death is natural. Where there is life, there is death."

Leo, still crying, grabbed his mother's shirt collar and dragged her into the grave. He slowly covered his mother with dirt and patted it down. Sprite then suggested moving the refrigerator over her grave to keep the beast digging her up. Since Sprite fused with the boy, his power and stamina were boosted for a kid his age. Leo pushed and pushed with the last vestiges of his strength until the fridge was over his mother's grave.

With night approaching, "Sir, we need to get to shelter immediately."

Exhausted emotionally and physically, the boy finally makes his way back to a mostly destroyed building he and his mother were living in.

Sprite scanned a sign on the ground, "National Gallery of Art," mumbled the AI.

Leo stumbled through the rubble to get where he and his mom had set up a sleeping area. Leo passed out without even grabbing some food stored in the corner.

Sprite began to scan the rubble for information and threats. Suddenly the AI picked us the signature of a beast near them.

"Sir, wake up a beast is approaching from the entrance to our location."

"Huh…" still groggy and tired, Leo barely moved.

"Sir, you have 9 seconds to get into the adjacent room before you die."

The word "die" jolted him awake, and he began to crawl.

After making it into the next room, the beast lurked his way into Leo's resting area. The beast destroys his bedding and the supplies his mother had gathered.

"Howl…"

Hearing the howl in the other room, Leo peed on himself. Goosebumps crawled up his skin.

"Sir, crawl as fast as you can between those walls, Now."

The poor boy used the strength to crawl over between two wall pieces, barely holding the roof up. As Leo was crawling over, he kicked a rock.

The wolf-like creature howls and rushes into the room towards Leo after hearing the noise. The beast leaps at him between the wall pieces.

"Get away from me," screamed Leo. The monster attacks the day before flashed before the boy's eyes.

Leo backs up as far as possible, and the wolf crashes into the wall pieces. A loud cracking sound is heard, and right when the beast jaws were feet from the boy, the roof collapses.

Blood splatters forward onto Leo. "Aghh!" Dust goes everywhere from the structural collapse.

The dust settled, and the moonlight was shining down on Leo through the collapsed roof. Finally relaxing his nerves, Leo slumps down the wall into a sitting position. The boy collapses from exhaustion, covered in dirt and blood.

"Don't worry, Sir. I will keep a lookout for you."

The following day, the boy awoke with a complicated feeling. He was too tired to be sad and too hungry to be tired. Sprite scanned the area and located some old canned food. Leo managed to get out of the building and gather up the food. He scarfs it down as fast as he could bust the can open.

"Sir, we need to have an important conversation about your future. After scanning your body, I have realized you do not absorb any energy, and you're missing a dantian gland."

Sadly, most of the cultivation techniques Sprite had stored in him were too advance for Leo to learn.

"What is mana and dawn-tee gland?"

"Yes, Sir. Energy, also known as mana, chi, prana, and ki on Earth, is what you will need to harness to survive. The essence that is all around you that controls the universe and its laws is this energy. Here on Earth, there is a sufficient level. The dantian gland is not important right now. Sir should start trying to absorb energy sooner the better."

"How do I do that, Sprite?"

The AI began to gather data and responded, "I will have to find you a cultivation manual to teach you how. We need to set up a shelter and gather food and water until then. Remember Leo, surviving is what matters."