Prologue 1 (Part 1)  Lamentations Of Child Birth And Genesis Of Cultivation

Medical robots designed by Kazu Nini – one of her many creations termed as Nini Bots – flew around he room, where they did not carry bowls or were standing in front of legs wide open.

They had positioned lights around the bed earlier and had gotten the ready apparatus in position for today's grand event.

And facing the sweating mother, they held out their created limbs to take care of what was going to escape her vulva.

A flushed face grimaced in pain had been sweating throughout he ordeal. And even though her malnourished form was unsightly to some, it could not hide her beauty to most. Illya Nobunaga had finally gotten pregnant and she was ready to bring forth the child whose existence would be a miracle.

She had lost her weight, her appetite and strength over the course of he month.

And that could be understanding for a woman in labour, but why was blood escaping her lips?

Like over the last few months, why had she been retching it in copious amounts?

Even though she knew that this undertaking should have been impossible, she had fought against fate and she was going to win!

She could not wait to present this child to the world

Illya Nobunaga had won!

But before her victory, she focused on one of the lights to forget her pain and tormen, memories coming to her head.

Illya Nobunaga was originally a concubine, but out of all the ones who could leave, she had no support.

Because as a different breed, she had not expected children anyway. At least not in the first place.

She wanted happiness in her marriage but her unfruitful womb could not even be cured by cultivation.

How could the rumors of mixing different specie not work in her case?

But even though her womb did not want to produce a mixed fruit, why could it not just produce her's or her husband's?

Things like this had worked out between mixed couples

She had been told it was a result of her careless youth days but that was not a solution, as what could regret do for her?

And this matter was especially painful because of her mind numbing beauty that stood out for even someone of her race.

Elves were known for beauty and grace. Maybe the Fairies sometimes managed to reach their caliber, but they did not have the same grace. This meant that not only jealous suitors would take the chance to bite at her, but also the lonely, the spiteful and those who enjoyed gossip

Thus, her and her husband had tried everything possible.

At first, they wanted to loan money but his family had gone from living in a mansion, to waking up in a hut in a single year, that year.

And it had began on their wedding day.

Investments pulled away from their business, friends ignored them, sworn brothers turned tail and every one who was not their extended family cut off both public and private relations.

All because they had offended a noble in their pride and ignorance.

And with that alone, they could have survived if they moved to another city because the newly weds had began running so many small businesses that they did not have time to even greet or see one another. But the father passed away from depression and the mother from starvation. At least, the new couple could survive with rations for the both of themselves, but the money for traveling would have to be spent on a burial.

Seeing as both parents had suffered in life, her husband was not going to see the parents once more suffer in death. Thus, the money to move on was splurged on the death date.

Now that they public eye was back on them because of the extravagant funeral, they regained a few more of their 'friends' and things were okay for a while.

Then, the morning after, they finally vented all frustrations – their honeymoon – their got a paper to test her state to see if she had seed in her womb.

Alas, she was barren.

Who wouldn't want to try again such a venture? The man laughed as he prepared to enjoy his bride once more.

However…

1st month, 2nd month, 3rd month…

Now, they had to get back to work but they tried, yet as there was still no progress.

3rd month, 4th month, 6th month…

The next year, he had given her out to another man to see if the problem was him but after willingly giving his heart to be torn…

…she did not bear fruit.

Why could he not give this woman the life she wanted? A woman's wedding was something that was fantasized since childhood.

And she had suffered since she had net him.

Closing his eyes in shame, with the need to give this woman the life she so deserved, Ganophe Nobunaga steeled his resolve and gave her out once more.

The first month passed by and his number of friends shot through the roof.

Gnomes like himself, Elves, Sprites, Dark Elves, Pixies, Slimes and unexpectedly Goblins.

With his moniker as a 'Generous Man', there were no results, still.

He cursed himself even as now he had quite the name for himself and his wife.

But he believed the heavens won't be so cruel if he pushed harder. So, he went to the more gargantuan neighbors of the Myriad Specie Continent and invited Semi giants like Trolls, Cyclops, Ogres and even full Giants.

Now, he was wondering what kind of bad luck could have befallen himself.

The wife was getting more and more silent with each passing day that he decided to take it a step further.

Now known as the 'Benevolent and Generous Man,' he had resorted to the quadrupled people of the Beast Continent.

Dragons, Hydras, Vampires, Werewolves, Manticores, Chimera and Centaurs came in droves when they heard the rumors and his new plea.

And despite the husband still carrying himself in the pride that h would go to whatever extent for his beautiful and ling suffered wife…

…no results.

Ganophe Nobunaga – now the 'Benevolent, Generous and Curious Gnome' – wept for an entire day until his body buckled and his eyes felt as though they were laid bare before the scorching summer sun.

When he stood up next, he began laughing. That day he laughed until his bride who could now go silent for an entire month became curious about his situation.

He merely looked at her and told her that he would seize their happiness even if he had to flip the cosmos upside down.

The 'Benevolent, Generous, Open minded, Curious and Open Minded' Gnome was enraged!

This time, Ganophe Nobunaga resorted to more desperate ends such as the ethereal like spirits or ghosts. He did not exclude even Yin favored ones like Ghouls or Wraiths…

'Mr. Benevolent, Generous, Open minded, Curious, Open Minded and Free Spirited', did not know what to do anymore.

The money they had gained from their adventures to bearing fruit in his wife's womb seemed to be mocking him.

He could hear them laughing now.

And she no longer exposed herself to sunlight.

And some of these savings had even gone into getting Potent Artefacts that should have helped her. They did get some, of course, but on those such occasions, she had had to abort the anomalies that were in her stomach.

One time, when he had reached out to the bipedal neighbors of his continent, their spawn died before a month.

The next potent Artefact was tried with a giant and this one was deformed from lack of necessary nutrition. In fact, she had lost too much weight during the process.

With a dragon, it died because of the skin and scales could not develop in tandem.

A spirit literally left her womb when she had tried it with one.

But, aside from the fact that there no hybrids in the history of Hyol, At least, chance should have positively shone on them.

She should have had a Gnome or an Elf, such cases had existed and worked during times in history.

Either way, Kazu Nini – who was another joke to the media and social circles because of her string of 'successes' – stumbled across the story of Ganophe Nobunaga and Illya Nobunaga.

She even saw that they had once offended nobles, and she felt a connection to them.

It was one such offense that had thrown them from heaven to hell since their wedding day.

Her now underground association – the New Universe – was who helped her to garner her last batch of funds where she could not borrow and scrape and loan

And she got a deadline along with it on this her final attempt. A mortal one, even for her who was a cultivator.

A year passed after she had offered the couple hope. Hope that could Actually work

Actually, actually.

Hope for the Nobunaga Couple

Now, since Hybrids had never appeared in Hyol, it was Taboo to the natural laws, what she wanted to commit. But her life was at stake and more so, was her career.

Plus, the nobles needed one mess up to end her life and everyone that mattered to her.

So she watched them mate under her preparations and… It was a success.

At first they did not believe it. But suddenly, after the third month Illya Nobunaga's deterioration was becoming apparent.

Kazu Nini loaded them with pills and food stuffs that could help them throughout their journey and for the next 3 months it helped.

But he last three had her deteriorating, still.

Illya Nobunaga's cheeks sunk in, her eyes bulged and her limbs resembled toothpicks.

Now, this final week she had began convulsing blood.

If Illya Nobunaga and Garophe Nobunaga's usual pain was social or personal. At the very least, thus one was now frighteningly mortal.

So, Kazu Nini was sweating bullets as she carried out the operation for early child birth, seeing the condition of the mother.

However, she was about to begin the c section operation when Illya Nobunaga began thrashing like a rabid beast, the blood flow more frequent so that there was a pool beneath the labor bed. Even when they gave her tranquilizers, she buckled every second.

Then, just when they began cutting into her, a hole appeared in her stomach.

At first it was inconspicuous but eventually there was enough to see someone's eye that blinked. Kazu Nini jumped back because that was not how a child should act.

She then ordered her bot assistants to finish it up… But she later stopped them as she did not know what to do.

In her moments of indecision, she saw immature hands periodically poking out of the hole in the belly.

The first time Kazu Nini had noticed that Illya Nobunaga had not been healing she was surprised because the first reported case was that she healed slower.

But now, the injuries were not closing up at all.

And she now realized that the heart rate machine was beeping on a flat line. She had been hoping for success so much that, as a cultivator she had missed something so simple and vindictive out of anxiousness.

When she came to, she saw that there was a hole big enough for the baby to walk out of and within that hole were bitten organs, an incomplete spine and only 3 ribs left.

Then, it dawned on Kazu Nini, that the lack of nutrients being supplied was to support the creatures birth.

And while that did not sound bad, it was why the mother had been loosing and not gaining.

The reason why her cultivated body could not withstand a mere baby's hunger was the tribulation of it becoming a cultivator

Which meant that there was a cadaver on that bed.

"A can hear the machine! That is a flat line!" Garophe Nobunaga screamed and tried to enter the operation room but the Nini Bots set up a blockade with their bodies at Kazu Nini's mental command. "What is happening?!!"

He struggled and struggled to no avail.

"Don't blame me for this!"

He erupted with his fill power and the Nini bots all flew in different directions before Kazu Nini stopped them with a mental command.

This was like a scene from her own past.

After she had realized her parents had actually loved her all this while.

Could a child be blamed for its mere existence? Can its arrival be a blessing or a curse?

Why were things so parallel to her own life?

Tears fell down her face, without her even realizing it.

Garophe Nobunaga was torn, on his own part.

His body had literally stopped, mid-step. Mouth open, eyes like saucers and goosebumps fluttering about his body like a hurricane.

His own tears fell like an open damn till they drenched his shirt through and through.

Why, why was life this cruel? What had he did he to deserve this? And even if he was worth each one of those punishments, why was his wife not at least spared?

He knelt and was in much grief as revulsion.

How can his wife's killer be their child? What was a baby doing, looking so innocent in the half eaten corpse of its mother when it was the perpetrator?

Blood dripping down its lips, it put the red liquid into its mouth and giggled and clapped innocently

13 years ago, year 10,441. Hyol Calendar, State of Jhoklon. Beast Continent

….

 Sun in the sky at 3 o'clock, barely any clouds and just getting back from school kept her mind on home. The sun was not too disturbing, as the falls' winds blew in her face with leaves scattered across the road where they were in heaps or bins along the pavements and atop the bus stops. Shadows constantly fleeted by as Dystopias, like the one she lived in which was named Jhoklon, had three lanes; one on the ground, another above it an the last above that one, with at least miles between them – if you did not count the one for actual aircrafts.

 Jhoklon being a Dystopia, at this side of the planet of Hyol, meant not only that it was a city with highly populated areas but a lot of ghettos or refuse dumps. It had some bright sides too but, of course, it could not compare with Metropolises and was very, very far from Utopias.

 Kazu Nini walked under the moving shadows that were transport vehicles as she stayed to the sidewalk that led to her house with a backpack on her, sneakers on her feet, a school uniform skirt along with its matching cream shirt and a tie was pulled all the way up to the neck. Even with the large round spectacles of glasses that were before her eyes and the frazzled green hair, her almond eyes remained piercing. Her long and thin ears, along with the sharp edges of each of her joints, indicated without speech that she was a Pixie.

 She saw other people returning home either from school or work, heard honking from behind and above her, a house was blaring music at the top of its volume, one elf was mowing his lawn with a flex of his will beside a mound of dead leaves while a fairy darted between the vehicles that were in the air lanes… when Kazu Nini got home she could not wait to eat something and after walking up the stairs to see a covered plate on the table, she threw her bag to the coat rack that was in an alcove then turned to walk down where she saw food.

 "Young lady," That voice was familiar and had always belonged to the only thing she had known as a mother throughout her life. Mako Nini.

 She stopped in her tracks, hoping from the tone of the heard voice that she hadn't done anything wrong under her breath as she turned on her heels. "Good afternoon."

 "You did what I asked?"

 "Yes ma."

 "You been doing what I asked?"

 "Yes ma."

 "Show me the pack." She reached her bag but heard the voice again. "After you put it where it should be, of course."

 Carrying her pack, she dug into her zipper until she pulled out a case with 'Permanent Mental Augmentation Pills' written over its top. Flipping it open, she kept it wide for her aunt to see the empty holes that once had the drugs she had been taking since she had begun putting her muscles to work, which was 6 years ago.

 Mako Nini had short but relaxed hair that was sea blue, her upper lip thicker than her lower but both of them a bold version of the same color. Her eyelashes were white and made up, mascara and foundation applied to the palest of blue. The older Pixie's body looking like it had the sharpest of angles almost as if she was cut out of a cardboard wherever her joints met, but fuller wherever they weren't and thin pointed ears, like isosceles tringles. She had one arm on the railing of the staircase. But it was her robe outfit which allowed free movement, that produced a bad premonition in Kazu Nini's gut.

 "Eat up, we have work to do."

 She almost groaned but silently walked to the small round table that was their dining, passing both the living room and a door which led to a toilet that was under the stairs, which was before the kitchen that was simple but elegant. Muttering annoyance, she opened the bowl of a plate to see heaps of sandwich bread with Ham of an Unawakened Epic Beast under fried egg spreading, surrounded by green leaves and a sauce in a plastic bottle not too far from the plate that had on it a gooey pile of peanut butter and avocado mixed together. The pitcher of fruit juice was orange and she finished it all enthusiastically. Kazu Nini did not want to because she knew what was going to happen next, but her aunt was a good cook and she herself had even inherited some of her skills.

 The silence from her guardian led her to take the last pill without being told, pick the plates and wash it, without being told, and take the backdoor which lead to an open space that had a swimming pool, ring of flowers trailing the perimeter of their wooden fence, lines for hanging clothes, a tap for water at a corner and a brown translucent screen that was inverted inwards which had been attached to the edge of her fence so that no one could peek from the outside, except if they were directly above the households. Without being told.

 Kazu Nini finished stretches from her neck to her toes before her aunt began speaking.

 "You are like the only Pixie I know who does not seem interested in cultivation." She heard her aunt's footsteps following her. "I have known lazy ones, and even those ones liked cultivation." The younger Pixie began running laps around the pool, and every time Mako Nini snapped her fingers, she either jumped in or out of the 58 feet of artificial water body.

 "Do not let your attitude ruin your talent."

 Kazu Nini rolled her eyes when she had almost reached then heard a clap. Jumping out like a flying fish, she began push-up burpees, frog jumps, jump squats and many more.

 One more clap and she began clearing her mind, reaching a totally silent head space under five seconds. The next signal made her concentrate towards the lowest feet of the pool at 30 slabs of 2 Times Reinforced Glass – A Genre 1 Artifact that was glass at its core but neared the strength of steel after being reinforced, made with a brilliant process of fusing fire and sand which made glass, while making it have a crystalline structure and maintaining its purpose.

 She felt a mental connection to it and extended a mental caress with its surface before telepathically trailing the object till she reached the bottom most slab. Then with her will, she rose them all. And while they elevated, the slabs did not wobble in the slightest as she knew that Mako Nini could sense every minute and single change that occurred, in at least a mile from her – except where experts had blocked perception with other Potent Artifacts that were directly responsible for the purpose of locking any spying senses – thus, she had to be careful.

 "Are you ready for the next step?"

 "Yes," she painfully made it clear that her voice did not shake by shouting an answer before she heard another clap.

 "As you have done the rest, go with what I have taught you earlier."

 The stacked slabs of glass, dripping water, moved as one from their flat position on their faces till they were all horizontal, not shaking in the slightest but all in a single motion as if they had been in a single synced electronic motion.

 Splitting her concentration into three was not an issue especially after all the training her aunt had taken her through all her life.

 Then, she removed one of the slabs, one after the other, placing two sets to either of her sides – still in the air. The one she had levitated out of the water with her mind in front of her and two others pilling up themselves to her opposing sides and stacking before the previous one until all 30 pieces were divided on both sides.

 Waiting for a moment, she slowly brought them close in identical movements until they met just before her face and then he divided her mind four ways. She pictured both the structures of each glass on both sides; her mind roved through each slab's crystalline layered structure until she could pretty much see it as though they were laid bare before her.

 Then, finding the microscopic slips that would have been impossible if she had not been pushing against the limits of her Unawakened Pixie's body and potential – the last phase which she always failed at usually – and she pushed the first set into each other.

 Memories of when she was just 10 and had been first nudged by Mako Nini to raise an empty glass up into the air, which she failed, surface into her head but she pushed the thought away.

 Still holding on, the first pair of slabs pushed inside of each other until they merged as if they were liquid.

 Now, she willed her Mental Energy to boost her concentration on the now fused slab of glass, roving over its body and checking any spaces she could invade with the next set.

 At the time when she was 11, memories of when she had done 10 slabs in total, splitting them into halves then missing the will to hold them together which caused it to break and slit her ankles that made her fall to the ground and scream in pain surfaced to her mind.

 But she broke the memory and willed the next set of glass to fuse into this one that she was concentrating at.

 Success!

 Having done the 15th and 14th set, it was 13 more left to go and she grinned in anger as she charged

 12…

 …She remembered at 14, having finally succeeded with fusing the 10 slabs that she had failed again with at 12 years of age. And now it was time to try to fuse 20. She failed again and she screamed at her auntie, ignoring her own blood pooling at her feet, at how pointless cultivation was and why she was even embarking on such an arduous journey….

 Ignoring the pain of her needed concentration yet again, she had blood running down her nose when she had reached the 5th set of slabs, chest heaving as if she would break.

 Looking at the slabs floating in midair, she began to wonder if she should just shatter the slabs or toss them at her aunty, not care what the repercussions would be.

 She succeeded with this one and at this time, the crystallized structure of the Reinforced Glass had nanoscopic spaces between them, seeming all but impossible to add anymore but one glance at Mako Nini ignited her will to go and she did.

 Not realizing that she was screaming, she pushed 4 all in one go, her chin dripping with blood, eyes bloodshot and her entire body seeming like it was constantly electrocuted, she did not even notice that she was done the slab dropped towards the ground. At least less than an inch to it, as she remembered herself and swallowed her excitement then stopped the falling glass, saving herself and her aunt from the clank of glass on ground that meant disappointment.

 The last step had to do with where she had kept the other Glass Slabs that she had been merging over the year; her glass spectacles. They came out of the rims by her volition and she tried to remember the feeling she had just now which made her mind instinctively merge those last 4 remaining slabs into the fused one.

 Eyes closed, hands extended and erratic breathing calmed down till she could only hear her viciously beating heart and the emptiness of a mind that felt numb to its screaming affliction due to her concentration, minutes passed by. A half hour next and a full one after that.

 Then, Kazu Nini did it seamlessly, smiling as her body resumed its violent shaking. Mako Nini expressed joy in closed lips as Kazu Nini, with both hands extended and before her, split the middle of the glass slab before her and the levitating 3-feet-6-inches tall pieces of merged material had a neat vertical growing crack that dragged itself to its bottom before it split apart cleanly after she separated her arms far away from each other.

 They obeyed her and she suddenly clenched both fists after another half hour making them compressed and their usual scale which floated back into her the glass frame before her irises.

 "Endure this," Mako Nini, the older Pixie, swiped her hand at her niece, which sent a gelatinous substance which was bitter to the taste, into Kazu Nini's panting mouth. "And you might begin cultivation, finally."

 The bitter substance could not be tasted in her mental and physical strain from the previous ordeal but the growing fire in her stomach, just below her navel, could not be ignored and she fell to the ground clutching her belly.

 However, 6 years of tempering her mind and body would not leave her that weak. Instead, against the pain in both mind and flesh, she slowly stood up.

 Surprisingly, though, she was assaulted with a strong wave of drowsiness.

 "Endure!!!"

 The voice of her aunt woke her up and she struggled to stay conscious as if fighting for her life which made a comic scene; her eyelids fluttering and her shout becoming an extended slur as she slowly moved about, fighting for control over her own limbs. When she finally got on her feet, she staggered as if drunk and almost fell into the pool of water repeatedly but when she kept on almost falling and rising, her aunty realized that her hands had been in her pockets.

 Mako Nini guessed why but she did not stop her as although the hobby of this child constantly infuriated her, it would in no way harm the child; depending on her priorities. If only she could see the bigger picture.

 The Younger Pixie went from crushing waves of slumbering attack, to actual fire filling and cloaking her body that stemmed from her navel until it reached her brain. And now, she was full on clutching her head, screaming on the ground as her body seemed to be roasting. The thrashing led to more injuries as she rolled on the floor but Mako Nini needed the girl to experience this and still decide to move on or get strongeroin her own.

 An hour of screaming until her voice scraped raw and she lost her voice, blood spouting from even her throat, she passed out and Mako Nini was about to forcefully wake her up but she felt a ripple of air expanding from her unconscious body so she relaxed, knowing that Kazu Nini had finally began on the path of cultivation.

 Watching her niece in a pile of black soot and blood, she knew the girl would thank her, later.