Next Steps

Both Aeden and Mihael sat at their table and began talking about what their plans for the future were.

Other than upgrading our cores we don't really have any other goals Mihael said.

I agree Aeden replied. We don't have much of a plan because other than our parents getting ejected from the world nothing much has happened to us. We need to decide on what we want to do. 

Sitting there in silence for a while both of them thought of what they could do to help them grow and thrive. Since they were still a far way off from ascending to the next realm they needed some kind of goal.

Maybe we can help the beasts or other living things in this forest grow Mihael said. If we help them grow stronger wouldn't the ambient mana increase helping us grow quicker?

That is true Aeden replied. We already have two beasts we are helping grow. And if we continue growing them stronger they would be more loyal to us. 

Well then I guess we have our plans Mihael said. Let us start with our two little animal friends first so that way they grow much stronger. Also can we please stop hiding our different features? There aren't any humans around so there is no harm in letting out our true selves. 

I see no harm in it Aeden said. Also it is quite uncomfortable to constantly keep it hidden. Like wearing clothes that are too tight.

They both took off their cloaking rings storing them in their inventory. As they did all of their angelic and demonic features were released. They gave a sigh of relief afterwards like they just stretched and it was super comfortable. 

Heading towards their two little animals who were laying on the bed they picked them up before taking the lotus position and prepared to help them grow stronger. 

Placing their hands on the animals backs they closed their eyes and began gathering the ambient mana surrounding them and injecting it into the animals. While they were doing this their 3rd eye opened up and began to assist them. It let them see the flow of mana through the animals bodies and where their mana veins were located thus letting them send more mana in with more ease.

As they sat there little grunts could be heard coming from the two animals since they weren't used to such an increased mana flow but their bodies were slowly adapting. 

They kept meditating and assisting the animals as they got close to breaking through the white core stage. They were at the peak of it and with just a little push they began their breakthrough.

Their mana cores released waves of mana through their bodies strengthening them and letting them grow. Their bodies began expelling a small amount of impurities at a time as Mihael and Aeden helped keep them clean. 

As time passed the two little animals were finishing up leaving them with a small dark red mana core. 

Aeden and Mihael noticed that their two little animal companions had also grown slightly larger than they were before. 

After making sure the two were completely clean Aeden and Mihael laid them down on the bed and let them rest. They could tell that the upgrade wore out their bodies a lot and they needed to rest. 

The two of them decided to then explore the surroundings more. Using 300 System Points they upgraded their <Mapping > skill to level 4. 

The map now showed them more area around them and also let them place markers to mark points of interest. Thus they set out.

Wandering through the forest they didn't bother the animals and seemed to glide through the forest. The animals could sense the danger from them and ran away from them as quickly as possible but they didn't mind.

Wandering through they marked some homes for animals like packs of wolves or heard of deer. They thought it would help them in the future with their plan of strengthening the animals. 

Continuing to wander they found what looked like a village that was abandoned and run down. There were skeletons and corpses laying around as the forest began to overtake the village. 

I guess there were humans in this forest Aeden said.

Maybe we will come across them in the future Mihael replied. For now we should probably head home.

Heading back they were happy with what they discovered.

[Authors note. I don't really know what to do with this story anymore. I don't feel like the characters have much motivation for things and it is getting hard to continue. I was thinking of dropping the story but I am gonna stick with it for now.]