Chapter 32: Sleep

Seeing as Stephanie has fully awakened the power of her soul, I told her, “Quickly, show me your strongest punch!” Stephanie didn’t hesitate at all to follow my command with the strength of a 4th rank warrior in mana cultivation and 5th rank in body cultivation. The strength she exuded reached almost 5000 kilograms, the minimum strength required to be considered a 6th Rank Primary Mortal. The difference in our body strength is mainly because no one aside from me, the owner of the Library, may acquire the full knowledge of the Heavenly way. All I can do is impart knowledge to others by helping them correct their flaws that I determined using the power of the Library.

After Stephanie threw her punch, I quickly compiled a new book on her to see the flaws in her cultivation, skills, and state of mind. I then told her of her current flaws. I will have to gather more books inside my Library and on the new-age internet to further refine a suitable cultivation manual. For the time being, I need to cultivate her state of mind, so I gave her a piece of assignment to ponder on. Now that she’s free from the lifetime curse of her body not being able to handle the strength of her soul, I asked her to think of what she wants to do. As I told her this, I realized that I still don’t have a plan for the future. Maybe I should also ask myself, "What do I want to do?" I’ve just been going through the motions and looks like I will be busy tonight thinking of the answer to that question. Oh! And I also have to take the candy that Son gave to me. But above anything else, I think I should take a rest. While on my way home, I pondered on the idea that even though I've only been with the wisp for a short time, I can’t help but feel quite sad that someone who protected my disciple would just die like that. While there may not be the traditional churches anymore, I prayed to the Heavens above that in the next life, the wisp and his brother will still be together. When I arrived at my place, I went straight to bed, closed my eyes, and went to sleep. Man, it seemed like forever since I had a nice rest.

When I opened my eyes, I was back in my room in the house I grew up in. This is strange. Could it all have been a dream? I left my room and went downstairs to look for my family. Everyone is at home, looking so freaked out. I found a newspaper and was surprised to see that it is dated back in the day of the apocalypse. I tried talking to my family about the situation, but they are all just ignoring me. I tapped my dad on the shoulder, but my hand just passed through his body. Hmmm, I think I know what this is! This might be a vision. When the voice from above started speaking, the very same voice that I heard the day of the apocalypse, my mom rushed to the living room. She calibrated the pendulum of our grandfather's clock and everything seemed to be moving faster outside. My mom and dad then gathered my older brother and my younger sister to explain the situation to them. My mother explained that our grandfather's clock has the power to slow down time around the vicinity of the house. One year inside the house would count as three years outside. My dad then said that they need to be quarantined inside the house for one year, just enough time for everything to pass.

After that family meeting, time sped up for me too, only seeing glimpses of events that happened at different times within the year. I witnessed the world outside getting better and the creatures being destroyed. I also saw my siblings acquire knowledge which they could use to protect themselves. The moments when my family would worry about me and my safety also passed right by my eyes. They devised ways to look for me, and when they found out about my death brought by the attack of the dragon, they were devastated. They built a tombstone for me where they swore that once the realm opens, they will hunt down the dragon that killed me. After 3 years, my family members reached the 7th rank of the Demihuman Stage, a level that gives them the ability to easily blast through most of the creatures alive in this timeline. Eventually, they decided to go to Spain, the place where my grandpa was from. He died before I was even born, so I have no idea what his personality was or what he looked like.

I suddenly felt something strange. I got pulled out of my house and into the core of the earth. Thinking that this is just a dream, I felt no fear. I heard the voice that spoke the day of the apocalypse, “You were acknowledged by the Heavens and this is but a gift of the past for you. I know you are friends with my acknowledged champion. Please help him through his trials to ensure my safety.” As soon as the voice finished that sentence, I woke up. What I saw could be a vision of the past or just a dream, screaming that I should help Franco out with his burdens. When I have the time, I should go check out my childhood home to see if my tombstone is still there or if it was ever there.

I still haven’t listed out and prioritized my goals, so here they are in no particular order. First, I would have to power myself up so that I could travel around without fearing for my life. Second, I need to go check out my childhood home. Third, I have to check on Anton to see what happened to him. And of course, I need to go and contact Anne for her to know that I was alive. While I was walking home yesterday, I tried to mind link with her, but I was getting no response. I figured that she might be busy, so I just left her a few messages which until now, got no response. What I am certain of is that Anne is still alive, as confirmed by the Library, so I guess I can live with that for now. With my goals now listed out, my first priority should be to reach the 9th rank of mana cultivation which will enable me to achieve the rest of my goals. After setting up my goals, something is bugging me. There is something that I need to do, but I can't remember what it is... Right, the candy! I swallowed the hard candy that was given to me by Son, and the floating video that suddenly appeared in front caught me by surprise.