Chapter 10
…
It took Kyren a few moments to process everything that he was seeing.
First, it was his mother's age.
He slowly turned his head to the right side, toward his mother, who was busy knitting a bright red scarf for him, while humming a tune.
Upon finding her son's gaze, she looked up and gave him her most beautiful, sweet smile.
"What's wrong, baby?"
She had a clear, supple skin. There was no wrinkle in any part of her face – not even the edge of her eyes.
And by her facial alone, people everywhere surely would agree that her age was around 19 to 25 at least.
"Mother… Ummmh… I want to ask, how old are you?"
Kyren hesitated at first, then eventually asked her by the end.
"My age… why? Are you curious?"
Chriselda lifted one of her eyebrows. Then a teasing smile bloomed on her face.
"Uh, yes, I'm curious. If you don't want to tell me, it's fine…"
"No, I will tell you then. Your mother's age currently is…"
Chriselda left her knitting, then lifted her dress and tiptoeing fast to reach Kyren, who sat on the edge, with his feet dangling above the small garden in front of him.
She hugged Kyren and let him sit on her lap.
"Your mother's age currently is…"
Her smile deepened before resuming. "27… amazing right? Look at your mother's face. I'm like someone still in my teenage years, right?"
She then showed him her smug look, with a face clearly saying, "Praise me!!! Praise me!!!"
Meanwhile, Kyren was agape seeing her like this.
'Wow. She's good at denial…'
Though he put out a smile and praised her, nevertheless.
"Yes, you are so pretty, mother. So young compared to your real age."
What Kyren said really came from the very bottom of his heart.
Meanwhile, he was not that surprised about her age.
He already expected that his mother was way older compared to her outward look, as the novel he read from the author basically had many inspirations that came from the cultivation novel.
A thousand-year-old or ten-thousand-year-old human who was already at the limit of Transcendence lives in this world.
Now that he thought about it a bit more, there was a weird piece of news circulating that said the author never had any book signings or any activity like an author meet and greet, even though he was pretty famous.
'Hmmm. Perhaps he is really from this world or something. Who knows…'
…
"Thank you, my son. You are also really cute. You take so many after me…" she said with a satisfied grin, as she patted Kyren's head.
Kyren then continued mulling over her status, which was basically the same as his.
Now, he knew where the demon that was ready to suck his soul.
And it was surprisingly so close to him, as it was currently residing inside his mother.
Demon or Demonkind was a creature from the Abyss known to have extremely high intelligence and often acted as their spies or agents to infiltrate various regions, kingdoms, or organizations.
They could morph themselves to become humans, beasts, or any magical creature on Earth.
One of the additional abilities they had was the Seed of Abyss or Abyss Demon Seed, which allowed them to implant seeds in important individuals they deemed necessary to gain control over.
And this Seed of Abyss remained undetected for a long time until one of the main character's party members created an artifact and many other products capable of detecting and even safely removing them, which ironically, the seed instead became a new source of power for their group.
'Now what should I do first???'
Kyren wondered, looking at the accumulated points he had painstakingly kept safe.
There were many cheap things he needed to be exchanged.
But even with these 200.000 Joy Points, it was still very much lacking for him.
The first thing that he needed for now was the upgraded version of his current Circulation Method.
Circulation Method was a fundamental cultivation technique designed to harness the essence of Nirvana and transform it into energy, or Qi (Chi), that flows throughout the Transcendent's body.
This method emphasizes the synchronization of the body with the principles of Nirvana, allowing practitioners to achieve a heightened state of awareness and energy efficiency, making them overall stronger than a normal human, also increasing their lifespan by a large margin.
Because his father deemed him to be a waste, he was forbidden to step into the Gallery Room where the special Nirvana Circulation Method of House Valentine and the Art of Nirvana were kept safe.
The Art of Nirvana itself was a mystical discipline that encompassed various forms of energy manipulation, spiritual connection, and mastery over the self and the environment.
It was also classified into many distinct categories, representing a unique aspect of the view in this world.
There were 13 Forms of Harmony: Healing, Pillar, Defense, Footwork, Offense, Etc.
And 9 forms of Dissonance, which those who practice these forms of Art of Nirvana would be actively hunted down by the Church of Light and the Buddhist Monastery.
On the other hand, his current Circulation Method was something he gained after one whole year of struggle to convince his mother to teach him.
When his mother saw how disappointed he was for being denied his right to learn how to harness Nirvana, at first, she kept silent.
From her actions day to day alone, it was pretty much very obvious for Kyren that she didn't want him to have anything to do with Transcendence or how to cultivate Nirvana.
There was even a time when she snatched the book about Transcendence that Kyren read and took him home directly, away from the library.
Without saying anything, she reprimanded him to not read or learn any of it with teary eyes.
Kyren, being a brat he was, asked her defiantly, while still acting like a child.
"Why? Can I at least learn about it? Don't you know that Noah and his sister can punch a tree repeatedly until it breaks. I want to learn it too, mother. It's so cool. How about this, I won't read those books anymore, but please teach me about that Circulation Method or whatever. I wanted to punch a tree too…"
In the beginning, she kept refusing.
But bit by bit, Kyren kept chipping away at her defense without ever giving up.
There were even times he refused to eat, only for his mother to spank him repeatedly.
By the end, it was not the spanking that made him eat, but because his goddamn stomach.
In his past life, he was a glutton.
And even till now, he was still a glutton.
It was hard enough to hold his mind and hands from choosing the cooked food products from EFC or Pizza Temple listed in the system.
And her mother's cooking somehow was also extremely irresistible.
It was unbearable and pure torture when she ate right in front of him without sharing, especially with that smirk of hers.
'Oh my god, I hope there is a pill for beauty and weight. I don't want to be fat anymore, but I can't seem to stop my appetite…' Kyren cried in tears while eating his food under his mother's satisfied gaze.
"Oh, oh. Mother's cooking is so good. Damn, it's a blessing, but also a curse now…"
Yet, when he eventually reached six years old…