GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

The moment he saw his wife after she arrived, he knew she had also been affected by the bloodline, but he was hoping its effects would be limited on her considering her level of strength. He was in denial for a while but this morning's events had shattered his hopes. Soverick had multiple elemental affinities and so does Mihila. It was now undisputable, a fact. And with it came the realization that his wife was going to die. They were not going to become eternal lifelong partners as he envisioned anymore. She was no realm lord, and even if she were her hopes of surviving would still be slim. The requirement to become the realm lord had been left unfulfilled for billions of years, it is a testament to the difficulty of creating a six-law concept which is still a walk in the park compared to Mihila's obstacle.

'Perhaps only the fabled true immortal realm can perform such a miracle. And to think all this could have been avoided if I didn't ask her to bear our children.' His mind became filled with thoughts of self-reproach and anguish. He blamed himself for what happened.

"Don't be like this. I know what you're thinking. It wasn't your fault." Mihila transmitted to him.

"But it is."

"Get a grip on yourself. Your children are watching and you look pathetic right now." He could sense disapproval from her.

"You're right. I should be strong for our children. We've already paid the price for having them."

"That's better. What does it matter if I am never going to become a sovereign of law? It is not as if I could have made it to this level safely without this bloodline anyways."

"Should I agree with that?" Ghoto asked with a small smile. He had learned that sometimes, a simple comment can be a trap.

"It doesn't matter if you agree or not. The truth remains that we are not particularly talented, the chances of us becoming immortal are minuscule in the first place. We were going to die sooner or later, so let us cherish the time we have left together."

"You're right. We should cherish each other instead. You are my rock." Ghoto gripped her hand.

The survey continued while Ghoto was coming to grips with the reality of losing his wife. The supervisor realized that something serious was going on with the pair of adults. He ordered everyone to give them some space and to maintain silence. So when the officers noticed another abnormal detail in the data they made sure to make the matter known to the supervisor without drawing much attention. The data indicated that Soverick's soul showed elevated levels of activity. They had seen a lot of strange things in their lives but they still couldn't make out what the data meant. The machine's job was to present data, their job was to make interpretations and offer targeted advice that would take advantage of the information they got. In the case of soverick, the data was strange and it was just not adding up. It seemed like something was missing to explain the phenomena they were seeing. There were just a lot of unanswered questions. A boy his age and level of strength should not be showing any soul readings at all because he hadn't awakened his spirit. But here he was, with an elevated soul activity.

"We will wait until everything is over before making a decision. Something might still come up to explain our doubts away." The supervisor said to the officers. The officers agreed with him. That was how they usually do things anyway. The machine will work, they will make sure everything is going well, then they will present the information to the parents after the survey. If only that one officer had done his job and hadn't called their attention to the anomaly in the vitality readings. But they couldn't blame him either, he was just doing his job. The deviations in the data might have been an indication of something going wrong.

They didn't have to wait long. The machine beeped to indicate that the evaluation was done. The officers swiped and pressed some runes in quick succession and Soverick was ejected. Then they started undoing the straps and belts. Soverick stood up and looked around. His face remained expressionless despite the glaring stare from everyone.

"Can I go now?" He asked.

The supervisor couldn't believe his sight, he was at a loss. This was not the behavior he expected from someone bursting with vitality. If the Soverick was full of energy and jumping around he would be able to attribute his behavior to his vitality levels. But the seemed bored out of his mind.

"What?" Soverick asked in irritation. They were just looking at him. The stares were odd enough but no one answered his question. Mihila could have at least rejected him like she always does. Their behavior was totally out of character and he suspected why, but he would continue to act clueless.

The supervisor was intrigued. He wanted to strip the boy and get to the root of the matter. He stopped his desire short in its tracks when he remembered who the parents of the boy were. He would have to ask for permission from them and there was no way either of the parents would give him permission for any invasive investigation. He would be content if they would permit a short physical examination.

"Can I examine him up close?" He asked Ghoto and Mihila.

"We will join you," Ghoto said.

"Is this going to take long? I don't have so much time to waste." Soverick complained in a bid to avoid the probes that he knew would follow after they discover the peculiarities about his body. There was little chance of them discovering anything that the machine hadn't discovered but he was not willing to take his chances. He would rather reduce the risk no matter how small than underestimate them.

The supervisor agreed. "That's true. This should not delay the entire process." He said before ordering the officers to continue the evaluation of the remaining two children. He resumed his predatory march towards Soverick. Soverick signed and resigned himself to the inspection that followed.

"How are you feeling?" Ghoto asked in concern.

"I feel like you should stop touching me."

"I mean are you alright?"

"I will be if you stop touching me."

Ghoto was getting exasperated with his lackluster replies but he didn't give up.

"We are concerned about you, your cells are producing too much vitality."

His question clued Soverick that they hadn't discovered any serious issues with him.

Their physical inspection had also yielded nothing. They couldn't find out much about his body. It was all due to the law fragments in his body, they distorted usual inspection methods, especially those that are carried out by divine sense. Only a powerful divine sense on the level of a sovereign has any chance to even come close to the results of the life surveying machine. Right now, they can't tell his vitality apart from his muscle mass.

"Well don't be concerned about me. It's none of your business. I know what's going on with my body. It's not as if your concern has any usefulness." He replied. He hasn't fallen so low that they would be able to help him with something that he could do with his eyes closed.

"You know about your condition?" The supervisor was surprised.

"You must tell us immediately," Mihila ordered. Her commanding tone peeved Soverick. He wanted to say, "You're not the boss of me." But he also wanted them to stop with the divine sense probes. It was uncomfortable and plain disrespectful. So he decided to throw them a bone but they must work for it.

"If you stop touching me I'll tell you." He said. Mihila and let go while the supervisor was reluctant to. It was until they glared at him before he let go too.

"Fine, but you must tell us immediately. No delays."

"I am breaking through to the vitality core stage. That is why my vitality levels are high."

"That doesn't sound right. What stage are you in?" Mihila was confused by the answer.

The process of breaking through to the vitality stage consisted of two stages. The passive and the active stage. The passive stage involves accumulating enough vitality to kick-start the active stage, it is accompanied by the constant production of vitality by the cells. The passive stage is incredibly slow and takes the most amount of time to complete, the time can be shortened with the use of items with spiritual medicine. The active stage involves the funneling of the accumulated vitality into the creation of the core. It is quick and takes hours in a normal case or less than that, as in the case of the presence of an assisting bloodline. Unlike the passive stage, it has a chance of failure, but the chances of success can be improved with the use of items filled with vitality or life energy. Each failed attempt will cause permanent damage to the cells which will lead to the loss of vitality. The cells can be replaced but that will mean a return to the passive stage. Soverick's answer confused them. Either he was wrong or his body was carrying out the two processes at once.