MIGHT AS WELL BE OP Chapter 994: Memories-1
Previously on MIGHT AS WELL BE OP...
'Where am I?' Aaaninja Chronisynth Eternos wondered silently as his awareness sparked into an apparently boundless and perpetual void. He hovered in the air while reclining, and through a mere effort of will, he shifted his form, repositioning until his feet touched the 'ground' within this infinite blackness.
'Could this be some untouched area of my soul, or maybe my sea of consciousness?' he pondered inwardly. Aaaninja wouldn't pretend to grasp every secret of the soul. Even with his deep studies, prepared for any possible break from Time, that didn't make him its supreme expert, nor did it give him total command over its vast and puzzling mysteries.
Right as that idea crossed his mind, the ever-stretching darkness began to pull back gradually, shifting to a pure white expanse for an instant. Then the surroundings altered, with the 'ground' becoming calm water. Aaaninja watched the transformation calmly, his face showing no reaction. He stepped forward, and that motion created a soft ripple that spread out across the clear water's surface, extending endlessly in quiet, elegant patterns.
Aaaninja just kept walking. He had no idea how long he'd been moving in this place. Actually, who could say if he was really advancing at all, or if he'd stayed in one spot the whole time, his legs only simulating steps without any real progress. Yet Aaaninja stayed completely composed, refusing to panic or complain about his strange situation, his poise undisturbed by the baffling environment.
Time felt subjective. It dragged when you wanted speed, and rushed when you craved slowness. It ignored human senses, twisting based on viewpoint instead of fixed rules. So Aaaninja saw no point in tracking his time here. In the end, time might not even pass in this realm, or it could move in patterns beyond any normal understanding.
Following an indeterminable stretch—perhaps a moment, perhaps years, perhaps ages, perhaps eras—Aaaninja reached a massive wall that rose from the serene water underfoot, climbing boundlessly into the limitless white heavens overhead. This wall pulsed with powerful time waves and essence, so intense and thick that a mere glance might age weaker souls wildly or kill them instantly, their beings worn away by time's relentless decay. Yet Aaaninja Chronisynth Eternos felt no impact whatsoever.
Ever since discovering how Time itself favored him, even welcoming him into its River, Aaaninja had often speculated: if he quit cultivating now, would old age still claim him? As cultivators with lives spanning millions of years, he, Anthony, and even the Spirit King weren't True Immortals with endless existence that defied Time's ultimate rule.
A figure like Anthony, who had drained billions of years from the Second Supreme Monarch's lineage, would one day perish after outliving every bit of that borrowed life force. No matter how immense or unfathomable that span, it stayed limited under Time's unyielding grip.
Thus, Aaaninja Chronisynth Eternos couldn't resist questioning: would he, cherished by Time more than anyone, still fall to the very force that adored him? Would Time, which had cherished, led, and held him close, eventually be the power that wiped him from being? Aaaninja had no clue where this reflection came from. He wasn't fixated on living forever or scared of dying. He just felt intrigued. But even the River Of Time seemed incapable, or maybe reluctant, to provide an answer.
Letting out a breath free of dread or doubt, Aaaninja passed through the wall without pause. It wavered at his touch, as if acknowledging him, as if making way for him, as if it had been created just for his arrival alone. As soon as Aaaninja moved to the far side, the view shifted at once, and his gaze landed on what looked like Nyxss during her pregnancy with him.
Aaaninja observed how she beamed tenderly and caressed her belly with soft care each time, her face brimming with endless affection and eagerness. He saw Zachary come back from his travels and press his ear gently to Nyxss's abdomen, hearing the unborn Aaaninja's heartbeat in quiet awe, a warm, proud grin lighting his features.
The vision grew hazy as time sped up wildly, surging ahead unchecked, drawing near the birth itself. But unlike human births, the Celestial race followed a different path. When delivery neared, the mother would envelop in a cocoon of mana and an ancient energy drawn straight from the Celestial Solar System, a force predating all societies.
No male in Celestial history understood what happened inside that cocoon, for it was believed only women could grasp its secrets. Still, the men never questioned or worried about the mystery, content that their offspring always arrived safely without fail.
Indeed, in the Celestial Solar System, stillbirths were unheard of. Every birth had succeeded from the dawn of time, as if the Solar System protected its young with unbreakable assurance.
A few hours passed before Nyxss broke free, drained and weary, but her face glowed with infinite happiness as she cradled the tiny Aaaninja. His features were fine and charming, free from any toil or pain, with hair of spotless white, shining and pure. Zachary hadn't strayed from her since the process started, and he hurried over to his wife and child right away, his actions bursting with haste and delight.
"I hope the planet gives him a good name," Nyxss murmured gently while gazing at the infant Aaaninja in her grasp, her words laced with optimism and deep motherly love.
"I hope so too," Zachary answered earnestly. And as if answering their wishes right then, shining characters appeared on Aaaninja's chest.
Aaaninja Chronisynth Eternos
Nyxss and Zachary gazed at the name quietly. Zachary teased with a light chuckle that it was quite a handful, his voice warm with playful humor, but Nyxss quickly scolded him, insisting he not mock the name bestowed on their sole heir.
In the Celestial Solar System, the system itself aided births, and the birth planet would inscribe a child's name at arrival, as if affirming their role and essence in the cosmos.
Aaaninja watched his own birth in stillness. And though his recall was perfect, his senses sharp, and his intellect beyond mortal limits, he couldn't recall this event from his infant viewpoint, which made sense. After all, he'd just entered the world, and babies lack deep self-knowledge, their minds not yet developed enough for clear recollections.
The vision changed again as Aaaninja reached age five. He dashed about with tiny steps and gestures, his giggles bright and free as he frolicked without restraint. His eyes showed white with blue pupils, since he hadn't awakened his Eyes Of Genesis back then.
Though he hadn't unlocked them yet, the current Aaaninja noticed faint time essences swirling around his younger self, encircling him like unseen guardians, suggesting Time had always favored him even before his awakening, even prior to recognizing his own gifts and bond.
"Mom, look, I caught a bird," the little Aaaninja boasted happily, displaying the creature he'd seized himself to his mother. Though only five and untouched by mana, Aaaninja's power and body were already far beyond normal, his build and innate traits vastly superior, worthy of a Celestial blessed and valued by reality's core powers.