"Lucy, who was Lilith?"
"She is my great ancestor, and this is her artifact." Lucy pulled out a pendant from around her neck. "They say her soul and spirit stored within the necklace."
Lucy's face drooped a bit. It looked like it was more of a burden than a blessing to Leo.
"Since I was young, I have received flashes of memories that weren't mine. The blessing is I receive memories of martial arts I've never used before. It allows me never to hit a bottleneck in cultivation."
"Does everyone in your family receive these memories?"
"No. It skips two generations and is given to the first female born. The baby girl will react to the locket, and then a golden glow will envelop them. Because I was born with 'the blessing,' I was given the name Lucifer Nightengale."
Lucy's tone told Leo that this was not an easy topic for her to talk about. "Lucy you don't have to continue."
"It is fine Leo. Everyone else already knows." She sighed then picked up where she left off. "From what my father told me and the Nightengale family book, I know my ancestor was a Paragon many many years ago. She was a god among men. The day she was supposed to ascend with her father and mother, her father struck her down. The attack caused her to lose cultivation. To this day she doesn't know why she was attacked, but it is our families mission to avenge her and kill her father."
"Whoa, I have so many questions." Leo looked perplexed and asked, "what is a Paragon? What does it mean to ascend? How long ago did this happen?"
Lucy smiled. She realized that Leo knew nothing. "A Paragon is a person who is blessed to be able to use all the elemental arts. Ascending is when a Construct level breaks the limits of this universe and enters the universe of the immortals and gods."
All the talk about ancient mythology clicked for Leo. The relics from the old building spoke of gods and great myths. Sprite used to translate all of these stories and told them to him before bed. A warm feeling came over him when he thought of Sprite and his stories.
"I don't know exactly when this happened, but it was long ago. It was when Lilith's father gave earthlings cultivation techniques, and the humans became the dominant species."
Leo nodded. Then Leo remembered that mana only appeared two hundred years ago. "If Lilith was a cultivator, how did she cultivate mana when there was none?"
"Mana only disappeared several hundred years ago. For some reason, the universe no longer was able to hold on to it. Through research, we found out the immortals and gods were stealing our mana for themselves."
"Then how did we get mana back?"
"About 200 years ago, a god by the name Zeus descended to our plane and sacrificed himself to erect a barrier around our solar system."
"Oh, sprite told that Zeus was the god of storms in Greek mythology."
"Most myths were based on true men who cultivated martial arts and mana. Because of Zeus, our mana was no longer stolen from us. That is the exact reason the races all over the realm occupied the planet by force. We were the first group of planets to keep our mana. Zeus' sworn brother in arms Hermes descended about ten years ago to fight off the races coming to earth."
For some reason when Leo heard the name Hermes he felt like he knew him. Some karma was tugging on his brain making him think they did meet somehow. But when would have Leo meet a God?
"The Draconian used their powerful technology and Leader to defeat Hermes. The day he died was the day the earth was no longer for us Earthlings."
"I was just a kid, but Sprite and I coined that day as the day the sky fell."
"However you call it, it was a sad day for us humans. My family was the only one who continued cultivation throughout the years. This is also why Uncle Reiner, who you haven't met yet, is so strong. He was training before mana returned." Lucy said very proudly. She always felt safe when around her uncle.
Leo saw Lucy proud grin but still wondered something. "Wait a minute Lucy, how did your uncle cultivate before mana?"
"That is a family secret, Leo. I'm afraid if you knew you might think different about my family. Just know we did so we would be ready for this day." After that last sentence, the room became awkwardly quiet.
Leo had so many questions, but he felt, after that last one, he shouldn't ask anymore. Gazing into Lucy's blue eyes, he would change the subject of her family. "So what makes something an artifact."
"Well, artifacts get made several ways. Take Hope, for instance. She is a basic hand-made artifact. She was made with the intent to be one. Some artifacts become one just by being used by cultivators or warriors. Sometimes very rarely mana brings objects to life all on its own."
Looking down at Sprite, Leo said," do you think Sprite was an artifact?" The first step in repairing Sprite is figuring out what he was.
"Leo, I honestly don't know, but if he was like you say he was, then he was a high-level artifact." Lucy didn't want to give Leo much hope. After looking at the bracelet, she knew it was one. When she made mana touch it, it gave her the feeling of a godly being, one that was at least at the Construct level. "An artifact at that level will be an endeavor to repair."
"Lucy, I understand that, but I'll do anything to repair him." Leo's straightforward gaze made her gulp. This wasn't like when Hiro promised to defeat all monsters this was more than rage. It is blissful ignorance. The fleeting dream of a boy who doesn't know what he's asking. Lucy didn't have the heart to tell him, that even if he is repaired Sprite he knew will never return.
Lucy frowned and couldn't put any words to say. Leo eventually caught on and changed the subject again. They talked for hours until it was time for Leo to rest.
"I'll be back tomorrow, Leo. Don't go anywhere." With a chuckle and a smile, Lucy walked out of the room.
"Don't worry. I won't be moving any time soon." Leo sat up all the way to watch her leave but cringed a bit from the pain. Even with Hope and the doctors, it would take a bit for Leo to heal fully.
Leo started to circulate his mana to try to speed up the recovery process. After this last mission, he realized how weak he really is. Also, he needs to learn a lot more to find a way to save sprite.