at the center of the Sun federation, a very ancient and powerful civilization of energy cultivators, spanning over seven galaxies, and with hundreds of different races living together, there was a very simple solar system formed by one sun and two habitable planets with no moons, the bigger one called Cronosh was the home planet of the giant race, while the other smaller planet called Verulus was a human planet, and also the official capital planet or heart of the Sun federation
and this day was one many will remember in the future, because suddenly from Verulus, a massive wave of energy swept through the entire sun federation and beyond like an intergalactic notification, and at the point of origin of said wave, a newborn baby was crying his first cry after he was gently spanked by the Obstetrician, in that exact moment many people and things had different reactions
in the hospital, the mother soaked in her sweat and tears had her worried eyes on the baby and the father who was happy until a few seconds ago while holding his wife's hand, was also looking worriedly at his only child
a giant on Cronosh looked towards Verulus, in the baby general direction then flew away
while the grandfather of the baby who was in the waiting room dashed towards the labor room
at the same time, a tender voice coming from Verulus orbit said to the grandfather "don't worry Vincent, there's no immediate danger, but the child has the affliction, you should bring him here as soon as possible, but for now, he's not in a life-threatening danger"
Vincent the grandfather immediately responded "thank goodness, give me an hour I'll bring him up" with a telepathic message to the owner of that voice, while entering the labor room, realizing at that moment, that he had some explaining to do, to his son and daughter in law
Vincent saw them and said "Joseph, Phoebe, the protector sent me a message, the baby has the affliction, but there's no immediate danger, you two should take a breath for now"
then he looked to the doctor and nurse and said "the rest of you should clean the baby and bring him back as soon as possible" the doctor and nurses immediately nodded and left without as much as a pep
in the meantime, the couple immediately sighed in relief, and Joseph asked "what was that energy wave? it's my first time feeling one so powerful"
Vincent took a few steps toward them and said "I'm not gonna lie, it's not a good thing, since it is so powerful it's guaranteed that we have to seal his ability to cultivate"
Phoebe was flabbergasted "what! are you sure?" in this day and age 99% of the Sun Federation citizen were cultivators, independent from which race they originally belonged, they were all tied by the cultivation of different energies and the struggle to reach immortality, so Phoebe couldn't fathom why her child had to suffer this injustice, even with the best medicine a normal human won't live more than a couple of thousand years
Vincent almost like he was reading her mind responded "it's not all bad, the suppression of the power from the seal will make him virtually immortal, like the other children with the affliction he won't age a day without the formation" in the meantime he was thinking "yes seal it's a seal don't ask too many questions"
Joseph had a look of relief, but then something started echoing in his mind "won't age a day ... won't age a day .. won't age a day." and asked "what do you mean by won't age a day?"
Vincent sighed and unwillingly explained "I forgot the affliction it's a mostly unknown phenomenon, the seal will block his aging by consuming the extra innate energy while inhibiting his ability to accumulate spiritual, or elemental energies, this is to protect him from the hidden power growing in his body, in the worst cases the child will never be older than 14 years old, or the power may go berserk and" after a few breathes he added "won't end well"
it's not like the affliction was news to them, but it was so rare for the incurable kind to appear that they never bothered about the details, after all, who knows diseases that affect 1 in a billion people apart from doctors and the few unfortunate victims and their families
at this point, the nurse came back with the baby cleaned and wearing a onesie, and Vincent said "anyway the nurse finished cleaning him up, let me bring him to the protector it won't take long and we can slowly discuss all details afterward"
the couple looked at each other and after Phoebe nodded to Joseph, he answered "ok dad, we'll wait for you at home" being cultivators giving birth was nothing, and with a healing spell everything would be fine, they originally went to the hospital just for the experience
after that Vincent took his grandson in his arms, and when he was about to go looked at the couple and asked somewhat grudgingly "will you finally tell me my grandson's name?"
the couple's continuous fight's over the name of their son had become famous between family and friends, sadly when a cultivator is at a higher level than the fourth stage, it becomes challenging to procreate as a punishment for their very long lifespans
since Phoebe and Joseph were at a much higher stage this may be their only chance to have a child, and because of that, the couple continuously discussed names, so much so that this baby had already had seventeen of them before being born
Phoebe looked at Joseph and laughed, forgetting her problems for a moment, and said "Daniel Z. specter" like she was anticipating the following question she continued and said "we kept fighting about the name, and since I have a good heart, I allowed a second hidden one"
watching speechlessly at his daughter in law Vincent muttered "ok" after all, it wasn't normal in the Sun Federation to have two names, much less a 'hidden' one, then he vanished in a flickering of purple and white lights
a moment later a handsome 50 something years old-looking man with jet black hair and purple irises, appeared with flashes of purple and white and a baby in his arms inside a very peculiar room
this room was always floating at the center of the triangle formed by Verulus, Cronosh, and the sun of this peculiar solar system
this was a really strange room in which the walls, the floor, and the roof were crystal clear, like glass, and let the beholder admire the infinity of space and the beautiful planets and sun of this solar system
in the middle of the room stood a white-marbled triangular table, obviously made for giants, some funny-looking chairs stood on one side, extremely high, made to fit a human-sized person on this gigantic table
on the other side a 30-meter-high man with a bald head and a big and luxurious Viking-style beard, dressed in a light blue simple tunic, was looking curiously at Vincent and the little Daniel
and on the last side of the triangle, a strange bright sun the size of the giant head was flashing red and gold colors
a moment later Vincent flew up to his seat, and making the little Daniel float he brought him to the center of the table, then said to the sun and the giant "lord protector, brother Obelix this is my grandson Daniel Z. Specter"
the same tender voice as before came out of the sun and said "it's a beautiful baby, with your permission I shall start the test"
after Vincent nodded, gentle rays of white light gleamed on Daniel and after a few seconds, before a shocked voice came from the sun "I'm sorry Vincent, this is the worst case we have ever seen, the power it's too much, I can't even tell how he mutated, if he grows older than 10 there isn't a curse strong enough to keep his power dormant, and since the curse needed it's much more powerful before he turns 10 years old, he has to nurture his soul, at least to the green level to avoid issues of the mind"
mental problems were the most terrifying to cultivators, they can regrow lost limbs and even organs, but a disturbed mind is very difficult to heal and many never recover completely
Obelix shocked blurted out "how is this possible the worst case recorded so far, effortlessly became 14 years old, without soul-nurturing"
almost as if Obelix stole the word's from Vincent's mouth, Vincent only nodded while waiting for an explanation, in his very long life it was the first time he had heard of a case like this one
sadly this rare affliction was more common in the children of cultivators at or above the sixth stage, for whom it was already almost a miracle to get pregnant
the protector suddenly changed form and from the sun a human-sized figure that could not be classified as male or female but was absolutely stunning with voluminous red hair and golden eyes slowly walked toward Daniel
and after taking him in hers/his arms then said "it's probably because both Phoebe and Joseph are forcingly keeping themselves in the seventh stage, the child of two peak-seventh stage cultivators it's extremely rare, the power in Daniel's body it's simply too much, even as a 10 years old without any effort cultivating he would at least be at the fifth stage, obviously the chance of him surviving long enough with all that raw power cursing throughout its less than zero"
the protector sighed and continued to explain "the real problem is that to protect his mind from the more powerful curse we need to use to save him, he will need to have a green soul, if he doesn't I can use the usual weaker curse but he can never become older than 7"
Vincent spoke lightly like whispering as he said "there's really nothing to do?" he knew the answer, but his heart was still bleeding for the child and his parents
the protector replied "of course, there's still a chance for him to cultivate like the others with the same disease, and he even has a talent for it, soul cultivation, as an exception I can give him my cultivation technique, if he forms his soul body at the colorless level, discarding the mortal shell he won't be one of you by flesh anymore, but he could cultivate like everybody"
in his/hers mind it thought "look at the size of his soul spark it's even bigger than mine when I started cultivating" while staring at Daniel with sparkling eyes
the protector was old, really old, much older than the already old Vincent and even older Obelix, but sadly soul bodies were completely unable to give birth to a new life, just like any cultivator at the eighth stage that had become a real immortal after being touched by the laws, lost completely the ability to procreate as a punishment for cheating natural death
the irony is that hers/his domain is the sun protector of life, even if he/she never had the chance to have a child of his own, and even when looking to adopt one, it was impossible to find one with a soul spark good enough to inherit the great sun soul-nurturing sutra leaving this great 10th stage cultivator without any heirs or disciples
at this moment Vincent said in a gentle tone, already knowing the protector's intention "senior Andrea I think Joseph and Phoebe would like to keep their only child, but he sure can learn a lot from an aunt or an uncle"
and Obelix replied "the role of the uncle is taken"
at this moment both Vincent and Andrea looked at Obelix and laughed, different from what many thought these three were actually friends even if the differences in age and stage were quite big
Andrea in response to the invitation changed slightly, becoming more feminine, and then smugly said "I guess I can give him the first part of the soul cultivation method and see how it goes, he's still too young to start cultivating anyway"
then she continued "enough chatter, I will need you two to inject power in the formation for the tenth stage curse, my clones are on the frontier keeping an eye on the hive movements, so I have to keep some energy reserves, and we have been talking for half an hour already Daniel will need to be feed soon"
shocked again both men shouted "TENTH STAGE" and Andrea replied "I told you already how powerful the energy is, don't shout or you'll scare him" said Andrea while cuddling the baby "now let's start, it will take at least one hour to finish"
an enormous formation started to shine with a black light on the white triangular table Andrea and the others were standing on, and she ordered "Obelix shrink more and enter the circle in front of you, then start releasing a constant stream of energy, Vincent you have to enter the square on your left and release small energy burst every time the rune beneath turns white, both of you should try your best to keep it purple I'll handle the rest"
Obelix went to the circle and started to release energy, when the circle turned purple he nodded while sweating bullets inside at the thought of having to keep going for an hour, at this point Vincent reached the square and when both of them were ready, they nodded to signal Andrea
that's when they noticed she had already started, the both of them smiled wryly at themselves and started to concentrate