The Specialists had warned both Antrix and Kriti about Aavesh's condition - At first Glance he was fine - There was nothing major - except that quite a lot of the Vital essence or telomeres if you will was used and Aavesh was just a child.
Telomeres were often collectively called 'vital essence' in the New Age. They determined the Average Life Span of a mortal. On the Path to Living Mythic Powers Telomeres were crucial - They acted as this evolvable battery in the Cell DNA.
In short it was fuel for Evolution, if one did not have enough fuel, one could not complete the process and die midway.
There was also his soul, His compatibility with Regular aligned Mythic Power had dropped so hard - that they almost could not believe it.
Aavesh could not cultivate even if he wanted to - He had no choice. If he just maintained a good diet and regular Physical Exercises, He would be fine and live comfortably for his remaining Lifespan.
As for Lifespan extending Drugs - They were for Cultivating Mortals - Not for Ordinary Mortals. Even Aavesh's Attochip became dormant the moment he lost power.
Effectively, he could be called a cripple from now on. His Parents felt even more guilt at this.
The news broke their hearts - what could they tell their son now? That he could not cultivate Ever? If they had just been stronger and more vigilant - Maybe Aavesh would still have a chance... But now - They could not change a thing.
Mythic Power Affinity Enhancing Treasures were even rarer and Even if you had the massive amount of Capital needed to even purchase one - you could not get it.
Kriti sat down in tears - she knew how the world worked, If one did not have Power or backing - most people would simply look down on you - it would be very hard for Aavesh in the future. Antrix with a sad smile put his arm around her and pulled her in.
"I know what you are thinking Kriti, We'll find something in the future, No matter what they tell me - I won't give up searching, But we must focus on helping him adjust! We have to be there for him - especially now, If we lose hope then what about him? We must be strong - we'll find a way to live with this..."
But Kriti sobbed harder on his chest and spoke with self-blame,
"Antrix - We failed him - WE FAILED HIM! I do not know how to face him - He was OUR RESPONSIBILITY! We should've known, Now he will face-"
But Antrix cut her off with a gentle yet sad look in his eyes,
"Shhh, calm down - Somethings we can never know, we should be thankful that we got him back alive! This thing about power is always illusory - I know we need to cultivate but I married you for you and I wanted a child, not for the sake of power or inheritance but just a child I wanted to raise and dote on, - Just because he is powerless, does not make him any lesser."
Rayna came in on them, with a kind and comforting smile as she spoke,
"Both of you stop Blaming yourselves- Just be strong for him and learn from this- its all we can do-Life Goes on, Now go to Wards - He should be waking up now..."
They nodded in gratitude as they heard her finish and quickly left for the wards. Rayna sighed as she watched them leave. Traven walked up to her and spoke as he saw them leave,
"It will be hard for them to accept it at first, But it will be alright, As long as there is life - There is Hope"
"Traven, is there something we can do ?
"Not that I know of Rayna - Now it's not in our hands, We can only leave it up to Fate"
"But Fate Always Plays Tricks on the Best People..."
With that both turned silent for a few moments and left for the wards - Atleast they must be there to counsel their Disciples - Such matters were truly delicate to handle.
After nearly 2hrs, Aavesh slowly opened his eyes, He felt extremely ... weak and slow at first. All he could see was a hazy bright room with few his Parents standing on the side and discussing with worried looks on their faces. His mother then turned to look back at him, and gasped. She quickly placed her arm on his forehead with his dad holding his left hand and looking at him with concern and care.
As if a fog clearing, Aavesh felt his senses slowly regain clarity and focus and he got up and coughed a bit with his Parents giving him some space and his mother brought a glass of water and a few QNC(Quick Nutrient Castium) pills in her hand to feed him.
Aavesh took them without saying a word and the fatigue feeling around his body cleared up - but he still felt a bit slightly hollow for some Reason. He remembered the moment he rebelled against the Abyss - It literally began to melt him from the Inside and Irolin had stepped in to save him - helping him remove the Abyssal Filth from every portion of his Body.
It did have a price - Removing and reversing several changes made to the body seldom went well - In his case, He must a have lost quite a bit of Vital Essence while trying to remove it off.
Aavesh could see the worried looks on his Parent's Faces. He smiled back and tried to comfort them. But it just made them have more guilt in their hearts. He could tell something was up. It was then he realized when he tried to instinctively sense Mythic Power - The feeling just was not there anymore - Aavesh did not feel too surprised at it.
Irolin did say he would have 100 times the Difficulty in sensing Mythic Power Again. His future Mythic Power Cultivation would be incredibly tough. But it did not matter anymore - The Pain of Losing it did not match the Pain of Losing his family. If he cared so much about it - he would have chosen the Abyss, but he did not - He just wanted the simple pleasures and Happiness - Just some Peaceful Order in his Life.
As for becoming stronger, he would find a way - The Universe was a strange Place after all - anything was possible. He decided to comfort his parents first,
"Mom Dad, Don't worry I know - Lord Irolin told me what would happen, You don't have to worry too much - I chose this."
Both Kriti and Antrix were stunned,
"What!"
Aavesh rubbed his temples a bit and although it irked him a bit - He decided to Tell some of the Truth and make it sound believable, Obviously an ordinary mortal could only dream of lying to those that had begun Cultivation,
" Long Story - Short I was possessed by a Demon Lord - who wanted the memories in my head which was bestowed by a being I do not really know and I ended facing against Lord Irolin's Artifact which then helped to suppress the Demonic influence within me and kind of used my Body and the memories to Help Close the Rift"
Aavesh then sheepishly rubbed his nose as he remembered some of the 'high' level things he did at Visordin and felt a bit embarrassed as he continued to explain to the Stunned Silent Couple about what exactly happened,
" I was not quite myself throughout the whole incident and I may have done few things I normally would not do - I then went to Visordin and then you know the whole story - Lord Irolin, basically warned me when he appeared after the whole Obelisk thing - on what would happen if chose to be human or remain a Demon - I chose to be Human and Here I am - Simple right!"
"NO!"
"NO!"
Their Brains had been fried! What the Fuck! Memories from a Mysterious Being and a Demon Lord that wanted to covet them! An artifact of Lord Irolin and knowledge on how to close a Rift! This - This was too Goddamn Absurd! Unbelievable! Almost Nonsensical! Yet they chose to believe him because they were there when that Memory incident happened and they saw some evidence of something being wrong with his mind pool as well!
But they still did not know what to make of it! and this brat dared to call such Life Threatening events Simple! They would definitely scold and reeducate him when they got back home and show him the real meaning of simple!
They gave Aavesh an earful and barraged him with questions, Aavesh shrank his neck and obediently answered questions they asked about the whole series of Events... Luckily they did not ask questions that would expose certain controversial decisions he had made - There was no need to talk about that.
Aavesh smiled inside as he could see the concern and love in their eyes. Yes, this is what he came back for - Family.
Just then Rayna and Traven entered and smiled warmly at him. But upon seeing them Aavesh remembered a piece of important information regarding his siblings and the Perfect excuse of him being granted memories from a Mysterious being.
This information had to reach them no matter what - It concerned both Leo and Caria.
Rayna warmly patted his head while Traven bent down before him and sized him up before ruffling his hair,
"Good Brat - we overheard your conversation - don't worry only we heard it, It might be very unbelievable but we saw you had Irolin's blessing and you did not lie even one Bit, Damn you are crazier than I was at your age!"
Kriti quickly stepped in and spoke in an embarrassed manner,
"Aavesh these are My Masters and they are Your Grandmasters - so show them proper respect Like I taught You."
Aavesh quickly got of the Bed and touched their feet to pay his respects. It was an old tradition that was sort of passed down to show respect to the Elders and the Elders would acknowledge them by giving them their blessings! Some Families even used the old tradition of Kowtows to show respect!
They gladly blessed him and began to chat to make him feel comfortable. Aavesh's adventures sent chills down their spine as he explained it to them. Traven even patted Aavesh's back when he heard about the choice between Human and Demon, and spoke with his chest high,
"You acted Like real man brat - That's what real men choose - You are good in my book! I'll even take you drinking when you become of age- Oof"
Rayna sent a sharp elbow to his raised chest and cut him off in an Annoyed tone,
"Traven - NO TALKING ABOUT ALCOHOL IN FRONT OF CHILDREN! I swear I will PERSONALLY TURN YOU INTO A RABBIT AGAIN AND TIE YOU ABOVE A REPTILE LAKE! "
While he spoke and tried to placate his wife and behaved honestly.
"Dear please be gentle, I would never- I promise -..."
Looking at the Two weird but extremely strong Grandmasters fooling around, Aavesh wryly shook his head - Experts and their temperaments were weird but these two were a Good Kind of Weird.
But now he had to speak to them about his information. It was crucial.
"Grandmaster Rayna and Grandmaster Traven - We need to talk - It had to do with my Memories on My brother and Sister"
Listening to Aavesh speak, Both Kriti and Antriksh were alarmed - what was this about their Children?!
Traven and Rayna stopped fooling around and looked at Aavesh with a serious and a curious gaze,
"Huh?"