"Brother..." a soft voice rang out to Spark's left side.
"Hm?"
Spark opened his eyes and rubbed them with a yawn.
Dawn has already arrived, and daylight broke through the curtain of the night. Birds were singing melodies of spring, and left a refreshingly nostalgic atmosphere in the air.
It was so serene that he almost forgot how drastically his life changed.
When he saw who was laying next to him in bed, though, memories of the last day flooded his mind almost instantaneously.
Kiana murmured quietly in his bed, leaving her own empty.
She kept calling her brother's name in her sleep. It was very apparent that they shared a bond.
With a complicated expression on his face, he decided.
"Let's let her sleep."
Spark stood up, opened the window and stretched his limbs. Outside he saw three big oak trees surrounding a patch of lush grass. Next to it was a quiet sandy walkway.
"It's my second day here. Let's get to business."
He mulled over his options before quickly deciding on the most obvious and interesting choice.
'First... let's find out the best approach to start Cultivation!'
'I've got two Spirit Crystals.'
'... Yeah, that's it.'
His eyebrows furrowed subconsciously.
'I'm lacking Cultivation Techniques and don't have a clue about Cultivation in general.'
'...Except for the knowledge Joey shared, which was... yes, let's research a bit more in depth.'
'Body Foundation Realm, was it? I'd imagine you'd have to train your body...'
He chuckled with a nod.
'In any case, let's do a quick workout. Can't hurt.''
Spark pondered a bit, before quietly voicing his thoughts, "Joey... should I pay him a visit after?"
Leaving the bedroom, he entered the living room and a wonderful scent hit his nose immediately.
What's more is that he recognized the smell easily. Since he often had it on Earth.
"Eggs and bacon?"
He arched his eyebrows.
'Do they have chickens and pigs here or are these from different animals?'
Sona sensed his arrival and greeted him cheerfully, "Good morning darling, are you hungry?"
A bit uncomfortable by being called darling at his age, he limited himself to a nod and a succinct reply, "Good morning. Very much."
Spark tried his best to force a smile along with the greeting.
"Alright sit down, I'll fix a plate for you. It seems we are the only ones up at this time."
"It is fairly early in the morning," he responded leisurely, commiting himself only to a casual chat.
"Are you feeling weird?" the mother asked without turning around.
Spark shaked his head politely, "I am feeling fine."
"I am sure the memories will return sooner or later, so don't think too much and treat this as home."
A smile hushed over his lips when he felt the consideration What a wonderful mother.
"I will."
"Here, eat up!" Sona said sliding a plate over to him. On it were bacon, eggs, a buttered slice of toast and saucy white beans as sides.
"Enjoy! Love goes through the stomach first and foremost." she added with a hearty laugh.
It felt warm and just right to join in on her laughter.
"You might be right!"
After a short moment of silence, when the laughter died down, Spark became serious.
"Mother! I am going to become a Cultivator!"
He said resolutely with a confident attitude.
Théo made up his mind. He was in Spark's body, and would dedicate his time and resources towards becoming a Cultivator.
It was vital to tell his mother about his plans, because the entirety of his focus will lie solely on this endeavour for now. There was no place for indecisiveness or useless meddling. His new family should know about it first and foremost.
"You ... want to become a Cultivator ... even after you lost your memories?"
The mother was speechless for a while.
"How can you forget everything else, your mother your father your sister, but not your Cultivating dreams? Do you even know how dangerous it is? Let me explain..."
A tinge of worry and anger could be heard in her voice. It seems that former Spark also had aspirations to cultivate, which she never approved.
On second thought, this it was understandable. Spark still didn't know too much about Cultivating, but both Jessie and Joey both underlined how arduous the life of a Cultivator is.
Spark believed that those weren't just empty words either.
When there is something to gain, there will be a fierce competition for it. And it seems the competition in the Cultivating World is merciless and unforgiving.
He understood all these facts. But he was a risk-taker in the past life and that wouldn't change in the next one. There was a massive difference between careless daredevils and calculated risk-takers.
Business magnate Théo Floga definitely belonged to the latter category.
He put his spreaded hands on the table and looked at her with honest eyes, burning with determination.
"No, I know about the risks and have decided."
"Yesterday, while I sauntered the streets, disoriented and without a clue of who or where I am, I came across a Cultivator."
"We had a long and deep talk and that is how I came to know about the Cultivation World. I am sure of it. I will start Cultivating. Who would not take this gamble? And as far as I can tell, I am starting pretty late. For me, it's now or never. Amnesia or not, I must take the chance."
Sona turned around and showed Spark her back to hide her expression. With a quivering voice she uttered her doubts.
"You can't just decide it like this. I can't help but worry! I will have to talk with your father first."
"Sure. I'm going out for some fresh air. I'll be back in the evening at the latest."
He gobbled down the rest of the food and stood up, "Thank you for the meal," he said with a bow and in the blink of an eye he had already left the house.
"Still as impatient as ever..." Sona chuckled hoarsely. A complicated expression painted her face as she grabbed Spark's plate to wash it.
* * *
The–now young man– Spark was sitting on a brick wall somewhere inbetween the outskirts and the slums. Sweat pearled down his temples after finishing a couple of exercises.
Now that a goal has been identified, he needed to formulate a plan to reach it. These were the most basic, but key points for success.
Cultivating was an alien concept to him, and he had no idea how to efficiently approach it. Due to some twisted luck, he received three Spirit Crystals from City Lord Orald for helping with the rescue of the outskirt's inhabitants.
It was an arbitrary occurence. He couldn't count on the same thing happening again. There are no freebies in the world. He digested that fact at the very beginning of his rise in the economic world.
Out of the three crystals, there were only two crystals left by now, since he, too, arbitrarily made the decision to gift one away to Joey, the bartender. It happened in the spur of the moment, and Spark did not regret it at all.
Joey praised the value of Spirit Crystals to the heavens, but how much could these crystalline minerals really be worth if someone gifted them to him nonchalantly?
He felt no loss in that transaction. It was a net plus from the very beginning.
Having Joey on his good side would reap far more benefits in the long run. He definitely had to depend on him in the near future. After all, he was an alien to this world and its workings.
It was simply sowing seeds for the future.
The burly barman was very close to becoming a real Cultivator!
He said so himself.
Currently stuck in the Peak of the Body Foundation Realm, Joey was a step away from opening up a new world!
Spark started arranging his thoughts regarding the Realms of Cultivation, and Joey's situation when he suddenly heard shouts echoing in the distance.
Somehow, they sounded both furious and nervous, but mostly... out of breath.
"Hey catch that dirty kid!"
"Don't let the brat escape."
Spark turned into the direction of the shouts. It seemed...
They were right around the next corner?
"Hm? What's going on there."
A young kid of maybe eleven years turned around the corner and speeded towards him.
A little girl hiding behind the ruffles of her jet-black hair. Rugged breathing resulted from her wholehearted attempt at running away.
Clearly, she was the person of interest in this back-alley chase.
Spark became intrigued as to why two, presumably grown adults, were chasing a little girl around. Judging by the tone of their shouts, they didn't seem to have any friendly intentions either.
So as a tactful gentleman, Spark felt the responsibility to give the black-haired kid a helping hand.
"Hey kid, come here," Spark whispered in a hushed tone.
By now, she was already very close to him and within a couple breaths, there were two men stumbling around the corner in the distance. Both had labored breaths and were sweaty all over.
Their rags were drenched in perspiration and staid scowls sat under the transparent sweat diaphragm.
When they turned their glance into the street, they saw a sweating young man doing a set of push-ups on the ground.
"Did you see a girl just now?" the fatter one asked with a menacing look, while packing the young man in front of him by the shoulder.
"Don't touch me," Spark retorted and slapped the hand from his shoulder, before adding in a sophisticated and honestly, slightly exalted tone, "Where are your manners?"
"STOP FUCKING AROUND KID!" the glutton screamed nervously, his expression exposing the inner chaos of his mind.
The thinner one, who was surrounded by an air of artifice, interrupted the glutton's fit of rage calmly and pulled him a bit out of range, "Hey, Bilo stop screaming. Let me deal with this."
The choleric composed himself rather quickly, before agreeing on the spot with a slightly lowered face, "Okay Milo."
The thinner one of the twin brothers, presumably, cleared his throat and began explaining the situation tersely. This time around, with a far calmer and polite attitude than Bilo.
"A girl just ran by, right? You have to know that this thief stole a very precious ornament from our late mother and we really cannot let this matter go. Can you be so kind and show me the direction she ran off to, please?"
'Almost believable... Heh, this one is clever. Spark thought with an inward smirk before voicing his doubt.'
"Oh? How could it be possible for a kid to steal something so precious from two grown men?"
A vein popped on Milo's head but he still kept his cool and continued the trope.
"She snatched my pouch when I accidentally left it on the front steps of our home. The knot around my waistband must have been too lose, and unraveled. My damn foolishness... I only realized it when I saw her speeding off with it.
"As I said it is a dear memento of our mother that I always keep on me, no matter what. I am sure you are also a man of virtue and can't bear to see such a young kid falling into depravity. A kid of that age should be taught decorum and morals, lest she ends a criminal! So please, understand our position, and point towards the place she ran to."
Milo's monologue sounded so convincing that Spark was stunned for a moment.
It was fine on its own, but Milo delivered it with sorrow in his voice. Even Spark was swayed.
It would explain their nervousness and anger, and he actually pondered about blowing her cover, but something about the two irked him the wrong way, so he decided to observe the situation first.
"I see... I didn't know," the young man lowered his gaze and gave the two adults a compassionate look, "I haven't considered that possibility. I almost thought of you as kidnappers... Of course she should be taught decorum! A respectful person should never steal from the innocent! Sadly, I lost sight of her after she entered the alley over there."
"Let's chase after her, brother. Or the boss is gonna kill us!" Bilo said with a nervous look before covering his mouth when he realized his mistake.
'Boss? Hah-'
Spark was speechless.
'Did that fool just say boss?'
Milo stared at his brother in incredulity. All his talking and convincing, even inventing the sad backstory, just for his own foolish brother to make a careless mistake.
Luckily, he had already obtained the necessary information, but his demeanour changed instantly, like a chameleon, leaving him staring skeptically at Spark.
"Hm, did she really run off, I wonder?"
Milo looked like he either caught onto something or just scrutinized Spark to see if he detects any flaws in his behaviour. To the lithe gangster's dismay, Spark put on an unreadable expression.
Casting a glance left and right, he noticed the wooden boxes leaning against the wall. Spark had used them earlier to climb up the brick wall he sat on, and to perform a couple of exercices.
All of the boxes missed a lid and were either empty, or filled with miscellaneous materials like sand or rocks.
Only a single box stood out like a sore thumb. It still had its lid covering the top. It certainly was big enough to fit a young girl inside.
With two big steps Milo arrived at the box with an expectant face and ripped the lid off the box forcefully, just to find... bricks?
He snapped his tongue in dissatisfaction.
"Tsk, let's hurry before she runs too far."
Milo didn't pay more attention to the young man and soon vanished out of sight. Whatever she had stolen must have been very valuable, judging by their 'boss' reaction upon failure.
The young man shaked his head with a sigh.
"They left... You got something to tell me ?"
Spark uttered to the air, before jumping onto the box and climbing the brick wall to take a look on the other side of the wall. The black-haired girl sat with her hands covering her mouth, in her best attempt to control her rugged breathing.
Noticing Spark's gaze, she looked up and they made eye contact. Tears and snot were running rampant and overflowed, but what suprised Spark the most were the oceanic bottomless eyes on her gaunt face.
A strange shimmer made them resemble the surface of a frozen lake.
"Wow~ How rare." he said subconsciously.
"Huh?" the little girl squeaked.
Noticing that he had said his thoughts out loud, Spark shook his head and jumped off the brickwall to land on the other side.
"Forget about it. Let's get to a safer place, before those bad uncles return, what do you say?"
The girl nodded timidly and they started pacing towards the opposite direction of where Milo and Bilo went, until they reached the end of the slums and entered a wide plain with mounds and hills and countless lonely trees. Under the shade of one of the trees, which resembled the lushest beeches back on Earth, they sat down and Spark looked at her silently, waiting for an explanation.
Finally, the girl curtsied in a clumsy but polite manner, "Thank you very much and nice to meet you."
"Forget about it. No need for such formal gratitude. Say, what exactly were those guys after?"
Spark scratched his chin and ventured:
"For them to search so desperately... it must be quite the item."
He glanced at her playfully.
"Don't tell me... you really stole their family heirloom?"
Not amused, or perhaps not grasping Spark's humor, the girl cried out as if someone stabbed her with a knife.
"THAT'S NOT TRUE! THEY ARE THE THIEVES. THEY WANTED TO STEAL FROM ME. I WASN'T ..."
"Alright, alright, I was just joking... I believe you. Stop crying."
Théo was stunned and patted her head in order to calm her instinctively.
Waiting a moment, he asked in a soft manner.
"What exactly happened? Take your time to explain."
"I-t's ... it's all my fauuult."
The girl sobbed in a high-pitched groan, dragging her words in exasperation. It sounded like her world crumbled apart in front of her eyes and it seemed she would start whining again until her eyes widened at a sudden thought.
Her demeanour changed a bit, she calmed down and suppressed the sobs, but the words she could muster to speak were barely audible.
"They took away my dad because of something he has, and they want that. You need to help him!"
Straining his ears to discern the indiscernable, he gave a perfunctory reply.
"So why didn't you just give it to them? I believe it's worth much less than your lives!"
The blue-eyed girl shook her head wildly and retorted his statement.
"Daddy said that this item should never be given away, no matter what what happens. It is our only shot at success."
Spark gave her an incredulous look. He didn't know, what item she could possibly possess, but it had to be valuable enough to risk your life for. Suddenly, he became very curious.
"Your only chance for success? What is it?"
"I shouldn't show it to anybody ..." she mumbled in between sniffs while looking at Spark a little more cautiously than before.
"Don't you think its a little too late for that now? I can't help you if you don't clear up your situation first. Shouldn't you at least do that much if you want to receive help from another person?"
Spark decided to play the role of an authorative and reliable adult to make her reveal the identity of the mysterious item. He didn't have any malicious thoughts or ulterior motives. It was just to satisfy his curiosity.
It seemed that this item had landed them straight into muddy waters. The father was kidnapped, and the daughter was chased around the slums like a rabid dog.
As for helping... he had to learn more about the situation first.
Of course he would prefer to help, if possible. But it was just his second day here! He had no strength, no resources and no connections.
If the situation seemed truly hopeless, he would not think twice about turning his back on the danger. He wouldn't lose his life in vain, on the second day of being reborn.
A pity for the child and the father, but that was also fate after all.
"I-...I don't..." the girl stammered hesitantly.
Casting a gaze onto Spark's face she saw a confident and trustworthy expression and decided to lower her defenses in the end. She really wouldn't know where to find another helping hand and the young man in front of her already saved her once, so it was almost safe to say that he had no malicious intentions.
Except if... if he was an ingenious machiavellian schemer. Then the situation could develop in a very, very bad way, but the little girl wasn't old enough to see that deeply into human finesse yet.
She pulled a tattered old textbook out of an inwarldy sewn compartment of her cream-colored brown robe. It didn't seem to be in the best condition, but at the very least it was not completely destroyed. Spark's gaze fell onto the black words on the cover, which were bordered by hazy grey and white clouds.
'Clearing Cloud Circulation Arts'
"This is... a Cultivation, no... Circulation Technique?" Spark gulped. He hasn't heard about the word circulation yet, but he would've been a moron not to realize that it was a key part in cultivating Spiritual Energy.
A textbook containing such vital knowledge must be priceless. No wonder she was chased so vehemently.
Spark composed himself and asked her further, "This belongs to your father?"
The young girl twitched upon hearing the word 'father' and nodded, "Yes... He told me it was a gift from a long time ago. Someone gifted him the technique as thanks after being saved by a herb he had gathered when he was wandering the forest."
"He wanted me to learn it when my body was stronger, since he wasnt able to himself, but now... If only I kept my stupid mouth shut," she confessed in a self-deprecating manner, ending her sentence in the beginning of a sob.
"I understand ... greed can turn even the most virtuos person into a wicked beast," Spark nodded in sympathy, "So these people somehow came to know that your dad is in possession of the Cultivation Arts."
She nodded in agreement before explaining her blunder, "My friends wouldn't believe me when I said I was going to become a Cultivator in the future, so... it just slipped out. And because of that the Mad Dog came to know about it and captured father..."
'Mad Dog? ... That sounds like trouble.'
"Tell me, what am I supposed to do ?" the girl grabbed Théo's hand tightly and looked gazed at him with a pair of marine blue eyes, expecting him to know the answer to all of her difficulties.
"What a dilemma," Spark sighed.
He empathized with her, but didn't know how to help right away either.
He thought about how he would feel if someone tried to rob his family and take them hostage, back on Earth, and a seething anger rose in his heart at the mere thought. Inexplicable, three familiar, but simultaneously unfamiliar, blurry faces also came to mind when he thought about the hypothetical scenario.
Then he slowly stood up and faced her with his back.
"What's your name?" Spark suddenly asked.
The little girl responded curtly:
"My name is Tali."
The young man nodded and turned around to reveal a slight grin.
"So it's Tali... It's a pleasure to meet you. You may address me as Spark."
Before waiting for her reply, he immediately added:
"Sadly, I haven't made many aquaintances yet, but perhaps... I happen to know just the right one."