I lay in bed, gently caressing Luna's hair as she slept beside me, with Lila using her chest as a pillow.
Lila got along wonderfully with Luna, and I think it was good for her to have the company of another woman. She never had that until Elaria came along, but that relationship just isn't the same.
Time really moves too fast. Before I knew it, 7 months had passed, and I felt I should leave, even as reluctant as I was.
I don't want to take so much time having fun that the girls grow old. When they reach the immortal realm, we can spend as much time together as we want before going to the next sphere.
I had taught Luna a good cultivation method and fed her enough crystals that she caught up to us.
She was quite resistant to a servant helping her for a while but eventually grew to expect folded clean clothes, a cup of tea when she woke up, and meals. She still won't let Nona dress her though. She got somewhat used to Lila having her fun and now gets slightly less embarrassed.
Luna grew bolder in what she did but still did much of it with a pink face.
Elaria taught Nona well and also brought her cultivation to the peak.
I also found out the spell Elaria uses on my servants that doesn't allow them to feel much from my touch, doesn't have any effect if the touch is from another with the same spell applied.
I sighed and slowly got up. Lila didn't wake up since she was clung to Luna rather than me.
I grabbed my cup of tea from the nightstand and dressed before walking out of the room and to the dining room downstairs.
When I reached there, I found Nyla just finishing putting breakfast on the table.
"Would you like me to refill your tea Sir?"
"Not yet."
I sat down and began eating the steak Elaria had cooked for me; she made oatmeal for Luna and toast for Lila. The things we each liked. She once made eggs for me, and I ate them, but thankfully she never made them again; I've never liked eggs.
About 5 minutes later, the girls came downstairs followed by Alexis and Nona a little ways behind. Lila wasn't wearing any clothes, and Luna only wore a very long shirt.
Lila came right over, sliding onto my lap and pulling her plate over, replacing my empty one.
Luna sat down in her usual spot next to me, and they started eating.
"I think I should go to the next world. At the next world level, you can reach the Quasi-Immortal realm, and that would be good for you."
They looked a little sad but understood that I needed to leave, and I would be back.
"I'll increase this world's level as I can, so start cultivating while I'm gone."
Luna answered, "We'll cultivate diligently so we have more time together when you're back again."
I nodded and purchased something I'd worked a while talking Kitty into adding to the shop, holding it under the table.
I slid it against Lila's slit then pressed it inside; she paused eating and reached down, "What is that?"
I slid her off my lap and onto her own seat before getting up; she was examining the thing sticking out of her.
I opened the door to exit my world, turned around and answered, "A replica," then blew a kiss to Luna and stepped through, shutting it behind me.
'Alright, Kitty, let's go.'
I felt a drain on my energy, and a black hole appeared in front of me.
[You know what to do.]
I nodded then realized she couldn't see; ah, whatever.
I stepped inside, hoping I wouldn't end up in some woman's bathroom. Less than a second later, I felt my back hit the ground, and a bright sun blazed into my eyes.
The first thing I noticed was it felt as though the power of my cultivation and mana core were halved.
I was still at the same realm, but I couldn't exert the correct amount of power. The same goes for my magic.
'Kitty, what's wrong with my power?'
[Power systems using lesser energy will be halved when the world level increases. You pretty much just have to fill it back up since the realm doesn't drop, though.]
'You said power systems using lesser energy as a base; does that mean there is one that uses energy?'
[Yours]
'Will you explain a little more? I'm stupid, remember.'
[Ok then, you can use energy rather than lesser energy for skills like you do devour and invisibility. You just have to create them. Also, that body forging manual is only for you as it uses energy, and eventually, you will form a pure energy body with it. Speaking of which, you should do the second chapter now.]
I think I get it now; I didn't really know how to use my energy properly and have been using the lesser energy instead that isn't even as good.
My fingers felt sand, and I sat up looking around.
The sand was reddish-orange as far as I could see; there wasn't so much as a dead bush, and the sun was tinted red.
'Kitty, what world is this?'
[Mortal 3.182QPS30, this world has no life. Not even microorganisms.]
'Why isn't there life here?'
[Governments profited too much from war; they started wars at any chance they got and used them to make money and stay in power. Eventually, the people got sick of it and revolted. The governments panicked when the people almost won and launched too many bombs. The resulting devastation made the planet's ecosystem too damaged and unable to sustain life, let alone the nuclear fallout also.]
'So is there anything that I need to be careful of here? Like zombies?'
[Don't fall off a cliff]
I'll take that as a no then…
Since there was nothing to worry about, I started devouring, not worrying about anything else.
---
After a few months, I decided to do the second chapter of body forging and take a break from devouring.
I sat down and pulled out the manual.
The second chapter was on getting the body up to the level of the brain from the first chapter.
Currently, the body's responses can't keep up with the brain's signals and can lag behind a bit. I never really noticed this, but I also never really pushed myself to do something at maximum speed.
It also prepares the body for having parts of it become a pure energy body.
The later chapters would start changing parts of the body into the pure energy body.
A pure energy body is exactly what it sounds like. When I first read about it, I got scared thinking I would never have a body that I could touch something again, but my fears were quickly dispelled. A person with a pure energy body can easily condense a physical body.
I closed my eyes and began sending my energy into my bones except spine and skull. I sent it in waves, crashing against them, slowly and steadily tempering them to be able to withstand energy.
When it no longer had an effect on my bones, I moved onto my blood, repeating the same process.
Then organs, muscles, nerves, skull then spine, and finally my whole body at the same time, ensuring it was all working together properly at the same speed.
When I finished and everything started working together perfectly, I felt my mind was significantly clearer, and I comprehended the techniques Kitty gave me perfectly. No more reading them 100 times, only practice now. I also felt as though I could control even the smallest part independently.
'Kitty, I didn't do anything with my mind, and I feel like it's working better.'
[It is.]
'Would you please tell me how?'
[When the body is working in sync with the mind, the mind has a better understanding of the body. When the mind has a better understanding of the body, it knows how to use things like techniques much better. Your mind isn't confused by the body anymore.]
I understand what she was saying and was even more excited about future improvements.
I got up and started devouring again.
---
I stood outside the multiverse containing the rest of the timelines from the universe I had just devoured.
'Kitty, please direct me to the world I am from.'
After a bunch of right, left, up, down, and that's not your left, I finally arrived at the white orb that is my home multiverse.
[Quest: Devour all multiverses in this sphere except the one you are from.
Reward: 3x manual choice.]
'This is my world?'
[Yes this is Mortal 3.H5RQTGPJ, and is the world you are originally from]
'Thank you for excluding this one; I want to keep it.'
[You can pick it up and take it into your world; then you will always have it with you.]
'Will it shake or break if I pick it up?'
[It's not that fragile]
---
I finished devouring all the rest of the multiverses, leaving the one I wanted to keep.
I opened the door to my world and carefully picked up the ball, rushing through the door and into the house, making sure my footsteps were smooth and didn't shake the ball as I hurried to my separate room.
I didn't notice Lila and Luna following me until I reached my room and was looking for a place to set it down.
'Kitty where do I set this down?!!'
[Just let go]
'I'm not gonna drop it!'
[You won't, just let go]
'If I let go it'll fall to the floor!'
[I said let go, if you don't want to; hold it forever.]
I wanted to start cursing her out for telling me to drop it when I realized she must mean it will float or something.
I carefully let it go and sure enough, it floated where I let it go.
When Luna noticed I was done, she came over and started inspecting it, "Is this your next wife?"
"It's an entire multiverse."
"That little thing?"
"Yes."
"The one you're from?"
"Mhm"
"When are we going?"
"As soon as our cultivation hits the world limit. I'm going to start cultivating now. Let's try to go as soon as we can."
I pulled both of them into a hug, "I'm happy to see you both again. Let's hurry up and reach the Quasi-Immortal realm now; then we can go and have some fun."
I let go, and they both scurried off to their rooms to start cultivating.
I notified Elaria to have everyone cultivate diligently and only prepare fast meals.
---
Lila, Luna, and I stood in front of the white orb, all at the Quasi-Immortal realm and the second level of the mana core. Unless this world dished out some serious firepower, we were invincible, and I wouldn't have to worry about their safety. Who carries around missiles anyway?
I touched the orb and got pulled in. A tree-looking structure appeared in front of me with trillions upon trillions of branches.
'Kitty, I assume this is all the timelines, right?'
[Yes]
'Please direct me to the one I came from.'
She showed me one that didn't have any branches coming off of it for a little ways, as opposed to every other one where it had solid offshoots.
'Why is this one so different?'
[As soon as you made a decision that led to your death, more timelines could not be made off this one for specific reasons that you'll learn later.]
I touched the timeline she indicated and was again pulled in.
I appeared on what seemed to be an island and immediately teleported to a familiar location.