1566 Primula

The hall was familiar. So was the overflowing power in his body that made him feel like a demi-god.

The faces of the three men, well, a boy, a young man and an oldie were still same.

And time itself, from what his time sense told him, had barely passed. An hour? No, it was ten hours since he was thrown into that world.

"Good job."

Aphosis' voice was plain as usual despite the praise he gave. Equilius leaned back against his seat, looking at him with a scornful gaze.

Aridam, the man behind this shitty, cruel and painful test, was looking at him with a satisfied grin.

"My boy, what's your name again?" He asked in a loud voice.

"Varian." The Human Emperor controlled his clenched fist from punching out in that bastard's face and said in a subdued voice. "My name is Varian."

"Varian! Barely two years into divine paths and almost a peak rank 9 already! You're...well, words fail short. You're a miracle in this cosmos. There is no one even close to you anywhere in Eden. The gap between you and the next best genius is too big for any meaningful comparison."

Aridam rained praises without reserve, a kind smile on his face as if he wasn't the same monster who put him through that horrible experience.

"But. Genius is not enough against the God Emperor. One must be ruthless enough! And boy are you ruthless! I'm not impressed, I'm surprised by how easily you took the decision.

I expected you to at least let the girl die from starving. That would've needed no active effort from your part. It's not like she could fetch food for herself with that weak body, right?" Aridam uttered those words with the same kind smile.

Varian inhaled lightly and shook his head. As terrible as it was, if he was going to kill her anyway, he'd rather do it quickly and let her suffer less.

"Regardless, I give my approval." Aridam said without any hesitation.

"B-But—"

"The vote is two-one in favor of supporting Varian." Aphosis cut off Equilius and asserted. "Now, we must follow the decision."

Equilius clenched and unclenched his fists before glaring at his equals. "Both of you will regret this choice. This boy is not going to win us this war. We'll all die at the hands of God Emperor sooner or later and this bastard will be the first to switch sides."

"We'll see about that." Varian said in a sharp tone. "Now that this is done, I'll leave. I'd rather practice than waste time."

"Try to reach the divine rank without any help. Not even resources. It has to be as pure as possible." Aphosis said. "A weak foundation will not let you grow fast later."

"Don't worry about divine ranks." Aridam smiled. "We'll give all possible assistance then."

*** *** *** ***

Varian returned to Hortus in a depressed mood.

"Baba?"

"No, Big Bro!"

"B-Big Bro?"

"Yes, Big Bro."

"Big Bro! Big Bro!"

A little girl who looked to be about two years old clutched his trousers with a big smile on her face. "Big Bro! Big Bro! Big Bro!"

She yelled with an excited face, circling around him and scanning him like he's some zoo animal.

Sia clapped her hands. "Look at her, she's so happy to see you! Maybe she even recognizes you."

Varian looked down at Black Rose, no, she's Primula now. "If she recognized the guy who butchered her, I'm pretty sure she won't come running to hug me."

"Tch," Sia clicked her tongue and lifted the little girl. "She's very energetic, want to play with her?"

"Hm…" Varian rubbed his chin.

Realizing that he hadn't said yes, Primula's big eyes watered up in an instant and she looked at him with puppy eyes.

"Big Bro! Big Bro…"

Her voice was heartbreaking and her gaze was soul piercing.

'Did children always have this power or is just because I'm feeling sorry for a child…?'

Varian didn't know but he took Primula into his arms without even thinking.

"Hehehehe~" Primula pinched his cheeks and giggled.

The laughter melted some of the haze in his heart and lifted his spirits.

Yes. One child did suffer. But it's for a future where many more children like Primula wouldn't suffer.

'And that puts me closer to Julius, as much as I hate to admit it.'

"Alright, do you want to see the floating flowers today? They're sparkly, pink and glow in the night?" Varian asked the child.

"Hmmm?" Primula tapped her chubby finger on her chin, pretending to think like a serious adult.

'Oh wait, she's imitating Sarah?'

Varian let out a chuckle.

"Ehehe."

Primula giggled and rubbed her cheeks against his neck. "Lewsh goo!"

Varian's lips curled up and he slightly bent down, like a runner who's about to break into a sprint.

"Woo?" Primula blinked her red eyes, an omnious feeling dawning in her young mind as she looked at the grinning face of 'Big Bro'. "N-No."

"Then get set, ready, goooo!"

Varian sprinted, his speed exceed that of a thunderbolt.

"Aaaaaaah!"

Primula screamed as the world passed her by at a ridiculous speed, the wind blowing against her short red hair, causing it to flutter violently.

She held her arms around Varian's neck with all her might and yelled for a few seconds. And then her hand slipped.

"Waaa—eh?"

Then she realized he had always been holding her. The grip was soft that she didn't even notice but it was very firm.

"Hmmm…" Primula glared at him with her teary eyes before turning to the surroundings.

This time though, with the support of a hand that would not let her fall no matter what, she took in the sight of nature passing by.

It was a marvelous sight.

Rivers were flowing back,vast forests were converging into one row of trees and even the fastest animals were impossibly slow.

Of course, a normal child would have never had the optical capacity to see anything than a blur at this speed. But whether Primula realized it or not, she wasn't a normal child. Not by the tremendous rank 9 power temporarily dormant in her body or the lineage that eventually let her reach rank 9.

But neither the little girl nor the young man carrying her were bothered about those things.

"Yaaay!"

Primula's cheers echoed throughout the wilderness.

When they stopped at a sweet smelling mountain, Varian set her down. Primula stumbled a little before raising her head the most she could, even leaning back a little. There was a bed of sparkly red flowers near the top.

Her eyes shone with a brilliant light and she looked at Varian with a pleading gaze.

When he nodded, she grinned and started running up the mountain at her full speed.

These were the flowers carefully guarded by rank 1 celestial snakes residing in the mountain for speedup of their progress.

This was the place where the cadets of the academy who were deemed to be ultra-geniues were tasked to bring back a flower.

"Hiss~"

When they noticed an outsider had entered, they decided to come out of their caves and make an example out of her.

But an overwhelming aura fell on them the moment they tried to move their bodies and a voice sounded directly in their souls, conveying to them in a language they could understand.

"Flower or life?"

The snakes curled up and shivered, without even daring to answer.

While this happened, Primula plucked the flowers with a captivated expression and sniffed the fragrance.

Her face lit up and she brought the flower closer to her nose.

"Aah-chuu!"

The delicate flower's petals were blown away by the sneeze and Primula looked at the petalless flower in her hand with a dumbfounded expression.

Varian burst into a loud laughter.