There was a moment of confused silence, as if the entity was processing the fact that this "worm" could respond and was logical.
"You... you are but an infant! Your soul... it smells of two lives. Stolen time. A glitch." The voice sounded slightly intrigued, though still arrogant. "I am... I am the Measure of Paradox. The Calibrator of Reality's Flaws. The... The..." The voice trailed off, frustrated. "The rest... is static. I do not recall."
"You don't remember who you are?" Lux asked, his curiosity overcoming everything else.
"Fragments. Purposes. I know what I can do. I can measure the immeasurable. I can distort the established. I can introduce chaos into order and find order within chaos." His voice boomed with a power that made Lux's soul tremble. "But my memory, my origin... it is a null set. An empty variable."
"Then teach me. Tell me what I can do!" Lux pleaded.
A cold laugh, like metal clashing, echoed in his head. "You? A mere fledgling soul trapped in a vessel of flesh and milk? You lack the computational capacity. Your existence is too... linear. To wield me is to rewrite the code of reality. You would unravel yourself into nothingness. No. When you are stronger, perhaps you will be worthy of glimpsing the most basic of my functions. Not before."
"So..." "Why are you in my soul?" Lux asked, trying another approach.
"A question I ponder in this prison of flesh!" the voice snapped, and for the first time, Lux felt genuine emotion from it deep frustration and piercing confusion. "Our connection is... symbiotic. Parasitic? The definitions are blurred. Your soul and I are entangled. The event that brought you here the Gray Meteor was a catalyst. A cosmic anomaly. I was... within it? Or perhaps I was drawn to your unique, double-soul resonance when the anomaly occurred. The data is corrupted."
The voice sounded increasingly irritated. "I am a tool of ultimate precision, forced to reside in a chaotic, organic processor! The irony is a constant agony! You are my user, and my prison warden, all in one."
Lux felt a little pity for this entity. After all, they were in the same situation, thrown into ignorance.
A long silence stretched across Lux's mind. Then, the voice spoke again, its tone slightly flatter, as if it had accepted a bitter reality.
"It seems I have no choice. My existence is now tied to your growth. Your soul is my anchor. If you perish before I regain my full memory and purpose, I may be lost to the void forever." There was a pause. "Very well, Lux Noctis, child of two worlds. I shall... tolerate your existence. And in return, you will grow. You will cultivate. You will become stronger. Your increasing power will, theoretically, provide more energy for me to repair my corrupted databases."
"So, we're working together?" asked Lux.
"Do not mistake this for camaraderie, worm. This is a transaction of necessity. You seek power to navigate this world and find your lost companions or whatever your goal may be. I require a powerful host to restore my memory. Our goals, for now, are aligned."
"All right," said Lux, a small smile appearing on the baby's face. "But I won't call you 'Verdict of Oblivion' or 'Measure of Paradox' all the time. That's too much."
"You dare!"
"I'll call you 'Mobius,'" Lux decided. "It's a good abbreviation. And it fits."
He could feel a wave of anger and, for some reason, reluctant acknowledgment, from Moebius.
"A trivial designation," he finally grumbled. "But it is... efficient. Very well. Now, cease your prattling. Your organic body requires rest. Even my superior consciousness cannot function optimally with a sleep-deprived neural network."
The next morning, when Lumina woke Lux, she found her son smiling in his sleep. She did not know that within her little son's soul, a strange and arrogant alliance had been formed. Lux Noctis' journey to understand his distorted powers and find his lost friends, or whatever direction fate took him, had just begun, with a haughty "paradox measuring device" as his guide
And in a certain place corner of this vast and dangerous world, five other souls who were thrown by the Gray Meteor may also be awakening their own unique powers, each beginning their new journey in this harsh cultivation world.
A year and a half has passed since the magnificent Fire Moon Festival, a decennial celebration commemorating the founding of Flame's Crest 222 years ago as one of the major cities under the Burning Sky Sect. As one of the city managers, Noctis had gone through the busiest period of his career.
"I can still remember how crowded the city was during the festival," Noctis muttered one afternoon, looking out at the city from the balcony of their home.
The festival had attracted dozens of small and medium-sized sects from all corners of the Verdant Lotus World. Cultivators flocked to Flame's Crest to participate in spiritual auctions, free markets, and various competitions between cultivators. The success of the event brought honor not only to the Burning Sky Sect but also to the city managers who organized it.
For their outstanding performance, the Elders and the City Lord, a rarely seen Core Forging cultivator, gave a special reward that each city manager could choose two resources to unlock a new Affinity Pillar.
"You chose the resources for Speed and Perception, right?" Lumina asked one night, as the two of them sat in the garden enjoying the quiet evening.
Noctis nodded. "With my increasing responsibilities, I need to increase my strength to protect myself and my small family... you know, I need Speed to handle many things at once, both in battle and as a means of escape if something bad happens, and Perception to read situations well so I don't get caught in bad situations."
Well... I agree with that, but what touched Lumina was the fact that during the festival, Noctis had secretly collected enough spirit crystals to buy his wife three rare resources: for Soul Pillar, Intelligence, and Perception.
"I know you are very talented in formation techniques and how important that is to you," said Noctis, gazing tenderly at his wife. "With the Soul and Intelligence Pillars, your abilities in Formation will increase dramatically and you can apply to become one of the city's formation teams."
Hmm... "I'll try to register when little Lux is at least 8 years old. In the early years, I want to be completely by his side, taking care of him and teaching him," said Lumina as she hugged her husband's hand.
Noctis nodded his head and said, "I agree with you. Perhaps with my increased strength, I will become busier. Well, at least you will be by the little one's side, which will put my mind at ease."
"At least always be prepared for the worst when you go out so that you can return home safely when you go out on missions," Lumina grumbled.
Yes... yes... I'll make a note of it now. Let's go inside. I want to rest early and start my cultivation early.
Now, a year and a half after the festival, the results were beginning to show. Noctis officially achieved Foundation Establishment with 5 Affinity Pillars: Fire, Sword, Wind, Speed, and Perception. This combination made him even more feared and respected, but with his increased power, his work as a manager also increased, such as leading resource teams to the main sect or going on missions to search for resources, which had been quite dangerous for the past 1.5 years.
Lumina was no less impressive. With the 4 Pillars of Affinity: Fire, Soul, Intelligence, and Perception, she began to improve her skills in the art of Formation. Their home was now protected by complex formations created by Lumina herself, at least formations that could withstand foundation level cultivators and detect them, something that was previously impossible for her to do.
"It's like you've rediscovered yourself," Noctis said one day, looking proudly as Lumina completed an advanced tier mortal grade protection formation in just a week.
"With the Soul Pillar, I can feel the flow of energy more clearly. With Intelligence, I can process complex formation information. And with Perception, I can see the flaws in the formations I create," Lumina explained excitedly.
Their improvement did not go unnoticed. Many cultivators in the city began to regard the Noctis family with greater respect. A family with two Foundation Establishment cultivators who possessed multiple Pillars was a valuable asset to the sect.
Amidst all of his parents' achievements, three-year-old Lux Noctis also showed remarkable progress, albeit in a different sense.
"Dad! Mom!" Those were the first words Lux deliberately uttered, pointing at his parents with a look of understanding.
What amazed Noctis and Lumina was not his words, but the way Lux communicated. At the age of three, Lux was already able to form simple sentences and understand complex concepts.
"Papa is sharpening his perception, right?" Lux asked one day, observing Noctis who was meditating. "The energy around Papa is moving faster today."
Noctis and Lumina looked at each other, both surprised. Lux's observational skills surpassed those of children his age, even surpassing some early stage cultivators.
His physical development was equally impressive. Lux could already run steadily, climb low trees in the garden, and even begin to imitate his father's basic swordplay movements.
"Look, Dad!" Lux exclaimed one morning, trying to imitate the basic sword movements he had seen Noctis perform. His tiny hands held a wooden stick, moving with surprising precision.
But what interested Lux the most was his parents' cultivation. He would often sit quietly for hours, just observing how the flow of Qi moved through their bodies.
"Mama, why does Mama's fire energy spin to the left when it goes in, but to the right when it comes out?" Lux asked one afternoon.
Lumina was surprised. Even she herself had taken years to be able to sense such details. "How did you know, dear?"