"Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer?" Kayden’s response was short and blunt, and Athena almost recoiled at the speed with which she received that verbal slap.
"I know this increases your strength, but why are you doing it?" Kayden thought for only a second before answering.
"I’m studying your souls to learn something useful." His response violated all the basic rights a living being should have, but Athena was a goddess who had lived too long and already had her share of heinous actions.
No one ascended to divinity without committing some massacres, small or large—it all depended on perspective. There came a point when it ceased to matter; it was a concern only the weak should have.
"Why are you telling me your secrets so easily?" Kayden received this question, and he answered without much thought.
"You know you can’t stand out at this moment or alter karma’s balance. Your second chance boils down to staying hidden for the next millions of years." Each of Kayden’s words felt like a slap to Athena’s face. "Besides, this is a great secret—if you reveal it, you’ll attract the karmic attention you’ve been avoiding."
Kayden had read her like an open book. Athena tried not to give any signs with her soul, but even so, the boy was able to pick up on the subtle clues she gave and fill in the rest.
"You make many accusations, Mr. Kayden."
"Your soul vibrates, Miss Athena; souls don’t lie." Kayden looked directly into the woman’s eyes, and a new secret revealed itself in their gaze, forming a nearly unbreakable connection.
***********
Five thousand years later, everything had changed in the forest. The era of the black wolves had begun. They simply dominated an absurdly large area, and it was only by Kayden’s command that they stopped expanding their territories.
The animals residing in that place were strong, but not strong enough to fight against a pack of thousands of wolves whose souls had been modified and who had spent millennia eating and fighting.
They were practically wolves molded from blood and claws, while the rest of the animals were merely orderly beings with strong bodies and high realms—they were literally flowers in a greenhouse.
No mage dared oppose Kayden, mainly because of the person who was always with him. Athena hadn’t left Kayden’s side for a single day since they had exchanged that look.
The secret between them remained, with neither side making any effort to reveal it. It would stay that way for much longer if it were up to Kayden—this was a headache he didn’t want to deal with at the moment.
The forest began to grow in strength as Kayden molded other animals more subtly. The environment did its job, and only the strongest survived, triggering a chain reaction.
Resources were scarce, and only the strongest could seize them, which kept natural selection in full swing—only the fittest could survive.
During this time, Kayden had some children with Haya. Because the girl’s genes weren’t very strong, they were able to have offspring, but all of them were terribly weak, and Kayden killed them after a few decades.
Haya never really understood what was happening; the girl’s soul was in a stupor where nothing made much sense. Yet, at the same time, everything Kayden did seemed like the right reason for their being there.
Kayden made sure the girl’s strength grew during this period, and by using his alterations on her soul, he made her explode in rapid growth. Unfortunately, Kayden’s constant tampering with the girl’s soul cut off her future—she would probably never surpass the eighth realm.
This wasn’t a problem for Kayden, as he had secured a high-level false god much more susceptible to his soul experiments than Reyna. Besides, he was nearing the limits of his realm—or so he thought—but it seemed there was no end in sight.
His sixth sense had already reached an incredible range of 300,000 kilometers, and it showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. At that moment, Kayden took his first step above all the mages in the universe.
His attack could split planets in half with terrifying ease, covering an insane distance. His mana conversion remained instantaneous because it was all his soul—there was no time for the mana to travel from one point to another, as both points were Kayden himself.
The soul was likely the only thing capable of nullifying the laws of space with such ease. A full-force attack from Kayden at this moment could turn Earth into stardust. He had surpassed any limit that could exist in this world.
Athena had observed this growth closely, and with each passing day, her eyebrows raised higher. Kayden was far beyond what a being in the sixth realm should be able to achieve; she couldn’t even measure his full strength at this point.
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Her relationship with Kayden developed strangely. She cultivated occasionally but hardly needed to. She simply chose random days to make leaps in power and grow following her current situation. The rest of the time, she spent observing Kayden’s experiments.
At first, it was just a pastime, but later it became a true interest, especially considering she had never been able to replicate these situations at any point in her life.
No matter how much she begged Kayden and offered him unique things, the boy refused to teach her how to manipulate souls. In truth, it wasn’t even that he didn’t want to; the truth was that he had no time for it.
Kayden had literally spent billions of years tinkering with souls 24 hours a day to reach the state he was in now. It wasn’t simple or easy—his circumstances were unique, completely unique.
Emotions that had been dormant in Kayden began to awaken again. Things he didn’t expect to feel were resurfacing. His affection for Athena wasn’t natural, yet it dominated his actions. Yan’s other children came to talk to them a few times during this time, Kayden’s closeness to Athena was strange to all of them, it didn’t make much sense after everything Athena had said.
AN: Don’t judge me—just watch this spectacle.