"Both," Soverick answered.
"You can't perform both at the same time," Mihila said.
Soverick pointed at her and said, "You mean you can't."
"No one can." Mihila said back.
"Wrong, you mean no one you know can."
"Okay then. Maybe you are right. But why are you doing so?"
He has told them this much so that some of their curiosity will be satiated. He was performing the two stages because he needed a large amount of vitality but vitality is too volatile to be stored. Vitality can be considered as the potential of a cell, only when he needed it should it be available. He currently lacks an organ to store it, hence another reason for the creation of a vitality core. His decision to create a very large vitality core requires him to output more and more vitality, he had to maintain his progress which needed more vitality. The increase in the difficulty of what he wants to achieve demands it, but he didn't have to tell them that.
His cold voice sounded out.
"That's none of your business."
'How have they not smacked this boy into oblivion. Maybe I am just not cut out to be a parent.' The supervisor watching the proceedings on the side began to wonder. Here they were worried about the boy, well not him, he was just here because of curiosity. Yet, the boy has the guts to say it was none of their business. It wasn't a new sight to him anyway, he had seen lots of children like this because of his job. Their bloodline gives them innate pride, it wasn't that the kids are looking down on people, but more that the kids believe they are at the same level as adults. Soverick was just extra obnoxious about it. He felt his hand itching to deliver some just punishment. He held himself back but made a decision there and then not to ever have kids.
Ghoto swept his hand through the fur on his head in frustration. The fact that having kids had created the situation his wife is in had not made him biased against them. He knew it was not Soverick and the other's fault for undergoing atavism, so he didn't want to feel negative feelings about them, it was just that Soverick was making it incredibly easy for him to feel that way about them. He wasn't going to give up though, he was the one that wanted to become a parent and he had promised himself to be a good father. He had to resume the constant badgering even if his son didn't appreciate his efforts.
"Is the process dangerous?" He asked in concern.
"Not dangerous, just difficult."
Ghoto continued to ask more questions while Soverick's response remained half-hearted. Their back and forth was finally stopped by Mihila.
"Since this will end if you complete the breakthrough, how long will it take then?"
Her question finally made him think a little before answering.
"I don't know exactly when it will be done but I estimate that it needs another month before it is done."
The supervisor's eyes lit up, he felt enlightened. "By complete, you mean your vitality core. Am I right?" He asked earnestly but soverick ignored him.
The supervisor continued to mutter. "No that can't be right. A vitality core needs hours at most to be completed. In what world will a vitality core need weeks to condense. I must be losing my mind."
Soverick was instead listening to what Mihila had to say.
"I can help you with that. Even if you're using an unorthodox method, at the end of the day you're just trying to break through to the next level. That means this process can be assisted with vitality medicine."
"That's true, but only rare objects filled with life energy will do," Soverick answered in agreement. The difficulty of his breakthrough could be lessened with vitality medicine but he wasn't willing to take the risk of contaminating his vitality. The quality of his vitality core will fall and it would affect his future breakthroughs. It would be too much of a price to pay just to shorten the time he needs. He wanted to maintain the purity of his body at all costs so he wouldn't use vitality medicine even if it is free.
In the hierarchy of beneficial items which could be pills, potions, injections, or raw unprocessed objects, the most valuable of them are those that contain life energy. Life energy differs from vitality in that it can be used safely by cells and can be used for anything, being able to speed up growth and development is one of its use. It is the purest and safest form of energy that living cells are capable of using. It is also beneficial to the development of the soul.
Items with vitality are the next most valuable ones, they supplement the amount of vitality in the body and speed up its production. It has a broad range of uses of which the most important is healing. Unlike life energy, the ingestion of more will not improve the potential of the body but will poison the body instead. Vitality medicine that speeds up the production of vitality is safer, it will only damage the cells, which can be easily replaced. The ones that supplement the amount of vitality in the body provide the body with a short burst of vitality but will lead contaminate the vitality of the body. This side effect is very difficult to get rid of if the contamination reaches a certain threshold. Their effects are also limited to the body no matter the quality or quantity of the item, so they can never affect the soul.
The last are items that contain energy that the cells can use, but the cells will have to put in the effort to convert them into what they want. This need for conversion makes their effect slow. They may contain either mana or spiritual energy in varying levels of purity. They are relatively safe as compared to items with vitality, so while their effect is poor, they can be used again and again as long as appropriate intervals are allowed for the body to adjust. Prolonged usage will lead to the body adapting to them which will, in turn, lead to lower effects. It can affect either the body or the soul.
The supervisor shook his head, he thought soverick was being too picky. Items with life energy are one of the very few objects that can affect transcendents, it was that valuable. It couldn't be compared with life essence but it is easier to acquire. It could be considered a wastage to be used on a boy trying to break through to the level of vitality core. But then Ghoto sighed in relief and this made the supervisor surprised. Could they have items with life energy just lying about for them to use on a kid?
"Well, you're in luck. We can help with that." Ghoto said.
"You can? I didn't think you were that rich." Soverick was started. He always thought he was in a well-to-do family. He didn't think they had much money to spare when he saw their living arrangements. He also had a secret source of information that assured him of the conditions of the family.
Soverick's candid question made Ghoto cough in embarrassment.
"What do you know? You're only a child."
Soverick shrugged. "It doesn't matter. As long as you can help me."
Mihila smiled and said. "It seems you will need our help with something."
He shook his head. Things hadn't reached the stage where he needed their help. If they had the items with life energy, then it could only be counted as him wanting their help.
"It is more like you want to help me. I don't mind my current condition but you do. I'll accept this little favor and let you help me. I doubt you will be able to help me after this." Soverick maintained. He could understand her need to feel smug about the entire matter but he would not try to ingratiate himself with them.
She continued to smile. "Trust me, it won't be the end of it for a long while."
Her confidence irked him. It seemed he was wrong about the means of his new family. He would have to go back home and question his source of information for such incompetence. After they were sure that soverick was safe for now they stopped prodding him. Soverick went to stand by the side to wait out the next few minutes. Ghaster and Litori both underwent the survey. There was nothing out of the ordinary going on with them, the knowledge of which made Ghoto and Mihila relieved. The supervisor was also relieved that nothing wrong occurred. He wished he could bid them farewell as soon as they were fully examined but the matter of the life evaluation isn't done yet. He still had to counsel the parents and determine the training regime for their children.
