Chapter 3: Fuzzy Memories

Cain furrowed his eyebrows as he focused entirely on this newly discovered energy flowing within his body. He poured all of his concentration on it, attempting to identify what it could be.

And after only a couple seconds of focusing, Cain actually perceived a great sense of familiarity with this energy.

It was highly similar to the soul energy he used in his previous body!

In fact, Cain almost mistaken it as his original soul energy at first. But, as he continued to concentrate more on it, Cain felt this energy was more powerful and….volatile.

Usually, when using soul energy, it would always be a calm flowing stream of sensation. But with this energy, it felt like he was getting close to a raging hurricane that wanted to swallow him whole.

As Cain fell into silent contemplation, a slightly worried look began to form on Kali's face.

She really was hoping their Eldest siblings didn't go too far this time. For a brief moment, a sense of anger spiked within her mind thinking about those two. However, she quickly pushed it back down a moment later and grasped Cain's hand, gaining his attention.

"So? How do you feel? Not too terribly, I hope?" Kali concernedly asked.

Before answering, Cain focused on everything that transpired so far. While he doesn't have all the details, he had a gut feeling that his Eldest siblings undoubtedly put something in his drink.

And he apparently just knows Kali's name despite this being the first time meeting her.

Cain reached a quick conclusion then. He fathoms that as time goes on, he should be getting all of this body's previous memory.

However, from what it's shaping up to be like, Cain could tell he has no such luxury to take it easy and absorb his memories. Although, he would've never taken this life slow in the first place.

With his mind made up, Cain looked straight into Kali's eyes.

Since she's obviously so attached, he was sure he could spin some story around to make it believable that he's just having a lapse of memories.

"Well….I certainly don't feel any stronger. Hm, Kali, I think for the days I was out, something in that drink was undoubtedly messing with my head. All of my memories are fuzzy. I can barely recall anything besides you."

"I see…." Kali had a serious expression as she pondered Cain's words.

Then, without any warning, she pushed her forehead against Cain's forehead. Her eyes briefly closed shut as if this was a normal process for her.

Cain was a bit surprised but didn't complain. Her skin and silky hair was incredibly pleasant to feel. This incomparably soft feeling was almost better than any pillows he laid on before.

"Haah~."

After only a few moments, Kali released a weary sigh while pulling back from Cain's forehead. "I knew it. I just knew those….those snakes would try this again. They're becoming too vicious!....Haah, but first, let's go over your problem. Just how much can you recall, even if it's only a little."

Even though Cain was expecting it, he still found it a bit surprising how Kali so readily accepted his explanation. This also was a little concerning since it seemed like trouble is already on the horizon.

Either way, Cain was, above all, grateful to have a caring sister like this on his first steps into a new world.

"As far I can recall….it's really not that much. Honestly, I can barely remember our Elder siblings' faces."

"Oh man….we can't let Mother or Father find out about this…." Kali quietly muttered in such a low tone that Cain could barely hear her.

Before he could question her, Kali quickly spoke loudly, saying next, "This is probably the worst it's been. So you don't remember Grandfather, Father or Mother? Or even anything like yourself. Ah! Tell me if this jogs your memory; this is one of the things that you basically can't forget. No matter how hard you try to cultivate, you just can't reach the Spirit Opening realm, meaning you have zero cultivation."

When hearing this, Cain certainly felt a jolt run through his mind. But it wasn't for the reason Kali was hoping for.

'So it's this cliche! Born into a high status with zero cultivation….heh. Alright then….'

And though Cain was taken off guard by the news, it didn't depress him in the slightest. In fact, he only felt more excitement to break free of this little problem.

On the outside, Cain kept his expression slightly subdued as he then asked,

"No cultivation, huh….yes, I do faintly recall that since you're bringing that up. And one thing Kali. Since you're so calm about this, does this mean-"

"Yep, it does. Despite our positions, occurrences like this have happened several times before." Kali calmly explained.

Cain didn't honestly feel happy that his suspicions were proven true. On the contrary, it only made him more cautious about what will lie ahead.

Although thinking about this situation more, one critical question surfed to Cain's mind. He asked Kali then, "Surely if those Eldest snakes tried to potentially poison me and you, our parents would've seen something up by now."

Listening to Cain's words, Kali's expression turned increasingly grave. She let out a soft sigh as she began to explain,

"I think I should continue to touch up your memories. You see, Cain, you're the seventh prince of our Dragon God Royal family, and I'm the sixth princess. Realistically, we should've been insane talents like all of our other siblings. But we just have no aptitude for cultivation at all. You can't even reach the Spirit Opening realm, and I can't even make it past the first level of this realm. And….Uhm…."

Before continuing on, Kali had a look of concern. "Do you need to process all of this? This information dump is always confusing to take in all at once."

Initially, Kali expected her brother to look confused or in deep contemplation. But, contrary to her expectations, Cain had a surprising look of complete calmness on his face.

With everything that was just explained to him, he only had one more question in his mind.

"No….I understand. I only have one question in mind. Where our royal family is located, is it in a higher realm separate from the lower plane?"

"Oh? So you can guess that?" Kali had an approving smirk. It seems like her brother's mind is far more adaptable this time.

"But yes, we are in the higher realms. Specifically, we're in the Thunderous Collision Realm. One of the most powerful realms in our specific galaxy. Is this helping more memories resurface?"

Looking deep into his mind, Cain couldn't say for sure he could recall those names. At most, he felt like those names are similar to the stories he read back on Earth.

But, the biggest thing that struck him is the fact he's indeed in a higher realm!

This was absolutely great!

Now, Cain was fully aware that higher realms have even more perilous danger than lower realms considering the massive strength gap. However, Cain also knows he could use his Royal Family to his full advantage to become an expert very quickly.

"I think I need a little bit more information before most of my memories resurface. Although, what I can for sure is that our cultivation status is the reason for our Eldest siblings' underhanded means. Because we can't cultivate, we must have something extraordinary that they desperately want." Cain smoothly explained.

He didn't have any doubts in his mind that something like this wasn't happening. After all, in Royal families, he read numerous times where there's internal strife and conflicts.

This holds true, especially in cultivations words. Having no power would essentially make one a prime target for any devious schemes.

"This….huh."

For a brief moment, Kali's eyes widened in slight surprise.

She knows that it's only been a few minutes at most since Cain could have possibly awakened. But already, it seemed like he genuinely did undergo a change while being passed out for three days.

This change just made her brother even more remarkable in Kali's eyes. She didn't look too deeply into it, believing this was all because of the drinks their Eldest siblings gave them.

Then, with a bright approving smile, Kali confirmed Cain's conclusion.

"Hmph, seems like whatever their plan was this time, it heavily backfired. Your mind is moving at sonic speeds, and you're just waking up! And you're right about their intentions. Things, let's just say, have been becoming increasingly tense nowadays."

Right then, another question popped into Cain's mind. He could already guess the answer to this one but still had to ask, "By the way, you didn't specifically answer if our parents knew something up. Though, I can probably guess their intentions with what you told me."

"Weell….actually, it's not that our parents don't care or anything like that. It's just that they believed this is just a natural sibling squabble between us, and we should resolve it ourselves. And if they do find about our Eldest siblings' schemes, that would only do us more harm than good. Plus, since our lives were actually never seriously threatened, nothing was a major call for issue. At least until now! Like I said, they're going too far this time!"

Kali heatedly spoke towards the end of her sentence.

For a whole three days, she was the only one that took Cain's condition seriously. Every time she would try to bring it up to any Elders or their parents, their Eldest siblings would always have the perfect excuse.

Because both Eldest siblings have such high skills in Alchemy that would make even their own leading Elder Alchemist feel pressure, everyone was more willing to believe their words over her own.

Just thinking about everything these last few days caused Kali's anger to naturally spike again.

Watching her expression contort into an increasingly sour one, Cain swears he could see fumes spewing from Kali's nose with how much she's huffing and puffing.

Cain couldn't help but find her expression cute since Kali's delicate maiden look wasn't intimidating at all to him.

Before they got too off track, Cain gently grasped Kali's soft hand, causing her to calm down slightly. "Alright, we can deal with those two later. But, for now, give a brief snippet of our home life so my memory could come back to me."

"Huee~. Right, right." Kali let loose a small soft smile as she got comfortable on Cain's bed.

"Just tell me to stop when you think you've heard enough."