9 Memories?

While Lilise silently tried to recall anything negative, Arnin stared at the weeping Nekaia in shock. What did she say? Demons? Arnin pondered what Nekaia said before he thought of something. Was it possible that Nekaia recalled the memories of her past? Arnin, who was the strongest existence in his past life, knew for a fact that certain creatures could reincarnate or switch bodies with others. Unlike a phoenix's reincarnation, when other creatures did it they would not be able to recall past memories… unless something triggered them to reappear.

"Nekaia, don't cry anymore. Just tell your brother what else you remember, ok?" Arnin quietly consoled Nekaia and tried to find out more about her past. She said that she was surrounded by demons and was possibly even raped by them. Could she have been a member of a demon family that was massacred at the same time as his own? This being true was not an impossibility, and Nekaia recovering some of her memories could also happen. However, Arnin was unsure if this would be detrimental to Nekaia or not. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it could change Nekaia completely.

"Nekaia, forget about what you saw just rest for now. I will make sure that nothing happens to you I will always protect you!" Arnin, lost his whole family in the past and was not willing to lose his new one. He would be devastated if Nekaia changed for the worse and turned into a new person. He wanted her to forget about the bad memories and just concentrate on her life now.

Lilise's face also began to twitch slightly as tears flowed down her face as well. Although there were tears, she looked more angry than frightened. Arnin wondered what she was thinking about. The liquid in front of Lilise also turned red, but this time it wasn't crimson like Nekaia's, rather it looked like dried black blood. Lilise opened her puffy eyes before she walked towards Arnin and sat beside him.

"Lilise? What's wrong?" Lilise's face was covered in tears, but there was anger and sadness on her face. She held onto Arnin's free arm before pushing her face into it. Arnin silently sat between the two tear stricken girls. He knew that this was a horrible experience for many so he didn't mind their reactions. The only thing that worried him was Nekaia recovering her memories of the past. He looked down and kissed Nekaia's head.

Ashia walked into the room and noticed the scene. She quickly ran over and pulled Nekaia and Lilise into her embrace. "Nekaia, dear what happened? Lilise, why are you crying? Arnin, what happened?" Ashia became frantic when she noticed Lilise and Nekaia both burst into tears. Arnin just smiled slightly before shaking his head.

"It's alright mom. Just think of this as part of training, its the only part where they would suffer this much. Just comfort them while I go finish up the medicinal baths." Arnin left Ashia alone with the two girls. He lifted the two bowls, with the final changed liquid, and headed towards the bath area. When he reached the steam filled area, he found two small tubs filled with hot water. They were each large enough for only one person, which worked well with Arnin's plan. He quickly poured in Nekaia's transformed liquid into one bath and Lilise's transformed liquid was poured into the other. Arnin didn't use a rod or stick to stir it, rather he inserted his threads into the bath and mixed them thoroughly while also adding in some of his own essence. Adding his own essence would not cause any harm or additional effects to the bath, it would just mix the bath more thoroughly.

After the water baths combined with the liquids, Arnin ran into the room where his mom was caring for the two girls.

"Mom, can you bring Lilise and Nekaia over now? I need to have them cultivate inside the medicinal tub as quickly as possible." Arnin hurriedly called his mother over who nodded her head gently. She lifted both girls in her arms and slowly walked to the medicinal baths. Arnin pointed to each bathtub and told her who should be placed in which tub. Ashia was surprised at Arnin's talent, but she decided that as long as it didn't harm him, she wouldn't ask him much. Arnin left the area and allowed the two girls to undress and enter the bath tubs. He only re-entered the area when both were fully submerged inside the bath tubs. Nekaia didn't really mind her brother's presence because she was already hidden under the water, Lilise on the other hand was bright red. Ashia glared at Arnin.

"Arnin, you can't come in when a lady is bathing! Do you not know your manners!" Ashia quickly pulled Arnin's ear and tried to pull him out but she felt Arnin hold her hand gently.

"Mom, you know what type of person I am. I am only here because I need to help Lilise and Nekaia cultivate in the bath. It's ok though, I won't have them stand up or anything. Actually, since you are already here, help me with their training."Arnin chuckled. "Also, do you know where that witc- I mean Nekaia's master is? She could possibly help me as well." He asked about Avian who he hadn't seen since he left with Nekaia and Lilise to train.

"Avian is not here at the moment and will arrive in five days. She will come pick us up when you leave with the village elder." Avian explained. She knew that Avian went to the city to settle some things for her family. Arnin smiled and walked towards the bath tubs. He walked towards Lilise's bathtub while Ashia walked towards Nekaia's. Since, Arnin knew more about the whole procedure, Ashia wanted him to make sure nothing happened to Lilise.

"Mom, this will be a very important step for both of their cultivations, alright? So do as I tell you." Ashia, who was smiling towards Nekaia, immediately became serious when she heard Arnin's words. She nodded her head and began to pay attention to what Arnin was about to say. "For this step, we will be putting both the girls into a state of emptiness, meaning we will have to make them unconsciously cultivate. The first thing you will need to do is insert your orb threads into Nekaia's brain, then try to make a path from the brain towards her orb. Make sure that you only go straight towards her orb and nowhere else, or else this method won't be as effective." Ashia nodded and did as she was told. When she made the path from the brain to the orb, she looked at Arnin once again.

"I made the path to her orb, what should I do next?" Ashia was sweating slightly when she finished making the path. Her control over the threads were not as good as Arnin's because she didn't focus much on cultivation. Although, she wanted to cultivate, but she did not have the time or the talent to do it.

"This next step is the most crucial. Use your threads to grab onto the largest essence string inside Nekaia's orb. When you firmly lock onto it, slowly pull it back into the centre of the brain through the path you made." Ashia took twenty minutes to find the largest thread and took another thirty before she could bring it back to where Arnin said. Her face was already pale, when Florian walked into the bath area. He was surprised to see what was happening and was about to walk over to Ashia when Arnin stopped him.

"Dad, don't go to mom yet, she is at a crucial moment. In a while, I am going to need you to sub in for mom, ok? She won't be able to keep this up for long so you will need to replace her!" Although, he felt slightly tired, he would be able to go on for a longer period of time then his mom because of his precise control over the threads. Florian nodded his head and sat beside the tired Ashia and waited. After the thread slowly sunk in the two girls' brains, both of them fell unconscious in the tub.

"Dad, switch with mom now. Remember to switch slowly. When you are in position I will explain the next step." Ashia couldn't handle it anymore and was about to fall herself, luckily Florian walked in on a good time. He was able to switch smoothly with Ashia, and when he inserted his much stronger threads inside Nekaia's brain, he noticed the activity happening inside and cried in shock. The path from the orb was crystal clear with many white strings tangled together. It resembled the main orb very much, but there was still a difference in size and essence.

"So the next few steps are not as crucial as the last one, but they require lots of energy. We will make our threads act as parts of their body and cultivate for them. You should notice a round ball filled with threads being created in her brain. That is like another orb inside her, but it will allow outsiders to control it as well. We will insert our own threads inside and help the girls cultivate." Arnin started on Lilise's round object while he was explaining. This was a method that he created based on a parasitic ability of certain monsters from his previous life. However, he changed it into a type of support cultivation method that will induce emptiness, and during this time if one cultivates, then their body will be able to get the best results. However, it only worked optimally if the person is able to induce themselves to the state of emptiness, rather than getting outside help.

Florian did as he was told and inserted a small amount of threads inside the parasitic orb. Suddenly, he noticed Arnin get up and walk towards him. "Dad, I am going to add in some cultivation symbols that can help Nekaia cultivate during this state. All you need to do is make sure you show her a way to cultivate and repeat it three times. When you are done that, remove your threads and allow Nekaia to self-cultivate in this state. It may take more than three rotations, so do not leave her brain until she begins herself." Arnin had planned this cultivation bath since he was told to train them and had all the steps ready to go. He immediately inserted nine strange symbols which all resembled each other. They imprinted themselves on both the main orb and the parasitic orb. Right at that moment, Florian started his rotations.

Arnin walked back to Lilise and did the same thing. This time however, he inserted eighteen symbols. Nine on the main orb, and nine on the parasitic orb. Since Lilise was still making her way into the Orb Birth - Earth realm, she would need more help. It was easier for an immortal to become strong, but it was extremely difficult for a mortal to become an immortal. This was a similar case with the realms going from a normal human to Orb Birth - Earth was much more difficult then going from Orb Birth - Earth to Orb Birth - Sky.

Arnin was going through his first rotation when he felt something change on Florian's side. He turned around and saw a small whirlpool appear under Nekaia. The whirlpool started off extremely bright and colorful, but slowly it lost its luster. Arnin knew that the self-cultivation had begun, however it was much quicker than he had predicted. This was related to the talent Nekaia had, but even still it was outside Arnin's expectations. Could it be because of those memories?

"Dad, move away from Nekaia and go rest with mom. Nekaia will be like this until morning so I don't need you here right now. So go on and rest with mom." Arnin smiled towards his exhausted dad who was sweating profusely. He was fine with staying up because he didn't need lots of sleep. Although his body was of a five year olds, there was still the power of his past life sealed inside him, so he didn't get as tired as others would.

While Arnin was thinking, Lilise's bath started to create a whirlpool as well. It wasn't as strong as Nekaia's, but it wasn't bad either. There was no surprise in Arnin's eyes, he just silently watched both girls cultivate. He was thinking about what steps to take next. What he was doing now was trying to use his past memories to help these girls, but there would have to be a better method out there. Something that specifically worked on the orb.

While he was thinking of ways to improve his cultivation method, his mind was still stressing over Nekaia's memories. Did she really have the memories of a demon that faced the same catastrophe as his demon family?