Leaving her Soul Land, Elizabeth, though still a bit troubled over having to tell those closest to her, one of her most shameful secrets — shameful to her, anyway — was evidently less phased after quarantining the two anomalous ent.i.ties in her soul. She watched with melancholy as the youngest of her siblings, Zoey Keter, walked out of her mom"s hands — who as of now was wearing her mask again. Remarkably, Zoey though younger than Elizabeth, looked extremely similar to Elizabeth with the only thing differentiating them being that Zoey had black hair, vibrant yellow eyes, and was more than a foot smaller. If Sophie was by their side, it wouldn"t be hard for the three of them to confuse most people if they decided to dress the same and match each other"s hair color.Following behind Zoey was Liam, Elizabeth"s younger brother, who was younger than her by two years. Of course, because he was a pract.i.tioner, his body couldn"t look less like a thirteen-year-old as he was almost fully grown with a standing height of 1.75 meters. Nevermind the scars that littered his body from previous battles. Apart from being in regular clothes and not the armor he had used to compete in the Tournament or hunt within the forests adjacent to the Village, Liam looked similar to what Elizabeth looked like when she was Adrian. Though not as close as Zoey was to Elizabeth, Liam had short black hair much like their youngest sister with matching yellow eyes.
Then, behind them was the eldest brother, Grey Keter. Apparently, he was supposed to be only two years older than Elizabeth, but looking at the "man" before her, Elizabeth could understand why most people would be initially unwilling to believe the fact. This eldest brother of the Keter household"s second generation was quite the little monster as seventeen-year-old Spirit Realm cultivator. If it was later revealed that he only made the final push out of the Saint Stage when the Dimensional Upgrade arrived, Elizabeth would still be impressed after considering the level of old-timers like Atid and Jhan were at during that time.
With his fully cultivated physical body, Grey had the stature of a natural bodybuilder. He had natural silver-grey hair, presumably being the source if not one of the sources for his name. Unlike the rest of the Keter, his hair wasn"t straight. Instead of flowing like the waves of the oceans, his naturally grey hair and facial hair made him look the part of an ancestor elder. It was so ridiculous, that when put alongside Atid and the rest of the Spirit Realm cultivators during the meeting that took place in the VIP room while the Second Stage of the Martial Event progressed, Grey seamlessly fit in with the crowd of forty to eighty-year-old elders…
Soon, Elizabeth"s siblings found their way to the chairs set up in the room. But it was only after Elizabeth"s parents closed and locked the door that she began to speak. "Now, I know you all are confused as to why I called for you all to sit here and listen to me speak. But the truth of the matter is, all of you are important people to me who deserve to know this..." It was odd, but Elizabeth didn"t feel the usual emptiness telling a lie normally brought her. Meaning… this was probably something she honestly felt; regardless of the anomalous ent.i.ties in her soul.
Still, while there was nothing but smiles from her friends as this was a gesture of goodwill from Elizabeth, her clueless siblings looked at her in a myriad of ways. From deranged to confused, each of her three siblings had an odd look as they listened to her. Yet, everyone, absolutely everyone aside from her parents that already knew, became frozen silly as Elizabeth said, "Before I was Elizabeth Ultimatia… I was Adrian Keter..."
"adrian? M-my lil bro?" Grey was the first to question Elizabeth as he was the first to turn skeptical.
"Yeah, Grey… I"m your "lil bro," I guess "lil sis" now..." Bringing a look of shock to the rest of their siblings, Elizabeth"s words seemed a bit more believable after calling Grey by his name as he had specifically mentioned that this was the first time they were meeting, when Liam had been talking about his experience with her in the Warrior Stage Division of the Martial Event"s Second Stage.
As if practiced, all three Keter siblings turned to the back of the room to find Sir and Lady Keter nodding. Only Sir Keter"s visible face could be seen helplessly smiling at them as Lady Keter kept her expressions hidden through her mask.
Turning back to face Elizabeth, she continued, "Yes, I know you"re all wondering how I, your soulless brother, came to change. So… let"s take this from the top ok?" With only silence as a response, Elizabeth revealed her status as a G.o.d"s Chosen. It was almost a carbon copy repeat of the reveal to her parents and through the odd looks she received, Elizabeth continued from beginning to end.
When she got to yesterday"s events she stopped and asked, "Any questions?"
"Yeah, I have one," Liam said, as no one stepped up to ask a question before him. He asked, "Now that you"re a girl, should we stop calling you Adrian? Actually, while we"re on the subject, why"d you pick a name like Elizabeth Ultimatia?"
"Mhmm… It"s best if you call me Elizabeth or Ellie as people have grown attached to that nickname for some reason. As for why? Well… remember the game that I mentioned which prompted all of this? I was turned into the character that I made. Meaning, my ident.i.ty as Elizabeth isn"t just made up. She was a real person, whose background will stay with me. Also… it took this transformation and for me to a.s.sume this ident.i.ty to make something of myself, so I"d prefer if Adrian remained as a memory. I"ll still be a part of our family as my soul, Adrian"s soul, is what possesses "Elizabeth"s body." But, going forward, Adrian should remain someone of the past."
"Ok, uh… Ellie? About this Cataclysm, I have a hard time believing so if you show us some proof… any proof really…"
Elizabeth didn"t even wait for Grey to finish talking before she called Yrre up to her side. Speaking out loud, she said, "Yrre, show them your true form." As Yrre"s feet and legs started vaporizing into Djinn Mist, Elizabeth said, "During the First Stage of the Cataclysm, Yrre became my servant in an alternate dimension where Djinns, a race of soul people, exist. As I"ve already said, when the Second Stage of the Cataclysm arrives, our planet will be invaded by an antagonist force the likes of which seem every bit as fantastical and imaginary as Yrre"s existence..."
Even Elizabeth"s parents didn"t expect this development as Yrre"s corporeal body turned into something out of a fantasy novel. With yet another indication that their "daughter"s" story was real, Kurt and Maria grew grim of the future that was to come.
"Any other questions?" Elizabeth asked as she let Yrre return to her seat in her human form.
Unexpectedly, it was little Zoey who raised her hand to ask, "Big sis Ellie! Now that you became a girl, does that mean you like boys?" Her innocent question caused both Elizabeth and Sun to freeze up; thought to a lesser degree for Elizabeth.
"I… I haven"t really thought about it much. Before I switched s.e.xes, I didn"t really care either way and even now… that isn"t a subject I dwell on, since you know… the world could come to an end and I could die if I don"t get stronger." Though she avoided eye contact with Sun as she told a half lie — lying about the part of not thinking about the subject — Elizabeth felt in her Soul Land that if she gave out a "wrong" answer, the cyan light within her would flip out and turn her world upside down. She didn"t know why as the cyan light was but a spec to her soul, but she felt it was best to not antagonize the anomaly while still unclear of its properties.
"Wait… does that mean I have to work like the rest of you and fight if I don"t want to die in the Cataclysm?" Without thinking, Zoey asked with a tone that seemed to convey that she could only be bothered to train if her life was at risk.
"No sweetheart! We will always protect you even if you don"t want to train!" While it was Grey who spoke, Liam could be seen nodding in complete agreement. However, Elizabeth took this chance to say, "Actually, you don"t need to train like them… I"m actually not a Martial Pract.i.tioner, but a Mage."
"You"re a what? A Mage?" Though everyone was curious, Liam was the one who asked.
"Yeah, there are actually two paths the people in the Mortal Realm can take to reach the Spirit Realm. You Martial Pract.i.tioners galvanize your lifeforce to create False Qi, while I, a Mage, galvanize the dregs of True Qi to achieve Magic. Apparently, the way of Mages has either been lost to the people of Earth, or you never had it in the first place."
"Do I have to spar and fight like them?" Zoey asked, a bit hopeful after hearing that the mages don"t train like "savage" Martial Pract.i.tioners.
"Not really. Though you"ll have to if you ever want to become truly strong and gain experience, all you need to progress as a Mage is meditation and exercise. Well, you also need a cultivation method to figure out the progression of cultivation, but I should be able to use my understanding of medicine to adjust Earth"s cultivation methods for you if you don"t have affinity for a method I have readily available."
"Any other questions?" Elizabeth asked. Everyone was quiet so she moved on to complete the last thing she had planned before leaving. She said, "Now… All of you except for Sun, Jane, and Yrre, are viable candidates to have your cultivation bases and foundations fixed. If you want I could also grant you the chance to enter an Extreme Path, but the choice is up to you."