GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

"Then how will we practice?" Litori asked another question. That is the most important thing to her right now. They wouldn't be able to make any progress without access to mana.

"I'll prepare a training room for you guys. It will have all the safety measures necessary for protecting you." Ghoto replied.

Litori nodded her head before going silent.

Ghoto chose to end things here and take Ghaster away for close monitoring. He planned to question the boy on why he had fainted.

"Do you have anything else to say?" Kayla taunted Soverick but he didn't give any response. He closed his eyes and muted his mouth. He was like an unfeeling rock. Kayla was annoyed by the lack of response. She was expecting a tantrum at the least, that's how a normal child would have behaved.

"You're just a child." She laughed.

Ghoto decided to set up the array on his own, he wanted to make sure everything would run very well. He marked it with his divine sense and switched the sphere on. The sphere started with a low hum before levitating. A formless force spread throughout the room and the mana calmed down.

Kayla shivered. The array affected her mana body in an unpleasant way. It repressed the flow of mana within her body, it felt like her blood was turning cold. "Thank Mother High Heaven that I will not be staying in this room." She said as she left the room.

Then they left with Ghaster. They returned later to find Soverick in the same position they left him, his eyes were closed in contemplation.

"The poor boy doesn't know what to do. It is good for his development to know defeat, it will help to mild his personality." Ghoto thought to himself. He came to bring Ghaster and to check up on them. He was liking the formation more and more. The kids wouldn't be able to fight like before because they will tire easily. They will also have to use the training room which will isolate them from each other. But he had an ominous feeling as if something bad would happen. He checked the sphere again just to be sure it was working perfectly. He raised it to the ceiling of the room to make sure it was out of the reach of the children. Then he left when he didn't find anything out of order.

He was relaxing with a beverage and a book in his hand when he felt an alert from the formation array. He rushed to the children's room and reached it in less than a second but he was too late. The sphere had been destroyed while Ghaster and Litori were both knocked out in their crib. Their situation seemed worse than the state Ghaster was in earlier. They were bleeding from their nose and they seemed to have suffered some type of spiritual damage.

"Did you do this?" He asked Soverick.

Soverick rolled his eyes at him. "You think too highly of me. I might be a genius but even I can't do this."

Ghoto didn't believe the boy one bit but there was no use arguing. While his rational mind was telling him that the boy couldn't do something like this, the boy hadn't even awoken his divine sense, he still felt the boy must have had a hand in it somehow.

"Then why aren't you injured?"

"Simple" Soverick smirked, "I am just stronger."

"You wouldn't mind if I checked you right?"

"Go ahead, old man."

Ghoto examined him and he found traces of spiritual damage. The boy should be out cold but for some inexplicable reason he was still conscious and he could even talk.

'hat a strong willpower.' He exclaimed inwardly. He had seen similar situations among warriors with strong willpower.

He was still full of suspicion but the health of his children came first. He grabbed the two unconscious ones and said to Soverick "Follow me for treatment."

"Thank you but I don't need your help. With the lockdown on mana removed I'll be able to heal myself." Soverick rejected, then he pointed to the children in his arms and said "I don't know about these but I don't need you for anything."

Ghoto left without a retort to that statement. He went to review the surveillance images and security records but he didn't find anything to prove his suspicion. He learned some lessons that day. The first of which is that Soverick is much stronger than his siblings, he could knock out his younger brother easily. Ghoto had heard from Ghaster about his challenge and defeat so he knew that the kids will continue to challenge each other as long as they had constant contact with each other.

He also learned that Soverick has immense willpower. If soverick was truly responsible for the accident then he had no qualms about injuring his siblings and himself. Ghoto fully realized that day that Soverick was staying with them because of the free accommodation, he could leave anytime if an alternative appeared.

Back to the present.

The memory transfer happened in a flash. Mihila was in no way strained by the process it took more toil out of Ghoto which all in all, is practically insignificant. Mihila took a few seconds to process the scenes and gain her perspective. It was an old trick to avoid memory scattering. Memory scattering couldn't affect those at the transcendent level and above but she did it because of old habits.

"I see." Mihila started. Her voice was cold and determined, "The only thing this has changed is your treatment around here. It seems you have been too relaxed here. You feel like you are in control. That will all change today."

The series of images had enlightened Mihila. The formation array malfunctioned and Soverick withstood its damaging effect. On the one hand, she was happy that her eldest son had innately high intelligence and the makings of a great Warrior. On the other hand, she felt that things were getting out of control. In what world would a child threaten her and be so willful?

"We are your parents and we are stronger than you. We care for you and only want what's best for you and we make the rules." She decided to create a strong stance, she would have accompanied the display with a release of her aura but she was currently wearing the weakening wrist bands.

"It seems you want to be unreasonable. Okay then." Soverick turned to go. It seems he had given up on persuading them but Mihila didn't feel the thrill of victory. She was smart enough to know that this was not over, a child with the willpower of soverick will not give up so easily. A series of options and solutions flashed in her mind about what she could do? How can she resolve this dilemma? Lock the kid up? To what end? He was sure to bolt at the first chance? The alternative will be stalking and tracking his every step. She loved her children but she had her own life. Even if she decided to sacrifice her time and energy to achieve that it won't solve the key issue. It would instead Stoke the seed of discontent. What next, threatening to beat the boy or actually go through with it? It could work but unlikely, regardless of success the kid will remember it for the rest of his life because of their astounding memory.

Why was she agitated anyway? The boy wanted freedom. Was that so bad? She cared enough to be there for her kids whenever they needed her, but what if they didn't need her. Besides, the times have changed, and no parent can say they are more experienced than their children in this era. Parents don't have the experience advantage they used to have. What is the worst thing that could happen anyway? The boy could die and so what? People died every day, she had lost count of close friends and relatives that have died. Her children might fail to become transcendents and die in a couple of years. It would be a favor to her if he died now, it will save her a lot of pain in the future. If she wanted the child to stay, she shouldn't try and force him, he will only stay in resentment. Instead, she should show her worth and the benefits of staying with them. For example, the availability of premium items that can speed up the rate of training without any residual harm or risk of behavioral problems. She was ready to relent and give the kid what he wanted but first, she had to try the beating strategy. Only if that failed will she try to prove their worth.

'The stick and carrot maneuver.' She thought before she braced herself for what was to come. Intimidating needed a proper atmosphere and body language to be effective. She had to say the part and look the part.