"I understand." Xander bowed his head slightly. In the books he read, the norm of showing respect towards the stronger was to bow one's head slightly.
As for kneeling, even in a liberal Kingdom such as Ellha, it was reserved for only two things: parents and Heaven. Those who had bornt you and those who had allowed you to be born in their kingdom.
The Kingdom here referred to one's territory, and Heaven's territory encompassed all the land on this planet. It was impartial, indifferent and intangible.
This law was especially important. According to history, before a legendary act known as the Great Justice For Humanity, ability users at that time would go as far as to treat their fellow humans as slaves and livestock.
It was truly a dark time.
"Hmph, I observed you this whole time. Not only did you not discriminate foolishly against me, you were even going as far as to waste your words on those worthless pieces of sh*t for me. You are very pleasant to me. I am very pleased. I hereby give you the golden right to be my acquaintance. Do you accept?" Metlhy put her hands on her hips, her chest puffed out, clearly very proud.
Ah, so that's why those adults only repeated one insult. They were clearly controlled by her through extraordinary means, Xander thought, finally understanding why.
Xander's pride as an adult wanted to refute her with his adult-level eloquence, but his rationality snorted in disdain, looking at his pitifully pathetic adult pride contemptuously and performed a spectacular faceslapping, telling it in disdain that a significant figure like Metlhy would surely be able to tell them what he lack the most right now, which is the knowledge about the Extraordinary.
Rationality: 凸( •̀_•́ )凸
Pride: ((´д｀;;))
After an internal struggle, which was in truth a one-sided beating worth remembering for a lifetime, which Xander let it happen as he watched the struggle with clear indifference, clearly allowing it, Xander stared at the cute little yet arrogant Metlhy and asked respectfully, "Thank you so much for your 'golden right' to be your acquaintance, Lady Metlhy. And, may I ask for permission to understand the world of the Extraordinary? I am in need of enlightenment, and I hope M'Lady can enlighten me."
Hearing a simple question that would surely require her to explain so many things about the Extraordinary, Metlhy quickly fell into deep thought.
Xander stared at her serious little chubby face and thought that she was really careful, having so much consideration to tell him, an ordinary person, about the Extraordinary.
It seems like it is really significant!
As Xander was filled with excitement and expectation, Metlhy's brain directly blanked out, her brain as smooth as a pin ball.
What... What was she supposed to tell him?
Metlhy was indeed powerful and arrogant, recently developing her Extraordinary Factors towards the 3rd stage, and indeed, her ability had been enhanced significantly, capable of controlling ordinary people in the radius of 20 meters with utter ease.
All at the tender age of 2!
However... Her theoretical prowess, to put it nicely, was abysmal. To put it rashly... It's better not to delve into that deeply.
A minute passed by, and Metlhy was still silent. Xander became even more expectant.
Two minutes passed by, and Metlhy still did not utter a single word. Xander thought it was somewhat weird, but perhaps it included a complicated matter, so he waited silently.
Five minutes passed by. Metlhy's serious, arrogant chubby little face became somewhat strained. Xander began to feel suspicious.
Ten minutes passed by...
Xander: (≖_≖)
Metlhy: (ㅎuㅎ;;)
"...Lady Metlhy—"
"S-Shut up! E-Ehem, let me explain!"
The moment Xander, who now had an odd look on his face, called her out, Metlhy bristled and stammered, her face somewhat red. Xander wisely stayed silent.
"W-Well... The Extraordinary could be said to be a world full of weirdness. However, you only have to know the most important thing: How strong you are!"
Metlhy mentally patted her back. What a genius way to divert the main focus, myself! She may not know many things, but when it comes to getting stronger, she could confidently say that she is an expert!
After all, her parents drilled everything that she must know in order for her to become strong. She's not that stupid!
Xander did not refute her, outwardly nor inwardly. Indeed, what he wants to know the most is actually the details of what specific strength an ability user has and how they are classified.
Metlhy shed the nervousness in her tone and continued confidently, "As you said, a person who has an exceptional compatibility, like me, could easily turn into a Calmos. However, if controlled correctly, such a person would soon rise to the peak of the world!"
As she explained, Metlhy proudly puffed out her chest. Xander, focused on her explanation, did not comment. Metlhy was somewhat disappointed.
Noting this grudge, Metlhy continued, "Normally, the optimal age to absorb Extraordinary Factors is at 6 years old, when the body has identified itself and the nascent period of the physique has passed. In the Extraordinary World, the Golden Age is very, very important!"
"The Golden Age is when a human could perceive and learn everything easily. It is also the period where the body is susceptible to many things, easily infected and harmed, where many important materials of the physique have yet to mature. The reason why Extraordinary Factors should not be absorbed before the age of 6 is due to the fact that the body could not withstand the 'invasive' property of the Extraordinary Factors yet, since a sequence of necessary materials haven't matured yet."
"Of course, I, with my family's support, could 'reinforce' my genes ahead of time through miraculous means, so I could absorb Extraordinary Factors ahead of time."
Hearing that Extraordinary Factors contained an 'invasive' property, Xander's face turned solemn. Seeing his solemn face, Metlhy nodded in admiration reluctantly.
She had long known that Xander was very smart. As an ordinary person, he was aware of so many things. It made her, an actual descendant of an Extraordinary Family, look to stupid.
He could even guess her reason for moving here with just those bits of information she intentionally revealed!
Fuming to herself, Metlhy continued regardless, "As you know, even one change of the countless materials within our genes could result in immediate self-destruction. Extraordinary Factors, when absorbed, would immediately surge into our genes to 'enhance' it. And when it enhances the wrong material, in the wrong way or in the wrong sequence... A monster called Calmos would be born."
Metlhy's brain was surging with everything she had learnt and read. It was truly the first time her brain became so strained.
Casting another hidden resentful look towards Xander, who was too smart for his own good, which made her look dumb in comparison, Metlhy's explanation continued.
"Anyway, now that you know how a person could turn into a Calmos, it's time for you to know how an ability user trained themselves."
"At the age of six, the genes would be strong enough to withstand the invasive property of Extraordinary Factors. At that time, with the right guidance, the Extraordinary Factors would be able to enhance the genes in a right, orthodox way through a Practice Procedure. And when the enhancement occurred for the first time, what many called an Awakening would occur, resulting in an explosion of the ability hidden within your genes."
Metlhy sternly noted, "A Practice Procedure was formulated and created through the blood, sweat, tears and even the death of our predecessors. They perfected many types of practice, and we collectively called them the Pioneers."
"Anyway, each force has a specific Practice Procedure on their own, each with their own Pioneer. From what I heard from my Daddy, Kingdom of Ellha mainly focused on quantity and purity. The period of practice is significantly longer than other Practice Procedures, but it was very stable. You should be able to receive it from an Internal Bureau Office when you turn 6."
Xander truly remained silent throughout the explanation, only focused on listening, his ten times of an average adult's intelligence furiously processing everything.
His silence somewhat made Metlhy dissatisfied. She wanted to hear words of wonder and admiration from this smart, unique boy she just met. However, he was just too stable. Tsk, tsk, he will definitely be a very dependable man in the future!
Hmph, what was I thinking? Just an ordinary person, did he deserve praise from me?
"Anyway, although each Practice Procedure differs greatly, the state of each stage will usually be the same. They all followed the Major 9 Realms Origin Scripture devised and perfected by the Savior of Humanity, Ua."
Even Metlhy, a little lady of great origin, had a tone of awe and admiration when mentioning the Savior of Humanity. After all, a person who could literally suppress an entire era was truly a true peerless hero!
Hearing a familiar name, Xander also felt a surge of admiration. The ultimate goal, even when separated by over 2.3 billion years, had never changed. Humanity had always followed the lead of its Saviour.
Metlhy soon began to explain the stages contained within the Major 9 Realms Origin Scripture.
After hearing Metlhy's lengthy explanation, Xander could make a rough understanding of it.
In the 1st Stage, the genes within the cells of the heart would be awakened, enabling an ability user to exert a miniscule part of their ability. In the Major 9 Realms Origin Scripture, the source of power originated from the heart, and it all started from there.
In the 2nd stage, the genes within the veins would be awakened. When one completed this stage, one would be able to exert almost all of their ability. This process was very complex, and most ability users got stuck here for a very long period of time.
After all, veins are omnipresent in the body. They're everywhere, even in the brain. An ability user has to practice very meticulously. One blunder and it will all go wrong.
The 3rd stage, the stage Metlhy currently at, focused on mending the imperfection within the body's cells, enhancing and improving the genes within them. It wasn't focused on awakening like the 1st and the 2nd stages, but leaned heavily on enhancing the original property of the diversified cells.
Various functions of the human body would be greatly enhanced when the stage was completed. At that time, even a wasted kidney could be regenerated, though the time needed for complete recovery would be very long.
Unfortunately, Metlhy could only explain the first three stages. After all, she only reached the 3rd stage, and trying to explain further stages would only lead Xander astray.
However, Xander was already very satisfied. So that's it!
He finally understood what it means to be an Extraordinary!