—–

I slowly opened my eyes again, finding myself resting my head over the Heavenly Empress thighs. It seems I was somewhat asleep, yet not, and the things I saw were sort of a dream, where I could feel I was there, but they were also her memories, how odd.

“You seem to be finally awake; how do you feel, Anna?” The empress looked at me with her golden eyes.

“Um, a bit sleepy now…” I sighed, slowly sitting down and stretching my arms. “But fine… Err, those dreams I saw—were they really your memories? I think we were talking a bit before, and then I just… fell asleep?”

“Indeed, they were my memories,” she nodded. “They’re also part of my Heart of Hope. You see, as it grows and develops, the memories you hold dearest will become their foundation; those memories where you achieved the greatest amount of Hope, they all become imprinted, strengthening your Heart of Hope.”

“So is that how it is cultivated, I wonder?” I asked.

“Sort of, it is part of its cultivation,” she nodded. “However, you require more than that to completely strengthen it. Did you see what it could be done with it?”

“Yes, you used it to materialize it into things—a shield, a naginata, even a pole—ah right, it even strengthened your body and healed it!” I said.

“Indeed! Those are all the powers of Hope,” she smiled. “The power of Hope is born from people, meaning that it is born from their very lifeforce. Therefore, the power of Hope can heal wounds and also recreate items and weapons wielded by the people. A mighty shield, a sharp naginata, a strong pole, armor, any of such things—anything man-made can be created and materialized, made completely real. Of course, only temporarily, usually.”

“Amazing…”

Remembering that dream, those memories of her I experienced, she was really badass even as a young white crane girl. Her ability with Hope was flawless; she was really talented, especially at materializing the power into shields and weapons.

Do I even have an ability or power like that? I guess the Skills that can manifest a weapon perhaps. I wouldn’t consider the Death Apostles turning into things as a power that’s mine either.

But yeah, Hope is definitely its own amazing thing, and that’s totally fine too. I feel like if I could truly harbor it in my own self, I could be able to accomplish tremendous new things, amazing things.

Especially on improving my own Martial Arts, the Myriad Self Martial Arts, or well, that’s the name for now; I could change it later, perhaps.

“Though I have to apologize for showing you my memories like that… It might have come as selfish, thinking that I am high and mighty enough to show you them as if they were an example to follow,” she sighed. “I apologize in that regard.”

“What? No, there’s nothing to apologize, please!” I said. “It was amazing, honestly, and I really kind of understood a bit more how to use that power… I kind of feel something weird inside of me since I woke up too… Is this…?”

“Yeah, Hope is already blooming within your heart,” she nodded. “The moment you drank the tea imbued with Hope, you already started to assimilate it. However, I had thought it would take a very long time because you had already chosen the elements of darkness and light and even had a Martial Core already… But I was wrong. Your Spiritual Body is incredible, capable of assimilating all kinds of Martial Arts and Spiritual Arts with ease. Hope is a combination of both of them, yet your heart is already absorbing it, slowly gathering more of it.”

“I-It already started? Holy sh*t, it was much nicer than the cursed seals…” I sighed in relief.

“Hmm, what did that barbarian do to you?” she sighed. “I hope he didn’t beat you or something…”

“W-Well, he drugged me and forced me to remember horrible memories to trigger my negative emotions…” I said.

“Hah, of course he did!” She sighed, facepalming. “I’m very sorry if that happened to you and you were somewhat… Well, traumatized by his ways. Perhaps I should go pay him a visit and beat some sense into that madman?”

“Don’t waste your efforts in vain, master; he will definitely never change…” I sighed. “But I also found some empathy in his story, and although he’s mad, it isn’t as if he’s… not justified. The things he went through…”

“I know,” she sighed. “The Heavenly Demon is the byproduct of the world I was trying to fight against. A world of bloodshed, ruthlessness, and violence. A world I wanted to change. If I had been born earlier, I might have been able to change things… I always think about it; maybe I could have made a world where his family was no longer persecuted, a world where he could have grown up as a sane young man, happy, fulfilled… I always think about it…”

“A-Always?” I wondered. “You really think about him more than I imagined…”

“T-That’s not what I meant!” Master suddenly got embarrassed, blushing a bit. “T-That’s…! I mean, he’s a venerable such as myself, so it’s normal if I find that I must think about him more frequently for obvious reasons—I mean, he’s a menace and a villain, and—”

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“I see, so master is like those girls that can’t help but be attracted to bad boys,” I nodded. “I can understand, most girls are like that deep down!”

“W-What are you talking about, Anna?! S-Stop this nonsense; why would I ever love that hideous demon?!” She roared furiously. “With his lustrous, pitch-black feathers… That strong, mighty-looking beak. And those piercing, red eyes… And that’s without even mentioning his large, strong wings… Why would I ever like such a man?!”

“Aha, yep, alright, totally not that, uh-huh,” I nodded, crossing my arms and looking elsewhere. “I believe you, master; don’t worry!” I winked at her.

“Enough with this tomfoolery, my disciple,” she sighed, sitting back down and sighing yet again. “Hahhh… Anyway, your training has already begun. Now that you’ve harbored Hope inside of you and have seen how it is mostly used in my amateur years, the next step is to help you both gather Hope, Cultivate it, and refine your heart into a {Heart of Hope}.”

“Okay!” I nodded happily. “How do I do that?”

“First I will analyze your Physical Body and then your Spiritual Body, and see how it can be done,” she said. “I am the sole user of {Heart of Hope}, but mine and yours must be completely different due to how different our bodies are. I believe that if I ever make this technique widespread, the {Heart of Hope} of every person will be different.”

“You want to make it widespread, master?” I wondered.

“I… it is a dream of mine to create a school, a School of Hope. I will raise my disciples mostly in similar ways to Monks. They will learn to harmonize with nature and to inspire people, to help them and protect them, and to use the power of hope to do the impossible. They will be guardians, sentinels of justice, and protectors of the weak,” she was very inspired.

“But you were already a venerable; you couldn’t do it?” I asked.

“Even as a Venerable, the world itself was riddled with corruption; I needed to thoroughly clean it all; that would take many, many years,” she sighed. “An ideal world cannot be made from one day to the next, even if you become the strongest being in the world. It takes perseverance and efforts to slowly, step by step, achieve it. And the Heavenly Demon rallying the opposite party together didn’t work in my favor either. There were wars, Anna, many wars… endless wars. As long as there were two Venerables that belonged to both factions, there would never be a breakthrough; our power was completely equal.”

“I-I see…” I sighed. “Um, but that changed, r-right?”

“I… well, yes,” she nodded. “Briefly, only a couple of years before the invasion of the machines. However, enough of me, or this world. We must talk about you now, young lady. Now that you’ve assimilated the power of Hope, please sit down over this bed of flowers and rest.”

“Just rest?” I wondered.

“Close your eyes and enter into a meditative state if possible,” she said.

“Um, okay, I’ll try…”

I don’t even know how to do that, but just closing my eyes and getting sleepy should do, right?

I did as she asked, resting over the bed of flowers, closing my eyes, and getting slightly sleepy.

Then she used her powers, imbuing golden essence into my body.

FLASH!

She inspected and analyzed every inch of my Body and Spiritual Body, waves of golden essence rushing through it.

I can tell why she told me to enter into a meditative state! These waves were very annoying and kind of itchy…

But I just resisted that sensation, using my willpower and nothing else.

And then…

“I can’t believe this! Anna, I had no idea… Your heart, it’s not… a real one? What is this?” she wondered.

“So you noticed already…” I sighed. “I’m surprised you haven’t realized it yet, master. You knew I could wield cosmic energy after all.”

“Yes, but I did not know your heart… That you’ve completely lost it, and it was replaced by this crystal instead! And what’s this thing inside of it? Some sort of bug?” she wondered.

“That’s Sepa.”

“Se… pa?”

“Hola.”

FLUOSH!

Sepa appeared out of my Cosmic Heart, materializing into a little cosmic centipede.

“Y-You have a strange parasite inside your heart; are you sure you don’t want me to replace it for a normal one, dear?” My master wondered.

“Parasite?! I am literally keeping her alive!” Sepa cried. “We’re bound together… unwillingly. I’m a Constellation, by the way.”

“How did you get this thing inside?!” Master lost her patience the more the weird bug continued talking.

“It’s a long story…”

I ended explaining to her briefly how all of this happened, from Sepa’s conception into a sealed crystal to her fusion with the Cosmic Stone I was gifted by the Constellation.

And how Astaroth crushed my heart, and I had to replace it with this and Sepa’s sealing crystal to survive, which at the same time gave me the ability to wield cosmic energy.

At first it was still hard to use it, but after I killed Uroboros and absorbed half of his cosmic soul and powers, I’ve attained a lot of Cosmic Energy, and it also regenerates rapidly.

“So that’s how it is…” she nodded. “Such a bizarre story, full of battles and thrills. You live in a dangerous world, my disciple. Perhaps even more dangerous than mine…”

“I… I don’t really know if it’s more dangerous, but it sure is life-threatening to live there…” I nodded nonchalantly. “Anyways, is there something that can be done about this?”

“I mean… I believe it can still be refined, but it would be more complicated. I have never dealt with such a strange heart before,” she said. “Usually, the normal heart, made of… well, muscle tissue and heart tissue, and all those things, usually living flesh itself, would undergo a process of refinement, gaining a golden, metallic luster and usually becoming bigger as well.”

“I see…” I nodded. “Sepa, do you think it could be possible to do it with this heart?”

“Maybe,” she said. “It is worth giving it a try at least?”

“Yeah, I think so too…” I nodded. “Master, please, let’s continue. At the very least, I am sure I won’t die if it ends up failing.”

“Hahh,” she sighed. “My disciple is sure a reckless girl! But very well, let us begin. I shall start the ritual.”

“So there is a ritual then!” I said.

“Well yes, I’ve created one specifically for those that aren’t… well, me. I created my heart coincidentally, but that’s inefficient, and my methods won’t work on others,” she explained. “Therefore, I created this ritual.”

Around the garden of flowers, she assembled four monoliths made of gold, connected by white branches of wood, and several crystals imbued with spiritual ki essence.

It was much simpler than the Heavenly Demon’s ritual, for sure.

“This is a formation I created… It’s called {Four Pillars of Hope}, and only I can make it work because it requires a Heart of Hope at its core.”

She walked in the middle of the formation, standing in front of my body.

And then, golden flames of Hope surged from her body, spreading through the formation.

FLAAASH!

And they reached my body, entering my very heart.

—–

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