"Get some sleep." Eureur Pet said, sporting a mild smile.
"After you, mother." Torq began to sweat as he pointed towards the bed, "Please make yourself comfortable."
"No, just put me there." The Eureur Pet pointed at the stream of water flowing through a corner of the bedroom, "My lacking body will feel invigorated when surrounded by water."
"But won’t it be better if I place you in my Nature slot?" Torq asked hesitantly, "Your body won’t experience any strain there."
When placed in the Nature slot, the Eureur Pet would be encased in a space optimised for her to exist in a state of limbo. She would be unconscious, not requiring any air or sustenance to maintain body function.
It would be as if time had stopped for her body. Of course, if Torq wanted to, he could control the state of limbo and allow the passage of time for the Pet to age, which he was doing to the Empyrean Snapper Pet.
The Empyrean Snapper Pet was merely a baby. Only upon reaching maturity could it unleash its full power as a Deity. Hence, it was better to allow its age to progress naturally.
The Eureur Pet though was on its last leg. Since progressing its age would only imply its death, Torq had paused that for it.
"What use is there in doing that?" Eureur expressed a tinge of anger, "I exist here only to teach you. I can’t accomplish anything if I stay put in your Nature slot."
"Then..." Torq could only relent upon seeing Eureur Pet remain adamant. Slowly, he crawled onto the bed after using psychokinesis to lift and place his mother on the stream of water at the room’s corner.
The moment he slumped on the bed, he fell deep asleep.
Eureur Pet observed his sleeping figure for a while and shook her head, ’He is too relaxed.’
’He needs to be more vigilant. Only then would he survive out there.’ She promptly condensed a sphere of water and moved it towards Torq, compressing it into an icicle and aimed it towards the side of the throat, enough to deliver pain but not life threatening.
But right as she was about to take action, she paused, finding herself watching Torq’s sleeping face instead, ’Ahh, how he’s grown so soon.’
’If only I birthed them separately.’ She clutched her eyes, feeling an urge to rip them out, ’My mistake turned them like this.’
’Both my sons are destined for greatness.’ She clenched her hand into a fist and oozed out all the excess moisture that had invaded her being.
As someone who possessed the Buoyant Disease, immersing herself in water was akin to suicide. However, she had rampantly practiced to keep Mystic Mist Art active passively, which is how she was constantly filtering out invasive fluids from her body that could have easily destroyed her.
Typically, those with Buoyant Disease, even when protected by the Cooter Clan, failed to live past a couple decades. Only a select few manage to even enter the Life Stage, much less ascend to her heights.
To reach this point, a Cooter Clansman with Buoyant Disease had to wield Mystic Mist Art at levels superior to an Empyrean Snapper. There used to be three individuals at the Cooter Clan before.
But two of them died after giving birth to Wally. Now, the only one at that level was Eureur, a Cooter Clansman with Silver Grade strength and a 10-Life Stage cultivation.
The icicle trembled as she eyed Torq, ’He has a plethora of experience and is truly talented to the extreme, in levels beyond the Cooter Clan’s capabilities.’
’But!’ Her expression hardened, ’Sumatra wouldn’t have made such a show telling me about his existence if the level of danger he had to face was anything simple.’
Torq, by merely hiding his existence, could have grown to be as strong as a Settlement Leader on his own. The fact that he already had an Empyrean Snapper Pet meant he had everything he required to reach that point.
’But Sumatra revealed his existence to me. I can only think of one reason.’ Her gaze turned cruel as the icicle sped downward with power, ’His strength isn’t enough!’
Splutch!
Blood sprayed out of Torq’s neck as he sprang to his feet in a hurry and plastered water upon his neck injury to stop the blood loss while his Prana served to heal through the injury. His expression was one of confusion as he eyed the blood covered icicle, "Mother, why?"
"Too slow!" Eureur Pet clicked her tongue, "You are capable of healing faster."
"I literally did that just now." Torq frowned as he pointed at his neck injury, "Look, it has already healed."
"You used a Skill." Eureur Pet commented, "That meant you had to focus a good chunk of your brainpower on using Mystic Mist Art."
"Keep doing that and you’ll die a dog’s death out there." She snorted.
"I have survived countless situations in my past." Torq got triggered by her words, "I’ve survived through situations that would have annihilated the Cooter Clan four times over!"
"That you might have, because of your overwhelming talent." Eureur Pet didn’t mind his outburst and instead argued her point, "However, isn’t the enemy you have to face this time incomparably stronger than the ones you faced in the past?"
"That..." Torq clicked his tongue in irritation.
"How long have you lived?" She asked next, "I’m pretty sure it’s dozens longer than my lifespan, maybe dozens or even hundreds of times the Cooter Clan’s existence."
"However," She commented, "If being alive longer is the only means of survival, everyone on Sumatra would have focused on that."
"I’m pretty sure you know age means nothing here, right?" She chuckled upon making eye contact with Torq, "Wasn’t there an existence that emerged from nothing and reached the pinnacle in a mere two decades?"
"Yes, two decades." Noticing Torq was aware of who she was talking about, Eureur Pet nodded, "In a mere two decades, the Royal Zinger spawned on Sumatra and changed the Continent completely. I haven’t met that existence personally, but I’ve extensively researched upon that being."
"It symbolised relentless desperation." She pointed at Torq, "And I don’t feel that from you."
"I am desperate, dammit!" Torq cursed, "I am desperate, alright?"
"Not to an enough extent, you’re not." Eureur Pet shook her head, "Even I’ve been more desperate than you, and the problems I’ve faced are a fraction of what you need to be prepared towards."
"Maybe this is why I have lived for so long." Her expression turned vicious as she made eye contact with Torq, "By the time I’m done with you, every ounce of your being will strive for growth with relentless desperation, just like that existence."
"If you don’t wish to be subjected to such cruelty, then..." She pointed at her neck and made an action as if being suffocated, "I am merely a Pet under your will. You can erase me and be rid of my nagging."
"Do that, and you can live as you please." She raised her arms weakly and beckoned for Torq to draw closer, "Give me your answer, my son."