Junior grinned. "See? It's good talking to smart people. At least you're that much, fake dad."
"What a snotty nosed brat." Dyon laughed.
"I had to get it from someone." Junior nodded as though it was only natural, his long white hair fluttering slightly in the wind. Though he barely came up midway through Dyon's thigh, Dyon almost felt like this 'son' of his was eye level with him. "Don't you think you should make it up to me?"
"And how do you want me to do that?"
"Easy. I'm bored here. There's only so much to see. I want to go other places. I also want to start cultivating already, but every time I ask everyone always says it's too early.
"But Aiden can already beat me up, I don't like it." Junior frowned and crossed his small arms, a very serious expression taking over his adorable face.
"Aiden can do that?"
"Of course. His father is a heaven's child. He has innate abilities I don't even without cultivating. Namely, he's too fast. I can't catch him."
"If you want to cultivate, I'll help you cultivate then. I owe you at least that much. But, before you do, I have something important to talk to you about. You're too smart. You should know what I mean, right?"
Junior remained silent for a moment.
"… We're too similar, even for a "father" and "son"." Junior finally said. There was a clear discomfort in his large silver eyes. It was obvious that this wasn't a topic he wanted to speak about.
There was a limit to the similarities a father and son should have. They could look similar, but why did Junior look exactly like Dyon? Sure, his skin was paler and his hair and eye color were different, but that wasn't enough to explain it.
Of course, most children would ignore this. But, one had to remember that Dyon, even as a child of less than ten years old, had already caused waves in the mortal world. This three-year-old version of him already had intelligence far beyond his years.
Still, this wasn't enough either. What really put off Junior were the feelings in his heart. He didn't see Madeleine as his mother. He loved her, but it wasn't the normal love a man should feel toward his mother, it was more like child's first crush. It was an uncomfortable love he had to ignore much of the time.
This feeling wasn't limited toward Madeleine either. It was the same when he saw Amphorae, Ri or Clara. To make matters worse, he didn't see Dyon as a father either. He saw a reflection of himself. He didn't want to be like Dyon like a child would want to be like his father, he felt he was already his father.
He had thoughts and feelings he was keenly aware he hadn't been fostered by himself… There was only one conclusion: they weren't his feelings, they were the feelings of someone else.
Hearing this, Dyon realized that he made the right decision in speaking to Junior so soon. The sooner this was explained, the better it would be for Junior's mental health. However, just when he felt he should explain, something entirely different came out of his mouth.
"Do you want to be your own person?"
Junior looked up at Dyon, a clear expression of wanting on his small face. Still, it seemed among all the other things he received from Dyon, his overblown pride was very much a factor.
"I already am my own person."
Dyon stayed silent for a moment before nodding.
"Good." Dyon said. "But, even if you are your own person, you are still a Sacharro."
"Of course. That's the name father and mother gave me."
Dyon knew that the father and mother he was referring to wasn't him and Madeleine… But rather General and Saintess Sacharro.
"If that's the route you'd like to take," Dyon said with a smile, "Us Sacharro men have a lot on our shoulders."
"Let me cultivate." Junior said firmly.
Dyon rubbed Junior's head. "Alright little brother. I'll help you cultivate. We can uphold mom and dad's legacy together."
Junior grinned. Dyon wasn't the type of person to dwell on useless emotions and Junior was the same. Since he had decided he was his own person, it didn't matter what the reality was. That was Junior's own arraogance.
"This is a martial saint pill. Be sure to take it before you begin to cultivate, and also hide it from your mothers. They'll kill me if they find out I allowed you to start cultivating." Dyon wiped a cold sweat from his forehead.
He and Junior had reached an agreement. When together, they were brothers. However, they'd still be father and son to the rest of the world.
It was best if no one knew that Dyon had a clone as it would cause more trouble than anything else. Luckily the Death God constitution changed Junior's appearance just enough for it to be viable.
Junior took the Martial Saint pill and grinned.
Taking the martial saint pill before or after one began cultivating had some large differences. If one took it before cultivating, you'd gain both the divine pulse and True Deity meridians. This meant that Junior could gain something Dyon took more than a hundred years to gain immediately.
"Do you want to cultivate my cultivation technique? Or do you want to follow Orcus' methods?"
"Why wouldn't I choose the best cultivation technique ever created? But I do want Orcus' other core teachings."
Dyon nodded. "I'll give them to you when your cultivation is high enough. They're mostly divine grade and higher techniques, so you can't use them until the dao realm.
"You can practice my Soul Rend soul cultivation technique, but you need a higher level of body refinement to use Orcus' body refinement technique, even I can't use it yet."
Junior nodded, clearly excited. He happily put everything into his little spatial ring. He usually carried it around for food, but he found a much better purpose for it now. It seemed he shared Dyon's appetite too.
"Now." Dyon said, standing to his full height and sighing a breath. "Do you know anything about the life stone?..."
