Prologue

Inside a mansion sat two women, drinking coffee and talking.

One woman, Reiko Oshiro, looked no older than 30 and her movements were calm, unhurried and dignified.

The other woman, Chie Oshiro, though looking at least 20 was clearly her daughter. Similarly to the first woman, her movements were calm, refined and dignified.

Both women had something about them that suggested that they weren't quite human.

"Mother, when will you be telling the youngest about who and what he is, isn't it about time? You told me and Yuta when we turned 25".

"Well… I suppose I should tell him soon he is 26 now after all…"

"Tell him before he notices he has stopped ageing or ends up falling for a mortal, it would be problematic."

"Falling for a mortal would be annoying… I would have to either make them immortal hoping that his feelings will not fade with time, or they would die and leave him miserable for a few centuries… Although a few centuries is not that big a deal it would still be painful to see him miserable".

"For you a few centuries are trivial, however, he is only 26. His perception of time is not the same as yours, it would be better to tell him the next time you see him to avoid such a situation. We both know that the first few centuries that we experience influence us greatly, it would be bad if he spent those years grieving."

"… I'll tell him the next time I see him."

"Putting Akitos's situation aside, did something happen in Zephir? You look rather tired."

At this question Reiko's face became a little tense, noticing this Chie had a brief pang of pity for the poor soul that pissed off her mother.

"Did something happen… I suppose so. I found a rat trespassing on my territory and putting his nose where it does not belong. People can't just leave me alone… It is to be expected but the constant greed of mortals is tiring to deal with, always wanting for more, never satisfied and coveting the things of others."

"Your perception of mortals is rather biased, while many are greedy there are good ones."

"Oh don't get me started with this argument again. I know there are good ones, I have been interacting with them for far longer than you have. However, unlike you I am not an eternal optimist, mortals are fun to play around with every now and then, but they get annoying… The most irrational thing about them is always wanting immortality, there really isn't that much benefit to living forever and you know this yourself too. They fail to understand that death can be a blessing, a limited existence gives meaning to everything you encounter and experience."

That much was true, and Chie thought so as well. Recently, she had formed a habit of seeking entertainment, however, there is only so much she could experience in the universe. In non-magical worlds human culture always develops the same way and the same was true of their history, the same wars occurred, the same inventions, the same prominent figures, and the same doomed fate of self-destruction. The only reason the planet that they were currently on still had humans was because of the interference of Reiko. The introduction of mana allowed humanity to escape the doomed fate of natural worlds by clearing the atmosphere and altering environments. These changes allowed humanity to continue on for many thousands of years longer than any natural world was supposed to. However, when Reiko first arrived and revealed her presence to the UN they were terrified and even thought of countermeasures, which was an absurd idea, there was nothing that a mortal could do to harm her. Their fear was not completely baseless as when she first appeared and did Earth the favour of cleaning the atmosphere, environment and introducing mana, she also threatened all the countries to stop fighting amongst each other or she would personally ensure human extinction. They were also rather panicked when all their precious nuclear weapons crumbled into nothingness right in front of their eyes after she used magic.

"They really should appreciate it, after all, their greed for comfort and improvement drove their innovation, and so did the passage of time. If they were immortal their greed would be much lesser, and they would still be living like cavemen, or maybe slightly better."

"That is true, each generation has its limit, there is only so much they can invent before they are satisfied enough or their ideas run dry. The old should make way for the new, at least that can be said for mortal societies. Immortal societies are stagnant places where might makes right, not that it is necessarily a bad approach to life, but we aren't exactly prone to invention. It's a mindset they gain as children, entirely passed on from their parents."

"Is that one of the reasons you made all your children spend their first 25 years as mortals?"

"Well yes, children in immortal societies have a complete lack of imagination. It's detrimental for their development, and it results in groups of overconfident 'know it alls', which are annoying to deal with."

"I suppose that is one of the reasons we got stronger much faster than our peers because we had an imagination?"

"Exactly."

"Hmmmm… I see… Anyways, I need to head off. I have some things to deal with."

"Very well, enjoy. I'm going to head back to Zephir to deal with some documents as well."

As Chie got up her clothes changed, and a long white coat materialised on her and she turned around to leave. Just as she was about to leave the room she turned around.

"Mother, shall we go visit Akito at some point next week? I wonder how he is doing I haven't spoken to him since he left to study. Also, you can talk to him if we go see him."

"It's not like your brother will go anywhere, all he ever seems to do is study and go to the gym. I think he will be heartbroken when he realises that he has had his soul sealed and most of his training was pointless and doesn't affect his real ability."

"Hmmm… Yeah that's true, however, depending on how you look at it he might be happy that he can actually become much stronger."

"He might be upset with me for not telling him earlier."

"I was as well when you first told me, to be honest I have no idea how Yuta wasn't even the slightest bit upset when you first told him. After all, you had been lying to us for at that point, our entire lives."

"I hadn't exactly been lying, I just hadn't told you that you weren't mortal."

"Hmph. Whatever, I'm leaving! See ya!"

Space fluctuated and Chie disappeared from where she stood.