Fantasy Family Simulator (FFS)

"Uh, yeah… you're right," Taylors said, his face slightly flushed as he turned back around. He made a conscious effort to control his attention, focusing solely on the woman's face and neck. He had to admit, the woman before him was extraordinarily beautiful, her features exquisitely balanced. Her lips were thin yet alluringly red, and her skin was as smooth as jade, seemingly soft enough to break with a breath.

"She's really beautiful," Taylors commented seriously. "And she has a kind of noble aura about her, like a princess or a noble lady. It's a grace that commoners rarely possess."

"Indeed, and her physique is quite remarkable too!" Rhett observed, his eyes sharp as he pinched her cheek lightly and tapped her skull. Then he squinted slightly, adding, "She's got the physique of a Level 3 Knight…"

Hearing this, Taylors was momentarily stunned before he jolted upright. "A Level 3 Knight? How can an ordinary person be born with the physique of a Level 3 Knight? This suggests she's not a native of this world! Or perhaps… she, like us, originated from that main planet and was abandoned here for some unknown reason?"

"That seems likely," Rhett agreed, lifting his gaze as if he could see through the gray mist to the powerful and mysterious world beyond. His heart was filled with endless confusion and pressure. Lowering his head again, he unleashed a burst of aura, closing his eyes as he scanned her abdomen and thighs. "Her vitality is very strong, and I don't sense any unusual residues in her body… everything seems normal."

"Should we try waking her up? Maybe her memory hasn't completely faded," Taylors suggested hopefully.

"Let's give it a try."

With that, Rhett patted the woman's face, shook her head, and even spoke loudly in her ear. He tugged her hair, but she remained deeply asleep, showing no signs of waking. Taylors tried as well, slapping her a few times, but to no avail.

"She's out cold, like a dead pig…" Taylors grumbled as he delivered one last punch to her forehead, which felt as solid as a door plank. Still, she didn't wake up. Resigning himself, he straightened up and shrugged, looking at his father. "I guess some mysterious force is still at work inside her, keeping her from waking up."

"That's the only explanation," Rhett said, frowning. "Our power is too weak compared to that vast world; it's normal that we can't detect such a force. Let's leave her be for now. Manu mentioned there were people who have already awakened—let's go find them."

"Alright."

The two left the woman where she lay and started heading in another direction. But before they had gone far, Manu, glowing with light, burst through the mist and descended from the sky, looking somewhat anxious.

"It's not good, Rhett! That firelight is moving faster and faster—it seems to be drawn to our world and is accelerating toward us!" Manu reported urgently.

Rhett stepped forward, gripping Manu's shoulder as he spoke quickly, "Can you make out its shape? Is it a humanoid creature or something else?"

"It's an irregular mass of fire, like flowing flames without a fixed shape," Manu described after a moment of thought.

"Flowing flames? It's a shame we can't fly to see it ourselves," Rhett muttered, clenching his fists and still frowning. "How big is it?"

"I'd estimate it's about the size of two people," Manu said. "Should we try to strike it?"

"Strike it? With what? Can you manipulate elements?" Taylors asked, puzzled. "But… where are we going to find elements in this world…"

"Just use your spiritual power to attack," Manu replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Can't you do that?"

"Can you attack physical objects with your spiritual power?" Rhett's voice rose in surprise. Then he paused, realizing that Manu, being a spirit himself, had no physical body to limit him. Of course, he could extend his power outside of himself. Moreover, being a spirit meant Manu's structure and essence were fundamentally different from the spiritual power of mages, so the usual rules didn't apply.

Rhett coughed lightly. "Alright, even if you can attack with your spirit, I don't want you to strike the firelight. I want to observe it—see if it can break into our world and what changes it brings."

"Understood. I'd better get back up there. Based on its speed, the fire should hit our world's barrier in about ten minutes," Manu replied.

"Thanks," Rhett said sincerely.

Manu nodded before launching himself back into the sky. As he flew, he couldn't help but reflect on his recent experiences. With his newfound spiritual power gained from meditation and the gray mist, he began to wonder about the differences between himself and Rhett and the others. Why could his spiritual form exist so freely, even extend outside his body, while Rhett and Taylors couldn't, despite having comparable spiritual power at the level of a Level 3 Mage?

As a scientist who had led his civilization through countless advancements, Manu's drive for exploration was endless. He decided to keep this question in mind for future investigation.

When he reached the world's barrier, the firelight outside had already grown from a distant point of light into several large, twisted masses. Manu was certain that he had never seen anything like it in his previous universe.

The firelight soon collided with the world's barrier. Manu focused intently, showing no fear as he carefully observed every detail of the interaction.

He noticed that about a quarter of the firelight was absorbed into the barrier, another quarter managed to penetrate it, while the remaining half was repelled by a natural force from the barrier.

This intriguing phenomenon only heightened Manu's curiosity. Driven by a need to understand, he pressed his spiritual tendrils against the barrier, feeling that after absorbing the firelight, the barrier glowed red briefly before settling back into its original state. However, the barrier now felt different to Manu—stronger, with many subtle and profound changes that he couldn't fully grasp yet. These changes seemed deeply significant and filled with potential.

The firelight that had penetrated the barrier began to dissolve slowly. The outermost parts had already turned into small sparks, moving randomly as they dispersed into the air.

Reflecting on how the barrier had benefited from absorbing the firelight, Manu formed a positive impression of it. He decided to absorb one of the glowing red sparks himself.

"Ugh… ah!"

As soon as Manu's spiritual tendril touched the spark, drawing it into his body, an intense burning pain erupted from the deepest part of his being. It felt as if a powder keg had exploded in his heart, sending searing pain throughout his body, as if he were being submerged in molten lava.

"Ugh… ah!"

Manu groaned in agony, his face contorting in pain as he struggled to maintain his composure. He tried using the meditation technique to counteract the pain, but to his dismay, it had little effect. He felt as if the fire was going to reduce him to a puddle of blood—it was unbearable.

Half a minute later, Manu's willpower was on the verge of collapse. Fortunately, the excruciating pain faded as quickly as it had arrived, subsiding like a receding tide.

"Ugh… ugh… ugh…" Manu gasped instinctively, as if trying to catch his breath. The experience had shaken him to the core—those mere seconds had felt like a century! The searing pain, which had reached his very spiritual essence, was something he had never encountered before. Not even the pain of separating his spiritual form in his past life could compare to the terrifying heat he had just endured.

As he moved his neck and patted his chest, Manu slowly recovered and began to examine his body. He noticed that his surface was no longer pure white but had turned a faint red, as if he had changed skin entirely, with every inch of him now tinged with a subtle red glow.

But that wasn't the most important discovery. Deep within his body, Manu sensed a formidable new power. This power came from the spark he had absorbed, and although he had never wielded supernatural forces before, he instinctively knew that this power was related to fire and had the potential to burn anything.

He tried channeling his spiritual power, infusing it with this newfound energy. Instantly, the air around him blazed with a brilliant fire, radiating intense heat that seemed capable of melting anything. The scorching force was so powerful that it even startled Manu.

"This firelight is definitely valuable. Whether for individuals or for the world, it has immense benefits!"

Manu's eyes gleamed with insight. Based on his experience, he quickly concluded that the firelight was something worth cherishing. Without hesitation, he turned his attention back to the portion of firelight that had been repelled from the world's barrier. It had drifted about a dozen meters away and was moving further and further out.

"I can't let it go to waste. I have to bring it all back into the world!"

Making a swift decision, Manu extended his spiritual tendrils through the barrier, working hard to surround the firelight. He positioned himself behind it and used his tendrils to exert a faint repulsive force, pushing the firelight back toward the world's barrier.

In the void, the firelight appeared harmless and without consciousness. It immediately responded to the external force, speeding back toward the barrier and quickly making contact. However, it couldn't fully penetrate the barrier in one go. With Manu's help, after several attempts, the remaining firelight finally passed through the barrier and entered the world.

As the firelight began to disperse into the air, Manu realized that if this firelight could benefit Rhett, it should be possible to bring its effects back to the real world. He didn't hesitate to use his spiritual power to guide the firelight downward.

By now, Manu had built up some resistance to the firelight after absorbing it earlier. Although the intense heat was still painful, it was no longer unbearable.

"Father, there's a person standing up ahead—it looks like a boy, a small child!" Taylors called out loudly as he stepped on the barren ground, spotting a small figure crawling through the gray mist.

"I see him, but… what's that?" Rhett glanced briefly at the child before quickly turning his attention to the gray mist, where he noticed a faint glow. His expression grew serious.

"Huh?" Taylors also looked over, his eyes widening as he held his breath. "Could that be the firelight Manu was talking about, the one invading our world?"

"Maybe, but it might not be an invader…" Rhett squinted, focusing intently on the sight. Suddenly, a familiar humanoid figure appeared in his view, glowing faintly red. The sight struck him as odd—if the figure was Manu, why had he turned red?

As Rhett and Taylors watched with a mix of tension and confusion, Manu guided the firelight down to the ground and approached them. He seemed anxious and wasted no time in saying urgently:

"Hurry, Rhett! This stuff is good for you—absorb it quickly; it'll do you a lot of good!"

As he spoke, Manu also used his spiritual power to gather the energy within him, demonstrating it to the two. When the flames materialized, the surrounding space was instantly illuminated by brilliant firelight!

"Scorching Profundity!!"

Rhett's eyes widened in recognition as he blurted out the familiar term.

At that moment, Rhett's mind was flooded with shock—he never expected the firelight to contain the power of Scorching Profundity! He wanted to ask more questions, but he could see that the red glow was gradually fading, turning into specks of light that were merging into the air. Although countless thoughts and speculations filled his mind, there was no time to dwell on them. He quickly instructed Taylors:

"Quickly, absorb these light particles!"

"Okay, got it!" Taylors responded hastily. He wasn't foolish—he knew the firelight held tremendous value. He immediately sat down, mimicking Manu's actions as he and his father began absorbing the fiery particles.

Having already experienced it once, Manu found that the pain from absorbing the light particles had diminished considerably. Although still painful, it was now bearable without making a sound.

However, when Rhett and Taylors absorbed the particles with their spiritual power, they suffered greatly. Their faces contorted in agony as they screamed in pain. The sound of their torment echoed through the silent, yet newly born world, lingering for a long time…