96 Time To Leave (1/2)

Jam's time in the unbloomed dimension passed rather quickly after he shifted gears and started to appreciate the easy going lifestyle that came without cultivation. A year passed before he even noticed and he looked nothing like he did originally. Early on in his run as a mortal, May had him go with her to buy clothes befitting of the current era, so now he looked like a hipster; with his jeans and a jacket…

Then another year passed, and another, and another… until now. The eight years Jam needed for his World Formation to recharge was about to arrive. As Jam thought back to his time here in the mortal world he almost didn't want to leave. Yes, this revelation was a frightening concept to Jam as he still had that productive itch tightly held within his heart.

Jam had created fond memories in his time cast away from the cultivation world. Some things were pleasant and welcoming, but most of the time, he found himself in a constant state of either confusion, disgust, or concern. Real human interaction on the broad scale Jam had experienced was borderline frightening. The people in this world were like a bag of trail mix, for the most part it was sweet and enjoyable, but there were always some stray nuts and wacko raisin messing up the party.

Like... that time he was introduced to the concept of transgenders. When he first heard of the term he immediately drew a connection to the cultivation worlds rare inverse constitutions, where a man might be born with Yin extremes, or a woman born with Yang extremes.

Of course that didn't exist in the mortal world, so when Jam really understood what the concept represented, he was shocked to the core at the lengths certain people would go to from their mental illnesses. That being just one case of many which struck Jam as incomprehensible. Other aspects of life such as the pursuit of knowledge yet lack of ambition present in the youths of that world, or how people just seemed content with ”having enough” to live with also left Jam in a state of short circuit.

Though, for all the headaches and hardships he suffered through during his time in the mortal world, dealing with abstinence from energy as well as interacting with other people, Jam was content for the most part. He had spent his years with May doing whatever it was she wanted to do, so he found himself painting with her, watching TV, and browsing the internet together; all things he wouldn't even consider doing if he hadn't forced himself into an abstinence training regiment. Slowly, he had taken an almost father-like figure within their little household, with May treating him like a husband and James treating him like a father.

Fortunately, for every moment Jam felt depression because of his training or loss of time, there were other moments with his quasi-family that made up for them. In particular, James had contributed a fair amount of opportunities for Jam to unintentionally experience joy. Like, when Halloween came and Tzatziki allowed Jam the chance to use his powers to play the part as a demonic fiend. His Lesser Demon Form and various elemental armors were once more allowed to see the light of day — or full moon moonlight, since he could only put it on at night for trick-or-treating — but… these armaments that could rival Sages became nothing more than a ”cool costume.”

Then, there was that time where James introduced Jam to the world of anime and manga. Jam didn't know why, but his Divinity seemed to become even more unstable when James was watching anime in a room with Jam in it. Now, what truly blew Jam's mind was how, the type of anime and manga James watched effected his Divinity. It was insane to think about, but ever since Jam started taking into account that phenomenon he saw a recurring pattern emerge without fail.

Whenever there was an action anime or manga being perused around Jam, an elemental superpower would emerge. When it was romance, Divinity would spawn superpowers useful in camouflage like Invisibility or Soul Dispersion. When it was comedy… Jam would involuntarily teleport away… This made for a rather interesting life as James got into anime when he was 14.

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Jam had also learned self control like he never envisioned before as there were more than a few situations in which he would be left frustrated to no end by an opposing party and be forced to deal with it, without you know… annihilating them. Many a times there were, where Jam would almost lose himself in anger and almost bring about Armageddon to this unsuspecting world. Luckily, he always possessed that last sliver of reason in his mind as well as Tzatziki and Danger Noodle to hold him back…

These eight years sure were a rollercoaster of emotions, but in truth, Jam didn't have any regrets now that he was at the cusp of leaving. He had long since started to think of May and James as family. He had lived with them for longer than anyone else, including both his parents and Woody; or was it Gamma? And to be quite honest, while he never engaged in romantic affairs with May, Jam definitely cared for her just as much as he did for Woody and Evangeline.

They had lived together for eight whole years. Talking together, dining together, effectively raising James together… just about everything they did, they did it together. At first it was like a parent guiding an ignorant child, but at around the third year mark, Jam and May could pass as a couple if they went out in public together.