[Jeeze, why do you always gotta yell? It’s not like I can hear you.] Even though the mind link transmitted directly to his brain, Cynrik still picked at his ear with his pinky finger, as if Brance had just screamed directly into it.
Brance simply snorted as a response and brought up the quest timer.
-Time remaining to failure 07:44 –
He looked over his shoulder in the direction they had come from and frowned when he noticed something in the distance and quickly snapped his head towards his older brother, [Cynrik!] Gritting his teeth, Brance growled into the mind link.
Knowing what was coming next, Cynrik chose to speed up, putting distance between himself and Brance, and start whistling a random tune into the mind link.
[Tell me you didn’t set a hotel full of children on fire,] Brance questioned in an exasperated tone.
[I mean….there ARE bad guys in there too…] Cynrik was looking at the ground and scratching the back of his head while he answered. Seeing Cynrik act as if he did nothing wrong instantly set Brance off.
[WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU? DO YOU REALIZE THERE ARE OVER A HUNDRED HELPLESS KIDS IN THAT BUILDING?]
[OK, look, it’s not that bad, right. I mean, there are like 70 bad guys left in there, and I only set the first floor on fire. So I’m sure they will put it out easily.] Feeling the rage radiating off Brance, Cynrik quickly tried to soothe him, but to his, dismay Tobs chimed in before he could continue.
-You have killed a level 12 Human –
-You have Obtained 1200 Essence-
-You have obtained 1 INT point-
-You have received 1 KIN point-
Seeing the notifications, Cynrik drooped his head and decided to come clean. [OK, I MAYYY have barricaded the door to the basement…and then set it on fire.]
[YOU DID WHAT!]
[Oh, look, a conveniently placed office building that we can hide in, let’s go splore it;] fully aware that he had just sent Brance of the deep end, Cynrik pivoted on his left foot and dove through the broken window of the office building he was just about to pass.
Tucking his knees to his chest, Cynrik somersaulted upon landing inside the building and bounced back to his feet. He spun around just in time to see Brance dive into the structure after him.
[OK, look, it’s not that big a deal. I’m sure those kids are just fine. But, look, we haven’t gotten any messages bout killing any low levels yet, right. That has to be a good sign.] With his hands stretched out and palms up, Cyrnik slowly backed up as Brance carefully placed Gabby and Benny on the floor and angrily stalked towards him.
[You…YOU…I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU, OF ALL THE DEGENERATE SHIT YOU COULD PULL, WHY WOULD YOU EVEN CONSIDER THAT A GOOD IDEA?] Brance backed Cynrik into a wall and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. If a single kid dies in your stupid fucking fire. [I SWEAR TO GOD I’M GOING TO BREAK ALL OF YOUR BONES, HEAL YOU, AND DO IT AGAIN.]
[Promise?] Cynrik shot Brance a cheeky grin, which only pissed him off further. Luckily for Cynrik, it was at this moment that Tobs chimed in.
-Emergency Quest Haylons Shadow (EPIC Chain) –
-Part 1 A: Collect the children Benny and Gabby Sandford and move to a safe location. (Complete)
-Part 1 B: Using your Watcet, inform either Cinyah Jetlensr or Rikard Jetlensr of your current location and situation. (Incomplete)
-Reward – 5000 XP, 10 Skill points, 5 Stat points-
-Time remaining to failure 06:51 –
[AH HAH, KIDS ARE SAFE, OK time to call Mother and Father.] Cynrik silently thanked Tobs for finally saving his ass and broke out of Brance’s grip and moving a few steps out of his reach.
[Alright, let’s just clean ourselves up a little bit;] Cynrik stripped off his blood-soaked black robe revealing his purple shorts and black t-shirt, then he used a clean part of the robe to wipe off the blood on his face before turning his attention to his now booted up Watcet. Using the camera function on the device, he frowned when he saw how his hair was matted with blood.
[That won’t do, tsk.] With a snap of his fingers, black flames covered his entire body burning away any traces of blood on his person. [There, your up next;] ignoring his brooding brother, Cynrik gave Brance the same treatment clearing any traces of blood off him.
Inhaling and holding his breath, Cynrik typed a quick message before texting Cinyah and Rikard. The moment he hit send, Tobs notified him about completing Part 1 of the Chain Quest.
Two hundred miles away from Cynrik and Brance, A fleet of 25 Enforcer-Class Cruisers were hoving above a vast, open desert. Cinyah and Rikard were standing side by side on the bridge of one of these vessels, looking out into the horizon, when both of their Watcets emitted a sharp, high-pitched chirp.
Immediately they both brought their wrists in front of their faces and started reading the message they had received. It read [ We are OK, Hundreds of kids kept in cells really far down in the basement, over a hundred kidnappers in the base, Brance and I snuck out with Gabby and Benny. The building is an abandoned hotel, and I set it on fire so you can find it. We love you both.] Reading the message, Cinyah broke down in tears again; it had been nearly two days since she lost contact with her babies and the first thing Cynrik had done was give them much-needed information. She had read the text in his sweet voice and choked up instantly.
Beside her, Rikard, too, had finished reading the same text message and was fighting back the tears while chuckling that his son had set fire to the enemy’s base. Even though he was a big burly man, he was nothing more than an over-glorified teddy bear when it came to his children. He looked up from his Watcet and spoke in a subservient tone while turning and bowing to an older man in the captain’s chair. “Father. My oldest has turned on his Watcet and sent us a message.”
The older man was quiet for a minute before stroking his long grey beard and replying. ” Tech Officer, trace the device and get us the coordinates,” after speaking, he looked at Rikard, who was still bowing before him.
This man was Lithlen Jetlensr, the Patriarch of the Jetlensr Family and Rikard’s Father. Even though he was pushing 70 years old, he had the appearance of someone much younger while also being just as largely built as his son. He carried an air of nobility and arrogance as if the whole world was below him.
“It looks like your bastard children are good for something after all,” Lithlen’s words stung at both Rikard and Cinyah’s core. Although they were married, their marriage wasn’t seen as “official” in the eyes of their families. Thus, Lithlen had referred to Cynrik as a bastard. There was nothing they could do in this situation either. Considering that Lithlen Jetlensr had 25 High powered battle cruisers on hand, he was also the strongest person on the ship. The Patriarch was level 53, which made him a Tier-5 being. Not only was he significantly stronger than Rikard and Cinyah, but he was also considered a powerhouse on their continent. Rikard and Cinyah could only ignore his disdainful words and continue groveling.
When they hadn’t heard from Cynrik or Brance in over 24 hours, they were given no choice but to contact the Jetlensr Patriarch. It was the better of the two options between their fathers; their only fear was what Lithlen would ask in return for his help, of which their biggest fear was that he would try and take one of their children.
Eventually, Lithlen waved off his son and directed the fleet towards the ping they had found from the Watcet. “Captain, eta 1 hour 20 minutes until contact.” One of the crewmen spoke out, to which Lithlen just nodded to acknowledge he had received the information.
In all honesty, he didn’t care for Cinyah or her bastard children, but Rikard was still his youngest son. So he felt a slight bit of familial responsibility for the kids since they still had Jetlensr blood in their veins at the end of the day. Rikard had transferred Cynrik’s text to his father, who scoffed at the information, especially the part where Cynrik had set fire to the enemy compound. This bit alone made him completely disregard Cynrik’s existence since the Jetlensr bloodline was based around the Wind Affinity.
“So your oldest is a fire user, tsk—useless son, your second-born what element does he have?” Not hiding his disdain at Cynriks Affinity, Lithlen pushed Rikard for information on Brance.
“Brance has a Wind Affinity Father,” although the statement hurt his heart to admit, Rikard still answered his father’s question.
“Hmph, at least you did something right,” Lithlen looked away from Rikard and at the console in front of him as the bridge drifted into silence.