Chapter 9

Kazu put his hand behind her head, checking to see if she was real. She was transparent, made of water and taking the form a little girl. Having a child like appearance, she could only be compared to Ene. On the other hand, Ene, with her wide eyes, stared at her with curiosity. She hid behind Sene’s legs like a shy child, but she was not.

Still near the water girl—that’s what Kazu dubbed her as for now—her head turned to look up at Kazu. Although she had no eyes, only a silhouette of where eyes should be, Kazu felt her stare. He stepped back a bit to turn his head towards Sene who had her hands covering her mouth.

“Another…” Sene whispered.

“Another?” Kazu questioned.

“Another daughter!” Sene walked up to it and knelt down to so she was eye level with her.

“Hello.” Ene said. The water girl waved back and the silhouette on her face that looked like lips turned up into a smile. Her smile had a child like innocence, a child that has yet to see the world—like Ene who was full of life.

“Let’s see, her name…” Sene tilting her head while her slim index finger supported her chin and then continued, “Lene. That’ll be your name.”

Lene faced Kazu to look as if looking for a confirmation. Even without her pupils, Kazu felt the eye contact, so he nodded.

She turned her head back to Sene and nodded. Sene embraced Lene, “My daughters are so cute!” Wait here, I’ll get a basin and fill it up with water. She disappeared into the back of the kitchen leaving Kazu and Ene behind with Lene.

Ene, now without her cover, stared into Lene’s eyes. For a few minutes, they stood there without movement as if they were talking to each other with their eyes. Every now and then, Ene would nod or shake her head.

The silence under the window’s moonlight was broken when Ene slowly moved up to Lene. Ene poked her, then ran away to hide behind Kazu’s legs only to peak out her head in an act of shyness.

Steps from behind followed suit, it was Sene with a basin of water. She put it down in front of Lene, then tilted her head saying “You have to use this for now. Ok?”

Lene nodded so Sene patted her head. Splashes of water could be heard when she patted her head. Retracting back her hand, Sene wiped off the water on the apron she wore. The following moment, Lene jumped into the basin, splashing the water everywhere and also soaking all 3 of the family members.

“Muuu… I’m wet.” Ene groaned.

“It’s fine. Let’s dry you up.” Sene said.

Suddenly, a dim circle of light formed in above Lene’s head. Runic inscriptions appeared in that circle.

“This is… water magic.” Sene gasped.

The moist in their clothing floated in the air like droplets of water. Moisture from the furniture also floated into the air. Droplets of water spun around where the dim circle of light centered, and it formed a ball of water. Once everything was dry, the water ball in the air drop into the basin with no splash.

“Thank you Lene.” Sene patted her new daughter once again. With a caring smile on her face, she welcomed her new daughter with all her heart—after all, that’s who she was.

“You know, I’ve been wondering.” Kazu interrupted. “Is it a family thing where you name your children like that?”

“Yes it is.” Sene gestured to Ene to come to her instead of hiding behind Kazu. “All the women in my family always had an ‘Ene’. But only the purest gold blond daughters have the name of Ene.”

“Hoo…” Kazu left his mouth open. “Does that mean your family has a long history?”

“That’s right…” Sene sighed as if she was about to say something long. Kazu’s ears opened with curiousity.

“Too bad I forgot all of it. Hehee.” She cupped her hands in a fist and bumped her head with it. It was a gesture very familiar to Kazu. Like those girls that try to be cute, but with Sene, it was more believable than those annoying girls.

Kazu and Sene’s conversation was then interrupted with water rippling around. Lene was stretching her arms and doing yawning motions. The moonlight refracting on the body of a water spirit under the dim light of a house was a rare sight. Kazu couldn’t help but be awed even after seeing all the fantasy landscapes and magic.

“My…. Lene seems to be sleepy. She must be tired after doing her first spell.” Sene stroked Ene’s long hair who was still behind Sene holding on to her side. She then picks up the yawning Ene scratching her eyes.

“Sorry about your room Kazu. I don’t know when it’ll be ready, but good night.” With her free hand, she patted Kazu who was taller than her.

“Good night.” As soon as Kazu saw Sene disappear to the floor above, he whispered, “Good night Mom…”

Kazu laid down on the couch, watching the gem like beauty under the moonlight. His eyelids fell down with weight behind it, and his mind drifted through the memories of the day. There was one image stuck in his memories—Aiko’s letter.

“Status.”

StatusNameKazu TomoeLevel12HP1200/1200MP1800/1800Strength48Vitality48Wisdom96Intelligence72Agility72Stamina60Endurance120Luck6Phys. R264Mag. R.216

Unique Traits:

Hero Stats

Artifact "Exended Status" [Inactive]

Skill list:

Stealth (3)

Sneak

Assassinate (3)

Observe (3)

Identify

Scan (3)

Wanderer’s Thousand Wind Skill Tree

Spoiler :

C - Rising Wind Blade (active) Lv. 1

B - Forward Gale (active) Lv. 1

C - Gale's Return (passive) Lv. 1

C - Tenth Slice (passive )Lv. 1

D - Shockwave (active) Lv. Inactive

A - Fool’s Wind (active) Lv. Inactive

A - Wanderer’s Wind (passive) Lv. 1

Kazu smirked. With every level he gets, he was one step closer to taking back the letter from that place. The towering height of those ogres no longer seemed to intimidate him, at least that what Kazu thought. With his new skills and new found strength, he thought it would be enough. With that lingering in his mind, his eyes drifted to sleep.

***

BOOM!

A loud explosion outside shook the whole house. The blast came from the backyard and it woke up Kazu. Even though his mind was in a panic, He reached for the door in a panic seeing if everything was alright. Running to the back, clouds of dust covered the entire vicinity.

“*Cough cough cough*” Walking out of the dust cloud, Sene had her eyes closed, coughing, while holding up her hands to her mouth. “Lene! Where are you?!”

Lene came out of the dust cloud unscathed, although how would you tell if water is damaged anyways, Kazu thought. Inside Lene, Ene was holding her breath Lene let go of her. It was like watching a young child get out of the pool, except it was side ways because the pool was walking.

“Is everyone ok?!” Kazu shouted.

“It seems everyone is fine. No need to worry.” Sene coughed, but gave her best to smile. “Its just the dust.”

“What happened here?” Kazu, bewildered, said with wide eyes.

Sene giggled at how worried Kazu was. “Really, it was nothing. Lene accidentally bumped into one of the beakers causing a reaction of sorts. Luckily, Lene grabbed Ene before it could explode.”

Kazu walked up to the three and embraced them with his bewildered expression. “I was so... so worried.”

“There, there. Everything’s fine.” Sene patted Kazu in the back while he hugged everyone.

“Brother… it’s not Lene’s fault okay?” Ene muttered.

“Yes, I know.”

After calming down, Kazu sat on the dirt still with a heart beating fast.

“Be more careful next time, right Lene?” Sene scolded.

Lene’s body seemed to shrink under the pressure of the mother figure in front of her. Having her face looking down, she looked up then nodded to Sene like a sincere child understanding how dangerous it was.

On the corner of Kazu’s eyes, Ene creeped in from the side to Lene. She pulled on Lene’s sleeve and pointed towards the woods.

Sene noticing this said, “Alright, don’t play too far.”

“Yay! Let’s go!” Their faces lit up like light bulbs as they were already running towards the woods where Sene frequents.

“We’re lucky it wasn’t a harmful explosion. I’m sorry about that Kazu.” Sene sighed. “Your plate is already ready for breakfast inside. Then you can get back to training or free time.”

Kazu looked over at the dummy just a few meters away. It was still sideways, tumbled over from yesterday. Thinking about what to do after breakfast, he decided to spend his free time instead of training.

Kazu headed back inside, sighing in relief. He saw the plate neatly placed with the knife and fork on the side. Yet, there was something missing. Sitting down on the table, he stared at the knife and fork set and found out what was missing—chopsticks.

He didn’t have to use chopsticks, its just that it was more comfortable having them accessible.

Guess I’ll make some later.

He started eating the warm breakfast prepared by Sene, cherishing each bite. Even though the soup tasted bitter, the warmth of the cozy house made its taste sweet. After finishing his plate, the tension in his body released from the shock earlier.

The pain from his muscles creeped in due to yesterday’s training. His body groaned in rebellion when he tried to get up from the chair.

Suddenly, the door bursted open and the light bulbs as faces flooded the room with its light.

“Ne ne ne, brother lets go somewhere.” Ene pulled on Kazu’s arm while Lene pulled on the other arm with her face saying “Let’s go.”

He clenched his teeth as the pain surged on both his arms. “Stop stoooop…” Kazu whispered in defeat.

With blank round faces in confusion, both let go of Kazu’s arm. “Mom said we could. Pleeease.”

“Alright alright.” After catching his breath, he looked at both of them having expectant gazes. They were faces you couldn’t say no to, so he sighed.

He clenched his teeth and prepared his heart to get up from the chair. In one stroke of his legs, he got up while ignoring the pain.

“Ok, why don’t we go to East Gate?”

“Really, that far? Ok!” Ene shouted while Lene only nodded in response. Kazu limped to the door, hiding his miserable state.

“Kazu, have fun.” From a far, Sene waved sitting down with her chemistry set.

Kazu waved back with a forced smile on his face, deeply sighing after. He limped along towards the South Gate which was uphill. It made his sore body scream in pain forcing an even more miserable expression in which he hid.

“Brother, is something wrong?” Ene asked.

“No, it’s fine. My body is just sore from the training.” Kazu replied.

“Why not ask mom to heal?” Ene suggested.

“I didn’t want to bother her hehe…” Kazu clenched his fists at the sound of the suggestion. Dammit! Why didn’t I think of that…

***

The commute to the East Gate was rough. Having a water spirit and a Nayan child with him brought too much attention. However, none dared to raise a question because they were still children. Kazu too still looked below the age of an adult. In fact, 19 was the age of an adult in Austere.

Upon exiting the East Gate, they saw the empty meadows waving in beautiful patterns as the wind stroke through the grass. Calming sound of the trees ruffling along the wind somewhat relieved Kazu’s fatigue. Safety was no longer an issue in the meadows and near the pond in the East Gate because the guardian of the pond was back, protecting all friendly life.

Kazu strolled through the meadows to get to the pond right across the meadow. Beside him, Ene with a curious gaze looked forward. She held Lene’s hand who was made of water. Even though she had no eyes, it could be assumed that she wore the same curious gaze that Ene wore as both of them looked left and right at the scenery before them.

“Lene, do you know who we’re going to try and meet today?” Kazu asked.

Lene shook her head, splashing some water on to Ene.

“Who are we meeting?” Ene asked.

“We’re meeting Lene’s mother.” Kazu answered.

Her eyes sparkled even more with curiosity, letting go of Kazu’s hand even to run ahead to the pond. Lene, who was holding Ene’s hand, was forced to follow her.

Once they reached the pond, Kazu saw them sit just at the edge of the pond looking at the small fishes eating the algae.

“Brother, hurry. I wanna meet her too!” Ene shouted through the trees.

They weren’t far enough to be lost, so Kazu, contemplating whether to scold them or not, let it go.

Arriving just at the edge of the pond, he gazed upon the center of the pond.

“I’m back, Ms. Lleya.” Kazu patted Lene’s head without turning his head. “Your daughter was born. Although she soaked the whole living room when she came, we welcomed her warmly into our family. We named her Lene if you don’t mind. I thought you might have wanted to know since, after all, she is your daughter….

Your daughter is one brave girl. She saved Ene from a possibly dangerous explosion today. She’s also very smart you know, being able to cast a spell just minutes just after being born. After her dramatic entry yesterday, I instantly became attached to her… she’s become family.”

After talking to himself for a while, a whirlpool in the middle of the pond started swirling. The whirlpool rose from the pond and a vortex of water gently came towards the 3 on the edge of the pond. Reaching the edge of the pond, the vortex stopped, although this time it was a gentle stop unlike her first entry with Kazu at the edge of the meadow.

Lleya didn’t answer Kazu immediately after arriving. Instead, her eyeless gaze was set on Lene. Several minutes passed like this, and only the calming sound of the trees gave Kazu entertainment while Ene stared at Lleya and Lene as if she could hear them talking.

“Young Hero Kazu Tomoe.” Her eyes broke eye contact with Lene, turning her head to Kazu. “I’m sorry for the trouble this one caused. She wanted to meet you as soon as possible so she broke out of her shell with her own will.”

“I see.” A warm smile enveloped Kazu’s expression. It was a rare smile Kazu gave, an expression that never sees the light of day.

“Take good care of my child Young Hero Kazu Tomoe. Although I already know that you, in your heart, will do so. And also forgive her generously while she is still learning.”

“Of course I will. Our family will give her all of our hearts.” Kazu laughed.

“...”

“Did I say something wrong?” Upon receiving no comment while still being stared at, Kazu’s face turns into worry.

“No.” Warmth radiated from her. It wasn’t violent, it was a cozy kind of warmth that both Ene and Kazu felt. Lleya’s head turned upwards and then said, “No one has ever talked casually to me in a long time. It was nostalgic. There was only one being who talked to me casually before. She was my master who helped me be born into this world.”

“I see.” Kazu said, “She must’ve been a nice person.”

“Indeed she was.” Her gaze dropped down back to Kazu. For a few minutes of silence, she was commentless until her eyes moved to Ene. “That girl beside my daughter, may I know her name?”

“I am… Ene!” Ene shouted.

“I see. Young Hero Kazu Tomoe, Ene is a special child. With you around, I am relieved that she will be always safe.”

“I’ll protect both of them the best I can.” Kazu patted both of them. “Ene, Lene, I think we shouldn’t disturbed her any longer don’t you think?” Kazu asked.

Ene and Lene nodded with Ene still being awe struck.

“One more thing Young Hero Kazu Tomoe, if power is ever needed, go to that dungeon and one will find it.” She pointed to a well that was seemingly out of placed in the thick woods. Even with the trees in the way, the well stuck out like a sore thumb.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Farewell Lleya.”

Water splashed around everywhere and the vortex that formed around Lleya swallowed her whole body. Before disappearing, Kazu heard a slight giggle that resonated from where she disappeared. Unknown to Kazu, he didn’t call her any formalities in his good bye. Lleya didn’t mind it and liked it enough to giggle.

“Alright, let’s go.” Moving his body, he didn’t feel anymore soreness in his muscles. He noticed the water glowed a dim green under the shade of the trees. Kazu grinned, Such a nice water spirit.

“Alright, who wants to be carried all the way to the house?!” Kazu shouted.

“Me me me!” Ene had already reached Kazu’s shoulder with her skillful climbing.

She must do this a lot with Brett…

Lene on the other hand pointed her arms up towards Kazu. She jumped into Kazu’s arms, carrying her into a princess carry. Her head laid onto Kazu’s chest and she didn’t seem to move. She fell asleep immediately after entering Kazu’s arms.

“Ene… sshhh.” He whispered. Ene nodded and made a gesture zipping her mouth shut.

***

Arriving at the house in the outskirts of South Gate, Kazu noticed the fallen beakers and broken glass on the chemistry set Sene was using. The surrounding was quiet, too quiet—the eeriness made goosebumps on Kazu’s skin.

Killing Intent Detected

Killing intent? Thats oddly new…

“Aaaah!” A woman scream—no, it was Sene’s voice coming from the backyard.

Kazu put the two down who were fast asleep from being carried, but was woken up by the scream. He ran as fast as he could to the backyard. Before entering the corner of the house to view the backyard, numerous men appeared on Kazu’s vision because of his “awareness” skill.

He put a hand on his sword coming through the corner and saw Sene backed into the corner of the storage house. She had parts of her clothes ripped off and the middle of her breasts were showing.

Some of the men around her looked familiar, 5 of them were. It was Adraine, Nedraine, and 3 of his lackeys along with other lackeys.

“Hooo, look what we have here.” Adraine waved his sword around to intimidate Kazu. “The main dish has finally arrived, although this one won’t be as tasty as the the other one.”

“Kazu, run!”

Like hell I will! He was pinned down. If he left, they would’ve done unspeakable things to Sene. Not to mention, the kids inside the house would’ve been much worse. In this day of age, they would’ve been all sold to slavery right after being used, kazu thought—although he didn’t know the exact situation on slavery.

“Mooom!” Ene shouted from behind Kazu.

“Wait wait wait wait, what’s this?” Adraine pointed at Ene. “Ned, tell me if that’s really a Nayan child. Oh, and beside her, is that a water spirit?”

“Yes older brother.” Nedraine licked his lips. “That’s a jackpot!!”

“How much did you say a child was for?” Adraine asked.

“Around 1 diamond coin, last time I checked hehehe.” Ned answered.

“AH SHIT!” Adraine slammed his sword on the ground. “Now you’re just making me want that child more Ned. Why do you have to be like this?”

“Hehe, that isn’t a bad thing older brother.” Ned pointed his sword at Ene. “Hey giant, nab that child right now!”

Without delay, the giant stomped his feet to where Ene and Kazu were situated at. Kazu drew his sword, readying to get into a fight. Ironically, his sword was out of place considering he was way bigger than it. It made it look like a short sword when he carried it, but in fact it was a long one.

“Scan.”

StatusNameGiant Lv. 28StyleEarth’s GraspHP2940MP690Attack Rating700-730AttackEarth’s Grasp Skill TreeDescription: Known for his monstrous strength exceeding even rank B’s.

Beads of sweat ran down Kazu’s face. If he gets hit by the Giant, it would take at least half of his hp, and letting him hit a vital point was out of the question.

The giant stampeded into Kazu’s direction with his sword. Each of the giant steps seemed to shake the ground with a loud thud.

Kazu readied his sword and activated >. Violent winds gathered around Kazu, then the swing of his sword thrusted that small violent typhoon towards the giant.

The giant eyes widen in shock when he saw the distortion of the air. He braced himself by guarding his face with both his hands at the cost of his momentum being broken.

The gust scratched up his hands and face that weren’t protected by armour. It also tore away any of the thin parts of the armour in his chest. However, he wasn’t blown away. Damage indicators also didn’t show up, confusing Kazu.

But, Kazu knew that it took a lot out of the giant to withstand that directly. His heavy breathing gave that away to Kazu. Soon enough, the Giant dropped his sword then collapsed on the ground only to keep himself up with his hands.

Beings with high intelligence will have no damage value given when damaged. Please scan again to see opponent’s hp.

The popup solved Kazu’s problem following the turn of events. On the other hand, Kazu knew that scanning the enemy to see minor information would risk seconds in the battle field. Those seconds can either mean life or death. However, level up ding still sounded in his head meaning that it did count as a win. But, it was no time to check his stats.

“What was that just now?!” Adraine shouted.

“I-i-i-I thought h-h-he was weak. I swear h-he w-w-was brother.” Ned’s voice trembled.

Adraine’s face lit up like a red chili. He tightened his grip on his sword and looked at Sene. The woman close to him was the perfect hostage, all the more because she was a Nayan whom he thought were inferior beings.

Suddenly, a splash of water pounced in between Adraine and Sene. Lene had formed her hands as blades, blocking Adraine’s strike instinctual strike.

Yet, when Lene saw Adraine’s face, he was grinning.

“Stupid insects.” It was in broad daylight; Adraine’s shadow wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Instead, Adraine was invisible yet the shadow moved at Kazu in an alarming speed. Kazu remembered, it was one of the Hell’s Demon Sect skills, Illusory Veil.

It creates an illusion that does a brief set of motions, but the user was else where waiting to strike at a perfect opportunity. Kazu, was caught in that trap as Adraine was already in motion.

Kazu’s mind went into overload to try and get out of the situation. In his mind, he searched for every way to turn the situation around—there was only one choice that seemed like impossible to him.

> Kazu activated.

He aimed slightly to the left of where the shadow moved. Everything looked like in slow motion. He saw the full range of movements and saw the outline of Adraine’s body twisting away in disbelief.

The outline turned opaque at Adraine’s sudden movement to block whatever Kazu was throwing at him. But, the strike directly hit him in his fully armoured chest. It scratched his face, and his left eye was slashed by the wind.

First step, the wind gathered. Second step, the upwards swing. In the blink of an eye, both steps were executed causing a loud gale of wind to shoot up to Adraine.

While he was getting knocked back, Adraine tried to move out of the way, but something kept him inside of the strong gusts. Little did he know, it was Gale’s Return passive’s effect.

“-This bastard” Putting one of his hands on his left eye, he looked at Kazu with serious anger.

“Kazu run!” Sene shouted.

In the spur of the moment, Kazu ran into the trees, clenching his teeth at the thought of not being able to do more. Sene and the others ran the other direction

“Leave the women.” Adraine commanded. “Let’s take this insect who cut my eye first.”

He tightened his grip on his sword and ran to follow Kazu inside the forest. All his lackeys followed him into the forest, including his brother. While searching, Adraine’s left hand glowed green. It was a healing spell and as he put back his left hand in a comfortable position, his left eye was back to normal.

Meanwhile, Kazu was out of breath from running. Up ahead, he saw an out of place well.

I see… He grinned. This is where I’m going to die.

He rested his back on the well and faced back in the direction of Sene and Brett’s house. Silhouettes of men could be seen up ahead, it was the Adraine and his lackeys. His light purple hair and his violet haired brother were unique amongst the rest. They were more dangerous than all the lackeys combined.

If they weren’t there, Kazu was certain he would win.

Adraine stepped over the tall grass into the short grassed area around the well. He had the same arrogant smile his brother had when he was about to kill Kazu. I won’t be as lucky as last time...

“Insects like you should die like an insect. A slow, painful death.” Adrained whispered to him while lifting him up by his hair. “Shut him up and tie him up. But first…” Adraine stabbed both of Kazu’s hand right in the middle.

“GAAAAAH!-” His scream scattered the birds.

Adraine smacked him right in the cheek, knocking Kazu out unconscious. “Tch, so noisy. Hurry up and tie him down. Throw him down the well after.” He walked away to leave the trivial things to his lackeys.

They did what their boss told them to do, all of them feared for their lives. Only Ned followed his brother, silently watching on to what the lackeys were doing with the body with a grin on his face.

Adraine and Nedraine headed back to the house with the women. When he came back, his face distorted into a frown. He saw a solid barrier set up around the house spanning down all the way to the storage so they couldn’t even loot the place.

Barrier’s were a tricky deal, and Adraine didn’t want to try and break it. It would require twice the amount of magic needed to break a barrier.

All the more, she was Sene, one of Brett’s old party members. They were popular in Austere, being the only B ranks to complete S rank quests without handing them in. Yet, it was only rumors so the council couldn’t send them into war. Philip Nemean was also in their side.

With this conclusion, it wouldn’t been better to just leave the barrier alone instead of breaking it. Their deal was already done with the black haired inferior being killed a slow death in an abandoned well.

“We’re leaving.”

“Huh? But older brother, there are still women inside the house. If we can just break-”

“Are you a fool? Don’t you see that this is an S rank barrier. Even I can’t break this.”

“S rank?!” Ned lowered his head in defeat and walked away with his older brother.

***

A few days later, Brett, Krey, Raym, and Mizz were on their way down to Brett’s house. Brett carried a large bag, clanging with precious materials. Brett had a satisfied face on as they trekked their way on the road back home.

“Haaa, must be nice being Sene having the handsome Brett missing her everyday he’s away from her.” Mizz commented.

“Not to mention the cute cute cute child Ene saying “Papa!” everytime he comes back home.” Raym added.

“Err…” Before answering, Brett gave up and sighed.

Then Brett’s eyes widen in both surprise and worry. Entering the corner of where the house was at, Brett dropped the stuff he was carrying and so did the others. They saw the marks of a fight happening and the emergency barrier was set up, it was a no-brainer that something happened. The signature “Papa!” shout from Ene wasn’t heard.

“Sene! Let me in!” Brett banged on the barrier. The barrier disappeared following Brett’s shout.

Brett, along with the others, barged into the house. They saw Sene collapse on the floor while Ene rested on the sofa. Ene woke up scratching her eyes. Then, her eyes bawled into once she saw Brett

“Papa… uuuuu.” She ran to Brett crying her eyes out. Brett picked her up, carrying her as she cried on his shoulder. He came closer to Sene, supporting her head up with his free hand.

“Sene, what happened?” Brett asked.

“Kazu… save him..” She fell unconscious after saying those few words.

“Ene, its alright hush hush, don’t cry.” Brett stroked her back to comfort her. “You have to tell papa what happened Ene. Be strong.”

Ene nodded. “Uuu… they to-took broth-ther”

“Point where.” Brett pleaded Ene. She pointed towards the abandoned well, Brett knew where it was perfectly was.

“Raym, stay with Sene. It looks like she held up the barrier for 2 days straight.” Brett commanded.

Nodding to Brett’s command, Raym went over to Sene and picked her up to lay her down the sofa. On the sofa, a blue gem sat. It was the same gem that the water spirit gave Kazu.

“Nnn!” Ene shouted at Raym reaching her hand for the gem. As Raym didn’t want to delay the situation, she gave it to Ene who immediately embraced the gem as if it were a living thing.

The rest rushed to the abandoned well, following Brett closely. Swiving through the forest, they saw the well up ahead. There was blood dry blood on the green grass and drippings of it going inside the well.

“Brett, this is…” Krey muttered.

“They threw him down the well. Shit!” Brett kicked the side of the well causing a loud bang. The birds around flew away at the sudden noise.

Brett, without saying anything, dragged his feet back to the house. “That wasn’t really a well. Its a teleporter leading to the Ephermal dungeon. I looked at it and it was dead. It could take a few months for that thing to recharge.”

Putting Ene down, Brett grabbed his shield and sword. He placed his sword at his waist and his shield behind his back.

“Brett!” Mizz stopped him by his arms. “Are you really going? That’s suicide you know!”

“Shut up!” Brett shook her hand off. “You can’t stop me.”

“For all you know, he could be de-”

BANG! Her last word was interrupted by Brett slamming his fist on the wall. “Don’t say it.” He sighed and then said, “He’s family. Everyone in this house is family. I would all do the same for all of you.”

“Lad…” Krey readied his warhammer at his waist causing a clanging of metals. “I’m going with ya.”

As if her lips were sealed, Mizz couldn’t say anything.

“I’m going with you too.” Coming from upstairs, Raym’s foot steps on the stairs sounded loud.

“Brother…*sniff* you gotta save him…*sniff* Dad…!” She snuggled her face onto Brett’s leg to try and hide her bawling face.

“Fine! I’m going too.” Summoning up her courage, Mizz finally shouted out her stance. “That kid… he better be alive.”

“He will be.” Brett clenched his fists. “He’s a strong one.”

***

Convertion

6%

7%

.

.

8%

9%

10%

Artifact “Extended” Status now [active]

Location: Right Wing, Church of Fae, Ephermal Dungeon. Austere City, Astera Kingdom.

Kazu woke up with a sore body. Darkness engulfed his vision. The only relief he had was the loose rope tying down his hands. He twisted his hand around until it finally came off. Soon enough, he got used to the dark and was met with a familiar yet different scene. The room was decorated like the place where he teleported from in the dungeon he came from. He looked down. Sure enough, he laid on a teleporter similar to the one that transported him to safety.

His face became grim as he saw the non-existent beating of the teleporter. It was dead.

#############

If you see any mistakes or things that can be improved, please let me know. They're important! Thanks for reading.

The story also reached half way point of hte arc. 36.5k words in total since this chapter and averaging at 4k words per chapter so far!

Edit: BB codes seen to bug out after 5k words. Editting posts adds random stupid bb codes around the place.