POV – Daniel
I waved goodbye to Adam when the skytrain departed and returned to the main sector without delay. Teach was waiting for the data I had collected. A few corpses also waited to be dissected in my storage unit, but that could wait. All of that could wait. It had to.
Paving my way through the twinkling mist of ether permeating the border to the main sector, I hailed a cab and returned home in no time. Whether it took ten minutes or an hour, I wouldn’t have noticed the difference. My eyes were still glued to the holographic screen hovering above my forearm.
“That’s not good enough.” I cursed, approaching the gates leading to the family manor.
“You’re later than expected, Daniel,” Steve greeted me with his regular, but no less sincere, smile.
The head butler's sudden arrival at the gates diverted my attention. It was as irritating as always.
“Hello, Steve. I was busy… and will probably be for the rest of the day,” I sighed, walking past him as the gates swung open automatically.
I felt his eyes linger on me, and he seemed about to ask a few questions, but this was something I had to solve by myself. It was important, and I didn’t want anyone else to be responsible for the success or—hopefully it wouldn’t come to that—failure of my mission.
Dragging my feet through the front yard, I found myself in the family estate, and it was not long until the elevator stopped at my room. Several servants, all Blessed and too valuable to cook and clean in their family estate, greeted me, but it was not for me to decide where the Blessed were supposed to work. At the end of the day, they earned a good salary, received various benefits alongside their job, and enjoyed the high ether density of the main sector, even if they would not usually fulfill the requirements to live there.
Once I entered my room, I realized that it was as large as ever. As a child, the room had looked like it was made for a giant, but that never changed. Not even Coco could fill the room entirely.
I spawned the Thunderhorn Bull and scratched the two-meter-tall monstrosity of a Soulkin between the massive, crackling horns that emitted purple electric currents. Arcs sizzled across the bull’s violet matte fur and snapped toward me. My fingers dug deep into Coco’s fur, which my Soulkin enjoyed the most. The Thunderhorn Bull bleated aloud, kicked the ground, and emitted more electric currents as excitement overcame our bond.
The arcs coiled around my fingers and moved upward, prickling my skin. All the while, emotions and images formed from the bond, discarding the worry that had plagued my mind.
“You think I shouldn’t worry too much about it?” I asked aloud, my hand never leaving Coco.
However, my eyes drifted back to the holographic screen displaying the video clips and the message I had prepared for my parents.
The message didn’t look better no matter how I looked at it, and I was certain I could have done a better job. Yet not even the years of thorough education helped me express my hopes more clearly.
“Adam would hate it if I begged my parents. But will hard facts be enough to convince them?” I asked Coco, who stared right back at me. The Soulkin could have showered me with more images, but Coco’s standpoint was clear. It was not like the bull’s opinion had changed over the years either. The only thing that had changed was me.
Coco’s bullish stubbornness was influencing me. I could feel it, and I actually didn’t dislike it. No matter what Mom and Dad said about the bestial influence of Soulkins, I couldn’t help but feel like the way Coco and I influenced each other was for everyone’s good. We improved each other.
“You saw how Adam reacted when I invited him to the Camp. Forcing him to accept anything won’t help anyone. It might seriously strain our relationship.”
It would be like last time, and I definitely didn’t want history to repeat itself. Not if I could avoid it.
Returning my focus to the clips and the message, I changed a few things. The video clips weren’t made from the best angles, and they looked lackluster compared to the real thing, but it was all I got.
“Maybe he doesn’t want to join the Camp,” I muttered to Coco, who only bleated at me, showing me the image of a fool.
That wasn’t the issue. Adam wanted to join the Camp as much as I had wanted when we were younger. And maybe that was the issue; our childhood.
A heavy sigh escaped my lips.
We were as different as we could have been, starting from the day we were born.
In the first place, it was a miracle that they had become friends.
I’m glad they showed me the other sectors.
I grimaced at the reminder—those days when Mom and Dad showed me the things I would have to protect once I was old enough. And that included the people who couldn’t fight for themselves. Being strong was a privilege, Mom and Dad always said, and that privilege carried a heavy responsibility. Mom made sure I would never forget that—about our family’s responsibility.
“Though I highly doubt she expected I would actually befriend someone from those outings.” A chuckle escaped my lips. The ‘outings’ that were meant to expose me to the darkness of the Bastions had transformed into something I enjoyed greatly.
When all my mother saw was a sick child, the victim of an ill fate, I found a friend.
Well, at first, I never thought I would become friends with him. It was no more than fun to roam the lower sectors with other children. Just role-playing at best—to see what their family had to protect. Reflecting on the past brought back more memories of the old days. Of the days we acted as the Rulers of our own Bastions.
Coco bleated excitedly and sent a wave of joy forward. The Thunderhorn Bull had been happy too. He’d enjoyed these games as well, and he wanted to transform these dreams and plays into reality. So did I.
“It won’t happen,” I muttered, returning to the message.
When we were young, Adam wasn’t anything special. He’d merely been one of the many children I met in the kindergarten Mom had shown me, and he was the last one I expected to stay. His physique never allowed him to play rough, and I clearly remembered teasing him—making fun of him for being so weak. But he never minded. Adam stayed with them and continued to play. And when I and the others ignored him, he went to Coco.
Coco liked Adam the most out of all the ‘friends’ he had met over the years, yet I mistreated him, until he was all I had left. Until I realized how great of a friend Adam was.
Depressing thoughts resurfaced alongside the betrayals of the others—my ‘friends’.
The scars were deep, but it was not like kindergarten was the only time I was betrayed by those I’d considered friends. Ultimately, Adam was the only friend who’d stayed by my side.
Coco bleated and showed me another image.
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“Yes, Coco, you are right. I shouldn’t forget my damned sister.”
That devious woman didn’t count. Adam was the only one I could count on other than my family—excluding that annoying brat of an older sister, of course!
I shook my head and grimaced, dispersing the thoughts that were plaguing my mind. It was time to help Adam. He deserved it. Damned be everything else if I couldn’t even keep my promise.
I will make sure we can pursue our dreams. Just you wait, Adam! We will fight alongside each other soon enough!!
At last, our worlds would collide and we would fight side by side. That promised to be exciting. As long as my sister didn’t interfere, that is.
***
In the end, the message transformed into a list of facts—reasons that clarified why our family should support Adam and ensure he would make it into the Camp—starting from our childhood. I even went as far as to expose myself and added screenshots of our private messages, showing Adam throwing insults at me after I offered to purchase a beast egg for him. That had to be more than enough to show how Adam thought of freebies.
Then I switched the tone and pointed out how Adam’s father had acquired a beast egg, and what happened next. I even requested a recording of our call and attached it as well. Last but not least, I added the video clips after highlighting how inexperienced Adam was and that he had only ever trained in the gym’s combat simulation room. Attaching our training sessions in the gym and how much Adam improved in the last few weeks, in addition to his and his Soulkin’s medical records, was probably unnecessary—but I did it anyway.
At the end of the day, I forwarded the message alongside more than a dozen attached files to my parents. Since it was already late at night, I didn’t expect much and refined my World. Maybe I should have trained as well, finished at least one workout session to hit my daily goals, but the day had been too strenuous to bother.
Refining my World took quite a while, and so did finishing the data files for Teach. His impatient butt had been bombarding me with messages for the last few hours. Unfortunately, sending him the raw video files alongside a quick explanation of my findings wasn’t enough. Far from it—Teach wanted a proper report, dissecting the anomaly of Adam’s physique, how his problems with the World and his body could turn into a blessing in disguise, and a disgustingly detailed section on Aureus’ power.
It wasn’t the first time I had to do something like that, and it was certainly not the last. To my greatest misfortune, knowing my fate didn’t make things any easier.
Knowing how things would turn out if I dragged them out until tomorrow, I finished the report in a hurry. By the time Teach received it, it was already midnight, and I was ready to head to bed—if not for a string of messages grabbing my attention and instantly dispelling all thoughts of sleep.
[Father: Is that the sick child with the malleable World? I remember him. Odd child. You cried a lot when you couldn’t see him.]
[Father: And you are still in contact with him?]
Typical. Dad never really listened. Then again, sometimes it felt like he wasn’t listening—or simply not bothered by the things happening around him—yet he remembered.
[Mom: A Soilback, you say? How is it that he can control a juvenile Soilback with a special trait when his World is so tiny? His Soulkin should be a 2-Star Wild if it can freeze a mature Bloodbath Deer for 0.56 seconds.]
Mom followed up with a few more questions. She’d read the files. Better yet, she didn’t tell me to cut contact with Adam!
Taking a deep breath, a holographic keyboard manifested before me, and I started typing.
[Aureus is indeed a 2-Star Wild. However, it does not have the physical attributes of a regular Soilback. My theory is that Aureus will never rival a regular Soilback. Instead, its main power will be the spiritual attack. And that, if nurtured properly, can be transformed into a deadly weapon. If used properly, of course.]
I answered a few more questions but froze when another message from Mom popped up.
[Mom: The information package you provided is detailed enough to conclude that their bond is firm—relatively, given that we’re talking about a rookie Blessed and a juvenile beast. It makes me wonder if you altered the information. Are you certain their bond is not yet four weeks old?]
Did she think I was lying? I grimaced, but I couldn’t hold that against her. After all, I had considered modifying the data slightly to make Adam look better.
[The bond is roughly four weeks old. The exact date is written in the file. However, Aureus hatched only three weeks ago.]
A string of messages filled the chat after I sent mine.
[Mom: I see.]
[Father: Did he ask you to do this? Like the time he begged you for the beast egg?!]
I could already feel Father’s presence descending, and I shuddered.
[Dad! You know that last time wasn’t Adam’s fault. He never asked for anything—just like he didn’t ask me for this. This—all of this—is my doing!]
My fingers swished across the keyboard faster than I could think as I added:
[I even offered him money to pay for his debts because he was too worried about his family and their financial situation. That idiot nearly forfeited the opportunity to bind a perfectly compatible Soulkin!]
Silence filled the room, broken only by the muffled sound of my feet pacing. I half-expected the worst when Mom sent a final, long message after several minutes of utter quiet.
[Mom: I just read the report. Your friend’s situation is peculiar. His father nearly killed himself for your friend’s sake. I also agree that it would have been no issue repaying their family’s debt. Yet, as foolish as your offer was, I am happy you told me. As a worried mother, it feels even better to hear that Adam didn’t accept it.]
Huh? What was going on here?
[Mom: We will be back in a few weeks. Until then, you will give me a weekly report.]
Too stunned to type a response, I stared blankly at the chat as several messages popped up—each containing documents. My stomach tightened, and my eyes widened as I opened them, recognizing dozens of videos and study materials I’d long since studied. They were etched deep into my mind after my parents had forced them upon me years ago.
[Mom: Prep him up. You can also go outside with him. However, I do not want you to tell him about this—any of this. If you’re serious about this, you better make sure to keep this between us. His character seems acceptable, and he looks determined as well, but I want to be certain. We cannot afford to make any mistakes.]
Mom didn’t send any more messages. As for Father, he couldn’t be bothered. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’d closed our group chat after the first few messages.
Anyway… My eyes lingered on the documents and Mom’s responses. She hadn’t outright rejected my request. Quite the contrary, she saw potential in Adam.
It worked. I made it! I could do nothing to cast aside the smile that bloomed on my lips. Not that I could be bothered, either way.
It had been a while since Mom had been interested in one of my friends. Adam was probably the only one she didn’t scare off—not that she didn’t try. However, the incident in our childhood had been my fault—a misunderstanding that escalated out of proportion. But even that wasn’t enough to push Adam away. Sure, it harmed our friendship, but that was all the more reason for me to try harder. To fight for our friendship.
At last… At last, it had paid off.
Coco bleated aloud and sent arcs of electricity through our bond, ripping my wishful thoughts apart.
“Yeah, right. We’re just getting started. Mom didn’t accept Adam just yet. This is but the first step.” I patted Coco’s head and sent waves of gratitude toward my Soulkin. Sometimes—more often than not—the Thunderhorn Bull kept me grounded.
“But I don’t think I need to worry about Adam. We’re both stubborn folks. If not for that, our friendship wouldn’t have survived this long.”
Adam had been hard-working and as tenacious as an Endless Cockroach Empress, even when he was unBlessed and his body was a wreck. Now that he was a Blessed and his body possibly a blessing in disguise rather than a curse, he would thrive.
He always went against the odds. Against fate.
And I was certain he would surpass my mother’s expectations.
Adam was not alone this time. I received Mom’s permission to help, and I would make sure to give it my all.
“So… how do I deal with him?” I grimaced, staring at the files.
“Will he take them just like that?”
No. Adam wouldn’t accept them if he knew how valuable they were. As invaluable as knowledge, tutelage, and safe techniques for overly excited children could be. Even my parents had to pay a hefty price for them.
Adam would… I shook my head, switched to Adam’s chat, and typed away.
[Hey dude, I attached a few files and videos. It took me a while to search for them in the ethernet. Don’t worry about their rarity. You can easily find them online as long as you’re in the right forums. Since you’re still relatively new to all of this, I thought I should help you.]
Nothing I typed was a lie. Not exactly. All the files and videos could be found in the right forums. It was just that both forums and files were hidden behind paywalls—walls that were even expensive for my parents to crush.
That wasn’t something Adam needed to know. Not as long as he didn’t ask directly. I hit send after reading through the message, only to forget the most important part.
[Message me when you want to hunt again. I will make time for you.]