SYSTEM ASCENSION

"Yes. Afterall, I was also captured in the past."

A suffocating silence descended after Zeal’s words and he just topped it with slurping his tea.

"Could you not joke with something like that?"

"I wasn’t smiling though."

The patriarch shook his head. "How is it now? Your injury?"

"Hmmmmmmmmmmm."

"Stop doing that!"

He laughed. "It barely hurts these days."

"The older man furrowed his brow. "Did you go back to the treatment that you were receiving in the past?"

"No. More like I got a little distraction. An extremely precious one."

"A precious... distraction?" The man bangs his hands on the table. "You’re not getting treatment?! Are you forgetting what is at stake?!"

Zeal nonchalantly cleaned his ear with his finger.

"Your vital energy core has taken damage! If it cracks further, you’ll die!"

"But I haven’t."

"Is that something to say! The crack has got larger hasn’t it?!"

"Can you sense vital essence? It’s a rare ability!"

"Don’t change the topic young man!"

Zeal shrunk back and pouted, as the man continued to yell.

"You’re a pillar of sound city! You’re the league master of sound league! Do you know how many responsibilities are resting on your shoulder? Do you know the balance that’ll break if something happens to you? Do you know how much the league branch will take a hit?"

"You still have Rowen."

"Are you trying to kill Rowen with work?!"

He pouted further.

The man released a rough breath and massaged his forehead with his fingers.

"Take your work more seriously."

"I don’t have any work."

"What?"

"I don’t care about the balance. I don’t care about responsibilities. I only have one reason I choose to live that day."

It took the patriarch a few seconds to grasp what the young man was talking about. He gasped. "Is that..."

Zeal grinned. "Came right to my doorstep right?"

The older man released another breath and decided to end the matter there. Arguing with Zeal was pointless. He had suspected it from the first time they met. This young man has zero attachment to material things or even people. He lives like a spectator.

"Back to the matter at hand. We have been searching for their hideout but so far we haven’t been able to locate it."

Zeal lazily tilted his head. "It seems like you have a personal grudge against them."

"My son was—"

Zeal raised a finger to silence the man.

"Quil wasn’t captured by them."

The man’s composure shattered.

"How did you..."

"Of course, he’s dead," Zeal added. "Got torn apart by Nulls and crawlers."

The league master’s word hit him like an ice park. His hands trembled slightly against his thigh, but he forced himself to even out his emotions. It was something he’d suspected, and panic had never gotten him anywhere. Instead, he asked.

"How did you know about my son? Last I remember, you never met him."

"Yeah. We never met. I saw the memories through a certain person’s sealing stone. That might be the reason he’s roaming around your estate now."

"Pardon?"

"I said Elias will be taking Quil’s siblings and probably your first wife out of here."

___

The room was small, but warm.

Sunlight cut through the thin curtains and pooled on the rug where two children sat cross-legged, crashing plastic cars into each other. Giggles filled the air, as a teapot whistled softly from the kitchenette.

On the bed, their mother watched them.

She sat with a blanket pulled up to her waist, one arm tucked against her ribs. The bruise blooming under her eye was half-hidden by her hair. Her lip was split, and every time she breathed, it hurt.

But she smiled anyway.

"Beep beep, watch out!" the little girl squealed, ramming her red car into her brother’s.

The boy laughed and shoved back. "No fair, you cheated!"

The mother’s smile wobbled for half a second. Then the doorbell rang.

Ding-dong.

Her whole body went still. The air in the room turned cold.

"I’ll get it!" The boy shot up before she could even shift her weight, his little feet slapping against the floor as he ran.

"Wait—" she tried, but the pain shot through her side and the word died in her throat.

The door clicked open and he peeped through.

Crouched down to his height was a stranger he didn’t recognise, black eyes boring holes into him. This person didn’t look like a guard on duty.

Elias stared at the boy long enough to make a child uncomfortable. He stared at the boy’s messy hair, at his eyes and the shape of his jaw.

Then, slowly, he lifted one finger and tapped it against the doorframe, right beside the boy’s head.

"You look like him."

The mother had already gotten to the door. She grabbed the boy by his shoulder and yanked him in, putting herself between them.

"Who are you?! How did you get in?!"

Elias withdrew his hand and stood up. The height difference made her shrink back in fear, giving him space to walk inside.

She immediately ran to the table and grabbed a small dagger. She put the children behind her and pointed it to him.

"I’m warning you! Get out of here!"

He stared at her hand for a moment before ignoring them. Instead, he turned towards the portrait on the wall. One displaying the people in the room, the patriarch and Quil.

He pointed. "Him."

The woman flinched. "What?"

"He told me to visit you."

Elias turned around. He could see her lowering the weapon as her mouth trembled.

"You met Quil? You met my son?"

"It was his last wish."

Her face slowly fell. The dagger clattered against the floor and she slowly sank down too. The children were now holding their mother in fear.

"My son is..."

He didn’t wait to hear her grieve. To him, it was something he had drowned in enough to hallow out. He turned back to the portrait.

Without Mona’s interference, he could vividly remember the person. The one who had introduced himself as Quil from the ring family. Dashed family, but the rest were still unclear.

He turned around and walked out the same way he came. It was during his departure that the guards finally noticed a boy leaving the matriarch quarters.

"Hey! Who are—"

"Elias!" Someone called.

They all flinched and halted on track. Even without turning, they knew who it was.

"You may pass." One guard smiled nervously.

Elias ran to join Zeal.

"Are you done with what you came here to do?"

"She’s crying." Elias flatly replied.

"Figured."

They walk a few steps forward.

"We’re staying here for the night." Zeal announced.

"Why here? You entered a foreign land and didn’t even visit the king."

"The rest will do that. I just need to sleep." Zeal yawned. He paused, and glanced out the window.

"Although I doubt my sleep in Torzi empire will be peaceful."

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