POV - Daniel
“Are you not happy to see us, son?” Father asked me with his all-too-familiar, indescribable expression. His voice was as monotonous as ever, and it was hard to tell if he was joking or angry at me. Maybe he didn’t particularly care either.
“Of course, I was happy,” I murmured between two bites, but the happiness of my parents’ return was overshadowed by worries.
It was already the night of the 14th, and Adam hadn’t messaged me once to go for a hunt, except for that one time when I was busy concocting evolution serums for Teach.
We only left the Bastion once to hunt. Would that be enough?
It won’t be. How in the Rulers’ names is he supposed to meet Mom’s requirements with such low combat experience?
Was Adam too scared to leave the Bastion after our first outing? While that wasn’t important, I didn’t look like that when we returned from our first fight. Then again, it could have been that Adam realized too late how close he had been to dying when the mature Bloodbath Deer attacked him.
I let out a frustrated groan and slammed my cutlery onto the table a little bit too loudly.
“Daniel!” Mom reprimanded me with a venomous glare, and I murmured a quick apology.
“I understand that you’re worried about tomorrow, but you better behave yourself. We did not teach you proper etiquette for you to act like those wild humanoids in the Far Wilds!” she added, staring at me until I nodded.
Did I make a mistake? Maybe I angered Adam? I ruffled through my hair, ignoring the pointed glares.
Is this about Teach’s sponsoring?
It wasn’t my fault Mom found out about it, nor was I at fault for Teach’s decision to terminate the sponsorship. As for why Mom talked Teach out of sponsoring Adam? I had no idea. Maybe they wanted Adam to struggle and to work even harder to earn Credits.
Did they try to force him to leave the Bastion to hunt beasts? Clearly, that didn’t work.
“Don’t be too disappointed if he fails. He did not grow up in a dangerous environment, nor was he trained to fight – to kill – from a young age. The Bastion sheltered him, and countless others, his whole life.” Father put his fork down and looked me in the eyes. His emotionless, ocean-blue eyes met mine. “This life is not for everyone, and it is the complete opposite of what your friend is used to. Forcing him into a life that doesn’t suit him may break him. Or worse, kill him.”
Father didn’t bother to maintain eye contact once he was done speaking. He picked up his fork again and resumed dinner, acting like nothing had just happened. I looked at him for a moment and caught a glimpse of Mom studying me with a look I couldn’t interpret.
Adam will be there, and he will pass! I swore in my mind.
Adam had always been up for a surprise.
Everything would work out, I was sure of it. Or was it just a mixture of despair and delusion speaking?
***
POV – Adam
It was hard to keep my eyes away from the grandeur of the main sector. However, it was even harder to tell where I was supposed to go. My legs carried me through the maze of massive structures that looked all the same—yet not—and I was not sure how much longer I could walk around like an aimless pup before the guards would pick me up for acting suspiciously.
Even I was starting to wonder whether I was doing something illegal.
The only reason I didn’t lose my shit was Aureus. The little glutton had climbed my shoulder with some effort and twisted his head to make sure he didn’t miss anything. Aureus grumbled for a moment, trying to get used to his grown body that occupied most of my shoulder, but annoyance gave way to pure excitement once his body sprawled across my right shoulder.
My Soulkin’s excitement was impossible to miss. His scales clattered vibrantly, and our firm bond rippled, sending waves of excitement my way.
The bombardment of excitement, curiosity, and joy did wonders to dispel my worries, and I was soon calm enough to message Daniel. I gave him a call as well but ended the call before he picked up when a notification popped up on my phone.
[Dear Mr. Savier,
We are pleased to inform you that your loans (Loan No: HB3, HB7, HB11) have been successfully paid in full.
On behalf of Central Banks, we would like to thank you for your timely payments and commitment throughout the loan term. Your final repayment was received 36 hours ago and has been verified. Your loans have been successfully closed.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
If you desire to close your loan account, please proceed to pay for the remaining loans in full in a timely manner.
Warm Regards,
Central Banks
Customer Service Team.]
That certainly wasn’t the message I’d been waiting for, but it was good to know that Dad’s hospital bills and two smaller loans with nasty interest rates would no longer bother them.
Repaying the loans in full drained the Credits I’d earned in the last ten days rapidly, but it was worth it. What else was I supposed to do with 4,325 Credits when I had some hefty loans to repay?
A wave of satisfaction spread through my body. It reached my World, which resonated with my emotions. Sure, I had a lot more loans to repay in the following weeks, but every day brought me one step closer to my goal. It was not instant, but that didn’t do anything to tarnish the satisfaction burning in our souls.
Aureus yipped, agreeing wholeheartedly with my point of view.
“Adam!” A familiar voice rang out, and I spun around to find Daniel waving at me from behind a massive gate.
“What are you doing outside?” Daniel motioned for me to come over, his smile even more vibrant than usual. However, all that happiness did little to conceal the relief washing over his face. “I was worried you’d be running late, but it looks like I was worried for no reason. You’re perfectly on time.”
I listened only half-heartedly as I turned to the massive building that seemed to stretch up to the edges of the Bastion’s dome. At least, that was how it looked from down below.
“You told me to meet at your family’s estate. I don’t know what I expected—maybe a large front yard with a mesmerizing garden leading to a mansion or something—not this.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow and turned back to the skyscraper. “We have a massive garden, you can’t see it though. The fence distorts vision, blocks espionage, pulls in ether, and contains it within the estate, and so forth. It’s nothing special, really.”
He waved dismissively, clearly not noticing the look on my face. It took every ounce of willpower in me not to scream at my friend.
Please don’t tell me the entire skyscraper belongs to them. No, why am I even questioning that. Of course, the entire thing belongs to his family. I took a few deep breaths and was incredibly grateful for my bond with Aureus. If not for the bond, I would have lost my sanity the moment Daniel called out for me.
Owning an apartment in the main sector would be more than enough to be considered wealthy. Owning a plot of land in the main sector would be one step further, but a godforsaken skyscraper?!
“I understand,” I muttered, not understanding anything. My mind was a mess, and Daniel didn’t help improve my state as he looked back with a smile.
“It looks quite nice, doesn’t it?” he asked, while I smiled back and raised my middle finger.
“I hate you.”
I was only joking, but Daniel was really starting to get on my nerves, and suddenly, his face looked incredibly punchable too.
“Whatever.” Daniel chuckled and walked over to pull me inside when I didn’t move for a while.
It could have been no longer than a few seconds, but Daniel was clearly too impatient to give me the time needed to get my act together. Not that a few minutes would have been enough to digest… everything.
I didn’t stop Daniel from dragging me past the gate, though I hurriedly greeted the older man who appeared out of nowhere. I craned my neck to watch the man—probably the family butler—close the gate and disappear into thin air.
My eyes flicked to the garden, but I was barely given a few seconds to determine that the garden was overgrown with infused plants before I found myself inside the Zerog family estate.
“What a waste of money,” I blurted out loud before my mind could register the words leaving my lips.
Daniel didn’t seem to have been listening, which I was grateful for, though it was weird. He glanced at me every other second and dragged me through the luxurious entrance hall that was ten times the size of—and probably a few hundred times more expensive than—our apartment in the ninth district.
The chandelier hanging from the ceiling ten meters above us was probably already more expensive than the entire building my family lived in. It was probably larger than my room too.
Should I be impressed or disgusted?
This was what pure wealth looked like, and I suddenly felt inadequate as I stared at my reflection in the elevator Daniel had dragged me into.
My clothes were new, my hair was freshly washed and neatly combed into a ponytail. The silvernit sword and its sheath had been cleaned and polished with oil worth a few Credits, and I’d even used some of my father’s cologne to look more presentable—for whatever reason Daniel had invited me to his family estate—but I was certain none of my effort was worth it.
“I don’t know what is going on here, but I feel like I shouldn’t be here,” I told Daniel, but he only regarded me in silence with a smile that had lost all its glow.
He looked just as nervous and out of place as I felt. Why though? That was his family home. I was the stranger in this place. I was out of place and had no right to be in the main sector.
“What are we doing here?” I asked, grasping Daniel’s shoulder to turn him back, but the elevator doors opened to an extensive hallway.
Daniel walked out of the elevator, his steps slow and uncertain at first. “Adam is here.”
I followed my friend, confused, and stepped into what could only be a massive, pompous living room, but I did not make it far. My head snapped toward some vaguely familiar figures seated on a massive couch, and I froze.
“Mr. and Mrs. Zerog,” I yelped, my hair standing on end.
Daniel looked apologetic in my direction, but I couldn’t glare at him, let alone punch him in the face for not bothering to warn me preemptively.
“You must be Adam.” A sonorous, yet cold voice echoed through the room, and my head involuntarily turned toward the young-looking woman who could only be Daniel’s mother. She smiled faintly at me, but the smile never reached her eyes.
“Daniel told us a lot about you.”
My lips parted, but my brain stalled and my mind remained blank as her amber eyes seemed to stare straight into my soul.
“Don’t believe anything he said. I’m just—Wait, no… To be honest, I have no idea why I’m here or what’s going on.”