A single flame breathed in the dark, small enough to be ignored,yet brave enough to challenge the night. Gregory Skoll lit the pocket dimension like a lighthouse during a storm. He was still fixated on Richard Hexwill,his curiosity peeking with every single second spent watching.
This was especially after seeing the emergency Quest that appeared in Richard Hexwill's system. He reacted with an "ohh, interesting, interesting" while Hexwill reacted by diving straight into phonecalls.
***
Hexwill was already deep in conversation. An argument if you may say, trying to convince his son about the great spiritual Renaissance his system has been warning him to prepare.
"When have I ever led you astray my son? Just think about it. I know you have already seen movements of the old families hurrying to their old homes. Why can't you just listen to me and prepare?"
Sir Richard Hexwill sighed,adjusting the telephone cable with exasperation as he talked his son into bringing his family to their old home territory.
"Wow, I never thought you the conspirator father. Do you also think that the world will end with the new millennium?"
"Do not mock what you don't understand William!" Sir Richard said quietly. The humor drained from his voice, replaced by bitterness and pleading.
"The world doesn't need to end to change."
On the other end of the line, there was a scoff, followed by the clink of ice in a glass.
"You sound like the guys on late-night radio, Father. Hidden cabals, ancient bloodlines, stars aligning,what's next? Lizard men in Parliament?"
Sir Richard pinched the bridge of his nose. Outside his study window, the estate grounds lay shrouded in winter fog, the old oaks standing like sentinels that had seen empires rot and be reborn.
"Listen to me Williams. I'll tell you what I have always been telling you since you were a child. The most powerful families and clans aren't powerful just for show. They will always know things other common people do not,and our Hexwill family isn't any lesser."
A pause. A pause of the second silence this time. A silence of contemplation.
"You've noticed the movements right?"
Richard pressed on. "The Ainsworths have reclaimed their coastal holdings. The Rolkmars have reopened their Alpine vaults. Even the Mathews,gods help us,have returned to the mainland. These aren't coincidences. These people abandoned those places for generations."
"So what?" his son replied, then continued with schadenfreude "Rich people get nostalgic. Y2K jitters. Stockpiling wine and generators! Don't make me laugh, father?"
Sir Richard allowed himself a thin smile. "If it were just wine and generators, I'd still be asleep right now. I'll be frank with you Williams. Your grandfather has already summoned us to the mainland. He said that the world would enter an upheaval unlike any other. He has requested our presence the latest one week before the new millennium."
Silence again. A silence of the third part this time. Where everything else's sound is magnified.
The hum of the telephone line felt suddenly too loud.
"Listen to me," Sir Richard said softly. "Bring your wife. Bring the children. Come home before the calendar turns. Once the year changes, travel will become… complicated."
"…You really believe this, don't you?" his son murmured.
"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't," Sir Richard replied. His gaze drifted to the ancestral crest carved above the fireplace,worn smooth by centuries of hands that had sworn the same oaths.
A breath. Then, reluctance could clearly be felt as Williams struggled with common sense and whatever shenanigans his father was spouting. A moment later however, reason also told him that his father was not the superstitious type. He was an accomplished business man. An analyst.
"I'll… talk to her."
"That's all I ask," Sir Richard said, relief slipping through despite himself. "Just be here."
The line clicked dead, but Sir Richard Hexwill could still not get his eyes off the emergency Quest that appeared right before him.
Emergency Quest-- [ Create a spirit gathering formation to harness the breath of the world. Countdown 13 hours, 14 minutes.]
Description - [ Breath of the world-- Spiritual Essence of the world released before a planet's merging procces to an elder Realm]
Note- [ Breath of the world can increase system functionality. Current functionality 18%]
He couldn't help but feel excited, knowing fully well that an increase in functionality will unlock new system features.
He couldn't help but get extatic, wondering if he could finally get the legendary system store! He could only hope.
He couldn't let this chance go!
As a veteran system hunter, he knew very well that the other way to raise system functionality was to absorb another system.
But are systems that easy to get one hands on? Especially since only the old powerful families had them?
This question, I take the liberty to answer for you. The answer is Yes! Systems really are easy to get.... as long as you can bear the consequences that is.
Everything is fair in system and war!
That was also the reason why he and Edwin dared to prey on Norlan. He had no backing, no family nor ability yet he was a descendant of a once powerful but dead family.
He was the perfect prey.
However, despite his preparation over a dozen years, it ended up fruitless. Heck he even bought a mansion to stalk the shit out him. All for naught.
How close it was when his people said that the kid had collapsed on his front door. Hexwill thought that the kid's heritage system would save him or at least activate after seeing it's host crippled by his own body! However, what does he get?
A normal boy whose bloodline was exhausted due to overuse of his affinity! Now even if he had a system, it would not acknowledge him.
'Ahh, such is life' He lamented.
He turned toward the telephone, punched in a string of numbers, and sank back into his reclining chair.
"Leonard, my boy," he said once the line connected. "It's time you came home. I've confirmed it,the target doesn't have a system. A pity, really, but you'll have to terminate him. Put the bugger out of his misery!"
There was a brief pause.
"Can he… not be saved?" Leonard Sharpe asked quietly.
"He can," Hexwill replied, his tone cooling. "But why should I? And why would you even ask such a thing? Tell me this isn't sentiments i sense Leonard?" His voice sharpened.
"Don't tell me you've grown fond of him?"
"No, sir. Never," Leonard said quickly. "My first priority is the family. Second, my direct superior! you, sir. If you order a termination, then terminate it shall be."
The haste in his voice was unmistakable, the words fairly patched together before Hexwill could even consider him a traitor.
"Good to hear, Sergeant," Hexwill said at last. Leonard could practically hear a sigh on the other end of the line.
"Now then… I'll also need Hayley and Luna at my mansion before dawn."
"You require them to serve you, sir?"
Hexwill scoffed. "Oh, come now, Sergeant. What do you take me for?" He paused for a moment, as if entertaining the thought. But there would be a perfect place and time for that, and it was now not such a time. He must make haste!
"I need a spirit-gathering formation set up immediately. Is that clear?"
"Loud and crystal, sir. Loud and crystal."
Hexwill could practically see the man standing at attention on the other end,hand snapping up in a salute that wasn't strictly necessary as he took in the order.
'How amusing,' he thought.
He ended the call and began dialing another number, a sleek smile settling onto his face as the line rang.
Gregory couldn't help the quiet chuckle that escaped him. This..this was exactly what he'd hoped for.
Free drama.
His gaze lingered on Hexwill, his mind already racing ahead. Norlan's death? Impossible. The boy was alive in the future! Gregory had seen that much with his own eyes. So if the order stood, then something had to go wrong.
But what?
Would Leonard betray the family he'd sworn himself to? Or would loyalty win out only for him to fall before he ever reached the boy?
Anticipation welled up within him.