亚洲综合中美

“I can’t say,” focused on sorting out his supplies, Staxius wasn’t interested in making idle chitchat. The girl was just another patient in his eyes.

“I see,” her breathing grew heavier, “-t-thanks for trying,” faint smile followed by coughs.

“Try not to speak, I’ll need you to be of able mind soon,” using the thumb and index finger, he parted her long hair, ones that covered her face. “It’s going to be a hard fight,” deep breaths in, “-try not to speak too much, focus on staying conscious.”

‘A low-tier curse that fed on her mana until it evolved into one of mid-tier. A day later and it would have devoured her from within,’ the eyes shut, focus heightened, the temperature around the room dropped.

“Let’s begin,” the eyes reopened, the persona changed completely. No emotions, nothing, the same face used when people were killed. At the five-points of an inverse pentagram, blank scrolls hovered above in circle. A faint black thread led each point to one another, it formed the same symbol on his palm above the girl. In tongue, a complex and intricate incantation that not even a human could understand. The words seemed like gibberish but were in fact, words of power. Knowingly, he slipped into Clarity for a mere fraction of a second – the knowledge that came from the depth was of an ancient binding ritual. One used to imprison demons and creatures of ill-intent during the war of the gods. It took the saying, fight fire with fire, to heart. The ritual required a man who had slain countless lives without batting an eye. A man who lived on the edge of insanity, a man who embraced the dark side.

*Snap,* from the five points, the lines attached themselves to her hands, feet, and forehead. *AHHHHHHH,* the ritual began. She screamed and screamed till it reached a point where her vocal cords could shatter. Lost in the inner workings of the ritual, the focus had heightened so much that the outside world grew inexistent. From screaming to paralyzed by shock, her mind remained conscious – the pain was far worst than death. Let me die, finish it, I want it to end. Said thoughts came through her mind constantly.

.....

Tears dried, her eyes strained and mouth gritted. “It’s over,” she mumbled since the mind felt oozy. It had been fifteen minutes, the pain intensified ten-fold. “-I’m l-losing my mind,” the physical sensations shut off completely. A defense mechanism, from left to right, her head bobbed. Random outbursts of giggles followed by laughter and nonsensical words.

“I am he who slays without fear, I am he who shall be the last of what thy see. Heed mine call, thou whomst dared to fight the natural order, tis the day thou ought to be destroyed, Ancient Magic – Astral Binding.” *Clap,* it echoed around the empty room. The frivolous giggles stopped; the taint released its grasp. Each five of the black scrolls stuck to where the injury was. Shortly after, another snap later, the Astral Binding finished.

‘I’m surprised she managed to stay conscious,’ close to falling asleep, a rare class healing scroll was placed on her stomach. Next, two rare healing potions. Faintly, a dim green light lit from above her face.

“You did a good job, now rest, let the body recover. You’ll be able to bathe in the sunlight soon,” to help in her recovery, he dressed her wounds and finished up with enchantments. One that had part of his mana infused, it would slowly help in regaining the lost strength.

*Click,* the once dim room lit in delight. The windows opened, the fresh evening air rushed inside, the putrid smell gradually faded into the vast nothingness. “Quite a good view,” he leaned, “-even for a mansion like this,” outside, a garden with a statuette of some deity in the middle. After said garden, a wall from where the sound of engines disturbed the peace. ‘For the cost,’ he thought, ‘-A rare healing scroll, two rare potions, 12 Gold in total, add my fee and it’s 15 Gold.’ The gentle breeze continually entered the room – the girl’s face relaxed; a heavy burden lifted; another job done.

“Lord Luther,” he called whilst walking down the hall.

“Over here,” the butler voiced – and walked over to the common area. The lady’s face held contempt whilst the youngest daughter cried. The lord could but face downwards in shame, the screams reached around the entire mansion. Painful, heartbreaking, and stomach-turning – the thought of their daughter going through so much pain; the guilt grew unbearable.

“My lord,” the butler called, “-Lord Staxius is here.”

“Is that so,” he stared up with lifeless eyes, in the corner, the lady wanted to lash out but kept quiet. Her hands were preoccupied with hugging Marie. “Did something happen?” he stood and walked with a slumped posture.

“Weak,” the voice monotonous, “-how pathetic of a parent can you be?” the words harsh and not cutting corners. “Your daughter fought so hard to try and survive, yet all I sense in this room is anger and sadness,” cold and unforgiving, none dared raise another word. “Self-pity, regret, suffering. The guilt must be clawing on inside, isn’t it?” the bag dropped to the floor. “If I were in thy shoe, I’d have died ten-times from the embarrassment,” the words were aimed at the lady.

“What do you know!” from the corner, Carla lashed out, “-what do you know about guilt. Do you think it’s normal to just sit back and do nothing whilst our own blood suffers, are you insane?”

“SHUT UP CARLA,” Luther turned and screamed.

“No, I can’t handle this anymore, I’m DONE,” she ran out the door, tears flowed.

“Father... mother...” the girl fell to her knee.

“Lord Luther,” Staxius said in a soft voice, “-go ahead and follow thy wife. She must be aching far more than you – the love of a mother is worth more than diamonds. Take her to see your daughter, you’ll be greeted with good sight,” the voice gentle and understanding, a quick pat on the back, the lord ran out,”-thank you.”

“If I may intrude, sir,” the butler walked over, “-I’m grateful for what you did. I’ve been in service for the Remington line for almost four decades now. With the miss’s illness, our lord and lady grew apart. Neither could see eye to eye. From the get-go, she remained adamant on not letting you see her daughter.”

“There’s no need to be grateful,” he interjected, “-I did my job,” a piece of paper was handed over, it contained information about payment and how to aid in a speedy recovery. “Good-bye for now,” a wave later, Void turned on and left.

“Carla, wait,” Luther’s voice echoed down the hall.

“No, enough is enough. Hearing how much Dorothy had to suffer up to now has made it clear. You never cared about our family nor our daughters. It’s always been this way – you’re selfish and inconsiderate. My feelings are never taken into consideration,” she turned with watery eyes, “-thanks to you, our daughter had to suffer... SHE HAD TO SUFFER!”

“Will you shut up,” he dashed and embraced her firmly, “-I know I’m selfish. However, I love my daughters more than you’ll ever understand. Can’t you see that you’re being blinded by emotions? You were rude to Lord Staxius based on prejudice. Do you think I’d willingly wish for my daughter to suffer.”

“Y-yes... you would,” she pushed him away, “-it’s your fault that she’s in such a condition in the first place. Can’t you see? SHE WENT OUT AND GOT HURT BECAUSE YOU LET HER GO,” the words piercing and heartbreaking.

“Enough,” *SLAP,* “-I’ve kept my mouth shut because you’re my wife. But that’s crossing the line, I care not if you’re a daughter of a nobleman. I’ll do what is needed to make my daughters happy, that is FINAL.”

“F-father, m-mother?” faintly, a familiar voice came behind. “A-are y-you f-fighting a-again?” using the wall, a fatigued silhouette approached.

“DOROTHY,” without care, he pushed away his wife, “-I’m so glad,” knelt on the floor, she gave and rested in his arms. “I’m so happy,” tears flowed and fell onto the red carpet, “-I’m so happy,” he kept on repeating those words.

“Dorothy...” slowly, Carla stumbled her way to her daughter, “-y-you’re s-safe?” she could not believe her eyes, with a big inhale, the tears flowed once more.

“I t-told you,” he reached out and grabbed Carla’s hand, “-I’ll do what it takes to make my daughters happy. I’ll die even if it means saving them,” bloodshot eyes with tears flowing, he turned and spoke what he felt. “You’re my family, it’s my job to take responsibility. That’s why I decided to hire Staxius. Not based on the reports, but based on Raulf Serlo’s words, my uncle’s word. It was he who recommended the man you despised.”

“P-please d-don’t fight,” she coughed.

“Save your strength,” Carla interjected.

“N-no, l-let m-me speak,” her breathing heavy, each word took enormous strength, “-d-don’t h-hate the a-alchemist. I s-sensed it, he’s hurting far more than a-any h-human could. T-the only reason I can dream to s-see the sunlight again is b-because he used his b-body as t-the host f-for my c-curse,” after which, sleep took over and carried her mind to the realm of dreams.

*Sniff,* “-do you see now, Carla. I can understand where you’re coming from. However, you lashed out at the wrong person. That anger should have been directed at me; I know I was wrong. I’ll never regret doing what is in my power to make my princesses happy. They are the reasons I live and breathe, my sole purpose.”

“I g-get it,” she reached out for a group embrace, “-I should have tried to see the bigger picture. I may be overly sensitive, though tis not an adequate reason to have behaved so rudely to the one who saved Dorothy.”

“Father, mother?” whimpering followed by footsteps, “-please don’t fight anymore,” she cried. It was Marie, the girl was severely affected by what had happened. She heard everything that was said.

“W-we won’t,” Luther gave a smile.

“Yes, n-no more,” Carla replied with the same smile.

‘Lord Staxius, acting as the villain to force the lady’s feelings into the open. You made yourself a target. Scary as you are impressive, thanks for everything,’ hidden behind a pillar, the butler thought and watched.

“Was solving a family issue in the agreement too?” Adete asked in a spiteful manner.

“Not really, call it a bonus,” the car drove forth.

*Ting,* for the first time – a message came through the guild-card. A touch later, now parked underneath a big blossoming tree; the details were shown in bold. “The Evaluation orb and Machine are to be delivered in two days at Kniq’s headquarters,” a notice that came straight from the central guild.

‘Someone must have pulled strings; the order wasn’t supposed to be ready till next week. I best head to Arda, we need to make preparations. A guildhall, I hope Xula has some idea,” back inside, they returned home.

“I’m back,” parked in the garage, he walked over to where the twins and Lizzie were.

“Welcome back,” Emma yelled.

“Oh damn,” *Boff,* the girls were playing with a ball. “Let me join in,” he offered.

“Sure, you’re on Lizzie’s team,” Emmy pointed and began. It was as if four children out on the yard. Joyful and full of energy, left to right, he jumped, caught, and threw.

“What are they doing?” Achilles asked; the RFS returned from its journey.

“I don’t know, but I’m joining,” still dressed in uniform, Avon jumped out and ran into the yard.

“Wait for me,” Deadeyes yelled and followed suit.

“Guess we should join them then?” Undrar and Achilles stared at one another.

“I suppose,” though reluctant, a feeling of joy whelmed from inside.

“OVER HERE,” Auic teleported from headquarters and joined the rest.

All who made up the big family of Kniq were outside. Sweaty and hot, they ran around, jumped, and played soccer since the number of players increased. Lizzie, Staxius, Deadeyes, and Avon made one team and the other was Emma, Emmy, Undrar, Achilles, and Auic. Four versus five, not favorable odds though Staxius played with the strength of ten people. At times, magic was used, at others, skills unique to adventurers – the game continued till dusk.

“It’s over, 20 to 20, good game everyone,” Adete played the role of referee. Lizzie scored the equalizing goal in the last minutes. To which, the boys threw her up in the air with a big hurray.