Asher kept an arm around his mother's shoulders, steadying her as she took careful steps away from the grave.
Her tears had slowed down, but her hands still trembled from the pain of the mories she had tried to bury.
He said nothing for a while, not because he didn't know what to say, but because he knew it was better to let soone in pain cry until they were tired before moving to console them.
He only held her close, stroking her back gently, while he divided his gaze between Nova, who was crawling and waiting over the graves.
Silence beca louder than his mother's whimpering. The leaves of the tree rustled above them, and the gate creaked as the wind pushed through.
The white ivy and the tree that kept pulsing faintly seed to remind him that if he hadn't been sent to the cetery, he would still assu his father was just missing or perhaps ran away.
Heaving a sigh, he lowered his gaze to her. "…Mom," he said softly, keeping his voice low and as calm as he could. "How did you get past the barrier?"
Nova stiffened slightly nearby, her brows furrowing when she turned around on her knee and gazed up at them.
"You… shouldn't have been able to enter."
His mother paused. Her voice was hoarse from all the crying and tired, as usual.
"I didn't. Not at first. I saw a floating black needle and waved it off since it was blocking the entrance."
Nova's expression turned sour, and at the sa ti, Asher's eyes narrowed.
All they could think of was, "Classless, yet she could wave off her/my arrows, how?"
Nova quickly cleared her throat and regained composure. "The cetery is obviously wrapped in Dragon magic and essence. If she has always been visiting here, then maybe it already granted her access no matter what."
Asher nodded slowly, though suspicion lingered behind his eyes. The system hadn't flared when they stepped into the cetery.
No security alert. No ripple in the mana barrier.
He was about to speak again, ask another question, but the world tilted almost imdiately.
His vision blurred, and a wave of nausea hit him hard. He swayed slightly, letting go of Hannah to cover his eyes. Then, everything beca normal again.
Nova rose from where she stood and stepped forward imdiately. "Asher?"
"I'm… fine," he lied, blinking back his dizziness. The burning in his shoulders had returned, hotter now, but he endured it.
"You need to sit," Hannah said as she grabbed his arm and made to pull him over to a bench, but he held up his hand and smiled warmly.
"I'm fine, Mom... just felt a little dizzy because of the new environnt."
He answered, knowing fully well it would be impossible to believe because their apartnt was just a block away.
He simply held her hand and tilted his head. "So... now that you're not crying anymore, can you tell more about what happened to Dad... it's okay if you don't want to though."
Hannah swallowed, her fingers tightening around the folds of her coat. She looked like she didn't want to say it, but she did.
Darren Morgan had been assigned with his guildmates to hunt down high-ranked beasts that had escaped from a dungeon to the south, not within the city.
But then, for so reason, he was betrayed, and the mission turned out to be a setup to kill him.
Apparently, Hannah was also by his side that fateful day because she was due, and he wanted to keep her by his side since the organization insisted that he go for the raid no matter what.
He trusted no one, not even the hospital to keep eyes on her while he was gone, and she didn't even know why.
Then he was lured into the dungeon, which was collapsing unbeknownst to them. Not caring that he had a pregnant wife with him, and confident and strong he was, he didn't mind.
When they attacked and tried to bring him down with everything they had, he fought back and was called a traitor.
Darren fought and hid with her for three days within a collapsing dungeon, fighting beasts and those who tried to kill him, while at the sa ti protecting his pregnant wife.
But then he eventually grew weak, and they overwheld him with numbers. He was wounded… grounded… and the worst part... they didn't even kill him with their hands.
They held him down and watched as his friend shifted into a shadow creature with hollow eyes. Instead of regular darkness, there was blood in its eyes, and it extracted his soul and vanished.
"But then it didn't actually vanish just like that... it pointed a finger at before leaving," she raised her gaze up at him and smiled through her tears.
"I couldn't do anything to help because he told to stay back... but I knew I would have stopped it... I was just too weak... and scared..."
Asher's fists clenched, and the dizziness returned. He didn't even have ti to tell her it wasn't her fault.
The words kept repeating.
Betrayal by the people he worked for, his own friend stole his soul, and he still didn't know why they decided to kill him there.
A red system screen suddenly appeared before Asher, displaying the sa information as the first day he arrived about the error and his locked abilities.
[System Update Detected… Processing Bloodline Awakening.]
[Poison detected—Resistance activated.]
[Warning: Soul instability detected.]
[Syncing dormant abilities…]
---
Asher's eyes narrowed, unable to understand what was going on, until more information appeared.
---
[Congratulations! You have awakened the SSS-Ranked Ability: Sovereign of the Dead (Status: Unlocked).]
[20% processed, please standby.]
Description: A forbidden power passed down through bloodlines tied to death and/or dragons. Grants command over death, soul retrieval, and resurrection of fallen legends. Access to this ability is currently in process due to incomplete soul synchronization.
Tips: A Soul in exchange for power. (2 Required.)
Suggestions: Individual with an incurable disease, or an individual deserving of death.
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