Without missing a single beat, Ho Ran flicked her wrist and a long spear with a haft made of sparkling wood appeared in her hands.
She leapt across the desk and aid the jade-coloured tal tip of the weapon at her ex-husband's throat. The man of Italian heritage smiled with charm as he closed his eyes and he made no moves to block nor dodge the attack.
'What is this old manipulator thinking? That I won't go through with it? Doubtful... he isn't stupid. Regardless, I can't stop now!' Ho Ran buried her suspicions and she flew forward at a speed no normal human would ever be able to reach with just their body.
When the tip of her spear was rely a few inches from Lorenzo's throat a blood-red shovel head made itself known and perfectly absorbed the incoming strike. The shovel didn't shake nor quiver and it ca out of the exchange perfectly undamaged just as her spear did.
"I see you truly are a Hamilio, Darenzo! Why would you protect a man like him if you weren't loyal to the family?!" Ho Ran scread at her grandson.
Daz frowned. "You're an idiot. He clearly knew you would attack and he knew he didn't need to do anything to co out uninjured because I want to talk to him. Do you really not understand how Survivor's Instinct works? Of course he'd be aware showing himself wouldn't an any danger with here. For now at least."
"Also, I already told you I go by Daz now, not Darenzo." He folded his arms across his chest as he shook his head. "I can't believe you're in your 70's when you act like such an easily angered child. Seriously, how did you beco the ruler of an entire country when you are so quick to be emotionally roused?"
"Don't you dare belittle when you don't know what kind of a man he is!" Ho Ran scread. "I assassinated him for a damned good reason! Or at least, I thought I did." Bitterness and hatred clouded her tone.
Lorenzo smiled. "Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. Had I not thought the sa as you in so regards, I wouldn't have gone along with your plans and pretended to be dead for as long as I did."
"How dare you lie to , you devil incarnate!" United Korea's president fud.
Lorenzo wore a wry look on his face. "I understand your feelings, really, I do. However, would you do and our grandson the favour of calming down and letting speak my piece, please? I truly did not co with any foul intentions."
Ho Ran looked between the unimpressed Daz and the pleading Lorzeno a few tis as she narrowed her eyes. "Why should I?"
Lorenzo smiled faintly. "Our marriage may have been one of political gain and I may have been an unfaithful husband, pressured by my own parents as Davido was by his... but I did care for you. Please, let speak. I want you to hear what I have to say to our grandson."
Resentnt washed off of Ho Ran like a tidal wave but her eyes wavered. "... Fine. I can listen, yes, but any signs of you using a system skill or Shift Locking and I will use everything, and I an everything, I have to kill you both. Do you understand ?"
Lorenzo nodded. "Perfectly."
Daz sighed. "As if you have the capabilities to injure , let alone kill . I peeked at your cri list a mont ago and just to let you know, the more cris a person has committed, the weaker they beco when fighting . If you were to try to kill it would turn into a very David versus Goliath situation except you'd have no slingshot. Oh, and the Goliath would be a lot faster than little David."
Lorenzo chuckled. "Interesting taphor."
Daz shrugged. "A good friend of mine gives everyone fitting yet unfitting nicknas. It's sothing I picked up from her. Now, if we're all in agreeance to be peaceful, then explain what you ant regarding '39 siblings'."
'He may be even more arrogant than Davido,' Ho Ran thought as she considered retorting at his claims but instead chose to simply nod.
She slowly sat down back behind her desk though she never let go of her spear. She quickly opened her mouth to speak and answer Daz's demands, rather eager to end this entire interaction entirely.
"It's just as I said. Davido had many, many siblings, no thanks to his unfaithful bastard of a father," she said, glaring at Lorenzo.
"Guilty as charged," Lorenzo said with a small self-deprecating laugh.
"I don't understand," Daz said plainly. "Explain."
"Ha-ah... How rare do you think it is for a child between espers to be born with not only an esper power but also a bloodline?" Ho Ran asked while Lorenzo stayed silent.
Daz frowned. "Are you suggesting children can be born with neither between esper parents? That's possible? I was under the assumption that all children born from esper parents had at least one power from a family mber. Bloodlines are rare and lacking them at birth is what causes mutations and for powers to be unusable in most cases, also leading to an early death at the first or second awakening."
"Rose really didn't explain much to you, did she?" Ho Ran asked rhetorically before shaking her head. "The most common occurrence when two espers conceive a child is that it's born as just a normal person. This happens about 65% of the ti."
"Huh... And the other 35% of the ti?" Daz inquired.
"30% are born with a power but no bloodline. 4.99% get both a power and a bloodline," Ho Ran explained with sadness in her tone.
Daz had a sinking feeling in his gut as his mind started to piece together why his grandmother was so upset when discussing this subject and he was slowly coming to believe her when she said he had so many brothers and sisters.
"I assu the other 0.01% includes people like Father and who have multiple powers then?" Daz asked.
Ho Ran shook her head. "No. 0.009% of children are born with 2 powers. A fraction of that are born with both multiple powers and a bloodline. You... You're impossible is what you are. According to all research ever done by the greater esper community, a child being born with more than one bloodline shouldn't ever have been able to exist let alone one that didn't die almost imdiately after birth. Three powers is within the realm of possibilities but all of this combined? A sick joke is what it is. We still don't know how you sealed off your own emotions or why that prevented you from dying."
Lorenzo chid in by saying, "Us from the Hamilio line have always, traditionally, searched out partners to have children with only after having used Future Vision to see what the child would be like. It's not perfect though, hence the... excessively proliferating."
"I see," Daz said stoically. 'Best not ntion that I've created my own branching bloodline and also it'd be wise to avoid bringing up the fact that I've derived a new use for Survivor's Instinct. I imagine those are both just as impossible in the eyes of the older generation of espers as my own existence is.'
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He then frowned and questioned, "Then why did Father let choose my future bride as a child?"
"Young Miss Bristle?" Lorenzo asked rhetorically. "He was, to my understanding, testing your Survivor's Instinct. I have limited knowledge on this since I was in hiding at the ti of your childhood but Davido never really seed to care for if you would ever have children."
Ho Ran nodded. "Which is odd given how he's a Hamilio in almost every other regard. True to traditions... to a fault."
"Okay, and back onto the 39 siblings?" Daz said with a ponderous tone.
"I claid you have 39 siblings because you do. It's just... 36 of them never made it to be more than a year old," Ho Ran said as she struggled to keep her emotions in check.
"I can guess why. From what I know of the esper families, they're abhorrent cult-like entities that care for nothing but bloodline purity and power. I suppose you were forced to kill any child not born with a power. Any born with one would be mistreated until they died of natural causes," Daz spoke coldly.
Ho Ran smiled bitterly. "Family and cultural tradition. What a wonderful community we espers have, no?" Sarcasm oozed from her very being. Both sarcasm and disdain.
"You were a miracle. Why Davido continued to have children after you is beyond my understanding. Perhaps he foresaw the birth of my abnormal granddaughter and the young Giacomo who he now personally cares for. Perhaps he's just a sex-driven demon, who can say?" Ho Ran said with a hollow chuckle.
She then glared at Lorenzo. "I, myself, was forced to give birth to seven children to this cheating scumbag. Who knows how many of his mistresses birthed your now-dead aunts and uncles?"
Lorenzo looked down and sighed. "I was pressured by my side of the family just as much as you were by yours. 'Diversify the bloodline.' 'Seek new powers to add to the Hamilio line.' You know that just as well as I do."
Ho Ran shot him a dangerous look. "And what did you do when Davido went on a rampage and killed all of his still-living siblings, all of whom had a bloodline and powers?! What did you do when I begged you in tears to not kill our children, barely old enough to walk?! What did you do when you were strong enough to defy your family?! When I got the power to do so, I destroyed the Ho family and all other esper families in Korea! What did you do, Lorenzo?! You pretended to be dead and did nothing for over 20-years!"
"Sadly, my hands were tied during that ti," Lorenzo claid in an apologetic tone. "I know... I know what you went through was difficult. No mother should have had to endure that... No father should have had to have done what I did..."
"What were your hands tied with exactly?" Daz asked calmly, showing no care for the upsetting atmosphere the room was now steeped with.
"I'd like to hear what sort of excuses you have here too, oh dear ex-husband of mine," Ho Ran snapped.
"Avoiding that lovely son of ours," the old man answered as he started playing with his fedora absent-mindedly. "We've always been an extraordinary family, Daz, us Hamilios."
"I may have Hamilio blood in my veins but I am no Hamilio," Daz replied. "I assu what you an is that we tend to have multiple powers. You definitely have Survivor's Instinct. I can sense it. You also used Shift Locking to enter the room. That makes you the sa as Father. I have three powers and Rose, while only having one, can use it in a special way despite lacking a bloodline. I can only assu Giacomo is similar in that he has several powers. However, none of that interests ."
"What a remarkably intelligent mind, to glean so much from so little," Lorenzo comnted.
Ignoring his grandfather's complint, Daz looked at Ho Ran. "You said 36 of my siblings didn't make it to one-years-old but you also said I have 39 total siblings. Rose and this 'Giacomo' make two of the ones who got past a year old but who's the third?"
"Perceptive too," Lorenzo noted with an amused smile.
Glowering at her ex-husband for his lack of seriousness, she answered, "Also dead. She would have turned 27 this year had she not died during her second awakening of Survivor's Instinct two years after you were born. She was like Rose, power but no bloodline. Her awakening was... early."
A few tears escaped the young-looking Korena woman's eyes as she mumbled, "She was only nine... I watched the life leave her body as she wept in fear."
Daz stroked his jaw, unaffected by the sombre tone and heart-wrenching words. "Did I ever et her?"
"Of course, as a baby," Ho Ran answered as she wiped her eyes. She clearly didn't see any rit in the question but she was still slightly pleased to see Daz showing so interest in the subject.
'It may be worthwhile peering into my mories with an item like I did when analysing Father's internal energy usage... I'd like to see the face of my elder sister,' Daz thought for no reason which would actually benefit him beyond personal satisfaction.
Daz stroked his chin and turned to look at his grandfather. "You said you hid from Father for the entire ti between your 'assassination' and now. Again, why?"
Lorenzo chuckled faintly. "Your tone truly is unnerving and commanding. To think you're over 50-years my junior... Well, to put it simply, he's too powerful. He can use Future Vision multiple tis an hour with almost no drawbacks whatsoever. Not only that but even though both he and I are at level-5 of Shift Locking, he's better at utilising it than I am, the genius that he is. He also has far too much Internal Energy. If he knew what I was planning too soon he'd find a way to kill ."
"And what did you have planned, exactly?" Daz asked.
"I'd like to know that as well," Ho Ran added.
Lorenzo fiddled with his fedora a bit more before skillfully placing it atop his head. He then leaned back and smiled. "Just like Davido no doubt did, I foresaw the coming of the system. I also foresaw Earth's destruction should we allow the system to indoctrinate it into the greater system as it has tried to do so many, many tis before. I only learned it's tried to do this exact sa thing before after its arrival, sadly. Apparently, the esper families worked hard in the past to block one such attempt. More than that, I don't know."
'Mofolo blocked another,' Daz thought. 'I wonder how many tis it's co in total and who or what blocked it the other tis?'
Lorenzo sighed as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette and a zippo lighter. Lighting the cigarette and taking a puff, he continued, "I, being the head of the Hamilio family grew curious about what my son - the next head - would do since he would surely learn this as well in ti if he hadn't already."
"What I saw when I thought of both the system and Davido... disturbed . I saw several variations of the sa future; Davido welcoming the system and the destruction of Earth as he left the planet with the help of so mysterious entity. Beyond that, my power wouldn't show ," Lorenzo claid.
"I assud Davido had discovered my usage of Future Vision since every ti I reconfird the future it changed slightly. He knew I knew and was using his energy to alter the future. I was aware at that mont he could see I did not agree with whatever crazy idea he was having," the old man said stoically as he puffed on his cigarette a few tis slowly.
"Now, I was already tired of the sick and perverse culture of the espers just like your grandmother was, but... I just couldn't find it in myself to do as she did. Y'know, massacre the family line and surrounding esper families. Needless to ntion I didn't really have the power. The Hamilio's strength cos from our ability to predict and control, not to kill and destroy. Instead, I chose to go along with Ran's assassination. I then spent 20 long years doing my best to avoid Davido's gaze as I plotted," Lorenzo said with an exhausted shrug.
"And?" Daz asked. "What did you plot?"
Lorenzo smiled. "It's rather simple, really. I help you, Daz, my grandson, beco powerful enough to thwart my insane son's sche to destroy our planet and kill everyone on it. Who better to stop Davido than his 'perfect son'? Who better to teach you how to use Survivor's Instinct than a level-5 user of it? With my help, you may just be able to gain enough power to counter any future ddling of Davido's."
Daz frowned. "And let guess, your Future Vision also showed you that I would decline you since I abhor the Hamilio family but I assu you have a plan for that."
"Haha, for a boy that grew up without emotions, you really are surprisingly quick on the uptake," Lorenzo laughed. "You're exactly right."
"You may not have lied to but I trust you less than I trust her," Daz said, pointing at Ho Ran. "And I wouldn't rely on her even if my life would be lost in not doing so."
"Ah, what a lovely grandson I have," Ho Ran spat out sneeringly.
"I do have a proposal though, for both of you," Daz said as his eyes flashed golden for a second before they returned to their lifeless grey colour. "With that future crushed, let's move on with a proper deal, shall we, Grandmother, Grandfather?"
Lorzeno gulped unconsciously. 'Did he really awaken to the second level of Survivor's Instinct for the first ti only a few months ago? To have attained the fourth level of Survivor's Instinct and enough internal energy to peer into the future and change it so effortlessly... Simply, what a genius...'
'This manipulative little Hamilio brat...' Ho Ran ground her teeth in frustration. 'You have an offer for , do you? Let's hear it then. If I'm unsatisfied I'll crush both you and that ex-husband of mine. Fucking Hamilios... You've ruined enough lives as it is already.'
Not a mont later Daz opened his mouth and spoke his mind, leaving both Lorenzo Hamilio and Ho Ran in a state of utter shock. One laughed heartily after a mont while the other stood silent with a ponderous look on her face.
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