143 A reward no one wants to accept

Nick couldn't believe his eyes and ears. He couldn't believe his eyes because in that short moment the cloaked person turned around, he was excited to find out it was Maggi! And he couldn't believe his ears because the conversation those two men by the door were having was just too ridiculous! The stories people would come up with sometimes had their own advantages after all. At least it kept the twins safe from being harassed or harmed while he wasn't here.

Nick walked over to the kids anxiously. His heart heavy with regret for bringing them into this Secret realm. But he didn't know back then that everyone would be separated after entering the secret realm, and he also didn't imagine the restriction the system would place on him upon his arrival, leaving him a sitting duck in most situations.

"Dean, I miss big bro Nick. He was such a nice brother, always like a fountain of Chocolate that never seems to dry up! Now look at me, I am down to my last two bars, and if I run out, I don't know how I am going to live on anymore." Nick's ears twitched a little and his face turned into a grimace when he heard Maggi talking. And judging from what she called the person next to her it seemed like that person really was Dean.

"No, sister, don't say that! You have to have faith that we will find Big bro soon. Just wait, brother Nick will soon be smiling at you as you milk him for chocolate! Until then though, please eat your remaining chocolate with care. Don't die on me after I passed up so many offers from beautiful women just to find you!" The other cloaked person said, which Nick immediately identified as Dean.

Nick felt like turning back now wouldn't be a crime. So, what if he abandoned the two brats now, the two didn't consider him anything more than a chocolate Atm, anyway! And just as Nick was considering turning back, Maggi said something touched his heart.

"You are right, our big brother Nick will find us! You know how powerful our big brother Nick is, he was smart enough to turn an Emperor into his son after all! And he was funny, nice, and don't tell him I said this, but a little…handsome." Maggi would never say any of these things to Nick, though, because the man was too self-absorbed already. And if he heard her say he all these nice things about him, then God knows where his ego would reach. No, her mission in life was to keep Nick humble by kicking him down whenever he got full of himself.

Nick couldn't put how moved he was into words. Maggi finally admitted he was handsome! Now any adult in this situation would act like they heard nothing and greet the kids warmly, but Nick wasn't just any adult, now was he?

"What the hell do you mean 'a little handsome'?! Do you even know how many times I have walked into a city without paying the entrance fee just because of my good looks?! A little handsome? You are a little handsome, your entire family is a little handsome, I, on the other hand…" Nick popped up right behind Maggi and began his loud rant.

"Chocoshit!" Maggi gasped, startled out of her mind.

"Turd snatcher!" Dean had decided to come up with his own slogan as well since Maggi had forbidden him from using hers. Turd snatcher was the perfect curse slogan that would make him a unique character, or so he thought.

"Who the hell are you calling a turd snatcher?!" Nick had already grown used to Maggi's catchphrase, but Dean's was new to him. And he felt it was a little insulting. Who in their right minds would snatch turds these days?!

"Big bro, Nick!!" The twins screamed in unison. As they hopped off their bar stool to hug Nick.

"Run! The dark cultivators have initiated their attack!"

"Waaaa!"

Maggi and Dean's slight action had caused mass panic in the bar, and it was soon left empty aside from Nick, Maggi, Dean, the young man that brought Nick here, and the bartender.

"Brother Albert, these are actual kids right, not dark cultivators?!" The young man who brought Nick here asked, with his feet halfway through the door.

"Yes, buddy, these are my neighbor's kids! Thank you for finding them for me, do you want your reward now or…?" Nick asked. He could see the large crowd of shadows gathered outside the bar, probably waiting for Nick to hand the young man the rewards so that they could snatch it for him.

"This…" The young man felt honestly frightened by the question, especially since he could see the scary looks people outside the bar were giving him. He knew how precious the rewards of this bounty were, and he knew how quickly others will kill him once he got them. Nick might have held these vultures back by inciting the public sentiment, but he couldn't do the same.

"What is your name, young man?" Nick asked, but he was struggling to get the kids off of him as he did.

"My name is Jacob, sir." The young man replied.

"Get off of me, will you! Don't think I didn't hear you calling me a chocolate cow, humph! Ahem, excuse me Jacob, how about I give you the techniques I promised after you leave this Secret Realm?" Nick offered this with no hidden evil intent at all. He was sincerely trying to help the poor man stay alive long enough to enjoy the technique because Jacob had helped him find the two people he was worried about most. And although catching him and robbing him might be easy to do in the secret realm, the same couldn't be said for the outside world.

"No, thank you. I will take my rewards now!" Jacob thought about it for a while, but he felt like he couldn't trust Nick that much. And as he thought about the cool rewards Nick was offering his heart raced and the temptation got the better of him.

And Nick didn't say anything more, and he took out the things he promised one by one.

"Here's the speaker, the Condom, the Ink pen, the amazing potato peeler, and the incomplete immortal Core technique. Choose two among these rewards freely." Nick announced. Since Jacob hadn't found Peter yet, then it stood to reason that he wouldn't give away every prize.

"Umm, I will take the Cooo…" Jacob was about to choose the condom first but he stopped once he saw Nick's judgmental face.

"I will take the technique first!" Jacob was really firm this time.

"Great choice!" Nick replied as he tossed the man the book.

Shwa!

Jacob immediately flipped through the first few pages to see if Nick was telling the truth. But then he saw something that frightened the living crap out of him! On the first page aside from the name of the technique 'The Rage of the Black Tiger technique!', there was another line at the bottom which read, 'Property of the Light Prince immortal. Read the first page and I will blind you, read the rest and I will kill you!'.

"Does this belong to…?!" Jacob asked in fear.

"Yep! It belongs to, good old Light princess, a dear friend of mine. Sigh, he used to be a student of mine. What a waste though, he was too dumb, so I had to kick him out." Nick has always said the most unbelievable and ridiculous things that would drive most people mad.

"Come on now Jacob, I have no time to talk to you about my private matters, choose another one so I can leave!" Nick didn't want to stay in the bar any longer, he'd much rather find Loyd and head out in search of Peter so his mind could be at ease.

"Ah! This belongs to an Immortal?!" Jacob didn't hear a damn word after Nick admitted the book belonged to the famous Light prince immortal, a man known for his straightforward but ruthless personality!

"Since you aren't choosing anything then I will make the choice for you!" Nick snapped as he took back everything else aside from the Ink pen and left with the kids.

"No, take it back!" It took a while for Jacob to return to his senses, but the moment he did he ran out of the bar in search of Nick, yet the crowded street had long covered Nick's tracks.

"Hehe, boy, how about you hand over that book?!" A large group of scary men walked over from behind Jacob and asked threateningly. The man who spoke was in the group's lead and was carrying a mace with him.

"Thank you, please get this thing off my hands!" Jacob couldn't explain the relief he felt as he threw the gang the book and ran away, not even casting Pen Nick left another glance.

Nick might not understand how scary the Light Prince immortal was but Jacob did. And everyone knew how territorial these immortals were about their things, in fact, most of them killed others for just looking at their stuff never mind opening it. And it was common practice for these Immortals to leave a mark of sorts on their things just in case.

With the kids cheerily following beside him Nick returned to the place he previously set the food stall up at. The reason that he came back here was because he had already agreed with Loyd to rendezvous here on the off chance they both got separated.

Nick then bent down and took the kids by their shoulders as he hopped up onto the roof of the large building across the street from the meeting spot, and once he was out of sight, he immediately went into the Palace space with the kids. The kids had already signed the agreement with the System on their way here, and Nick was just waiting for the right opportunity to bring them inside.

"What is this place, big bro Nick?!" Dean asked in awe as soon as he saw the new and wondrous place he had just popped in to.

But Nick didn't answer him since he was too busy looking outside using the system's function.

"Damn it! We lost him! Master Crow won't be too happy about this, and one of us will most likely lose our lives!" On top of the roof Nick had just landed on before entering the Palace space, emerged a group of dark-cloaked figures that were emitting a scary vibe.

Nick had long sensed the group following him but was unable to pinpoint their exact location, which was why he chose to enter the Palace first and then find them.