Ruler of Bone - 3

In the dark space void of light and darkness.

Xion opens his eyes and looks around him, nothing. He can't see anything but he can feel the motion of opening and closing of his eyelids. It's like he was blind but there is no darkness consequential from his blind-like state; they said blind will give you darkness yet may give you a brighter light than you previously had.

Suddenly when he blinks his eyes, he stands in front of a transparent glass window viewing the scape of the city getting farther away from sight.

"Mr.----- you've got an appointment in two hours so you are free for one and a half. Is there anything you want sir?"

He can see the reflection of a man in a suit with glasses stares at his Cypher Book checking the schedule for his boss. After 'the secretary man' finished checking the appointment of his boss, he gave him the usual estimate free times.

The man in front of the glasses raised his left hand. And the secretary guy rest himself then left the room.

He touches the thick transparent window and thought.

'It would never flash in my mind when I was young that I would stand on this platform for the rich. Yet here I am.'

All of sudden everything's back to the previous void; which lacks everything, none exists.

Xion wondered why he can't hear his own, previous name or the name of his secretary. But Xion 100% knew that it was his previous life on Terra, the blue planet inhabits by mostly human. A planet driven by money. Money is everything there, with money you can buy a long life or full-fledged human even a mass destruction weapon can be bought as long as you had money. And power is second after money. But thankfully not everything can be bought using money; S-class or higher Esper for example.

Still, it once again back to money if you had a lot then you can pay some organization to kill the S rank esper for you. They said in this wretched world you can put value for everything that exists. Yet I choose death-

Then the fragmented memories back showing him more random memories of his Terra life. Until a memory neither from his former or current...

It was a memory of battles, a war to be precise. Blood of all color stream the ground creating rivers and scream unknown from hatred or pain fill the whole field to the horizon, sky, and ground alike.

Xion opened his eyes and he sees a red sky with black cloud spewing thunder here and there. Xion stands up and he saw that he and his tribe was surrounded by a myriad of races. They were cornered with only hundreds of his race against the whole army of many races that wants to kill them.

His body moved and a sharp spike made of bone come out of his palm. Stabbing towards the woman's corpse below his feet. The previous corpse of the woman with blue flame hair turns into bone without any flesh left and his injured body heal itself faster than before. With a wave of hands, the bone of the woman then turns into a war axe with a flaming blade.

The burning axe float beside him like a spirit that ready to take the life of its master enemy.

"'Son, be ready to evacuate with the kids. With the clash of my full power energy and those fool's energy, a rift in space will be created. Ran there with the kids and protect them.'"

Send telepathically by a man with long black hair and extremely pale white skin. He had a pair of glowing yellow eyes and in the middle of his forehead is a sharp-pointed black prism for horn. On his back eight bone spikes spurted out with black orbs at its end; sometimes the orb would change form into eight pairs of black wings encompassing his enemies and torn them to pieces.

Xion without control of his body moved his hands forwards and the blazing war axe flies towards the enemy. Reaching the enemy without killing any of them the axe instantly explodes in fire like a hydrogen bomb within the midst of jammed packed enemy resulting in casualties and lots of fatally injured enemy left only with their scream of pain.

The fight continues for days without stop resulting in his already scarce race close to annihilation. It feels like the whole world was against them. His race can fight continuously without rest as long as they had the life force to exploit and there are lots of them here free on the battlefield.

The man they called chief killed half of the total enemy by himself. But a new group of enemies keeps on coming from the horizon. And they keep on fighting even when they're left with less than a hundred against the almost unlimited number of enemies.

The children in the tribe weren't spare from battle either. They follow the adults into battle and evolving (level up) continuously. Some fall and some rise ever stronger but, it's not enough. They had no time to grieve for the fallen as their entire race was at the stakes of annihilation.

The man they called Chief fight in the sky, unlike him only a few of them in the tribe that can fight in the sky freely; 'the elders' yet they all have fallen.

The battle gets worse when one of the strongest races join in, the vampire; they can control blood as they please and with battlefield like this where rivers of blood flow, their power becomes stronger. So strong that even the battle below stops momentarily. Giving us the chance to send the kids into the dimension rift hoping they would survive.

Seeing the dimming chance of survival of his race the man, the tribe chief, the leader of his entire race chooses to explode himself bringing his enemies down with him. In a split second, before compact energy explodes, he creates dimension rift and sends all the surviving members of his tribe.

Xion jumps and opens his eyes. He sees that he's back with body drench in sweat but the memories, the battle feels too real to be called a dream for him. Calming down he can see three different things on his status.

[-Acquired aether control.]

[Your influence and control over aether.]

[-Acquired life drain.]

[Using your bone as a catalyst you absorb the life force of the target.]

[-Acquired thorn throw.]

[By creating thorn made of bone filled with aether you can change your enemy bones structure into that of thorns. Destroying their flesh. Skill effectiveness depends on enemy resistance for energy-based attack (aether, etc.).]

Xion looked at the kid still sleeping like a log and a startled Aleta because of his sudden moves.

"What happens, brother?"

"No. nothing, you can go back to sleep."

Xion moves towards his dried mud of clothes and wore it. He doesn't forget his promise with the kid so he picked up his spear and walks outside. Before closing the door, his gaze meets with the wolf, he stops for three seconds as in conveying 'protect them while I'm gone' without thinking of how will the wolf protect his family while its body can't move freely.

Xion doesn't know if the wolf understands him or not, he just did what he thought was correct. And indeed, his intuition was spot on because of his contract with the wolf, the wolf more or less understood his intention.

The sky has begun to get brighter but the light of dawn won't be enough to shine the forest with big ass trees in this forest plus the morning fog that further obstructs his vision.

Xion walks into the back of the hut, planning to get some refreshment from the small river not far from the hut, approximately 3 minutes slow walk from the back of the hut. The river only one and a half meters wide and knee-high deep. Xion plunges his hand and take a couple of gulps and wash his face with the cold water.

At the edge of his vision, Xion can see a brown rabbit drinking water from the river. Xion takes a step back carefully to not startle the rabbit, he picked up his spear and throw it. The spear opportunely cut off the rabbit's neck and pierce into the ground separating its head from its body.

"Shluk!"

'Nice! Is it beginner luck? Whatever it was, it is meat and one task fulfilled.'

Xion hurriedly moves toward the dead and bleeding rabbit. He picked up the rabbit and his spear then turn back to his previous drinking spot, free of shrub, an open place without hiding place for a potential predator. Xion deftly skin and gut the rabbit in under ten minutes using the blade of his spear. He cleans the rabbit thoroughly in the cold flowing water and places the uneatable (have the possibilities to make the children sick) aside on top of the rabbit skin, food portion for the wolf.

'Thankfully my experience with gutting and skinning comes in handy. The meat… around two and a half kilo including the bone, I guess its enough for the kid, for now.'

Using the skin of the rabbit as a makeshift holder for the gut, Xion jog home feeling a bit happy that his task has been fulfilled and thinking about the smile the kid would have brought a smile into his face as well. The act of him jog and smiling makes him look a bit silly. Anyone with emotions would know that he is happy as his body exudes the happiness itself, weird indeed but it is a fact.

Opening the door, the wolf (which hasn't got a name yet) raises its head and looks at Xion, and Xion's gazed meets the wolf. He gives the wolf a bundle from his hunts, guts covered in skin and fur.

"Be content with this now kay wolfie?"

Xion already noticed Aleta was awake when he opens the door.

"Aleta I brought rabbit meat. Did we have any spices?" Then he looks at the kid's clothes being worn out and some riddle with holes. "Leta… nevermind, take this." Xion just remembers that in his Shop system there is the 'tangible' section where he can buy clothes for his family and other toiletries. Xion from his experience of living in an advanced world without magic knows the important things about cleanliness. Yes, they might be currently living in a worn-down hut but at least he can level up their living quality by a notch.

Checking the item was never been hard, Xion only needs to think about what he wants and the Shop will do exactly what he desired. The downside is when he surfs the 'SHOP' he will appear dazed like an idiot and his eyes lose focus of the world.

Confusion written all over Aleta's face and tilting her head from looking at her doze off brother, they were talking a moment ago then he dozes off like an archaic archmage that been pondering about magical formula problems, or simply the magus is way too old and dozed off.

Xion browses through all the items from the tangible section, there, the 'SHOP' sells myriads of things, from houses, mansions to castles; even a spaceship from his previous world wasn't spared from the ridiculousness of the shop. Ten minutes later he finally remembers what he was looking for, spices (no it's not) he bought few kinds of them in a super small quantity. Choosing 'buy' in his mind. Then a box made of wood with 15 different colour of powder appears in his hand. It cost him 28 value for the box and a wooden spoon as a bonus.

'Well, Aleta would know how to use this stuff.'

Aleta stupefied when a wooden box appears from nothing into Xion's hand. She unconsciously takes the box when Xion handed it to her. The pungent smell of the powders makes her remember her days in the city looking at the fancy restaurant kitchen. From what she knows only nobles can afford to own this myriad of spices. When she was working as a waitress and assistant cook at the eatery inn, they only used things like salts and cheap herbs they can get on the market.

Not minding Aleta's expression Xion walk to the fireplace and sit his ass. Then, once again indulge on his browsing spree. Xion doesn't realize that he almost wastes an hour of his time browsing for stuff he may not even buy in the future. His thought jolt back into the living world by the droll arousing smell create by Aleta cooking. Not only him that was jolt awake by the smell, but the three angels also woke up without brushing their eyes and follow the source of the smell; they sat quietly waiting for their share.

Xion giggled by their funny reaction but feels guilty at the same time; by their reaction, they crave for real food and he as the head of the family has failed to do his job.

Following them, he sat beside Anne and pat her head.

"Look, big bro found meat for us to enjoy even the wolfie get his share of meat (guts). So, don't hold back okay? Eat to your heart content big bro already eat his share."

Xion especially convinced Anne to eat until she's full. Based on her personality she would hold herself back and let others be content before she fills herself. Xion doesn't think that was bad at all but he still thinks that kids need to fill their belly full so they may grow up to their fullest potential. Not like him whose childhood was struggling to even fill their belly. Which results in his short stature. He never really thought it was a problem until his other self merged.

"Thank you, brother." Four of them give their thanks to Xion and he giggles after getting his thanks.

[Transaction completed!]

[Receive 410 Value.]

Xion's a bit shock by the announcement the system (interface) has made. He instantly inputs his question, why did I get a point from that? 'Not that I hate it rather I welcome it with open arms.'

[200 Value deducted.]

[It is considered as a transaction. you gave them food and they thank you for that.]

Once again he got reprimanded by the world, awake than he previously is. "Nothing is free." They said good deed will get you nothing but when you didn't hope for a reward you'll get one.

At that time, the sister who manages the orphanage was not in her best condition. She had a weak body and prone to get sick so she can't really help with the orphanage finance. She shouldn't have died but those…

Shaking his head to clear his thought Xion look at the drooling Jean and finally remember what he was looking for; toiletries and clothes for them to change into.

Xion cleaned his funds and bought each of them, 4 sets of clothes (one pajama, two daily use, one adventure type clothes. underwear included.), toothbrush, a berries flavor toothpaste for the kids and mint flavor for Aleta. He also bought 3 futons for them to sleep on. At first, he plans to buy 4 for each of them but he lacks the necessary fund for it but with their size, they will fit just fine.

Xion called Aleta and told her how to use the toiletries and leave the hut. Planning to search for a way to increase his fund and get some more games, preferably a deer. He also needs to experiment on his new skills. A mastered skill is more useful than a powerful but unmastered skill. Like they said, "know thyself before know thy enemy."