Chapter 21

'That's right … Because of me, mother …'

It was by the time Jaycee reached his seventh year, the picture of him and his mom laughing as if they were free from all sorts of troubles was still vivid in his mind. It was so clear that one could mistake it for something that happened just yesterday. This particular memory visited his dreams from time to time. Thougn not a sweet reminiscing dream but rather a torturous nightmare.

The almost seven year old Jaycee had this wide smile on his face as he glanced at his mother who was driving at that time. He had this cute angelic look like any other child would look like. Jaycee at that time was carefree and joyful unlike his self today.

"My cute little baby, why are you staring at me like that? Am I that pretty?" His mother sincerely giggled at her own joke.

That cute Jaycee constantly nodded his head as he kept on repeating, "Yes, mother is so pretty."

He even added, "After I grow up, I'll marry mother," with such an innocent look on his face.

His mother just giggled at his innocency and replied, "Is that so? I'll wait for that time to come so make sure you grow up properly, okay?"

His mother caressed his hair and the innocent boy just smiled, totally not aware of what were to happen next.

It was almost 6 PM in evening as they arrived in a private villa owned by them in a middle of a nature. They were no employees present at that time, only them. As Jaycee's incoming seventh birthday was counting the remaining days, the family decided to held a simple party with just them in that villa. Though the both of them came on early, the father promised that he will soon follow them as he can't really ditch his very important work. Being a president of a country sure is not an easy feat. Setting those aside, the mother and son during that time were too preoccupied with each other that they didn't even realize the incoming tragedy they'll be experiencing soon after.

It was almost midnight and the two were already in their peaceful sleep engaging with their own happy dreams. As the night deepened, the night breeze slowly grew colder. The greens like trees and bushes were dancing to the every beat of the wind. There were no reports of an incoming storm or typhoon yet the wind blew extremely frantic than the usual. This made the mother woke up in the middle of the night. As she glanced at the window, she was caressing the head of the sleeping child with such a stoic look on her face. As if she knew that day would come, she reacted nothing and just continued caressing the sleek hair of the child.

"They're earlier than expected ..," the mother whispered.

The mother stood up and slowly walked towards the door and away from the sleeping kid. Before she totally leave and closed the door, she momentarily glanced at him and with the sincerest smile, "I love you, my cute little ti-," she mumbled along with the creaking sound of the door being closed.

Five minutes after the mother left, Jaycee woke up from his deep sleep. And after waking up, the first thing he searched for was his mother whom was nowhere to be found. He barely got out of the bed and difficultly opened the door with his small hands. Still, after opening that seemingly large door, cold silence welcomed him and not the warm voice of his mother. With those tiny feet of his, he strided it until he reached the main door which was slightly opened. As he peeked through the gaps of that slightly opened door, what he saw was beyond his comprehension.

The current Jaycee snapped out of it after being frightened by his friend's sudden exclamation.

'That was close … Why did I end up thinking of that all of a sudden?'

'It's strange but, what did I saw after back then …?'

On the other hand, the friend who scared the shit out of Jaycee was suddenly celebrating in amazement. He had his eyes sparkling in gold while fixing his gaze on his own status screen.

"As expected of the genius; what you said is 100% correct!" suddenly praised by Denver.

Jaycee composed himself and indifferently answered, "What is?"

"You know, I tried leveling up one of my skills halfway through and guess what?!"

"Did it evolve or something?"

Denver nodded like a pleased dog and responded energetically, "Yes!"

While the two were conversing so disruptly in the middle of the forest; little did they notice that the vibes surrounding them slowly starting to change. Denver didn't notice this as he was so busy bragging about his evolved spell but for Jaycee, as soon as the serene wind starting to turn cold, he naturally shifted his eyes left and right, finding exactly the source of that very uncomfortable feeling. It was as if someone or something was meticulously watching them from afar. Denver kept on giggling like some sort of fool knowing no dangers were to happen. On the other hand, Jaycee remained vigilant while constantly giving fake smiles very naturally. Minutes later, the source of that uncomfortable feeling decided to come out. They didn't literally show themselves but instead, dozens of wooden darts with poisoned tips came down raining at them. The darts can't be noticed as it were hiding behind the strong sunlight. But one thing was for sure, Jaycee knew that there was enough time for them to protect themselves from it.

Seeing this, Jaycee immediately equipped his staff and immediately raised his right hand in the air, swiped his index finger in an arc shape. Along with the swift swiping, Jaycee whispered, "Root …," and the spell which sole purpose was supposedly to bind enemies; came running up from the ground and formed an arc on top of their heads. As if Jaycee intended to do this, those thin vines were acting like some sort of shield to protect themselves from the poisoned darts that will suppose to hit them at any moment.

'Assuming that those darts weight around 15 grams and starts at a zero velocity speed. Estimated impact will be roughly around 12 seconds. By the time the darts hit the point of contact with the vines, taking in consideration the acceleration of the darts due to gravity in the pretense of a freefall …'

Jaycee wasn't satisfied with the result. He clicked his tongue in an instant upon seeing how fragile the vines were. After doing some swift mental arithmetic, taking in consideration the width and diameter of the vines and the universal law of gravitation and freefall; the vines were not enough to hold out the impact of the darts and will definitely be ripped apart upon impact.

'This won't work … the vines are too fragile to hold down the weights of the darts upon impact.'

Despite the quite flustered look, he calmly said, "Hey slave, we don't have much time. Hurry up and use the void. Within the remaining 3 seconds, drag me with you."

Don't know what's really happening, Denver was of course shocked by the sudden weird actions of his friend and despite seeing this; he still didn't notice that they were being attacked by someone or something unknown. In such confusion, he replied, "W-What? Why?"

Jaycee gave him a demonic glare as he said, "Just freaking do it."

"O-Okay …"

'What's suddenly into him asking me to use my void spell and drag him away? Well, whatever …'

Denver immediately mentioned, "Void …," and upon casting the spell, time and space were temporarily stopped. He did what Jaycee told him and dragged him away from his initial place.

After 3 seconds and the void spell was exhausted, exactly 2 seconds after; the darts hit the vines and just like what Jaycee predicted, the vines were ripped apart by the impact and didn't even last for that long.

Denver who saw that exact moment had his eyes bawled as he whispered, "Huh?"

"What was that?" he added.

He slowly looked at Jaycee and mumbled, "How in the world did you notice that?"

Jaycee never responded but instead had his sight fixed at a certain location. Denver gradually looked to where he was looking and slowly unsheathed his blade after that.

"W-W-What the hell …," Denver shakily muttered.

On the other hand, Jaycee remained calm as he replied, "Hey slave, to think you'll be hosting a family reunion here …"

"Are you being sarcastic now?"

Jaycee was also in a battle stance as he continued saying, "Isn't this being overboard? To think you'd invite your every 'kind' here …"