Family Drama

Edward and the others sat around a campfire built in the middle of the second room, eating a roasted Thomson's Gazelle for lunch. On Edward's left were Leonard, Emma, Andrew, Ezekiel, Michael, and Elizabeth on his immediate right.

"Since we will attack the dungeon tomorrow, we should start getting prepared," Elizabeth called out, gaining everyone's attention.

Unlike the others, she was eating a combination of berries washed with clean water in Edward's bag of holding. During these three days, they have used two drops from the water slimes Essence, waiting for 4 gallons of the purifier, something they all noticed.

She waited as everyone stared at her. "Ok, I will go first. The skill I got upon reaching level ten is Reaction Boost, a support skill that increases the reaction speed of those in my party by 30% for 30 seconds. Though, the cooldown is 5 minutes."

"That would be great for dodging an unsuspecting attack." Ezekiel before biting from his meat. "Great choice on the skill, Elizabeth."

Ignoring his complement, she continued. "As for my ability, I got Telepathy." Her word caused a strong reaction amongst everyone, with Edward seeming the most agitated.

"Can you read my thoughts?" Emma asked, staring into Elizabeth's eyes. "So, what am I thinking?"

"Relax. The ability is at the basic level. I can't read the thought as of yet." They calmed down after hearing this, but no one fully believed her words. With how manipulative she is, it might as well be a lie. "I know what you all are thinking without having to read your mind. But I will ignore it."

"What can you do then?" Edward asked, curious. "Read emotions?"

"Every 10 points in intelligence, the basic telepathy would give me a new ability based on my personality," Elizabeth explained, looking at Edward. "I have 31.9 points in intelligence, giving me Thought Detection, Psychic Communication, and Empathy." Her words echoed in Edward's head without her mouth moving.

His eyebrow perked up as he thought, directing it to her. "So, we can speak like this?" He asked, looking at the others staring at both of them. "And they can't hear us?"

"Yes, but as it is low, I can only speak to one person at a time," Elizabeth said out loud, to which Edward nodded, mumbling something about rune as he picked up his book beside him and started reading. Elizabeth then sent her message to each of them, Except Andrew.

"With training, do you think you could increase the number of people you could speak to at once?" Michael questioned, rubbing his jaw.

"Yes," Elizabeth responded, watching as Emma explained to Andrew what her ability was. "So Andy. What is yours?" She asked, smiling.

Andrew glanced at her before speaking, "My level 10 skill increases my strength and vitality by 30% stats in return for losing 30% of my agility and intelligence..."

"As expected," Elizabeth mumbled, eating her berry.

Andrew stopped, turning to her. "What did you say?"

She looked up at him, "Well, you are stupid. The skill reflected that."

"Makes sense you will get telepathy because you are a manipulative, insecure ass bitch." Andrew smiled, clenching his fist beside him.

"What did you call me!?" Elizabeth shouted, standing up. "How am I insecure?

"Ok, that's it," Leonardo said, standing up. "What is up with you two?" He asked, glaring at the two of them. "Since when you two met each other back at school, you have both been at each other's throats. It is now getting annoying, so what is the fucking problem!?"

"Well, it's time you know who this female truly is," Andrew said, eyes on Elizabeth. "This bitch! This creature is a crazy-ass psychopath who killed our father because he chose me over her when our parents divorced."

"Woah. You can't just drop a big lie like that." Ezekiel chuckled, not believing his words. "Are you two related or something?"

"He is telling the truth, I did kill our father, and we are related," Elizabeth said, eating a berry. "Twins, actually. He is the older one." She finished.

Their minds were focused on her admitting that they had killed their father, so her last statement did not resonate with them. "What? How?" Emma questioned, eyes wide in horror.

"It was easy. I Just burnt down the house while he slept, making it seem like a short circuit had caused it." Elizabeth shrugged, talking about it like it was a game to her. "It has been seven years since then, and only he knows the truth." She laughed, watching Andrew's reaction. "He tried to confess so many times, taking me to fucking court. Hahahaha! No one believed him! Hahahaha!"

Her laugh as she casually spoke about killing their father caused Andrew to snap. His eyes dilated as he roared, activating Savage Punch. He leaped across the fire at her, with Leonardo quickly activating his level 10 skill, Stand Behind Me.

***

[Stand Behind Me(Level 1+)(Active): Teleport in front of the chosen person, increasing defense by 40%, but become immobile(Duration: 3 sec)(CD: 2 minutes)]

***

Leonardo suddenly flashed, appearing in front of Elizabeth, a brown glow flashing in his body. Andrew's fist collided with Leonardo's face, with him not flinching a bit.

Emma and Edward stood up, holding back Andrew. "Calm down. I need--we need her for the dungeon." Edward said, no one noticed his slip of words. "If you kill her, the chance of us beating the level 15 dungeon would be reduced by a lot."

"Let me fucking go!" Andrew shouted, casually flinging both of them away like ragdolls. The difference in strength was just too great. Noticing what he did, Andrew ran to Emma, who had hit her head on the wall. "Shit. Emma, are you alright?"

Leonardo also went to her after his skill effect was over, seeing she hadn't been hurt much. Getting her to sit, Leonardo glared at Andrew, "See what you caused!? Learn to control yourself."

Andrew looked away, feeling sorry for what he had done. Whereas Ezekiel was the only one who went to Edward's help. "You okay, bro?" He asked, looking at a newly opened scar on Edward's right arm.

"Yeah." He grunted, hiding it. "It will heal before tomorrow." He said, shrugging it off.

Ezekiel looked at Leonardo, Andrew, and Michael around Emma, whispering, "Damn the double standard."

"It's fine." Edward waved again, standing up and walking to them.

"If you two don't resolve this issue by tomorrow, how would we trust each other to fight as a team in the dungeon?" Leonardo shouted, standing up. "This is a level dungeon. It would be hard if you two can't work as a team."

"This isn't an issue that can be resolved in just one day!" Andrew rebuked, standing up and punching the cave wall, leaving a dent. "How the fuck do you expect me to work well with my father's murderer? If not because of my morals, I would have killed her a thousand times over!!"

"So, tell us," Emma spoke, rubbing the back of her head. "How did it happen? Let us know."

Sighing, Andrew ran his hand through his hair, with his knuckles bruised. He gathered his composure before recounting the story, "Our parents decided to divorce after our dad caught our mother cheating."

"Damn. At least don't get caught when you cheat." Ezekiel mumbled, earning a glare from Emma. "Shut up." She hissed.

Andrew continued, "So at court, it became a matter of both of us. We were sixteen back then, and the court decided on split custody. Since our dad made the most money, he had the choice to choose between both of us, and he picked me." Andrew sighed, his eyes moving to Elizabeth, who had her arm folded with her feet tapping the floor. "Next thing you know, the house burnt down with our father still in it, and she had the audacity to confess in front of me that it was her. She told me how she did it step by step. All while laughing!"

"Come on. It was funny how I explained it." Elizabeth grumbled, smiling. "Wasn't it?"

"Why did you do it, Elizabeth?" Andrew asked, holding back his anger. "You always say the same story about him picking me over you, but what was the true reason?"

"Simple. Wouldn't you be mad if you were going into the NFL and the best team picked the worst player to join them instead of you, the best?" She asked, her face contorted with rage. "I was literally better at everything than you. In-School, I never got below 98%. I was on my way to college at fucking 16! I was even better at sports back then. And he picked you over me!" She ranted, laughing. "That's like picking a shit over a gem! He didn't deserve to live after that."

Andrew held back his rage, fist clenched. "So what if mother picked first? Would you have killed her?"

"Yes." Elizabeth immediately nodded. "I was to be chosen first, no matter who picked first. Too bad father was the first to pick." She finished with a shrug.

"You are insecure," Emma spoke, causing Elizabeth to shout. "Care to say that again, bitch?" Emma stood up, walking to stand in front of Elizabeth, showing no fear.

"Your behavior since when you killed that woman because she slapped you when Edward was chosen to become a magician, but you didn't, the reason you killed your own fucking father." She raised her right hand, pointing right at her. "You are an extremely insecure little bitch."

Enraged, Elizabeth tried to grab Emma's finger, but she quickly moved her finger back, forming a fist and punching her right in her gut. The punch sent Elizabeth falling to her knee, coughing out spit.

"You punched me." Elizabeth coughed, looking up at Emma with crazy eyes. "You punched me." She repeated, looking right into Emma's cold brown eyes.

"Don't try to sneak attack me in the night because I will fucking kill you." Emma hissed, walking away with Andrew following her.

Leonardo went to help Elizabeth, but she slapped his hand away, standing up while holding her stomach. She walked through the wall, exiting the dungeon.

"Why did you choose today to let them go about their family problem?" Andrew asked, shocking Leonardo. This was his first time hearing Edward with that voice. He sounded mad. "When we were going to hunt the dungeon, you decided to let them open up about their family drama. Great job, Leo." He said, picking up his book and walking away.

"Shit," Leonardo mumbled. Everything went wrong.