Chapter 8: Love and Concern
Right after Xale opened his eyes, he heard a loud shriek came from downstairs. It sounded like his mother. Quickly jumping out of his pod, Xale booked it down the stairs, jumping over the railing at the bottom to arrive at the scene faster. "What's going on? Is everyone alright? Father? Mum?" Xale frantically shouted as he looked around.
"Nothing's wrong! How did you do it Xale? The game is unbelievably harsh," Xale heard from the living room as he was suddenly charged from behind into a tight embrace. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the arms belonged to a short woman with dark brown hair, green eyes, and in her mid-forties. This is Xale's mother. Her name is Laila, but Xale has never addressed her as such.
"Mum, you scared me. I thought you or Father had hurt yourself or there was a break-in. And what do you mean? I haven't done anything."
"Bullocks 'you haven't done anything.' I saw the Foothold announcement! Those are all quite the achievement for a game that's only been out for a little over a day! Your dad and I have only healed our core to about 55% and he and I got super lucky. You have gone and healed your Spirit Core completely, and went up a tier as well!" gushed Xale's mother as she let go dramatically.
"I just got super lucky, that's all, Mum. Does it really take that long to heal your Spirit Core?"
"Yes, it does. Even the most diehard and talented players have healed up only to 70% and most have used cultivation treasures. Many are from huge guilds or corporations! Your father and I happened to meet a mysterious hermit in the Metal Breeze Plains--he saved us from a pack of Thousand Spine Wolves. That encounter almost killed your father. His name is Tien, he took us in afterwards and had pity after he sensed our Spirit Cores. Tien then taught us the most basic way to sense Spirit Energy and harness it. As we practiced, he took notice of our form, and told us we had decent talent. He promised he would pass on his martial art called Heaven Splitting Fist to us. When he told us this, I was like, 'man, Xale is gonna be so jealous!' Boy, was I wrong!" She beamed at him happily with pride.
"It's difficult for everyone to cultivate, that's a surprise I wasn't expecting. It took a while longer than I thought since it was boring and relatively easy. It only got fun when I employed a Cultivation Technique. I wanted to ask what elemental energy affinity you and Father have."
"We both got have a Metal Affinity. It's most likely the reason why he and I fell in love so long ago. Cultivation Technique was that your Legacy Inheritance? From what we learned from Tien, a Cultivation Technique is hard to come by. Usually you can't get them...unless you have a powerful background."
"Yeah, Mum, it was part of the inheritance. So was the spear I got."
"Oh, a spear? That must have been nice. Just like your herald days' in A Dragons Epic. Will you play a supporting role again? Have you joined any guilds this time around? Will you see if you can join your previous guild Full Circle?" Xale's Mum asked excitedly.
"No, the technique I learned has more of a DPS vibe with self sustain mixed in. I have not joined any anything yet; in game or out. Mum, you know Full Circle won't take me unless I play a supporting role. They are too full of themselves, anyway," Xale told his Mother.
"I know you want to go it alone this time around, Xale, but you really should find a good guild either in or out of game. Your Father and I are only able to do what we do because we have each other. Hey, that's an idea! You could find yourself a girl and she can become your partner! That way you won't be alone and won't have to join anything. How perfect would that be for you?"
"Mum, you know there is only one girl for me. And that she is out of reach. Hey, where is Father? I haven't seen him at all since I came down."
"Oh, speaking of out of reach--a few minutes after we got off, we received a phone call from the head recruiter of the guild, The Five Elements. They want us to join officially this time and help them in Foothold. Your father sounds excited! The benefits they are offering must be outrageous." She was practically bursting with excitement.
"That sounds nice," Xale thought as he went to the window. "I wonder if they will accept me this time around?"
"Umm...Mum why is there a helicopter landing on the street in the front of the house with a mounted machine gun and what looks to be special U.E. forces on board?"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone