Chapter 108: Kai's Agony
Kai sat there like a lifeless man in the company of a child.
He just didn't know how to believe that had been told to him. It was ridiculous. A mere child had told him things that not even the grown-ups knew. Otherwise, by now, someone must have mentioned something about these temples to him. Yet, this lack of mention seemed to give the temples' existence an undeniable, though mysterious, reality.
It troubled him. The last temple, and what little Hao had told him about it, made Kai think that the game wasn't as simple as he had thought. When he first came to the Primordial Tower, he had thought it would be just about killing, ascending, becoming powerful in the worlds, and repeating the process.
Now, he would have to retake every step he had trodden, trying to find a cause, a reason which hadn't existed before in his mind.
The first of those steps was his Luck.
Kai shook his head, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling in his mind.
'Maybe it's all wrong,' Kai thought. 'Maybe someone told a story to the boy, fooling him. And maybe it's all his way to convince me to not kill him.'
'Fuck it!' Kai stood up. There was no reason to dwell on things that he didn't understand fully yet. 'Let's go to the Guild. Kill my father and steal some Mission Credits, weapons, and materials. Go to the battle, and return to the world. Yes. Let's start with becoming powerful.'
But just as he turned around, the boy who looked as if he had passed out called out to him.
"Wait…" little Hao said meekly. "You going to the Silver Hunters Guild?"
Kai frowned. "Yes."
"Don't go there," the boy said, opening his swollen eyes a little. "Mother said something bad had happened there 3 days ago."
"What bad?" Kai asked, casually. 'Why do I smell a great opportunity in this?'
"I don't know, but my mother does," the boy said, trying to sit up. "You can take me there and ask for it from her. She will tell you, I promise."
'Is he setting me up for some ambush? Kai asked himself. 'But who can dare to attack me below the 4th floor and live to tell the tale? Well, I guess I have time. The next battle is 4 days away, or so the Sgt. Doyle had told me.'
Kai smiled. He grabbed the boy's hand and flung him over his shoulder. "Point the way."
*
*
Knock! Knock!
"Who is this?" a shrill, panicked voice demanded from inside.
The wooden door looked hanging on its hinges, and one hard push from Kai could break it apart. But there was a plate bolted on the door saying, "This House is the property of the Empire."
'Well, that would have kept many hands away from it, I think.' Kai stared at the plate as the boy put his mouth against the door. "Ma, it's me, little Hao."
The sound of hastened steps rustled out, reaching Kai's ears. The doors flung open inwards, and Kai saw the woman, then. She was smaller than Kai but had long legs for her height. Common black-brown eyes and black hair couldn't hide the frailty of her face. Though she looked ill, the paleness of her skin made her look even more beautiful.
The woman gasped.
"Hao, are you alright son?" she asked, her hands running all over the boy, checking for any fresh blood. "Who did this to you?"
Only then did the woman seem to notice Kai. She glared at him murderously, biting her lower lip. "How heartless can you be to beat a child like that?" she demanded, fighting back the tears. "What did my little Hao do to you? Tell me. You want Credits, right? How much does he owe you?"
Kai smiled wryly. The boy came to clear the misunderstanding.
"No, ma," the boy said. "He helped me. That fat rascal had caught me in the deserted street. If it wasn't for the big brother, he would have taken my Card."
At the mention of the Card, little Hao took out his Credits Storage Card and handed it over to his mother. She looked at the Card, her eyes fuming with anger and worry. "You!" she rebuked the child. "How many times have I told you to not go out with your father's Card? Go in. Now."
She looked at Kai apologetically. "I am sorry," she said. "Thank you for helping my son. But I am afraid those three will come back, anyway."
"Ma, they won't," the boy said, one leg inside the house. "Big Brother here has killed them all. And I have promised him you will tell him everything about what happened at the Silver Hunters Guild."
The woman's eyes went wide. Helping the boy was one matter, and killing someone was another. Her left hand shook as it went to little Hao and wrapped itself around his shoulders as if trying to hide him from Kai's eyes.
"Yes. Yes," little Hao's mother muttered to herself. "I will. Come inside, uh…"
"Desmond."
"I am Saline Hao. Come inside Desmond. From the old Haos, only we have remained. We have become poor, but we still remember the old ways. Come."
Everything was plain outside. Just a pot for water, a makeshift bathroom, one room, and a kitchen where Kai himself would have struggled to stand upright. There was one wooden cot in a corner, and some make-up accessories besides a broken mirror.
The woman took out a stool, dusting it off.
"Please sit, Desmond," she said, taking out a medical kit. "Little Hao, come here. Let me look at you."
Kai sat down, worrying if the stool would even hold his weight. It creaked and moaned, but stood out somehow. Saline put salve on little Hao's bruises and looked at Kai. "May I ask why you want to go to Silver Hunters Guild?"
"No, you may not," Kai refused to answer.
Seline nodded. "There was a mutiny three days ago among the members of the Silver Hunters Guild," she said, making sure the boy wouldn't flinch away from her. "The Vice-Leader of the Guild hadn't returned from his mission, presumed dead, and the seat went to Ser Morgan Tussy after him. But, overnight, the 3rd in command killed the old knight and took over the entire Guild on the 2nd floor."
Kai's jaw fell open. His face contorted, turning ugly. There was a genuine pain in his heart, thinking of Ser Morgan Tussy, his father.
'Who killed him?' Kai's thoughts roared in his mind. 'Who stole the biggest pile of Mission Credits from me?'
Read Ahead
You can access extra chapters as Patrons
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone