With how quickly they built their hopes up, it also got demolished just as fast.
"I stopped his soul from corrosion, but it'd take a long time for him to recover," Jack explained.
Zhenin's heart sank. He already lost both of his parents. His heart doesn't even know what to do if something terrible happens to Ninzhe; his only family left.
Hjuutza had a peculiar look on his face, all that majestic and gloriousness, its only result was to stop the blood from destroying the boy's soul. He couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.
"For now, he's safe. Don't worry. I'll help him recover. But that would be your choice." Jack continued.
Zhenin took a deep breath in. "Do it, please save him!" he shouted unhesitatingly.
"Before that, listen to me first. This is the other half of your reward, the secret." Jack spoke.
"I don't care about that secret, I just want my brother back," Zhenin answered firmly.
"The secret is that your parents' souls are in my domain." Jack cut Zhenin off.
As if choked, Zhenin couldn't get out the words he was about to say.
Looking at the confused eyes of the boy, Jack continued: "Your father was the one who has truly awakened me, he made a blood binding with me accidentally. So I helped him and granted him his wish. Which is to continue existing there with me in the stone so once that they are needed, you'd be able to call upon them."
Zhenin had countless shocks just the past hour alone. He finally developed a sort of temporary immunity to it as he remained conscious.
"Now here's the tricky part. While they are only broken souls at this point, they are, your parents, are still alive." Jack revealed.
"That is the secret. And if everything went well, I would've given you a set of missions to restore them, and you'd be able to meet your parents once again."
"But the situation doesn't allow for it now. Here's the choice you have to make. Ninzhe won't be able to make a full recovery. He already lost most of the memories that defined who he was."
"The first option is to let him stay in my domain as I look for a cure. The second is to use your parents' soul as resources to restore Ninzhe's soul within an hour."
"This option would kill your parents off for good. Then, we could extract it from his long-term memory to re-establish his soul."
"The first option has a degree of failure to it, but your parents will live. However, since Ninzhe is in a coma state, the more time passes, the more memories he might forget."
"The second will succeed, a hundred percent. Of course, it would result in both of your mom and dad disappearing for good."
Finally, regaining his calm, Zhenin asked, "How long would the first option take?"
"Depends on how long you finish the quests I'll be giving you," Jack answered.
"How long could that possibly take?"
"A year at the earliest, four years the longest." Jack paused for a second then continued: "Your brother is still young, his brain would probably be able to remember almost everything if properly preserved."
"There are no other intricacies in the second option, so it is what it is. What would be your decision?" Jack asked.
It was clear to Zhenin that Jack wants him to pick the first one. Whether the research value of a broken soul or being a loyal slave to Jack due to his desire to save his brother, it was highly beneficial for Jack. Besides, the only thing he lacks is knowledge. To become genuinely omnipotent.
Of course, his fifteen-year-old mind couldn't completely figure out the entire scheme, he's too inexperienced. But what choice does he have?
If there really was a chance to restore every single family member that he had, wouldn't that be amazing?
And four years isn't that long either. But why precisely four years?
With a deadline of twenty years, sixteen years had already passed. After that, a radiation nova will occur.
Unlike a natural, habitable planet, planet Buriean had always been artificially made for what's left of the living to continue living.
Without its spin, a planet wouldn't be able to keep a magnetic field. Being bombarded by constant solar flares and coronal mass ejections, Buriean was originally barren.
But after people found out about the planet being in the goldilocks zone of a red dwarf, they began to terraform the planet into what it is now—a tidally locked planet with an artificial magnetic field and atmosphere.
For hundreds and millions of years, the planet thrive. That is until a hundred years ago that the locals of the planet began to feel unease. Their sun had been dying for a long time, but the technology used had been able to sustain them for that long. That is until stronger CME was released continuously to the point that the artificial magnetic field began to waver.
Eighty years later and the mass exodus happened. While the technology could survive for as long as another thousand years, there is a threshold that the tech could protect the planet from. Once the radiation levels reached this threshold, no matter how much energy there is left, it'll immediately break.
Even without the constant barrage of the solar winds, the artificial atmosphere will scatter on its own. Radiation will once again fill the lands of Buriean, killing off every single life form.
This threshold was dubbed as the Radiation Nova. Stronger than a coronal mass ejection, yet a million times weaker than a supernova.
Zhenin might be inexperienced when it comes to schemes, but he was definitely smart.
Four years later is the radiation nova. And so far, he's been absorbing radiation.
Unable to control himself, Zhinen blurted, "What do you need radiation for?"
After speaking the last word, he immediately covered his mouth with both of his hands. Cold beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. He stared at Jack, who was smiling back at him and felt a little relieved.
"You really are like your father, smart and quick. But you don't need to know this." Jack answered, his voice laced with a commanding tone.
"What would be the better choice then?" Zhinen asked, feeling completely helpless and undecided.
Jack smiled once more: "You should already know the answer to that question."
"... Y... You're right, I pick this." Zhinen said as he imagined tapping one of the options that appeared inside his head.