Zane woke up with a wide smile on his face. Rolling around on his bed, he laughed loudly. It was as if he had woken up from the best dream he could ever imagine.
He jumped out of the bed and stood in front of the mirror. 'I look a bit fairer than before.' Awakening was truly like the fabled marrow cleansing in wuxia novels.
He looked at the calluses on his hand that had now vanished. Even the small scab on his leg has vanished. He laughed again wondering while it still felt a little unreal.
"System." He called as he started heading into the bathroom.
"Congratulations and Happy Birthday. You are now an Arcane Scribe." The system intoned dutifully.
Zane's muscles relaxed completely in the hot water. "Thank you. So where is my present?"
[Present?] The system asked to clarify the situation.
Zane nodded and began in a sad voice, "You are going to be my partner for a very long time. Yet today, on my most important day, you didn't even get me anything. That is just cruel."
System 340901 went through its database, it had no prior knowledge of this. However, its knowledge of its user made it more sceptical.
[I will relay your request to my superiors.]
Zane chuckled. The system was getting harder to tease. After bathing, he dressed simply in black trousers and a white and blue patterned shirt. He equipped the Class mask as he felt a little mist move around his body before stopping.
He glanced at the time. It was thirty minutes after eight in the morning. His father and Xavier must have eaten and gone out. Well, spending his birthday alone was nothing new to him.
He opened the door and was met with a young blonde woman who bowed slightly and smiled at him.
"Lexi." He greeted, his heart felt lighter.
"Young master Zane, Congratulations on your Awakening and Happy Birthday." Lexi greeted me. Though her voice remained cultured, a tint of excitement could not help but leak out.
"Thank you."
There were two other guys behind her. Zane could recognize them as guards in the mansion.
Lexi began to lead the way to the dining room. She opened the door of the dining room and Zane entered inside.
His eyes widened, his father and Xavier were sitting at the table. Xavier's eyes were closed as he slowly sipped a cup of tea while his father read a book as he sipped a large mug of coffee.
Were they waiting for him? He stopped, shell shocked. Memories of years of waking up to an empty house on his birthday filled his mind.
He was broken out from his reminiscing by a warm voice, "Happy Birthday, Zane." It was followed by a cold, "Congratulations."
"How was your night?" Andre asked as he waved for the servants to begin to bring in the dishes.
Zane was elated and he let it show. "Last night was the best."
Plates and bowls soon filled the dining table. Zane gasped, they were seafood. His favourite.
He lowered his head as he reached for the Phoenix tail shrimp plate closest to him. Every fried shrimp in the bowl was in a half-moon-shape with the tail tilting upward laid out on the plate with several verdant vegetable leaves.
He picked some of the white and red shrimp and placed them in his place. His throat felt like it was blocked. He did not know why he suddenly did not feel hungry again.
A small bowl of braised Abalone was pushed in front of him. Zane looked up to see his father's awkward look. When he caught him staring, Andre coughed and chose to stare at Xavier.
To Zane's surprise, Xavier picked some green baby bok choy, put it on a plate and pushed it towards Zane. Zane looked down at the plate and back to Xavier.
He suddenly felt a mixture of sadness, pity and joy. His other self probably never enjoyed this treatment. He probably celebrated all his birthdays alone, pretending like it did not matter when everyone forgot.
Did someone ever pick a plate of vegetables for him? The diary never said, he really wanted to know. He picked up a shrimp, it felt so heavy, so hot and so delicious. A large smile appeared on his face.
Zane picked his fork as he enjoyed the milk chiffon cake. It was sweet and exquisite in the mouth, melting the moment you took a bite, the aftertaste rich and aromatic. Even as he enjoyed his dessert, he did not forget to use a potential probe card on his father.
{Name: Andre Valois
Talent: 9
Luck: 11
Willpower: 18
Potential: C}
Zane tried his best to control the expression on his face. His willpower is 7. One could imagine how Andre de Valois went from an untalented, playboy young master to the family head of one of the most powerful families in the Alliance.
How much he must have gone through and was still going through? What kind of experience gave him such willpower, Zane could admit he felt curious.
His stomach churned with excitement as he used the Potential Probe Card on Xavier. He watched Xavier frown a bit and he concentrated on his cupcake as he closed his eyes to savour it.
Even though Xavier could not see it, it would not hurt to be more careful.
{Name: Xavier Jasper Valois
Talent: 18
Luck: 30
Willpower: 17
Potential: SSS}
Zane coughed loudly. It was as if something was stuck in his throat as he dropped the plate to cough.
His father was up in a minute, patting his bag. Lexi came forward with a glass of water. Zane took the cup and drank it to the last drop.
The words of the diary soon came to him;
{About my brother. If I had known my opponent for the position of the family head better, I would have led a quiet, fulfilling life. All these would not happen. Come to think of it, Brother had always been very lucky. It is not a coincidence. Everyone that goes against him comes to a bad ending. Not to mention, his firmness, his stubbornness. Only himself and maybe Father could ever change his mind when he makes it up. He is not a genius like Phoenix. He is...He is simply a monster}
The words reverberated in Zane's eyes. Perhaps he had not understood this part well enough but at this moment he realized it clearly. Potential of SSS. He swallowed, wishing for another cup of water.
With the luck of 30, no wonder everyone who went against him suffered dearly. He could only console himself that he is more talented than his younger brother, if not, he will not probably have any face left as his big brother.
That is right. Luck and Willpower is not everything, talent is also very important.
Zane smiled at everyone to wave off his worries. He had been out of sorts since morning and he did not like it.
"Who prepared the desert?" Andre coldly asked. What if Zane had choked to death on his birthday. Imagine just getting this son of his and suddenly losing him?
Zane rolled his eyes inwardly. These lines seemed to be straight from an overbearing CEO romance novel. It was so cliché, it was almost funny.
"Father. It was me who thought of something unpleasant." His eyes went to Xavier who was equally staring at the maids around with cold eyes.
"Unpleasant?" Andre asked. His voice was more chilly than Zane had ever heard.
Zane shivered a bit, suddenly regretting his choice of words. This man might be his father but he should not forget that he was also the family head of the Valois family.
"Father. His present." A low voice cut through the building tension.
Andre cleared his throat, "You are right Xavier."
Visor placed a document in front of Zane. Zane opened the file and gave a low gasp of surprise. His grey eyes flickered and his hands slightly shook. He wanted to sit his father down and ask him seriously, Do you think any birthday present you give me from now would ever surpass this?
The main reason behind the power of the Innovative Server Foundation laid behind their greatest invention, Parallel. Parallel did not let down its ambitious name and was the greatest Virtual Reality World ever created. In collaboration with the Empire, the Alliance and the Federation, It had over 95% similarity with the real world.
Dungeons both instant and RP were all recreated to the best of their capability in Parallel, even ruins were not spared. In the Federation, one could not enter a dungeon or a ruin, if they have not cleared its equivalent in Parallel. In the Alliance, things were laxer but even so, Parallel have long been assimilated into everyone's personal life.
People spent a lot of their time in the virtual network of Parallel, and this included business, entertainment, training. The Snowfall district was a popular part of the capital city in Parallel. In his hand was the ownership of Umbra, the main street in the Snowfall district.
One can simply say as long as Parallel still stands, Zane will have enough money to live well. Why would his father give him this gift?
An idea came into his mind. In his father's mind, he was a sniper. The future part of a sniper was not so bright. Most instant dungeons were narrow and hot weapons don't work very well in ruins.
His father's message and goodwill, he had received them.
Instantly, Zane was in his father's arms hugging him tightly. Was this a sudden impulse? Considering how stiff his father was, this was a weird thing in the Valois family. Maybe but right now he did not care, All he knew was that at this moment, his heart felt incredibly warm.
Xavier awkwardly patted his son's head. He heard a chuckle and glared furiously at his youngest son.
"Father, thank you!"
"You are welcome."
Zane felt a little embarrassed. He suddenly wished he had a cup of tea to hide behind. Speaking of tea, he looked at his brother.
Xavier ignored the stare from both men feeling a little amused by the entire situation. Such a little thing could make his father so happy and yet he had claimed he was alright with them not celebrating his birthday.
John stepped forward and brought out two items from his inventory.
"Young Master Zane. These are from Young Master Xavier."
Zane opened the case. It was a black sniper AW rifle.
{Desert King AW Rifle
Grade: Rare
Level Requirement: 0
Attack: 410
Effective Attack range: 900m
Bonus Effects: Increase movement speed by 20% when in possession
User Restriction: None}
His eyes went to the skill book.
{Skill: Slide Shot Lv1
Skill description: Allows the user to slide out of the way of an enemy attack whilst dealing a decent chunk of damage at the same time
Skill Cooldown: 30s
Class limitation: Any Gunner Class}
Zane touched the skill book. It turned into light particles and mined into his body.
He closed his eyes for about 30 seconds before opening them. From the corner of his eyes, he could see many people giving a sigh of relief.
A smile tugged at his lips, "Xavier. Thanks."
Unlike his father's gift, Xaviers' was more traditional. Most families got equipment or a skill point for their child's birthday. However, Zane had gotten both from Xavier.
[Mission Triggered]
[Xavier had a secret that only three people present knew. Within two years, find out that secret.]
[Mission Reward: Silver Mystery Box]