Both of them finished wearing their gifts. Emma was looking lovely with her new necklace, which Ryan modified to suit her more. The necklace was made of a gold like metal and had a golden gemstone with a small insignia of a dragon.
On the other hand, Rebecca had a pair of chandelier type earrings with glossy alabaster blue gemstones.
"I'll explain about the necklace first, mom, your necklace provides defence from every element but its main purpose is healing. It can even regrow limbs or simply reattach them."
"Now Rebecca, your earrings can also defend you, but unlike mom's necklace it can actually give you an ice armour. This armour has a broken ability which you'll find out later." Ryan said with a smile on his face.
"Don't use it now. Only try using it when you find it absolutely necessary." He wanted Rebecca's armour to be a surprise so he made sure that it would only activate when it faced danger for the first time.
"Roger that." Rebecca acted surprisingly obedient.
"Ryan, thank you for such beautiful gifts but are you sure you want to give them to us?" Emma asked with a serious expression on her face.
"Mom, you guys have been with me for as long as I can remember. Any kind of gift pales if I compare it to what you gave me. I will not take these back." Ryan said in a tone that accepted no refusal.
"Hey, do you guys know anything about the Baros family?" Ryan tried to search Elijah too but unfortunately didn't find him.
"Oh, Elijah is with his sister and mother. Apparently Olivia had a huge team of awakened people and helped a lot of citizens during the cataclysm. Now she's a guild leader in Vegas."
"Guild leader?" Ryan burst out in laughter when he heard that Elijah was under his sister, who is now a guild leader.
"Wow! Seeds living in the dark are now turning into saplings." Ryan was really amused that a person like Olivia was trying to help people.
"Are you guys sure she is protecting people? And not venting her anger on monsters." Ryan knew how Olivia was and what she did for a living.
In some aspects Olivia was similar to Ryan who is a killer. Just like Ryan she also has blood on her hands but unlike Ryan, her life has been quite bumpy. He cannot blame her for anything because not once did she kill an innocent person.
It's just that she's a bit hard to handle. Ryan didn't actually enjoy meeting with her even when he was a kid. She is stubborn and does not listen to anyone.
"Now that you mention it, she is rather aggressive when fighting. We once did a joint mission and she was kinda hot-headed." Rebecca still remembers that day vividly. I mean who can forget a person who kills with such brutality. Not graceful at all.
"Hmm…you say aggressive? She has probably changed now." Ryan didn't expect this to happen but some changes are always welcomed.
Afterall aggressive was an understatement to her.
"Ryan, where will you go now?" Rebecca noticed that Ryan was completely dressed up which he would usually avoid when he's at home. Moving shirtless was like a natural instinct for him.
"Hmm….first I'll meet Elijah then I'll go to Origin. I need to see that place with my own eyes." Ryan said with a pondering look.
"I'll go with you." Ryan's sister stood up and was ready to pack stuff.
"No, you stay here and I won't be gone for long. Maybe a week if things turn a bit hard." He asked Rebecca to sit down.
"Why?" Rebecca asked, her voice, a bit gloomy.
"Rebecca, you are turning 18 this year, please try to understand when I say something. You know that I hardly ever tell you to stay home." Ryan sighed
"And you can't go anyway, dad told me you had to clear many Labyrinths this week. So good luck on that." Ryan was holding his laughter.
"Ryan, are you leaving now?" Emma felt a little uncomfortable that her son was leaving the same day he returned home.
"Unfortunately, I need to leave again but don't worry whenever you guys feel uncomfortable you can call me with these." Ryan took out two communication amulets from his ring.
The amulets had a total of 12 gems embedded in it and only one of it was blue while the others were red in colour. The blue gem had Ryan's contact and the red gems were blank and could be filled with a person's mana. This amulet was considered quite expensive in Eragon and only the Royal family was allowed to use it.
How did Ryan get it? Of Course he sto-*cough* i got it as a gift from Tia.
"Just supply some mana in that blue gemstone and you'll be able to talk with me." Ryan said while demonstrating how to use it.
They talked for a while about the labyrinths that appeared at the day of cataclysm. These labyrinths had to be cleared regularly to keep the monsters inside in controlled number or they might come out and wreak havoc.
A group of awakened are sent every week to clear out the labyrinths. The labyrinths had ranks given to them. They went from FRank to the horrifying Ex rank. America only has one Ex rank Labyrinth, while some countries were blessed enough that these hazards did not appear in their homeland.
He also found out that all labyrinths gave rewards according to their rank, which can help an awakened person increase his strength. The Ex labyrinths were different in this aspect because they do not suffer from overflow or should I say the monster population does not increase there. Ex rank ones are yet to be cleared by anyone. So people don't know what kind of rewards can be found there.
Only one Ex rank labyrinths is discovered for now. It was easy to find because it appeared in the middle of a city that never sleeps. Well no one sleeps nowadays.
The Ex rank labyrinth in America was located in Vegas, the city of Sin.
"Ryan, do you have your ID proof as an awakened person?" Rebecca said after pulling out her own card.
"Cliches everywhere." He sighed in frustration because now he can't leave.
'I guess I can start my conquest from that place.' He thought with a pondering expression.
"Cliche? What are you talking about?" Rebecca thought that her brother lost his mind because of roaming around for too long.
"Yes Ryan, what kind of cliche?" Umbra woke up after taking a nap and the first thing she did was to start teasing him.
'You know if I could, I would've traded you for a hotdog.' Ryan was honest and he would have really done that.
"As if I would leave you, good luck on trying, you jerk!" She went back to sleep after that.
"Ryan?" Rebecca saw her brother going silent for a while.
"I was just wondering if this registration is really necessary for me. I mean dad owns a guild, you can ask him to give me an official ID without the test." Ryan was being hopeful. He knew full well that his father would not give him one even if it is within his authority.
"Won't work, even I had to give an exam. You should just forget about it." Rebecca, despite being one of the strongest awakenings, was practically forced by her father to give that shit exam.
"Then I'll just go there tomorrow." Ryan said with a sigh.
Suddenly he remembered about their new family member.
"Mom, give this to dawn." He gave Emma a black pearl bracelet.
"Young man, you should give this to her on your own. Don't act like a moron." Emma pulled his ear and said in a slightly dissatisfied tone.
"Fine, where is she?" He said with an exhausted sigh.
"In her room." Emma said with a smile.
"I'll give this to her tomorrow." Ryan said before he went back to his room.
"Mom, do you think dawn likes Ryan?" Rebecca asked with a serious expression.
"Might be, I can't be sure about this for now." Emma was an amateur too, you know.
Rebecca suddenly remembered about the woman her mom said was the one that brought Ryan to them.
"Do you think that woman will come back to take Ryan?" Rebecca asked Emma who already felt like she was being watched.
Emma saw a glowing blue butterfly flying around the living room. It was the same butterfly Ryan saw while training.
"She's already here." Emma felt like she saw that woman again. A woman whose arrival causes the light to scurry away in fear. A woman who is captivating yet dangerous at the same time.
Emma still remembers what that woman with mystical blue eyes said that day before leaving. "Never give him a reason to cry, for his sadness might be our most devastating loss."
Then countless blue butterflies covered her and she disappeared. Never to be seen again but today it seems that woman is back. At Least in some way.
"Let's just see what happens in the future. We can only wait and watch." Emma rubbed her eyes in exhaustion.
Ryan was flying at a very high altitude, enjoying the cold wind hitting his face. Clear sky greeting him with a scenery of stars brushed by the galaxy. His heart felt at peace whenever he took a stroll during the night. He felt more powerful and alive during the night.
"I am surprised you are not a vampire." Umbra said as she appeared beside Ryan in the form of an eagle.
"I know it's weird but I can't change that. Night and rain are my oldest friends." He chuckled lightly.
"So why did we come here now?" Umbra asked in an excited tone. She felt refreshed after a good nap.
"No reason, I am just here to kill boredom." He didn't feel like playing games and sitting at one place was too boring.
"Hey Ryan, do you think you wasted your time in the pocket dimension? I mean we could have grown faster in the outside world." Umbra said with a bit of disappointment.
"We can do nothing about it and from the start my main focus was on weapon and mana training. I never expected to become a full fledged dragon there." Ryan said with a light laugh.
"Just look at Kai, that idiot has been working his ass off for 1200 years but still didn't finish his training. His mind is weak, his attacks leave him wide open. I don't like to compare but we have already achieved what we wanted there." Ryan was optimistic about the whole training situation because now the only people who are capable of finding gaps in his techniques are Tia and beings who hold more or similar levels of power as her.
Well there might be some exceptions.
"Do you remember the day when he first fought you?" Umbra asked with a chuckle.
"How can I forget that? That guy was so arrogant that he didn't even try to fight and just stood there and took a beating. Expecting me to be a weak kid." He burst out in laughter.
"After all this time, I still feel that I haven't grown. The empty space in my mind is still haunting me. I want to be stronger, I want to be at the top. This time I won't hide in an enclosed space and be spoonfed." Ryan's eyes turned into thin slits as he sped up, leaving behind a trail of silver light.