Chapter 18 - Thomas's Family

Henry sat down in the middle of his courtyard as he looked at the cooldown of the furnace. " This is my ninth usage, so I can finally upgrade the furnace after leveling up." Henry was emotional, as he would finally be able to upgrade the last two features after today

He took out a potion from the system inventory and smelled it, after his fourth furnace usage, he discovered that the potion had an extremely high energy value.

-" Each high-grade potion gives me 15 Attributes Points..." Henry observed his Character Index with a smile on his face. " I can finally reach the one hundred Attributes points mark."

Henry Flint | Magic Circle: First Circle of the Mage Apprentice Realm | Body Cultivation Realm: Half Step to First Level of the Body Tempering Realm | System Level: 2 | Attribute Points: 1.5 |

Mana: 22 + 80 | Power: 6 | Perception: 2

Aura: 0 | Agility: 8 +16 | Luck: 1

Will: 9 | Endurance: 6 | Intelligence: 7

Henry instantly put the potion in the furnace and confirmed its use. " System, please begin the process of leveling to the third level, like the last time use the items I have in excess first." Henry was excited, he had longed to finally level the system for some time now.

-" The system is arranging items... The organizing procedure is complete. The following items will be used in the leveling process: Corrupted Clover - Low-Grade x6; Serpent Vine - Low-Grade x6; Sanguine Toothwort - Low-Grade x5; Fire Barberry - Medium-Grade x7..... Leveling process will commence1% 13% 35% 57% 78% 89% 100%... Congratulations on leveling! The system is now in the third level.'

Henry didn't waste any time and used the furnace again as the cooldown had reseted due to the level-up. " System, upgrade the furnace feature." Henry smiled as he increased his mana to one hundred and still had points to spare. " What i should invest the rest into?" Henry wasn't sure if he should keep dumping all the points in mana. " Sigh... I can barely last thirty minutes running full speed, I should invest a bit in Endurance. " Henry was very interested in the Endurance Attribute, as it didn't just help his stamina, but, his constitution too.

Henry Flint | Magic Circle: First Circle of the Mage Apprentice Realm | Body Cultivation Realm: Half Step to First Level of the Body Tempering Realm | System Level: 3 | Attribute Points: 0.5 |

Mana: 12 + 100 | Power: 6 | Perception: 2

Aura: 0 | Agility: 8 +16 | Luck: 1

Will: 9 | Endurance: 6 + 16 | Intelligence: 7

Henry almost teared up as he saw how his Attributes were slowly all going up. He had spent two months preparing and cultivating, and it all was starting to pay off.

-" I wonder how Makayla is doing..." Henry threw himself back and stared at the sun, he was extremely bored and stressed as all he did was cultivate and search for treasures. " I need to cool off too, but, I can't risk someone discovering me." Henry missed going out and having fun.

Henry wallowed in boredom as he watched the system upgrade the character index when someone knocked on the door of his courtyard.

-" Master? May I come in?"

-" Come in." Henry was annoyed by how formal Thomas talked with him now." And I told you to stop calling me Master."

Thomas entered the courtyard and bowed to Henry. " I'm not worthy to call you anything less." The kid's gaze was full of awe as he faced Henry. " Sir... May I request something from you?"

-" A request?" Henry was surprised, Thomas generally refused to even receive the payment that Henry gave him, so he knew that whatever he would request was something important to him. " Sure!" Henry sat down and fixed his posture.

-" My father returned... but, he still didn't find any clues." Thomas bit his lips as he mustered the courage to continue speaking. " My father would like to request a meeting with Master." Thomas was nervous that Henry would refuse to meet his father, he didn't understand the situation clearly, but, he knew that Henry was trying to stay hidden.

-" A meeting?" Henry grinned as he thought about this, he wondered what his father wanted. " You are allowed to bring him."

Thomas was happy that Henry agreed to the meeting and went out to get his father, and before long he had already returned to Henry's courtyard.

-" So? What is the reason for his visit?" Henry was sure that the man didn't just want to get to know him.

-" My name is Peter and first I would like to thank you for helping not only Thomas but, my entire family." He bowed as he thanked Henry, he was genuinely thankful for the help that the mysterious man had given his family. " Not only the money you gave my son helped me in my recovery, but you also accepted to take care of Thomas and Hilia while I'm away."

Henry ordered the system to analyze the cultivation of Thomas's father and answered him. " Hilia is a good child, she never gave me any trouble, and Thomas's presence here is quite useful."

-" That's good to hear..." Peter took a deep breath as he prepared to tell the mysterious man his request. " I know that this may sound outrageous as you already helped me more than needed, but, I would like to ask your help in finding my oldest daughter."

Henry grinned as he had suspicions that this would be the topic of this meeting. " It may surprise you, but, I'm not that strong, if a body cultivator in the seventh level of the Body Tempering Realm can't resolve this matter, my help will be futile." Henry was surprised when the system showed Peter's cultivation level, he never expected Thomas's father to be someone so strong, he could even be considered to be equal to the young master of some big families.

Thomas's eyes wavered as it looked that Henry wouldn't accept the request.

-" Sigh... I won't keep insisting then. " Peter looked incredibly sad, it had been around three months since his daughter had disappeared, and he already was prepared for the worst. " I just hope that you can house my two children while I'm away."

-" As I said, Thomas is quite helpful to me, so don't worry." Henry felt a bit guilty, he had grown quite close with Thomas and his sister the past month, but, he couldn't do anything to help them.

Peter got up and took off his necklace. " Thomas, this necklace is on our family for seventy years now, our ancestors had made five of them, one for each of his children, but, as time passed only two remained in our family, and now with your sister's disappearance, this is the last one." Peter was emotional as he passed the necklace to his son. " Only the gods know my future, so I don't return you will be the man of the family, please take care of your sister."

Henry observed the necklace with interest, he didn't want to jump to conclusions as he wasn't sure if the item was a treasure or not. " Can I have a look at this necklace?"

Peter didn't understand what the man wanted with the necklace, but, he still passed the item to him, he didn't think that the man would be interested in such a common item;

Henry's eyes widened as the system voice rang out inside his head as he held the necklace.

-' Brave Soul Necklace - Low Grade - Treasure of the first level of the Human Realm - A Necklace that is imbued with the bravery of the maker, it increases the user's will. this bonus is boosted if the user is of the same lineage as the maker.'

Henry gulped as he looked straight into Peter's eyes. "Does your daughter have the same necklace?" Henry couldn't believe how lucky the man was.

-" Uh? Yes, she was an identical necklace."

-" Well... Maybe I can help you guys." Henry laughed as he asked the system to analyze the necklace.

-" Help us?" Peter didn't know what had gotten into the man, just a few seconds ago he had rejected them, but, now he was willing to. " Are you sure? Didn't you say that you couldn't do much?"

Henry had a smile on his face as he looked at his system, he wanted to use the map to locate the second necklace. " I may be able to locate your daughter with the help of this necklace." Henry wasn't sure if this would work out, after all, he still needed the location of where the girl went missing.