Chapter 16
Nate was not having a good time. Working out while his body was still suffering from the effects of a damaged core and broken meridians was not a good idea.
He wasn't sure how he did it in his avatar, but in his normal body, it was a strain. Everything hurt, and he felt like he was going to die.
Of course, that could have been because he was out of shape, but he didn't think so. No one was that out of shape.
Merely thirty minutes after going downstairs, he crawled back up to take a shower and look in on the dungeon. He thought it might be time for the expedition to have arrived anyway, or at least that's what he told himself.
That was an event he certainly didn't want to miss.
Freshly showered and still feeling a little weak, he stretched out on his bed and pulled up the screens to the dungeon.
There was a particularly ugly butt-monkey thing falling victim to one of his traps when he opened it up. No sign of them just yet though. However, the monkey had been in the corridor leading to the core. It was slightly worrying, but not something he hadn't been expecting already.
It was why he had gone through so much trouble to protect the core, and redo some of the traps there.
He could not let it be destroyed.
Nate began messing around with the menu while he waited, hoping to stumble across something. He already knew he wasn't the most creative person in the world. The lack of variety in traps attested to that.
He was limited in what he knew and what he could imagine.
However, that wasn't going to stop him from improving everything. So, what if his traps were boring and unoriginal? This was his training dungeon; he wasn't going to let that stop him from learning.
Interestingly enough, he learned that he could click on traps that he had modified with his avatar. Those traps gave him various upgrade paths they could take. He could pay for them to be more durable or do more damage. In the case of the acid, the smell could be hidden or go away entirely. There were so many paths.
And he was only now finding them because he had been goofing around.
With that thought in mind, he tapped on the core, hoping to see an upgrade path for it as well.
'Dungeon 1 – Core = Level 1, energy needed to upgrade to level 2 is 50,000 units.'
Nate glanced at how much energy he had at the moment and sighed. He'd been thinking fifteen thousand energy was a lot, but now he knew it was nothing special. Who knew how much the upgrade after this one would cost?
He held back from allocating any towards the core and thought instead about upgrading some of the traps. Those were what this dungeon was built around, after all. It made sense to focus on them before anything else.
He couldn't risk upgrading the trap closest to the entrance until he knew how long it would take. If it was an instantaneous process, then great, otherwise, he would be knocking it out of commission right before the expedition showed up.
It made more sense to try it out on one of the other traps first. Though, once again, Nate couldn't help but wonder how many other secrets this whole dungeon system was hiding from him.
It was simply a matter of deciding which trap to choose. Did he want to better protect the core, or go for one of the more utilized traps? No matter how much the dungeon dispersed scent and other smells, he had noticed that most tended to follow the same basic paths.
It was to the point where half of the dungeon hadn't even been used. The original labyrinthine idea had been nice but was decidedly a failure in this regard. Why had he even wasted resources making it all if it wasn't going to be used? It was yet another lesson Nate was learning from this entire process.
He made a note to start deconstructing portions of the dungeon and moved on to selecting the trap he wanted to upgrade.
Really, there was only one trap that he could risk doing anything with at the moment. It was the one a few rooms away from the exit. The one he had just modified the night before with all the arrow walls.
Highlighting the room, he tapped on the traps and looked at the upgrade options laid out before him. Looking at it closer, it seemed as though he could actually select multiple upgrades as long as he had the resources available.
'Silent Arrow – 100 Wood, 300 Energy'
'Hardened Arrow – 100 Wood, 20 Iron, 2 Carbon, 10 Trace Elements, 5 Energy'
'Explosive Arrow – 100 Wood, 100 Energy, 30 Aluminum, 5 Nitrogen, 2 Sulfur'
'Wind Arrow – 100 Wood, 500 Energy'
The list continued on for a few more entries before finally coming to a stop. Some of them seemed useful, while others were completely bonkers. There were seeking arrows that stayed on target, and others that teleported around the room randomly.
They sounded cool, but completely pointless. There was no guarantee they would ever hit anything! Of course, there was also the possibility they could appear inside the monster and kill it instantly.
Either way, everything on that end of the list was far too expensive to even think about anytime within the next few months.
Nate scrolled back to the top of the list and selected three of the options he knew he could afford. 'Silent Arrow' which did exactly as the name implied and made them silent. 'Hardened Arrow' which increased the damage each arrow did along with a small amount of better penetration due to the steel heads. Lastly, he selected 'Wind Arrow' which increased the speed of the arrows.
Combined, the three should make the room a deadly inferno of doom. Or a complete waste if they didn't work as well as he hoped together. It was a crap shoot either way.
With a heavy stomach, he accepted the changes and watched as the traps began the upgrade process and then completed it a few seconds later. Thinking about it now, he should have done them one at a time.
He had learned something valuable, and it hadn't ended up mattering, but it had still been a stupid risk.
Nate had just learned that while traps were disabled and upgrades time when he was inside the dungeon in his avatar form. That was not the case if he made those same modifications in his normal form.
The mistake he had nearly made was infuriating to think about, and not something that he had the time to dwell on at the moment.
Forcing himself to figure everything out on his own was resulting in him doing nothing more than making one mistake after another. He was learning, but he was also wasting time and resources each time he did so.
If there was a silver lining to everything, it was that he had chosen a good location to build the first dungeon. The weak monsters meant he wasn't constantly struggling for every single scrap. They also didn't seem that interested in destroying the dungeon core, which had given him time to secure it.
He was struggling, yes, but it could have been so much worse. The true test would come when the cultivators entered the dungeon. Only after he saw how they reacted to everything, and how effective the traps were on them, would he have a better baseline for the dungeon.
There were too many unknowns at this time, and while he somewhat liked having the dungeon entirely to himself. He wanted information more. Besides, he truly didn't think the expedition would survive the experience.
His traps weren't weak… right?
Suddenly, Nate began to question everything, wondering at how strong or weak the beasts might actually be. He had seen the one shadow monster that was quite obviously stronger and faster than the rest. The rest had seemed mostly comparable to each other.
That didn't tell him anything about what their strength levels were.
With a groan, he closed the screens and reached for his laptop. He might as well continue his reading from earlier.
Nate read for another half-hour, making sure to take more notes about the process. It wasn't hard to form a core; it was actually rather easy to do once you had enough energy. The difficult part came from doing it properly and ensuring you made a good, high-quality core. It also became more difficult to do as you gained energy.
A person's meridians were only meant to hold so much energy without a core. If you went over that limit, it became difficult to control. It was possible, that's how the best cores were made. It was just many times harder than normal.
Nate glanced at the readout of the computer on his wrist. The energy was meant to be stored in his meridians and eventually transferred to his core when it was formed. Yet he somehow had energy, with broken meridians and a deformed half-core.
He hadn't tried cultivating since he'd taken over this body months earlier, but maybe it was something he should try. There was time, and he had nothing particularly more interesting to do at the moment.
Thankfully, it was something he had stumbled on how to do in his readings early on. There were many ways to go about the process. Some were more effective than others, while some could cause damage to your system if done incorrectly. By and large, however, there was no one single method that was better than the others.
Cultivating was a matter of meditation and taking in foreign energy into yourself. Or at least that's how the books always described it.
If you could meditate, then you could cultivate. Maybe not well, but you could do it. The hard part came from learning to know yourself and understanding what worked best for you. Each cultivator eventually built an inner model of themselves that represented who they were and what they understood to be true.
A cultivator who believed the truth of crossing space lay in eating a bagel would still be able to use dimensional abilities. That was his truth, however, it may not be a real truth and would therefore have a lower power and efficiency.
That was why no one looked to cultivators for wisdom and truth. They chose what they wanted to be true and made it so. If they believed in it enough, then that is what it became.
Of course, that isn't something that he would need to worry about for some time. That was beyond everyone's ability in this city. Even George Trellow hadn't managed to reach that level yet. If he had, then healing Nate wouldn't have been a problem.
Regardless, this was as good a time as any to start meditating on himself and begin cultivating again. It was a skill he needed to practice at some point. Especially if he needed to know himself and learn what worked best all over again.
In his current state, there was no way he knew either of those two things.
Nate closed his laptop and moved his notebook to the side, before sitting up on his bed and closing his eyes. He wasn't going to start with a Lotus position. He wasn't a monk, after all. But he did want to be comfortable.
Leaning against the wall next to his bed, he closed his eyes and began following the basic meditation tips from the books. Taking slow, deep breaths, concentrating on his heart rate until everything else fell away. Then, once he felt the first sparks of energy entering his body, he could begin the rest of the process.
That was where the fun began, where each person learned what worked for them. How they cultivated best, how their meridians liked to be used. Everything changed from person to person. Subtly affecting their skills and everything else.
Only the basics could be taught. For the best results, you had to forge your own path.
Not that there weren't people out there who didn't take the easy route. However, they generally belonged to groups and sects that were trying to grow their power rapidly. They rarely lasted long, but that never stopped them from trying.
Chapter 17
It was sometime later that Nate opened his eyes. Cultivating had been an interesting experience for him. Falling into the proper meditative state had been surprisingly easy. Even after a two-month break, this body still knew what to do. Actually, cultivating, however, was another matter.
Without his meridians to guide him, he had found it difficult to know what to do. He had managed to gather a small amount of energy, he thought, but nothing that even showed on the screen. Regardless of the dubious effects his efforts garnered, this was something he needed to practice for later.
At the moment, however, he needed to go downstairs. His mother had just called for him.
Cracking his back and neck, he lightly stretched as he climbed off the bed. Activating the screen on his wrist computer, he pulled up the dungeon view of the dungeon entrance. Since he was the only one who could see the screens, it was not a problem to leave them up like this around his parents.
In the future, he might need to be more careful, but for now, at least, it wasn't a problem.
There was no sign that any human tried to enter the dungeon just yet, though there was a particularly smart rat trying its best to avoid the traps.
"What's up?" He asked, jumping down the last few steps. Being able to do something as simple as jump without feeling his leg crumple under him was such a joy still.
"The news just came in; they've reached the structure. Come and watch with us." His father answered, bringing a platter of food in from the kitchen.
Nate glanced at his screen again with a dubious expression. "How are we getting the news so fast here? I would have thought they would be keeping the information on a delay or something. Especially with all the losses they must have suffered."
His mother shrugged. "Who can say maybe they worked out a deal with the team beforehand? Either way, the news just came through, so they must have some way of transmitting the data back to the station."
He barely held back a grin, hoping that was true. He could only imagine what it would be like if the team sent over video or pictures of all the signs he had put outside the dungeon. It would be just too perfect.
"I think you're right; I will join you for a little bit. Just let me get my notebook." Nate ran upstairs and grabbed the book from his bed, before rejoining them moments later.
"There, now let's see what all the fuss is about." He grabbed a few chips from the bowl on the coffee table and sat down on the couch next to his dad.
Niall had his arm around his wife as they snuggled on the couch and listened to the reporter blather on.
Nate surreptitiously opened more screens for the dungeon, allowing him to see more of what was going on. He still couldn't see what was happening outside its walls, but he could now be sure they hadn't snuck inside without him knowing.
The traps he had just upgraded caught his eye and he had to stop himself tapping on them. The urge to see what new upgrades could be applied to them was strong, but it could wait until later.
He didn't want his parents to see him waving his arms around like a complete lunatic if he didn't have to. It was bad enough they had seen him opening the extra screens. At least he had been able to pass that off as an extremely awkward arm scratch.
He doubted that would fly a second time.
Nate twirled his pen around his thumb and began jotting down random ideas as they came to him. He wondered if it was possible to make the floors super slick? Like with a premium wax and then a layer of oil on top. It might not work well with the stone floors, but it was still worth looking into.
For the current dungeon, he obviously didn't want to do anything with nature, which limited him in a number of aspects. However, was it possible to have a room where everything was ice, or maybe even fire?
The way the system let him construct traps gave him a lot of freedom. Unfortunately, without any instructions, he was still left figuring out all of the basics on his own.
"What are you writing down over there?" Nina wondered, looking up as the news cut to a commercial break.
"Hmm?" Nate blinked, his mind taking a moment to process her question. "Oh, nothing in particular, just random thoughts for a project. More importantly, have they mentioned anything about the structure yet?"
"They were just getting to that before it went to commercial." His father answered as the news came back on.
"We have raw, unedited footage of the structure's entrance proving that it is manmade!" The talking head went on for several more seconds, making several more wild claims before they finally switched over to the video they had received.
From the outside, the dungeon looked like a building made out of black granite. You could even see the occasional white lines that always appeared on large chunks of granite. There was a gaping doorway, akin to a warehouse or hangar bay doorway for the entrance, and that was it.
Well, as long as you ignored the signs that Nate had placed everywhere.
Each one decried a different family that had attacked him, and each sign told the world they weren't allowed inside.
Nate giggled, unable to hold back anymore. "Oh, my-" He began, only to find he was unable to finish as he started laughing harder. He gasped for breath and put his head between his legs, while still sitting on the couch.
This was absolutely perfect, and so much better than he had ever expected. Who would have thought they were going to show all of that on TV? It was absolutely perfect. The station had just guaranteed that those families would be coming to his dungeon.
He couldn't have asked for anything better. It truly was the best gift they could have given him.
"Wait…" Nina looked at the three family names mentioned on the signs and then at her son. "Those are the same ones who hurt you! Those families must be suicidal to mess with someone who has the power to create something like that so quickly. All three must be doing nothing but going around causing trouble for people!"
Nate nodded along, not saying anything. It was too far outside the normal thought process to think he was involved in some way. It only worked in stories because the authors needed to create conflict and drive the plot forward.
In real life, there were few people who made leaps that were so far outside the ordinary. And for the few who did, it was rarely more than a passing fancy, a what-if scenario. Wouldn't it be interesting if this person was involved, even though he's just a mild-mannered reporter with glasses? Something silly like that.
So, no, he wasn't worried about people discovering his secret. It was too outside the regular realm of thinking for people to consider. As for those rare weirdoes who would consider it… Well, they had a long list of suspects to go through before they ever got to him as well.
Niall crushed his soda can, spilling the last few drops everywhere. "Good, I'm glad someone with power is going after them like this! I can't believe the station actually dared to air this though. This is akin to a declaration of war on the families."
"They might not have dared to ignore it," Nina replied thoughtfully. "Think about it. We're talking about someone with enough power to create a structure around the dimensional portal. Those three families have power in our city, sure, but it's nothing compared to a person like that. The station probably didn't dare risk offending the person by hiding it."
Nobody wanted to risk offending a person who had that much power and ability. Closing off a portal, even a weak one like this, was far beyond anything those three families were capable of.
As of that moment, everyone in the city wanted to stay clear of their fight.
Without him knowing it, Nate's situation had suddenly improved significantly. Everyone who had been avoiding him because of what had happened had suddenly changed their opinion. Not that he knew any of that at the moment.
"Since this was created by someone so powerful, do you think the expedition team will still dare to try and enter?" Nate asked, doing his best to keep his voice under control.
He was the one who had created the place, kind of anyway, and he was hardly powerful. His parents shared a look and shrugged.
"It's hard to say for sure. If we were there, we'd be doing our best to council against going inside," Nina said after a moment.
Niall nodded in agreement. "We're not though, so who can say for certain?"
On the TV, the recorded video ended and cut back to the newsroom, where the host began discussing it.
"Hmm, well, that was interesting, but I think I'm going back upstairs. I don't really want to listen to some people dissect a video while playing amateur detective." Nate stood up with a grin. "At least we know this thing is manmade now."
"Get some rest sweetie, your body is still healing." His mother said distractedly, her focus on what they were saying on the screen.
Picking up his notebook, he shook his head wryly and walked slowly back up to his room. He had not been expecting them to show that video, but he was glad they had. It would hopefully help his parent's case when the expedition returned or failed to return.
After all, those three families were part of the reason they had been pressured to join the expedition in the first place. Now the entire city knew they had gotten on the bad side of a powerful cultivator.
Laying back down on his bed, he pulled up all the screens for the dungeon and began watching them for activity.
Presumably, the video hadn't been sent live, so the team had been waiting outside the dungeon for some time already. It was about time for them to either enter or turn around and leave.
He doubted they would turn around, not after going all that way. Someone in the group would decide that they didn't care who had created the large building around the dimensional portal. That lone idiot would rush inside, and the rest of the group would run in after them.
At least that's what he imagined would happen.
The truth was even sillier.
A few minutes after he laid down, the entire group appeared inside the entrance of the dungeon. They stopped just inside the doorway, outside the range of his traps, and looked around.
For the first time, Nate wished he had audio along with the video as he watched the group talk. No matter what though, he couldn't hear what they were saying.
From the initial group that had left the city a few days before, only four people remained. Or at least, that was all that had entered. It was impossible to know for sure.
Nate flicked his eyes to the other screens, taking in the two monsters that were making their way through the dungeon. Another monster had appeared as soon as the humans had entered, despite it not being time yet.
He made note of that in his laptop and went back to watching the humans. A small part of him wondered if he should feel guilty should they fully enter and die. The larger part of him understood that it was their decision to enter a place like this, not his.
If he was in their place and died, that would be on him, not the creator of the dungeon. It was silly to blame someone else instead of taking ownership of your own actions. At least that was his thoughts, who knew what others thought?
The first person in the expedition group stepped fully into the room.
Nate sighed and closed his eyes. It had begun.
Chapter 18
The cultivator stepped hesitantly into the room, a shiver running up his arms as a cold draft wafted past. This entire expedition had been cursed from the start. Now, even after seeing those signs, they were forcing everyone to go inside and explore. He was the lucky one who had been chosen to go first.
Lucky him.
He shouldn't even have been on this trip; his cultivation level was too low. It was a miracle that he had managed to survive as long as he had already. He should have done the same thing as those accursed Holmes, and simply refused. With how many people the expedition had already lost, there was no way their probation would stick.
It was too late for that now. All he could depend on was his finely honed senses to get him through this.
***
Nate watched as the man took a second and then a slow third step into the room. It was clear to see his eyes were raking every corner of the room for hidden dangers. It was also plainly obvious he had already missed the dangers he was stepping on at that precise moment.
Suddenly, he wished he had found some way to deactivate the first trap. It would be better if the entire group entered instead of just one person. On the other hand, if they saw this fellow get skewered by the spear traps, he doubted the rest of them would be all that eager to come inside.
It was a decision he needed to make; did he want to eliminate the entire party? Or simply send a message to everyone about what was going on inside the mysterious structure?
More than that, was he really alright with watching them all die? It was easy enough to turn off the screens, but at the same time, he felt as though this was something he needed to see. This was a part of the world he had found himself in.
Nate had been treating parts of his new life in a half-serious manner ever since he woke up months ago. Once he watched these people die, he wouldn't be able to do that anymore. He would have to acknowledge that there were real-life consequences to what he was doing.
That people had, and would die because of the dungeon.
He wasn't stupid enough to even think about taking responsibility for their deaths. After all, people were responsible for their own actions. He had placed signs telling them not to enter, and that they were trespassing on private property.
They were breaking into his proverbial house. Why should he feel responsible after all that? Uncomfortable, sure. He still had a conscience, but he couldn't control what others did.
He decided not to change the first trap for the moment. That would be going a little too far, he decided.
The man took another step into the room and pivoted to look at the others waiting by the entrance. He shrugged and took a step back. A spear shot up and pierced straight through him at the point of least resistance. He never had a chance.
Nate felt his butt clench uncomfortably in sympathetic pain and winced as the spear tore through the man's stomach. It held that position for a heartbeat and then ripped him down to the ground. The barbed spearhead tore his insides out as it retreated.
Despite himself, Nate found himself looking at the resource counter. He wanted to see how much energy the man's death had given the dungeon. On-screen, the cultivator slowly sank into the floor and vanished.
The counters all jumped as the dungeon began digesting his equipment along with the body.
The amount of energy the dungeon had gotten had been even worse than some of the monsters it had killed. However, the equipment had more than made up for that. The other resources always lagged behind energy since beasts simply didn't have much other material, either in or on them.
That wasn't the case for humans.
The other cultivators by the entrance had been about to step inside the dungeon when they saw him die. Now they had no idea what to do.
Was the entire room trapped, or had the scout simply gotten supremely unlucky?
Nate watched as they turned to the man at the back with pleading expressions.
This was clearly the man in charge of their group, possibly the entire expedition. A flicker of something akin to fear and uncertainty flashed across his face as he took in the room before them. Finally, he came to a decision and pushed the next person forward.
Nate watched in disgust as the man killed off the last member of their group before deciding that was enough. All told, the expedition had just fed three people to the dungeon with differing results.
He wasn't sure if they were in the right mental space to understand at the moment. However, later they would realize what they had seen. The traps weren't especially strong. The second cultivator had nearly survived her first clash with the spear traps. The third person had even been able to avoid them shooting up entirely at the last second, only to get gored through by another set.
The point was, if they were smart, they would realize that they still had a chance of getting inside. It was information that they would undoubtedly send back to people in the city.
More importantly, at least to Nate, it had answered his question of how strong the beasts he had been dealing with actually were. The answer was not very. With a couple of exceptions, most of the beasts might even have been weaker than the group of cultivators.
Cultivators that shouldn't have even been there because they were too weak.
That meant most of the beasts that were coming through were gaining strength after they arrived. He wasn't sure what it meant, if anything, but it was interesting to note, regardless.
The sole remaining person took one last look at the inside of the room and then backed out. He hadn't even bothered to photograph anything.
Nate watched him leave with a frown. He hadn't particularly cared about the other people dying. He couldn't do anything in any case, however, just watching this man walk away without a care rubbed him wrong. All he could do is hope that the monsters in the dimensional zone got him on his way back to the city.
Being eaten alive was still too good a punishment for trash like that.
Nate wasn't going to get involved with anyone about his own moral uprightness. The dungeon was his, after all, but he also couldn't control people. They decided their own actions and fates. The most he could do is steer those he cared about away from it.
Which is exactly what he had already done.
However, no matter what, he also wasn't forcing people to enter a death trap. That was simply too much.
He waited another moment and then closed the screens for the dungeon. He would start deconstructing a portion of the dungeon that night and upgrade some of the traps as well. Until then, he had some time to burn before dinner and then sleep.
He might as well get some more cultivating done while he waited. Unlike the other nights, there was little chance that George would be coming by that night. With all the excitement that the expedition was causing with their video, he doubted the man would be able to get away.
Which simply meant that he needed to find other ways to occupy his time and make progress instead.
***
"I haven't seen you doing that in a long time now," His mother was leaning against the door of his room watching him when he opened his eyes sometime later. "I thought you might have forgotten how."
"I did, at least in part. I had to read up on the technique at the school in order to understand what I needed to do. After that…" Nate shrugged. "My body still remembered, even if my mind had forgotten. It's slow going since normally all the energy is stored in your core or meridians, but it's working."
Nina looked into the hall and stepped fully into the room, shutting the door behind her. "Nate, can I ask you something possibly strange and odd?" Her voice shook, and her eyes looked everywhere but at him.
"I guess?" He replied, having no idea why his mother was suddenly acting like this. All he knew was he didn't like it, and it set his nerves on edge.
"Are you really my son?" She whispered.
Nate closed his eyes, dozens of different possible answers and their possible consequences springing to mind. It would be so easy to lie or say nothing.
In the end, he couldn't do it. This was his mother, and at the same time, she wasn't. His real mother had died in a different universe in a car accident on the way to the hospital to see him, along with his father. The woman standing in front of him looked like her and acted like her. She had even given birth to the body he now inhabited. But when you got right down to it, she wasn't here, not unless they shared a soul or something he would never know the answer to.
"I… How can you ask something like that, mom? What answer do you expect me to give? If I say yes, you're going to keep being suspicious. If I say no, who knows how you'll react?" He sighed and patted the edge of the bed. "Come here. Tell me why you think I'm not your son?"
"That's not what I said, but that reaction right there was just too level-headed. You've changed so much since the attack." She gingerly sat down on the bed and looked at him. "It's confusing. Sometimes you act the same, and other times you act as though you've already experienced so much. It's just… it's confusing to me.
"I know it's wrong to even think that you might not be my son. But I can't help but have these small doubts that something is off. That you've changed too much. I've tried to explain it away with the amnesia caused by your destroyed core, and that worked for a while. Then the doubts came back. Your common sense seemed off, little things like that, that I couldn't explain away with memory loss." She swallowed and stared at the person who might not be her son.
Nate wiped her tears with his thumb, using the moment to think. Did he want to tell her the truth, or keep living this warm lie? If he did lie though, he knew his mother wouldn't look at him in the same way as before. Some of that warmth would be gone. That alone answered the question for him.
"It'd been so long since I last saw you and dad, you have no idea how happy I was to see you again when I opened my eyes that first day." Nate made his decision and began to tell her the truth. He shifted around on his bed so he could sit facing her. "I am your son, but at the same time, I'm not the son you knew…"
***
Nina blew out a wet, disbelieving breath. The story she had just been told was so fantastical it bordered on unrealistic. Yet, at the same time, Nate had been so serious the entire time he'd been speaking. There was little doubt in her mind that he believed what he was saying was true.
But could she believe him? That was a harder question to answer, and one she didn't have an answer to at the moment.
Stiffly, Nina got up from the bed and walked towards the door. "Not a word of this to your father. Until I decide what to believe and how I feel on the matter, I don't want him to hear about any of this. Is that understood?"
Nate stared forlornly at the carpet and nodded. He wasn't sure what he had been hoping for by telling her the truth, instant recognition, loving acceptance? But more suspicion certainly wasn't it.
The door closed behind her with a solemn click.
Chapter 19
Nate didn't go down for dinner. Instead, as soon as his mother left, he decided to change and hop into the dungeon with his avatar. He desperately needed something to distract him from what might have possibly been a colossal mistake.
It had seemed like the right choice at the time, but now, looking back, he wasn't so sure. So, for the moment, he was going to do something that would keep his mind off everything, while also being productive.
He was going to start removing parts of the dungeon labyrinth that had never seen use. At this point, there were entire sections of the complex that were entirely redundant.
Nate walked out of the core room and began walking to the first area he had marked as needing to go. In total, he figured around twenty rooms would be taken away, along with all the accompanying corridors. That was a lot of materials and resources he had wasted in their initial construction and putting traps in them.
He would get some of that back, but not all of it. Of course, by getting rid of those areas, he was also eliminating an easy path for him to get around the monsters. He would need to see if he could create another, more appropriate one for his use only later. For the time being, he would have to accept this lesson for what it was and move on.
For the next little while, he removed each trap and section of the dungeon he no longer wanted. There were easier, faster ways he could have done it, but he was trying to keep his mind occupied and this was perfect for that.
Finally, however, the lower third of the dungeon was gone, and he was once more overflowing with resources. It was time to start working on the design of the dungeon properly and the various traps within. If he could snag himself a shirt, then so much the better.
He had made the dungeon too large the first time around. It was still large, but at least it was approaching something manageable.
He opened the screens, showing him the various areas of the dungeon, and leaned against the wall as he took everything in. The entire dungeon was calm and quiet. If there had been a monster or beast inside, he had just missed seeing it.
That meant it was the perfect time to go to work on the traps. There was no better time than when he didn't have to worry about something attacking him while he was working.
With that in mind, he hurried towards the portal, and the three rooms connected to it. The first one he was going to work on was the one at the top. The monsters seemed to go through it more often than the others.
This room was still basic, and really only had a single trap in it. It was a spiked trap ceiling that unfortunately fell too slowly most of the time. The first thing he needed to do was to expand the trap to encompass the entire ceiling. Then, after that, he needed to find a way to make it fall faster.
The last step was to gum up the floor and make it sticky, something that would slow the monsters even more. It was all about trying to increase how effective he could make the traps in the room. Ensuring the beasts stayed in there longer was an easy way of doing that.
He finished the room just as another beast appeared from the portal and he took off at a run. A bad feeling burned through his chest as he remembered why he had chosen this specific room.
It was another boar with red, demon-like eyes. It burst through the door behind him and tore through the deactivated trap room.
True to form, it had chosen the most common path and then spotted him right away.
With a scream of frustration, he ran into the next room, desperately trying to steer the infernal beast into a trap.
It wasn't to be; it was too fast, and he was too slow. The traps wouldn't activate with him in the way.
Nate dove to the side at the last moment and reached for his kukri's. He might not know how to best use them, but he could still try to cut the monster with them, regardless. Anything was better than just letting it kill him without putting up any kind of fight.
Being torn apart had opened his eyes in a way. He was afraid, yes, more than he had been before, but he was more scared of dying like that again. So, he would fight to ensure it didn't happen again. He never wanted to experience something like that again, though he knew in all likelihood he would.
At least he had the opportunity to learn from his mistakes, unlike other people.
The long kukri blades were sharp and wicked looking with their traditional curve. The boar turned to face him and charged again. Nate swung both blades as he skipped to the side. Only one blade even touched the beast, enraging it further, and he slid the second one back into its sheathe with disgust.
What was he even doing playing around with two blades, when he didn't even know how to properly use one?
The line he had scored on the side of the giant boar, was exactly that a line. It was a scratch at most that had served to enrage his opponent and nothing more. He was too weak and untrained to do anything more to it.
With kukri in hand, he took off at a run, desperate to get away from this monster. The only chance he has at surviving was to use the traps. Which meant he needed to get away from it somehow.
There were only so many times he could get lucky dodging something like that. He would get gored through by its giant tusks if he wasn't careful, or bitten in half, or stomped to death. Really, there were lots of ways it could kill him, and all of them were painful.
He could feel the boar thundering after him as it bore down on his fleeing form. At the last possible moment, he dove away from the doorway. His shoulder crashed into the wall even as he felt one of his feet get completely ripped off by the passing monster.
It screamed in frustration as it ran into the next room and slowed, turning around to come around for its final charge.
Nate flipped it off as jets of fire burst up from the floor and roasted it alive. Adding insult to injury, arrows shot out from the wall and peppered it continuously as well. He wasn't actually sure if they were doing anything, seeing as the wooden shafts kept lighting on fire mid-flight. That had been a bad mix on his part, and something he'd need to fix in the future.
He groaned and promptly threw up as he reached for the kukri he had dropped when he ran into the wall. His shoulder was likely dislocated, possibly broken, and he was missing a foot and bleeding all over the floor.
It looked like his session inside the dungeon would be coming to an end fairly soon. Hopefully, he would at least get something from the beast's corpse. If not, he wanted to at least recover his boot. He had no idea if it was possible to lose one of his items and wasn't particularly eager to learn. From his experience of getting torn apart, he wanted to say no, but again, each item was precious.
He didn't want to test it out and lose something he wanted or, worse, needed.
Carefully, he pushed and pulled himself across the floor, only puking one more time when he accidentally scraped something with his raw stump. It was hard and slow, he only had one good arm and leg to work with, and blood loss was creeping in fast.
Ahead of him, he could see two glowing orbs and the precious boot.
One of the orbs was small, around the size of a marble, with a multi-colored interior. The last time he had seen one of those, he had gotten some energy from it. The second orb was yellow, a color he hadn't seen before.
Since he thought he knew what to expect with it, he reached for the rainbow-colored marble first. Slapping his hand down weakly on top of it.
Just like before, it slowly sank into his skin. That was followed a moment later by a rush of heat that spread throughout his entire body as the energy entered his empty body. He knew most of it would be lost again, same as the last time, but every little bit helped.
Regardless, that sudden burst of energy was like a shot of caffeine mainlined into his system. It was enough of a boost that it gave him enough time to grab his boot and weakly smack the other, yellow orb.
He passed out before seeing what the yellow-colored orbs gave out.
***
Nate's dreams were restless after that filled with monsters chasing him and his mother turning him over to the city authorities. When he awoke the next morning, it was with a feeling of relief, and to a sweat-soaked bed.
With a grunt of disgust, he peeled himself off the sheets, nearly stumbling as his ankle refused to hold his weight. He had a nice bruise circling where it had been torn off, and to a much lesser degree, he had some light bruising around his shoulder as well.
He took a moment to wrap his ankle and hobble his way toward the shower. There was no way he was going to mess with taking the sheets off his bed until after he was clean.
Wafts of steam were still coming off his skin when he returned a few minutes later and pulled everything off his bed. He had thoroughly soaked everything through with his nightmare, if you could even rightly call it that.
He placed the bundle to the side for later and collapsed onto his desk chair.
Tapping the computer on his wrist, he pulled up the dungeon information. He wanted to see what he had gained the night before and if he had lost his boot.
His energy had increased again, this time by point three points. He was now at four-point-eight total. He'd had a feeling that the boar was stronger than the last monster he'd gotten energy from. Or maybe he had simply gotten lucky. It wasn't like he actually knew how the dungeon worked, after all.
He flicked over to his equipment screen and was immediately relieved to find both of his boots and knives still there. There wasn't, however, anything new.
Backing out of that screen, he selected storage and saw a bracelet sitting in one of the many open slots. Tapping on it pulled up some basic information for the item, along with a couple of options. 'Bracelet of Basic Health Recovery – Recovers a small amount of health over time.' Then he was given the option to either equip it to the avatar or withdraw it from storage.
Nate could barely keep the grin from his face as he chose to withdraw the bracelet. A constant chant of 'Yes, let this be real,' was going through his head the entire time. A moment later, the bracelet vanished from the storage box and appeared on his lap.
He could officially bring items he had gotten with his avatar and use them in the real world. He had no idea if he could put them back in, but that was a matter for later.
This was already big news for him.
He could feel his hand shaking as he slipped the bracelet onto his wrist. The cool metal clamped down on his wrist, conforming to his size. There was no way it would accidentally fall off and get lost now.
Now if only the healing effect would also help with his core and meridians, though, he imagined it wasn't anywhere near powerful enough to do something like that. It was enough that it would help heal the bruises he got from his adventures inside the dungeon.
Asking for more than that at the moment was simply being greedy.
Chapter 20
Nate pulled his notebook out and quickly wrote down the colors of orbs he had seen inside the dungeon.
Rainbow Marble = Energy
Blue Orbs = Weapons(?)
Yellow Orbs = Accessories(?)
White Orbs = Clothes and maybe Armor(?)
There was a lot of guesswork involved with his small list, and he had a feeling he hadn't seen all the colors there were either. Still, he felt the general idea or intent was mostly correct for what he had listed. Granted, two of them he had only seen once, so they could have been flukes.
It was possible that blue was a random chance color or something else. But it was a starting place, and he could always change and add to it later as he saw fit. For now, it was enough.
He had to laugh at his attempt to list them out though. Nearly every entry had a question mark next to it. There was only one item that he was actually sure about. The rest had too many unknowns still.
Nate tucked his notebook away and stood, deciding he couldn't put going downstairs off any longer. He had to face his mother at some point. Putting it off any longer than necessary was just going to give him a stomachache.
The smell of pancakes wafted up the stairs as he made his way down them. A heavy feeling growing within him for every step he took. His mother hated pancakes. She called them 'Discus Muffins' with no taste. Consequently, she rarely made them except on special occasions.
It would seem that she had come to a decision during the night. Hopefully, it was a good one.
He walked into the kitchen with heavy feet and leaned against the counter, watching her work.
"Where's dad?" He asked, at last, not spotting the man.
"He went into the company headquarters for a meeting. They actually wanted to meet with both of us, but I thought this would be a good time to talk to you instead." Nina wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing and flicked off the old-style burner stove.
There were new stoves out now that used energy stones instead of gas or electricity. The stones combined with runic circuitry were able to harness their energy to create heat in a more efficient manner than gas or electricity.
Apparently, stoves had been one of the chosen test objects before they moved on to larger items like cars and houses.
"Oh," He swallowed and grabbed a pair of plates from the cupboard. "And what have you decided?"
"I don't know, not entirely anyway. A part of me is conflicted about the entire thing. I understand that none of this is your fault and that my real son would have died that day-"
Nate winced, a pain stabbing at his chest with her choice of words. It might be true, but to him, she was still his mother, not a replacement.
"But understanding and moving past it are two entirely separate things." Suddenly, he could see a weariness in her eyes that hadn't been there the day before. It made him wish he had chosen to just keep his mouth shut. "I think I just need some time."
He stared down at his plate of half-eaten food and pushed it away. "Mom, you can have all the time you need, as long as you don't start treating me differently. To me, you're still my mother. You look and act just like her. My soul or whatever might be different, but this body is the one you gave birth to." He shrugged and scratched at his head. "Heck, for all I know, maybe all I'm remembering is memories from a past life that overwrote the ones I forgot from this one."
He didn't think that was likely, considering the invisible computer on his wrist. However, he wanted to give his mother an easy out in case she needed one.
She smiled at him and shook her head. "You don't believe that… but thank you."
He shrugged sadly. "No, I don't. However, everything I have told you is the truth. In my first life, my parents died in a car accident coming to see me when I was in the hospital. I was alone for years after that. This world may be different, but you and dad, you're the same. The two of you act the same from how I remember. To me, at least, you are my parents."
His voice drifted ever softer as he held back tears and swallowed past the lump in his throat.
Nina toyed with her food for a moment before pushing the plate away with a sigh. "Truthfully, that's pretty much what I expected. You're not the type of person who could live in our house for the last few months without actually caring for us." She reached out and stroked his cheek. "And I care for you as well. I simply have to move past the dissonance of losing one son, while gaining another that looks exactly like him. Just give me a little time, please?"
Nate could see how conflicted and sad the entire situation was making her. "I can do that mom, take as much time as you need. Just, please don't shut me out?"
She nodded and used a napkin to quickly dab at the corner of her eyes. "Thanks." She sniffed and shook her head. "Now, what are your plans for the day?"
He idly speared his fork into a syrupy pancake and thought before replying. "I'm going to do some more research into properly forming my core. This new school has more detailed information than the last one. After that, I'm not sure, maybe play a game, watch some TV?"
"Have you done your homework?"
He rolled his eyes. "I finished all of it on Friday. I suppose I could message Angie, maybe see if she wants to do anything…" He looked up at his mother. "What about beginning my training with the kukris?"
"Hold up, go back. Who is this Angie girl? I think I remember you mentioning her before. She's the girl you had that really awkward phone conversation with, right?" His mother leaned closer and stared at him suspiciously, as though the answer would suddenly appear on his face.
Nate leaned away from her and quickly explained everything that had happened with the girl and George Trellow.
"Interesting," She backed away, deep in thought. "You should be careful with her, Nate. Her family could be trouble if they decide to cause problems for any reason."
"I know, but as long as I get the medicine first, it will at least be partially worth it. Besides, if her family doesn't cause problems and instead remains neutral or even likes me, then so much the better. Right?"
His mother stared at him doubtfully. "Anyway, we'll need to wait until your father gets back before we make a decision about the training. Until we know more about the state of our probation, we need to be careful with our money."
It had only been a few days, but already she was preparing for the worst.
"Alright, well, I'm going to head upstairs and start studying for a while then. Call for me if you need anything." He put his empty plate in the sink and scurried upstairs to continue his cultivation studies.
Grabbing his laptop, he pulled up the school library and continued his research from the day before. Combined with his copious notes, he was trying to create a better cultivation and meditation model for himself. What he had used before had worked, but it was slow going without his meridians and core.
However, he had experienced energy entering his body inside the dungeon twice now. If he could mimic the paths it had taken, then maybe he would start making more progress.
It was a long shot admittedly, but if it worked…
Nate squeezed his eyes shut, his notes spread out in front of him, and began the basic breathing exercise.
It was easier this time to let everything slip away.
As the first sparks of energy flowed into his body, he began directing them according to what he remembered. It was a good thing he hadn't tried to build an inner model of himself yet, or this would have been impossible.
Energy flowed along his torn and destroyed meridians, skipping around chaotically in a way that had droplets of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. Despite the pain, he could tell that this method was faster, and that he was somehow using meridians he hadn't even known were there. Small, barely developed ones that spread throughout the body.
They were the reason he still had energy, and if he had to guess, everyone had them, but just didn't know it. They were so small and undeveloped, the offshoots of whatever his body had decided his main meridians would be. He didn't like that.
Now that he knew they were there, he could slowly start to develop and strengthen them. Sending energy into them just like he would any other meridian. When he was fully healed, he would have more meridians and options open to him than anyone else.
Or at least he hoped that would be the case. Nothing he had read said that having more meridians was bad. Usually, people had what they had, and that was it. They were stuck with that number. Granted, his area of research was oriented more towards cultivation right now than that topic. Especially since this was something he had only just stumbled upon.
Nate opened his eyes a little over an hour later when he heard his father knock on his open door. He stretched out and wiped the fresh and older drying blood from the corner of his mouth. He could already feel that this method was much faster than the old one. If for no other reason than because he was using working meridians as part of his cultivation now.
"What did they say?" He asked, his voice slightly hoarse.
Niall glanced at his son's blood-smeared hand in concern and shook his head. "Be careful. If you can't cultivate safely yet, then hold off for now."
"It's fine. I was just experimenting a little and lost control around my damaged meridians is all," Nate explained, reaching for a nearby towel. "So, what did they say about the probation?" He prompted again.
"It's gone. They didn't have any legal right to keep it going. As of last night, there was only one surviving member of the expedition, and unless they send out a rescue team for him, he'll die as well. Your mother and I are in the clear now."
Nate tossed the towel toward the dirty clothes hamper with a nod. "Are you going to stick with them, or find a different place to work for?"
"That's something we need to talk about… as a family. It's why I came up here to get you. Your mom is waiting downstairs so we can talk things over now." His father explained, his muscled arms hanging limp at his sides as he relaxed.
"Alright." He closed his laptop and notebooks and hopped off his bed. "Did you find out anything interesting about the expedition that hasn't been reported in the news yet?"
Niall nodded. "I did actually. Those signs they showed out in front of the building before, the warnings?"
"I remember them," Nate said as they walked down the stairs.
"Well, they might have been addressed to certain families, but apparently no one should enter. The entire place is trapped inside."
"And how exactly did the lone survivor figure this out?" Nate asked wryly.
"Gee, I have no idea. It couldn't be that he used the members of the expedition for his own gain, could it?" Nina said as they entered the living room, obviously having been listening to their conversation.
"It's definitely a good thing you two didn't go then. Anyone willing to do that to someone just for a little bit of inconsequential information has no conscience." Nate muttered, sitting down on the couch across from his parents.
"Well, you're not wrong, but that's the way of the world these days. Everyone is trying to get ahead any way they can." His father said, pulling his wife close, protectively.
She patted his leg with a grim smile. "Now, let's talk about what your father and I will be doing next."
Chapter 21
Nate glanced at the time and then at his phone. The discussion with his parents had taken a little longer than he'd thought it would. It was already creeping towards the afternoon, and he wasn't sure he really wanted to disturb Angie anymore.
Maybe he should just try to get some more cultivating in while he could. After his efforts earlier, he could feel that he was finally beginning to make progress at last. It was still slower than grabbing the orbs from inside the dungeon, but this way was more reliable.
There was no guarantee he would get an orb every time he killed a monster. Or that he would even be able to kill a monster every night.
Without access to his meridians and core, he was the weakest thing inside the dungeon. Not to mention he had no idea how to handle his kukri blades, and it was a recipe that depended more on luck than skill. Which is exactly what he had gotten so far, for the most part, lucky. There was very little skill involved in his kills.
At least by cultivating properly, he was attempting to take control of his destiny, as it were.
His phone rang just as he was about to set it to the side, Angie's name appearing on the screen as the caller.
A hint of apprehension balled itself tightly into the pit of his stomach as he answered the call. "Hello?"
"Nate, my father wants to meet you." She announced without hesitation, dropping a bomb on him without even greeting him.
He blinked and pulled the phone away before bringing it back to his ear. "Angie? I think I just heard something really odd. Could you repeat that, please?" The knot in his stomach tightened in on itself.
"You heard correctly; my father wants to meet you. He wants to meet the person we're getting this batch of medicine for."
He swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. "Um, when?" He croaked.
"Now, a car should be arriving outside your house shortly. I would suggest getting cleaned up, so you appear presentable when you appear before my father." She hinted.
"Right, I'll do that. Angie, we're going to talk about this later." He hung up and bolted for the shower.
It was one of the quickest showers of his life. He still made sure he was clean, but there was absolutely nothing relaxing about the affair. He was in and out as fast as possible.
Nate was pulling on his shoes when the doorbell downstairs rang. The last thing he grabbed was his phone, shoving it in his pocket as he ran for the stairs.
"Hello?"
He heard his mother say as she answered the door.
"Is Master Nathaniel Holmes ready?" A cultured voice asked from outside.
He breathlessly came up behind his mother and tapped her on the back. "I got this, mom. Angelica's father wanted to see me for something. I'll be back later, I guess." He finished in a bare whisper.
"Um, alright, be careful, honey." She said worriedly as he walked out the door.
Nate flashed her a tight smile and followed after the nameless driver. At the same time, he wanted to curse out Angie and her parents. The driver they had sent was only a little weaker than his own parents! Talk about sending a signal of power to someone.
You're so weak that I have people at your level working as nothing more than chauffeurs.
Granted, it was possible he was reading a little too much into the situation, but he doubted it. Someone had already started playing power games against either him or his parents.
He waited until they were inside the car before starting to ask his questions. "Are you normally a driver for random people?"
"No, Master Holmes, I normally serve the young miss as her personal driver." Was the prompt reply.
Nate mulled that over for a moment. It meant that he was more than likely also her bodyguard then.
"Who asked you to pick me up?" If it was Angie, then it was understandable, since he was her personal driver. However, if it was someone else, then the games truly had begun.
The driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror before answering. "The young lady's mother ordered me to come and pick you up."
Nate frowned. "I don't suppose you would have any idea why she would ask someone such as you to perform this task. Surely any of the family's drivers could have accomplished it just as easily?"
A slight smile tugged at the corner of the driver's lips before vanishing just as quickly. "That is very true, however, most of the drivers are not as… capable as I am. Don't you feel safer with someone like me at the wheel?"
"Hmm, yes, I suppose I do." He settled back in the comfortable seat of the car and looked out the window, his mind racing.
That answered his question. The driver had been specifically chosen because of his strength. What was her mother trying to say by doing something as petty as this though?
Frankly, it pissed him off more than it made him feel inferior.
He was sure the woman probably had her reasons, just as he was sure that they were likely inane and stupid beyond belief. Most times, power games seemed to stem from stupidity. Which was odd, considering the people themselves were generally quite bright.
Either way, he wasn't going to get involved if he could help it and if he couldn't… Well, he'd make sure to get as much as he could out of the deal for the trouble it caused him.
Outside the window, the city streets flashed past as they wound their way toward an older part of the city.
Nate spoke up one last time as the car slowed and they pulled up to a closed gate. "Any tips or words of advice you'd be willing to share with me? Something that might help me get through whatever is about to happen."
The driver glanced back at him through the mirror as he waited for the gate to open. "I do have two tips, ones that even I follow when possible. Avoid the Lady Chrighton when possible. The mistress can be difficult to deal with if she doesn't care for you. As for the master of the house, he prefers bluntness and honesty, over doublespeak and hidden agendas."
"Thank you," Nate said, licking his dry lips.
He was finding it hard to remember that these people were not one of the main powers in the city. By the standards of this world, their yard was absolutely massive. It was a display of absolute wealth and power.
On Old Earth, it wasn't anything special, but here the roughly acre and a half that he could see was a definite status symbol. The entire city was surrounded by a wall designed to keep the invading monsters out. That meant that every inch inside was precious. Almost everyone lived inside skyscraping apartments and condos, or thin but tall duplexes. Only the extremely rich still had houses with yards larger than a postage stamp.
Somehow, he had gotten mixed up with one of those families. It was intimidating in a way because he knew what it was supposed to represent and relaxing at the same time. The lack of greenery outside his window for the last few months had been more disturbing than he liked to admit. Finally, seeing a decent amount of grass was nice.
The sight offset some of what was about to happen.
Nate smiled grimly at the driver as he opened the door for him a minute later. The house was three stories tall, with a concrete foundation that hinted at there being at least one basement floor. The carport overhang that they were currently under extended all the way to the front door. It would give people plenty of cover, even during the winter.
A maid opened the door as he approached and led him through a relatively small foyer to a sitting room off to the side.
"Master Chrighton will be with you shortly. If you will please wait here until he is ready to see you?" She gave him a small bow and left the room without waiting for a response.
He collapsed onto a nearby couch, his mind whirling. This was not anything like what he had been expecting from Angie's family. He hadn't really known enough to form a coherent image of her family, but it certainly wasn't this.
The door opened and Angie slipped inside.
"How are you doing?" She whispered.
"How am I supposed to answer that, Angie? I have no idea what's going on!" He hissed back to her. "All I can really say right now is that this place is not what I was expecting for your home. You mentioned your family was spread throughout several cities, so I was thinking you were some kind of, I don't know, semi-powerful merchant family. Not this!"
"Yeah," She drew the word out and tickled her chin. "I might not have told you everything. Um, sorry?"
He gave her a blank-faced stare. "I think that's kind of obvious by now." Nate groaned and sank into the back of the comfortable couch. "Whatever. What does your dad even want with me? And don't tell me he brought me out here just so he could meet me. That's something out of a bad anime plot."
"Anime?"
Nate stopped and blinked at her obvious confusion. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen any anime since he'd been here. The internet existed, but it only connected everything on their current continent. Creating an underwater pipe network like what they had done before was impossible here.
There were dimensional zones out in the ocean. The monsters out there would destroy anything they tried to build instantly, assuming the people even survived long enough to make the effort.
Each continent remained in contact with the others through different means, but high-bandwidth internet was not one of them.
"It's a type of show," He told her after a few moments, wishing he hadn't said anything at all. It was an innocuous comment by itself, but still, one that would seem odd if she decided to look up its meaning.
Which he thought was highly likely. Oh, well, there was nothing he could do about it now, except be more careful in the future.
"Well?" He prodded, refocusing her attention on the question he had asked.
"Daddy does want to meet you, but no, that isn't why he had you brought here so suddenly." Angie stood up and walked over to the window. "What can you tell me about what happened to you when you were attacked?"
"What? I don't understand?" Nate sat up in confusion, his mind scrambling to keep up with the sudden change.
"I assume you've been watching the news surrounding the structure, right?"
"Yeah, of course. My parents were put on probation because they refused to go on such an obvious death trip. What does that have to do with any-" A lightbulb went off inside his mind. "Ohhh, the signs."
She gave a short single nod. "As soon as father saw those, he knew he had to distance himself from those families. Any cultivator, or being powerful enough to create a building around a dimensional portal, is someone we can't afford to be on the wrong side of."
"And so naturally you remembered what happened to me and thought what? That by aligning yourself with me, you would be quasi-aligning yourself with that person?" He asked doubtfully.
"Not quite, more like by aligning with you, we would be declaring where we stood. Nothing more. That's why I was wondering if you remembered what had happened during the attack."
"Oh, well, I hate to break it to you, but I don't remember anything. The entire event is gone, and a fair chunk of my life before it, along with it." He told her grimly, his lips set in a line. "When they interrupted the ceremony, it was just as I was about to create my core… In other words, just when all the energy I had gathered was at its most volatile. It decimated my meridians, my core," He shrugged. "My memories, all so they could have a brief moment of violence against someone they had never met before."
Chapter 22
Angie held her breath and sniffed as tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. "Sounds rough."
"It was certainly an experience waking up in an unfamiliar bed with a mother I barely recognized standing above me. I've been playing catchup ever since. There's so much I've either forgotten or just never knew. It's impossible to know which at this point. It's not all gone or anything, but so much seems unfamiliar. I pretty much had to relearn how to cultivate from scratch again."
She shook her head in amazement. "So, this entire time you've been relearning everything while also staying at the top of your classes, in a school more competitive than your old one?"
He shrugged, "Yeah, I guess? It's not like I actually forgot everything though, just certain things mostly related to cultivation. I still know math and basic sciences."
"Still, that's rather impressive… The school doesn't know, do they?"
"Why would they? It's my business, not anyone else's. The only reason I'm telling you is because of our current conversation. I'm not exactly hiding the information, but I see no reason to advertise it either."
Angie walked over to the window and leaned her head against the cool glass pane. "Do you know why those families attacked you that day?"
"No, as far as I've ever been able to learn, they were just looking for someone to hurt and I was the lucky one they picked."
She cracked her neck and turned to face him; her arms folded protectively across her chest. "That's partially correct. The younger members involved were looking for someone to hurt, but normally they would have simply gone to the slums or a club and found someone like they always had in the past. The order to select someone undergoing the ceremony came from someone else."
Nate sat up straight, suddenly finding himself hanging on her every word. "So, I was still just unlucky and not specifically targeted. Good. But why would they want to hurt someone undergoing the ceremony? What would they stand to gain from that?"
"We're not sure yet. However, I thought you would want to know the truth."
"I do, did. Thank you. It's just knowing this has me curious and a little worried about what they're planning."
"Same," Angie agreed readily, uncrossing her arms. "Which kind of brings us back to the mysterious cultivator they all somehow pissed off. Ever since the news showed that video, everyone has been scrambling to appear as though they cut ties with them. Few have actually done so, of course. Most just wanted to keep their image intact and not attract attention."
"I'm sure your family has done all of that as well. However, I'm also a more guaranteed visible sign, because of what they did to me. Is that about right?" Nate quickly rehashed what they had already talked about earlier.
"That's about the whole of it, yeah."
"Fine, whatever. I don't care, you're already helping me, and George seems to like you. So, why not? I'll go along with this insane little plan of yours." He sighed and squinted at her as a thought occurred to him. "Wait, did your dad even want to meet with me?"
She nodded. "Yup, we just needed to have this conversation first. Now that we're done, you'll go and meet with him and my mother."
Nate felt his mouth suddenly go dry. "Oh, I still have to meet with them then. Fun. Any tips?"
"Be respectful?" She said doubtfully. "I have no idea. They're my parents."
"Well, how does Lindsay deal with them?"
"Badly, she hates coming over to my house," Angie answered wryly.
"Great, so even your best friend can't handle your parents. What chance do I have?" Nate groaned, hanging his head.
She covered her mouth, doing a poor job hiding her smile. "Well, Lindsay is a special case. Her parents and mine have never actually gotten along."
"How did the two of you become friends, then? I would have thought your parents would have done their absolute best to discourage that from happening."
"Oh, they did. We just both happened to be going through a bit of a rebellious phase at the time." She shrugged. "Besides, we were young, and it just made the other seem even more appealing as a friend."
"Young, yeah, because seventeen isn't still young or anything. How old were the two of you at the time of this little phase?"
"Four or five? We met in kindergarten."
He chuckled. "Of course you did."
There was a brief knock on the door, followed by it opening a moment later. "I apologize miss; however, your father and mother are ready to see him now." A maid said, popping her head into the small opening.
"Very well. I hope you're ready." She nudged him toward the door, taking up step behind him.
"Me too," Nate muttered.
They followed the maid to the back of the house and towards a large office.
Angie skipped around them and opened the door without knocking. "Mother, father, this is Nathan Holmes."
The maid stepped smoothly to the side and vanished without another word.
Nate, who hadn't been expecting things to progress quite so quickly, stood stiffly before them. After a second, he took in a deep breath and found his panicking mind coming back under control. He could do this. Sure, they had power and influence, but there was no reason to panic.
"Hello, Mister and Misses Chrighton. It's a pleasure to meet you, as your lovely daughter just informed you. I'm Nathan Holmes, or Nate, if you prefer." He smiled pleasantly at them as he stepped forward with his hand extended.
The father met his hand with a firm shake, establishing control without wasting time on pointlessly crushing his hand. Everyone there knew he was the weakest person in the room. The parents were cultivators, Angie was well on her way to becoming one, and he had destroyed meridians. It wasn't a hard guess to make.
"Indeed, I'm Aden, and this is my wife, Trissa. Angie has told us, well truthfully, only a little about you and what led you to your current state. Why don't you sit with us for a while and tell us the whole story?"
Trissa was currently glaring at Nate, as he dared to accept the invitation to sit down.
"I don't mind telling you the story, but I will warn you, there really isn't much to it." He scratched the side of his nose and launched into what he knew.
Aden stared at the boy after he finished the short tale. "That fits into what we had managed to find out on our own. You weren't specifically targeted for any other reason than opportunity. Unfortunately, that still leaves us with plenty of unanswered questions."
"What are your intentions with our daughter?" Trissa demanded; her eyebrows arched regally.
"Um," Nate shook his head. "I'm not sure what you mean. She approached me… shouldn't I be the one asking that question?"
Angie covered her smirk with a cough and looked away. "Yes mother, what are you talking about? What intentions could he possibly have besides getting the medication? We've barely even exchanged words before the other day."
"Is that true?"
Nate nodded. "I knew she existed, but I honestly don't think we'd even done anything more than exchange greetings. Are you hoping I'll tell you that I'm interested in your daughter or something? Because she's right, before anything else I need to be healed before I can even think about romantic entanglements."
Trissa's eyes narrowed, her fists clenching tightly atop the armrests of the chair. "Let me be very clear boy, my daughter is not meant for the likes of someone like you! Is that understood?"
Nate leaned forward, a hot bubble of anger forcing him to continue on an issue he had no real stake in. "And let me be clear, I have no intentions of pursuing anything at this time. I already told you that, however, if I ever do, it will be up to Angie to decide to tell me no, not you!" He growled out angrily.
"Mother," Angie snarled. "We've been through this before! You do not get to control or dictate my dating life."
Aden closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well, this discussion has turned out beautifully. I'm honestly not sure why I even expected anything else at this point."
"I'm just trying to look out for your best interests, Angelica," Trissa told her daughter plaintively.
"I've met your best interests before; he was a simpering fool! The only thing he had going for him was the money his family had. He had no interest in doing anything other than chasing after every girl he meets. Did you know he even hit on Lindsay when he met her, while she was with me!? I have no interest in being with someone who can't even fathom what being faithful means. Not to mention he didn't even know how to cultivate." Angie was practically shaking in anger by that point.
Nate felt as though his brows were going to vanish into his hairline as he watched what should have been a private discussion.
Trissa suddenly stood up, her face red, with angry veins pulsing around her neck and temples. "Let me be very clear here. You do not have a choice in the matter. Is that understood? He will be your husband."
Aden's head snapped to his wife. "Trissa, what did you do?" He ground out, pronouncing each word carefully.
The woman seemed to deflate as she sank back onto the couch next to her husband. "I made a deal with the McFaddens years ago. We were trying to expand the family's influence, and I thought they could help. The price was Angie's hand in marriage to their son, Jace. I, of course, said no, but they kept pushing. Apparently, the little idiot had seen her at some party and gotten it in his head that she was meant for him."
Angie snorted, still looking like she wanted to hit her mother.
"Anyway, eventually I decided that if he really wanted to be with her, then there was no harm to it. However, I was going to make sure of it. Our deal had certain stipulations attached to it, mainly pertaining to him, but a few regarding Angie as well."
"Such as?" Aden prompted, seeing his daughter about to lose her cool.
"He had to be faithful to her and get to a certain cultivation realm by his eighteenth birthday. I wanted him to prove he was serious about her, while also being able to protect her. For her part, it was mainly that she could never date anyone else. It wasn't hard. Angie hasn't shown much interest in anyone, male or female."
"Great, so it's off then. He obviously hasn't fulfilled his end of the bargain, so why are you still giving me grief over this? He's eighteen already and is only at the beginning stages of 'Core Refining', not to mention he obviously hasn't been faithful." Angie said with a grin, relaxing slightly.
"Yeah…" Trissa drew the word out. "That would be true, except his family is very powerful, and somewhere along the line he decided you were his anyway."
"Sweetie, why did you ever decide to do something like this?" Aden asked softly, pulling away from her. "We're not part of the main branch of the family. It's not our job to help its influence grow. It's enough that we can grow our own business."
"That's what I was trying to help with. I don't care about the main family. I care about us, and the business your grandfather started. That is what I was trying to expand the influence of."
"Where does this leave me, then?" Angie asked softly, confused and more than a little lost. "I'm not going to marry someone just because of a deal mom made in a fit of mad stupidity. Not to mention you're all forgetting one key thing; Nate and I aren't dating. We barely know each other."
The three stilled and turned to look at the boy they had unintentionally forgotten was still there.
"Hi," Nate waved with a grim smile.