"The wealth I left behind, everything you lost, none of it matters, not even Sunbird. All that you see on this table; this is my true inheritance I left for you. This is our family's true inheritance," he said. "I have confidence in my setup. But in case I failed and you're not Ewan, I hope you take what's here and let my son go. You only need a drop of his blood to activate the artifact, you won't need him for anything beyond that. This is my plea; I hope you comply. If you harm him in any way though, you may come to live a life worse than death, I'll make sure of that."
Ewan chuckled. "It's me, Pa."
The audio remained quiet for a moment then resumed. "But I hope my plans succeeded and you're Ewan. I'll continue assuming that."
"The two booklets contain the spell circuits,
As far as Ewan's memory went, their family was no more. His maternal relatives were a dime a dozen, they'd even crowded that roomy funeral hall. But he had no paternal relatives left. His father mentioned his grandpa and grandma sometimes, that they died when he was mere a teen. But that was about it. Beyond the bits of fond memories he recounted, Ewan knew nothing about them.
"I've left you three Astylinds, the two eggs and the seed. With your aptitude, you should have enough soul essence to contract them all at once, I'm confident. They're in a suspended state, so you'll need a lot of blood to awaken them."
The tape went silent again for a few seconds. "They don't need your blood, anyone's will work." He almost sounded flustered.
"The seed and the blue egg are descendants of my own Astylinds, they're my gift to you. While the white egg is handed down in our family, it's a special Astylind. On Airadia, and maybe even in the whole universe, only our family has it now, our forefathers made sure of that. You'll get a memory inheritance if you initiate the contract process with it, so I won't go into details. But I'll warn you, this Astylind is a double-edged sword. Our ancestors prospered because of it, and they died because of it. Even if it didn't have anything to do with their deaths, it still played a role in it."
He heaved a deep sigh and continued, "I hope you skip it, don't contract it. But I'll leave the final decision to you. Whatever you choose, I'll support you. If you do decide to contract it, use your spirit not the spell."
"Aside from the Astylinds, I've left you a special spell circuit inside the claw-ring. My father, your grandpa, envisioned the idea and created the framework. And I completed it and used it to build myself up. The details you'll find in its book. It's my finest creation, I know you'll be proud. Haha."
The tape continued. "As for the claw-ring, it's also a legacy handed down in our family. It's a storage artifact. I've sealed up most of its space so you can use it too. Once your soul is strong enough, you can push the seal back. You can also increase its size using other storage artifacts and materials."
"That will be all. I leave everything up to you now. I hope it helps you with whatever you want to do. One last thing. Whatever happens in the future, always remember that you are and will forever be my son. It's a fact that no one can change. No matter what you do, what you become, that won't change."
After a bit of silence, he resumed, "I had the DNA test done to confirm that. HAHAHA!"
Ewan laughed, his eyes getting misty. Even in the face of death, his father never lost his perverted sense of humor.
….
The well-timed jest ended the audio, and Ewan sat with his head down and his eyes closed. Once he half-digested everything, he stood up and pocketed the player. His Pa asked him to destroy the tape and the player, but he didn't want to do it. His Pa's voice was his crutch, and he wasn't ready to give it up. He knew the risks he was taking, but he didn't want to relent on this. Once he became a Severynth, he could keep this player and the rest of the audio in the claw-ring, only death could separate it from him at that point. And once he died, he wouldn't care about someone finding out the secret anyway.
For the other items on the table, he left the claw-ring and the Astylinds as they were and grabbed the books before heading out—he couldn't use them before his soul awakened, they were safer here. Now, he needed to practice the new spell circuits.
Once back in the shed, he closed the door and took out the key. Without it, the door seams vanished. The wall smoothened with not a gap in sight, except for the hole for the key.
…
…
…
Hours went by as evening approached.
The chores of the house eluded him with the genuine excuse of his arm, so he just fed the baby monkey and practiced drawing the spell circuits on his notebook for the day. He'd practiced the ones on the public site before, but these two were far more complex. And by sundown, the continuous practice hammered him with a brain-splitting headache. So, he stopped and went up to the balcony with the baby monkey in his arm.
He sat there, relaxed, his legs stretched on the recliner. His left hand surged with waves of pain, but he learned to ignore it.
Gentle wind caressed his face, his neck, his shoulders. The baby monkey hugged his finger and looked at him with his black beady eyes, his large nostrils steaming from time to time. The tiny blob of orange fire on his forehead flickered with the wind, but it flamed stronger than ever. With the nutrients in, his limbs now looked stronger. He still couldn't compare to his sibling, but he carried a healthier tone.
I should name him…
Ewan looked down at the baby monkey.
"Orange?" He glanced at his fire and named him such. "Yeah, you'll be Orange from now on." Ewan beamed and finalized the monkey's name. The baby monkey, now named Orange, released two childish hoots, and buried his face in Ewan's palm, drooling all over his hand.