32 Back to School
Her little show looks extremely impressive, but in the end, that is what it is - ' little '.
Yet, she can not bring herself to tell Brea that control such as hers comes with its own disadvantages. She will be useless like a high school graduate facing a megatron when the tier of dungeons increases more than C.
Don't look at her clearing a 'B' grade dungeon paradise beach ! Almost all the killing is done by Zayne. She knew all too well where her strengths lie, and what are her limitations. That is the reason she tried so hard not to become an enemy of Caspian Orca !
Wait a second ! Since the child is motivated, she should put her to work !
" Indeed. Then you have to follow a strict regime of studying and practicing. Are you sure you want to walk this path ? " Claire asked grandly.
" Yes. I am sure. " Brea answered determinedly, at the same time, biting into her sandwich viciously. She just likes her toast a little hotter than normal people, and this is perfect temperature for her.
The buttery eggy goodness melted in their mouths, a perfect second course to the sweet pancakes.
'Mmm.. ' Brea moaned with happiness as she ate.
Yesterday night, she felt a little hungry in the middle of the night, so she made herself a little grilled fish. Damn ! It's taste gave her enough trauma … which is healed to perfection today.
Claire left to take a bath, while the children packed up.
The moment Claire left, Brea looked at Zayne with passionate eyes.
" Uncle ! You better marry her soon, or she will be taken by other guys. " She warned him, her eyes full of fiery passion.
Zayne poked her in the forehead.
" You are a few years too young to take care of your uncle's affairs, twerp ! " he snarked at her, then walked to Robin, to help with packing up. Which was very much unneeded, because Robin, just as impressed as others with Claire's earlier performance, has fully taken to the spirit of using his powers to handle his daily affairs.
The clothes rose in the air, along with a little water ball. Both credence and prudence sent little fire to the water. In the resulting steam, the clothes were straightened to perfect ironing, then folded at just the right angles. Then stacked in the suitcase.
Zayne sighed. He felt both proud and lost.
Is this the feeling of watching children grow up and not needing you any more ? He is too young to feel this !
However, he cheered up soon.
Claire's way of practicing is right. From tomorrow onwards, he will find a way to manipulate his elements in their free form with instinct to do daily tasks. Otherwise, in this home, he would be the one left behind.
While the others are preoccupied with all the tasks, Dolce was sitting quietly, with a battery in his hand, zapping it again and again.
By the time Claire returns, almost every one of them are ready. The children all placed their hands on Claire's arm, closed their eyes, as if by telepathy.
Claire held their hands and vanished into a slime dungeon. From there, they appeared in their home.
The children opened their eyes. Once again, they were in awe of Claire's ability.
At this time, she remembered the beetle ring.
" Here. " She gave the ring to Brie.
" What is this ? " Brie took the ring, feeling weird.
"It's a dungeon ring. It's usually soul bound, and your brother received this. With this, you could enter the dungeon of longhorn Beetle. First, drop a blood drop on the Beetle. " She told her.
Brie dropped a drop of blood on the ring immediately. A small beetle mark appeared on the left hand of Brie.
Zayne took the boys to change into their school uniforms.
" Brie. There are few details you need to know when using the dungeon ring. First, it is a rare, and very much sought after resource. So, you must never let anyone else know about it, even your dearest and most beloved friend or lover. This is more serious than the secret of your awakening. This is your last escape route. There's no need to let even the family know about it. " Claire looked into Brie's eyes as she said these words.
" So important ? Then let brother have it. I am fine with not having it. " Brie made to remove the ring but Claire held fast.
" No. Your brother is strong, he could get out of any pickle he gets into. I am the same. Brie, this world is not nice to girls. No matter how strong you get, there is always someone stronger. So, the only way for you to win is to be smart and plan ahead. Think of this ring as that plan. So, you need to know all you should about how to use it. " Claire convinced Brie.
" First, a dungeon ring holder could enter the dungeon from anywhere. Second, you could only return to the location you entered the dungeon from, especially when you are teleporting out from inside the dungeon. This means, if you walk out of the dungeon door, then enter the dungeon again, when you port out, you will only go back to the entrance of the dungeon. So, you must never exit the dungeon, unless you want to lose touch. Ofcourse, there are exceptions to this rule. These exceptions are teleport skill holders, but even those, have to abide by some rules, depending on their magic power and the dungeon ring's affinity to themselves. " Claire explained.
Brie was going to ask about the slime dungeon, but with this, she figured Claire has some more skills compared to her own self.
" Second. Not many places could block teleporting into the dungeon, but such places do exist. So, do not assume you have a hundred percent chance of escaping from anywhere. "
" Third. The dungeons are subject to periodic stampedes. No one could predict these stampedes, so don't assume the dungeon is safe for you because you cleared it. "
" I understand, sister. " Brie told her.
Brie stood there hesitantly.
" Why can you exit the dungeon ? " Brie asked.
Brie understood now that Claire also held a dungeon ring, that's how she teleported them to such a far off place as an Island. However, why can Claire exit the dungeon and come back to their home, while she has to never exit the dungeon ?
" Because I have rare skills that allow me to bypass these rules. That is all you need to know. " She could do such a thing because she got dungeon teleportation, and the dungeon ring's affinity for herself is top notch. The slime ring she holds has the highest affinity with her. When she entered the dungeon from her bedroom and exited back to the bedroom, it created a mark for the location. It's just that Claire did not notice. When teleporting from other places on the island, she only ever entered, never exited, making sure not to replace this mark.
She knew this information instinctively. This is called information loop back, and a phenomenon that only occurs when affinity of a dungeon ring is hundred percent. This is the rough gist of the information she knew from her past life.
" Can I get those skills too ? " Brie asked, full of enthusiasm.
" Depends on how responsible you are with the dungeon ring. " Claire teased her.
Soon, they were all attending their own schools, each immersed in their own thoughts.
Claire returned to seeing through the Third eye.
She stayed with the teddy bear USBs. Once a person came to retrieve one, from there on, they took the necklaces to a computer, with a special device attached to it.
It's a gigantic computer, the kind that appeared in old splotchy videos.
They plugged the USB in, then opened the file on it, and started decoding.
Claire kept observing. Then they verified the information, which seemed to be profiles of humans, all described like they were describing cattle.
So much so, Claire had to wonder if they are raising these people for their meat .. that's how thorough they are with describing skin color, muscle tone, magical core etc…
Worst part of it is that maternity care is still the best in the world, like a high-tech cattle operation.
Claire darkly mused if it is a vampire raising humans for future food stock. At this moment, she did not know .. she has half the story correct.
After watching for three days straight, Claire figured that the massive computer housed a special decoding chip. This chip and keys are necessary for decrypting, so the teddy bear in her neck is kind of useless to her.
After knowing that, she moved the eye away from the place, and started mapping the tunnels daily.
In the morning, they attended school, in the night, Claire and Zayne returned to the beetle dungeon with help of Brie, and spruced up their home at 89th base. During these jaunts, Claire visited black market every day, selling a few rat meats here and there, earning UBO currency.
Then they returned home to take care of dinner. On the weekends, they went to the island, to let the children play.
At the expected one month, the base made an announcement of free awakenings for highschool children.
The parents cursed out their school, for having their children sign slave contracts - but school remained shameless, saying it's a good opportunity.
Like that, time passed, till the D-day came.
Today is the day of awakening.
