47 Familiarity
Powder's eyes shrunk like a needle, her brain telling her to run away, but her body won't budge!
Jayce, the half-dragon arcanist! There were a lot of rumors about him; People said that he is a ruthless killer, some said he is a God-blessed child, some said that he is a pedophile. She doesn't know if the rumors are true or not, but one thing stands correct, she should not confront him head-on!
So logically, she should run away at this moment! Although she doesn't know how strong he really is, it should be way above the average thugs back in the slump; not something that she could handle!
"I... erm-" Powder struggled to find the right words when something happened...
*RUMBLE* A rumbling sound came from her stomach...
*silent* Silent ensured...
Powder blushes hard as she holds her stomach, carefully looking up at the handsome boy in front of her. Brown hair, hazel eyes, diamond-shaped chin, everything about him speaks out perfection; afraid of being ridiculed. Where she grew up, the nobles living there disdained the people of the slum, she thought that Jayce would get mad and would mock her.
But...
….
Jayce's POV
"Haha, are you hungry kiddo?" Jayce said as he picks up the featherweight child in front of him, helping her stand on her feet.
"I...no..I" Powder struggled as she tried to deny, but alas...
*Rumble* Her stomach protested once more.
"Let's go kid, we're getting something to eat," Jayce said as he held out his hand. He turned his head and guiltily looked at Caitlyn, this is "her" date after all, and for his own selfish desires, he ruined it for them.
But as if still mad at the earlier incident, she ignored him, pushed him away, and knelt in front of Powder.
"Ignore that bad guy, do you want to eat with this sister?" Caitlyn flashes her sweet smile, reaches out her hand, and combs the strangling blue hair to the side of her ear.
Just like Jayce, Powder feels that weird connection that gives her familiarity warmth from the sister in front of her, she shyly nods her head.
Caitlyn smiled sweetly, she took a hold of Powder's hand, they walked off, but not before giving Jayce a big smirk.
Our protagonist just stood there stupidly... wtf just happened? How O.P. is her charisma? Riot game? Nerf her, please!
Jayce could only helplessly sigh and follow behind them.
He then used this time to look at his stats
Name: Jayce Talis
Age: 2 years
Arcane: 4,510
Stamina: 4,520
Strength: 4090
Defense: 3990
Agility: 4010
Luck: -10
Abilities: Gura-Gura no mi, Fire Dragon-slayer magic, Reincarnation, World Rune, Bandit's secret.
Pet: Unknown seed,
'Not bad!' Jayce thought to himself, besides his negative luck stats, everything else looks solid for a 2-year-old!
'This dude... solid for 2 years old? Can you not be any humbler? How can others live their life if you think this is normal!?' A depressed sigh from the author.
"Hmm?" Jayce turns his head and looks around; he could have sworn someone sighs beside him
'Must be the wind' He shrugs, then he looks at the new ability he just got, Bandit's secret.
Name: Bandit's secret
Description: Thieves are the most profitable profession.
Usage: Player can copy and use the target's ability. Once copied, the ability is permanently saved, can stack infinitely
Cost: 500 AP/per ability use.
Restriction:
Player can only copy one ability from an entity,
The result can be differed, depending on the Player's stat
The target must be within the line of sight of Player.
The target's ability to copy will be random.
'System, once I used Bandit's secret to steal someone's ability, what will happen to them?' He mentally asks the all-knowing system. Although the ability is good, if the target receives some kind of recuperation, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself, unless the person is evil, like a rapist.
'DING! Replying to Player, the target will receive no recuperation once you use the ability.' the cold mechanical voice replied.
'Phew,' He heaved a sigh of release, then excitement! This opens more possibilities for him.
He then looks at a random person within his line of sight, his aura squirming,
"Bandit's secret!" He exclaimed, then a translucent aura emerged from his body, shaping up like a claw-like hand, it went forward the person.
'DING! Player failed to extract any ability! The target is no longer available for copy'
Jayce confusedly looked at the notification, fail? He can fail!?
Then he looks at another random person
"BANDIT'S SECRET!" The same phenomenon happened, the hand went out of his body, toward the target, but nothing happened...
'What am I doing wrong?' He muttered to himself
He then attempted to copy dozens of other people, but nothing happened.
"Hey! Sleepyhead, wake up!" Caitlyn shouted, followed by a twist in his right ear, dragging him out of his stupor.
"Ow! Ow! CHILL! OK OK, I'M AWAKE!"
"hehe!" A small chuckle from the shy Powder as she giggles behind Caitlyn's legs. Seeing the interaction between the two made her heart warm.
'They aren't bad people' she thought, being nobles themselves, they don't act like the stereotypical ones, being haughty and arrogant. They treated common people like her with kindness and respect, as equals.
…
"Vi, what happened? Why did you call us back?" Ekko asked, he was in his position according to the plan, but vi suddenly called everyone back.
"Change of plan, Powder is missing." She then explained to them how it happened.
"We need to find her before something goes wrong. I don't know if she has been caught yet, let us all split up and find her as soon as possible, got it?" Vi explained her plan, if anything happened to her sister, she would not be able to live with herself.
"Got it!" They all agree in unison, they all treat Powder like their own, so knowing that something might go wrong with their little sister, they must rescue her at all costs!
They then split up, not knowing that they were standing behind the restaurant's back valley, where Powder is currently at, feasting her heart out...
…
*Nom Nom Nom* A furiously eating Powder is gobbling down every food she took a hold of. After she got to know the two betters, her heart opened up to them, she doesn't have to restrain her personality in front of the people whom she considers family.
*NOM NOM NOM NOM* Another furiously gobbling sound coming from her right side,
As if didn't want to lose to Powder, Jayce is also feasting his heart out! Well, the author is right, he doesn't want to lose to her, because...
'DING! Player, please choose one of the following options:
I. Beat Powder in an eating competition, Reward: T.P. Wards.
II. Reprimand her to act more restrained, Reward: 500 Agility.
Of course, Jayce, who is a curious cat, doesn't want to be a boring person and chooses the second one, he naturally had to pick the first.
Now, here they are, in front of the disgruntling Caitlyn and the disdainful look from everyone else, having a blast, gobbling down their food.
"Can you guys be more mind of your surroundings???" Caitlyn grunted, although she doesn't mind other people judging her, she has a semi-OCD symptom, seeing them eating their food like pigs made her uncomfortable.
"bhum itfs goo!" (But it's good!)
"bhum itfs goo!" (But it's good!)
They both look up with food strangling out of their mouths, trying to speak, but what came out was just some incoherent language. Then they looked at each other and giggled.
"tehee"
"You! Hmmph!" Caitlyn, with veins popping out of her head, snorted and ignored them while eating her meal.
Several minutes later,
"Phew" The duo exhaled, patting their round and full stomachs, Jayce had a satisfied expression but Powder pouted her lip while complaining to herself
'Meany! Isn't it just eating? Why would you go out of your way to bully a little girl!? Boohoo' She silently shed some tears.
"Here is the bill for you guys, hope you can pay it up!" A middle-aged waiter came up to them and gave them a disdainful look while taking out the bill.
*GASP* When Powder saw the amount of money on the bill, she involuntarily gasped, she thought that the food might be a little bit more expensive than the restaurants back in Zaun, but the total is 100x more expensive! She wouldn't be able to pay it off even with 20 years of work!
With glistering tears and fear in her eyes, she looked up to Jayce, wanting to say something,
"I...I..*sobs*" She tried to explain her reason but then Jayce's hand descended on her head, ruffled her messy blue hair.
"What are you crying about for? You are one of us now, Powder! I wouldn't take anything from my Nakamas!" He smiled and kissed her on her forehead, calming her down... Well, that was his intention anyway.
Powder then looked down, trembled, tears streaming down her face, then she felt a warm body heat as Caitlyn embraced her.
"That idiot is right you know, friends are supposed to help each other out, now you'll make him feel bad if you continue crying." Caitlyn softly said while stroking her blue hair. Her eyes are also slightly moist; the girl reminded her of herself, she also cries a lot in front of Jayce, and he would patiently console her, now it's her turn to console someone else.
Hearing her, Powder tried to calm down as well, but it seems futile as her shoulders trembled harder. Other than her father and sister, this is the second time when people are genuinely being nice to her, don't discriminate against her, and loved her. She finally gets to vent out her frustrations and loneliness on people other than her father and sister.
