"Are you just going to stay bitter?"

"Why are you so angry?" Ben asked.

"Please, don't be like that. You aren't alone."

"Not yet. You might be the next, though," Ben joked as he ran away. His age didn't change his bad jokes.

Bernard stayed behind silently, facepalming. He couldn't understand his friend anymore. Not that he did much before, either.

---

The < Dragons > faction had become a mammoth.

They had played a central role in the last century's hunting, which surprised everyone.

The world now looked at Ginn's group with fear while considering how much space will this growing faction eventually take.

However, despite their expanded power, they were still limited to this middle-size city.

Yet, despite having outgrown Deadhillow, there was nothing they could do so far.

"Dad, Uncle Dove is really fun! But are we really moving out?"

"As soon as we can. Don't you want to get to know new places?"

"I like it here. I really don't mind it."

"Boo!"

Ginn talked happily with his son. But as they passed the street corner, someone surprised them.

Reacting to the person jumping out of the shadows, Ginn held their heads and pinned them to the wall.

"Holy shit, Ben. Do you wanna die?"

As soon as he noticed who it was, Ginn created a veil surrounding them, isolating them from the outside.

"You were such a juicy prey," Ben said, having his eyes covered by Ginn's hand.

"Please, don't do this again. I may actually kill you next time. And how long have you been gone for? I assumed you died, you fucking bastard."

Releasing his friend's face, Ginn could see the deformed head returning to its original shape.

Yet, Ben's eyes focused instead on the kid next to Ginn.

"It was just a good nap. And I mean, even if those people had the opportunity, they would still take around ten thousand years to kill me. So, technically, I wouldn't be dead yet."

"You shouldn't have jumped like that."

"I'm not that scary."

"You know I'm not talking about that. Don't do such a half-assed job if you do choose to depend on us."

Ben only stared back while holding onto the shoulder strap from the bags he carried.

"You became quite silent."

"And you seem quite mad."

Ben calmly leaned in the cracked wall behind him.

"Let's just say it was good that you took this long to come back," Ginn snickered.

"Kiddo, you shouldn't act like your father. He can talk like this now and have reason since he has the might, but back then, he couldn't. Yet he is still mad for lacking control. Don't be such a control freak, as you don't hold the privilege needed for that. Well, it must not be easy to have such a father, though."

Being addressed, the kid just smiled awkwardly without knowing how to respond.

"I was way stronger back then than you knew! There was no reason to take such risks. What if people didn't react right? The world depended on that. And even before, what if you failed?"

"For the first assassination, I wouldn't be able to do that if it was someone strong. And to be clear, I don't know what you could do, but I did know what you did. And if you could easily act and didn't, that was a very asshole thing to do."

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Being remembered the losses from their first long war, Ginn became silent.

"I know how you are. But I'm not your subordinate, so get fucked."

"Oh shit." The teenager whispered as he held his mouth shut.

The kid tried to stay silent while looking around. He didn't know the elder, but he could guess who he was.

"We could've done something."

"I'm sure you could have. But I knew what I was going through and chose not to wait. The world and your friends might be able to wait for you, but I couldn't."

"Yet you still took your time back then."

"That's fair. I could only do so much. But I began acting when your war hadn't even concluded. I don't think you were that free back then."

"What did you do?"

"I took a piece of the anchor. I needed that to calculate the flow. And doing that alone was the best choice too since the fewer people involved, the less likely it would've been for them to notice something."

"You still jumped into the enemy's den."

Seeing his father meeting a strong foe was new for the kid. Outside his mother, he always noticed that his father was overly persuasive. But not today.

"You all were underestimating the danger. I considered talking to you, but how long would it take? And that would likely strain your growth. And I would likely have to act, too. The rest was whatever, but having your growth repressed wouldn't lead to a good future for me. I don't need a strong friend. That would be good, but what could help me live is someone breaking the molds."

"Maybe I won't help then."

"If that's the case, I only have myself to blame for such misleading character judgment."

Looking at his godfather-to-be, Eden finally understood why her mother was so adamant about her choice, going as far as withholding the ceremony.

"You are too much. You're fearless. I'm speechless."

"I merely decided how much I was willing to pay upfront and acted on it. Hopefully, I gained you some time. Don't expect much more, though."

"I didn't need it."

"Maybe be more strong, then."

"Like this?"

Ginn released some of his energy to show Ben his progress.

"What have you done? Isn't this too fast?" Ben asked, shocked.

"Not much."

"Is there even a wall?" Ben noticed the bizarre nature of the discharge.

"Nor really." There was a hint of smug self-satisfaction in Ginn's voice.

"How?"

Ginn merely threw his hands in the air, also confused.

"It's mostly your fault. After you treated Eloise, a few things became clear to me."

"I think we talked about this before. But again, I don't think this is the aim of my existence."

"I don't think so, either. It's more like you stopped the natural flow. You stirred the pot, yet the pot doesn't like you."

"It's not that you are heaven's favorite. They are pranking you."

Ben could hear some thundering around this isolated aura.

"It's merely a bit annoying to deal with this."

As Ginn tried to influence the destiny flow, the fabric of reality fought back.

"That's the kind of control I expected thousands of years after you succeeded. So, you're riding it, I guess?"

"Basically, yes."

Eden stared at his father, stunned. He didn't expect them to be so up-front.

"But you still need to stay weak, so you suppress yourself. Or else I wouldn't have been able to surprise you. Even with my healed soul."

"Can't outpace it. But faking somehow works."

"Chains."

"Indeed. But what have you done to yourself? Your soul seems, like, noisy?"

"Maybe you shouldn't be here. Maybe you shouldn't have been there."

"What?"

Ben looked at his friend's son before deciding something. He then put the bags he carried on the floor.

Opening his shirt, Ben showed his bare chest.

A small hole appeared, and Ben showed his deep-black heart.

Looking at the refined pattern, Ginn and Eden stared at Ben's chest.

"What can you see?" Ben asked a minute later.

"You're decisive. You aren't reincarnating."

"I've always been baffled why I could keep such fragile memories."

"Are you going to say that is my fault?"

"If you can't find another person from Earth, it might make this likely."

"Does this theory stem from the fact we can easily find many influences that might be related to Earth? But that we find those all in the past. And we can even find people that likely are from there. Although, we can't confirm."

"Yes. But we couldn't find many by the time I was born, not even potential candidates. < Our influence seems to have dwindled with time. >"

"We should investigate that. Well, that's a lot to think about."

Ginn stopped and closed his eyes momentarily, taking note of the conversation.

"We can talk about this more later. Why don't you introduce yourself?" Ginn turned to his son and motioned to go ahead.

"I'm Eden Breaker Aravyz. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir." The teenager stepped forward and bowed down.

"Nice to meet you. Please call me Ben."

"Alright, Grandpa Ben." Eden smiled.

"We missed the ceremony date, but Volcano can't bother us much anymore. Since I grew my influence greatly, we don't need to worry about their curiosity. So, we can do that wherever and whenever. We can get Aunty Joyce to come by later and make it official in their books."

"Wow, so strong," Ben said sarcastically.

"But since you got to this point, I'll leave it to you. I won't be going around, either. I need to consider some remnant might be looking for me." Ben added.

"The last century was quite chaotic. So, those people shouldn't have that much free time."

"Yeah, but my existence has never been so much in the open."

Ben squatted down and began looking inside his bag.

"Anyway. Eden, you might get tired of seeing my face shortly, so let's start on the right foot. I know that first impressions are important, so take this."

Ben removed a lengthy package from the bag.

Receiving a gift, Eden smiled brightly and strode forward.

"Thank you very much. Can I open it?"

"Yeah, go ahead, if you can."

"You didn't even know my son was born."

"I would keep it around until then. It's not like time would change the present."

"Are you struggling, Eden?"

"Dad?" The kid glimpse at his Dad as if asking something with his eyes.

"Go ahead, use your full power. You should be able to open it. It's just sealed for protection. Eh, Ben, I didn't expect you to be so careful with gifts. You don't seem to be the kind to."

"People aren't that complicated. Some meaningful free shit is a free ticket into their memories."

Yet while the adults talked, Eden released his full power as he forced the packing to crack open.