With the issue of which Academy Cynrik and Brance concluded, Cinyah called the Sanfords to share the information; a short 15 minutes later, she told her sons that the Sanford siblings would join them at Vesemir School for Affinities cheerfully. Much to her surprise, Cynrik and Brance showed little reaction to this and only took it as a matter of fact.

A few days later, at night, once everyone had gone to their rooms for the night, Cynrik and Brance were still awake and in Cynrik’s new bedroom. The two sat cross-legged on the carpet wearing cheeky smiles as they finally tallied up their gains from the Egress.

After a long and hard-fought Egress dive, the brothers had decided it was best to relax for a couple of days before getting back to the grind, and as such, their bloated inventories stayed unchecked until now.

Shit, we got a lot… Cynrik’s eyes gleamed with greed as he scrolled through pages of full inventory slots, stacked with everything from Codexes to Packhound claws.

No kidding, after we grabbed everything from Gabby and Benny, it’s par for the course. My biggest concern is what the hell we do with it all. It’s not like we can just show up at an Egress Exchange and dump it all in one go.

Unlike Cynrik, who only saw dollar signs when looking at all the materials and items, Brance was worried about offloading it. It was one thing to obtain a few pelts and teeth, but looking through the spoils, Brance’s eyes darted around to the hundreds of items in thought.

I mean…to be fair, it’s not like they will degrade in our inventory, so there really isn’t a rush to sell it all. Worst case, we can always divvy out some bits and pieces to Mom and Dad or even Maeve to sell for us. Shrugging in a carefree manner, Cynrik pulled out the two large chests he had received from the clearing of the Egress Quest and Mission and placed them gently on the ground with a soft thunk.

Now …these bad boys are the real treasure, my little brother. Hehe. Wiping the drool from his mouth, Cynrik lovingly caressed the Platinum chest that was as big as his shoulders. He even went so far as to rub his cheek on its glossy metallic surface with content eyes.

Why must you be so damn weird? It’s a **ing metal box; why are you treating it like a girl. Brance scrunched his face in disgust as he, too, placed the Gold and Platinum chests on the ground from his inventory.

LISSSTEN, I don’t expect you to understand, leave me be. Ignoring his little brother, Cynrik ran his hands over the smooth surface filled with intricate mystical patterns.

The ones I found back in the Egress were lame and had muted colors, but these two, hehe. Cynrik waved his arms dramatically before embracing both chests while glaring at Brance.

These two are different. Their shiny Gold and Platinum exteriors are a sight to behold; just look at the exquisite craftsmanship; see here, even the hinges have runic inscriptions. These two chests aren’t simple boxes. No, my little brother, THEY ARE WORKS OF ART! One can not simply just open them and allow them to disappear from the face of Vinestra. They must first be admired. With crescent-shaped eyes Cynrik once again started rubbing his face on the Platinum chest.

Fucking drama queen.

CLICK

Without paying attention to Cynrik’s antics anymore, Brance quickly popped the latch on his golden chest and was subsequently bathed in a bright sparkly strobe effect. It took a second for his eyes to adjust, but when they finally did, Brance curiously looked at the contents of the 1×1 meter chest.

-DING, CONGRATULATIONS! You have opened an SG Tier-2 Golden Chest.-

-You have received a Tier-0 (Special) Earth Affinity Skill Booklet, Stone Bullet.-

Nodding contently, Brance reached in and scooped up the brown book, choosing to ignore the second chest for now. His eyes gleamed brightly as he quickly read through its contents and immediately delved into learning the new Affinity Skill.

Surprised by his little brother’s sudden studious change, Cynrik tilted his head to read the cover of Brance’s book, causing his eyes to widen slightly. This was the first time Cynrik had heard of skill books that could give you an Affinity Skill, but this didn’t come as a big shock as he had already, to some extent, predicted the possibility of their existence.

To him, it was too unrealistic to believe that the only way to get Affinity skills was either make up your own, such as his Blóðrauðr Banamaðr techniques, or level up the Tier and Proficiency of your individual Affinities. Moreover, confirming that Affinity Skills came in booklet form caused Cynrik to theorize and come up with even more questions. For example, if they only existed as rewards from special chests, wouldn’t that make them astronomically rare and thus expensive? It didn’t make sense, but as his view of the world was still too narrow, he could only push these thoughts to the back of his mind. There was no point dwelling on topics like these for long periods, especially since his worldview would soon be significantly widened by attending an Academy.

Cynrik was aware of just how sheltered he and Brance were, mainly due to how overprotective Cinyah tended to be; their age was also a factor. However, being only 12 and not old enough to get a Reaver Classification, it was challenging to gather information thanks to the heavy restrictions on data online. The government had long-established these severe sanctions on data leaks so only those who could use the information would have access. Unfortunately, being a Reaver was only one of the blocks Cynrik faced. Since his Watcet was registered to himself and not Cinyah or Rikard, his Tier was the main reason he had found for the hundreds of blocked web pages he came across over the years. The little bit of info Cynrik would get from school, and the heavily censored internet had caused many a headache for him.

Heaving a sigh, Cynrik turned his attention away from Brance and back to his own two chests. Reaching out his hand, he popped the latch on the Platinum chest. The moment the lid was unlatched, a rainbow-colored light crept out from within, and as he tilted back the top, the entire room was hit by this blinding sparkly multi-colored light.

-DING-DING, CONGRATULATIONS, You have opened an SG Tier-1 Platinum Chest!-

-You have obtained Mysterious Egg (2).-

The majestic multicolor light faded and was replaced by an odd sensation Cynrik had never felt before as he looked at the chest’s contents. Nestled neatly on two matching Platinum-colored velvet pillows were two black eggs the size of an adult hand. These eggs radiated a familiar feeling and were covered with red glowing patterns.

For some reason, the longer Cynrik looked at them, the warmer his chest felt, and he couldn’t help but feel it was strange. He could sense a level of connection to these two eggs, and it took him a moment to realize they both seemed to be lightly radiating Dark Mana in a heartbeat pulse.

‘Interesting, why do I feel so close to them? It can’t just be because they seem to have Dark Mana; there is more to it. It’s like they are part of me.’ Gripping his chest with one hand tightly, Cynrik reached in and gently placed his hand on one of the eggs and used Inspect out of habit.

-??? Egg-

-Height: 7″.-

-Weight: 2.5 lbs.-

-Category: ???.-

-Threat Level = You are connected to it; there is no threat.-

-Description: A mysterious Black Egg. You can not tell what is inside, but it seems to be tied to you for some reason. It seems to have been laid not long ago, but there is a very faint heartbeat coming from inside.-

Reading through the description from his skill, Cynrik’s eyes floated between the two eggs curiously. Then, wearing a calm expression, he leaned forward, carefully picked up the first egg and its pillow, and stood up. Although he couldn’t understand why he felt so close to it, Cynrik decided that he would protect whatever two creatures hatched from them and laid it to rest on his bed before turning around and replicating his actions with the other egg.

The moment the second egg and pillow left the chest, it broke apart into particles and disappeared, leaving only the Golden chest in the center of the room.

Seeing his older brother acting old of character, Brance looked up from his skill book to find Cynrik sitting on his bed staring warmly at two ostrich-sized eggs.

Eggs? You gonna eat them? Brance smirked as he poked at Cynrik, trying to initiate banter.

Eat them? Why the ** would I do that? I am clearly gunna raise whatever comes out. I have no clue what kind of creatures are inside, but it’s like they are a part of me already. Cynrik casually replied but suddenly thought of something and started yelling within the mind link.

OI, IF I SEE YOU, SO MUCH AS DROP A GLOB OF DROOL WHILE LOOKIN AT MY EGGS, I’LL MELT YOUR FUCKING SHIELDS TO SCRAP METAL! Shaking his fist angrily at his little brother, drawing a chortle from him, Cynrik glared for a second before looking back at his eggs like a Mama bird.

Never thought I’d see the day you turn into a Dad; **, this is too much. Brance looked around the room with shifty uncomfortable eyes while making fun of his brother a little longer. Eventually, after not getting any response from his taunts, Brance shrugged dismissively and went back to reading his Skill book, leaving Cynrik to gaze at his eggs in peace.

The night passed by slowly, and when the sun rose the following day, Cynrik and Brance had stowed away their second chests and continued what they had done all night long. Brance reading his book, and Cynrik watching over his eggs.

When Cinyah walked in to wake them up, she stumbled on the weird scene and froze in place. The contrast between Cynrik and Brance’s actions made her mind momentarily go blank as many questions formed. In the end, she quietly closed the door and set about making breakfast for her children.

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