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nCynrik scoffed as he read the next part of their EPIC quest. ‘Seriously, TOBS, YOU CAN’T PLAY FAVORITES BETWEEN BRANCE AND I!’

n-You have received 5000 XP, 10 Skill points, and 5 Stat points-

n– You have received a system-generated teleportation waypoint.

n– EPIC Chain quest has been updated –

n-Emergency Quest Haylons Shadow (EPIC Chain) 2

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n– The host has successfully brought Gabby and Benny Sandford to a safe location and has successfully contacted Cinyah and Rikard Jetlensr-

n– Part 2 A: Place system-generated teleportation waypoint in the safe location. (Incomplete)-

n– Part 2 B: Sneak back into the captive area in the Haylons Shadow base undetected. (Incomplete)-

n– Part 2 C: Place system-generated teleportation waypoint in the captive area. (Incomplete)-

n-Reward 25000 XP, 5 Skill points, 10 Stat points.-

n-Time remaining to failure 20 minutes.-

nIt didn’t take a genius to figure out what their third quest in the chain would be; it was safe to assume that Tobs would force them to rescue the kids after dropping these teleportation waypoints.

nSighing loudly as he finished reading the new quest prompts, Cynrik leaned against the wall with his hands behind his head and stared aimlessly at the ceiling. Fuck, Tobs just loves to make my life harder, doesn’t it.

nDon’t act like you give a **; I know all you see is the rewards. We can safely assume it’s gonna be a rescue mission next. We have to wake up Benny and make sure he directs the kids when they get sent over. All our work will be useless if the kids start running wild and panicking.

nUnlike Cynrik, who felt like this quest was becoming a waste of time, Brance was quietly thanking Tobs; it was breaking his heart knowing they had left so many helpless children in basically hell, more so now that Cynrik had set the hotel ablaze.

nAgreed, at least it’s Benny we’re dealing with. He’s spent enough time around us to bring his IQ up a few years; if it was some random kid, I doubt they’d have any idea what to do, let alone listen to orders from us. Pushing off the wall, Cynrik walked over to where Benny and Gabby were slumped against each other, unconscious.

nFear gripped Brance’s heart when he saw Cynirk moving to wake the children. Even when it came to children, he was notorious for being heavy-handed, so Brance frantically tried stopping him. “Hey, ill wake them up and fill them in on what’s happening. You go… I don’t know, be a lookout or something.”

n“Tsk, fine, just make it quick times ticking, it’ll take us around 3 minutes to get back to the hotel,” sucking his teeth and placing his hands behind his head Cynrik, casually walked out of the office building.

nBrance shook his head and directed his attention to the unconscious Benny and knelt next to him. “Hey, Hey Benny, wake up,” using his little kid voice and lightly shaking the boy in front of him, Brance gently tried not to startle him but was still forceful in his shakes.

n“Ugh, huh, Brancie, what happened? WAIT, IS GABBY OK?” after a few shakes, Benny’s eyes opened, and Brance could see the terror in his eyes.

n“It’s OK, Benny, she’s fine, Big brother and I saved you both, but that’s not important; you need to listen, OK.”

n“In a couple of minutes, big brother Cyn and I have to go and save the other kids; see this lil flashlight thing?” Brance pulled out the teleportation waypoint that Tobs put in his inventory when the second part of the quest began. It had a small green flashlight-like body with a clear plastic cone on the top.

n“My system gave big brother and me a special mission, so we have to complete it; all I need you to do is stay here with your sister. I have to put this cone down, and when Cyn puts the other own down, it’s gonna make a special thing that can bring all the kids over here. Since you’re the second oldest, you have to be sure the kids don’t run away.”

nBenny listened to every word Brance said while pulling his sister closer and looking at the teleportation waypoint carefully while nodding his head over and over to show he understood.

nThanks to Vinestra’s Systems’ existence, and his exposure to the two brothers, Benny was significantly more intelligent than a seven-year-old back on Earth, so although he was still in shock at what had transpired, he followed along with the information being given to him. His system had even given him a specially generated quest, telling him to stay put and protect the teleportation waypoint, which made Brance’s job a bit easier.

n“OK, Brancie, ill stay here and protect that thingy and my sister. Once the other kids get here, I’ll try to keep them calm and together,” although Brance could tell he was still terrified, he knew that Benny was trying his best to be strong.

nGiving him a nod and a pat on the shoulder, Brance stood up, clicked the big button on the waypoint, and lightly placed it on the ground in an open space in the center of the room. It lit up the moment he did and started slowly flashing off and on.

n-Emergency Quest Haylons Shadow (EPIC Chain) 2

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n-Part 2 A: Place System generated teleportation waypoint in the safe location. (Complete)-

n-Time remaining to failure 18:01-

n“I gotta go help big brother now Benny, if you hear or see anyone other than another kid or us, grab the flashlight thing and hide; there are plenty of places here for that, do you got it?”

nBenny once again nodded and said he understood before going about trying to wake up Gabby.

nSeeing this, Brance didn’t look back and immediately sprinted out of the building to where he saw Cynrik standing in place, looking towards a large smoke cloud rising into the sky.

nSensing Brance coming up behind him, Cynrik didn’t say anything and instead dashed off towards the hotel.

nBenny and Gabby are alright, not that you give a damn. I’m sure you saw part A was completed; still aggravated with Cynrik, Brance started scolding him while trying to keep up.

nLess than 18 minutes left, there’s no time to worry about anything other than what’s ahead of us.

nSeriously Cyn, would it kill you to care about other people for once?

nI mean, I’ve already got my hands full keeping tabs on you, don’t I? That in itself is already nearly my limit for **s given. Anyway, we don’t know what we are walking into here. When we get a bit closer, I’ll toss up Shadow Veil, and we will sneak back into the cell-way (Cynrik has dubbed the hallway lined with cells the “cell-way) the same way we snuck out. Remember, it’s all about stealth; we cant be noticed. If we see any bs, we can’t stop.

nCynrik looked over his shoulder as he briefed Brance on their strategy. I mean it, Brance, no distractions, we get in, drop the waypoint and get ready for whatever the hell is next.

nShut up. I heard you the first time; I’m not about to jeopardize our lives for strangers; Brance growled, feeling wronged by his brother’s accusations.

nOw, oww my chest…my nose, they still hurt from the last time you jeopardized our lives. Cynrik gripped his chest dramatically with one hand and rubbed his nose with the other as he ran and acted as if he was in pain.

nOh, quit your bitching; at least I didn’t hit you with my shield; snorting, Brance decided to ignore Cynrik for the rest of their trip.

nApproximately 3 minutes later, they arrived half a block away from the hotel and hid in an ally between two abandoned buildings while scoping out the scene.

nCynrik activated Mana Sight with a frown and started counting the bodies standing in front of the hotel that was no longer on fire and was only billowing smoke. Mannnn, they put out my masterpiece, tsk, welp, it’s not as bad as I was figuring. It looks like they’ve stationed five people to guard the entrance; inside, there’s another seven searching for clues in the lobby.

nCrouched beside Cynrik, Brance was scanning the second and third floors. They found our kills, and it looks like they’ve got another group upstairs, going room to room looking for us.

nDo you have eyes on that mini-boss from the cell-way? Taking in the information being relayed by Brance, Cynirk went about trying to locate actual threats.

nBoth of their eyes were glowing slightly and darting in every direction rapidly. Finally, Brance located Myer on the sixth floor. Got him, sixth floor three o clock stepping out of what I assume is an elevator.

nCopy, alright, stay close. From what I can tell, they blasted the basement door off the hinges and cleared the pyre I made earlier, and it looks like the front door got taken out as well, so it’ll be a straight shot to the basement. They left two guards down there that we’ll have to eliminate, but other than that… Cynrik stopped himself before he finished his following sentence. Since they were about to do a stealth operation, he couldn’t say, “this should be easy,” because he was superstitious about dropping flags.

nBrance was equally superstitious and wasn’t about to Murphy’s law himself either. (Anything that can go wrong will go wrong)

nLet’s move, the timers at 13:40. Waving his hand towards Brance, Cynrik activated Shadow Veil, covering both of them, which was the signal they had agreed on for moving out.

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