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n“Yep, those are my boys, Cynrik is 12 going on 13, and Brance is 11. We figured that since they’re going to be taking the exams, we may as well swing by so I could introduce you to them and pick up that project I asked your Dad to do for me.”

nMaeve broke into a wide grin before scurrying back behind the counter and ducking down in search of something. “Dad just finished them up, not sure why you wanted these little things made, but everything is right here.”

nBANG

nReappearing from behind the counter, Maeve dropped a large wooden crate onto the counter, drawing Cinyah’s attention, and even causing the two boys to whip around like scared rabbits and look for the source of the noise.

n“Hey, knuckleheads, get over there; your Mom has a present for you.” Rikard, who had entered silently as if hiding from someone, hissed at Cynirk and Brance before sneaking off to the stairs leading to the shop’s second floor.

nNoticing his father’s sketchy act, Cynrik picked up on something and, with narrow eyes, looked back and forth between Rikard and Maeve. Then, as he watched his father head up the first couple of steps, a sudden thought popped into his head, and his lips curled into a cynical smirk.

nWithout wasting any more time, to not let his father escape from what was sure to be an exciting event, Cynrik dashed forward as fast as he could, blurring into an afterimage, and swiftly appeared behind Rikard. Using his left hand, he reached out and grabbed the man by the back of his neck and, in one smooth movement, threw Rikard with as much force as he could muster, flinging him from the stairs with a yelp and sending him in the direction of Cinyah and Maeve.

n“BOY, WHAT ARE YOU…”

nCRASH!

nRikard landed fifty feet away with a loud crash, sliding to a stop right at Cinyah’s feet.

nStunned at the fact her husband was just flung across the store by her son, who was significantly weaker than him, Cinyah’s mouth dropped open.

n“OH, HO HO! If it isn’t my ex-boyfriend and the man who stole my best friend from me.” Maeve had a very different reaction when she saw the man suddenly appear in front of her thanks to the young boy across the store.

nFeeling betrayed by his oldest son, who tossed him to the she-wolf known as Maeve, Rikard jumped back to his feet and dusted himself before acting as if nothing had happened.

n“Hello Maeve, how have you been? Have you eaten today?” Rikard tried playing off how awkward he felt just being near his ex by asking a bunch of irrelevant and random questions rapidly, while Brance and Cynrik crept up on the scene, with faces full of excitement.

nThey had grown bored with their mother constantly harassing their father, and now it was as if a scene from a lousy drama show was playing out right before their eyes. Cynrik and Brance were fully invested in just how their father would get himself out of this situation within a couple of words.

n“Are you married? How bout kids? You always liked kids; I’m sure you have a couple of munchkins by now, right?” With each passing second, Rikard seemed to get more frantic, as Maeve’s face, which only seconds ago was full of smiles, fell from playful to displeased to full-on aggravated to finally a look of disgust.

n“SHUT UP, YOU BIG LUMMOX!” Then, acting like twins, both Cinyah and Maeve shouted in unison before smacking him in the head from both sides.

nBreathing heavily, both women lashed out at Rikard and started batting him over and over on the head until he shut up and stood frozen in place.

nOne final smack echoed before being followed by silence.

n“pppppffftt HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!”

nWhich was broken by the person who started the whole skit, Cynrik, who burst out laughing so hard that tears streamed down his cheeks.

n“No way, haha…Dad…haha, he got abused by not just Mom, but even this Auntie. Sucks to be you, Dad… OWW HEYY AUNTIE OWW HEY STOP!” The moment Cynrik started making fun of Rikard, Maeve appeared next to him and reached out, grabbing his ear and giving it a good twist.

n“And just who are you calling an Auntie, I’ll have you know, I am still young enough to be your older sister. How dare you!”

n“Ahhh AHHH MOM, MOM, STOP THIS OWWW, CRAZY AUNTIE!” Being brought from heaven to hell in an instant, Cynrik frantically cried out for Cinyah’s help, but it fell on deaf ears.

nNot wanting to be caught in the crossfire, Brance slipped away and stood next to Cinyah with his hands clasped in front of him.

n“Um, Mom, is this your best friend who you’ve told us so much about? The one who is really young and that you hope I one day find someone as beautiful as her to marry?” Putting on his “I’m innocent of all crimes” look, Brance asked.

nFUCKING TRAITOR. YOU TREACHEROUS FUCKING TRAITOR! Cynrik howled in anger after hearing his brother’s betrayal.

n“Yes, honey, this is my best friend, who I’ve known since I was your age, Maeve Pinhurst. Go say hi.” Cinyah giggled before patting Brance on the head and giving him a nudge forward so he would introduce himself.

nBrance nodded slightly and walked up to Maeve, who was still trying to twist off his brother’s ear, kicked the ground lightly, acting bashful, and looked up at the pretty blond lady.

n“Hello, Big Sister Maeve, my Mom told me all about you. She told me how you were the prettiest and nicest woman she knew and that she hopes one day I’ll be lucky enough to marry someone even half as perfect as you.”

nI’LL KILL YOU, BRANCE! FUCK.

nBANG

nUpon seeing the sweet 10-year-old boy come up and introduce himself while laying on the flattery, Maeve almost squealed in excitement. But not before she landed a devastating flick directly to Cynrik’s forehead, which carried enough force to rocket him 10 feet away and into a shelf full of leather armor.

n“My gosh, aren’t you just the sweetest thing, come here and give this Big Sister a hug.” Maeve knelt down to be on eye level with Brance and opened her arms, inviting him into a hug, to which he jumped into her embrace and obliged.

n“Such a good boy, don’t let that rascal older brother of yours tarnish your goodness.” Releasing Brance and standing up, she tossed a glare at Cynrik, who was buried under several sets of leather armor and scoffed.

nClicking her tongue and shaking her head, Maeve stepped back behind the counter and placed her hands on top of the large wooden crate. “How come the older one turned out to be such a rascal, while the younger one is so cute?”

n“Honestly, your guess is as good as mine; I swear, Cynrik is always causing some kind of trouble, while little Brancie here gets good grades and never gets into trouble. SIGH.” Cinyah tossed a look at Rikard, who was frozen in place like a small animal standing before a lion and then to her oldest son, who was trying to extract himself from a pile of armor.

nRolling her eyes at both of them, she walked up to the counter and reached out with her Watcet facing Maeve’s, and sent over the payment for the special items housed in the crate.

nMaeve scrolled through the notification from her system, informing her of the payment being received, and took off the crate’s lid before stepping away and letting Cinyah take a peek at its contents.

n“Brancie, since you’ve behaved, you can have your presents first.” Then, checking the crate’s contents were all there, she waved over Brance and had him stand next to her.

n“Oh, presents!” Brance hopped over to his mother’s side and stood obediently, and waited to be given whatever was in the crate.

n“First things, first.” Cinyah reached in and pulled out what appeared to be a chainmail vest, and Maeve narrated the items.

n“Your Mom mentioned how you plan on choosing the Warrior Class and becoming the Tank of whatever party you join, but you’re too small to be fitted for plate armor yet. So this will at least give you some protection. Each link was handcrafted using our signature Cold Steel, a mixture of five different minerals, then inscribed with runes before infusing Earth Mana into the metal. This will allow you to charge your Earth spells directly into the metal, giving you a significant increase in its defensive properties. Remember, it’s under armor, so you should wear it under your clothes until you get your first set of plate armor.” Maeve watched as Brance gave a polite nod before excitedly pulling off his shirt and putting on the lightweight chainmail vest. After moving around a bit and getting used to wearing the chainmail, Brance pulled his green t-shirt on, covering his new armor piece up, before adding it to his T1 loadout and sending it to his inventory.

n“It doesn’t itch or pinch at all; it’s awesome thank you so much, Mom and Big Sister Maeve.” Cynrik snorted angrily, hearing how his brother was buttering up to the ladies while he was forced to neatly place all the armor that had fallen on him earlier back on the shelves.

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