Broken Tower Saga: The First Swordsman

It was the evening of the departure as they were enjoying the last day together with themselves, laughing and singing. Evan and his two companions were here with them on the occasion in the few days they seemed to have changed a lot, not emotionally, but physically. The little boy who only knew to cry, was a little bigger now, though still hides behind her sister if any dangers arrives, he was far better now.

Sophia gazed at them closely and found most of the changes about them, though she was sure there was something more. But her attention was before everyone else now. After the test the relationship between her sister and Tanya seemed to get better, though they were still avoiding each other more.

But she could tell it was something else. They were blushing at each other far more than usual, while stealing looks at each other. She even found them hugging in some corner. She did not know bringing Tanya out of it now would be the right decision, as she knew her sister had to face her fear today or tomorrow. But giving her free space and a change of environment was good as well.

"So what's the punishment we have for Wrik and Tanya?" Anton asked loudly.

They all turned to Michelle, who had the most say in this, as she had been the first to complete the test with Byul—not to mention she made the bet in the first place.

"I'll say it again if it is something too embarrassing I won't do it," Wrik said.

"Don't worry, it is not something that embarrassing," Michelle said, "Though I can't tell the same about what your brother picks." She nudge Byul and said, "Byul, bring in the stuff that we will need during the performance."

Wrik looked at the two of them particularly and gave Tanya a look. They saw the short girl bringing in two packs of clothing with her.

"You two don't have to do something too embracing," the redhead said again as the two of them distributed the clothing to him and Tanya. "Your job is to entertain us. You will dance together and sing a song before us."

Wrik was about to deny it at once. Doing something like that before all of them was too uncomfortable for him, not to say if Tanya will be happy with it.

"You can't say no," Michelle said and started to pull him towards his room to change. Byul did the same to Tanya. In the end, they could only agree with that.

Sophia could not help but smile at the scene before her. She drank her drink and waited for the show to unfold before her. But abruptly, a frown appeared on her brows and she stood up.

"You guys go on, I'll be right back in a moment," she said to the others and moved out of the suite. The frown formed on her brows again, and she brought out her omega cube.

There was a single message in it that said, meet me on the rooftop.

The resort was twenty floors tall, so getting to the roof of will take a while if she did not use any supernatural means, but she must go there and have a look.

Sophia did not take the usual take, like using the stairs or lift, but walked outside of the resort. After reaching a safe spot, she takes a jump from there. In an instant, her figure disappeared from the spot as she appeared on the rooftop of the Sunset resort. Even the mahasayer and guards protecting along with the formation in place, could not detect her, just like the palanquin there. Nobody knew when it appeared on the rooftop.

Sophia did not go inside it, but walked towards the edge and stood by it. A strong gust of wind was blowing, though it did nothing apart from swaying her golden hair.

"Are you not going to come?" A voice said from the palanquin. It was a high pitched voice.

Sophia did not answer, only stood there silently in the wind. The sky was not cloudy, full of stars and heavenly bodies, but for her, she knew all of it was fake, like the harmless appearance of the man behind her.

"What are you scheming with the boys?" she asked first, not looking back.

The short, bald man walked his way towards her and took a spot beside her. Sophia looked at him with a piercing gaze.

"I'm doing nothing bad to them," Ryat said quietly. "What I am doing is a necessity."

Sophia glared at the bald man before her. "I swear if anything bad happens to them, I will gouge your eyes out and make you something even hideous than the infectors."

Ryat showed no fear—not that he had none, but showing her would dis-value what he needs from her. "This isn't like you," he said. "How come you become so close to them in just a couple of months?"

"You don't need to know that," she said. "Tell me what you are doing with them first."

"I can't tell you that. But what I can tell you," Ryat paused for a second and continued looking into her eyes. "I won't let anything happen to them on my watch. You have my words in this." 

"Wow, I can't believe my ears. Is it really you that shady baldie who makes a fuss for even a single ounce of money?" Sophia was truly surprised. As she knew about the reputation of the man before her, it was truly unconceivable to hear something like this from him.

"Do you want me to repeat myself?" Ryat said with a smile.

She shook her head. Wrik was big enough to make his decision, and she knew he was far more safe than he looks and besides, how would she stop him? "Tell me what you need?"

Ryat released a breath. "What I need is something personal from you," he said, ``it won't be easy to get it. His eyes lingered on the golden bracelet on her arm. "I wanted to borrow that from you for some time."

A deep frown appeared instantly on her brows, and her eyes narrowed. No one other than her family knows what the deal is with the golden bracelet on her arm. Anyone could tell it appeared to be some old powerful artifact, but nothing more. Even she did not know the entire history of it. Well, truthfully speaking, she only knows some part of it that came from her ancestry and that ancestry was entirely different from Tanya's.

It was the only thing that she had from her father, as told by her mother. A father she never met, yet her mother told this thing would protect her on many occasion; surprisingly it did. Other than the overwhelming edge on mana usage, it seemed to have other abilities she was not sure of. She had asked about it from her mother when their relationship was somewhat good, but all the answers she got led her to a dead end.

Now this short bald man has a peculiar history that she was not aware of asking for that bracelet for her. Would she be angry or delighted about it? For some reason, she was feeling both of the feelings.

"Do you know the origin of this bracelet?" she asked slowly.

"Somewhat."

"You should know that most people could not use it," she said again. It was the truth she had tried it with Tanya and a couple of other of her colleagues, yet it did not work with them. The only conclusion she could take from there was that it was bound by some rules of blood or other things.

"I know," Ryat said. "But I still use it. You don't need to worry, I will deliver it to you after a couple of weeks in the original state with a present as the payment of this."

Sophia gasped for breath. "Tell me what you know about this bracelet, then I'll think about giving it to you or not," she said, with icy cold eyes."

"I cannot do that," Ryat said without a moment of thinking.

"Then say goodbye to your dream about borrowing it."

Ryat could not help but sigh. Telling Sophia about it was not a problem, but he could not predict what she would do after it. Even though Sophia had the wisdom and did everything with a clear plan, if she knew the history, he did not know if she could calm her crazy head. More importantly, who could tell her mother would not come for his blood—after all, that woman was hiding it for her life with stones in her heart. Well, telling her was not a problem, but keeping her calm after that was.

"Let's make a contract then," he said finally and took out some papers. "I will tell you what I know about the bracelet after I finish my business here, but there is some condition to it. In return, I only wanted to borrow it for a couple of weeks."

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