The Over-Break System

“There is no telling how long you will be locked in combat, and when she notices you aren’t in the living room, the first place she will come is here.”

“So get off your bullshit high horse and wake your girlfriend up, or I will do it for you.” Sipping his coffee and ignoring the angry look Brance was shooting him, Cynrik calmly waved his hand and shooed off Brance.

Groaning loudly, Brance stood up and left the training room, making his way toward his bedroom, and when he opened the door, he found Gabby sleeping soundly, which made him sigh since he knew she wouldn’t be happy with him waking her up.

Creeping to her side of the bed, he knelt and brushed the hair from her face, making Gabby move as she nuzzled up against his hand as if unconsciously recognizing it as Brance’s touch.

“Little Rabbit, I need you to wake up, something important is happening, and I need you by my side,” Brance whispered so as not to startle the sleeping girl.

“Mmh, what…what’s wrong, Brancie?” Opening her eyes groggily, Gabby noticed the stern expression on her boyfriend’s face and had to fight back the urge to begin panicking instantly.

If Brance was waking her up in the middle of the night, there could only be two reasons, they were in trouble and had to leave the house, or two, there was an enemy attack.

Seeing as he didn’t look panicked and only heavily concerned, Gabby sat up while rubbing the exhaustion from her eyes and looked around for a second before noticing she was in Brance’s room and bed, a far cry from where she had fallen asleep his lap.

“I need you to stay calm ok? Do you remember those trials I told you that Big Brother and I must go through periodically? Well, now it is my turn.” Pausing and giving Gabby a second to collect herself, Brance only continued speaking when he received a nod of understanding from her.

“Big Brother had gone through two trials in the past, the second of which was when we evolved to Tier 2. However, I have yet to go through my first. That is, until now.”

“I don’t know how long it will take, but I can tell you that even though it will be dangerous, it shouldn’t be anything I can’t handle. Still, I needed to inform you ahead of time; that way, you wouldn’t have to find out by stumbling upon me and Big Brother in the training room once you woke up.” Sitting beside her on the bed, Brance briefly explained his situation to Gabby.

When he finished, the room fell silent as Gabby digested the information. She had long known about the trials Brance was talking about, but since he had never gone through one, she had figured it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case in the slightest. Brance, although summarizing and not giving her the whole story, spoke in detail about how he had been suppressing the same thing that made Cynrik lose his mind ages ago, and this thought frightened the girl to no end.

Still to this day, she would occasionally have nightmares of the bloodthirsty-looking Cynrik as he stalked toward her, ready to strike her down without a second thought.

Feeling the worry and panic rising in her heart, Gabby gripped Brance’s hand tightly and met his eyes.

“What can I do to help? I remember you constantly healing Big Bro when he was in trouble last time. Is that what you need of me? If that’s the case, I have several plants back at home that have good healing properties for the body, spirit, and mind. No matter the price or Cost, I will be there because I love you.” Feeling the warmth creeping up to her cheeks, Gabby didn’t hesitate to add those final three words, which caused Brance’s face to crumble.

“Aside from helping me heal if necessary, this is something that I have to do alone; think of it as a forced solo quest forbidding any outside help.” After being caught off guard by her three-word critical hit, Brance had to gulp profoundly and figure out what to say next.

“You can only heal the external injuries I may accumulate; however, since these trials happen in what’s called the Sea of Consciousness, I will be isolated from the outside world.” After finishing that statement, seeing the sad look on her face since he didn’t say the words in return, Brance boldly reached up, cupped Gabby’s cheeks, and kissed her.

His act caused the girl’s whole body to melt in his grasp and close her eyes as she enjoyed the passionate kiss, returning it with just as much enthusiasm as Brance put out.

After a solid two minutes of passion, the two separated while panting as Gabby looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She couldn’t help but have a bad feeling, as Brance was never this forward and had always resisted anything physical with her. Yet, he was doing the opposite of his usual and predictable actions.

Sensing the extreme anxiety rising in Gabby, Brance leaned over and kissed her forehead.

“I love you too, Gabby, and don’t worry; I’ve got this.” Before he could even get the words out completely, Gabby tackled him into a desperate hug that found them both lying on the bed, with Gabby on top of Brance’s chest as his hands found her hips, and the atmosphere in the room started getting steamy.

The words spoken by Brance seemed to open a flood gate of emotion from Gabby, who, unable to restrain herself any longer, began a passionate make-out session where the two’s hands ran wild on each other’s bodies.

But as Brance set certain boundaries, he never allowed things to progress too far, stopping her anytime her hands wandered lower down his body, as he knew it was still too early.

Getting frustrated that Brance wasn’t exploring her body the way she wanted him to, Gabby gripped his hands and tried to guide them under her shirt several times.

Still, each time she was thwarted by her boyfriend, who calmly and firmly removed his hands from under the shirt and placed them back on her hips without breaking off the kiss.

Eventually, after several heated minutes, the two laid side by side as Brance tucked a lock of hair behind Gabby’s ear and kissed the tip of her nose before continuing what he wanted to say earlier.

“It isn’t going to be any worse than fighting that overgrown snake dude back in the Egress. Oh, also, those plants are a good idea; I’ll have Big Brother wake up Selene so she can accompany you back to the dorm quickly; time is of the essence, and every minute that ticks by means that my opponent is potentially getting stronger.”

“Ok, I understand,” although pouting slightly at the fact she was still fully clothed and Brance hadn’t tried advancing things further, Gabby relented and adjusted the baggy and loose T-shirt she had borrowed as nightwear.

[Wake up Selene and have her escort Gabby back to their dorm, she needs supplies, and she will be taking on the job of healing. She has been stocking up on different plants that can do the job, but she doesn’t carry them around.]

It took some time for Cynrik to wake up Selene, but within the hour, Gabby and Selene returned, carrying two potted plants. Once they arrived in the training room, Selene quickly exited to assist Cynrik in something, leaving Gabby alone as she distributed dozens of strange-looking flowers around the room strategically.

From a bird’s eye view of the room’s ceiling, one would notice she was arranging the plants in what could only be described as a spell formation.

Pulling out all the stops, Gabby was prepared for anything that could potentially arise, and after around an hour of setup, she finally sat down in front of Brance, who was dead center in the room, meditating to calm his mind down.

Sitting in silence, Gabby burned the image of Brance in her mind, as she didn’t want to forget even a second of what he looked like while perfectly calm and pain-free.

For someone who was planning on having a medical profession potentially, she needed to be able to spot any minute changes that would occur in his body.

Using his current meditative and relaxed visage as a reference, she would be able to tell when she needed to heal him during the trial actively.

Several minutes later, Cynrik and Selene returned to the training room with a groggy Benny tagging along as all three had their arms full of thermoses of hot coffee.

Hearing the noisy bunch enter the room, Brance calmly opened his eyes and watched as Selene and Benny split off from Cynrik and stayed outside of the plant formation in the far reaches of the room.

When Cynrik woke up Selene, he also went after Benny, quickly filling them in on the situation.

Benny and Selene went to work, Benny staying back to make several pots of coffee, while Selene ran off with Gabby to get the plants before joining him to fill up the large containers with piping hot coffee for their long night and day ahead.

Once everyone was in place, Brance looked to Cynrik, who nodded back.

[Remember, get in, and immediately begin charging your Tower, there is unlimited Mana inside your SOC, so use it, form that fucker as big as possible and turn it into a fortified structure. It will be the key to your victory and only engage in a 1v1 fight as a last resort.]

[Odds are, the being will be a minimum of peak Tier-4 and Maximum of Mid Tier-5, don’t let its power catch you off guard and stay focused. Your Tower is your greatest asset; use it properly and don’t waste any shots. I don’t know how long it will take for it to notice your presence, but every second before then will be vital. Use it well and kick the fuck out of that feathered bastard.]

Detailing out a rough plan for Brance, Cynrik bumped fists with his younger brother and stepped back.

[Got it,] bumping fists with Cynrik, Brance looked at Selene and Benny, who non-verbally encouraged him before his eyes finally landed on Gabby.

“Show that asshole who’s boss, it’s your body, not his, and if he thinks he can fucking beat you, then he clearly has never faced someone on par with the MyrkLys Co-Leader,” Gabby said with a fierce smile reminiscent of Cynrik, as she swore startling everyone, and making them realize how angry she indeed was.

“See you in a bit,” not wanting to try and follow up Gabby’s speech and riding the high from it, Brance exhaled slowly and closed his eyes.

‘Take me to my SOC Tobs,’ giving the command; the next time Brance opened his eyes, he was in a majestic mountainous land with brightly shining suns that felt more like home than anything he had ever experienced.

Brance went to work channeling as much Mana as his body could handle, not letting himself get caught off guard; he next slammed both his feet knee-deep into the rocky terrain and began working on summoning his Tower.

“My Terra lays the stone-like foundation to support me in my efforts to protect those I love,”