The Over-Break System

–Back at VSFA–

Trying to grasp what had just been explained, Gabby and Benny sat in silence as a group with Cynrik, Brance, and Selene, who wore solemn expressions.

For the last couple of hours, Brance explained everything that had happened inside his SOC, and with Cynrik’s aid, the two decided it was time they came clean with a few of the things they had been hiding from the Sanford Siblings.

After spending so much time together and inadvertently forcing them into various situations due to their identities, the brothers collectively decided to shed some light on the Legacy Strife and their Turning Point quests.

Although they glossed over the finer points, especially the part about them being reincarnated, it wasn’t that difficult to do, considering Vinestra had already been through an LS in the past.

The tricky part of the conversation was avoiding keywords such as Legacy Charge and Legacy Strife, especially since the time Ragnar said them aloud had triggered a mysterious reaction within Cynrik’s SOC.

Gabby and Benny had been there to witness now three different Turning Point Quests, and one must not forget that they already fought alongside the brothers against another Legacy Charge before staring down a literal GOD right after.

As far as the Sanford siblings were concerned, they never questioned what was happening and accepted that there were things the Jetlensr Brothers were privy to that they weren’t.

This fact alone had weighed on Brance ever since the events of their First Egress, and seeing how upset Gabby was right after he completed his Turning Point Quest, he broke and felt the need to explain things.

After some back and forth arguing with Cynrik and Selene, the decision was made to fill in the Sanfords while keeping the more heavy details hidden through a string of truth and believable fabrications.

Noticing how deeply Gabby and Benny were affected by his words, Brance began struggling with sticking to his story, at which point, Cynrik took over. Unlike the reassuring and sugar-coated phrases his younger brother was accustomed to using, Cynrik was blunt and straightforward.

“Listen, the Turning Point quests are a kind of disability both me and Brancie have to deal with; think of it as a downside to how strong we are. I know the both of you have wondered in the past why he and I seem so competent or experienced in fighting; well, it has to do with something strange we both unlocked as babies, Bloodlines.”

“From a young age, we were slightly different, more intelligent than normal babies, and as a result, the two of us started training earlier.” Glancing at Brance from the corner of his eye, Cynrik saw a flash of sadness on his brother’s face and shook his head before continuing with his fabrication.

“Around four or five years old, we unlocked something hidden deep within our genetics, something that otherwise wouldn’t have been found. I like to think it is because we started training early, but I can’t be sure because Brance carries a different Bloodline than I do.”

“To my best understanding, it may revolve around our parent’s lineage; while Brancie takes after our father’s side of the family, I take after our mothers. This is the only explanation I could come up with as to why I obtained the Æsir traits while he got the LightBringer traits.”

“Unfortunately, by unlocking our hidden Bloodlines, we have led ourselves into a never-ending battle that began thousands of years ago, the same kind of battle we have learned about in class that turned Vinestra on its head.” Breaking off his sentence, Cynrik looked directly into Gabby’s eyes and saw realization setting in as she remembered the multiple times a similar story had been brought up in class.

“We experienced strange changes in our System, which began issuing mandatory or forced quests, and as we evolved further, our Bloodline gradually purified. With a higher Bloodline quality in our bodies, our Systems began triggering the Turning Point quests, in which we were forced to fight powerful beings from long ago, and if we lost, they were allowed to retake our bodies and live.”

“Along with the increased purity and Turning point quests, we both received special racial trait abilities; you’ve already seen Brance’s, eh what was it called again?” Frowning and looking at his brother, Cynrik asked.

“My two Abilities are the [Nephilim Mode] and [Nephilim Crest]. The mode or transformation, as you saw, changes my physical appearance, grants me wings, and gives me a temporary boost to all my stats. Meanwhile, my Crest allows me greater control over my Light Affinity, helping me create sturdy Mana Constructs easier.” Brance said while opening and closing his fists.

“Yeah, that, while Brancie has those, I have my [Húðflúr],” holding up his left arm, Cynrik activated his tattoos, which changed color and lit up in a glowing royal blue.

“These babies act as a secondary filter, enhancing the quality of the Mana stored within my Codex. As you can see, they cover all my fingers and run along my arm before stopping at my elbow, indicating that I have a low Bloodline purity.”

“Anyway, so long as they are active, I can control Mana as if my Codex is a higher stage on top of if necessary, allowing me to negate the envisioning process for skill manifestation.”

“Then there’s my [Æsir Mode], which I won’t activate now, but you guys saw back in the Obelisk, basically by treating my body and  [Húðflúr] as new Mana Circuits, I can enter a kind of powered up Mana mode. Upon activation, I enter a temporary “Overdraft” state that allows all the Mana stored in my Codex to fuse with my body increasing the power of all Affinity Skills by two times.”

“The only downside is I burn Stamina A LOT faster, and it starts affecting my motor skills if I use it for too long.” Shrugging his shoulders, Cynrik sighed and deactivated his [Húðflúr].

“Abilities aside, the thing you should take away from this is that we aren’t alone. There are more people like us, facing the same…er…trial, if you will, and they are dangerous beings just like that lizard guy we fought in the Egress. Take Selene, for example; although she never uses any of her abilities, she is the same as me, an Æsir.”

“Something is forcing us into a large-scale battle and using us as champions, and as much as I want to let you guys know everything, there are certain things I literally can not say out loud. Just be aware that in the future, there will come a time when the three of us will have to rise and fight against multiple strong opponents; that is why we train so hard and push you guys equally as hard because it won’t be just us, the whole planet will be involved, so something big is coming. We all need to be ready.” Finishing his statement, Cynrik closed his mouth and crossed his arms, waiting for everything to sink in.

Cynrik and Brance had suddenly dumped a lot of information on Gabby and Benny, and honestly, they would understand if the two freaked out, but much to their surprise, that didn’t happen.

It was apparent from a casual glance at the Sanford siblings that their resolve was burning. Benny wanted to strengthen himself so he could help in the coming days, while Gabby wished to stay by Brance’s side no matter what.

The two siblings looked at each other, then back to Cynrik, Brance, and Selene before speaking in unison.

“So what do we do next.”

Brance stiffened, but Cynrik smirked sadistically at the response.

“Hehe, that’s what I like to hear, alright; getting into the nitty-gritty, there were two other people like us at the Selections. One is the son of Supremacy University’s Headmaster Viktor Opurn, and the other, well, the other is our cousin and the favored grandson of Finwan Academies Headmaster, our grandfather Lithlen Jetlensr.”

“I have no doubt that both will be on their Academies’ respective Tier-3 teams, which is the main factor for me pushing us into our subsequent Evolutions as soon as possible. If not, the odds are they would find trouble with us outside of campus during the competitions.”

“So it made more sense to rise to the challenge and put them in their places ahead of time?” Tilting her head to the side, Gabby cut in and received a confirmation not from Cynrik before he kept speaking.

“The plan has never changed, and since I was able to negotiate some terms with Headmaster Rivia, I landed us all the opportunities we would need to get to Tier-3; it’s just a matter of pulling it off.”

Looking around the training room, Cynrik met everyone’s eyes and smiled. Although it was still too early for the Sanfords, he had trained them from day one to prepare for the inevitable large-scale battle.

“Step one is to get Gabby a Beast partner,” pausing to check his Watcet, Cynrik sighed loudly.

“It’s already 10 in the morning, so all the shops should be open; Brancie, you head over to the pet stores and find Gabby something suitable, make sure the creature has a good growth prediction on top of versatile stat distributions. Money isn’t an option, so if you end up not having enough cash on hand, let me know, and I will wire it over.”

“Right,” nodding and standing up, Brance motioned to Gabby, who couldn’t help but get excited that it was finally time to get her pet.

“Selene, you and Benny are to head to the Tradeskill district and research how the pros set up their equipment; I don’t want either of you slacking off and having messy work areas since we will be setting them up here in our Dorm.”

“Once you all leave, I plan on sending a request to the Headmaster to allow us to move into a larger group dorm together or add some work areas to this building.”

“Kay, come along, Benny Boy, time to work!” Jumping to her feet and grabbing Benny by the scruff of his neck, Selene carried off the much larger Benny like a cat out of the training room, making everyone else laugh at the sight.

Nodding at Cynrik, Brance and Gabby both left the training room together, and soon, Cynrik was all alone, sitting on the ground, lost in thought.

‘Sigh, Tobs, we didn’t break any rules by telling them what we did…right?’ Leaning back on his outstretched arms, Cynrik looked toward the ceiling where he imagined Tobs was floating.

-No, no rules were broken; you were able to skirt around anything that could be considered privileged or classified information. However, I don’t necessarily agree with informing the Sanford Siblings about your Bloodlines so early. The three of you are different from them; partnering your past memories, combat experience, and my help, you will no doubt create a significant gap in your strength and that of Gabby and Benny over time.