Brance watched in confusion as Cynrik hugged their mother, showing a rare amount of emotion for the first time in years.
[Are..are you crying?] Gasping and covering his mouth with his hand, Brance asked quietly.
[NO,(sniff) I’m not crying. It’s just the rain; can’t you see it’s pouring right now?] Wiping his eyes and releasing his embrace on Cinyah, Cynrik stepped back over to the counter so he could admire his new hidden blades.
“Um…Cynrik’s crying.” Not letting this opportunity to tease Cynrik go, Brance brought everyone’s attention to his older brother, causing Cynrik to shiver and bury his head in the box he was sifting through.
“SHUT UP, NO, I’m not (sniff).” Everyone except Rikard, who was still trying to hide, laughed loudly at Cynrik’s expense.
“Right, you’re not crying. You’re a big boy; you’ve just got something in your eye, I see.” Propping herself up on her elbows on the counter, Maeve leaned forward towards Cynrik, exposing the deep trench caused by her breasts, which were slightly exposed due to the cut of her shirt. The flirtatious tone she was using would have worked on just about anyone…anyone except Cynrik.
“Tsk, Auntie, at your age, you should cover yourself more.”
‘Especially since you are at least two full sizes smaller than Mom.’ Even the dense Cynrik knew better than to say the last part out loud. Counter-attacking Maeve’s taunts, Cynrik crossed his arms over his chest, making an X, as if he was being sexually harassed.
Once again, the shop became noisy as Cynrik desperately tried to dodge the She-Wolfs, attacks. After several more forehead flicks were administered, Maeve finally calmed down, and Cynrik was banished to a small room, which doubled as a workshop so that he could make the necessary adjustments to his Assassins Tools.
Carrying the metal box with his parts, Cynrik took a seat on a stool and placed it down on the large workbench.
The two battle-damaged, worn-out Assassins tools appeared on the workbench with a wave of his hand, alongside his Engineer kit, which held the tools he used when taking apart things.
‘Alright, first things first, let’s get the old leather bracer dismantled.’ Cynrik’s hands moved with experience as he swiftly broke down the tool, and within a couple of minutes, all that remained was the skeleton of the device and the primary mechanism. Layed out neatly on the table were all the individual parts that made the Assassins tool. Cynrik had done this repeatedly over the years to clean the device properly.
His eyes drifted over the original blades; they had several cracks and chips from years of training and the events of Haylon’s Shadow. But the most damage was caused by overloading them with his Darkness Mana in the final battle with Myer. Even now, five years later, they still were heavily contaminated and leaked minute amounts of Mana Particles from the vein-like cracks that covered the blade’s entire surface.
When he initially saw the damage, Cynrik was shocked that they hadn’t wholly shattered as his SunFlare had. Instead, he had concluded that due to the intense heat he was generating during that fight, he must have somehow reforged them, using the Dark Mana particles as some kind of catalyst. Directing his attention away from them, Cynrik made a mental note to ask Maeve about it when he was done with his assembly.
Gingerly, Cynrik reached into the box, pulled out a device that resembled the primary mechanism, and started forming a mental blueprint of how he wanted his upgraded hidden blade to look and function.
For the next hour, Cynrik set about using the new parts he received as a birthday present to completely rebuild his Assassins tool. After several attempts, he finally completed the first one, and using the knowledge he gained from it, was quickly able to complete the second, just as he heard Cinyah telling him it was time to go take the exams.
Wiping the sweat from his brow and storing everything on the workbench, Cynrik gave one final look over his new hidden blades and used Inspect.
-Custom Assassins Tool (Creed MK1)-
-Tier-1: Special Grade(Upgradeable)-
– Classification: Bracer with revolver Hidden Blade mechanism –
– A highly customized Assassins tool that has been redesigned from the ground up by Cynrik Jetlensr. The outer shell is formed with a layer of Runic Inscribed ShadeDrake hide, while the internal skeleton has been reinforced with ShadeDrake Bone. The inner portion of the device has been completely redesigned and now has two extra compartments on either side of the primary drawer mechanism, which can house two additional blades for a total of three. The extension mechanism has been modified to quickly and automatically swap blades in a revolver style. The newest addition is the ejection mechanism; by infusing Mana Particles into this device, a hidden blade can be fired from the central housing drawer, giving the device projectile attack capabilities.-
– Slot 1: Tier-1 SG Cold-Steel Hidden Blade-
– Slot 2: Tier-1 SG SunFlare Hidden Blade-
– Slot 3: Dark Infused Hidden Blade
– +5 DEF –
– +5 DEX –
– Ability: Allows the wielder to receive two attacks without being knocked out of Dark Affinity Skills that hide the user’s appearance or presence.
– Passive Special Skill: Quick Change – By making a particular flicking motion, the revolver mechanism will grab one of the available blades and automatically slot it into the drawer chamber.
– Special Skill: Blade Shot – The wearer can fire the chambered hidden blade by infusing Mana into the firing mechanism. The range and power of this attack depends on how much Mana is expended –
Giving one final check to the new Creed MK-1’s, Cynrik put them away and slotted them both into the AC and DMG loadouts before changing back into the clothes he was wearing before they came to the shop. Then, with his Loadout panel open, Cynrik briskly walked out of the small workshop and met back up with his family and Maeve in the gallery.
Smiling ear to ear, Cynrik sent over the specs of his new hidden blades to Brance, who started to sweat nervously while reading the descriptions.
[Jesus, Cynrik, how the hell did you even pull this off. Here I was thinking my shields were broken, and you go and make some godly toys for yourself.] Feeling his heart rate accelerate, Brance closed the notification and met his brother’s eyes with his own.
[No biggie. I’ve had several ideas and blueprints for my future weapons for who knows how long. After that, it was just a matter of getting the materials I needed. If I had the Engineer Class, I could have done a lot more with it, but it’ll do for now. It’s a good thing we gave all our loot to Mom and Dad after that chain quest. I’m sure that’s how they paid for everything. After all, we only kept the potions and Codexes.]
After they got back home and had the heart-to-heart with their parents, Cynrik and Brance decided that they would hand over the nearly 100 spatial devices to their parents, so they could sell everything and use the money for the family. Little did they know that Cinyah had actually spent most of that money on their new gear so that they would have a better chance during the exams.
The total cost of all their new equipment was in the tens of millions of credits range. So if they hadn’t done so, there was absolutely no way their family could have afforded all the new Cold-Steel gear.
“Ok, boys, it’s time to go; hand me your necklaces so I can give you some supplies, then we have to go meet up with the Sanfords.” Seeing Cynrik walking over, Cinyah requested, and the brothers both complied. So Cynrik took off his Mjölnir pendant and Brance the Crucifix that Cynrik had made for him, and they handed the items to their mother.
Cinyah quickly put in a couple of different outfits, food, and basic survival supplies into the two spatial equipment. In her mind, there was no such thing as being too over-prepared. The exams didn’t have a set time frame and could last between three days and two weeks, so she had to be sure her babies were fully prepared.
Once she was satisfied, and the necklaces were full, Cinyah handed back the spatial devices before giving Maeve their thanks and saying goodbye. The family of four left the store and headed to the fairground several blocks away, where the first round of exams was held.
[Did you see what Mom gave us?] Brance was the first to speak up as they walked through the streets filled with families just like theirs.
[Yeah, it’s kind of funny though, she gave us combat boots and tactical pants that color-matched our jackets. It’s like we are Power Rangers repping our specific color.]
[Of course, you would make that observation.] Brance shook his head and sped up, leaving his brother lagging.
A phone call and 30 minutes later, the Jetlensrs met up with the Sanfords. Upon seeing Brance, Gabby, who was now 11 years old, just like Brance, squealed before running and tackling him while nuzzling her head on his chest. This sight caused the adults to all chuckle. Everyone knew some time ago that Gabby was totally smitten with the youngest Jetlensr son. After being saved from the kidnappers, Gabby pretty much attached herself to Brance whenever she saw him, which caused the adults to joke about marriage in the future.
On the other hand, Benny was more closed off and reserved when he came back. It took him a while to overcome the trauma he had experienced, and if it wasn’t for Cynrik constantly beating him up to “Make him a little tougher every day,” he would have most likely turned into a shut-in.