Chương 26: Oh, Hi!

LANCE dispatched the bandits. He had to say, he was becoming numb to all the killing. He still didn't enjoy doing it, but the actual act weighed little on his conscious. He was about to head out and continue his one-man crusade against the bandit menace when, a delicious smell barged its way into his concern. A fat, glazed, roasted pig roasted over a fireplace with a vegetable soup boiling over another flame. At once, the smell hit him like a cabbage salesman's caravan.

It was the most delicious thing he had ever smelled. He found himself practically floating toward the incredible odor. He remembered how long it had been since he had a proper meal, something that wasn't berries and nuts. This was it: the bandits were dead; there were soup and a giant pig. He was going to eat! He took the vegetable soup and placed it over the pig. He cut down whole hacks of meat from the roasting pig, letting the chunks fall into the soup.

He found some basic spices nearby, salt, black pepper, and common herbs, and dumped a hearty amount of each into his roast pork soup. Spork close on hand, he dug into the soup with more delight than he ever remembered giving to a meal. He was halfway through the bucket when he heard a voice.

"Are you going to share that meal with your dear old dad?" a voice said to him. Lance turned to see his father, covered in dust and dirt, his arms crossed.

"Dad?" He got up to hug his father.

"Where have you been? Why didn't you intervene any when I called for help? Did you really just watch me do all that and not care?" His father had a stupid look on his face, like he was a boy reluctant to say what had happened for fear of being punished.

"Let me be perfectly honest. Um, I had a thought about forming some alliance to help the cause. Right? So, I teleported to speak with Frank — you know Frank, yeah? Of the Defense Council — and, well, one thing led to another, an underground complex was found, and I sort of forget I was training you..." An anger unlike anything he felt before shot up inside of him. Had he not been starving, so unable to put down his spork, he would have screamed bloody hate at his father.

Warhol, for all his faults, at least recognized his emotion.

"I understand your anger, son! I'm not expecting you to forgive me. Just understand I was busy with not insubstantially vital things. Now, give me some of that stew, please!" Few words were spoken between them as they eat. Although righteous fury continued to course its way through him, Lance settled for a hard eyerolling instead of a screaming match. As his belly filled, his anger dissipated some, lowered by a much-needed meal.

"I understand, dad. That doesn't mean I'm not pissed off, though. I handled myself fine. I mean, with all those System points, how couldn't I? So how much danger was I actually in... still, you said you were going to watch over me and intervene if things got too rough. Well, an abomination and a kraken later and yeah, things got rough!" Seeing a loaf of crusty bread near, he grabbed the loaf and dipped it into the soup, then his mouth, whole.

"Which is why I left!" His father took some of the bread loaf and bit off a massive chunk.

"I knew you could handle yourself. Frankly, between academy training and the System hack, if you couldn't handle yourself, then you wouldn't deserve to fight by my side — not that it justifies my actions! Just, you know, a fact!" Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Lance grunted his acknowledgement between the last bites of the soup-soaked bread.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, tell me what you were doing, then."

"No, no! I can tell you while we go back and finish off that Abomination and Kraken! Had I been by your side, you would've made short work of them. So, let's get that done, then we can speak about my conquests!" A laugh, hearty as the soup, overtook him.

"Dad, I dealt with both the abomination and the kraken already. Killed them both!"

"Truly!" Warhol said, almost choking on his bread.

"Wow! My blood does runneth in your veins, then, that's for sure! Tell me about your exploits, son." For the first time in his life, that was what Lance did — he told his father all about his own combat affairs and held his rapt attention. When he got to the kraken, his dad had slapped a hand to his knee as if a comedic bard had just told him the most fantastic, yet inappropriate, joke.

"Truly, son, you jumped INTO the sea beast?! Incredible! I was right to entrust the hack with you. It sounds like you've made great use of it."

"I have... I leveled up recently and think it is time for me to put some Boon Points into my magical prowess. What do you think? I haven't touched my mana stuff, so that's still at five." He wanted to hear his dad's input after all that had happened. Not long ago he had told him to focus on his Martial Prowess. Had that changed since the start of his island getaway training or did the status quo remain? Father gave him a stern look.

"I think a few points into mana is fine. Do not go further than five. You should still focus on your Martial aptitude for the moment. But more in Magical Prowess would help you maintain mana infusions longer, so start practicing those more. Also, when you're channeling mana into your weapon for an infusion, refrain from channeling it in the form of an 'omni-element.' Those aren't they're all cracked up to be: you bought the [Absolute] upgrade, yes, that allows you to channel all of the base elements?

One at a time, son, understand?" He shook his head in understanding. He hadn't even known he could combine elements. Good thing to know...

"Now that you're back, tell me what you've been up to, and what the next step is for me," he asked. His father told him all that he had gotten up to in the time he had been away. It was an adventure and a half! Even now, even after all they had been through, and for how long he had known his father, and seen firsthand what he could do, their capabilities surprised him. It was easy to forget that teleporting around the world was a trivial affair for them.

"As for what we will do," Warhol said.

"Honestly, I want to head back to the structure, soon. I know I only just got back, but if this structure can help us against the horror from beyond, then I need to treat it seriously. And besides, it looks like you have things settled, here. Slay the bandit king, scatter his little army, yeah... you've got this, son."

"Maybe," he replied slowly.

"But what about after? This complex sounds huge. You're always going to want to be doing stuff with it, aren't you?" Warhol sighed.

"I can't lie, yes, I am... its mysteries call to me. Since I am the only one who can reasonably explore it and fight its Construct hordes, there isn't much else I can do... I've put you in a pickle, but there is no reason I can balance both. It just means I will need to be careful." Despite his father's abandonment of him, Lance felt for his dad. He understood what it was like to have something you longed for call out for you.

As a child, he spent an unordinary amount of time alone or with friends because his dad was out questing for some king or another. The call was powerful. As he thought about his father's rock and hard place, as well as his own, Lance had an idea.

"Dad. What if you could have it both ways?" His father's brows perked up.

"Oh? What did you have in mind?" Lance leaned closer to his dad as if to whisper.

"Why don't you share your gift with Frank?"