Unexpected happenings

" Who are you talking about ? " Zayne asked, in pure defiance. 

The officer just waved his hand, and a magical fist punched into his guts, making Zayne cough out blood. 

" Don't act all cute with me. Where is she ? Where are your children ? " Morde asked, livid. 

' Ah ! so that's why she ran. Good job, Claire. ' he thought happily. 

He had forgotten all about them due to the confrontation, but Claire remembered the children first, and was able to take them away. They must be at the Island home, Zayne thought. 

' she makes me feel ashamed as their guardian. I thought I could fill the role of the mother and father. As the ancients say, for women it's instinct, for men it's an upward hill battle. Thank god she's there to take care of them.' he thought. 

Morde punched Zayne again, seeing as he was zoning out. 

" Where are they ? " Corrupt officer hissed at him. 

Zayne only smiled in response. 

" Where you can never reach them. " Zayne answered with a snicker, despite the pain. 

" Where we can't reach, is it ? You there, ten ! Bring me the book. " Morde ordered a guard. 

The guard rushed to get a book bound with red leather. Morde cut Zayne's finger. Let the blood drip on the book. The blood formed the names of his nieces and nephews, along with their mother. 

Zayne looked on in shock as he realized Dolce's father is not his brother. Worst part is, there is another name underneath Dolce, which was linked to his brother. He had one more niece , but he did not know about it ? 

Just what the hell is going on ? 

Before he could even digest the information, Morde took the book away from him, brought out a magical device, sucking out more blood from the cut he just made. When glassglobe had enough of his blood to become blood red, it stopped. After a moment, it became clear again. 

Each name in the book was displayed like a bullet point, with a dot in front of the blood. Morde placed the now transparent globe on the book, lining the red dot in front of the name with the center of the globe. The next moment, the globe lit up all the way. 

It displayed Brea, standing in front of a bamboo house, trying to encourage a plant in front of her to grow. 

Morde frowned. There are no bamboo made houses anywhere near the city. That kind of house would not last a single day against the beasts when the dungeon breaks. 

Then he moved it on to Credence. 

Credence was displayed, pouring out the fire energy into a floating water bubble. There are three more children near him. While features of Prudence and Dolce can be made out with some clarity, Robin is too vague, like a mud doll. 

' Damn ! so they have a tracking technology that works with blood. ' Zayne cursed inside his mind. Even he, with his limited imagination could realize how much more evil a criminal organization specialized in human trafficking could get up to with a tool like this in his hand. 

He moved on to prudence. Now, in the corner, Zayne could definitely make out the sea. Just as he predicted, Claire has taken the children to the island. However, she did it in the morning itself, He remembered. She wanted him to excuse the children out. 

If she did it in the morning itself, then why did she not tell me ? She had more than a few hours since the time she came back to give him a heads up about Morde. 

' Does she not trust me ? ' Zayne wondered. 

Then a horrible realization dawned on him. 

' It's not that she does not trust, it is that she does not care. ' 

She just abandoned him to save herself. At that time, Zayne was hurt, but he still told himself she was only running to get help. Looking at the slowly lightening horizon, it is about to break dawn now, but there's no one coming to rescue. 

Zayne felt down for a moment, before he shook off the feeling. His mana core shook from a whack by Calamari. 

' What the f**k ? Did I just expect a girl to come to my rescue ? When have I, the Zayne Rhafyre, fallen this low ? What the F*** ? I can burn down this city to cinders as soon as I wish for it , and I am expecting a girl, one with sissy attack skills which are barely enough to kill slimes to come rescue I, the Zayne Rhafyre from the kidnappers ? Ewwwwwwww… What in the world happened to me ? " he thought for a mere moment, when his thoughts took a turn for the worse again. 

' Even so, how could she abandon me ? Did I not give everything good I found to her ? Did I not kill a dungeon load of beasts for her ? Did I not let my nieces and nephews ease her loneliness ? Did I not give enough love ? Did I not go around becoming strong for her ? ' .. 

Zayne disturbed his own mana core once again, this time without Calamari's action. 

Just what did he think just now ? 

It's then Zayne noticed. 

As soon as the corrupt officer comes near him, his thoughts take a turn for the worse. He did not realize this until now, because he had completely focused on restoring mana, organizing his magic circles. Most of these are menial tasks. The mana of the corrupt officer was affecting him. It's not affecting his ability to work, but only his will. Is this what they do to the captured people ? 

They kill the hope, so the people will obediently do whatever they want ? 

' Calamari ! give a whack to my core every minute till I order otherwise. ' he told his summons. 

For now, this is the only thing he could think of to get out of this strange state. 

At this time, Morde got a call, so he moved away. Zayne could hear snippets of the conversation. 

" Yes, we are ready. The ships were loaded, and we got a fine product this time. It's a fire elemental. No, not the spirit, but a stud. Young. Yes, a Rhafyre. Let me ask you something." 

" Do you remember the list ? Was the list cleared in 91 ? " 

" Hey ! What do you mean ? I am not digging for information. This is public information. I am a silver grade member, I can inquire about these things. " 

" Oi ! When did I pull rank on you ? What do you mean by that , Ah ? I am just asking, to make sure to tie up loose ends, but you are making me a bad person for no reason. I, Morde has always been loyal to the organization. Don't make it sound like I am digging around corners of my superiors ! " 

" Oh ! Is it clear ? Are you sure ? There are no notes or anything ? Like the possible unconfirmed leads or something ? " 

" Ah, the elemental ? oh, he's fine, this one. Was able to survive a tripod attack, so you gotta use something stronger on him. Umm.. " 

" He seems to be weak against curses. I just put some demented mana on him, the kid sucked it right up … " 

" How about this brother ? I will pump the kid full of dementia. Can you find me the direct report from the team that attacked paradise beach ? I hear they lost another elemental there. Was that true ? " 

" Indeed. That bastard was jumping up for no reason. Serves him right. So, the higher ups are very much interested in this case ? " 

" I am not sure of the clues. It might turn out to be nothing. I don't want to go to the supreme commander with unconfirmed information. Don't you remember what he did to Neugen ? " 

" They moved on from this case ? Really ? What's the new one ? " 

" Mice field ? Isn't that a basic dungeon ? What did we get there ? ah, I remember now. Super senses. But super senses will not stop a punch, nor can they stop a spell if they are fast enough. They only make you feel more pain. Why is the upper brass giving that much importance to this dungeon ? " 

Inside, Morde was reeling. He knew what's stolen better than the guy on otherside. It is the skill 'Mirror eyes '. This, combined with the yesterday's escape of Claire, their selling of fish, and the suspicions about them being inside paradise beach confirmed it for him. The teleporter is Claire Bassett. 

Only, he had no idea how much Zayne is involved in these jaunts into the dungeon. If only he had 'Mirror eyes', he could establish an organization greater than Wulin all by himself. Hells, he could even make himself king now, and no one will suspect. That bitch, I must catch her, Morde decided. 

" Come now, Brother. You don't need to be like that with me. You know how tight my lips are. Tell only to me, just me. I promise I will never let another person hear it. " Morde coaxed me on the phone. 

But Zayne, who was too excited and alert due to the mana effect on himself could hear the greed in the tone. 

Next up, he is going to come for himself, this much, Zayne knew. He silently summoned Calamari, and covered her with his own hands so that his little pet could burn the belt that's around him.