Like his older brother Cynrik, it only took Brance around 30 minutes to learn the Tier 0 Basic Swordsmanship ability.

-Tier 0: Basic Swordsmanship-

-When using a single-handed bladed weapon such as a sword or machete –

– +5% Attack speed –

-+5% Attack Damage –

– Move: Slash- Attack your opponent with a downward verticle strike. Deal 105% Damage Cost: 10 Stamina –

– Move: Stab- Thrust the weapon with mild force at the target. Deal 115% Damage Cost: 5 Stamina. –

While the passive ability’s basic boosts weren’t incredible, the two techniques that came attached to the skill were quite valuable, even if Slash was a pretty big drain on stamina.

Brance was already fully aware of the skills information since Cynrik had already learned the skill, but that didn’t curb his excitement one bit. Closing the book and putting it down, he looked over at Cynrik, who was sweating profusely as he tried to force his 51st mana cycle for the millionth time.

Even though they had already concluded that it was impossible to break through the 50th revolution lid that Tobs had placed on their bodies, Cynrik was never deterred from trying to pull one over on Tobs and break through the invisible bottle-neck.

Knowing just how stubborn his older brother was, Brance didn’t even bother commenting on the scene in front of his eyes and instead opted to prove one of Cynrik’s early theories.

Some years ago, Cynrik had concluded that using their Mana Manipulation passive ability could potentially utilize the ambient Mana around them that corresponded with the user’s affinity.

While Cynrik had posed this theory, it was something they hadn’t been able to pull off. But, unlike his stubborn brother, Brance was convinced that their lack of results had nothing to do with ineptitude, but instead had to be because of their underdeveloped Mana Codexes.

In his mind, since his Codex was only currently Tier 0, they wouldn’t be able to manipulate the surrounding Mana freely. To date, this finding has been proven correct.

But this alone wasn’t enough for Cynrik. He firmly believed that since they had the passive, it should be doable; to some extent, he was correct.

Unlike what Brance was sure of, they were perfectly able to use the Mana around them. But the issue lay instead in the simple fact that the two elements they had, Light and Dark, were notoriously difficult to take control over with a basic tier Mana Codex. They would need an absurd amount of willpower and control over the flow of Mana in their bodies to get the motor running since these Mana types essentially fell under the “Special” category and not the “Basic Elements” category. Generally, people weren’t born with Special Elements, only Basic types, and they wouldn’t start learning them until their Codex’s and Circuits were in the Third or Fourth Tier.

Trying to pump Special Elements through a low Tiered Mana Codex and Circuits was equivalent to pulling an airplane with a motorcycle. While it was improbable, it wasn’t necessarily impossible; it could be achieved given the right circumstances and, a certain amount of luck.

If the boys had posed this question to their parents, they would have already been informed of this well-known fact. But, due to both brothers’ fear and hesitation of revealing that they already knew their affinities on top of them not knowing the rarity of their situation, they kept mum about it.

With this extreme difficulty they had experienced, both Cynrik and Brance misunderstood their inability to use their affinity with some bottle-neck caused by their age and the 50th revolution.

After another hour of effort, both boys gave in to exhaustion and decided It was time for bed. Which was a good decision considering they had school in 4 hours.

After several years of “house arrest,” as Cynrik dubbed it, when Cynrik finally reached five years old, he was registered for grade school, and now seeing as Brance was finally five, he too would be sent off to kindergarten.

The following day the brothers both woke up, and after tidying up their appearance, they made a mad dash to the kitchen for Cinyah’s fantastic cooking. Breakfast was always the best meal since she was adamant about the boys eating a hearty breakfast before a hard day of learning.

In her doting mind, if the boys didn’t eat a good helping in the morning, they would be sluggish and sleepy by noon. But unlike her worries, the boys were generally just fine all day, even if they didn’t have a huge breakfast beforehand.

As the two hopped into their designated seats with grumbling bellies, Rikard let out a frustrated groan as he pulled his attention away from the holoTv.

“Another seven children have gone missing; this is getting completely out of hand. What the hell are the Enforcers doing? With today’s additions, the total of missing kids in the area has climbed to over a hundred in the last year.” In anger, he waved his right hand over the gauntlet on his left wrist, shutting off the news, and walked over to the kitchen table.

“Honey… it may be time to get the boys Watcets. I know we’ve talked about waiting until they were older. Still, with the current kidnapping count on the rise, I believe it would be better to have them fitted for them as soon as possible, at least in that case, gods forbid something happens, they would be able to tell us at least. And we could track them in the event of an emergency.” Rikard gave a sorrowful glance at his wife.

He knew how his words would be perceived. In most circumstances, unless the family was wealthy, a child wouldn’t receive their first Watcet until they were around 12 years old. It was an expensive piece of technology, and it wasn’t the wisest idea to let a small kid get their hands on it, lest they break it, causing their parents to have thrown thousands of credits down the drain.

A base model Watcet also known as a holowatch, ran anywhere from 3000 credits to 8000 credits, roughly the average monthly income of a standard middle-class family. So most families would spend several years saving up before buying their kids their first one, especially in the case of multi-child families.

But here, Rikard was, saying they should put this expensive tech into the hands of a 5 and 6-year-old. If other parents could hear this, they would be shocked.

The Jetlensrs were by no means a well-off family, but they weren’t necessarily struggling either. Both Cinyah and Riker were C-Class Reavers capable of bringing in around 7-8 thousand credits a month if they were both working. However, until recently, Cinyah stayed home with the kids, so the family’s finances weren’t currently in the best position. Fortunately, as Cynrik and Brance spent their days in school, Cinyah had the chance to step back into the working world alongside her husband, diving into Egresses.

Looking at the serious expression on her husband’s face, she showed him a gentle, loving smile and waved her hand towards the table, causing two brand new Watcets to appear on the table in front of the boys.

Seeing this, Rikard couldn’t help but let out an exasperated gasp. “Honey…when…?” but before he could finish his statement, she cut him off by waving her hand in his direction. “I had already bought them the moment the kidnappings came to light.” Then, walking over and taking her husband’s face in her hands, she drew him in for a kiss.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come to this conclusion by yourself before presenting them. I knew you would feel the same as me, even if it took a bit longer. I had to call in a few favors, and some of the playdates with other children were disguised as me babysitting to earn extra money.”

The whole time Cinyah and Rikard were talking, neither Brance nor Cynrik’s eyes left the Watcets in front of them. For years the two of them had wanted to get their hands on this particular piece of tech. Coming from a world where smartwatches were staples in modern life, they both felt naked without one. Now sitting before them was a super high-level version of the seemingly basic watches they once each owned.

Without waiting for permission from their parents, both boys shot a glance at each other and reached out, grabbing the brand new holowatches and tearing into the packaging. Within seconds the boys had attached the tech onto their right wrists and were admiring sleek watches with huge smiles.

Cynrik had chosen the Crimson Watcet, while Brance grabbed the light blue one. Before Cinyah could reprimand them for not waiting, she stopped and broke into a vast and beautiful smile after noticing just how happy her children appeared to be.

On the other hand, Rikard was still upset that his wife had beaten him to the punch, deflated by the simple thought that he had worked up his courage for weeks to confront Cinyah for no reason at all.