Chapter 48 Robert

Robert’s Pov

I stood there staring at the spot that my sister and probably best friend had just been standing at. I had no idea what had happened to them or what that ball thing that Derek had thrown at them had been.

The spot where they had stood was nearly a crater, but unlike a typical impact site, the edges were unnaturally smooth, as if the ground had been cut away with precision rather than shattered by force. There was only a shallow indentation in the ground though. Nixy was circling the spot sniffing the ground like a bloodhound would.

It was only a few minutes later when a group of guards came upon us, drawing their weapons and pointing them at Nixy, and I when they saw the body. Ralph came forward quickly however, “Sheath your weapons, that is the prince. Apologies your highness. May I ask what happened?”

I looked up at him, still trying to process everything myself. I took a deep breath and began explaining everything. I started from the beginning, recounting how we had been on our way back to campus when Derek emerged from the shadows, his face twisted in anger as he shouted incoherent threats.

Then before I could explain the next part, it clicked, I had forgotten in the heat of battle, but he had thrown a similar ball to bring the Dreadfang and goblins here. Shaking my head, I went on to explain the rest of the story. I made sure to leave out the fact that Jace had used multiple abilities, but I explained just about everything else.

Ralph nodded along, but when I mentioned the ball Derek had thrown at Jace and my sister, I saw his expression falter, as if the weight of the situation had finally settled in. A flicker of doubt crossed his face, his shoulders sagging slightly. Before he could lose hope completely, I quickly added my suspicion, that the ball was some kind of teleportation device. I had no idea how it worked, but if that were the case, then there was still a chance to find them.

Before I could continue, a deafening boom of thunder cracked through the air, shaking the ground beneath my feet. The atmosphere grew heavy, charged with static, as the air itself seemed to hum with energy. Then, in an instant, he was there. Standing at just over six foot tall with long brown hair and beard. His striking green eyes were ablaze with the lightning that he controlled. Sparking bolts of electricity were bouncing from him to the ground.

“WHO DARES TO ATTACK MY CHILDREN?” He bellowed. His voice booming like the thunder created from his bolts of lightning.

“Dad, it’s over! You can stop with the lightning now!” I called out, waving my arms to get his attention.

His eyes snapped to me, and at the sight of me, he seemed to calm slightly. But then his gaze swept over the area, scanning frantically, most likely searching for Evelyn. Without hesitation, I ran up to him, lowering my voice as I whispered for him to wait. In my peripheral vision, I noticed all the guards had dropped to one knee, showing their respect as they awaited his command.

“Sir Obexis. Would you come with us to have a word?” I asked.

Ralph nodded and stepped toward us. My father reached into his pocket and retrieved a small orb, which, the moment he activated it, formed a shimmering barrier around the three of us, Ralph, myself, and him. The air inside felt heavier, charged with energy, and from the outside, the barrier was completely opaque, concealing us from prying eyes. The moment it settled into place, my father turned to me, his expression unreadable. "Now, tell me everything."

“What happened Robert? Where is your sister?” I explained what happened again, this time with more detail, making sure to look at Ralph when I explained how Jace had been teleporting around, creating waves of energy that I could feel were helping me and hurting the goblins and Dreadfang. Or the explosions he was creating from the knives he was conjuring from his mana.

When I was done, my father and I were both looking at Ralph with expectation. Wanting him to fill us in on how he was showing the ability to use multiple talents. Ralph closed his eyes seemingly lost in thought for a moment.

“I honestly am not entirely sure what to tell you. When Jace explained his talent to Julliane and I, we did not know what to make of it. His talent is called the System.” He started. I couldn’t contain my shock at his words though and I gasped.

“Son, what is it?” My dad asked.

“Does he have a Status and the ability to gain a class?” I asked instead of answering father.

“H-how did you know that?” Ralph asked.

I just nodded my head, getting lost in thought for a moment. “Can others be added to the System?” I asked after a second.

“Yes, but so far only Jace has been able to add people. Or well Jace and from what my wife and I can figure out maybe people he uses Identify on as well.” Ralph then went on to explain that only a week or so after he gained his talent, he had used Identify on Marian The Pugilist. Then, about six months later she was seemingly added to the system.

The only argument that they had against this was that they knew he had also used the skill on Ayla his sister, but she had not joined the System yet. It made me wonder if he had used Identify on me. If that was the case, then I would be joining the System in five and half more months.

For the next long while, I asked all the questions I could think of. Ralph was able to explain some, though others he could not explain. I had him try and show us his Status as well, which surprisingly worked. I then asked if he would use his Identify on us and show us the results.

He explained that it did not work like that, but did tell us what the results were, which were not surprising. I was Level 16, which I did not know if it was good or bad, Ralph was only level 45 currently. I was a little surprised that Identify was able to tell a person what a person’s talent is. According to Ralph Identify was even able to tell what Ayla’s talent was even though she is only 5.

My father’s revelation caught me off guard. Level 285, with lightning manipulation as his talent. I had always known he was powerful, but seeing a concrete number put it into perspective. That kind of strength was on an entirely different level, a reminder of just how vast the gap was between us. It was both daunting and inspiring.

If I ever wanted to stand beside him, truly as an equal, I had an incredible amount of work ahead of me. I had no idea how he had reached such a high level, but it gave me a new goal to strive for. Ralph also mentioned that Jace had reached around level 32 after finishing the Dungeon, already surpassing Ralph in strength due to what he called an ascended class. If someone could grow that fast, then the potential within the System was even greater than I had imagined.

When Ralph explained that Jace’s second revelation was the ability to create a guild and that the guild master of the adventurer’s guild had already shown interest in creating a guild I knew that we were going to need to do something.

I would warn my father and let him handle it. It might be better if we created a guild first to give our people access to the System before a bunch of random people gained access to it. The idea that a bunch of random people might join the System did not seem like the best idea to me unless we had those that could stop them.

My father decided that we had been speaking for along enough and that we needed to sort everything out here before we could try and find my sister and Jace. When we cancelled the barrier, we noticed that the guards had not just been idle the entire time that we had been chatting.

The guards had already cleared most of the destruction around us and were now methodically dismantling the Dreadfang. Ralph left to oversee the troops, issuing commands with practiced ease, while my father and I remained, silently taking in the scene before us. The soldiers moved with efficiency, clearing debris and carving apart the beast with measured precision, their armor clinking softly beneath the low murmur of quiet orders.

The air was thick with the scent of dust, sweat, and lingering traces of ozone from my father’s lightning. A quiet hum of coordinated effort replaced the earlier chaos, the eerie calm making the battlefield feel almost unreal. My father stood motionless, arms crossed, his expression unreadable as he stared into the distance, lost in thought. I, too, let the moment settle, my mind already racing through the challenges ahead. There was so much to do, and no time to waste.

When I didn’t think anyone could really hear what we were talking about, I spoke to my father, “I think we need to be the first to create a guild with the System. Let our people join the System and gain power as quickly as possible, otherwise there will be those that can grow faster than we can.”

My father gave a silent nod, his gaze distant as he mulled over the weight of my words. He seemed lost in thought, his usual commanding presence momentarily subdued. Watching him, I felt a wave of relief, I didn’t have to bear the responsibility of an entire nation, at least not yet. For now, I could focus on what I did best: offering insights, ideas that might help, while leaving the truly difficult decisions to him.