BXBX NOVEL Chapter 71: Lifespan
"Remember, Aur, don\'t be a fool like us and overexert yourself," Adam said with a sigh on his face.
"How did this happen? That you lost your lifespan," Aur asked expressionless.
"Do you really need to hear the story?" Evelyn said tentatively.
"Yes," Aur\'s tone became cold.
Evelyn shook her head with a sigh, while Adam started to elaborate on the whole story.
"When we were young and awakened as low-grade talents, even in low-grade talent, we barely took five steps, making us the bottom of the barrel. So, we were often bullied by those with middle-grade talent, and they always stepped over our heads no matter what we did. Your mother and I were in the same class; however, on one fateful day, one of the teachers... hmm," Adam paused, remembering.
"What was our teacher\'s name, honey?" He asked Evelyn while scratching his head.
"You really forgot the teacher\'s name who changed our life for the worst?" Evelyn shook her head with speechlessness. "It\'s Aiden, that bastard," she gritted her teeth.
"Honey, it was our own choice," Adam said with a strict tone.
"Would we really only live this long if it wasn\'t for that bastard, all making us gullible, accepting it for the greater good of the village?" She said with a sneer on her face.
"This…" Adam was speechless. "You know that the walls have ears, right? What if someone hears us?"
"We will die soon anyway," Evelyn gritted her teeth in anger.
"You are right, but what about the children?" Adam said expressionlessly, which shut her up as she gritted her teeth.
"Do you regret having kids now?"
"No, I don\'t regret it at all," Evelyn said with a smile.
"Good, then I will continue the story for Aur. As the teacher of our class, Aiden recommended to us a spell that drains our lifespan. However, it gives us immense power, and the rest is history. We were too young and innocent to understand, with hot blood flowing in our veins, we chose it without hesitation," Adam finished with a sigh, seeing the expressionless face of Aur whose fist was tightened.
"I won\'t tell you to take it, as it is meaningless and pointless. Just pursue your happiness, son," Adam spoke as he consoled Aur.
"I understand," Aur nodded his head with still an expressionless face.
Adam was about to speak again; however, at this time, Evelyn came and dragged him outside.
"Huh," Adam frowned.
"Let\'s give him some alone time to think," Evelyn spoke, which made him shut up as he looked at his son.
They both soon left the room, and the door was shut.
Silence!
Aur was entirely silent with a contemplative expression on his face.
After a long time of silence, Aur abruptly shot up from his seat as his eyes flashed with determination.
"I must find another way to keep them alive. How could I let them die? I will not allow them to die," Aur spoke, his voice echoing the room.
The sense of urgency for strength became even stronger for Aur now.
"I should return to the academy now," he thought as Aur left his room, seeing Adam and Evelyn, who had a serious expression on their face.
A small smile graced Aur\'s lips as he went outside the room where Adam and Evelyn were.
"Mother and father, cheer up. I will be leaving for the academy soon to find a way to prolong your life," Aur said.
Evelyn hesitated to speak; however, Adam stopped her while shaking his head with a sigh.
"You are right, Aur. Even if we can only live for five years, we will live our life to the fullest," Adam laughed.
"I will find a way to prolong your life, I promise, father and mother," Aur spoke again in a serious tone.
Hearing this, Evelyn deeply looked at him while patting him, "Son, are you a hundred percent sure that you can find a life-prolonging spell?"
"This…" Aur wanted to speak; however, he hesitated.
"You aren\'t a hundred percent sure of it, then don\'t promise. As a man, you should never break a promise, got it? And never make a promise that you aren\'t sure of," she said with a smile on her face.
"Yes, mother, I understand," Aur nodded his head.
"Glad that you understand. We only want you to live your own life and be happy. Revenge only leads to sadness in life, my son," Evelyn consoled Aur.
However, Aur didn\'t speak a single word, as if he was ignoring her words, and simply smiled.
"Since it is my last night, let\'s play SoloCraft which we used to play when I was a child." A smile graced Aur\'s lips.
Evelyn shook her head helplessly, seeing Aur ignoring her words, and could only bitterly smile.
"Alright, alright, we will play, but you have to take it easy on us," she said with helplessness.
The game they were playing was quite similar to Monopoly. In fact, except for the names of things like rent, bankruptcy, and many more, all the principles were similar to Monopoly. When Aur was a child, they used to play these games very often, and he himself used to win most of the time.
Adam sat at Aur\'s left, and Evelyn at his right as they started the board game, their laughter resounding in the room.
Just like that, the three spent the night playing games with smiles on their faces, forgetting about their own problems, while Ava was sleeping in the room.
…
The sun rose from the west, casting its warm light over the relatively small village as everybody woke up for another day of hard work.
In one of the simple houses that blended in with countless others, there was Aur, sitting in a chair in the garden and enjoying the warm sunlight while holding a cup in his hands.
"The coffee is nice, but tea is also good…" Aur murmured as he took a sip from the cup. Immediately, he was assaulted by a warm fragrance that made him close his eyes in appreciation.
The taste of the tea exploded on his tongue, making him click his tongue.
"Brother, are you really leaving already?" Ava suddenly ran from the door with tears threatening to come out.
"Yes, I am leaving now. You have to take care of Mother and Father for now," Aur stated as he took another sip of his tea.
"But… but didn\'t you plan to stay for a week?" Ava spoke with tears in her eyes.
Aur shook his head helplessly when he heard this. Initially, that was his plan, unfortunately, his plans were all disrupted. So he just remained silent.
"Fine, if you don\'t want to stay," her face bloated as she ran back inside again while sobbing.