Leya woke up the next day and watched the sleeping faces of her two little children with a warm and loving gaze. After a while, Lucas and Lucy woke up and started to suckle milk out of their mother's big breasts while she caressed their hair gently.
Few minutes later, they were fully awake and Lucas said while rubbing his eyes
"Goodmorning, mama."
"Goodmorning, baby." Leya said and gave him a kiss on his forehead.
Lucas then looked at Lucy and said
"Goodmorning, big sis."
"Goodmorning, little brother." Lucy yawned and said while rubbing her eyes. She then looked at her mother and said
"Goodmorning, mama."
"Goodmorning, baby." Leya kissed Lucy's forehead and said.
Leya picked them up and went to freshen up together with them. After getting washed up and dressed, she went to the kitchen to cook them breakfast while Lucas and Lucy watched tv.
Breakfast was served after a few minutes. They sat together and started having their fill. Taking a sip of tea, Leya looked at her children and said gently
"Today, we will be performing a small ceremony. So no sword practice today either."
Lucas put down his spoon and asked curiously
"What ceremony, mama?"
Leya smiled and said gently "Oh baby, it's nothing important. It's just a small goodluck ceremony."
She lied while saying this. The truth was, she was going to reform Lucas's body constitution. Even though she considered Lucas as her own child, he wasn't. He was adopted and he had no relation to Leya apart from his looks.
Leya did not want her child to suffer. She wasn't someone normal and Lucy being her daughter, would inherit all her traits in the future and her potential was boundless. Lucas was different. He did not have anything related to Leya and was bound to be left behind by Lucy.
Leya didn't want such an outcome in the future. Their magic core wasn't developed yet and so they both seemed to be equal but once when they are ten years old and awaken their magic core, things would change. Imbalances would occur between the twins and Lucy would leave Lucas far behind in magic cultivation.
Though this was depressing to know, Leya wasn't worried. This could be fixed easily with a small ceremony.
She knew this day would come when she adopted Lucas and she had been waiting for it. Lucas was too young to have his body constitution changed. If she had done it earlier, he may have not been able to handle it and would've died.
If she did it later, it would be pointless as at ten years of age, children awaken their magic core. Once it is awakened, no matter what Leya did, Lucas would not be able to inherit all of her traits and would only get a slight amount of it.
This age however, was the best time period. Lucas was not too young and there were still five years left until his magic core awakened. After the ceremony, his bodily constitution would change and he would be reformed completely. It would mean, his karma and cause and effect with his actual parents would be severed and he would fully belong to Leya and inherit all her traits just like Lucy.
Once his magic core awakens, he and Lucy would have the same starting points and he won't be left behind by her and could go toe to toe with her.
"Goodluck ceremony?" Lucy chimed in and asked.
"Yes, baby. I found it online when I was going through my phone. It's just done to wish someone good luck and nothing else."
Lucy nodded her head in understanding after getting her question answered. The three finished their breakfast and Leya took the utensils to the kitchen and placed them down on the kitchen top and started walking out. The utensils magically got cleaned and placed in their respective places while Leya walked out.
Leya then met her children and held their hands. She said to them with a smile
"Can you two close your eyes? Mama wants to take you to a new place and give you a surprise."
Lucas and Lucy were obedient kids and they didn't question their mother and simply did as they were told to.
Leya picked both of them up in her arms. Lucas and Lucy felt being raised and were familiar with this sensation. They hugged her neck for support and had their butt rested on Leya's forearm.
Leya, with her kids in her arms, took one step and instantly vanished from the spot she was in. The two storey house was now empty without any signs of life.
…..
Gilmer forest, Silverado city.
Three figures arrived out of thin air onto an empty grassland. It was Leya carrying her two children in her arms.
The forest was in the outskirts of Silverado city and people came for picnics or to hangout at the outer edges of the forest everyday. However, the core area of the forest was restricted. It was done to preserve some special plants and beasts and to protect them from being hunted.
There were guards at the border of the core area but no one was inside. The core area was very big, approximately 100 km² and spending manpower for surveillance in such a big area was not feasible. The area was monitored by magic and technology alike and thus was heavily guarded.
Any trespassers would be instantly known and armed personnels would arrive and execute them without questions. Despite being such a dangerous place, Leya walked onto the empty grasslands carrying her two kids as if it was a walk in the park.
Leya tapped on the ground with her feet lightly and a transparent barrier around a radius of 25 km² was formed. This was done by her to ensure that no one entered inside it and disturbed her and whoever or whatever creature was inside, was sent out immediately.
The creatures, after getting kicked out from inside the 25 km² radius barrier, went wild due to getting spooked. They started wrecking havoc and some charged at the barrier, some fought each other and some ran towards the border of the core area.
…..
Border of core area, Gilmer forest.
Inside a concrete building, four people were currently looking at many screens that were stacked one upon the other and gave the overview of the whole core area of Gilmer forest core area.
They weren't really paying much attention to the screens as it was rare to have any problems in the core area. People weren't stupid and hardly anyone trespassed.
Among the four people, one was browsing through his phone, one was eating cup noodles and watching something, one was reclining back on his chair and relaxing and the last one was the only one who was paying a little attention to the screens. He was reading a book and occasionally looked at the screens.
The person reading the book, took an occasional glimpse at the screen and just as he was about to go back to reading, he stood up instantly, thereby dropping his book and exclaimed
"HOLY SHIT! LOOK AT THOSE CREATURES!"
He yelled so loudly that the person browsing through his phone and the one relaxing on his chair jerked in panic and jumped out of their chair as a reflex.
"Why are you- HOLY SHIT! EMERGENCY PROTOCOL! ACTIVATE THE EMERGENCY PROTOCOL!"
The person who was relaxing on the chair was about to question the person who just exclaimed but he himself started yelling when he saw the screen.
Many creatures, both big and small were rushing towards the border of the core area and this was a terrible thing. Though the area was protected by a barrier, the barrier was too old and weak and would break if all these creatures charged at once.
To set up such a big barrier and have it run at all times was costly and therefore, it hadn't been updated with new resources and was old and could break up due to a lot of stress on it.
The person who was eating noodles heard the commotion and he too started to panic when he saw the screen. The control room was just outside the core area and would collapse if the barrier broke and it meant, these people would die.
The guy browsing his phone was a bit calmer than the rest. He activated the emergency precautions that were needed and now all dependent upon how fast the people in charge of the core area would come.
…..
While the people in the control room were panicking, the source of these problems, Leya was currently walking at the empty grasslands. She was trying to find a good place to inscribe a magic rune on the ground for Lucas's ceremony.
She found one after a few minutes of searching and she let Lucas and Lucy down from her arms. She said to them with a smile
"You can open your eyes now."
Lucas and Lucy opened their eyes and looked around. Their faces had visible surprise on it and their mouth was in an 'o' shape.
They saw a big waterfall and around it were tall trees and where Lucas and Lucy currently stood, it was at the side of the waterfall and it was a big grassland area with no trees. It was beautiful scenery for both children and they really liked it.
"Mama, where are we?" Lucy asked.
"In the gilmer forest, baby." Leya said with a smile.
"Mama isn't it too far away? How did we reach so quickly?" It was Lucas who asked this time.
"Fufufu…mama can teleport, baby." Leya ruffled Lucas's hair and said chuckling.
"Mama is so cool!" Lucas said in amazement and hugged Leya.
Though he knew magic was a common occurrence, knowing and experiencing for himself was a different thing. He only felt his mother's warmth when she held him in her arms and felt her walking. That's it and the next thing he realised, he was far away from home. He found such a thing to be amazing and considered his mother cool.
"Mama do it once again, please." Lucy walked to Leya and said while hugging her.
Leya patted her head and said with a smile "Not now, baby. First let's do the ceremony and then I'll show it to you again, okay?"
Lucy nodded her head in understanding and let go of the hug. Lucas too let go and Leya picked Lucas up in her arms and walked in the middle of the rune she inscribed on the ground.
Leya placed Lucas in the middle of a runic magic circle she inscribed on the ground. She squatted down, held Lucas's face and gently said to him with a smile"Baby, can you please close your eyes and stand here for a few minutes? Mama will have to distance herself from you to do this ceremony. Don't worry, everything will be alright and I'll come to you as soon as this is over."Lucas being the obedient child he was, readily agreed to his mother's request by nodding in approval. Leya smiled and gave him a loving kiss on his forehead and distanced herself a bit from him.Leya picked up Lucy, supported her butt with her palms and put her in a frontal hug position. She gently pressed her head down and made her rest on her shoulders while casting a sleep spell on Lucy.Leya didn't want Lucy to witness what was about to occur, so she put her to sleep. Leya then looked at Lu
Lucas and Lucy woke up after an hour. They had a good nap and felt refreshed. Lucy rubbed her eyes a little and asked her mother"Mama, what happened?" She asked in a sleepy state about what happened that made her fall asleep so suddenly.Leya didn't understand what Lucy was asking. She said in a confused tone"About what, baby?"Lucy stopped rubbing her eyes and looked at her mother and said"Why did I fall asleep suddenly?"Leya understood and chuckled at Lucy's question. She patted her head and said with a smile"I don't know either, baby. Once I picked you up, you fell asleep on your own.Fufufu…I think it must be because you felt too relaxed in my arms.""Mama, that shouldn't happen. We all came here after breakfast. W
The next morning.Lucas woke up and saw his mother's smiling face. He too smiled at her and gave her a kiss on her lips and said"Goodmorning, mama.""Goodmorning, baby."Leya didn't mind being kissed like that. She thought of correcting her children's misconception but then she realised why should she do it? There was no reason for it.Was it a taboo? Sure it was. But did it matter? The answer was no. The reason being, the level she was at, such small things or taboos didn't matter at all. It was also a pretty common thing from the place she was from.Lucas then turned to Lucy who had her arms wrapped around their mother from the side and laid on her shoulder and greeted"Goodmorning, big sis."Lucy separated from Leya and gave a peck on Lucas's lips and greeted back
[Welcome host to the VRMMORPG Astral Survival.][Please sign up to start playing the game.]As soon as Lucas put on the head gear, he felt being sucked through some vortex and everything blacked out for a moment. But soon, the surroundings changed and Lucas found himself standing on a grassland and in front of him was a blue screen with words written on it in white.He understood that this must be the form he would need to fill to sign up. He raised the virtual keyboard present in front of his stomach a little and typed on it and filled the form up.Next he was asked to customize his character and since he was very eager to adventure, he went with the default one which was an Avatar of himself wearing a mask. Lucy too did the same on her side and both got ready for their first adventure.[Detected another user login from the same IP address. Would the ho
Lucas and Lucy got out of their dive capsules and rushed to their mother and hugged her."Mama!""Mama!"The two said in a weeping tone. They both had tears in their eyes and were scared from the experience they just had. Leya cradled them and patted their backs gently and said in a gentle and soothing voice"It's okay, it's okay, mama is there now. Everything will be alright."She comforted them with her words and tried rocking them to sleep. She knew what they were going through and felt a bit pained watching her children suffer like this. But it couldn't be helped.They were bound to come across these various situations sooner or later and it was better to make mistakes now than suffer in future. Leya sang a lullaby in a low and calm way and put her children to sleep in her arms.Lucas and Lucy sle
"Huff…Huff…Huff…"Lucas and Lucy were currently sitting on the ground with their backs resting on a tree. They were breathing heavily due to fighting with another beast in the virtual Astral world.They logged in and were moving towards the first checkpoint in the middle of the dense jungle when they were attacked once again by another beast. This time they weren't as afraid as before and defeated the creature easily.Though it was easy, it still consumed almost half of their stamina. They couldn't continue to move ahead due to it and were therefore resting to catch a breather."Haah, big sis, this is so tiring! We will not be able to make it to the checkpoint." Lucas said after breathing out heavily."N-No…Huff…we'll make…huff…it…" Lucy said despite the heavy breathing.Lucas d
[Congratulations host on reaching the first checkpoint. Please check the system panel for more info.][Ding!][Quest completed. Please check the system panel for more info.]Lucas and Lucy were currently inside a cave. The cave was big enough to fit four adult humans inside and Lucas and Lucy being five year olds, found it comfortable to be in.The two got the same message. The message was transferred through a cold mechanical voice in their head. They summoned the blue screen also known as the system panel in front of them and tapped on it a few times. The screen blanked and a new string of words appeared along with the cold mechanical voice ringing in their head.[Ding!][Reach the first checkpoint - quest completed.Score: 23/100Rank: 89,067,231][Reward obtained. Obtained ×1 metal
"...the rumoured rank 9."Gasp!Every president on the screen gasped after hearing such news from the Arrowstorm country's president. No one had expected such a development to occur in such a short while.When the president of Arrowstorm country called for an emergency meeting, everybody thought it may be related to some major outbreak of some kind that needed serious attention and nobody had any thoughts of hearing the word 'Rank 9' prior to the meeting."President Niheir, are you serious about this?" The old man in his early 60s spoke in a serious tone, asking for confirmation.Niheir was the name of the Arrowstorm country's president who nodded at the old man's question.The other people finally understood the gravity of the matter. It was much more serious than they thought it would be.The