From the Elixir and XP booster to equipment tokens and even a decent-sized chunk of Ark-Coins, I left no stone unturned and even handed over exactly half of my Particle Water reserves.
All in all, I gave my brother an equal cut of my wealth, but I even recognized that it might be a bit overwhelming as, in no time at all, his entire bed was covered with all sorts of odds and ends.
Standing at the edge of the bed, I looked at the mountain of items with Brenden by my side. I couldn’t help but feel a bit accomplished. Even in the Origin Timeline, I doubt many people would have such a lucrative starting point upon the Descent of Arkadia, and it had been several years after which Brenden had gotten remotely close to having a personal inventory of items such as the one I had just gifted him.
"Holy fuck Taylor, you really have been busy…and all this is for me? What about you…" Brenden asked before stepping forward and picking up the small circular device, the XP booster.
"Well, most of the stuff here I have no use for, such as the elixir and exchange tickets, as I’ve already used one, and you know I make my own gear, but for things such as the Talent Skill, and Circulation Skill ticket, I already have what I need."
"The majority of this stuff came in the form of Event Quest rewards, of which I’ve nearly completed both," Crossing my arms, I watched Brenden turn the XP booster all around while examining it.
Unlike Xilia, he had been around the block more than once and understood that it was a high-percentage booster. While he didn’t know the exact stats, he was still smart enough to realize that all it took was him placing it into his inventory, and he would get all the information he wanted.
Only when he spotted the vial of golden liquid after hearing me mention the Mythical Potion did Brenden show true surprise for the first time since returning to the past.
"An Alpha-Grade Elixir….hold on, you said you already used one; how many did you get your hands on…" Tearing his eyes away from the Elixir, which he had picked up and was holding, Brenden looked over at me and saw me shrug in response.
"Enough to start a large-scale war in the Origin Timeline if anyone found out. Arkadia has been quite generous with the Quest Rewards, and so far, I’ve received 5, so one for you, me, Emilia, my slave Xilia…and Dad when the Descent occurs." My mentioning of our father caused Brenden to falter as he remembered what happened that day and how our lives changed forever because of some greedy bastards.
"Dad…how is he?"
"About how you expect him to be, I did some course correction with him early on, so he didn’t blow through all the money he got from Grandpa selling the company, and as you can tell, this isn’t Oviedo so I kept us in the first house we ever lived in." Pausing to see how Brenden would react when I basically admitted to using my Talent on our father, I continued when all I saw was acceptance in his eyes.
"I was able to put a stop to his poor financial habits with minimal use of particles and my Coersion skill, so while it took years, I can say it yielded results without any adverse effects or damage to his brain. I was extremely careful."
"So you really did stick to your plans; that means you should have a bank account with millions of dollars secured until you turn 18, meaning Amanda can’t touch it in the divorce." Nodding his head, Brenden uncorked the Elixir and downed it in a single gulp before sitting down on the ground to digest the valuable and rare potion.
"Tell me everything that’s happened in our personal lives, and then let’s hear about any "side quests" you no doubt ventured on." My brother said before shooting me a knowing smirk and closing his eyes.
"Hm, for the most part, I didn’t deviate too far off course when it comes to the notes I left you, but there definitely were some hiccups along the way. For starters, I will be dealing with Riley, and you won’t be able to stop me from doing so." Sitting on the floor in front of him, I began narrating my adventures since returning to the past.
"I always knew he was a dickbag, but seeing how he is in his early 20s is quite infuriating, so I plan on paying it all back to him severalfold. Nanny and Grandpa are doing well. I went ahead and began slipping them health potions and a few tonics I got from Arkadia, so they should be able to break a longevity record or two. I expect them to make it to both our high school graduations at the very least, which is a far cry from when they initially died."
"Oh, you fixed the stroke issue that Nanny had, nice. I look forward to meeting her for the first time; the only memories I have of her are from after her stroke and being unable to speak while wheelchair-bound." Without opening his eyes, Brenden remarked before allowing me to continue.
"I did have to swipe a few coins from Grandpa’s safe to get started, though, but I think resolving any health issues he and Nanny had was a fair exchange, especially since it’s been a couple of years, and he hasn’t even noticed they were gone."
"I’ve kept Deeana around, and don’t give me shit about it because I have claimed her, so get any dumb thoughts about stopping me out of your head."
"Che, yeah right, like I’d even bother trying that; with how stubborn and hard-headed you are, I have a better shot at convincing you to hand over all your Ark-Coins than getting in the way of you controlling a few women, just don’t get TOO out of hand."
Although I mentioned Deeana, I failed to talk about adding Riley’s wife to my list of conquered women and continued talking about the key points of my life in the past.
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