Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Chapter 663  Repair

After his conversation with Alina in the library, Kaizen felt relieved that she had in fact accepted his invitation to join his guild. He knew that Alina would bring a unique dimension of knowledge and skills to the group. However, there was an important task ahead: inviting Xisrith to join them.

Kaizen found Xisrith in the store, still immersed in the scrolls and manuscripts they had acquired in the Bloodstone Clan Crypt. She looked up when he approached and smiled, putting the scroll aside.

"Did Alina like the book?" She asked, curious.

"Yes, she loved it." Kaizen replied with a smile. "She's really excited about it, she believes they might be long-lost spells. I think she'll be safe with it."

"That puts my mind at ease." Xisrith said, placing a hand on her chest.

Kaizen nodded, going around the counter and opening the inventory. "By the way, what I'd like to discuss with you..."

Xisrith tilted his head, showing interest. "Ah, yes... What is it?"

"You saw the interview I gave after the tournament, you know I want to set up a guild, don't you? However, as you can imagine, I haven't made many friends with my solo playing style. There are people I've helped and been helped by, but my collaborations have never been very long." Kaizen explained, clicking on the icons of some items in his inventory and making them materialize on the counter. "The two of us have been collaborating for a while, I helped you, you helped me, then you helped me and I helped you. It's a more natural collaboration than with the others. And for me, Xisrith, you're an incredible player. I've seen your skills in action, and I'd like to..."

"Wait." She asked.

Kaizen raised his head. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"N-no, it's not that. It's just that I think I know what you're getting at, but before you propose what you're going to do, I want to meet you in person, show you my real face to be fair to you, after all I already know who you are, what you look like. Besides, I believe this is the kind of thing that will change my life, so I'd rather talk about it in person." Xisrith said, looking into his eyes.

The black-haired boy was surprised for a few seconds, but smiled with closed lips and nodded. "As you prefer... I'm only free for the rest of this week, do you think you can make it to New York? I'll pay for your ticket and your stay." Kaizen said and threw her a gold dagger of Mutant Classification.

Xisrith caught the dagger in the air and smiled. "Thank you for understanding. Tomorrow, I'll pack my things and get on the first plane."

After that, they exchanged contact information, such as phone numbers and e-mail addresses, to make it safe for her.

*

The next morning, Xisrith packed her bags, got ready and left for the airport. The trip was supposed to take fifteen hours by plane from her country alone, meaning it was on the other side of the world, but she was excited.

For his part, Klaus woke up a little drowsy and went down the stairs of his childhood home, hearing them creak and when he went to lean on the banister near the last step, he felt it wobble a little. This bothered him a little, so when he saw his mother in the kitchen, he asked:

"Good morning, Mom. Could it be that the cupboard under the stairs had another termite infestation and moved to the stairs?"

"Good morning, dear," replied Chun Park with a smile. She was busy preparing breakfast. "No, I haven't noticed anything wrong with the stairs or the cupboard. It's probably just a loose board. I'll ask your father to take a look when he gets home from work."

Klaus nodded, still feeling a little strange about the stairs, but not wanting to worry too much about it at the moment. He sat down at the table and began to eat his breakfast. However, after breakfast Klaus had nothing scheduled to do and as his father was coming home tired from work, he decided to have a look in the cupboard under the stairs before his father came home. He took a flashlight and opened the door to the small, dark space where they kept only unnecessary things. As he illuminated the area with the flashlight, he saw something that perplexed him.

In the corner of the cupboard, behind some stacked boxes, it was possible to see that the wood of a step was a little worn, almost broken. He tapped the wood of the step and, to his surprise, a little dust fell with a light touch. He knelt down and examined it more closely, shining his flashlight on it.

"Termites, definitely."

Next, Kaizen decided to look at other parts of the house, such as some other built-in cupboards, and so discovered that it wasn't just the stair step; several parts of the cupboard's drywall were infested. Klaus' heart sank. He knew this was a serious problem. Termites were persistent and destructive pests. Klaus knew he would have to Shortly afterwards, his mother, Chun, arrived home after taking Ard to school and noticed Klaus' worried expression.

call an exterminator as soon as possible. He took some pictures with his cell phone to show the specialist.

Shortly afterwards, his mother, Chun, arrived home after taking Ard to school and noticed Klaus' worried expression.

"What's going on, dear?" She asked.

Klaus showed her the photos and explained the situation. Chun looked at the pictures with a worried expression.

"Oh, no, that's terrible," she muttered. "But... how? We dealt with the termites not even a year ago."

"Yes, but it seems that they had already proliferated and we didn't notice. In that one year, they've moved into various parts of the house." Klaus said.

Chun was visibly shaken. She loved that house, where she had lived for years with her family, where she had raised her, where she had raised Rhyzer, Klaus and was now raising Klaus.

Klaus, seeing how devastated his mother was, decided to take the initiative.

"Mom, we have two options here," he began carefully. "We can try to demolish the house and make use of the land or sell the house and find a better place, one where we don't have to deal with these pests."

Chun looked at her son with tears in her eyes. She knew how hard he had worked to get the house back from the bank and how much he loved the house he grew up in.

"Klaus, you're right." She said, her heart clenching.

However, at that moment, Klaus immediately realized that it wasn't what she wanted. Deep down, he knew that everyone was so attached to it, including him, because they hoped that, like before, they would be reunited there if Rhyzer ever woke up. So Klaus offered his mother a third alternative.

"Or, we could try to repair the parts affected by the termites, hire a specialist and hope that the termites haven't gotten into the structure and any structural beams of the house. But that could be expensive and time-consuming."

Chun raised his head. "But it's possible, isn't it? Your father and I have a lot of the money you gave us, we can afford it."

Kaizen smiled, seeing the happiness in her hope. "Mom, don't worry about money. I do my best every day so that we don't have to worry about it ever again. So talk to Dad when he arrives, I'm sure he knows some great professionals in the field, after all, he knows everyone."

"Oh, my son! You're an angel!" She said, opening her arms to hug him. "We raised him well, thank goodness."

Kaizen squeezed his mother tightly too, because she's caused him enough trouble and headaches for one lifetime, now he just wants to reassure his family and fight for them.