Excitedly, Ian rubbed Elan’s cheeks, which felt great to the touch. "I can’t see my own, but I can see my brother’s!"
"After all, who else do we have but each other? It’s either you or me!"
The white-haired child tucked in the blankets was still sucking his tongue in his sleep, making adorable murmurs, blissfully unaware that he’d been made into a tool for predicting the future, a human comparator by his own brother.
Of course, it wasn’t just that.
The reason Ian was determined to protect Elan wasn’t solely because of his abilities.
Ultimately, Elan was his only remaining blood relative in this world. Their mother, already weak from illness, had passed away shortly after giving birth to Elan due to the excessive strain of caring for two children alone after their stepfather left.
All along, it was Ian who told stories to Elan, sang lullabies, and Elan was closest to him as a brother.
Elan had one-quarter elf blood, and combined with being mixed with the White Folks, the potential for his Spirit Energy awakening was great in theory, but in reality, it wasn’t, which was also why their half-elf stepfather from Canaan Moore, had left directly.
The white-haired toddler had pointed ears, indeed quite cute.
Watching Elan’s sleeping face, the boy exhaled, calming himself down slightly.
Ian reached out, leaning over to pinch the tips of the other’s ears, the trace of fierceness in his eyes from killing Ossenna dissipating. He looked tenderly at his younger brother, "Even if you really were foolish, I would still take care of you as you grow up... After all, you’re the only family I have in this world."
"But to better deal with the crises of this unknown world, I must make the most of every detail of my abilities to find a sliver of chance in this dire start."
Murmuring to himself, Ian stood up, leaving his brother’s room.
As he passed the table, he casually cleaned the dried blood from his hands with his uncle’s clothes.
Approaching the window, Ian carefully surveyed the outside.
For a moment, he thought he saw a golden mist, but in the next instant, it vanished.
"What was that?"
He rubbed his eyes with some confusion before confirming that it must have been an illusion caused by the flickering light of the street lamps at the corner.
The streets of this coastal city were quiet and silent in the deep of night, with only a few dim street lights around the city center. Those fueled by oil extracted from fluorescent algae, touted as long-burning lamps, could only glow for just over a month at most.
Forcing them to light up only results in a flickering and unstable glow like now.
Once sure that no one was around, Ian secured the curtains once more.
His heart was filled with emotion.
Harrison Port, Terra Continent.
Although it seemed ancient and feudal.
But Ian knew, this otherworld that only appears to be on the verge of the industrial age was nothing like Earth from his previous life.
There wasn’t just Spirit Energy, but also Sublimators, Sober Sleep Powder, and other quite extraordinary things.
"Is it Swords and Magic? Spirit Energy and miracles?"
Gazing out at the world, Ian felt a thrill of excitement at the unknown, "Terra is truly wonderful."
With a sigh of appreciation, this had always been his nature.
Ian’s pursuit was this feeling, this future.
That’s why he had longed to travel to the Star Sea, to venture into that dark, unknown distance.
Ordinary people might fear that silence and darkness, but for Ian, turning the dark unknown into known territory, satisfying his curiosity, that was the meaning of life.
Otherworld? With Spirit Energy, Sleep Powder, and all sorts of unheard and unseen things?
Couldn’t be better!
Quickly bundling the corpse in oilcloth, Ian was a hundred percent sure that his brutal uncle was thoroughly dead. Even if this world had necromancy, a zombie with half a neck missing was nothing to fear.
"I need to dispose of my uncle’s body tonight."
In the flickering light of the living room, Ian let out a long sigh, now feeling an almost painful hunger in his stomach as the tension gave way to fatigue in his limbs, "But first."
The boy who had just properly dealt with the body came to the right conclusion.
"I need to eat."