Seed of Titan-Chapter 104: A Friend’s Departure

"Uncle Jack!" Drai exclaimed upon seeing the ambusher.

Jack coughed and slumped to the floor. His clothes were drenched in his own blood.

Drai and Ravi rushed to his side and knelt beside him.

"Jack... You shouldn’t be moving..." Ravi whispered as he held his friend’s bloodied hand.

Breathing heavily, Jack replied with much difficulty, "Too late... I took... the booster..."

Hearing this, Ravi’s face sank. He checked Jack’s heartbeat and said frantically, "Why did you do that?! You know it’s a failed prototype!"

Jack chuckled and closed his eyes.

"I was... gonna die... either way... Might... as well save... you."

Jack suddenly coughed a handful of blood. With his worsening injuries, even speaking felt utterly agonizing to him.

"Dammit! Why must there be a blackout!?" Ravi questioned with a pained expression. He figured that if he could treat Jack in his basement lab, perhaps there would still be a chance to save his dear friend.

Meanwhile, Drai was silently kneeling with wet eyes. Even though Jack didn’t talk that much, he had helped Drai countless times ever since he drove the boy to the academy. Not only did he always pick Drai up every time Ravi asked to meet him, Jack had also been managing Drai’s administration and monthly allowance, which made Drai’s academy days a lot easier.

Mustering whatever strength he had left, Jack slowly said, "Ravi... thanks... for sheltering me... all these years..."

Gripping Jack’s hand tightly, Ravi tearfully replied, "I’m the one who’s thankful, Jack. If not for your company, I would’ve probably died in solitude years ago. You allowed me to wait long enough until I finally met Drai..."

Jack let out a warm smile unlike what Drai had ever seen from him. With his eyes still shut, he whispered, "Drai..."

Drai wiped his tears and replied, "Yes, Uncle Jack..."

"Ravi’s lonely... Take care... of him."

Drai grabbed Jack’s other hand and promised, "Don’t worry, Uncle Jack. I will."

Jack’s expression lightened, seemingly at peace. He coughed a couple more times before laying there in silence. And soon, his chest finally ceased moving.

The pair kept kneeling beside their departed friend. Ravi was sobbing quietly, mourning the man who had closely accompanied him throughout his darkest years.

Meanwhile, Drai was also grieving. But unlike Ravi, he wasn’t overwhelmed by sadness, as he was currently boiling with wrath.

’I swear to make these people pay... no matter what it takes,’ Drai vengefully thought.

Silence ensued. Only after a few minutes had passed did Ravi finally speak.

"You know, boy? I first met Jack around fourteen years ago. At that time, I was traveling across the continent, looking for specialty and exotic materials for my research," Ravi said with a hoarse voice.

Drai listened closely. By now, his wrath had settled into a shimmer, lying deep within him alongside his vengeance. This was mainly due to Titan’s Fortitude, which had curbed his agitation, preventing him from acting rashly.

Ravi resumed his story, "I don’t remember the details, but one day when I was walking through a rural area, Jack suddenly jumped out of the trees and stopped me. And guess what? He tried to mug me, threatening to harm me with his gray hands."

Drai was a bit stunned. He didn’t expect the duo’s first meeting to be like this.

"Of course I easily subdued him. He was just a reckless brat in his twenties—no match for a fourth-stager like me. But I decided to spare him since I needed a porter. After all, I didn’t have a dimensional storage yet."

Ravi looked at Jack’s smiling face with nostalgia and continued, "He was of course unwilling. But since he couldn’t escape from me nor defeat me, he ended up accompanying me for weeks until I finally returned here.

"I don’t know if it’s because he saw the academy’s grandeur or if something had sparked within him during our travel, but when I released him, he asked to stay as my helper. I was a bit suspicious of his motives but decided to accept him, as I needed a personal assistant too. And since that day, Jack has always been with me... right until a few moments ago."

Ravi quickly rubbed his eyes that were tearing up again.

"Uncle Jack never told me about this," Drai remarked sadly.

"He’s just that kind of person, Drai. Never once did he complain about any task that I assigned to him. I’d like to think that he was grateful for his change of fortune. Jack was an orphan from a backwater nation, which was why he didn’t have the opportunity to receive proper education and resorted to mugging. And if I hadn’t pressured him to reveal his past, he probably would’ve never mentioned it."

Drai looked at Jack in understanding. He finally realized why the man had been so loyal to Ravi.

’Just like me, Uncle Jack’s indebted to the professor. But his circumstances were way worse than mine, so his gratitude must be far greater too.’

A few moments later, Ravi stood up and said, "Can you help me carry Jack, Drai? I don’t want to leave him here."

Drai nodded and carefully lifted Jack’s body that had started to lose its warmth. Blood stained Drai’s shirt, but he could care less about it.

Drai was suddenly reminded of the other victim. He asked Ravi, "What about Professor Samara?"

Ravi glanced at the piles of rubble behind them before replying, "Bring her along too if you can find her body."

Drai nodded and went through the rubble, searching for the corpse. When he attacked Paul earlier, Samara’s corpse hadn’t crossed his mind, so there was a chance that it had been destroyed by the impact.

Fortunately, Samara’s body was still intact when Drai finally spotted it. It had only been blown away a few yards from the fist-shaped crater.

Shortly after, Drai returned to Ravi, carrying Jack’s and Samara’s body on his shoulders.

"Sorry I can’t help you, boy," Ravi quickly apologized upon seeing Drai’s load. Without his spells, he was just an old man with low physical stats.

"It’s fine, Professor. By the way, you can still use the dimensional storage if there’s anything you need to bring with you."

This information surprised Ravi slightly. He immediately checked his storage and confirmed Drai’s words.

"I’ve already stored all the important stuff aside from my lab equipment. But it’s not like they’re useful for this situation, and I doubt I can access the basement without electricity, so I’m ready to go."

Drai glanced in the direction of the secret entrance. "I can force our way in if you want," he offered. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Ravi gulped and shook his head. "Thanks, but let’s just head to Zar." Ravi didn’t want his precious basement to end up in tatters like his mansion.

"Okay," Drai replied with a nod.

But as the two of them prepared to leave, a female voice suddenly cried out from behind them.