MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

Alex and Andrei stood near the mall's entrance. On one side, a giant white teddy bear and a basket full of rare chocolates and candies rested, and on their other side, a beautiful black dress adorned with white beads, resembling a night sky dotted with stars, was hanging inside a glass display.

"It looks like Venedikt is searching for something special once again to earn brownie points with little Sophie," Andrei said, glancing at his teddy bear and basket of chocolates as if reconsidering his gift choices.

"Yeah, he always goes the extra mile for her. It's like a competition at this point," Alex said with a slight chuckle.

"Maybe I should have picked something more unique," Andrei mused, his eyes flicking back to the teddy bear.

"Trust me, she will love it," Alex said, not wanting to start a gift war between his brothers.

"What is taking him so long?" Andrei asked after a moment of silence, but quickly, his expression turned grim.

"Did you also hear that?" Alex asked as they suddenly looked at each other, a shared sense of unease washing over them.

Alex could hear loud, panicked voices and muffled crying with his superhuman hearing, and they were growing by the moment, indicating something truly bad had happened in the mall.

Alex quickly took out his phone and called Venedikt without a moment's waste, but seeing the call go unanswered, his expression turned grim.

Alex immediately opened the tracker app on his phone, but as he did so, his phone rang with a specific tone that he never wished to hear. As the app opened, showing him a list of several names, the name of Venedikt appeared dulled out, and his heart sank.

The app showed the location of nanobot trackers inside the bodies of various individuals close to Alex or crucial to his work, and these trackers could locate someone even in the deepest parts of the Earth or outer space.

So, seeing one of them not giving any signal anymore could only mean the tracker was either destroyed or the person was in a place that prevented connection.

Alex knew it was impossible to disable the nanobot trackers in the few minutes Venedikt had been alone, so he must be around something that could prevent them from establishing a connection and knew that such technology wasn't cheap nor available except to Awakened individuals.

Alex quickly checked Venedikt's last location and, once confirmed, began sprinting toward the area on the third floor, not caring that his speed was garnering him unwanted attention.

Beneath his dark glasses, his eyes turned pitch black, allowing him to see through solid walls. Using them, he confirmed the source of the commotion he had heard before was at Venedikt's last known location.

Alex didn't hold back his speed and reached the area in mere seconds, his eyes scanning the surroundings for his brother.

'I don't see him. Where did he go?' Alex thought, panic gripping his heart as he searched for Venedikt's distinctive aura, but he was nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile, Andrei, who had followed closely behind, charged into the gathered crowd, pushing his way into the store, nearly crushing his phone that showed Venedikt's last location.

Alex knew that since the notification had just arrived, Venedikt should be nearby, so he moved without a moment's delay, scanning each floor as he made his way to the roof.

Alex quickly reached the rooftop, pushing his eyes a touch beyond their limits, causing a nasty headache to develop, but he couldn't care less at the moment.

Despite his best efforts, he found nothing and as he was scanning the surroundings of the mall for any auras, he began to imagine every possible scenario, and the more he thought, the worse he felt.

Alex was scanning every car leaving the parking area, but he realized that if someone had kidnapped Venedikt and could hide from his eyes, he had no real way of finding them.

As the dread of the situation settled in, Alex thought about his family and instantly felt gutted, knowing whoever kidnapped Venedikt could very well be going after his family at this moment.

Alex quickly turned around and rushed back toward the staircase leading down, realizing the blunder he had made in his desperation by leaving Andrei alone.

Alex rushed toward the stairs, and just as he was about to descend, he heard a familiar voice in his mind.

{Alex, you need to calm down and think rationally.} Zero's voice echoed in his thoughts, but Alex kept moving toward the third floor, his mind fixated on saving Andrei.

{Your family is safe, and so are you and Andrei at the moment because those who came to kidnap Venedikt have already done their job and left the area.}

{Venedikt will be fine since those people were fully capable of neutralizing him on the spot and the two of you, but they just kidnapped him, meaning they want something from him.}

{There is a car waiting for you outside the mall, so let's meet and talk in person since maybe I will be able to help you save your brother,} Zero said, ending his message.

At this point, Alex reached the third floor and saw four security guards with guns pointed at Andrei, ordering him to lie on the floor. Seeing him arrive like a gust of wind, two of them shifted their aim toward him, shouting the same order.

'All of you should go to sleep,' Alex thought as he manifested a wave of darkness that spread out, enveloping the startled onlookers, and like being touched by a sleep-inducing spell, they began dropping like flies.

"Brother, tell me you found him?" Andrei asked, rushing toward Alex with a desperate, worried expression painted on his face.

"No, Andrei, I did not, but Zero contacted me. He says our families are safe and that those who took Venedikt have already left."

"Zero believes the kidnappers want something from Venedikt so they won't harm him immediately. He says to meet with him in person, and then we can figure out how to get Venedikt back," Alex replied, his tone resolute.

"Brother, do I need to know something?" Andrei asked in an almost quivering voice.

"I promise you we will get him back no matter what it takes," Alex said, making a promise not only to his brother but also to himself.

Andrei nodded in silence, not saying a word even though he had a thousand questions because he knew that the one person he could trust in this situation was his brother, who was standing by his side.