Chapter 92: Single-Minded
The days passed slowly as Priam prepared for his imminent departure toward the Divine Plane.
At the beginning of a beautiful day, his father finally came looking for him for an honest conversation.
The two of them closed the door and were completely alone in Priam’s room.
The silence that settled in was heavy, suffocating.
The atmosphere was extremely serious. But on the surface, Priam seemed completely indifferent. Without saying a word, he simply pointed to an empty chair for his father with a subtle gesture and sat on the edge of his bed.
That man had a terribly tense expression...
Boey, who usually carried the imposing posture of an alchemist, looked incredibly vulnerable there. He hesitated before sitting down, his open hands resting on his knees, trembling slightly.
The weight of years of absence was stamped on every line of his face. This child he had seen be born, with whom he should have had an immense and eternal connection... now, both of them had become strangers to each other.
The blame for that, even if it had not been his intention, was only his.
He wanted to speak, but Priam’s cold and calm gaze froze him.
For some reason, looking at his son there, Boey felt that he was anything but an ordinary young man. There was no silly anger or childish tantrum in Priam. There was only an absurd maturity and a cutting coldness.
Swallowing his pride and nervousness, Boey realized he could not speak to him the way one spoke to a child. He needed to treat him as an equal.
Boey took a deep breath, forced himself to hold his son’s gaze, and finally broke the silence, laying everything out man to man.
He explained that, after Priam’s departure, he would be forced to return one last time, so he could organize his pending business with "them."
It would take a few months. However, he gave his word of honor: he would return for good and spend the rest of his days by his wife’s side.
He reinforced his words once again. He guaranteed that he would never again stay away from home, working like a slave day and night, unaware of everything.
Certainly, "they" would not be happy with that decision. But Boey had a card up his sleeve: he was, proudly, an alchemist of rare talent in the Mortal Plane. His ability to refine the most complex pills with an almost perfect success rate made him far too valuable to be punished or subdued.
"They" needed him.
Because of that, they would accept the agreement. In the end, Boey would simply work from home, slowing down his pace of work, but maintaining the supply.
Priam listened to everything in silence. When his father finished, the young man nodded slightly, holding his gaze.
After a few suffocating seconds.
"Honestly... I don’t feel like you’re my father," Priam shot out. His voice was calm, devoid of anger, which made the truth even more painful.
"I have no memories of you teaching me anything, or any positive feelings. On the contrary. The only feeling I’ve had for you all these years was resentment. The weight of seeing my mother anguished, day and night, all because of you."
The words struck Boey like a physical blow. The air left his lungs, and he lowered his head, feeling the crushing weight of remorse. His fists clenched so hard that his knuckles turned white, and his eyes grew wet with restrained pain.
He had done what he could to try to extend his wife’s life.
Saving her was impossible, but he had selfishly wanted to live more time with her.
In the end... the naked and raw truth was only one thing...
He could have done it another way. He could have thought more about her.
Instead, he acted with a blind and absolute hyperfocus on his goal. He ignored all the variables, forgot the risks, and closed his eyes to the destructive impact of his choices.
He had failed. Completely.
The fate of everything had never been in his hands.
If Priam had not risen like a dragon and caused that tremendous shock in the main clan... Seien would possibly have died wasting away at home. And the worst part: Boey would not even have known.
What would have been the point of all that sacrifice, then?
In the end, good intentions were nothing but excuses. If not for his son, everything would have been in vain. His actions would not have given him something good, but instead turned him into the worst of husbands and the most despicable father of all.
"I know..." Boey whispered, his voice choked. "I failed you both miserably. I know no excuse will erase what I made you and your mother go through, but I swear that..."
"But...," Priam interrupted him calmly, softening his tone when he saw his father’s state. "Since my mother is happy now, I’ll put the past aside. I just need you to promise me one thing."
Boey instantly raised his eyes, staring at his son with fierce and unshakable determination. He nodded firmly, ready to accept any condition.
"Don’t let her feel even one more second of resentment or loneliness," Priam said, his tone becoming grave and commanding. "And one more thing: make sure you give her new children to love. But this time, make sure you raise them the right way."
Boey froze, caught off guard by the unexpected request. The shock soon gave way to a wave of relief and deep gratitude that flooded his chest.
A faint and sincere smile appeared on his lips, accompanied by a glow of real promise in his eyes.
"I promise," Boey answered, his voice as firm as iron. "With my own life."
Priam nodded. This man was not that bad, and his Karmic Title defined him very well:
The Single-Minded.
He was determined and obstinate. When he had a goal in mind, he became extremely focused, resolute, and persistent in achieving it, without thinking about anything else. It was like an obsession that blinded him to everything.
If he had paid more attention to his family, he would have discovered the result of the evaluation Priam had received from the clan. His wife, already deeply affected by his absence and loneliness, would certainly use that on her son again.
It was not that hard to predict everything. But... Boey was simply like that. He could only blindly think about the work and goal in front of him.
’I hope this genetics doesn’t pass on to his other children,’ Priam thought internally, watching his father leave through the bedroom door.
Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes as a chill ran down his spine.
’Wait? Why do I feel like I just cursed myself?’
***
The days passed slowly. With the GP Priam had, he couldn’t buy the most important things he wanted. He took his time, trying to get points from the system, since he saw no point in spending them on the options he could buy.
But he had no success at all.
The loyalty of the people close to him was already quite high, and it did not seem like it would rise that easily again. As for the new methods of getting points, he barely had any idea how to do them.
In the end, he concluded that staying still in one place doing the basics would never result in anything.
When he went to the Divine Plane, he could not act like the other disciples, focusing only on training and studying. Or... he would never fully enjoy the System he had.
The days kept passing. But when exactly 30 days remained before the departure, a message from the clan Leader arrived.
When he heard the message, Priam narrowed his eyes, sensing something potentially problematic... or maybe, potentially incredible.