(Jacob's POV, Terra Nova Online)
The rumors about 'Leo Skyshard' and 'TheBoss' being one and the same had reached the ears of Jacob as well, and unlike the others who were just speculating if the two were one and the same?, Jacob was sure that they indeed were.
The Boss was not primarily a player belonging to the Southern Region, yet he showed up in Thumba City at the same time that Leo was visiting his mother and to make the coincidence even more ridiculous, Jacob found him loitering just behind Elena's bakery.
"The kid was there to change his clothes…. He was taking off his belt when I found him. He must be in the middle of changing his identity…." Jacob realized, as he chuckled out loud when he found the truth.
"I'm just a merchant my ass…." Jacob said, grinning from ear to ear, as he realized that his innocent younger child was not so innocent after all.
"I guess badassery runs in the blood" Jacob concluded, as he realized that his sons were technically ranked 1,2 and 4 on the global rankings.
Looking back at their fight, Jacob now chuckled at his foolishness to attack his own kid, as he felt a boulder being lifted off his chest.
He was almost obsessed with beating The Boss, however, now that he found out that it was his own kid, he no longer felt the same way.
"His technique is not as good as mine, but the kid has potential for sure. If I get a chance to groom him, I can teach him a lot!" Jacob muttered to himself as he felt his veins pumping with adrenaline like never before.
He was an absent father all his life, however, if there was one thing he was good at, it was stealth assassinations and combat.
Hence, although there was nothing else that he could pass down to his kids, just the thought that he could perhaps pass down his experience, made him excited as a father.
*Sigh*
Unfortunately, despite the excitement that he felt momentarily, Jacob sighed and unclenched his fists as he realized that his son would never learn from him, even if it were in his best interests to do so.
"That brat is prideful and hates me…He will never give me a chance to be a father" Jacob muttered to himself, feeling a bit of self pity, before killing that emotion like a trained soldier.
Yes it sucked that he could not be a role model for his children, however, such was life.
He had his chance to be in their lives and he blew it in favor of fighting foreign wars, so now he needed to deal with the consequences of his own actions.
"But at least that kid did not expose me in front of his mother, he must have known too that I wasn't an architect…." Jacob muttered as he chuckled out loud recalling that conversation.
His kid clearly knew back then that he was a combat class player, however, he still did not say anything about it to Elena, a decision that Jacob respected deeply now.
"Tch….such a nice kiddo but you want to support the rebels? Just how did my bloodline turn anti-establishment?" Jacob wondered, as although he voiced his disappointment in Leo's decision, he wasn't really disappointed at all.
Currently, he was working with his military buddies to strike a major blow to the rebel movement, 'The Uprising', however, now that he found out that his son was the one leading it, Jacob no longer wished to pursue the matter anymore.
"Fine, boy…. If you want to take down the status quo, I'll help you from the shadows" Jacob said, as he decided to go against all of his own beliefs and support the rebels, if that was what his son wanted to do.
The probability of Leo ever finding out what he would do for him was thin, however, Jacob decided to support him from the shadows nonetheless, as he felt like that was what a responsible father should do.
"I've been missing from your life for 20+ years…. I guess this is the least I can do" Jacob muttered to himself, as he called for an emergency meeting of his mercenary team.
Surprisingly, he had to change their whole agenda today.
********
(Meanwhile Elena's POV)
Elena too found out about all the global outrage, when Rita the kind gamer who taught her about in-game technology, reached out to her and asked her about her son 'Leo Skyshard'.
Up till then, Elena had no idea about the conversations on-going on the global forums, however, once Rita told her about it, she panicked and started to text both Leo and Luke to get to the bottom of the matter.
Unlike most tech savvy people who could probably type messages with their eyes closed, Elena typed rather slowly, having to find the location of every key on the keyboard as she typed with one finger at a time.
And although she typed this slow, she still made a lot of mistakes in her spellings, making her overall texts look weird.
Nonetheless, she persisted for over half an hour, sending multiple messages to both her kids, and although Leo never replied, Luke did, informing her that Leo Skyshard and 'TheBoss' were indeed one and the same, however, it was a close protected secret so Elena should not disclose it to anyone.
Luke of-course did it because he did not wish to lie to his mother, however, Elena went into a full blown panic mode when she found out.
She bombarded Luke with additional questions, mostly regarding Leo's safety, as Luke had to reply to her in long messages assuring her that both him and Leo were safe and that online outrage was not something to be worried about.
However, unfortunately for Luke, telling a mother to not worry about her own child was like playing the flute to make a buffalo dance, which was utterly pointless.
No matter how hard he tried, Elena refused to calm down and instead decided to end the conversation saying…. 'Let me talk to your father'.