?"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ss asked with a calm tone that sent shivers down the spines of the two.


    "W-Who are you?" Keira pointed her staff at him, making him raise a brow, but he didn''t move.


    His grandmother had an amethyst core. He didn''t want to end up on her bad side and get himself killed by ident. His father also entered a battle stance, pointing his de at Ss while bending his knees.


    His sword was covered in more toki than Ss had ever seen.


    ''Lochras is... Strong.'' Ss thought for the first time ever.


    "Grandma, Dad... I''d rather not fight the two of you. You weren''t meant to find out this way, but it is what it is. I''ll exinter. All you guys have to do is back my words, okay?" Ss asked. Instead of responding, Keira muttered something under her breath while Lochras shot forward at a moderate speed.


    ''Did I not reel in my killing intent? Why the hell are they attacking me?'' Ss gritted his teeth and jumped back.


    He didn''t even have enough mana to activate mana fusion, his least mana-costing ''spell,'' if you could even call it that.


    However, before Lochras or Keira could attack Ss, a wall made of earth suddenly erupted out of the ground between them.


    Looking to the side, Ss saw the earth bear slowly walk out of the shadows. Its body was in top shape, but it barely had any mana in its core.


    Ss frowned. Was the bear trying to fight him again? If so, could he even take it on? No mana and no stamina were a horriblebination. The fact that he was unable to use toki only added to his bad situation.


    Ss released a sliver of his killing intent toward the bear, but it didn''t retaliate with its own killing intent. Maybe it was trying to get his guard down. If that was the case, then he clearly underestimated the beast before him.


    However, when he looked into its eyes, he didn''t see a shred of malice... Well, technically, it wasn''t even staring at him. It was looking at Lochras and Keira.


    Suddenly, an explosion sounded from the wall as mes burst through alongside a man draped in ck armor.


    "Prove to me that you''re my son, and I won''t kill you." Lochras pointed his de at Ss, making the beast beside him bear its fangs at the armored man.


    "Uhh... My sister''s name is Syra. You''re Lochras, the old woman behind you is Keira-"


    "I''m not old!" Keira snarled while walking through the mes as well, her robe pping in the wind.


    However, her expression quickly softened.


    There were only two people who called her old, mostly because everyone else was far too afraid of her to try such a thing.


    "Ss? Is that actually you?" She asked as tears welled in her eyes.


    "Who else would I be? Are you not seeing these muscles? I can''t think of anyone else my age capable of forming muscles like these." Ss asked with outrage.


    Her body moved on its own. Within an instant, Keira shot forward at breakneck speeds and appeared before Ss, instantly wrapping him in a hug. Her movement was far faster than the bear could react to, especially in its current state. However, after seeing that there was no malice, the bear quickly stood down.


    "I''m going to kill you when we get back home, but for now... I''m happy you''re not..." She paused as her entire body quivered uncontrobly.


    ''I''ve had a lot of firsts today, huh...'' Ss thought while hugging his grandmother''s back, holding her tight as she cried in front of him for the first time.


    On the other hand, his father stood a few meters away with his hand on his chest. He breathed deeply, trying to calm himself down.


    It took them a minute to calm down, and by then, the chief and his men were close.


    "Alright. Just do what I told you." Ss whispered while cing the topaz mana crystal inside his grandmother''s pouch. He eventually toward the general direction of the iing small army.


    "Is anyone hurt?" The chief asked as he stepped out of the forest and into the clearing created by Ss'' inferno spell.


    "Yes. We''re fine..." Lochras responded. He hadn''t said a word after they had made sure Ss was actually his son, not some monster that had taken over his body or just looked like him.


    His voice was a little cold, maybe even distant, but at that moment, that was the least of Ss'' priorities.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I see that you''ve not only killed the shadowswarm, but you''ve also found your child." One of the white knights sneered at the duo.


    "The hell is your problem?" Ss instantly retorted, taking everyone aback not only by his rudeness but also by the state of his body.


    Sure, he was physically fine, but hygienically? Even this world had a certain hygiene standard despite the clearck of it.


    "Watch your mouth, child. You don''t want to get on the church''s bad side." The man spat while waving his sword with a cocky smirk.


    However, before he could ramble on further, he was mmed by an earth boulder that sent him rolling for several meters.


    They all widened their eyes and pointed their weapons at the earth bear. Even Lochras and Keira were surprised.


    How did all of them miss the giant bear standing next to them?


    On the other hand, Ss had an agape expression on his face. It was his equivalent of pure shock.


    "I no longer care about how you almost killed me. We''re officially best friends now, okay? Just... don''t bite my head off. Please." Ss announced while striding forward. Knowing his father could stop the beast''s attack easily, he wasn''t overly cautious.


    The bear stepped toward him as well. However, even though he expected it to open its mouth and bite his head off, it simply drenched his entire body in saliva with a single lick.


    "Ugh... Really?" Ssined with a hint of disgust.


    "Is it with you?" the chief asked.


    "Yep... Did you not just hear me announce that we''re best friends?" Ss crossed his arms while everyone looked at him the same way someone looked at a puppy.


    After that, the chief continued a private conversation with Keira, while Lochras plopped down on a rock that the earth bear had created out of sand.


    Keira took the me for the fire vortex like Ss told her to, while Lochras simply stared at the ground.


    At the same time, Gina, who hade with the chief, began to interrogate Ss, asking him dozens of questions. However, he always either answered without any restraint or turned the question back on her.


    Sometimes, he avoided the question with such fluidity that most of it went over her head. At the same time, he tried to flirt with her. His weird crush on her had not dissipated yet. Since he was a child and no one could judge him, he chose to use this encounter to teach himself how to flirt with women


    After that short exchange, Gina, the ck-haired woman, felt like she had lost an argument to a 5-year-old. She wasn''t wrong.


    Eventually, Keira told Lochras and Ss that she had some business with the chief, so they had to go home without her.


    The earth bear walked alongside them for a bit before licking Ss and walking in another direction. Ss still wasn''t sure if the bear liked him or not, but from all the licking, he assumed that they were, at the very least, acquaintances.


    Once they left the forest and their house was in view, Lochras opened his mouth and spoke, his tone icy and distant. It quivered with an uncontroble rage simmered behind every word while being constantly stifled by the cool waters of his rationality and self-control.


    "When we get into that house, I want a full exnation... And I swear on my unborn child''s life; if you lie to me, I will make sure you regret it."


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    [A/N: Slightly longer chapter. I didn''t want to waste any more time, so I made it a little longer. Also, the next time skip will either happen in the next chapter or the one after that.


    Also, I will lock my chapters around early to mid-volume 2, which will probably be chapters 60-70ish.


    Finally, 4 chaps tomorrow because you guys hit 300 power stonesst week. Golden ticket goals will also most likelye out tomorrow.]


    [If you have enjoyed this chapter and would like to support the author, please vote using your power stones or golden tickets. Also, you can join my discord server today to see illustrations or to converse about thetest chapters.]


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    [If you have enjoyed this chapter and would like to support the author, please vote using your power stones or golden tickets. Also, you can join my discord server today to see illustrations or to converse about thetest chapters.]