30 Julia

"What?! Upper Stage II?! Is that possible for someone of his age?! And destroying an A-rank dungeon by himself?!"

Lucio leaned back on his chair and wiped the sweat off his brow.

(As I thought. It was the right decision to not tell them about my other abilities and adventures. I wonder how they will react if I told them about Kakund. Not that I am gonna try.)

Sou quietly cut the meat in front of him and ate it, savouring the rushing flavours.

"So, how much did you manage to improve Lightning?" Rei inquired while sipping the soup in front of him.

(This will be a bit of a shock to them... Of course, I am not gonna reveal everything.)

"I am close to mastering Lightning completely..."

"Oh! That's gr-"

"I am not finished..."

Sou looked at everyone's confused faces.

"Heh."

Coincidently, everyone's hands moving on their plates stopped and the dining became silent.

Tick!

The sound of Sou's echoed through the silent dining.

Fwoosh!

Everyone looked at the sound.

"Wha..."

"How...?"

"Pweety!"

"..."

"Sou... you..."

"My God... my son can..."

Hundreds of small balls of fire were dancing beautifully. The brightness was gentle yet vibrant, the heat was mild yet warm. The balls were so pretty that everyone could not help but admire the beauty. Astounded by the act, they turned their amazed faces towards Sou who was smirking and sipping his soup. Sou looked at them with one eye open.

"Yep, I can wield dual elements."

Lucio fainted, Celina trembled as she tried to hold her husband, Julia remained emotionless as ever. And Rei and Lily looked at Sou with blank eyes as if they have seen something unimaginable. Technically, speaking they were right.

(Time to go I guess.)

Sou left the dining and started his Manor expedition.

(Those two eyes are really getting on my nerves...)

"..."

Sou left, avoiding the eyes.

***

"This house is quite extravagant..."

Sou walked through the house, feasting his eyes on the house's interior. Suddenly, he halted.

"... I forgot to ask mom the direction to my room."

Sou was at a loss.

(Heightened senses...)

He used heightened sense to find his room.

(Fuck, why is this so complex?)

Even after using heightened senses, he could not find it. Heck, he could not even remember his mom saying anything about his room.

"I am such an idiot..."

(Anyway, is she not going to stop following me?)

All this while, Julia, the girl Sou just met a few moments ago, was following him. No matter how much he tried to ignore her, his senses which were simply too absurd for humans didn't let him.

Sou turned around and called out.

"How long are you going to follow me?"

Julia finally made emerged from behind the wall and stood in front of Sou pathetically, albeit a little fidgety.

(Yeah... I can guess what she wants.)

A bitter premonition rose up from Sou.

"Hi." She greeted modestly.

"Yeah, hi."

"Where are you going?"

"I am searching for my room, but it seems like I know nothing about my room...?"

For a moment, Sou definitely saw her lips curl into a smile, but that smile soon reverted back to their apathetic state.

"Follow me. I will show you your room."

"Alright."

(... huh. So, she is feeling ecstatic and there's a bit of aggressiveness...)

Both of them moved their feet, Julia being in front of Sou.

***

After walking quite a while, Sou and Julia made their way to one of the cellars of the manor.

(Well, guessed that.)

Both of them walked for a bit more before stopping in a secluded place.

Julia quickly attempted to turn around but was interrupted by Sou's words.

"Don't try. Even if you manage to pin me down and use the extractor to extract my mana stage, that won't work on me."

"Why?"

"So you really were trying to do that..."

"Just answer the question."

Sou showed the silver-blue ring on his index finger.

"Do you know what this is?"

"What is this?"

"This is made of Dragon scales and it is connected to my veins. I am sure you know that the mana stage of anything which is connected to Dragon scales cannot be extracted."

"We will never know until we try!"

(This girl is so desperate...)

Sou's shadow started to show some movements. The loyal army beneath Sou's feet wanted to come out.

<Don't. >

<But... >

<Haa... fine. I am just going to play some more with sisters Mary and May.>

(She was playing? Playing what? How can she even play in my shadow?)

Sou's train of thoughts was disturbed by Julia's sudden pounce on him which he evaded easily. But she didn't have any plans of letting Sou rest. She quickly regained her footing and rushed at Sou at an unnatural speed.

(Hmm... she is good at martial arts. Where did she learn that? She doesn't even have a mana stage.)

Using martial arts, she drove her hand towards Sou's face. Just before her hand reached the target point, Sou disappeared, or it seemed like that. In actuality, Sou was so fast that it seemed like he had teleported.

"It's really commendable that you have trained your body up to this point despite not having a mana stage."

"Shut up!"

Julia rushed and rushed and rushed at Sou but all in vain. She could not land a single hit.

"Let me guess why you want a mana stage so desperately. You were ostracized."

"Shut up!"

"You always lived inside a dome of pressure."

"Shut! Up!"

"You want to live up to your parents' expectations but can't."

"I said shut up!!!"

(It's funny to see this girl so agitated.)

The speed increased with every provocation but Sou was well above her.

Poph!

The barrage stopped.

"You can stop now."

"But... but..." Julia's eyes were already overflowing with tears like a baby's and her nose was running.

"I know what you want."

"Then let me have your mana stage!"

(Is it some kind of dish?)

Sou sighed and opened his mouth.

"I can help you develop your mana core."

"What?!"

"..."

Julia tried not to make a crazy grin and asked.

(If I was someone shady, she would have definitely fallen some for some shady deals...)

"H-How can I believe y-you?"

"We won't know until we try."

"R-R-Really?!"

"... yeah."

"Ha... haha... I... even I can... be a mage..."

(Don't believe me that easily!)

Her knees gave out and she fell, crying and sobbing freely.

"Haa..."

(Who would believe me if I said that she is an emotionless brat...)

Sou stood apathetically, looking down at Julia.

(Well, nevertheless, I am going to make good use of her.)

***

"Where did you get that?" Julia asked pointing at the covering on Sou's index finger.

(I got it from Kakund, the Blue's leader... is something I can't say.)

"Not gonna tell you."

"Mmhm." Her emotionless face faded in her face again.

"Angry?"

"A bit."

(Your face says otherwise though.)

"Don't be angry."

"Alright."

"Good. By the way, where did you learn martial arts from?"

"From my father."

"I see..."

(So, I was right. Lucio had a mana stage and it was quite powerful, enough to still have some remnants in him.)

"What?"

"Nothing."

(Not my business so I don't care.)

***

"Where did you disappear to, son?" Rei got up from the couch and asked.

"Julia here was just showing me the house. It's quite big."

"Right? Hehe."

(He is so cheerful...)

"Sou, do you want to hit the bed now?"

"Uh... about that, where is my room by the way?"

And that's how the day of Sou's reunion ended.

***

Next chapter