Chapter 12

After leaving Himiko to watch the entrance, I and my mother went deeper into the secret passage. it was narrow, only enough for four people to pass through without brushing shoulders with each other. So it's quite wide for us, mother and son.

The passage after the entrance is straight. We walked for a while until we lost sight of Himiko. That was when the passage turned into stairs as it went down the darkness.

This is where light meets darkness.

I look back and squint at the source of this stunning light, a lamp some distance away behind us. I then looked forward, to our only way, the stairs shrouded in darkness.

Further than this, there's no light whatsoever. But the brightness of the lamp is so blinding that it cast dim light into the stairs. Still, I can't see the end. It's too deep and dark.

Is it okay if we go there? It's kind of creepy. I also left my phone in my room. What should I do? I eyed mom's hands and then her clothes. Did she also forget her phone?

"Mother, what should we do? There's no light down there."

Shouldn't we bring a light with us?

It's not because I'm scared, but it was dangerous to walk in the dark! If I'm unlucky and tripped down the stairs, I could bid my new life goodbye! Which is a no-no. As for hostile presence, it's our family vault so there shouldn't be a hostile in here, right?

Mom patted my head and went down first.

Sigh, this Ais is a few years older than the canon counterpart so she looked older and more mature. And her increase in height is clearly the contributing factor to her fondness for patting me!

This can't do, I must get taller soon asap. Otherwise, she will always treat me like a child!

Oh right, why did she bring her sword? I eyed the beauty clad in the silver sheath and can't help but fall in love. She's a beauty. I would love to have one right away!

I'll ask mom to buy me one after the trip from the vault!

I tried to get her attention but she was focused on the darkness below.

When I saw her expression, I stopped disturbing her and follow in her steps quietly.

This is the first time I saw mom looking so fragile. Somehow she looked... Sad?

Why?

I gave the darkness around me a deep look and can't help but feel anxious. I can barely see my hands in front of me even though there is some remnant of the light from the lamp.

But as we went deeper, it started to get darker and darker until no light couldn't be seen anymore.

I wonder what happened between mom and this place.

It looked like this is not just a mere vault.

Right, I should prepare myself. I immediately activated my Quirk, my life force seeped out from my heart, and with incredible speed, it spread to my whole body.

My control over it was quite good right now, so I could control the thickness of the Aura outside of my body. And I made it super thin!

I doubt anyone could see through it.

"Good, from now on keep your Quirk active at all times."

Uh, I reckon only first-class hero could tell that I used a coating barrier. In other people's eyes, I might appear as someone with a strength enhancement Quirk once I started smashing things with my bare hands. Or maybe mom is the special case and no one could see through me.

I nodded in understanding. As expected of my mom, she's not your typical Hunter.

Wait, why did she tell me to activate my Quirk? Then I remember how she did bring a sword with her. I have a bad feeling about this.

But Ais didn't draw her sword. What does it mean? I hummed in curiosity.

It's unlikely that she bring her sword for precaution, it's not like she was here for the first time. Perhaps the threat was way below her level. Then I thought back to Ais's odd expression, or maybe she doesn't want to kill whatever was in this place.

"Follow my footsteps."

"Yes?"

"And honey, don't wander around. Stay close to me."

Ah, that's not ominous at all.

Are we going to fight against monsters or something? The lack of preparation is not reassuring at all. But I'm with Ais Wallenstein, so I'm not that scared?

This is her mature form, after all. Her level is on whole another level than her canon.

Yep, I believe in you mom.

Boom!

Suddenly something heavy is crashing against the wall. It's as though someone was throwing a car at it.

Damn, what the hell?!

My heart jumped at the scare.

I immediately stopped in my track and clenched my teeth. I didn't see it coming. It's not ordinary hostile!

Where?!

Damn, I can't see anything!

Even though I knew she would protect me from any harm, my heartbeat can't help but sing in my stead.

Clang!

Clang!

This sound... Ais is using her sword, but it doesn't sound like swords clashing against each other.

This sounds...

Could be it that she hasn't drawn her sword yet? I'm quite good at identifying what I hear. And there's no doubt that mom is just using the sheath to clash with the enemy.

There's no doubt about it, she doesn't want to kill it!

Clang!

Clalang~!

And her opponent is also using some kind of weapon. A sword? No, it's too heavy... by the sounds, it should be a two-handed sword.

The exchange is getting faster and faster as it moves closer to my position.

Hey hey! Why are you guys getting closer to me?! Fight elsewhere!

Right! Left! Southeast!

The clanging and screeching sounds of metal keep moving at the speed of light.

They moved so fast that I doubt I could follow their movement if I could see them with my eyes. It's just like teleportation!

As they continue to exchange blows with each other, I could feel the impact from the ground.

Although faint, the floor is indeed shaking.

As they clashed around me, the impact caused the wind to dig into my face. I had to close my eyes when some dirt went inside. Damn, I scratched my eyes to ease the itch. My hair swished around like grass on a windy peak.

This is suck.

No matter what kind of creature it was. It's way out of my league. But why something like this exists beneath our mansion?

Don't tell me she used it to guard the vault? Hmm, it's possible. A clever trick. It's something that I would do. But something doesn't feel right. And yet, I can't point my finger at it.

Still, the fact that it could stand to blow with Ais makes it not an ordinary monster. I can't help but feel curious. So I enhanced my sight with life force.

The darkness slowly receded as the moment passed. No, that's not quite right. I could see the two green silhouettes dancing in the darkness, blinking all over the place. Honestly, I'm not supposed to say it, but I love it! This is one hell of incredible animation they got there.

After a few big moves that shook the whole place, I lost sight of them. Then I heard a banging sound on the door and the enemy was nowhere to be found.

Ais did something and a fire started to light up and brighten the surrounding. I glanced around and realized that we are in some kind of huge... Hall? Ah, that's a fireplace. That's where the fire is coming from.

The place is clean, except for a few swords lodged on the wall.

Is this what I thought to be a car? This hostile sure had some firepower. Sure enough, as I look closer, the wall around the swords was cracked. Clearly, the impact of the thrown swords was too strong.

Hm? What is that? A doll? In this place?

A doll lay unmoved beside the thick double door.

I smell blood, then that stain on the door... That should be dry blood? So it's not mom's handiwork. Did it injure someone in the past before? Or did someone injures it?

I saw no sign of a corpse or Magic Stone so that means the hostile managed to run away.

Fleed? From Ais?

Ha, so funny.

There's no way it could flee if Ais didn't agree. But why did mom spare it?

I eyed the still sheathed sword in her hand.

Hmm, curious...

Even until the end, mom showed no sign of unsheathing her sword. Meaning she had no intention to kill it.

Why? I want to ask her!

I want to know really bad!

The curiosity is killing me!

But, as I glanced at the torn doll and bloodstained door, my curiosity suddenly faded away in an instant.

The look on her face...

Why did you look so sad, mom?

Something in her gaze prevented me from asking her about it.

"Let's go, honey."

"...Yes, mom."

Yeah, there are some things that are better left unknown.

And I agree with this saying.

With that, we walk past the bloodstained door and went deeper into the darkness.

Though there's another thing that bothers me. That lifeforce I saw earlier... It had a humanoid shape.

I shook my head to clear it from useless thought. It's no good to speculate things like this. Let's focus on the quest.

I took a deep breath to regain my stamina. I keep my force field on all the time so I can feel my stamina draining away at a considerable pace.

My breathing started to get faster than before. The longer it goes, the harder it becomes. Just like running a marathon.

At this rate, I'll be exhausted in less than 120 minutes.

I could make it longer by using it only on my eyes. But the trip is not that far anyway, right? So 120 minutes should be enough. This could also serve to train my Quirk and increase the magic stats, killing two birds with one stone.

Though I don't really put that much attention into it lately. Magic stats hardly increases anymore lately. Looked like I need some monster to kill if I want to increase my magic stats further than this.

Truly a pity.

I dreaded to know how it feels for those with H or I stats for the magic attribute. At that stage, they're just like a parlor trick. Most underage with quirks would have this weakness.

They're practically useless before going to the dungeon. That's why unlike in the show, the use of quirks in public is not prohibited even for underage minors. They're harmless.

This also made me skeptical about something. Why am I different? To be exact, everything was changed due to mom's breast milk. This fact intrigues me, so I've been looking for this info from the Giggle and other forums but I always come back empty-handed.

I also wondered if we of the Wallenstein family had this ability in our bloodlines. But the search showed no such a thing as constitution or bloodline that could enhance magic stats through breast milk. Is there even such a thing as bloodlines in this world?

Mom acted clueless when I asked her, but how could I fail to see through her poker face? I'm not her son for nothing. These six years we spent together gave me a lot of insight into the figure known as mom.

And I know that she's hiding something from me. That left one thing to do. If she's had no intention of telling me, then I just need to figure it out myself.