request

Aunt Uriel's eyes widened for a second. "Are you sure about this?" 

Honestly, I was expecting an outright "no" for an answer or at least a little bit of pushback, but it seemed that Aunt Uriel wasn't going to stop me. 

"I'm sure," I answered. 

I didn't know where the sudden confidence came from, but ever since I came to the subatomic world and absorbed the core, everything about me had changed.

Not just physically but also mentally. 

I could feel it, my bone. I was able to kill that bastard if I wanted to, and I sure as hell wanted to. 

"Okay then, it can be arranged. Contact me when you are ready." 

"I'm ready; I don't want him ruining any more of my mother's life. Put him somewhere and send me the address, please; I will deal with him after I make sure that my mom is ok." 

"ok." The easiness with which we discussed the demise of a person really baffled me, but it wasn't enough to make me step back. 

_ _ _ _ _ _

When I returned to the dorm, I called Nill and Malia to my room, told them about being absent for a few days, and asked them to sell my room's extra equipment if possible. 

"Are you sure about this?" Malia asked, "As I told you before, giving access to your room is a big deal, Alex. Don't even mention giving us access to the room's AI." 

I nodded and said, "I'm sure; just leave every piece of equipment that is of use to yourselves and sell the rest."

Looking astonished, Malia looked at Nill before she turned to me and said, "We can't accept them, Alex; they are far more valuable than you think." 

"Don't worry, I'm not giving them to you for free; just pay me back whenever you have the money with a ten percent interest rate for each passing year." I said, "I prefer you have them; plus, even by selling the rest of the equipment, I'm sure I will be earning more than enough MPs to last me for quite a while."

Malia thought briefly before firmly saying, "We will make good use of them."

"I'm sure you will." 

After talking for a few more minutes, I told Malia about my plans to give my mother one of the healing potions that I had bought, but when Malia heard me, she jumped, screaming, "Are you an idiot?" 

"what? why?" 

"do you want to make your mother explode?" Malia said in a severe tone before sighing at my ignorance and explaining, "Look, Alex, potions are not made for regular humans living in the upper world. If they consume them, the massive amount of energy stored in them will cause them to explode." 

"then what should I do?" I asked, flustered when thinking about the possibility of killing my mother.

"I suggest you use an unranked rejuvenation potion. It is practically useless for us, and we only make them to practice our skills. But for normal humans? It will surely be enough to heal bruises and even give your mother a few extra months of life expectancy." Malia suggested. 

"Are you sure? She isn't going to explode or anything, right?" I asked, worried about making another wrong decision.

"I assure you, it won't. it will at most gives her a mild headache for a few minutes while working." Asue assured me and took out a bottle containing a colorless liquid. 

Suddenly, an idea came to my mind, "why not use an unranked healing potion? Isn't it better?"

Malia smiled and answered, "Because there is no such thing as an unraked healing potion. Healing potions are far too advanced to be considered unraked, even at the lowest quality." 

After hearing the matter, I decided to call Lucile to make sure everything would be alright. 

Although I somewhat trusted Malia, I didn't want to gamble with my mother's life. 

Unexpectedly, Malia didn't get offended by my call, but she even praised me, "it's good that you know when and how much to trust someone," she said. 

Thanking Malia and Nill for their help, I was about to leave when I remembered a crucial point, "how do I get out of here." 

Malia and Nill looked at me like I was looking at an idiot, which wasn't the first time before Nill said, "Just tell your ring you want to exit the subatomic world. And when you want to come back, tell it to bring you here. It will do the rest." 

I nodded awkwardly and telepathically asked my ring to get me out. 

I felt a slight pressure inside my stomach, and the next thing I knew, I was back in the alley.

It was around 9 am, and the air felt a little bit chilly. 

I looked around, and when I saw nobody, I checked to see if the unranked rejuvenation potion was still inside my ring.

A holographic picture above my ring showed a list of items. Thankfully, all the things I had were still there. 

I hastily came out of the alley and went inside the apartment building. I didn't have a key, but the door could be opened with a simple punch in the middle. 

I went straight to our apartment and knocked.

As if waiting for me to knock, the door opened abruptly, and my mother jumped and hugged me without saying anything or even taking a close look at me. 

"I'm so sorry, honey, I'm sorry." She mumbled and started crying. 

I hugged her back tightly for a few seconds before lightly pushing her away, "Mom, there are some things I must tell you." 

My mom's eyes, who only now got a good look at me, opened wide, "Alex…. what happened to you?" 

I totally get why she would freak out the moment she saw me; after all, my transformation was like I had been injected with the super soldier serum.

"We have to talk, Mom. Let's sit down first." I said and walked into the house while taking my mother's hand. 

"Honey… tell me what happened." 

"After I ran out last time, I passed out, and when I woke up, I was in a hospital room. 

A man came to me explaining that he owned a pharmaceutical company and was looking for a willing subject to test his new drug on…"

"no, no, no, what have you done?" my mother grabbed my head between her hands and worriedly said, "You can get in real trouble for that." 

"I thought so too at first," I grabbed my mother's hands and tried to calm him down, "but the man explained everything and showed me everything was legal. 

He even gave me another drug for you after I told him that you were… bruised." 

"There is no way I'm using that." my mother said firmly, "and you shouldn't have either. Let's go to the hospital now." 

"Mom, listen to me, I'm fine." I tried to calm her down to no avail, so I just said, "Trust me, please, everything is fine. You will understand after you use the drug."

My story was full of holes, but Aunt Uriel assured me that she could fill them if needed, so I just tried to bullshit my way through it. 

"but…" my mom wanted to protest, but I stopped her and showed her the potion that was in my pocket, "just trust me on this, ok?" 

She seemed hesitant but, in the end, just nodded and grabbed the bottle, "what is with this container design?"

I looked at the glass bottle that looked like one of those potion containers in video games and just said, "I don't know, maybe it's a marketing thing. Now, just drink it." 

My mother, still hesitant, took the lid off and smelled the potion before drinking it altogether. 

I felt a little bad about lying to her, but Aunt Uriel told me that it wasn't safe for her to know about the subatomic world, and I had to wait a year or two before she could settle things until I told her the truth. 

After drinking the potion, she felt slightly dizzy and sat down. It was clear that she regretted drinking the potion, but from my point of view, it was totally worth it. 

Her bruised face and hands started to heal rapidly, and she looked much healthier. It was like looking at a miracle.

After ten seconds, there wasn't a single bruise visible on her. 

"Alex, what was that? I'm feeling dizzy." 

"that will go away in a few moments, Mom," I assured and then said, "Look at your hand." 

My mom looked at me strangely before looking down at her hand, and her eyes widened in surprise, "how… how is this possible." 

She started touching her face, searching for bruises, but found nothing, "it really worked." She said with a surprised tone.