The next day, Clarence arrived at his mansion, took a bath, changed his clothes, and then went to the living room to meet his parents.
When he walked in, he noticed his mother and father discussing something with a tense expression on their faces. But strangely, even though he was a rank two with enhanced senses, he couldn't hear it.
He deduced they must be having a conversation about some private matters which couldn't be shared with him, so they must have covered their area with an array or a mana barrier.
Nevertheless, the situation didn't last long. As soon as he had entered the room, his dad spread his arms wide, motioning him for a hug while laughing heartily.
Judging from how he could now hear his father's laugh, he knew that one of them had removed the array or mana barrier without him noticing at all, despite the fact that he was already a rank two.
He had refrained from running his golden blue energy as he didn't know yet if other people could sense it, and if they could, his parents would be among the first to sense it since they were both rank nine legends.
Clarence went ahead and hugged his dad, then turned to his mom to do the same. Only after he seated himself on the sofa beside the ones they were sitting at did his dad ask,
"Rank two eh, Your talent doesn't seem to be any worse than mine. Were you able to kill a rank three?"
Listening to this, Clarence raised the angle of his head a notch higher and replied while smirking,
"Is that even a question? Of course I was able to."
He then took out the carcass of a badger he killed, it was covered in a thin film which blocked its rotten smell from spreading and also prevented the corpse from dirtying its surroundings.
Lysander laughed seeing the corpse and said,
"No need to take out the corpse, I believe you. Want to have a fight?"
Hearing this, Sienna interjected saying,
"He has just returned from his adventure. Let him rest today, then you both can battle all you want tomorrow."
Clarence turned to his mom and said,
"But mom, I've fully rested during the journey and I am really not tired. I want to fight my father."
"You. Are. Resting. Young man. End of the discussion."
Hearing this, Clarence gulped and nodded. He then went on to tell them about his exploits. He also discussed how he killed the rank five snake, as well as a group of humans who were also at rank five.
Of course, since he didn't reveal anything about his system, he had to change the story slightly to mention how he killed them. He also told them how he would always come out badly injured, despite the fact that he wasn't hurt at all in those battles.
Hearing this, his father raised his eyebrows while his mother chuckled at the side. Not knowing why they had such a reaction, he asked them about it.
His father said to him,
"Well, the human and demon races have finally reached an agreement on a peace treaty. Other races from other planets have also been included in this treaty.
As a result, this time there will be a single common academy for all young talents of all races. You'll most likely also meet the seniors of the one you killed since all the people studying in the main academy of the races will get transferred over there.
Anyway, they wouldn't know. But always keep this one thing in your mind, cover your tracks. You can do everything you want, no restrictions, but cover your tracks."
Clarence was shocked when he heard that. He didn't care about the seniors of those he killed, but about the peace treaty. Just what could possibly be the reason for humans and demons to come to peace? But since his father didn't tell him about that, he didn't ask either. He just nodded seriously.
"Alright, enough with the solemn atmosphere. I'll prepare a delicious dinner to commemorate your return and the beginning of your journey.
Also yea, the academy will open after more than a month. So you don't have to worry about anything for the time being, but because it's a common academy for all races, you won't get any privileges and will have to enter through the entrance exams."
Saying so, Sienna got up and left the room to make the necessary preparations for the dinner.
Lysander looked at his son, who was already worrying and said,
"We are the Verity. Even if you aren't good at anything, you will still be strong due to the blood. Quit worrying."
Without waiting for a reply, Lysander vanished from his place, leaving no trace of his existence.
Clarence had an awkward expression when he heard that. He stood up and left the room while muttering,
"That did nothing to ease me dad. You just made fun of me."
He entered his room and laid down on his bed. For a couple of minutes, he was busy exchanging the objects he had no use for with the new interesting items he could see on the list.
For a couple of objects which were entirely worthless to him, he gave a command to the system to randomly exchange it with any other random object of equivalent value.
Some things surprised him, while others were uninteresting. Overall, he squandered a significant amount of time before finally falling asleep for a good rest.
*****
Lysander, who was in another room, called out,
"Shadow unit 1, report"
Like before, the shadow of Lysander wiggled a bit, enlarging before a clump separated from it. The clump rapidly grew in height and manifested colors, soon turning into a healthy blonde man appearing to be in his thirties. The man knelt on one knee and bowed before saying,
"Three rank seven humans were caught a couple of days after the young master entered the mountains. I simply held them captive for the entire duration and released them once the young master had left the mountains.
Another thing, there are frequent unusual beast hordes at random intervals from the mountains. Unusual in the sense that these hordes had beasts from all species attacking together without any specific leader. This is highly unusual when you take into account the nature of the Bluemist mountains, where order reigns supreme."
Lysander heard everything the man said without any change in his expression and dismissed him.
He then massaged his temples and muttered,
"Shit, a primordial beast has probably already awakened."