"Err... sorry, because I can only give you water. I have tried to work and find food, but I only get hard bread. I-if you want you can eat it, Teo," Mom said with a disappointed expression to herself while fiddling with her fingers.
But for me, seeing my mother return to normal and still alive, I can only say is the most precious gift for me. I got up from the chair and went to hug her. Mom seemed surprised by my sudden hug. But she just smiled and caressed her son's hair.
"Don't worry mom, I have eaten. My friend brought it. I'm also saving half of it for mom. " I raised my head to look at her.
"I see, I feel negligent as your mother, but that friend you always talk about is somehow more worthy of taking care of you than me." Mom said with a sad expression, and before I could respond, Mom opened her mouth and spoke again.
"But why are you suddenly hugging Mom? Did something happen? " Mom tilted her head.
"Nothing, it's because I'm too happy to see mom again," I said.
"What's this, it's not like, you haven't seen your mother in a long time," Mom smiled at me.
'That's because that's the truth. Of course, I can't say,'
I remained in that embrace, feeling the warmth of my mother's embrace, which I had longed for. After a few minutes, I let go of my arms and handed her the lunch box I had left.
"Mom, I have eaten before. I want you to eat it too,"
Mother saw the lunch box in my hand and wanted to refuse it. But she certainly knew her son's nature would compel her to accept it, so she just nodded and took the lunchbox.
"Oh, that's right, Teo. I want to say that in five days we will leave this village. You know, it's been three years since this village has had a crop failure. We can't continue to be here," Mom said, after remembering what she wanted to talk about.
When I heard this, my face stiffened. It meant that Duke Alfons' troops would soon come and find us. Even if I tell my mother and we somehow manage to escape the pursuit, we'll be found again since the Duke has started a serious search this time.
Even though my mother was a noble baron of the Brande family, they were a weak family when compared to the Duke-ranked Alfons family. My mother's name is Caitlyn Brande, and she is the only daughter of the Brande family. Mother and duke's marriage is a political marriage, even if Duke killed the grandparents, he would only pay compensation and not receive severe punishment.
I thought of several plans to deal with this, like asking Rachel to help hide my mother and me, but I guess that's impossible, and I don't want to hide anymore either. Chances are the Duke will threaten my mother to show herself by wanting to kill Grandpa and Grandma. So the only way for me to handle this situation was to make the Duke himself not choose to kill Grandpa and Grandma, which would traumatize Mom deeply.
'I have to become strong, strong enough to surprise the Duke with my abilities. That way, he has no reason to kill Grandpa and Grandma. The reason he became angry and killed Grandpa and Grandma was that I was taken by my mother away and became very weak. It doesn't suit the Alfons family, who always raises monsters in every generation,'
"What's wrong, Teo?" Why is your face like that? Is it because you don't want to leave your friend? " Mom asked, confused, seeing the gloomy expression on my face.
"Yeah, that's also one of the reasons. I feel sad leaving the village I've been living in since I was little, "I smiled a little.
Hearing my words, mother also looked a little sad, but however, they had to leave this village. Otherwise, they will find it more difficult in the future to find food, especially me, she knows that I can't eat hard bread.
"Well, it's no big deal. I'll follow wherever mom goes," I smiled.
Hearing her son's words, Caitlyn was touched. She hugged her son tightly. Her son was her only precious treasure. She didn't want it to be tainted by the horrors of the Alfons family. That's why she ran away from the Duke. She didn't even tell her own family.
"Thank you, son. You are my only precious treasure. " Mother grabbed my shoulder and stroked my head.
I nodded, smiling. I told mom to immediately eat the food I brought. Mom complied and ate it. After that, we chatted, many topics leading to Rachel. Mom seemed really curious about who Rachel was, but Rachel said I couldn't tell her where she was from, so I just talked about a few things about her.
"Teo, do you like that girl? Judging by your expression, you seem to like her a lot. "
"Um, I like her. She's a nice girl," I said.
"I got curious and wanted to see that girl too," Mom said with a smile.
I just scratched my head while laughing awkwardly. Seeing my expression, mother did not ask again and saw the atmosphere outside, without realizing it was already night sky. She got up from her chair and said to me.
"Let's go to sleep now, it's getting late."
"Yes, Mom,"
My mom and I went into the room. We only had one bed, so we slept together every night. After turning off the candle, mother kissed my forehead and wished me goodnight. I also started to close my eyes and fell asleep.
------
The next morning,
In the forest near the village, it was a little quiet here. Sometimes I can hear birds chirping. I want to train here because the time to meet the Duke won't be long.
"I want to try that because the ancient dragon bones are still in my body. Do I still have the killing intent that I had before? If there were any, this would make things easier."
The killing intent I have is so strong, that even the Duke couldn't fight me before. Even though I got the killing intent among others from killing humans, my killing intent was actually stronger after I met Master. Every day Master will train me to fight against powerful Monsters, at least in a day I have to reach the target of killing a thousand monsters. It was insane training, however, as time passed, because of the Alfons family bloodline, the stronger the killing intent, the stronger my power would become. Recalling the past with master, my heart feels melancholy.
"Master never came back after her departure. What exactly happened to her?"
I shake my head while sighing. I picked up a rock that was lying on the ground. It was the size of my palm. I focused my eyes and let out the murderous aura I had.
*SWOOSH*
Strong winds shot out of my body. The terrifying pressure made the grass and trees around me crumble. The birds that were flying at that time fell into convulsions before dying. All of that happened within a radius of 100 meters of me. Even the rock I was holding shattered into pieces just because of the killing intent I let out.
I was shocked to see this. I didn't expect that just letting out a little bit of my killing intent would have such a big impact.
"This!! This killing intent is not only mine, it also belongs to ancient dragon bone!?"
I smiled widely with my sweaty body feeling so excited. That ancient dragon bone always amazes me. Not only is my body strengthened, but the murderous aura remaining within ancient dragon bone is also fused with the killing intent that I had before.
I also feel my body slowly changing, my senses sharpening, as I try to focus my awareness on my surroundings. I can feel any movement within a 100-meter radius.
"Amazing, I became strong in just one night,"
I have great killing intent, which means I should be able to use the Alfons Family's bloodline ability. I looked at my hand and poured my mana and killing intent there. An orange dragon claw manifestation appeared. It gave off a strong domineering aura.
It seems that my bloodline ability has changed. Before, my ability was to make a katana manifestation, but now it's turned into a dragon claw. But suddenly a dragon claw turned into a katana when I thought about it. I opened my eyes in surprise.
"W-what… does that mean I can control it to my heart's content?"
I tried some simple shapes like daggers, and sure enough, it followed suit, but the initial shape was still a dragon claw. The Alfons family's bloodline ability that stands out the most is creating the weapon manifestation that best suits its wielder. Like Duke Alfons, who is my father, although I don't want to admit it, he is very strong with the greatsword he created from his bloodline abilities.
"To make the manifestation as desired, it's impossible after all. But I've managed to do it. "