"Mother, let me wash the dishes." Jin said to his mother. They had just finished eating lunch.
It had been more than a week since Leo left. Each day that passed by made them more and more worried about his safety.
Tiana smiled and rubbed Jin's head, "Thank you, son. By the way, where's your sister?"
"Oh, she went to play outside." Jin replied curtly while washing the plates they used.
Now that only her and her son were left in the house, Tiana took this opportunity to ask something, "Don't you like playing outside too?"
Jin froze for a short moment, then resumed what he was doing and said, "Well, I'm sure that it's fun. But I need to exercise. And besides, I like being alone more and reading books."
His words brought a worried expression on Tiana's face, "Why do you like to exercise?"
"So I could be as strong as Father in the future." Jin replied without hesitation.
"Son, about that…" Tiana wasn't sure if she should tell the truth to Jin.
After a moment of hesitation, she steeled herself.
"Son, let's sit down for a moment, okay?"
"Okay, Mother." Jin obediently rinsed the soap on his hands, wiped it with a towel, and sat down beside his mother.
Now sitting beside her son, Tiana carefully said, "Son, you know that your mother can't use any kind of energy, right?"
Jin nodded, his expression unreadable.
"W-Well you see it's because I was born without the energy core that serves as the storage for energy and the energy circuits that serves as the way to control said energy…" Tiana could not help but stutter when she saw Jin with his head lowered.
"So, what I mean to say is…"
Jin closed his eyes as he waited for his mother's next words.
"You're born like me… I'm sorry, son." Tiana bit her lips and held her son's hand.
Jin had an inkling of his situation. However, he kept clinging to the little hope that maybe he was wrong. But now that his mother said so, it hurt him more than he thought it would.
He had known that something was wrong with his body. However, hearing and confirming it still hurt him.
"Why are you saying sorry, Mother?" Jin looked up at his mother and smiled.
Seeing her son's smile broke Tiana's heart more.
Jin looked at the expression of his mother and said, "It's fine, Mother. I don't blame you at all. I'm just glad that you're my mother."
The mature words said by that same childish voice made Tiana's heart tremble. Then, she turned to look at Jin's eyes.
What she saw made her eyes widen.
Jin was biting his lips so hard just to stop the tears in his eyes that threned to fall at any second.
It was at that moment that Tiana realized.
Not only did her son already have an idea about his condition, she seemed to have forgotten that Jin was just a kid.
His mature words and personality outshone the fact that at the end of the day, he was nothing but a child.
There was never a time where he acted childish. He was just quiet and taking care of his sister from time to time.
Tiana realized that it was the first time she saw Jin cry. Not even when he got injured because he fell while running.
Even when he bled for the first time. He just took it silently. At most, he only frowned in pain.
Now that she was seeing her son's vulnerable side for the first time, she couldn't help but hug him.
She hugged him ever so tightly.
"It's okay to cry, son." Tiana said as he tightened her hug, tears slowly falling from her eyes.
Just like most mothers, Tiana couldn't bear to see her child cry.
As such, she opened her mouth and said, "Son, what do you know about energy users?"
Jin answered his mother while sniffling, "Warriors are those who use Aura, Mages those who use Mana and Priests are those who use Holy Energy."
Tiana nodded and placed her hands on Jin's shoulders. "Look at mom."
Jin wiped his tears with the sleeve of his shirt and looked up at his mother with slightly red and puffy eyes.
Her son's image was engraved in Tiana's heart. After a short moment of silence, she said, "Those are just the common professions that's known to everybody. There's still a profession that could be equally powerful with them."
Hearing his mother's words, the little hope that was extinguished started to burn in Jin's eyes once again.
Clearing her throat, Tiana said, "Aside from professions such as Warriors, Mages, and Priests, there are those who wield Supernatural Powers called Espers."
Hearing new terms he had never heard of before, Jin's eyes shone. "Then mother, are you also an esper?"
Tiana giggled at her son's cute reaction and shook her head, "No. Only a select few are able to awaken supernatural powers to become an esper. But I know that if it's you, my precious son, then it's a given!"
Jin smiled brightly. He knew that there was a chance that he wouldn't awaken supernatural powers, but this little hope was fine.
It was enough for him. As someone with a weak physique, no energy core and energy circuits, someone who has practically nothing, it was enough.
* * *
In a dark area of the Stygian Forest where the sunlight can't seem to reach…
Ching! Clang! Shing!
Arghh!
The sounds of blades clashing and war cries could be heard anywhere in the battlefield.
People were fighting Ghouls and Demon Beasts. There were countless corpses in the area.
Amidst the battle, a man with golden hair and golden eyes could be seen wielding a large greatsword as he cleaved through ghouls and demon beasts alike.
It had been a few days since they reached the lair of the vampire and started to raid it.
The man with golden hair and eyes, Leo, tirelessly slashed his large greatsword despite having done so for almost a day or two.