"Thank you for saving us," Isabella thanked Rin and Erix with a bow after standing up.
"Stop it, ma'am. Hahaha, we didn't save you. You are alive because you are strong," Rin said with a big smile, her eyes filled with admiration.
Erix was also moved at her firm resolve and decision as his eyes turned a bit moist.
'What a mother.'
Fortunately, the mask had eye sockets covered with special black glasses that allowed him to see during the night and prevented others from looking at his eyes or face.
Although there was no need to wear the mask since the sun was rising, he had to keep it because of his half-zombie situation.
"We should go out before this house starts burning," Erix quickly said after composing himself.
"Yes, let's first quickly go out," Rin said as the four of them walked up the stairs and opened the basement entry door before coming out and quickly leaving the house.
Isabella covered Aaron's eyes as they came out because the sight outside was too gruesome. The piles of corpses belonged to both humans and zombies, as those four Dark Hellings killed everyone.
"Did you notice that half-magic circle?" Rin suddenly said as she noticed some strange circles with patterns around the pile of corpses.
"Demons…. Maybe they planned to summon some greater demon by doing that magic circle thingy but suddenly decided to eat and stopped?" Erix guessed.
"Mum, can I open my eyes now?" Aaron asked.
"Not yet, Aaron," Isabella said as a wry expression appeared.
"Let's go out. We are done here," Rin said as she nodded at Isabella.
As the four of them left the village, Isabella looked back once with a complicated and sad expression. All of the people she was familiar with died.
She had become a widow two years ago at the ripe age of 30 when her husband died in an accident in the city while working. Her son had just recovered from that shock, and this strange calamity descended.
That's why Aaron always needed his mother and never wanted to leave her. He felt that she would disappear like his father if she suddenly went out of sight.
…
After arriving outside, the four of them squeezed into the bike and continued their journey.
Aaron sat in front of Erix after a lot of coaxing by Isabella, while Rin and Isabella sat at the back.
Rin tightly stuck to Erix to create more space for Isabella, so four of them fit in the bike.
"We will need a car still," Rin said with a wry smile.
Traveling for long on this bike was going to be very discomforting.
"We'll find many in Targon city, but it's far," Erix said as he increased the bike's speed since the road was empty. "Let's hope we find some car in small townships or on the way."
"That city… I wonder about the situation there," Isabella said with slight worry.
"Oh yeah, Ma'am-"
"Stop," Isabella interrupted Rin with a wry smile. "Don't call me ma'am. I am not that older than you."
"Hehe, my bad. Then…Isabella-sis. I suppose you got a skill or two, right?" Rin asked before she sent a team joining request to Isabella. "Join our team so that we can see each other's status and location."
"Yes, I got a skill," Isabella nodded as she accepted the team joining request. She then focused on her skill and shared it with a thought.
[Mother's Unbounded Love (Limited special skill): You can revive near your child after dying. You can revive three times total, and after each resurrection, you gain a random defense-type skill].
"Also, just call me Isabella. You too, Erix. No need for formalities."
"So what kind of defense-type skill you got?" Rin asked curiously.
"I don't know. It says I need to kill a mutated creature or a monster first," Isabella said as she shared her status with them.
***
[~Isabella~]
_Race: Human
_Level: 0
_Job: None
_Vitality: 100/100
_Status points: 0
——> [ Strength: 10 / Agility: 10 / Health: 10 / Stamina: 10 ]
——> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 94 / Mana: 200/200 ]
______Active Skills: ______
—> None.
______Passive Skills: ______
—> None.
______Special Skills: ______
—> [Mother's Unbounded Love ]
***
"Now, this is surprising. You have perfect stats and even Rank-A magic affinity," Rin said.
Erix also took a brief look at her status and was surprised.
"Yeah. I felt stronger after returning to life and felt some strange power flowing in me. I guess that's magic and mana," Isabella said.
"Mum can use magic now?" Aaron asked.
"Then mum will beat all monsters and bad guys?"
Rin and Isabella chuckled while Erix smiled and said, "Yep, your mum will beat all bad guys and monsters."
"I also want to beat them," Aaron said as he clenched his fist tightly.
"You can do that when you grow up," Rin said with a light laugh while pinching Aaron's cheeks.
"Don't do that, or my face will become chubby. I don't like it!" Aaron pouted.
Everyone laughed, but suddenly they felt the wind blowing from the top out of nowhere!
Erix slowly stopped the bike while looking up and saw two giant eagles!
"T-This area had eagles I knew but so big…." Isabella muttered with wide eyes.
*Chien!*
Both eagles released a high-pitched whistle as they eyed four of them while flying in circles in the air!
Both eagles had five meters long wingspans… They were freaking monster birds now!
[Bloodwood Eagles]
_Race: Mutated Creature
_Level 26
_Vitality: 200/200
_Stats:
——>[Strength: 54 / Agility: 56 / Health: 53 / Stamina: 52]
——>[Magic Affinity: Rank: C / Magic Power: 29 / Mana: 29]
"It's my turn now," Erix said with a grin as he cracked his neck and got off the bike.
"Fine."
"Are you two sure about that?" Isabella asked as she felt worried and anxious.
"Haha, it's fine. We'll show you our status later," Rin said with a confident smile.