Another World Mall

Gerald couldn't help but turn around while saying, "This is more than we originally expected… I guess the whole group is here…"

Clovis and the entire group, including Reolf, had reached the top of the wall where they were supposed to meet.

Clovis wanted to reply to his father, but the woman next to his father had already leaped toward him and tackled him.

"My dearrrrrrrrr!"

"Gah!" She moved so fast that it felt like she had disappeared for a split second. The next thing they realized, Clovis had been tackled to the ground with her hugging him.

The others looked surprised because this speed was clearly beyond what they had seen previously. Clovis' mother, Aisha, was a Tier 7 human, so they didn't expect a Tier 7 human would be this strong. They couldn't help but wonder if she had something else, like a pseudo unique ability.

"M-Mom?" Clovis awkwardly glanced at her.

"Mhmm. I can finally hug my son after so long. Yes, this is your mom, Cleopatra… Ahem, I mean Wu Zetian… No, I mean, Aisha!"

"…" Clovis was speechless. She truly hadn't changed the whole time. Gerald only closed his eyes, trying hard to maintain his dignity.

"You are embarrassing me, you know?" Clovis smiled wryly.

"What?! Are you in your rebellious phase now? To think you won't even hug your mom… Is this because I wasn't by your side the whole time? It was your father's idea. I have told him to sleep on the sofa for the rest of his life." Aisha looked at Clovis with a pale face.

"Ahaha…" Clovis didn't know how to react. "I mean, everyone is watching right now."

"There's nothing embarrassing about family, but, well, so as to avoid having my son hate me, I will restrain myself for a bit."

That's what she said, but nothing changed. When Clovis stood up, she turned him around and just hugged him from behind. Her head rested on top of his shoulder as she took a look at everyone.

"I know everyone. I have been watching you this whole time. Although he doesn't talk a lot, he's a reliable vice captain, Jay Havenson.

"Ragna Book, Erwin Tyska and Aileen Risevan, and Melody." She turned to the girls. "Meanwhile, it seems that I'm going to have a couple of daughters-in-law.

"Kanaria Renvolt, Lucifania, and Christina… Well, the busy girl as well." Aisha squinted her eyes as if she was judging them.

Clovis' smile was distorted as he introduced his parents. "These two are my parents, Gerald Hacfield and Aisha Hacfield."

They nodded politely, not knowing how to react. The Hacfield family was the most mysterious family in the world. They might be a small family, but they were certainly strong.

They thought this family would be a bit colder, but it turned out they were wrong. They behaved even more intimately than their typical family did.

Aisha then turned to Reolf. "Still, to think you would even have a dire wolf with you…"

"He is my family as well." Clovis shook his head.

"Is that so?" Aisha extended her hand. "I see. So, you are Reolf. Please take care of my son."

"Waaf!" Reolf nodded happily.

"You're not going to ask why Reolf is here?"

"Unique ability! What else?" Aisha shrugged. "I don't know what it is, but it's something like that. I don't care about the explanation. As long as I know it can protect you, that's fine."

"…" Clovis rubbed his cheek embarrassedly. "Well…"

"What? Are you going to tell me about your two unique abilities?"

"Huh?!" Clovis was bewildered. He didn't expect his mother to know anything about it. "You…"

"I will tell you once we're done with this discussion." Aisha smiled. She finally released Clovis and straightened her back. "I'm sure that all of you have a lot of questions, but I don't plan to answer any of that.

"After learning about his training, we have changed our plan. Originally, we were planning to do it slowly, but I'm sure you're already aware of how fast you are growing right now.

"After seeing the true power of those high-level people, I'm sure you understand the difference in our strength.

"The reason is simple. You have grown so fast that you are unable to utilize the evolution trait properly.

"That's why I'm going to tell you this. You are currently weak. Everything you have done might have worked this whole time, but if you continue your path like this, you are going to face this wall relatively soon.

"And since Clovis is going to leave for a while, I believe it's time for you to get even stronger.

"Hence, I have prepared something for all of you.

"First of all, Melody. You don't have to waste your time with your brother anymore."

"!!!" Melody raised her eyebrows. "Does that mean…"

"Yeah. I will be operating on him." She nodded before tossing a piece of paper to Lucifania. "You're a doctor, right? You should be able to read this."

"Hmm?" Lucifania was confused and caught the piece of paper. She couldn't help but notice what was going on. "This is…"

"What's wrong? Is something happening to my brother?" Melody looked worried.

"No. It's just… I think you have been the one saving your brother this whole time… If this data is true."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Melody was visibly shaken. This was the closest she had gotten to healing her brother.

"LIS!"

"LIS?" Melody tilted her head in confusion.

"Locked-in Syndrome. Basically, he's fully awake and aware. It's just… isn't this supposed to be incurable?" She frowned.

"Not really." Aisha shook her head. "I have a connection to a research center for brain injury. If we treat him there, it's possible for him to recover. I have to fix his brain first. If it is successful, then he might wake up.

"Still, due to everything, he will have to follow therapy. To put it simply, we're using the awakening liquid for him to become an explorer. And it's good that you have a Brain Affinity. While your mother had Muscle Affinity, your father had Brain Affinity.

"We'll stimulate those two affinities to wake him up. In other words, you are very lucky because he hasn't awakened yet. If he does, the chance for him to wake up will decrease drastically.

"And you keep his will to survive intact this whole time. The success rate for this treatment should be around 90%, but with me, it should be close to 100%."

"Ah…" Melody's lips were trembling as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard.