My Life Changed with the Unlimited System

The cemetery was quiet, wrapped in a heavy stillness that felt deeper than silence.

Grief lingered in the air, not loud or dramatic, but quiet and ever-present, like a weight pressing down on everyone who stood beneath the gray, swollen sky.

Dark clouds hovered above, holding back the rain as though even the sky was in mourning.

The Moore family stood near the front.

Their sorrow showed clearly, not only in their expressions but in how they stood close to one another.

Julie, Joseph's widow, clutched a handkerchief in both hands. Her eyes were red and swollen, her face marked by more than just the tears of today. It carried the weight of years filled with pain and unresolved loss.

Harold, Jessica's grandfather, stood firm despite the trembling in his hands. He leaned gently on his cane, the only sign of age he allowed himself to show.

Beside him were the twins, Josh and Joshua, their normally cheerful energy dulled by the sadness around them. They leaned against each other, silent and still.

Maya, Yamal, and Ezra stood a short distance away. They didn't speak, but their presence was steady, as if they were guarding the family through sheer will.

Maya's eyes scanned the rows of graves and trees with quiet caution. Her arms were crossed, not in defiance, but as a quiet form of protection.

Yamal, who usually joked and smiled in every situation, stood with his hands folded and his head bowed.

Ezra, the sharp-tongued one, said nothing at all. His silence spoke louder than any sarcastic remark he might have made on any other day.

Ethan stood toward the edge of the group. His posture was still, his expression unreadable. He wasn't alone either.

His father, Aaron, stood beside him with a calm strength, hands behind his back.

His mother, Elise, gently rested her hand on Ethan's shoulder, a quiet reassurance in a moment where words felt too heavy.

Jacob and Lily, his younger siblings, stood close. Their eyes were wide, not with fear, but with the deep seriousness that only children at funerals seem to understand without needing explanations.

A few steps away stood David, silent and respectful. His usual energy was missing, replaced by a calm that mirrored the tone of the morning. Near him were a few members of Nova Tech's upper ranks.

Charles Weston was present, too.

Each of them dressed in black and watching respectfully from a distance.

But Ethan wasn't focused on any of it.

His thoughts were somewhere else entirely.

He tried to stay present, to pay attention to the ceremony in front of him, but his mind kept drifting back to what had happened the day before. It was impossible not to.

The fight in the warehouse still burned in his memory. The chaos, the fear, and the questions that wouldn't leave him alone.

He thought about Steve going head-to-head with Lucien, a man who had been enhanced by something unnatural.

Ethan had used his Divine Eyes to sense Lucien's rank and compare it with Mike and Taison's. It had confirmed what he feared. Lucien shouldn't have been that strong.

Yet somehow, he had been. The source of that power, Ethan was sure, came from the silver pill.

A pill that didn't just enhance but it transformed. Lucien had become a monster, not because of his training, but because of what he took.

And that pill wasn't a one-time invention.

It had been created, refined, and perfected with the blood essence. Mark's blood essence, to be exact.

The same people who were building artificial Ascendants were also crafting weapons like this—living weapons.

That thought chilled Ethan more than he cared to admit. The LaRues weren't just trying to gain power. They were trying to rewrite what power meant. And they were getting close.

Ethan's hands curled slightly at his sides. If they weren't stopped, if someone didn't act soon, this world would not be able to hold the chaos that was coming.

He couldn't do this alone.

His current strength wasn't enough. He needed knowledge, allies, and a way to counter what the LaRues were preparing.

A soft voice pulled him back.

"Ethan?" Elise looked at him gently.

Her hand was still on his arm. "You've been standing there for a while. Are you okay?"

He blinked once, then twice, as if surfacing from deep water. He forced a nod and gave her a small, tired smile.

"I'm okay, Mom."

She didn't press. She simply nodded and motioned with her chin toward the Moore family.

"They need you."

Ethan hesitated.

Part of him didn't want to go. He still felt conflicted about Jessica and Jordan's choices. If they had trusted him earlier, maybe all of this could have been avoided.

Maybe Joseph wouldn't have died. Maybe Jordan wouldn't be fighting for his life.

Still, he knew this wasn't the time to hold grudges.

He walked toward them slowly.

Jessica stood beside her mother. Her eyes were red, and her shoulders shook slightly as she tried to stay composed. When she noticed Ethan approaching, she straightened herself, trying to hide the pain.

"Jessica," Ethan said, his voice soft.

She looked up at him.

"I'm sorry," he said. "For all of it."

Jessica's eyes welled up again. She shook her head.

"It's not your fault," she whispered. "This happened because I didn't tell you. I thought I was protecting you."

Ethan didn't respond at first. He felt something heavy in his chest. Her words stung, not because she blamed him, but because she didn't trust him when it mattered most. He had believed he was her friend. That he mattered more.

And now, part of him wondered. If he had been just a little later yesterday, would Jordan be dead? Would Steve? And would Jessica?

Would they be burying more than one person today?

But this wasn't the moment for anger. It wasn't the time to make her feel worse.

Instead, he rested a hand on her shoulder.

"If you need anything," he said, "anything at all, I'm here. You're not alone."

Jessica nodded, barely able to speak. She looked away, her lips trembling.

Julie stepped forward then. Her face was still streaked with tears, but her voice held quiet gratitude.

"Thank you, Ethan. You didn't have to come, but you did. That means something."

Ethan shook his head.

"This is the least I can do."

The ceremony came to a close. People began to drift away, moving slowly over the damp grass.

Ethan stayed behind for a moment longer, standing at the edge of the grave. The earth was fresh, the ground disturbed. This was where Joseph now rested.

'Family ties,' Ethan thought.

No matter what Joseph had done or failed to do, he had been someone's father, someone's husband, someone's grandfather.

And that was enough.

In the end, family remained.

Even when everything else broke apart.