An Emergency Quest was issued within the city of Danark. ‘Extermination of monsters within the sewers.’ The giant rats and insects below the city had shown signs of mutation, calling for a quick solution issued by the city. The Adventurer’s Guild of Danark sought to make a profit by offering 2 large silver Nomiers for each kill.

There had already been a few cases where novice adventurers ventured into the sewers only to never return. Three casualties had been confirmed, and the D-class ranking of the everyday quest jumped up to C.

Of course, the City Guard had to partake in the extermination too.

“Something very unnatural is happening within the city,” Garthan stated while chewing a spoonful of meat pie. “A sudden surge of the monster population has occurred.”

Shaden listened closely as his father debriefed the current events of the city.

“The people have managed to slay a great number of rats, and I hear that the city is reaping a profit. However, that creature you saw yesterday, Shaden? They should normally only appear in dungeons.”

In one of the books Shaden had read, dungeons were described as monsters who infested an area filled with rich mana. They slowly spread out their magical influence, taking control of the area, making it become a part of themselves. They would then release the mana into the air, attracting monsters and animals from all over to come and protect itself.

The dungeon provided the monsters with mana required for a stronger mutation. However, the more dungeon mana the monsters took in, the more their minds would be controlled by the dungeon until the dungeon core completely took over.

No one knew how these dungeons appeared. Once they were subjugated and the core was destroyed, the whole place died, and the monsters would dissipate. They had no known means of reproduction.

The dungeon core was essentially a giant mana stone. Legendary Flying Airships and Moving Castles from the past were speculated to have operated on dungeon cores.

Nowadays, dungeons were rarely destroyed. They were an important source of fuel and income for numerous nations. The larger the dungeon, the more income it produced and the more dangerous it would be.

It would have been plausible if a dungeon core had appeared beneath the city. But according to the testing results from the Union of Magic, there were no signs of an existing dungeon. The mana was the same as the very one that the air held.

“Somehow, a great amount of mana is being produced within the city,” said Garthan. “Much more than usual. If it continues, even more monsters will appear from both inside and outside of the city gates.”

“Will it be dangerous?” asked Rother.

Garthan smiled. “Not at all! Your dad is here, remember? And with your strength, you could handle one rat.”

Rother grinned and proudly puffed out his chest. He was leaking mana while eating, circulating constantly temper his control over his body. It usually lasted for thirty minutes before he stopped, recovered, then began again.

Shaden stole a glance at his father. He really wanted to talk about the events from two nights days ago. Because of the threat of monsters, his father left after dinner to patrol for a few hours. The emergency had subsided yesterday, which meant his father had plenty of time now to talk to him.

After dinner, Shaden went up to Garthan.

“Dad. Do you have time?” asked Shaden.

“My time is always available for my cute son. What is it?”

It was finally time to confront Garthan about Shaden’s absurd use of magic. Why had they never asked him about his unusual behavior? He had been careful not to get caught and had believed he had finally been found out red-handed when he was chasing Shidey. But his father seemed so natural about the situation. Like he knew all along.

“Dad, could we move to the side? To my room?”

“Okay, son.”

After they had both entered, Shaden closed the door silently behind him. He took a deep breath while his father stood there with his arms crossed. His face looked very lax.

“Did you know all this time? Me using all of this magic?”

“Shaden.” Garthan sat down on the wooden floor and beckoned Shaden to him. After placing his son on his lap, he began to speak again.

“Now Shaden, no matter what anyone says, you are still my son. Understood?”

Shaden nodded his head, slightly confused.

His father resumed. “I knew it from the beginning, son. The forest fire was you, wasn’t it?”

Shaden’s eyes grew larger in bewilderment. “You knew?”

“I suspected it. I can sense mana very well and I noticed something special in you. Your mana was fluctuating constantly whenever I returned home.”

“…why didn’t you say anything?”

Garthan looked up from Shaden, his eyes becoming somewhat distant. After a brief pause, he opened his mouth.

“My father—that is, your grandfather—was a strict man. He was difficult to please when I was a child. He…instructed me in many things.”

He let out a small breath and turned his gaze to Shaden.

“When I saw you excelling, growing so much at such a young age, I was proud. Prouder than you could imagine. For the second time, this time even more clearly, I understood my father’s intentions.”

Shaden’s attention was fixed on his father’s voice. This was the first time he had ever brought up anything about Shaden’s grandfather.

“Yet I was afraid. Can you believe that?”

Shaden shook his head.

“I was afraid I would force you like my father. Force you into my way of living. When I saw the potential in you, I wanted to lead you, train you into something great. But I wished for you to be free from my constraints. Free so you could become anything you wanted.”

A random question formed in Shaden’s mind. “What about brother?”

His father let out a hearty laugh. “Your brother adored the sword. We couldn’t get his hands off it.”

Garthan placed his hand on Shaden’s head. “I wished for you to follow in my footsteps. I was overjoyed when you told me you wanted to learn to swing a sword. But remember this Shaden: you are young. Your potential is endless. You can become whatever you want to be, and I believe you possess the tools for it.”

Shaden nodded.

“You were very good at hiding your development. So, I assumed you wanted it hidden.”

“What about mother?”

“She doesn’t know the extent of your magic. You have quite the mana, son. If you increase it further, you could even surpass me by the time you are fifteen.”

Hmm? Shaden had believed his mana had been pretty impressive.

“Dad, how come I didn’t feel you with my detection spell?”

“That, Shaden, is called erasing your presence. You will learn it far later on.”

“How? Can you show me?”

“Of course. Look at my arm.”

Shaden looked at Garthan’s arm. It was very muscular, but he barely felt any aura from it. Now that he thought about it…

“I was trained to always keep my mana hidden. I will deactivate it now,” said Garthan.

Instantly, an immense amount of pressure radiated out from Garthan’s whole body, covering it in a deep, fluctuating blue glow.

“Wow!” Shaden exclaimed.

Garthan chuckled, and his presence disappeared like smoke.

“How did you do that?”

“Meditation. You pull everything that tries to escape into your body and constrain it within yourself.”

“Awesome.”

“You will be instructed at the Academy, but I’m sure you can learn it by yourself. You are my son.”

Just then, Melsei called out from the kitchen.

“Looks like I need to go. But remember this.”

Garthan’s eyes turned serious.

“If there is anyone who makes fun of you, calls you a monster because of your abilities, do not believe them. You are you, a very talented boy who I am proud to have as my son. Got it?”

Shaden nodded with a proud look on his face. He got up from Garthan’s lap, and his father stood up and headed for the door.

Garthan looked back before exiting. “Is there anyone who treats you badly?”

Shaden shook his head. “I don’t think so…?”

Garthan nodded with satisfaction. Then he left the room, closing the door silently behind him. Shaden let out a relieved sigh. His father had been surprisingly understanding.

What kind of life had he lived?