Lost in his thoughts, Jayden heard slow steps approaching behind him. Elio, trying to mask the contradictory feelings he had about the situation, put on an almost fake smile to reassure his son that everything was okay.

"Here you are, Jayden. Come, let's go home," said Elio.

Jayden scrutinized Elio for a few moments as he hadn't taken a step yet to leave the forest. "But father, how did things go? Why are we leaving? Is he going to train-" He bombarded Elio with dozens of questions in a matter of seconds. It was unavoidable when his future was at stake.

"Jayden!" Elio raised his voice slightly to get Jayden to stop and listen. "This is not the time or place to discuss. You will have your answers, but not now! Let's go."

Elio grabbed Jayden's hand quickly and turned to leave, but something unexpected happened. Elio felt a small puncture of mana on his hand and he was repelled by an unknown force.

"No! I'm tired of this bullshit. Again with this, 'not now Jayden', 'you will find soon, Jayden', 'you're too young, Jayden'!" he started yelling at his father.

Even with his feelings for his family, Jayden reached a breaking point. Everything around him changed too fast, too much information and too many things were hidden from him.

Elio turned around just to see something that blew his mind. Jayden's whole body emanated a white and low glowing aura. Everything 1 meter around him was either crushed like it was hit by something extremely heavy or repulsed all around him. His dark purple hair swirled slowly in the air as his eyes glowed brightly.

"Again, and again, and again with the same thing. I'm tired of this crap. This is MY LIFE, not yours, not Mother's. No one taught me shit even if I begged all of you, you just-" his emotions busted out in front of his father but he didn't care anymore. Unfortunately for him, Elio didn't have any of that.

"Jayden, calm down!" Elio said, trying to diffuse the situation. But Jayden's anger only seemed to grow as he continued to rant about his frustrations. The power emanating from him was undeniable, and Elio couldn't help but feel a sense of amazement creeping in.

"Just tell me the what's, Dad! Why won't you just be honest with me for once? I deserve to know what's going on, and I'm sick of being kept in the dark! This is about my future, I deserve to know." Jayden's tone was laced with frustration and anger as he confronted his father.

As Jayden's words became more heated, the ground around them began to shake and tremble. Elio knew he had to act fast before things escalated even further. But as he tried to reason with his son, he realized that Jayden was beyond reasoning.

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Elio's jaw clenched as he tried to maintain his composure, but the anger in Jayden's voice was too much to ignore. "You think you're the only one going through a tough time? You think I enjoy keeping things from you?" Elio snapped back, his own anger bubbling to the surface.

The tension between them was palpable as they stood facing each other, neither willing to back down. Jayden's eyes flashed with defiance as he glared at his father. "I'm done with your excuses and half-truths, Dad. Either you tell me what's really going on, or I'll ask that old man on my own."

"Jayden! Everything I am doing, everything your mother is doing is to protect you. How can you say those foolish words, don't you have any shame in you?!" Elio yelled at him.

"Shame? How can you talk about shame when you didn't give me anything? You are barely at home, and when you are, we can't even see you. I've awakened in my own merit, my own struggle and power, not yours not anybody's. But now, you are making decisions in my place without even telling me," he spat, not backing down from his father.

"Who taught you that foolish language young boy? Don't test my patience because you will see a side of me you've never seen." Elio grabbed Jayden by the collar, fire spitting from his eyes.

"Oh? You're gonna show me a side of you I've never seen? That's new because I barely see you anyway."

"You..."

"What you gonna do? Hit me? Go on then, hit me! Hit me, old man, do it!" he yelled with every force from his lungs.

"Pow!"

Jayden body flew in slow motion several meters in the air as he hit his little back on a tree. Elio couldn't refrain and slapped Jayden and if he hadn't been awakened, for sure he wouldn't escape without some broken bones.

"S-son, I'm sorry, I didn't want to..." Elio couldn't believe what he did, he slapped his son in a gust of anger, something that could've badly injured him.

Jayden crawled his small body on the trunk and sat with his back sustained by the tree. "I'm sorry, Father," his voice barely sounded.

"No Jayden, I am sorry, your father is sorry, so please-" he approached Jayden to check if he had any wounds.

"No Father, I am sorry because I'm wrong. I've just remembered that you indeed did something for me. You let someone terrorists infiltrate our mansion so they could kill me. That's the only thing you did for me as a father, so thank you" Jayden said with the last surge of strength in his body, and after that, he passed out.

Elio's heart shattered into a million pieces as he listened to Jayden's words. The realization that his own son thought every word he said was unbearable. He sank to his knees, tears streaming down his face as he cradled Jayden's unconscious body in his arms. "No, Jayden, you don't understand," he whispered hoarsely, his voice choked with emotion. "I'm sorry son..." But Jayden lay still, his face pale and peaceful in sleep, leaving Elio alone with his guilt and his broken heart.

Raising his head, he saw Silas watching him from several meters away. Both men stared at each other without saying a word.

"Sigh! Here is a lesson from an old man, nephew. After every battle is won, a much harder one will appear in due time. When you think that you're all mighty and powerful, something as small as a speck of dust can kill you. Now go, and reflect on what I said."