They had not talked much on the way back, mostly because Neraxis was busy admiring the sights around him.

Considering he was no longer under the pressure of arriving at the academy on time, he was able to take a good look at his surroundings.

The city had changed a fair bit, its previously technologically advanced look gone, now sporting something that seemed like a convenient mix between simplicity and technology.

As for the architecture, it leaned toward a more open, minimalistic design. Most buildings and houses had their own gardens, despite the fact that he was practically in the middle of a city that was dominated by skyscrapers.

It felt as though it would be easy to break into. However, a little blue holographic lock was in front of everyone’s gates, acting as some sort of deterrent against robbers.

Neraxis was unsure what it did—possibly some sort of artificial mana barrier—but if people were bold enough to make such open housing, it must have been pretty damn effective.

However, despite all the little changes, the most eye-catching one was the thin purple tower in the very middle of the city. It still gave off the magical, uneasy feeling he had felt earlier, though it seemed to have lessened a tad.

The buildings near the tower looked similar to it in a way—their architecture mimicked a spiraling tower reaching into the sky, and there were quite a few of them around.

As for where he lived, it was pretty similar to how he had left it. It almost seemed like his house was completely unaffected. But, just like the rest, it had that little holographic lock he saw on everyone’s gate entrance.

He wanted to know more about it, but it felt strange to ask Elara.

The two entered their house, and just as Neraxis was about to go research his curiosity and procrastinate on meeting his mother, she grabbed him by the collar.

“Grab a broom. Your task is to sweep your own room.” Elara lazily pointed to a nearby closet—the one where they kept all the cleaning necessities.

“Yes…” He sighed inwardly.

Seems like it will have to wait.

Neraxis proceeded to the closet and picked out a random broom. He did not remember having that many; however, the amount in the closet was much more than necessary for two people living together.

Nonetheless, he ignored his rising suspicion and headed to his room, which was on the second floor, at the very end of the hallway.

The moment he stepped through his door, his expression soured.

He had never really been the kind of guy who cleaned his room often—especially when the stress of the academy's opening ceremony was supposed to be happening today.

Therefore, the only thing he could see in the horizon that was his room were piles of clothes strewn all around and all sorts of energy drink cans—ones that had missed the trash bin, which was surprisingly empty.

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Elara must have cleaned it… fuck, I feel bad for her having to clean up after me. He grimaced inwardly and began sorting through the clothing. He remembered that the night before the opening ceremony was supposed to happen, he had looked around for the perfect outfit.

Unfortunately, due to his anxiousness, he forgot to put on the most important piece of clothing of them all: the academy uniform.

It was a blessing that William was not how he remembered. Otherwise, he might have created an academy uniform out of ice and made him wear it.

A shiver went down Neraxis’s spine at the thought of that possibility.

After nearly half an hour, he finally managed to sort through everything and even throw out most of the trash.

But just as he was about to celebrate his little achievement, he heard a knock on the front door. Immediately, he grew uneasy.

In the next moment, Elara called out to him. “Neraxis! Get your ass down here; she’s here!”

Fuck... He grumbled to himself but nonetheless hid the broom under his bed and went downstairs. It was about time he saw this mother of his.

The door was open, and he could immediately hear chattering—friendly chattering.

Neraxis hesitantly turned the corner that would allow him to see the front door. Upon doing so, he saw a woman who did not look to be in her 40s at all. Instead, it seemed like she had not even hit her 30s.

Her features were the same as his: pure white hair and captivating purple eyes. Yet, there was one more thing that caught him off guard—a warm smile on her face.

But as he stepped into view, she immediately turned her gaze onto him, the smile on her face not waning in the slightest. “Oh! Nera! Come here. I bought something for you.”

The excitement in her voice was clear as she began shuffling around in her purse until, finally, she pulled out a tiny envelope. Then, she walked up to him and forced it into his hands.

“Congratulations on being accepted!” she stated and proceeded to hug him tightly.

All the while, Neraxis stood frozen, ever since first seeing her. The mother he remembered never smiled. Neither did she give anyone gifts, for that matter—only money from time to time. Added to the fact that she used to hate Elara, it put him in quite the peculiar situation.

“Thank you…?” He tried to sound as polite as possible, but he couldn’t hide the trace of uncertainty in his tone.

His mother tilted her head to the side before once again going through her purse.

She pulled out something he was not expecting to see. It was a bag of all sorts of snacks—ones he used to eat daily during his time at the academy. The reason he stopped eating them was because the company that made those bags ran into some financial difficulties, which led them to go bankrupt.

But that had not yet happened.

Neraxis accepted the bag of snacks without question, holding it up like some sort of trophy in one hand while holding the envelope in the other.

Her cheery smile once again returned as she stretched out her hand and placed it on his head, ruffling his hair a little.

“I almost forgot I bought that,” she said with a chuckle and returned her gaze toward Elara. “Let’s go prepare lunch, shall we? It is a day worth celebrating, after all.”

However, just as she began walking to the kitchen with Elara by her side, she suddenly turned back around to face him.

“You… Did you get a girlfriend?”

Neraxis was momentarily stunned. Seeing the teasing expression on her face did not make it better, either.

“No… it’s only my first day.”

“Hmm… Pity. It seems I won’t be meeting my grandkids until I’m old and ugly,” she remarked in a sarcastic tone before turning her attention back to Elara.

“Let’s go prepare the dishes. Roskaris should be back in an hour or two as well; the tower held him up a little.” With those words, they finally disappeared from Neraxis’s vision.

Father as well? What is this world playing at… His hands shook at all of these encounters that had happened within the span of a couple of hours. It almost made him feel like he was in heaven.

But heaven was a luxury for a man like him. He had killed many humans before. Even if those kills were not intended, they were a necessity.

It was more realistic to think that he was in hell, being shown the vision of how his life could have been had he gone to heaven, just to rip it all away at the last moment.

However, as those obscene thoughts returned, he noticed the system window right in the corner of his vision, heavily minimized.

With a raised brow, he maximized it again, and upon seeing what kind of system message it was, his eyes once again widened.

[Unread System Logs: 1]

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