"We'll see you Monday, Bella. Have a good weekend." Alice told her sister while waving goodbye.

"You guys have a good weekend, too." She responded energetically while waving back as well.

Wishing her well, gramps drove us to my home and threw his armored truck in park before all three of us exited it and entered my home.

"Mom, dad, we're back. Oh, and I brought gramps too." I announced, coming through the entrance.

"Welcome home, sweety, Alice, and dad, what brings you here today?"

"Do I need a reason to visit my little girl and her husband?"

"Mm, I suppose not. Well, since you're here, you might as well join us for dinner. We're having barbecue tonight."

"Ohh, then definitely count me in." The old vet said while displaying a hungry expression and rubbing his hands together.

While mom was getting the meats ready for dinner, we three headed for the living room and met up with my father. Plopping on the couches, the four of us made small talk for the next several minutes. We continued chatting when mom called for the men to man their stations, thus we wasted no time and got busy getting the equipment ready in the backyard. Not long after that, my mother Jane came out with tray after tray of meat. Hungry, we went right to work and threw the various cuts of seasoned meat onto the grill.

I could get used to this. It's almost like I'm back in my old world with my family.

Reminiscing of my previous life I left behind way too soon, I continued grilling and handing the meat off as they were finished cooking on the grill. Shortly thereafter, everything was hot ready, so we collectively walked over and sat at the large outside table and began eating to our hearts' content. Time passed on from then and eventually we finished the meal and let the miss maid robot begin cleaning up.

The five of us conversed about our days and at some point, gramps decided to open up his mouth and help me out with my ride situation. "So, Jane, it's come to my attention that you're preventing my grandson from getting his first vehicle. What's that about?"

"Well, isn't it a bit early to be letting my son drive around in his own car unsupervised when he's only 11?" Mom countered, ready to battle it out with her dad.

"Sure, if he was a normal 11-year-old boy. However, since he isn't, that point won't work here. So what's the real reason?"

"... I just don't want him to be driving around on his own isn't that good enough?"

"He wants to be, and you can't expect me to be chauffeuring him around all the time. So why don't you give in and allow the kid to do what he wants? It's not like he'll get into any trouble."

"..."

"Oh, come on mom it'll make things easier for me and I won't have to inconvenience gramps every time Alice and I need to get somewhere that isn't close by." I piled on trying to get her to cave to my request.

"They have a point, honey. And he's already more than capable of driving around all on his own if he's already manufacturing weapons and all sorts of technology." My dad followed up trying to help but not realizing that he just informed my mother about something I didn't wish for her to know of just yet.

"...Wait a minute, what did you just say he was making???" Mom asked very seriously, focusing right onto the weapon manufacturing bit, no doubt.

Fuck, of course dad would let the cat out of the bag.

As the old man and I were staring daggers at my dear ole dad, along with my mother, dad reiterated what he just said while beginning to nervously sweat. "Ahh, weapons and technology."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"WEAPONS, Sweety, when did this start? No, you can't do that. It's too dangerous-"

Before she could go off and the old man interrupted and stopped her in her tracks. "Jane, stop and I'll explain what's been going on."

"B-but-"

"Jane." Gramps said, exerting some of that pressure he obtained from his many years exploring the wasteland.

With her going mute, the old man looked at me and asked. "So you want to tell them, Dom?"

Understanding what he was getting at, I answered. "I didn't plan on it, but I suppose since we've arrived at this point, they should be made aware. It is only a matter of time before it comes out, after all."

"Alright, let's head inside, then. We can't be having that sort of conversation out here, even though the property has plenty of space in between it and the neighboring ones."

Nodding my head in response as both my mom and dad wore looks of confusion, we got up and went inside. Returning to the living room, I waited for a second to organize my thoughts and began. "As I said moments ago, I didn't plan on revealing what I'm about to tell you so soon. But since dad has already let loose about my weapon manufacturing, I should probably just reveal the rest of the secrets I've been hiding from you mom and dad."

*Sigh* "Sweety you know you don't have to hide anything from us, right?"

"Your mother is right son, you can tell us whatever it is you've been keeping mum about."

"Okay, I'll tell you. But don't try to change my mind because what I'm about to tell you is about what I wish to accomplish one day and I'll stop at nothing to achieve it."

"We would never try to stop you from attempting to achieve your dream, sweety. So go ahead and tell us." Mom encouraged, whilst dad nodded along in agreement.

"Alright, but before I do that, I'm going to show you guys a few things first because it will make it easier for you to accept the path I'm going to be pursuing in life."

With the two's encouragement, I presented my hand with my palm facing upward and gathered up a number of lightning element mana particles. A split second later, lightning appeared and began to dance erratically on my palm, leaving both of my parents stunned.

"Well, that's new. When did you gain the ability to produce lightning, kid?" Gramps asked curiously.

"Around two months ago."

"Hmm..."

My parents remained in their gobsmacked state for a few more seconds before they rejoined the rest of us in reality once again.

"So, is this all you've been hiding from us, son?"

"Not at all. This is just one of my recently gained abilities and I still have to tell you about my dream."

"Right..."

Following that, I started displaying each one of the abilities I possessed from my ability to summon weapons and all sorts of items from thin air to my body's incredible strength and durability to my magical ability to sense everything within a certain spherical radius around me.

"Those aren't all the abilities I possess, but it is enough to display my capabilities."

...

"So you're either a marked one or a transcendent sweety. I don't see why you needed to hide that from us."

Shaking my head, I corrected my mother. "I am neither. My abilities cover far too large of a range for me to be categorized as either of those. I also don't have a tattoo-like mark on any part of my body."

"Hmm, that's strange. I wonder why you have those abilities then, if you are neither." Dad commented.

"The reason why I have these powers is due to me being born with a system very similar to ones from role-playing games and certain fictional titles."

"I don't think I heard that right. Did you just say a system, like the kind of one a novel protagonist would have?"

"No, your ears are working just fine, dad. That's exactly what I possess."

"Well, I suppose that could explain why you have such a wide assortment of abilities, sweety."

...

From there, I went on to answer all the questions they had and the moment they were satisfied; I moved onto the next topic at hand that needed to be discussed. "Okay, now that we've got that all covered, let's continue onto the next subject, that being my dream. So, like anyone else, I have a dream I wish to achieve in the future. However, unlike others, mine is a hell of a lot more challenging, if not impossible, when compared to others."

Taking a second for suspense, I continued. "What I wish to accomplish is to conquer the wasteland and unite the remnants of humanity under one banner. I know that may seem like something no human is capable of accomplishing, but I believe my odds of success are better than any human alive today, given the massive amount of knowledge I've accumulated and my wide array of abilities."

"I'm not going to say you can't pursue that dream of yours, son, but you realize how insane it sounds right."

"I do, but I've been planning things out for years at this point all to make myself as prepared as possible before I even step foot out of the safety of the undercity. So it's much too late to turn back now, not that I would want to."

*Sigh* "This is a lot to take in, sweety, but if this is what you really want to do with your life, I won't stop you. However, until you leave the nest for the outside world, I want to see the extent of your preparations. Are you fine with that?"

"That's no problem, mom. We can go now if you want."

"Alright, let's go now then."

The conversation paused there for the second and we all headed for gramp's armored truck, hopped in and got on the road.

This is going far easier than I thought it would have.