Volume 2 Episode 31

Lin looked at the people standing in front of him.

They were powerful. Too powerful to be made opponents of.

People he couldn't touch. People who were beyond his control. He couldn't afford taking a risk.

Lin Hamill sighed deeply as he thought about the helplessness he felt. He had expected it to happen eventually, but he didn't think it would happen so soon.

'Goddammit, how on earth do I escape from this mess?'

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The Practical Zone.

4 hours earlier.

Lin, who had qualified for the semi-finals, was getting ready to train a bit more in preparation for the next match.

The semi-finalists were given a week off before matches were to officially restart. This gave the remaining participants more than enough time to strategize and train for their upcoming match. 

Lin's opponent was Lily Green, the same person who defeated Rin in the preliminaries. According to his research, she wasn't as strong as Daniel Kang in terms of level, but that didn't mean she was to be underestimated. And as he had defeated Daniel Kang who was a favourite to win, he would also be taken seriously, which meant that he had to be extra careful when going up against her.

"Master Lin, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come with me for now. Urgent matters await you."

Lin was coming out of his room when he was confronted by Charles. Charles looked extremely serious, meaning it was most probably some family matter that he had to attend. 

Lin really didn't want to associate with his family. At least not yet. Until he was powerful enough.

Powerful enough to not be controlled.

"What is the reason?"

Lin asked, to which Charles replied immediately.

"Family matters."

'I knew it.' As much as Lin didn't wish for it to happen yet, unfortunately for him, it was exactly what was happening.

His family wanted to confront him about his rise in power. 

'Are they afraid of retaliation? Perhaps a few unhappy relatives who might've whispered behind my back must be getting scared.'

'Did they find out about my experiments? Well, they most likely would've already known about it. I mean, I have been asking to deliver bodies of orphans without raising any suspicions. It probably would reach the family sooner or later. Not that it matters, I'm the only one who even knows how it works anyway.'

After Richard's betrayal, Lin had destroyed all his procedural and research journals and any physical evidence that others could make use of. Lin didn't want to take any chances, so that even if he were defeated, it wouldn't benefit the enemy in any way.

He went with Charles, and they soon reached the Hamill family mansion, where they were greeted by numerous servants. Most of them avoided eye contact with Lin, probably because they had been talking behind his back about the 'talentless' son of the great Howard Hamill.

'Well, not that I care anymore.'

Lin didn't wish to be involved in small useless stuff like that, and focused his eyes on the meeting room that they were approaching.

Charles opened the doors and motioned Lin to go inside. Lin stepped inside the meeting room and looked around at his fellow family members who were standing together and discussing something, until they saw him enter. Their eyes were glued to the young and newly awakened Hamill.

Lin, who had just entered the room, already felt uncomfortable from all the gazes he was receiving, and coughed loud enough to force most of them to stop.

'This might be harder than I thought.'

Lin scratched his head, playing various scenarios inside his head for a suitable strategy. However, his thoughts were interrupted by a large shout.

"Who dares to interrogate my son?" The shout had shaken the whole room, forcing everyone to close their lips.

Silence spread everywhere, as one man entered the room. He brought with him a mighty aura that would make even the strongest of warriors would back off in order to be more careful. He was no normal human.

'Father.' 

Lin looked at the person who had entered the room. The person had a scary face, and was built like a bear. He carried a giant sword on his back, and as he moved to the centre of the group, people unconsciously backed off. 

"I'm so sorry for having to involve your son in this matter Edward, but you and I both know this is an important matter." 

An elderly man stepped forward, resisting Edward's aura and voiced his opinion. After the man finished what he wanted to say, more people started voicing their support to the man as well.

Edward stared at the old man, who stared back at him. The staring went on for a while, with Edward giving up as he sighed.

"Why do you always feel the need to oppose me Lance? Huh? It isn't enough for you to annoy me, but you've got to annoy my kid as well?"

"Give me a break Edward." The old man, Lance, snorted at Edward's comments, sneering at him. 

"You entitled brats think everything's all about you. Well guess what kid? I don't know if you got the news, but the world doesn't revolve around you. I know it may be hard to believe, especially for you, but it's the truth."

Edward smiled at Lance's sarcastic comments and without replying, he turned to meet the eldest member of the table.

Christopher Hamill, the oldest and the most respected member of the Hamill family. Most of the members looked at him for guidance, and the decisions usually taken by the board are influenced by what he decides. In other words, he was the deciding factor.

Lin looked at the elder, who suddenly looked back at him and their eyes met. The elder gazed at the young boy for a while, and then looked at the rest of the family, who were waiting for his words.

"I'm sure many of you are aware that young Lin Hamill, Son of Edward Hamill has been upto some... 'unusual activities' in the past few months. And I'm sure most of you are also aware of the fact that in those past months, he suddenly awakened during the third test. As for whether this is a coincidence or not, well, I would like to hear the young boy explain the situation first."

After finishing his words, he looked at the young boy for the answer, followed by the rest of the family members moving their gazes on to him once again.

'Well f**k me..'

Lin clenched his fists as the piercing gazes of the family members intensified with each passing breath.

He had to think fast.

'What should I tell them? Should I tell them that it's all, in fact, just a coincidence?'

He shook his head internally at the idea.

'No, they don't believe that. No one does. No one in here is actually going to believe me if I say it's just a coincidence. This isn't a Q&A, it's an interrogation. And they're looking for only one answer.'

Lin inhaled deeply. He had to calm down. There was a lot at stake here. There was already the Lindon family problem, the tournament, and now this. He had to end everything quickly. And he had to win them all. No more losing in front of people like them. No more shall he receive looks of pity and contempt from them. 

No more.

With the gazes of all the family members on him, Lin opened his mouth.

"It's all just a coincidence. I truly have no-"

"LIES! ALL LIES!"

The sudden shout of Lance interrupted him from speaking. He looked at Lance, who was sneering at Lin with red eyes. 

"This kid is lying. He's lying about it being a coincidence. Think about it, there is absolutely no way that someone will actually awaken at the third test. Only a few have ever done that in history. I could literally count them using my fingers. And you all know he's been doing something shady in his basement. Admit it kid, there's no way any of us are actually going to believe that you awakened at the third test. Don't expect to-"

"Why can't I?"

"Huh?" Lance, who didn't understand Lin's question, scratched his head.

"Why can't I awaken at the third test?" Lin moved closer to Lance, and asked him face to face.

"Huh? Obviously because nobody els-"

"See that's where you're wrong Mr. Lance." Lin interrupted Lance once again, and smirked at the old man. He turned away from Lance and faced the Elder, Christopher.

"You see, I'm not just somebody. I'm not like you people, who whisper behind people's back. I'm not like you, who gather around just because someone whom you not even once gave any importance suddenly started gaining power. I'm not like you, who get scared when someone younger and more powerful than you comes forward. You want to know why, Mr. Lance?"

Lin moved back to Lance once again, who had a grim look on his face.

"I'M. NOT. YOU."

"You!" Lance, who had been keeping it together, suddenly burst out but quickly retracted his temper once he saw Edward stepping in. He recovered his calm appearance once again, and spoke.

"There is a chance that you may be better than all of us, kid. But there's always another way now isn't there? I mean, we could just check your basement, see if there's anything of use to us. Doesn't hurt to-"

"Master Lance!"

Lance's words were interrupted once again, but interestingly it wasn't Lin who did it. A servant had dashed into the meeting room and ran to where Lance was, who looked at the servant, furious about the interruption.

"This better be worth it Miles. I've told you countl-"

"Young master Lin's apartment exploded just now. We do not know the exact reason for the explosion as we are still looking into it. You told me to come to you if anything serious happens, Master Lance. I hope you shall forgive me for interrupting you."

Even though Lance was interrupted once again, he didn't explode into flames this time. In fact, everyone had weird expressions plastered on their faces.

All except for Lin, who looked pretty calm. He turned to the Elder Christopher, and whispered slowly.

"Well, if there's anything left to do, can I get back to training? I have a tournament to get ready for."