Efforts.

Alex walked out of the room, feeling unsatisfied. He now knew how egoistic the concept of the Letifer Collective was, especially how it gave the right to the major families to play god. The conversation had proven one of his fears true, which was the fact that anyone could be killed, till the time you pay the right amount. His life was also hanging by a thread named "asset" which was his current value to the three families.

'Sooner or later, they will try to kill me if I try to move out of the 4 families. I need to have a plan for that. I don't see her helping me get out in that sort of a situation, so preparation will have to be even more tedious.'

Alex knew that whatever the families would do from now on, they would be intending to rope him in using various kinds of bs that they aren't afraid to implement halfway through a mission. He had been lucky this time, but it will not be easy to save himself like this every time.

'8 years. I have to factor in everything and make a solid plan to counter anything that these families can dish out. The path is going to be bloodier than he had thought before.

While walking through the halls of the mansion, Alex was in deep thought. He didn't even notice that a familiar person was looking at him, with deep interest.

"Kid, well done. You did well in the mission."

Hank had been paying close attention to Alex because he felt sad for the boy. He was destined for hardships, and he had scolded Sylvia multiple times through the phone for the decision that she made.

Lucius didn't have a background. When he was young, his father was just a tailor, and Lucius had to build an empire by himself. His father continued to support his hard work and started working hard to make himself useful around. He cared for his son, but even he had gotten to live a childhood that was relatively free of so much tension. He had never paid attention to Alex before he started showing potential because Sylvia hadn't made it public that he even existed. But after all the things that the kid had gone through, Hank could only feel sad for the kind of life that this boy would have to face in the future.

Seeing him make that face, Hank sighed. This wasn't a face that a 10-year-old should be making. The pressure on the boy was tremendous, and the boy was taking everything on his own shoulders, something that even Lucius couldn't have done before he was an adult.

Alex looked towards the old man, standing with a stick in his arms. He was smiling at him, but this wasn't a smile of appreciation. This smile contained a lot of sympathy for Alex, something which had been rare for him in this world.

"Thank you, sir."

He could only say that.

He continued walking towards his room. Hank started to follow him, which was not what he expected, but he thought that the old man might have his own reasons for doing so.

"Kid, what do you think about my family?"

Hank asked. He decided to give Alex some well-needed advice. He was sure that his son would act all mysterious and wouldn't intervene in his life too much, which could be hard for a kid like Alex. The least he could do was give him some words of encouragement.

"Your family works hard to keep itself relevant. Master is a good person, but he doesn't want to involve with my matters too much, because he knows that I won't be staying with this family permanently. Mam is trying her level best to make that a possibility, but she is slowly using ways that can only make me feel even more alienated. The kids of this family have already opened up to me, but they still have their reservations regarding my attitude, which makes them keep their guard up when I am around. As for you, this is only our second conversation, but you are probably the only one that can sympathize with me without any previous judgment of my character."

Alex responded truthfully. This was someone that even his mom respected, and him taking interest in Alex was probably not a coincidence. Plus, it felt really good to get all of that out of his mind.

"I am pretty sure that they aren't going to change. They still consider you to be someone who is an anomaly, a person who distorts their balance. If you really were just a normal kid, there wouldn't have been so many problems, but I respect your decision. I have already heard plenty about your situation, and you can rest assured that your mother has already received a mouthful of scolding from me."

Alex chuckled. This old man was way too influential for his own good. But on the inside, he already knew that he was an anomaly. He could only temper himself through hardship, so being an animal was advantageous. But at the same time, it made his journey even more lonely. He wasn't going to trust anyone, but there was always this lingering fear that he was all alone, with no one to have his back. Maybe it had something to do with the previous owner of this body, or maybe it was his own problem, because he still had memories regarding his training with his mentor, but it certainly existed. He didn't want any of it, but it certainly existed.

"Always remember one thing, kid. You should never let your ideals be the shackles of your life. You are still young, so behave young. Don't restrict yourself from the world just because you feel that it will help you to become a better version of yourself."

"You can never allow yourself to be closed up from the world, especially when you are in such a demanding profession. One of my sons made this mistake, that is why you don't see anyone mentioning his name anymore. He decided to improve himself by closing himself up. But when a huge problem came his way, there was nothing that he could rely on because he knew himself the best, but everything and everyone else was foreign to him. The path of the maverick often ends without anyone to remember them."

After finishing his sentence, Hank looked at the kid in front of him. His eyes had been closed, trying to hold his tears back. Despite being more clear-headed, despite being a loner who knew how hard his life was going to be, despite being an adult in a child's body.

He still felt the pressure get to him. He had already experienced death once, so he wasn't afraid of it, but that also made his hard work feel extremely unimportant. If in the end, he was going to die, why was he taking so much pressure?

To prove his worth to no one but himself. That was the only reason. Being reminded that he would have to deal with this world again, the same world which put him in this dilemma in the first place, only made him feel more helpless.

"Don't bottle up all that pressure, kid. You might be more mature than the kids in this house, but you are still a kid when compared to me. Even I don't hold back my tears when I feel pressured. That doesn't make you weak, that reminds you that you are still worth your own efforts."