Chapter 43: Family

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Julia had worked as a model for a few years to pay for her college, before switching to become a secretary in a big company to pay for her mother's medical bills as her modelling didn't earn her enough. That's where she met her now husband, then boss, Charles.

Their relationship did not go as many would think though, the secretary did not seduce her boss for a higher pay. According to him, Charles had been struck by love as soon as he saw her.

However, she was already in a relationship when she got in the company, and he knew it, so it was left to that, a boss and his employee, with a few glances from now and then.

But before long, Julia separated from her boyfriend, and Charles saw his opportunity. He was quite handsome himself, and as the son of the CEO, and future holder of said job, he had quite some money.

And that's when Charles learned Julia wasn't like other girls. He tried flaunting his money to her, something that worked most of the time, but not once did he manage to invite her to dinner, she always paid her part, at least not before they got married. She had always been a strong independent woman, and had transferred those ideals to her only son, Edward.

When they met, Julia was still young, barely above twenty, while Charles himself hadn't reached 30, and although Charles had to put in some effort to steal her heart, once he did, they lived a strong and intense love.

On Charles' 30th year on this Earth, the two got married, and not long after, their son Edward was born.

After Edward's birth, Julia decided to quit her job to take care of Edward, as her husband brought more than enough money home, and she also started writing on a side as to still remain active.

In the next few years, she raised her little genius, proud of him at every step. Smart at school, high praises from his teachers, many friends… She had very rarely got to yell at him for anything.

Still, when he turned 16, Edward had to enter University, meaning he had to leave the house as they lived in California, and his University was in Massachusetts. It was heartbreaking for her to see her son go away, but she had to deal with it.

A few years later again, and Edward had a PhD in Biology, and that's when she thought he could come back home. There was that company in their city, Baxter Foundation. They were in search of talented scientists.

However, before she could make the suggestion to her son to come back to Central City, she learned he had been accepted at Oscorp, at the other end of America, in New York. She was saddened, but she was still proud her little bunny got to join one of the biggest companies in the world.

She followed every news with attention, waiting for her son to make big splashes in the world, bragging to her friends about her genius son.

And then, the monster emerged. The Lizard. She didn't understand exactly what happened, even after her son explained to her on the telephone, but what she knew was that Edward's superior messed up, and because of him Edward and several other people were fired from Oscorp.

At that time, she did not feel the slightest happiness at the possibility of her son returning here since he had been fire, and was only vindictive, toward that Dr Connors and Osborn, for being dumb and unfair.

Charles had to hear more than one death threat sent at the man he actually knew, Osborn, at dinner. Charles' company, which he had already inherited and become the CEO of now, although it wasn't a giant at Oscorp's height with several billions of worth, they were still worth more than a hundred million.

That lasted for a few months, until astonishing news came about. Her son really had shone, as not only had he created an anti serum to save the people infected by the Lizard's attack, which cleared his reputation, he even went on to create an incredible cure to dementia.

Oh, how proud Julia was of her son. She heard they were even considering giving her son a Nobel Prise for his work! Her son, holder of the Medecine's Nobel Prize! Although she knew her son was a genius, this was beyond every expectations.

Despite his Nobel Prize though, there was one thing that saddened her, and it was that she hadn't seen her son in a long while, and recently their texts shortened to a few words every week, not even calls anymore. What she didn't know, was that those texts weren't even from Edward, but from the Ancient One, to cover for his disappearance.

She wanted to take the first flight for New York and see her son, but she also understood he was very busy, so this put her in a weird spot. A part of her was super happy as she was very proud of him, but another part was filled with sadness as she didn't get to see her son.

So what was her surprise when she opened the door that day. Although he had changed a lot and she didn't expect him, she recognized her son right away. She had to rub her eyes to make sure this wasn't her dreaming or hallucinating.

When he saw this, Edward burst in laughing as he hugged his mother and said "It's really me, Mom."

Still stunned, Julia hugged him back and said "I know, I know… Wait, what are you doing here?"

Edward smiled at her and replied as they separated "Now that I work for myself and finished handling everything I needed to take care of at work, I thought of making you a surprise. I hope there is still a place at the table for me."

Julia smiled, on the verge of tears inside as she replied "Oh you silly boy, there will always be a place for you here. Come in, come in."

"Who is it?"

From the living room, Edward heard his father's voice calling out to his mother, probably wondering why she took so long to come back.

Julia smiled and replied "Come see yourself you big oaf!"

"Argh that woman…"

As Edward put down his jacket, Charles arrived, and was stunned as he looked at Edward. He froze for a full seconds before saying, a little hesitant "Edward?!"

Edward smiled and replied "You still remember your son, dad?"

"What are you doing here?!"

Edward had to re-explain to his father as he hugged him too, and he was led by his parents to the living room. He felt through his Chi Sense both were extremely excited, especially his mother whose heart he feared suffered from extreme happiness.

"So, how is life in New York? The people there don't annoy you too much?" His father asked, he himself had lived there for a few years, and it didn't have the best reputation.

Edward smiled and replied "The people there aren't that bad, a little hurried but you get used to it. What about you?"

Julia replied "Until recently, no, not really. But recently, things have been a little… hectic. All over the world, I heard."

Charles nodded and said "Individuals with Super Powers seem to have emerged from nearly every corner of the world, and with them, problems too. I heard it was the same in New York, with Iron Man, Serenity and Spider Man."

Edward smiled lightly and said "Yes, they appear from time to time. Are there some here too?"

Charles nodded and said "The most famous ones would be the Fantastic Four, a group of heroes that appeared a few months ago. There's also that kid who goes fast…"

"I think he calls himself Flash." His mother completed his father's words. She continued "The city has been getting a little intense with their arrival, but it's alright, it adds some fun to our daily lives."

Edward was speechless at his mother's opinion, he had heard many kinds of opinions over the emergence of super individuals, some for it, others against, but it was definitely the first time he heard someone call them fun.

He was happy they weren't against it though, it would make things easier when he would have to tell them. He wasn't a fool, he knew he would have to tell them, or they would learn it one day by themselves, and he would rather be the one telling them.

Charles then asked "You have changed quite a lot son, you started exercising, and taking care of your skin? What prompted these changes, a girlfriend?"

Edward smiled and replied "While she wasn't at their origin, she did help, mentally." Julia suddenly clasped her hands as she exclaimed "Show me your girlfriend!"

Edward took out his phone and showed them a picture of him and Diana. As they saw her, Julia looked gobsmacked while Charles winked at Edward, his meaning obvious… Wait, did they doubt his ability to get a beautiful girlfriend?

Julia finally said "She is gorgeous. What does she do?" Edward replied "A museum curator. We have been together for several months now, and we recently started living together."

This was an even bigger surprise to his parents. They asked him a lot of questions about her, which Edward happily answered, although he had to change his answers for a few of them as he couldn't really tell them he was dating the daughter of the King of the Gods…

Edward ate with his parents, and stayed to sleep, much to their pleasure, in his old room. It brought him a lot of great memories, of his childhood… It also made him think about how much he had changed since he left this house.

The next day, his parents wanted to drive him to the airport, but he didn't have a train so he used an excuse and said he had to visit a friend first, before opening a portal back to New York.

Once back in the Big Apple, things became rather calm. Edward would go to his lab from time to time, but it was mainly to train Peter. He would also tinker with a few things from time to time, to relax, but it was more of a hobby than anything now.

What he spent most of his time on, was training, which was mostly cultivating his Chi and learning Magic. He also trained his martial arts a bit, but he no longer had any opponent, so it was hard to improve by himself. Diana was vastly more powerful than him, but in terms of Martial Arts he had left her in the dust. Same went for his master, Dragon, and his senior, Bruce, or Batman, to whom he paid a visit recently.

No matter who he went to see, he could defeat them easily. His time with Arthur had raised his skill to a level no one he knew could match, and his Chi Sense evolving into a domain made fighting even easier.

It's not like there weren't any path ahead though, as Edward had started feeling something strange ever since he brokethrough. A strange understanding of the world that allowed him to draw strength from it. That's how his flying slashes now worked, he had replaced the external energy that had to be stored into the sword by the world's energy.

He had tried furthering his understanding of the world, but he did not make any progress in the past three weeks, he felt like a great wall was blocking him from understanding the world.

He wasn't too worried though, he was pretty sure that, as always, he was a pioneer on this path, and he would have to persevere to advance.

As for his Chi cultivation, it had advanced quite a bit, as his Lower Dantian now held 150 drops in it, which was quite the milestone as he now had enough to properly power his body. Ever since his Chi turned liquid, although his Chi became much more powerful, it also became far more expansive to use as he couldn't just turn it back into a gaseous form to use it.

Back when he only had ten drops, he would only be able to use it for a few attacks before becoming empty. Now, he could last much longer.

But Edward also made a large discovery about his cultivation, and it was related to his magic.

Author's Note: I know that this understanding of the world may outrage some of you, as many probably feel that the Concepts, Intents and Dao in cultivation novels don't make any sense in Marvel. However, it actually does. Victor Alvarez, also known as Power Man, was caught in an explosion caused by Bullseye under the orders of Norman Osborn. Victor was lucky, or unlucky, enough to become the sole survivor as he absorbed the Chi from the 107 other people who died in this explosion. This massive Chi powered him by a great deal, and allowed him to manipulate Chi at a great scale.

But he is not restricted to this as he can also draw Chi from his surroundings to strengthen himself even further, and the more he understands the world around him, and the more Chi he can absorb. Although it isn't really the same kind of understanding, Edward can use his understanding of the world around him too. As always, there will be limits and explanations, which you will discover in the future. Don't start a witch-hunt on me.

On a lighter note, for those who believe this introduction of his parents was useless, it was mainly done to explain where the MC's personality comes from. His liking for Diana, the incarnation of feminism, comes from his mother, and the rest is a mix of his parents, such as his strong will.