Chapter 10

"Joshua! Take the one on the left! Rachel, right!"

Joshua put his shield forward to block an incoming attack and swung down his ice sword to kill the slime in front of him. Rachel casts her offensive spell and kills another slime coming at her. Because of the slime's weakness to magic, the slime disintegrates when it touches the fireball Rachel cast.

Today the Wild Hunt party decided to try their luck on the eleventh floor of the tower. They use the same tactic as in the boss area. Laudia will be their tank, Rachel will become DPS/Support, and Joshua will become DPS/Tank for Rachel.

After killing the last slime near them, Laudia releases a deep breath. They have been fighting for three hours straight, and they start to feel exhausted from constant fighting.

"That should do it for today's hunt. Joshua, can you crush the return stone?"

"Hmmm, I think I will hunt for a little bit more. I need to train my control over my power."

"Very well. Just remember, don't kill too many Infernal Beasts, at least not on this floor. Leave some of them to others. We are not in a Flood after all."

"Understood."

"Anyway, can you toss the return stone?"

Joshua takes the return stone and tosses it to Laudia. He can see her crushing the stone in her hand before suddenly Rachel and Laudia teleport to the tower entrance, leaving Joshua alone.

Seeing his friend teleported away, Joshua takes a deep breath and spreads his magic around. Yesterday Joshua learned something new. He can spread his magic and use it as a radar. Joshua can 'see' fifty meters around him by using this technique.

He can see many boulders around him, and five slimes are coming toward him.

Joshua did not want to use this technique because he did not want to show the others he had magic inside his body. He did not want to gather unwanted attention, and he will get attention by showing this. Be it positive or negative attention. At least not yet, not before he is strong enough.

After knowing that his technique can detect the Infernal Beast, Joshua decides he is done for today. He took another stone from his bag and crushed it. A second later, he arrived in front of the tower entrance.

=||=

"Come on, mom, try it."

"I don't know. It is so expensive."

"Don't worry about the price, mom. Your son now has a high-earning job. This cannot make a dent in my wallet."

"I know, dear, but I prefer you spend that money to buy new equipment. I hear the equipment you need is very expensive."

"I will not lie and say that it was not true, but you don't need to worry about it, mom. I have already bought new equipment. Today, we will focus on you and little Tiara."

Currently, Joshua decides to buy his mother and sister new clothes after earning some fortune from the previous hunt with the Wild Hunt. He also decided to buy a smartphone and laptop for her little sister, not only for clothes.

"Then what about saving that money for Tiara college funds?"

Joshua gives his mother a small smile and says,

"Don't worry, mom. I have already created a separate account for Tiara college funds. Like I said earlier, you did not need to worry about anything. Today is your day. Just relax and take the clothes you like."

"If you say so."

Joshua, his mother, and little sister continue shopping in the mall for an hour before they decide to take a break in a restaurant inside the mall.

"How is your job, Joshua? You did not do anything reckless, right?"

"I'm not doing anything reckless, mom. I always plan and prepare before I go inside the tower, just like you told me."

"Good. I don't know what I will do if I lose you too."

Joshua hugs his mother while saying.

"Don't worry, mom. Your son will take care of both of you. I will not die before little Tiara reaches the age of one hundred!"

Alisa chuckles a little and places her hand on her son's cheek.

"Good. I'm sorry for being a burden to you, my son. You are still young, but you already carry a heavyweight on your back because of me."

"Never think of yourself as a burden, mother. Don't do that. You are not a burden. If not for you, I would not be here. You always put your body to the limit just to put food on the table. You always put on a brave expression, so you did not make us worried. Your suffering is over, mother. Let me carry that burden of yours from now on."

"Since when can you make a word like that?"

"I don't know. Maybe it was in the family."

"Heh. I doubt that. Your father was an awkward person in his youth. The only reason why he has a way with his words is that your grandpa decided to teach him the way."

"What about you, mom?"

"Me? I'm not an extrovert, the opposite, in fact. I like reading books and spending my day in the library. I guess both your father and I are an introvert. Our first meeting is inside the library, after all."

"Really? Can you tell us more?"

"Are you sure? It was a pretty boring story."

"Yeah, I want to hear it."

"Well… It was a few weeks before the College Test started your father-"

Alisa tells her children the story of how she met her husband in the past while Tiara and Joshua listen to it very closely. This is the story about their father, the one who sacrificed himself to protect them.

Joshua decided to enjoy the story his mother told him as it was a piece of memory that he wanted to treasure for the rest of his life.