The 4 of us arrived at Anya and Warren's home, where Anya happily greeted us inside. The place had really come along quite nicely, and Warren had even used their house being burnt down as an excuse to make many different upgrades to the home given how much bigger it seemed. Warren was currently sitting down across from my mother, and they looked to have been in deeper conversation until we all stepped inside. Hiago was nowhere to be seen currently. Once we entered fully, my mom shot up and rushed over to me, engufling me in a hug. I had really missed this.
"You smell so much better, dear." She said, making me laugh.
"Same to you." I replied, and she just responded by hugging me tighter.
"I'm so happy I can just do this whenever I want." She said, her voice suddenly thick with emotion.
"I'm still... so sorry mom. I left you alone..." I said, and she just lightly smacked my cheeks.
"None of that, young man. We are all together now, so we can just be happy right now. Okay?" She said gently, and that made me smile, and I gave her another squeeze.
"I was just talking to your mother about her class after the initialization. Helen is an incredible woman." Warren said, and the way he said that had me raising my brows. At least she was getting along with these two this well already, I suppose.
"Oh. I didn't even realize that was done. Can I see, mom?" I asked, and my mom looked excited after I said that.
"Yes! Warren just showed me how to do it. Hold on a minute." She said eagerly, and then her face scrunched in concentration.
"She's still getting the hang of it. There is something on there that I have not seen before, but maybe you'll know?" Warren said, and that made me curious. If he had never seen it before, what made him think I'd know.
Then, my mom's information screen popped into existence in front of me.
[Name: Helen Crosse]
[Age: 42 ]
[Race: Human (Evolved)]
[Class: Culinary Expert (D)]
[Designation: Mother of The Primordial of the Abyssal Flame. You have been warned.]
Note: You been exposed to a being of much higher power for a long time, and it has forced an evolution upon yourself.
"Well... fuck." I said eloquently, reading it over a second and a third time.
She had since shared the screen with everyone else, and they too didn't know where to be begin. I just kept staring at her race, and then the note underneath it. I almost laughed at the designation once again, although I actually didn't mind this one. Anyone that touches my mom better run really damn fast. Her Class also started at D rank, which also shocked me. I expected it to say F rank, E at the highest. Then, as I contemplated everything, I understood.
"Your race evolved... because of me."
It wasn't a question, it was just a flat statement. Even if the Framework didn't help me unlock my abilities and show me how to use them, I still was never a human. I was a Divine Primordial, a being born from both sides, and her proximity to me had caused her body to change. Then, a lot of things made more sense. Namely her perceptiveness and her ability to shrug off certain things easier than most.
"What do you mean?" My mom asked, and I looked at her, and then around at everyone else.
My mom and Rachel probably wouldn't understand the true significance of it yet, but Talia definitely would. She seemed to have talked with and learned a lot about Earth from Rachel, but she didn't know that I was apparently originally from this world, that I was a Godlike being, or how ridiculous my stats actually were.
"Okay." I said, making my decision, "No secrets, at least not from any of you."
She looked at me for a moment, but using the new enhanced senses we had with each other, she seemed to understand pretty quickly, and she nodded. No one know about how high Cici's stats had jumped either. Besides me, she was the strongest one in the village. There really was no reason to keep that hidden from our circle, and especially not from her parents. Honestly, it just never really came up.
So, with that in mind, I opened my status screen, and sent it to everyone in the room. I waited while everyone had the time to check it over, and then, the expected happened a moment later.
"WHAT??" Talia yelled, looking over at me in complete shock.
Her hands were shaking, and her eyes were so wide I was afraid they might split.
"It never gets old!" Warren said with a laugh.
"Is this good?" My mom asked.
"It's pretty good, yeah." I said causally, and everyone who knew how good it really was just stared at me.
Rachel said nothing, although she was studiying the screens in high detail. I considered not even bothering with her at first, but honestly, I had moved on to the point where I wasn't even feeling petty anymore. She had been there when Keith died, and had been taken and almost violated by traffickers. I wasn't heartless, and she seemed to be truly remorseful for her actions. Like I said before, she wasn't a bad person, she was kind of an idiot.
"From what I know about games and other stuff like this... it seems to be really good. Exceptionally good, actually." Rachel finally said, and that prompted Anya to nod with excitement.
"It is!" She exclaimed merrily, "The highest known Rank is S, and it's a rank that many in the nobility hold, at least from what I've heard. Many claim those at the top are above even that. Eli here is quite possiblely the strongest being in this world! Isn't that exciting? He exceeds the power of legend."
While Anya gushed over my strength, I came a little uncomfortable. She was laying it on a bit thick in my opinion. Meanwhile,Talia continued staring at me like I had 4 or 5 heads.
"SSS+ class.... SSS+ stats.... multiple SSS+ skills.... Divine Primordial.... I don't know what to think." Talia finally said, looking at me with eyes that I couldn't read, "But... you're so nice! You don't behave like someone with your power would."
I frowned at that. While I understood that a lot of people with power behaved like dicks, I figured that I had thoroughly established myself as being who I was. My great power didn't mean that I was suddenly going to turn into an asshole or something, and just start doing whatever I wanted. Despite what I was, I was still me, although lately I was feeling odd urges. The need to punish those who hurt others mainly, but embarrassingly, my need to fuck was growing each day as well. It made me glad that Cici was more than up to the task, as I felt like she was perpetually wet at this point.
I looked at Talia, schooling my thoughts, lest they show while talking to the admittedly cute blonde, and said, "How should I act? I am who I am, and no amount of power will change that."
Talia looked at me for a while, and then gave me a brief smile.
"You're right... you've always been nice to everyone. I guess we're all just used to this world and how people are." She said, and everyone else nodded, besides my mom and Rachel of course. They hadn't even been here for more than a few hours, so they didn't know how bad people could be yet.
"Talia told me what you did..." Rachel said, causing me to look at her, "How you saved everyone and killed a bunch of terrible people... I can't imagine anyone doing that to anyone... everyone here is wonderful." She said that last point while staring at Talia, making me chuckle. Yeah, everyone. Uh-huh.
"I'd do it again. No one will ever hurt anyone here ever again." I said, making everyone around me smile, "Also, Rachel, care to share your status?"
"Oh! Sure... how do I.."? She asked, and then began to follow the instructions Talia began giving her, "Okay, I think... maybe?"
A screen popped up in front of me at that moment. I could have honestly just checked myself with Abyssal Eye, but I did respect the privacy of those around me. If they didn't care to share, I wouldn't pry.
[Name: Rachel Feldman]
[Age: 24]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Elemental Mage (E)]
[Designation: New Resident of Crosse Village]
"Huh." I said, examining everything closely.
Unlike my mother, her race didn't evolve, did make me wonder. I was definitely close with her at one point, but her race had never evolved. Everything seemed the same, and it was a cool sounding class at the rank I expected for a new initiate, but that Designation made me groan a little bit. They couldn't have picked a better name? I wondered how much time I had to spend around people in order for their race to evolve.
"Holy shit..." Talia said in whisper.
"Yeah. That's unexpected." Cici added.
"W-what?" Rachel asked, and I too was curious about this.
"You're an elemental mage," Anya said, her tone implying that it was a big deal, "Usually, mages are singular in their elements. Ice Mage, Water Mage, Fire Mage, that sort of thing. A true elemental mage is the rarest class of mage, as they are able to learn and cast spells from any and all of the elements."
"Oh. That is really good." I said, nodding once.
"It's more than that! This is incredible! You're incredible, Rachel!" Talia gushed, and Rachel flushed from the praise.
"It is very impressive. That's some strong hidden talent." Warren said.
'I... have to agree." Cici said, although she did hesitate a bit before she said that.
After that revelation, attention turned to me again, and I did my best to catch Talia, Rachel, and my mother up on what I had learned when coming here. They were all a bit surprised when I told them I was originally from this world, although Talia came to terms with it fastest, saying that it made a lot of sense. My mom wasn't sure what to think about that, but I told her that it was why her race had evolved in the first place, being around a being of my calibur for so long. I had been powerful by right of birth, and it was the only reason I didn't die. I had come close... but I would never be that weak, or that helpless ever again.
Cici then showed her stats to everyone, and Anya and Warren actually jumped for joy over how strong Cici had become, and they hugged her tightly. Even her little brother had come out of hiding, saying that there were too many "pretty girls" in the house and it made him nervous. My mom, for lack a better word, melted at the sight of him, and claimed he was the cutest thing she'd ever seen. I may have gotten... slightly jealous.
Soon, my mom and Anya saw themselves off and began making dinner together, while Cici and I sat down together across from the other 2 girls to an answer any lingering questions they might have. Hiago went back to his room, claiming that he didn't like boring adult talks. I explained everything to the best of my ability, and Cici jumped in when I got stumped. As I sat there, watching the women around me talk animatedly, I couldn't help but smile. We were finally back, and I had my mom here with me now. Maybe now I could finally just kick back and relax. Even still, I had the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that things wouldn't be so simple.
"Cross that bridge when I come to it, I guess."