Seed of Titan-Chapter 175: Returning Home

The night was unusually dark in Pontia City. Clouds entirely covered the sky, blocking any moonlight from reaching the serene landscape below.

In a particular neighborhood, two dark-hooded figures were dashing through the streets. Their movements were swift, leaving only fleeting blurs for any CCTVs they passed by to capture. They eventually stopped right before the front gate of an inconspicuous house that looked as ordinary as one might imagine.

"Lad..." the larger figure worriedly muttered.

"I know. Mom would never let the house be this dark, even when we’re all fast asleep," the other figure replied as his eyes skimmed over the completely dark house, devoid of any lighting except for the dim reflections of street lamps and the neighbors’ porch lights on its windows.

It had been several days since Drai and Max left Siyeun Mountains. They managed to stumble upon a small town and traded most of their supplies and equipment for cash at a pawn and butcher shop. All the while they pretended to be nomadic, rustic hunters to avoid being questioned too much by the curious townsfolk.

Horsie was also treated by a local healer, who fortunately didn’t seem to care about the unusual horse’s origin. After they finished their business there, the group made their way toward Drai’s hometown by following the general direction they got from the townsfolk. They opted to avoid the busier areas and stopped by in a few settlements once in a while to rest, wash themselves, and buy some new clothes, which included the dark hoods they were currently wearing.

At some point, Drai wanted to turn on his comm and try to contact his friends or anyone else in his contact list, but Max quickly advised him not to. He feared that Drai’s comm had already been compromised, which meant that turning it on could reveal their position to the groups targeting him now that they were within comm coverage.

Although Drai wasn’t too sure about this, he still went along with it and decided to get himself a new comm in the near future and would only turn on his old one to copy his contacts after they reached Max’s family estate, which could deter their foes if Max’s apprehension turned out to be true.

After reaching Pontia’s outskirts, they waited until midnight before leaving Horsie near Drai’s old training grounds and went into the residential area, which led to the current situation.

"I’m sure my parents aren’t here. Should we just leave?" Drai asked, seeking Max’s opinion.

Max thought about it briefly before replying, "Leaving is definitely our safest bet, but if you want to explore further, I’m okay with that."

"What if the house is bugged or some alerting device has been set up?" Drai questioned further, still unsure if they should stay around and not just move on.

"Drai, we don’t know when you’ll be able to return here again, or if you ever will. Since we’re already here, just go for it. It’s been months since the incident—I’m sure any powerful personnel that might have been guarding this place have long been gone already. And even if the Crimson Order detects us by some means, I don’t think a high-ranked officer could arrive here that fast, so we can just take down any goon that blocks our way. Besides, don’t you want to make sure your parents really aren’t here? You know, there’s a chance that... Never mind. Anyway, just think about it for a second—I’ll follow your decision."

Drai eyed Max, who was looking away while humming awkwardly. He knew what his companion had intended to say—that his parents might just be lying dead inside. However, Drai was pretty sure that particular scenario wasn’t the case here, as their neighbors had probably reported the situation of their vacant house to the police since his parents weren’t shut-ins and were quite active in the community. If his parents had really been found dead here, their bodies would likely have been moved to the morgue or even cremated. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Okay. Let’s check the inside a bit," Drai eventually said, to which Max simply nodded.

Drai then gently opened the gate. While walking to his porch, he noticed all the withered flowers dotting the front garden.

’Mom would be really upset if she ever sees this,’ Drai thought with a wry smile.

Upon arriving at the porch, he walked toward a corner and bent down. Seeing this, Max tilted his head, wondering what Drai was doing.

Shortly after, Drai walked back to the door. His hand now held a key.

"That’s our secret spare-key stash," Drai explained. "Dad lost his key a lot, so Mom finally got fed up with having to leave her gossiping sessions early to let Dad in and decided to set this up."

"Heh. Your dad seems like a pretty interesting bloke," Max commented.

Drai smiled and shook his head amusedly. He thought that "interesting" was too generous of a term. In his mind, "goofy" was a more fitting description for Daro.

Drai opened the door, and the duo finally entered the dark house. As soon as the door closed behind them, Drai activated Nova Flux, whereas Max conjured a flame that hovered above his palm.

"Yeah, you’re clearly the one with better lighting," Max remarked upon seeing the barely noticeable orange light of his flame, drowned out by the much brighter white light.

Drai didn’t reply but instead surveyed his surroundings as he slowly walked further in. So far, he saw nothing out of the ordinary aside from the fine dust that covered the whole place.

"It doesn’t look like my parents were attacked or captured, at least not here, otherwise there should be some signs of struggle, unless they had been quietly subdued," Drai mused.

Meanwhile, Max didn’t focus on the bigger picture like Drai but inspected the various items lying around instead.

’Oho... The lad’s mom is quite a hottie,’ he thought upon seeing Drai’s family picture. He then shifted his gaze to the burly man whose arm was embracing the lady and nodded his head assuredly. ’Yep. His dad’s just like what I imagined. Then the mom’s personality must differ a lot from the dad’s, or else Drai would likely end up as a goofball as well. Hmm, I wonder how that would turn out with that ludicrous class of his... His current disposition seems pretty ideal for handling that kind of power, along with the responsibilities and risks it entails.’

Glancing at Drai, who was checking the other rooms, Max silently vowed, ’Whatever happens in the future, I must make sure the lad remains relatively pure of heart. If he ever turns evil or develops immense greed, I don’t think anyone will be able to completely stop him. Man, if only he’d agree to marry into the family, I wouldn’t have to worry so much about this.’

While Drai disappeared into the kitchen, Max entered one of the nearby rooms. Shining his flame onto the interior, he immediately noticed that it was a teenage boy’s bedroom. Stacks of magazines could be seen peeking out from under the bed, and the walls were riddled with posters of tough-looking men. There were also a pair of adjustable dumbbells lying in a corner. Aside from these, there was a desk and a chair next to a cabinet, all three of them looking extremely plain as though they served no purpose beyond their basic functions.

Max crouched beside the bed and checked the magazines before flipping open several of them, skimming their pages as he let out a hearty chuckle.

"Arena Clash, Rising Stars, Uncaged, Knuckle & Grit, Fight Life, Legends of the Ring, The Gauntlet... Damn, how much of a nerd is this guy? And there’s not even a single magazine covering any cute girls here. Gosh, Auri, I don’t think you’ll have much of a chance with the lad—unless..."

Max lowered his head and his flame as he peered under the bed. Shortly after, he stood up with a disappointed expression.

"Sheesh, there’s not even a porn stash," he muttered sighingly.

Just then, Drai appeared at the door.

"What are you doing here? There’s nothing in my room," he said.

"Correct! Your room lacks the essential materials for young men like you. Glad you noticed," Max remarked while ignoring Drai’s question as he passed through the door, which puzzled Drai, who quickly followed him to the front area.

"Hey, Max. What do you mean by ’essential materials’? Are they really that important for young men?" Drai questioned. Due to Max’s words, he became slightly worried that his pre-awakening development had unknowingly been adversely impacted.

"Forget it. It’s a bit too late to do anything about it," Max replied before adding inwardly, ’Not that telling you about it would change your lack of interest in normal women. Sorry, but you’re a lost cause, Drai.’

Just as Drai wanted to press further, he detected faint vibrations from his incidental use of Arachno Sense. He then delved more into the readings and immediately discovered that there were subtle movements outside that completely surrounded his house.

"Enemies, right?" Max whispered upon noticing Drai’s change of expression.

"I’m not sure, but it seems so," Drai whispered back. "There’s movement outside—surrounding the house."

"Well, who else would be doing that at this hour besides your enemies? What about their number?"

Drai hadn’t actually made a headcount, so he re-immersed himself in detecting the movements. Seconds later, he whispered, "If I counted correctly, there are ten people at least. What do you think, Max? Should we meet them outside? If possible, I’d like to keep my house intact."

"Hmm, in that case, I have an idea. What if..."

Max’s mouth blurred as he rapidly explained his plan, and Drai’s eyes slowly widened as he kept listening.

About ten seconds later, Max asked, "What do you think?"

Drai nodded. "That could work. But are you sure they won’t notice?"

Max thumped his chest, proudly stating, "Relax. Haven’t I told you that during my academy days, I was also a member of the Performing Arts Society?"