Chapter 104: Surprise Visit

A few days passed as many students went to the Mission Hall to take missions. Teams were being formed, and provisions were being distributed, as many of the missions required students to visit other cities or venture outside the city.

Aurelius had reached out on the second day of the week to inform Adam that he had found a suitable mission the two of them could take; the mission ranked a C in difficulty by academy standards. He sent Adam the details for him to study, as their departure day would be on Friday.

Unlike the other students, Aurelius was not concerned about the same things they were concerned with. When Adam asked him about it, the beast master said not to worry about it.

But Adam still assured him that he had a way of concealing his identity so no one would recognise him when they stepped out. Moreover, he had a few preparations to make before then.

Aside from working on perfecting his multicore system, he also worked on modifying a pair of modern Desert Eagles his master got him for missions.

"This should take care of it."

Adam muttered after pulling an all-nighter applying runes and enchantments to his Desert Eagles. The rune-drawing knife he modified from a piece of Tier 2 metal was returned to the black metal and put away.

He reassembled the weapon parts with swift familiarity before leaning back in his desk chair. He took a moment to admire his handiwork and smiled. He would not deny it; he was feeling proud of himself.

Glancing at the time, he realised it was the morning of the fourth day of the week.

"I should take a bath and then get something to eat."

Adam muttered to himself as he stood up and made his way to the bathroom. He was not exhausted in any way, shape or form, as his body was incredible at recovering from fatigue. Staying awake throughout the night barely registered to him.

"I should also take a second look at the mission details."

He still had to carefully study the mission details, as he wouldn’t want to be surprised by anything. Although the mission was not particularly difficult, he had learned to expect the unexpected.

It was best to know the terrain like the back of his hand before something forced them to take a detour or something.

Half an hour later, Adam stepped out and quickly got himself into some nice clothes. He picked up his phone and was ready to step out when a knock drew his gaze to the door.

"Dad?"

Adam was surprised, not expecting to see his father pay a visit. The last time he spoke to him—which was literally a day ago—his father had just returned from an exploration mission.

His father had shared his worries about what had been happening around him, and the missions he would be taking from the academy. But Adam had assured his father that he was fine and that he was capable of escaping should things get out of hand.

"Dad," Adam opened the door, smiling. "I didn’t expect to see you here."

Jonathan stood before Adam with his short dark hair, sharp brown eyes that held the wisdom of age, and a stubble that added to his mature looks. He was like an older version of Adam, but more mature and experienced.

He looked at his son from head to toe and nodded. "Good. You’re already dressed."

"Hm?" Adam tilted his head.

Before he could ask what his father meant or even invite him in, the man grabbed him and vanished, the door closing with a bang.

Jonathan sped through the city with his son, making sure to shield him from the resistive forces. Within seconds, he arrived on a hill on the outskirts of Academic City, throwing Adam into the grass-filled ground.

"Ugh!"

Adam groaned as he rolled to a stop on the grass. His head shot up, looking around. He then looked at his father, the confusion in his eyes evident. "Dad, what are we doing here?"

He rose to his feet, cleaning the blade of grass that stuck to his clothes.

"I have every reason to take you home right now, AJ," Jonathan said in a sharp tone, his eyes intense. "Do you think assassins are a joke?! Do you know how worried your mother is?!" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

Adam lowered his head, clenching his teeth and fists. He had nothing to say to his father’s scolding.

Jonathan wanted to say more, but he stopped himself. He clenched his fist and lowered his hand, letting out a tired sigh. Had Asher not spoken to him before he dragged Adam out, he might have taken him home.

"Adam..." Jon called softly, looking at his son.

He hated it whenever he saw his son like this. "...you know your mother and I care about you a lot. We just don’t want to see you get hurt. Learning about those attempts on your life got us really worried."

"I-I’m sorry, Father." Adam replied, his gaze locked onto the ground.

"I know you are."

Jon sighed and slowly approached his son. He stood before him and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing affectionately. "But I don’t want you to be sorry; I want you to be careful."

Adam raised his head to meet his father’s brown eyes, seeing the worry, fear, and affection in them. He could not help but feel guilty for putting his parents through so much worry.

Jonathan smiled gently and added, "It’s not your fault, Adam. The world is just an unfair place filled with dangerous and deranged people who are willing to go to any length to get what they want."

The man’s expression hardened a moment later. "That’s why I won’t allow you to go on any missions until you prove yourself to me."

"Prove myself?" Adam echoed.

"Yes..." Jonathan nodded and took several steps back. "Your teacher tells me you’ve made major progress in your combat capabilities. I want to see them myself, and maybe... just maybe, I’ll allow you to go on those academy missions."

Jonathan put a large distance between himself and his son. He put his left hand behind his back and beckoned to Adam with his right hand. "Come at me with everything you’ve got, Adam. And don’t hold back on your abilities."

Adam remained silent for several moments before his expression turned serious. Since he was to prove that he could take care of himself, he would have to reveal some of the evasive skills he had created.

A breeze blew past them as the silence grew. When Adam finally moved, the surrounding air rippled with a muffled sonic boom.