Chapter 108 - Change & Pressure

Chapter 108: Chapter 108 - Change & Pressure

Inside the house, footsteps echoed down the hallway toward the entrance.

’Okay, V... This is it. Act cool. Just act cool... You’ve only been gone for five hundred years. No biggie, right? Just be relaxed and casual...’

Click.

As the door opened, a deep, smooth, and slightly exasperated voice called out before the man even looked up.

"Why are you knocking? You know, I was just about to go looking for you–"

The voice cut off mid-sentence.

Standing in the doorway was a tall, brown-haired, middle-aged man with sharp features and calm, observant green eyes.

Dusty Winters. Vincent’s father.

The exact second Vincent’s eyes locked onto his dad’s face, the mantra he’s been chanting to himself to "stay cool" shattered into a million tiny pieces.

Without a shred of hesitation, he lunged forward and tackled his father into a sudden bear-hug, wrapping his arms tightly around Dusty’s neck and shouting at the top of his lungs with pure, uninhibited joy.

"DADA!"

"Huh– OOF!"

Dusty stumbled back a half-step under the unexpected impact, his eyes widening in complete, utter shock. "Who are... Wait. Vincent...?"

"Hahaha! Ahahaha!" Vincent let out a loud laugh, hugging him even tighter before pulling back just enough to look at his face. "I’m back, Dada! Holy shit, I missed you!"

Realizing it was truly his son standing in front of him, Dusty’s shocked expression melted away. A warmth filled his sharp eyes, and he reached up, patting Vincent’s back in a composed manner.

"Look at you... You’ve... grown. A lot. And you’ve become clingy. Never would I have expected you to hug me at your age."

"Hey, spend five hundred years with Mama in the Divine Realm and see how you turn out. You’d be clingy too if you had a goddess smothering you with affection every single day. Besides, this is you we’re talking about. We’re family."

"Alright, alright." Dusty stepped aside to open the door wider. "Fair point. Come inside. Tell me everything."

"Haha, thanks." The front door clicked shut.

Inside the familiar, cozy living room, Vincent sat on the leather sofa while Dusty poured two glasses of iced water at the kitchen counter.

"You know, Mama told me all about your legendary hero stories on Pristina," Vincent said, leaning back against the cushions with a bright grin as his dad walked over.

"The Tyrant King, the party battles, the kingdom raids... I have to admit, from what she told me, you were a total badass."

A subtle, but noticeable smile touched Dusty’s lips as he handed Vincent a glass and sat down in the armchair across from him.

"It’s nice to hear genuine compliments from my son for once. Usually, before you vanished, you just complained about my cooking and grumbled about being too dumb for school."

"Nah, your cooking is fine. I was just being a hardhead."

"Good to know." Dusty’s sharp eyes scanned Vincent’s frame. In an instant, the former hero sensed the overwhelming aura humming quietly beneath his son’s skin.

"Hmm... I see..."

"Hey, where’re you looking? My eyes are up here."

"Sorry. I was just checking your stats... with my system."

"SYSTEM!? That’s right! Mama said you had a system! Like in those novels?! Wait, you still have that even after saving Pristina?!"

"It never went away. I also got to keep my powers... though no one on Earth knows about it. Except you, that is. But yes, I can see that you’ve awakened your divine blood."

Vincent nodded proudly as a spark of divine blue flickered in his green eyes for a second. "Yep. They call me a demigod."

"A demigod, you say? Hahaha." Dusty let out a quiet sigh of relief, leaning his head back against the leather cushion.

"I’m so glad... Your mother was heartbroken when we were forced to take you from her side as a baby. Knowing your awakening was accepted by the Divine Realm... it takes a heavy weight off my chest.

"So... how has life been since I shot you in the face?"

"Oh yeah. Thanks for reminding me about that. Prepare yourself, old man. For my revenge is nigh."

Vincent took a sip of his water and launched into his unfiltered summary.

He recounted from the beginning of his awakening, to his grueling training under the war Natasha and Deina, to his sudden summoning to the world of Pristina as a Familiar by the Fourth Princess of Ebonspire, Maelle Ebony, to his battles against corrupt nobles and Roosevelt, and finally... to his growing romantic relationships with Natasha, Deina, and Maelle.

Dusty sat through the entire insane story in silence. When Vincent finally finished, his dad offered a dry, amused chuckle, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

"Sounds like your life has become much more chaotic."

"I prefer the word ’interesting’."

"Well, I already knew about Natasha – she visited the house a while back with Deina and a polite old man. But hearing that you also bagged a Goddess like Deina and an Ebonspirian Princess as your Master..."

Dusty paused as his sharp gaze searched his son’s face. "...Are you building a harem or something?"

"Not on purpose! That’s just the way the wind blew. Even Mama supported it. No, advocated for it – she literally said she wants a hundred grandbabies. In fact, the first one is already in the works."

"PFFFT–!"

"Eurgh! Watch it!"

Dusty choked on his water, coughing into his hand as his composure shattered for a second. He stared at Vincent in genuine shock before letting out a quiet laugh. "A hundred granbabies...? Typical Mari... She always did lack restraint when she got excited."

Setting his glass down and wiping his mouth, his expression turned into something somber. "So... Vinny. Do you feel better about the situation with Hannah?"

"... Who???"

"....."

A beat of comedic silence hung in the living room.

Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Vincent’s head.

"OHHHH! Hannah! Right! My childhood friend who rejected me on Valentine’s Day. Not gonna lie, I completely forgot her name. I do remember the rejection, though... Anyways, yeah, Dada. I’m long past that. That happened like five lifetimes ago."

"It happened two weeks– Oh right. Time dilation."

Dusty smiled softly, nodding with relief. "Good. I was worried you’d still be upset about it."

Vincent set his own glass down and looked around the room. "So where’s Kathy? It’s afternoon here so she should be out of school."

Dusty’s stoic demeanor shifted into mild worry. He let out a sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"I think she’s officially entered her rebellious phase ever since her fifteenth birthday last week."

Vincent’s jaw dropped. "Birthday?! Wait... last week?!"

"I don’t blame you for forgetting. As for where she is, I sent her to the convenience store down the road about fifteen minutes ago to pick up some stuff, but she hasn’t returned since. I was going to go look for her when–"

"I’ll go find her." Vincent immediately stood up.

Dusty started to stand up as well. "I’ll come with you."

"No, stay home, Dada," Vincent offered a reassuring smile. "Let me go alone. I want it to be a surprise reunion."

After looking at his son for a long moment, a quiet, profound warmth filled the father’s eyes as he noticed the drastic change in his boy. Before sending him to the Divine Realm, Vincent had been gloomy, overly serious, buried in his books, and distant from his sister. Now... he stood tall, bright, lively, and caring.

"You really have changed... Gotta wonder what kind of spell Mari put on you."

"Hahaha!" Vincent put a finger to his lips as he walked toward the front door. "It’s called a Mama’s love. Adios!"

He stepped out and pulled it shut behind him as he headed down the sidewalk.

Inside the quiet house, Dusty sat back down on the leather couch alone. He then rubbed his chin in deep confusion as a sudden thought struck him.

"...’Mama?’ ’Dada?’ Why is he talking like that all of a sudden...?"

..

...

THUMP? THUMP? THUMP?

Loud, heavy bass echoed from a portable Bluetooth speaker tucked near a row of overflowing trash dumpsters where the air smelled thick of cheap tobacco and weed.

The alleyway behind the local neighborhood convenience store was a known hangout spot for local high school delinquents and older dropouts.

Standing at the edge of a brick wall near the crowd was a fifteen-year-old girl with long, light-brown hair tied in a high ponytail and striking green eyes. She wore a black hoodie, ripped jeans, and held a convenience store bag filled product.

Katherine Winters.

While looking around, she was doing her best to stand tall and act like a tough, unbothered bad girl. But the subtle, nervous tension in her shoulders showed she was uncomfortable surrounded by the older, smoking teenagers and young adults.

The leader of the group – an eighteen-year-old named Dexter, with styled hair, a leather jacket, and a smooth, charismatic smirk – stepped uncomfortably close to her, leaning his arm against the wall right above her head.

"You know, Kate... it’s pretty cool of you to come hang out with us. Most girls your age are too scared to give us a chance."

Katherine’s face flushed a subtle pink at his smile, though she quickly scoffed and looked away. "Please. I’m not scared of a bunch of losers sitting by dumpsters."

"Whoa, hahaha. Feisty. I like that. You’ve got real spirit."

Katherine looked up at him, trying her best to sound cool and knowledgeable. "So where’s Ripley? Wouldn’t your girlfriend be mad after seeing you flirt with a random girl?"

"First of all, you’re not some random girl, Kate. You’re special." Dexter took a small step closer into her personal space.

"Secondly. Ripley? Nah. We got into a huge fight yesterday, so we’re taking a break. Might be permanent... if you know what I mean."

She looked down at her sneakers and shifted around awkwardly.

Noticing her tense posture, Dexter’s tone softened into a sympathetic register. "Hey... You alright? What’s eating at you? You’ve been coming out here for nearly a week looking like you want to punch a wall."

"It’s nothing... Just home stuff. It’s annoying and stupid."

Dexter smirked, glancing over his shoulder toward one of his friends sitting near the speakers. "Yo, Baker! Pass the roll-up."

Baker jogged over and handed over the blunt to him. Dexter then pulled out a lighter from his pocket, and flicked the flame.

The tip ignited, glowing a hot red. He took a slow, deep drag, letting the smoke curl lazily out of his nose before holding the blunt out toward Katherine.

"Go on. Take a hit. I promise, it’ll make all those nasty feelings vanish in a second."

Katherine looked at the glowing blunt with genuine hesitation and fear. "I... I don’t know, Dex... My dad will kill me if he finds out I smoked. He already has suspicions since I sometimes smell like you guys."

"Your dad? Ha. Come on, Kate. You turned fifteen last week. I’ve been smoking since I was thirteen and my folks didn’t even care. Think of it as an official birthday present from me."

Katherine stood trapped between Dexter’s smooth smile and the pressure of fitting in with the older teenagers surrounding her.

Gulping nervously, she slowly raised her right hand, her fingers trembling as they reached out toward the blunt when–

Ting-a-ling~

The metal back door of the convenience store suddenly jingled open with a chime of the bell.

Every single head in the back space – including Dexter and Katherine – snapped toward the open doorway to see who had just walked out.