Chapter 90 Conversation II

Zavier was a little touched so he didn't exactly comprehend what his uncle had said at the end. Then it struck him that he might have left him hanging for a moment which was evident from his uncle's expressions.

"Uhh…What is it that you need?"

"I want you to stop looking for that truth actively. I want you to enjoy your life like those others in your school. I want you to stop looking over your shoulder all the time like someone is after you the whole time. I want you to make friends and goof around with them like you should have been doing. I want you to learn all the joys that this life has to offer until you have to look the other way and have to delve in the darkness that surrounds you. I want you to ignore that darkness until it purposely arrives in front of you to gain your attention again."

"Umm…you do realize that it was not just one thing…right?"

Zavier looked embarrassed, whether it was because of the things that his uncle had said when he got carried away or because he had to tell him that was unknown.

Val let out a laughter that almost shook the room. There was a warning in that laughter and Zavier understood his intentions easily considering the piercing gaze that was about to penetrate his body to the other side as if challenging him to say a word more about it.

"Since I have satisfied your curiosity, it is time you satisfy mine."

Zavier nodded in response. He knew that there must have been huge plot holes in the story since no one knew about his cloning skill.

Val had a change in expression as soon as he nodded. It turned somewhat frightening and admonishing at the same time.

"You should have told me that you had learned Blood Blade. In fact you shouldn't have learned it in the first place. You didn't have to learn such a self destructive skill at all. Was there such urgency that you had to opt for such a technique? It was better that you didn't know the truth or you would have gone and learnt an even more powerful suicidal technique. Am I right?"

It might have looked quite threatening to a third party but to Zavier, it felt like home. Val was acting the way an elder of the family was supposed to. He was scolding Zavier for something he should not have done but at the same time he was telling him to ask for help from the elders once he couldn't handle it on his own.

Val had puffed up his face in anger but calmed down soon enough.

"I am not interested in how you managed to learn this godforsaken skill in the first place. Neither do I care how strong it makes you in battles. But what I am concerned about it is the risk that it poses towards your health and the risk of death that it represents for you. If possible, never use this technique again because it poses a threat to your life, to your potential and to your talent."

Once again, Zavier could do nothing but nod in reply to his uncle's rant.

"If you are ever in dire need of blood in the future you just have to tell me and I will arrange it for you. You should know that doing so is not against the law. As long as you don't harm anyone in the process or do it against someone's will, the law permits it. You might not have known before but there are a plethora of skills out there with weaknesses that need to be patched up using blood so it is quite a common commodity in the circle of mages. Not only that, you have to ask for my help if you are ever in need of it. If you had done that in the first place we wouldn't be here discussing about ways to get you blood."

Zavier felt that Val was angrier because Zavier had not asked for his help and not because he had learned the Blood Blade skill that might become the cause of his end.

Val had finally released all the pent up anger that he had regarding Zavier's recklessness.

Previously, Val had hesitated whenever he thought of telling something to Zavier. He had wanted him to be carefree and happy. He had not wanted to put more psychological stress on Zavier who was already mourning the loss of his parents and was having difficulty adjusting with them. But the bubble of safety and protection that he had put around Zavier had to pop eventually.

He had been thinking of telling some of the things that he had hidden from him now that he had grown up but he didn't ever get the right opportunity.

But now that he had already become stronger and had born through some hardships, Val had felt that it was the right time to reveal what he had wanted to tell him.

"Who else knows?"

Val looked confused and tilted his head towards one side as if asking him "what do you mean?"

"I mean who else other than you knows all about me and the enemies that I am facing, the assassination attempts and what not."

Understanding dawned on Val at the same time.

"Nadia, Kacie and Rainbo are completely unaware regarding the whole situation. Even your recent escapades have been kept from them. Valerie and Bob on the other hand know part of it since they have been involved in the strategy to protect you for quite some time. As you know that I have a tendency to be absent from home from time to time due to work, I needed to have someone who could handle your protection in my place."

A sense of relief washed over Zavier as if a huge burden had been taken off of his shoulders following those words. Previously he had been thinking that he had been the only one in the dark while the whole family knew what was going on with him.

Now that he knew the truth, he didn't feel betrayed and alone anymore.

Zavier understood that all this had been done for his benefit so that he could have lived a normal life instead of the life of a hunted.

He understood Val's thinking that he should enjoy it while time still allowed him to. After all the future hardly held opportunities for his enjoyment since he had to wage war against his enemies sooner or later, whether by his initiative or due to being forced by his enemies.

He vowed that he would live his life to the fullest until his enemies were revealed. There was no point wasting his own life away chasing unknown enemies.

"Can you tell me one last thing?"

Val nodded with a smile on his face. He was extremely satisfied with Zavier's response and his maturity in handling and understanding what he had told him so far.

"Ask away."

"Is Alissa all right? How is she doing?"

"She is fine. You managed to save her in time. She is recuperating in a safe place that is far away from here. She won't be able to meet up with you or anyone else for that matter for some time since there were things that needed to be addressed and things that needed further control before they could be brought in front of the people again."

Zavier understood his meaning from his words. The people were cautious of another monster on the loose.

"You have to be careful not to reveal anything that you know or saw about Alissa in the mean time. It is not something the repercussions of which you or I will be able to bear."

Zavier opened his mouth to ask "Why?" but he closed it just in time so that the word became muffled in his mouth and only garbling noise came out. Val looked at him oddly as if saying, "What happened to you?"

Zavier knew that information of that level was bound to have been designated as a state secret. Naturally he wouldn't be allowed to discuss such matters out in the open for fear of disclosure.

That's why Val was forbidding him from asking the related questions. Zavier felt that the reason must definitely be the monster that was inside Alissa. The incident if discussed with the general public would have led to severe panic and distrust at the very least. Government trying to put a lid on it was very reasonable.

Zavier thought of a roundabout way to ask his question.

"Will I be able to meet her later?"

Zavier wanted to know if she would be safe in the hands of the government.

"You probably will be able to meet her sooner or later but you need to be prepared. I can't guarantee that you will find her exactly the way that she was before. She might have changed a lot by then. There are many things at stake, a lot of uncertainty is involved and even I don't know what will happen as we proceed to help her with her situation."

Zavier understood what Val was implying. The monster inside of Alissa had been very terrifying. If possible Zavier never wanted to see it again. When such a monster was involved, uncertainty was the least of all problems.

Since the government knew about the monster, Zavier was sure that there must be relevant experts working on helping Alissa in whatever way possible. Even he hadn't known how to help her when he had the multisystem with him so he had no choice to leave it to those who had a semblance of understanding as to what they were doing unlike him who would have been akin to a headless fly trying to swim across the ocean.

Seeing that Zavier had a relieved look on his face, Val kept the conversation going.

"I need to remind you of one last thing before I go. You are not to use the Blood Blade skill in public ever again. It is an inhuman technique that will cast a shadow over the honor of our family. It would appear as if we treat you like an outsider and have kept you from learning the family skills. Remember that once you are able to handle them, all the sacred skills of our family will be available to you. You don't have to waste your potential every time to keep fighting."

Zavier repeatedly nodded his head at the mention of the sacred skills. He had witnessed their power during the fight with Kyouko. God's gift had been a truly terrifying skill.

On the other hand, he agreed with Val and decided to not use the Blood Blade skill ever again for he did not want to experience such a painful death anymore. He still remembered the suicide that he had experienced through his clone. It was painful beyond imagination and he had to be really, really desperate just to think of using such a skill ever again after such an experience.

"Take care of yourself; you have surprised even me with your survival capabilities. Valerie told me about your persistent and courageous comebacks after every downfall. But don't overdo it. I want you to think of yourself as well even if you have good survival skills. Just because you have them doesn't mean that you have to be a human shield for others. Understand?"

Zavier nodded in response. Val seemed satisfied with the answer.

"Well, I have so much work leftover. Looks like I won't be getting more free time any soon."

Val looked desolate and depressed but his health wasn't affected even a little. Zavier knew that he must be monstrously strong in that case.

Val got up from his chair and left the room with heavy steps as if he didn't want to go back to work after a vacation.