Chapter 308 To Home

Five years or so ago, the news about the appearance of Satoshi's Alpha Gene was delivered to Grado, and he was ecstatic about it. Needless to say, the appearance of the Alpha Gene confirmed that Satoshi would awaken a superpower. The wait was arduous for Grado since he was more excited about Satoshi's awakening than his parents. He wanted to train his grandson as soon as possible so he could follow in the footsteps of strong superheroes in their lineage.

But after a couple of years, there were no signs of Satoshi ever awakening his superpower, and this disappointed everyone greatly. Of course, Satoshi felt the most pressure since he was the son of the number one and two superheroes. Being powerless meant that he'd got a massive target on his back. He became a laughingstock, an insult to his parents. Some even said that his Alpha genes were probably fake, and at one point, Satoshi believed that such was the case.

Satoshi was caught between a rock and a hard place, and there was nothing he could do about it. He had no choice but to work his way to the top in terms of his physical strength. And it worked, somehow he managed to survive half of his teenage years just by relying on physical strength alone. During those years, however, Grado still hadn't gotten over the fact that his grandson didn't have a superpower. He wanted to go on a rampage and complain to the researchers who confirmed that Satoshi had Alpha Gene. They might as well have given the kid a sense of false hope.

With tears in his eyes, Grado proudly stared at Satoshi after grabbing him by the shoulders. No word left his mouth as he gave Satoshi a hug.

"Hmph!" Satoshi let out an exhale as he felt the squeeze of his grandfather. The feeling of his back snapping in two replayed in his mind, but he didn't panic. His physical capabilities were much better than his father's; that's why he was confident that he wouldn't snap in two even if his grandfather used his full strength. (Satoshi was a beat too late in realizing that it was his grandfather in front of him... and that's because Sera seemed to have unlocked new skills when he pulled up her status window).

"You have a superpower! And here I thought that you wouldn't awaken anything. I guess you were just a late bloomer, haha!" Grade guffawed after patting Satoshi's shoulders. "Why don't we go ahead and have dinner? Let's have the authorities and the other superheroes handle this scene. I want to catch up with my grandson right here."

As if on cue, Grado grabbed his grandson by the shoulders, and together, the two of them walked. A plethora of thoughts occurred in Grado's mind. He wanted to ask his grandson to awaken his superpower. The question at the forefront of Grado's mind, however, was what Satoshi's superpower was. He didn't even notice him pull out the Ice Empress and Gabriel when they finished engaging the other beasts in combat. As for Satoshi, he simply reverted back to his usual form when he put back Sera and his other familiars into the dimension created by Orb Oboros.

Silence befell the entire group as they gathered around Grado. There was nothing they could do, really, except wait. The roads leading to Grado's house were blocked off by the pile of beast cadavers. Going around would take a long time as well, and by the time they got there, dinner would already be cold.

'',

"Everybody hang tight," Grado called out as he held out his hand. A soft breeze gathered in his palms until it became a condensed orb of wind. He then shot it upwards, and it eventually turned into a huge orb of wind with all of them inside. A smile of satisfaction appeared on Grado's face as he controlled the wind capsule.

The group didn't know how to react. Even though Grado had a simple power of wind manipulation (they had no idea that he actually had more powers), they were still in awe at his magnificent control. He didn't let any of the wind movements go to waste, even going as far as to wrap portions of everyone's body in the wind so they won't fall out of balance while they were in mid-air. It was a sophisticated approach to wind manipulation that amazed everyone... except Tatsuki, of course.

Meanwhile, Grado was still contemplating the questions hovering inside his head. He badly wanted to interrogate his grandson, but he didn't want to be disliked by him. Pursing his lips, he turned away from Satoshi, uncertain of what to say at that point in time. All this time, however, he still had his arm on Satoshi's shoulder.

"Grandpa?" Satoshi voiced out before he even thought about it. He figured that his grandfather was uncomfortable with him since he wasn't speaking at all. He was a bit preoccupied with Sera's power-up that he forgot he was there for a reunion. With that thought, Satoshi managed to initiate a conversation... all he did was call his grandfather, though.

Somehow, Satoshi felt weird calling out his grandfather. This was the first time he ever did such a thing... or even if he had done it before, he couldn't remember at all. Before he knew it, he looked down, self-conscious that he had called his grandfather out of nowhere.

"Y-yes?" Grado asked as his face reddened. Hearing his grandson call him grandfather struck him right through the heart, and he couldn't help but feel bashful. His grandson may be all grown-up now, but he still sees him as the little baby he held for the first time when he was born.

"What's your superpower?" Satoshi asked, his inner superhero fan mode unleashed. Even though he tried to act as calmly and collected as possible, one couldn't help but notice the spark in Satoshi's eyes when he asked that question.

? As soon as Grado noticed the sparkle in his grandson's eyes, his eyes also sparkled. Underneath his bearded face, one could tell that he wore the same expression as Satoshi right then and there. He finally got a pretty interesting idea. Clenching his left fist, Grado gave himself a pat on the back as he heartily laughed in his head for being a genius.

"I wonder... what do you think?" Grado responded.

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"Wind Manipulation? Fire Manipulation?" Satoshi asked.

Grado shook his head. Leaving his grandson in the dark was more fun than he thought. It was the right decision not to answer him straight away. "You'll find out soon enough." Grado vaguely answered.

Some sort of electrifying sensation pierced through Tatsuki's head when he heard what his dad Grado told his son. Somewhat, the nostalgic yet traumatizing feeling of receiving spartan training under his dad came back to him. He felt like throwing up. "Dad, whatever it is you're thinking, you shouldn't go through with it, okay? Let's make this a normal family reunion as much as we can, okay?"

"Relax, Tatsuki, I can handle myself just fine," Grado said, cracking his head.

"No, not that... I mean... sigh~" Tatsuki conceded, heaving a sigh. It took him a second to realize that his son was plenty strong himself. For all he knows, his son is more of a musclehead than he was, probably because all he did was train physically when he didn't have superpowers. He even began to wonder whether his son would be able to handle his grandfather's training... but then again, he had seen his son achieve a lot of almost impossible feats. Going head-to-head with his old man is probably the simplest thing for him.

The gigantic orb of wind that surrounded everyone started to dissipate, and before they knew it, they were already in front of a cozy-looking wooden house in the middle of nowhere. It had a sizeable porch, and around it was plot and plots of land wherein some sections were filled with mini-farm lined up with crops. Even without the presence of anyone by the front gate, they felt as if the house was inviting them all. It was a comfortable house, to say the least.

"Welcome; I guess it's y'all's first time here, right... except for my son Tatsuki of course. Come in. Come in." Grado amicably called out as he opened the metallic gate attached to the stone-walled fence. He gestured for everyone to come in, and everyone did so without thinking twice.

"Please head on inside. My wife's dying to wait to meet everyone. Come on, don't be shy." Grado continued.

And all this time, he still had his right hand tightly gripping Satoshi's shoulder. Satoshi had no idea why his grandfather won't let go of him but he didn't think too hard about it. He concluded that his father probably wanted to spend more time with him and that's why he didn't let go of of his gorilla-like grip.

After heaving another sigh, Tatsuki turned around and wished his son good luck before he led everyone inside the house.