Chapter 3: Stubbornness

The mysteries of love are too complicated for young Lucas to understand. He could never understand what kind of person could tame his mother, nor what his mother saw in his alleged father.

Although Lucas hates his mother, he admires her a lot. She is an extremely powerful and strong-willed woman. She is not afraid of anyone, and most importantly, extremely talented.

She has mastered dozens of languages, is extremely strong, her body is immune to most poisons and even if a grenade explodes in her face it doesn’t cause a burn...

Lucas could list several of his mother’s achievements: such as jumping off a ten-thousand-foot high plane without a parachute and landing on the ground unharmed, fighting a bear with her eyes closed using only one hand, climbing mount Everest in bra and panties using only her legs, running naked through the Lut desert for days without eating or drinking...

Even Lucas doesn’t understand how amazing she is. Rose herself doesn’t understand either. She went through Lucas’s mother’s training program, was improved by all the drugs, and yet she can’t do even a tenth of what his mother did.

Lucas and Rose sometimes talk about it, and their most widely accepted theory is that she may not be human, which only worsens Lucas’s already low self-esteem.

Rose continued reading Lucas’s notebook, occasionally chuckling as he looked at the medicine box, trying to decide whether or not to take it.

After a few minutes, Rose finally finished reading, and observed Lucas’s thoughtful expression looking at the medicines. She smiled and took one of the bottles from the box.

“Lucas, well before your mother died ... in fact years ago, she left me several instructions for many different situations.”

Opening the small bottle, she placed it in Lucas’s hand.

“Situations like her disappearance or death. In the event of her disappearance, we were supposed to go on with our lives on the assumption that she was dead. If she were alive, one day you would find her, or she would come back for you.”

“In the event of death, she made a few things clear: First, you must maintain your training until you are sixteen. You are already sixteen. Second, you must take all the drugs when you are sixteen.”

Lucas looked at the open bottle in his hand, but still didn’t take it. Rose, on the other hand, had her attention drawn to something else. Inside the box was an even smaller box containing a small lock.

Pulling a small key from her pocket, she opened the little box in her hand, and inside was a strange pink pill. Taking the pill, she carefully looked at it for a moment, before putting it back in the box and putting it in her bag.

Lucas watched Rose’s actions, but didn’t give much reaction, his confidence in her almost blind. He seemed more concerned about the bottle in his hand. Although he did not understand the origin of these drugs, he knew their effects.

It can be said that the previous drugs he took were preparations for these in order to shape his body and prepare him to take these nine bottles of drugs. His mother had already told him about their effects, and he knew that if he wanted to have a normal life in the future, he should not take these drugs.

According to his mother, if he took these drugs, he would have a powerful body, be invulnerable to most normal weapons, have a high-level of regeneration and a lifespan of over three hundred years.

Not only that, but in the future he would have growth potential depending on his talent. As long as he kept training in the future, becoming as strong as his mother is not impossible.

This is an ideal body for a high-level assassin capable of high-level missions that determine the fate of entire nations. He would be stronger, faster, more agile, his senses would be enhanced and he would be superhuman in every sense of the word.

Even espers are nothing before this power.

Lucas understood all this perfectly, precisely because he had been by his mother’s side all his life. He has often seen her easily defeat people known worldwide for being invincible and untouchable.

Understanding this, and constantly remembering who his mother was, he knew: It was now that he had to decide which direction to take his life.

If he decided to become a businessman, it would not be bad to take these drugs, as it was normal for rich people to be attacked by killers. He was already in the role of these killers, so he understood that well. Having a high level strength would not only increase his chances of survival, but also his chances of prospering, as having combat strength is a good business advantage.

On the other hand, if he decided to have a normal life, it would be better not to take these drugs. Although his present strength was very good, and one might even say on a superhuman level, he was not yet invincible.

Because of that, in his present condition, he just had to get over the psychological side of the thing, and maybe he could have a relatively normal life. His scars seemed impossible to solve at first, but remembering the wonders of science, he knew that it might be possible for them to disappear with surgery.

At this point, he had to decide: normal life or not.

Rose knew Lucas very well, and after reading his idea book, she understood his psychological conflict. She had her own opinions on the things written, but respected his wishes, although she found his indecision a little unnecessary.

After all, she knew him well enough to know that while Lucas really wanted a normal life, he would never be truly satisfied with it. He had spent years of his life studying various things since childhood. Most of this knowledge cannot be used in a normal life.

If he wanted a normal life so much, why did he try so hard to learn everything? Why did he put so much effort into training? Why, even though he was bleeding, did he get up and go on with those infernal training sessions?

Although his desire for a normal life was strong, he cannot overcome his desire for an extraordinary life. He wants it deep down.

So Rose wasn’t too worried, nor did she try to help him make up his mind. She was pretty confident that he would drink the drugs. When this happens, she can help him follow his mother’s wishes.

After much indecision, Lucas finally took a deep breath and drank the bottle. The strange green liquid trickled down his throat and began to burn his stomach. Without further hesitation, he took the next bottle and also took it.

In a matter of seconds, he took all nine bottles, and his already hot belly seemed to be boiling right now. He clutched his belly tightly as he lay slowly on the ground.

Watching the house still on fire, he endured the pain he was feeling all over his body as his face turned red and veins sprang from his forehead. After a few seconds, his heart began to beat extremely hard. He swore he could hear it, as if it were outside his body.

Sitting next to Lucas, Rose grabbed her bag. From inside, she pulled out a can of beer she’d bought on the way, and started to drink. The beer wasn’t as cold as when she bought it, but she didn’t seem to mind as she drank it, quietly watching the burning house with Lucas.

“Just remember: if you faint, you die, so stay awake.”

From time to time she would remind him of these things. These drugs had to work with the body fully awake, otherwise most of the effects could not be activated and would eventually destroy the body from the inside out.

After a few minutes, Lucas said through clenched teeth: “I’m bored, let’s talk for a while.”

He really was bored. Although the pain was almost too much to handle, his mind was still working and he still had things to work out, so he hoped to find answers to some things by talking to Rose.

“Sure. I was hoping to have a talk about Master’s death after a few days, but it could be now.”

“How did you feel?”

“About what?”

“When you heard that she died.”

“...”

“...”

“Honestly? I felt nothing. It’s not that I didn’t care, it was a shock to me. But it’s more like ... the penny didn’t drop, you know? It didn’t sound real. Even now, it doesn’t sound real.”

“...”

“If someone said she died, that they saw her dead, I would laugh in their face. Katia was the woman-no, the human-no, the most powerful being on this planet. No one could touch her.”

“Even if there was someone capable of killing her, I still wouldn’t believe her death.”

“But when you called yesterday, I immediately believed it, and it was a shock to me. I didn’t even know what to think, my mind turned white on the spot.”

“When I saw her dead body this morning, it just seemed increasingly unreal, you know? Like I’m in a dream. Maybe I’m really in a dream. Maybe I’ll wake up in the next few minutes, remember the dream, and laugh at it, since there’s no way someone like her just dies out of nowhere.”

Lucas just listened in silence. He had the same opinion, it all seemed pretty unreal, perhaps this was why he was so undecided about what to do with his life. There were so many possibilities, it seemed like a lie.

Rose, on the other hand, kept drinking as she spoke. She kept staring at the house on fire, and even that made her feel as if it was unreal. She had many memories of this house, since she lived in it with Katia, Lucas’s mother, long before he was born. It was not her favorite place in the world, but it was certainly the most nostalgic one.