Gerald couldnāt help but turn around while saying, "This is more than we originally expected... I guess the whole group is here..."
Clovis and the entire group, including Reolf, had reached the top of the wall where they were supposed to meet.
Clovis wanted to reply to his father, but the woman next to his father had already leaped toward him and tackled him.
"My dearrrrrrrrr!"
"Gah!" She moved so fast that it felt like she had disappeared for a split second. The next thing they realized, Clovis had been tackled to the ground with her hugging him.
The others looked surprised because this speed was clearly beyond what they had seen previously. Clovisā mother, Aisha, was a Tier 7 human, so they didnāt expect a Tier 7 human would be this strong. They couldnāt help but wonder if she had something else, like a pseudo unique ability.
"M-Mom?" Clovis awkwardly glanced at her.
"Mhmm. I can finally hug my son after so long. Yes, this is your mom, Cleopatra... Ahem, I mean Wu Zetian... No, I mean, Aisha!"
"..." Clovis was speechless. She truly hadnāt changed the whole time. Gerald only closed his eyes, trying hard to maintain his dignity.
"You are embarrassing me, you know?" Clovis smiled wryly.
"What?! Are you in your rebellious phase now? To think you wonāt even hug your mom... Is this because I wasnāt by your side the whole time? It was your fatherās idea. I have told him to sleep on the sofa for the rest of his life." Aisha looked at Clovis with a pale face.
"Ahaha..." Clovis didnāt know how to react. "I mean, everyone is watching right now."
"Thereās nothing embarrassing about family, but, well, so as to avoid having my son hate me, I will restrain myself for a bit."
Thatās what she said, but nothing changed. When Clovis stood up, she turned him around and just hugged him from behind. Her head rested on top of his shoulder as she took a look at everyone.
"I know everyone. I have been watching you this whole time. Although he doesnāt talk a lot, heās a reliable vice captain, Jay Havenson.
"Ragna Book, Erwin Tyska and Aileen Risevan, and Melody." She turned to the girls. "Meanwhile, it seems that Iām going to have a couple of daughters-in-law.
"Kanaria Renvolt, Lucifania, and Christina... Well, the busy girl as well." Aisha squinted her eyes as if she was judging them.
Clovisā smile was distorted as he introduced his parents. "These two are my parents, Gerald Hacfield and Aisha Hacfield."
They nodded politely, not knowing how to react. The Hacfield family was the most mysterious family in the world. They might be a small family, but they were certainly strong.
They thought this family would be a bit colder, but it turned out they were wrong. They behaved even more intimately than their typical family did.
Aisha then turned to Reolf. "Still, to think you would even have a dire wolf with you..."
"He is my family as well." Clovis shook his head.
"Is that so?" Aisha extended her hand. "I see. So, you are Reolf. Please take care of my son."
"Waaf!" Reolf nodded happily.
"Youāre not going to ask why Reolf is here?"
"Unique ability! What else?" Aisha shrugged. "I donāt know what it is, but itās something like that. I donāt care about the explanation. As long as I know it can protect you, thatās fine."
"..." Clovis rubbed his cheek embarrassedly. "Well..."
"What? Are you going to tell me about your two unique abilities?"
"Huh?!" Clovis was bewildered. He didnāt expect his mother to know anything about it. "You..."
"I will tell you once weāre done with this discussion." Aisha smiled. She finally released Clovis and straightened her back. "Iām sure that all of you have a lot of questions, but I donāt plan to answer any of that.
"After learning about his training, we have changed our plan. Originally, we were planning to do it slowly, but Iām sure youāre already aware of how fast you are growing right now.
"After seeing the true power of those high-level people, Iām sure you understand the difference in our strength.
"The reason is simple. You have grown so fast that you are unable to utilize the evolution trait properly.
"Thatās why Iām going to tell you this. You are currently weak. Everything you have done might have worked this whole time, but if you continue your path like this, you are going to face this wall relatively soon.
"And since Clovis is going to leave for a while, I believe itās time for you to get even stronger.
"Hence, I have prepared something for all of you.
"First of all, Melody. You donāt have to waste your time with your brother anymore."
"!!!" Melody raised her eyebrows. "Does that mean..."
"Yeah. I will be operating on him." She nodded before tossing a piece of paper to Lucifania. "Youāre a doctor, right? You should be able to read this."
"Hmm?" Lucifania was confused and caught the piece of paper. She couldnāt help but notice what was going on. "This is..."
"Whatās wrong? Is something happening to my brother?" Melody looked worried.
"No. Itās just... I think you have been the one saving your brother this whole time... If this data is true."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Melody was visibly shaken. This was the closest she had gotten to healing her brother.
"LIS!"
"LIS?" Melody tilted her head in confusion.
"Locked-in Syndrome. Basically, heās fully awake and aware. Itās just... isnāt this supposed to be incurable?" She frowned.
"Not really." Aisha shook her head. "I have a connection to a research center for brain injury. If we treat him there, itās possible for him to recover. I have to fix his brain first. If it is successful, then he might wake up.
"Still, due to everything, he will have to follow therapy. To put it simply, weāre using the awakening liquid for him to become an explorer. And itās good that you have a Brain Affinity. While your mother had Muscle Affinity, your father had Brain Affinity.
"Weāll stimulate those two affinities to wake him up. In other words, you are very lucky because he hasnāt awakened yet. If he does, the chance for him to wake up will decrease drastically.
"And you keep his will to survive intact this whole time. The success rate for this treatment should be around 90%, but with me, it should be close to 100%."
"Ah..." Melodyās lips were trembling as if she couldnāt believe what she had just heard.