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.

"I don't think the penny has dropped for me yet, and I don't know when it will drop. I feel like I still don't understand what all this means."

"It's so weird ... it's like she's gone on another of her mysterious trips. I already told you, right? Nor do I know who your father is. Katia went out one day, spent two years away, and came back with a baby. So it's like she could come back right now. She would look at the house on fire, and start beating me for setting the house on fire. Even if I say it was you, she'll just slap you on the head and say something like 'why did you do that boy' or 'you will rebuild the house from scratch.'"

Hearing this, even in pain all over his body, Lucas couldn't help but laugh out loud. The laughter seemed contagious as Rose began to laugh too. At some point, tears began to fall from her eyes. She didn't know if it was because it was too funny, or if the ashes of the burning house got into her eyes. Quickly wiping her tears, she tried to speak again, but the tears kept falling.

"What? That's weird. Is something wrong with my tear duct? It won't stop watering. Are the famous onion-cutting ninjas around here?"

They laughed again, but Lucas stopped not long after and stared back at the burning house in silence. As Rose continued to laugh, she seemed to have finally accepted the tears falling as she kept laughing, her belly was already aching.

Laying her head on the grass facing the house on fire, she hugged herself and began to sniff quietly with tears still falling from her eyes.

She never thought she would feel this way about Katia's death. Although she didn't hate her, since she was adopted and well cared for, but Rose always wanted to grow up fast and get out of her shadow. She didn't want to be sucked into Katia's madness, which often scared her. Her biggest fear was also going crazy.

Even so, only now did she realize the importance of Katia in her life. Only now did she realize the emptiness left by her death in her heart. An empty feeling that was previously unknown but now seemed extremely deep and frightening.

...

The two slept at some point, and when they woke up, it was already morning. Lucas got up first, he had a perfect biological clock, always getting up at four in the morning, but it seemed to have failed this time since he woke up at seven.

Rising, he looked at Rose beside him and sighed. He also felt the emptiness with his mother's death, but was in self-denial. Partly he hated her, partly he loved her. His feelings were too complicated, and perhaps only a life of introspection can lead him to fully understand them.

If he had a normal mother with a normal life, those kinds of thoughts would never exist, everything would be simpler. But his life so far could be anything but normal, anything but simple. Even small things are complicated when it comes to his life, so his feelings for his mother who took care of him since birth are certainly not something that can be organized overnight.

He knew it himself, and because he didn't know the answer, he simply gave up thinking about it at some point.

Now all he wanted was to turn his life around, which was now like a boat without a captain. Before, he had his mother to guide his life, he just needed to do what she told him. Now, when he first found the chance to touch that helm, he was lost. Although he had some ideas, he still needed to think of something concrete.

After a night's sleep, he was ready to finally think about it better.

Lucas looked at the house, now completely destroyed. The flames had long gone out, and all that remained was rubble. Feeling his movements, Rose also woke up, and while stretching her wonderful body, smiled at Lucas with her beautiful white teeth.

"Good morning sunshine."

"Aunt Rose, give me ideas of what I should do from now on."

"What are you talking about? From the beginning it's obvious what to do. From the moment you took those drugs, you made up your mind."

"Look, I've already decided the direction, but I need something concrete. And no, I'm not going to be a professional killer. Although I have a great killer career ahead of me with my skills, that's not what I want. I only took the drugs because that strength can, should and will be useful in the future."

"Stop being silly. With your talents, being a professional killer would be stupid."

"What? I thought you were going to encourage me to continue my killer career."

"Look, I'll be honest with you. Before your mother died, she told me a lot, some of which I can��t tell you now, but she told me the purpose of all your training, and I don't think you will believe it, she didn't raise you to be a professional killer."

"You're right, I don't believe it. At least 30% of my knowledge learned over the years is useful only to killers. My skills? They were not made to beat people, they were made to kill. How do you want me to believe that?"

"Look, I was skeptical at first, but she was the one who said it, and you know how she is about not telling lies."

"I know, but you already lied to me a lot, so why should I believe you?"

"Ouch Lucas, that hurt, trust me a little at least."

"No, because I can guess where you are going with this conversation. Mom has some plan for me, right? It is? If so, give up. Now that I'm free of her, I want to live my own life."

"No, you fool. Look, I'll explain it better for you."

"You're confused, right? With your skills, and my help, you can do or be anything you want. I can tell you��re confused. Although you may have your ideas, there are so many possibilities that you probably don't know what to do."

"The problem is, if it weren't for your skills learned from your mother during those years, do you really think you would have so much freedom to do or be anything you want?"

...

"What? You mean she wanted me to have all this freedom? Is that her big plan? Wow, what a ridiculous plan. She gave me lifelong freedom after her death by making me go through all that?"

"All the trauma, all the pain, the effort, the people I killed, the burden I carry ... she wanted to give me complete freedom after throwing it all on my back? And to top it off, only after her death? Who could tell me, if she were alive today, that I wouldn't still be her doll? There is no guarantee of that, don't try to fool me. I only have all this freedom because she died, that's the truth, naked and raw."

"Calm down Lucas, don't jump to biased conclusions. You are letting the emotion take over in your decision making. Although at times it is important for emotion to take control, at this moment you should use only reason."

"But I am using reason, logic and truth. You're wrong. I don't want to twist logic and turn her into a praiseworthy mother who just wanted to give her son freedom, it just doesn't justify it."

"Justify? See? You are using your emotions. If you were using reason, you would realize that its justification is valid. You now have the greatest freedom in the world to do what you want. With your skills, no matter what you become, you will be successful. If you want to be a doctor, you will be a doctor. If you want to be an army general, you will be. Even president of a country. With your knowledge and skills, not even the sky is the limit, and you know that. Your mother raised you by putting skills, knowledge and experience into your body, you have the knife and cheese in your hand to do what you want."

"Your saying I should thank her?"

"No, Lucas, no one will take away your right to hate her, you can do anything you want. But your mother told me a few things, and insisted that I give you a choice. She has prepared something for you, and if you decide to accept it, you may be able to achieve your deepest desires and dreams."

"I don't trust anything that comes from her."

"Then you are being stubborn. Everything you have, she gave you."

"And that's why I plan to start my new life without anything she gave me."

"Hey, what about the drugs you took? What about the skills and knowledge she gave you? All this was given by her, will you stop trusting these things? She is your mother, she even taught you to speak, read and write. Will you be stubborn enough to stop relying on it all? You can only achieve this by becoming like a newborn."

"Don't be overdone. Even though she gave me everything I have, I still managed it with my own efforts. My skills, I trained. My knowledge, I studied. This is all mine, and only mine."

"Then you needn't worry. What your mother prepared was not something to simply accept, but something for you to take. Even you, stubborn as you are, will understand that if you can get that something, it will be yours and only yours, acquired by your own abilities."

Edited by: Sk0r