I will strive beyond this cursed bloodline!

After exchanging contact information once again, both girls left in their own way. Elizabeth felt pleased when she saw the new photos with her extra new friend... Chloe convinced her it was all right that they believed she was her powered persona, and Elizabeth felt relieved.

And Chloe likewise didn’t find a problem with Elizabeth’s powered persona, she even was quite happy that they thought of [The Shadow Empress] as her powered persona, it seems that the shy girl wanted to be like her…And so, she encouraged her to be herself in that new form. That was somewhat weird, but she was settling into the mindset that most powereds had weird quirks around themselves. Perhaps it had to do with the mana suffusing their soul and leaking into their minds or something.

She planned to ask Alexanders or Alexa one of these days since they appeared to be knowledgeable, especially with their experience of living inside a soulscape... So they ought to be closer to mana than anything else, besides… She wasn’t quite sure what to make of them both.

How could Alexanders leave on vacation? Wasn’t he part of her soulscape? Or was he a foreign entity?

And if he was one. How did he end up there? So many questions and so few people to ask them…

She wasn’t sure why it never came around that when she was talking with her mother…She ought to bring that one of these days, for now…She was more focused on other, more immediate things.

Like what was she supposed to do for her powered assignment? Both she and Chloe had decided that Chloe would accept the offer from [The Tribunal] the black-haired girl was decided to see that throught and find out why they wanted Elizabeth in their midst…

She of course would not confirm nor deny their questions about her true identity… Elizabeth wasn’t comfortable with that, but she didn’t have any right to stop her, and besides…[The Tribunal] ought to be a good place to learn about her power and to further her training.

So if she wasn’t on the list of possible people to rise in grade, that practice would serve her quite well…And with some luck…They would offer her one of those fancy suits that could dress her in a pinch…Having to put on contacts, a wig, makeup, and everything…Yeah, she didn’t envy the poor girl.

So while thinking of her perhaps ‘unfair’ advantages over the other powereds she arrived at her dorms, it seemed that there was a visitor in the place since some of the girls she passed by were speaking of a ‘Handsome university student’ and so on. Did someone’s older brother come by?

If so, that poor girl would suffer, since having the influence to manage to get inside would surely give her a backslash in class. Poor girl. She couldn’t help but smirk to herself at the thought of someone else suffering. At least Mother had materialized her teleportation spell inside the hallways of the dorms.

“I’m back Rossie.” Said the blonde girl while entering their shared apartment. With all the photos she took with Chloe, it ought to be obvious that her girlfriend would already be at home.

She soon enough found evidence that someone else was with her since she didn’t get greeted by a tackle/hug from the pink-haired girl.

That and a “Why didn’t you tell me we would have more visitors!” A complaint by the pink-haired girl. Wait what?

“I couldn’t prepare dinner and had to rush something quick!” Added her pink-haired friend. Bringing confusion to the poor blonde girl.

Wasn’t the visitor a university student? She didn’t have any acquaintances at University…

“It’s no problem lass. I’m sure it is a fine dinner fit for a king.” Said a suave voice coming from inside their shared living area.

Sure enough, she found herself looking at a tall black-haired man with blue sky eyes. He was dressed in what one could only refer to as stylish but not over the top. A simple pair of black jeans with a blue polo shirt, and a black leathery coat was sitting on the back of the couch.

“Long time no see Eli.” And a somewhat tired pair of eyes that didn’t betray a strong light of determination.

“Papa!” It was her father, so she, after seeing his face, ran straight towards him and jumped towards his chest to give him the greatest hugs of all time!

What? She was a daddy’s girl… It surely didn’t have anything to do with the fact that her father was the one to pamper her the most, to always get her the highest-end bedding and the most advanced plushies made in the world…

She wouldn’t doubt if someone told her that her father was funding the research to make the ultimate shark plushy either…

Her father of course wasn’t thrown into the floor by the flying tackle of Elizabeth. He pretended to be pushed back in his chair, but it was mostly to kill the momentum from the blonde girl and soon enough he was like nothing had happened.

 

“Missed you too Eli.” Said her father soothing her like he used to do when she was little. Even to this day, it was the easiest way to get her sleepy.

 

“I will leave you both to it.” Said her pink-haired friend while serving them both plates on the table, it was a somewhat simpler meal than usual. But if Father had arrived without warning it was fair enough.

 

“Thank you lass, nice meeting you.” Said her father while waving at Rossie with that classical renowned actor smile he used from time to time.

 

“Nice meeting you too Sir.” Answered Rossie while leaving the apartment…Did she have something else to do on the outside?

 

Not that she minded the privacy…

 

“She is a nice little lady, and will be a fine wife one of these days.” Said her father after Rossie had left the room.

 

“So what brings you here papa.” Asked the blonde girl while seating herself at the table… On the other side instead of on her father like how she was.

 

“Found your mother sneaked in, so I had to come too. I mean, she told me all about how you were moving on ahead of the rest and had a good foundation on [Idea] and all of that.” Said her father while grabbing a fork and knife.

 

Rossie had left them a somewhat more traditional meal, but one that her father loved. It was a roasted steak with vegetables and some gravy on the side, as a side dish they had some mashed potatoes with some garlic on the side for flavoring. Her father had a bottle of cold beer as a drink while she had her favorite cup with some freshly brewed Te.

 

And in the middle? A small note with some hearts on the side that spoke of a promised apple pie for desserts.

 

“Oh right, that thing…Yeah…Mama taught me how to fix one of my skills that was somewhat faulty on the information it provided.” Said the blonde girl while eating from her steak after dipping it in some of the gravy and mashed potatoes…Yummy.

 

Then after looking at her father doing the same, she started wondering what her skill would have to tell about her father…He ought to be somewhat on the same level as her mother…

 

He was acclaimed as one of the more powerful heroes in the world after all, granted as a strongman he didn’t get as much fame as other of the more showy heroes…But still…He wouldn’t be weaker than Mother…Right?

 

“What are you thinking…?” Asked her father seeing her mischievous smile. He knew her quite well.

 

“Papa♪~” Said the blonde girl while putting on her cute adorable daughter's face. “I have this skill…” She started saying, thinking of ways to make her skill sound the least impressive and invasive as possible.

 

“Oh sure, go ahead.” Said her father killing her momentum.

 

She hadn’t even explained what her skill would do!

 

“Just give me a second…I gotta…” Said her father while frowning and focusing inwardly. “Drop…the…defenses…” He said while struggling against some kind of invisible thing.

 

Did Mother leave a ward on him or something?

 

She didn’t feel any kind of mana coming from him…Not that she had a good [Sense] for that kind of thing yet though.

 

“Hurry….” Said her father he even started sweating…

 

Poor thing, he must be struggling to lower his defenses, so adorable!

 

She wouldn’t pester him that much “[Identify]!” exclaimed the girl while focusing on her mana and guiding it towards the spot in her soulscape where the skill was located.

 

Huh?

 

Her skill…felt…more? Somewhat more…Complex? Deeper?

 

Her…Mana….what?

 

“…What?” Was all she said before noting how her mana was emptying itself at a fast pace.

 

Before losing her consciousness the last thing she saw was the mashed potatoes and the only thing she could be happy for.

 

‘So glad I didn’t leave the fork or knife on the plate.’ Thought the girl while she face-planted into her food.

 

She was…Making a habit of this, wasn't she?

---

 

She woke up with one of the worst headaches mankind ever had.

That was becoming a recurring trend, wasn’t it?

Either way, at least this one awakening was better than most, since she was inside her own living room. Actually, she was lying on their couch, a sports drink was placed in front of her and a blue straw was inside her mouth. She was drinking this mysterious beverage quite fast too.

Whatever it was, it was soothing to her headache and her mana was recovering from it…Wait…Her mana!

A quick inspection of her [Status] skill gave information she wouldn’t believe normally…Her mana was in the negatives?

How could one have negative mana?!?!

Did she get scammed into mana debt or something?!?!?

But even so, there was something more important in her mind’s eye. For the information that she got was…something else.

“What are you, papa?” Asked the blonde girl while looking at her father.

He was placidly sipping at a cup of coffee while sitting and reading a newspaper, when she made his question he merely placed down the newspaper and looked somewhat amused.

Also…was his eye shining? Why are his eyes shining?

Either way, he didn’t mind her face too much and merely stood “That is an amusing question to ask…” He answered while his body slowly changed, gone was his somewhat lanky appearance. It gave way to his body growing in size one muscle at a time.

His street clothes disappeared in a flash of light and a tight body armor came in its place, of course. It was a body armor in name only, since it didn’t have much armor in it, her father always said that the only armor he needed was his body.

Now after seeing his status, she understood what he meant.

His face changed as well, from a somewhat delicate face with sharp angles to a more chiseled appearance, his eyes radiating that weird blue light that she hadn’t seen once before.

 

“To my enemies… I’m a wall that separates them from the civilians…” He said while flexing one of his arms, even this custom-made body suit looked like it would burst any second, but somehow…His body didn’t look out of place, deformed, or strained by the effort.

 

“To my fellow heroes.” He continued while extending his arms to the sides in a mock hugging motion. “I’m an ally, a steadfast guardian….” And then in a somewhat more somber tone. “And if needed, a shoulder where they might cry their losses…” Reminding Elizabeth that even heroes were humans.

 

After that though, he reverted his transformation to his normal form. And then walked towards the couch where she was sitting. “To your mother and you?” He said while hugging her close to his chest. “I am a husband and a father.” After this, he placed more strength in his arm. “And I hope that if your mother or you end with enemies you can’t stand…That my back is the first thing you see shielding you from them…Be it a [Hero] or [Villain]….Be it [The World itself].“ He said, his word resonating with his intent.

 

After which, he must have noticed something since he released the strength in his arm and returned to a more normal level. “But my [Eyes] while they allow me to see many things.” He said pointing at them, they slowly faded from almost blinding blue light to more normal levels…Gradually turning from shining beacons to a blue flame…Then focusing on his eyes and settling there.

 

“But they don’t allow me to see the answer to that question.” Finished saying her father…”Don’t know what you saw with your skill Eli. But don’t ever try to use it to fish for an answer.” He said in a serious tone.

 

“Promise me that, unless you can withstand the [Backslash] don’t ever try. I dropped all my defenses to the bare minimum and your [Soul] almost cracked from the strain.” Her father said in that serious tone he liked to use when his word was the law.

 

She didn’t feel that bad…Granted even after drinking god knows how much of this weird drink her mana still was on the negatives…Oh right, what was this?

 

“And this is after I shoved that liquid mana your mother uses to cast her [Forbidden Tier] spells. That drink should recover your mana pool several times over." Said with worry her father…

 

Was this that expensive? It tasted quite good, to be honest…

 

But the mood was spiraling to darker tones, so she needed something to distract her father!

 

Anything!

 

“RIGHT!” She exclaimed, then after noticing that she had voiced her thoughts quickly added “SOCIAL SERVICE!” And then blushed at her inability to explain herself.

 

Her father at least looked amused, for a monster with impossible stats he still was her father…

 

Even if his status made no sense…

 

RIGHT THE STATUS!

 

THE MATH! IT DOESN’T ADD! HE HAD MORE THAN HE SHOULD!

 

“What about your social service? The powered side I imagine?” Asked her father, not minding too much her antics. But his now looked more profound to her.

 

‘The eyes huh…?’ Thought the blonde girl, the only eye skill her father had was that [Hyperion’s Eye] that shared the same name as his [Unique Skill] wait a minute…HE HAS SEVEN SUBSET SKILLS?!?

 

HOW DID HE END WITH SEVEN?!?

 

AND WHY DO THEY SOUND ALL LIKE THEY VERY WELL COULD BE NORMAL SKILLS?!??!?

 

“Yes papa, the community service the school encourages us to do.” Said the blonde girl trying to remember to stay on topic.

 

If she kept going about her father's status she would never get over them…The monster…What kind of monster had that kind of status? What the hell did her father to end like that…

 

Also, he made it sound like he actually saw her [Soul], was he referring to her [Soulscape]…

 

Ughh….She would need to go and visit it again after coming back just recently…

 

“I suggest you go the [Villain] way.” And while she was thinking about her long to-do list, and how to convince him to let her go the [Villain] way, he went ahead and suggested it.

 

“HAH?!?” Was all the blonde girl could say to this, was her father okay?

 

No wait, with that kind of status he would always be fine, the man could probably survive re-entry from an orbital with his bare body intact…

 

“It’s the obvious one, your [Powered] persona is more aligned in theme and power to the [Villains], no group of [Heroes] will go out of their way to enlist you unless I apply pressure…”He said while looking at her.

 

“Yeah no, no special privileges.” She said in a heartbeat, she didn’t want to deal with that.

 

“So the only option is going dark…I suggest this one.” He said while giving her a brochure…He had it all ready huh?

 

“That Villain is called [Echidna].” He said while the blonde girl read the brochure for a group called [The Hydra’s Fang]. “She is a good girl, never goes above the line, takes care of her [Minions] and so long you do your work, she doesn’t care who you are and what you do.”

 

That was…convenient “And they are hiring, they ran into a problem a few days ago.” He said while smirking, wait…

 

Wasn’t something in the news about a villain group running into an A-Tier Hero Group…?

 

Did…”Did you do something to them?” Asked the blonde girl while suspiciously looking at her father.

 

“Me? No…But I might…have…suggested she root some plants in her group….And to move forward hiring season…” Said sheepishly her father.

 

Well…Might as well.

 

“Fine…I will look into it.” Said the blonde girl while smiling at the antics of her father. Even after all that power he carried…

 

He still was somewhat silly sometimes…So she let out a sigh she didn’t know was holding.

 

‘So glad he didn’t get mad…If he got mad and spanked me…’ Was all she could think, that brought back some memories…

 

‘Father never spanked me…It was always Mama…’ And that made so much more sense now…If her father ever raised a hand against her…She would die…

 

But for now, she would not think about how her father dealt with that kind of thing…For now, she would enjoy her time and her drink. Her mana was barely above the negatives so that was a plus…

 

She would also try her best to ignore her father's status…

 

She had too much to deal with after seeing Mother…And father was a monster of his own.