After crying his heart out, Adam lifted his mother in a princess carry and walked away blankly.
He didn't have a destination in mind and just let his feet drag him away.
Any flames that crept too close were snuffed out by invisible pulses of mana radiating from him.
[New spell created! Mana Shockwave]
The notification went unnoticed by him.
After coming back to his senses, Adam found himself standing in the graveyard before a lone, cracked tombstone.
Tom Winter. His father's name was carved into the stone.
Adam looked down at his mother in his arms. Her face was calm and beautiful now, as if she were only asleep.
"Dad…" his voice came out hoarse. "Sorry… but I brought Mom to rest with you."
His hands tightened around her slightly, but he didn't set her down or reach for a shovel.
Mana compressed in front of him into a bang and blasted the ground beside the grave.
The earth exploded outward, dirt and stone scattering in all directions.
Boom! One bang after another followed, each tearing deeper into the soil.
The graveyard echoed with dull detonations as Adam kept firing with mechanical movements.
[New spell created! Mana Bang]
Normally, mana became harder to shape the further it was from the caster's body, as it required tremendous focus.
But Adam didn't care about the consumption and kept blasting the ground apart.
Just a little longer.
He only wanted to hold her a little longer… before letting go!
As the grave began to take shape, the blasts became less frequent. Finally, with a last bang, the grave was finished.
Adam stood there, holding his mother close. Then, with a gentle movement, he lowered her into the grave.
As he looked down at her peaceful face, Adam's emotions stirred, but he quickly suppressed them.
Visionary showed no signs of working no matter how much Spirit he tried to burn.
"It's because I'm not strong enough. If I was high level Magus, I would have a lot of spirit to bring you back!"
For the first time, he set a true goal for himself aside from becoming Magus.
Then, he began to shovel dirt over her body with his bare hands, the sound of the earth hitting her body was the only noise in the graveyard.
After burying her, Adam stayed kneeling and stare on the ground in daze.
His only relative died and he had no reason to stay in the island anymore.
He could go explore the world like he always wished, but he saw no joy on doing that now.
All what kept him sane now was the burning fury in his chest.
"I'll take revenge for you!"
On his way back to town, Adam saw many people grieving over the dead. Some were covered with blankets, while others were still being extracted from the rubble.
If it was another occasion, he might have helped, but Adam currently only had one thought on his mind: "Find out what exactly happened!"
He navigated through the ruins until he saw his classmates surrounding an injured teacher, Mark. His robe was tattered and blood-covered.
Adam quickened his pace and shoved people out of his way.
"Hey, watch it!"
"Is that Adam?"
"What the hell happened to him?"
His classmates saw his haggard face and thought he was concerned about the teacher, so they parted ways.
But instead of concerned greetings, Adam grabbed Mark's collar.
"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!"
Adam's voice was shaking with rage as he tightened his grip on Mark's collar.
Mark looked annoyed but didn't immediately pry his hands away and calmly faced him.
"A...Adam...buddy, calm down," Evan stammered, unsure what to do. It was the first time he had seen him this angry.
"CALM DOWN?!" Adam's voice rose to a scream. "YOU'RE TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN?! HE WAS SUPPOSED TO PROTECT THEM AND KEEP THEM SAFE!"
"It wasn't his fault," Liz said. "There were many pirates..."
"Pirates… Are you telling me those sea scum managed to destroy a town protected by a 1-star magus?"
"They were different… They had two magus with them… Teacher Mark was injured fighting..."
"Shut up!" Adam snapped, glaring at her with bloodshot eyes, mana leaking from him.
"I don't give a crap that those scum were strong. All I care about is that you escaped alive and my mom died."
The others finally understood the reason behind his rage and fell silent.
Mark's eyes locked onto Adam's. "They had two magus onboard, and even one of them was a peak magus. I fought them with everything… There was nothing more I could do."
"Nothing!" Adam laughed. "Then you should have died fighting instead of stalling for time until they destroyed everything."
What irritated Adam the most was Mark tone. He was way too calm for someone who supposed to have fought deadly battle. And he showed no hint of guilt or apology, which made him more angry.
Killing intent flashed through his eyes. 'There's no use keeping such a waste alive.'
"Hey." Mark flinched as he sensed the killing intent and jumped back, ripping his collar to create distance.
The others looked at each other in confusion, unsure what to do.
Adam tossed the ripped clothes aside and turned around.
"I can't believe I once considered you the best Magus guardian…how foolish." He laughed in self-mockery.
"You brat!..." Mark looked furious.
It was one thing to be beaten to a pulp by a fellow magus, but to be mocked by a mere Adept was unforgivable.
Just as he was about to make a move, his special spell [Predator Sense] froze him in his tracks.
'How is that possible!' He looked at Adam in horror.
[Predator Sense] was a spell he had learned after killing a special gecko-like monster and absorbing the runestone it dropped.
The spell had some premonition-like ability that allowed him to roughly estimate his chances against enemies.
It only triggered when he faced opponents with similar or higher strength than his own.
But…the one he was currently facing was a mere Adept. How could he be strong enough to trigger his spell?
A certain possibility flashed through Mark's mind.
"You…you awakened your Gift!" His tone was certain.
"He did?!" Liz looked over in surprise.
Adam didn't turn back and only asked, "You fought those pirates, so you must know something about them. Tell me."
Mark didn't like the brat's tone, which seemed to order him around, but he didn't voice his thoughts.
Mark had a premonition that if he antagonized Adam in his current state, it wouldn't end well for him.
"I don't know about the small fries, but the ones I fought were a man and a woman," Mark said. "And they looked alike, most likely siblings. The man was the Fire Peak magus. He was tall, around 6'2", with piercing blue eyes and black hair that was slicked back."
"The woman was a novice water magus," Mark continued. "She's around 5'8" with long, curly brown hair and piercing green eyes."
Adam's eyes narrowed. "Which direction did they head?"
Mark's expression turned incredulous. "You...you're not thinking of going after them, are you?!"
"Why not?" Adam's voice was flat, but his eyes seemed to burn with intensity.
Liz couldn't keep silent anymore.
"That's suicide!" she snapped. "Even Teacher Mark was no match for them. You'll only deliver yourself to them."
Evan nodded vigorously. "Yeah, yeah! You're not thinking straight, Adam. They're two genuine Magus."
The other classmates whispered among themselves. They thought he had lost his mind.
Adam turned to Evan. "Aunt Mary is fine, right?"
Evan hesitated before responding. "Yeah...the pirates didn't reach our house area. But why are you bringing this up now?"
Adam's voice was flat and cold. "Because my mom is dead. And here you are, telling me to calm down. Do you think I can just go back and rebuild the house like nothing happened?"
His eyes gleamed with a purple hue as he continued. "Do you think I can sleep at night, knowing those scum are still out there, breathing and partying like nothing happened?"
"No! I'm going to hunt every single last one of them. I'll make them regret ever becoming pirates."
Without waiting for a response, Adam turned and walked towards the port, leaving his classmates shocked.