Boom!
The table in front of John was broken into two halves as his expression was that of pure happiness.
Seeing this scene, Shen didn't know why but he felt his whole body shudder as he looked at the grin this body's father had on his face,' Is everyone crazy in this family or whats going on here?'
Looking back at his 'sister' and the guard, Shen couldn't help but come to such a conclusion.
After several seconds of patiently waiting with a worried look on his face, John finally took a deep breath and looked at his son without even caring about the damage he had done to the table and the documents that were torn in the process.
"Son, what do you fear the most? What's your goal? Do you want power?"
Getting bombarded with several questions on the spot, Shen's eyes twitched, but he didn't dare say anything as he replied truthfully.
However, as he was about to reply, he couldn't help but smirk as the questions all came down to the same things he had always been thinking about and needed to accomplish one way or another.
Without batting an eye and with a determined look, he replied truthfully," I fear dying of old age, powerless to do anything about time and no matter what achievements I accomplished or family of what sort, I'll still die and cease to exist from the world and everyone's memories."
Hearing his first reply, John's eyes widened as his aura surged uncontrollably, a devastating wave of energy was heading towards Shen like an unstoppable tsunami before he quickly waved his hand and it vanished into nothingness.
'Phew, I almost killed him by mistake,' John sighed in relief. However, when people would expect fear for his son's life, there was actually excitement and joy in them.' This kid, he didn't even bat an eye, and his first response...'
John, for the first time in his lifetime, felt his whole body shudder; he was so happy for his son that words couldn't describe what he was feeling.
Still, he quickly suppressed all those feelings as he gestured for his son to continue," Sorry for that, can keep going."
Shen didn't take it to heart and kept replying.
"My goal is power, and with power I can try to achieve Immortality. That's my goal!"
His voice was firm as he even elevated the volume of his words at the end to make it much more emotional. As a matter of fact, that's truly what he wanted to achieve right now, and although he had no clue whatsoever, he believed that he should try.
'Money, family, power, love, friendship...all of it will perish at the end.' John suddenly recalled his wife's words before she took her last breath while giving birth to Shen, and couldn't help but feel his heart brimming with warmth.
At that moment, he knew that further words were pointless, and he casually extended his hand to grab a black book from the floor that was covered with dust that wasn't annihilated just now and threw it to his son.
Looking at the book hurtling toward him with surprising speed, Synapse's calm voice was suddenly replaced by sharp, mechanical alarms in his head.
[Danger! Danger! Impact imminent!]
[Trajectory calculated, move two centimeters to the left, move now!]
Shen's eyes widened. He twisted his upper body just enough for the black book to slice past the tip of his nose like a thrown brick. The rush of displaced air made his hair flutter, and a bead of cold sweat traced down his temple.
Synapse's cold monotone returned, as if nothing had happened. [Threat avoided. Recommend increased caution around overenthusiastic patriarchs.]
Shen slowly turned his gaze toward John, his face caught somewhere between disbelief and the universal look of "Are you trying to kill me?"
John, mid-grin, froze for half a heartbeat before smacking his own forehead. "Right… weak body… I forgot." His voice held an odd mix of embarrassment and sheepish amusement. Still, the joy in his eyes refused to fade, even as he scratched the back of his neck and gave a small cough, pretending that almost braining his son had been nothing more than an innocent slip.
Cough...
"Ehm, that small book has relevant information about our family, the world, magic, and anything that happened in your life that we know about," John instructed without looking at his son's eyes, embarrassed by his prior actions.
Shen nodded and was about to leave when John seemed to recall something and interrupted him.
"Oh Shen, don't forget to thank your sister for the hard work she did; she didn't sleep yesterday helping me arrange this book by adding information only she knew about you." John was about to clean his desk when he recalled another thing.
"Oh, also..." John was about to speak when he saw Shen's forehead producing blacklines as his face seemingly asking,' Can't you just say everything at one go?'
Dryling coughing, he continued," Just wanted to mention that I gave you full permission to visit any part of our library, you have a tournament in one year, and winning it will grant you the ability to go to the academy."
Shen walked a few meters towards the door, and before he opened the door, he spoke in a flat tone," Yes, I know, the academy and all relevant information about my strength are in the book, so I don't have to worry about it and ask you."
John, who was about to shamelessly interrupt his son again from leaving the office, froze in his words, his slightly twitching face turning slightly red before he went back to grab the several documents that were still intact and casually fixed the desk.
As he was leaving the office, Shen couldn't help but have a thought,' Why do I feel that the father of this body spoiled this brat to the extent that he didn't even wish to improve himself and his body?'
Shen made several deductions, but as he looked at the black book in his hands with only a dozen or so pages, he sighed and decided to leave it for you,' It is most likely placed in here anyway.'
'If he is sensible at least,' Recalling the actions of his father, he couldn't help but feel a headache from the events that were about to unfold.
As Shen left the room, a sudden mocking voice sounded in his ears.