Chapter 126: Investigation

The Next Morning

The next morning arrived peacefully.

Golden Radiance Academy’s break lasted an entire week, which meant Jackson still had a couple of days before he needed to return.

That morning, Snow Farcry approached him with some news.

“Two Gold-Rank hunters from Farcry Corporation have arrived. They’ve been assigned to reinforce the security around the property.”

Jackson was initially a little confused. But after thinking about it for a moment, he quickly understood what was happening.

This was Farcry Corporation’s way of demonstrating its sincerity.

Gold-Rank hunters.

They were genuine Fourth Sequence experts who had successfully undergone the First Life Transformation. Their strength was on an entirely different level compared to ordinary Third Sequence Awakened.

With two such individuals guarding his family, Jackson could finally put aside some of his immediate worries.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

This was exactly what he needed.

The two reinforcements were a man and a woman, both dressed in full-body battle armor. Their armor was clearly manufactured to military standards, with sophisticated protective mechanisms and an imposing appearance that reflected their status as Gold-Rank hunters.

Their attitudes, however, were rather cold.

When they first encountered Jackson, they barely spared him a glance. Their attention was primarily directed toward Snow, and their expressions softened slightly whenever they addressed her.

Jackson didn’t particularly mind their behavior.

He wasn’t interested in making friends with his family’s bodyguards. As long as they performed their duties properly and ensured that no harm came to his mother and sister, their personalities were none of his concern.

Nevertheless, his opinion of Farcry Corporation improved considerably.

Not only had the corporation acknowledged its failure, but it had also gone so far as to dispatch two genuine Gold-Rank hunters to compensate for it.

Considering their strength and status, this was no insignificant gesture.

At least, they appeared to be taking responsibility for their mistake.

With the immediate security concerns somewhat alleviated, the following days passed relatively peacefully.

Jackson spent most of his time with his family.

He occasionally prepared delicious meals, accompanied Aella during her daily activities, and indulged her whenever she wanted to play. After the frightening events of the previous days, he wanted to make sure she enjoyed herself rather than remain confined to the house.

During this period, however, Jackson also tried to investigate something.

After witnessing the changes in Aella’s talent and discovering that Mother Rose possessed a sealed talent of her own, he had begun to realize just how little he actually knew about his family.

There were clearly secrets surrounding both of them.

Unfortunately, his attempts to uncover those secrets yielded almost nothing.

Whenever he brought up the name of his mother’s talent, Heart of the Overflowing Vitality, Rose behaved as though she hadn’t heard him.

Her expression barely changed. She neither acknowledged the name nor showed any particular interest in discussing it, simply moving the conversation toward something else.

It was almost as if those words meant absolutely nothing to her.

Jackson found the reaction strange.

If his mother genuinely didn’t know anything about her talent, that would be one thing. But her complete lack of response only made him more suspicious.

He couldn’t tell whether she was deliberately avoiding the subject or whether something else was preventing her from recognizing it.

With no answers available at home, he turned to the Virtual Network.

Whenever he found some free time, he searched for information regarding sealed talents, hoping to discover something that might explain his mother’s condition.

But the information available to ordinary users was surprisingly limited.

Just as he was browsing through another collection of records, a notification suddenly appeared across his screen.

[To continue accessing this information, please upgrade your security clearance.]

Jackson stared at the message for a moment.

It was a restriction imposed by the Hunter Association.

Although he had already reached the absolute peak of the Third Sequence, his official records hadn’t been updated to reflect his actual strength. According to the Association’s database, he was still registered as a Bronze-Rank hunter.

Naturally, his access privileges remained limited.

Jackson leaned back slightly.

It seemed he would need to find another way to obtain this information.

Just as he was considering the matter, hurried footsteps sounded outside his room.

Before he could turn around, a familiar little figure came rushing through the doorway.

It was Aella.

Her face was practically glowing with excitement, and her little ponytail bounced with every step she took. The moment she spotted Jackson, she slowed down slightly, as though remembering that she had something important to announce.

“Brother!”

She approached him with barely contained excitement before lowering her voice a little.

“Now I can also join the same academy as you!”

Her little head bobbed up and down as she spoke, unable to conceal her happiness.

Jackson looked at her with a slightly surprised expression.

To be completely honest, ever since he had left for Golden Radiance Academy, Aella had been rather unhappy about their separation.

She had always been particularly attached to her older brother. Having him suddenly leave home and spend most of his time at the academy had been difficult for her to accept.

Whenever she found an opportunity, she would complain to Mother Rose.

Why had she been born so much later than her brother?

If only they had been closer in age, she could have attended the same academy and stayed by his side.

It was a complaint she had repeated more times than Jackson could count.

But now, things were different.

After her unexpected awakening at such a young age, Aella had finally gained an opportunity to enter the world of Awakened.

And more importantly, she could finally join the same academy as her beloved big brother.

For the little girl, that was probably the happiest news she had received in a long time.

Hearing her words, Jackson immediately raised a finger to his lips and hushed her.

“Quiet down… Wasn’t this supposed to be a secret between us?”

He glanced around nervously, wondering whether the two Gold-Rank hunters stationed outside had overheard her.

From what he knew, Gold-Rank hunters possessed astonishing senses. They could detect even the slightest disturbance in their surroundings from as far as a kilometer away.

As expected, both experts had heard Aella’s words.

However, they had simply dismissed them as the ignorant ramblings of a child and paid them no further attention.

“But, Brother, how am I supposed to talk about it, then…?”

Little Aella lowered her head, looking somewhat guilty.

Jackson smiled and gently patted her head before pulling her into a playful exchange, distracting her from the matter.

Internally, however, his thoughts were racing.

Regardless of how it had happened, Aella had indeed awakened. Naturally, there was nothing unusual about wanting to enroll her in an academy.

But there was one problem.

Once news of her awakening became public, the commotion it would cause and the attention it would attract would be unprecedented.

Never in human history had anyone awakened before reaching the age of sixteen.

Aella had awakened a full six years ahead of schedule, and she hadn’t even needed any special procedure or awakening medicine.

Such an anomaly would inevitably attract the attention of powerful organizations. Given the circumstances surrounding her talent, Jackson had no intention of letting that happen.

Just as he was pondering the matter, an idea suddenly struck him.

“That’s it. I’ve decided. Starting today, I’ll personally train you.”

“Really?!”

Aella immediately threw both hands into the air, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

If her big brother was going to teach her personally, that meant she would have even more opportunities to spend time with him.

Hehehe!

This was the best outcome Aella could have hoped for.

After imparting the Twin Dragon Meditation Method to Aella, Jackson finally left home and headed toward the Hunter Association headquarters in the Golden Radiance District.

Naturally, his purpose was to get his hunter badge upgraded.

Having visited the place several times before, he was already familiar with the building’s layout. He made his way through the entrance and toward the registration hall, where the usual crowd had gathered.

Just as before, a long queue stretched across the hall. Some people were waiting to register as hunters, while others had come to have their existing ranks upgraded.

Unlike his previous visits, however, Jackson couldn’t spot a single familiar face among them.

His arrival barely attracted any attention. To the people waiting in line, he was just another young hunter visiting the Association.

Behind the reception desk, Osman was sitting lazily, letting out a yawn as he waited for the next applicant.

Then, almost by chance, his gaze landed on Jackson.

His sleepy expression vanished.

It’s him. Why is he here…?

Osman had a rather deep impression of Jackson, particularly after witnessing just how highly the young miss regarded the boy.

Although he couldn’t figure out why Jackson had suddenly come to the Hunter Association, he didn’t waste any time thinking about it.

Leaving the reception desk, he walked straight toward him.

The young man whose registration Osman had been handling stared at his departing figure in confusion.

“Sir… What happened? Do I not meet the requirements?”

“Please, listen…”

Osman didn’t even turn around.

Ignoring the growing commotion behind him, he stopped in front of Jackson with a welcoming smile.

“Young friend Jackson!”

Jackson blinked, momentarily confused by the sudden greeting. Then, after taking a closer look, he finally recalled the man’s name.

“Osman…! Right, I’m here for a rank upgrade.”