I n f i n i t u m

Chapter Eleven

I guess I shouldn't have been eager to ask, because now I found myself leading the entire group through the densely packed crowd of cars all leading out of the city.

Of course, I had the protection of my combat craft, which had been parked right outside Jebadiah's bookstore like some wannabe vehicle, and while I had wanted to bring up the back of the group so that I could have full-range of our surroundings, Jeb had stubbornly refused to listen to the opinion of a 'kid'.

He's delusional, I thought bitterly, I'm a full-fledged adult!

"Just calm down. Not everything will go your way, and he will soon understand that for himself as well."

I glanced at my mom sideways, "You were sulking just a few seconds ago."

It was silent for moment before she tutted at me, "Well he was rude! Obviously my son is a grown man already and is a Hero. He's probably envious that you're so young and successful."

She proceeded to bad-mouth Jebadiah for the next couple of minutes, and I inwardly snickered the entire time, a bit delighted that she was being so defensive. My mom didn't praise me too often; she claimed that it would get to my head, or provoke misfortune to come after me— I guess she was partly right, because right now I was feeling pretty good about myself.

Before, I did some pretty stupid shit for money, even if the latter was for a good purpose. What bothered my mom was that I'd constantly put myself in danger. The money didn't matter to her; she didn't care if we'd have to live in a shitty apartment in a shady neighborhood— as long as I quit my 'jobs', she would be fine. But I didn't want that life for her. She'd lose her business if she were to be seen in the slums.

Mom loved being a hair stylist. It was her dream job, after all. She had a hard time after dad's death— we both did —but for her it hit the hardest, because they'd been together for nearly twenty years. Going to work became the drive that made her get up in the morning, and I didn't want her to lose that too. 

Sure, I could've done what any other normal person would've done and gotten a degree for work. Become a doctor or something. Obviously, I wasn't too bright in my adolescence. Back then, it was no secret that mom was a bit envious over Wren's success as a Hero while I...was the way that I was. Every mother wanted their child to be successful.

I stole a glance at the now-silent woman hunched at my side and sent a silent apology her way, sorry I was stupid as a kid.

Her jaw dropped a bit and a worried expression took on her features. I almost thought that she heard my thoughts when something captured my attention from within my peripheral vision. Neil and Jebadiah had rounded my craft, currently running toward a storefront a few meters away. We finally reached the gun shop.

Before we had left his apartment, Jebadiah said that we needed to arm ourselves before we left the city. His friend owned a gun shop along the outskirts of sector five, and sure enough, the key card that he'd said his friend usually left underneath the mat was right there. Before everyone else rushed into the store, I shifted my craft in Teejay's way and made him promise to bring back good weapons for my mom and I.

He rolled his eyes so dramatically that they almost disappeared behind his head. A week and a half spent together, practically joint at the hip, was enough time for him to grow on me. Aliyah came pretty close, but I was far closer to Teejay than anyone else in the group since we were the same age.

"Try to find something big enough for this thing too!"

My craft's sword was all that I had and there was no access to more. I also couldn't rely too heavily on my capabilities as an Infini, since the special instructors who were meant to take over my training didn't even have a chance to so much as introduce themselves to me. So far, the only things I noticed with my status, was the increased stamina and strength. I didn't know whether it was safe to train myself to go over the threshold in these conditions— nobody in the team was medically adept in case I injured myself.