On the Mellow City road, Martha is walking Carrie to school. A faint worry is still lingering on her face.

"Mom, are you sad because brother went into the portal?"

"I’m not sad, Carrie. Just... a little worried."

Carrie stopped and turned to her, pressing her index finger to her chin. "But didn’t Brother say it was only a low-level portal?"

"He did. But it’s still a portal. Aren’t you worried about him?"

Carrie smiled. "No."

"Why not?"

Carrie turned and skipped ahead, saying, "Because I believe him."

Martha stood there for a moment, caught off guard. Her daughter’s easy certainty settled somewhere deep in her. She felt a little ashamed for not trusting her son like her daughter.

"That’s right. He’s my son, I should believe in him."

"Mom, look there!"

"What is it, Carrie?"

"They’re selling ice cream. I want one."

"Carrie, you’re already late for school."

"But I want something sweet before going to school."

"You just had a bunch of chocolates before we left."

"So what? This is ice cream."

Martha sighed. "Fine."

They walked to the ice cream van. "What flavor do you want?"

"Banana."

***

Inside the portal, Zac fought the monkeys over bananas.

Adult monkeys lunged at him, swinging from tree to tree, while the smaller ones kept their distance, pelting him with stones and wooden branches.

He slipped past every throw, blade flashing as he cut down the ones that came close.

The real challenge wasn’t the fight. It was all the jumping and moving from branch to branch just to keep up with the monkeys.

Half an hour passed in a blur of motion and scattered fruit. After killing a dozen monkeys, the remaining ones retreated into the forest, fearing Zac.

He stepped toward a nearby tree, plucked a bunch of bananas, and stored them in his inventory. Just as he was about to leave the banana forest, a deep roar tore through the air behind him.

Zac turned and saw a massive monkey easily thrice the size of the others glaring at him with angry eyes.

[So they called their leader.]

"That’s fine by me," Zac muttered, tightening his grip on his blade. "Just extra XP."

The ground shook as it charged.

Zac shifted at the last second, the creature’s fist slamming into the tree branch where he had stood, dirt and leaves bursting upward.

Before it could pull back, his blade flashed across its arm. Making a shallow cut on its thick hide.

The monkey roared again and swung wildly at Zac’s upper body. Zac ducked under the strike and slipped back just in time to avoid another.

He then leaped to a higher branch and slashed, leaving a deep cut across the creature’s chest. The monkey glanced at the blood and looked up at him.

With an angry roar, it jumped toward him. Zac dropped down at the same moment, sword in hand, and cut across its stomach before landing on a lower branch.

The monkey landed above him in the upper branch only to slowly collapse; blood soaked the entire branch. The smaller monkeys watched their leader fall and scattered in fear.

He crouched beside the corpse, pulling out the mana crystals and storing them along with the leader’s body in his inventory.

He then rose and set off, leaving the banana forest behind.

***

After dropping Carrie at school, Martha returned home. With her medical leave still ongoing, the house felt unusually quiet.

She moved through her chores without much thought, then settled in front of the TV, letting her favorite sitcoms fill the silence.

At school, Carrie had barely stepped into the classroom before her friends gathered around her with flying questions.

"What happened to your mom?"

"Is she alright?"

"Who made you lunch today?"

Carrie smiled happily. "She’s completely fine now. My brother cured her." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Is your brother a doctor?" A boy with drooling nose asked.

"No. He is a variant."

A girl leaned in, eyes wide. "Is your brother really that powerful?"

"Of course," Carrie said, lifting her chin. "He just became a variant, and he’s already diving into portals today."

"Wow... you have such a cool brother."

Carrie smiled with pride written all over her face.

The classroom door slid open, and the teacher’s voice cut through the chatter. "Take your seats."

***

By evening, Martha arrived at Carrie’s school to pick her up. They walked side by side, heading home while happily chatting with each other.

A sleek car suddenly rolled to a stop in front of them, blocking their path. Lily stepped out from the car with Peter beside her.

Seeing who it was, the warmth vanished from Martha’s face.

"It seems you’re still doing fine, Aunty," Lily said, with mockery.

"Thank you for asking," Martha replied evenly. "If you’ll excuse us, we have things to do." She tried to walk past, guiding Carrie along.

But Lily moved in front of them, cutting them off from going. "Don’t be in such a hurry, Aunty. If your son had just handed over the treasure your husband left behind, none of this would’ve happened."

"There’s nothing my husband left behind," Martha said with a steady voice. "You’re chasing shadows."

Lily’s face twisted. "You think I’d believe that? Aunty. My dad always yapped about how great of a variant he is...oh! sorry was. How can someone like that die without leaving anything to his son."

Carrie stepped forward, placing herself in front of Martha. "Why are you shouting at my mom? Didn’t your parents teach you to be polite towards elders"

Lily glanced down at her, lips curling. "So this is the little pest Zac mentioned."

"Go away," Carrie said, her small fists clenched.

Lily’s hand snapped forward.

Slap! The sound cracked through the air.

Carrie’s body tilted to the sides but Martha caught her before she hit the ground. Her grip tightened around her daughter as she looked up, glaring at Lily.

The variant aura from her body spread through the air, making it feel heavy and hard to breathe. Lily’s smirk faltered and her body stiffened. Even standing felt hard as the weight pressed down on her.

Martha stood up with cold eyes, her aura spilling out without restraint.

Peter stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Lily as he faced Martha.

"What, you’re going to bully a youngster?" he said in an arrogant voice. "In case you don’t know, I’m from the Ritchie family."

"I can make you and your family disappear with just a wave of my hand."

His lips curved slightly.

"So drop the act... and walk away while you still can."

Martha stepped forward before either of them could react with her hands shooting out, fingers locking around their throats.

She lifted them with ease and slammed them against the polished surface of their car.

"You can insult me, humiliate me, torture me, do whatever you want... I’ll endure it. But if anyone tries to hurt my children..."

They didn’t need to hear the rest, the look in her eyes alone said enough.

Before they choked to death, Martha released them. Their bodies dropped, stumbling as they struggled to catch their breath.

Without another word, she turned, lifted Carrie into her arms, and walked away.

Lily stared at her retreating figure and turned towards Peter. "Peter, you have to do something about this. That bitch still doesn’t get it. Doesn’t she know who you are?"

Peter said nothing and was still trying to catch his breath. "Let’s tell your family, let’s see what they do to her."

Peter turned sharply, anger flashing in his eyes. "You want me to go complain that some no-name old hag attacked me on the road?"

"What do you think that makes me look like?"

Lily hesitated. "Then... are we just going to let this go?"

Peter let out a slow breath. "Who said I’m letting it go?"

He glanced in the direction Martha had left. "There’s less than a month until the entrance exams. That’s what matters right now."

"After that..."

His eyes darkened with murderous intent.

"We’ll deal with them properly."

A thin smile spread across Lily’s face as she watched him.