On the rooftop, Zerena suddenly pulled Max aside, her grip firm, her face stiff with something that looked almost like concern—if concern were purely financial.

"Have you awakened?" she asked bluntly.

Max had to bite back a laugh.

So that’s what this was about.

He’d already prepared the story. Polished it. Timed the reveal. Moments like this deserved proper dramatic pacing. He nodded slowly, just enough to let it sink in.

"Yes..."

Zerena’s eyes widened.

Then she smiled.

Not a warm smile. Not a relieved one. This was the smile of someone who’d just realized their trash pile might contain buried treasure.

"When?" she asked immediately.

"The day I got injured," Max replied, tone casual. "A few days later, I realized something was different. When I drew a rune... it worked."

That was all it took.

Zerena’s excitement was instant and obvious. Her posture changed, her gaze sharpened—like she was already mentally recalculating her life plans. To her, Max wasn’t a grandson who’d nearly died. He was a resource. A late-blooming miracle. A walking mana anomaly with profit potential.

She looked at him the way merchants looked at newly discovered ore veins.

Max noticed.

And he leaned into it.

He straightened, let a bit of confidence show, just enough to raise his perceived value. He wanted her excited. No—greedy. He wanted her to see him as a rare mana stone mine that kept increasing in worth the longer it stayed unexploited.

And Max wanted her to be even more excited—to think of him as a genuine mana stone mine, one whose value kept rising the longer she stared at it. Rising so much that, in her mind, he’d be worth handing over far more than she ever planned to part with.

Assets, secrets, leverage, futures—maybe even things people usually swear they’d never trade away. Yeah. That kind of everything.

"Does anyone else know?" she asked, clearly done imagining Max’s brilliant, profitable future.

Max hesitated for half a second. Diaza knew. And so did her little organ-harvesting circle of horrors.

But Zerena didn’t need to know that.

He shook his head and said calmly, "Only you, Aunt Zerena."

That answer pleased her immediately. She nodded, satisfied.

"Good..."

She grabbed his shoulders firmly, fingers digging in just a little as she leaned closer.

"Don’t tell anyone else either. We already have one awakened in the family. If the government finds out about you too, they’ll take you away."

Max smiled at her, deliberately letting a trace of unease slip into his expression.

He already knew what the government would actually do if people found out about someone like him.

Take him away.

Well... not exactly forcefully if he refused.

Not unless he wasn’t awakened.

But pressure?

Recruitment?

Offers too good to ignore?

Yeah, absolutely.

Training programs.

Resources.

Sponsors.

A carefully managed future.

In other words—

they would turn him into a state asset wrapped in benefits and paperwork.

Which, admittedly, sounded a lot nicer than being kidnapped.

Which really just meant one thing: he wouldn’t be here anymore.

Not with them.

And Max didn’t want that. Not because he’d miss the family—hell no—but because being under government control meant restrictions, surveillance, and getting used even harder than he already was. Worse, rune users recruited by the state usually ended up in the most delightful job imaginable: getting tossed into the army to fight mana-mutated beasts, warped animals, and whatever other nightmares the awakened world kept coughing up.

Yeah. No thanks. He’d rather gamble his life here than become a disposable weapon with a serial number.

Still, Zerena didn’t need to know any of that. What she did need was urgency. Fear. The feeling that her new golden goose might fly the coop any second.

So Max tilted his head and said casually,

"I was thinking of accepting their offer. That’s why I decided to quit school."

"No, you can’t."

Zerena blurted it out so fast it caught Max completely off guard.

For a split second, he honestly didn’t expect that much resistance. He’d known she was interested, sure—but this? This sounded almost... desperate. He hid the smirk threatening to crawl onto his face and tilted his head innocently.

"Why not?" he asked. "It’s not like I can go to a magic academy like Karina. And I want to learn runes. The government academy’s literally the only place that teaches them for free."

Zerena’s jaw tightened.

"They’ll make you fight monsters," she shot back, immediately lowering her voice like she was saying something reasonable. "Dangerous ones." She paused, then added, carefully, "I can teach you everything you need here."

Max raised an eyebrow.

That was rich.

From what he remembered, her version of teaching usually involved vague explanations, half-finished notes, and yelling when things didn’t magically work. Still, he let her talk. Let her dig.

"But I still need money," Max said quietly, playing his part. He kept his gaze lowered, shoulders slightly hunched, the picture of reluctant responsibility. "I can’t just stay here forever and do nothing."

This time, Zerena smiled again—wide and satisfied.

"I can help you with that," she said.

She picked up the small metal pipe Max had engraved earlier, turning it in her fingers like a prized sample. "See this? I buy these pipes for two units each. After engraving, I sell them for five."

She sighed, like a hardworking artisan burdened by her own talent. "On a good day, I can make five. Maybe. Engraving drains a lot of mental energy."

Then she looked at him.

"With you?" Her smile sharpened. "We can make far more. So don’t worry about money."

Max pretended to think it over.

In reality, he was stunned.

’Five a day?’

That was it?

He did some quick mental math and nearly laughed. At her pace, this was a side hustle. At his, it was an industry. He could probably churn out a hundred without even feeling tired—maybe just mildly sore in the butt.

Still, he kept his face neutral and nodded slowly. "Fine," he said. "But what about Aunt Anna?"

Zerena barely blinked.

"What about her?" she replied calmly, already satisfied with how this was turning out. "She’ll be fine—as long as she gets her share of the money."

"Alright, enough of that," Zerena said, already turning back toward the room. "Let’s talk magic."

They headed inside as she continued, her voice slipping into lecture mode. "How much have you actually read online? Not much, I’m guessing. Most real information about mana and runes is restricted—you need government access for anything beyond the basics."

Max didn’t argue. He already knew that part.

"We can get you registered," Zerena went on, "but that means government attention. Inspections. Questions. I’d rather avoid that." She glanced back at him. "So for now, you’ll use my access. I’ve also got a few books—enough to get you grounded before I start teaching you properly. How does that sound?"

"Good," Max said simply.

Then he added, almost casually, "But Aunt Zerena... do you have anything on physical enhancement? I read a bit about it at the hospital."

Zerena stopped walking.

"Physical enhancement runes?" she repeated, clearly surprised.

Max nodded, now the one confused. He hadn’t expected that reaction.

She studied him for a moment before explaining, "They’re more difficult to understand—and even harder to make work. Unlike basic runes, they don’t do much on their own. They’re designed to function in groups. Arrays. One rune by itself is almost useless."

"I can... try them," Max said, keeping his voice flat and unconfident on purpose.

It was bullshit, obviously. He’d already done it. Done more than that, actually. But there was no chance he was letting her know he was a fucking genius. You didn’t reveal that kind of thing early unless you wanted a leash slapped around your neck.

Zerena nodded, though the hesitation in her eyes didn’t quite match the confidence in her voice. "I’ll get you some books on it later," she said, layering on encouragement like it might magically make things true.

They were both acting.

Zerena wanted him useful—close, obedient, and profitable. Something reliable. Something that earned without asking questions and stayed exactly where she put it.

And Max?

Max wanted the opposite.

He wanted her hooked.

Max wanted her greedy. Dependent. So convinced she needed him that she’d bend over backward to keep him comfortable—and he meant that in the most literal sense.