Sometime later...

A familiar wooden building's silhouette appeared in the duo's sight. Though by that point Raya had long retreated into Muku's mindscape as the gravity had gotten too much for her to handle.

Muku was just a few metres away from it when he saw it. This was dude to the dense mana which made it hard to see anything in front of one's self.

He soon got to the familiar entrance and gained entrance through it the same way he did before. It was a lot quicker this time because he was familiar with it. Though there was a question in his mind...

"Umm, is this the same restricted zone we were in last time or do they just look the same? Or maybe no matter which zone you enter you end up in the same place? I mean, if we were here before, why did we end up in the middle zone when we got out? Shouldn't we have come out on the outskirts then?" Muku asked no one in particular as he advanced forward.

Soon he entered the familiar-looking portal. He didn't stagger like before since he was now slightly experienced in passing through portals...

The moment he appeared on the other side...

Whoosh!

"Oof!" Muku made a sound as the air in his body was knocked out by an unidentified being... The being was so fast that he couldn't react and was easily knocked to the ground.

Although he didn't see who or what had knocked him to the ground. He had a pretty solid guess on who it was. And as if to confirm his guess...

"Son! You're back! I missed you so much!" Mrs C spoke as she tried to bury herself into his chest.

He didn't know when she did it. But she had long taken off his armour and was hugging him directly. He just let her do what she wanted with a little smile on her face.

While their relationship started weirdly, he didn't hate the idea of having a mother. Seeing her show such affection for him warmed his heart. It was something he didn't have growing up in an orphanage.

A few couples had tried adopting him after hearing about his reputation as a child prodigy. But he rejected them all. He could see the bad intentions in their eyes from a mile away. Fortunately, he had the right to choose, unlike most kids...

That was also part of why he was okay with Mrs C calling him son. Unlike those before, her eyes were filled with nothing but motherly affection when she looked at him. It was kinda weird how she was so full of love in such a little time.

He figured that she must have lost a child in the past and merely redirected that love to him. That had to be it, right? Well, it didn't matter, he didn't mind...

Mrs C continued hugging him for a while before letting go. She had actually heard his thoughts about her "tragic past" when she read his mind. Which was like an instinctual thing at that point, but she didn't say anything. All she cared about was that he also liked being her son...

"Hello... Mom. It's been a while" Muku finally spoke after the two got up off the ground.

He hesitated on what to call her for a bit but gave in. It would be too wishy-washy to call her anything else after everything which had happened...

"I'm glad you're back son. Let's go and talk while we eat something. I'm sure you're very hungry. And I'd like to hear about all the interesting things you did after we separated" Mrs C replied while nodding then led Muku through the second portal.

They appeared in Room Zero after that. Muku wondered why there were multiple portals but didn't ask. If it was something he should know, Mrs C probably would have told him. It wasn't like not knowing made him lose out on anything anyway...

They soon took their seats. The food was already prepared and laid out on the table.

"Please dig in" Mrs C spoke and Muku who really loved her food which tasted out-of-this-world immediately dug in. It was by far the best food he had ever tasted. And it tasted even better after the trash meals he had to eat all for so many months...

Even though the food looked like his world's food, that was all there was to it. The taste and materials used to make it were world's above what he knew...

Mrs C just looked on as he ate like an animal. He had completely lost all his manners. However, she wasn't angered, a little smile even appeared on her face.

Raya who couldn't take it anymore came out of Muku's mindscape in her tiny form. She was eyeing the food with drool flowing out of her mouth. However, she dared not touch anything without Mrs C's go-ahead.

"Hello, little one. It's been a while. There's no need to look at me. Go ahead and eat. The food here is abundant, so don't hold back" Mrs C spoke to Raya with a smile.

Raya immediately dug in after hearing her words. She could barely hold herself back so she instantly lost control after being given the okay...

Mrs C just looked on with a smile. She didn't need to eat. And she was so happy she didn't feel like eating. Just looking at Muku was all she needed to feel satisfied.

....

A while later....

Mrs C had remained quiet throughout the period Muku and Raya ate. She didn't want to disrupt them. Not to mention that she knew that they wouldn't eat for too long...

After all, the food they were eating was full of so much energy that there was no way they would be able to eat even a quarter of it. Even Raya who was proud of her stomach and appetite could only eat a little more than Muku before she felt completely stuffed.

"Thank you for the meal. It was delicious" Muku and Raya spoke at the same time.

Mrs C smiled even more and nodded in acknowledgement of their thanks. She then waved her hand and the remaining food disappeared from the table.

In fact, not only did the food disappear, but a lot of things changed along with that. The chairs changed to sofas and the dining table turned into a little lounge table. There was even a story rug on the floor.

Within a second things changed from a dining room setting to a lounge. Muku and Raya who had somewhat forgotten how amazing Mrs C was were greatly awed.

Everything she did seemed like magic to them. Sure, they both had destructive powers and Muku could even replicate some common objects with his metal. But what Mrs C did went that extra mile in mysticism. The way she did things made it seem like there was nothing she couldn't do, it seemed like she didn't have the restrictions of elements or being bound by natural laws like they were.

At that point, they wouldn't be too surprised if she could create a living being...

"Well, thank you for thinking so highly of me. But, unfortunately, I can't create life. Only chaos can do that. But hey, the world is always changing, so maybe one day you my son will be able to do it. Haha. Anyway, enough of the jokes, it's time to move on to the fun part. Tell me all the interesting things you went through this past year" Mrs C spoke and immediately shut down Muku and Raya's crazy thoughts.

However, what the duo noticed was that she only denied being able to create life. However, she didn't deny being able to create anything else... Does that mean she can do anything else as long as it wasn't creating life?!

As the two thought of such a startling thing, Mrs C smiled brightly as if silently acknowledging their thoughts. However, she didn't say anything and just kept them guessing.

"Wait, where you serious about knowing that? Wouldn't it be better if we immediately get into the trial?" Muku asked.

He chose to give up on the chaotic thoughts about what his mother could do. Just knowing that she was incomprehensible was enough.

"Of course I was serious. What mother wouldn't be interested in her son's adventures? And we can't do the trial now anyway. Have you forgotten that you can do them after a year? Well, it hasn't been a year since the last time you finished your trial. One more month is needed for that, so for the next month, you're stuck with me! So, you might as well humour me, right?" Mrs C replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

She then dropped a bomb Muku wasn't expecting. To think he has actually come so early when he thought he was a few days late!

"Sigh, fine... I'm here anyway. Might as well do what you want. But remember that it's not my fault if what I went through ends up being boring" Muku gave in to the situation.

He was certain that she wouldn't let him go after he had already arrived anyway. And he didn't mind spending some time with her.

And so, the son began recounting his past experiences to his starry-eyed mother. Her eyes were practically glowing as she listened on.

Muku sighed even more. It seemed there was no escape. She was clearly enjoying hearing him speak...