There was a loud silence present in an uncompleted building as the silver rays of the full moon gracefully made their way, illuminating three figures seated on the dusty ground at one corner of the building.

There sat a cross-legged Lucien, next to a quiet, observant Mikky. The silver-haired man had a content and amused expression as he rested one hand on Mikky’s hair.

There was a brilliant smile on his lips as his emerald gaze fixed on Amira. The malnourished child dressed in torn and tattered rags sat directly opposite the duo, munching on a plate of fried rice.

The girl literally devoured the food.

And the sight warmed Lucien’s heart. Although he did find the glares she gave him occasionally while eating to be a bit... prickling. And unfair! She never glared at Mikky. Only him.

Was it because they were both kids?

Lucien didn’t know. Maybe she just felt uncomfortable being watched while eating.

But he still watched anyway.

It was so funny.

At first, when Mikky had offered her the plate of food, she’d resisted taking it, acting as if she weren’t hungry.

But Lucien and Mikky knew better. They knew the earlier loud rumbling wasn’t just a figment of their imagination. It was a sound they both knew all too well. Damn hunger.

Considering this, Lucien became increasingly certain she was hungry when he saw that deep shade of pink flush through her cheeks immediately the rumbling sound rang out.

So, after a few non-pressured, very subtle persuasions from Mikky, the girl had given in.

It would’ve been very odd if she hadn’t given in with the sweet scent of fried rice circulating all over the damn building.

Speaking of the building—

Lucien suddenly narrowed his eyes, staring upward, observing the block state of the building around them. Unpainted, rough, almost crumbling.

—It was about time they left.

Giving Amira one last glance, Lucien smiled, then stood up.

Mikky was about to follow him, but he held the boy’s shoulder softly. And he whispered into his ear:

"Stay here, Mikky," he said. "For some reason, she seems to like you more than she likes me..." That stung Lucien more than he’d have liked to admit. "Try to relate to her. Talk, joke, anything... let her feel free with you, and then, hopefully, she might also feel free with me. Remember..." Lucien patted Mikky’s hair, smiling. "She’s now part of our team. And your promised sibling. You’ll never be lonely again. But it’s up to you to dissolve that thick line of unfriendliness. This is your mission, teammate." Lucien gazed into Mikky’s radiant blue eyes. "It is one that only you can do."

Michael’s blue eyes seemed to glower for a second as he opened his mouth, a bit awed by the ’weight’ of his new mission. But then he smiled brightly. And nodded.

"My mission," he seemed to chew on the words. "I’ll do it, Luci!"

"Shh. Keep your voice down."

With a much, much lower voice, the boy repeated:

"I’ll do it, Luci..."

Lucien chuckled, ruffling his hair.

"That’s my boy."

He tapped Michael’s shoulder lightly, standing upright with a smile on his face. And he began walking toward another corner in the room.

There was a list of agendas on his mind.

Things he had to take care of.

And as he stood in an isolated area where he could still clearly see Mikky and Amira, he willed the system into existence.

’Now, let’s see...’

The Great Nurturing Returns System had been triggered thrice today.

The first trigger had been earlier in the day when Lector had outted the reason he accompanied Lucien and Mikky, wanting to know exactly where Lucien stood.

The system was triggered as a result of Mikky standing up to Lector, whom the system recognized as a formidable Prowler.

Lucien gazed at the glowing iridescent blue screen, noting the confirmation of his musings.

[Nurturing Action: Through consistent care and nurturing as a guardian, you have empowered the child, curbing layers of timidity to enable him to stand up to a high-ranking Prowler. A feat that should be impossible for any normal 6-year-old.]

[Nurturing Action Grade: B (Medium)]

[Nurturing Returns:]

[1.) Resolve.]

[2.) Visage of Power.]

[3.) Wrath of Beserk.]

’These returns...’

As usual, the moment Lucien had integrated them — and he’d done that in a hurry — the complete information of all the skills was downloaded in his mind.

He knew about the passive skill, [Resolve]. The effect of the skill would be explainable from the name itself.

[Visage of Power] was another ’passive skill,’ he knew. It was a skill that emboldened his presence, thickened his aura, and gave observers the impression of Lucien being someone with great power.

Honestly, Lucien knew that there was no official classifier between ’passive’ and ’active’ skills yet. Not until the arrival of that game-like nightmare, Eden.

Lucien would be ready for that day and the catastrophic destruction it would bring with it. When the ones that Eden, the Game-like world, would choose get warped into its trials, every chosen would get a status window displaying their stats, class, skills and other dumb webnovel stuff.

That would be when the classifier of passive and active skills would originate. But not yet.

That brutal time wasn’t until a month and some weeks.

’Shit.’

That knowledge built some kind of invisible pressure on Lucien, and he could have sworn he heard the sound of a ticking clock counting down at the back of his mind.

He shook the thought off, regarding the skills once more.

[Beserk of Wrath.]

It was as clear as day to Lucien exactly what this skill was.

It belonged to a future Mikky. One of The Calamity of Wrath’s minor skills, this was what the system handed over to him.

’How overpowered...’

Well, not really.

The skill needed mana to be activated. It was not a passive skill. And, currently, there was no mana on Earth.

It meant that [Berserk of Wrath] was not a skill meant to be used until the arrival of Eden.

’But damn, this skill...’

Once activated, it would increase the stats of the user by 50%, driving them mad with rage in exchange.

Lucien grinned.

These were his first returns.

With a wave of his hand, this particular floating set of nurturing action and returns dissolved into non-existence. And a new set came in.

Lucien narrowed his eyes, regarding the floating screen.

This one had come at the exact moment he arrived at the uncompleted building with Amira on Lector’s shoulder. Lucien had put it off then, waiting for a better time to attend to it.

And now was a time better than any other.

[Nurturing Action: In an admirable display of wits, courage and sheer guts, you have risked your life to rescue a child drowned in a state of hurt, anger, rot, and perpetual dismay.]

[Considering Target Response...]

[You have altered the initial trajectory of the wheel of fate, providing the opportunity for light to blossom in the darkness of the target, putting an end to a child’s storm.]

[Evaluating the Grade of Nurturing Action...]

[Evaluation Complete.]

[Nurturing Action Grade: SS (Supreme)]

[Calculating Nurturing Returns...]

[Calculation complete! Returns Granted in Sufficiency:]

[1.)...