REAS sharply turned to his brother. He stared at him to make sure if he was being serious. And when he saw the other's expression, he knew that he was not indeed joking. "Why did you suddenly think of interfering in this situation?"

Astrid raised his head and looked at Reas. "Aren't you planning to do the same?"

Reas was a bit startled when he heard his brother's response. And then a helpless smiled appeared on his lips. He was indeed planning to do something about that crazy guy. He was a soon-to-be student of the Imperial Military Academy. If he wouldn't do something about this situation, then he would simply shame the name of the academy. Besides that, he generally just didn't like people who could hurt others weaker than them.

He didn't asked Astrid how he knew what he was thinking. Because the two of them knew each other like the back of their hands. That's why he was surprised to hear that his brother would suggest for them to save the kid and subdue the crazy guy. That was not something that Astrid would say under normal circumstance.

Not that he's saying that his brother didn't care about the plight of others, he simply didn't have the habit of meddling with the affairs of the people around him. Unless, of course, it involved the people he cared about.

Astrid might look and act very gentle, but in most cases, he could be much colder than Reas.

"Yes, I do plan to do that," he said in response to what the other said earlier. "The question is, why do you?"

Astrid raised one of his brows at his younger brother. Of course, he understood why Reas was asking that. Because this was definitely not something he would do under normal circumstance.

"Because this is not a 'normal circumstance'," he simply said. "Help might indeed come. But what if that help came too late? Wouldn't we all be buried here? Besides, how could I let my cute younger brother face such danger alone?"

Reas decidedly ignored the word 'cute' and just asked, "If you have a plan, I hope it won't compromise your safety. If it does, then I'm pulling a stop and just do it on my own."

"I assure you, that won't happen," Astrid said. "I'm more worried about you."

Reas only smirked at him. "Have you forgotten my ability?"

Astrid stopped. "You're going to use that here?"

His younger brother had an ability. It manifested when they were 10. That time, the both of them were playing at one of the mountains near their family's land. They were role-playing explorers. Yes, that was pretty childish considering that his mental age was not really 10. But what could he do? His twin brother wanted to play. Being the older one, it's his duty to accompany him.

An accident happened while they were playing and he almost fell from a cliff. He really thought he was going to die then. He was full on unwillingness. After all, he just lived for a decade in this life. Not to mention, he finally had a complete and loving family. How could be willing?

But as he started to fall, he also started to accept his coming fate. But who would have thought that Reas would manage to pull him before he truly fell. That would not be too surprising if he was close to where he was. But no, he was about half a kilometer away from him. And yet, in just a split second, he was able to reach him in just a blink of an eye.

After that, they both realized that Reas had manifested an ability.

People with either SSS level physique or SSS level mental strength were the ones who often manifested an ability. And the type of ability they manifested often had something to do with what kind of SSS level they had.

For example, someone with an SSS level physique would have an ability that was related to the body itself. Like unbelievable physical strength or super heightened senses, those kinds. While someone with an SSS level mental strength would have abilities like telekinesis for example. Anything that could be related to the brain and mind. You get the gist.

It's extremely rare for someone with SS level physique or mental strength to manifest one. But Reas did it. He forced his body's limit just so he could save his brother. That's why after that, Reas had to be bedridden for a month. Because his body couldn't keep up with the explosive force he had just shown.

Their Uncle Leigh had to travel to their planet just to check up on him. And he explained to their parents that although something like this was very uncommon, it didn't mean that it hadn't happened before. The fact that Reas manifested an ability that was related to the physicality meant that his physique had a chance of evolving to SSS level in the future.

Uncle Leigh gave a strict reminder that before that could happen, it's better if Reas avoided using this ability. So that he wouldn't ruin his body's potential.

That's why since then, Reas hardly used his ability. Aside from the strict supervision of their parents, Astrid was also there to prevent him from using it. In fact, Astrid was even much stricter than their parents in that sense. Because it was due to him that his brother manifested an ability. All because he wanted to save him.

So, now, hearing Reas said that he might use his ability, Astrid became inexplicably worried. "It won't be good if you get bedridden for a month again. You won't be able to attend the military academy's opening ceremony if that were to happen."

Reas shrugged. "So be it. I have a solid excuse anyway."

Astrid stared at his younger brother then sighed. "Okay, let's do this."

----------

Outside the mall, the military had already barricaded the entrance to not allow anyone to go in. They had also just finished evacuating the people in the different sections of the mall. The only ones remaining were the people in the food section where the hostage taking was taking place.

The captain in-charge of the whole operation felt a huge headache coming. Not just because of the people inside. But mostly due to the identity of the kid that the wanted criminal they were trying to apprehend took as a hostage.

Suddenly, a tall man with curly silver hair and a pair of sapphire blue eyes entered the scene. He didn't even look at the soldiers trying to stop him. He just looked straight at the captain as if he already knew that he was the one in charge.

"Where is my nephew?"