The Retired Hero is an Extra

Jash nodded and handed it over, finally realizing that his mana flow had returned to normal without any abnormalities.

\'I don\'t think they\'ll be able to find anything about it,\' he guessed in his heart as the piece wasn\'t even reacting to him.

"Hmm. It\'s not reacting to mana or aura at all. This is strange, too strange," Carcel muttered in contemplation after assessing it for a few seconds.

"Hand it over, lemme see," Sera demanded and snatched it before employing her mana and aether, but the piece remained unresponsive.

Neither did it absorb nor did it repel any of the forces employed by the couple.

While mana was a common source of power in this world, most hunters walking the path of a warrior awakened a force known as aura.

At the same time, mages achieved the force known as aether/ether/prana, but its most common name was aether due to the human race.

The elves called it prana, a higher form of mana and the force of nature. Dwarves referred to it as ether, while humans named it aether.

On the other side of the spectrum, aura was a name used by all three races alike, so there was no disparity in its naming sense.

Anyways, this all was something Jash was aware of, so he was unsurprised when his parents used those terms or forces itself.

\'They look interesting,\' he thought, glancing at the forces he was seeing for the first time, impressed at the possibilities in this life.

\'In my previous life, there were no such things. We just called it mana for easy naming and no one refuted it,\' Jash smiled wryly at the stark contrast.

It was really amazing how two worlds that seemed similar at first glance could have so many differences.

Of course, his wry smile made his parents assume that he was already aware of the results and let them try it for their own satisfaction.

Their wild guess made them feel slightly embarrassed as they directly handed it back to Jash.

\'Maybe I should give it another try?\' he wondered and circulated his mana, trying to connect with the hilt.

Unsurprisingly, it didn\'t react.

Or so everyone believed.

For a fleeting moment, the sword hilt emitted a barely perceptible golden glow, unnoticed even by S-Rank Carcel and Sera.

"It responds to nothing. Now what?" Jash uttered the question subconsciously, only realizing the significance a second too late.

\'Shit! What did I just...?!\' he scolded himself but had no time to dwell on it.

"Now? Nothing. You will rest till the approaching banquet and then the entrance test," Sera declared in a stern tone.

Her tone made it clear that no refusal would be heard and he had no other option except accepting the outcome.

"Haa... Alright." Jash agreed with a heavy heart but he wasn\'t done yet.

He quickly added, "But that means no training too, right Mom?"

Being the child that he was, he failed to hide his eagerness and enthusiasm at the prospect of no training.

"Jash you have just entered E-Rank, so just do enough to consolidate your strength," Carcel explained before Sera could say anything.

He was truly the bane of Jash\'s laziness.

"Ugh," Jash grunted but nodded nonetheless, well aware that his parents just wanted the best of him.

"Anyways, back to this," Sera interrupted, pointing at Jash\'s hands. "How do you have it?"

\'No way! The question I dreaded the most had come,\' he thought, a chill running down his spine as he forced a smile.

"Ahaha-ha...hahaha-haha," Jash chuckled awkwardly, his gaze darting away from his parents.

He wasn\'t wrong in his words, as he had to "fairly" compete with Caera in archery and melee fighting, as well as efficiency in clearing dungeons, to get it.

Naturally, she didn\'t hand it over so easily, she actually forced him to spar with her at least once a month.

\'I am just glad that it\'s over,\' he told himself to calm his nervous heart.

It wasn\'t like the twins hated each other or anything; it was just that their dynamic was a bit strange from the beginning.

\'Others have prodigious little sisters who insult their elder brothers or get kidnapped by masters or some other stuff, and here I am–\'

Jash\'s line of thought was broken by Carcel, who asked, "Do you know anything about it?"

"Uh? Huh? What?" Jash stammered, clearly surprised by the unexpected question.

"Uhm, how would I know? I do have it but all it did was allow me to get inside the dungeon and nothing else," Jash said half-truthfully.

He just couldn\'t blabber everything in one go. At least not until he confirms his conjecture at this upcoming banquet.

So, he tried to change the topic, "By the way, what did I get as a reward? I remember it was a necklace, I think?"

"Ah right!" Sera exclaimed as if she had forgotten about that and handed it over to him.

"It works as protection from mental attacks, but that\'s all the runemasters could figure out," Carcel explained in her stead.

\'She must be thinking about something else,\' Jash thought as he looked at his father, taking the burden away from his mother.

It seemed that words weren\'t needed to be exchanged between the couple to understand what was on their mind.

"Dad, is it just from mental attacks? Nothing else?" Jash wondered loudly, curious about the strange necklace.

It had a golden chain with cyan colored crystal like a pendant more than a necklace, it was Jash who had a weird identification sense.

Inscribed with various runes not only on the pendant but also on the chain, it seemed a very intricate accessory.

Opposite the scrutinizing Jash, Carcel stood dumbfounded. He couldn\'t understand what was wrong with his son.

Since most hunters would pay two to three times the price for protection against mental attacks as they were the most vulnerable.

Any awakener could grow stronger through mana techniques or make their body strong through rigorous training, but the mental aspect was different.

It required one to go through real life-and-death situations and overcome those fears to strengthen their mental defenses.

Such was the case for Caera after her traumatic encounter with the wolf in their first dungeon raid, but she only improved from it.

That\'s why many hunters wanted anything that would aid them in protecting their psyche as it remained vulnerable for the protected hunters.

If one were a genius, their family, clan, guild, team, association, or any affiliation would want to protect them.

Thus, hindering their growth opportunities as true hunters.

Of course, it was better than losing said talents as Caera would\'ve died if not for Emma\'s presence.

The same had happened to various talented hunters, forcing many to employ guards when they go into raids.

Well, there was a roundabout way.

Just don\'t tell the newbies that they will be protected and they\'ll be much more cautious.

At the end of the day, what mattered were strong hunters, not privileged ones.

Hence, Carcel ended up misunderstanding Jash\'s words as him not wanting to rely on external items for mental protection.

Unaware of his father\'s thoughts, Jash\'s line of thought was far different from Carcel\'s guess.

\'I don\'t think I need mental protection. I was fine even after meeting that strange entity, no?\'