cerim
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Chapter 758 - Pancakes
🕑 Added 2025-12-16 09:54:38 +0000 UTCAs per the last messages I sent to Earth, I learn my mom is currently on a nice tropical island that I reach by ramping up the use of kinetic energy. During my flight, I notice fighter jets in the distance, but they disappear quickly before I can fly toward them and check them out up close.
But the closer I am to my destination, the more I notice myself slowing down. When I see the island in my view, my speed is barely faster than a car and slow down even further.
My destination isn't a small private island or something similar. Instead, it is the kind of bigger island that has a smaller city and two villages, I can see. It has a beautiful beach of white sand and nice mountains.
I take the phone out of my pocket to check the direction again and fly a roundabout way over the sea to the far side of the island. It isn't that far away from the city, and it is connected to it by a road following the shape of the beach. On that part of it are more grand buildings with huge estates.
The place I head to stretches from a smaller hill and then takes up a big part of a private beach, as well as a sort of cliff nearby. In the bay, I see a small yacht and a few smaller vessels. There is some construction going on, and floating there in the air, I observe it, realizing they are working on a bunker a bit further away from the main house.
I’m sure by now Channeler has given the people here a call, and my mother should know already, yet I hesitate. I just float there, feeling more nervous than before some of my life-or-death battles.
As amused as I am annoyed by myself, I take out the phone again and, turning on the front camera, I check my face, fix my hair as much as I can, and touch up my clothes as well. There is nothing I can do about my eyes, with my trait now permanently activated.
Where before my Mana Wavelength Iris showed only when I activated it by creating a golden circle around my pupils, now it is a bit different. That circle is slightly less noticeable and more uneven, and feels like a golden light trying to peek from behind the edges of my black pupil. It shifts, its glow pulses from brighter to lighter, and it unpredictably circles my pupil. Just like an eclipse would.
The phone then rings once, showing a censored number. Out of curiosity, I pick up, “Hello?”
“Good afternoon,” the voice replies, measured and respectful. “Vice President Vernon Oakley speaking. I hope I am reaching you at a suitable moment. I wanted to establish contact and express that we are prepared to meet once yo-”
I don’t even listen and leave the phone in the air, locked there by my kinetic absorption.
Then my senses expand across a mile wide area. Every human, every machine, every car, insect, animal, and anything else in motion freezes and halts, all held in place by my will. I allow just enough function to keep everyone safe, so people can breathe, and machines do not explode or break.
All of it is done by a small part of my mind that takes care of all the calculations, perceives, categorizes, and then handles the absorbed kinetic energy, as well as halting other people, animals, or machines as they enter the area.
Boosting myself, I find the helipad where I land and once again fix my clothes and hair.
I pass by a security guard in a suit, frozen mid-step and a gardener with a hose that was watering the plants nearby. Both of them follow me with only their eyes moving, and water from the hose is also frozen mid-air.
Just one person moves freely, and I slowly head toward her.
She must have heard my steps, as when I enter the terrace, she stands there already looking in my direction, a hand over her chest. Her heart is beating like crazy, and I entirely block these senses of mine. I don’t observe her movements, twitches, muscles, temperature, or movement of her blood. Instead, I look at my mom with only the senses I would use before the tutorial. And all words, all plans I had of how this meeting would go are gone, my mind flushed clean.
She is better than me in this way. Before I can even think of what to do, she is in front of me and crashes against my body and pulls me into a hug.
“Oh my god, Nathaniel. Natty...” she continues to whisper my name, and I feel her tears on my chest as I put my arms around her. I don’t think I’ve ever tried to hold something so carefully in my life.
She looks up at my face, grabbing my cheeks in her hands. “Your eyes, your pretty eyes, what happened to them? And this scar? Just what…” Her hands touch the scar going from the bottom of my left cheek and down through my neck. “Did it hurt?”
Her fingers trace the line of the scar. I feel the warmth of her palms, the tremble behind her touch. She keeps looking at my face with worry that tries to read every inch of it.
I answer in a voice quieter than I’m used to. “A little. But it’s alright now.” These words come out slow and careful.
She cups my jaw again. Her thumbs sweep across my cheekbones. She studies the shifting rings of light around my pupils. They pulse with an uneven rhythm that reflects across her gentle eyes.
“You lived,” she repeats. Her shoulders shake once, and she leans in, forehead touching my chest. “I thought I would never see you again. I thought I lost you... and Victoria... is she...?”
"She’s okay. You know her."
I hold her steady, supporting her weight with an ease that feels almost weightless.
She smiles, small and trembling. “You came back different, but you still talk like my Natty. That part has not changed. About what happened before, about the things I said and did...”
A soft laugh slips out of me. “It doesn’t matter, so why would we make this awkward? I’m happy to see you, you’re happy to see me. Will you be happy to see Vic, too?” I ask, knowing how much more difficult that question can be for her to answer than it sounds. In a way, it is a bit cruel from my side, but I think it needs to be asked.
"Yes..." she whispers. "I would be happy to see Victoria as well."
"Good, then that’s it. There is no need to mention useless things anymore. Have they been treating you nicely?"
She touches the skin under my eye. “They have been almost too nice, to the point it’s annoying at times. Does it hurt when your eyes shift like that?”
“No. It’s a trait thing. It looks strange, but it feels natural.”
“I will get used to it.” She wipes her cheeks with the back of her hand, though the tears keep coming. “You look like someone who survived a war.”
"War," I laugh shortly. "Weird. It is fun there most of the time, but fucked up at times and..."
"No cursing."
"I'm an adult man. I have to tell you I'm also renting out a property and have sold another one."
That small woman in front of me, who is still early into her forties, looks at me just for a few long seconds before I look away with a sigh.
I give a slow nod. “It is what it is there.”
She holds my hands in hers. Her grip tightens as she asks an unexpected question. “Are you hungry?”
"Do you even still cook, or do you have personal chefs now?" I ask teasingly.
It causes her to smile as she lets go of my hand, and I’m sure she noticed some other scars, but doesn’t ask about them.
It all still feels a bit awkward, but I follow her as she gestures.
“They keep forcing all these things on me. I’m okay with this place, you know, I always loved this kind of weather and always dreamed of seeing the sea and walking along the shore. Now I can wake up every morning, hear the sea in my bedroom. I wake up, walk out on the sand, and drink a coffee while watching the waves. It’s nice.”
"It does sound nice," I nod.
“But I haven’t used any money. I was able to get ten million dollars out of Colonel Kane, and for some reason, then they sent a hundred more. Can you even imagine all that money? They would sit in the account, but then that handsome young man called Rafael came, saying he was your friend. He even showed me some photos of you and him. He helped me invest some of the money. Properties, some companies that he says will surely do well after the tutorial. Everything was put in your and Victoria’s name, even though he tried to persuade me to take some myself.”
"That is stupid. I told them to tell you to spend it all."
"I don’t want it."
"Don’t be stubborn, Mom."
For a moment, she turns around and smiles. It is a beautiful smile that makes her face even prettier. Almost without realizing it and without a good reason, I smile back at her.
"No," she says simply with that smile.
With a sigh, I follow, "Whatever."
She laughs again, “But don’t worry, while you apparently suffer somewhere in the tutorial, I’m enjoying all the luxuries we used to dream of. Do you remember those nights when we sat on the couch and watched all these holiday resorts on the TV and were thinking what we would do there?”
The same as her, I decide to ignore the remaining awkwardness of it all and all the past and things we probably should talk about. It is easy to do because right now every bit of it feels so inconsequential.
I glance in the direction of the sea as a helicopter enters the blocked-out zone near the mountain and freezes mid-air together with its passengers. Then I look around the kitchen and slide onto the high seat near the kitchen island in the middle. It is a really pretty kitchen, with big windows, nice furniture, and all these fancy appliances.
Thalia Gwyn, my mother, moves around swiftly, which tells me it is quite likely she cooks most of the food for herself, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she even cooks for the other people here.
"Do you really like it here?" I ask seriously.
She doesn't stop, but a smile appears on her face, and I can see from the side. “It is hard to enjoy it without knowing what is happening to the two of you. But your friend visits me once every few weeks and sometimes tells me stories from the tutorial. He also helps me to train my skills and says some of the training methods are from you. Did they make a scholar of you, Natty?”
I snort, "As if. But Mom, if you have a feeling he is trying to pick you up, just tell me, I will beat his ass."
As she closes the fridge, she laughs shortly and turns on the heat under the pan. “Who would want an old, sad lady like me?”
"Bullshit. You are the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen."
"Language."
"Bullshit. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."
She throws a few chocolate chips at me, but they freeze in the air just before reaching me, and smiling victoriously, I eat them from the air.
“When we are done with pancakes, you will have to show me how you do that. By the way, can you even eat them? I mean, does it do anything for you? Rafael said he can stay without food for a few days easily, but when he eats, he needs to eat a lot of calories or meat of awakened animals or monsters.”
"I can eat it, but other than the taste, it doesn’t do much for me. Honestly, I bet I could eat piles of them and not get fat at all."
"I’m envious." She returns to the pan and throws the chocolate chips onto the pancakes before flipping them around.
As she cooks, I sit quietly and watch her the entire time through my human eyes, memorizing every movement, every smile, and the way her black hair shifts as she moves.
When she is done, she nicely puts the pancakes onto the plates and pours a bit of maple syrup over them before adding some grated apple she mixes with a bit of sugar and cinnamon.
We carry these plates outside and walk by the frozen people she looks at with wide eyes, but still leads me to the beach. There, under a small patch of trees, is a nice spot where we sit down as we start eating the pancakes with the sound of the splashing sea in the background.
Comments
Edelweiss
a couple more suggestions: -But the- closer I am to my destination, the more I notice myself slowing down. -> -The- closer I am to my destination, the more I notice myself slowing down. Instead, -it is the kind of bigger island that has a smaller city and two villages, I can see.- -> Instead, -I see that it's the kind of bigger island that has a smaller city and two villages.- As amused as I am annoyed -by- myself -> As amused as I am annoyed -at- myself -Where- before my Mana Wavelength Iris showed only when I activated it -by- creating a golden circle around my pupils, now -it is- a bit different. -> -Whereas- before my Mana Wavelength Iris showed only when I activated it -, - creating a golden circle around my pupils, now -it's- a bit different.
Orthomalleus
Well, except for the waves?
Orthomalleus
I for one love this chapter.
Val the mysterious Jedi
The whole freeze everything within miles is the reality check, action over words
Andrew Carr
Ok prediction- Nat mentioned waiting 3 days, seems likely to be related to Adrian. Adrian also returned to earth, but I doubt it was just to destroy a building. My guess is that both trips were about the world dungeon. Nat thinks that Adrian will take until the end of his stay token to clear the world dungeon, and is trying to time things out so he’s on earth when it’s cleared and remains for a while after Adrian’s stay token expires. I think Nat is killing time, and once Adrian clears the world dungeon a system notification will come through notifying everyone that the world dungeon has been cleared and that Earth has an absolute. It may also state the location of the world dungeon or at least the general area. There may also be a notification or some way to tell when a planet’s absolute is off planet or not connected to the spark. Once Nat gets the notification and is confident that Adrian has returned to the tutorial he heads to the now mostly empty world dungeon, claims the spark and absolute, grabs the supplies he requested from Channeler, and is returned to the tutorial as absolute of earth at least until Adrian is able to acquire another earth visit token. I’m curious if Adrian will know right away, or if he won’t realize until he finds out from Nat, and how he will respond once he knows and they’re both back in the tutorial.
Name1
Cerim the only bad thing about these kinds of chapters is I think they’re better to binge through them all at once to maximize the feeling, which I can’t do because that would mean not reading a chapter on the day of release.
Natalie
This. He should get a phone just for mom to record a bunch of stuff on for Vic and hand it over next time he's in beyond
Natalie
Reasonable though don't you think? Her abusive ex husband was killed by one child and the other took the rap for it and went to prison. If that doesn't fuck you up at least a little then you were already fucked up
Johnny
Yeah Channeler is Hell difficulty level but for politics/administration
mitchell kaiser
I do kinda hope he meets with the president or the Colonel, it would be fascinating to see if he gives them a reality check. Plus the fallout of that would be hilarious to see!
Jesse Mollkoy
His handler is wrath I think so could be that
Kaladorph
Im sure the rotors will resume yhe same speed they were before frozen. The energy is still there, nats just locking it in place.
Daniel Golding
I hope Nat realizes that a good job that Channeler has done. He's really on top of his game.
facetiousk
I appreciate that some readers may not enjoy these chapters, but please keep in mind that it can be communicated without being disrespectful. At the same time, others of us greatly appreciate these chapters for the world building and broader scope of the story and those affected. And, while the pace is slower, keep in mind that the slow-paced delivery of some elements can be helpful to improve the impact/significance of the higher-paced moments! I'm sure that this doesn't resonate with everyone, but overall, I'm just asking that we try to remain respectful toward the author and remember the time and energy he puts into delivering this story to us. Apologies for the rant! 😅
Vigli2020
Was Adrian's subclass mentioned once in the chapters? I guess he has the greed subclass, the way he tries to get everything and how he behaved during his first tutorial but it also wouldn't suprsise me if he chose a different subclass in his second run.
Stoney
TFTC
Balsamic ThunderThighs
Knowing one of his skills I'm sure Nat would call BS and think its just him being a manipulative alien Megalomaniac
Balsamic ThunderThighs
Nat low key flexing to his mom at how he's pretty much a superhuman has SuperNathaniel probably really happy.
im Panda
Those people in the helicopter are gonna die. If you just stop it midair, when it's released it won't be able to generate lift fast enough to stay in the air
Shawn Mills
Boss moves lmao froze the whole damn island 🤣
Peter Smith
Im hoping adrian shows up, sees Nathaniel's mother and swears to protect her as his own family no matter the result of who becomes Absolute.
Peter Smith
Kind of glad it was just him freezing everyone. Knowing him he's also repairing damage and setting everyone to be safe when he lets go. It would feel put of character for him to react violently to their BS, while at the same time we know he refuses to be a pushover. He will not let anyone take his family away ever again and is willing to grovel to the strong so he can keep them safe. If anything this shows his pride like nothing else. He is proud of his power, of his family, and most importantly that he is strong enough that he doesn't need to kill. Because that is his greatest regret, that his father needed to die to protect his family and that he both wasn't strong enough to do it himself as well as not being strong enough that he wouldn't need to kill him.
CrypticAnon
Very strange to see so many confused or upset that Nat froze the island. He wants to give his mom his full attention and her to do the same. There was a phone call and helicopter coming to interrupt, with who knows what else. Nat cutting the bullshit and sending a warning isn't out of character.
Liam Zay
Let's just hope she hasn't heard of tent creep/Fuckyouintentbitch
cedric burnam
This is his warning to the governments, the only one he can deliver in person without inviting retaliation.
Jordan Jones
Kind of ruins the moment when you imprison every man, woman, and child on the island. Dick move for no reason I can even imagine. They aren’t frozen in some timeless hallmark moment. They are fully conscious that they are being held against their will by a force they cannot begin to fight back against. They might as well all be held at gunpoint. Children. At gunpoint. For no reason.
Travis White
This is a formal complaint about this chapters artwork.
Bob
He is perhaps in the helicopter
GloinJr
Nothing besides the fact that his traits and body upgrade were greatly strengthened by his absolute candidacy and personal effort
Gutz
Yeah definetly feels like a waste for the moment, but i believe Nat already said something like getting the body upgrade limits pushed further was already more gains than he would expect from the tournament, including whatever rewards he would get. In a way, he believes he can afford it.
Gutz
There's something i wonder about: Did Nat and Adrian come to earth at the same time ? I believe he said something about that a chapter or 2 before this one. Anyway, this feels so relaxed that it's unreal knowing everything that's happening right now.
GreedyFool
I wanted to tan a bit at the beach, I didn't even put on any sunscreen! Death by being stuck blowing your nose.. yeah.
William Johnson
Nate's giving his little "hey, just a heads up about exactly who you are fucking with." Also mom seems like about what you'd expect from the absolute madpersons she produced. Thanks for the chapter!
Isaiah Del Rosario
Thanks for the chapter
Steven McNeeley
Did they go over his body upgrades yet? ? I realize it's a few chapters after the tournament but I haven't seen any notifications for it.
Kirin
Thank you for the chappie!
Memelord Steambath
I hope his mom embareses Nat by asking him different questions about his time in the tutorial. Like "why are they calling you...what was it? 'Mana Daddy' Natty? "
Memelord Steambath
Love the chapter, thank uuuu
Audrey WJ
Facts like wtf.
Nemesis
You don't suppose Thalia has seen the video of Nat tanking a nuke, right? I think she'd look at him a bit different seeing what he has done to the body she gave him.
Nemesis
Im pretty sure she had a change of heart after both her children suddenly went missing at the start of the tutorial. When she did get news about them, it was confusing, second-hand, and basically said they were abducted and are being forced through an insanely dangerous training course. The realisation that she may be alone in this world and her last interactions with her children were those of anger and rejection probably ate away at her for a while. She's just happy to see him alive
Brandon leidig
Thanks for the chapter!! These little calm slice of life moments are great.
Usernames_are_annoying
TFTC
Melih
On one hand, it's fun reading these relaxing chapters and I'm glad they exist. On the other hand, I'm stressed because with each new chapter, I feel like Nat giving up a low pristine passive or three active skills combination token for the Earth visitor token wasn't worth it, and it's stressing me out a bit
13L00D13ANE
What if her starting skills are [Control] and [Manipulation]?
Michel Kommers
Kudos cerim! Writing battles is easy, chapter like this are the hard ones to make! You nailed.
WINTEX
This "earth" chapters are lame as hell.
V
Who wants potential interruptions when meeting with Mom, especially while having limited time on Earth?
Malestan
As Lissliss said : "Traits, skills, levels, none of it matters at the end". What matter is the strength of the person, Nat and Vic are OP not because their starter skills were OP, they're OP because they're crazy motherfuckers that push the boundaries of what is and what's not possible
jobe matula
not nat bullying the whole world lol.🤣
Fdrugc
Why did he freeze the island?
Sr. Silla
I liked this chapter
Mike
Thanks for the chapter, it feels good to see Nat happy with his mom, really wholesome chapter !
Gardor
Its not like the vice president is on this island...Nate just froze a bunch of randoms because some guy called him when he was floating around wasting time.
Audrey WJ
Why am I so interested in the starting skills she got, I mean her children are monsters and I really don't think they got too much of it from their dad but I could be wrong, still she should have gotten some pretty decent skills right but they are having a good moment and he shouldn't ask, sad 😢.
zoarian
Man, the disrespect to get called by Vice President. Next time they will get the big guy to call him lol.
Oaktree
For the people who wanted a government official pov Pov: Colonel Kane While getting a the call from the VP trying to reassure him that I will try to talk to the individual Nathaniel gwen. I immediately get frozen in place, unable to move. The Vice President still on the line shouting about incompetence, and how we have to control the situation. How he wants to control a man whose can practically stop time is beyond me. Pov: agent 19853 After receiving no response from the safe haven, and checking the security cameras, we realized that the entire island had been frozen in place. The scope of Nathaniel gwen’s abilities will have to be further addressed.
Kingtut527
Nice chapter but I am dying to know what the evolved trait is and what it does.
Martin Probst
They are allowed to breath, Nat doesnt kill them
Budgie
No cursing! ... a Corgi somewhere (Asshole!?)
Lance Beam
TFTC. Not gunna lie, this chapter made me tear up.
RJ Barnes
TYFC but is his mom still screwed up from the husband thing
Andrew
Thank you!
Andrii Tk
Hmm, how long can you live without breathing?
jax rammus
<3
jax rammus
Locating the dungeons and setting up fkr the return, but nat just doesn't care about shit like that
Edmund Dillon
Really nice, heart warming chapter, tftc!!!!
Woodstock179
[Kenetic energy stops working] ┬─┬ノ( º _ ºノ) "gd why won't this table flip?"
The Arcane Emperor
That's what I remember too. Because of that, I couldn't really get behind the heartfelt reunion in this chapter. Still have some mixed opinions about Thalia.
Oaktree
I hear a beeping and realize that my alarm to go back to work is going off. I have been frozen for 30 plus minutes my ice cream is now a puddle. Today is not a good day.
Michael Williams
So, we were told the value of an earth stay token is very valuable. But other than more quickly awakening normal people and things on earth. Im not really seeing the upside yet? Other than being able to take the world dungeon of course. But it seems that nat is spending his 1 day just catching up with people? I am very keen to see where this goes. Also love mumthaniel!
Erebus
lol
Val the mysterious Jedi
Ngl great flex by nat, especially those jerks in the chopper, also bet all the workers are spies
Josh Betts
Wow she really loves nat any normal person would be terrified and how could you blame them but all she sees is her son
Sushitrash
who is the asshole cutting onions? goddammit
Liam Zay
I can't imagine how terrifying it would be to get trapped in place, but still be able to think. It's nice Nat got a nice moment with his mom though lol
Val the mysterious Jedi
😭 such a sweet chapter,glad momma gwyen is sweet, can't imagine have demi god kids is like
JennP
The VP or whoever should know better than to bother Nat when he goes to visit his mom. Jerk
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the chapter
Mina She
Didn’t his mother refuse to leave her abusive husband and shun Nathaniel and Victoria when they finally killed him after years of abuse?🤔
Adrian Rake
It is a nice cosy chapter. Probably a little bit of calm before the storm. Most likely. 🤔
Borbino the great
Yeah fr he had to flex on the vice president and let him know Nat isn’t playing
Charles
I hope the Earth side reaction to Nat’s, shall we say, stunning move is in the next chapter and we are not left frozen in suspense.
Borbino the great
She’s known from the beginning her kids would be monsters I think she’s more worried about everyone else😂
Borbino the great
This made me laugh so hard
frozzi
Random NPC: Shit, I'm so glad I managed to get to the toilet! My stomach has been acting all day and it was torture to do my work, but somehow I managed to endure until break! Just a hand reach for the door and I'm in heaven. Most normal human flies to the island : ZA WARUDOO Random NPC: NOOOOO
Oaktree
Here I was enjoying my day off, eating an ice cream sundae. when all of a sudden im frozen spoon inches from my mouth only able to look around and breathe. I sitting here I slowly watch as my ice cream melts in front of me. Idk what psychopathic god ive piss off but this is cruel and unusual punishment.
Arnon Parenti
Mana Daddy is allowed some quality time with his mum, keep your thirsty paws off him human earth girls.
Literally Goose
A moment just for them, enforced by a seemingly minor feat of will from a being who had moved so far on from what it means to be human, whilst at the same time striving to stay grounded in the human experience. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever tried to hold something so carefully in my life.’
Rene Duvall
Momthaniel is taking everything in stride it seems TFTC!!!
Jinaden
Happy mother's day everyone. Let's all reach out to ours. They're the best humans or try to be.
Psyren1596
He should take some pictures and videos of his mom and give it to Victoria when next he sees her in Beyond
frankie doerr
That is too crazy to just freeze an island and let everyone know they are frozen I have a feeling all that kenetic energy is going to land on a certain persons head
Shade
Thanks. But the picture shows a waffle and not a pancake. We need pancakes!
Byebyebirdie
Omg, I love the casual freezing of everything around his mum. Such a good show of strength and control. Also such a fuck you yo everyone even thinking of using his min against him. Like, "I can do all this while having a nice day with my mum, don't make me try"
ShyviaAngel
Im insanely curious for his mother initial skills especially with nath and Victoria ending up so weird in skills
Claro reyes
Tftc!!
The Gerg
Thanks for the chapter I'll read it before I sleep sense I know for a fact I won't be able to sleep untill I read it at 5 in the morning
ChildConsumerServices
nomnnomnom nomnomnjonononnonomnomnonmnomnonmnomnomn
vEnviouz
TFTC!!!
im_among_you
Thank ceri
Pazl
TFtC
