Level Up The Colony

Chapter 88 88: Family Breakfast

"It was fine," he replied in a calm tone, before turning toward the staircase."You have ten minutes to freshen up and be back down here," his father said, his voice firm but not unkind.

"Or would you prefer to have your meal served in your room?"

Nonso froze for a second.

Anyone else in his position might have jumped at the offer. Breakfast in bed? No questions asked? Sounded great.

But he knew better.

If he chose that option, his father would be the one to personally bring up the tray.

Not as punishment, but worse, as a gesture of involvement. Awkward, stiff, painfully formal.

Nonso could already picture the uncomfortable silence, the forced eye contact.

It wasn't that they didn't care.

They just didn't know how to express it.

He wasn't always like this.

Once, there was a version of him that smiled easily and laughed freely.

But that boy was buried under layers of distance and retreat.

"I'll be down in ten minutes," he said softly.

Luckily, they heard him.

No need to repeat or raise his voice.

He turned and climbed the stairs, each step a quiet escape.

...

Ten minutes later, Nonso returned downstairs, freshly showered, teeth brushed, and dressed in his usual home clothes.

There was no rush, just the familiar comfort of a routine morning.

Everyone was already seated around the round dining table: his father at the head, his mother beside him, then his elder brother and sister.

One seat remained open which was his.

He quietly took it.

His family was religious, though not in the conventional sense.

They belonged to a sect known as Witnesses.

Their practices differed slightly from mainstream churches, with short prayers, private sermons, and strict traditions.

A quiet prayer was offered before the meal began.

Then the food demanded their full attention.

Hot fried rice paired with crisp salad, aromatic, colorful, and perfectly plated.

Everything about the setup, from the way the food was served to the polished cutlery and measured pace of eating, radiated class.

There was an air of controlled elegance, almost aristocratic.

No one spoke.

The only sounds were soft chewing and clinking utensils.

Even Dera, his older brother, who had been glued to his phone, put it down under the silent weight of their father's gaze.

His sister, on the other hand, kept her face neutral, but Nonso knew better.

She had a fascination with the Hunters' Society, quiet in appearance, but wild beneath when it came to what she liked

She was always listening for anything related to awakened abilities or hunter affairs.

Halfway through his meal, the question he'd been dreading came.

"You came back late This morning," his father said, his tone calm but probing.

Of course, he had come back late.

He'd survived a one-hour journey by sheer luck.

But his family didn't know he was a hunter, something he wasn't ready to reveal.

"I got caught up at night class," Nonso replied smoothly.

"That's new. Were you… with company?" his father asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," he replied quickly.

"I got carried away doing what I do best." Then realizing how vague that sounded, he corrected himself.

"I mean… I was focused on reading."

His father nodded slowly.

"How's school treating you?"o check.

He did, but not until noon.

That gave him just enough time to rest a bit before facing another exhausting day.