The little boy's words dropped, and the room went silent; Alex felt his brain nearly implode. This didn't make sense; how did this kid know about his talent? How much did he know about it? Was he following him?
'Wait, no maybe he had heard it wrong. Maybe the kid was just daydreaming and happened to think about something he saw on Earth.' Alex stopped himself from thinking negatively, resorting to some delusional coping.
"Hey Alex, just cause I'm being nice to you doesn't mean you get to stall my other customers." Marco's voice brought him out of his trance
"Ah, yeah, sorry, man." He apologized and continued, "As for you, little buddy, c'mon up! Don't worry, I won't drop you." His hand still stretched out for the little boy, albeit shaking a bit.
"Oh, sorry! I've just never seen a growth type before, so I got a bit startled," the young boy innocently admitted.
"Hey Marco, I'm gonna borrow your customer for a bit. I'll bring him back without a scratch don't worry." Alex announced as he hurriedly pulled the little boy out of the shop leaving Marco alone behind the counter to dischiper the situation.
"Hey kiddo, what's your name? And why do you keep talking about this growth thing?" Alex questioned the confused kid in front of him, trying his best not to startle him further.
"What do you mean? Isn't your clone Talent a growth type, it says so! Oh and my name is Liam, I don't have a last name" Liam rustled his head of black hair in uncertainty
'So he isn't mistaken. Crap' the situation grew worse; instead of it being a dark-robed figure emitting brutal killing intent, the person who uncovered his biggest secret was just a kid, his eyes shining with the naivety of a toddler.
He took a deep breath, channeling his nonexistent nurturing nature. "Liam, my name is Alex, okay? So could you try and tell me about who or what this "it" is that is showing you my talent?"
"Oh, I didn't mention it before, did I!"ILiam comically slapped his forehead, his small and cute figure resembling a distraught baby panda.
"My talent, it lets me see stuff about anything I look at. Look" He said as he waved his hand, a blue screen appearing in front of it
[Overseer Talent]
You are heaven's chosen overseer; gain all known information about any item, person, or event you see or think of. There are no limitations except that other EX talents will not be shown.
"The hell" Alex blurted out in his shock.
"Liam is your talent an EX rank?" He questioned, trying to comprehend the terrifying person he had encountered.
"Yeah... everyone else has cool talents that give them strength, and I'm stuck with a boring one that tells me useless information," Liam said, his voice shaky as if he was about to burst into tears.
'Boring? Gaining near omniscience was boring for kids these days? Maybe he wasn't the protagonist after all, Liam matched the description better, cluelessly overpowered and an innocent and loveable character.' Alex's invincible momentum broke in front of the overpowered from the start protagonist.
"Say Liam. Have you told anyone else about this talent of yours?" Alex calmed down, it was time to gauge the severity of this issue.
"Nope, I haven't talked to anyone since I thought no one would want to team up with me! I only said something to you because your talent was different than the others!" Liam revealed his sad but lucky situation.
"Good! Don't tell anyone okay Liam? You can team with me, I promise I'm not a bad guy!" Alex shot his shot, aiming to take the kid under his wing.
Liam, hearing this, jumped up, his eyes practically shining. "Really!? I promise I'll help you as much as I can! I'll try to find a way to use my talent to help you!"
Alex walked closer to Liam, picking him up and spinning around happily "Of course! Don't worry about your talent. It's a real op!" He comforted him, offering head pats.
"We should head back inside; you probably wanted to buy something from Marco, didn't you?" Alex remembered about the merchant who he poached a customer from.
"Ah, no. I just wanted to ask him if he had any food since I ran out and had no money." Liam put his head down, ashamed of his lack of finances.
"Perfecto! I was just about to head over to buy some food; I'll get you some, too." Alex reassured him, holding onto his hand and walking near the merchant's shop.
The door flew open, "Hey Marco, I'm taking this one out of your hair, don't worry about it! Thanks again!"
"YOU-" The door was luckily shut before Marco could finish his words.
Alex held Liam's hand as they both headed towards the market, aiming to stock up on some supplies before he went out to hunt again.
On the way, Alex felt his gaze move to Liam, his eyes softening a bit as he reminisced. 'Those clothes, a stained shirt, and a homemade rip-jean, both a couple sizes larger than Liam. The look in his eyes, the relief when I said he could come with me; just like me back then, an orphan or worse.'
Now, it might not have been the wisest decision to invite Liam to party with him; after all, he didn't know much about him.
There was a big chance he could be a part of a gang, sent to lure in people with piety, all to kill or rob them in the end. Of course, he frankly didn't care, he was alone, but considering his 6 available attribute points, adding to the fact his clone was already dead and available to summon again, he had enough mana to summon him twice; through all these factors he was sure no average crook could do him harm.
Even if he wasn't so sure in himself, it just didn't sit right, a kid wandering around asking people for food. He wasn't Mr. Beast, but the least he could do was help out. Not to mention it was too dangerous to let Liam be taken in by someone else, possibly with intentions to abuse his talent.
He left his thoughts and returned to the real world, arriving before a bakery; instead of the modern ones he was used to, it was a large tent with ceiling lamps for lighting, smooth stone tables for customers to sit and feast, and a large furnace in the back, presumably to cook their goods.
"Hey Liam, what do you want to get? It's on me so buy whatever you want." Alex proclaimed like a rich noble, playing the part well.
Liam, all smiles headed towards the counter where a variety of tasty sweets were on display. His eyes darted between the items, his face soon growing strained by the pressure to choose.
Noticing his trouble, Alex nudged him, "It's on me; you can get as many as you want."
Liam took a moment to process his words; moving forward, he embraced Alex, wetting his worn-out pants with his tears.
"Thank you" he choked on his words.
Alex smiled, once more patting the boy's head "There there, it's okay. From now on, you can get lots of things, okay?"
'I was overthinking it, Overseer, he's just a kid. A good kid. Thankfully I found him before anyone with ill intention did.'
Liam pulled away suddenly, his face flushed red from embarrassment. He shook it off, and once again looked up at Alex "Thanks Alex, I'll pay you back I swear!"
Alex only smiled, "I'll take care of you kiddo, so just enjoy yourself for a while. I'll rent a better house so you can stay at my place."
His words brought out an even brighter smile from Liam who thanked him again, only this time Alex didn't seem to hear him, his eyes unfocused.
'This time, I'll save a life. To make up for that night, even just a little bit.' he thought, thinking of his past. It seemed a rewind was in order.