“Zeke! Can you hear me?! Come down!”
His ears picked up Mikella’s faint voice yelling out to him. Opening his eyes, he remembered that the pain was there to greet him first. What a good friend.
He remembered that he was still on his barrier, and more importantly, still in the middle of the air. The chill from being up so high didn’t help his still shivering body. He felt like he was knocking at door’s death, the grim reaper that applauded his survival from earlier eagerly waiting for him on the other side.
He peered down, noticing a group on the ground that might as well be ants to his eyes. But once he focused, he spotted a familiar girl with long brown hair, tied to a ponytail to avoid getting in the way of combat. It was Mikella, and she looked like she was waving at him.
But despite wanting nothing more than to get down there and get help, how exactly? Even if he did drop, he’d probably die on impact even if someone caught him.
But it’s either get down and get fixed up or stay up here, and he was shivering way too much to stay there for long. Without really thinking about it, he dispersed the barrier now that the battle was over.
His body soon fell through the air again, causing everyone to screech and shout in a panic. But before his body could once again make a crash, he sensed magical energy forming beneath him, easily transforming into a gust of wind that was so powerful, yet so controlled, hitting him.
It was powerful because it helped carry his entire body with no issue. It was also controlled because he didn’t even feel all that ruffled like how he was flying through the air. It was a gentle wind, caressing him as he slowly fell down. His eyes were closed, but he could tell that Mikella was the one that caught him.
Slowly, ever so carefully, they put his body down to the ground, noticing his broken arm and leg as a crowd began forming around him. He opened his eyes to find Mikella’s face right in front of his, her dark brown eyes studying every part of him for any potential injuries she might have missed.
God, she’s beautiful…
He couldn’t keep that thought out of his mind. She truly did look gorgeous at the moment. Even when her face was riddled with blood and cuts, those eyes and her brown hair framing her roundish face made his brain stop thinking.
Then his brain immediately jump-started as pain once again settled in, causing him to realize what he just thought about as the healers came by to aid him. It felt crude to him somehow, only realizing that compared to his Rare healing spell, theirs were just uncommon. The foreign magical energy revitalizing his vital energy was already causing him to groan and wince in pain.
But soon it evolved into a soothing emotion as relief spread all across his body, his injuries diminishing in a blink of an eye.
“Zeke, are you okay?” Mikella said, grasping his face with her hands to keep him steady. Thanks to his brain starting up again, he felt guilty as his cheeks blushed from her hands touching his face. She was rather close too, and it was even worse as the rest of the soldiers were peering down on him, noticing his little plight.
“U-Uhh, I’m okay…” Zeke eventually said to the waiting Mikella who kept staring at him intensely. She was starting to make him nervous for some reason.
“Good,” Mikella said, looking relieved. Her face now serene, she smiled at him. “Because I’m going to be the one to kill you for making me worry so much!”
That brought the other soldiers to laugh and cheer at him, or rather jeer for making the ‘wifey’ angry. Zeke was still out of it for a moment, but realizing that the mood was a lot more jovial than he expected, he turned to Mikella with a nervous smirk.
“I guess I deserve that,” Zeke said. “So the horde… are they gone?”
“They’re gone,” Mikella said, shaking her head. “Cloud pretty much burned them to smithereens.”
“Damn…” Zeke said, still unable to believe what he heard despite seeing the result for himself. Then again, he was in so much pain that he might as well be hallucinating.
No, it was way too damn hot and scorching to not be real. In some ways, it felt hotter than when he traversed along the lava caverns back in the tower. That was the power of a Journeyman Mage, someone who had taken his magical abilities way beyond his meager abilities could hold.
Though, if he truly knew what was going on, he could believe that it wasn’t even Cloud’s true power. He knew that both Val and Cloud were somehow weaker than what they represented. The proof was when Val had difficulty facing monsters supposedly below her level. He couldn’t tell for sure since his Identify didn’t help him as much, showing nothing but question marks for levels.
Then, he turned to find none other than Val and Cloud approaching them. The other soldiers made way for the lords to come over, looking exhausted themselves. Val especially, her face and armor covered in blood from all the creatures she killed.
And Cloud looked… almost withered. He should’ve known that the spell he casted would take a toll on him, but to see his still perfect face almost shrivel as though life was sucked out of him was something he didn’t expect to find.
“Zeke, how are you faring?” Cloud asked, approaching him. His withered face looked slightly better now, as though he was marked with concern earlier. “When I saw you up there, I was worried my spell could hit you, but thankfully that wasn’t the case.”
“Y-Yeah…” Zeke said. His voice was still hoarse from the experience he felt, but he tried to answer regardless. “I was fine. That, uhh… that wind spell that caught me. That was yours, right?”
Zeke could take a guess thanks to the mass amount of magical energy coming off of Cloud just seconds earlier. Cloud nodded in return.
“Thanks,” Zeke said, but Cloud only shook his head with a chuckle.
“More like I should be thanking you. You went way above and beyond for our town.”
“Same here,” Val said, offering a tired smile. Even while covered in blood and who knows what else, her radiant smile somehow brightened the area around them. “Thank you.”
“That’s, uuh…” Zeke tried to say, but his embarrassment was already taking hold. It didn’t help at all when the other soldiers decided to pile on the praise.
“I didn’t expect a low-level mage to go out like that. Way to go, man.”
“That’s what making an impression should be!”
The other soldiers, both men and women alike, were cheering at Zeke as Mikella managed to pull him up. He was feeling a lot better, but pain still wracked his body, especially from his broken arm and leg in unison.
But despite the pain, he was still embarrassed as he tried to hunch his head down like a turtle. Mikella, however, decided to make it worse.
“You really did do good here, Zeke,” Mikella smiled, adding on the praise. “In fact, I think you deserve a special carry for your efforts.”
“A what?”
Zeke asked, but found out too late that Mikella forced his body to go sideways, and before he could fall over, Mikella caught him with both her arms.
She carried Zeke in a damn princess-carry. His legs dangling over her arm while his torso on the other, Zeke looked on in horror as he spotted Mikella’s sadistic smile on her face.
“There we go,” Mikella chimed with glee. “Doesn’t that feel better, Zeke?”
“Please, oh god no, let me down…” Zeke muttered, begged even, but Mikella refused to even listen.
And yet despite the soldiers watching this with a smirk on their faces, none of them commented on the situation. They knew as well as the two that this was something that they can’t get in between, so instead they followed Mikella celebrating their success with the horde battle. All the while, Zeke truly wished for death as his shame was overcoming his pain and agony by a mile.
…..
After the whole punishment given by Mikella in public, the true punishment came after returning home. The others around the town began to help restore the ramparts to its former glory, the bombardment from earlier leaving it in shambles. Most of the carpenters and smiths worked overtime to recover the lost lumber and material, seeing as the soldiers did most of the heavy lifting throughout the horde battle.
Meanwhile, at the Mystio household, Mikella was giving Zeke the rundown of his life. She screamed, chided, and admonished him for his actions. Zeke couldn't even defend himself by saying that he didn’t have a choice. He knew that the idea he made was just made up on the spot and there were probably better ways to handle it.
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But in the end, after almost an hour of getting chided, Mikella shot him with something that he didn’t expect.
“What’s gonna happen if you die? Have you ever considered how Clara would feel?”
He didn’t think about that at all. Sure, he thought that he could’ve died, and instead all he thought about was that as long as Clara was safe, his own life was forfeit.
But now that he thought about it further, who else will take care of Clara other than Mikella if he died? Rather, what will Clara feel? Even if his mind still believed Clara cared more for Mikella than she ever would for Zeke–could he truly think that?
As if Mikella read his mind like an open book, she answered his question.
“You might think that you’re still a stranger, but that’s not the case with us. Clara sees you as her family. You’re her older brother now. You don’t have to be related to know that she cares for you.”
This time, guilt wracked his mind and heart. How could he be so foolish? Sure, the plan worked, but looking at himself now, it didn’t seem to work as intended. And to make matters worse, he heard a small pitter patter of feet as he suddenly got embraced by the little girl who they were just talking about.
“Bobo!” Clara shouted to his ear, but she quickly realized his state as she let go of him. “I’m sorry… are you okay?”
Zeke didn’t really look as good as he felt. His arm and leg were still broken despite receiving healing, and was told that unlike ordinary cuts or wounds, a broken bone requires more time to heal. Last time, they ate attribute fruits that increased the healing regeneration, but he’d rather heal naturally than to use up such obvious precious treasures. That, and he was worried Val would lose her head if he ate another fruit so willy-nilly like that.
There were specific healing spells that could aid him, but at the time they needed to focus on recovering as much Mana as they could, so Zeke had to recover naturally for a while. He was constantly using Meditation, but that was like trying to turn on a faucet from a crappy sink to put out the fire of a burning house.
Zeke had a sling over his broken arm, and his leg was heavily bandaged to the point of feeling like a cast, unable to move with wooden sticks keeping his leg steady. All in all, he looked like he just survived a tumble down a mountain.
“I’ll live,” Zeke answered honestly. He felt that saying that it didn’t hurt at all would be too obvious of a lie, and he prefers to not lie to Clara if he could. “Don’t worry.”
“Bobo…” Clara looked ready to cry, looking at him all over with tears in her eyes. If guilt hasn’t already made him feel shittier as it is, now he truly felt like a jackass.
“See, Zeke? Look at how Clara is crying right now! You dingus!”
“Dingus! Dingus Bobo!”
The two girls kept going at him, only making him feel worse. Yet, somehow, he didn't feel as bad as he should. He definitely felt guilty for making Clara and Mikella worry so much. But feeling this sincerity and their honest insults made him feel…
Like I’m actually part of the family.
He could only smile as he profusely apologized to the girls, doing his best to make sure it doesn’t happen again and promising to do his best next time. That’s the only thing he could do at the moment, so he accepted the barrage of ‘dingus’ calling for the next few minutes.
This was going to be a thing with the girls, Zeke somehow could tell.
…..
After the chiding was over and everyone reconvened at the living room, they told about their experiences within the battlefield. As Val explained the situation to Cloud, Cloud explained how he felt the mana stir within his necklace, something that can transfer a short message from Val which helped the fight at the end.
Zeke found out that it was one of the things a Runist can do, or someone with a decent enough Runecraft skill. They can inscribe runes onto an item, pouring mana to do whatever the task the inscribed rune gave it. However, to use it like that, one has to use precious metals to withstand the delicacy of magic.
So when Val used up the coin to contact Cloud, the coin can no longer be infused with magic. It was practically sapped of all mana, unable to be used anymore. It was an expensive thing to use, trying to send a message, but something that was utterly worth it for all the spoils they got from the horde.
Thanks to that, they were able to get plenty of drops to survive for the upcoming weeks, perhaps months, if the damage done to the corpses by Cloud’s powerful spell wasn’t all that much. Still, the spell itself took a toll on Cloud’s body, as he was also in a weakened state along with Val.
As for why the lords were suddenly too weak to handle their power, one answer came to the surprise of the two.
They gave half their power to the Orb of Inheritance, something that should’ve taken a while so that Ana will be able to inherit their power by the time she becomes fifteen–the official age where one receives the system initialization.
By giving up half their attributes, not permanently but temporarily, they can marginally raise the power within the orb. Once Ana becomes of age, they’ll give the orb to her. She can accept the power, which was already bound to her by right, letting her have an improved chance of raising skill levels and stat growth.
Of course, that didn’t mean that she would instantly become as strong as the lords. But the more power the two gave, the bigger the bonus. At the end, it might be enough to give Ana the power of a high Apprentice fighter right at Level 1.
It wasn’t easy on the parents during the process. They have to have their stats halved, something that was difficult for anyone, especially those of higher stages. The higher the stages, the more power they have to give up. Due to that, the lords’ stats were currently around Expert stage, somewhere between level 40 to 50.
Val grumbled like mad when she put off pouring power into the orb until she and Cloud finally had the courage to do so. Only to be met with dozens of monsters forming hordes at them.
Even worse, they couldn’t stop the process. They have to give it a few more months before the orb is completed. If they stop now, the orb would break and it was extremely expensive to get another one. It wasn’t even that easy to get it in the first place for them, considering their circumstances.
Zeke and Mikella couldn’t blame them for that. That was also the reason that Cloud had to stall the general as to why they couldn't go out and find the source sooner than usual. With their current power, they can’t guarantee anyone’s safety, and it was difficult to explain that they had to give up half their power in this time of crisis without making the general believe they were half-assing at their jobs. Not that they could be blamed for having the worst timing possible.
“We have no intention to shift blame,” Cloud explained, shaking his head. His face returned back to the normal handsome visage, the withered look vanishing as he recovered. “I can understand if you two are angry about it.”
“I don’t blame you at all,” Zeke said again, knowing that Mikella fully agreed. “You were just doing what you thought was best for your kid. And besides, it’s not like you can see the future, right? You even went all out in the horde battles. Even if you told everyone what you did, I doubt anyone would blame you, even if they complain.”
“I’d like to see a parent or two say that to your faces,” Mikella crossed her arms. “Who wouldn’t want what’s best for their kid?”
The lords still looked rather upset, as though a skeleton was found in their closet. It made sense that people would want to blame them, but it was clear that even if they were in full power, it wasn’t as though it would stop the hordes from attacking them.
So, they put aside their strange weakness, a disadvantage the lords would handle on their own. For now, they talked about their gains. Val wanted nothing more than to let the soldiers gain XP as she wasn’t going to gain much in levels despite her lack of stats.
However, things changed when the Expert rank monsters came around, forcing her hand. She praised Mikella for her work, able to take down so many monsters along with Myra.
That’s when Mikella recalled the notifications that was blinking by her side, prompting Zeke to do the same.
They both checked, Zeke studying his gains as a slew of notifications dropped onto his vision.
> You have gained +1 DEX from your actions.
>
> You have gained +2 VIT from your actions.
>
> You have gained +2 END from your actions.
…..
> Level up! You are now Level 17. You gain 8 free points (8 FP total).
>
> You have gained +4 DEX from your class.
> You have gained+4 INT from your class.
> You have gained +4 SPI from your class.
Four levels weren’t all that surprising to Zeke, but none of them made him feel as good. He knew that these level ups were gained by none other than Mikella, who had fought to the last monster standing, blood becoming a second layer to her skin. All the while, he was resting comfortably on top of his barrier at the sky, not a single width of monster blood on him.
He quickly stopped hammering his self-worth when he considered that he was in just as much danger, perhaps even more so, while giving everyone else a chance to survive. In the end, he shifted his perspective to try to be more realistic, rather than giving himself some image of a coward hiding behind a barrier.
Especially when he saw the next notification that proved his actions truly made a difference in the fight.
> New Title available:
>
> Savior:
> Despite the odds, you stood against opposition not for yourself, but for those around you. You are a savior, one who helps others survive.
>
> You have gained +2 STR from your title.
> You have gained +2 VIT from your title.
>
> Title Skill attained: We Stand.
…..
> We Stand (Title), Level 1 (Maxed)
> Your body is broken, your mind is bent, but your soul remains stalwart for the sake of others. Increases the potency of skills that revolves around supporting allies by 1%.
“Well that’s a bit… corny,” Zeke said, though his flushing face betrayed his supposedly calm tone.
“What’d you got?” Mikella asked, shifting herself closer to Zeke’s face. That only got him to burn hotter, even worse when the lords were watching with glee in their eyes. “Whoa! Savior, huh? But I think ‘Dingus’ is a better title for you.”
“Ha-ha,” Zeke quickly took the chance to turn the tide, giving a dry chuckle as he stepped away. “Yeah, I’m a dingus. You made that perfectly clear. What did you get?”
“Same levels, I’m level 17 too,” Mikella said, though Zeke could tell that there was a bit of disappointment in her eyes. “Kinda hoping I would level up some more, but I guess them’s the brakes. No title either, if you were wondering.”
Zeke was taken aback. “What? But why?”
As far as he knew, Mikella was the real winner in the battle, taking on so many high level opponents even with a party behind her. Was the system ignoring her or something?
“It’s not surprising,” Val shook her head. “The system recognizes those who take action regardless of their circumstances. Seeing how Zeke went up there without my orders, it’s no wonder he stacked up quite a list of titles…”
He could sense Val giving him a side-eye without even looking, and so he quickly looked away.
“But I remember you also having a title as well, right?” Val asked, swiftly taking off the heat on Zeke towards Mikella. “Remember the feeling before you attained that title. That’s mostly how one would earn it.”
“I almost died doing that,” Mikella said, then it was like the light flashed in her eyes as she grimaced. “Okay… Yeah, I see your point.”
“Precisely,” Val smiled knowingly.