“Wait, are you serious?”

Zeke asked, surprised to hear that now he’s going to be the one to hunt monsters, and Mikella staying behind. Val only smiled.

Mikella, however, was left blank. The look on her face showed that a lot of thoughts were running in her mind, none of them expecting this scenario.

“That’s right,” Val answered. She finally showed a graceful smile from this conversation as she answered. “Mikella going out of commision would be a big issue, but thankfully, Zeke can gain levels for her. That way, she can steer clear of fighting, allowing her to focus more on herself and slowly return back to normal.”

“It’s also a good way for you to get some exercise,” Cloud said, smiling at the result. “It’s good for a mage to study, but you really need to stretch your legs and be on the frontlines.”

Zeke never felt more like a petulant child that refused to go out, instead deciding to read books all day. Not that he was ashamed of what he did, since he kept studying all day to learn his class. Still, Cloud made some good points.

“Of course, that’s if you want to. Once again, I don’t want to force you to do anything like fighting unless you consent to it,” Val said, but Zeke quickly shook his head.

“No, please, let me. I want to help the town with the horde remnants too.”

That, and figure out a few other things while he was out there. He wanted to know whether their involvement was somehow linked to all this. After reading so many books, he had a very hard time believing it, but… well, entering into another world via a strange tower nobody knew about would raise some questions.

“Good,” Val nodded, expecting his answer already. Then she turned and showed a solemn stare to Mikella. “I believe that should be alright with you?”

That wasn’t a question, Zeke was sure. That was a demand. He worried for a second that it would spark conflict again, causing another big issue.

But Mikella nodded her head. Not downcast, but assured and understanding.

“Yes. I know I can’t say much myself, but please take care of Zeke. He tends to be… problematic.”

Zeke hung his head back in surprise. Just as he was about to retort–

“Oh believe me, I will,” Val answered reassuringly, agreeing full heartedly. Zeke turned back to Val in complete shock.

“What?” Mikella asked, turning to him incredulously. “You literally flew through the air twice every time you’re left alone. I think we have more than enough reasons to get worried.”

“...Ah.”

Zeke hunched his head towards himself like a turtle. He did certainly fly more often than he normally should have, being a support mage and all.

“Oh, you have got to tell me that,” Cloud said with a hearty chuckle.

The mood turned a lot better now, especially after Mikella took everything well despite being punished for her behavior.

But even when the group dispersed to do their own thing, Zeke was left sitting on the couch, thinking. He wasn't nervous about the expedition. If it was anything like the horde battle, it should be a lot easier.

Then again, he still felt his insides quiver of being out in combat again after a whole month. But that wasn’t all.

He also noticed Mikella staying at the couch too, right beside him. She twirled her brown hair, a rare gesture of nervousness after the time spent with her. She usually doesn’t get nervous–she was always confident and assured of herself, unlike him.

Suddenly, she spoke up.

“I’m sorry,” Mikella said. It felt quick, but it also felt to him that she poured all of her willpower into saying those simple words.

“For what?” Zeke asked. Though he felt rather pitiful. He knew what she was sorry for. He just didn’t know which one.

“About everything,” Mikella let out a heavy breath, her fingers intertwined with each other. “About acting the way I did, getting into trouble and… saying all those things about you and the others.”

That one was the one that Zeke wanted to know about. She called him useless, and all the things he did were pointless. It was one thing to expect her to think of him like that. To actually be right about it was… painful.

“It’s okay,” Zeke said, though his heart wasn’t in it. “You weren’t in the best state of mind.”

“No,” Mikella shook her head, turning to him. “It didn’t matter. I was wrong and said something awful about you. I didn’t… I didn’t want Val to say it out loud, mostly because back then I wasn’t even thinking about it. Just… blabbering it out loud like an idiot.”

Mikella brushed her hair to the side, filled with frustration. The way Val just spoke out loud like that would certainly make anyone nervous.

“You didn’t deserve that. Not to mention, you even tried to talk with me about it. I kept refusing, and just kept burrowing myself into my own ego. I just wanted you to know that I was wrong. I shouldn’t have said any of that.”

She looked back at him, her eyes filled with sincerity. If there was one thing Zeke knew about her, it was her honesty. She would say things out loud, and never lie unless it was necessary.

So, he should also be honest as well.

“...What you said about me doesn’t matter,” Zeke said. Mikella flinched at that, as if she never expected him to speak with such a serious tone. Still, she kept listening. “I’m frustrated that you kept brushing us off like that. It’s one thing for me. I expected that you had a problem with how I was doing. But…”

True anger filled him as he spoke his next words.

“But you made Clara feel as though it was her own fault you were acting like that.”

Her eyes widened, a sound of glass breaking in his head as he saw her expression falter. It looked like she didn’t know about that at all.

“Clara noticed how you were acting strange, and thought that you were angry at her for not doing anything. I tried to tell her that it was my fault–that I pissed you off somehow. But if everything Val said is true, then that means you messed up big time.”

Zeke closed his eyes. He felt guilty, pulling this sort of thing out to Mikella. What right did he have as someone who wasn’t related to the two sisters at all?

But he put that aside. He had every right. They were a family–a family of circumstances to be sure–but still a family. What’s more, they were adults. Their job was simple. They were supposed to take care of Clara until they figure out what the hell they are supposed to do in this world.

“If you really want to apologize, then apologize to Clara, not me,” Zeke said, finality in his tone. Mikella kept listening to it all, her eyes widened with each word.

Then, she nodded. “Okay.”

And that was that. Zeke felt like the heavy weight that was suddenly thrown onto his shoulders was lifted. He did the adult thing and he supposed he did it well. Mikella looked upset, but at least for the right reasons.

He would know. If he ever did anything like she did, he would feel so guilty that he would want to hide under the floorboards and never return due to shame. If she felt anything like that, the only best thing to do now is to let her stew in her own thoughts while they waited for the kids to return.

…..

A few hours passed, and Zeke noticed both Mikella and Clara laughing comfortably with each other in the living room. He was at the study getting ready for the expedition when the kids returned. He let Mikella be with Clara for a while, hoping that everything was going well.

He smiled, glad that the heavy mood was over and Clara’s bright smile returned. She began talking to Mikella about a lot of things, particularly about Ana’s antics and getting some new friends along the way.

Mikella looked like she was ready to cry, which surprised Zeke. Then again, after Clara showed to be more introverted than Zeke expected, hearing that Clara made friends and had fun with Ana was enough for her to well up in tears. They hugged, Clara trying to comfort her while Mikella was just being glad that Clara was having fun in this world.

The night passed as this time Zeke included himself into the fun, getting everyone into the study to show Mikella what he had been up to. He almost chortled when Mikella tried to understand what the runes are by looking through the books, but then nodded off to sleep after half an hour passed. She was still on the first page of the book.

What was more interesting is that Clara herself took a keen interest in the runes, even understanding the few basic concepts that took Zeke a while to get on his own. He added some input obviously, but it was proof that Clara was indeed smarter than your average kid.

It was a good night. He felt better knowing that the tenseness between them was gone. But then he was met with a rather… uncomfortable position. Not too uncomfortable, if he was honest, but Clara wanted both Sissy and Bobo to come to sleep with her in her bed.

While Mikella was off duty during her intense training, she slept in the same room as Ana, deepening her friendship with her. So when Mikella finally returned to her senses, Clara decided to take the chance to ask.

So, without really figuring out how he ended up in that situation, Zeke was in the room with Clara by his side and the already exhausted Mikella resting beside her. Looking at the two of them in the middle of the night, he found Clara snugly asleep within the tired Mikella’s arms. She nestled on top of her chest, snoring away with perfect ease.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

As for the adults, it was a little awkward at first. But surprisingly Mikella was fine with it, so Zeke obliged. There was no way in hell he could actually feel anything with Clara in the middle anyways, but the idea of sleeping in the same bed was… well, too personal to really think about.

He shrugged it off as he forced himself to sleep. He was going to have a busy day tomorrow morning, so he needed some shut-eye.

…..

The studded star shimmering bright, Zeke gathered up his things and filled his storage bag with any necessary weapons. Then he and Mikella went over to the blacksmith. It was time to pick up their gear.

Just because MIkella was out of commision didn’t mean that she didn’t want her original sword back. She also needed to return the Sword of Lightning, as it was borrowed and not officially bought. Of course, word spread around the town about Mikella’s dismissal from the military. At first, Zeke worried whether she would face some sort of harassment for that.

He was pleasantly surprised that they all asked how she was, and if she was in dire stress. They all knew throughout the month the number of monsters she had killed, and how she grew so strong so fast. She basically became a legend, something that Zeke noticed, but put in the back of his mind as he focused on his studies.

Once they parted, Mikella waved at them, a distant look in her eyes. After the night passed and the intense emotions dissipated, he wondered if she was taking everything well.

“Everything okay?” Zeke asked.

“Yeah, I just…” Mikella answered, her voice trailing off before getting back on it. “I just realized that I get tunnel vision way too easily–that’s how it was back in our world. I just shut everything off, just doing what I need to do. I really need to fix that.”

Zeke smiled. He offered a pat on her shoulder, getting her to look back at him.

“Don’t worry–I’ll be here, and this time, I’ll look out for you if it ever comes to that.”

This time, Mikella beamed. “Thanks. That’s sweet of you.”

“I mean, I kinda have to. You’re the breadwinner of the family, remember?”

That earned Zeke a slap to the shoulder–which made him wince hard and almost fell over.

For a short moment, he panicked, but after Mikella apologized to him profusely for not adjusting to her high Strength, he realized she was just slapping him for his stupidity–just with horrid consequences.

They still needed to get to the blacksmith. Returning back to the heavy business of the blacksmith’s store, the smith in question noticed them coming and shouted.

“Heya! You returned!” The smith shouted with glee, waving at the couple coming in with expectant eyes. “I got you your weapon. Glad to see Cloud got you here in time.

“I hope you treated my sword with care while you were out there,” The smith shook his head. “Still, gotta say. It dampened my spirit to find out you got bit hard with Class Madness. I hope your recovery goes fast, lassy.”

Mikella tilted her head, surprised at the term. Zeke also got confused and asked what he meant by that as Val probably said it too, but didn't say much else.

“Oh, that’s what we call people who lose their shit when leveling. It happens more often than you think. Just be glad you only got a wallop than, say, burning a godsdamned building down, right?”

Adam guffawed at the scenario, surprising the two entirely that there were cases like that. Zeke supposed that if a mage got a bit too into starting fires, then that might make a lot of sense.

Mikella smiled. “Thanks for that. If anything, I know now how stupid I was being. I’ll make sure to do exactly that and better myself.”

As she talked, Mikella handed the Sword of Lightning to the smith. She had a smidgen of disappointment in her eyes when she did so, but she wasn’t so prude to convince the smith to let her keep it, not without paying for it at least. Right now, they don't have the money to think about making an extra weapon purchase.

Adam looked at the sword and, pursing his lips through the bushy beard, replied: “Never mind. You keep it.”

“Huh? Really?” Mikella asked, the otherworlders shocked in his reply.

“Honestly, it ain’t that good of a weapon. You know about that whole discussion with people’s preferences? There’s barely any lightning users around here and you’re the only one that I’ve seen use it to such an extent. I could tell–this time you really used it properly. I think it’s fair for the weapon to be kept with a good owner rather than just living it up in the storage upstairs.”

“A-Are you sure?” Mikella asked, looking at the sword, then looking back at Adam. “Isn’t this still expensive?”

“It is, but… I heard you’ve done a lot of work. Word spread about how you just kept raising levels like mad. I feel kinda proud that my sword did that for you. So seriously–just keep it.”

Mikella’s eyes beamed, her smile widening. “Thank you so much! I’ll treasure it!”

“I know you will.”

Adam grinned. Then he pulled out the same sword that Mikella gave in the first place.

It was the same impressive looking longsword that she used all the time before returning to the town, but now it has returned with its full glory. The blade was sharpened to the point where Zeke thought just looking at it would cut his eyes, and the metal working across the blade looked refined, almost prestigious.

But then his eyes noticed the change in it immediately. Without really thinking, he flared Internal Senses, allowing him to look deep within anything that had channels to travel energy to and from.

That got him to widen his eyes. The inner workings of the weapon proved that it had mana filled to the brim, practically overflowing from the edges. A strange mixture of purple, red, blue, and orange mana seem to coalesce together in a myriad of colors across the base of the sword all the way to the tip. It was mesmerizing.

At the same time, mana congealed all around the weapon, a different sort than the swirl of different colored mana lying within. If he had to make a comparison, it was like seeing an ice cream sandwich with the center filled with a big wallop of vanilla, but the sweet bread was made with a small amount of chocolate filling.

Man, he really missed eating sweets in the old world…

“So that’s enchantment…” Zeke muttered, which inadvertently caught the two’s attention. The smith widened his eyes at his remark.

“That it is, lad. I keep forgetting you're a Runist,” The smith brushed the long wild black hair behind his head. “Honestly, this enchantment thing is beyond me. I just prefer knocking iron into its place.”

“Hey, no judgment there,” Mikella smirked, getting the smith to joyfully chortle at that. “Zeke, what do you mean?”

“You asked for the sword to be lighter, but also durable, right?” Zeke asked, getting Mikella to nod. “Well, I think that’s what I’m seeing with my Internal Senses.”

“Oh damn, for real?” Mikella asked, her eyes widening. “It definitely does feel lighter when I carry it.”

As an example, Mikella gave herself some distance from the men as she swung her sword in the empty area. Each swing was precise and steady, nothing like how she was when she first got the weapon. Her stats might have made it easier, but each swing she made caused the blade to practically slice the air apart from its heaviness, nearly making Zeke’s skin vibrate.

“Holy shit…” Zeke said, getting the smith to laugh again.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” The smith clapped his meaty hands together once, and it was way louder than Zeke could handle.

“Wow, it’s so light, but it still feels powerful…” Mikella commented.

“Isn’t it because of your stats too?” Zeke said, also adding in an apologetic look to the smith. The smith didn’t even flinch and just waved it off as Zeke continued. “It’s still enchanted, but you got like sixty Strength now, right?”

“Sixty-three, thank you very much,” Mikella replied, causing the smith to whistle in response.

“Oh, excuse me, sixty-three,” Zeke repeated with an almost mock tone, but he quickly returned with a smirk. “I’m guessing it’s different then?”

“Yeah. If it was just my stats, I could just feel it in my hands. But there’s something about the weapon that made it lighter compared to me putting some more effort into my muscles. Hell, if I added in my Strength stat, I could probably do some crazy damage!”

Mikella did exactly that and swung harder, causing the vibrations from every swing to practically distort the pressure around them. Zeke swore that he thought the shelves could get destroyed if she kept swinging at empty air at that.

“That enchantment is no joke…” Zeke said, shaking his head.

“And don’t forget, lad!” Adam called out, catching his attention while Mikella was distracted with her new toy. “I got you your specific weapon too!”

He turned to the smith who seemed to have disappeared underneath the wooden counter. How the hell can a big man like that just disappear like that beneath a dinky desk?

His question put aside, Adam returned in full force, carrying two seemingly normal gloves and putting them onto the counter. Zeke walked over to it, inspecting them.

They looked like fingerless gloves, the cloth only reaching the midsection of the finger rather than covering them entirely. The cloth was black in general, but there were some small light blue colors sewn in the base of the entire glove.

Rather than activating Internal Senses, he decided to just Identify the item. It was cheap, and easily capable of doing the same, at least to scrape the general idea of what it was.

The information astounded him when he read the notification.

> Gloves of Sanctuary (Uncommon):

>

> Gloves created with the sense of safety behind them. Pushes the ideal that protection comes first before anything.

>

> Enchantments:

> Lesser Support Aid

> Lesser Support Proficiency

“Whoa,” Zeke said, lifting the gloves up and finally inspecting them fully with Internal Senses.

His skill washed over the layout of the gloves, the inner workings, and found that there was a strange sense of energy. It was hard to describe. There weren’t even colors to describe the mana, almost as though there was nothing there. However, he did feel a strange sense of calmness despite having no color to speak of, the entire glove filled to the brim to provide exactly what it described.

“Gotta hand it to ya,” The smith spoke, clearly seeing the amazed look in Zeke’s eyes. “You got the luck of the devil to get something exactly what you need. Turns out my friend tried to get rid of this thing for years. When I asked him for it, he practically begged me to take it away.”

“Whoa,” Mikella looked over to the gloves, probably using Identify herself. “They’re perfect for you! Go ahead, try them on.”

After Zeke turned to the smith, getting a nod in return (he did pay for them after all), Zeke put the gloves on.

He could feel that same colorless Mana rushing to his channels, entering into his body seamlessly. He didn’t feel anything though, but he did feel that his skills were… touched? He wasn’t quite sure. The colorless mana didn’t enter into him and burn him up, but just cascaded into his body. Is that how wearing magical equipment worked?

He still had a tough time trying to figure that out, but thanks to his Internal Senses, he had a good feeling on how to actually use it normally.

He turned to the side, using the same empty area Mikella used to test her sword. With a gesture, he conjured a barrier in front of him.

It didn’t look different. It still had that same turquoise color and the usual transparent wall made of magic. But this time, he felt that same colorless mana traveling through the barrier, though only to his senses. When Zeke stepped to the side, he merely gestured to it.

And Mikella rushed in with a powerful swing of her new sword. It made a heavy impact, normally capable of breaking his wall thanks to her high strength and the newly improved sword. But this time, the barrier held, and Zeke barely felt the need to replenish it.

His barrier improved by miles.

“Holy shit! I almost got hurt doing that!” Mikella winced, flinging her hands with the sword put to the other hand, then repeating the process with the other.

Adam, on the other hand, just gawked at the scene with widened eyes. “Sweet gods, that was powerful. No, your barrier is powerful. Certain now that the horde won’t ever invade this town ever again with that.”

“And it barely cost any mana for me,” Zeke said, impressed with the potency himself as he looked back at the gloves, then he turned to Adam. “Thanks for everything. These are incredible.”

“Make sure you come in every often for me to repair. I don't’ wanna deal with that sorry mess of a sword from back then, you hear me, lass?”

“Yes sir,” Mikella nodded profusely. “I’ll probably won’t be using the sword as much the next few days… hopefully.”

Mikella still seemed down about getting taken out of the action. She understood the consequences of her actions, but there’s only so much she can do while staying inside the house. Turning to Zeke, she smiled. “I hope you have some fun out there. Make sure you work hard and gain some XP for both of us.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Zeke nodded, hoping himself that he can be of use. It’s been a while since he’s done anything physical after all.