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Otherworldly Trials [LITRPG Adventure]
Vol 3 Ch 20: Fixed right up

Vol 3 Ch 20: Fixed right up

“This is not making me feel any better.”

“Stop your whining!” Mikella hissed back at Zyler who kept gnashing at his fingernails like a nervous mother. “You’re gonna mess up Zeke’s concentration.”

Everyone was staying quiet as Zeke went to work for Diaga. Even from this distance, Mikella wanted to comfort her as she saw Diaga’s shoulders shuddering from the pressure. And it was a lot of pressure, coming from the man whose eyes looked like they could devour her whole.

His face was a picture of complete concentration. His different colored eyes were now glowing in bright blue-green light. His entire body had an aura that was incredibly heavy in its bearing. At some point, even while focusing, he pulled out his magic glasses Zyler gave him and put it on. Now he looked more overbearing somehow, as though he got serious when the glasses were on.

Even the lords watched with awe, Cloud most of all keen on his process. He looked like he was ready to inscribe everything into his notes while Val had her fingers laced to each other in nervousness. She just wanted this to end safely.

Mikella wanted that too. More than anyone else. After talking to Diaga to make her feel better, she felt a kinship with her. With Zyler making sure she wasn’t getting into any trouble, Mikella felt like she was an older version of Clara. It was easier to talk to her in that way, and Clara certainly loved her. She still found it incredibly hard to see how this sweet woman is related to this beast of a man, but she digressed.

But soon Zeke breathed heavily, lifting his hands. Those hands soon became submerged in dense magical power, enough that even Mikella could tell just how much power was packed into those hands.

The dense magical energy corroded his hands to his forearms, leaving behind waving mists that looked like his arms were aflamed in bluish liquid fire.

There, the air quaked in invisible pressure. The ground began to shake as the pressure built in the air. It was the aura that surrounded Zeke. It began to grow bigger and bigger, nearly taking over the entire room.

Mikella, Zyler, and the lords stood by in shock at the level of power. To their surprise, especially Mikella, the power was still contained despite the heavy pressure. Diaga also seemed completely unaffected, her mind completely closed off somehow during the process. Was it due to Zeke’s power?

She knew Zeke was having difficulty trying to train that power without suffering the heavy consequences that power usually brought. Perhaps things changed after his Journeyman advancement, but it astounded her just how much control he was using, even if it was at the tenth of its usual might.

The aura became bigger and bigger before suddenly shrinking in size, becoming denser in exchange. The process kept repeating; the aura becoming bigger, then shrinking down and condensing, then becoming bigger again.

At the same time, the pressure continues to increase, becoming harder to bear for even the room to handle. Zyler stood up, his fists clamped shut.

“I’m getting her out of there!”

“No!” Mikella grabbed Zyler’s shoulder hard, keeping him in place. “You do that, and you’ll mess up Diaga for good!”

“Are you sure about that?” Zyler growled, his eyes turning sharp as his canines flared. “I remember him completely fucking up the biodome on his own. Can you really say it won’t happen again?”

“I can,” Mikella shouted back, her resolve showing through her expression. “Just. Trust. Us.”

She said, emphasizing each word. Her hand kept grasping Zyler’s shoulder all the while, ensuring that if he kept going, she would stop him by force.

Because she knew that she would do the same if it was Clara on the other side. She understood Zyler’s emotions very well, enough to sympathize with him. But she also knew Zeke, and trusted him with her life as well as Clara’s. She just had to ensure Zyler did the same.

Thankfully, while he still glared at her and looked ready to kill everyone around him to take Diaga out of there, he stayed put. The pressure wasn’t helping anyone as it continued to increase, making the normally warded room rumble and even showing spider web-like cracks throughout the walls.

Cloud was working overtime to keep the room steady along with using Zeke’s personal runes, but they were already stuttering out, small sparks jutting through the surface. Even his own powerful runes weren’t enough to protect the room from his attunement.

But she can tell. Somehow or another, Zeke was keeping a steady grasp on his power. At the very least, there’s no giant blast of energy, or another Giant Zeke form going on. That must count for something. He must be taking that power slowly, almost to a pinpoint.

“There’s no fucking way he’s using only ‘ten’ Mana points,” Zyler muttered, watching with eyes that were a mix between anger and fear.

Even Mikella had to give Zyler that. This level of power can’t only be his perspective of ten points. But considering it’s Zeke… who knows?

The aura that surrounded Zeke then shifted into a humanoid form. It was like watching Zeke transform into his giant version of himself, except that this time it was only a few sizes bigger than an average human. The humanoid figure, looking more like Zeke with his shaggy hair and extremely rounded bright eyes, only had his upper body shown as his arms closed in towards Diaga. His hands suddenly became bigger than what they were, surrounding Diaga whole.

Then the hands shut tight around her in a powerful force. Mikella couldn’t keep her eyes away, but she heard Zyler howl in pain after watching that.

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Then, in a matter of a single moment, everything vanished. The pressure, the intensity in the air, and all that aura just disappeared like a puff of smoke. Zeke and Diaga showed themselves easily enough. Diaga just stayed perfectly still, then fell to her knees. Zyler immediately ran over without caring about anything else.

Mikella instead went over to Zeke who just stood there, his eyes almost glazed over while his two hands were still outstretched. He looked like a husk that had been drained, but when she approached closer, Zeke lifted his head and smiled weakly.

“Hey…” Zeke said, his voice groggy as if he’d been screaming all this time. “Did the house survive…?”

“Almost,” Mikella answered with a smirk, but she peered every nook and cranny on Zeke’s body as she helped take off his glasses. She remembered him not liking having it on all the time as the mana regeneration would feel uncomfortable when he reached full.

He looked worn out, but not so bad that he couldn't move. He seemed like he was about to wobble and fall, but he kept steady to himself. Still, Mikella held him up by the torso and Zeke easily leaned in towards her. He didn’t need to be afraid of his weight as Mikella can still easily lift Zeke up like a doll.

“Don’t carry me like a princess, okay?” Zeke begged.

Mikella giggled. She would still do so if he can’t really move. It was just too funny not to do that.

“Is everyone alright!?” Val said, turning to Zeke. Realizing he was fine, she went over to Diaga’s side. Zyler was constantly asking if she was alright, checking her pulse, and even checking her temperature. So far, nothing seemed wrong. “How is she, Zyler?”

“I-I don’t know,” Zyler for once sounded unsure of himself. “She doesn’t seem off, at least her body feels normal, but she’s not responding. Hey, Diaga!”

Cloud stepped over, noticing the damage done to the warded room. It was supposed to have been protected so that no matter what happened on the inside, it wouldn’t destroy anything so easily. Unfortunately, the room looked like a hurricane and earthquake had a disastrous baby; cracks ran along every wall and everything that was once part of the walls were on the floor becoming debris left over.

Mikella winced at the damage, unable to comprehend the price for this type of room, but she kept that at bay as she carried Zeke over to Diaga to see the results. There, Diaga finally managed to move. It was as though she finally woke up from a dream, still unable to speak.

She took off the fabric clothed that draped over her head, and vibrant crimson hair fell over to the middle of her back and over her face. She slowly removed the hair off her face, revealing it for real.

It was like a painting come to life. A beautiful woman with near flawless skin and yellow eyes that popped like sunflowers approaching daylight. Her lips were cherry red, and her facial features were nothing if not sculpted to perfection. She heard Zeke swallow at her appearance, encapsulated by her remarkable beauty.

Honestly, Mikella can’t blame him. She had a feeling that Myra would immediately fall for her too. And the most surprising part was that this was her in the Expert stage.

She wasn’t hunching over like before. Instead, she stood, almost surprising herself as she appeared taller than Mikella expected. Even taller than herself. Zyler watched with his jaw nearly reaching the floor, his eyes wide. Diaga looked back at her hands in shock, looking just as healthy as she looked.

“I…” Diaga spoke softly, but the tone of her voice was a lot more huskier than ragged, then as she spoke up, it became enchanting to hear. “I feel fantastic. This is the best I have ever felt in years…! Brother, brother, look!”

Diaga looked back at her older brother, her excited expression beaming brighter than even the light Zeke showed. Zyler had a difficult time making a response, doing exactly as Diaga said with not a word to say.

“Haha, do I really look that different?” Diaga giggled, a sound like bells chiming in delight. “Can someone show me a mirror, please? I’m dying to know!”

Val did exactly that, smiling brightly as she carried the mirror that she used for Mikella when she transformed. When Diaga eagerly took it for herself to see, her eyes widened, becoming like a brightening sun.

“My gods… I haven’t looked like this since… well, I never looked like this,” Diaga marveled, rubbing her cheek with her dainty fingers. “This… this can’t be me, can it? Has Zeke somehow changed my body?”

“No, no, that’s how you look,” Zyler finally said, shaking himself. As though hearing his sister doubting herself, Zyler smiled a wide grin. “I always told you that you looked like a real beauty if you put in the effort. Looks like Zeke did it all for you!”

Diaga huffed. “You always say that brother, even when I look like death itself. It’s no wonder I can’t believe you… but now I suppose you are right.”

Diaga put down the mirror, facing Zeke and Mikella. She warmed into a bright smile at them.

“I don’t know what to say… this is a blessing I have never thought I would receive. How… How can I ever even think of paying you back?”

“I told you,” Zeke said, more energized than before. He managed to lift himself to stand up, but Mikella made sure to stay by his side. “This is fine. I went and tried something I had never done before, and it succeeded. I can’t ask you for payment since I got some good experience out of it.”

“But you look so tired, and this room,” Diaga said, now more concerned than grateful as she also took a look around her. “How much have you lost to deliver so much power?”

“Right, the room…” Zeke grimaced, looking around the destroyed room before Cloud cleared his throat.

“Don’t worry about the room–this is all easily fixable.”

“Especially after Zeke’s plan worked,” Val grinned. “Though I do expect him to pay back with some voluntary work with his runecraft.”

“I will, I promise,” Zeke said immediately. He was nothing if not dedicated. Then he turned to Diaga. “Oh, and yeah, I did spent more mana than I was expecting,” Zeke said honestly, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “I actually spent about 25 points instead of the ten points I promised. Sorry about that. It took a lot more power than I realized.”

“Just… 25 points?” Cloud said, getting everyone to look at him as if he was crazy. “You’re sure about that?”

“Yeah,” Zeke nodded. “And it’s not like I was damaged or anything like before. It is just going to take a lot longer than a few hours to recover that mana back, even with my glasses. I realize when I use my attunement like that, the mana it uses up takes a lot longer to recover. I’ll take that over getting mana burnout any day, though.”

Everyone stared blankly at him even as he tried to smile off the incredible feat he made like it was nothing. Meanwhile, Mikella just shook her head. Zeke could say that he broke the world and restored it back to normal in a heartbeat all because he wanted to help someone out. That was the sort of guy he was.

Which is why there’s no one else she would rely on more than him. Just as she was about to go and joke about how ridiculous that was, a presence overwhelmed the room and everyone turned at the incoming footsteps of two people coming in.

Those two people were none other than Cronus and his wife Isabelle who opened the door to the warded room. Cronus didn’t look pleased at all, but he still showed a smile that made Mikella’s body shiver.

“Hey Cloud. I just felt someone used some pretty intense mana. Why didn’t you tell me he was also a holder of a high realm Attunement?”