By the time Zeke awoke, he holed up within Cloud’s study for the remainder of the day.

Not due to injuries or anything of the like–he just hid away to avoid being confronted by the others.

Unlike before, he knew exactly what happened. He tried to reach into his attunement, something that felt so far away from him that trying to focus on it at anytime felt impossible. At the time, where his body and mind were stressed, he thought he could channel into that power.

He also thought he would just go a little crazy, like how Mikella’s lightning goes sometimes. He turned out to be completely wrong.

Rather than a bit of power going amuck, an atomic bomb took place and nearly wiped out the entirety of the northern forest of the town. If he hadn’t had his barrier for the town up by then, and if Mikella hadn’t somehow managed to convince the barrier to exclude him out–all the restorative work they have done onto the town would’ve been wiped away.

The air pressure alone could have harmed people, perhaps even killed them in their lower stages. He lost control of it all, and he knew now that it was impossible to control.

Somehow, it seemed that picking Undeath would’ve been a better choice. At least it could’ve been controlled. Instead, he had an attunement that was as strong as the power of the sun from the old world thrust into his body without his consent.

But no matter how much he wanted to excuse that his power was just uncontrollable, the fact was that he messed up. Big time, in fact. Now there was a giant crater that he had no idea what to do with.

But rather than dealing with the aftermath, he spent the entire time in the study after asking for a bit of alone time to gather his thoughts. He kept reading book after book, not really for gathering knowledge but to stew in his thoughts.

He didn’t know how to face the others after what happened. After the whole speech with Mikella about taking care of himself to avoid letting others die, he almost killed nearly all the citizens in Eve Glade. Thankfully it didn’t seem like he was damaged in any way. He received the same debuff as before, his channels being too sore to cast any magic at the moment.

He was angry at his attunement, at his strange position, and mostly at himself for letting it all happen. In the end, magic was about self-control, to calm yourself and let the magic flow seamlessly. Worst yet, the sisters were needlessly worried and angry at him, but he ran away before they could really hammer it in.

He wanted to die from the embarrassment, the sickening feeling of being so damn useless to just blow up like that. It felt like all of his awesome achievements in the past half year went up in smoke in everyone’s eyes. Would the citizens denounce him as a lord now? Would the lords kick him out due to that?

Would his own family be harrassed because of this?

A knock on the door pushed him out of his spiraling thoughts to the abyss.

“Who is it?”

He spoke up, ignoring the clearly despairing thoughts as he half-expected Mikella, Val, Cloud–hell, even Zacharia to come in to talk about what happened. Instead, he heard someone completely unexpected.

“Bobo? Are you okay? Can I come in?”

It was Clara. He wondered whether Mikella pushed her into this, but realized that if Mikella hasn’t come in to check on him all this time, she wanted to help him get some personal time for himself to sort this out.

So there was no way Mikella would force Clara to check on him. So if anything, this was done by her own decision. Not wanting to be the type of old man that would snap at a young child’s worry, he answered.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine. Come in, door’s open.”

The knob turned slowly as the door opened up to reveal the little girl, her dark hair slightly longer and reaching over her eyes and covering half of her face. She was growing bigger every month, Zeke swore, and she was that much closer in appearance to Mikella.

Yet, he somehow saw the little girl from back when he first spotted her in the knight’s dungeon. The scared look on her face as she faced someone she didn’t know how to talk to.

Zeke offered a warm smile, prompting her to sit by him. No matter how shitty he felt, he always had time for Clara. Clara instantly beamed and dashed towards the seat near him and plopping herself down.

Today she wore a red button shirt with gray slacks, leather sandals covering her feet. Mikella always did her best to help with her fashion, making Clara realize the importance of looking good no matter the time–it was only natural to prop up her natural good looks, as she always said.

“What’s up?” Zeke asked after a bit of time passed after she sat down.

She hesitated for a while, her lips pressed together after realizing that she didn’t speak up at all. After a bit of hesitation, she finally spoke up.

“Are you okay?” She asked. “Like, really okay?”

“Of course I am,” Zeke answered easily.

“Then… how do you feel?” Clara eventually asked.

That took him by surprise. He did just answer her, didn’t he?

…After a closer look, Zeke realized exactly what Clara was talking about. She wasn’t asking for a physical report–she asked how he ‘felt’.

And the idea of lying to her just to make her feel better felt almost like mockery. He knew what she felt like when he was his age, to want to help even though there wasn’t much help you can do. She was a child–to push any kind of responsibility onto her would be cruel.

But… he also wanted to appease her, to tell her that what she was doing is kind and should be rewarded. He may not feel like talking, but somehow her eyes told him otherwise.

“I… well, I don’t feel great,” Zeke eventually said. When he turned to look at her, she looked at him with fervor in her eyes. She stayed quiet, listening intently.

Well, he supposed he could use a therapist–even if she was too young to get a license.

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“I messed up, Clara,” Zeke let out. “I messed up big time. It’s like I pissed myself in front of everyone. Even after I told Sissy that I was gonna be fine. I’m just really embarrassed right now.”

Zeke chuckled, bitterness leaking out of him. He didn’t want to show Clara this pathetic side of him, but it was better than scaring her and saying that he was fine. He didn’t want to be the kind of adult that Clara has to step on eggshells around.

He wanted to be someone she can trust in, and if possible, someone that she could help if she could. If he could aid her in becoming an adult that cares for others, that’s honestly all he could ask for.

For a moment, Clara stayed quiet. After Zeke stayed silent for another second or two, she finally spoke up.

“I get it,” Clara nodded. “But I don’t think you should be embarrassed. You made a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes, that’s what Vivian said.”

Zeke paused, taking the words to heart. Those were some damn good words, and he was glad that Vivian was teaching her these valuable lessons.

It did feel kinda shitty that now he was receiving them straight from Clara though. Wasn’t he supposed to be the older brother here?

“I guess…” He answered slowly.

“And everyone’s worried about you! They’re not laughing at you, or making fun of you. Everyone thought that you’re hurt or scared. Sissy keeps running around the house, being more worried than everyone else.”

Zeke winced, figuring that was the case. But instead he just kept being holed up in Cloud’s study like a petulant child throwing a tantrum. To hear it from Clara was even worse.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Zeke nodded. He wasn’t even trying to placate her. She really was right. “I just…”

He hesitated, not really knowing exactly what else to say. It would sound like more excuses if he was honest. However, Clara interrupted him.

“But if you don’t wanna come out, that’s fine,” Clara quickly said. “I’ll stay here with you until you feel better. Then we can head out together!”

His chest tightened again, a feeling of wetness ready to overcome his eyes. She wanted to help him so much that she’d be willing to stay in this boring drab room with him for who knows how long.

He knew he should get out at some point, but his feeling of shame overwhelmed him every time. Now, if he doesn’t get out, Clara will join in with his despair.

And honestly? After talking with her, all his depressing thoughts just vanished. He was still here, wasn’t he? He was alive and he can still move. That means he can still work.

“That so?” Zeke smirked at her. “Guess I better head out then.”

“What?” Clara asked almost in shock. “Already?! You don’t wanna stay with me that badly?”

Zeke couldn’t help but hug her, rubbing her head all the while. Clara looked like she wanted to fight back, but eased into his hug as she snuggled to his chest.

“Of course not. I wanna take a bath, and honestly, this place kinda stinks. Don’t you smell it?”

After a short moment, Clara quickly pushed him away, her face scrunched up in disgust.

“Ewww! Stinky!” Clara shouted. “Go take a bath, stinky!”

Zeke couldn’t help but laugh as he gladly let Clara lead him out of the study, hand in hand. Even if he was now Mr. Stinky, she wouldn’t let him go, perhaps afraid that he might run back to the study.

He was done hiding now. If Clara was that worried for him, then there was no point in hiding anymore. He’ll face the music, one way or another.

…..

When Mikella saw Zeke coming out with Clara holding his hand, her heart swelled in delight and relief.

She wanted to give Zeke some room for himself, as clearly hiding himself away into a study and getting everyone to worry wasn’t something he normally did. Due to the circumstances, however, Mikella had to oblige.

So when she saw Clara coming in without being prompted to the study, she worried whether Zeke would react negatively. In the end, there was a reason why Clara liked Zeke quite a bit.

Zeke was just the kind of person to just ‘get’ Clara. She wouldn’t say that Clara is autistic, at least according to her medical records, but Clara did indeed go at her own pace.

So some folks often have a misunderstanding about her, often saying that she wasn’t ‘all there’ in her head, or just too strange to be around. That’s why those shitty brats at her primary school never hung out with her.

That’s where she firmly believed that those who liked Clara and enjoyed being around her are the good guys, and those that don’t are assholes that deserved to be punished by the law.

Is she being biased? Who cares? So she ignored it.

Eventually Zeke did as he promised and bathed to get rid of the grime and sweat from the turmoil of the incident. Having been called Mr. Stinky once again by Clara was enough of a motivator it seems.

Eventually he returned to the living room, fresh as a daisy with a proud Clara in front of him, her hands on her hips and her chest puffed out.

“Sissy! I got Bobo out! Praise my badassery!”

Mikella chuckled as she went over and did that, patting her head. “Good job. You did the impossible.”

Clara just giggled as she and Mikella sat over to the sofa to relax for the day, only realizing that Zeke was left standing there awkwardly.

After being prompted, Zeke tried to sit on the sofa far away from them, only to receive a glare from the two girls. Cowed as he was, he moved enough to nearly squish them into the other side of the sofa as usual with Clara at the center.

Clearly he was still embarrassed after what happened. When Mikella asked for details, ensuring that he didn’t have to answer anything too difficult, Zeke divulged everything right away.

He was embarrased, acting as though he just messed up right after trying to show off how he can handle everything. Mikella could see that in his perspective, but nobody else thought of him that way.

Once they returned, the citizens nearly went into a panic and asked many questions to the lords who arrived to appease them. It took a while, and Mikella was certain there were still a few who were disappointed by the answer, but most of them were relieved that Zeke was fine after he had an accident that caused his own power and the barrier to collide by accident.

That way, nobody would assume that massive amount of power belonged to just one man, but instead an accident that occurred after everyone were training together against the barrier that went against the lord’s expectations. Not exactly a lie, but not exactly the truth either to avoid unneeded suspicion.

Nobody else in the retinue said anything either, though Mikella knew they were contemplating over what they just witnessed. Even now, she could feel the ghost aches of that pressure, the same one she felt right at the end of the undeath dungeon.

To her surprise, Clara didn’t felt anything, or at least didn’t show that she felt anything. Unlike what happened back at the first dungeon where Clara was bleeding out from the giant knight’s own pressure. Perhaps it was due to the lack of the system in her body, or perhaps Zeke, despite losing himself, still managed to ensure that the kids were okay.

Even as he told his own perspective, he often avoided looking at Mikella’s eyes, as though ashamed to face them again. She decided not to give him a hard time on that due to the circumstances.

Plus, she liked the way he squirmed sometimes. It greatly amused her.

This was honestly the first time she had that much fun with a guy even back during the old world. Romance and her just didn’t mix well, as her life was submerged into training for gymnastics and taking care of Clara, during the time when her mother and father were having more fun duking it out and making a hindrance in the house.

If boys didn’t get that they could never be a higher priority than Clara and her training, then they weren’t worth her time. There was also something about her personality being too high-strung for them to handle according to her friends, but she just believed that they didn’t have any backbone.

But despite all of that, Zeke continued to be by her side, as though he was more glad that Clara was there rather than the other way around.

Eventually, however, he soon faced her. His eyes were clearly showing guilt and shame, but at least they also showed that he was willing to repair what was broken, to recover back his stride.

If she was honest, she thought that was rather handsome. If just a little.

But soon the door opened up to reveal the Mystio family coming along, noticing the Runist out of his shell and ready to tackle what exactly happened.