I was still playing with my new magic when a knock came from the door.

"Cecil? Are you awake? I've brought you some clothes."

"Coming." I answered.

Re-absorbing the carnivorous vine I'd grown from my arm before making my way towards uncle Uter. The thing hissed as it disappeared down my skin, though I didn't experience any sort of discomfort as it went down.

'Just one more thing to get used to. No big deal.'

I opened the door with some trepidation. Making sure to poke an arm and only an arm out. Then I grabbed the offered bundles and got properly dressed.

The new pants and boxers were comfortable, though the shirt was a little tight around the shoulders. Still, it would have to do for today.

I stepped out of my room and looked down at my uncle. Noting the way his gaze had hardened since yesterday. His eyes seeming deeper and more focused than before. Those very eyes took in my figure now. Looking me up and down as if searching for some flaw in a statue.

"You look good." He said at last.

"Thank you." I answered. Relaxing after the compliment.

"Too good." He went on. Donning a worried expression on his face.

"Uh. Thank you?" I scratched my head a little before continuing. "Is that a bad thing?"

"It very well could be." He grumbled. Massaging his temple before sighing. "I'm sorry. It's just... I've been thinking about what's been happening to us as a family and about the ways I could be doing better. One of those things I haven't been doing is talking to you. Following up about regular things. They, hah..."

He sighed again.

"They tend to fall by the wayside when you're surrounded by all this nonsense. I don't think I've been there for you. To teach you about responsibilities s you grow older."

He took another deep breath through the nose and released it through his mouth as he heaved an even bigger sigh. The action making the bags under his eyes stand out even more. Looking at him now, it was hard to say when he'd last slept.

'Or he ever slept at all.'

"Uncle, what are you talking about?"

"You. Cecil. Your development into a functional adult. It just hit me that me and your father both had girlfriends when we were 15. And neither of us looked half as good as you."

He said it in a voice that was very, matter of fact. As if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Not even close." He added later. After having another, longer look.

For my part, I was flabbergasted.

'Where did this come from?' I thought to myself. My guts twisting a little at the suddenness of it all.

'Is this a parent thing I don't know about? I mean, aunt Cheryl is always calling me handsome, but this feels different from that. Wait, is he... worried I'm going to start dating?'

That didn't seem like something uncle Uter would worry about though. I always imagined he'd give me a smile and a thumbs up if it ever came to it.

'Or maybe he's worried about me dating someone in this town. Someone who was raised with magic from birth. Some weirdo who was going to start being a bad influence.'

I shook my head. Not daring to entertain those thoughts for even a second.

Yes, there were a lot of pretty girls here, but most of the ones I'd met were bullies to some extent. Always snickering around me when I asked a perfectly normal question here and there.

Elsie was the worst, as she somehow hadn't gotten the memo to mind her own freaking business whenever I turned to confront her, but the others weren't much better. Indeed, now that I thought on it, I couldn't see myself getting involved with anyone here.

There was simply too high of a wall between us, even with the few friends I had. Something like having a girlfriend hadn't even crossed my mind. It would be like dating a tiger or a bear, in that they would be pretty to look at, while remaining vicious predators at their core.

"I don't think you need to worry about that uncle. I've got a lot on my plate right now. What with all this, saving the world business. I'm still processing what happened last night and I've got brand new magic powers to test out. I don't know if I could handle a relationship right now. I wouldn't know where to start. I'm not even sure I could tolerate most of the people I met here. Let alone date them."

There was some relief in his eyes after that.

"I'm glad. Even though it might feel lonely for you or even if you might not feel completely at home here, I'm still glad. The things some of my coworkers have said..."

He let the words hang in the air. As if they had somehow choked him as they left his mouth. The bags under his eyes somehow managing to deepen even further as he stared into my own eyes.

"Never mind that." He continued after a few moments. "I shouldn't worry you with the details. But we do need to have a conversation about yourself now. About growing up and what it means to be responsible. I understand that it might be coming out of the blue, but I really cannot leave it for later."

The talk that followed was supremely uncomfortable. So much so that I seriously thought I'd die of shame before it was over. Thankfully, it came to an end after 10 or so minutes and I managed to sprint down the stairs without making any further eye contact.

----------------------------------------

We rode in silence all the way to the store. Him being preoccupied with his own thoughts and me being too busy pretending that talk hadn't happened.

'I mean, jeez. Like I really need to be carrying around... that. Who does he think I am? Coach Russell? Even if he didn't mean anything by it, why bring it up now? After all the things I told him last night?'

Sure enough, uncle Uter seemed distracted as he drove. His eyes being locked on to the road and the empty streets in front of him while his mind wandered someplace else. Almost as if he were a chess player contemplating their array of possible moves.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

'So why bring that up? Of all the things he could have said to me. Is he going through the motions? Is it something he feels adults should be saying? Or is he actually scared that I'm going to off and... and...'

I shook my head to dispel the thoughts and focused my gaze on the practice yard out in the distance. Targets arrayed neatly or slightly behind cover as other kids took up bows or throwing axes on the other side.

'Damn. I wish I was there with them. Though I'd settle for just about any other place right now.'

The indignation was still burning within me as I got off the car. Though it was soon replaced by other newfound realizations.

"Uncle? Is it just me or does the place look, brighter?"

"How do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean that the street here is more, I don't know how to describe it. Detailed? I feel like I'm noticing a lot more stuff than before. Like, the air has more smells and the grass and the trees planted along the street feel more alive. More colourful."

He shrugged.

"Must be a magic thing. Or maybe its because of that core of yours. I'll ask around if you want."

"Yeah. Thanks uncle."

"Does this mean you're done sulking?" He asked. In a very deadpan tone.

"I'm not sulking." I bit back. "I have every reason to be upset. How could you just bring that up out the blue like that?"

He shrugged again and shut the car door behind him.

"It's a conversation we had to have at some point. Part of being your guardian. The only reason we didn't have it sooner was because you always struck us as a quieter, calmer sort of kid. Since you always kept a steady group of friends around and because you tended to like staying indoors. Clearly, that's about to change."

"I'm not going to start acting like coach Russell just because I got taller uncle Uter."

"Sweet heavens, I sure hope not. We've got enough on our plate right now without having to worry about that sort of thing. Still, you never know where your..." He paused. Searching for the right words.

"Feelings. Yes. That's right. You never know where your feelings will take you. You might not have much intertest in that topic right now, but who knows what'll happen in a year? I mean, heck. Who knows what will happen in a month?"

He shook his head.

"You're a growing boy. Cecil. Almost a grown man. These, uh, precautions, are part of being a responsible adult. You'll just have to get used to it. Trust me. It's better to think things through now, rather than later. Especially around these parts where half the people walking by are most likely weirdoes. I know a few guys from high-school that are pretty close to being grandparents. None of them had a very good time of it back then and they're certainly not having a good time right now. Better safe than sorry, I always say."

I rolled my eyes and pushed open the door. Swinging it with some amount of force as I vented my frustrations.

That, was a mistake.

The slab of solid steel bounced against the other wall like a ping-pong ball. Coming right back with all the speed and ferocity of a pissed-off gorilla to smash my teeth in. It hit me square in the face. Sending me reeling backwards unto the pavement.

"Cecil!? Cecil! Are you okay!?"

Uncle Uter was beside me in a heartbeat. Patting me down and trying to get a good look at the damage.

"Hold on! I'll call an ambulance."

"No! It's fine! I'm fine." I tried to say.

Instead, what ended up coming out of my mouth was: "Mwoooo! Gish fann! Gim fan."

It wasn't a lie either. It hadn't really hurt that much in the first place and I could already feel my wounds closing by themselves as magic surged from my core. Spreading out towards my skin and coating the outer layers of it with resplendent warmth.

I did end up losing a couple of front teeth, but those were growing back too. So, no harm was done.

Besides, I was embarrassed enough by what had just happened. The last thing I needed was someone like Elsie finding out and coming over to harass me some more.

"Hold on. I'm calling the ambulance right now."

"Nuuuuuu!!!"

"Now hold on there Uter. Let the boy speak for himself."

We both turned to see Sava walking out of her store. Arms crossed as she leaned against the doorframe. Her face was mostly impassive as she looked down on me and my uncle, though the corners of her mouth were curled slightly upwards and her eyes carried a mischievous glint.

"Take a few seconds kid. Breathe. Take a big gulp of air and let yourself cool off for a few seconds. Then decide what you want to do."

Uncle Uter looked incensed.

"He needs to go to the hospital again!"

Sava raised an eyebrow.

"Does he? Seems perfectly fine to me."

Uncle Uter's jaw almost hit the floor. His cheeks colored again. The telltale sign that he was about to burst into a rant. When Sava raised a hand to forestall his fury.

"Listen Uter. You have got to let go of these biases of yours already. The world's changed, whether you like it or not, and you have to get used to it. This here situation? This is normal around these parts."

"How is this normal!?" He bellowed.

"Okay. First of all. Lower your damn voice. I don't let anyone speak to me like that. Not even people I like. I respect you enough to talk civilly so I'll be expecting the same from you. Second, do you honestly think your damn nephew's the only kid here who ever swung a door too hard?"

She pointed at the spot where my head had been. The metal there was, slightly deformed.

Then she pointed at me.

"What you have to do in these situations is make a list of relevant factors and move on from there. Number one, is he conscious? Number two, is he breathing normally and without impediment? Number three, is he bleeding profusely? If the answer to any of these is yes, then he definitely needs a healer. If not, then it's up for debate. Ask Cecil how he's doing and let him decide."

Uncle Uter was flabbergasted. Anger turning to incredulity and then back to anger again.

"What kind of nonsense is that? What if he's got a concussion?"

"He's level one ain't he? You don't really get concussions at that point. Not if you've got a halfway decent core. Again, I'm not saying that Cecil doesn't need a hospital. I ain't him and I don't know how he's feeling. My point is, you don't know how he's feeling either. Let the boy speak."

It was then that I managed to squeeze in a few words.

"I'm fine. I healed the damage. I' fine uncle. Really." Uncle Uter's attention snapped back to me. His eyes bulging as I wiped away the blood to reveal the newly-grown skin beneath.

"Damn kid. That was quick." Sava said from behind him. "I guess the rumours were true. Good job working so hard all this time. You've earned it."

"Thank yo... wait. What rumours?"

"Never you mind that." Uncle Uter butt in. Stopping the conversation in its tracks before it had a chance to go any further.

"Thank you, Sava. I'll keep your input in mind. We'll do some shopping now and then we'll be on our way."

She said nothing. Her eyes going from my uncle to me.

"Okay Uter. I'll stay out of it. Not like I got a horse in this race or anything. That said, you shouldn't keep Cecil in the dark for too long. He's got a right to know and better that he hear it from you than some of his friends."

Uncle Uter's nod was so stiff that, for a moment, I feared his neck might snap in two.

Regardless, he did nod. After which, he helped me to my feet and the two of us loaded the car with as much food as we could possibly stuff into it. Him making several trips to the aisles and me bringing in half the stuff in one go.

We worked in silence. Him sullenly stewing on the perceived impropriety while I kept going over the conversation in my head.

'What rumours could they be talking about? Did people know about my core already? It shouldn't be that strange, right? Why would anyone be talking about me? Wait, Mr. Robertson did mention something about there only being five families with seventh-Stage cores. Including me and my new one. Could it be that it's a special occasion? Or maybe it has nothing to do with the Stage of my core and much more to do with what kind of core it is.'

I vaguely recalled Marco saying something about healing powers being rare and sought after. No matter how strong your actual core was.

'Yeah. That makes sense. She saw me healing my face and figured the rumours were true. Although, if that was the reason, why wouldn't uncle Uter talk to me about it?'

His reaction didn't make sense in the slightest. If that was really the case and I was the new best healer in town, then chances were uncle Uter would be delighted. After all, it would mean taking up shifts in the hospital. Meaning that I wouldn't be spending as much time in the Dungeon. Those work hours would also be compensated rather handsomely, so that was yet another reason to celebrate.

Of course, there was that other option. The fact that Mr. Robertson and coach Russell had initiated an attack on an Alaskan town with the aim of giving people over there cores of their very own. An attack that had resulted in countless vehicles being totalled and more than a few buildings collapsing into rubble. An attack that had seen countless people getting injured.

An attack that I had helped to facilitate.

'No. That makes even less sense. I told uncle Uter all about it. He found out from me. He wouldn't be upset at rumor mongering. Unless he's upset that other people know about it at all. Maybe he wanted coach Russell and Mr. Robertson to keep it to themselves.'

Come to think of it, yeah. If those two had been babbling about it, then I'd be pretty freaking upset as well, and the three of us would need to have a conversation about boundaries sooner rather than later.

But uncle Uter didn't bring the rumours up. Not while in the store and not while we were driving back.

Instead, we rode the rest of the way as we'd driven before. In sullen silence.