The day ended with me finishing off a dozen Rippers and two ghouls.

My spear finding their necks or eye sockets once they'd been downed.

I was...proud of the achievement.

Perhaps overly so.

Not because it was hard or anything. It wasn't.

The reason I was so proud was that I'd managed to hold on to my spear despite the aching all over my body.

My arms and legs were trembling from exhaustion even before setting foot in the dungeon. Afterwards, each new step was a needle through the skin. A blow in and of itself.

To my shame, I considered giving up. More than once in fact.

But I always grit my teeth and determined to keep going. Pushing my shell further and further. Past the soreness. Past the agony.

Only for it to mean nothing in the end.

I was barely able to cover half the distance I'd covered in the surface and the pain that followed was so intense that I seriously thought I was going to pass out.

But I didn't.

I was still very much awake when Coach Russell picked me up and carried me back to the surface and I remained awake as he ran back to my home.

The man held me as if I was a sack of potatoes and he still managed to run faster than any cars on the road. Leaping over roads in such a way that the impact of lading didn't bother me too much.

He only dropped me when we'd reached my front porch, and even then, he took care to do it slowly and gently so that I landed on my feet.

He then sauntered forward like owned the place. Knocking on the heavy steel door with just enough force that the sound reverberated within the whole house and the first basement floor of the bunker beneath.

'Thank goodness he has that much Control.' I thought with a start. 'With his level, he could probably rip the door right off its hinges if he wasn't careful.'

Aunt Cheryl opened the door soon after.

Her haggard face brightened once she saw me and her sunken-in eyes seemed to regain the tiniest hint of life.

Then she looked at Coach Russell and her face took on a scowl that could have curdled milk.

"I thought his special lessons were supposed to end at 6." She told him. With an edge that could have disemboweled lesser men.

Coach Russell didn't so much as blink. His smile never fading.

"Yes ma'am. That was the plan. However, Cecil here is a damn prodigy! I thought it'd be a waste to have him return on time when there were still gains on the table."

Aunt Cheryl was unmoved.

"It is past 10. 10 pm. What exactly were you doing with my nephew at this hour?"

"Running." He answered.

Saying the truth without saying the whole truth.

Aunt Cheryl snorted in obvious derision.

"And how much more running do you think he'll have to do before he can resume his studies?"

"A whole lot more, if he's lucky. Can't really tell when a core will pop in, but it usually takes a couple of months of continued exposure to magic. Its June now and I'm told that his grades were pretty decent, so he won't be missing much if he decides to skip this last month and go right into the regular summer vacation period. All the other boys and girls his age will be training extra hard in the dungeon during the summer. Even more so than usual. He'll be ready to join his team properly if he keeps up this pace until then."

"So you're saying he won't be back in school until September?" She asked, incredulously.

"Yes ma'am. Though I personally think It'd be a waste. We don't really, put too much stock on the regular curriculum around here. Everyone pretty much goes into the family business in some capacity and you don't really need a lot of book smarts to rise high. Someone with Cecil's talent should be out there delving as much as he can."

I looked up at him. My mouth hanging open.

'Talent? What talent? All I've been doing is running away from you for hours on end!'

Maybe that was it.

Maybe Coach Russell was a sadist who got off on running down teens. Wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Aunt Cheryl must have noticed my expression, because she looked like she about to blow a fuse. Belatedly, I thanked my lucky stars that she didn't have a weapon at the ready.

Elsewise, things might have gotten very freaking ugly, very freaking fast.

Instead, she schooled her expression. Gave Coach Russell a curt nod and yanked me back into the house.

The door shut with a resounding boom.

The heavy steel clashing against the thick stone columns that made up the opening.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Thank goodness for the soundproofing in the rooms." She said offhandedly. "I don't know what I would have done if Eva woke up from that."

I laughed a little. Wincing as the motion sent sharp pains lancing through my beaten body.

Aunt Cheryl noticed that too. Eyeing me with a mixture of pity, guilt and concern.

"You shouldn't be working yourself so hard Cecil. You look terrible."

I laughed some more.

"I'm with you Auntie. I couldn't agree more. But our neighbours don't seem to care what you or I think."

Her face twisted with shame.

"I could tell them off tomorrow. I could say that you're sick or that you're just too tired to move. Heck, I could say the fridge fell on top of you. Anything to keep you here. At least for a day."

The temptation was almost too much to bear.

Almost.

"Auntie, I...I can't. Coach Russell would know. Everyone would. My stats....I've already figured out what some of them are doing. The muscle aches are killing me right now, but they'll be almost gone by morning. I think it might be my high Vitality."

She scoffed.

"Don't lie to me Cecil. I haven't noticed anything of the sort and I've been working myself haggard right next to Uter. I got to 1.2 today."

I took in her words and turned on my Analyzer to show her my progress.

Name:

Cecil Fowler

Core:

None

Level:

0

Vitality:

1.7

Endurance:

1.6

Potency:

1.3

Precision:

1.3

Fortitude:

1.3

Skills:

None

"What the fuck!?" I yelled, staring incredulously at how fast the numbers had risen.

"Cecil! Language!" Aunt Cheryl snapped, though she too couldn't tear her eyes away from the screen.

'How!? This was... how!?'

"Cecil.... what have you been doing?"

"Running! That and the stupid stretches and the weightlifting! The only thing we did differently today was that we went into the..."

"Dungeon." She finished for me.

Then she grabbed me by the shoulders and patted my body all over.

"Did you break anything?"

"No? At least, I don't think so. I just ran behind Coach Russell and killed the monsters he left for me. I mean, I was completely spent and exhausted the whole time. Almost running on fumes. Coach Russell did say that more effort meant better gains and that people improved more the deeper into the dungeon they went. Maybe that's what happened?"

Aunt Cheryl nodded. Seemingly lost in thought.

She stayed like that for a whole minute. Her gaze locked onto the bracelet.

Afterwards, she rose slowly and began to re-heat the dinner she'd prepared.

"I'll take care of Eva tomorrow. For the whole day. I'll tell Uter to go with you when you train with that man."

She faltered for a fraction of a second, before releasing a resigned sigh.

"If what you're doing is too dangerous, I want him there to keep you safe. If not...."

She bit her lip. The words refusing to come out.

"If not, we should be doing it too. We're your guardians. We're supposed to keep you safe. Its not right that you should be working yourself harder than us. It's not fair to you."

I stammered. Unsure of what to say.

'You shouldn't be thinking that. You already do so much for me. You have Eva to take care of. I can take care of myself. I can take care of you too.'

The words came to my mind, but I found that I couldn't voice them for whatever reason.

There a selfish tightness in my chest. A longing for company. For Uncle Uter to be there.

In the end, I settled for some meek thanks and ate my meal in silence.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next morning came too soon in my opinion.

I looked at the bracelet and groaned when I realized that nine whole hours had passed.

'At least the soreness is bearable now.'

Indeed, my arms, legs and torso felt refreshed. Almost as if I'd been resting for a couple of days instead of a single night.

I stood up, dressed in fresh running clothes and went down for breakfast.

Eva was there. Next to my aunt and uncle.

Her eyes were sparkling and her mouth was moving at lightning speed. Struggling to tell me about all her new friends and about the magic they could do in as short a time as humanly possible.

"So Kelly, she can fly! She goes brrrr! And she spreads her arms and she can fly! She doesn't flap her arms like a bird but she can fly anyways! She makes the wind pick her up and she goes brrr and brrr! Like an airplane! And Sally! She can throw fire! She opens her mouth like a dragon and breathes fire! She said her parents once grounded her for setting the curtains in her house on fire, so now she's not allowed to do it inside anymore. But she's so much fun! She said I could do magic too!"

"That's great sweetie." Aunt Cheryl said.

"Cab Kelly and Sally come and stay for the night?"

"No sweetie." Aunt Cheryl said.

"Why not!?"

"Because she sets things on fire sweetie."

"That's not fair! Its her magic! All my new friends have magic! That's just what magic does!"

Aunt Cheryl gave her the look.

Eva saw it and immediately turned towards me and Uncle Uter. Her puffy cheeks so red that she could have passed for a crabapple.

"Its not fair that everyone else can have friends over but I can't!"

"Eva, dear, listen to your mother. She knows what she's talking about."

"But its not fair! I'm not gonna have any friends if I'm not allowed to bring people over!"

She turned her pouty lips in my direction.

"Tell them Cecil! Tell them!"

I opened my mouth and ended up sighing.

"Look, Eva. We're handling grown up stuff right now. You're probably better off not bringing anyone here. Its not safe."

"How is it not safe!? They're not gonna get hurt! They have magic powers!"

'Which is exactly why its not safe.'

I looked over at my aunt and uncle. Both of them were massaging their temples in frustration.

No doubt wondering how to explain the simple reality that any of Eva's friends could probably kill us all if they lost control for even a second. Not to mention the possible consequences of a tantrum.

Those kids would have been born with cores and raised in an environment where everyone around them also had cores.

What might classify as innocent roughhousing for them might very well be enough to turn me into paste.

Me or Eva.

"We're not having anyone over to visit young lady and that's final."

Eva stuttered, but caught herself once she saw a ray of hope.

"Well, can I go to Sally's house then?"

"No." Aunt Cheryl declared. Her tone leaving no room for discussion.

It was such a hard rebuttal that Eva was left speechless.

Then she reddened even further. Stomping on the ground over and over again.

"Its not fair! You won't let me have friends over! You don't want me to go to visit my friends! You don't want me to have any friends! You just want me to come home after school and die of boredom!"

"You won't die of boredom sweetie. I'll stay with you after school. We can play super Dario and build Tego castles and solve puzzles and watch mo...."

"I don't want to do any of that! I want to play with my friends!"

She stomped on the ground. Hitting the stone floor with all her 8-year old rage.

Making noises that were, honestly, more funny than they were scary.

Then she went to the door, pulling on it while yelling.

"I hate you! I hate all of you!"

She gave it a tug and faltered when her best efforts couldn't pry it open. She whirled on the handle. Taking it with both hands and pulling harder and harder.

To no avail.

It took a few more minutes of pulling for her to tire herself out.

When she finally did so, she hunkered down next to the door and turned around to stare at us.

Sulking all by herself.