The term 'you can cut the tension with a knife' doesn't come close as Zeke witnessed the absolute travesty of a family reunion for Valorie and Alissa. Not that he couldn't say the same himself.

Back in his past, he and his siblings also didn't get along very well, so he knew family can be complicated sometimes. But to see the scene before him, he couldn't help but sympathize for both the sisters.

Val is someone he valued as a good friend, and Ali became someone that he can trust wholeheartedly. It was difficult to see such good people who were related to each other react in such a hostile way, at least from one of them as Val didn't exactly recover after that meeting.

The mood turned stale, making Zeke wonder exactly what he can do. He could introduce the lords to Tir, have the mood change slightly, but he wondered whether that was a good idea or not.

But as usual, Mikella comes in with that clutch at just the right time.

"So, Clara, what exactly is going on about you going to school?"

Mikella turned to the girl who Ali brought in, only to be met with that situation and went away, her hands on her hips and giving that stare that she only gave to either Clara or Zeke. Zeke thanked his lucky stars it wasn't him this time, however cowardly that was.

Clara's face paled when she mentioned school, and opened her mouth before closing it again, acting like a fish in a tank while staring at Mikella's hardened stare. After a moment of pure panic, she wilted, lowering her head.

"S-Sorry… I actually wanted to say it sooner, but I never found the time. I wanted to talk to Bobo first and then say it to you and–"

"Oh, so you would talk to Bobo but not me?" Mikella's tone rose, crossing her arms at her now. "Do I really not matter at all to you?"

"No, that's not it!" Clara denied wholeheartedly. "You just… I mean… you can be… Bobo!"

"Whoa, whoa, don't bring me into this," Zeke raised his hands, shaking his head. "This is your mess to clean up."

In truth, he really wanted to help, but he was just as blindsided by the news as Mikella was. So he honestly wanted Clara to sweat a little, and what better way to make anyone nervous than to get a rundown by none other than Mikella?

After a pure moment of shock, betrayal, and overall panic overtaking Clara's face, Mikella finally had enough and let out a big breath.

"Clara, I'm not angry. Just… tell me, please. I only heard just now from Val that you planned on going to school here, and they were bringing Ana along as well for it."

Clara's expression shifted from pure guilt to absolute thrill as she looked up at Mikella, then back at the lords. "Is that true?! Is Ana coming?!"

"Yep," Cloud spoke up, taking over as Val was still a bit disheveled. Thankfully the shift in topic brought her back into the swing of things. "That's the plan. We're here for moral support at best."

"Yes! Yesss!"

Clara's arms rose high into the air and shouted in delight. Despite the situation, seeing Clara act so excited to finally reunite with Ana brought a lot of peace into his heart.

Even after everything going on, with a Master living with them, the Lords' sudden arrival, and hearing about shitty otherworlders–knowing that Clara would always cheer him up never changing was enough for Zeke to relax for a bit.

Clapping his hand, he caught everyone's attention, including the Ashton sisters to turn to him.

"Okay, there's a lot of things to talk about. For now, let's just take it easy and have a day off. That includes everyone else here as well. Take some time off, and enjoy yourselves."

Hearing an official day off from Zeke got the otherworlders to cheer in delight, though some of them still continued their usual routine just out of sheer repetition. Everyone agreed to Zeke's declaration as they went over to a different section of the housing, getting a room all for themselves, which also included Lyle and Janet since they were a part of the group as Zeke and Mikella.

He got nervous when he thought about Ceru still out there, but thankfully she stood aside to be with the otherworlders. Mark and Elly made sure that they'll keep an eye on her in case anything happened, but Zeke knew that Ceru is just going to enjoy herself rather than make any trouble. Still, it was better to be cautious.

After that, Zeke and Mikella explained everything to Cloud and Valorie on everything that occurred right after leaving Eve Glade. That included Zeke's barrier being taken away, facing their first tower, meeting Lyle and Janet in the most extreme scenario as possible (which they got permission to say that they were part of an assassin's guild for better context), and then finally what happened after their second tower run.

It was a lot to take in, and after many back and forth questions and answers, it took almost the entire morning and early afternoon to say. Eventually, they got to the point of introducing Tir, which got everyone to be surprised at his appearance.

That alone took another two hours to explain, getting into the evening. Clara eventually left as it was just adults talking about what happened, and that the sisters will talk about the school thing once they got everything on lock.

The two lords were just stunned at everything, but they took it all in stride as they listened intently. Finally, they got to the point where the lords were kept up with everything, with Tir sitting on the table laying down, facing the Lords with those big ole' eyes of his.

"You know, I thought what happened to us was still pretty exciting, but it's good to know you two can still keep up on having such a ridiculous lifestyle that would make any Journeymen pale in comparison."

Cloud said amicably, shaking his head as he turned to the puppy on the table. His eyes stared deep into Tir's own, a calculated look on his face that Zeke often noticed whenever he got deep into his thinking.

"And a Mind Construct living as a Familiar, capable of sharing skills and processing thought faster than any normal person's capable of doing, is something I never heard before. I'm betting Cronus was interested in him?"

"Definitely," Zeke agreed. "And I'm still figuring out what else he can do."

"Tir can't figure it out himself?" Val asked.

"I'm still figuring stuff out," Tir answered, surprising Val. She still wasn't used to getting spoken to in her mind. "I feel like I keep repeating myself, but I was only born a few days ago. Can anyone else figure out what they can do in just a short amount of time?"

"You know what? That's a good point. Sorry for making light of you," Val said, genuinely apologizing when Tir's words rang true.

"It's no problem," Tir chimed.

"I see he's got your catchphrase," Cloud smirked. Zeke only blushed slightly at that.

"And I'm glad that you two are found safe and sound," Val said, turning to Lyle and Janet who were surprisingly quiet most of the time, only answering the questions they were given half the time. "It must have been difficult living in Arcelot without anything to fall back on. It was difficult enough as it is even when you're an official citizen."

"Well, you take what you can get," Lyle answered, shrugging as he turned to Janet who remained quiet and composed.

It didn't look like she disliked the Lords. It was more like being intimidated by the people that took care of Zeke and Mikella, since they were the ones who helped them get to where they were now.

"And… you're okay knowing what we used to do?" Janet asked, considering that the topic of the Assassin's guild was mentioned some time ago.

Val only shrugged. "How else can you make a living? I remember back when I was younger, I considered joining the Assassin's guild. But since I took on a Warrior Class, it was going to be difficult to do some of the jobs without stifling myself. Anyone who knows about the underworld of Arcelot knew about the Assassin's guild."

"You were part of the underworld?" Mikella asked incredulously.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"How else did I get myself a synthesized attunement?" Val raised a brow, finally getting the two to understand her meaning.

"Synthesized…?" Lyle asked, and that got them to explain about Val's condition. Considering she already mentioned it herself, she was fine with them explaining about her complex disability.

"Not being able to use magic… in a magic city," Janet said slowly. "That sucks major balls…"

"Tell me about it," Val smiled. "But like Lyle said; you take what you can get."

That got Janet to smile at her, any hesitation she had earlier vanishing in a blink of an eye.

It was good to see the mood returning to normal, but there was some clear distinction from Mikella's face as she stared at Val and Cloud. Even when he wanted to leave it alone, Zeke wanted to know the history as well.

"So, I know things are tense right now, and if you don't want to talk about it, that's totally fine. But, what exactly happened between you and Alissa?"

He hoped it was at a good enough time to get started, but when he saw Val frown instantly and turn serious, he wilted and wanted to step back from this. Thankfully Mikella followed up.

"We know that Alissa is a good woman," She explained. "It's proof enough that Clara likes her so much. Even after everything, we trust her a lot. She even became someone that the otherworlders relied on a bunch too. So we know that both you and Alissa are good people, no matter what happened. We just wanna know what it is that happened. Like Zeke said, if you guys don't wanna talk about it, that's cool, we'll drop it."

Hearing Mikella's words eased Val's expression slightly, and Cloud held her hand with a gentle smile of his own.

"I think they deserve it after going through so much with us."

"Cloud… you're not gonna look good in front of them, y'know."

"Better to face it now than keep lying and pretend it never happened. I'm at peace with what I did. I am no longer the kid that bullied you all those years ago."

That instantly got Zeke's attention, and Mikella stared hard at him for that.

"Hey, uhh, if you guys want, we can–" Lyle quickly spoke up, pointing a thumb at the door outside of the room.

"No need," Mikella said. "As long as they're okay with it."

"It's fine. I know we only just met, but you're close friends with Zeke and Mikella, so we trust you too," Cloud chimed in. "Please, take it easy and let's bring out something to eat and drink."

After doing so, pulling out whatever meal they had in their packs thanks to their storages capable of pausing their degradation as long as they're within the storage packs, Cloud and Val started their story.

To cut things short, both of them belonged to noble houses, just like House Corran and House Paragle. Cloud belonged to House Mormay, a noble lineage that focused on creating special types of mages.

Usually they would also come in as Runists to join the Runists' Guild, but Cloud despised having to deal with the Runists of Arcelot, their attitude and lazy behavior daunting even for him at the time, but generally House Mormay had a specialized attunement for their specific classes, which Cloud took it on as Star-Bound Mage. With their power to control the stars, Cloud had the ability to warp with spatial magic, allowing him to become a mage of high quality and destructive power.

Normally, his future was set in stone, and as the lead son of the family, he had all the benefits. So it wasn't surprising that when he was growing up, he was arrogant, haughty, and the type that Mikella would punch in the face.

"I would totally punch you in the face," Mikella said without remorse.

"And I'd deserved it too," Cloud remarked. "Trust me–it gets worse."

To hear Cloud say it so matter-of-factly made Zeke dread of what's to come, because that was only part of their story.

Next came Valorie's. Valorie came from House Mon-Treant, the same as Alissa Mon-Treant. They were born as twins to the father and mother of Mon-Treat, but while Alissa was born with above average magic power just as any mage would when the system day arrived–the time when the system initialized those when they reach fifteen years of age–Valorie Mon-Treant had the misfortune to receive the following stats.

Her Intelligence was a low 3, and her Spirit was a resounding zero.

That was the first time anyone in Arcelot had received those stats when system day arrived. Alissa had 9 Spirit, which was proof that a mage born without Journeymen parents would become a great mage with huge potential. That made Zeke pause when he remembered having the maximum stat of 10 with no powerful parents born from the system, but he put that aside as he listened in to what happened next.

The two houses were close to one another, with one of them already prospected for marriage to connect with one another after many years of consideration and dealings. Cloud would be the one to marry either Valorie or Alissa, so they were close ever since they were children.

According to both testaments, Cloud was an ass way before the system day, even as a child. His arrogance was well-renown for the Mon-Treant sisters, and while they knew their duties, they often joked about the one being unlucky enough to marry him. But when system day came, he got even worse.

He would bully Val to the point of making her cry, and told her to her face that her goal in life is to be a mule or a breeder for the Mormay family. If that wasn't enough, he would often use spells against her when he would come in unannounced for a spar, beating Val down to oblivion and having no magic to defend herself.

And that was on top of receiving her parent's constant disappointment. No matter how often they tried, they can never raise her Spirit stat higher than a measly one, and she can't use any magic at all. There was not a hint of mana in her body, and no matter how often she forced herself to gain point after point regardless of her body's condition, her body just wasn't capable of gaining any magical energy.

That of course caused a strain to occur between herself and Alissa, who had more than doubled the burden as the leading daughter of the Mon-Treant family with any decent magic. Even for someone as capable as Alissa, it was too much to bear for a young girl at her age.

So, it wasn't much of a surprise that Val became a troublemaker. She already was one before the system day, and she only became worse after that. She would often fight off other nobles who heard about her disability, and even beat them senselessly. Because if there was one thing she was good at–it was beating people up, magic or not.

That also included Cloud, but despite his shitty attitude at the time, he had the guts to keep fighting Valorie even as she started winning against him more and more as they got stronger and older.

But eventually, the time came when the families had enough of their bickering. Stress was piling up, and their relationship became more strained by the day. Valorie was no longer on speaking terms with her parents, and Alissa was practically ignoring Cloud despite their marriage coming in closer due to outside circumstances.

That pushed them both on the edge, and doing something that only desperate young adults do when pushed came to shove, both Cloud and Val worked together to surpass their parents' restraints and left on their own.

Why Cloud agreed to go at all despite having a promising future was obvious. Cloud hated it all, deep down inside. The bravado of being the lead son of House Mormay was only an excuse. Even bullies can change when they kept getting hammered day in and day out by their parents about their responsibilities, eventually coming into a breaking point.

They decided to spare them about how they managed to hook up and get into a relationship, something that Zeke can guess with certainty that it didn't came up as planned, but they certainly didn't back down from it either. That eventually led them down the path of getting Valorie a synthesized attunement, against anyone's expectations, which helped her become an Expert.

After that got a lot more… interesting. Banditry, thievery, illegal dungeon-diving, mass larceny, sudden deaths of nobles that tippy-toed around them long enough to find out what a bad decision that was just to get some clout. That eventually led them to face Cronus, and after getting his interest upon hearing their story, Cloud was taken in to master his specialized spatial magic and teaching Valorie on how to control her attunement better.

Then came the kicker–literally. They were kicked out as they were exiled from their immense list of crimes they commited throughout the years, and were left on the wilderness outside of Arcelot. They wandered about for a few years, eventually becoming Journeymen, and soon came across the freaking king of Sham-la, which got them the opportunity to become lords of Eve Glade.

It was nearly two decades since then, where they had a family and had Ana before eventually meeting up with Zeke, Mikella, and Clara.

…..

"...Holy shit, that was something."

Lyle eventually said when they finished their story, getting late into the night. If it wasn't for him, the others would be left silent before it got too awkward.

"Sure was," Janet said. "And… that's why Alissa hates your guts? Because of all the crimes and stuff?"

"I was not a very decent person either," Valorie admitted. "Alissa was the only one that actually tried to help me. But you had to understand–at the time, she wasn't exactly as mature as you see her now. She made it very clear on the power hierarchy between us, and she kept making sure that I was put under her thumb. Needless to say, I had a good reason to hate her too."

Val lowered her head, her eyes closed as her lips curled into a frown.

"But when I ran away, I made things way worse for her than I expected. Because of what happened, House Mon-Treat was treated as a scapegoat. Cronus took this as a chance to take down the noble house that was causing him a lot of trouble, and after hearing about what happened to me, and my treatment back there, both he and Isabelle made my parents suffer by taking away their titles as nobles. Only Alissa got away with having any future by becoming his liaison."

"Ooh…" Mikella raised her head high, her eyes wide in realization. "That explains so much right now."

"How so?" Zeke asked, looking at her.

"Did you see how overworked she is?" She mentioned, which got every one of the otherworlders to finally understand as well.

"Well… it's deeper than that," Cloud chuckled. "But yes–Alissa blamed Valorie, and of course me, for messing up the Mon-Treat family. Sure, they were god-awful, but what we did pretty much ruined her reputation for living here. No matter how bad things got, we really screwed her over."

"And I deserve every bit of it," Val let out a heavy breath. "Even worse, I took Cloud away from her, and ended up marrying him and having a child. I didn't even got to invite her to our wedding either. Not just because it was impossible to establish a connection back then, but I just wasn't sure whether it was wise to invite her over at all due to me taking away her arranged partner. In her eyes, I'm nothing but a thief, a liar, and a bandit all wrapped in one magic-less body."

"Geez, when you put it like that," Mikella remarked. "She really did get the low-end of the deal…"

Hearing what happened now, it was a lot more complex than just having sisterly grudges. It became an outright fantasy novel filled with twists and turns, and if Zeke was honest, Alissa would've become the antagonist to Valories' underdog story.

But in truth, it was a bunch of young adults doing whatever they want and suffering the consequences of it. In the end, that was just how life is.

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