--
Sigh...
Alone in his home, TJ lay down on the bed, staring at his ceiling, feeling his thoughts growing complex.
It's been hours since his altercation with William.
If it weren't for Lily and Sieg stopping him on time, he knows he would've done so much worse than what he already did to William.
That cold and piercing anger he felt was not normal. It doesn't happen to him often, but whenever it does, it's scary. In that state, TJ feels terrifyingly calm and brave; he feels unstoppable and uncontrollable, things that he usually doesn't like feeling.
It's like a possession. TJ doesn't feel like he's being himself in that form, like some kind of evil and murderous spirit descends upon him to take control over his body. It's awful.
He even remembers being disrespectful to the adult who stopped the fight. Though TJ didn't really feel too remorseful about that.
'When that little shit was out here insulting my friends and demeaning them, where the hell were you? Why didn't you stop it? '
'You can't seriously tell me that you just arrived, right? I saw you perched in the tree all this while. I spotted you even before I saw what's going on here, so don't even try that bullshit with me.'
'So again, why didn't you stop him then? '
'Why only now, after I've beaten the snot out of him, would you come out and stop this? Explain yourself! '
Recalling how he bravely confronted that adult made TJ cringe to himself. Where did he even pull that much audacity out of? He's usually not that brave or confrontational.
He could argue that his emotions were high when it happened and that he was out of control, but still...
TJ could also tell that he got lucky this time. The words he said to that man were enough to earn him a beating. The man simply hesitated because he knew that he was in the wrong and because Mr. Eden arrived shortly after.
With just one glare from Mr. Eden, TJ saw how the man blanched, swore underneath his breath, and bowed his head to apologize for everything. He didn't tarry long afterwards; he carried William over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and left the school grounds right away.
The next few hours turned into a blur for TJ. He remembered staying in the training room where he, Sieg, and Lily usually trained. It wasn't until an hour later that the bubbling anger he felt cooled down.
Even then, he barely spoke. Lily and Sieg didn't know how to talk to him or to cheer him up. They just offered him some quiet company instead, which was actually what TJ preferred rather than something else.
TJ also thought that he'd be in trouble. However, even after the class was over, he wasn't called to an office or lectured; he got home just fine and dandy. It's like the staff didn't care that he had just beaten someone to the point of crying and snotting.
And now, here he was, probably the one person who's bothered the most, aside from William, obviously.
He hates that he's this affected by what he did. Because in other people's opinion, what he did was within reason. His friends were insulted, and he was attacked first; all he did was retaliate. He didn't start the conflict; he ended it.
And that's probably true.
But TJ's affected anyway. He didn't understand why William hated him so much. What had he ever done to him that warranted him bearing this much hatred towards him?
Okay, so he defeated him in a spar that resulted in his momentary embarrassment. But it was he who started it! He's practically asking to be embarrassed. His strength wasn't on the same level as the volume of his voice. That's not TJ's fault!
And was it really that serious? All of this just because he got defeated twice? That's just excessive, no?
He knows that his conscience, at least from other people's perspective, was clean. But he still hated the fact that he's this bothered.
Besides, there's one more thing that worries him...
**
[『???』bristles.]
**
What does this even mean?
This message came to his attention when he checked the system logs. It's so strange because he never expected this to happen.
**
『???』 (Innate Curse)
Persistent Psychosis
-10% in Reputation Gains
???
**
Nothing in its description states that it's capable of reacting to anything. Well, to be fair, a large majority of this curse remains unknown to TJ, so maybe it's a hidden mechanic.
But even still, that's worrying, no? Doesn't this mean that the effect of this curse wasn't just limited to the maddening voices he's hearing on a regular basis?
'I shouldn't be surprised, really. This is, after all, the very thing that drove them mad.'
'And I took it from them.'
'They were probably unable to leave any notes behind since they've long lost themselves in this madness.'
TJ's thoughts blurred for a moment, subconsciously recalling faces of the people he had long chosen to forget.
He shook his head to clear away the unpleasant memories and focus on the now.
TJ then closed his eyes, and after focusing for a bit, a message window appeared before his eyes.
Enter the Dream Echo Battlefield? ]
TJ chose 'Yes,' because right now, he'd be much better off tiring himself out in a fight rather than delving into matters he couldn't understand for the moment.
He hopes that his opponent in the Dream Echo Battlefield exhausts him so much that he wakes up tomorrow so he can put what happened today behind him.
**
[Kepler Household]
Boom! Crash!
"Trash!!"
Ferdinand's voice shook the walls of the room he's in. It wouldn't take a genius to discover that he's furious, incredibly so.
Not too far from him was William, who stood there, shaking so badly in terror like a leaf about to be blown away by the stormy winds.
The beating he received cleared William's mind for a bit, and that made him realize that things went a little too overboard for what he initially wanted. He blamed himself for losing his mind over some defeats that everybody experiences at some point in their lives. And he also recognized that his mental state hasn't been in the right place these past few days, and it scared him.
But what terrified him more was the erupting anger of his father.
The look of scorn and disappointment he gave to him was particularly demeaning. So much so that William couldn't recognize the face of his own father anymore.
Had he always been like this, or was the man in front of him an imposter? William truly couldn't tell.
"All my efforts raising you to be better than this! All of it wasted on you because of your stupidity!"
"All I asked from you was to reclaim your reputation to stop affecting mine, yet you couldn't even do such a simple task even after all the effort I wasted on you!"
William was hurt by those words. He wanted to retort and defend himself, but he also knew that his father's mood was caustic and that now was probably the worst time for him to be rebellious. So, he could only lower his head and hope that this ends without him being in too much pain.
"I can't waste any more of my time on you. From now on, stay at home, don't go out, don't talk to anybody, and continue honing your skills on your own. I can't have you smearing my hard-earned reputation even more than you already have."
William stilled. Then, a thought came across his mind, asking:
'Is that all there is to this? Your reputation? The only reason why you're so upset is because I embarrassed you? '
His body trembled, and his eyes turned dull. William felt the world around him crumbling apart as he saw the ugly truth underneath all the facade. Still, he kept his head down and didn't speak.
He can't break down here, as that will only make things worse.
"Scram!!!" Ferdinand dismissed him just like that.
His anger flared even more when he saw his son's defeated figure limping away from his sight.
"Hmph! Everybody in this house is too useless!" He complained before taking out a bottle of vodka from his inventory.
He didn't even bother with a glass; he downed it straight from the bottle.
All of a sudden, he turned around and threw the half-full bottle towards the shadowy corner of the room. His eyes turned sharp as he called out:
"Who's there!? Show yourself before I make you!"
"My, my..."
The voice was then followed by a rhythmic tapping of heels stepping out of the dark corner. When the moonlight illuminated the face of the intruder, Ferdinand's eyes constricted a bit after recognizing who it was.
"Is that how you greet an old teammate? Hm?"
Ferdinand scoffed at her words, but instead of focusing on that, he instead asked:
"To whom do I owe the displeasure of having you trespass in my home, hm? Dean Skywind?"
"Dean Skywind?" Valerie gasped in feigned surprise. "My, what happened to 'Bitch,' 'Whore,' 'Nepo Baby,' and my all-time favorite, 'Big Sis'? Is wittle Ferdi sulking again, hmm?"
Ferdinand's temper flared dangerously. The aura of a high-ranked Spear Master emanated out of him as he glared at the lady who was mocking him.
"If you've got nothing better to say, stop wasting my time and leave my home. The likes of you are not welcome here!"
"And the likes of you and your spawn are not qualified to call me or my student a whore." Valerie's tone turned frigid. "Yet here we fucking are."
Her own aura flared, easily dispersing Ferdinand's and causing all the walls in the room to creak dangerously due to its weight.
She then cracked her knuckles and said, "It's been a while since things got physical between us. And it seems that you have been feeling rather confident about yourself lately, so how about I remind you about some age-old facts, hm?"
"Come, I swear, I'll be gentle, just like the old times."