Chapter 62 - An idiot

In the small room, Aiden was resting on his bed, eyes closed. He was recuperating currently. He wasn't bloody or bruised, but he was mentally tired.

'Making sure you only defend and disarm your opponent during a battle is more taxing than I have thought.' he sighed wearily.

He was tired, but, at the same time, he was extremely happy. He banished 2 more Nightmare spawns, and resolved the issue with her mother and father, thus making progress. His quest objective indicator showed a proud 3 instead of the previous 1.

---

Back about an hour ago…

"Pesky brat, who do you think you are to lecture me?! I'm not gonna stand for it anymore!"

The man bellowed and as he stood up, he pushed the middle-aged woman, the mother to the side.

"Get out of my way! I will show him today that he shouldn't have messed with us!"

"Don't do it!"

"SILENCE!"

*SLAP*

With a loud slap, he silenced the woman who was now on the ground with reddened cheeks, on the verge of crying because of frustration, sadness, and worry. She didn't know what was happening to her husband, he never acted this way, aggression was something he detested all his life. Now suddenly being so overly aggressive, was very out-of-character for him. Yet, she couldn't do a thing.

"Aiden just run! Don't let him get to you!" she shouted at the boy.

Aiden, who was standing and facing the slowly approaching raging bull of a man, smiled and while not taking off his focus of the threat, he calmly said.

"Don't worry, mother. I am more than enough to handle him. Rest assured nobody will get hurt, and I will force him to regain his senses."

Hearing his words, her mother wasn't sure how to react. He felt the confidence in his voice, and while she couldn't believe it, she couldn't help but nod her head.

At the same time, his father, upon hearing his words, he felt his rage soar even higher than before.

"How dare you still look down on me?! You can 'handle' me? We will see about that!"

As he was already in front of the boy, he suddenly swung the knife towards Aiden's throat.

While the speed his father used was higher than the average human of this world, it was still like slow-motion in Aiden's eyes.

'I guess his strength and speed have increased because of the Nightmare. No matter, it is still a far cry from me. I will have to make sure to not hurt him, and just tire him before I disarm him. I have to shake his will to have any chance on waking him up.'

Looking at the approaching blade, Aiden simply leaned back avoiding it by a hair's breadth.

Seeing how easily his attack was avoided the man growled in anger and stroke again, drawing a horizontal arc around Aiden's chest area.

Aiden once again, simply leaned slightly to the back, using minimal effort to once again, barely avoid the tip of the blade.

Cutting nothing but air once again, the middle-aged man grew frustrated.

"STOP DODGING! FACE ME LIKE A MAN!" he bellowed.

His next attack was a thrust, once again around the middle of Aiden's chest.

The attack was, once again, only met air, as Aiden leaned to the side, still not left his original position.

Frustration bubbling in the middle-aged men, he repeatedly slashed and thrust with his knife, only to cut, slice, and thrust the air each and every time.

As time passed, so did the limited stamina the middle-aged man was blessed with. The slices lost their power and the thrusts became weaker, but no matter how hard he tried, he never managed to cause any harm.

"ARGH! I CAN'T EVEN DO THIS RIGHT!" finally the frustration reached its peak, and while dropping the knife, he also fell to the ground. His frustration slowly turned to silent sobs, as he buried his face into his hands.

"I'M A FAILURE! I'M NOTHING BUT A FAILURE!" He cried out. Raising his head slightly, he looked at the knife on the ground, and as a dark thought crossed his troubled mind, he suddenly reached out for it.

"I DON'T DESERVE ANY OF YOU. I'M A FAILURE OF A MAN AND AS A FATHER!" with that he thrust towards his heart hoping to end his bleak existence.

However, suddenly his hand met some resistance, and his thrust was halted midway through. He opened up his eyes only to see his son's gently smiling face looking at him. At the side, his wife was silently sobbing her left cheek still red from his earlier slap.

"No, Father. You are not a failure. You are just a bit lost. Yes, you may have met an obstacle, but that just means you have to try harder. You have a loving family, a kind wife, and a loving son that looks up to you. Please, come back to us, don't let darkness cloud your heart any longer!"

As he looked at the honest and gentle smile and heard his pure words, the middle-aged man's heart trembled. Slowly cracks appeared around the invisible barrier that the Nightmare had on it, and as the warmth returned to it, so did the cracks widen only to eventually shatter.

The moment the Nightmare's hold was shattered from his heart and as the warmth returned to it, so did the realization of what he just did. His face contorted to pain, and he continued sobbing while he looked at his wife.

"Honey, please forgive me, I… I don't know why I hit you. I...I…"

He couldn't continue as the woman put his finger on his lips sealing it.

"Shhh! I know dear, I felt the same just a little while ago. It was our son that freed me, just like you."

He looked at Aiden, not sure what and how to say. He stuttered.

"Son, I… I… don't…"

Aiden raised his palm in the air, silencing him. As he stood up, he calmly said.

"Don't worry about it, I know you weren't yourself. Try to rest up, and don't let yourself fall into the same 'pit' again. Okay?"

Unable to say anything, the man weakly nodded his head, and looked at his sons receding back as he left the kitchen going to his room.

Only after he went into this room did he manage to look back at his wife, who was still smiling at him.

"He is so much stronger than before…"

The middle-aged woman smiled at his words. Her arms around his neck, she rested her head on his shoulders.

"I know honey. He is incredible…"

---

Back in the room, Aiden was currently resting. With another problem solved, he was satisfied with the results. Sure, things escalated a bit, and it got to a point he didn't anticipate, in the end, everything turned just right.

The problem was that it took out more of him than Aiden expected. Even though he didn't have any familial feelings towards these 2, they were still his parents, and as it turns out, it was hard for him to fight off the attacks of his Nightmare-crazed father.

'*Huaaah* At least this part is over. I still don't know how this story should end. We'll see how the day and most likely this story ends at that party tonight. I still have a few hours before it, so let's rest a bit.' Yawning he turned to his side. Closing his weary eyes, he soon drifted to sleep.

---

"Where the hell could they be? Did I arrive too early? Hmm… No, I should be at just the right time…" Aiden was grumbling. He arrived at the agreed location, in front of the Boy's 2nd Dormitory just a few minutes ago. However, his friend and his sister weren't there.

Since he had no idea what to expect, he simply changed his shirt to a black one that had the school's emblem on it. He wore the same jeans as well.

"Hey, Aiden! Did you wait for long?" He heard a familiar voice from behind. Turning around, he saw his friend, her sister and her small company arrive elegantly dressed, the complete opposite of him.

Looking at Aiden's attire, Andrew could only sigh.

"Really man?! Didn't you read the messages I sent you? I told you to dress up!���

Aiden had no idea what he meant by messages, but he figured it would be something he should have seen beforehand, so he smiled awkwardly.

"Sorry, I fell asleep after lunch and just woke up. I just arrived here, not wanting to be late."

"You're lucky I expected you to be like this man! Come we can go to Jake's room, he has a spare suit for you. It should be around your size too."

Aiden looked at him with a confused expression.

"Jake?"

"Did you hit your head or something?! Jake! You know... Argh, we don't have for you to be an idiot, get a move on, now!" he started pulling Aiden towards the door. However, he stopped midway and turned around to face his sister.

"Kat, please wait here! I'll make sure this idiot will be properly dressed, then we will head to the hall together, okay?"