“Are you sure he’s done?” Kaelen looked at the student he had asked to supervise Jacob while sitting in his office. The student had a look of amazement on his face as he nodded his head strongly.

In mild disbelief, he said, “Instructor, I don’t know how he did it, but he did it in time!”

Naturally, the student didn’t know as he had been playing on his phone all the time. But he didn’t want the Instructor to know.

Kaelen looked at the time and noticed it was still one hour to go before the day ended. He felt annoyed that Jacob was successful but there was no outlet to vent on except the one who delivered him this bad news.

“Okay, good job! Get lost!”

The student was upset at this show of hostility but remembered the cause and effect of the situation and hurriedly left. He didn’t want to be in Kaelen’s presence while the latter was in a bad mood. 

“That boy really did it, huh,” Kaelen muttered. “So he's not just a scum for ogling my daughter like that. He also has some capabilities.”

He left the room and decided to go check up on Jacob. On the way, he saw Rebecca sitting on her chair at the reception with droopy eyes. Her gentle smile and peaceful face calmed his upset heart and he once again reaffirmed his decision to get a strong and capable man for his daughter.

“Baby, it's almost time to leave. Are you coming?”

His deep voice was enough to wake her up and she hurriedly stood up before wiping her face in embarrassment since she had fallen asleep at work.

“I’m going up to check up on him. You can pack up then we’ll head home.”

Rebecca’s gentle eyes shone with curiosity and she had the desire to see the boy herself. She really wanted to know what the boy was able to achieve.

“Can I come with you?” she asked hesitantly, knowing that her father didn’t like her talking to males.

Kaelen was about to instantly rebuke her and reject her. But seeing the hesitant and slightly fearful expression flash on her face, his tough heart softened for a bit and he nodded.

“No talking,” he insisted and received a nod from his daughter.

They soon reached the first floor. It was covered in darkness and only a small corner of the floor shone with light. After approaching it, they saw the man of the hour asleep on the ground.

Sweat oozed from his body onto the mat and his clothes but he didn’t seem to care. Jacob had a big satisfied smile on his face as he lay there. But the occasional twitches of his body along with flashes of pain on his face indicated he had truly outworked himself this time.

“How did he do it?” Rebecca muttered with slightly open lips, unable to hide the wonder on her face.

Kaelen just stared at the boy in silence. He had not thought much about it when he had doubled the already extreme testing regiment for normal students for the boy out of spite. But seeing his current condition, Kaelen was sure the boy had gone above and beyond what was expected from him.

“See that smile on his face,” he couldn’t help but comment. “That's the smile of utter satisfaction when you know you’ve done something you never thought you could do. That the smile of achieving the small i impossible.”

Rebecca initially nodded at her father’s words. But then she got confused.

“Small i impossible?”

He knew he hadn't told her daughter about his, so he explained.

“The big I impossible is something that’s impossible for everyone. That small i impossible is something that is impossible for a person.” He looked at Jacob. “It’s feels impossible at least someone does it.”

“Wow!” Rebecca’s eyes shone. “Then he must be someone amazing, right Daddy?”

Kaelen opened his mouth and then closed it. He didn’t want to admit it, but she was right.

“You can say so.”

He stayed silent for a moment then added, “But the boy was so weak that even his act of overcoming his small i impossible is something that anyone else can do. It’s nothing special so don’t get worked up about it.”

Rebecca looked at her father in confusion. Normally he would have proudly praised someone like Jacob. Why was he behaving this way now? Then the realization hit her. She was the cause.

“You’re truly like a little kid,” She muttered softly enough for herself to hear. 

She looked up at him and asked a question to challenge his words, “Really Daddy? Then what about the other student? What was his name again? I remember it was Eron Glimmer. What about him? Did he complete your testing regime when he came?”

She wanted to know since she had not been in the gym that day as she had gone to play with an icy friend younger than her.

Kaelen’s mouth twitched and a scowl formed on his face.

“That boy was good. He did his best.” He looked at his daughter and said, “You can go pack up. We’re leaving.”

She knew he was serious this time and nodded to show her agreement. Shortly after, only Kaelen stood on the floor looking at Jacob.

“You’ve really done it, haven’t you.” He spoke with some satisfaction. “But I still won't forgive you for talking to her!” His gaze turned fierce. “You’re too young for her anyways…”

A moment later, he added, “Don’t let me catch you talking to her ever again. Otherwise…”

He took a towel and wiped Jacob’s sweat himself since he didn’t want his daughter to do it. He felt that the boy didn’t deserve to appear so disheveled after achieving something amazing. A  few minutes later, Jacob was cleaned up and looked fine from the outside.

“Get up!” he yelled twice and Jacob woke up with a jerk of his head, startled. It took him a moment to orient himself and he quickly stood up noticing the lack of sweat on his body and appeared to wonder what had happened. 

“Sir, did I pass?” he asked eagerly with the enthusiasm of an eager dolphin.

Kalene said the words against his will, “You did. Now leave. Come tomorrow sharp at nine. We’re closing this gym now.”

A wide smile bloomed on Jacob’s face and he hurriedly nodded. Afraid that Kaelen would change his mind, he hurriedly left the gym. Jacob didn’t even respond when Rebecca saw him leave and said goodbye.

‘That woman is trouble! I don’t like what I’m doing to her but I am not going to get on his bad side again!’

Jacob walked in the cool night as the wind blew across his silver hair making it flutter in the wind. His gray eyes didn’t reflect the sporadic lights shining along the way.

He enjoyed the cool breeze blowing onto his slightly damp clothes and remained lost in thought.

‘What did he mean by I’m too young for her? Whose her? His daughter?’

Jacob wondered. Then he recalled how the old man treated him.

‘Why did he think I was into his daughter in the first place? She must know something about her father’s weird behavior!’ He was sure. ‘But I’m not going to get a chance to safely talk to her around him.’

“Wait a minute!” Jacob realized something. “Did he mean that I was too young to get into a relationship with his daughter? Did he really say that after praising me properly for the first time? Where did he get the idea that I wanted that? Though I won’t mind considering that she’s a gentle beauty.”

Jacob had already noticed Kaelen’s attitude regarding his daughter but this truly brought a shock to him. 

“Wait, why am I too young?” Jacob wondered remembering Rebecca’s figure. 

Once he thought about it, his mind could not help but remember her gentle voice, oval face, and gentle blue eyes. 

“I must admit, you must have saved a universe in your last life to get a daughter as pretty as her. If she’s already so pretty, what about her mother?” Jacob wondered. “But how can I be too young for his daughter? She doesn’t look a day older than twenty! Is two years of difference too much?”

Very soon, he reached his home and noticed everything was silent. He thought his family had slept and softly locked the door then removed his shoes.

“You’re home.” A low male voice made him abruptly turn around and there stood Peter with his crutches staring at him deeply. 

“Welcome back.”

Jacob felt warm in his heart that he had someone waiting for him so late at night. All the pain he went through today for the sake of getting stronger felt worth it. He confirmed his decision to schedule suffering in his days was worth it. With a caring father like this, what else did he lack?

‘My mother. And I’ll do all I can so I can see her, even if I find out that she doesn’t like me.’

“Thanks, Dad,” Jacob had a small smile on his face.

Peter noticed his son’s damp clothes with his Clairvoyant Zone and said, “Go shower and rest early. Do you have plans for tomorrow?”

Jacob recalled how he had not told his father about the gym training plan he had discussed with Adam and gave his father a brief idea about it.

“So you have to be there by nine, right?”

“Yes, Dad.”

Peter nodded and said, “Good night. Be there on time.” 

He walked up the stairs at the end. On the left lay Jaocb’s room while Ruby had a room on the right. Ahead lay their parent’s room where the sleeping visage of Jacob’s mother was present.

Jacob cleaned himself up and rested for the night. He knew things would be hectic the next day and slept in anticipation with Tim.

***

A young girl with long white hair and white eyes sat on a thick tree branch gazing at the white full moon. Her swaying feet were uncovered as she wore a short skirt but the cold wind didn’t bother her. Instead, it gave her comfort.

Her gaze was lonely as she missed the little companion that accompanied her in the nights.

“Tim,” she softly muttered.

***

A slightly older woman looked at the same moonlight as she remembered Jaco’s performance in the day. His perseverance and grit really touched her meek heart. She also wanted to find her soulmate with such passion and perseverance but one person stood in the day.

“Daddy,” her gentle gaze soon became downcast. “When will your mister perfect come? I have been alone for too long!”

She missed her mother whose face she hadn't truly seen since she was a child and only saw her photo after she was able to understand things.

“Ma,“ she muttered while leaning against the balcony of her room. “Would things be different if you were there?”

On the balcony on the opposite side of the house stood a hulk of a man. His piercing blue eyes stared at the white moon as guilt overwhelmed his heart for not being able to save his partner.

Each night when he was alone, away from work or battles, the guilt would come again and again and overwhelm him. Today was no different.