August Intruder- Chapter 43- Malice and Terrible Determinations (Patreon)

The evening air wasn’t so bad as Melmarc walked with package in hand. He’d selected [World of Insight] once more, strolling through the streets. Eight minutes were yet to be up so the effects of [Knowledge is Power] were still working.

However, he was already reaching the edge of how far the skill had reached. Melmarc was walking into uncharted territory.

He knew it the moment he stepped out of the radius the skill had mapped. It was like coming out from a thoughtful process and finding everything around him to be new. The air was different. The color wasn’t so colorful. It reminded him of closing his eyes for a while just to open it again and find that the natural light around him was a little bluer.

His phone rang in his pocket and he looked around before answering it. It is ‘Mr. Lockwood’.

“Hello, dad.”

“You know you don’t really have to call me dad, right?” Naymond’s voice came through. “Though I appreciate the sentiment. Never had kids of my own, you see.”

Melmarc almost smiled at Naymond’s continued lack of care. Somehow it was reassuring in his current situation.

“How are you here?” he asked, pausing to look from side to side before crossing the road.

“I walked,” Naymond answered easily. “Also, we are not going to address the fact that you just looked left and right to cross a one lane road that was absolutely empty.”

Melmarc hopped on to the sidewalk. “You can never be too careful.”

“True.”

Just out of curiosity, Melmarc looked around, focusing on the rooftops. When he saw nothing out of the ordinary, he started looking at the buildings around him. He was reminded of how this neighborhood was nothing like the one he was accustomed to.

For one, it just felt very dreary. It looked like the kind of neighborhood you’d expect to see a hobo lying on the ground in every few blocks.

“You won’t find me,” Naymond said.

Melmarc did a 360 turn as he walked. “So you’re good at hiding.”

“Not hiding. I’m just walking in a different part of the street. I’m walking on the other side of the house beside you.”

Melmarc looked at the house as if he would somehow see behind it. He wondered how large the house was. If he used [Knowledge is Power] would it tag Naymond in its reach?

“So you’re on a completely different street.”

“Yes.”

“But you can still see what I’m doing.”

“See is not the word you’re looking for,” Naymond corrected. “I’m just very aware of everything happening around me.”

“How?”

There was a pause. “You’ve used my skill before. What do you mean how? Are you saying you didn’t pay attention to my skill when you caught David or when you took it at the office?”

Melmarc wasn’t sure how to respond to that. The truth is that he hadn’t. He only took the skill today because Naymond asked him to. And the last time, when he’d chased after David, he hadn’t really seen the effect of the skill. [Knowledge is Power] had given him everything he’d needed to know about his current existent surrounding.

“Is this going to have to be another teaching moment, Mr. Lockwood?” Naymond asked with a sigh. “And here I thought you were pretending.”

“It’s just that the skill does exactly what mine does.” Melmarc took a turn at an alley. It would be a short cut to bring him to a new street rather than going around the block. “So I didn’t pay much attention.”

“[World of Insight] is a passive skill Melmarc.” Naymond took a sip of something. The sound came across as slurping. “You won’t feel the effects unless you’re paying attention to it. But I can understand how you could’ve missed it. Your skill already gives you awareness of your surrounding so the fact that your awareness continues on a small scale could be lost on you. I’m sure the mastery’s still 2%.”

Melmarc was a little surprised that Naymond remembered.

“It is.”

“That means the reach must be very small, probably the size of a room,” Naymond said. “And here I thought you were strolling casually because you were trying to deceive them.”

Melmarc paused. “Deceive who?”

“Don’t stop walking now,” Naymond chuckled. “You’ve got two kids heading your way. East and North-East.”

Melmarc turned, his mind taking a moment to figure out which way east was.

“Am I working with true north?” he asked, turning again.

Naymond snorted. “Pay attention to the skill you took from me and you’ll be fine.”

Melmarc wasn’t sure how effective the skill currently was. Eight minutes had already gone by which meant its mastery reduction would’ve already begun. So he activated [Knowledge is Power] again.

The blast left him just as someone stepped out of a corner and punched him in the face. The force of the blow staggered him but did not disorient him.

[Skill Knowledge Is Power is in effect].

[You cannot receive or inflict damage.]

Pain flickered in Melmarc’s jaw and was gone as quickly as it came.

The moment [Knowledge is Power] returned to him, Melmarc knew what was happening. He was being ambushed, and by three kids.

“You’re going to have to fight them off,” Naymond said over the phone. “Don’t hurt them too much. Or you could run.”

Then the line cut.

Melmarc was more surprised by the fact that he was still holding on to the phone and package despite being punched. Also, it felt as if the fact that he was punched was just his imagination, like the pain was false.

The large boy that had tried to punch him just before they’d been sent out of the room, shook his hand out as if in pain.

“You’ve got jaws of steel,” he said. “What the hell?”

Melmarc looked over the boy’s head and saw what he expected to see.

[Jake Nanhall].

His indicator was red.

Melmarc ran through all the information he knew about Gifted on non-Gifted violence. How exactly were self-defense charges handled in such situations.

Based on the level of injury inflicted, he remembered as he backed away from the boy, fully aware of the other two closing in behind him.

He was wondering how he would keep his eye on the other two when something odd happened. He was perfectly aware of them.

[Knowledge is Power] gave him perfect information about his surrounding but real life was always updating. The fact that a person was standing somewhere didn’t mean they would be standing in the same place two seconds later.

The indicators helped him account for that level of information change, but that was only if Melmarc was looking at the indicator. Right now, Jake’s indicator was the only one in sight. Which meant, he wasn’t supposed to know that Darwin and Darnell were actually spreading out beside him and not walking together.

Is this how [World of Insight] works?

“Just hand over the package and you only get two more punches,” Jake told him, winding up his fist like some cartoon character. “Darnell and Darwin might want to have a go too, but I promise it won’t be too bad.”

“Did you look in the box?” Melmarc asked.

It was a simple question but it stopped the three boys in their tracks.

I know what all three of them are doing.

It was a weird feeling that he knew Darwin was currently slipping his free hand into his pocket to bring out a… nail cutter?

What was the boy going to do with a nail cutter?

“They said not to look in the package.” Jake’s eyes went to Melmarc’s package and he frowned. “Your package is still sealed. You haven’t looked into it.”

Melmarc shrugged. With his retreat cut off, he had nowhere to go. So he just stood. “I just sealed it back up. It really wasn’t too difficult.”

“Bullshit!” Jake hissed. “No way you got balls like that.”

Darnell fidgeted slightly stepping back. From his last name, it was safe to assume he and Darwin were brothers. They had the same last name.

Jake’s attention shot to the both of them behind Melmarc. “Don’t be wimps. If we get his package, that’s another hundred split between the three of us.”

That’s what this is about? Melmarc thought.

Well, what else would it be about? If they were jumping a random kid, there had to be a reason. And a hundred bucks seemed like a good enough reason.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Melmarc interrupted. “But how exactly are you going to share a hundred dollars three ways, evenly?”

Jake darted at him abruptly and knowledge filled his mind in immediate bits and pieces. The boy tucked his body in, throwing a poor display of a boxer’s jab, feinting with his right arm so that Melmarc would fall for his left jab.

Melmarc bobbed his head to the side, avoiding the blow easily.

That was…

Melmarc called up his interface to check something quickly. He did it without gesture. The last thing he wanted was for anyone watching them to know he was a Gifted.

[Name: Melmarc Jay Lockwood]

[Class: Faker – World of Insight (Mastery 1.22%)]

[Rank: B]

[Growth Potential: Unranked]

Status: August Guest +0.5 to all stats, Intruder -0.5 to all stats.

This was what he could do with [World of Insight] at 1%?

Then what will I be able to do at 2%?

There was no point asking questions.

[You have selected World of Insight.]

…

[World of Insight(Mastery 02.09%)].

The Gifted is aware of their existent present surrounding.

Jake attacked again. Two quick jabs.

Suddenly, Melmarc knew where to dodge, how to do, and when to dodge. The best part was that he was so aware of his surroundings that he didn’t weave or duck to the side. Instead, he doubled back with two steps, bringing them closer to Darwin and Darnell.

“Why the hell are you guys just standing around!” Jake barked. “Get him!”

Melmarc knew the moment Darwin leaped forward and was already spinning away from the boy’s reach. The extended nail cutter slipped through the air. The point of the extended file pierced nothing and Melmarc found himself standing right beside Darnel.

There was a twitch to Darnell’s left foot.

Left kick, Melmarc’s mind told him, and he raised his leg to avoid the sweep that came.

The force of the kick swung Darnell around and the boy had to hop a little to get his bearings back.

Melmarc couldn’t help the smile that touched his lips. Was this how Naymond saw the world? Aware of everything the moment it was about to happen. It was like using [Knowledge is Power] but in real time.

Even with his mind occupied with thoughts, Melmarc evaded to the side, avoiding Jake’s tackle. He hadn’t even been looking.

This is so cool!

Melmarc stepped away so that he had all of them in his periphery. His back was empty now, and he could run whenever he wanted. Actually, even when they’d surrounded him earlier, with his boost to all his stats from [Knowledge is Power] he could’ve run at anytime.

So why didn’t you?

Melmarc wasn’t sure what the answer had been then, but he knew what it was now. Naymond said mastery was about learning as much of how a skill functioned as you could. At 2% mastery, he was already capable of this. Just what could Naymond do with a mastery of 32%?

It was hard to imagine the Sage wasn’t near unstoppable.

Melmarc slipped his phone into his pocket and laughed at the realization that he hadn’t even dropped his phone or his package.

“The hell are you laughing at?” Jake snarled.

Melmarc looked at his now free hand. This was incredible. And he had it for another few minutes. How exactly did the skill work? If he closed his eyes would he still be aware? Was it sensory focused or did it work with mana somehow?

Don’t you think you’re being a bit arrogant? He thought, closing his eyes.

He heard a shuffle to the side, it wasn’t very close, but it was close enough. The air grew disturbed. Something barreled through it. With the way it parted, Melmarc felt the trajectory. He leaned to the side, stepping forward and threw a jab.

He felt his blow connect before backing away. His eyes shot open in sudden exhilaration and he staggered back and away from them.

“That was a rush!” He gave a full body shiver before he could stop himself.

Meanwhile, in front of him, Jake was holding his shoulder. That was odd. Melmarc had been going for his face.

It seemed the skill wasn’t perfect.

Darnell rushed to Jake’s side and tugged the boy by the sleeve. “We’ve got to go. We can’t take his package and we’re running out of time.”

Jake glared at Melmarc, still holding on to his shoulder. It looked like it was hurting far more than a jab to the shoulder was supposed to.

The stat boost from [Knowledge is Power], Melmarc realized.

That was close. If that had carried so much impact to leave Jake holding his shoulder like that, he could only imagine what it would’ve done if it had struck his nose.

The thought sobered Melmarc immediately. What would he have done if he’d struck the boy in the face and caused too much damage?

Jake and the others were already hobbling away, picking up their pace. In a matter of moments, they were jogging away, Jake sparing moments to look back so that he could shoot Melmarc a glare.

When they were far away, Melmarc’s phone rang again.

He pulled it out from his pocket, unsurprised to see that it was Naymond.

“Is this how you experience everything?” he asked.

“Let’s just get one thing clear, Mr. Hitchcock,” Naymond said, voice empty. “I did not ask you to use my skill so you can oppress the weak.”

“What?”

“Those were kids, Mr. Hitchcock. Weak and defenseless kids.”

“They’re basically my age,” Melmarc argued. “And one of them was almost twice my size.”

“Yet, they remain children, even in your eyes.”

Melmarc couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Yes, he had taken it a bit too far, but what had Naymond expected him to do?

“What was I supposed to do? Just roll over and take a beating?”

“You could’ve run.” Naymond sighed. “You had more than three chances to run. And with what I’ve seen you do. You could’ve done so quite easily. I know it means nothing at all, but I’m quite disappointed in you. I assumed if there was anyone who wouldn’t be pulled by the allure of power, it would be you.”

The line cut and Melmarc was left staring at his phone.

He wanted to be mad at Naymond, angry at the man for holding him to the standard of being the better person when he’d been jumped by three boys.

But you didn’t run, even when you had the chance.

The thought wiped away all his justification. Naymond was right. Regardless of any arguments he had to make, he was in the wrong. Being jumped was not his fault, but remaining in the fight was.

The boys were his age, and to him they were not children. But they were weaker, and he was old enough to know better. No matter how equal everyone was in one way or the other, power made a difference. And he had been the powerful one.

Even the laws handle the Gifted differently.

With his mood scaled down, Melmarc pulled up the gps on his phone and zoomed out until it resembled the map Navari had shown them. He knew where he was supposed to be.

He tapped the destination on the map and the roads lit up with routes and alternate routes. Melmarc gave it one glance and started jogging.

………..

As he ran, taking turns and corners, alleys and sidewalks, Melmarc kept spamming [Knowledge is Power] anytime he could. It kept him aware of the general layout around him and kept him from running into other boys.

Each step carried him far. Night drew nearer as he ran, fatigue not coming as quickly as he expected it to. But it did.

He activated [Knowledge is Power] once more and chose [World of Insight]. Naymond’s skill had taught him a few things. And while none of them allowed him feel the blood pumping in his veins or count the nanoseconds between each heart beat, it taught him general awareness of his immediate surroundings.

It only saddened him that he wasn’t excited enough to enjoy it.

He was going down an area where there were people awake and active in the buildings around him so he dropped his over-active jog to something slower and simpler to avoid drawing attention when his senses heightened.

Melmarc pulled himself to a quick halt and ducked to the side. He tucked himself into an uncomfortable roll before coming back up to his feet.

What the hell?!

Someone had darted out of the corner to snatch his package from his hand while someone else had taken a swing at him with a wooden plank.

The latter was significantly alarming because it proved whoever it was had no worries about accidentally killing him. The former, however, was somehow of greater worry.

Something about the way the person had tried to snatch the package from him while he was in motion was saying a lot of things. He’d slowed down but he was still fast, yet [World of Insight] had basically warned him because of the accuracy.

“You could’ve killed me!” Melmarc snapped at the boy with the piece of wood.

The boy snorted. “It’s just a piece of wood. You’d have gotten a concussion at best.”

Melmarc stared at the boy in disbelief. Weren’t they all supposed to be normal kids? What kinds of normal kids swung at each other without hesitation?

“See the look on his face,” the boy with the plank laughed. “He’s acting like he’s never been swung at before.”

“Not everyone’s been swung at before, Tod,” the second boy said calmly.

Then he turned to Melmarc.

“Drop the package as get the hell out of here. I can’t promise Tod won’t take another swing.”

Melmarc couldn’t believe the kind of conversation he was finding himself in. What were they; gangsters?

“For an extra hundred bucks?” he asked. “Don’t you think that’s crazy? You almost killed me for an extra hundred.”

Tod looked at him in disbelief. “Can you imagine this kid, Trev. He thinks it’s about the money.”

“That’s why I keep saying Navari wasn’t the one that took out our crew,” the second boy, Trev, said. “He couldn’t even recognize us or consider the fact that we’d be in on this. There had to be someone else.”

Trev’s words brought Melmarc’s attention to something else. The plank Tod was holding. He’d been too busy trying not to get hit in the head that he had missed it. But he saw it now, right at the edge of the plank, the part that should’ve connected with his head were bent nails, and something else.

Blood.

Everything changed now. These were not normal high schoolers with some misguided sense of violence. Everything they were doing was intentional.

Melmarc wanted answers, but not because they were going to be useful somehow. He needed them for something else.

“How many?” he asked, placing his package on the ground beside him.

“Dumb kid say what?” Tod laughed.

Melmarc ignored the childish taunt. “How many have you hit in the head so far?”

“Four.” Trev folded his arms. “Why? Want to do something about it?”

Melmarc had a lot he wanted to do about it. There was a part of him that hoped Naymond was listening to this conversation and was going to do something about the possibility that there were four kids lying down on the ground somewhere bleeding from lacerations to their head. But there was also a part of him that believed Naymond wouldn’t care.

So the first thing Melmarc wanted to do about it was call Alfa and let her know just how deadly this test run had just gotten. He also wanted to let them know that there was a very high chance that this wasn’t a test run.

The weight of the entire thing was feeling too important. He also couldn’t imagine why they would be doing test runs with half-brains. If they were, then what was the final run supposed to be about? What would they be delivering?

Melmarc stood to his full height, remembering his conversation with Naymond about being more responsible now that he was a Gifted. He was more powerful than his opponent. Which meant he couldn’t engage them in the kind of fight they wanted him to engage them in.

Pick a moment and run.

There was ample space around him. If he just turned and ran, he would be gone before any of them could do anything about it. And if the effects of [Knowledge is Power] had already worn out he would just use it again.

He could feel the effects of running out of mana. Uncle Dorthna had made him use his skills until he’d nearly doubled over from mana fatigue, so he knew what it felt like.

At best, he had two—maybe three—more activations left in him.

Pick your moment and run, he told himself again.

Or pick your moment and fight.

Naymond wasn’t going to like what was about to happen next. But Melmarc couldn’t bring himself to care right now. He would just take his scolding when it was all done.

The kids on this task were just children here to get an extra hundred bucks or two. Like Jake, some of them were probably mean and could be bullies. But there were levels to punishments. And maybe they deserved whatever Tod and Trev were willing to do to them, but there had to be others in this race who didn’t.

Melmarc wasn’t willing to allow them suffer such a fate. His dream was to protect the world from monsters in portals and results of Chaos Runs. He wanted to be the Delver that stood between the good and the evil—those who could not defend themselves and the monsters.

But sometimes, monsters didn’t only come from beyond the portals. Sometimes they were dangers that walked around with malice and terrible determinations.

Sometimes they swung planks.

Melmarc checked the time on his phone. There wasn’t much time left to get to his destination. But there was enough time for this.

Tod looked at Trev. “Dude ain’t running.”

Trev shrugged. “I told you to expect at least one or two of them not to run.”

……………

Naymond shook his can of grape soda and found it empty so he tossed it aside. Littering was a minor offense, and since there was no officer around, he certainly couldn’t be expected to uphold the law to the fullest extent of its requirement.

Besides, more important things were happening on the other side of the building he was standing at. Actually, it was two buildings away. But there really wasn’t any difference. He’d been alternating his distance every few minutes.

Specifically, he spent two minutes away from Melmarc, which was the duration of his skill. That way, his skill was always available to the boy. And each time, he watched the skill’s form as Melmarc moved, learning more about his own skill’s form by having someone else use it.

If Melmarc pushed the skill hard enough, Naymond just might be able to get to that forty percent threshold faster than he thought.

Melmarc, unsurprisingly, was about to face his second dilemma. What did a boy like Melmarc do when he was faced with thugs?

There was also the part about possible casualties, but none of them were really his business. A bunch of kids got themselves involved with some shady people and got bonked over the head with a deadly weapon. So what? They’ll learn from it. Get better at making stupid decisions.

And you just scolded the kid for not doing the right thing.

He sighed at his own self-judgement. Being two-faced was really not a good quality for a person’s conscience. It bred cognitive dissonance on a spiritual level.

Naymond knew where five of the four boys Trev had lied about were. Truthfully, some random passerby had already found one and called for an ambulance. The remaining four weren’t necessarily in critical condition from what he could tell, but it was only a matter of time before they were.

Naymond let out a deep breath and pulled out his phone. Then he dialed Alfa’s number and waited while it rang.

He was still waiting when he sensed Melmarc check the time on his phone. Naymond almost laughed.

That damned kid. His lips curled in an impish smile.

Naymond forgot about his phone placed against his ear and crossed the road. The least he could do for putting the boy in such a confusing predicament was make sure that he didn’t die. He would be there to ensure Melmarc did not make a mistake he wouldn’t be able to come away from.

Confidence even in the face of insurmountable odds was a quality of a good Delver. Unfortunately, as a Delver there was an almost nonexistent line between a good Delver and a foolish Delver.

How they reacted when facing insurmountable odds was a strong part of that line.

Naymond strolled across the busy road without looking. There were a few car honks and a few swears thrown at him, but none of them was important.

He would allow the child take a little beating for character building, clean a touch of that naivety out of him, then he would step in. There was also the possibility that he might get angry and use a skill, in which case Naymond would also step in.

All in all, character building was ensured. Maybe he could turn that innocent child with no poker face into someone more prepared for the darkness of the world of the Gifted.

As he got to the next building, he sensed one of the boys hold his plank firm, ready to take a swing. Naymond picked up the pace.

Got to hurry, got to hurry.

He was just a building away when the boy swung. Melmarc stepped into the swing and Naymond’s jaw dropped.

Fuck me.