August Intruder - Chapter 31- August Guest (Patreon)

Melmarc, Delano and Eroms were still on the stair case when the police arrived.

There was a rhythmic bang on the door, violent and persistent before someone realized it wasn’t locked, and shoved the door open.

Melmarc and his friends watched from the spot where they’d been caught initially as the police officers rushed in guns raised.

At their center was a single man not in uniform. He wore casual clothes and was the only one not in uniform.

He looked like he was in his late forties and had given too much time to working for the police. Or someone who didn’t think the stress of his job was worth the pay.

It was odd since he was supposed to be a B-rank. With that single curiosity, Melmarc almost wanted to activate [Knowledge Is Power].

The world had faded back to normal after eight minutes and, for some reason, it was odd to see the world in its normal form with no indicator or highlights.

It was nice knowing almost everything he felt was important around him.

He still had [Chemical Exchange] for a skill even though eight minutes had passed, but its mastery had dwindled into the negative percentage and continued to fall.

The police officer was talking to Tepes, the butler, while his uniformed colleagues slapped an odd looking pair of cuffs around Joshua’s wrists. Joshua remained lying on the floor so three officers had been needed to move him.

The police officer caught Melmarc’s eyes while he was talking to Tepes and turned to him.

“Were you kids the ones that called us?” he called out.

Tepes looked behind him and found them. His old face gave no expression.

“It’s safe now.” The police officer in casual clothes gestured for them to approach. “The bad man’s gone.”

“He knows we’re not eight, right?” Delano asked.

Eroms shrugged. “You look eight.”

His shirt was soaked in his own blood but he was fine now. There was no injury, and he didn’t seem tired. But he’d complained about being hungry at least three times since the police had shown up.

“I’m five, seven,” Delano said. “Show me an eight-year-old that’s five, seven and tell me whose giant baby that is.”

“Five, seven?” Eroms looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. “You look smaller.”

Delano reached out to him in a choking gesture. “I’d kill you if I hadn’t almost watched you die.”

Eroms nodded sagely, then stood up. “How about now?”

With the height difference, choking Eroms would be a challenge for Delano.

Delano shook his head. “Remind me why we hang with him, again, Marc.”

Melmarc was standing, too, waiting for them to finish talking before they went to meet the detective.

“I don’t know, D. These days I’m with him for the free food.”

The detective continued to watch them along with the butler. Melmarc could tell that they were slowly growing impatient. He couldn’t blame the detective. To him they must’ve looked like they were ignoring him.

“Let’s go, D,” he said, offering a still squatting Delano his hand. “At this rate it looks like we’re ignoring them.”

Delano took his hand and let him pull him up. “Marc, the dude called us eight. We are ignoring them.”

“He told us the bad man’s gone. You called us eight.”

“Oh… I did, didn’t I?”

The rest of the house remained oblivious and in the comforts of their rooms upstairs while the police spoke with them.

They took their statements, told them of the situation, and complimented their bravery. Melmarc and his friends recounted the events to the best of their knowledge as the detective, who introduced himself as Fajana, asked simple questions.

There were questions for Tepes as well. But when Fajana had made enquiries to speak with the owner of the house, Tepes had politely refused.

“Mr. Alexandra is currently busy with more important tasks.”

Vlad and the maid, Anais, had made their exit even before Melmarc and his friends had returned to watching the events unfold. By the time the police had stormed into the house, they were nowhere to be found.

The butler had been all the welcome party they’d gotten. Him and Joshua in a pool of blood.

The entire process took roughly twenty minutes. Their statements were taken along with pictures of the scene. Which seemed unimportant to Melmarc since there were no mysteries to the crime.

“I don’t think he bought it,” Delano said when the hallway was empty again, the police gone, with Joshua in their custody.

“I wouldn’t have bought it either,” Melmarc agreed. “Why did we say Eroms tripped and fell in a puddle of blood while trying to escape from Joshua?”

“Because I tripped and fell in a pool of blood while escaping from the bad guy.”

Melmarc couldn’t help but be impressed by the commitment Eroms had given to the story.

“When you decided to be the one to talk I had a feeling you wouldn’t get your story straight.” Delano was fingering the hole in Eroms shirt where he’d been stabbed. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter.”

Melmarc agreed. “At least he believed the part where I told him we all had to drag him up while Tepes held Joshua back.”

Delano laughed. “He didn’t believe that, too.”

“Why not?” Melmarc asked. “It made sense. The strong Basher held back the Blood master while we dragged our friend back to safety. Makes a lot of sense to me.”

“You’re just saying that because it was the part of the story that you came up with. I swear, I’m appalled that you’re my friends and you can’t even tell a proper lie. Have you not gained anything from my glorious presence?”

Melmarc shook his head with a smile. “Alright, then. Tell me where the error was.”

Delano didn’t get to answere.

“It was the rank.”

They turned to the voice and found Tepes approaching them after taking care of a few broken vases. Even in his tattered suit, he looked ever the part of some royalty’s butler.

“No Gifted detective deserving of his pay would believe that a C-rank Basher held back a B-rank Blood Master long enough for you to drag your friend up the stairs.”

“There were two of us,” Melmarc tried, but there was no heart in his rebuttal.

“And your friend weighs, what? Two, twenty?”

Delano chuckled, and Eroms muttered something about it being the wrong weight.

“I’m also surprised you guys could drag him up the stairs,” Tepes continued. “But your friend is correct. There were too many inconsistencies with your stories. And it is never a good idea to lie to the police, even if you aren’t the culprit.”

Melmarc and Eroms nodded, but Delano had more to say.

“You said no one would believe a C-rank Basher could hold back a B-rank Blood Master. How did he know your rank?”

“I work here. When I came to this country I registered my Class and rank.”

“But you could have gotten stronger since the time you came.”

Tepes nodded. “But working for someone like Mr. Alexander puts you in the spotlight of the police. We update our ranks every month.”

“Seems controlling,” Melmarc mused. “What happens if you miss a month?”

“If we don’t go to them, then they will come to us.”

Seems very controlling.

“If I may,” Tepes continued. “While my colleague and I were trapped, what happened?”

Melmarc wasn’t sure how to answer.

“Your boss whooped the bad guy’s ass,” Delano said easily.

“Maybe he did, but here you are, three kids, fully aware of my class even though no one has told you.”

Delano smirked. “Dude, you work for Vlad Alexandra, the rumored unconfirmed Vampire class. Almost all his employees from his time in Romania have rumors about them.”

He really is good at lying, Melmarc noted.

“You’re either a Basher or a Juggernaut,” Delano continued. “From the way you fought, Basher was the best bet. Your colleague in the maid outfit’s probably some Agility type. I’ll put my money on something combat based, maybe Martial Master or Human Weapon, maybe even a Weaver.”

“That is quite the specificity.”

Delano scoffed. “Not really. If she wants to keep her secret, tell her to stop weaving hand signs all over the place.”

Melmarc could clearly remember telling Delano Tepes and Anais’ classes and ranks while they were waiting for the police in case they needed to help.

Tepes wasn’t convinced, but he was being a good sport. “And our guest’s rank? The good detective said they were told his rank before their arrival.”

“We’re sixteen not dumb.” Delano was slowly switching into his pompous persona. “Everyone knows your boss is an A-rank and, no offense, but your guest was wiping the floor with you two. But when it got to your boss, he couldn’t do squat. You didn’t fight like a D-rank so C-rank was the best bet. Which meant your guest must’ve been a B-rank or a really useless A.”

Tepes was smiling now. He looked impressed. It was almost as if he knew everything was a lie but was merely curious as to how far Delano could spin a tale.

“Would you indulge me one more question?” he asked, politely.

Delano shrugged. “We’re your guests.”

“When I and my colleague were trapped, something happened. It was like a friend borrowing ten dollars he wasn’t going to give back.”

Melmarc winced. Was that how it felt for them?

He didn’t like the description. No one would want to partner up with him if every time he used his skill they felt like they were being stolen from.

“Can’t help you with that,” Delano answered.

Tepes nodded, more impressed than believing. “Perhaps it was the bubble. It could’ve had draining effects.”

Delano shrugged.

“That said.” Tepes walked up to the door and turned the lock. “I would suggest that you boys return to your room. Master Vlad would be happy if you were to inform your colleagues and teachers of none of these. If rumors spread, we may no longer be able to hosts students on trips anymore.”

“Yes, sir,” Melmarc answered before Delano could. “It wasn’t that bad.”

Tepes looked from him to Eroms bloody shirt. “The hole in your friend’s shirt says otherwise. But I thank you for your understanding. Do have a nice rest of your stay.”

With that, he offered them one of the most elderly smiles they had ever seen and made his way up the stairs.

“He knew you were lying,” Melmarc told Delano when he was gone.

They were walking back up the stairs, making their way to their room.

“Of course he did. Anyone who was around for the fight would know I was lying.” He spared Eroms a glance them patted him on the arm, as if reassuring himself that their friend was really there. “Besides, we already knew too much.”

“Then why continue?”

“Because I was being a good sport.” Delano shrugged. “Also, he knew I was lying, but wasn’t sure what specifically I was lying about. It’s like when you know your crush has a boyfriend but you don’t know who he is.”

He eyed Melmarc expectantly.

“Again, D. I have no idea if my sister is even in a relationship.”

“You could ask.”

“You were on the phone with her not long ago. You could’ve asked.”

Delano returned his eyes to the front. “Touché.”

…………….

They returned home the next day.

Vlad had a few words to say as he wished them and their classmates a safe trip. He had trinkets and souvenirs for each student and teacher.

Melmarc, Delano, and Eroms were handed small envelopes along with theirs. Vlad had more color in his face unlike his ghostly paleness he had displayed the night before, so Melmarc thought that was a good thing.

Delano joked about how he must’ve had a good meal after the whole fiasco.

Melmarc gave himself a mental note to inform Delano of the Gifted’s class when they were in a more private place. He would’ve done it when they headed back to their room, but they’d basically fallen asleep the moment their heads had touched their pillows.

The trip back was anything but quiet. Arrangements were a mess, and Melmarc ended up sitting next to a girl in his class he knew very little about.

He could remember her name, and that she’d gotten in a fight over someone making fun of her mum for some reason or the other once. But that was as far as he could remember.

It reminded him that his social skills needed a lot of work.

When the bus dropped them at school with some of their parents waiting to pick them up, Delano made a quick call to his parents. He wanted to know if he could have a sleepover at Melmarc’s place but the response was simple.

“Sorry, hun. But it’s a school night,” his mother had said. “You know you can’t have sleepovers on a school night.”

Delano groaned and stared at the sky in exasperation.

“What kind of school hosts a school trip that ends on the last day of the break?”

“Our school.” Melmarc patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. “Besides, we can always meet up after classes tomorrow for the whole fiasco.”

The whole point of trying to have a sleepover was so that they could try out Melmarc’s skills, see how far it could go, find its limits. After all, the only thing more disliked than low rank Gifted were Gifted who didn’t know how to use their skills

Unless they were S-ranks. No one hated S-ranks.

“Are you even still going to come to school?” Delano asked after a while. “Are the both of you even going to come?”

It was the first time he was addressing the fact that Eroms was a Gifted. Melmarc hadn’t told him, and he didn’t think he’d needed to. The simple fact that Eroms had survived being stabbed in the chest was all the telling that needed to happen.

But Delano was handling it well, and in strides.

Now that he’d said it, Melmarc realized he hadn’t really thought about it.

“I’ll still be coming to class,” Eroms said easily.

“What are you, like—”Delano looked from side to side and lowered his voice“—like a D-rank or something.”

I guess he didn’t know.

Eroms shook his head. “My parents want to keep it a secret until they are sure.”

“Sure?” The confusion was clear in Delano’s voice. “Sure about what? This isn’t like some sickness where you have to take a test or something. Trust me, they’re sure. You’re sure. Vlad is sure.”

“Sure about what, exactly?” Melmarc asked.

“No idea,” Eroms answered. “They just said they wanted to be sure.”

Delano sighed. “What of you, Marc?”

Melmarc shrugged. “Haven’t really thought of it. But I’ll come tomorrow.”

Delano’s parents came for Eroms and Delano. They offered Melmarc a ride but he knew Ninra was coming to pick him so he declined.

He hadn’t wanted her to come to school and wait until they arrived so he’d called her when they were almost there, so that she’d arrive with him or he’d have to be the one waiting.

When she picked him up, the ride back home was quiet.

She asked a few simple questions like what happened after the call, and how did the entire thing end.

He answered in the quickest summary. The whole story would wait until they got home.

When they got home, Ark had far too many questions while uncle Dorthna only asked if he’d had to use any of his skills.

He had not looked happy about the answer.

Before turning in for the night, he narrated the entire story of what had happened. Ark kept interrupting with questions, which wasn’t so bad since it was basically how he was when he listened to stories.

Melmarc kept nothing out of the story, and Ninra had grimaced heavily at the part where Eroms was stabbed in the chest. After much consideration, he told them Eroms was Gifted but said nothing on the specifics.

They were his family, but it still remained Eroms’ secret to tell.

…………….

The first day of the new term was simple enough, if a little boring. But Melmarc attributed the boredom to how much of a hurry he was in to get back home.

Being the first day, there wasn’t much in the way of teaching. All the teachers wanted to ask about the holidays and talk about what the term held in store for them.

It was simple and it was quick.

Delano and Eroms rushed into his class even before the final bell rang and all but dragged him out.

Delano’s lacking patience showed in the fact that he’d all but begged them to take the bus home.

“But you hate the bus,” Melmarc commented.

“Yes, I do. But sometimes we do what we must with what we’re given.”

When they got to Melmarc’s place, Dorthna and Ark were dressed and ready to go.

They weren’t going to test Melmarc’s skills in the house or even out back. For that, they needed somewhere more suiting, somewhere less in the open.

For that, Dorthna drove them to the gym where they’d taken Ark. Unlike their time with Ark, Ninra had opted to follow.

“When do you have to get back home?” Dorthna asked as they walked into the gym.

Ark shut the door behind them and turned the lock.

“Ten, Mr. Dorthna,” Delano answered before turning to Melmarc. “Did you check your envelope yet?”

Melmarc nodded.

Delano looked expectant. “What did you get?”

“A letter of recommendation ‘to whom it may concern.’”

Delano deflated. “E and I got the same thing. I think they couldn’t find out how many of us were Gifted so they just gave all of us.”

As disappointed as Delano looked, a letter of recommendation from an A-rank Gifted was a big deal for people like them. Especially from a former Delver like Vlad.

There were Delver schools that only accepted students based on recommendations. It didn’t matter how great your grades were or how much promise you showed, if you didn’t have one, you didn’t get in.

Melmarc didn’t need one, though. He was the child of two Gifted. They were all the recommendation he needed to get into schools like that.

“So did you find out about the school thing?” Delano asked as they drew closer to the center of the building. “Are you still coming?”

As a matter of fact, he did.

“Yea…” He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Today’s my last day.”

“Yea. Bummer. I kinda suspected when I didn’t see Ark in school today. What’s even up with that? He used to skip classes from what I’ve heard but I’ve never seen him skip school entirely.”

“How did you know he skipped school?”

“Students like to talk.” Delano looked around the empty space. “This is quite large, isn’t it? And the walls look funny. Anyway, is Ark skipping school going to be a thing now that you aren’t going to be around to snitch on him?”

Melmarc never snitched on Ark when he skipped classes. It was always just a class or two, and no one ever asked him about it.

With Ark being a Gifted now, he had been more than happy to drop out of regular school. He was preparing himself for his official registration as a Gifted, then his official application to be a Delver.

The process was simple. The government would confirm his Class, then they would assign him to a Delver of their choosing or a Gifted in an active combat capability for a mentorship program of three weeks.

During this time, he would be allowed to apply to any Delving schools of his choice. On conclusion of the mentorship program, he would then resume in whichever Delving school granted him admission.

Melmarc was supposed to follow the same path now that he was a Gifted.

“Alright, then.” Dorthna clapped his hand to draw their attention. “Front and center, Mel.”

Melmarc left Delano to stand in front of his uncle, and Delano pulled out a book and pen from his school bag.

“You, too, Eroms,” Dorthna said. “I don’t know what plans your parents have for you, but you’re friends with Mel so I’d like to know what you can do.”

Melmarc frowned at his uncle.

“If that’s okay with you,” Dorthna added hurriedly.

Eroms shrugged and joined Melmarc.

“Alright.” Dorthna pointed at Melmarc. “What do you know about your skills so far. You used them once, so what did you get?”

Melmarc gave it some thought before answering. “Knowledge Is Power actually gives a lot of information.”

“How much?”

“Well, I can tell if there’s a dead ant on the floor when I use it.”

Dorthna nodded. “What else?”

“It says I can’t be damaged, but I can definitely feel pain.” Melmarc rubbed his forehead, remembering how much it hurt when Joshua attacked him. “A lot of pain.”

“No surprise there. Damage and pain are two different things.”

“Oh. And when I use it, I can see a person’s, name, class, and rank.” He pointed above his head. “It just floats there with an indicator like a video game. Eroms and Delano were green, so green is friendly. Joshua—the one that broke in—was red, so red’s clearly for threats. And I’d say grey is for neutral, neither good nor bad.”

Delano was jotting everything down in his book.

Dorthna was nodding throughout.

When Melmarc was done, he said, “Use it.”

“Wait, what?”

“It’s why we’re here,” Dorthna explained. “Use Knowledge Is Power.”

It felt odd being told to just use his skill on call. It was like being asked to smile when there was really nothing to smile about. But he obeyed, regardless.

Activating [Knowledge Is Power] was like moving your leg a moment before it fell asleep. It was like a glitch. It came with a momentous pause. But nothing too long.

A notification flared in front of him.

[You have used skill Knowledge Is Power.]

He watched the blast of white like the static of a scrambled channel burst out of him in a dome. It looked a bit computerized now that he took his time to study it.

Dorthna kept his eye on him as the dome expanded to its max, which didn’t fill out the entire room.

Then it began its return.

When it passed through Dorthna, he blinked. It went into Melmarc and he suddenly knew a lot.

“What did you learn?” Dorthna asked.

“I learned that Eroms is really, really hungry,” he answered. “And I mean very hungry. Like starved. He could probably eat a whole horse.”

He also knew where everyone around him was standing, even Delano who was behind him eyeballing the punching bag in the corner.

Dorthna nodded. “Who else is hungry?”

Melmarc didn’t know.

“I guess that should tell you something about the skill,” Dorthna commented. “Have you been offered your buffs?”

Melmarc’s buffs were in front of him but he wasn’t looking at them yet. When his attention shifted to it, Dorthna cut him short.

“Ignore them.”

“Okay,” Melmarc said, hesitant. He wasn’t sure why he was supposed to ignore them. “What now?”

“Use Knowledge Is Power again.”

Melmarc had a few ideas why his uncle wanted him to use the skill again, but he didn’t presume anything.

He activated the skill again and was surprised at the new notification in front of him.

[You cannot use Knowledge Is Power at this time.]

[Cool down: 00:01:39.]

That was troubling.

“What did you get?” Dorthna asked as Melmarc read the notification.

“There’s a cool down.”

It looked like the same time frame [Bless Your Kindness] gave for him to choose a buff. Was the cool down the reason he had such a limited time frame to choose a buff or was choosing the buff the reason for the cool down?

Was he limited to using only one skill at a time?

“Don’t overthink it,” Dorthna said. “Almost every skill has a cool down period.”

“Makes sense,” Delano said. “Almost every active skill I know of has a cool down period.”

Melmarc was also aware of it. But there were also some that didn’t have cool down periods. For instance, Ark’s skills didn’t have cool down periods but they consumed a boatload of mana. He could spam [Breath of Fire] as much as he wanted as long as he had the mana to support it.

He’s unranked, so it’s not really surprising that he’s different.

Dorthna must’ve been counting the seconds, because when the cool down timer ended and Melmarc lost his buff options without having looked at them, he spoke again.

“Use it again.”

Melmarc complied.

The skill blasted out of him as it always did, then came back. Was it slower this time?

“Ignore the buffs,” Dorthna said the moment it went through him on its return “What I want you to do when the timer runs out, is use it again. But this time, I need you to keep track of how long it takes.”

Melmarc understood and brought out his phone.

“Three seconds,” Delano said. “Give or take.”

They paused to look at him, and he raised his head from his book.

“You always look at the air funny after three seconds. I assume that’s because of the buff.” He looked at everyone and found them still staring at him. “What did you think I was doing with the book? Playing Sudoku?”

Melmarc had thought he was jotting the skills down but hadn’t been sure. “I felt you’d rather video it.”

“I would, but,” he gestured amongst them, “I take it this is all supposed to be hush hush. So I don’t want to leave any evidence behind.”

Dorthna nodded.

“Smart friend,” he said, then turned to Eroms. “Willing to share what skills you have?”

Delano looked expectant.

Had they not talked about it yet?

Melmarc had expected that now that Delano knew, they would’ve had long conversations on the subject, Delano peppering Eroms with all the questions he could come up with.

Delano’s face claimed that wasn’t the case.

“I’ve got one that makes me very hungry,” Eroms answered. “It also makes people want to give me food. It doesn’t say anything else but I’ve noticed everyone just forgets when it happens or acts like it’s normal… except Delano.”

That made sense. It explained why everyone had been giving him food and why no one had said anything. Melmarc remembered when he’d given him his meal at Lulu’s and how he had just dropped the confusion so easily.

Does the skill have mind manipulation too? And why not Delano?

Delano turned a new page in his book and scribbled something down. “Is it active or passive?”

“Passive. I can eat as much as I want and store it away.”

Delano looked up from his book. “And the second one?”

“It burns the amount of food I’ve stored up and increases all my physical attributes.”

“Like your ability to heal faster,” Melmarc mused.

“Yes.”

“A useful combination,” Dorthna said.

For some reason he held an odd level of disinterest in the skills. He sounded only interested in knowing what they were and nothing more.

“Time to test out how the other skill works, Mel,” he said. “Do you have a hold on it?”

Delano flipped back to the previous page.

Melmarc gave it a thought. “Well there’s the mastery aspect. I think Gifted skills scale to the same mastery somehow, I’m not entirely sure. But normal skills can be higher.”

“What do you mean?” Dorthna asked, curious. “You get buffs for normal skills?”

Melmarc nodded. “I think I can use normal things a person can do. When I used it at the mansion I got a buff to choose from called videoing. And it was at a hundred percent mastery.”

Ninra chuckled. “I wonder how that would’ve worked.”

Melmarc activated [Knowledge Is Power] again.

When it came back to him, he felt like he knew too much. His head was also slowly beginning to hurt, and he felt like there was a brick on top of it.

But he got what he was looking for.

[Skill Knowledge Is Power is concluded.]

[All stats are increased by +0.5.]

[Life forms detected: 4.]

[You have received 4 Potential buffs.]

[Hunger Of The World](Mastery -100.00%)

The Gifted stores up an infinite amount of consumed nutrients.

[Jotting](Mastery 100.00%)

The human has near horrible penmanship.

[Artistry](Mastery 49.00%)

The Human applies facial coloring quite masterfully.

[???????](Mastery -1000000.00%)

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????

…

[Buff mastery is scaled based on mastery of skill Bless Your Kindness. Mastery of buff will begin reduction after eight minutes.]

[Would you like to select a Buff?]

[Yes/No.]

[Remaining time: 00:02:59.]

Oh, the cool down for Knowledge Is Power isn’t the same with the selection time.

They were off by about a minute.

Melmarc had intended on selecting a buff based off either Delano or Ninra. Instead he was caught with levels of shock.

He turned to Eroms, mouth opened. “You’ve got a world skill?”

Its description fit Eroms’ constant eating to the letter.

“Wait, what?” Delano hurried on to what Melmarc was now beginning to think was Eroms’ page of the book and scribbled quickly. Done, he looked up. “What?!”

Eroms shrugged. “All it does is help me eat.”

Dorthna made a thoughtful sound. “And you have a skill that makes people give you food, and one that allows you give yourself a physical buff based on how much food you have.”

He’s like a walking tank as long as he has something to eat.

“How much of an increase are we talking here?” Ark asked, speaking finally from where he kept beating up a defenseless punching bag.

“I don’t know,” Eroms answered.

“That much is understandable,” Dorthna said.

He seemed to think for a moment then held his hand out. “Shake my hand.”

Eroms obeyed. He was a large boy, as large as Dorthna, maybe a little taller, so their hands were evenly matched in size.

Dorthna adjusted his grip for better comfort. “Now use your skill, and squeeze.”

Melmarc didn’t know when Eroms activated his skill. There was no wobble in the flow of mana because there was no flow of mana to feel. There was no distortion in the air, no visual representation. Nothing to judge by.

That was the thing about the Gifted. You only knew they were using their skills if the skill had an effect that could be felt or seen. For instance, [Knowledge Is Power] was only felt by people when it was returning to him.

Eroms started pressing down on his uncle’s hand, his grip tightening. Melmarc said nothing. Uncle Dorthna’s expression didn’t change, and Ark abandoned his instruction to beat up the punching bag to come and take a look.

After a moment, Eroms started to exert dominance in the handshake. Delano started jotting down quickly in his book.

“That’s interesting,” Dorthna mused, even as his hand was slowly beginning to be crushed. “Oh, don’t worry about me. Just keep increasing your use. Right now I’d believe anybody that thinks you’re an S-class Basher, or even a Juggernaut.”

Well, you don’t look like you’re shaking hands with one, Melmarc thought.

All Melmarc and his siblings knew about uncle Dorthna was that he was a retired Delver. But their parents never told them his class or rank.

Not for the first time, he wondered what they were. Was it a Strength type? If yes, what was the rank?

“You can let go now,” Dorthna told Eroms.

When Eroms released the handshake, Dorthna didn’t even bother looking at his hand. He simply went back to their initial conversation.

He moved his attention back to Melmarc. “Is the cool down over?”

Melmarc had completely forgotten about his buffs. When he went to check on them, they had expired. Out of curiosity he pulled his own information.

It was as easy as thinking.

[Name: Melmarc Jay Lockwood]

[Class: Faker – Chemical Exchange (Mastery -50.14%)]

[Rank: B]

[Growth Potential: Unranked]

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

Earlier in the day [Chemical Exchange] had a negative twenty-five percent mastery, now the negative percent had doubled. He knew the mastery reduced as time went by. But now he had a strong feeling the reduction increased significantly whenever he used [Knowledge Is Power].

He looked at his uncle. “It’s gone. Should I use it again?”

“Yes.”

The weight he was feeling was still there, bearing down on his head. It weighed him down like a physical thing.

He activated [Knowledge Is Power] again.

When it came back to him, he felt a little dizzy.

Is this mana fatigue? He wondered.

People always talked about it as if it was like getting tired after a particularly rough and active sport. But it didn’t feel that way. It felt more like having countless weights bearing down on you. Like his head was getting heavier.

[Skill Knowledge Is Power is concluded.]

[All stats are increased by +0.5.]

[Life forms detected: 5.]

[You have received 5 Potential buffs.]

[Gluttony](Mastery 0.00%)

The Gifted draws on the nutrients stored over time to increase physical attributes.

[Jotting](Mastery 100.00%)

The human has near horrible penmanship.

[Artistry](Mastery 49.00%)

The Human applies facial coloring quite masterfully.

[???????](Mastery -1000000.00%)

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????

[Will of Hades](Mastery -20.02%)

The Gifted possesses a slight resistance to fire.

…

[Buff mastery is scaled based on mastery of skill Bless Your Kindness. Mastery of buff will begin reduction after eight minutes.]

[Would you like to select a Buff?]

[Yes/No.]

[Remaining time: 00:02:59.]

“I’ve got the buffs,” he informed uncle Dorthna.

“What are they?”

Melmarc called each one out. As he did, Dorthna’s attention moved from one individual in the room to another.

Delano’s head perked up when Melmarc read the description of [Jotting].

“I find that very offensive. My handwriting’s not that bad.”

Eroms shook his head. “Strong disagree. You failed handwriting three times when we were small. You only managed a passing mark, and your mom still thinks it’s because our teacher was being generous.”

Delano frowned but said nothing else. He returned to jotting things down.

“Don’t worry about the skill with the question marks,” Dorthna told Melmarc. “I’m guessing its simply a skill you can’t use.”

Melmarc agreed. The skill also looked greyed out. It was like something he couldn’t select. But he’d been able to read and probably pick Vlad’s skill, even though he was an A-rank.

Did that mean he couldn’t use skills higher than A-rank? He doubted that was the case.

Eroms is an S-rank and I can see his skills just fine. Maybe even use them.

“You should pick one before the timer ends,” Dorthna added.

Melmarc chose.

[Would you like to use Will of Hades? You will not be able to renege on this decision?]

[Yes/No.]

“Yes.”

[You have selected Will of Hades.]

Will of Hades (Mastery -20.02%)

The first thing he noticed was that the weight on his head lightened.

“I feel lighter,” he said.

“Faster?” Dorthna asked.

Melmarc shook his head. “Not really. Each time I used Knowledge Is Power I kept feeling heavier, like someone was putting a heavy cowboy’s hat on my head each time. I thought it was probably mana fatigue. But I feel lighter now.”

“It’s probably because you weren’t activating your support skill whenever you used it.” Delano started writing again. “I heard some skills have that effect if you don’t use the support skill.”

“It’s the synergy,” Dorthna agreed. “I’m thinking your first skill brings back too much information for your mind, and your mind converts the information to something you can use which are the buffs with your other skill.”

That makes sense.

“So when I used it twice without using Bless Your Kindness I was gathering too much information, and it started weighing me down?”

“Correct. That would explain why you got points in mind.”

“But I have two points in mind. I thought that was supposed to help somehow.”

Ninra snorted. “Imagine if you didn’t have plus two in mind.”

“Your head would’ve popped like a balloon.” Delano’s writing paused. “Not a good sight to think about.”

Does that mean I always have to use [Bless Your Kindness] all the time?

Melmarc wasn’t sure how that made him feel.

What if I want to keep the buff I already have?

The draw-backs to his skills were showing themselves the more he used them.

“Which one did you pick?” Ninra asked.

“Will of Hades.”

“Want to try it out?” Ark asked.

Delano paused. He raised his head from his book, confused. Pointing with his pen, he counted how many people were in the room.

Then he frowned.

“Apart from you, there are five of us, Mel.”

“Correct.”

Ark was already stretching as if testing out [Will of Hades] was going to be a physical thing.

“But you got offered three Gifted skills.” Delano was still frowning.

Uncle Dorthna was nice enough to wait patiently for him to finish.

“That means…” Delano’s brows furrowed and his eyes snapped to Ark. “You’re Gifted?”

“Of course.” Ark shrugged. “Didn’t Mel tell you?”

“Mel didn’t tell me anything,” he said in accusation. “And what the hell? My two friends are Gifted and so is one’s older brother. And then there’s me with a terrible handwriting. What am I? A potato?”

Melmarc looked down and away. It wasn’t like Ark being Gifted was his secret to tell, even though he hadn’t really known if it was a secret.

Ark took one look at him and laughed.

“It’s not that big a deal, Delano.” He walked up to Delano and threw his arm over his shoulders. “I told him not to tell anyone. I was trying to surprise a lot of people when I didn’t resume this term. Did he tell you about our new pet, though?”

“Yeah,” Delano grumbled. “Have you guys figured out what it is, yet?”

Ark scratched his cheek awkwardly. “Uhh…”

Ark looked up at Melmarc, then looked at uncle Dorthna.

Melmarc didn’t know how to answer that one. What Spitfire was felt like something that was supposed to be a secret. In fact, common sense dictated that it remain a family secret until the end of time.

“It’s a Guardian,” Dorthna said, bailing them out. “Now, Ark, give Mel some fire to work with.”

Eroms stepped away from Melmarc almost immediately, and Melmarc couldn’t help giving him a look.

“What?” Eroms said. “It’s not like I’m fire resistant.”

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Delano asked.

Ark had left him to stand a few paces in front of Melmarc.

“Shouldn’t we try with something small. Maybe a lighter, or a match stick?”

“Do you have a matchstick on you?” Ninra asked. “Or a lighter?”

She sounded hopeful.

Her hope deflated when Delano shook his head.

“It’s not a problem.” Ark was stretching again. “Things like lighters and matches won’t help. We’ll need to know how far his resistance can go.”

Delano and Ninra’s barely concealed worry was beginning to get to Melmarc. He was getting worried too.

The skill mastery was in the negative. What if it was far less effective than Ark thought? What if he actually got burned?

“Careful with how much fire power you use,” Dorthna said casually.

Ark threw him a salute. “Got it.”

“What about my clothes?” Melmarc asked.

Ark waved his worry aside. “The resistance covers everything on you. When the fire gets too much that’s when things like your clothes go first.”

He sounded too confident.

Melmarc really hoped this was going to go well. The last thing he wanted to do was get burned.

Ark took a deep breath. “Ready?”

“Rea—”

A notification flashed in front of Melmarc.

[Portal detected]

[Status effect August Guest detected.]

[As an August Guest render all necessary aid in the closure of detected Portal.]

Distance from Portal: 128km