The stairs were definitely the right choice, Melmarc thought as he ascended the stairs three at a time. Naturally, it would’ve been a dumb decision if you took time and strength and endurance into consideration.

But he had the endurance and the speed. And taking multiple steps at a time cut the entire process short by a significant amount of time. Besides, he wasn’t going to be the intruder that used the elevator after the chaos he’d just caused downstairs.

It would be really dumb to get trapped in an elevator at this time.

“I’ve got a bunch of [EP],” he said as he ran up, clearing over three floors in less than a minute.

“You should,” Veebee said. “You went through so much. Still, if you had killed all the monsters as planned, you’d have a lot more.”

The last part it had added in a grumble.

“Do you think I should use them now?” Melmarc asked, pointedly ignoring the fact that Veebee had intended for him to single handedly slay all the [Damned] in the portal.

Veebee gave it some thought, while Melmarc found himself a little impressed in how Veebee could follow his speed, hovering so leisurely next to him. Melmarc could barely see the details around him.

“No,” it answered in the end.

“Why no—” Melmarc coughed a bit as something flew into his mouth. “I think I just swallowed a fly.”

“Not a fly,” Veebee answered casually. “No fly in building.”

That made Melmarc worry at what could’ve possibly entered his mouth. Ignoring that little worry, he brought them back to the conversation.

“Why shouldn’t I use my [EP]?”

“Because it would be you wasting your [EP],” Veebee answered. “If you use [EP]. You’ll use it for this moment. That is waste. Keep it for when you will use it for general increase.”

“But what if he’s stronger than me? The guy we’re going to meet.”

“It is stronger than you.”

Veebee’s emphasis on the noun worried Melmarc. “Are you saying the player is not human?”

“Player is human,” Veebee corrected. “Player also sentient.”

Oh, it’s a discrimination thing.

“So, if he’s stronger, why shouldn’t I use the [EP]?”

“Because you not die tonight.” Veebee didn’t seem the slightest bit bothered. “You are linked to Veebee and Veebee can’t die… yet. Veebee get you back home if you near to die.”

Melmarc really wanted to point out its use of lexicon one more time, but he didn’t.

I can trust it, right?

For some reason, Melmarc felt like he could. He didn’t like that. All his life he’d never been a person to trust in feelings. The only people he trusted based on feelings were Ark and Ninra. Even then, they’d done enough to earn that trust.

In fact, he trusted them enough that if they broke his trust, he’d be stuck looking for the good reason they had for breaking his trust.

Every other person gained his trust based on rational, logical and objective observations. He could trust people because he knew enough about them to trust them. With Veebee, however, everything he knew about the creature was based on his feelings.

Its reactions and emotions were not things he could objectively see. Its nervousness, excitement, interest. Melmarc simply felt them all.

It was an odd sensation to work with all of a sudden.

In the end, he reached his conclusion.

“You won’t let me die, right?” he said.

“Not this night,” Veebee answered.

The stairs seemed to go on forever, but it eventually came to an end. When it did, Veebee guided Melmarc down a hallway filled with white light. It said nothing as it did, simply hovering and trusting that he would follow.

It was odd not to run into any other guard the entire way up. Odder still was the fact that despite all the gunshots nobody had come running, no alarm had been raised. Nothing.

It was almost as if the three men downstairs were the only night guards on duty.

“Here.” Veebee gestured at a black door. The only black door on the entire floor.

Melmarc stood in front of it, intrigued by the fact that he’d just gone up an entire skyscraper using the stairs and wasn’t panting. He’d used [Knowledge is Power] three times in the entire journey for the stat boost stack. Still, it remained an impressive feat.

He was at the top in less than ten minutes.

Moving his hand to the doorknob, Melmarc stopped himself. This wasn’t a kind visit or a social call. He was, in the truest words, an intruder here. A peaceful entry would be stupid.

Here goes nothing.

He raised his leg, put his back into it, and kicked the door down. It didn’t break on impact. Instead, the entire door caved in on itself then exploded inwards in a shattering of countless pieces.

Is it designed to do that?

The doors Melmarc knew simply broke or shattered. They were never so dramatic. This one had even gone the extra mile of raising a small cloud of dust. It took Melmarc a moment to realize that his kick hadn’t just taken the door, it had taken some parts of the wall, too.

Melmarc was introduced to a massive office. It was the kind you would expect to belong to some owners of massive corporations in movies. The over furnished offices with too many furniture and unnecessary colors.

At the end of the office, a man stood behind a desk with blue-white rings of mana hovering over both shoulders. He stood with his arms at the ready and caution in his blue eyes. The man looked old, with greying hair. Melmarc placed him to be at least fifty.

He was shorter than Melmarc by at least a full head, but despite how old he looked, his body looked like it was still in its prime. Even in the loose work shirt he was wearing, Melmarc could pick out how muscular he was.

There was a hesitant moment as both of them took themselves in. The rings of mana above the man’s shoulders let Melmarc know why Veebee had claimed the man’s mana was similar to his.

While they stood across the distance, Melmarc prepared himself. At the man’s age, he would probably have twelve years of experience under his belt if he’d been fighting since this world’s first Chaos Run. Then there was the fact that the man was the stronger of the both of them.

With his arsenal of skills, Melmarc knew what skill he was going to be using first.

[Knowledge is Power] then [Secrecy].

He would protect himself, then disable his opponent. It would allow him enough time to cross the distance. Then he would take advantage of his size. Hopefully that would be enough to give Veebee the chance to do what it wanted to do.

Melmarc leaned slightly forward. He knew the standoff was coming to an end. He was extremely close to moving when a bright light glared into the office. It was white and blinding. It was also very distracting.

Melmarc turned before he could stop himself. He was met with the sight of a silhouette of a man pointing two hands at the office.

An attack? Melmarc thought, bracing for impact even though the man’s hands were aimed at the second man behind the desk.

The sound of erupting glass filled the room as the glass between the office and the helicopter shattered inwards. It was an explosion of glass that let in the loud whirling sound of the helicopter’s blade.

Then the man in the helicopter jumped into the building. The lights in the office flickered from the chaos of the impact but there was still more than enough of it for Melmarc to see what the man was wearing.

What the hell? He thought. Is this some kind of movie shoot?

Standing there was a man in… spandex.

He looked like a typical movie supervillain with the terrifying mask that looked like the lower part of a skull to complete the entire outfit, masking half of his face.

Is this normal in this world?

The new intruder didn’t seem to pay Melmarc any attention. Instead, he had his entire attention focused on the man behind the desk. It took Melmarc a moment to correct himself. There was no man behind the desk anymore, and there was no desk.

The man behind the desk was towards the edge of the room. His rings of mana still hovered over his shoulders, and he had his laptop in his hand. Whatever was on the laptop had to be gravely important if he’d taken the time to save it.

“Shockwave,” the man muttered under his breath with a frown.

So, he is a supervillain, Melmarc thought.

He refused to believe that people carried legal names like Shockwave in this world.

“Hello, Norman,” Shockwave answered with a feral look in his eyes. The man had a baritone that sounded as if he screamed a lot for the fun of it. It was like a deep shrill.

The man with the rings of mana, Norman, gave him an amused look. “Shouldn’t you be dealing with superheroes?”

This world has active superheroes, too? Melmarc couldn’t say that he wasn’t impressed. He suddenly felt as if he’d been transported into a comic book version of his world.

“I’ll get back to that soon enough,” Shockwave answered, unfazed. “For now, I’m here for you.”

“Let me guess,” Norman sighed. “You’re trying to show off for your sidekick. Where’d you get this one, the back of a milk carton?”

Melmarc turned his attention to the helicopter. What sidekick?

The only other person in the helicopter was the pilot, and Melmarc could barely make the person out. The person could be male or female and he wouldn’t be able to tell.

It didn’t matter in the end. What mattered to Melmarc was that one of both men was a bad guy and he knew who it was. Veebee hovered over to his side.

“We don’t want our prey to die,” it said. “If prey dies, no power…” it turned thoughtful. “But no threat to [August Intruder]. Maybe we let prey die.”

It sounded logical to Melmarc. But while it did, the possibility of increased power wasn’t lost to him. He needed the man alive.

Also, there was just something about the man’s voice that was bothering him. It sounded vaguely familiar, like he’d heard it before. It felt like being around one of those people who just have a familiar face. In this case, it was a familiar voice.

Worse, it rubbed him wrong. It made him want to take a step back and hide away.

Melmarc pushed the feeling aside with a bit of work. He had almost six extra points in strength, and that was when he wasn’t counting the base stat. With those numbers, along with speed, he could make a difference.

Shockwave gave the other man a confused look. “What sidek—”

Melmarc moved.

He blurred into motion, clearing the distance between him and the man called Shockwave. His fist cocked back, and with all the strength he could muster, he punched down, straight into the man’s face. He would shatter his jaw in one blow and be done with it.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

But things didn’t go his way.

Shockwave turned, lightning fast, and caught the blow in his hand. The sound of the impact exploded in the room as if someone with big, muscular hands had just clapped with all his might.

Shockwave’s confusion turned to an angry frown.

“Who the fuck are you?” he asked.

Melmarc pulled his fist away from the man’s hand and threw two more punches. Shockwave stopped all three with the same raised hand. It gave the illusion of strength, but Melmarc knew that that was not what was happening.

With each punch he’d thrown, he’d felt resistance before his fists made contact. It was always like punching through a thick foam. It displaced the force of his blows and slowed his speed before Shockwave caught each one.

From what Melamrc had seen the man do with the glass windows and the name he was called, he came to the conclusion that the man was somehow stopping him with small bursts of shockwaves.

So, he changed his strategy.

Melmarc jumped back amidst the flickering lights and prepared himself to use [Secrecy]. With no shockwaves to get in his way, he could end everything faster.

Shockwave’s dismissal of him, however, gave him pause.

“Who’s the runt?” the villain asked Norman. “You sure he’s not one of yours?”

Norman looked between the both of them. “No idea,” he answered. “You barged in through my window and he barged in through the door.”

Melmarc stood where he was, confused.

Shockwave gave him a look, took him in with his eyes. “One of those budding dark hunters, maybe?”

Norman shrugged and Melmarc caught a wince of pain. It was slight but it had been there.

“That’s what I thought before you showed up,” Norman answered. “Hey, Shock, how about we do this? Let’s all just go our separate ways. You in your chopper.” He turned to Melmarc. “And you back out the door. Then we all come back once I’m done with the portal in Kyoto. What do you say?”

“They’ve got three level two hundreds out there already,” Shockwave replied. “I don’t think they’ll miss you. Besides, you could lose your life to the portal, then how do I get paid?”

Melmarc looked between both men, still confused. Despite his size, none of them treated him like a threat.

Just how strong are they?

Shockwave definitely hadn’t been fazed when he’d been disrupting Melmarc’s punches. But Melmarc had attributed that to the man’s confidence in his skills not his actual strength.

“So, this isn’t a villain thing,” Norman said. “It’s an actual job. A hit.”

Shockwave nodded. “You’re famous.”

Norman ran a tired hand through his hair, the ring of mana on the arm’s shoulder shifting to accommodate the action, then sighed. “Was it the Oath?”

So, they have Oaths here, too, Melmarc noted.

Shockwave shook his head. “That dude that’s masquerading around as the Oath of Greed? Nah, dude didn’t have the money to afford me.”

“Then is it—”

Norman didn’t get to finish his sentence when Shockwave pointed an open palm at him. The ring of mana over his right shoulder shot forward. It stopped in front of him and expanded into the size of a hula hoop.

The air exploded where it stood and Melmarc was already moving.

Shockwave tossed a nonchalant blast at him. Melmarc saw nothing, only knew he’d been attacked by the gesture of the hand. He dived out of the way, hitting the ground in a roll. The wall in the distance cracked with a small crater formed into it.

The sound was explosive.

Shockwave flung another blast at Norman. Again, nothing happened as it exploded where his ring hovered.

Shockwave’s eyes moved slowly to keep track of Melmarc. “So, still a budding hunter I see. In the spirit of being an adult, I’ll advise you to take the door and skedaddle.”

Melmarc would’ve loved to, but there was a villain right in front of him. An honest to God super villain. And he had Veebee’s word that he would not die. He didn’t think there was a better chance than this to test himself against another person.

So, he charged Shockwave.

[You have used skill Secrecy]

[Remaining uses: 3/4]

He sent the ring of mana flying from his good hand. It caught Shockwave’s attention. As it moved through the air, the man sent a casual blast at it with what looked like a random gesture. As for Norman, he still stood casually behind his ring of mana.

Shockwave’s attack smacked into Melmarc’s ring of mana and shattered on impact. Melmarc didn’t see the skill as it moved but saw it shatter. It was like watching the space the ring crack into millions of pieces before shattering like glass.

Shockwave’s brows furrowed in a frown. “What the hell?”

Then the ring of mana embedded itself in the ground where he stood. Shockwave only had one moment of confusion before it exploded.

Melmarc darted straight into the explosion without hesitation. He threw a right hook into Shockwave’s side. Shockwave moved a confident hand to meet it only for Melmarc’s fist to punch straight through. The force sent Shockwave’s hand flying and connected with his side. The blow was so powerful that shockwave’s feet left the floor by almost an inch.

Shockwave’s eyes widened in pain and confusion before he hit the ground. Melmarc followed up with a left to the man’s face. But rather than attempt to stop the blow once more, shockwave leaned away from it.

Melmarc’s fist went cascading to the side and Shockwave dropped two punches into Melmarc’s side. It was like being struck by a child.

Melmarc turned and swung a kick into Shockwave’s side. The man moved quickly. Melmarc’s height made it too easy for the man to duck the kick and come up with an uppercut. He clipped Melamrc in the jaw, moving too precisely with each attack, then backed away.

“What the hell is this?” Shockwave frowned.

Melmarc ignored him and followed up. He sent a flurry of attacks while he caught Veebee move towards Norman in his periphery. As for Shockwave, the man barely avoided each attack Melmarc sent flying.

Melmarc didn’t attack straight, however. He went around the man, making sure that they kept moving in a circle so that they didn’t leave the confines of the domain that [Secrecy] set.

Melmarc’s last attack made contact, struck Shockwave in the jaw. It rocked him but not well enough. Melmarc, however, staggered back.

Shockwave looked up at him, rage in his eyes. The mask that had covered half of his face cracked, then crumbled.

“Who are you?” he growled.

Melmarc said nothing.

“Who taught a kid like you to fight like that?”

Again, Melmarc said nothing. He simply took his form, kept his stance. To the side Veebee was hovering right next to Norman’s massive ring of mana.

“A disabler with combat skills,” Shockwave continued, his anger slowly subsiding. “A possible dark hunter. No. Not a dark hunter. You’re from the Legion, aren’t you. That useless group playing at league of doom. I’ll put you down and go after them later.”

He struck even before his words were finished.

Shockwave crossed the distance between them in a quick step and came to a stop in front of Melmarc. Melmarc threw an immediate jab, but Shockwave was already moving before he’d thrown it. The man had baited him into it.

The moment the jab ended, Shockwave threw one of his own. Melmarc leaned away as well but the villain was not done, striking with a leg kick. Melmarc hopped back, barely avoiding it. Forced to fight without his powers Shockwave was proving that he wasn’t someone that depended solely on his skills.

Melmarc followed with a flurry of punches, controlling his speed, holding back. Shockwave weaved and ducked under each one, moving back and away. With his size, Melmarc had the advantage of reach.

Shockwave found an opening and threw a punch. It was faster than the others he’d thrown. The switch up in the speed distracted Melmarc and the jab slipped through his defense to take strike him straight in the jaw.

Again, it was like being struck by a child.

He shook it off easily.

“You’re new to this,” Shockwave commented. “Trained, but not in real life situations. You’ll be easy.”

Melmarc attacked again. If the man was trying to goad him, it wasn’t working. Not when the man hit like a child.

Melmarc attacked again, increasing his speed. Shockwave dodged some more, weaved and bobbed. Strain was beginning to show on his face, Melmarc’s speed was oppressing him. One of Melmarc’s fists went for his face and Shockwave blocked it with a raised hand. Melmarc struck the man’s wrist where it should’ve been his face.

He felt the wrist give under the weight of his blow. Shockwave grimaced and threw a punch of his own just a moment before [Secrecy] shattered around them, its effect coming to an end.

Melmarc raised a hand and took the blow to the wrist as well.

Then Shockwave switched up his attacks. He closed in immediately and started throwing elbow strikes. Melmarc moved, evading, leaning away. He tried to increase the space between them but Shockwave would not allow it.

The man went low, arms forward, he rushed one of Melmarc’s legs. Melmarc moved the leg out of the way, only to narrowly avoid a flying knee that followed.

It took Melmarc only a moment to realize what was happening. He’d probably broken the man’s wrist in that one blow he’d blocked, so the man had switched to elbows and knees, changed his fighting style.

The man rushed forward, went for Melmarc’s legs again. This time, Melmarc did not avoid it. Instead, he leaned forward and stopped the man with a hand to the face. It halted the man in his tracks and presented Melmarc with a gauged distance. Before Shockwave could move away, Melmarc swung down.

His punch caught Shockwave in the face, staggering him. When his head drooped slightly forward, Melmarc followed with an upper cut. That, too, connected. Sent the man staggering farther back.

Three more blows had the man wobbling on his feet. Then Shockwave went defensive, locked himself in behind raised hands and a rounded back. Melmarc rushed forward, stepped into him. Shockwave’s raised arms tightened in front of him, cut off the path to his face.

Melmarc was sure he could brute force his way through it but didn’t. Instead, his feet carried him to Shockwave’s side with a single side step, then he threw another upper cut. With his arms tightened in front of him, there was a path beneath that was open.

Melmarc’s hand trailed that path and connected with the man’s nose. It lifted the man’s head from behind his protective hands and Melmarc rocked his jaw with a straight fist.

Shockwave dropped to his knees, hands limp at his side.

A wide smile split Melmarc’s face in victory. He felt a large bout of achievement. He’d just defeated an honest to God supervillain. Yes, he didn’t allow the man use his skills but that was all a part of strategy. You disabled your enemy in a fight if you could, and he had.

He almost didn’t stop himself from pumping a fist in the air in celebration.

“That was impressive.”

The baritone dragged Melmarc from his moment of revery. Turning, he found Norman looking at him with an impressed and fond look.

“Your first villain?” Norman asked. He obviously couldn’t see Veebee hovering beside his ring.

Melmarc wasn’t sure how to respond to that. And the fact that Norman still had his ring up meant the man hadn’t completely ruled him out as a threat.

“So what are you?” Norman asked. “A dark hunter? You’re young, but a dark hunter would’ve gone after me not,” he gestured at Shockwave, “him.”

Melmarc’s eyes darted to Veebee. It was studying the ring.

Norman mistook Melmarc’s attention and gave the ring a momentary glance.

“Don’t worry about that,” he said. “As long as you don’t touch it, you’ll be fine.”

Again, Melmarc couldn’t shake the voice. He knew it. But more importantly, why did it make him want to curl up into someone’s arms and hide.

He was getting there. Melmarc knew it. He just needed a little push and he would know why the voice sounded so fami—

“Being a dark hunter’s no good, kid,” Norman said suddenly. “It’s a waste. You’ve got potential, that’s a fact. The potential to be one of the strongest in a few years.” He winced slightly, staggered, then caught himself with a swear under his breath. “Just give it a chance. In fact, I could give you my protection from the dark hunters for a while. Until you really come into your powers.”

Veebee touched its hand to the ring testily. It flinched away from it as if it had been burnt. Still, it didn’t stop there. It hovered around the ring, watching it from different angles.

Norman grimaced again and Veebee’s head perked up when the ring flickered as if it would go out.

Melmarc got that feeling again, as if his shirt’s collar wasn’t well positioned. He shrugged his shoulders and this time it felt as if he almost got it in place.

A notification popped up in front of him.

[You cannot establish dominance.]

…

[This world has no August Intruder.]

[No one has been alerted of your presence.]

The notification was gone the moment he was done reading it. However, something clicked into place. The voice, the rings. Melmarc knew why the voice scared him. His stomach itched where a scar had once been.

Last chance. The words echoed in Melmarc’s head, words said to his mother on a terrifying night while Ark had held on to him. You might not have a health bar but I’ve done this enough to know when your HP is low.

Rage welled up inside Melmarc. He knew the man. He knew the voice. He knew the skill. He knew anger.

He took a step towards Norman.

“Think about this, kid,” Norman said, voice imploring. “You don’t have to try this.”

“You!” Melmarc hissed. “You!”

Veebee turned, startled at Melmarc’s voice. Its eyes seemed to narrow for a moment. It looked as if it was thinking about something, considering.

Don’t you dare stop me, Veebee, Melmarc thought, his anger building. I’m going to kill him.

Melmarc took another step forward, Norman’s second ring of mana moved into place, and Veebee opened its mouth.

It bit down on the large ring of mana and it shattered. Norman roared in pain the moment it shattered and dropped to his knees. He held onto his head, screaming and yelling. Tears welled up in his eyes. Melmarc hesitated at the sight as the second ring of mana, the smaller one was drawn into Veebee like a mist.

The fragments of the shattered ring followed immediately after and Veebee darted straight to Melmarc.

Something about the look in its eyes didn’t sit right with Melmarc and Melmarc ran towards Norman.

“He tried to kill my mom!” he roared as Veebee’s hand connected with him.

Melmarc knew what was happening before it even happened. One moment he was reaching out to Norman as the man writhed in pain on the ground. The next moment he was standing with nothing but inky blue, swirling like a room of deep smoke around him.

Veebee had taken him away from there.

Melmarc rounded on the creature in anger. “WHY?!”

Veebee met his anger head on. It did not flinch. It just stared at him, watched him.

“You were the one that wanted me to kill him!” Melmarc hissed when it said nothing. “Why did you stop me?!”

Veebee cocked its head to the side.

“Killing not bad,” it said, voice confused but certain. “But murder wrong. Melmarc tell Veebee this. Melmarc not murder.”

Melmarc stared at it. His anger was there, but now there was nowhere to channel it to. No one to place its burden upon.

So, he just stood there. Empty.

Veebee hovered in the air in front of him as silent as he was.

…

Norman writhed in pain, groaning and screaming. He’d experienced a lot of pain in his life but this was unbearable. It threatened to unmake him.

It was as if all his organs were dying at the same time.

His stomach squeezed in on itself and his lungs tried to break like glass. Norman’s voice filled the room, going beyond it. In some misplaced part of his mind, he felt the helicopter outside lean towards the building hesitantly before flying off.

His mind tried to think through the pain, tried to push past it to figure out if the helicopter was going to bring reinforcements. But no matter how much his mind tried, it couldn’t peek beyond the blanket of pain in his head.

Norman couldn’t hear himself think beyond the pain and his own screams.

Then it disappeared, vanished as if it had never been.

But it was not gone. Norman knew this with childlike certainty. It had merely converted itself. Changed itself into something else.

Norman’s eyes focused to look at what it had converted itself into. His interface stared right back.

[Dear Norman Black, you have learnt the necessary concepts of humanity and lived to embody them. Above all, you have learnt pain, a pain that pushes you beyond human limit.]

[You have been offered a chance at evolution. You have treaded a path that would send most to madness and survived it. Upon that path your world makes you an offer. A promise.]

[Ascend to Oath-hood.]

[Y/N?]

Norman knew what Oath-hood was. He knew what it meant to become an Oath. The Oath of greed had gained the title and had become nigh invincible. He ruled China with an iron fist now. To become an Oath was to become powerful.

The Oath of Greed had also changed when he’d become an Oath, something about him had become stronger, more powerful.

Sometimes Norman had wondered if becoming an Oath would heal his pain. But that was only sometimes. He had since come to terms with his pain now. But it didn’t change what his answer would be.

Only the mad refused power in a world riddled with portals.

Yes.

[You cannot renege on this decision.]

...

[Your world welcomes you…]

[… Oath of Pain]