Melmarc ducked as Tod swung. The action was simple. With nothing occupying his hands, it was a clean duck and the plank whizzed past his head.

He stepped in easily, weighed how much force he was putting into it and punched Tod in the stomach. He felt the weight of the boy, the packed muscles in his stomach. They weren’t like concrete but they were strong. Melmarc knew even as he ducked away that there hadn’t been enough force in the blow.

Tod frowned at him Melmarc then beat his stomach hard with a fist.

“If you’re going to hit me, hit me like your life depends on it!”

Personally, Melmarc had been hoping for a one shot knock out. Sadly, he hadn’t put enough force into the punch. But he was aware of something now and he was going to use his new found knowledge.

Trev folded his arms confidently. “His life kind of does depend on it, though.”

Melmarc ignored the boy. Right now he had to focus on the opponent that could kill a person in one swing.

Tod rushed Melmarc, plank swinging.

The boy’s movements were too chaotic, and dodging with a duck was out of the question. Melmarc’s eyes followed the trajectory of the plank as it barreled through the air with each swing.

He backed away from the first swing, ducked the second and practically dived away from the third when it seemed to come at him from out of nowhere.

Trev laughed. “You sure you want to get too far away from your package? I could just walk up to it and pick it up.”

Melmarc didn’t allow the goading affect him. He knew exactly where his half-a-brain was and knew for a fact that he could always get to it before any of the two boys.

“Come on, kid!” Tod goaded, slamming his plank into the ground so that it let out a loud noise. “You’ve got to work for that hundred bucks.”

Melmarc still couldn’t understand where they’d gotten all the information they used to ambush the kids. Or how they knew how much exactly they were supposed to be paid.

It’s a task given by a gang, he thought. Was I really expecting high level secrecy?

Naymond had also called them something along the lines of people playing at being gangsters.

Detective Alfa also insinuated that he was responsible for dissolving competitive gangs.

Melmarc couldn’t believe he hadn’t considered the possibility that these competitive gangs would want something along the lines of payback for what had happened to them.

And here I am, suffering for it.

Melmarc decided he would have a lot when he got back as he ducked another swinging plank and stepped in again.

When he threw his punch, he didn’t gauge the force of his blow. He kept the punch at the same velocity but changed the point of impact. With everything [World of Insight] was giving him, he aimed true.

His blow connected with Tod’s solar plexus and and the boy doubled over. His plank fell from his hold and Melmarc kicked it away quickly.

Tod was already moving, refusing to be put down but Melmarc was having none of it, he swung his leg and kicked the boy in the face. Tod was thrown to the side and hit the ground carelessly. He groaned with one hand on his face while another continued to hold his stomach.

Trev looked at him without a reaction before looking back at Melmarc.

“I figured you’d go for the plank,” he said.

Melmarc looked at the plank lying a good distance away from them now and looked back at Tod.

He wasn’t going to go for the plank. He already had enough stats boosts running through him to accidentally kill them. The last thing he needed was a weapon.

The only reason Tod was still conscious was because he’d been too scared to put too much force in his kick. From what he’d learned in self defense class—which he was beginning to question was self-defense class—a powerful enough blow to the jaw could knock someone out.

But he’d put too little force in his kick.

Better he’s in pain and not knocked out than dead from a broken neck.

“Alright, then.” Trev cocked his head from side to side, theatrically. “My turn.”

He walked up to Melmarc until they stood roughly six feet apart from each other. Tod continued to groan on the ground, his body trembling in pain or tears. Melmarc wasn’t—

Tears. Definitely tears.

The effects of [World of Insight] still had a hold on him and he knew for an undeniable fact that Tod was crying.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret that nobody knows,” Trev said as he raised his hands. “I’m not like other people.”

Melmarc wasn’t sure what response the boy was expecting from him so he just went with the truth.

“I know.”

Trev moved and Melmarc activated [Knowledge is Power] immediately. Mana burst out of him as Trev crossed the distance between them so fast Melmarc almost didn’t see him move.

But pain flared in his jaw. It lasted for the briefest moment before disappearing like it had never been there.

[Skill Knowledge Is Power is in effect].

[You cannot receive or inflict damage.]

Another pain flared out in his stomach and was gone before Melmarc could even wince. He was very aware of what a punch to the solar plexus felt like and this was worse. Trev wasn’t holding back.

Melmarc’s hand balled up in an angry fist as the attacks kept on coming. He watched the white static of his mana return to him from across the distance, bringing him information that wasn’t entirely necessary right now.

In this moment, the few seconds it normally took was beginning to feel like minutes as he took an elbow to the jaw.

Wait for it, he told himself, watching the static. Wait for it.

The mana burst came back to him. It went through Trev and the boy stiffened in shock.

[Skill Knowledge Is Power is concluded.]

[All stats are increased by +0.5.]

[Life forms detected: 4.]

[You have received 4 Potential buffs.]

Now!

Melmarc tightened his fist and swung with all the force he could put into it. He clocked Trev square in the jaw, watched the blow connect, felt it in his knuckles. He spun into the momentum, going for a spinning blow when the effects of [World of Insight] informed him that there was no need.

Halfway through his turn, Trev simply crumpled to the ground like a dropped rag.

Melmarc stared down at his unconscious body, knowing Trev was unconscious without checking.

[Trevor Adams (Speedster)(C)].

Many people thought all speedsters had was their speed, but anyone who paid any attention to speedsters or was a friend of Delano would know that all speedsters had strength as well. The argument was that they needed the strength boost to handle a lot of the force that came with being speedsters.

After all, the faster you went, the greater the wind pressure. There were speedsters that were known to run as fast as cars at their top speed. And everyone knew how much air resistance a person faced from just sticking their head outside a moving vehicle.

So he hadn’t needed to hold back with Trev.

With the danger dispatched of, Melmarc let out a heavy sigh and bent over, catching himself with his hands on his knees.

Detective Alfa, he remembered suddenly, picking [World of Insight] once more from his selection of buffs.

There was also another skill that helped the Gifted cross a short distance in a single step at their max speed and [Batting] which was just better swinging accuracy for a human. It wasn’t difficult to tell which skill belonged to which of his attackers.

He rushed for his phone, picked it out and scrolled hurriedly to ‘Mrs. Lockwood.’ He dialed the number as quickly as possible.

Then he went over to Tod who was still groaning and turned the boy on his back.

“Where are they?” he asked.

Alfa wasn’t picking. Melmarc checked the time, at this rate he would have to run to the destination point at full sprint if he was going to be on time.

“Where are they?” he asked Tod again, his voice sharper. “I swear to God I’ll punch you in the nose if you don’t answer.”

Tod flinched away from him like Melmarc was the one who’d ambushed him with a wooden plank not too long ago and Alfa picked.

“Mom,” Melmarc said in a hurry cringing from the entire situation. “There’s a problem, some kids from rival gangs ambushed me. I think they may have severely wounded some of the other kids.” He shook Tod violently. “Where did you leave them.”

“Calm down, Marc,” Alfa said to Melmarc’s surprise. “Focus on the mission.”

“There are kids probably bleeding to death and you want me to calm down?”

What the hell was going on?

He would’ve expected this from Naymond, but Alfa? It was wrong. Had he completely misjudged her. He had thought that if anyone would prioritize the children it would be her with how focused she was on safety.

“I’m telling you there are innocent boys that might be dying right now,” he told her a little harshly. “How do you expect me to calm down.”

“Marc,” Alfa replied in a calming and assuring tone. “Naymond already called me and told me. He even gave me the location of each kid. We’ve dispatched ambulances to their locations and are waiting on the feedback, so you don’t have to worry about them.”

“He did?”

Melmarc couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had hoped… but he hadn’t expected.

“I’m just as surprised as you are,” Alfa said. “I think someone’s rubbing off on him. Either that or he’s got his own agenda.”

Melmarc liked to think it was the former. Meanwhile Tod was mumbling something about being unable to remember where they’d met the other kids.

“… But I can take you to where we stashed the packages,” he was muttering in terror. “They’re not far from here. You can have them, keep the money. I won’t even ask for a cut. Please don’t hurt me.”

Melmarc didn’t get it. He wasn’t sure if it was bravado or sheer stupidity. But now that he thought about it, it was probably stupidity. From the way Trev and Tod had played their little act, Trev felt like more of the thinker and Tod the executer.

Melmarc pulled the boy up by the shirt, surprised to see the entire side of the boy’s face where he had kicked him already purpling.

He did his best to hide his discomfort at the sight as he said, “I don’t need your packages, Todrick Denra. But the next time I see you, I’ll give you more than just a swollen face.”

And the boy’s face truly was swelling. [World of Insight] told Melmarc that it was still swelling.

“I’ve called an ambulance for you and your friend,” Melmarc continued. “It would be in your best interest to follow them.”

He released the boy, picked up his package, and started running.

Melmarc run like his life depended on it, allowing the wind blow through his hair. He took a sharp turn between two buildings and vaulted over a metal-wired fence. He hit the ground with a loud thud and continued on his sprint.

His phone rang in his pocket and he pulled it out without slowing and picked the call.

“I’m late,” he said in a loud voice, taking another turn.

At this point he was taking advantage of shortcuts just so he could beat the time. He had no idea what would happen if he was late. He didn’t even know why he was still doing the mission. It no longer made sense to continue.

It involved a dead guy, an S-rank Crafter with a gun, and human brains.

It also involves far more than that.

And if he could help stop whatever the end result was, he was going to do what he could. He was already doing the mission. The least he could do was finish it. The end was already in sight.

He would give Naymond and Alfa what he got and leave the rest to them. They could send in another mentee for all he cared.

As long as it’s not Pelumi.

Maybe he would have to warn Pelumi of the stakes in case they tried to get her to do continue the mission as his replacement.

“You did good.”

That was the only words that came from Naymond before the call was cut.

Against his control, a small smile touched Melmarc’s lips. You don’t feel good for being complimented. You’re just smiling because Naymond is being nice and it’s nice that he’s being nice.

A few more minutes of running and Melmarc came to a stop in front of a house. It was a simple suburban house. Well cared for with a mowed lawn and a child’s tricycle lying in the front yard.

There was a picket fence hanging open. Melmarc stepped through it, unsure. Was this the right place? It was the perfect opposite of where he’d picked up the package from. What was going on?

Melmarc checked his phone. He was at the right place, right in front of the marker he’d used to mark the location on his map. He also had one minute to spare.

It didn’t make sense.

Still looking around, he walked up to the front door and knocked.

“Come in,” a motherly voice called out.

Not who’s there? Melmarc thought, turning the door knob. It wasn’t locked.

Is she expecting me?

The first thing that hit him was the sweet smell of some kind of stew being made. He wasn’t sure what type of stew it was but for some reason, no matter how sweet it smelled, it was churning his stomach. It was as if he didn’t like it.

“We’re this way,” the same motherly voice called out.

It was sweet and soothing.

Melmarc followed the voice, walking down the narrow hallway just in front of the door. In front of him the part opened up and there was a staircase in front of him that went up. Then he came to a stop, on both sides of him were two living areas complete with furniture and a center rug and table.

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

In the room on his right he was aware of a wide screen television and a gaming console with three gaming pads left carelessly about.

He also knew that there was a CD in the console but he didn’t know what CD it was. He wondered if [World of Insight] would be able to tell if he scaled up its mastery.

On his left was the owner of the voice that had invited him in. She stood comfortably in the kitchen that was a backdrop to the living room on that side of the house, turning the contents of a deep pot over a cooker.

She was a thick woman with curves and red hair. She wore a yellow plain apron and stared, waiting for him to come into view. Even without seeing him, she had a friendly smile on her face.

“You must be here for Georgie,” she said with a friendly smile when Melmarc stepped into view.

Melmarc had no idea who he was here for.

The Lady gestured at the center table in the living that currently held three packages that were a perfect copy of the one in his hands with a ladle. “You can just drop that there and see Georgie upstairs. He told me he’ll be having guests over.”

The woman was already coming up to him and Melmarc half-expected to know her name. He didn’t.

[World of Insight] was similar to [Knowledge is Power] but they had their differences. While the former gave him awareness of his surroundings, the latter gave him actual in-depth information about it.

But how? Melmarc asked himself not for the first time.

What specific means did his skill use to get him the information it got him? Yes, he knew the answer was magic. But it was magic, not miracles. It wasn’t some impossible phenomenon to explain. Yes, some skills operated on the level of what could be called miracles. But they were magical, capable of being studied.

Maybe I should ask Naymond.

As quickly as the thought came to his mind, Melmarc paused. Why was he asking Naymond? Why was that the first place his mind went to?

“Is everything alright, dear?” the lady asked, pulling Melmarc from his thoughts.

Melmarc nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Ma’am,” the lady chuckled shyly. “Oh dear, please call me Natalie. That’s what everyone calls me. If you don’t want to drop that on the table, you can just give it to me and I’ll help you do that. Georgie’s upstairs with the hundred bucks.”

The whole situation was beginning to feel too surreal.

“And if you’re nice, I might throw in an extra fifty so you can get something to eat on your way home.”

The lady’s hand was already on the package, but Melmarc shifted it away.

“Very sorry, but if it’s alright I’d like to take it to Georgie myself.”

Melmarc still had no idea who Georgie was.

The lady, Natalie, gave him a curious look before shrugging and stepping away. Her friendly smile never left her face.

“If you’re worried about me finding out what’s in the package,” she said, don’t be. “I already know that Georgie sells drugs. But it’s fine, you can take it up to him. Down the hall, second room on your left.”

With that, she turned and went back to the kitchen. Melmarc noticed all the packages on te living room table remained sealed. Natalie hadn’t opened any of them.

The woman had no idea what Georgie had in those packages. And the last time he checked, human brains were not drugs.

Unless there’s some Class that gets high on it.

Melmarc took the stairs one at a time, delaying how long it would take him to get to whoever Georgie was for as long as possible.

While he did, he wondered at the brain in his package and why he hadn’t told Alfa or Naymond what was inside.

For the same reason you called them mom and dad when you were talking to them on the phone.

David said someone would be watching them as they transported the packages. Which meant someone could also be listening. And he had already confirmed that there was at least one Gifted involved.

Melmarc nodded to himself. It was the right choice not to say anything about it. He would tell them while he was informing them of his resignation from this specific line of duty.

When he got to the door, the second one on the right, he knocked.

“What the hell is it with you people and knocking,” someone grumbled loudly from inside. “Come the fuck in.”

Melmarc opened the door and walked inside… a child’s room.

But there was no child. Only the S-rank Crafter who was seating on a plastic chair obviously designed for a child, and two boys who shared seating space on a small child’s bed. Jake was one of the boy’s. Jake took one look at Melmarc and scowled.

Melmarc didn’t recognize the second boy.

“There!” the Crafter, Avram, if Melmarc remembered is real name correctly, pointed at him frantically. “That right there is how you deliver a package.”

He smacked his hand down on his lap.

“You don’t just hand it over to some kind motherly woman, just because she gives you a pretty smile and tells you something motherly,” he continued, then gestured at Melmarc. “Just for that, you and Jake are sharing the hundred bucks his supposed to get for bringing an extra package.”

Melmarc nodded, confused. “Uhh… where do I drop this?”

“Anywhere.” Avram gestured nonchalant. “You can’t really damage what’s in the package, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful, though.”

Avram and Natalie had no resemblance, not even the slightest, from what Melmarc could see. She looked a bit Irish, though she didn’t have an accent while Avram looked slightly Romanian.

She looked old enough to be the man’s mother, though. She was probably pushing fifty. Still, Melmarc couldn’t reconcile what seemed like a suburban mother to the man in front of him.

“No, she’s not my mum,” Avram said. “Just a friendly friend of a friend.”

Melmarc frowned slightly. He really had to work on controlling his facial expressions.

He dropped the package on a small reading table just at the corner and went to join Jake and the other boy he did not recognize on the bed.

Had there been others before him?

Jake shifted reluctantly, and Melmarc’s size made three of them all the more uncomfortable as he wiggled into the small space. The bed looked like it had been custom made to size a ten-year-old.

Melmarc frowned as he noticed another thing. There was something wrong with the air in the room. It was thick and heavy, but it wasn’t the air. It was as if he was standing at the edge of a room filled with smoke making machines while a fan did its best to blow them away from him.

The discomfort was there, but not there at the same time.

No.

Discomfort wasn’t the word he was looking for. It wasn’t that bad. It was…

Like lying down with one leg outside the duvet and the mattress but also worrying that something under the bed is might grab your leg.

I guess it’s discomfort.

It was like getting a comfortable feeling yet being unable to enjoy it because of the possible threat that wasn’t even real.

It wasn’t making sense to Melmarc yet he couldn’t shake the feeling.

“Here’s your hundred and fifty.”

Melmarc focused on the present and found Avram holding out two notes to him. He reached for them, not sure if he was allowed to take them, and took them.

“Alright,” Avram said. “Osas, get out.”

The boy Melmarc didn’t recognize, got up and left the room so fast anyone would think something had been chasing him.

Melmarc wished he was Osas.

“As for you two.” Avram smiled something sinister. “I’ve got an offer you can’t refuse.”

Melmarc didn’t like the sound of that.

…

[Alert! Alert! Alert!]

Dorthna groaned, opening his eyes.

It was too early for this. No, it actually wasn’t, looking at the position of the sun it was just evening, drawing to the darkness of night. Maybe it was too late for this.

He looked at the notification in front of him and dismissed it. Then he went through it, scrolling, searching for what exactly it was trying to alert him off. When he found it, he let out a tired sigh.

David was going to be a handful on this one.

[Severed connection detected!]

There were literally only a handful of people he had an active connection so important that his interface would inform him of the moment there was a disconnection.

He looked through the history of his notifications. That was weird, there had been no warning that the connection was growing weaker.

I guess they’re not dead, whoever they are, he thought.

But there was also a chance that something had happened and the person had died on impact. Ark and Melmarc were Gifted so there was a higher chance of the death belonging to Ninra.

It would really break the family if the girl died. Just because he could, he brought out his phone and dialed the number of all the three kids under his… protection was not the word he was looking for. Maybe care was a better fit.

None of them picked.

“Isn’t that just making my work harder.” He could look through his connections but he really wasn’t a fan of interacting with his interface, knowing what he knew about it.

But he had no choice. A severed connection with no preamble could mean a very wide array of things, and he wasn’t going to call the head of the Lockwood family just to speculate. The Oath of Madness wasn’t known for his disciplined patience when it came to his family.

Also, it wouldn’t be advisable to talk to the man right now, not when his duty had kept him away from his family for almost a month now. As unusual as it was, Dorthna knew why.

There were too many S-rank portals opening within the last month. In fact, the rate of their appearance in the country was far too high.

“Almost as if someone was opening the portals,” Dorthna muttered.

Portals were naturally occurring but it wasn’t to say that someone powerful enough couldn’t make one open.

And the rate of opening, if done by someone, was being done by a really powerful someone with access to a very vast amounts of mana.

Dorthna knew a number of creatures with the intelligence and mana pool to pull of such a thing.

The world needed the Oaths right now more than they knew. He found where the connection was broken from, or more precisely, whose connection was broken, and dialed a new number on his phone.

He put the phone to his ear, staring at the name on his interface.

The call rang once before someone picked.

“Code,” a female voice answered.

“four, two, eight, nine, eleven, fifty-six,” Dorthna answered calmly.

“Security status?”

“Safe as the Oath of Shield.”

“Request?”

“Governance.”

“Designation?”

“Madness.”

There was a short moment as Dorthna waited.

“Line is secure,” the lady’s voice came back. “Unfortunately, the Oath of Madness cannot come to the call right now. Would you like to contact a different Governance?”

“Yes, War.”

“Sincerest apologies but we do not have anyone currently registered under that Governance.”

Dorthna nodded. He’d forgotten that Mrs. Lockwood was no longer an Oath. Whatever had happened on the night of the attack had cost far too much. If he was to believe her, she’d practically died in the hospital and had sacrificed her world designation as an Oath to come back.

Dorthna hadn’t heard of such a thing happening before, and frankly didn’t want to know.

“Would you like to contact a different Governance?” the female voice repeated.

“No,” Dorthna said. This line couldn’t contact anyone that was not an Oath. “But do you know if Mrs. Lockwood, former Oath of War is available?”

Another moment of silence.

“Mrs. Lockwood is currently on a designated mission and will not be reachable right now. If you would like, I can present you with a number you could contact. You might not be able to speak with her but you could leave her a message.”

Dorthna almost laughed. Now that she was no longer an Oath, they had added her back to the world ranking and simply gave her the regular top hundred world ranking security measure.

“No, thank you,” he answered. “I’d rather leave a message for madness.”

“That is noted. Madness will be informed the moment he is available. Please leave a message after the tone.”

A small beep followed and Dorthna sucked in a readying breath.

“Hey, Madness, it’s me,” he said. “We’ve got a bit of a problem and I need you to not lose your shit.”

He paused, unsure of how to say the next words. In the end, he just ripped the band-aid off.

“It’s Melmarc,” he said, standing at the edge of the roof of a skyscraper and staring at the dying sun. "I can't find him."

…

The discomfort in the air worsened as Melmarc sat down, finally comfortable with the exit of the third boy.

He fought the urge to look around since the feeling he was getting was slowly beginning to feel like a physical thing.

“How about we take this to somewhere more comfortable?” Avram said.

Jake was more than happy to agree.

They left the room but didn’t go downstairs. Instead, Avram led them to another room. It was large and wide, and empty. All it had were two windows that let in fresh air. Both windows had neither blinds nor curtains. They were bare.

“Go stand at the wall,” Avram said, gesturing at the wall at the farthest end of the room.

Jake turned and started walking but the feeling Melmarc was getting was only getting worse.

“No,” he refused. Something told him that if he obeyed things weren’t going to end well.

“What did you say?” Avram asked in a threatening tone.

Unsure and unwilling to obey, Melmarc did something he never did. He took one serious step closer to Avram and set his face in a grim expression, dominating with his height.

It was a page from one of Ark’s intimidation techniques, and people always tended to cower whenever Eroms unintentionally got too close to them and towered over them.

“No.” Melmarc repeated.

He saw indecision war on Avram’s face before the man stepped away from him and laughed.

“That right there is why I know I’m making the right choice.” He laughed. “The power! The authority!” Then he sneered. “The sheer stupidity!”

He reached into his pocket and brought out a gun.

He pointed it at Melmarc and Jake let out a very pathetic yelp where he was.

“What did you say, Weaver?” Avram said, gun aimed forward in a sideways grip. “I dare you, say it again. Ain’te ever seen no weaver dodge a bullet before.”

Melmarc was terrified and confused. For one, he had a freaking gun pointed at his face. For another, why the hell was Avram calling him a weaver?

The answer hit him a moment after and he frowned. David.

“Yes, that’s right,” Avram increased the distance between them but his gun didn’t waver. “You got to learn where you place your trust, Melmarc, C-rank weaver, police mentee. You see I know all about your stupid ass. You thought you could just waltz in and waltz out, huh. The sheer fucking stupidity.”

Melmarc didn’t know what to do. What was there to do? It wasn’t like he had a skill that could help him in this situation. All [World of Insight] showed him was that Avram wasn’t going to miss a shot from this distance.

But surprisingly, he was more worried by the feeling of uncomfortable comfort that was now becoming a heavy weight on his shoulder. He could argue with anybody that it was now a physical thing and he was groaning under the pain of it.

“Scared?” Avram asked. “You should be. Your foolish friends sent you out here to die. Your friend in the hat set this whole thing up. Told me who you are, your name, your rank, your class. That’s what you get for trusting the cops.”

Melmarc took a step forward as the weight of his feeling doubled behind him.

“Don’t you dare try any funny shit, kid.” Avram shook the gun at him. “I’ve killed for less. So don’t you dare… What the hell?”

Jake let out a loud scream behind Melmarc that ended very abruptly. Too abruptly.

He would’ve turned back to check what was going on if Avram wasn’t pointing a gun directly at his face and if his interface wasn’t already terrifying the life out of him with the notification it was showing him.

[Portal detected]

[Status effect August Guest detected.]

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

Distance from Portal: 0.00km

There was a loud bang downstairs followed by someone shouting something about the Gifted police department and how someone had to put their weapons down.

Melmarc recognized Naymond’s voice even from so far away.

Avram turned frantic immediately. He looked left, then right. “Fuck! FUCKKKKK!!!!”

Melmarc lunged forward at the gun and his awareness flared before he even finished leaning forward. From the littlest thing he felt, he got everything he needed to know.

You have activated [Knowledge is Power].

Avram pulled the trigger in paranoia, pumped five bullets into Melmarc’s chest. The sound of each shot echoed in Melmarc’s ears as pain filled his brain until it threatened to break him and his interface spammed a single notification in front of him.

[Skill Knowledge Is Power is in effect].

[You cannot receive or inflict damage.]

With no piercing damage to disperse the force of each bullet, they became a different kind of force as they ricocheted off Melmarc.

Each bullet pushed him back as Avram continued to pull the trigger until Melmarc felt something different.

It was like putting his hand at the mouth of the vacuum cleaner as a child, a sucking sensation that pulled him in whole.

[You have entered a portal]

[Rank – C]

[Portal Quest- Pending assignment]

[Dear August Intruder, Do your best to save your world].

Pain filled Melmarc’s head and he let out a pained shriek as the sensation swallowed him whole. He felt as if he was being drawn and quartered.

[Skill Knowledge Is Power is in effect].

[You cannot receive or inflict damage.]

…

[Error! Error! Error!]

[Unstable Existence Detected.]

[Mental instability imminent]

[World Protection detected.]

[Initiating World Protection.]

[World Buff August Guest is in effect.]

Darkness swallowed Melmarc as he fell into the portal.

…

Shit! Shit! Shit! Naymond swore as he ran up the stairs.

He’d been running ever since he’d felt the S-rank crafter in the designated building Melmarc was supposed to drop the package in.

When he’d gotten to the building he’d all but broken the door down by running straight into it the moment he sensed the Crafter draw a gun on Melmarc.

This hadn’t been how it was supposed to go. No real threat was supposed to be here for another week. He’d miscalculated greatly, and Alfa’s punishment or even the government’s punishment was the last thing on his mind.

The fools back at the precinct didn’t know but there were greater things to worry about when it came to Melmarc Lockwood’s safety. And the last thing they wanted was the kinds of people he knew coming to ask questions.

When the beautiful lady had come out of the kitchen to talk to Naymond, he’d lied and claimed he was the police. It wasn’t a complete lie, but he knew Alfa would beg to differ.

Melmarc had still been upstairs when Naymond noticed the lady’s form. He had been a Sage long enough to know what the form of a skill designed to kill looked like.

She was unfortunate for it.

She didn’t seem powerful enough and the moment he turned her form in on her, everything was over. She dropped to her knees with blood pooling from her nose.

Five gunshots filled the house and fear grabbed Naymond by the balls at the same time he felt a human turn into a statue of pepper, a portal open, and a boy fall into it.

Naymond made his way up the stairs, taking them as many as he could in each stride. He barged into the massive room only to duck into a roll.

The sound of gunshots filled the air as the Crafter fired at him which were followed by a clicking sound.

“Gifted Police Department!” Naymond roared at him, but his eyes were on the active portal. “Get down on the ground. NOW!”

The Crafter didn’t obey. Instead, he looked from side to side, frowned and did the dumbest thing he could possibly have done.

“YOU WON’T TAKE ME ALIVE!” he screamed dramatically as he dived into the portal.

Naymond’s jaw dropped, but his hands were already working. Standing in front of a portal, his hands shook as he dialed Alfa’s number. Behind the portal was a perfectly sculpted statue of pepper.

Naymond recognized the face of the first boy that had jumped Melmarc.

“Naymond—”

“No time to talk,” he cut Alfa off in a hurry. “A portal just spawned and we’ve got a million and one problems.”

“We’ve got to get everyone in that vicinity clear.” He could hear Alfa moving about, probably following protocols. “What of the Romanian? Did you get him?”

Naymond chuckled darkly.

The Romanians were the least of their problems right now. In fact, the entire Gifted Romanian cartel achieving whatever goals they had for the country were the least of their problems.

“Naymond, you’ve got to listen to me,” Alfa said when he didn’t answer. “If you didn’t get the Romanian that’s fine, but you’ve got to secure Marc and get the hell out of there. I’ve read your psych evaluation and I know how you react to portals. You can’t go anywhere near a portal right now.”

You don’t say, Naymond scoffed, staring at the swirling blue sphere in front of him.

His hands continued to tremble.

They had no idea just how terrified of portals he was. She’d read his psych evaluation? He had more intelligence stats than she had overall stats, she had no idea just how terrified of portals he was.

And yet, he had greater fears than portals.

“Where are you Naymond?” Alfa asked.

“The house doesn’t have a number or a street name. And the kid fell in.”

“What do you mean the kid fell in?”

Naymond’s eyes never left the portal. He knew what he had to do but didn’t know if he had the courage to do it.

Maybe not courage, he thought. But there was more than enough fear to go around. And fear was a powerful motivator.

“Naymond! You can’t go into that portal!” Alfa ordered. “This is an order from your supervising officer! You cannot go into that portal!”

Naymond snorted. “You have no idea what kinds of shit we’re about to be in right now.”

“Naymond Hitchcock, leave that house and be on standby. A team has already been dispatched and all available Delvers have been informed of the urgency of your position.”

The Delvers wouldn’t be fast enough. A C-rank portal wasn’t given as high a priority as people liked to think. The Delvers would waste their time.

“I’m going to leave my phone here so you can track my location,” he said, voice shaking. “If the Delvers start dragging their feet, tell Eckberth that one of the mentees got into the portal. Alfa, this is no time to be worrying about yourself and what would happen if they find out a mentee fell in a portal. Believe me, it will be worse if you don’t give them that information. If Eckberth drags his feet, take it all the way to the commissioner. You have enough clout for that.”

“Naymond. DON’T!”

Naymond was no longer listening. He placed his phone on the ground with the call still in progress and stepped up to the portal.

Like skills, all portals had a form. And when a Sage grew enough to see a portal's form they knew that the last thing anyone ever wanted to do, Delver or not, was enter it.

Still, there were greater terrors than portals.

“Better to play with a portal,” he muttered. “Than to play with madness.”

Naymondeel Art Hitchcock stepped in.