August Intruder- Chapter 199- The Love of God

The explosion was loud. Naymond dodged it by ducking into the other room. [World of Insight] was working on overdrive. He was seeing everything all at once. If he failed to pay attention for even a minute, things could end poorly for him.

Finding himself in a lab room filled with tables and pipets and blood from people he and Madness—mostly Madness—had beaten up, he scrambled along the ground. The room reminded him of a chemistry lab.

Finding a proper table, he dragged himself behind it and rested his back against it. He felt like a child hiding from a bad adult.

“Come out, [Sage].” Miori strolled into the new room, hands behind her back like a particularly strict teacher. “You run around and scuttle about like a rat.” She paused, turned one way then the other. “Perhaps you have not been the one we should be worried about. Maybe it was the other man. What happened to him? Did he run away?”

Naymond held his breath. He was wondering the same thing too. Had Fendor taken Madness? He had never seen a portal appear out of nowhere and drag someone with it except one used by Fendor.

But it was not a portal from a Gifted. He had seen those. Their forms were human, normal. Yet it had not been a normal portal. The form was off. Nothing had brought him terror from it. Its form had not reached out to claim anyone that it could.

So what had happened?

“Do you want to know a trick about the people whose business you’ve been disrupting?” Miori asked.

Naymond ignored her, a hand on his side where he struggled to stop the bleeding. She’d knocked him around something fierce for a while. Blood pooled from a laceration on his head. It was dripping into his eye now, a drop hanging from his eyelid.

Unable to control his breathing, his breath came heavily.

There was pain, so much pain. [World of Insight] refused to allow him to ignore it. A steady reminder that some skills had their downsides, this one. He moved to check how many bullets he had in his gun but stopped himself, already possessing that information. Knowing too little about Miori’s fighting capabilities, the last thing he wanted to do was give himself away with sound loud enough for her to hear.

“The thing about these people.” She paused, standing still. “I should point out that while I help them, I am not one of them. With that out of the way, I shall continue. There exist some of them who are capable of smelling blood from a distance.”

Naymond smiled. He couldn’t help it. It reminded him of vampires from his home world. They had been nothing but myths until the world had gone to shit and portals had come up. Funny thing was how they were actual classes that people had gotten.

Shaking his head, he brought himself back to the present, to the world he was doomed to just because he wanted to save his own.

“Then they tried to recruit me,” Miori continued. She placed her hand on a metal table, one of those ones bolted to the ground, and pushed it aside very casually, moved its place so that she could pass. “You might wonder why they tried to recruit me, but fear not, I am about to tell you.”

Something in Naymond's surrounding glitched. He lost sight of it, then it came back.

Fuck

Mana fatigue was coming. He was running out of mana. [World of Insight] was glitching in and out. He would go blind to the world soon enough. There would be too many blind spots in his awareness.

Let's not sweat the small details.

There was nothing small about it, though. He couldn't remember the last time he had been without [World of Insight]. He had always been so careful.

Quietly, he retrieved a grenade from his vest. He placed it on the ground and took off his shoe. For a moment he rethought his strategy.

No, he shook his head. You’re not fighting some shmuck.

Placing both legs of his shoes aside, he placed the grenade on the ground. Then he took out a second grenade. He reached out from the side of the table he was hiding behind and rolled it along the ground.

Miori’s attention went to it. Once that happened, he stood up and aimed his gun at her. His bare feet on the other grenade. One foot held it in place while the other did something else.

“Let me guess.” His hand trembled from pain. He had broken a part of his forearm at some point. “You can turn water into wine.”

Miori paused. “What?”

Naymond adjusted his aim and fired at her. Arrogant as she had been since the disappearance of Madness, she dodged the bullet with a simple step to the side, away from the grenade on the ground.

Expecting it, Naymond pushed through the final actions of his feet. He heard the pin of the grenade come loose. He fired another shot. Miori dodged it, taking a step forward.

He rolled the second grenade from under the desk and right to her feet. Miori looked down and cocked a brow. Her brows settled immediately. They furrowed. She looked back at the other grenade.

“Cocky [Sage],” she muttered. Stepping to the side, she grabbed the nearest table and pulled it from the ground, turning it on its side so that the surface stood between her and the grenade.

Most people assume that a grenade explodes with fire and enough force to blow a house apart. But it doesn’t. First, its range is not the way it is in the movies. It is smaller, not more controlled, though. And while it can ignite nearby things that are flammable, most of its effect is from shrapnel impact. Their casings are usually designed to act as projected fragments. Then there is the sensory effect, loud enough to ruin the ear drums. Close enough, it actually has enough force to throw a person a good distance.

But all these applied to grenades that were not enchanted.

Naymond dived behind another table, increasing the distance between them. The grenade blasted in a massive explosion. There was enough force to send Miori and her protective table flying straight into a wall. There was enough fire to burn the tables and boxes. There was a strong enough shrapnel effect that it ruined tables around.

Staying down, Naymond kept his hands over his head. Safety first, he liked to say to people when there was no way for them to be safe. Like when fighting against a significantly stronger enemy.

When the explosion was over, he pulled himself up to his feet and looked around. The room was a mess. Black from the effect of the flames, one side of the room was ruined. Most of the tables were still intact, though. Metal tables did not destroy so easily, especially when they were bolted to the ground.

He tilted his head, looked to the wall.

“Mio!” he called, hesitant. “You still doing good, Mi?”

She was fine. She had to be. His interface had not said anything about killing her yet. Maybe she had been knocked out. It was hoping for too much, but a [Sage] could hope.

Couldn’t he?

The answer to the question came a moment after.

A firm hand planted itself on his shoulder.

“This,” Miori’s voice came out strained, “is why I hate classes like yours. Always sneaking around.”

Naymond gulped, fear settling between his shoulder blades.

“Would you like me if I did a lot less sneaking?” Really, Naymond? Humor. That’s what you’re going with?

She pulled her hand back, taking him with it, and he was sent flying through the room.

…

Chaos and pain. She had seen two dead bodies. The marks on them were clear, plain for anyone to see. They had not died from the portals. They had died from the stampede. Trampled to death because others did not want to die.

Just the thought made the contents of her stomach come up. Ninra held down the urge to throw up. Unfortunately, she threw up a little in her mouth. Turning to the side as she ran down a hallway that was now emptying out, she spat it to the side. Then she spat again to rid her mouth of the acrid taste. It didn’t do much.

She slammed open the first door. “Abi!”

Silence met her. She was welcomed to a scattered classroom, papers torn and flung about in haphazard chaos. Some students had left their bags behind in their escape. She saw some abandoned phones.

She turned to leave but caught something out of the corner of her eye. Instead of leaving, she took a step into the classroom, bent, and looked at it.

There was a woman hiding under a table. Brunette. She was shaking, tremors going through her. She wasn’t having an episode or anything like that. It was just fear forcing her body into confusion.

Ninra looked at her and smiled a little.

“Hi.” She waved at her.

The woman blinked. She smiled back, but it looked like a difficult thing, born out of shame of being caught. “Hi.”

Ninra looked behind her on nothing but instinct, checking on nothing. Moving from bending, she squatted for some form of comfort and pushed a stray hair behind her ear.

“Molly… right?” she asked. She’d seen the girl around campus a few times before. They weren’t friends. She wouldn’t even call her an acquaintance.

Molly blinked.

“I’m sorry.” Ninra chuckled a little, hoping it came out lighthearted. “I’m good with faces and names. They just come to me.”

“Have we met before?” Molly asked.

Ninra nodded. This was good. If she could make the girl forget her fears, then maybe she could get her out of here.

But to where?

They weren’t running from people or animals or monsters. They weren’t being chased. The portals just popped out of nowhere. How did you run from something that just came out of anywhere and wasn’t chasing.

Maybe being here was the safest place for her.

“We met at the Alpha dwibs frat party,” she answered. “We didn’t really talk much. I think you were a friend of a friend of a friend?”

“Alpha dwibs?”

Ninra chuckled in slight embarrassment. “Sorry about that, I have no idea what they really call themselves. I know it’s alpha something.”

“Alpha house,” Molly said. “They just call themselves Alpha house.”

Ninra nodded as if it made sense but in truth, she couldn’t care less about the conversation or what they were.

“Are you doing alright there?” she asked.

Molly’s nod was slow, uncertain. She held out her phone. “The internet says the portals are appearing out of nowhere so there’s no point in running. So… I’ll just stay here and wait it out.”

There was a pause.

Her eyes settled on Ninra and she gestured to the tables around. “You’re free to join me if you want.”

Ninra showed her thanks with a smile. “Nah.” She stood back up. “I’m good. I’m actually looking for someone.” She turned to leave and paused. “Do you know Abi? Abigail Nensoma?”

The girl shook her head.

Ninra took a deep breath and let it out. “Ayt, thanks.”

She wanted to ask what class Abi’s department would be in but she had no idea what Abi’s class schedule was, so she didn’t know where to start. Besides, Molly was already going through a lot. There was no reason to burden her with any more tasks.

Turning away, she left the class and fell back into a jog. The hallways were emptier now, littered with pieces of paper, torn fabrics, the occasional bag and broken phone. Ninra ignored all of it as she checked on classes, opening and closing doors.

Even as she moved, she told herself that she was being stupid, taking on unnecessary risks. She would not have been safer anywhere else, not really… maybe around Uncle Dorthna, definitely around Uncle Dorthna.

The thought made her chuckle. If only her brothers knew what their uncle really was.

She opened another door and was jolted out of her thoughts.

“Oh my fucking God!” She turned her head away, a hand going over her face to cover her eyes. “What the hell?”

There was a man and a woman in the classroom. They were the only ones there. Standing, supported by one of the tables, they were having sex.

What the hell was wrong with people?

“If I’m going to die,” the man said. “Might as well go out doing what I love best.”

“Fucking!” the girl sang in a high pitch.

“Yeah.” She walked back until she was out of the room. “Yeah.”

No.

She certainly did not understand. But people were people and they exercised free will in whatever way they pleased.

Her search continued until she was in a section of the school that had become nothing but a wasteland. She’d opened five more doors to empty disheveled classrooms.

The whole situation she was finding herself in was becoming more and more irresponsible. She was about to give up when she opened the door to a classroom and the door on the opposite end opened.

She froze, stared at the other person for a while. Then, as if her brain had finally settled, she ran through the classroom to meet the person.

So did the lady.

They met in the middle with a heavy hug that almost sent the girl stumbling.

“You scared the shit out of me,” she complained. She held the girl back at arms length and was suddenly filled with the urge to hit her, like she often was when Ark had been particularly reckless with his safety. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again, Abi.”

“Scare you?” Abigail asked, incredulous. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Why weren’t you in your class? I went looking for you.”

Ninra blinked. “I don’t have classes today. I thought I told you.”

“I don’t know your schedule,” Abigail said in explanation.

Ninra shook her head. “What a friend.”

“Like you know my schedule.” Abigail rolled her eyes. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

She grabbed Ninra’s hand and pulled her in one direction.

Then Ninra felt the air and horror froze her.

She watched the portal manifest out of thing air in front of them. Abigail turned, changing direction, but she was too late. The portal was there, staring at them.

Frozen in place Ninra couldn’t bring herself to move.

“No,” she muttered, staring forward. “No. Please God, no.”

But sometimes, God wasn’t listening. If he was, maybe he often simply didn’t care.

[Ninra Lockwood you have received skills Whispers of Mana and The Call of Heaven]

[Ninra Lockwood you have gained no class]

…

[You have gained below stat improvements]

[Strength +10, Speed +10, Constitution +10, Mana +20]

…

[Ninra Lockwood you have the trust of your leader]

[By the law of Bloodline, in the absence of your leader, you must protect your world.]

…

[Proxy detected]

[You have received a personal Quest.]

[Personal Quest: School Proprietor.]

You have walked side by side with your leader and have found favor in his sight. In his absence, the world is entrusted to you. Protect the school upon which you stand. If there is a Chaos Run, you alone will stand between them and death. But fear not, for you are not alone

[Quest objective: Protect the students.]

Horror flooded her, tears spilled from her eyes. “Please no,” he muttered with no weight behind her words as Abigail’s hand slowly morphed into wood. “No.”

She was crying now.

[Anomaly Detected]

[Anomaly status unknown]

…

[Ninra Lockwood, you have gained new skill The Love of God]

Ninra dropped to her knees, sobbing.

[Personal Quest School Proprietor has been updated]

[Quest School Proprietor is now Abigail Proprietor]

[Personal Quest: Abigail Proprietor.]

You have walked side by side with your leader and have found favor in his sight. In his absence, Abigail is entrusted to you. Protect the ground upon which Abigail stands. If there is a Chaos Run, you alone will stand between her and death. But fear not, for you are not alone

[Quest objective: Save Abigail.]

…

[Anomaly detected]

[Anomaly Unknown]

..

[Ninra Lockwood you have gained a new skill]

[You have gained skill The Love of God]

[You have gained below stat improvement]

[Mana 0, Luck +999]

[Calibrating temporary class]

Ninra stared at the notification.

…

Dorthna stood where he was, watching.

“It is a powerful thing,” he said, not surprised at the development, “to be loved by God.”

He knew her class even before it was done calibrating. Still he watched it calibrate from where he was outside the school.

[Calibration complete]

[Ninra Lockwood, class calibration is complete.]

[You have gained class Human]

A human loved by God.

Dorthna sighed and turned away.

Temporary, though it might be, Ninra was now a being worthy of being feared.