Chapter 03: More Than Normal.
The moment those words left Gabron's lips, the shop owner's grip on Kandril's cheeks loosened. The kid's body just moved. No hesitation. No words.
And whatever had been said to him earlier—it didn't matter anymore.
"Oi! Get back here!" The shop owner clicked his tongue.
But Kandril didn't listen. As if he never heard him. He just kept moving, freely radiating that ominous presence of his.
Then at a certain distance—
He stopped.
His head tilted. Just slightly. He cracked his knuckles. One by one. And that stare fixed on Gabron—it screamed death.
A low, dry tone slipped from his lips. "You're still conscious, badly?"
Then, slowly, a grin crept across his face. "Want me to end your life... RIGHT NOW?!"
Gabron only smirked, shaking off the threat with forced swagger. He refused to allow a mere kid to humiliate him again.
"Tss." He clicked his tongue. "You think you're some tough guy, huh? Kid? Just because you caught me off guard earlier?"
Then the smirk shifted into a slow, cocky grin.
"Let's see how tough you are..." he continued, then tapped something on his wristwatch.
BEEP.
His grin widened.
"...Now that I just called the entire... SYNDICATE!"
Kandril's brow twitched, irritation simmering across his expression.
"Is that supposed to scare me?" he muttered, his voice low and steady.
Then he stepped forward, undaunted, each stride still heavy and ominous.
Then, mid-walk.
BZZZT.
Thin arcs of lightning flashed and buzzed across the shop. Bolts of lightning began to crackle along Kandril's arms, down to his clenched fists. The energy coursed through his legs and down to his feet.
Gabron's throat bobbed. Sweat beaded on his scalp, dripping down his face.
'Damn, this kid is serious.'
From his vantage point, he saw only a figure advancing through the storm of lightning, as if delivering judgment itself. And as Kandril closed the distance, Gabron's confidence flickered. Eventually his legs betrayed him, and he stumbled a half-step back.
Kandril noticed it.
A low chuckle slipped from his lips.
"Ke—"
"Scared, huh?"
Gabron sneered, forcing his bravado back into place. His jaw tightened. His fists clenched. Every muscle in his body screamed to run. But his mouth said otherwise.
"You aren't special just because of some fancy light—"
But before he could even finish the sentence—
Out of nowhere—
BOIIIIINNNGGG!
A wok slammed into his bald head. The thwack thundered across the shop.
Kandril's expression immediately flattened. The lightning dancing across his arm sputtered and dimmed.
"Eh?"
Gabron hit the floor, clutching his head.
"ARRGGHHH! Who did that?" he snapped.
A lump was already rising on his scalp, swelling red and round like a small volcano pushing up through shiny earth.
Well, who did that?
It was the shop owner. Red faced. Breathing like a bull that had seen enough nonsense. A wok clutched tightly in his right hand.
He was not done.
Another swing—
SWOOSH.
Straight to the face!
BOING!
Another one—
BOING!
More—
BOING!
Then, for the last strike, he gritted his teeth and—
"GAAAAAHHH!"
BOIIIIIING!
The wok came down so hard that Gabron's face imprint was low and printed into the metal like a mold. The imbecile's blow knocked him out cold.
The shop fell dead quiet.
In the stunned silence that followed, without wasting any seconds, the shop owner turned toward Kandril.
"YOU!" he snarled, a menacing aura rolling off him as he pointed the wok toward Kandril.
"You stupid arrogant brat!" he added, fury rising up his neck.
Kandril flinched, pointing at himself. He glanced around theatrically, innocence plastered across his face as if searching for someone else.
"W-who, m-me, Unc?!" he asked, voice trembling with fake innocence.
"Is there anyone else here who is ARROGANT and STUPID?!" the shop owner snapped back, his voice cracking like thunder against Kandril's eardrums.
Before Kandril could react, the shop owner lunged forward. In one swift move, he grabbed Kandril by the collar and pulled him close.
"Hey, listen to me, kid," he snapped, shaking him once for emphasis. "For one last time, take this into that thick skull of yours..."
He leaned in. "When I tell you not to go against the Syndicate, you don't go against the Syndicate! Understand?!"
Kandril blinked. "...O-okay?"
But he didn't move. His eyes kept drifting—slowly, nervously—to the wok still clutched in the shop owner's hand.
The shop owner noticed.
He raised it slightly.
Kandril flinched hard. "O-OKAY! I UNDERSTAND! LOUD AND CLEAR, UNC! V-V-V-VERY CLEAR!"
The shop owner released his grip on Kandril's collar. He drew in a slow breath and slipped back into his usual demeanor. Afterward, he fixed Kandril with a stare filled with unreadable intensity.
Kandril stared back.
"..."
BLINK.
"..."
BLINK. BLINK.
Seconds passed. Then minutes. With each moment, the air grew heavier and thicker. Kandril felt unease creeping in, his eyes narrowing as his mind drowned in countless questions about the shop owner's intent.
"Uhhm... is there a problem, Unc?" he asked, forcing a shaky grin.
"Ehe—hehehe..."
"Hehe..."
His nervous laughter trailed off awkwardly.
"..."
GULP.
Then, without warning, the shop owner drove his right palm into Kandril's chest.
Not a punch. Just a flat, decisive push.
Then—
"Spell Unfold..."
The words left his lips in a breath. Barely above a whisper.
Something shifted beneath Kandril's feet.
He looked down.
A white magical circle shimmered into existence beneath him, glowing, expanding outward, with intricate runes spinning along its edges.
Kandril's eyes went wide.
His head snapped back up.
"Y-you're—w-wait, you're a—"
The shop owner reached up calmly and flicked him on the forehead.
"Forget about me, kid."
"W-wha—HEY WAIT—"
FLASH!
White light. Blinding. Absolute.
Kandril's silhouette wavered at its edges, trembling like a heat haze caught in a storm. Then his arms. Then his legs. Then the rest of him. Piece by piece, swallowed whole by the light.
And just like that—
He was gone.
--
Somewhere in an unfamiliar dark alley of the colony.
The alley stank. Rotting garbage piled in the corners, bugs crawling over everything, while rats scuttled through the filth, gnawing at whatever they could find.
Then a flickering glow clung to the cracked walls.
It began to warp—
A figure surfaced. Coalescing. Edges forming, sharpening, until—
Kandril emerged.
He stood frozen, body rigid, eyes vacant, as if his soul had left his body.
A second later, his backpack materialized between his feet and thumped softly onto the littered ground. He stared at it with that thousand-yard gaze, mind still somewhere between here and there.
Then—
SKEEEEEEK!
A sharp squeal ripped through the air.
A massive rat scuttled past Kandril's feet, dragging a chunk of rotten apple across the ground.
He jolted back, eyes flaring wide as the haze snapped apart.
"F—FUCKING HELL!!"
His voice came out hoarse. Trembling. He watched the enormous rat until it vanished into the shadows.
Then, without warning—
SNIFF.
A vile odor hit him full force.
Putrid. Noxious. Dizzying.
His face turned violet. His stomach lurched. His throat burned. His knees buckled. The stench clawed its way down into his lungs.
"UAAAGHHKKKK!!"
He vomited violently, retching spattering across the filthy ground. His eyes watered like he'd been cutting onions his entire life.
Shakily, he clamped a hand over his mouth and nose, forcing his trembling legs to keep him upright.
"What the hell is this smell?" he croaked to no one.
He didn't wait for an answer. Snatching his backpack, he staggered through the stinking, shadow-choked alley. And when he finally stumbled out the other end, he collapsed against a lamppost and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
One breath—
"HUUUUUUU—"
Then another.
"HÀAAAAA."
His chest heaved as he groaned weakly between gasps. But he couldn't stop himself from tipping his head back, casting a wary glance toward the alley he had just escaped.
The smell was still there. Of course it was. His stomach twisted in immediate protest.
"F*#×!!!!!"
Without hesitation, he spun and bolted, putting as much distance as he could between himself and that stinking alley.
After what felt like an eternity, Kandril finally slowed to a stop. He hunched over, hands on his knees, gasping as his lungs burned with every breath.
Ha—ha—ha—HAAAAAA!!
He straightened, ready to finally catch some air.
When suddenly—
Something clicked.
A prickling wrongness crawled up his spine.
The world turned inverted for a heartbeat, like a hiccup of reality.
His mind raced, questions piling up faster than answers could form.
Something was off. He just couldn't put his finger on it yet.
Then—
BA~DUM.
It hit him all at once.
"T—That's right," he gasped, chest tightening.
Memories exploded in jagged fragments.
The shop owner's palm against his chest. The runes flickered to life beneath his feet. Those whispered words. And then... the light. That blinding, bottomless light, swallowing him whole.
All of it came rushing back, crashing over him like a wave he hadn't seen coming.
Disbelief washed over his face. Eyes wide. Mouth open. Dread crept into his voice. His throat tightened.
"N-No way..."
"U-Unc is an Astralis too?"
TBC...