Mrs. Chen wrote a complex formula on the whiteboard, her marker squeaking against the surface. The classroom lights buzzed overhead at Yorkdale Adult Learning Centre.

“For Wednesday’s test, know these chemical equations,” she said, tapping the board. “I’ll ask you to balance at least three of them. You’ll also need to identify the oxidizing and reducing agents in each reaction.”

Gale copied the notes without really focusing. He kept looking across the room at Mia, Andrew, and Jacob, who sat together on the opposite side, away from him.

It had been a week since he’d seen them. He hadn’t contacted them once. No texts. No calls. No nothing.

Mrs. Chen continued, “Remember, redox reactions involve electron transfer. One element loses electrons while another gains them.”

Tendrils showed him everything he didn’t want to see. Andrew kept glancing his way, a slight frown on his face. Jacob pretended to study but kept glancing in Andrew’s direction. Mia, on the other hand, just looked plain angry. She didn’t even try to hide it like the other two. Her brows furrowed, mouth complete frown, and eyes giving him the same vibes as Ms. Molly’s when she was about to pepper him with a 2 hour nag session. She’d have distinct levels of stares ranging from level 1 hour to level 6 hour nags. A single word could describe it, scary.

It wasn’t entirely his fault. He got knocked out. If even he could get knocked out, mundanes wouldn’t even stand a chance.

Gale glanced back at them. Only Mia didn’t retreat her gaze when he did. That’s right, they were all just mundanes. Getting mixed up with him could get them killed.

“Balance the charges by adding electrons to either side of the half-reaction,” Mrs. Chen said. “Questions?”

No one spoke. The clock ticked closer to the end of class.

Remember, Gale. With great power comes great decisions he had to make to keep them safe.

Mrs. Chen checked her watch. “That’s it for today. Review chapters twelve through fourteen. Don’t forget about the acid-base equilibrium concepts—they’ll be on the test too.”

Students packed up their things. Gale put his notebook in his backpack while watching his friends whisper to each other. They walked toward the door together.

He followed them into the hallway. They stopped nearby, talking among themselves. When they saw him, they went quiet.

“Hey,” Gale said.

Andrew nodded stiffly. Jacob looked at his shoes. Mia crossed her arms.

“Where have you been?” Mia almost shouted.

“I had some personal matters to handle,” Gale said.

“Personal matters?” Mia crossed her arms. “For a week? Without a single text?”

Students moved around them in the hallway. Someone bumped Gale’s shoulder without apologizing.

“I was busy,” Gale said. “Look, we should talk somewhere private.”

“Now you want to talk?” Mia said. “After ghosting us for a week?”

“We were worried, man.” Andrew scratched his neck, looking away.

“We thought you might be dead,” Jacob said. “Or worse.”

Gale looked left and right, checking the students that passed by in the crowded hallway. “Not here. Too many ears.”

“Fine,” Mia said.

The group moved to a corner of the hallway where there was less traffic. Gale waited until they huddled closer. “I think we should keep our distance… from each other.”

“Excuse me?” Mia shouted above the background noise.

“The world I’m a part of… Aur. I think it’s better for you guys to stay away from it.”

Andrew leaned forward. “So you disappear for a week, then show up to just tell us to fuck off? Not cool, dude.”

“I’m protecting you,” Gale said.

“Protect us?” Mia laughed. “After everything that’s happened?”

“That’s exactly why. You don’t belong,” Gale said.

“We don’t belong?” Mia stepped closer, eyes glaring directly into his eyes. “We were there when that thing attacked us and you killed it. We survived, and if we don’t belong, then maybe you even think we’re not your friends.”

Jacob fidgeted with his zipper. “I mean, maybe he has a point, right?”

“No,” Mia immediately said. “He doesn’t. Now which is it, Mr. Hero?”

Gale felt them pulling away with every word. “You don’t get what you’re getting involved with. These people, these things are beyond what you can handle.”

“So explain it to us,” Andrew said. “Help us understand.”

“I can’t,” Gale said. “The less you know, the better.”

Wasn’t he what Rachel’s grandma was doing to Rachel? She didn’t tell her granddaughter anything. The less she knew, the better. But they were mundanes. The less they delved into Aur, the better. That’s right. If you can’t fight a bear, then it’s better to not fight a bear, and Mia was completely running a garbage sized truck beast.

“While you were off doing whatever, I’ve been looking into things myself.” Mia pulled out her phone. She showed Gale her screen. “These are two blocks from my apartment. Taken three days ago.”

The photos showed two men exchanging small packages in an alley. One carried a case like the one Gale pulled from the dealers that almost dusted her.

“That’s dust,” he said.

“I figured,” Mia said. “The same stuff those guys tried to dose me with. It’s all over my neighbourhood now.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Mia! You can’t do that on your own. Do you know how dangerous that is?” Gale held her by the shoulders.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to leave us in the dark?” Mia shrugged off his hands. “These dealers are showing up around our homes, our school, and we don’t know the first thing about protecting ourselves.”

“The best protection is to stay out of it completely,” Gale said.

“Too late for that,” Andrew said. “They’ve already seen our faces. What if they come looking for us?”

That didn’t even cross Gale’s mind.

“Look,” Mia said, putting her phone back into her pocket. “We’ll figure it out ourselves with or without you.” She turned to Andrew and Jacob. “Let’s go.”

She pushed off the corner. Andrew followed.

“Wait,” Gale said, stepping into their path. “You can’t just walk into this blind. You’re mundanes!”

“Mundanes?” Mia’s face turned red. “Is that what you call us? Like we’re some lesser species?”

“That’s not what I meant….”

“Then what did you mean?” Andrew asked.

“You’re not Awakened,” Gale said. “You don’t have abilities. If you get caught in the middle of this, that’s it for you. There’s no coming back from that.”

“And you think hiding from it will keep us safe?” Mia said. “These dust dealers are in our neighbourhoods. That monster was in a building we decided to explore. We’re already in it, whether you help us or not.”

“You don’t understand. This is bigger than all of us. Even I can’t…”

“Can’t what?” Mia pressed.

“Can’t fix it,” Gale said. “The dust trade, the monsters, the rifts. It’s all too big even for me. What’s the point of you investigating? What can you possibly do that people with actual powers can’t?”

“So because we can’t shoot lasers from our eyes or walk through walls, we should just accept being collateral damage? Just wait around for something to kill us or for someone like you to save us?” Mia raised her voice, loud enough that the passersby glanced her way.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I think it’s exactly what you meant,” Mia said. She looked at Andrew and Jacob. “We don’t need him. Let’s go.”

“Where are you going?” Gale asked.

“Away from you,” Mia said.

“I’m hungry anyway. That new HK café opened up nearby. We could grab some food and talk about this without…” Andrew gave him the side eye.

“Without the superhero looking down on us mere mortals?” Mia said.

Jacob nodded. “Yeah, that place on Dufferin. I hear their pineapple buns are good.”

They started walking down the hallway. Gale just stood there. Why can’t they see they were running straight at a beast bigger than a garbage truck? Normally, people should be about self preservation, then why?! His hand almost smashed against the wall, stopping before it hit.

“You disappeared on us,” Mia shouted down the hall. “Now we’re returning the favour.”

They walked away with their backs to him.

A week ago, Gale would have let them go without thinking twice about leaving… or was he the one running away? Staying alone was safer anyways. The being in the book even told him to hide. It was too soon for whatever this was.

But seeing them leave like this, with her back to him slowly walking away, it really really hurt.

They were putting themselves in danger and all he was doing was hiding.

Gale took a step forward, then stopped. He shouldn’t chase them. That’d lead to more hurt. Seeing them hurt and then he becomes hurt. Does he really want that pain again? Getting attached always led to pain.

Turning away, he walked and went down to the first floor. After exiting the building, he went into the empty alley between the two brick buildings and leaned against the walls. It should be fine. This was for the better. The beating heart he had should really stop being so annoyingly loud.

Gale closed his eyes and checked his status.

…

Name: Gale Hathie

Race: Dainv

Core Class: Awakened

Core Density: 11.33/12

Core Attributes: [

Max Load: 100

Efficiency: 100

Essence: 166/200

]

Skills:

[Phase Touch Lv.3][Alter Lv.2][Distort Lv.3]

Passives:

[Breath of the Void Lv.2][Essence Control Lv.1][Dainv Combat Arts Lv.1]

…

He stared at the numbers. His eyes went lower, down to the points he used to buy Weber.

[Mission points: 0]

After all the fights, all the training, all the danger, it ended with him having zero fucking points. He hadn’t progressed since getting the Weber gun. His core density stayed stuck just short of the next level.

How was he supposed to get stronger without killing to get stronger to protect them? The monsters and drug dealers he’d faced recently had given him nothing. No progress. Just the same numbers.

Gale kicked a soda can down the alley. Distort activated easily. The air around him bent, making him invisible. He jogged out of the alley and through Toronto’s streets to the nearest bus stop.

Two hours later, Gale stood outside the abandoned warehouse in Oshawa. The gray building looked just as he’d left it of shattered windows, peeling paint, and a padlock. He phased through the doors, taking in the familiar view of sword marks all over the concrete floor and pillars.

Gale walked to the centre of the empty space. His footsteps echoed.

“Guide,” he said. “What should I do?”

[Query rejected. Mundane connections, threat level: Minimal.]

Gale suddenly hit the concrete floor with his fist. The impact cracked the surface, shifting the ceiling and causing dust to fall.

“Fuck!” The word echoed off the walls.

He was stuck between worlds. All this work of being normal for fucking nothing. Stuck between both worlds, not committing to either one. Ollie saw him as an asset while Rachel treated him as an outsider to her family. In a way, he was an outsider to both.

And then there were his friends. The only people who knew him as Gale, without him saving them in the Eclipsed.

Gale put his left hand in his pocket, took up the inventory screen, and tapped on Weber blade. The sword materialized in his right hand. In one quick motion, the sword stretched into a spear, transitioning into the first swipe upwards.

[Mission: Practice Skills automatically accepted.]

Gale barely noticed Guide’s words as he moved from one stance to another. The spear changed back to a sword, then to a spear again. Each swing produced no sound, no whistle in the silent warehouse.

He spent his whole life hiding, blending in, surviving, doing what his parents wanted him to do. And when he finally stepped out of that comfort zone, it had gotten him things he didn’t know how to deal with.

Sweat dripped as he pushed himself harder. The sword whistled through the air. The spear thrust at imaginary enemies. His muscles burned, but he kept going.

There was no point to any of it. To anything he was doing against it. The dust trade was huge, possibly bigger than he could imagine, spreading outwards from Canada. Rifts kept opening, most likely letting in nightmares from wherever it led. The major factions and families were all fighting their own shadow wars while regular people caught strays.

Gale heard a ding in his notifications as he dropped his sword. He ignored it and fell to his knees, breathing hard. Sweat dripped onto the cracked floor.

Maybe he wasn’t meant to be great. Maybe these problems were just too big for one person to fix. Even too big for whatever a Dainv was like he was. If Rachel’s grandma was even afraid of those above, maybe it was all meaningless in the face of the watching stars. His parents had spent their lives hiding, moving around, never settling down. Never fighting back or trying to change anything.

Maybe they were right all along.

The sun had long gone down as Gale sat in the shadow of the pillar alone. Maybe accepting painful solitude was better. No attachments meant no pain when those attachments broke. No relationships meant no one to mourn when time took them. He wouldn’t have to remember Dmitry or John’s dying face every goddamn day. To everyone, it happened 5 years ago, but to him, it only happened a couple of months ago. Even feeling Marcus’s feet drumming on the floor slowly grow weaker haunted him.

The less you know the better. That’s what he said to his friends who knew nothing. For all he knew, that could’ve come out of Rachel’s grandma. It’s funny, isn’t it? The more you have to lose, the more you want to control.

Gale clenched his fist. No. I can’t. I’m not going to be like her.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep