August Intruder- Chapter 215- Infirmary Hooky (Patreon)

“I see it happened again,” Ark mused, eating a piece of fish from his plate.

The infirmary was quiet this morning. The nurses had come in and looked around. They’d checked on Ark’s injuries, nodding the way Melmarc knew nurses liked to do when they were seeing the effects of their hard work. Like every morning since waking up, Ark was nice, filled with smiles and one joke or the other for them. From time to time he was flirtatious. Melmarc noticed that his level of flirtatiousness over the past few days was dependent on the nurse being female and the nurses age. The older they looked, the more flirtatious he was.

When it was Melmarc’s turn, the nurses had carried nothing but feigned approval on their expressions. It was the kind that told the patient, if they were really watching, that the nurses had no idea what was happening, why it was happening, or how it was happening. They simply put on a confident façade for the sake of the patient.

As for Ark’s question, Melmarc nodded calmly, eating his last piece of boiled egg. He set the plate aside and sighed.

“It’s annoying,” he said.

Ark chuckled. “It’s interesting that you chose annoying not painful, considering you always sound like someone’s skinning you alive.”

Melmarc wasn’t sure how to reply to that. The entire experience was definitely painful, but he had an understanding of pain now. Pain was no longer just pain, he’d learnt in the last few days. It was information, knowledge. The pain he’d been going through every night was annoying because the information refused to make sense. He understood the pain but not what it was trying to say.

“On a more serious note, though.” Ark placed his plate aside without finishing his fish. “You always sound like you’re dying. Do you think there’s anything that can be done to help?”

Melmarc shook his head. “At this rate I think I’m just supposed to ride it out.”

“That’s a bleak way to look at it,” Ark mused. “You’d think there would be a way. Do you remember what the doctor said yesterday?”

Melmarc nodded. “They have no idea why I keep on screaming every night.”

The doctors had been having the conversation outside the room, but Ark had decided to listen in, letting Melmarc know that he would be able to hear them if he just focused. Ark had not been wrong.

“One of the nurses offered to change my room two nights ago,” Ark said. “She was being nice, wanted me to be able to sleep well and all that.”

Melmarc gave him a flat look. “I asked you to find a way to change your room a few days ago.”

“Foolish baby brother,” Ark snorted. “Now tell me what good older brother changes rooms just to be away from his younger brother.”

“You’re not trying to be away from me, Ark, you’re trying to be away from the noise.”

“And what if something happens in the middle of the night when I’m away?”

“Nothing will happen when you’re away, Ark.”

“Can you tell me with complete certainty that nothing will happen?” Ark asked, his eyes hard.

Melmarc opened his mouth, then he closed it. In the end, he could not.

Ark frowned. “I thought so. At least your eyes don’t stay black when it happens.”

According to Ark, when he screamed as he had been screaming every night since the visit from Uncle Dorthna and Ninra, his eyes tended to flash black for a handful of seconds. Luckily, they never remained black. Uncle Dorthna had done something about them, casting a spell or two while grumbling about how this was not supposed to be his work and how Oaths existed for a reason.

Uncle Dorthna’s warning was simple when he was done. Whenever Melmarc was faced with an overwhelming amount of pressure that he had to push beyond his limits to keep in, there would be a very high chance of his eyes turning black.

Melmarc sighed and laid down on his bed. “I think I know why my eyes keep turning black when it happens.”

Ark perked up at his words. “Do enlighten me.”

Melmarc looked at the wall clock not too far from them. It was afternoon, classes would be ending soon. Ark told him that he had only informed Pelumi that he was awake last night. He wasn’t ready to admit it to Ark, but Melmarc was curious to know if Pelumi would come today.

Blinking away his anticipation, he answered Ark. “Every time it happens, I wake up in the morning, and my injuries hurt a lot less. I think that’s how I’m healing.”

Ark paused, zeroing in on the wrong thing. “A lot less?” he asked, emphasizing each word.

Melmarc nodded.

“Every time?” Ark asked.

Melmarc nodded again.

“Let me get this right.” Ark adjusted, sat up properly. “Every morning, you describe how much pain you stop feeling as a lot each time.”

Melmarc nodded. “Yes.”

Ark was shaking his head. “I don’t… that doesn’t feel right. On a scale of one to ten just how much pain are you in.”

“You know how painful it is when you stub your toe?” Melmarc said, seeking to make him understand better.

Ark winced as if he’d just watched someone stub their toe. “I do.”

“Now imagine stubbing two toes. When one stops hurting that’s a lot less pain, right?”

“Right,” Ark agreed.

“So think of mine like this,” Melmarc explained. “I’ve stubbed ten toes and ten fingers. Every morning, it feels like one has healed.”

Ark paused, blinked. “How?”

“I think the injuries I sustained where just—”

“Not that,” Ark said, horror on his face. “How are you still sane if you’re describing your pain like that? As I’m talking to you right now are you still in pain?”

Melmarc nodded. “It’s not as horrible as it seems when you learn to understand it,” he pointed out. “Pain is just a—”

“Miss me with that philosophical bullshit,” Ark snapped, interrupting him. “You’re in pain and you’re sane. What does this pain not allow you to do?”

Melmarc paused to think about it for a moment. In the end, he shrugged. “Nothing, I guess. It’s not like it hinders me or anything. It’s just pain.”

Ark got up from his bed and walked over to him. He placed both hands on Melmarc’s shoulders. Melmarc did everything in his power not to wince at the pain of being touched.

Ark’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. It lasted for only a moment though.

“Mel,” he said very carefully.

“Ark,” Melmarc replied.

“Pain might not be the enemy,” Ark said. “But that does not make pain alright to have. While pain is a sign that you are alive, it is also a sign that there is something wrong. Pain,” he emphasized, “is not your ally. Do you understand?”

It really wasn’t that serious, but Melmarc nodded, regardless.

“I’m serious, Mel,” Ark insisted. “I don’t want to wake up one day and see someone cut you and you don’t care because it’s just pain. I know that what’s happening to us is cool and all that, but you can’t lose yourself to it.”

Melmarc nodded. “I’m not losing myself to it. I’m just finding a way to survive the pain.”

It wasn’t as if he could escape this pain.

Ark sighed in relief then released him. He walked back to his bed and sat down on it. The remaining fish on his plate was completely forgotten. His lips creased in contemplation. Melmarc watched his brother think about any and everything. It couldn’t be because their mom hadn’t visited since Melmarc had woken up. Ark wasn’t a fan of being babied so he was certain Ark didn’t mind. As for Ark minding for his sake, that too was out the window. Their mother had already made it clear that she was currently somewhere in Asia on a call they’d had. Apparently, with everything that had happened with the portals opening and monsters in the world, everyone believed the sooner they killed all the monsters still on Earth, the better.

The last thing the world wanted was the monsters reproducing.

In the end, unable to figure out what was bothering Ark, he finally decided to ask.

“What is it now?” he said.

“Thinking,” Ark answered.

“About?”

“Truths and secrets.”

“Regarding?”

“Mother.”

Melmarc’s brows furrowed. “What exactly are you trying to figure out?”

“If we should tell mom or not.”

“About the pain?”

Ark nodded. “I know the nurses will tell her, but…”

“The nurses scale my pain every morning, Ark,” Melmarc pointed out. “And I’m as honest as I can be.”

Ark chuckled at that. It was genuine amusement. “I always wondered why you calculated your pain in fractions. I guess it makes sense that your pain only goes down in fractions.”

“They probably think I’m being over dramatic.” Melmarc shrugged. “I wouldn’t blame them. Also, remember how nobody entered the room or said anything when Uncle Dorthna was around? It was as if we had a visitor that was already approved.”

Ark didn’t look bothered. “Notice how Uncle Dorthna kind of gets away with everything?”

Melmarc had noticed that. Then again, he was a man who was acquainted with a man the interface had deemed so important that meeting him was apparently a noteworthy encounter.

“Am I the only one starting to think that we’ve kind of over-lucked out on life?” Melmarc asked.

Ark cocked a brow at that. “You have an injury in your shoulder that has refused to heal. I wouldn’t really call that luck.”

Melmarc was already shaking his head. “It’s healing.” He pulled his collar to the side so that Ark could take a look. “See?”

It wasn’t completely healed, but it was clearly healing, leaving behind a black scar. At least it was no longer leaking black mana particles at any point again. The only time it ever had any business with mana particles was in the night when he was in pain and the mana around him turned black and just flooded the injury.

“It is healing quite well,” Ark mused. “At this rate we’ll both be discharged at the same time.”

Melmarc paused at that. “Ark.”

“Yes, twat.”

“Are you somehow slowing down your healing so that we’ll be discharged at the same time?”

Ark blinked. “Mel, you’re my all important younger brother, but I assure you that I am not slowing down my healing just so that they can discharge us together. Don’t be paranoid.”

Melmarc sighed. “That’s good. I actually thought you were slowing down your healing.”

“I am.”

“Sorry, what?” Melmarc asked, flabbergasted. “You just said—Oh.”

Ark grinned. “I said I wasn’t slowing it down because of you.”

“Then why are you…” Melmarc’s words trailed off and he sighed. “You’re playing infirmary hooky, aren’t you?”

“I can always count on you to figure things out,” Ark laughed. “Yes, Mel. I’m playing infirmary hooky. But is it really considered infirmary hooky if I’m really infirm?”

Melmarc rolled his eyes. “Grey area conversations, Ark? Go to class.”

Ark made a show of sluggishly lying down like the infirm. “I would if I could, brother mine. I would if I could.”

They lulled into a comfortable silence as Ark tinkered with his phone. Melmarc went to his phone as well. He watched short videos online for a while before switching to an actual movie. In this way, he and Ark passed the time.

When his hour plus movie finished, Melmarc opened a novel on his phone and began reading. It was an interesting fantasy piece about a boy who was the chosen one because of something that had happened at birth and was destined to save the world from his father who had become a tyrant when a neighboring kingdom had killed the boy’s mother.

Melmarc would be lying if he said that the story was interesting.

Ark pulled him from his immersion in the story when he moved, turning on his bed.

“We’re lucky, aren’t we?” he said in a quiet voice. “Like really lucky.”

Melmarc turned off his phone’s display to look at his brother. He didn’t have to think much about the answer. “We are,” he said.

“How many families can boast about having more than one Gifted child?” Ark asked.

“Maybe twelve percent of all families with Gifted children,” Melmarc answered.

“Except that [Seer] guy,” Ark added. “What was his name again?”

“Nezu,” Melmarc answered easily. “But yes, except him.”

“But here we are,” Ark said. “You and I, both Gifted in our own way, and important.”

Melmarc knew he used to pray for times like this. Not necessarily what they had now, but he’d often prayed for him and Ark to be Gifted and amazing Delvers.

Can’t really say I wanted to be ruler of the world, though.

He was not a fan of all the responsibilities that would inevitably come with such a title. But here he was, Gifted and powerful. He was not even S-rank but he had mana stats that rivaled S-ranks. There were some S-ranks with the [Mage] class, though they were the lower level S-ranks, who had the same amount of points as he did in their mana stats.

He was in all ramifications of the word an overpowered B-rank.

Ark nodded very slowly. “Yes,” he said in a quiet voice. “We used to pray for times like these.”

Melmarc stared up at the ceiling. “So, whenever it gets tough, at least we aren’t where we used to be.” He smiled a little. “At least we are where we used to be. Answered prayers.”

“Yeah.” Ark sighed. “Kind of a shame that God’s now the enemy.”

Melmarc blinked. He turned his head to look at his brother. “Sorry, what?”

“God,” Ark repeated as if it was not a big deal. “He’s the enemy now. Kind of poetic since I got the [Demon Lord] class and all.”

Melmarc shook his head. “I’m confused. Where did we get that idea?”

“I thought that was the general consensus.” Ark adjusted to look at him. “I mean, we had the conversation and everything.”

“We really didn’t.”

“Uncle Dorthna doesn’t seem to like the man upstairs, though,” Ark pointed out.

“Yes,” Melmarc agreed. “But that does not make him the enemy just because Uncle Dorthna doesn’t like him. And Uncle Dorthna was very specific on not talking about it.”

“I guess.” Ark returned his attention to the ceiling. “But just imagine.”

“I actually can’t imagine. How do you even go about defeating such an enemy?”

How did one actually fight God? The angels, Melmarc could understand. But the main man himself? It went comfortably above Melmarc’s head.

“Oh,” Ark said out of nowhere.

Melmarc looked at him. “What?”

Ark handed him his phone and Melmarc took it. On display was a quick conversation with Uncle Dorthna.

Is God the enemy now? Ark asked.

… it was Uncle Dorthna’s first message. Ark?

Yes, Uncle.

You’re kind of stupid, aren’t you?

Melmarc laughed. He couldn’t help it.

Just because I have a problem with God, it doesn’t mean you should, Uncle Dorthna’s message continued. You can’t say that because you have an atheist in the house that you’re going to be an atheist. I don’t like God, it’s really that simple. That doesn’t make him the enemy.

Melmarc handed Ark his phone back, still laughing. “I guess that solves that.”

“Yeah,” Ark pouted. “Would’ve been fun knowing that we live with the odds against us.”

Melmarc didn’t think so, but he said nothing.

The rest of the day was slow. Melmarc read his novel for most of it while Ark did whatever he did on his phone. Melmarc chatted with nobody. He received no messages and sent none in return.

A nurse eventually came in to check on them. The nurse was a man. He checked on their vitals, checked on their injuries. He spoke amiably and Ark answered amiably. He checked on Melmarc and nodded in that same way that said he didn’t know what was happening but was putting on a façade. Once that was done, he stepped out and got their dinner.

They were eating when Ark gave him a worried look.

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

Melmarc looked at the clock and sighed. It was past six in the evening. The infirmaries visiting hours were over. There would be no visitors today.

“Sure,” Melmarc answered. “Everything’s fine.”

Dissonant.

Pelumi didn’t visit.

…

In the middle of the night, Melmarc turned and tossed, struggling with a slow growing pain that he could feel even in his sleep. He fought to keep it in place. He knew it was coming, knew it as deeply as the Christian belief in their God.

Then it came.

It was full and powerful, demanding all of his attention. He fought with it at first, as he always did, battled against the discomfort. As was the case every night, he lost. The pain could not be conquered. His mouth fell open, but before sound could come, a gentle tug of relief came.

The pain subsided, but only so slightly.

Then it returned, strong and powerful. Melmarc buckled under the weight of it. Something was different this time. It was more, worse.

His breath seized. He felt the pain of a punctured lung, a severed ligament, a heart attack. Heart break smothered him as he mourned a lost one and an unfaithful spouse. He…

A roar filled the air, there was pain in it. It was ear piercing, even worse than a scream. His defeat was certain, unsurprising… Until Melmarc realized that it was not his.

His eyes shut open, even filled with pain, he bolted up from his bed.

Ark was already moving too, rushing straight for his bed. Melmarc could not focus on Ark, though. Instead, he looked at the man on his knees before him.

Melmarc looked down at him in confusion.

“Who are you?” he asked.

The man looked up at him with nothing but pain and sorrow in his eyes. The man was crying, his screaming subsided, and Melmarc recognized him.

“What,” the Oath of Pain asked, “are you?”