Chương 31: Call Me Nonny

Ch. 31: Call Me Nonny The voice of the system pummeled my ear with gracious levels up. Mission: Kill Anubis Complete! 5000 exp Congrats! You killed a Desert Gigasnake! 1000 exp Achievement unlocked! Kill a demon lord, bonus exp unlocked! Evolve point granted! Now calculating your total level gain. This man's shirt was so tight I could see his nipples. I could also tell he was glaring at us through the sunglasses. Kayla and I exchanged glances. She quickly pulled away from our embrace.

"Hello?" I said, "Kind of a private moment here. Maybe you could consider fucking off?" This pompous ass asked, "Do you know who I am?"

"What West Hollywood club do you think you're trying to get into right now? No, I don't know who you are." Kayla pulled away from our hug, "Yes. Yes, I do. I'm very sorry about your nephew."

"His nephew?" I asked.

"Yes," he growled, "Does the name Wesley Exley mean anything to you?"

"Uh… I know we had Billy and Franz on this mission. Wasn't the other guy named George?"

"The last mission, Drake," whispered Kayla, "Wesley." I stared at the older man for a long time.

"Huh? Who's that?" Oh, boy. If that guy wasn't mad before, he was sure mad after I said that. He took one step closer to us and I could feel it. His aura, the power that emanated from him, was so powerful that it changed the very air. Shaking with anger, he took off his glasses, revealing his lion eyes.

"My nephew, champion of Ozid, the Manticore God. Killed on a raid you went on. The raid where you solo'd the core. A supposed nonny. And the report says you did it. By yourself. I think it's time you and I had a little chat," He stepped toward me.

"When's the last time you felt small, big guy?" I asked him, taking a step closer.

"Never." Kayla placed herself in front of him and me.

"I take full responsibility for what happened to your nephew. If there is anyone you should be mad at, it's me. But you know in the fog of war what happens better than anyone, Exley. People pass. It's the risk that you take when you're a champion. And it's not fair to come after us, especially after I just lost someone dear to me too." Every step he took toward me, the ground around him cracked. He continued to approach, and yet Kayla stayed in front of me.

I had to be the one to push her back and say, "Stay behind me."

"What!?" She hissed at me.

"Well… for a nonny, you're not really that gutless are you?" He asked.

"For a champ, you're exactly as fucked up in the head as I expect you all to be."

"I wasn't 'lucky' to be touched by a god, son. I was deserving. Can't say it speaks well for you that you weren't the same, right?"

"I don't wait for permission from gods. I go out and take it. Understand?"

"Not sure I do. You want to run that by me again?"

"No," I said.

"Exley. Is there a reason you're here today?" Kayla asked, "It surely can't be to threaten us?"

"Who says threatened? What words have I used? I'm here because I feel there is a grave misconduct I need to address. Seeing you two in your embrace with no other survivors merely confirms in my mind the conspiracy going on." This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"What conspiracy?" I asked.

"That two lovers have made moves to get a nonny into a companionship. All to be touched by a god."

"We're not lovers," she said.

"Yeah, we're not lovers yet." She shot a glare at me. I shrugged my shoulders, "Sorry." Kayla then said, "We've all had a really rough day. It is your right to file a formal inquiry into the events of your nephew. I believe we handled ourselves the best we could but would be willing to stand in front of a tribunal and defend my actions as lead." I said, "I agree. You should get the fuck out of here."

"And what if I don't? What would a nonny like you do about it?"

"I'm not going to do anything about that." Levels calculated. You have gained 20 levels! You are now level 42! Congrats, hun. See your full benefits on the abilities page;) A breath of mana escaped my being as the levels stacked on top of me. I took one step closer and the ground cracked below me too.

"But call me 'nonny' one more time." And we stared at each other. I looked through his lion eyes, guarding the creature within.

"One flick," He threatened, "To the back of your neck and you're dead."

"Be honest. Does it feel that way?" The brief flicker in his eyes gave me his answer.

"Hey!" An object came down between us. We both took a step back as Kayla's hammer smashed the ground in front of us.

"That's enough! Can you both stop acting so pigheaded?" Then she pushed her finger into my chest and said, "You promised you'd behave."

"Yeah, on the raid," I muttered.

"What?" She demanded.

"I said, 'okay'" I harumphed. Kayla turned to Mr. Tight Shirt, "And I expected professionalism more becoming of a member of the Delta Force. Or does this incident need to be reported?"

"Kayla come on," I said, "We don't need another incident report. Some of us already have a lot of those."

"Well, it's on Mr. Exley to show a good exam-" He zipped by her, flying so fast that he looked like a blur. He suddenly had his hand on my neck. He stared directly at me with his yellow eyes.

"Perhaps I shall show you the power of a Delta? Call it a teaching moment. Do you not see that I allow you to live?" I didn't say anything. He had his fist closing on my windpipe and I didn't want to lose any air. He slowly released his grip on me. Enough that I could speak.

"Feel that little prick?" I asked. I then looked past him. He followed my gaze, where Bloodsucker's eye stared right at him. The blade touched his neck, drawing blood. L et me take his blood, Drake. Please. I want it so.

"The knife is telling me to push," I said.

"How? I didn't…" He said it almost to himself. Another voice called out, "I know that one of the Delta squad is not threatening to strangle one of our up and coming NPCs?" I turned and saw Pedro and Gio looking right at me. Exley said, "Just having a conversation. You know how us men can get? We can't help but get a little hot under the collar. Isn't that right?"

"I was about to say the same thing," I reached over and I grabbed his wrist. I squeezed. There was a moment where his eyes fluttered with panic. I pulled his grip off of me and held onto the wrist.

"He's just playing around. Not using any real force at all. Or else there'd be no way an NPC would be able to pry his hand off of him. Right?" The two exchanged glances. He pulled his hand away. The mixture of shock and anger on his face eventually contorted into a feigned reassurance. He placed his glasses back on and said, "That's right. A little gamesmanship. I should be off now. I look forward to working with you in the future. Oh, that's right. NPCs aren't allowed on Delta raids. Not by any stretch."

He walked away and jumped. His keen strength taking him out of the stadium by leaping over the building entirely. I turned to both of them and said, "I'm assuming you were here because of him?"

"Are you alright?" Asked Pedro.

"My heroes," I snarked. Kayla stuttered and said, "I-I'd like to file an o-official complaint."

"Rescind it," I told Kayla.

"What!?"

"Rescind it. If you do that, then they're going to 'prioritise my safety' by keeping me off raids with him. And since he's more established, that basically means I'll be denied the bigger pits. I'll be silently punished because he's got a problem with me."

"We have some questions to ask you," Gio said.

"No." I walked past Pedro and Gio. Kayla followed.

"Hey!" Gio yelled, "Hey, you don't get to-""Franz was cleared!?" I shouted at them, "Franz, the psychopath was cleared!? After my report? After Nelo's? I've seen how effective your investigations are. You want to ask me questions you can do it over email. Can you drop me off at the hospital, Kay? I want to see my sister." Kayla looked back at Gio and Pedro, they did not follow me. She turned her attention back to me.

"Yeah, but… no offense, it's like Exley said. You're an NPC. They're not going to allow you on Delta raids."

"Huh, you're right. Guess I'll just have to get touched by a god."