The sky was filled with dark clouds and flashes of lightning. The sound of rumbling sounded like a thousand giants stomping in a circle, preparing for a battle.
"What nasty weather."
Kiernan said as he looked out of the window towards the heavy downpour outside.
Makariah finished putting plates on the table and a pot of soup in the middle of the table.
"This rain won't calm down for another few weeks, at least. Anyway, let's eat, and once you've eaten, I'll take you to meet the boss of the convenience store!"
Kiernan nodded, got seated at the table, served himself some soup, and began sipping it slowly while listening to the rain smacking on the windows.
He then noticed that the lights weren't on. There were only candles flickering against the back walls.
"Why are there no lights? Is there a power outage?"
"We can only use candles here. For some reason, the monsters of the mist get really irritated when there's artificial light."
Kiernan thought out loud.
"By the way, how did you know about the teleportation ritual?"
He asked out of curiosity, wondering whether Makariah was actually part of the Martial Order, but on the other hand, he doubted it since they weren't supposed to be allowed to meet with each other.
"Your master told me about it. To be honest, it shocked me that such a thing was really possible to do. The ritual sounds like it isn't something that is that widely known, but we've known each other for a long time, and I won't go spread it around."
Makariah said, then dipped his spoon on the soup, took some potatoes, and put them into his mouth.
Another thunderous rumble sounded from the sky, and it was so loud that the windows almost shattered.
'I don't understand why anyone would live here freely. I would lose my mind if I had to listen to this rumbling every single day.'
"By the way, I can make a bed for you in the attic if you want to."
"Thanks, but no need. I'll be here only for the night shift and then teleport back to my master. I have some other things I must also attend."
"Hmm, I see. That is understandable."
After some more chitchatting, they finished eating, washed the plates, and then started to head out with heavy-looking umbrellas in hand.
As soon as they left the house, they were greeted by the cold, strong wind and the splashing of the rain that put great pressure on their umbrellas.
The streets were dark. Doors were shut tight. However, when they walked past some of the houses, the people inside peeked outside for a moment before quickly closing the curtains.
It was like they were walking on the streets of a ghost town.
After some time walking in the rain, they arrived at the creepy-looking convenience store that was located in some corner of the neighborhood, far away from any other buildings.
Its sliding door was closing and opening on its own.
"Larry, are you here?!"
Makariah placed his hand in between the sliding doors, made it stay open, and stepped inside the barely lit convenience store.
A large-bellied man walked from the back of the store, his smile revealing crooked teeth. He held a mop in one hand and a bucket in the other, his apron stained with various substances.
"This must be the young man you were talking about."
Larry put aside the mop and the bucket, cleaned his hands with a bottle of water, and then shook Kiernan's hand.
"I don't know how Makariah convinced you to do this, but I appreciate your willingness to help."
'Yeah, even I don't know why I am doing this.'
Kiernan wryly smiled and shook the hand.
He then looked around the convenience store to see whether there were any cameras around, but it didn't look like there were.
"Alright, let's share phone numbers."
Larry said, and then he and Kiernan quickly exchanged phone numbers.
"I'll call you every hour. If you don't answer, I'll come here immediately."
Larry handed him the store clerk's apron and the keys to the store.
"Your shift is officially at start now. A friendly piece of advice: since you're a foreigner, some of the locals don't appreciate your kind here, so they might not be very welcoming."
Kiernan said with a deep sigh and went behind the counter before putting on the apron.
"We're off, take care!"
Makariah and Larry waved their hands and left together into the rain, soon disappearing into the deep darkness.
'I should've kept my mouth shut. Why did I have to tell him that I am bored? Sigh, and now I am stuck standing in some creepy-ass convenience store for the entire night.'
The sliding doors smacked into each other, and then, the first customer arrived. She was a tall, thin woman with long, black hair and a piercing gaze.
She gave off a pretty witchy look and vibe.
Without saying a word, she went to get her groceries and then walked to the counter, still not saying a word as if a cat had stolen her tongue.
"That would be 11 gold coins."
Kiernan said, but the witch-looking woman didn't respond and kept staring at him blankly, a distant look in her eyes.
With extra sharpness in his tone, he asked once again.
This time around, she reacted, reached out to her pouch, and handed him exactly 11 gold coins. She then stuffed her groceries into a bag and ran off from the convenience store.
Kiernan shook his head, and wondered whether the constant rumbling in the skies made everyone in this island lose their goddamn mind.
The hours went by. The convenience store stayed empty. It didn't seem like most of the people in the island wanted to come out during the nights.
Just like he told him he would, Larry called him every hour that everything was still running smoothly.
With a loud yawn escaping his mouth, the dark clouds outside slightly parted ways to reveal the shining sun.
Through the door, Larry entered the store and greeted him with a smile.
"So, nothing weird happened here?"
"Everything about this island is weird."
"Yeah, the woman you talked about on the phone is probably Mathilda. She is a crazy old goat, I admit it. I don't think she is the kidnapper, though."
"Mm, yeah, anyway, I'll be back by tonight."
Kiernan checked the time on his phone.
He was going to just skip classes and take a long nap. Sabbath had already informed his teachers about the special training that he was undergoing.
If he had to do the night shift and the school, he would never have time to sleep.
Larry patted him on the back.
Through a bright light, Kiernan returned back in Gaul, feeling extremely tired, and powerless.
Sabbath asked with a grin.
"That's one creepy fucking place, isn't it?"
Kiernan stepped out of the teleportation circle; without spending time chitchatting, he stumbled out of his room and went straight to his dorm room, where the other students were waking up for school.
"Yo Kiernan, where the hell have you been?"
A few students asked. They didn't really see him yesterday, so they wondered.
Without having energy to respond, Kiernan just went into his room, stumbled to his bed, and collapsed into a deep sleep.
Kiernan shut down the alarm clock, sat back up, went to wash his face, and then went back to Sabbath's room, where he teleported him back to Rotaker Island.
It was still raining heavily, and after Makariah took him to the convenience store, he then left with Larry, and left him alone there once again.
Kiernan snatched one of the snack packs off the shelf and devoured it quickly. He didn't have time to eat before.
He then put a few gold coins inside the register.
Since there wasn't anything else to do, he trained his techniques, trying to make them even sharper and more effective.
"Iron Style, Roundhouse!"
The roundhouse kick sliced through the air with a loud whooshing noise.
'I lack flexibility to make this kick more lethal…'
Kiernan clicked his tongue.
He then sat down by the counter, took some of the magazines, and began reading through them.
Without him noticing, a strange, yet deadly, attractive-looking girl was staring at him through one of the windows, the long locks of drenched hair cascaded over her face.
She was being drenched by the heavy downpour, making the white gown cling to her body in a way that highlighted her every curve.
She placed her hand against the window, making it look like she was touching Kiernan's face almost.
Then, she lowered her hand and walked away from the convenience store, disappearing into the storm.
Kiernan looked out of the store as he felt a sudden chill.