Rise of the Commoner: Johnny Burns's The Lost Heir

Chapter 8: Anomaly

[An anomoly has occurred. Please vacate the premises immediately.]

While Johnny had no clue what was going on, he knew a warning when he saw one. He didn't want to wait around and see what happened if he didn't listen to the system. Glancing back at the two women, he could see why their expressions turned ugly. It seemed very likely that they had gotten the same message and weren't happy about the news either.

"What do we do now?" he dared voice his thoughts out loud.

"We will have to get moving unless we want to be trapped here," Rachel calmly said.

Johnny was anything but calm. Did she hear what she just said? She said they would be trapped in this place if they didn't leave right away. That was basically a death sentence, if he ever heard one. It was terrifying to see how calm the both of them were. That meant that this wasn't unusual and was likely a very common occurrence if they didn't bat an eye.

"What a pain," Dorothy said as she scratched at her head. "I hate it when that happens. Next time, I'll really kill you."

"I should go retrieve my wayward guard," Rachel said, acting as if she hadn't heard a single word Dorothy said.

Being stuck in the middle made Johnny nervous. Rachel was obviously antagonizing Dorothy. They didn't have time for this. They should be running for the hills. Then Rachel's words hit him, and he wondered if he had misheard her. He swore that she was going to find her guard and bring him back with her, but Johnny hadn't seen anyone else except the giant from earlier.

As soon as he thought of the man, Johnny broke out in a cold sweat before he asked, "Is your guard, by chance, the giant from earlier?"

Rachel's expression didn't waver in the slightest while Dorothy looked amused and said, "I think this is the first time I heard anyone refer to that lump as a giant. His size is more for show than anything."

He seriously wondered if they were talking about the same person. That giant's punch had sent him flying into a building and nearly killed him. He was most definitely not a weakling like she made him out to be. Squinting at her, he almost questioned where she got the idea when he recalled who he was talking about. Of course, she looked down on the giant. That man was small fry in her eyes.

That's when Johnny noticed that Rachel had already disappeared to retrieve her wayward guard. He immediately began mentally preparing himself for what would happen. The possibility that Rachel would carry her guard was slim. The size difference was immense. It also didn't match his impression of her. She was more likely to watch her guard get up and lead him back to them.

When that happened, Johnny was sure a fight, if not a scuffle, would occur. He couldn't imagine the giant allowing his two defeats to go uncontested. Just thinking about the possibility made him shake, and he quickly positioned his body so that Dorothy would be between him and the giant. It wasn't long before the two returned.

Just as Johnny feared, the giant was back on his feet with a dark look on his face. The moment the two men's eyes met, tension crackled between them. One was ready to unleash his fury on the other, while the second was praying that the two women would stop him before that happened. The two women seemed oblivious to what was going on between the men.

"It's time to go. Dorothy," Rachel said.

Rachel scowled as she said, "Alright, alright. Let me undo this."

As Johnny was about to ask what they were talking about, crack marks appeared around them. He stared with wide eyes as the crack marks completely surrounded them before shattering. Suddenly, it was like a switch had been flipped. The silence was replaced by a cacophony of noise that sent him reeling. It had been far too long since he talked to a person.

"What anomaly. Nothing happened," Dorothy muttered darkly.

"We will be taking our leave now," Rachel said before turning her gaze to Johnny. "I have my eye on you."

Then she was gone in a flash, along with her guard. Well, it wasn't exactly like a flash. She had flown away while using her power to carry her guard with her. Johnny let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding. Now that the two women were gone, he could finally relax and figure out what he needed to do now that he was a blessed.

Getting registered was obviously the first step. Despite the blessed being more powerful than anyone else, the law required them to register themselves with the government. The government's excuse was that it was to keep an eye on the blessed and minimize the damage they were doing. He had yet to see one group succeed.

Turning around, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw that Dorothy was still there. He hadn't expected for her to stick around. She should be heading home instead of hanging out with him, because he certainly wasn't in the mood to entertain her. He wanted her out of sight and out of mind. Unfortunately, she seemed to have decided she didn't want to.

In that case, he should see if he could ditch her in the crowds. He never thought he would be so excited to see so many people walking around. No one seemed to have noticed that they had appeared out of nowhere. It had to be because of whatever they did to enter and exit that other place. He still hadn't figured out what Rachel had done to get them out of there.

Soon, his chance to get away from her appeared, and he took it without hesitation. "I've got to go. See ya."