Just Old Videos closed up early on Sundays.

"Sundays are Sundays. It's meant to be an easy day, little dude," the owner always said.

Seb agreed. Sundays are supposed to be Sundays. Ever since Deputy Kendall started visiting their home in the evening, Seb's mother has been experimenting with different recipes to make the evening special. That day, she supposedly wanted to try making lasagne and wanted Seb to buy cheese, garlic and tomato sauce on his way home. To be honest, Seb was quite excited for the day's dinner. He was quite fond of lasagne and hadn't tasted it for a while.

By the time it was two in the afternoon, he was done with his groceries. He always used his bicycle to ride to work on the weekends. He could never take his bicycle to school. It would always end up either with a flat tire, broken hinges or a wheel taken apart. He'd rather walk than spend money on repairs for his bicycle.

Then again, be pondered about the news of Theodore being discovered as a Wielder. His weapon was a decorated bronze battle axe and he showed it off in school the Friday before. He was so elated that he even forgot to mock Seb for the day. Seb hoped that Theodore would be taken to the Wielder Guardian Academy soon. Maybe his situation in school will improve once Theodore was gone.

He secured the groceries inside the basket of his bike, tightened the straps of his backpack and began to leasurely paddle home. Sunday was the lazy day of H city and the roads were mostly less crowded compared to the other days. He wanted to take a quick trip to the book shop first and check if the latest volume of "Cataclysmic Adventures" was out. It was his favourite short novel series and didn't dare to miss out on a volume. He read in a forum than the latest volume of the English translation was out. He wanted to buy it before stocks finished.

To his delight, the volumes were released just the day before. He bought the latest volume, along with a volume that he missed and was just about to climb into his bike when he felt it.

The tremor. The static electric field that he could feel on his skin when an Arrival was occuring. Seb cursed. He didn't want to face another Arrival. He just fought one a few days back. There was no definite pattern or frequently for the Arrivals, so Seb knew that he should have known that there could be Arrivals anytime.

But this particular Arrival was different. It felt stronger. Much stronger. Seb knew that the stronger the feeling, the bigger the portal and the stronger the monster would be. Either that, or a hoard was on the way. Seb didn't know what to do. Do he paddle away from the scene as soon as he could? Or do he stay and fight off the monsters.

Even the regular civilians were feeling that something big was about to happen, for they all were looking around.

The portal opened a few blocks away, about twenty feet off the street while facing down. The monster that appeared out of it was bigger than the portal itself. It actually has to squeeze out.

Choas erupted.

People started to scream. Cars honked other cars so that they could drive away. People pushed and showed each other as they ran. Seb simply stood there, still holding onto the handles of his bicycle, transfixed at the giant that descended onto the street, crushing cars and sending tremors which vibrated along the ground and streets. The smell came next. It was pungent, smelt of sweat, blood and urine mixed together. It wore a loincloth and chest armour over its heart along with long briaded hair, husks for teeth and a giant club embedded with barbs resting on its shoulders.

It was a class four troll, and it had its beady eyes locked on Seb.

Seb knew he was its target. And he knew that he could not fight it on the streets. It could barely walk though without shoving away cars and trees and maybe even people.  But taking it away to safe ground was a bigger risk, for it will cause more damage.

The troll walked towards him, each footstep thundering like an earthquake as it spoke in the monster tongue. Seb had heard the similar words before. He just didn't know what they meant. He could only guess something like, "fight me warrior and face your doom!"

"Kid! Run away!" A worker of the book shop yelled, as he hid being a book case.

But Seb didn't have anyplace to go. He didn't want to take out his weapon. The moment he did, he would be exposed. If he didn't, he would be killed and leave other people injured and maybe even dead. He wondered if he could wait till the real Wielders arrived. They had equipment to sense major Arrivals at least fifteen minutes before they started. Maybe backup was on the way.

But the troll was only a few feet away from him. He swung his club, to which Seb leapt away. His bicycle took shape of a scrap metal sculpture in an art museum, while chips of tar and concrete flew away, crashing into the nearby shops. Those who hid inside the stores shrieked.

Seb knew he couldn't wait. He was already wearing a cap. He pulled the hood of his jacket over his head for good measure. At least that way, it would not be so easy to find him through his face.

"That Deputy better date my mother because he's in love with her!" He thought before summoning his sword. It came naturally to him after five years.

It was a four and a half feet long, fifteen inches broad blade with an iron hilt and chipped edged. By the looks of it, it was old. Old and heavy. But it never failed Seb before. He hoped it wouldn't fail him today. He gripped the pommel and threw it. The blade rotated like a frisbee as it flew and struck on the troll's shoulder, embedding into flesh.

The troll screamed.

Seb held out his hand, summoning the sword towards him. It flew off from the troll's shoulder, right back at Seb. The troll lifted its club and tried to stomp Seb with it again, furious from it's injury. The club fell on a nearby car, crushing it. Seb escaped by a hairbreadth.

He looked up at the troll. It was too big. There was armour over its heart, leaving only it's head intact. He knew better than to try and cut through their armour. He knew but the size of it that the only want to defeat it was by knocking it off.

The troll used to club to stomp at him while Seb ran towards the troll, making his sword disappear to reduce the weight on his body. It's other hand tried to reach for him, where he used the outstretched arm to climb up the troll, hoping to each it's head.

Seb rose up along with the arm as he flew into the air. While he was in midair, he leapt. His sword appeared in his hands as he swung it, the tip of its blade grazing the troll's eye while cutting the nose bridge.

Seb then used the troll's chest as a springboard for him to push his body back with a kick and landed on the ground a few feet away with a somersault, his sword still in hand. The troll staggered back. Seb rushed towards the troll feet and slashed at its Achilles tendon on both feet, rending the giant both in pain and unable to stand.

Black blood sprayed all over at it did. The giant fell on its back, crying out loud as he tried to use its club to maintain some balance. The troll fell anyways. Seb was ready by its head. Before the troll's hands could reach him, he plunged the sword into its left eye. Deep enough that the sword pierced its brain. It's scream reverberated throughout the streets.

"It's not like I enjoy this, you know," Seb said to the troll. "Rest in peace, whether your dead go."

The troll's movements halted and its body slowly turned into ash, the only evidence of its presence being the destruction it had caused a few minutes ago.

Silence filled the air.

Seb reached out towards the wreckage of his bike and found that the groceries were luckily intact, simply strewn over the pavement. The bicycle was hopeless, though.

"May I have an extra shopping bag?" Seb asked the man in the book shop. The man handed the boy a polythene bag wordlessly and watched the boy walk away while tightening the straps of his backpack.

Seb could only curse at his luck. His clothes were ruined, his bicycle was ruined, his leg hurt from some rubble striking his thigh and there would probably be people looking for him. He hoped no one recorded him.

But luck was not something that usually favoured Seb.