Though not soon enough it seemed, as Janet interrupted the companionable silence they’d walked in since leaving the arena. Up until that point had their stroll has been blissfully quiet, the break giving Alex time to sort his thoughts. He’d kept Sixth Sense in its active mode the entire time, the skill’s feeling of flow acting as a bubble of awareness at its new level, thankfully without the pain.
During his training, if the way Janet taught could be referred to as such, Alex amended, he’d noticed his rise in mana had also come with an increase in his mana regeneration rate. While unable to find the exact amount and speed of replenishment for any of the energy pools in his system menus, Alex estimated the mana recovery to be around four points per second. If he infused more than that into Sixth Sense his mana pool started to decrease, albeit slightly slower than the one per second he’d expected.
Still, he capped the skill at two mana per second. That way, if he needed to use another skill, he wouldn’t be left high and dry with no mana regeneration. The two mana per second roughly equated to two meters of 360-degree awareness, though Alex learned what he’d earlier believed to be a combining of his senses, wasn’t entirely correct. As Janet had shown with her aura manipulation, the skill could be fooled by just removing one of the forms of energy its passive was predicated on. Instead, his five mundane senses acted supplementary to his skill, allowing his mind to better understand the information they provided.
Alex was still unsure if it was a pro or con of the ability. It helped with interpretation but presented a glaring weakness. He was however, happy to have found out now that it existed, rather than get blindsided by it in the future, thinking his skill infallible. There were other circumstances he’d need to take into, how the amount of mana he provided affected the size of his “bubble,” it’s clarity, and a host of other things. But that, as they left what could be designated as the city slums, was when Janet cleared her throat to gain Alex’s attention.
He looked over, a little more annoyance than reasonable in his answer, “What.” Shaking his head Alex let out a sigh, “Sorry, what’s up?”
Janet smiled knowingly; she understood the reaction. Tensions had been high on both ends when he was trying to learn the skill and Alex, it seemed, still hadn’t calmed fully. He appreciated the lesson, it had just been a long day and Janet seeming to be the last holdup between him and sleep had been aggravating. Especially when he saw no need to learn the skill immediately. Janet had explained that she first wanted to talk to Anise before he showed his level gains, but that didn’t seem good enough for him. It had led to a curt reception of Janet’s teaching which, in turn, led to an annoyed teacher, begin loop. Still, when they’d left the arena, each had said their piece and left it behind, well mostly.
“Not much,” Janet said, her tone the melodic one from that morning.
A quick, ‘Then why are you bothering me,’ came to Alex’s mind, but he held his tongue and waited for the older lady to continue, that was the fatigue talking.
“I was just wondering how your day went? Besides the fight, obviously. Reminds me, I talked to Ralph about that. He should reach out next time you see him. The fucker said he didn’t have anything to do with it but the man’s a bitter one and the golem… she’s a very touchy subject. Make sure to use that lopsided fight as leverage when he asks you for that favor, anything too crazy come to me, I’ll set him straight.” She gave the air a little one two punch combo making Alex’s lips curve slightly at the motion. “But I shouldn’t, can’t to some degree, interfere unless it’s really necessary. Word to the wise don’t try to dodge something reasonable,” She put the last word in air quotes. “If it’s something doable, do it, his requests get much less reasonable and if you refuse he’ll have deniability.” Letting the words hang for a moment she circled back to the original topic. “Sorry, got a little distracted there. Your day. How’d it go?”
Alex took a moment to digest all Janet’s mini speech, disguising it all under a stretch and a yawn. He was annoyed she’d waited till now to warn him, though in truth he’d already known, and she likely suspected that. Sighing Alex rolled his shoulders as he reflected on the day. So much, too much really, had happened in the last twenty-four hours, and he still wasn’t ready to unpack it all. Instead, he continued as he had, focusing best on what would be next.
“Not much,” Alex replied eventually. “I took a tour of the place, visited the casino, bought some clothes, and sampled some of the food, then basically spent the time with Grave, watching the fights.”
“Just watching?” Janet asked, and the playful lilt in her tone sent warning bells blaring in Alex’s mind.
He’d done his best to avoid suspicion when placing the bets, and assumed he had. He hadn’t even opened the main entrance to Ralph’s booth after the man left. Still, Janet clearly knew something. Now Alex just needed to find out how much without showing all his cards.
“Mostly watching,” Alex hedged. Itching the back of his head in a play to seem sheepish, Alex continued, “Fell asleep before your fight. How did that go by the way? Who won?”
“Me obviously,” Janet responded instantly. “That girl needs another decade before she has any chance. Anise said y’all met.”
Alex nodded. “Yea last night, I think she called her a seer. Wait girl? Dora’s actually a little girl?” He was suddenly much more worried about whatever she had been insinuating.
“You know she hates that name?” Janet chuckled at Alex’s responding nod. “Everyone’s a kid to me kid, she around your age, just changes how she looks for one reason or another, plenty do.”
Alex made to point out she also did so but thought better of it. He wanted her distracted, not angry.
“Are you gonna fight her again? I’m sad I missed it.”
“Pick up a crystal next time you’re there then, I recommend getting one of your fight as well.”
“Sounds good,” Alex said, hoping the conversation would peter out. He wasn’t so lucky.
“So you really didn’t do much else. Figured there much of been a reason someone put a tracking spell on you, but if you were really up to nothing, guess it doesn’t matter.”
That got his attention and Alex stopped walking, wearily looking around as he expanded Sixth Sense’s drain on his mana pool. Nothing.
He heard laughter, and looked ahead to where Janet was still walking. Doing his best to still his racing heart, Alex walked to catch up.
“That wasn’t funny.”
His glare had no effect, and she continued, the laughter soon calming to a chuckle. “If you weren’t up to anything, why’d you get so scared?”
“Anyone would be nervous if you told them they were being tracked,” he said pointedly.
“Yes, but most wouldn’t act so quickly unless they had a reason to think it was true.”
Alex didn’t know all the skills and spells that existed. He could have been getting tracked, by some spell on the other side of the city, but Janet was right. A specific instance had come to mind.
“Then I’m not being tracked?”
“You were.”
“But not anymore?” At Janet’s responding nod, Alex asked the important question. “How?”
“And now we reach an impasse. I believe I asked you a few questions. You answer mine I answer yours. Fair trade, no?”
Alex paused, with Janet here he doubted true danger, especially if the people who’d been tracking him didn’t know she was here. She would fight help defend him, right?
“Do I have a choice?”
She looked at him as if he’d offended her bloodline to the fifth generation. “Of course.” she began exaggeratedly, “Earlier I said I wouldn’t force you to spill your secrets. Do you take me for someone who goes back on their word?”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Rolling his eyes Alex sighed, in the end his curiosity won out, “What do you want to know?”
“Why would people want to track little old you?”
He hesitated but figured this would be for the best. It’d be easier to pay her back if she knew he had money. “Placed bets. Won some. I was careful, but not enough, apparently.”
“How much?”
“Abstain.”
“Fine,” Janet said with a little huff. “They know what you look like?”
“Maybe.” Alex shrugged absentmindedly. “I was dressed differently most times. Bought some stuff from the shops, but who knows. Would their magic tell them.”
“Nah. Saw the hex myself. Basic tracking spell, easy to remove if you know how and luckily for you. I was the right hand for the job.”
“Hex?” Alex asked, a bit more alarmed. “That sounds bad. Is that bad?
It was Janet's turn to shrug. “Just a spell type that involves body contact. Used for some of the viler things, so it had a bad rep, but it's as good as any other method of casting. Has benefits and downfalls like every other.”
Filing that information away for later Alex wanted to make sure he got a clear answer from the woman. “So I’m good no more spells?” Her response failed to reassure him.
“Not sure, but none I see. The spell wasn’t meant to last that long, few hours max, surprised they hadn’t jumped you by the time I got to it. Though maybe not with the golem there. Was it in armored form?”
Alex shook his head, “Looked like a human, not the one from this morning though,” he hastily added, in what Alex belatedly realized was a lie. Janet didn’t say anything about it, however. ‘Interesting.’
“You might have dodged a bullet. It’s not common, but Ralph sometimes travels with her.” She shrugged, ready to let the matter drop. He still had more questions.
“Where was it? Alex asked, hoping his guess was correct, he only remembered one person getting close enough to put a hex on him.
She tapped her right shoulder with a finger and Alex nodded.
“Remember something?”
“Yea a woman bumped me in the hallway right before your fight. I had just picked up some, uh… winnings. Seemed suspicious because I thought I could dodge her, but she kept going so thought it was nothing.”
“Well there’s your second mistake. Assume everything is something. How’d you travel? Plausible enough but it didn’t have to be them. Though if it was, that late then it explains why they never got the chance. Still, you’d figure there’d have been at least one dark corner for them to jump you in.”
“Grave took me through the tunnels. I never left through the front of Ralph’s booth after entering. Technically it would look like I’m still there if that’s where you removed the tracker.”
“Yep, took it off when you were sleeping. The tunnels were smart. They, along with Ralph’s room, are warded, depending on what they already knew, you might be in the clear. The spell was too weak to follow after you entered the tunnels. As long as it was some random thugs and not leadership you might have just caught a huge break.”
“What if it’s leadership?”
“Hope it’s not. They’re not the most powerful, but they have plenty of people to throw at a problem if they deem it worthy. The spell makes me doubt it, you’d have to win a lot for them to care, and if one of them did it would probably be Eric. He’s not likely to take such a round about method. Anyway, if they haven't ambushed us by now you should be good till you go back to the arena. Think they know you’re the hunter?”
Alex frowned he had won a lot of money, by any standards, but hopefully it was a drop in the bucket for the people in charge. Looking a Janet for a moment as the last thing she’d said registered, it took him a moment to realize she was referring to his alter ego. “No. No one should know that,” he answered, shaking his head. Alex had been all alone when he changed, though he told Janet about the woman who walked in after.
“Doubt she was involved; timeframes don’t match up. This really should be the end of it, but I’ll still go next time you head over there just in case.”
That was comforting, though almost suspiciously so. After the morning he had, Alex knew it wouldn’t be a free handout.
“Why?”
“Because I think you’ll be able to help me in the near future. After a pause she added. “That doesn’t mean I don’t still want my gold back.”
It was Alex’s turn to chuckle.
From there the conversation fell into a lull, the bubble Janet had created earlier, fading after her offer to do another search when the pair arrived at the house. At Alex's comment about that leading the people to the house if he was being tracked, she only smirked, and he realized her “full body inspection,” was meant to be a poor joke.
Initially, he kept his guard up, watching the streets and people for anything suspicious. It took all of five minutes for the active focus to become boring, and feeling some safety in Janet’s presence he decided to go over his notifications.
***
For successfully finding peace in an ocean of chaos, you have received:
Meditation (Common)
For successfully manipulating the presence you release into the environment with precision, you have received:
Aura Control (Rare)
***
Getting another skill lower than rare made him worry that the level of rewards he was given would decrease over time. If that was the case he’d need to learn as many skills as possible, as soon as possible. Still his tired mind hoped it was just the fact that meditation was a rather common ability. Depending on its effects, the skill could be at the same level of something a human on earth could do. No one on earth could control their aura.
The second thing Alex noted was the notification’s text itself. The system had shown some sense of personality before, mainly in skill descriptions or quests, but this was the first time it’d made a joke about a person other than himself. The calm he’d found had been during his attempts to manipulate his aura, the chaos, had to be Janet. His tired chuckle made the woman in question look over with curiosity, but Alex ignored her. Opening his skill list he scrolled to the bottom reading over only the two newest additions.
***
Skills
Name: Meditation
Rating: Common
Grade: F
Level: 1
Mode: Passive
Resource Cost: N/A
Description: New world have you stressed? Constant danger making you worried you might lose your life? Well, look no further than meditation! Take a seat, relax your body, and truly become one with your mind. Fade into its recesses and allow the realities of life to fall to the wayside. Still, you might want to make sure you're in a secure location, just because it feels nice and safe in your mind, doesn't mean there lacks danger outside. Grants an active 5% boost to the recovery of all energy pools when in use. Skill ability correlates to Willpower, and Wisdom.
Name: Aura Control
Rating: Rare
Grade: F
Level: 1
Mode: Bimodular
Resource Cost: N/A
Description: Mute, Remove, Expand. Your aura is yours to manipulate, bending your presence to your will. Appear as nothing more than a classless buffoon, suppressing your aura to an undetectable level; stretch yourself to the limits, increasing the range and potency of your aura, faking power you have yet to earn; or find a compromise somewhere in between. Remember however, while the appearance of power holds power in itself, only true power brings safety. Skill ability correlates to Willpower and Intelligence.
***
Reading the descriptions for each twice Alex was quite happy with his new skills. Meditation did turn out to be rather generic and though he hoped when it evolved from F grade he would gain further benefits. Until then that five percent recovery would be useful when he was out in the forest fighting nonstop. The thought sent a bout of worry flowing through him, but he did his best to ignore it. The sooner he came to terms with the facts, the better off he would be. What Alex liked most about his skill was that he was starting to see synergies in some of his builds. Aura Control and Sixth Sense could scale well together, along with the latter potentially helping to shore up the lack of awareness that came with using Meditation.
He doubted he’d use the enhancing feature of Aura Control anytime soon. While the effect of what a powerful aura could do had been clear since that morning, Alex sided with the description's point of the illusion of power not making up for its absence. He’d rather be underestimated than overestimated. Still, he’d need to try everything out, everything was likely to have a use and grant him some advantage. To know what they were Alex would need to do some testing.
The pair arrived at the house to what Alex dully noted as a more subdued atmosphere. The nearly half hour walk had consumed his second wind, and he was ready to finish what he’d started back in the arena. They’d arrived back nearly two hours earlier than Alex had the night before, but all the children were already sleeping. He saw a few of the adults still milling about or relaxing on the sofa watching a TV like projection. They waved at him as he came in with offers to relax and finish the conversations they’d started the night before. Too tired to do much more than shower, Alex shambled to Anise’s room after a polite declination, while Janet stayed to talk.
He was surprised to find his roommate already on her bed, the blankets covered with food, specifically empty ice cream containers.
“I’m ok now Maisie. I don’t think I could eat anymore if I tried. I’ll just put everything in storage until the morning.”
At Alex’s lack of a response Anise looked over and let out a short squeak of surprise.
She was sitting cross-legged wearing an oversized t-shirt and watching something on a projector he must have missed the night before. Her hair was a mess, and it was clear she had been crying at some point. Alex was unsure why he hadn’t expected her to be here, assuming she’d sleep in her office or something. Not having enough energy to grant the situation the awkwardness it requested, Alex just gave a brief wave and walked into the bathroom.
He wasn’t exactly filthy, but didn’t feel anything close to clean. Letting the heat wash the day’s stress away Alex dressed in the clothes he had been given him the night before and headed for his couch. Anise was under the blankets as he exited, and he muttered a faint good night on the way. As he laid on the comfy couch cushions, ignoring the periodic laughter that drifted over from the bed, Alex had a fleeting wonder if his aura control would remain while he was sleeping, or if all that work had been for nothing. Mentally shrugging Alex figured he’d find out in the morning, as he let sleep claim him.