One on one training sessions were relatively uncommon, but after a dungeon run, Miss Walker took the time to check in on every one of them. The progress they made thanks to the speedy leveling was significant, but it also required some fine-tuning of their tactics, which she worked hard to do.
That was why, one Wednesday morning, it was just her and James in the training room. He was the last to receive a personal session, but he hadn’t minded, enjoying the time off with his grandparents. They had gotten somewhat used to the idea of their little boy going on dangerous adventures, but it just meant they appreciated the time they spent together even more.
More than that, James had wanted to check with them about whether anyone had approached them or even if they just noticed people snooping. The fact that he had been contacted by a high ranker, who had personally offered him a decent package - though not nearly as generous as the man had made it out to be - had stoked his fears that there might be retaliation after the unsubtle threats Esposito had made, but it seemed that they didn’t want to mess with the AA for the moment.
Fortunately, no one suspicious had been near them, at least that they knew of, and so he had been able to put his fears to rest and go back to his routine.
“You have to keep in mind that additional strength does not always translate to increased power, if you cannot leverage it properly.” She explained, gesturing to the Slime Dummy before her.
Miss Walker was a talented and powerful woman, and for all that James suspected she couldn’t be much older than twenty-five, she had enough experience that her words were worth as much as gold.
“Now, you can compensate somewhat at higher levels, especially with a decent AGI. But for now, you must remember that your position affects the power you can exert as much as using your skill does.” As an example she showed how, by planting her feet and using her torso to create torque, she was able to send the Dummy flying back, its absorption capabilities overstrained by her power. On the other hand, when she took a few steps back and rushed it, using only one foot to give herself balance before she punched it, the Dummy managed to retain its position despite all the momentum she had built up.
“Now, some techniques compensate for this, even without investing too many points in AGI, but they do not suit your style. Your strength is in single, devastating blows, transmitting enough energy to break through your enemies’ defenses. We need to make sure that remains our focus.” That was another thing James appreciated about her. Miss Walker was obviously good enough at fighting that if she had told him to adopt a different style, he would have followed her advice, but she respected his decision to stick to what felt natural to him.
“I’m pretty sure that at higher levels, your Empowerment will start showing some exotic effects anyways.” She added, and James had to agree, thinking back to his fight with the rat Boss. He had been able to interact with its shadow whips, surprising it enough that it must have never happened before.
“Do you think I’ll need to wait for the second Awakening? My skills seem to level up decently fast, but I know they’ll slow down as they get higher.” James had been thinking about that for a while. Level 3 in Thakinetic Empowerment had opened a few roads for him, as he felt more in control of the flow of energy, being able to concentrate it more than before.
But was the pace sustainable? Most online guides said that an Awakener should not get used to their early gains’ speed. That way laid only dissatisfaction.
“I don’t think you need to worry about that for the moment. Desperately trying to force a skill to level up is not an efficient way to go about it. You have shown yourself capable of adapting on the fly, both in training and in dungeons. That will serve you much better than any specific plan.” She reassured him, her red eyes surprisingly warm.
“Keep in mind that Skills are not the same as your general levels. The experience you get by defeating a monster does not translate to ‘skill experience’.” Miss Walker continued, slightly distracted as she tried to recall something. “There is this fascinating paper I read a while ago. It posited that just as the System rewards us for retaking back land swallowed by a dungeon and proving ourselves in fights, it also puts limitations on our path so that we are not tempted to simply become murder machines.”
“Otherwise someone could simply go around killing other living beings, without ever thinking about the responsibility that comes with having power?”
Miss Walker nodded, fiddling with a glove strap “It’s not so much that I think the System is sapient and is guiding us in a specific direction like some, but there is enough evidence for built-in failsafes and purposefully placed limitations that whatever its origins might be, there had to have been some thought about what it would do to a society that received it.”
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“So you believe it was built with the express direction to serve as a bulwark against Mana and its consequences?” James asked, knowing that he was treading on dangerous ground.
Enough crazies had done damage with their outlandish theories, be they based upon old religions that required everyone to renounce the System as a ‘false god’ or because they believed it was preparing the ground for an alien/demonic invasion. Some even started worshiping it, though luckily they didn’t find much success.
It was considered a pretty personal thing to ask, especially to an Awakener, but Miss Walker had been open enough that James felt compelled to ask.
She looked at him for a moment, gauging something. She then breathed out, shaking her head “Theories that cannot be proven are just fancy ideas. Until the System itself gives us something more than its initialization and welcome message, we’ll just have to keep our curiosity.”
She patted him on the back and turned to face the Slime Dummy again. “That said, I want you to remember that just because you can handle yourself in dangerous situations with little preparation, you shouldn’t make a habit of it. Now, show me how you regain your stability after a charge.”
———
James was just about to leave the training room after his shower when he noticed his mentor was still there, sitting on one of the sofas, staring intently at her tablet.
“Is everything alright, Miss Walker?”
“Hmm? Oh yes, don’t worry about it.” She answered distractedly. He nodded and made to walk away when she stopped him “James! Come here for a moment, will you?”
Now curious about what she might want, he let his bag drop on the floor and went to sit in front of her “How can I help you?”
“Do you remember our little talk about the state of things and how my hands were tied?” She asked. Immediately, James nodded. Scarcely a day went by that he didn’t think about it. It was what drove him to push so hard. Despite everything, if he could at least deal with the Radiant Guild, he knew he would be able to sleep much better. It would mean taking his first true step in making a difference.
“There might be some changes to that situation.” The masked woman continued cryptically. “After you told me that what you found in the Crocodile Dungeon was much different than what should have been there, I did some snooping.”
James grinned, amused at the thought of a powerful Awakener like her going on detective missions, hiding in the shadows as if in one of his grandmother’s novels. “I imagine you must have found something, then.”
Miss Walker nodded, seemingly quite proud of herself. “I can honestly say that few are the times I have seen such a racket being stirred in the high floors. The Regional Director had to be reminded he could not go and personally hunt down those responsible.”
James had never personally met the man, being far too low in the rankings, but the few times he had seen him speak on TV, he had seemed so mild-mannered that he had a hard time reconciling it.
“So you got some?” He asked eagerly.
A weird expression told him it wasn’t that easy. Miss Walker seemed satisfied and disappointed at the same time, like a big cat who had gotten its prey but had seen more juicy targets escape.
“I managed to get enough evidence for a thorough search of the Eclipse Guild, but they managed to hide enough proof by the time we got there that only a few people will be incriminated.” She answered “No big fishes, unfortunately, and even those we did get are going to be free for quite a while before their trial ends. Their bails were paid as soon as they were posted.”
James deflated a bit, having expected more. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised, what with the sheer amount of power and influence Guilds had on society, but he had hoped that at least something could change.
“It also means that the AA is on very high alert at the moment, which makes it difficult for them to act. The fact that they tried to hamper the Dawn Initiative, which the higher-ups have put so many hopes on, means we will be getting more resources to ensure everything goes smoothly from now on.” She added, which was nice.
At least that’s something I guess… Having more resources here means that somewhere else will get less, but it’s a constant battle for survival. We can’t be too picky.
Seeing he wasn’t particularly enthused, she reached over and patted him on his hand. “Now, don’t get all depressed on me. I didn’t tell you all this just to make you sad.”
“Then why did you?”
“Because there is something more to this story.” She said, smiling with her eyes foxily “The Eclipse Guild might have been able to hide most of its transgressions, simply coming out as negligent and having to publicly apologize, but they could do nothing for their inside man.”
James felt his eyes widen involuntarily. Seeing that he had caught on to where she was going, she leaned back in satisfaction “Yes, it’s not nearly as over as it seems. That man is currently being left in place because we have a much bigger operation going on. He’s the contact with several other Guilds, after all.”
“You deliberately made them believe they could get away with it this time too. You even let them get their papers in order before you went to search their offices. But why? Do you think you’ll be able to get much more than just a few arrests?”
This time, Miss Walker seemed a bit embarrassed. “Well, I can’t take credit for that. I was ready to go all scorched earth, but once cooler heads prevailed, we put together a much more devious plan. If we can make them think they are in the clear, they are much more likely to make a mistake. And this time, we’ll be waiting for them.”
“So you expect them to repeat what they did to us? Give faulty information so that, when we inevitably get maimed or even killed, the Initiative might collapse before it could even start producing results.” It seemed quite devious to James, but he supposed that considering how deeply entrenched the major Guilds were, the AA would need an operation of truly gargantuan size to hope for a real change.
“That’s right. It’s not just about the Dawn Initiative’s success, at this point and it’ll take a while. We’ll need your and your teammates’ cooperation, but this time, we’ll change things, James. Will you help us?”
He couldn’t possibly say no to that, could he.