Jay quickly went out of the department store to find a quiet place to rest while observing the changes in his metaphysical qualities.

Of course, he could have done the tests right then and there, but he preferred to make himself comfortable and unnoticed when dealing with important matters, especially metaphysics-related ones.

He made a beeline for the most conveniently placed bench in his field of view, one that was closer to the corner and, of course, empty.

Coincidentally, he went for the same bench he had sat on when he experienced the first qualitative change in his ability.

In a way, he was somewhat predictable because of his tendency to follow the path of least resistance.

It might have served him well in lightening his mental burden in everyday life, but it also introduced a potential vulnerability for malicious parties to exploit.

He tested the parameters of his ability the same way he had done before, hoping for improvement in the quality of information acquired from the three modes of ability usage, particularly the ‘image’ one.

It would make him significantly more powerful if he could gather the same volume and quality of information through ‘image’ as he did through ‘touch’.

Unfortunately, there were no improvements in this area, much to his disappointment.

Of course, he went on with the testing regardless. There had to be something else that had improved, considering the earlier mental overload-like sensation indicative of a qualitative change in his ability, based on previous instances.

Since there were no changes to the interactive aspects of his ability, he tried looking inward instead.

He perused the massive volume of information stored in his mind and found a pleasant surprise not long after.

Previously, the information in his mind had been stored in discrete chunks grouped by source.

To make associations with other stored information, he had to recall them individually, much like a researcher taking several books from different shelves to find various interpretations of a single concept.

Now, he could handle this matter instinctively and almost instantaneously. He could recall the stored information not as discrete blocks of unrelated memories but as a series of interconnected data.

It essentially removed redundancies as the overlapping details now served as bridges that held once-separate blocks into a network of associations. It was akin to transitioning from a vast physical library to a compact digital database.

The disappointment he had felt earlier was dispelled by the revelation of this massive upgrade.

Before this qualitative change, his mind was like a repository of records that he had to actively peruse to infer conclusions.

Now, he was approaching the definition of a computer, with a program designed to correlate different data sets by means of their attributes.

Although it hadn’t reached the point where every bit of information in his mind had amalgamated into a seamless whole, it still improved his processing power by leaps and bounds.

He had essentially become a genius by virtue of his vast knowledge base and near-instantaneous thought correlation.

In the eyes of others, they would see a bespectacled young man on a bench, grinning widely while looking at his phone.

It was a rather normal scene of someone finding entertainment, especially in the modern world where almost everything was accessible through one’s fingertips.

Little did they know that the young man in question was already overflowing with excitement at the new possibilities within his reach.

-

Although Jay was extremely happy with this massive upgrade, there was still something else he wanted to test for.

The acquisition of even a rudimentary form of metaphysical senses would be invaluable to his overall capabilities as an ascendant.

As of the moment, he had no true way of interacting with the metaphysical world, except through his correspondence with Sorrow.

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Identification didn’t truly count as a metaphysical interaction because he couldn’t do things beyond acquiring information from his target, which in itself was considered a one-sided affair that only involved his metaphysical qualities and not the target.

If he had actually developed metaphysical senses this time, then he would finally have his own way of navigating the metaphysical world, even without the assistance of the elders.

However, as hopeful he may be, he hadn’t felt any form of metaphysical fluctuations so far.

Perhaps his metaphysical senses were too weak at the moment if he had indeed developed them in the first place.

If it were so, then he had to move around and see whether he would be able to sense some sort of irregularity beyond ordinary perception.

He walked around the mall for a while, trying to get closer to areas crowded with people in hopes of sensing any form of oddity.

It was only after about half an hour, when he got tired and was thinking of having some snacks, that he finally sensed something else out of the ordinary.

It was from a gecko-shaped hairpin, of all things, that he found on the floor near the baggage counter just outside one of the supermarket entrances.

However, he didn’t feel anything akin to his previous experience with metaphysical fluctuations, where he felt that an intangible quality of himself was being tossed around by invisible ocean waves.

Rather, it was only a mild instinctive feeling that the strangely-shaped hairpin was somehow extraordinary, thereby attracting him to it.

He had a strong feeling that it was the metaphysical senses he had always desired, albeit in a severely underdeveloped state.

His instincts had never failed him so far, so he went on with this assumption for the meantime.

Although it wasn’t the form of metaphysical senses he had hoped for, it was still a game-changing aspect that had massive implications to his life from here on out.

In essence, he had finally stepped into the shallow waters of the figurative ocean of the metaphysical world.

In the past, he had merely practiced swimming in a small inland swimming pool far from the shore.

Now, he finally gained the rudimentary skills to navigate the vast waters on his own accord.

Of course, it was too far away from the warship fleets of Mr. Arthas and Mr. Vergil, but it was a start nonetheless.

In the most natural way he could muster, he swiftly pocketed the hairpin and headed home.

Although technically a form of stealing, his curiosity toward the object had won over his instinct to leave it with the clerks at the baggage counter.

His conscience still gnawed at him for a while until he rationalized his recent action as something that had to be done in order to move forward.

It was the first metaphysically-related object he had seen, aside from the Amplification Orb possessed by the elders.

He could potentially learn many things about the metaphysical world through this object alone, so he was quite reluctant to just give up the opportunity.

In the end, he made peace with his conscience and brought it home for examination.

He didn’t dare to use Identification on it within the premises of the mall.

The owner, most likely an ascendant themselves, might sense the ‘theft’ of their possession, possibly leading to a confrontation he would rather avoid.

He didn’t possess any form of attacking methods, except for the recently-developed concentrated debilitating aura of Sorrow, though he imagined it wasn’t enough to hold back genuine combat-oriented ascendants.

He didn’t even examine it during his way home, as he feared another instance like the anomaly during his first ‘interaction’ with Sorrow.

If something did happen, it would be best if it occurred away from the eyes of ordinary people, as it could lead to massive complications otherwise.

As for the possibility of tracking devices, he had already inspected the hairpin and found no traces of embedded electronics, considering its small size and slim structure that made it almost impossible to hide anything in it.

Any form of metaphysical tracking was also severely weakened with enough distance, as mentioned by Mr. Arthas, hence his immediate decision to head home after pocketing the object of interest.

-

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-

Meanwhile, in the same mall, somewhere in the supermarket,

Anne and her sister were doing their weekly groceries, the latter maneuvering their large cart amidst fellow shoppers while the former picked up things here and there according to their list.

Although part of an influential ascendant clan in their home region, they didn’t have servants to assist them with everything, as was their decision before coming to the city.

They had been captivated by the unique charm of living in the mundane world, a quality inherited from their somewhat unorthodox parents.

Most legacy ascendants ignored or even disdained mundane matters in favor of exploring the mysteries of the metaphysical world and the intricacies of their own heritage.

They mostly left everything else to their servants. This was the reason why they rarely appeared in public.

On another note, Jay’s classmate Dexter had once belonged to this type of lifestyle.

However, his clan had experienced an unfortunate twist of fate. Hence, he could no longer pursue metaphysics wholeheartedly like before, as he had to handle mundane matters himself ever since.

While her sister parked the cart behind her, Anne bent down to reach for the canned sardines at the bottom of a shelf.

Her sister inadvertently glanced at her head and noticed the absence of a particular adornment.

“Hey, where’s that gecko hairpin I gave you earlier? Didn’t you promise you'd wear it at least for today? Did you lose it on purpose?”

Anne had a fear of geckos, and her sister was trying to solve this seemingly unreasonable issue by easing her mind into their existence.

Her sister thought it was a good idea to keep an imitation close to her body at all times, saying that she had to face her fears even if only one small step at a time.

Even so, the thought of the texture of the gecko’s skin and its ability to cling stubbornly to everything, even human skin, had always crossed her mind, even if she tried hard not to.

Hence, she tried to get rid of the disgusting hairpin as inconspicuously as she could.

She could have kept it in her pocket but she knew that her sister would make her wear it again, and even keep an eye on her to make sure she didn’t remove it again.

However, if she ‘lost’ it accidentally, then her sister would most likely give up on this initiative.

Anne was certain about this, knowing her sister, as the latter would find it quite bothersome to buy another gecko-shaped hairpin and just drop the matter altogether.

“Hehe, does it matter though? Let’s just continue with our grocery now, shall we?”

Her sister could only sigh in exasperation at Anne’s stubbornness.

This matter would most likely happen again if she ever insisted on it, so she just let it slide this time, considering that Anne had always been agreeable to most matters except this one.

“Alright then, suit yourself. Just don’t come crying to me if there’s a gecko in your room.”