With the Bounty done, Oliver decided it was time to leave. Having already checked out of the cheap motel and stored everything in the warehouse for easy transport, the ride back to his truck was almost peaceful... Except for his concerns over the anger he had felt. Even when dealing with the bullshit from Carl(both senior and junior), Oliver hadn't felt such anger. The last time he could remember being so pissed off at someone... was from all of his father's abuse.
Not the abuse Oliver himself had taken, but from everything his mother had suffered through.
It wasn't until he climbed into his truck and started it that the source of that anger finally occurred to him: Polina.
Not anything she had done or said. Truthfully, it wasn't her fault at all. It was his own feelings for her, combined with the casual disregard those asshole racist's had for anyone they deemed 'lesser', that had set him off. It wasn't until he put the truck in gear and started driving that what he said to Peyton fully registered.
“I love her...” Oliver muttered to himself as he drove away from the town.
His mind wandered over those words. He had never even thought them when he dated Jess. Several times throughout his time in therapy he had questioned if he was even capable of love... and his therapist's response to that rang through his head as clear as a bell.
“Oliver, while it is true that there may be people out there who are truly incapable of love, and there is nothing wrong with that... I don't believe you are one of them. Yes, you may feel things differently than other people, but that doesn't mean you can't feel love. You love your mother, that much is obvious. You care about your friends, and that is just a different form of love. And, someday, you'll find your heart reaching out to someone in ways you don't expect or don't understand. And that is ok too. When that time comes, I hope you embrace it and see where it takes you.”
His thoughts raced around the subject as he drove for hours. It's true he had said it without thinking, but he couldn't deny that it had felt right. That it still felt right. Polina had grown to be important in his life, almost like a part of him he hadn't realized he was missing until he found her.
He pulled out his phone, pausing to stare at the lock screen. He had set it as a picture of the two of them, right after one of their training sessions at the gym. Both of them were covered in dirt and sweat... and had bright smiles on their faces as they posed together in front of a mirror. Without another thought, he dialed her number and put his phone on speaker while he drove.
“Oli! Your calling early today, is everything all right?”
“Yeah, everything is fine. I'm actually on my way back finally, and I was thinking about you...”
He trailed off as he struggled with the words that bounced around inside as if trying to escape. He could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke in return.
“I miss you too. So, I should expect you in the next couple days? We can spend a few days just relaxing together before dinner with my mom if you want.”
A small smile played across his face as he thought about being at home again... Then he chuckled softly at the realization that he though of Polina's house as home.
“What's got you laughing hon? Not getting cold feet about meeting my mom, are you?”
“No, it's not that. I was just thinking that I'll be glad to get home... and it hit me that, when I picture home, it's your house. That home is where you are...”
Before she could respond, the proverbial dam broke and Oliver blurted out the thoughts that kept rampaging through his mind. “I'm not good at this Poli, and I know if I wait until I get back I'll probably chicken out or get side tracked or just be an idiot and push it all away... I love you. I don't really know what else to say or do, but I needed to tell you that. I love you, and I can't wait to meet your mom. And now I'm trying not to freak out because this is completely new to me... And I'm rambling...”
Oliver pulled into a gas station and collapsed back into his seat, suddenly feeling drained. Panic threatened to overwhelm him in the brief moment of silence before she responded.
“I love you too, Oli. And you don't have to say or do anything, hon. This is a big deal for both of us, and trust that I'm freaking out a little too, but I think everyone freaks out a little the first time they say it out loud. There's nothing wrong with that. And now I'm even more excited for you to get home! I mean, we shouldn't put pressure on each other over it or anything. Just be us and take out relationship one step at a time... And we both tend to ramble, don't we? I'm pretty sure I'm rambling too.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Oliver couldn't help but chuckle at her rambling response, which quickly devolved to laughter when she admitted to rambling just as much as he did. After a second, Polina's laughter joined his.
And he ignored the strange looks he got from the other people pumping gas. He loved his girlfriend, and that was all that mattered to him in that moment.
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Oliver reclined on the comfortable bed, this time in a decent hotel room instead of the horrible cheap ones he had been using for weeks. As eager as he was to get home, he knew driving through the night just to arrive a little earlier wasn't the smartest idea.
And he had a few more things to take care anyway.
With a thought, he pulled up his system window and smiled at his gains. The Bounty itself had earned him 25,000 credits, easily one of the best paying he had seen on the local board. Add in that he had been able to fill some commissions each day, and the two small auctions he had held for credits only just to pad out his balance a little more, found him sitting on almost 80,000 credits.
Though he still regretted not having found some better things for auction. Snacks and alcohol were popular enough, but didn't seem to pull in the higher bids quite like the guns did. Or it could have just been a slow week, he wasn't sure. With only a handful of auctions behind him, he was still figuring out the trends and tastes of his buyers.
With so much available, he knew it was time to push forward a little more. A mental click, and he sighed in pleasure as surging waves of warmth washed through his skull as he raised his Intelligence. When the feelings slowly subsided, he clicked again to repeat the process.
Blood Aura required at least 18 Intelligence, and he had finally reached that number. After just a moments hesitation for some quick math, he decided to raise Willpower to 18 as well. Even though he already had enough of both attributes for the abilities he had acquired, the description said that a higher Willpower would let him shape his Psi Blade. That sounded useful... and kinda cool, he had to admit.
With bother attributes increased twice, he suddenly felt a bit more clear headed and focused than he had moments before. Not that he had felt dull or distracted, just that things seemed... Sharper. Smoother. It was almost like when he upgraded the processor in his laptop, everything just seemed to work a little faster and better.
After a minute to fully appreciate the noticeable improvement, he pulled two books from the warehouse and set them side by side in front of him. Psi Blade on the left, Blood Aura on the right. He glanced back and forth between the two as he considered which to learn first. After a moment, he picked up the Psi Blade Manifestation Technique.
“Blood Aura requires a hostile living creature for it to have any effect, so I can't really practice it here... And I don't want to accidentally hurt some innocent person just sleeping in there hotel room. So, Psi Blade first.”
He read the prompt again as it popped up. 4,000 credits for the system to help him integrate the technique in two hours didn't seem like too bad of a deal now that he was flush with credits, though he did still grump to himself over the cost for a moment before he hit Yes to start the process.
System Alert: Please prepare. Unlocking the 'Psi' sub-attribute may cause discomfort or pain.
Oliver only had a moment to be startled by the warning before the pain hit and he was forced to choke back a scream as it felt like ice picks being jammed into his skull one after another. His body went rigid, and he grit his teeth as a chill sensation swept through his mind like frost spreading across glass. His thoughts grew sluggish as it felt like his mind had turned it a chunk of ice.
'This is why I hate frozen drinks. Fucking brain freeze.' Was his last thought before everything went dark.
Oliver groaned as he came to, thankful that he had blacked out and didn't have to deal with that odd freezing pain for longer than he had. Slowly he pulled himself back upright, wary of any lingering after affects. When nothing happened, he sighed in relief before glancing at his system window. A grin slowly stretched across his face at the new entries.
Sub-attributes
* Psi 36
Abilities
* Psi Blade Manifestation
Quickly hopping off the bed, Oliver focused on the ability and wondered how to use it and the knowledge seemed to rush forth from the depths of his mind... Knowledge that, just a few hours ago, he had never even imagined... And was somehow implanted into his mind by the System.
Which reminded him of previous worrying thoughts. The System could change his body and even implant new knowledge directly into his mind. Was it doing other things to change him? Or possibly control him? How would he even know if it was? He didn't feel any different, but would he really feel a change if it didn't want him to? He had no idea...
But he still felt like himself. Nothing he had done was forced on him. He had made his choices and wouldn't regret them. If anything, he felt like the System allowed him to be more. Not just stronger and tougher, but just... more himself.
'Thoughts for another time maybe.' He mentally chided himself before focusing on the ability again.
Following the new knowledge, he pulled a thread of Psi from within his mind down his arm to his hand. He watched in wide-eyed fascination as the illusory thread emerged from his palm and seemed to weaved itself together under his urging. First a hilt and pommel formed in his grasping hand, then a cruciform hilt, before a glowing purple blade erupted from it. The entire sword was roughly three feet long from pommel to the tip of the blade, and reminded him strongly of the arming swords common among images of European knights in history books.
Though the purple glow reminded him of something else...
“Its like a fucking lightsaber!” Oliver laughed to himself as he carefully experimented with a few thrusts and slashes.
After a few minutes testing out his new ability, Oliver mentally dismissed the Psi Blade. He was pleased to discover that it would remain as long as he held it in his hand, and that it only required four of his available Psi to manifest it. Now he just needed to figure out how long it took for his Psi to recover...
With a shrug, he climbed back on to the bed and picked up the other book. It was time for some magic! Though secretly he hoped it wouldn't be as unpleasant.
Blood Aura Spell Tome
Estimated Independent study time required to learn – 8 months
Activate System Assisted Integration? (Cost: 5,000 credits)
Estimated time required for System Assisted Integration – 3 hours
(Yes/No)
Mentally preparing himself, Oliver clicked 'Yes'.
System Alert: Please prepare. Unlocking the 'Mana' sub-attribute may cause discomfort or pain.
A raging fire swept through Oliver's chest and settled near his heart. He grimaced at the pain, and wanted to face-palm at his own mental joke about 'killer heartburn'.
Thankfully, the system message implied that this only happened because it had to unlock the sub-attribute. He couldn't imagine enduring this sort of pain every time. And, for a second time that night, everything went dark.