Chapter 185 - Exercising The Slob

Vern took off his gloves and windbreaker, followed by unbuttoning the upper buttons of his vest as he let out a deep breath.

He was a little tired.

Selena's paper avian in the noon had told him that he still had to work today. He had to rush to make it in time. It ended up being a routine cleansing mission, but he was disgruntled at first. Surely, the world wouldn't stop if he had one day to rest after what happened yesterday.

However, throughout the mission and commute, he realized that no one else knew what happened at the hotel. Which was to say, Captain Akira had kept his word. So much so that even Lady Selena or others in the Vigil weren't privy to any of it.

Since no one knew, he wasn't going to oust himself by acting out of character.

After splashing some water on his face, he wondered, Should I head straight to train for the day? He wasn't about to start slacking off just because Mistress Amelia wasn't here to whip him into shape.

He tucked the cane in his armpit and made to exit his personal room at vigil when he remembered something else he had to do while here.

Hmm, right. I should get that cleared up first.

So, he closed the door behind himself and navigated towards Vena's archive instead of the training halls.

A couple of familiar faces greeted him in passing, and he responded back in kind. That duel with Lucian had made him more popular than he'd expected.

However, his thoughts quickly drifted in a different direction. I still need to do something to consolidate my persona as Axiom. He had many ideas floating around in his mind that might possibly assuage it, but he really hadn't found time to get them going.

Wait.

For his sanity's sake, he went through his notes and memories to ensure he really hadn't found time and wasn't unintentionally 'procrastinating.'

After a bit, he concluded it really was just that he hadn't found a good opportunity. That was fine. While he'd used a big chunk of his alternate singularity in the fight yesterday, it wasn't something he desperately needed to go about his daily business.

Also, he wasn't very keen on over-relying on that singularity. Not until it really became his own. So, while it was urgent, he didn't need to drop everything else in his life to remedy it right this instant.

Balancing different aspects of his pursuits was just how he’d go about it.

I doubt a desperate Axiom would induce much awe and reverence anyway.

He sighed, As long as nothing's messing with my head. That realization of having his thoughts altered had really pushed his paranoia to a new degree.

Anyways, he shook his head as others looked at him weirdly, I should be able to work it out tonight.

It was around seven in the evening, and even after this little detour and training, he should be back in the hotel by midnight. Which meant he could squeeze some time in there to get this sorted out.

Well, who needs sleep anyways? he shrugged.

Before long, he silently pushed open the doors of the archive lit by blue chandeliers as the familiar scent of parchment assailed his nostrils.

However, when he looked at the massive labyrinthine archive, he realized it was totally bereft of any readers. Which meant she might not be here.

I should've just asked De Flanc.

However, he soon had the most basic idea pop up in his head, and he acted on it without hesitation. He unveiled his perception. He hadn't done it last time out of fear of breaking some unspoken rule, but things were different now.

As long as he did it without an intent to cause damages or actually cause harm, it was acceptable to observe inside vigil.

The empty canvas in his mind began painting the intricacies of this archive's structure one after the other as it expanded outwards with his eyes as the origin.

Using his prior knowledge about the layout of the library as well as the subtle tremors of the air, shelves, and every little object, his perception constructed quite a detailed representation of the archive.

It was even better than yesterday, supplemented by all the new insights he'd integrated from the Midra's cage.

In this detailed painting of the grays, he sensed for her figure.

.

.

.

She really isn't here?

Ahh, I guess De Flanc is my only hope, then. The butler was far more reliable than his half-baked attempts.

But that's when his perception picked up the outline of a small figure he didn't quite expect.

Ohh…

He stopped his retreating steps, suddenly interested.

He narrowed his eyes, and a mischievous smile appeared on his face. Fully utilizing his enhanced control over his perception, he masked any vibrations or sounds from his footsteps and sneaked upstairs.

Heck, now that he'd done it enough times, his perception recognized the pattern and automatically fired off the chain of insights needed to effectively create a zone of silence where he directed it.

However, it still took some time for his perception to pick up his intent and execute the sequence of controlled reduction of stability needed to make the silence work.

Hmm, what if I…, This gave him a new idea that he tested as he continued to climb the stairs. It was clear that his perception 'learned' patterns and helped streamline them for him.

So, what if I always mime shushing when I want to create silence? It worked in tandem with the idea of empowering visions with matching physical actions. They helped his subconscious imagine the cause and effect more smoothly.

Nodding, he began training his perception to register this intent. He mimed shushing as he created one zone of silence after another at each of his footsteps. It was possible to do so for the whole staircase, but how would his perception pick up the pattern if he only did it once?

So he ascended step-by-step, looking stupid as he repeatedly shushed at his legs.

This continued as he walked over to the other side of the second floor by the stained windows, and his eyes widened slightly. A white furball lazed under the light that streamed in from outside.

Unfortunately, the sun was already beyond the horizon, and the rays weren't doing much in the name of providing warmth.

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Vern, however, had an entirely different thought on his mind, A chance!

Keeping his footsteps inaudible by hushing at them, he made his way over to the tiny thing and crouched slowly.

With meticulous care to not disturb the air, he extended his palm. When it was getting close, he subconsciously closed one eye and stretched back a little, scared the cat would instantly jump away.

Slowly, he reached out further and further until—

Soft…, he murmured, as his palm landed right on the white fluffy fur.

To his utter surprise, the cat didn't suddenly go feral or start chomping on his hand.

Soon, he opened his eyes a tad and realized Luna's were closed. She's sleeping?

.

.

.

Really, the perfect chance!

Pushing his luck, he reached for her tiny head and stroked her fur in the direction of its growth.

Pet. Pet. Pet.

When the floor didn't collapse, and the world didn't end even after this blasphemy, he slowly opened both his eyes.

His scared expression slowly gave way to a relieved smile as he realized he could get away with the crime unpunished.

So, he extended his other palm, too, and…

Pet. Pet. Pet.

What an honor.

Pet. Pet. Pet.

Suddenly, however, the kitty's eyes twitched, and his movements became gentle—light as a feather and sneaky as a thief.

To his utter delight, Luna leaned into his scratches, almost as if demanding he do it properly.

He obeyed without question and began scratching the head, ears, and torso with masterful technique.

Pet. Pet. Pet.

Hehe, it's impossible to escape the scritches!

"Meoww…?"

Suddenly, however, the cat turned its face towards him and opened her eyes—staring right into Vern's soul.

No! His hands halted in their tracks, and he looked back at her in bafflement at being caught red-handed. After a few seconds of stunned silence—

"Grrrrrrrrr!" The feline growled, instantly escaping from under his grasp as she stood on all fours, her tail upright.

Vern jolted back and raised his hands, an apologetic look on his face as he tried to convey just how harmless he was. To help his efforts, he greeted, "Good morning, Luna…"

Unfortunately for him, the cat didn't seem pleased with his offering as the growls grew louder, and she rushed at him.

Wh…what?

In a bid to defend himself, he covered his eyes and head, curling into himself defensively on the ground. When the heavens' fury descended, what else was he to do but accept it with grace?

"Meow!!"

Thump. Something hit his head. No, not something, but two small legs.

I fucked up.

He waited for claws and paws to demolish him with apprehension as well as acceptance.

However, seconds passed by, and the heavens didn't smite him another time.

That's it?

When nothing happened, even after dozens of seconds, he came out of his shell and looked around.

It was all clear.

He narrowed his eyes and cheated. His perception instantly told him the new position of the furball.

He looked up, and two lazy eyes looked back at him for a second before they turned, and the cat flopped down on the shelf.

"…"

He was speechless.

He didn't just get ignored; he wasn't even in the equation. Had sleep and laziness outdone him?

Vern began to question the nature of reality when he recalled a minor detail. Wait, she's gotten fatter since I last saw her.

He narrowed his eyes. This lazy slob! While he was all for fat cats, there was a fundamental issue here.

Was everyone so busy that no one played with her? As a result of that, she developed a habit of sleeping away through boredom?

.

.

.

A sharp glint flashed across his eyes, and he stood up. Not on my watch!

Focusing his perception on the lazy loaf lying atop the bookshelf, he created ant-sized instabilities in the wood underneath her. It manifested as minor vibrations in the structure, and soon, the cat tried to roll away.

Nope.

Vern made the instability follow her as he imagined a small bubble of stability right in front of her.

The cat attempted to sloth its way out of his trap one more time, but Vern was persistent. Soon, he burst the small bubble of vacuum, and it popped with a clear paa.

The cat blinked warily at the air, and Vern surrounded her with more bubbles. They didn't look any special at the start, but when they popped, the cat clawed at them.

Soon, Luna grew frustrated with the itch under herself and got up, rapidly scratching at the uncomfortable bed. Her nails grated the wood, shearing off small flakes from the shelf.

Pop! Another one exploded out of nowhere, and she tried to smack it away.

Good, Vern nodded. Now that he had her attention, he had a better way to get this slob some exercise.

In his perception, he conjured something like a string of a fish rod by stabilizing the air and surrounding it with some instability to vibrate its outline. His hands matched his visualization in reality to help him better control his construct.

The cat quickly caught on to the fact that something was buzzing in front of her and followed its trail with her paws outstretched, swiping away at the string excitedly.

"Meoww!"

Vern, however, wasn't going to make it easy. He took the fake rod in his hand and flicked it away, and the invisible fishing rod made of unstable stability followed suit.

"Nyeow…" she chased the vibrations with a little yelp, swiping at it at every chance.

Another flick of his hands, and the string with a non-existent bait swooned over onto a different shelf.

Without hesitation, Luna jumped with grace, chasing its prey with the predator's agility.

Vern wasn't to be outdone, though. He shuffled over to a different section of the floor, forcing both the cat and his mental construct to go through the most absurd of the paths.

His footsteps echoed in the whole archive as he sprinted from one side of the room to the other, and the cat turned out to be faster than he'd expected.

Next level, then! He forced his string down inside some of the empty shelves, followed by cheating and making the whole thing disappear at times, only to have it appear behind Luna. He used all the tricks in his book to spook the cat, but the little thing surprisingly kept up.

In one such trick maneuver, he made the bait pass through the shelf's layer to come out on top. To try and catch the ever-fleeting prey, Luna tried to perform a curved jump.

And slipped,

"Mywo…"

"Wait…what…No!" he cried.

He wasn't within hand's reach to catch the cat in time, so he rapidly extended his palm in the shape of a plane surface. Matching his action, the balance of air's structure right under her falling trajectory became utterly white.

Bump.

Instead of a crash landing on the solid hard ground, the cat had prepared for, her body suddenly hit something cushiony in the air, stopping the fall without any harm.

"Whew…" Vern sighed.

Just yesterday, he would have needed multiple layers of such stability to support the weight of a falling fat cat, but things were different now. Stability inducement had benefitted greatly from the new insights as well as his more aligned viewpoint—enhancing its capabilities by a large margin.

The cat looked underneath itself, wide-eyed and utterly confused. Soon, she hesitantly got up, placing each of her feet only after making sure that there really was something solid underneath her.

As she fumbled and awkwardly tried to walk in the air, Vern simply watched with a stupid smile. To his delight, instead of jumping away, the cat tried to get a feel of how it managed this feat.

Well, this might not be the first time she'd experienced something absurd. It was clear by her willingness to continue standing on nothing but the air that she'd been around observers.

It was a little taxing for him to perform, but it didn't compare to getting to watch a cat doing a silly walk in the air.

Soon, Luna walked normally, and Vern had an idea. He pulled out the imaginary fishing rod once again, and Luna became alert when she sensed the prey.

However, this time, he baited her to walk in the air because why not?

The cat, hesitant at first, prowled slowly, but when the prey began to escape, it lunged, and Vern ensured there was a path wherever Luna walked.

With every wave of his other hand, he extended the track at steep elevations and sharp turns, all while racing the bait right in front of the cat.

"Nyeaa!" Luna excitedly began hunting once again, completely ignoring the fact that she was now running in the air. The prey was all that mattered.

Vern let out an evil laugh and created a small circle, making the cat go round and round and round and round and round, only stopping when he himself felt dizzy.

When she almost caught up with the nonexistent bait, he decided to mix things up. He waved his left hand in a gentle downward slope, and the cat that was expecting to continue running straight found herself suddenly pulled downwards due to gravity.

"Mewrrr…" it cried for a bit before the sounds became distant as Vern shipped her down all the way to the first floor on this slide.

She let out her tiny tongue and began tasting the air for some reason, but the ground arrived too soon.

So Vern reintroduced the bait, and the cat instantly pounced at it. To ensure an optimum viewing experience for himself, he decided to create a spiral that corralled the cat right back up to his eye level as she played and jumped at the invisible prey with cute purrs.

A blissful smile adorned his lips as he kept adding new twists and turns to his track, and the cat engaged with everything he threw at her without jumping away to doze on some bookshelf.

A win-win.

Right when he was done planning his gravity-defying challenge course, a hand suddenly rested on his shoulder.

"Wha—"