KON POV
It's after school, and I find myself standing in front of the teacher's office, clutching a stack of completed club forms.
Those assholes.
Leaving me behind with their paper forms instead of submitting them themselves, claiming they have something more important to do. Couldn’t they have at least accompanied me to visit the scary teacher?
I tried warning them about how the teacher seemed to be bad news, but they just gave me a knowing smile and a pat on the back. "This is your chance," they said. My chance to what? Getting whipped to death?
I can already imagine myself carrying a large block of stone on my back while she stood above me, whipping me to go faster like one of those ancient pyramid-building slaves.
Come to think of it, Zack still hasn’t returned my books after he stole them. I wonder how many books he had borrowed indefinitely? Probably too many to count.
But enough stalling.
I take a deep breath to compose myself before I confront her. Masking my intent is a must, but it has to be subtle enough without giving anything away. If she manages to see through it, I'll just drop the act. Provoking a scary woman who can dissect your mind figuratively with just a glance is a no-no. I doubt she would act with malice with this many people around, but in case she asks me to follow her to a secluded place, I'll just run away. The fastest my Pathfinder leg can carry me.
Knock knock.
“Please enter. Ah Kon, are you here to submit your club application forms?”
“Yes Ms. Emma, and together with Venti’s and Zack’s”
“Let’s see. Name and class in place, Written sign check. Oh? SpeedGear Club. That’s a wonderful surprise.” I quirked my eyebrows at that. Don’t tell me.
“I will be this year’s SpeedGear club supervisor, pleased to meet you, Kon Caspier.”
“.... The pleasure is all mine, Ms. Emma.”
Oh, God. My mask almost cracked. As if being my homeroom teacher isn't enough, this scary woman will also be my club supervisor. Do I have to mask my intent for the majority of my school time from now on? I wanna go back home….
“Aww, is being with me really that scary?”
“How-, I mean n-no! I am ecstatic in fact!”
She giggled at my outburst. Thank God there aren't many teachers in the office currently. I would rather not draw any more attention to myself than necessary, but as expected, she sees through my mask so easily as if it's not even there. If that's the case, then I'll just drop it.
“Ah, please do keep it up. Also, follow me. I will walk you to the clubroom.”
She told me to keep up the mask instead of dropping it, then proceeded to lead me to the ground floor. To me, she still seemed suspicious as hell, but if she wanted me to keep the mask on, I would gladly comply. I hardened my expression so much that I resembled a Moai statue when standing still.
She giggled even harder at my antics, but at this point, my anxiety had reached its limit and I couldn’t care less if I looked weird to other people. I just wanted to get this over with and go home to my bathtub.
Yes, I knew she wouldn’t hurt me; she made that clear, but it still didn’t dispel my wariness of her. She had tried to look into my core, after all, and I'd be damned if I let the same thing happen again.
“So, here we are, next to the swimming pool which is coincidentally, right beside the swimming club itself. Currently, there is no one in the club, because it is an off day for the members. The club activity will begin next week, Come in.” She offered.
“Excuse me.”
I walked inside and was greeted with a spacious room furnished with tables and chairs. Adjacent to the meeting area were locker rooms with benches, and I noticed a TV and a mini fridge inside a pantry bar. I was surprised to find that the place was well-kept and clean; I had expected it to be messy and smelled of sweat, like one of those backrooms in martial arts clubs.
“Have a seat, do you want tea or coffee?”
“Ah, tea is fine, thank you.”
She poured a cup for me and herself, then settled across from me. I remained cautious, still wearing my mask of intent, and waited for her to drink her tea before even considering touching mine.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Sip, hmm needs more sugar. Anyway, let me preface by offering you my sincere apology. Curiosity got the better of me and I read into you too deeply, and for that, I apologize.”
“……”
“But of course, just saying it alone won’t be enough to clear me of my wrongdoings, so ask away. I’m sure you must have many questions that you want answer to, right?”
“……”
I took a moment to process her apology. It seemed sincere, and I could understand her concern about deeper intent reading bordering on invasion of privacy.
I'd had trouble with such readings in the past, which landed both myself and the orphanage in trouble. Since then, I'd resolved to limit myself to general intent reading that didn't delve into personal history or past information.
Should I forgive her? Perhaps. But for now, I was more interested in what I could learn from her.
“Where does Ms. Emma learn intent reading?”
“Intent reading, like other types of awareness sensitivity is generally something of an inborn talent.” She began to move her fingers around the cup rim and wave it around the vapor.
“Temperature sensitivity, the wind, the sound. To be able to tell when exactly it is going to rain judging by the changing atmospheric pressure itself. That’s the making of a good pathfinder, wouldn’t you agree Kon?”
“…….”
“But of course, sensitivity to an intent is a bit different. After all, the decision-making of an individual is not as simple as picking the range of temperature. There are emotions, logical perspective, instinct, emotional intelligence, and a lot of other things to consider in the equation before you can arrive at a single prediction. The possibilities are nigh infinite, but the solution to that is very simple.”
“Observation.”
“Yes, precisely. When what you derive by yourself is no longer enough, you seek out another form of information, such as what they are wearing, how they walk, how they breathe, their manner of speaking, how their eyes move when confronted with a particular scenario, and so on. You don’t need a high IQ for that, you just have to see the pattern from your recollection and connect the dots.”
“Makes sense.”
“But of course, talents do exist. Some people can process information faster, some people have a larger and lasting library of recollection which they can pull upon, and some people can ignore everything I have just said. They only need to peer into the window of one’s soul to read them like an open book.”
“And Ms. Emma belongs to the latter?”
“Goodness no, I may have a talent for it but I’m far from the peak.”
I gulped. People who could read intent even better than her? The thought sent shivers down my spine. To be laid bare to the last fiber of my being was a terrifying prospect.
I could only hope to never encounter such a person in the future. One scary lady was more than enough for me, thank you very much.
Taking a sip of my tea to wet my throat, I steeled myself for the next question. If she so much as twitched a finger, I was ready to bolt.
“Why did Ms. Emma peer into my core, what were you trying to find?”
“Affinity, among other things.”
“What other things?”
I narrowed my eyes the moment she tried to deflect and persisted for an answer. What I was doing now was akin to poking a sleeping bear with this question. I was testing the sincerity of her apology. If she didn’t want to answer, then that was fine. However, if she did, then perhaps I could trust her a bit more from now on.
She knew this too, which was why she took her time thinking it through instead of outright giving me the answer.
“Kon, what do you know of Arcanum?”
I widened my eyes surprised; I didn’t think she would follow through.
“Not much. An inheritance of sorts perhaps?”
“Hmm, you are not wrong in the sense that it is a form of inheritance. Some are passed from generation to generation, some are found in the depths of ruins in the west, and some are even created through the occurrence of natural disasters, granted they are astronomically rare and had only been theorized for their possibility. But have you ever thought about where they came from, Kon?”
“How they came to be?”
“Yes, the origin of an Arcanum.”
To be honest, I hadn’t given much thought to where it came from. I always saw mine as a memento from my biological parents. I say "memento" because I assumed they had passed away.
It's easier for me to live my life that way, rather than clinging to the hope that one day I might meet them again. It might seem cold, but I prefer to focus on the present rather than the past. After all, you can't be disappointed if you don't have any expectations in the first place.
“Unfortunately Kon, you are not ready yet.” Ms. Emma broke me out of my reverie.
“Huh, did you just give me a cliffhanger?”
“Chuckles*, Yes Kon, and I’m sorry for that, but know this. I’m here to protect you from any who holds ill will towards you and what belongs to you.”
Well, isn’t that swell? She still didn’t answer my question, though. Instead, it brought even more questions to the table.
Who are you? Protect me from what? Are there people who can detect my Arcanum? Are there already people chasing after me? In what sense does the Arcanum belong to me? To what end will your protection last?
Aargh, so many questions and I could feel her amusement skyrockets as I ruffled my hair in frustration. Taking a deep breath, I tried to keep my mind clear amidst the whirlwind of questions.
“Sigh, so I should just trust you yes?” I asked her.
“Yep, just leave everything to Ms. Emma and enjoy your Academy life.”
Should I be happy about this? I can’t tell. On one hand, I'm relieved that she means no harm to me, at least for now. On the other hand, the whole revelation has left me more worried about how complicated my life will become. I’m not looking forward to where it’s heading.
I sighed again, glancing out the window at the usual blue sky. Then, trying to sound casual, I asked her my final question.
“The sky is falling down.”
I glanced towards her with my intent reading at full throttle. I even summoned a bit of prana subtly to observe her in greater detail. Nothing would escape my eye; if she so much as twitched her foot, I would know. She quirked her eyebrow at me and then turned back to look out the window.
“Ara, is it going to rain soon?”
“No, I must be mistaken. The weather news says it’s going to be sunny throughout the day today.”
“I see, if that’s the case, I shall take my leave. It’s been nice talking with you, Kon.”
“Me too, thank you, Ms. Emma. Please take care of me from now on.”
“Wonderful, I will see you tomorrow in class. Goodbye and don’t be late.”
“Goodbye Ms. Emma”
With that, she walked back into her office while I made my way to the school gate for my bus ride. As I sat down on the bench, waiting for the bus to arrive, I plugged in my headset and closed my eyes, listening to slow and relaxing music.
As I listened to the soothing music, I tried to calm my mind. But beneath the surface, a nagging thought persisted.
She knows something.