Chapter 34: Four Days Later

Nighttime had already cast its dusky gown over Asia Metropolitan Region's 4th district.

The street lamps and lights of the passing automobiles were already on and bright. Their radiance continuously illuminated various areas while casting long shadows on the ground.

Suddenly, a human silhouette flickered into existence from the shadow of one of the tall buildings close to one 'particular' hostel. The headlights of a passing aeromobil happened to sweep by, and the features of the profile's owner became distinct for a moment.

It was a young man wearing an all-black outfit, which included jeans, combat boots, a hooded jumper, and a cape. His iridescent brown eyes were at the moment flashing with mysterious symbols as he observed the surroundings.

He was Tang Mu, and he had just utilized the second runic array he absorbed from the source rune during his breakthrough to cast a unique shadow teleportation ability.

He had used his spiritual sense jointly with his Mentifery superpower to manifest the runic arrangement in one of the shadows of the buildings neighboring his hostel. Everything had worked out fine, and with just a thought, he had teleported using the shadows to leave his room and appear about 800 meters away from his hostel.

This was the power of darkness and space manipulation working in concert with his imagination manifestation. It was the ability that had allowed Tang Mu to leave his hostel without alerting anyone.

I'm still too close to the hostel. One of those busybody aunties from the neighborhood might spot me and tell Aunt Wanjing. Then, I'll be in trouble. I should teleport again just to be safe.

Tang Mu got into action again and extended his spiritual sense into the shadow of a building one kilometer away.

He immediately focused his mind and started pushing his Mentifery powers into motion. His eyes flashed with mysterious symbols as he used his spiritual sense, imagination, willpower, and thoughts to construct the almost incorporeal runic circle in the building's shadow with practiced familiarity.

Five seconds later, he fully manifested the runic arrangement into existence. He immediately triggered it with his thoughts, causing a jolt within his unlocked Galactic Chakra.

The next instant, he felt himself enter a dark world and subconsciously blinked his eyes. Then, just as suddenly, all sorts of vibrant colors returned to his perception, and his silhouette flickered into existence in the shadow of the building he had targeted with his spiritual sense.

This is a wonderful ability. As long as my spiritual sense extends to a certain area with a shadow, I'll be able to manifest the array in that place and teleport there.

The only problem is that the ability takes too long to cast while consuming a large fraction of my psionic energy reserves. I still can't use it in highly dynamic battles.

Tang Mu's spirits were bubbling with contentment after he completed his second shadow teleportation. Yes, he had yet to master his superpower fully. But that didn't put him down, as he felt he was gradually and steadily gaining mastery with every passing hour of practice.

It had been four days since he broke through to the level of a rank one psionic and successfully awakened his Mentifery superpower. He hadn't wasted any of his waking hours. Instead, he had used them effectively to train and hone his psionic powers in preparation for his registration at the Federal Mercenary Guild.

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At the very beginning, when he had just commenced his training, he could only manifest one of the special arrows for his longbow after twelve seconds. Moreover, he also had to remain highly focused if the manifestation was to be successful.

But, after practicing his ability and manifesting hundreds of similar arrows over the past four days, he had shortened the time and requirements for his Mentifery ability by a significant margin.

It was as if he had imprinted the manifestation process in his subconscious mind after his arduous practice. He had gotten better at using his mind to warp reality, and he only needed a second to manifest the same arrow that had previously taken him twelve seconds.

Aside from that, Tang Mu didn't ignore the two arrays that had been ingrained into his soul after he absorbed the source rune from the painting world. He had practiced their manifestation process and reduced their casting time from five minutes to five seconds. The shadow teleportation he had just employed was a result of such progress.

Of course, five seconds was still a long time if he was in battle. A rank-one psionic, who could move at a speed of 30 m/s, would have killed him dozens of times before he could cast the teleportation ability. So, he still needed to work harder to reduce the casting time further before he could effectively utilize the two arrays in combat.

But that was all for the future after he finished registering with the Federal Mercenary Guild.

Tang Mu had also gotten more flexible at using the two arrays after the four days of practice. For instance, he could now adjust the coverage area of the shadow veil, and if he wanted it to cover a radius of five meters, it would cover that area and not an inch more.

He had also discovered that he could use the shadow veil to shroud a much smaller area, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the ability. He could also use it to conceal his body within shadows or even to veil his face with something like a dark, foggy mask. This was how good he had gotten at using his abilities.

Tang Mu glanced at his watch and noted the time. It was close to a quarter past ten.

The next order of business after he escaped from his hostel was to head to the Federal Mercenary Guild branch in the Hong Kong Commercial Zone of the 4th district. Bearing in mind that he had to return to his room before morning, he even spent 20 of his 189.7 Earth Dollars on a special hire aeromobil that would quickly ferry him to the place.

He made the payment online and gave the driver his location details. Everything worked out fine, and in barely a minute, a yellow flying car flew in from above and stopped in front of the building where he was.

The doors of the aeromobil soon opened, and a chubby middle-aged man with a prominent mustache and a short build stepped out. He glanced around and pivoted his gaze onto a 'certain' spot in the shadow of the building.

"Are you Mr. Tang Mu?" He asked with a smile. "Are you the one who called for a special hire?"

"Yes, that's me," Tang Mu replied. He stepped out of the shadow and approached the flying car.

"While making your booking, you mentioned that you're heading to the Hong Kong Commercial Zone," the driver said. "But you didn't specify where exactly you're going."

Tang Mu took a few seconds to ponder before saying, "Just drop me near the Pink Tiger Club."

"Oh!" The driver's eyes flashed with a trace of understanding, and he gave Tang Mu a knowing look. "Get on. We will be there in a few minutes."

Tang Mu sighed inwardly. He boarded the vehicle, knowing that he had been misunderstood.

The guy probably assumed he was a rich kid heading to the renowned Pink Tiger Club to party and buy some whores. But even then, Tang Mu didn't say any needless words to defend himself.

He was a cautious individual who had experienced the cruelty of the world after his parents of this life died. He was happy with the misunderstanding since it was the perfect cover to head to the Federal Mercenary Guild without drawing any unnecessary notice.

At least if some prying eyes checked in the future, they would only learn that he had escaped from the hostel and gotten a special hire to drop him at a famous bar in the Hong Kong Commercial Zone. But they would never guess that he had gone to the Federal Mercenary Guild branch offices, which were a good twenty kilometers away from the Pink Tiger Club, on the same night.

"Please, fasten your seatbelt," the driver said after taking his seat before the aeromobil's control yoke.

Tang Mu did as instructed, and the driver started the flying car's antigravity engine. The man then pulled up the control yoke, and the aeromobil rose from the ground before shooting towards the night skies of Asia Metropolitan Region's 4th district.