Chapter 68: Weird Day
Weird Day
The following day had been... interesting, to say the least.
It started fairly normally. Mike got up early and went to his first class where he once more threw hands with the hologram. At this point, he just focused on improving his Crimson Ladder while also incorporating bits of how the hologram fought into his own style.
After that was his Martial Forms of the World class, and once more, Mike spent it studying the material his instructor gave him. However, he went further and actually started to practice some of the styles. Nothing flashy, but he was doing it, and it seemed like he impressed his instructor as the man had commended Mike after class.
If it were just those two things, Mike would have deemed his day as fairly normal.
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, depending on how one saw it, it wasn’t just those two things.
It started with Edward’s class.
Mike had been preparing to continue carving the stones to create his perfect prism, and all was well.
Until the moment he activated his ability.
As soon as he manifested his aura, the somewhat passive observation he felt from Edward became total concentration. The change was so jarring that Mike’s concentration faltered, but he tried his best to ignore it and attempted to focus on his task.
However, whenever he did virtually anything with his aura, Edward would focus on it, and it was quite difficult to concentrate with such intense attention on him.
Mike did manage to curb the distraction a bit by facing his task. Due to the lesson being about training his aura control, he was able to pay close attention to it, and Mike soon realized he had a far easier time using his aura to slice through the stone.
It was an odd feeling, like whenever he made his aura move to carve the stone, the matter in the way just... bowed out and allowed itself to be sliced through cleanly.
Hence, it looked like the previously faraway task was just a few stones away as Mike made cleaner and cleaner cuts, and he simply needed to get the measurements right.
Sadly, class ended before he could complete the task, and he became aware of the intense attention from Edward which, quite frankly, made his skin crawl.
"Class is over, everyone. You may go for your lunch break." Edward said calmly without any preamble, and Mike stood abruptly to try and leave quickly, but...
"Mike, please wait a moment. I have something to discuss with you briefly." Edward said calmly, his voice traveling easily to Mike’s ears.
’Damn.’ Mike did his best to school his expression and turned. He had an idea concerning what this matter was about, but that didn’t mean he wanted to humor it.
The students watched as Mike approached the blind man, and while their looks were still unfriendly, it seemed like the worst of it had passed, as Mike noticed a lot of the disdain from before had slowly turned into indifference.
As soon as he got close, a faint pulse left Edward’s body, and the surrounding sound was isolated, making it so that no one could listen in.
Edward didn’t say anything immediately, which just made Mike stare at him as he had no interest in initiating the conversation.
"Your aura has changed," Edward said flatly after a while, and Mike scratched his head.
"You think so?" He asked innocently while scratching his head, pretending not to know what this was about.
Edward sighed at this.
"You aren’t in trouble. I just want to make sure of something." He said easily, but Mike wasn’t buying it.
"The school already assessed my ability before I entered. Shouldn’t you check in with them instead?" He asked with a small frown, but Edward shook his head.
"I have. I look into the details of all my students’ abilities, and what I sensed just now is not in your file." Edward countered calmly, and Mike frowned.
Did he know what Edward was referring to? Of course he did. However, that didn’t make it any less unsettling, and Mike would really prefer not to reveal the details about what happened.
’Then again, he noticed the change as soon as I activated my ability. Most likely, if I use my energy during Alice’s class, she will notice the change as well, and I still can’t truly tell what she’s thinking.’ Mike stared at Edward and suppressed a sigh.
When in doubt, trust your instincts.
"What exactly do you want to confirm?" He asked after a moment’s hesitation.
Seeing his reluctant compliance, Edward cracked a small smile.
"Nothing much. I already saw you use your aura during class. But I’d like to ask a few questions, if possible. You don’t need to answer anything you aren’t comfortable with, though." He explained, and Mike just nodded.
’Here goes.’ Mike thought as Edward started speaking.
***
By the time school ended, Mike felt weirdly drained.
He was fine physically, but he felt like he’d just studied for hours, or something similar.
The reason for this was Alice.
As he’d thought, as soon as the class began and he started using his energy, he felt her already intense attention on him become pointed.
She continued teaching, but as time started, Mike’s skin was physically prickling, and he simply could not focus on the lesson as he kept squirming uncomfortably.
Theresa and Kris noticed, but they couldn’t exactly say anything due to not wanting to interrupt the lesson.
’Ya’ll, just leave me alone...’ Mike thought helplessly as he tried and failed to focus.
As soon as the lesson ended, Mike practically ran out of his seat before anyone could address him. Not even paying attention to the ones calling him as he left.
Did it make him seem guilty? Yes. But he could not be bothered.
The rest of the day went well enough, but Mike still felt drained. Having such attention on him wasn’t fun, but then again, he should have expected it after his ability mutated.
Shaking his head, instead of going to his dorm room, he headed towards a certain part of the school.
As he walked, he took something out of his pocket and narrowed his eyes.
It was a necklace with a black chain and pendant.
When he’d finished speaking to Edward, the man had given it to him. He hadn’t said much about it other than some vague words.
’If you want to seriously train your aura, then it will suit you well.’
Mike stared at it for a few more seconds before pocketing it. He’d simply address it later.
Eventually, he arrived at his destination.
A large cube-shaped building with no openings other than the entrance came into view, and Mike stared at it for a moment as he recalled its name.
’The cage.’ He thought.
This was the place where he would enact his plan.
The building served a pretty simple purpose. It contained all sorts of beasts and monsters inside, and one could pay for them to do whatever they wanted. Whether that be fighting, observing, harvesting, and so on.
After the deal with his Aura mutating, Mike had gone to the official site that the building offered and looked through their services.
The number of beasts available was large, and they varied greatly, from powerful beasts that would make great opponents, to weird creatures that required studying.
Apparently, students and staff members could find these beasts and pretty much sell them to the cage where they would be used for whatever.
Mike had booked an appointment, because yes, you needed to book an appointment to use the place before you came in.
He’d then spent 2,000 credits out of his 5,959 to ’reserve’ a beast to fight.
It was a substantial sum out of what he possessed, but if everything went according to plan, he believed it would be worth it.
There were already quite a few students going in and out of the place, mostly seniors, and when Mike stepped in, he was greeted by a large reception area.
Bots moved around and attended to students calmly, and judging by the lack of human staff, Mike guessed that it was mostly automated, which was a pretty novel thing to see.
It didn’t take long for him to be approached by a bot, and the thing asked if he had a reservation to which he confirmed.
He pulled up a hologram of his reservation, and it was inspected briefly before he was asked to follow.
There were no doors leading further into the building at first glance, but Mike noticed that whenever a student was led in a certain direction, the wall would open up to reveal an opening, and they would enter.
Mike faced a similar fate as he was led to a wall that opened up to reveal a small hallway.
Mike followed the bot through, and soon, they reached the end of the hallway which also opened up, revealing a large circular room.
There was an energy barrier inside, and when Mike saw what it was, he smiled slightly.
A creature about the size of a horse could be seen. Its body was bulky and covered in strange root-like growths.
It had no eyes, but its mouth was unnaturally large with razor-sharp teeth. It was on all fours, but its limbs were oddly short.
Mike couldn’t exactly attribute a name to the creature as it didn’t resemble anything he knew, but it still looked horrifying. Still, Mike wasn’t scared.
’A Variant Atrixa beast. A weak species that is known for their ability to multiply greatly. This one is a Variant due to its unnatural regeneration, being able to regrow lost limbs and survive hits that would typically be seen as fatal.’ Mike recalled the entry under the creature when he’d seen it on the site.
He walked forward and slowly passed through the barrier, and as soon as he did, he felt the thing’s attention on him.
’You’ll be my prey today.’