~08-Februs-5012, Morning~
It is a pleasant morning with the chirping of the birds and the smell of fresh air. Zeno who was sleeping peacefully all night wakes up fully energised with the morning rays falling upon him.
"Profile, are you there?"
Zeno asks out of habit. Then he remembers what he had asked Profile to do last night.
"It seems Profile is still working on it. I just hope he comes up with a positive result."
Zeno comments while stretching his hands and legs as a form of exercise. Since it was just yesterday he attained the Physical Trait: Muscle Power(+10), he hadn't been able to adjust with it.
Whenever he tenses his muscles, the sudden increase in strength makes it seem like everything around him could be broken open with just a slight push or pull. Moreover the internal wounds he suffered yesterday from Jeff's attack had healed by now.
"Did my injury heal due to my Grade or due to my Trait?"
"Maybe it wasn't much serious at all."
Zeno once again comments to himself before proceeding to do the house chores for the morning. Breakfast gets made soon and as Zeno is about to bring it to the table, he sees Adam fully dressed ready to go out.
"Do you usually rise this early?"
Zeno questions Adam while laying the breakfast on the table. Last night they didn't talk at all as Zeno had his dinner early and went back to his room before leaving the food and a note saying he left the food on the table.
"No, I just have a meeting with a friend in the morning.
By the way, I had forgotten to mention something to you.
Since you managed to Awaken by yourself, you need to have your Gift registered if you don't want to bring any trouble for yourself."
Adam replies while taking his share of the meal from the tray. If someone paid a closer attention, they could see a trace of hidden glee flash through his face.
Hearing about the matter of registration, Zeno however didn't understand what it really implied. He just looks at Adam hoping he would explain it further.
"Oh, I forgot. You don't know anything about it.
You see, Zeno. Every citizen of the Regalia Kingdom is required to have the name of their Gifts registered in the National Gift Registry by the royal law.
Therefore everyone who is awakened has to go to the Military Guard Office to have their Gifts registered."
Adam answers seeing Zeno's blank look towards him. However this time, he didn't hide the smile on his face.
Zeno on the other hand was not feeling a slight bit of happiness at all. His expression was that of having encountered unnecessary trouble.
'Is he shitting with me or do I really have to,' thought Zeno. "You sure, you didn't make up that shit just because you are salty at me for not showing you my Soul Gift yesterday," asks Zeno
Even though Adam forced Zeno to go to Academy, the reason why the latter went along was because he also wanted to get a feel of it. But this is an entirely different matter.
"I was salty at you that time, of course. But what I have said is true at the same time," replies Adam.
Ever since their father Larry had gone missing in the dungeon, Adam had taken it upon himself to not let Zeno feel estranged from the people. He wanted to make sure his brother never went astray. He would help and guide Zeno the same way Larry helped Adam when he was left alone in the world.
Even if he feels disappointed or angry at Zeno in some cases, he doesn't make it cloud his judgment to protect the latter. After all, they only have themselves to look after.
'Do I really have to be bothered about it? After all, it might not be that big of a deal. Unfortunately, I don't know the methods they use to register Gifts. Either way, I should just wait till Profile finishes with his work.' Zeno thinks to himself.
Truth be told, if it was a normal Gift like the Short Sword that he had awakened, it would have been okay. But he doesn't want anyone to know about Profile, if the situation helps it. After all, having one of your tricks up the sleeve exposed is not a good thing.
"So why don't we go this evening after the classes? What do you say?"
Adam asks after thinking for some time. He managed to finish his meal pretty fast and was raring to go out. It seems he is ready to disappear into the streets like usual.
"I mean, I don't get to have a choice in this. Do I?" Zeno asks back. By evening, Profile will be coming online. After consulting with Profile, he could decide what to do.
Hearing Zeno's response, Adam just smiles and runs off onto the streets disappearing into thin air. Unlike last time, Zeno doesn't even bother to check where he went. He knew that unless he is able to learn the 'Fleeting Cloud Steps', he won't be able to even catch the shadow of Adam.
Ever since Zeno downed that potion yesterday, he has got a slightly big appetite for himself lately. Since it wasn't that much of an increase from before, he doesn't think it would be a problem for him right now.
There was still much time left before the classes. So he decides to 'Scan & Process' the books he has in his possession in the meantime. He had been thinking about it for sometime, but didn't get the time to do so until now.
The first book he selects is the Language Studies text : 'Lingua - The World Language'. The author is a philosopher who died two centuries ago. This is an old edition book which was updated 6 years ago by his successors , which is more than sufficient for Zeno's usage.
'Scan'
The familiar blue light flash from his hand through the closed book held in his right hand. Since he was using the skill without any guidance from Profile, it took much longer than usual.
This time, there is no notification asking whether to process the book. Zeno voluntarily summons a virtual copy of it from the hidden codex and invokes the code to use his other skill - 'Virtual Processor'.
'Process'
This time too, the time taken was much longer with a huge volume of information getting transferred to his brain at a slower rate. He still can't understand how an AI like Profile could perceive many things unique to humans and manage to transfer its essence to his brain to make him feel like he had spent 10 years learning that text. He is now able to read without any confusion and understand completely each and every word written in all those books.
New words and vocabulary in Lingua language which he never knew before rushes into his mind. The only downside however was the enormous headache which comes along with it.
'It's this goddamn pain that makes me want to not do this anymore.
What sort of heavy books are these people giving to the small kids?
Do they not even want the kids to focus on studies? Maybe they just want to have the kids quit studying and focus more on Advancing.'
Zeno makes a wild guess in his mind while reading the thick pages of the scanned book filled with literature and poems to see whether he understands it.
Even though Zeno could recall its contents like it was he who had authored this book, he was still skeptical of his most used ability. Even if he is able to memorise and recall the whole book, it necessarily doesn't mean he could understand what the author is conveying through these words.
For example, the user could read and memorise a thesis about what love is. But that doesn't mean he can understand the author's concept of love. He can only try to understand the author's concept of love while comparing it with his own concept of love he has from his own experience.
The worrying fact however is that without guidance of Profile while using the skill, he can only 'Scan & Process' one large book of more or less 300 pages at a time.
It is not because the skill is limited in its usage or because it has a cooltime. Nor is it because of energy consumption that usually bothers him. It is his mental capacity that is taking a hit here and limiting the skill's usage.
Whenever his energy reserves go empty he could just meditate using the 'Taoist Breathing Technique' and refill his World Energy upto limit. But his mental fortitude cannot be repaired the same way. It will take a few hours before he can get his mental capability back to normal.
Seeing that its time to go to the Academy, he leaves for the Academy with a groggy head upon his shoulder.
~Meanwhile, in another place~
Somewhere in an alley hidden from the public, the burly man and his two underlings whom Zeno had knocked out yesterday are still lying unconscious down on the ground. Since not many people pass through that part of road adjacent to the alley, nobody comes to wake them up.
The morning sun rays fall upon his face waking up from his slumber. His vision is still not intact and could see only blurrily. He tries to move around only to notice himself being tied up. Looking around, he notices his accomplice duo lying down unconscious on the ground.
'Dammit! Did I, Billy really get knocked out because of a puny kid?
Tim and Kim doesn't look that good either.'
Billy thinks to himself noticing his accomplices' state. Kim was only unconscious. But in case of Tim, his whole nose had become bright red like a tomato. Billy comes out of his thoughts and struggles to get up.
Noticing a sharp pain in his shoulders, he could feel his fractured shoulderbones. He curses the kid out aloud swearing to torture him if ever finds him again and goes on to wake up the duo because there was an urgent matter they had to do.
Billy was supposed to pay some money to a person last midnight. Thinking about it, he automatically reaches for the pockets only to notice his pouch was missing.
"Shit! Shit! SHIT!! That sonofabitch brat f*cking dared to ROB me! That was supposed to be the fees for last week's robbery."
Billy once again curses out aloud worrying about his new plight. He couldn't stop sweating thinking about the consequences he was going to face.
Generally Outer Village residents, those who constitute the population residing in the slum areas on the village outskirts have a sense of distrust and disgust towards those rich and wealthy staying in the Inner Village area.
Similarly the few rich people in the village would even buy the services of the military guards who are supposed to guard the village during emergencies such as a monster horde attack in order to protect only their assets.
In this way, even if there's no wall separating them, there is an invisible wall the residents built among themselves in their hearts separating them apart. That is why some of the Outer Village residents resort to robbing those from Inner Village and making a living from it.
Billy is such a person and also a member in one of the robbery gangs operating in Reedling Village. These gangs rob from houses that are situated in the central part of the village, i.e from the Inner Village area.
These gangs are supposed to pay protection fees for every week's work to a person called the 'Ripper', who controls all these gangs. Any gang failing to do so will face retaliation from the Ripper himself and he is no merciful man either.
Billy didn't know what to do so he just starts to kick the duo lying till they wake up.
"Ouch!! Ouch! Man, who the fuck's stomping me….. Sorry, I didn't know it was you Boss."
"What... happened, Boss? Why are you angry?
Why… is the sun coming up there? Wasn't it midnight just before?"
Billy was getting frustated seeing them both still staying comfortable on the ground babbling to themselves.
"You bastards have the gall to fuck up and still has time to talk shit.
The lil brat has robbed all of us, you buffoons.
Get up, you assholes."
He continues to kick them while screaming which brings them back to their senses. They remember what happened last night and find themselves robbed too. They too curse out aloud and search here and there for their pouches only to end up in vain.
"What do we do, now?" Kim asks.
"There is nothing else to do, other than tell what happened to that man." Billy replies.
"Are you insane, Boss? If he comes to know, we lost his money, he won't even think twice before killing us." Tim objects.
"If you are so smart, Tim then why don't you go and search the whole village for that kid, huh? I can't even clearly remember how the kid looks except for his gray hair." Billy retorts back.
Tim doesn't know how to reply to that as he felt helpless. The village is too huge and there's no way he could find a gray haired kid whose face he had seen only in the limited light of the night.
Billy and his team doesn't linger much there and leaves for the Outer Village section to meet that person. Their only hope is to beg for forgiveness from him and hope for the best outcome.
After an hour of travelling, they manage to reach their hideout where all the robbery gangs hangout. It is a slum area in the outskirts of the village.
Dilapidated houses with broken walls could be seen everywhere around. Kids could be seen wandering and playing in the streets. Unlike the well dressed people near the market area and Academy, the people here can only be seen wearing tattered clothes riddled with holes.
Billy and his team don't mind the surroundings and enter one of those dilapidated houses. Going in, there is no one else in the place, except for a guy familiar to them who allows them passage to a hidden stairs leading down towards the underground.
Going down the stairs, there is a large hall underground which is filled with people here and there. Billy ignores the familiar faces calling out to him and moves straight for the room in the deepest part.
"I need to see Ripper. Is he in there?" Billy asks the one of the guys guarding the door.
The guys look at each other before one of the goes in to inform. He comes back and tells only Billy to enter.
On entering the room, Billy is greeted by a view of a well furnished room in which 3 men are kicking a helpless person on the ground who was crying out aloud in pain. Apparently he must have done something that irked Ripper, thought Billy.
"Billy, billy, billy…"
A friendly voice echoes from an elevated seat in the room, hidden by shadows. The room is illuminated by very dim lighting that doesn't allow Billy to see Ripper's face.
"A bird told me that you haven't paid the fees for this week. And now you have come to see me, this morning without my money.
Do you also want to get beaten up just like the guy there?"
Ripper asks while pointing at the guy who was getting beaten up. His tone slowly turning from a friendly one to a colder one with each word.
Billy got the eerie vibes the moment Ripper mentioned about the money. Anyone who had tried to embezzle money out of Ripper and run away had gotten themselves killed in the process. That is why he hadn't ran away and came back straight here after the accident.
Noticing Billy holding his shoulder with another arm, Ripper understood something had gone wrong somewhere.
"Tell me Billy, what really happened?" Ripper asks.