Chereads / Awakening of an Engineer / Chapter 32 - A Conversation

Chapter 32 - A Conversation

Laura was quiet for about a minute, simply walking fast with an angry expression, but it didn't last long.

After spewing profanities for a short bit, she calmed down and we sat under a tree.

"Sorry, you're probably really confused, let me explain. My mother cheated on my father for years after my birth, pretending that it was just by chance that my sisters were all naturals. You already know that my dad's a human and my mom is a natural, so there's no point in hiding it anymore, I'm an unnatural or..." She sighed "half-breed." Laura's eyes never met mine, so this was a source of pain or embarrassment.

'Well, I figured that much when I was told I would have to talk to her about it.'

"Unnaturals either have both or neither of the defining traits of humans and naturals, I have both, I can learn how to control Eneru, and get much stronger than any natural."

"That's a good thing right?"

"No, like a mule, I'll never have kids, not to mention how hard it is to socialize. Most people see me as an abomination so I pretend to be just a natural."

"But that doesn't make any sense! You didn't choose to be born to a human and a natural!"

"I'm glad at least you have a brain, most people don't care, they just want a witch to burn."

"But what if we ju-"

"Look, Ingen, I've been looking for solutions for years. If I can't figure it out, you won't be able to either. I just want to talk to someone about it."

"Alright, I'll keep my mouth shut."

Orin popped out of my shadow and put us on his back, he grew big enough for us to lay on his back a respectful distance apart.

"No need to stay in one place, I know the way."

We were laying silently on Orin's for a few minutes when I spoke.

"How exactly did you get me out of there? Mom said you used the security array, but how did that work?"

"The badge that the captain of the guard gave you lets you pass the array, but as soon as it's gone, the array teleports you to the place you're currently thinking of. I was hoping you would think of your house, but I guess you saw me and thought of home, making the image of my house."

"And how do you know that?"

"I trained under the guard captain."

My head turned from the sky to Laura abruptly. My eyes were wide with amazement.

"Really!? That's so cool!"

Laura looked away from me.

"Well, now that I've told you my life story, tell me yours." She sounded uncomfortable.

"You asked for it, but don't expect a traumatic childhood, I mean other than the times I almost died." I sighed "I can remember almost all of my childhood, even being born. I was nearly blind at birth, and I had two runes carved into my core, Orin's mother told me about them. One means god, the other, Ingen."

"What the hell? That's awesome! It's like a blessing from the gods!"

"I mean, it would explain why I learn so easily, I think I have a mission from the gods to unite this world with technology, starting with this country."

'I never pegged you for the type to mislead a girl for your own benefit.'

"One sec, Spirit is talking to me." My eyes glazed over

'I didn't lie to her, I told the complete truth, the gods are fickle, they might have sent me here to eradicate humans and make an all-natural society, but I think they want me to unite the world.'

My eyes returned to normal.

"Anyway, around my seventh birthday, Spirit woke up and made a toy explode in my face."

"How?"

"I subconsciously used intuitive manipulation on a non-conductive substance, like this:"

I had Orin toss me a dead stick and I used manipulation on it.

Pfft!

The stick turned into soot and covered my body. Laura giggled.

"Moving on, I got sick when Spirit woke up because I wasn't conducive at all. The only reason I'm still here is because Spirit managed to forcibly bind the world energy to me."

I stroked my chin for a moment.

"Wasn't that a binding? I'll have to look into that. I'll finish my story. I got tested for Eneru aptitude, and when I found out I had a superior spirit, dad and I went out back to test out my powers."

"After all that, I found Orin's mom fighting a dire wolf, she beat it, but her wounds were bad and she was going to die, but I used my matter manipulation to heal her internal organs. As a direct result, she told me that she wanted to send Orin with me and we became companions. The only other thing that you don't know about is my fight with Devin."

"You two are inseparable, I can't imagine you fighting."

"Well we did, when I first got here I was really arrogant because I had gained so much power, so I called him small-horns and challenged him. The school heard about it and organized a duel. I wasn't expecting him to absolutely kick my butt. He won because he had been practicing runic spells for a long time. I didn't know a single runic spell, but he was casting one in each hand all the time."

"Dang, not even I can do that! That's crazy."

"We're here!" Orin shouted, he had been running full-tilt the whole time, but we felt no jostling because of Orin's light steps and pressure cushion. I hopped off of Orin's back and helped Laura off.

"I don't need your help off of him! I've done it before myself!" She said while letting me help her down.

Orin disappeared into my shadow and we went into the gate. After a short wait, we were let in and I started to my house, but Laura didn't follow.

"Aren't you coming? Dinner's probably done."

"I can't, mom will be angry if I stay."

"It's dangerous to go into the forest at night, and your mom will be angry if you come home now anyway, so you may as well come with me."

"Fine, but you're taking me home tomorrow so you can share in my punishment." She joked.

"Sure, no problem, but you're going first."