Chapter 16 - Chapter 15 - Welcome to school (5)

Soon after the crowd had dispersed, Marnie reappeared with a purse on her shoulder.

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I followed her outside of the main building, towards the house shared by Faye and her. Having reached the kitchen I sat at the table, while she cooked for both of us. We consumed our meal in an awkward silence. Once we were done eating, Marnie broke the ice.

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Marnie's tone was sincere. I decided to ask what had been on my mind for a while.

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My question left Marnie in a daze.

<<... Could you please elaborate?>>

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Marnie remained silent for a bit, before opening her mouth once again.

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Now, it was my turn to be in a daze. Marnie continued speaking.

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<<... Is that how that guy burned me? Did he make a fire out of aura?>>

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The archumans I knew of were humans physically strengthened to various degrees by the mysterious force known as aura. The guy I had fought didn't correspond to anything I had designed: he actually produced palpable flames. Archs could have peculiar abilities, but they shouldn't have had anything this concrete. It reminded me of how genais operated with mana. Something strange was going on.

Marnie distracted me from my thoughts.

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I decided to not pay much attention to her digression. Seemed like she resented my kind for some reason, but I considered it wiser not to dig into it. Anyway, apparently I was quite the singular case from the view point of this world .

<> I asked.

She showed me quite the embarrassed smile.

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Marnie pondered which words to use.

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I understood what she was trying to say. The difference could appear to be subtle, but was indeed significant. Modern archs were equipped with a powerful energy, which they could employ to produce various phenomena, like strengthening oneself or producing flames, but at the end of the day they were still fundamentally human. Aura manipulation was the foundation of their strength and they used it to do the impossible. Ancient archs, the ones I had designed, were different. They could redirect their aura through their body to influence specific body parts, but what truly set them apart were the mutations they underwent due to aura: toughening of the skin, hardening of the bones, strengthening of the muscles and alteration of the metabolism. Aura itself was of secondary importance and probably a consequence of the mutation, not its origin.

Humanity's nature was certainly strongly defined by its limits and constraints. While modern archs had a way to avoid these limits thanks to the powers they were imbued with, ancient archs were not subjected to many of them. For this reason, from a certain point of view, they couldn't truly be considered humans and, from what Marnie was trying to suggest, in many cases they didn't behave as such. This was in accord with my memory, where archumans were indeed… "peculiar" individuals.

<> I spoke after a long silence.

Marnie once again gave me an embarrassed smile.

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I nodded in understanding. From what I had gathered from the crowd, the two brothers were basically the school undisputed leaders. Moreover, Marnie Bridges was clearly a renowned archumans: the arrival of a new arch, accompanied by someone of her calibre, was perceived as a threat to their position. Their only sin was the inability to properly gauge their opponent.

A small clap attracted my attention.

<> said Marnie with her usual cheerful voice, putting an end to our conversation.

I deemed satisfactory the obtained amount of information, so I stood up, ready to follow her. Suddenly, she whirled around.

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I had completely forgotten about my wound. I had been too engrossed in my own thoughts, but once I thought about it, my shoulders started to sting once again. I took the package she had gotten out of her purse and started applying the ointment on my burn, while following her out of the door.

I let her guide me through the campus, towards my new living place. Soon, we reached a previously unvisited part of the complex. It was an open space well lit by the Sun and with numerous trees among which beautiful little cottages stood. We approached one of the nearest one.

<> asked Marney.

<> I answered satisfied.

Marney smiled and gave me a warm goodbye, leaving me with a pair of keys. When I neared the door, I heard someone inside. Seemed like I was going to have roommates. I knocked on the door, waiting for an answer. Soon after, the door opened, and a familiar face appeared.

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The person who had appeared was none-other than the sleeping Erik, who bit his tongue when he saw me.

<> I smiled.

I could see the uneasiness in Erik's eyes. Even if this was another world, rumours still spread fast.