Walking back home, Peter made sure to avoid bumping into or talking to anyone on the streets.
Entering his house, Peter made sure to lock the door behind him before making his way up to his room. With a short-term goal in mind, the young man deemed there was no time to waste.
'Okay, so I need a reason to get stronger. What should it be?' as Peter started to scratch his head, a plethora of reasons flooded his mind. He could grow stronger because he wanted to cure his ill mother. He could choose to pursue power because he desired his autonomy and wanted to create a place where he and his dear mother would be safe on their own.
He could search for his other childhood friend Kelly, whom he hadn't talked to in years. However, this reason paled in comparison to the first two. Scratching his head, Peter just couldn't feel it. And by 'feel', he couldn't sense a resonation with any of the ideas that had popped into his head.
This was going to be a problem. Without a central motive behind his actions, Peter would find it hard to get up every day and train his powers.
For his mother, it was the realization that she was the only woman in his life who truly cared about him, and had stuck by him through thick and thin, so it was only natural for Peter to find reason in helping her.
For his best friend, it was the fact that the latter always stood up for Peter during his school years, even though he would constantly tell Andrew he didn't need his help. Still, the unwavering loyalty Andrew has shown towards him had made Peter consider him as someone dear to him.
But in this case, Peter was still finding it hard to create a reason for growing his Necromancer powers, despite the reasons being quite obvious. Just as he thought, without that deep resonation, his reasons would just be empty ideas that did not weigh them.
Since midnight was already approaching, Peter decided to put those thoughts to the back of his mind as he quickly went to sleep. He needed all the energy he could muster for the experiments he planned to carry out the next day.
______
Getting up at the expected time, Peter got dressed and headed toward the cemetery to begin his first round of experiments. Arriving at the entrance to the cemetery, Peter began looking for any dead animal he could experiment on as he walked in.
After searching for a while, he eventually came upon a dead squirrel. Although it seemed more like a husk of its former self, the young man still chose to test his luck. Placing his hand on the shriveled-up squirrel, Peter began to concentrate.
'Before coming here today, I made sure I refilled my energy bar to the max. Although I am enjoying the cheap energy refill, I can't help but feel such a luxury won't last forever,' Peter thought. Noticing a system notification had appeared, he quickly shifted his focus.
[Necromancer Ability Activated]
[-20 Energy Points]
The squirrel, which was nothing but a dried-up husk, began to move. Although most of its internal organs were crisp-dry, the rodent still managed to stand on its two feet, its skin being more elastic and flexible, however, still did not have any internal organs, or eyes, for that matter.
'Remarkable! Truly remarkable!!' Peter thought, admiring his creation. 'I may not have the power to bring the dead back to life, but at least I can control the dead however I wish. Now, let's test a few things out.'
Standing upright, Peter raised his right hand, and the squirrel did the same. It was surreal, like a VR game, only with a dead rodent.
Thrusting his fist forward, the squirrel correspondently did the same. Repeating the action, this time adding a few kicks, the squirrel mimicked every one of his movements.
'Man, I've hit the jackpot with this one!' Peter thought, walking forward and placing his hand on the squirrel's head again.
[Necromancer Ability Deactivated]
[Energy Points: 80/100]
'Ever since gifting me this power, the system A.I. seemed to have gone inactive. I don't know whether this is a good thing or not, but after having the opportunity to test out my Necromancer power, I can't help but crave more power,' Peter thought to himself.
Still, since the system A.I. was inactive, it just meant that Peter would have to focus on practicing with his Necromancer power. But in addition, there was an issue with that, as well.
With no response from the system A.I., and having no idea of his power scaling, the young man felt like he had been placed on a plateau once again. Reasoning with himself, Peter realized he had made a huge blunder.
Having this bottleneck placed on him, it would be foolish of him to waste his energy on meaningless experiments that held no value. Since the system had placed him in this scenario, and with it perhaps truly being a scammer system, the young man should be more complacent in using his power, only applying it in situations where they are truly needed, something Peter didn't assume would happen that often, anyway.
Nevertheless, the young man would have to decide on a better course of action once the time arises, but for now, he would just head back home and catch some Z's since he had nothing else, in particular, to do so early in the morning.
___________
'I wonder where he's going so early in the morning,' Andrew thought, seeing Peter leave his house dressed in dark clothes with a hood over his head. The former had been passing by the streets for a couple of days now, going on his new daily morning jog regime.
A few days ago, while he was jogging, he had passed by Peter's house. However, from a distance, the former could see the latter leaving his house, something Andrew knew was unlikely of Peter to do so early in the morning, having known him for most of his life.
At first, the college student chose not to pry into his friend's business. But, after witnessing the same action for three days in a row, he couldn't help himself and chose to stalk Peter from a distance.
Having followed him into the town's cemetery, Andrew started feeling goosebumps thinking about just what Peter could be doing at a place like this so early in the morning.
Waiting until Peter was well inside the cemetery, the college student made his way in as well, tip-toeing to go hide behind some bushes.
Raising his head, Andrew could see Peter, however, upon observing what the latter was doing, Andrew couldn't help but feel disgusted. Standing not too far away, a shrouded Peter could be seen placing his hand on a dead squirrel. But, the next thing Andrew saw almost made him blow his cover in shock.
The dead squirrel suddenly stood on its own two feet. What's more, the squirrel would mimic all of Peter's movements like a trained robot. Andrew wasn't sure whether he was hallucinating or not, but he choose to blame what he was currently perceiving on the heavy booze he had drunk in the afternoon.
After a few rounds of punches and kicks, Peter went to touch the squirrel again, after which it fell back to the ground, lifeless.
This was huge. Peter had the power to summon the dead. Andrew couldn't stop himself from thinking about how famous Peter could become if he choose to let the public know of this power he had. However, remembering the current apocalypse that had been weighing down on humanity for over a century, the college student remembered that it would be better if he kept Peter's powers a secret from the general public.
The government, politicians, factions, secret societies, and a wide variety of other groups would be after Peter if they caught a whiff of his power, something Andrew couldn't bring himself to do to his best friend.
Peter still had his own life to live, and an ill mother to care for. He didn't have time to play lab rat for some highly-sponsored corporation.
Noticing Peter had exited the cemetery, Andrew waited for a while, before exiting as well. He decided he would not let Peter know he had discovered his secret. Still, armed with this new information, Andrew didn't know what he would do with it.
______
Once Peter had made it back home, he did just what he said he would: sleep his way till 6:00 am.
Still having no means of moving forward, the young man felt constricted, something Peter severely detested. He hated it when someone, or something, was the decider of his fate. It made him, his dreams, wishes, and problems, all feel insignificant. And because of what? Just because this decider himself/herself didn't have these problems to deal with.
'I need to stop thinking too much about what I can't control. Let me focus on what I can, instead. Tomorrow, I'll start learning how I can control my emotions from some of those Patha influencers.' Peter thought to himself.