Hailey and I both felt that we had some sort of connection. Our bond deepened even more, and now we felt we were on the same page in a lot of ways. When our food arrived, we both felt that the serving sizes were a little small, and looked at each other. We both shared the same tacit understanding. We paid for our food after we finished eating, and made our way to a buffet. Neither of us had grown up rich, and so we didn't really appreciate fine dining, we more appreciated a full stomach. After eating enough for us to finally get full, we left the buffet and made our way to a movie theater.
Staring at all the options, we decided to pick one that was a horror movie. We bought snacks and drinks, making our way to our seats afterwards, and sat down. When the movie started, there was a long buildup for the action, but when the movie started becoming scary people started screaming. Hailey and I only sat there with blank looks on our faces.
'Did we use to find stuff like this scary?' we both thought to ourselves. We once again, realized that somethings we used to enjoy, just weren't for us anymore. We instead decided that we wanted to get a little active, so we went for a walk to finish our night out.
We walked around a large lake, with a clean paved sidewalk all the way around. The moon reflected in the surface, and we both stopped to look as it stayed still like a painting.
"It feels like we have aged decades, in the span of a few days, hasn't it?" Hailey asked.
"I think we have just experienced a lot, and if enjoying the quiet moments makes us old then so be it. I couldn't stand those people screaming in the theater. I was trying to just enjoy a movie and they were so loud!" I replied, I was indeed upset by the people who felt the need to scream as loud as possible to small things happening in the movie.
"Hahaha! You are just like an old man!" Hailey laughed, smacking me in the arm as she called me an old man.
"Is this considered elder abuse then? I should report you to the authories!" I said, waving my finger at her.
We both stood still for a moment before we burst into laughter, holding our stomachs and bending over to catch our breaths. We stood up finally and had tears in our eyes from laughing.
As we wiped them away, we both became silent again.
"I feel like we don't belong anymore. I feel like we came back and we're suddenly like aliens who are trying to fit into human society... It saddens me a little, especially when I think about my family and how I live this second life now.. I feel like a monster in human skin." Hailey said quietly.
"Maybe we are monster compared to normal people, but I think we are still human. We experience emotions just like everyone else around us, we just have different priorities and experiences. Not many people experience fighting with their lives on the line, and even fewer can say they're growing stronger. Our growth is just so visible, it is hard not to feel out of place in our own skin. We haven't had the chance to get used to it, and honestly, if I was given the chance to go back to my normal life, I wouldn't... I am okay with what I am right now, and I think the sooner you accept yourself the better. You are villainizing yourself, which is making it harder for you to accept your changes. Just remember, no matter what, I'll always accept what you become."
Hailey just nodded silently, with tears coming down her face. We both understood one thing: we couldn't live in this world anymore, not like everyone else. We knew much more was happening behind the scenes, and that humans we just a tiny fraction of it.
However! That didn't mean we couldn't enjoy things. Hailey's voracious appetite got the better of her already, and asked to get more food. We went through a drive-thru and she got herself more food. It must have been a side effect of her continuos Regeneration with her skill, so I didn't think too much about it. As she was devouring her fast food in the car, I was standing outside looking at the system.
Theodore bought the [Mana Sense] skill from the store. The moment he bought it and learned the skill, his body experienced a euphoric feeling. It felt like his entire body had gone numb, and now he was experiencing the prickling needles that came with moving a limb. I felt something seep into all the pores of my skin at once, that made its way around my body before settling into my core.
[You have successfully sensed mana. Unlocked the Mana stat.]
As I began to let my senses spread, I realized something weird.
How was there mana in our world? Was that not a little weird? Even with people controlling information, I feel like someone would have told others about the existence of mana, or people born with natural propensity towards mana detection.
"Hailey. I think the war between Heaven and Hell, is going to take place here... On our planet." I said, leaning down to the window of the car.
Hailey wiped her face, and looked at me. "Why do you think that?"
"I am able to Sense mana here, which I feel is weird, since no one has naturally awakened mana and told others about it. Which I feel is unlikely. Also how would we be transported to Dungeons? It can't just happen out of nowhere, so something is powering our teleportation. All this, and the presence of angels and Demons, I think they wouldn't use avatars just for recruiting."
Hailey mulled over my words, while nodding. "What does this mean then?"
"It means we have to prepare for chaos to descend onto normal people. We have to get stronger, and find more Hunters." I immediately put a post onto the largest forum site, saying I had a sighting of a man who performed supernatural feats in my neighborhood. I received criticism, however I didn't care about normal people. I knew Hunters would see this post and flock to it. So I closed my phone, ignoring the disbelievers. Hailey and I both headed back to my house, we had a great time relaxing, but we knew we had things to do. We had to go back into the Dungeons and get stronger.