21 21. First two skills
With that goal in mind, he knocked on his neighbor's door. Not the bard, his other neighbor. A dark, middle-aged man with sleepy eyes.
"Hey, did I wake you up?" Gaus said apologetically.
"You didn't. Whasup?" The man answered annoyingly.
"Oh, I thought you were sleeping since your eyes are looking..."
"My eyes are naturally like this," he snapped. "Tell me why you are here."
"Can't a neighbor greet their neighbor just for the sake of it?" Gaus asked with a shrug and a slight frown.
The man gave him a half-hearted smile before he 'thanked' him and went back inside. All along Gaus had been trying to sense the guy's longevity energy around his umbilicus but to no avail. It seemed he needed a push. With that in mind, he went to the female dorm and looked for district 7, room 12.
He knocked three times and waited by the door. While waiting, he opened the class group to see if there was anything of importance. It had been hours since he opened it.
<Tiara: is it true?
Cara: what is?
Tiara: that the new class rep is hitting on the former class rep?
Cara: what? Antelina?
Tiara: no, Ariwen of the First World. My sources just saw him well-dressed and knocking at her door. He's been knocking for ages but Ariwen didn't respond.
Cara: oh my God, he went to the female dorm? Then it is true.
Gatan: stop destroying the patriarch's good image.
Cara: er... it's not a lie if Tiara saw it.
Tiara: point of correction, I didn't see it myself it was my source living in the district. And Gatan is right we need to ask the 'patriarch' tomorrow to confirm it.>
Gaus gritted his teeth as he furiously looked around to see if anyone was spying on him. He almost bolted out of the building when the door creaked.
Ariwen peeped through the narrow opening with an expressionless face.
"Hey, can I come in?"
She didn't frown, which Gaus took as a good sign, but there was some tension in the air as she scrutinized him and considered letting him inside. After what seemed like a long time she gestured for him to enter with her head.
"Thank you."
Once inside the brightly lit room, he saw the famous babies on the bed. One looked to be around two years and the other three. Gaus went directly to the bed and picked the closest baby in a friendly gesture. Little did he know the baby would cling to him and refused to let go even after Ariwen had decided to chase him out.
"What an adorable kid. Who's the father?" He asked, curiously looking at Ariwen through the corner of his eyes.
Ariwen didn't frown. Her answer came as good as any natural response. "You."
Gaus stopped pecking the baby and looked at her.
"Me?" He giggled. "Where I come from girls rarely give birth at your age."
"Where I come from they do."
Another silence.
"Tea?"
"No, thank you. I was just saying hello to my classmates and someone told me your room is nearby."
"That's touching."
Gaus frowned.
"You woke me up," she complained.
She didn't look like she was sleeping at all, after all, how could she sleep fully dressed and with a bow strapped to her back?
"Sorry for disturbing your peace. I never thought it was a problem since I rarely sleep because of the time loop." Gaus said, stalling as he tried to sense the baby's immature cord.
"I wasn't sleeping when the loop started so it's only natural to compensate and sleep early." She explained.
Huh? But he was also starting the loop fully awake. Why didn't he need any sleep?
"I must sleep for at least two hours every loop," she added.
"I'll take my leave then." He tried to put the baby down but the baby refused to let go.
"Hey, my adorable, you should go to sleep now before your mama gets angry at me." He playfully tried to put the baby on the bed near the other baby but it refused to let go.
Gaus turned to Ariwen. "Help," he mouthed.
Ariwen sighed softly and walked towards him. "You want to get in trouble, don't you?"
Gaus was starting to dislike this girl just for her arrogant tone.
"Don't frown," she said in response to his look. "You go around pumping your mana into the surrounding world essence and affecting everything around you, including my babies. I would say you are looking for trouble."
Okay. That was slandering at its finest. He wasn't pumping anything; he was born like this.
"I don't know what you are talking about," Gaus said.
Ariwen touched the baby and he immediately let go of Gaus.
She lay the two babies back on the bed and Gaus was surprised to see them go to sleep almost immediately.
<Congratulations, you've successfully learned longevity sense.
Longevity sense
Rank:?
What if mana sense doesn't work or is too limited? You've to remember that mana sense is a common skill that everyone can use. Mages, especially assassins, have developed many ways around it over the years. To differentiate yourself among your peers, you need to go beyond what is common and be ready to use something very few mages are willing to use because of the fear it will drain their lifespan. Use longevity sense to feel the very energy supporting the lifespan of everyone.
Range: 10m square area for every 1 MP mixed with the world essence. Your range is naturally over 2000 meters.
Cost: 5 MP per minute (will decrease with leveling up).>
Having successfully learned the skill, he decided to leave before Tiara started another gossip.
"Okay. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
He was almost at the exit door when he suddenly felt an insurmountable pressure weighing down on him like a thousand mountains. Using longevity sense, he saw the uncaring, endless, dark void known as the world essence, and in it there were areas of warm energy welcoming him, signifying his mana. His longevity energy was concentrated around the center of his abdomen in the form of a long, coiling chain, hanging from his umbilicus like a demonic tail. A pair of gigantic hands made of world essence was trying to pull this demonic tail out of him.
With but a single will, he used his mana to create an even bigger pair of hands from world essence and he went directly for Ariwen's 'tail' and pulled it with all his willpower. Just before he wrenched it out the girl used an unknown skill and severed the connection. She fell on her knees bleeding from her nose and mouth.
Gaus stared at her with the same expressionless face she'd been giving him.
"I... am... sorry," she stuttered. "I didn't mean to hurt you; I was just... testing.."
Testing, huh?
Gaus took a handkerchief from his jacket and cleaned the blood at the corners of her mouth.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that either."
After a moment of silent stare, Gaus headed to the exit. "See you tomorrow in class."
The first thing he checked once outside the room was the new notification blinking at the corner of his eyes.
<Congratulations, you've successfully learned the skill cord pulling.
Cord pulling
Rank:?
A natural time mage shouldn't bother with petty attacks that will only hurt the physique. Longevity was the origin of all. Touch it and everything will crumble like a house of cards. Use longevity pull to destabilize a person's longevity by pulling their cord and consequently stop their mana from activating any skill and even knock them out.
Range: 1m square area per 1 MP. Your range is naturally over 200 meters.
Cost: 15 MP (will decrease with leveling up).>
This done, he went to Nascentos in hope of doing some raiding and leveling up. The keeper promptly told him he was banned from entering the dungeon. What was even worse was he was banned from entering any of the remaining sub-dungeons. According to the keepers he'd interrogated, the academy had 'recognized' his efforts and had rewarded him with a permit to enter the dungeon beneath the academy. One keeper went 'out of his way' and gave Gaus a registration plate in the form of a tablet that would allow him to enter the dungeon beneath. Gaus couldn't help thinking the keepers had been waiting for him to come back and had planned everything. They did give him food (which he didn't take) and allowed him to train skywalk and raise his physique to the peak of level 1 again. He hoped against all odds he could retain it when the loop restarted.
After leaving the sub-dungeons, he ran around the academy hoping to see something he could copy but there was no one throwing spells in the academy this late. The fireballs and lightning bolts all had some stupid requirements that involved taming a spirit.
Enough for one day. It was already midnight and the world was about to end.
He used his key to open the door and stepped inside. The lesson of the day was there were skills he just couldn't copy. He didn't know what they were exactly but he suspected watch skills and the dark arts since he couldn't copy Antelina and Ariwen. Also, he knew how he ended up with clones as bodyguards after reading the book and he was ready to investigate further. But that would have to wait until Tyren was dealt with. He still didn't know why the stick didn't (couldn't) hurt him. Was he immune to anything plant? Did it have to do with his affinity as well, or was it something else entirely?
