Home Security

Nathan wanted to start training Sillia immediately. After all, awakeners could manage on less sleep than ordinary people.

However, Sillia had awakened just a few hours ago. The awakening itself usually took some energy. She had yet to get used to being an awakener. She had worked hard. She had been stressed.

Almost as soon as Nathan's comforting words sank in, Sillia started getting sleepy. It was like the fatigue she should have accumulated during the day hit her at once.

Sillia yawned and mumbled an unintelligible good night before returning to her room.

Nathan sighed and focused on his own training. Since Terrence was asleep, he could only focus on overusing his skill to pressure and acclimate his body.

After a few hours of tracking a couple of nearby rats around the neighborhood, Nathan also grabbed himself a couple of hours of sleep.

The following day proceeded much in a similar manner as the last. Everyone except Terrence worked hard until it was time to close.

Sillia wanted to keep her skill and awakening a secret until she could reveal it with some confidence. Nathan didn't mind helping her do that.

So, they waited until everyone was asleep before gathering in the kitchen.

"You ready?"

Sillia nodded. They hadn't said anything last night or during the day. But they had tacitly decided to meet up late in the night.

"So am I. What are you waiting for?"

Nathan flashed a teasing smile. Even if it was the first time Sillia used her skill, it shouldn't be difficult to actually use it. She would have a lot of room to improve and effectivize her usage. But only in extremely rare cases did an awakener have trouble using their skill after awakening.

Sillia ignored Nathan and closed her eyes to focus.

She had never done anything like it before, but she instinctively knew what to do. She activated her Home Security.

Nathan's eyes practically glowed as he focused Peerless Perception into them while watching Sillia and her skill as it unfolded and wrapped around their home. He saw a faint translucent barrier appear around the restaurant and their side of the building a meter outside the wall.

It didn't stretch and envelop the neighbors next to them or on the other side, behind the back wall.

Nathan frowned.

However, it still intruded into their apartments.

If this was the secure perimeter that restricted access, the neighbors would have lost several square feet of surface in their apartments for no reason. As they investigated, they would sooner or later identify the Hobsters as the source.

When Sillia opened her eyes with a happy grin on her face, Nathan looked at her.

"Can you shrink it?"

Sillia tilted her head.

"It's encroaching on our neighbors. Although you will need to keep the door open for customers, you should keep everything secure when we close. As it is now, you've robbed our neighbors of a lot of space. I think you've even cut a toilet in half."

Sillia's first thought was that Nathan was kind and thoughtful since he didn't want to bother the neighbors. Then, she realized that Nathan had a better grasp of her skill's reach than she did. Lastly, she figured out that Nathan didn't just mean that he had 20/20 sight when he said he had decent eyes last night.

"You also have a skill…?"

Sillia stared at Nathan with wide eyes. She hadn't expected her boss' son to be an awakener, too. What were the odds? And what was he doing working in a restaurant when he could be a hero or something?

"Didn't I say as much last night? Focus, please, before anyone notices. It would be a shame to cause a disturbance."

Under Nathan's intense gaze, Sillia awkwardly nodded and closed her eyes to focus on her skill again.

When she activated it, she had only cared about establishing security around what she considered her home. She hadn't bothered with any details. But now, she thoroughly analyzed the borders of what she subconsciously deemed her home. She shrank the barrier until it hugged the outer wall like a coat of paint. If someone tried to enter or came in contact with it, they wouldn't notice a difference as long as they weren't sensitive like Nathan.

But if someone tried to enter, attack, or breach the walls, the barrier would protect them and prevent harm to the building.

"Perfect. I'm assuming this barrier is the bare minimum, right? You mentioned monitoring the surroundings last night. How does that work?"

Sillia was silent for a minute as she closed her eyes and focused on her skill.

"...I can manually sink my consciousness into the barrier and scan the surroundings. But it also seems like I can set up cameras and a room with monitors."

"...Just not here."

Sillia nodded. There wasn't enough room to do it in their house, at least not without severely affecting someone's living and sleeping.

It was a shame, but it looked like they would have to rely on Sillia's capabilities until they could either expand their home or move to something bigger.

"What about defense or anti-intrusion?"

After another long pause, Sillia spoke again.

"It looks like there are some methods. But it feels like they will be very taxing to activate or use for more than a few moments."

Nathan nodded in understanding.

"I see. Nothing a little training won't fix."

"Training?"

Nathan nodded again.

"I'm not sure people right now are very aware of it. But the performance of skills is noticeably related to the awakener's constitution. The sturdier your body, the more power you can draw out from your skill, is the gist of it."

Sillia's eyes shone with enlightenment. 

That enlightenment soon turned to eagerness as she looked forward to unleashing the full potential of her skill.

Even if she had just awakened and only activated her skill some half an hour ago, Sillia was already feeling a rush from standing out from the masses, from being special. That feeling made her want more.

Nathan shook his head slightly as Sillia sank into daydreams about the future and how strong she would be then.

It was a common enough occurrence that he wasn't surprised.

But that desire for more, regardless of how innocent it began, could be corrupted and become twisted.

Right now, Sillia wanted to become stronger to use more of her skill to guarantee the safety of Anita and Terrence. But one step off the path could quickly turn that honest wish into something twisted. Sillia could develop an obsession with keeping the Hobsters safe to the point she wouldn't let them take a single step outside her skill.

Nathan knew better than anyone how easily something like that could happen.

After all, he had done it intentionally and invoked such developments in several of his rival candidates before his regression.

But Nathan was reluctant to see his hard work and useful tool go down the drain. Fortunately, he knew how to prevent it as well.