Free Web NovelChapter 59: Chapter 58 - Overloaded
Point-of-View: Aurora Pretorius
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"Hey, you, what’s with your eyes? The whites of your eyes are pitch black...talk about creepy," Remarked the brown haired woman, as she walked over.
What was the advice Alexis gave me again...right, if someone’s trying to provoke me, then I should unleash my Aura...
"W-woah...!" Stuttered Alexis, collapsing onto one knee before I felt a pressure coming from her, pushing against my pressure as she slowly stood back up.
That’s right, I remember feeling similar resistances from those people that attacked me...but her resistance is much, much stronger than I felt from any of them, including the black haired woman who escaped at the end. This must be the difference between an Outlier and a ’normal’ Meta-Human.
"Wh-what the hell...!?" Stuttered the brown haired woman, stumbling back in shock.
Wow, it really worked, that was easy. Oh, looks like everyone here is struggling, I better reign it in...
"Damn, that was intense," Gasped Alexis, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Oh, I’m sorry," I apologized sheepishly.
"N-no, I was the one who advised you to do that, so it’s all good."
I heard hurried footsteps approaching the cafeteria from outside, before someone appeared by the entrance. Oh, it’s the other woman from yesterday, the shy one who also helped me pick out clothes. She quickly walked over to the brown haired woman with a look of alarm in her eyes...
"U-um, Miss Tara, p-please don’t start any trouble," She pleaded nervously.
"Excuse me?" She snapped in response, before clicking her tongue irritably and walking away as she muttered, "Tch, whatever..."
"Kiyana...why is she back here!?" Alexis inquired in a sharp whisper.
"Sorry...the higher ups decided to post a Category 0 here, to keep an eye on Miss Aurora. But they picked the one who’s least suited to do such a thing," She sighed in reply.
To keep an eye on me? Am I really that much stronger than everyone else here that they see much as such a threat? Well, it did feel like that brown haired woman’s Aura pressure is a lot weaker than mine, so maybe that really is the case.
"Hey, come on, let’s eat, shall we?" Suggested Alexis, before turning to Kiyana, "Why don’t you join us too?"
"Oh, um...well, I guess I am feeling a bit hungry. Sure, I’ll join you two."
We then picked an empty table to sit at while she went to get a meal packet for herself, before joining us as she received it.
"Why didn’t they just assign Neo instead of the bitch?" Inquired Alexis with a look of exasperation.
"Well, he’s arguably the most important Category 0 to Harmony, and consequently the most busy. And Miss Tara is probably...the least important one. Despite being highly skilled, she’s got, uh...personality issues, as you might have guessed," Kiyana replied quietly.
"Yeah, well, I bet she doesn’t know that. Still, I can’t understand why they sent her, she’ll almost definitely make things worse," Frowned Alexis apprehensively.
"Oh, it’s not just her. They also sent a Category 1, Miss Liling Jin. She partnered Neo on the last mission, so they assigned her too. Though, well, her main task is to keep Miss Tara in check."
"What? And she agreed to something like that?" Responded Alexis with a raised eyebrow.
"The thing is, she’s not very good at saying no to people," Explained Kiyana, as I began unwrapping my breakfast, a shredded beef submarine.
"Excuse me, um...I want to get some...meat for Dot, my cheetah. Where can I...get some from?" I asked Kiyana.
"Oh, I’m not sure, sorry...hold on, I’ll message Neo about it, he should be able to bring some here pretty easily. I’m guessing you want raw meat for her?" She replied, as she took out her phone.
"No, cooked meat...she’s never eaten raw meat before."
"Huh? How’s that possible? Wait, did you cook meat for her?" She responded in surprise.
"Yes...the cheetahs I lived with would hunt...deer, zebra and other animals and then...bring them to the den, and...I would then cook the meat," I explained to her.
"Hold on a sec...wow, uh, this raises a lot of questions. So, uh...how much meat did you eat on a daily basis?" Alexis chimed in curiously.
"I don’t know exactly how much...but I would eat my fill about...three or four times a day."
Oh, that’s right, I still haven’t really told them anything about myself.
"What kind of meat did you like the most? And did you do anything for spices or flavor? Oh, and does that mean-...sorry, got kinda carried away, probably shouldn’t bother you with so many questions while we’re eating," She apologized sheepishly, as she caught herself, "If it’s okay with you, mind telling me later? I’ve just got a lot of questions."
"Um, so do I, if that’s okay," Added Kiyana with a wry smile.
"Okay, I don’t mind."
...
We finished eating soon after, and that Neo guy showed up with some meat, as I’d requested. It was enough for a couple of days for Dot, and he said he’d bring more whenever necessary. Once he dropped it off, he left, seeming to be in a hurry.
I then went back to my room and fed Dot, who was a little jumpy because of all the new surroundings. She definitely seemed to like the softness of the bed though and looked comfortable when she was sleeping on it, so she should get used to this place pretty quickly.
I agreed to tell Alexis about myself, because I can tell that she’s curious...well, it’s not just her, everyone seems to be curious about me. Sooner or later, they’ll start asking, so I might as well get it out of the way.
Hopefully, if I tell a few of them, the others will find out soon enough and leave me alone. I did tell Neo and that woman who was with him back then, but it looks like they haven’t told anyone else about it yet.
As I locked my room after shutting the door, I glanced to my right as I heard footsteps approaching, to see the woman who had been there with Neo when he first approached me. I don’t remember her name.
"Hi, it’s nice to see you again. How are you settling in?" She inquired with a smile.
"Fine, thank you," I respondly briefly, before heading back to the cafeteria, where Alexis said that she would be waiting.
I still feel a bit suspicious of her. I don’t sense any hostility from her, and her smile doesn’t seem fake or anything, but...I don’t know, something about her just bothers me.
Yesterday, when Neo decapitated that guy, even though I myself was stunned, I had a grasp of my senses enough to notice that she was the one that didn’t bat an eye at what he did...
As I reached the cafeteria, I spotted Alexis, along with Kiyana and those other two guys. There’s more people than I expected, but it’s fine. I don’t really have a reason to keep any of the stuff that happened to me a secret.
I walked over towards them as I let out a quiet sigh, noticing that some of the others in the room were glancing at me warily. I could sense hints of fear from them, but not much hostility...there was definitely more before though. Did unleashing my Aura have that significant of an impact? ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
As I sat down at the table, next to Alexis, Kiyana then took out a small machine that was attached to a large crystal.
"What is that?" I asked her curiously.
"This device is used to measure someone’s Aura capacity. All you have to do is touch the crystal while your Aura is suppressed and you haven’t used any of it up, and the device will covert the capacity into a numeric value," She explained in response.
Oh? That actually piques my interest... frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
"Sure, I don’t mind. What are all of your...Aura capacity numbers?" I inquired curiously.
Using that Appraisal technique, I think Alexis has the strongest Aura, and then the brown haired guy, followed by the black haired guy, and Kiyana has the weakest one. Hers seems a lot weaker than the other three.
"Mine is 1068," Replied Alexis with a smug look on her face.
"999 over here," Added the guy with black hair and lazy eyes.
"Oh, uh, mine is 1035," Spoke up the guy with dark brown hair.
"Um, and mine is 385," Responded Kiyana.
I see, so I was right about how strong each of their Auras are. Now, then, I have to admit that I’m looking forward to seeing what my number is. As I felt a sense of rising anticipation, I reached out and touched the crystal.
It began glowing red as I touched it, the hue darkening with every passing second, before rapidly turning purple bit by bit, and then changing to blue.
"Holy shit, it’s already a much darker blue than it was with any of us, almost black, and the number’s now gone past 1500. I wonder how much-...," Began the black haired guy, before trailing off as a long, jagged crack appeared in the crystal.
"Uh-oh...," Muttered Kiyana as the crack deepened.
The blue hue of the crystal grew darker and darker, cracks spreading all across the crystal as the hue of the crystal’s glow turned black, before shattering to pieces as a small shockwave erupted out.
"Damnnn...," Muttered Alexis wide-eyed, following a brief, stunned silence, everyone in the cafeteria looking this way in shock.
"Th-that was close, I almost just lost an eye," Stuttered the brown-haired guy, a visible scratch next to his right eye.
"I’ve never seen this happen before, I didn’t even think it was possible...we’re, uh, we’re going to need a bigger crystal," Remarked Kiyana, as she picked up one of the broken shards.
Oops...should I apologise for breaking it?
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