After the demonstrations, the stress, the political fear, and all the weight of those emotions was mostly released, I slept very well. Even if the process wasn't going to be immediate, there was a plan. I had some time to help find and train up a replacement assistant manager, and then I'd spend my days constantly working on my skills. Since my secret was out with Henrig, I could now also stock the shelves for practice with the telekinesis and Henrig could pester me with questions while he recovered from his attempts with smaller items, at least when the store was closed and we weren't dealing with customers. Henrig would often go back into his office for a few minutes every half-hour or so to try the meditation and telekinesis, as long as there weren't customers waiting. He seemed quite a bit more interested in learning this than my parents had been, but some of that might be the lack of "diaper syndrome." That's the one where it's hard to take instructions or advice from someone whose diaper you changed.

The 'help wanted' sign went back into the window, and I headed over to the school to talk with Mr. Edegard Rawlson and the Magic Club to see if anyone wanted to enter the glamorous world of general goods. I'd love to chat about my impending return to the Omniology, but today is premature. I don't want to mess up whatever Wilhena has running, and that will take several days if not tendays to come to fruition. With her promise of support, and Henrig's good attitude toward the psionics, I'm not worried about my immediate future any more. The last thing hanging over my head is the whole Lunette matter. I'm not sure how she'll feel about working with me when I'm suddenly jumped ahead of the student body by apparent cronyism. I hope it won't matter, any more than being secondary to her during the research project had mattered to me back then, but only time will tell.

My steps were light, and I alternated between full Woodman and only Leatherskin modes as I walked to the school, this practice coming easier with the distracting stress off my back. It was a nice way to invisibly work my skills harder than just constantly doing one constant thing, and the distraction of the mode flipping makes the half-hour stroll go by more quickly.

The school day has let out a few minutes ago, and there's a stream of excited students leaving as expected, so I walk upstream into the building and head to the room that the Magic Club used for our meetings after school. There's only a small group in the room, and Mr. Rawlson was in the middle of leading a discussion on meditation and energy reserves if the chalkboard notes were accurate. The door shut loudly, which startled me and drew everyone's attention. Ooops. Not the quiet entrance I had planned.

"Ah, Mr. Coddlestahl, nice of you to join us again."

"Thank you, sir. Sorry to interrupt."

"Not at all, we were just winding down on this subject, and I'm sure we'd rather hear about your time at the Omni."

Oh, great. Unprepared remarks in a public forum. Not my strong point, but at least it's about magic research and stuff I've already done, so less risky in terms of accidental exposure, plus I can sneak in the local job opening at the end.

"Uh… yeah, I could talk about magic research and the need for mathematicians in the analysis of data." Honestly, it'd be easier for me to talk spreadsheets and formulas since I trained people in those for a couple decades in the last life, so that memory is still pretty sharp. It's odd. Emotional memories have faded, but the informational ones are mostly staying. I wonder if that's because the informational ones aren't being constantly updated like my emotional ones are impacted by my current emotions. But I digress. On to the speaking!

I walk to the front of the room, spotting a few familiar faces and several new ones.

"Hi, everybody!" Nobody here gets the joke, so I don't get a "Hi, Dr. Nick" back but I still hear it in my head, and that helps me smile. The smile then makes my face look less pinched and angry, which appears to be my default setting when I'm surprised or mildly afraid. Huzzah for resting grumpy face.

"For those who don't know me, I'm Grint Coddlestahl. I was a deputy research analyst for 3 seasons at the Omni before budget cuts hit the Magic Research group there. I hope to go back once the budget gets figured out, but for now I'm working at a general goods store. I know many of you are thinking, 'what does one have to do with the other?' and the answer is math. Math makes business work and it drives analysis, let me explain…." I continued the lecture for about 10 minutes, and then asked for questions. I had to tap dance most of them because they were about the unpublished research, but I did get to explain the chanting system to them, which promptly started a bunch of independent testing. My kind of people. While they did that, I took a moment to check my stats. It hasn't been super long since the last check, but it's been heavy skill use. I'm shocked with what I see.

{Status:

Name: Grintel Coddlestahl

Age: 17

Mental:

Acuity:

Perception:

Memory:

10

8

10

Psyche:

Wisdom:

Insight:

Willpower:

8

9

14

Physical:

Strength:

Coordination:

Endurance:

8

8

12

Skills:

Energy Conversion

2.989

Energy Emission

2.604

Energy Control

2.227

Channeling

0.092

Instructor

0.065

Meditation

2.618

Walking

5.023

}

That was some fast growth for 3 days. Plus there was actual movement on my base stats. Granted it's been a very enlightening time and I've learned a bunch about the politics I was ignoring as well as the world outside the two places I've ever lived. So much to learn. Teaching a group was really profitable, too!

Returning my focus to the present, I looked out at the group of chanting, magic-mad students, and noticed that Mr. Rawlson was walking toward me.

"Fascinating tie in to the General Goods store. I'm glad you made the connections with applied math to more than merely research situations. I knew you'd do well for the Omni, and it's nice to see you managed to weather the change. I appreciated the note you left me."

"I did, sir. I'm hoping to make it back to the Omni, but we'll see what happens. I found a potential sponsor, but it's not a sure thing yet. Oh, and the note was the least I could do."

"All the same, thank you for it. I had wondered about that. Is that why you let them in on the position at the General Goods store?"

"Mostly. Even if I don't get back to the Omni, I have some pursuits that I'd like to spend more time on, so I could split that job with someone else reliable and still have enough income to live on and pursue my goals, at least until my parents tire of my cooking."

He chuckled mildly, I suspected it was mostly humoring me and not finding the comment all that amusing.

"Well, I hope you make it back. I think you've got the makings of a fine student."

"Thank you, sir. I intend to do my best."

The conversation wound down, and we observed the students' efforts in companionable silence.

"I'll say that meditation and focus tricks are working quite well, even if it's only as a means of keeping them occupied. Thanks for the impromptu guest lecture, Grint."

"My pleasure, sir. I was fortunate that I had that one trick to teach, the next test was far less successful, and the last one was fascinating, but I don't know if they found any real applications for it yet. I'm hoping to head by to the City for the release of that information next season, but I don't know if that's going to be possible."

"All the same, thanks for the information, they're going to be practicing that technique for several weeks, so that saves me some lectures. I'm sure you've got other things to do now, so I won't keep you longer."

"Indeed sir, I should be heading home. Good day."

And with that, I left school again, heading home and hoping to head back to the Omniology soon. Of course, none of that was me thinking about seeing Lunette again.

Nope.

None of that at all.