I passed back through the infected section of forest. The sight of the sick trees and the ground riddled with black spots put a dampener on my satisfaction. What’s going on with this void energy? There was no quest to deal with it. Did that mean it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was? Or more worryingly, did it mean that the threat it posed was beyond what I was capable of handling?

To distract myself from that disturbing thought, I looked over the notifications that were waiting for me. I made sure to keep an eye on my surroundings throughout. I didn’t want to be surprised by an infected animal again. The forest remained strangely quiet and empty, though.

I went through the notices quickly, dismissing the ones telling me about damage numbers and experience gains, until I found one that put me back in a good mood.

Congratulations!

You have gained a sufficient amount of insight into your [Absorb] ability to reach Rank 2.

Apply your insights to evolve your ability in one of the following ways:

1) Your mana will become more efficient, providing a 50% reduction in mana required to cover and breakdown an item.

2) You will be able to use this ability on multiple items at the same time, provided you have enough mana to cover them all.

3) You will be able to use this ability on items within 10 meters of you.

I immediately chose the first option. I’d encountered the bottleneck of not having enough mana to initiate the ability several times now. With this upgrade, I would hopefully have to do less waiting around in the future.

The second option was good, but I couldn’t imagine ever having enough mana to make use of it. Also, I didn’t think I’d ever be in such a rush that I needed to get multiple objects done at once.

I couldn’t think of a situation where I’d need to absorb something from range, so I didn’t even consider the last choice. I mean, it might be a nice quality of life thing, but definitely not a top priority at the moment.

With my notifications all taken care of, I returned my full attention to the forest around me. Still, nothing accosted me, and soon I was approaching the boundary of the woods. Through the trees I spotted flashing red and blue lights. The police! I immediately extinguished my glowing orb, plunging me into darkness. What were they doing here?!

I crept closer to the park, not too worried about being in the dark now. I’d left the void-influenced section behind, so I felt fairly safe. Especially with how eerily empty the forest seemed to be now. Without leaving the protection the thick shadows of the forest offered, I checked out the situation from the edge of the woods.

There was a police car parked beside mine. There was enough lighting in the carpark for me to see two officers standing behind my car. This is not good, I thought. I had no idea why they were interested in me and my car. I hadn’t done anything wrong. It didn’t really matter, though. They were there, and I needed to work out what to do about it.

Maybe I’d be lucky, and they’d leave soon. They’d probably checked the license plate already and knew who I was and where I lived, so they might go to the house. I could drive around for a while to give them time to go there and give up. Then I could go home, get cleaned up and hide my new staff. That way, if they came knocking for whatever reason later on, I’d at least look presentable.

Apparently, luck hadn’t been included in all the changes I’d gone through. I saw them start walking towards the park. If I wasn’t mistaken, they were headed right in my direction. Shit! Did they see the light before I got rid of it?

I thought quickly. Trying to take advantage of my new Determination skill, I focused intently on coming up with a believable lie that would help me keep my secret. The rustling of the branches around me faded into the background slightly as the skill kicked in. It became easier to ignore my racing heart and my thoughts became a little clearer.

I went through various ideas in my head, trying to come up with something convincing that would explain the state I was in, while also keeping the police away from the infected area. I cast aside the completely implausible ones until I thought I had a story that might work. Not only work, but also get word out about how dangerous the forest was now.

My surroundings came back into full focus as I stopped concentrating so hard. The officers were already halfway across the field, their flashlights moving around as they scanned the area. I ripped my tattered shirt off and tried to wipe off as much dried blood from my face and arm as I could. Then I quickly absorbed it and sent a thought to Cax. If there’s a trash box in my core, put that pattern in there. There was no reply. He was probably caught up in going through the information from the core and skeletons.

Here goes, I thought, taking a deep breath. “Help!” I called out, putting as much desperation into my voice as I could. The officers reacted immediately, beginning to run towards the sound of my voice. I ran out to meet them, making sure I kept the staff held low in my right hand so they didn’t think I was going to attack them. I knew it would have been better to leave it behind, but I’d just gotten it, and it was so cool! I couldn’t bring myself to do it, so I had worked it into the story I concocted.

As I emerged, the officers stopped. Their lights focused on me, blinding me. I blinked hard to clear my vision and shielded my eyes with my left hand. “Stop there! Put the stick on the ground!” a female voice called out. I slowly did as she said. As I straightened, I managed to get a look at the pair before the light shone back on my face. The female officer who had spoken was pointing a taser at me, and her male partner had one hand on his gun and the flashlight in his other.

“Please help me!” I said, putting a scared look on my face. I wanted to make sure they knew I was the one who had spoken before. For all they knew, I had just attacked the person who called out and was now coming to assault them.

“What’s your name?” the male officer asked sternly.

“Dean Whitler, sir.” A bit of respect wouldn’t hurt.

“Is that your car up there?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you have any I.D on you?”

I hadn’t bothered to bring my wallet when I left the house in a hurry earlier. “Sorry, no. I was going to go straight home after here, so I didn’t think I would need my wallet.”

They both stared at me for a few seconds. The male officer then pointed his light slightly down, allowing me to see again, before continuing his questioning. “What’s going on here, Dean?”

“There’s something wrong with the forest!” I put as much urgency into my voice as I could. “There are some kind of diseased trees in there! They have a black substance all over them. I think the wildlife have been affected, too. They’ve gone crazy! A possum attacked me! It had black stuff on it just like the trees. I ran away and luckily found you here.”

“Was that your light we saw before?” the female officer asked. She had lowered the taser so it wasn’t pointing directly at me, but still held it ready.

“Yes, ma’am,” I told her, gesturing behind me. “I ran into a tree back there while I was escaping and it broke.”

The male officer came closer and noticed the smeared blood I hadn’t been able to wipe off completely.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, concerned.

“Just some scratches from branches as I ran away,” I answered. “It’s nothing serious. The crazy possum didn’t manage to get me.”

He leaned in and checked my head and arm where the blood was. Of course, the magic had healed the wounds completely so there was nothing to see. I was hoping he assumed the scratches were beneath the blood and let it go.

He turned his attention to the forest and moved his gaze along it. Not seeing anything, he stepped back and asked another question. “Care to tell us what you are doing out here at this hour?”

I gestured at the staff and tried to look self-conscious. “It’s a little embarrassing, actually. I like to come out here when no one is around and practice using my staff. After the earthquake, I thought it would help settle my nerves, too.” They just kept looking at me. “I’m really into medieval stuff,” I finished lamely.

The female officer put her taser away. “Why no shirt?”

“It’s easier to use the staff without one,” I replied. I saw an opportunity. If I make a bit of a fool of myself, maybe it will lower their suspicions even more. Feeling stupid, I looked her in the eyes and tried to flex my new muscles, before adding, “Besides, it would be a shame to hide this, don’t you think?” I moved my hand to gesture at my torso.

The flat look she gave me, and complete lack of response, meant I didn’t have to fake appearing uncomfortable anymore. I looked down at the ground and scratched the back of my neck.

Her partner interrupted my awkward moment. “I bet when you came out here you didn’t think you'd have a chance for some real action, huh?”

I turned to him, eyes going wide and mouth opening slightly.

His mouth turned up in a small smile at my expression. “The possum.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, less than smoothly. “The possum.”

The female officer carried on, maintaining her professional detachment. “If you were practicing out here, why did you go into the forest?”

This was the main part of the lie I had thought up. I hoped it would contain the risk to regular people that the void-infected forest posed, while also getting the focus off me.

“I saw a light. I thought maybe someone had been in there during the earthquake and was hurt when it happened. I went in to see if I could help, but there was nobody there. I think something must have been released from the ground because of the quake. Maybe a gas or something. It must have given off the light I saw and made the trees and animals sick.”

He shared a look with his partner. “What do you think? Go check it out?”

Before she could answer, I blurted out, “No, you can’t! It’s too dangerous. You need to quarantine this whole area and get some specialists in with proper gear to check it out.” I didn’t have to fake a sense of urgency for that one.

“Calm down,” she told me firmly. She looked at her partner. “It might be a good idea to call for backup just in case he’s telling the truth.” I was about to object at the mention I was lying, but then thought it best not to interrupt her. She continued, “Or wait a couple of hours for the sun to be up. Visibility must be pretty bad in there at the moment.”

I felt relieved that, even though they clearly doubted my story, they weren’t going to take any chances. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to them. That meant they needed to avoid the area the void energy was affecting. I didn’t know how long it would take to cause a reaction in a regular person, but any exposure might be deadly.

The male officer looked at me again. “Are you sure you’re ok? You don’t want us to call an ambulance to check you over?”

“No, thank you. I’m fine. Just shaken up. I didn’t touch the weird stuff, and I got these cuts outside the infected area. All I want to do is go home and get cleaned up.” My genuine tiredness helped get across my sincerity.

“Alright. Before we let you go, we’re going to run a couple of tests. Make sure you’re ok to drive.” He picked up my staff and motioned for me to follow as he walked back towards the carpark. I set off after him and his partner brought up the rear.

I understood what he was really saying; ‘We’re going to check just how wasted you are.’

Up at the cars, I was told to hand over my registration. I unzipped the pocket holding my keys and pulled them out. I was glad I had worn my exercise pants, otherwise the keys definitely would have fallen out and gotten lost in all the craziness that had occurred tonight. After getting the paperwork out of the glove box and handing it over, I was subjected to several tests.

They gave me a breathalyzer, which of course I passed. Then they shone their light in my eyes and checked my pupils. That was followed up by making me stand on one foot, and finally, closing my eyes and touching my nose.

I willingly went along with everything they asked me to do, not wanting to give them a reason to insist on searching me. The Vision Crystal and two empty vials in my pocket would be pretty hard to explain. Finally, satisfied that I wasn’t on anything, they gave me back my registration papers and confirmed my address.

The male officer then handed me back my staff. “Head straight home,” he told me. “If we have any further questions, we’ll pay you a visit later.”

“Thank you so much!” I told them both. “Please be careful.” Before leaving, there was something I wanted to know. “Why did you come here to the park?”

“Just making sure everything was ok,” the female officer told me. “After the quake, we increased patrols to identify any problems and offer assistance. A car alone in the park at this hour? Seemed like someone might have needed help.”

“Sure did!” I said. “Thanks again.” I was relieved it was just a chance meeting and they hadn’t been specifically interested in me.

Once I got the staff situated in the back of the car, I quickly started it up. Before I pulled out of the parking lot, I looked and saw the two officers standing in the same place. One of them was watching me, while the other was on the radio. I really hoped they would be ok. Short of telling them the whole crazy truth of what was going on, I’d done everything I could to make them aware of the danger and keep them and other people safe. It was up to them what they did with that.

Still, as I turned onto the main road and the flashing lights on their car disappeared from my rear-view mirror, I uttered a little prayer for them to be safe, offered up to whatever entity might be listening. I had never bought into the whole religion thing, but with everything that was happening and all the new things I’d discovered, I was a little more open to the possibility there could be some god-like figure watching over what was going on.

I drove the short distance home and parked in the driveway. Mum’s car wasn’t there. The power was still out in our area, and the street was empty and quiet. Once I turned the engine off, I sat there in darkness.

There was a notification box waiting in the lower left of my vision. It had appeared when I finished talking to the police officers. I’d wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, so I had ignored it. Now that I was safely home, I opened up the notification. I was curious what it was about since I hadn’t done anything.

Congratulations!

You have learned a new skill.

Persuasion

You have a talent for making people believe the impossible.

Effect 1: There is a slightly increased chance for people to accept what you tell or show them, unless it goes against what they already know as fact.

Effect 2: You have a slightly increased chance to tell when someone is trying to mislead you.

I frowned. I wasn’t sure how I felt about this skill. Not the second effect. Being able to tell when someone was bullshitting me? That was gold! I would have to find time in all this weirdness to organize a poker night with the boys. No, it was the first effect that had me worried.

I had no idea how the mechanics behind skills worked, but it sure seemed like this one would be messing with people’s minds to make what I told them more believable. I liked the end result. Not so much the means.

Hopefully, my resident expert could explain it to me and put my mind at ease.

“Hey, Cax,” I said. There was no response. That’s odd. He normally replied immediately. He must be really focused on studying whatever information the shard had contained.

“Cax!” I yelled in my head. “Stop what you’re doing and tell me why I got this skill! Have I been messing with people’s minds somehow? I don’t want to be a creepy guy.”

He finally answered, sounding distracted. “The Persuasion skill does affect people’s minds, but the solution to your concern is easy. Simply don’t tell a lie you think is bad or convince people to do something you think is wrong. For the most part, the skills and abilities you get don’t determine what kind of person you are. They are just tools. How you choose to use them does.

As to why you got the Persuasion skill, you have to admit, you have told some rather large lies since we joined together. You convinced your mother that the massive, magical changes to your body were caused by some simple medicine. You just convinced two police officers that you were merely some unfortunate guy in the wrong place at the wrong time.

These weren’t just a couple of simple lies in passing. The stories you told required a certain level of creativity, and you delivered them in a believable manner. You put in the effort, the World recognized it and you got rewarded. Enjoy it. Now, stop disturbing me. I am finding out some fascinating things from the enemies you absorbed, but if you interrupt me it’s going to take longer to finish.”

“Fill me in!” I said eagerly, my worries that I was on my way down a dark path allayed by his explanation.

“Not yet. There’s still a lot to go through before I have the full picture. I’ll tell you as soon as I’ve put it all together.”

“Wait!” I said quickly before he got back to it. “Can you tell me how skills work exactly? Do I need to do anything? Is it my mana powering them?”

He thought for a second. “Not exactly. First, you need to know that every awakened being has an aura. Every aura is different. Think of it as a kind of mana signature. Everyone’s aura passively interacts with the energy in the atmosphere around them in various ways.

When you gain a skill, it is merged into your being and becomes a part of your aura. Then, when you’re in a situation that the skill can apply to, your aura will automatically trigger the energy around you to carry out its effects.

There are some skills that need a little more input from you, such as your Determination skill requiring you to focus, but generally you don’t need to worry. The interaction between your aura and the atmosphere will do the work behind the scenes. Now, please give me some time to concentrate.”

Before I could ask him any more questions, I sensed him withdraw. Or maybe he just sent me that feeling deliberately to make me leave him alone.

Whatever, I thought, trying to suppress my irritation. I’ve got things to do, anyway. Waiting a little longer won’t kill me.

I grabbed my phone and got out of the car. I left the staff in there. I figured if I needed to use it again, it would be good to have it ready to go.