Regal Villa.

Inside her spacious and luxurious bathroom, Leyla was reclining comfortably in her bathtub. She had lit a few candles as she always did when taking a bath.

She was currently listening to a popular podcaster; the subject of the day was ancient history. Judging by her mental growth, the knowledge being disseminated was not only reliable but was unknown to her before. After all, false or known knowledge wouldn’t activate her ability.

“Remains of a civilization more ancient than ours were found in the south of the Sunlight continent 1 month ago. The experts have dated this civilization to the prehistoric period. A period in which, we humans, were nothing but caves inhabiting barbarians. The remains found to indicate that this civilization was extinguished…” The smooth voice came from the walls of the bathroom courtesy of an inner speaker system.

After coming home from the fitness center, she had decided to take a bath to relax and recover after the intense session she had with Arhan. Leyla found pleasure in sensing all her muscles lose tension as well as the feeling of her mind improving. It felt like a wave, slowly building up to something.

Suddenly while listening to the deep and calming voice of the podcast host, something changed. Her mental sphere had stopped its growth. She had a feeling of release. Although she was still in her bath and her bathroom, she lost all sensations as if she was plunged into the deepest darkness.

Is it another(prophetic) dream? Panic threatened to sunder her mind, but she noticed the difference between what was happening now and what happened the last time. For one, last time an ominous feeling permeated her surroundings. Secondly, it didn’t feel like she fell asleep this time, so it was most likely not a dream. And finally, there was a feeling of comfort, as if something that was itching for a long time had stopped.

For a moment now, she had felt constrained. As her mind improved, she felt more and more uncomfortable. The sensation was akin to claustrophobia. It was like wearing unfitting shoes or clothes.

Now amid this darkness, it felt as if the individual known as Leyla was expanding, becoming ‘more’. She felt like she was now a vaster entity. As if the bonds constraining her were completely broken.

And indeed, they were.

Like waking from a dream, the colors of reality washed back, and she recovered all sensations. But she felt completely different now. A complete and thorough shift.

What is this?

Leyla was shocked as soon as she regained her senses. She could ‘see’ her entire bathroom including herself as if she was looking from multiple points of view simultaneously. If she stretched her mind, this perception of hers was capable of covering half the house.

This meant that she could monitor most of the house while seating peacefully in her bathtub. More than just ‘sight’, this new perception of hers felt like she had gained additional phantom senses besides the existing physical ones. She could even focus on a particular object or thing and observe it as if it was magnified endlessly. Such was the case with the drop of water that was currently running along the curve of her chest.

A sense of wonder filled her mind. The experience was so beautiful that she felt dazed. It was like she had been blind all her life and just gained sight for the first time.

The amount of information that was coursing through her brain, left Leyla feeling a bit dizzy. Surprisingly, she could now precisely perceive the ambient temperature. The same was true for anything subjected to her new ‘perception’ such as the water she was in, and naturally her own body.

She also had a clearer cognition of the passage of time, as such, she knew without the need for a clock that it was 5:17 PM. Additionally, she knew the exact dimension and weight of anything that fell in her new perception. The spatial awareness she gained was otherworldly, to say the least.

Among the information she could perceive, there were various pieces of information about her own body such as her heartbeat rate, other information on her body state, including her muscles, veins, organs, bones, tissues, marrow, etc.…

Her awareness of her body and its functions had never been so strong.

Leyla had never felt more in control in her entire life. Because of how much she could sense, the previous her felt like a person who couldn’t really ‘see’, ‘hear’, ‘taste’, and ‘touch’.

An existential transformation.

This is incredible, I…How is this possible? No. I know how it happened but… it’s still too unbelievable. I already knew that a qualitative change would happen at some point when some hard limit was reached but this is just ridiculous. The range of things I can sense now is just absurd.

Although she had dubbed her ability with the ‘supernatural’ tag before, it wasn’t until now that she felt that the tag was more than completely justified. What an understatement, it hadn’t even been the tip of the iceberg. It was as if the effects it had demonstrated up until now, were but a foreshadowing of its true potential.

If before it was merely a cheat that could help her get ahead in her daily life, now, it had become incomparably alien, surpassing her previous understanding of it. Leyla had the suspicion that it was only now that her ability fully awakened.

If that is indeed the case…the growth I experienced mentally each time I read a book or learned new things should have been a process of maturation. It should be over now.

As the thought crossed her mind, she was hit with the certainty that it was indeed the case, all the knowledge she had absorbed until now was akin to the feeding of an infant on the milk of its mother for nourishment. Now, Leyla had finally matured. This was not to say that she would remain stagnant from now on, instead, it merely meant that she needed to find her path. Leyla needed to ‘observe’, ‘analyze’, and ultimately ‘understand’.

It’s not an end, merely a new beginning. She concluded.

Leyla had expected to feel disappointed that the cheat-like growth she experienced came to an end, but instead, she felt excited. The ‘final form’ of the talent she had awakened four years ago seemed like the work of a god.

There is nothing to feel disappointed about. I now possess the tool, what to do with it falls solely within my purview.

Leyla thought there was a certain freedom in that.

She took a breath to calm herself. She was quickly adapting to sensing so much. Before long, her dizziness left, and she felt normal again. For her sanity, Leyla had managed to force all the information she didn’t need in the back of her mind.

She stood up and wore her bathrobe.

I just spent three hours in the bathroom if I am to trust my new senses. It seems like the time I spent in this ‘other’ state was not as short as I believed.

Leyla was startled to realize that she had spent this much time in the bathroom.

I should start getting ready.

She was meeting Cole tonight. This was the first date she had in…never. As such, she wanted to look good. To be honest she was slightly nervous.

Contrary to the date planned with Mr. Volare, which was merely a favor for her brothers, the one with Cole was the real deal. She had never dated before. She was also slightly excited, not only by the date itself but also because she felt like she was finally acting like people her age.

…………

Regal Tech,

Top floor.

Magnus was seated on a sofa and was currently sending a ball of tennis against the opposite wall before catching it. His expression was deep and somber. He was thinking about his sister attempted murder.

From another area of their office, Seiren popped out. Yes, popped out. Before there had been no one there. The air had suddenly rippled, and Seiren had appeared out of the void.

Magnus turned his attention from the ball toward his brother who just sat next to him.

“So?”

Seiren had a frown on his face.

“I scoured the place of the attack but there was nothing. Past Sight didn’t work. You know what that means.” He finally said

“Someone more powerful than you or I, masked the place simply by the influence of his or her presence on the scene.” Magnus deduced

Seiren nodded and continued “So, I am wondering if that’s the case, how come we were so successful in saving our dear little sister.” Seiren's face was livid thinking about how dangerous of a situation, his sister was in.

“It would have been impossible for things to go this smoothly. Unless the end-goal was not her demise.” Magnus stated.

Seiren's eyes brightened.

“A probe?”

“Yes, that’s what I am thinking.” Magnus nodded and pursued “But I can’t understand his aim. Was he probing us? Or our little sister? For what purpose?”

“So many questions…” Seiren was brooding.

“Still, I now know who served as their pawn for the attack. The killer they hired.” He said when he opened his mouth again.

“Who?”

“A certain Molin Batur.”

“Batur?” Magnus straightened and stopped the ball he had just thrown against the wall. “From the Batur Clan!?”

“Yes, them,” Seiren answered simply. Magnus's eyebrows furrowed.

“This is getting complicated,” Magnus spoke gravely.

“Yeah. I don’t know how to handle this. We decided to maintain the secret of our existence until we accomplish our task, we can’t simply barge there and ask for answers. And from what I gathered he is most likely not from the main branch. He didn’t inherit the power of Batur.” Seiren was exasperated.

Sigh.

Magnus leaned backward. Truly, it was like a mist was covering their sight. They didn’t know where to find the answers they sought.

“We can only keep our guard up and protect our sister from the shadows like we always did.” Magnus smiled wryly at his brother who returned his smile. Indeed, they knew how to be patient, they would wait and see what this shadowy enemy had planned for them.

“What about the ring?” Seiren asked Magnus.

“It should still be with Volare. He didn’t sell it no matter how many phantom buyers I sent to him. It seems like he is truly determined to keep it. What a stubborn man.” Magnus answered peeved.

“He is indeed stubborn we proposed to buy the thing out of his hands with a sum equivalent to the yearly gains of certain states and he still said no.” Seiren agreed.

“I do respect steel in a man, but he is a pain in our ass now, let’s hope he doesn’t move it elsewhere. During the date with Ley, we will just have to exchange it with a copy.”

“We can only do this.” Seiren sighed. They needed this ring badly. If not, they would not have asked such a ridiculous favor from their sister.

…………

“Good!”

Leyla looked at her reflection in the grand mirror with satisfaction. She was wearing high-waist faux leather shorts, a lantern sleeve white blouse and as footwear, she wore ankle boots with thin heels and zippers on the side.

She had styled her hair in a wavy pattern and used hair clips shaped like a silver flower with a red ruby inside to maintain them behind her ears. She also wore earrings with the same design as the hairclips

For her makeup, she had opted for minimalism. She barely put on blush, added a bit of eyeliner and a dab of gloss to complement her rosy lips.

She nodded and smiled at her reflection. I am ready.

She wore a brown long coat and took her car keys before leaving her room. It was 7:24 PM.