I once again wake up on the Archimedes couch. I'm honestly spending more time here than at my own apartment, and it's getting kind of sad at this point. Nevermind the fact that my apartment is covered in...remains. I'll have to call someone about that.

It seems that Nora's already at school, and Thomas and Aria are off…somewhere. I don't really know where. Just not here. I guess I should make a late breakfast.

Rifling through the kitchen, I find cereal, a bowl, and a spoon. The fridge has a lot of weird things in it like vials labeled with printed chemical formulas; vials that glow and are labeled, 'Growth Potion'; or the purple, pulsating heart that is next to the milk.

It's best if I don't question it.

The second I sit down on the couch with the bowl in my lap, a portal opens in the middle of the room. Thomas walks out, tossing a baseball up and down repeatedly.

"So," he begins, "whatcha want to do today? We can do some magic training, physical stuff…do that rank-up that you failed."

He catches the ball and stares at it intently. "There's also the option of taking on Sophia's work while she's incapacitated."

I swallow the food in my mouth and sigh. "Thomas, what are you doing?"

He looks up at me, away from the ball. "What? Is it too much?"

I nod, "Yeah, you're trying too hard to be all mysterious."

He stomps the ground with a frown. "Damn," he curses, "I thought I had something going there." With a final chuck into the air, he snaps his fingers and the ball freezes in place.

My brow furrows in confusion. "Thomas, I thought you couldn't use Temporal Mana?"

He scoffs and sits down across from me on the armchair. "Nah. If you looked closely, then you would see the ball moving infinitesimally slowly. It's a very mana-expensive trick that uses a bunch of Kinetic Energy Mana to counteract the forces acting on it." He snaps his fingers once again and the ball plummets to the ground.

Another snap and it appears in his hand. A portal appears above him. Looking through it, I can see what appears to be a semi-busy street.

Holding the ball in his outstretched palm, the ball shoots into the portal like gravity was pushing the ball away instead of pulling down. The portal closes not long after.

After that, Thomas and I stare at each other for a prolonged period of time. "You really like showing off, huh?" I ask.

He shrugs, "Might as well. I don't get much opportunity to use these spells otherwise."

"Anyway, what was that about taking on Sophia's work?"

"You're both heroes. Specifically, you're her disciple, which is a horrible name to be honest. While she's recovering, you can do the tasks that she has to do when she isn't training you."

"Like what? More patrol?"

"No, it's more like they need someone with a certain finesse that she offers to deal with opponents. Sophia's quite capable of assassination and trapping, and that is sometimes better than brute forcing a solution. Actually…hold on." Thomas blinks out of the room, only to blink back holding a manilla folder.

"Yeah, this is her assignment for today," he says while handing me the folder. Inside is an assignment for the subjugation of a monster-intellect troll that escaped from a dungeon. It's currently roaming around the slums, attacking civilians and…sexually forcing itself upon others. They want it brought down with minimal collateral.

"Trolls?"

"Troll," he corrects. "Singular, but don't let that make you think this'll be easy. Trolls boast a lot of strength, low intellect, and high regenerative abilities. Standing at ten feet, they can pose quite the issue if you can't kill it in a single attack or use fire."

"Fire…let me guess: they can't regenerate burns properly?"

"Close. They regenerate over the burned skin and that causes several problems, mainly locomotor issues with their movements and infection." He waves off the statement haphazardly, like this isn't vital information.

"I feel severely under-leveled for this," I say while pointing to the info given.

Thomas does a fake salute, "Well, ma'am, that's what I'm here for!"

————————————————————————————————————

After a slightly disorientating teleport by Thomas, we appeared on the rooftops of the slum areas.

The cacophony of crashes can be heard in the general direction of a rising cloud of dust. Infrequent periods give rise to the lumbering pace at which this troll moves, which is luckily away from the city, and subsequently: us.

"In my professional opinion," Thomas says while looking through a spyglass, "I need a new spyglass." He holds up the lens to me to show the absence of a lens, meaning that he's holding a tube of ornate wood.

"Thomas, can you please be a little more serious?" I ask with the most exasperation I can muster.

"Sorry, but no. While my wife is injured, I'm going to joke a lot to cope with the emotional pain." The smile on his face doesn't match the weight of the words he uttered.

I just awkwardly sit there, legs dangling over the edge, as silence grows between us. Thomas coughs before asking, "Should we get this show on the road?"

I nod in response, which gives him a wide, wide smile. A smile that stretches his cheeks to the point where I can see the metal plates on his gums. A smile that can fill a person with horror down to the very core of their soul.

Yet I feel nothing. Strange.

A streak of light blasts through the sky, creating a whistle and an echoing boom as it passes by faster than the speed of sound. As its arc curves around the sky under the presumed control of Thomas, the troll decides to look up.

*BOOM!*

A crash rings out as the high accelerating object meets the high mass object. I can even feel the quake from here. Roaring can be heard from the general vicinity of Ground Zero, so it definitely isn't dead and is definitely pissed off.

"HEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY, BUCKAAAROOOOO!!!!" Thomas shouts into a megaphone that he got from Rulers' know where, though given the silver coating, I can probably say he made it. Another, angrier, roar can be heard quickly approaching.

A serenity washes over Thomas as he looks to the sky and sniffs a little. "Hmm. It's going to rain later," he says calmly, but with an underlying conviction.

"Is that important right now?" I ask as I ready a makeshift stance in preparation for the troll. "How are so sure anyway?"

"I'm good at hiding my accent, but I am from the south, well, the north part of Florida. So like, the north part of the south which happens to be in the middle of the south. Anyway, I have a regular accent, but if you listen closely, then you can hear me using southern slang sometimes. In the end, my southern senses give me Weather Prediction abilities."

Alright, that's great and all, but I'm kinda busy at the moment.

"Welp, I'm out of here. Word of advice though, this guy is kinda like a dumber Franklin, but he also has an organic brain. Think about that." And just like that, he begins spiraling up into the air like gravity flipped.

"Grr…" A growl comes from the side. I turn slowly.

A hulking mass of muscles greets my eyes. This guy is like those bodybuilders who dehydrate and starve themselves to get that muscly look. Each fiber twitches in anticipation for a command. A loincloth is the only clothing anointing him, and a large club he wields. His narrow eyes, bald head, and the long, upward tusks.

This guy is a real monster. A threat that can squash me like a bug if he so wishes, and it's my job to fight him.

Let's do this.

The troll lumbers forward, bringing the club up in a slow motion. Then…it lets gravity do its work.

I jump to the side, away from the spot that is now just rubble. He tries to club me again, but his weapon is stuck in the ground. Running to the back while he's distracted, I claw his calves and back.

The Claw Swipes draw blood, though the wounds visibly heal. It- Actually, his loincloth doesn't cover the back. I can see his male appendage. He gives up on the club and swings his meaty fist directly at me, red in his eyes.

I lunge to the side, dodging the fist, before having to do it again. He's spinning around, fists flying left and right. A large, pulsating welt can be seen on the back of his right shoulder. It's healing slowly.

Do internal injuries heal slowly?

[ Through repeated actions skill: Deductive Reasoning(Medium, Passive) has ranked up to Deductive Reasoning(Major, Passive) ]

I guess that answers my question.

Whatever Thomas hit this guy with, it's given me a spot to aim for. If I can just get up there, then this'll be much, much easier. Though…if I'm already up there, then I might as well just decapitate him.

"Whossid?" A haggard man stumbles out of the alleyway, smelling greatly of booze and drugs. His rags, that one could call clothes if they squint, are dirty with feces.

He takes a long look at the troll, takes a swig out of a bottle on the ground, and downs a glowing vial he pulls out of his pocket. He veins surge with a glowing red. Must be a Power-Enhancement potion, or something.

The drunk man charges the troll. "Wait, stop!" I yell, but there's nothing I can do. I'm too far away. I don't have the power to stop him in his tracks. His pitiful fist meets the leg of the troll. Nothing happens for a moment. Another moment.

A smile grows on the troll's face like a child just found a new toy to play with.

The meaty fist swings around and grips the man with the force a feather wouldn't have, and throws him into his gaping maw.

A sickening crunch rings out as I contemplate getting near the head. No blood is spilt on the ground, painting it with a red hue. No, not a drop is wasted. Though, I must waste no more time in defeating this giant!

Something purple catches my attention off from the side. What is that?

[ Peering Eye — A mental construct formed either using Mental Magic or Psychic Ability. This eye allows the user to view the world externally through a non-physical proxy. The strain on the caster increases as the distance increases. ]

'Hello there, Silvernight,' a sultry voice rings out in my mind—Alayna. 'I see you found our uninvited guest.' The eye gestures towards the troll.

"Uh, yeah," I say as I jump back, narrowly avoiding becoming a pancake. "I'm kinda busy right now, you know?"

The eye pauses for a moment, as if digesting some information. 'Well, yes. I can see that too. I've just come to check on how the hero that was dispatched was doing, and lo and behold, I found you.'

I do a flip over the club, Acrobatics carrying me through the motions. "Okay?" Dang, I can't get any hits in on this guy.

'Hmm,' she hums a note. 'We used to capture these guys for our more…particular customers…among other creatures.' The eye swivels around. 'Of course, they didn't use protection, so the impregnation rate was ridiculously high.'

The troll swings at the eye, but the club just passes through. 'Now we just use silicon replicas.' This is fascinating and all, but it's really distracting.

I remain silent as Alayna keeps blasting my mind with her anecdotes. 'Then we had a bunch of murderous fathers, particularly elven, come barging in here. They blamed us for getting their daughters pregnant. I mean, yes, but only partially. It was their daughters who snuck in here and got fucked. Though, that one boy with the bleeding asshole was funny.'

I find an opening and swipe the legs; though with Alayna's interruptions, I'm left open for an attack which the troll takes. A wooden club that weighs like steel slams into me with the force of a train. Not a college sorority train, well, maybe, but I mean a locomotive.

I'm flung into a nearby concrete wall, leaving a very wolf-shaped impression upon it. I'm pretty sure I broke a rib, and this regeneration is only helping a little. Oh, right! I'm an idiot.

I'm weakened in the sunlight.

[ Through repeated actions skill: Minor Physical Regeneration(Maximum, Passive) has evolved into Medium Physical Regeneration(Minimum, Passive) ]

That's honestly sad.

'Huh, that looked like it hurt,' Alayna remarks. 'I'm also amazed you haven't picked up on my hint yet.'

"Huh? Hint?" I slurred my words, I think it sounded more like, 'Hurhin?' I don't know. Everything hurts.

'Yeah, you don't think I can sense your Psychic Attunement? You must have Telepathy at least. Just blast his mind with yours.'

"I-" I pause as my jaw realigns itself. "I don't have Psychic Attunement. I just have the one skill."

'Oh,' she says. 'Well, just charge the skill with mana and do the same thing. Sure it might fry your brain, but until you have Psychic Attunement, your magic will have to do. Heck, even Telekinesis can be boosted with Attunement.'

The troll approaches. I guess it's now or never. I flood mana into my brain, searing some nerves in the process. I gather all the abstract and harmful emotions and memories I have and put it all in a nice package to be delivered via Telekinesis.

In a blast of power that causes the Peering Eye to waver, everything I've bottled up until now gets sent to the poor brain of this creature that simply can't understand my thoughts.

He freezes in place, motionless. For a moment. Two moments. Three.

*Thud.* He crashes down onto the ground. Blood and brain matter leaks from his nostrils and ears.

[ You have killed a level 15 "Troll" x 1. 500 experience points gained. ]

[ Through exemplary actions you have unlocked the skill: Mental Magic I(Minor, Base) ]

[ Through exemplary actions you have unlocked the skill: Magical Mental Blast(Minor, Active) ]

[ Mental Magic - The base skill for using magic with a modicum of comprehension. ]

[ Magical Mental Blast - Allows the user to collect their thoughts, empower them with mana, and forcefully send them into the mind of another. Cost: 50mp per cast ]

The eye dissipates with a nod. Thomas, meanwhile, jumps down from the sky holding an unconscious man. The one who I thought was eaten by the troll. "Did you teleport him away?" Thomas silently nods.

*Drip.*

*Drip.*

*Drip. Drip. Drip.* The sky begins to rain. I guess Thomas was right. It was going to rain.

"Hey, Thomas," I say, "what do you know about Psychic Attunement?"