I set my things down in my room. Not my apartment, mind you, but a nice hotel room. Actually, a suite.

I’m still slightly peeved Thomas decided that my apartment, that I rented for way too much for way too little, needed some more airflow, to the point where he destroyed the door and the frame. So! I found the most expensive hotel that didn’t need a reservation in the city, which was hard, and booked a room until the end of scheduled repairs…then another week for spite.

So, magic. I guess I can try to make my hotel room like the element I want to get? I think Thomas mentioned something like that working. How do I make a hotel room orderly, though? It’s already pristine.

My gaze drifts over to the suitcase I had haphazardly thrown onto the armchair in the corner of the room. The one I ignored as I had planned to go out shopping with Maddy.

Oh no. I think I have to be a responsible adult…and put my clothes in the dressers.

Ugh. Fine.

————————————————————————————————————

Chores done. I sorted the clothes in the best way I could. Socks and underwear on the top drawer. Shirts in the middle. Pants and stuff on the bottom; although, most of the purchases today seem to have increased the number of skirts in my possession.

I lay down on the linen sheets, ignoring the lemony scent radiating from them. Closing my eyes, fully embracing Sleep Immunity to avoid lulling myself to sleep, I focus on my own soul lake.

Huh. Okay. Yeah, I can see the effect that my room had on my lake. Instead of the mana particles bouncing around like gas, they’re more lined up in a grid, like a solid. However, it’s only one layer thick, and there’s still more particles flying around, just less.

So, these particles are almost there, almost in perfect order. They just need a slight touch. A nudge that I am completely willing to give.

I grasp the mana. Well, I tried physically grabbing them with my soul-body, but they would just go back to normal after I let go, so I had to try something different.

Telekinesis, a prime Psychic ability. One that is used to grip physical objects and change their position in space. Also, a skill I didn’t expect to work inside my own soul.

This is probably cheating, but I don’t care. Mana is a subatomic particle anyway, so the mass constraint on Telekinesis is negligible. I think something like one point one times ten to the power of negative twenty something kilograms. I made a pneumonic device back in physics to remember them, but I forgot.

All except this one kid’s racist way to remember electromagnetism. I wonder where that kid went.

Probably jail.

Back to cheating. The Order Mana is quite orderly. The sheet is rigid and resists any attempts to fold it; unless I origami the stuff into a basic geometrical figure.

I now have a glowing white pyramid sitting on the shore of my lake. Hooray.

Now, Thomas told me to make the levels on my affinities high. I thought it was a needed requirement to actually mash the mana together.

No. No, it just makes it easier.

And since I already have some Earth laying around, why not mash it with Order and see if I can get some Metal? Plus, even if I don’t get my electric bubble today, I’m pretty sure I can do some cool stuff with Metal.

Like pull the iron out of somebody’s blood. It isn’t much, something of a couple grams, but it’ll probably do some harm. Maybe pull the iron, along with the blood, to coagulate somewhere in a person’s brain.

…I wonder if I would make a better villain…sometimes…

I grab a handful of Earth mana, meaning a single particle, and some Order, still in sheet form. Breaking it off becomes, umm, a hassle. The Order wants to be in a geometric shape. However, if I break off a piece, it’s an irregular shape, no longer a rectangle.

So, I use telekinesis to slam one of the Non-Attribute particles into the sheet, taking the place of the Order. Both are content, as the Order reaches equilibrium with its new friend, and the replaced particle is a sphere.

Here I stand, Earth and Order in hand, ready to make the next step on the magical side of my journey. This is—somewhat important. Oh, Dreamer, I think I’m choking up.

No, wait, that’s my appendix. Or at least a muscle near my appendix is cramping. Why does it do that?

I push the two together, and Order goes flying. I guess being orderly doesn’t mix well with dirt. Grabbing both and huddling them against my chest, I try to squeeze them together. It’s like two magnets repelling each other.

However, magnetism exerts a force, and the force of sheer fucking will is stronger. In my soul, at least.

The two merge, creating a silvery sheen as the mana looses its transparency, or translucency, and becomes more like a solid ball of floating mercury. Like that non-Newtonian liquid—Oobleck.

It’s heavy, yet still floats in the air. Not well, mind you, since it barely floats three feet above the water, but it still floats.

I open my eyes, my real ones, and blink a few times. A quick glance at the clock reveals that it’s only an hour to midnight. Damn.

[ Through repeated actions you have unlocked the skill: Order Magic I(Minimum, Base) ]

[ Through repeated actions you have unlocked the skill: Metal Magic I(Minimum, Base) ]

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

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

Well, I have them now. Not sure what to do with them. Looking over my magical abilities I have Water, Earth, Order, Metal, Life, Mental, and any Projections like Mud. On the Psychic side of things, I have Telekinesis, Clairvoyance, Mental Blast, Resistance, Mind Delve, Spatial Transport, Subroutine Synapses, Synaptic Coercion and Oblivion, and Telepathic Nexus.

Plus all my regular and species skills, it all adds up to me being a kinda powerhouse. At least, to anybody that isn’t another villain or human, I’m a real threat. Somebody that can fuck up your day and then go have lunch.

I walk over to the window. Empowered Senses and Dark Vision making the distant street clear and illuminated, including the alleyways. Storm clouds gather on the horizon, but that doesn’t deter the people skulking around this time of night. In fact, they welcome it.

It might be time for me to try out my skills.