We managed to slot in a proper breakfast despite the panic. Father had pressed the snooze button a few too many times, and aether who was in such a deep sleep didn’t notice that the alarm had rang.

By the time xe got up, it was already half an hour late.

Anyhow, we got to school just fine, though slightly later than our usual time. Father was the one driving us this time around.

I spent the down time listening to inspirational material. Father doesn’t usually talk much in the car. Even if he did, I don’t need to worry about answering his conversation with ardent attentiveness.

We were dropped off at our usual location.

It’s great how the jam isn’t a thing in the universe. Not to be mistaken with the jam you spread on bread.

The school was bustling.

[Avner, be careful. Call the emergency number if you happen upon a dangerous situation.]

“I will, thank you.”

Randell was cut off when I walked past the gate.

Now then, I need to go find Lynda ASAP. We’ve already talked about meeting at her class. Afterwards, we’ll go straight to Cain.

I said goodbye to Lia.

I’ll put my bag in class first before..

{YOU HAVE STEPPED ON A MINE}

{WARNING: YOU HAVE STEPPED ON A MINE}

===

“Lily, do you know what happened?”

[I don’t know, don’t ask me.]

Lily is acting weird. Feigning ignorance and spinning around at such a speed, the animation of pollen being spread everywhere began to play. Cain said we angels shouldn’t tell other people about our existence, but what about the AI? Even if we don’t tell others about it, with AIs monitoring our behavior every day, wouldn’t we eventually be discovered?

That was what I wanted to know so I kept asking Lily about it. This flower kept dodging the question. Lily should’ve noticed that the trip to the function room was weird. Cain and his friend, Eugine said some odd things too.

Whatever. I’ll just assume that it’s some supernatural phenomenon. AIs can’t notice us angels, done. Don’t think too deeply about it! It’s a fact of the world!

With that experiment done, next was to see what angel powers I’ve been bestowed with.

I was supposed to go to a temple to activate my powers, but since Eugine was there, a person who holds some authority in this angel world, my system powers were activated without needing to go through the troublesome, meddlesome process of meeting with other angels.

All I needed to do now is to draw a 7 with my fingers to pull up my special abilities menu. I liked seeing the golden trail that would form on my fingers whenever I did that.

Contacts, recent encounters, class abilities, hexes and.. what’s this erosion value thing? It sounds super scary.

I selected class abilities, a different window appeared. It’s not the same as the typical AR window display I’m used to. If anything, it feels more like the image is being projected inside my mind. Everything was written in gold.

I can plant a mine, I have 2 mines that have not been planted.

Once the mine has been planted, I can pick it back up. It won’t blow up even if an angel kicks it, so I don’t need to worry about friendly fire. Eugine gave me a short lesson about it yesterday.

The mine looks just like a sea mine, the kind with spikes on it, round as a ball. When I move away, or if my line of sight becomes obstructed by a wall, the mine will appear as a little gold dot. It doesn’t matter how far away I go, the gold dot will be there until I pick up the mine or a demon steps on it.

If the mine sets off, I’ll be thrown into the astral space myself. But there’s an exception. Which is if I lend the mine to someone else, the lender would be thrown into the subspace, and not me. Eugine said I wasn’t at that level yet so he skipped further explanation on this.

The mine is a recyclable consumable which is restored each day. I can use it infinite times. Just that there is a limit of planting only two in the physical world at any single time. That’s unless I upgrade myself, which I don’t know how.

Don’t you think this is a game? I just got thrown in some game, and Avner is supposed to be my enemy.

Submarines can see other submarines, but non-submarines can’t see submarines. So for Cain and Eugine who are both submarines, I see a big golden crown floating on their heads.

For Avner, I see a baby black crown with eerie red effects. There’s also that little gold speck on top because of the tattoo on his hand. Personally, I prefer the demon’s crown, it looks way cooler.

“He’s late.”

[Any guesses to why?]

“Maybe his family?”

I looked around class and took note of each person’s miasma gauge. I wonder if this is a part of an angel’s arsenal too? If I remember correctly, both Eugine and Cain’s deep miasma gauge were moderate, Eugine’s superficial miasma gauge, high. Cain’s was moderate-low.

It’s sometimes hard to judge if someone is mad or not mad from the gauge alone. A hit or miss at times. Though, it does beg the question. What exactly are these things? What do they actually signify? Even though I can make a guess that the gauge has to do with good and evil, why can some people act kind even though their gauge is full?

“Did Avner tell you why he didn’t come today?”

“Huh?! He’s not coming?”

“No. I mean to ask, is he coming?”

“Oh. I thought he told you he wasn’t coming. I don’t know.”

Why did Julien ask me this all of a sudden? Suspicious, suspicious.

“Maybe he’s just late.”

“He’s rarely late though.”

I agree with Brunette, he might just be late. In that case, let’s set a punishment!

I walked to the main door which Avner normally uses and planted a mine there.

“What are you doing?”

“Waiting for him.”

“Ei, so did the confession go well? I forgot to ask,” Brunette whispered sneakily.

“I don’t know?”

I touched my lucky hairpin, the one which can become a humongous black sword.

I think it went well?

I went back to my seat, trying to recall what happened that night.

No longer than a few minutes later, a tug was felt and a world of black and white came into view.

{A DEMON HAS TRIPPED ON YOUR MINE}

===

dotturndot: Pfft, you can troll people with this. Provided the person you’re trolling won’t turn you into swiss cheese.