-Armageddon-

The Armageddon figured that since the Strange wasn’t needed in the dungeon at the moment, he could issue him quests to terrorize the local villages. He giggled as he issued a quest. Brian didn’t need to know, right?

Quest

Demand Tribute from village lords

Reward:

Portable gold plated litterbox

The Strange teleported to a random village nearby and began gliding forward on the serpentine tentacles sprouting from the starfighter. A loudspeaker blared, spewing the A.I’s voice, “Bow peasants! The mighty Armageddon demands you pay tribute. Each village lord must pay a single manna coin or be probed!

-Brian-

The next day at work was awkward. As usual, the recruits were lined up when I got to the Arena, but the training area was cratered with blast marks from the rune cannons. “Listen,” I said. “I don’t know what happened yesterday, but I submitted a complaint. Absolutely poor judgment to be using hi-powered weapons outside of a shooting range.”

A few of the recruits shifted nervously before one raised a hand “Names Jeremy. I get what you’re saying, but respectfully sir, what use is physical combat versus weapons and spells? “Listen,” I said: “I went over this the first day, but it seems I need to re-iterate it. Having the physical ability to handle yourself translates to much more than just being able to fight when you drop your rune cannon. You need to know that if someone is within 20 feet of you and you do not already have your gun pointed at them, the person you are protecting is effectively dead if you can’t rebuff a physical attack.”

I waved my hands angrily. “Those idiots from yesterday don’t understand the power of even a knife welding peasant on drugs! Listen, Jeremy. I want you to bring your issued rune cannon tomorrow. We will unload it, and then I will show you how you can’t even draw and stop the threat before they kill the person you are trying to protect.”

After work, I made my way to the meeting place for the manna ball practice. I was on a team of nine other individuals, and we spent about two hours throwing a bunch of glowing balls of manna at each other. The team captain’s name was Jacob, and he kept us working hard.

Despite my overwhelming physical skills, I could only throw the ball four times before being forced to dodge the rest of the time. Throwing the ball took exactly one manna. After expending all my manna throwing the ball, I dodged the best I could until I was eventually overwhelmed and knocked out. Overall, I avoided the thrown balls with grace and speed. To my surprise, I leveled up on the first day!

Level Up

You have increased the capacity of your dantian Manna +1

I was sitting on a bench after practice reveling in my +1 to manna when one of the girls on the team sat down next to me. “Hi, my name is Mary. I like how you move out there! Did you ever used to dance?” I replied, “Hi! I have some martial arts training, but I haven’t danced.” Mary scooted closer, "Well, your movements are fluid and carry that graceful energy. I am part of a group that meets at the local bathhouse. We use an exercise room there to practice. It helps with manna ball, and it’s enjoyable. Do you want to come to try it? We meet a few days a week in the evenings on non-manna ball days.”

I didn’t know anything about the local customs involving men and women dancing together, but I figured I didn’t care anyway. I shrugged my shoulders. “Sure! I don’t mind checking it out!”

After Manna ball practice, we all went out to a restaurant for dinner to get to know each other better. The place was called “The Pheasant” and was on the spendy side. Apparently, it was popular for young masters or other well-to-do individuals in the city. Our team was able to get in despite being low tier because Jacob knew the owner.

Jacob sat at the head of the table, and one of the women cozied up next to him. The waiter brought drinks, and we started chatting among ourselves. The food arrived, and we continued to talk and enjoy ourselves. Suddenly I noticed the volume drop off. Jacob looked at me and said, “so tell me about yourself, Brian!”

I sat up a bit straighter and noticed them all looking at me. “Erhm. Hi! My name is Brian! I recently moved to the city for work! I’m super excited to be part of the team. I leveled up my manna stat today. Can you believe it?” Jacob smiled. “Yeah, man, super happy to have you on the team. You are really fast even if you don’t have much manna. It’s tough to hit you. If you don’t mind me asking, what do you do for a living?” “Oh, yeah,” I replied, “I work for the city guard.” Suddenly, it was like everything froze. The waiter standing at the bar in the center of the room turned to our table and said, “nothing political. Try again!” Then time started again. Jacob looked at me and said, “so tell me about yourself, Brian!”

I frowned. Something peculiar was going on here. I played along, though, because I didn’t understand what was happening. “Hi! As you know, my name is Brian! I moved to the city for a job in security, but I have been looking to branch out and experience other things. I am super excited to be part of the manna ball team. Did you know I even leveled up my manna stat today?”

Jacob smiled, and the team members nodded approvingly. “We are super excited to have you, man! Keep leveling that manna!” The waiter brought over more drinks, and various conversations broke out again. I stayed for a while chatting politely and then finally headed back to my apartment.

On the way back to my apartment, I chimed the Armageddon, “OK, Mr. A.I. Tell me you had that dinner surveilled? The Armageddon replied, “Yep, had a drone overhead with quantum scanners the whole time. Every single conversation is recorded. Want a re-play?” “Yes,” I replied, “re-play the part where Jacob asks me to tell about myself.”

The Armageddon re-played the whole conversation, and the whole part where I had to re-do introducing myself and the waiter saying “Nothing political” was missing. I told the Armageddon what really happened, and he said, “You sound nuts. You need a drug test?”

“Listen,” I told the A.I. “I am not crazy. I’m telling you this shit happened. Scan my implants. “OK,” the Armageddon replied. I did a full scan of your implants. You had a light buzz resulting from the alcoholic drinks at that time, but nothing that could explain the story you’re telling me”. I frowned. This shit was terrifying. My fucking super-advanced technology couldn’t even record what must have been a Spirit-related event.

I pulled out my unusual events log and wrote added the event.

Unusual Events Log

Location

Statement

Spell Shop

"Hello, brother. We are brothers spiritually. You just don’t know yet."

Bathhouse

“Hey, son. Your too big to fit in here.”

Pheasant

The waiter seemed to freeze time and say, "Nothing Political" I had to re-do introducing myself

I thought about what had happened. It didn’t seem like I had been INSPECTED. The way the waiter had said “Nothing political” almost made it seem like the event was being recorded or streamed to an audience. The fact that time seemed to freeze or people forgot what they just said was highly disturbing, but I figured there was nothing I could do but keep pressing forward. Maybe In time, I would learn what all the strangeness was about.

I headed back to my apartment without incident; before I fell asleep, I got an alert:

Alert!

You have successfully evaded detection as a cultivator for some time

Stealth +1

Your ability to evade detection increases

The next day was my demonstration of physical combat and the dance class. I also needed to see If I could do some more spying.