OverXelous
patreon
34. Small Steps Make the Big Changes
🕑 Added 2025-02-05 14:00:08 +0000 UTCAlex stirred, his conscious split between the waking world and deep sleep. Half of his mind registered Edwin’s measured footsteps approaching, while the other half clung to the cozy dream his mind had conjured.
“Good morning, Master Moore,” Edwin’s crisp and formal tone cut through the last bits of his sleep and he let his eyes open. “How did your experiment go?”
Alex grunted, fumbling around for his phone to pause the text-to-speech that had been running. He paused the playback of his notes and with a mental nudge, he turned off the [Parallel Mind] skill that he’d maintained through the night.
As his mind reformed into a complete unit, he studied his own thoughts. His tiredness left him quickly as his mind kicked up into full gear and the half of his consciousness that had been awake and listening to study material for the last six hours tiredly rejoined his main thoughts.
The first thing he noticed was the notification in his vision for the skill leveling up.
***
Congratulations, [Parallel Mind] has leveled up!
***
Pleased to see some progress, he pulled up the screen to note that it had moved from six to seven.
It’s great that the mana cost is upfront.
“It seems like it worked perfectly.” He said excitedly. “I can remember listening through my notes on the Celestial Rift, and my body feels rested. I do feel kind of tired mentally, that’s the longest that I’ve kept the skill active for.”
Edwin made a “Hmm.” noise that Alex had come to realize meant that he had something on his mind but wasn’t sure if he should share it.
“Go on, Edwin. Tell me what’s on your mind,” Alex prompted.
“I worry that your mind is not meant to be running at all times. Even if it is only half of it, I don’t believe that staying half awake through the entire night is going to end well.”
Alex shrugged. “I get that. But, my body isn’t what it was before the integration. My Intellect and Willpower are so much higher than they used to be. I’ve got to assume that my mental stat increase also shows an ability to do some things that might not have previously been possible. That’s not even if I’m taking into account my [Sleep Resistance] passive.” He smiled at Edwin, when the man still looked skeptical. “I hear your concern, Edwin. Thank you. But there is only one way for me to know if this will work and what the limits are. I’m going to keep doing this each night for the last week of the Teams Event, and see how I’m doing at the end of it. With any luck, there will be minimal side effects.”
It was the use of his skills like this that could be applied creatively and consistently, that he thought he would see the most amount of progress. Eura had constantly talked about how important it was to continue training over time and he’d even heard annoying slogans and sayings like that during his time in advertising before the integration. Things like “Just make yourself one percent better every day…” At the time, he’d thought it was all nonsense, but he was beginning to think that they may have been onto something big.
Edwin nodded, while schooling his features to the point that if he hadn’t already seen it, Alex wouldn’t have any idea that the older man was displeased or worried.
“Thanks, Edwin. Really, I don’t mind you speaking up like that. This whole situation is weird, but I’m finding different ways I can keep progressing. I’ve always thought sleep was a waste of time, now I have the chance to actually study and progress through that time. Anyway, what time is it?” He rubbed his eye and sat up fully in his bed.
“Just past eight. Your appointment is at ten.” Edwin placed a cup of coffee on the nightstand and Alex couldn’t hold in the smile that came with it.
“Alright, lay it on me then. I need to jump in the shower, so you’ve only got a few minutes!”
Edwin nodded. “Clara sent you a thank you for giving her the day off to spend with her son, and has asked if she can bring him by soon to meet you.”
Alex stood with the coffee and moved to the large master bathroom connected to his room. Edwin followed as he asked, “Her son wants to meet?”
“She said that he is very interested in Awakened now that there is so much information coming out. She worries for his safety but knows that you are more powerful than most. She wants to see if you will answer some of his questions and maybe sign something for him.”
“Sign something? I’m not a celebrity…”
“To a child, it might seem otherwise.”
“Okay, sure. She’s a great worker and always really nice, I’d love to meet her son if she wants.”
Edwin nodded and moved on to the next topic. “The construction has begun on the mother-in-law suite, it should be finished in two to three weeks time. The Guild was most amicable in sending over two of their novice enchanters to help work on the enchantments for the construction.”
“Great,” Alex answered as he took off his shirt and glanced at himself in the mirror. “I’m looking forward to an actual workshop.” He looked back into the mirror and took in his appearance. His brown hair was longer than he kept it before the integration, but still generally well kept. Some stubble was beginning to grow on his jaw after not shaving for several days, but what drew his attention the most was not the now toned muscles he sported. Instead, it was his face.
Always the face.
The scar drew attention before anything, as it was a relatively straight line from under his left eye, across his nose, and two inches past his nose and onto the right side of his face. From there, his eye was naturally drawn to the mismatched colored eyes. Specifically, the abnormally light colored Heavenly Eye was attention grabbing.
The black center seemed out of place compared to the yellow coloring of the rest of his eye and the deep orange starburst pattern that ringed the iris made it almost mesmerizing to look at. He knew that if he were to lean close to the mirror and inspect the pattern, small specs could be seen, reminding him of a miniature cosmos.
“The last note for the morning is your finances. I attempted to mention it last Saturday before you went out to the Awakened establishment with the others, as it was the first of the month, but I think it important that you look over these, Master Moore. While I can keep your books, as head of the household, you are responsible for ensuring they are done correctly and you are pleased with how I’ve handled them.” Edwin extended a ledger, and Alex looked down at it.
“The money from the Guild came through?”
Edwin nodded and continued to hold the book out. “Yes. The monthly pay out was larger than we expected.”
Alex gently pushed the notebook back to Edwin. “I will look at it. You’re right, it’s something I need to do, but I’m about to shower. Would you put it in the locked drawer of my desk?”
Edwin straightened and put the book behind his back once more. “Of course, Master Moore. Do enjoy your shower. I believe Mr. Thompson is downstairs and chatting with Chef Cruz.”
After Edwin left, Alex stepped into his shower. He marveled at the pressure and how the temperature of the water didn’t dip or change at all once set. The wide, heated floors with a stone base, glass walls, and ceiling rain-like water faucet were about as far from his old shower as possible.
After showering, he felt refreshed and thought about the rest of his morning. He’d been reviewing his notes from his time in the Celestial Rift, finding Eura’s teaching to be more useful than almost any of the manuals he’d read through before and since.
That’s exactly how I ended up hiring this guy from the Guild. Hopefully, it’s not a waste.
He dried himself off and shook out his hair before walking down to the kitchen. Mark sat at the island with a large stack of pancakes in front of him. He looked up as Alex entered, grinning around a mouthful of food.
“Seriously? You hired a tutor?” Mark asked, syrup dripping from his fork. “Since when do you need help learning any of this magic stuff? And… will they even know more than you about magic?”
Alex shrugged as he snagged a piece of bacon from the side of Mark’s plate. “Maybe not about magic in general, but definitely about enchanting. And since when do I need help? Since I got tired of reading theory books. You know me- I learn better when someone shows me what to do. Sarah was the one to recommend it and gave me a contact of someone she knows.”
“From the Hunters Association?” When Alex nodded, Mark wrinkled his brow as he chewed. “Are you supposed to be doing that? Aren’t we like… against them?”
Alex rolled his eyes. “You’ve been spending too much time with Olivia.”
“She’s your girlfriend,” Mark pointed at him with a fork.
“I know, but she sees things in black and white. Everything is definitely a gray area right now. Hell, the Guild started all of this by scraping the internet, recruiting in secret and deleting posts. Not saying that they were wrong, but it has always been a bit shady. Sarah seems to like what the Hunters Association is doing, and I trust her too. I can’t imagine that they are evil incarnate or trying to control everything.”
Mark held up his hands. “Alright, alright. Anyway, from what I remember in college, you definitely learn better with some hands on work.”
Alex nodded, grateful for the subject change. “Yeah. So, I figured if it’s between grabbing someone else who’s already learned or read the things I would be reading… it will be better to have them teach me and we can go back and forth some.”
“And it has nothing to do with being rich enough to hire private tutors now?” Mark said.
“Hey, if I’m paying someone to teach me, at least I’ll feel obligated to show up for the lessons.” Alex poured himself another cup of coffee and thanked Gabby as she handed him his own plate of food. “It just happens to be that money makes it very convenient, since now the lessons can be here instead of at the Voss Estate.”
Mark snorted. “Fair enough. Just don’t let it go to your head, Mr. Moneybags.”
Gabby laughed with Mark, and Alex rolled his eyes, but couldn’t suppress a smile. He sipped his coffee and thought through what little he remembered from skimming the basic runic manual before. He had done a lot of his early ritual learning by himself and through the manuals, and while that had worked out well for him, he did significantly better when learning with someone.
His knowledge and ability had skyrocketed from his time with Eura and the other martial masters. While his tutor from the Hunters Association wasn’t likely to be a master, considering that the System Integration only began about four months before, he was excited to learn with someone and be able to ask questions and see practical examples.
“Mana?” Valtherion’s voice came through their bond.
Alex groaned aloud, which caused Mark to look over.
“Val’s coming down. Do you have a Mana Stone on you?”
Mark looked at him with mock offense. “Where is your pouch?”
“It’s upstairs, come on. I’ll give you another one later.”
Mark seemed to think about it, “Alright.” He reached into his pouch and removed a stone, but pulled it back before Alex could grab it. “But, I want us to do the Loot Party tonight. It’s the end of the third week and we have so much stuff to sift through. We need to figure out who gets what and what gets sold to the Auction House.”
“Alright, alright.” Alex could feel Valtherion approaching at high speed.
Mark laughed and tossed him the stone. As soon as Alex caught it, he tossed it up in the air and smiled as a blue streak sailed through the air and snatched it before it could begin to fall again.
“Mana good!” Valtherion’s voice chirped, a mix of childish enthusiasm and excitement coming through. His speech was clear, but still stilted, like a toddler learning to form sentences.
Val hovered near Alex’s shoulder, his wings flapping lazily to the point hat Alex wondered if he truly even needed the wings or if he could still hover and fly like when he was a wyrm.
He hummed with satisfaction as the stone was held in his mouth and through Alex’s left eye, it was clear he was siphoning the mana from the stone.
The hum resembled a purr from a happy cat and Alex watched as his companion’s intelligent eyes looked at the humans present. The light, yellow eyes with slits looked so different to Alex compared to the large bug-like eyes he used to have.
“More?” he asked hopefully, his tone carrying a wheedling note that reminded him of a child begging.
Alex chuckled and reached out to pat Val’s head. “Not right now, buddy. We’ve got a guest coming soon.”
Val’s snout and brows made his face more expressive, and the pout that followed was easily seen by both Alex and Mark. He turned and slowly drifted out of the room. “Val wait, be good. Val is good, mana is good. Good Val can have mana.” he said as he moved back to the stairs.
Alex exchanged an amused glance with Mark. The little mana beast’s vocabulary and assertiveness were endearing, but Alex could sense future challenges as he continued to grow smarter.
Alex knew that the baby dragon’s desire to be included and his increasing awareness of his own wants were a combination that would require careful handling.
The doorbell chimed, echoing through the mansion. Sam, who’d been lounging in the living room, waved at them through the glass and open courtyard. From the kitchen, Alex waved back and could faintly hear him yell, “I’ll get it!”
He raced off toward the entrance, enjoying the attempt to answer the door before Edwin could get there. More often than not, Edwin won. His ability to anticipate tasks that dealt with his job, because of his trait, led to Sam losing.
Sam swung the door open, revealing a young man in his mid-twenties. He wore a button-up shirt and khakis. There was a messenger bag slung over his shoulder and his sandy blonde hair was similar in color to Sam’s, but instead of a tousled mess, it was neatly combed to the side. He wore a pair of wire-rimmed glasses and took in Sam with a quick glance.
“Hi there, I’m Evan!” the man’s smile was warm as he looked at Sam. “You must be excited to start learning about runes today. Don’t worry, we’ll take it nice and slow-”
“Oh, I’m not the student,” Sam interrupted, trying not to laugh. He shook the other man’s hand anyway, happy to make him feel more at ease. “Alex is.” He pointed toward the foyer as Alex approached from the west side of the house.
Evan’s practiced teacher’s smile faltered slightly as he took in Alex’s appearance. “Oh, I… I see,” Evan stammered before extending his hand once more. “I’m sorry for the assumption,” he said as he looked from Sam to Alex and back again.
“No worries. I’m Alex Moore. You said your name was Evan, right? Thanks for coming out here today. Sarah said you were in the Safe Zone, so thanks for making the drive.”
Evan shook Alex’s hand, his grip a bit too firm, betraying his nervousness. “Evan Parker. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Moore.”
“Just Alex is fine,” he said, gesturing for Evan to come inside. “How about we head up to the office? It’s set up for our lesson.”
Edwin appeared silently beside them. “If you’ll follow me, gentlemen.”
Evan’s eyes widened a bit, and he gestured behind him at the car in the driveway. “Uh, I need to grab some books first, if that’s okay. You requested quite a few and I brought extras.”
“Of course,” Edwin said. “I’ll help you with that, Sir.”
After they’d gotten the books, Sam returned to the living room and Mark said hello to Evan as he walked through and joined the teen on the couch.
As they climbed the stairs with two dozen books, Alex tried to put Evan at ease with some casual conversation. “So, how long have you been studying runes?”
Comments
Kemlion
Tftc! Cute Val 💕
Corwin
Surprising Evan is intimidated by Alex
V L
lol.
