Ugly Bastard

When Noah came down the stairs he noticed something strange. The expressions of everyone around him became pained, shocked and hostile as soon as they saw him. Not understanding their reactions, he made a few more steps forward and saw knights pull at their weapons.

At that moment Theressa flashed toward him, disappearing from the spot and reapering tight before him, looking at him with a face full of worry.

“Why are you using your Dominating skill on our guests?” Asked Theressa’s fearful voice in his head. “And did it become stronger?”

“I am not…” Answered Noah bewildered, remembering he used it on Cassandra just a while ago and he did not notice any difference. Also he clearly remembers turning it off when they were done.

Opening his system window, Noah's expression suddenly changed from bewilderment to confusion, then to fear.

“What’s the matter?” Asked Theressa, watching his changing expressions.

“Ugy. He is not answering. And I…I can’t turn it off. No matter what I do, the skill stays as is… No wait. Not only this. Nothing works at all. I can open system windows but they.. are not responding to any actions.” whispered Noah.

“Could this be a flare?” Asked Theressa with concern.

Noah looked at her with surprise on his face. He knew what the flare was, but… How could it even be? With Ugy being a sentient system, Noah was somehow always sure that it would not be possible for him to have a flare.

“The flare is an event when the system starts to go berserk in kids when they grasp control over it to some extent. But this is more like the opposite of it. Instead of flare it's more like my system froze in the state it was half an hour ago.” Said Noah.

“Must it be something Ugy did again? Say did you let out another nightmare? You reek of both vampires and werewolves for some reason. Just like you felt like a spider to me when we first met. Could this be the reason? ” Said Tessa.

“I…need to go to the mind realm and see what’s going on there.” Said Noan, throwing a glance at the guest.

Theressa nodded and turned to the crowd of humans watching them warily. Some of them have already pulled their swords out and filled their hands with magic. She threw a glance at her daughters that stood nearby right between Noah and the knights, their faces going cold and emotionless, ready to strike anyone who dared to take a swing at their mate.

“Is this a skin walker?” Muttered one of the knights.

At that moment Lord Belmont raised his hand and gestured to the knights to withdraw their weapons.

Unlike his subordinates, the Royal Investigator had a look of peculiarity rather than hostility.

“Interesting.” Muttered Lord Belmont thoughtfully with his eyes that seemed to shine in the dim hall of the mansion.

“Lower your weapons, this is just a skill. Although it would be best if the Count explained himself.” He said aloud.

“But my Lord! Exclaimed one of the knights “This thing…”

“Your senses are good but you are still lacking. Skinwalkers are very smart. Had it really been a skinwalker you would not be able to see through its disguise without the spirit magic eyes. And it would not be advertising its presence this way. This is not a monster, just a human with a very interesting skill.” Explained Lord Belmont.

“Skill? He feels like a mixture between a Nosferatu and a Werewolf. Can someone’s presence be changed this way with a system skill, your Excellency? I’ve never heard of it." The prince asked.

“Well, we are aware of systems that can erase or mask presence. This seems like a very advanced version of that. This skill not only can camouflage aura to be perceived as something else, it can make you believe that you see something more powerful than the person actually is. What we all feel is just a lie. Young count is actually not that strong. His mana isn’t all that powerful to put such pressure on everyone. His skill deceives our senses to make us believe it. This is most likely a spirit magic effect.”

“How is this possible. Deceive senses?” Muttered prince.

“Spirit magic is a rare occasion. Normally you would be taught about it at the advanced magic study course, your Highness.” Said Lord Belmont calmly.

“But in short, spirit magic can be perceived as a very advanced type of illusion magic.” He added.

So that’s how it allows him to be accepted by monsters as a kin. He thought to himself. Not just appearance change but complete aura falsification to such a degree. Simply astonishing. He had incredible potential as an investigator in the future.

“So being a worthy kin to the Arachna family is not the limit of the skill.” Said Archduke intently watching Noah through his enchanted glasses that shone with dim light just like Royal Investigators eyes.

“So it seems.” Said Lord Belmont.

“What the? So it's just a skill?” Muttered Knights embarrasses that they've given in to fear forced on them by the young boys system's ability. However, they still did not relax, paying close attention to their surroundings.

“Dear guests!” Said Theressa loudly while clapping her hands, turning everyone's attention toward herself. “It seems like young Noah suddenly has a system flare. What you see is a mere aura projection skill and poses no immediate threat to anyone here other than putting pressure on everyone. Please accept my apologies in the counts stead, as it seems he is struggling with control over his system at the moment and can't speak well.” She added before turning to the young prince.

“Your Highness, I apologize but if you’d allow, we would first go resolve this matter with all haste before continuing our talks. Please allow my daughters to accompany you all to the guest room while…” Said Theressa and the young prince already opened his mouth to give his permission for the Duchess and the Count to leave but the voice of the Archduke interrupted Theressa’s speech and his unsaid sentence.

“His Highness and the knights shall stay here. I will accompany the young Count to give him advice.” Said Archduke. His face became calm and tranquil as if unperturbed by what just happened, however she saw that it was anything but serenity in the man’s facial micro-gestures. He was donning his poker face, but as a master puppeteer Theressa could partially see through it. And what she saw made her wary of him. This man had some motive.

“Lord Belmont saw through the monstrous aura spread by Noah’s domination skill with his spiritual sight and does not doubt his humanity.” Thought Theressa. “But this man… knowing his family history, it will be bad if I don’t dispel his doubt soon.”

“Your excelency…” Theressa started to speak but was once again interrupted by the man.

“Right now, in this room, there is no one more experienced in dealing with flares than Lord Belmont and me. As his seniors in both age and status, it is my duty to take charge in this situation and help young Count as best as possible. Lead us to your training room where the use of skills would not do damage to the mansion.” Said Archduke with a calm yet commanding voice, not leaving any space for refusal.

He no doubt intends to dig for truth rather than help. Thought Theressa.

“Flare?” Muttered Archduke’s grandson behind him. “At his age? What kind of nonesense…”

“On the contrary. It is quite logical. Young count is a rare case almost as special as his Highness here, just the total opposite. When his Highness has the earliest ever recorded age of awakening, the young count’s system has awakened mere months ago at the age of eighteen, being the latest ever recorded.” Said Lord Belmont with a thoughtful face.

The young prince watched Noah with wariness as the force he felt coming from the man pressure him greatly. However, more than that he felt interested in the young man who was said to be his total opposite.

Noah glanced at Theressa, seeing a nervousness in her expression, as well as her usual crafty shine in the eyes. She was no doubt thinking of a way to throw off the Archduke, but this man was no stupid. She would not be able to do it without seeming disrespectful and over secretive, making him more wary in the end.

“Let it be Tess. The more you try to deny him, the more you would convince him that we have something to hide.” Said Noah through their mate connection.

“You must not use full transference to the mind realm in their presence. This will give away your sub-space secret.” Said Tessa.

“I know. According to books, fighting a flare needs sitting down and calming your mind like a meditation. I will just pretend to do it while taking a peek into the mind realm with my consciousness alone and try to quickly resolve the issue. For him it would just seem no different from me meditating.” Said Noah.

“Very well, please follow us this way.” Said Theressa quickly pulling Noah to the weaving training room where she taught magic to Priscilla.

Archduke asked the prince and other two young people to stay behind with the knights, however, the prince insisted on coming with them.

“Cil, Bri entertain the guests.” Said Tessa to her daughters as she quickly hurried away with Noah.

“Lady Violette, have you chosen a design for your wedding dress yet? Would you wish to discuss this year's fashion trends? As a family of weavers we have quite a collection of dress examples in our catalogues. Almost every dress that any lady wore in this or neighboring kingdom is added to our catalogue. Speaking of catalogues have you heard of the fashion show we performed recently. Would you be interested in seeing the new magazine we created?”

“Y..yeah…” Said Lady Fertile as the girls pulled her to the room. “I’d love to see.”

“Let us come as well.” Said Lord Belmont to the prince and Archduke's grandson. “I am sure, his excellency will deal with it in no time.”

The group moved toward the room after the women.

“What’s a flare?” Asked Brianna her sister through their telepathic connection as they walked.

“Something humans suffer in their first years of awakening. It is believed that after some time the human mind starts getting used to their system, just like a new limb and they learn to use it on an unconscious level. However, when they get emotional, distressed or sick, systems get multiple unperceivable or opposing orders and start to go berserk, randomly activating skills. All humans pass through that at some point, it is only a short period when they are threatened by it. After that, their control quickly solidifies and it never happens again.”

"How come I never heard of it?" Asked Brianna.

"You are never interested in anything else other than your dolls." Said Priscilla.

“Is Noah in danger?” Bri asked.

“I… am not sure. They say that the younger the human when it happens the easier it passes, as their level is quite low and they can barely hurt themselves or others. However, the older the age at which it happens, the more dangerous it becomes. In the worst case, it can even lead to death.” Answered Priscilla.

They both looked at each other with worry.

“Mom, does Noah really have a flare?” Asked Priscilla and Brianna at the same time in worry through their telepathic talk.

“Our mate is quite special. It seems his system is getting stuck and does not respond rather than going berserk and randomly activating skills. Noah said it's more like freezing up than flaring up. I am not sure how different this is in danger level compared to the usual thing. He needs to get to the house inside his mind and see what’s going on. But it does not seem to be posing any immediate threat to him.” Explained Theressa.

As Noah, Theressa and Archduke entered the dark room behind the wide door, Archduke's golden rimmed spectacles shone, making his eyes shine. He assessed the enchantments inscribed on the floor, walls and ceiling with a thoughtful face for a few moments before nodding and entering the room, closing the door behind them.

“Magnificent.” He muttered, rubbing his chin as he walked around the room. “Such a level of complexity and intricacy…”

“Let us not waste any time, Your Excellency." Said Theressa with a frown.

“Ah, yes. Surely.” The Archduke said, fixing his glasses and turning back to Noah, who was now sitting in the center of the room with a complex circle pattern of inscriptions on the floor underneath him. These patterns extended to the entire floor, walls and even the high ceiling. The room had no windows, lit only by the magic lamps around the corners of the walls. Strangely inside this wooden mansion, this room seemed to be the only one made entirely of solid rock.

“What is this material?” The Archduke asked. “It looks like rock but does not seem to be granite or anything I’ve seen before.”

“Concrete.” Said Theressa curtly, standing at Noah’s side with a trace of both worry for her mate and annoyance at the Archduke’s questions in her expression.

“Conrete?” Muttered Archduke trying to remember where he heard such words before. He was sure that he had heard of it.

“A type of mortar, your excellency.” Said Theressa.

“Ah, yes! I finally remember. One of our oldest books mentions it in a description of an ancient civilization. However, the alchemical formula has been deemed lost to the times. Did not know its production method was still preserved.” He said rubbing his chin.

Theressa did not think he would know about it. She built this room for her daughters to train in time of dire need for money, so she could not allow herself to build it in the way nobles usually did when they needed a strong enchanted room, using the solid stone. These slabs cost a fortune, so Theressa improvised, recreating something from a very distant memory.

“So, is it like a coating?” The Archduke asked, hunching down and knocking on the floor. “I thought it is some strange stone slab.”

“No. Concrete isn’t like that. It is a mixture that is liquid and viscous like a slime but when it dries it becomes a solid stone no different from marble or granite.” Explained Theressa.

“I see.” Muttered Archduke, glancing at her. “Liquid as slime and dries so it is possible to craft all these magic circles into it while it solidifies. No need for long chiseling like the normal stones."

Even Noah opened his eyes, throwing a glance at the floor, rubbing it with a hand as he sat cross legged on the floor the way Archduke instructed him to.

He was in this room several times but never bothered to think over this strange stone for long. To think it was actually something from a previous civilization. One of those mythical lost technologies.

“Concentrate young Count.” The words of the Archduke pulled him back to his problem as he sat rubbing the fine gray dust left on his fingertips after rubbing the floor.

“Yes.” Said Noah, closing his eyes once again.

“When system flare occurs it is typical to lose control over the part or the entire system capability, depending on the severity of the flare. Even if sometimes it feels that it is lightened down it may come back with a new force. It washes over you in waves.” Said Archduke standing near Noah, with his hands behind his back like a wise old man in thought.

“To regain full control over your system it is first necessary to calm your mind. Many nobles often use special calming potions for this but I personally deem it more harmful in the long run than helpful. After all, finding that inner calmness on your own greatly helps in the later stages of leveling, when you start experiencing something similar to flares as you evolve your mind and body. Not many expect to climb over level 60, so they don’t really care. However, I believe a young man of your caliber would have an ambition to climb as high as you could get in the path of leveling.” Said Achduke.

“Y..yes, your excelency.” Said Noah hearing such information for the first time. Something similar to flares would occur above the level sixty? Noah never heard of it. It is considered being a high-level individual; not many people ever get to such heights so knowledge of it is not as common.

“Have you heard of meditation?”

“Yes, your excellency. I have practiced it some, in the last month.” Said Noah.

“You have a skill for it?”

“No. Just practice it naturally.”

“I see. So you’ve been preparing. This is the reason for the delay in our meeting, I presume.” Said Archduke as he glanced at Theressa standing near Noah opposite him. He remembered their previous meeting when they could not meet Count McDaniels because he had been in closed off training as she claimed. “But it is always better to ask for advice from a fellow human. Although Duchess Threadweaver may have advised you on how to cope with it, she is not as knowledgeable on the matter as me.”

“Thank you, for your help, Your Highness.”

“Alright. Try to calm your mind and empty your thoughts through meditation. This will stop your flare from becoming worse…” The Archduke started to explain the principles behind the method, speaking in a calming voice.

“The next step you have to do is remember the very first or the very simplest of your skills. Something you are most familiar with. Remember one time when you used that skill. Then try to recreate in your head the image of how it feels when it is activated. Imagine it as a scene. Paint a picture in your mind. First as something abstract but then fill in details to make it more vivid. In the end, it has to be as precise as possible. What place have you been at? Time of day. What pose you’ve been in when you used it? Add colors to objects around you. What changes happened when you used your skill? What did you think at the moment?

Feeling the moment of its activation helps you raise back the level of synchronization with your system that is required…”

As Archduke kept on blabbering explaining the steps, Noah turned his thoughts into a world painted with the spirit magic inside his consciousness, his mind realm.

“Come to think of it. The ability to enter my mind actually is the oldest and most used of my abilities.” Thought Noah.

Seconds passed, however, no matter how much he tried it did not work. For the first time since his awakening, the only thing he could see with his eyes closed was darkness on the other side of his eyelids.

“It’s…it’s not working.” Muttered Noah, his eyebrows creasing.

“I see.” Said Archduke rubbing his chin. “You are quite out of sync then. Although it is strange that you are not beating in convulsions like in epileptic seizure with this degree of confliction, but this could just mean you are quite a strong willed young man. And has a degree of mental fortitude. However, it may also pose additional danger as your level of inner confliction with the system may go further and further still. I’d suggest a more drastic method before you start influencing mana circulation inside your body.”

“Drastic?” Muttered Noah.

“No talking. Just continue to remember the feeling of your most common skill as I instructed."

This time Noah really listened to the man’s words and tried to imagine his ability to transfer into his mind. Not how it looks now, but how it was initially. The total darkness inside his mind, with only a small light from the comment section screen somewhere in the distance.

At that time, a sudden feeling of suffocation engulfed him, squeezing his whole body like a giant snake monster trying to squash him into pulp. It lasted for a mere second before a jolt of energy passed through his head, as if zapping his brain with an electric current.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?” Screamed Tessa swinging her arm at the Archduke that evaded her swing by instantly reappearing a few steps away leaving only an afterimage.

Instead of following after him, Theressa rushed to Noah, grabbing his unconscious body before it hit the hard floor.

“No need to panic, Duchess. It is but a part of a method.” Said Archduke.

“Hitting his brain with magic is your method? Are you mad!?” Roared Theressa kneeling at Noah's side, holding him in her hands as she glared at the Archduke with killing intent seeping out of her.

“Jolting a consciousness is the best way to reset a system so to say. Shut him down for just a split moment. Suppressing him with strong mana pressure was a kind of shock therapy. It allowed him to concentrate on a single thing for a split moment. Kind of like making him forget his conflict with his system. It is proven the best time to do this so-called forced reset. Do not worry he will regain his consciousness quite soon and I made sure to avoid any lasting damage. An intense headache and numbness is all it would cause. Nothing a potion can’t heal. Temporary discomfort, nothing serious.” The Archduke explained his actions.

Tessa kept glared at him with menace, not sure whether she should believe his words or try to tear the man into ribbons.

“Look, he is already starting to steer as we speak.” Said Archduke pointing her attention at Noah's jolting hands. “Now, if he really did everything as I instructed and imagined his system's basic skill, his consciousness would use it first thing after reset, solidifying his control over his system once again…” Archduke stopped in mid sentence as something unimaginable for him had happened the next moment.

A black aura seeped out of Noah’s unconscious body instantly covering him entirely, turning him into a mass of blackness. Then the black mass constricted on itself as if being sucked into something and a second later Noah's body disappeared.

“Teleportation?” Thought Archduke in his head with suspicion. “How is this a basic skill? There is no system with such a skill at the lowest levels.” He thought as he sent mana into his spectacles once again.

The room flared with colors around him and his eyes narrowed as he saw a distortion in colors at the spot where Noah disappeared.

“Sub-dimension.” He muttered, raising his eyes to look at Theressa.

“Why has it not been reported?” Asked Archduke, his voice filling with weight.

“Reported? That is his privacy whether to…” started to say Theressa, as if unperturbed. Damn it Noah. You were supposed to only send your thoughts there. She thought with worry.

“Cut the crap, Duchess.” Said Archduke. “You disobeyed the royal decree. All exceptionally standing out systems and abilities are to be reported, no questions asked. As the world is in search of a missing Sage system and our country being the only one that did not produce a Heroic type system in this generation, you ought to have known what sub-dimension skill means.”

“It is rare but…” Started to say Theressa.

“Don’t fucking take me for a fool. The sub-dimension skill is not just rare.” Said Archduke. “This skill in most cases was connected with a Heroic-type system and you very well know it.”

“So what were you trying to do hiding someone who is a most likely candidate to be a possessor of a Sage system, Duchess Threadweaver?” Said Archduke, his voice going completely cold.

“He is not a candidate.” Said Theressa with a sigh gazing back at the man with an unperturbed expression. “He is the Sage.”

“Do you realize what you have done?” Said Archduke gazing at her with a chilling gaze.

The room seemed to freeze as the two people stared at each other in the closed off stone room.