7: Talent Reveal
There were just too many surprises for Aidan to keep up with this day. How the hell Nina knew his name, for instance?
As far as he remembered, he never once gave out his name, just like how Nina never gave hers. The moment they met, it was one thing after another, barely given time for introductions.
However, he refrained from speaking out in the office where Randal was, so he followed her out of the building and back into the slums of Forontia. They walked through the streets, beggars crowding the lines of the road and the side of the buildings. Watching them like this was pretty painful, but he recognized that he was in the same state, having no money or any backing other than the woman leading him to god knows where.
Soon enough, they reached a sort of checkpoint in the slums. Aidan noticed then that the district they were in was walled off, having what looked like a guard tower situated where the entrance out of the district was. There were banners and flags that dictated what he supposed were the insignia for the Forontia city, a blue-colored bird-like creature carrying some kind of plant in its beak.
There were several guards placed there, each wearing the armor and leather set that reminded him so much of the guards that he killed which got him into this mess. His chest tightened and he wanted to disappear, but he had nothing to hide himself with. He stuck close to Nina as she addressed the guard before showing her card, the same black card that Aidan carried.
“Alright, you’re good to go,” the guard said after taking the card for himself, then giving it back. “Now for you.”
Nina jabbed him with her elbow, making him pull out the card he put in his pocket earlier. He forgot about scanning the card before taking it in, so when the guard also agreed, finding no problems with the new card he gained, he took the chance to scan it.
Identity Black Pass of Forontia (Uncommon)
An important identifier that contains the initial status of the user, marking them as official citizens of Forontia. The color of the card dictates the rank of the citizen. Black signifies that the user is a common citizen with no renown.
Requirements: N/A
Well that’s a bummer.
He supposed, since he got it for free, there wasn’t a need to complain. Putting it back into his pocket, he marveled when the two headed out of the district and into another.
Compared to the scenery before, the streets were clean and there wasn’t an abhorrent smell clawing through his senses. People crowded the streets, a massive sea of humanity that stretched out before him. The buildings around him were a lot more refined and detailed, the colors practically wafting off the walls and roofs. There were even children running about, screaming to high heavens as they whisked past the adults, some of them carrying sticks playing some kind of game.
They passed through the rushing crowd, wondering if it was the morning rush as the sun rose high across the distance. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t eaten anything, and the last thing he did was vomit out whatever remained of his stomach, so now his belly ached fiercely for sustenance.
“Here.”
Aidan looked up to suddenly find something flying at him, making him flinch. He caught it, only to see that it was a loaf of bread the size of his hand, lightly warm to the touch. He looked back to see Nina with her own loaf in hand.
“You’re hungry, right? Eat that for now.”
Nina took a bite of her own loaf for herself before returning to their jaunt around the city. Taking the chance, Aidan took a grateful bite of the loaf, taking in the lightly tough exterior and biting it whole. He rejoiced for the simple taste, just glad that he had something to settle his stomach.
They continued walking for a fair bit, probably around half an hour, before they went around the corner and found themselves at another building, this one less remarkable than the others. It was situated on a rather busy street, with several people walking past it. Nina arrived at the front entrance and unlocked the door with a key, making it her place. Nina entered and Aidan followed through, seeing the vast open space for himself.
There was a table and a few chairs, the walls painted a decent beige with a bucket at one side. A broom and a mop hanging by its side. He looked around, seeing that there were more rooms available but found that there was barely anything within.
Is this some kind of storeroom?
“Welcome to your new home,” Nina said abruptly, once again shocking Aidan.
“My what?” Aidan asked, using Sense Vibrations to check if anyone else was in the building. Thankfully it was just the two, so Aidan decided to finally speak his mind. “What do you mean?”
“Well, technically, it’s my house, but I barely stay here. It’s just one of the places I own. It’s sort of my hobby to buy out interesting places to see if I can make something out of it, but I haven’t done anything to this place yet.”
As though to show, she moved the bucket with her foot, as if to say that it wouldn’t look this incomplete if she actually took the effort to clean it. It really did look as though someone just bought the place and was planning to refurbish everything.
“O…kay,” Aidan drawled out. “But why give it to me?”
“Who said anything about giving it to you?” Nina raised a brow, scoffing. “Of course I plan to make you work for it.”
“Seriously…?” Aidan figured, but this was just too much. “You just saw me kill two guards, and the first thing you decided to do was to give me a place to live and a job? Do you know how crazy that sounds?”
“It certainly sounds crazy. That’s why I want you to sign a contract with me.”
Nina walked over to the table, and placed a chair beside it, putting the other in front for Aidan to take. After sitting down, she pulled out a set of papers and placed it onto the table to show, gesturing to it.
He didn’t know how the hell she managed to pull out a set of papers. Was she getting them out of something that he couldn’t see? But he didn’t see any bags. Could it be hidden within the cloak?
“You want me to sign a contract?” Aidan asked, somehow not liking how the situation was going.
“That’s right.”
“Why would I sign a contract with you?”
He asked the question, but he somehow knew what her answer might be. Suddenly the mood shifted as Nina unveiled her hood, revealing her face.
It was needless to say how bafflingly beautiful she looked. In fact, it was to the point where it bordered on resembling a near replica of an unblemished doll with exquisite eyes, the amber coloring striking his center at full force and black hair with tinges of gold reaching her ears.
However, those eyes made his Sense Vibrations flare hard, the harmony singing from her soul rising out as though a sudden shrill took place between the notes. Her eyes narrowed at him.
“What makes you think you have a choice?”
Her words were cutthroat, and the sudden shrill increased in pitch, almost stinging his senses. It wasn’t enough to harm him, but it was clear.
This was a threat, and she was fully utilizing her leverage against him. It was almost like she was watching in amusement at a little rat she cornered for her to do whatever she felt like.
“I could hurt you, you know,” Aidan suddenly said, but he refrained from moving. He already knew where this was going, but his own soul refused to be cornered like this without some reasonable cost.
He already knew how beneficial this was by having an entire house, an identity, and probably a way to live in this new world where he had nothing to begin with. He just didn’t like the idea of being forced under a contract. However, Nina only looked at him with an amused smile, her hand delicately placed under her chin.
“Oh, sure, you could. You already proved that when you killed two of those guards. By the way, that’s some solid thinking there, using that particular magic of yours that I’ve never seen before. What was it called again…? Oh, right, something about harmony.”
His heart dropped and his jaw flexed. How did she know? His fingers shook, the anxiety already driving him up the wall.
“How did you–”
“Know? It’s simple. It’s part of my talent.”
Talent. He had one of those too. But in what way did that get her to know about his own?
“Surely you know that when scanners hit you, they reveal your Level, Class, and titles. Some others even show your attributes, but I was born with a very perceptive talent. I’m able to scan other people’s statuses to my heart’s content. That’s how I knew that you’re special.”
She pointed her finger at him, as if daring him to say otherwise. He swallowed, but his throat was dry. He bit the corner of his lip, unable to really say anything.
“And I’m sure you’d notice, but we live in a particularly human-centric town,” Nina continued. “But what happens if people found out about your special race? If they found out that a half-spirit lived among them, what do you think those who take special interest in such a race would do to you? Let me tell you–it won’t end pretty.”
She slapped her hand onto the papers on the table, sliding them forward a little to get his attention.
“But I promise you that all would be well, only if you work for me.”
“So you’re basically threatening to reveal who I am,” Aidan said, but despite his best wishes, he moved forward to sit down at the opposite table, grabbing the papers. Nina smiled as if she caught him right where she wanted him.
“I’m not threatening, I’m just teaching you how harsh the world is. It’s a charity that I do.”
“How pleasant,” Aidan scoffed. “I see why that guy warned me about you.”
“Oh, he did, did he?” Nina chimed. “I’ll have to make sure to pay him for introducing me so well.”
“And you’re not afraid that I might do something? Or just run away?”
“It’s cute that you think you got a choice here. You’re barely outfitted, fed, and it looks like you’re down on your luck. I don’t really care about what happened to you, but I do know one thing–it’s better for you that you don’t cross me. As you might’ve guessed, I’m very well known around here. I can make your life a living hell if I choose. But you’re a smart man. You have been following my words up until now. I suggest you keep doing that.”
It needled his pride, her condescension dripping from every honeyed word she uttered. It was like she no longer needed to play the long game, now that she got him right where she wanted him.
Aidan looked down at the papers, and he quickly grew confused at the squiggles marked down. With his Sense Vibrations at Iron, or whatever it was, he figured he might as well cheat his way through this as well.
He placed the paper down, and he felt its surface through his fingers, sliding them up and down. Nina raised a brow at that, but he ignored her as he let Sense Vibrations do its thing.
He figured that if vibrations were his whole thing, and everything around him was just a mash of vibrations that hit at different intervals, he could sense even the way the words were written on a paper through their own vibrations. And just as he suspected, he could.
They were completely still, yet they moved in their own little way, as if Aidan could sense the movement behind the still image present in his vision. Using that connection, he relied on his Humanoid Tongue, trying to reflect the words written here as the language he was translating, then redirecting that language to English in his own mind.
In a matter of seconds, the squiggles in front of him became somewhat legible, though the sentence structure was slightly off, and there were strange pinpoints and muddled marks that seemed alien to him, but he decided to see those as periods and commas, seeing how the structure was written out.
“What are you…” Nina cooed, tilting her head. “I made sure to use the standard language for the contract, but you can’t even read that?”
“It’s complicated,” Aidan said sharply, driving the conversation down. He could basically read it, though he had to keep his eyes closed.
Basically, the contract worked like this:
He was to work in her employ for two years at a minimum, and all the proceeds he made while directing her store would be given to her at a fixed monthly rate.
Oh, apparently he was going to manage a store. Great.
Furthermore, he had to follow her orders to the letter, undergoing different tasks according to her discretion, and to be under a tight leash if he plans on moving about without her express permission.
This wasn’t some worker’s contract signing with a company–it was basically a contract on his very life.
“Are you serious?” Aidan asked aloud, his voice rising. “It’s like I’m signing away to be your slave!”
“I’m sure whatever you did to help you read that contract must have misinterpreted it. It says that you will be my helpful little assistant–an assistant that owes a massive debt to me, by the way.”
He wanted to say that he didn’t owe her at all. He could just jump out of this chair and leave the house. But he knew that it wouldn’t end well for him.
For one thing, she wasted a favor on him to grant him his identity pass. With that in place, she would make it an active job to keep an eye on him, probably even hire other people to do her dirty work to keep tabs on him wherever he goes.
If he knew anything about society, it’s that if you don’t have a valid source to back you up, anybody can just make up a rumor about you and it’ll follow you for the rest of your life. Considering where he just was, she could make it so that everyone around him would see him as this criminal and would refuse him at every corner.
He was alone. There was nobody around him to back him up to support any of his claims. On the other hand, Nina seemed to know everybody, even keeping tabs on everyone’s little secrets with that talent of hers.
And he wouldn’t even begin to imagine how people would treat him if they found out about his Spirit Variant race. According to Nina, it sounded like the people here don’t treat others kindly if they aren’t human, which is always common in most fantasy works where human supremacy is an actual thing.
In this world, that might as well be. For a fantasy world, he didn’t see any dwarves or elves, the famous races that anyone would have in a fantasy book, but if Nina was correct, it’s possible that they’re just not allowed here, or that they didn’t deem it worthy to live in this city.
And he was unlucky enough to get a house here by such a kind and loving landlord. Double great.
But before he would start signing his life away, he decided to ask her a few questions that he deserved to know.
“What exactly do you plan to make me do?”