Chapter 84: Emergency Card
As soon as the screen appeared that confirmed that Alexandre had allocated his statistic points, a wave of energy flooded Alexandre's body. He felt immediately lighter, as though he'd spontaneously lost ten kilos.
But that feeling was nothing compared to the abrupt change in his vision! Though Alexandre's vision had been excellent beforehand, it suddenly snapped into such unbelievable clarity that it was like he'd gone from blurred eyesight to putting on corrective glasses for the first time.
Every vein of every leaf of every tree snapped into perfect clarity, as though seen on a high-resolution computer monitor. His brain stopped ignoring the miniscule motions of insects and blades of grass, allowing him to pay attention to everything that moved in his vision without becoming overwhelmed like a normal human would. Colors became more vibrant as his ability to differentiate hues expanded.
"Wow," Alexandre whispered. He hadn't realized what an incredible difference just a few points in perception would be. He'd been somewhat reluctant to invest these points, even though he knew that they'd make him a more adaptable fighter, but now he almost wished he'd taken more points in perception! This new way of looking at the world was as addictive as a drug. He couldn't wait to look at things like the night sky and see what new details his heightened perception would reveal.
Well, with his levels and gear figured out, Alexandre had finally finished his preparations for the start of his education at Hunter Academy. That was still three days away, though. What to do in the meantime?
Well, first off, he decided to create a sort of emergency fund for himself, one that would be immune to electronic interference. He stooped down and scooped away the soft forest soil with his hands, then took a plastic trash bag from his belongings and wrapped up the $50,000 he had leftover from his earlier civilian life. If he really needed to get off the island, this money would be waiting for him.
"Besides," he said to himself as he buried the money in the hole, "I'll sleep better if I'm not carrying all this money around with me." He then covered the hole as best as he could with grass, stones, and leaves. When he was done, it looked pretty much like the surrounding area, even to his newly enhanced perception. But would this be enough to hide from someone with even higher perception than himself? After all, Director Hart had been able to smell blood through several meters of concrete...
"Not like anyone's going to be looking for it," he said. "Good old security by obscurity. Or something to that effect." He then took a moment to memorize his current location, a skill that had always come easily to him. If he ever needed to reclaim this money, Alexandre was confident he could find the location again with ease.
It was finally time to return to his hotel room and take some well-deserved rest.
***
A few hours later.