A Jaded Life Chapter 699

Amusingly, the last bit of the way was the hardest for . Not because of enemies but because of ever-increasing tension and worry. Even before the change, I hadn’t been good when it ca to handling other people and now, with the change hanging over us all, I doubted that my clumsy and often awkward manners would help ease tensions. No, if anything, I felt it was more likely that I’d insult soone, making them snap and forcing to defend myself. It was so easy to imagine such a scenario going down, it was almost sad. In addition, there were those wonderful traits I had picked up, Outsider chief among them. Those would almost certainly add to my troubles, but there was nothing I could do about it. And yet, even with all that in mind, I wanted to check on Mrs Wu.

Silva and I had waited till twilight set in, giving us almost an hour to cross the last bit of distance, until the sun would actually rise and those hateful rays would bring their curse with them. I had decided to wait, simply because I felt an approach while there was a bit of light out would be seen with less suspicion than an approach during the dead of night, where it was harder to tell friend from foe. Sure, I might have been able to make the approach undetected but I had a feeling that wouldn’t go over well, after all, if I could sneak up on them, the logical conclusion would be that others could do so, too. Regardless of my level, regardless of my ability with Darkness Magic, people would worry and tensions would rise.

As we moved, I noticed quite a few dead Shattered on the ground, so of them with broken arrows in them, the others rely with holes where arrows had likely been removed. Realising that there were people nearby, I decided to take a risk and remove my concealnt. With twilight creeping across the sky, the Darkness I used to conceal myself wouldn’t last forever and at so point, people would notice . Or they wouldn’t and I could march into their base, wherever that might be, unopposed, at least until I wanted to talk to them. At that mont, people would obviously notice and given that I’d be within their base, they’d have plenty of reasons to see as a threat and react accordingly. Not the best first impression.

On the other hand, if I let the locals make contact on their terms, while I was outside of their controlled zone, they’d hopefully see as a fellow survivor, not a threat that had invaded their base. But that didn’t change the fact that walking down the street without my concealing cloak of darkness wrapped around was making feel self-conscious as if I was walking down the street naked.

We never made it to the gym itself, one intersection before we got there, I noticed movent on one of the rooftops. Looking up, while casually staying behind one of the many parked cars on the side of the road, I called out.

“Hello on the roof,” I called, trying to pitch my voice so I didn’t disturb everyone who might be sleeping while making myself heard. The figure I had noticed up there shook, making think that they had been half-asleep, not fully paying attention.

“Who?!” the voice called back and from the pitch, I had a feeling that they were quite young. Monts later, before I ever had the chance to get a better look or respond, the figure disappeared from my view, taking cover up on the roof or sothing, but I was able to hear a few words regardless. It sounded like the guard I had noticed first was getting sobody else, the course of action quite amusing, given that they hadn’t really made contact with .

After a mont of thought, I decided to stay put even if I hadn’t been told to. That way, the locals could make their own determinations and I wouldn’t be seen as a threatening figure. If I simply marched on, that might be what would happen. And given the dead Shattered I had seen, I had no doubt that sobody here was quite adept at taking down threats to their little community.

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It didn’t take long, maybe a minute, until another figure showed itself. This ti, instead of a juvenile youth, the figure looking down at us was a middle-aged male, maybe in his forties, with a longbow in hand. I was relatively certain I had seen him before, likely on my way to Mrs Wu’s gym, but I had no idea what his na was.

“Show your eyes,” he called down, without even giving a greeting. In turn, I pushed back my hair, making sure that my entire face was easily visible, and looked up, allowing him to ascertain that I actually had eyes, instead of the flas marking as Shattered.

“Well, she’s human,” he muttered, too soft for a normal human to understand, “What brings you here?” he asked, though the tension in him had already decreased quite a bit.

“Looking for soone, Mrs Wu, the owner of the gym over there,” I replied, nodding towards that building. It only then occurred to that I had no idea about her first na, I was certain I had seen it at so point, but I just couldn’t recall. Even in my mind, she had always been Mrs Wu, or Teacher Wu.

“Head on in, most people have holed up at the gym, turned it into a shelter,” he directed. Looking around, I noticed that it wasn’t the only building that had people on the roof, there were guards watching each approach into the area, protecting those within. It made wonder if they had preparations for the underground approach, or if the vermin in the sewers hadn’t made itself known to them.

Regardless, I simply called out my acceptance to the guy on the roof and kept going. Soon, the sun would rise and I had no desire to be outside at that point.

We continued on, and I felt a strange itch between my shoulder blades as if my instincts were warning that there were ard people at my back, people who may or may not have my best interests in mind. After days of hyper-vigilance, it wasn’t easy to push that feeling aside and relax, nor was I certain that I even wanted to relax. These people likely knew Mrs Wu, but I didn’t know them.

When we reached the gym’s doors, there was another guard, also with a bow in hand, giving the once-over, before she opened the door fully.

“Looking for Mrs, Wu?” she asked, her eyes wandering from Silva to and back, looking a little intimidated. So far, she hadn’t tried to Observe us, at least from what I could tell, but maybe the weapons at my side or the splattered blood that coated Silva made it obvious that we weren’t ssing around.

“Yes, she has been my teacher in the past. After all this, I wanted to make sure she is well,” I replied, leaving out the other option, that I wanted to make sure she had dignity in death.

“She’s probably still asleep, but co in. You know your way around?” the guard asked, looking a little less tense.

“I knew the gym before the changes hit but I don’t know what changes have been made,” I told her, and she gave a quick explanation, telling that the main workout room had been turned into the sleeping quarters for won and children while the smaller one was for the n. I had no desire to really mingle with either group, not until I had talked with Mrs Wu and made a decision about my future actions, so I simply moved into the foyer, away from any windows, and made myself sowhat comfortable. Hopefully, Mrs Wu would appear at so point, or I would have to go look for her.

“Samantha,” a familiar voice brought out of the light doze I had been in, my eyes flickering open. “It’s good to see you well,” Mrs Wu told , standing a few steps away from the position Silva and I had chosen.

“Teacher, I’m glad you are okay,” I told her, rising to my feet. There were a few more people in the area, so of them looking at with a mix of suspicion and caution, but overall, the reception wasn’t overly hostile. Cautious, sure, but given the situation we all were in, that might be expected.

“Co, tell how you fared these last few days,” Mrs Wu invited , gesturing towards the door to their living quarters. Nodding, I followed along, Silva plodding behind , clearly not intending to leave alone.

After sitting down on the couch, a strange feeling arose within , the situation was so familiar, so similar to the talks we had after my lessons before, but also so very different.

“Would you like so tea?” she asked and I had to hold a giggle in, her manners hadn’t changed at all. The world had burned, and she was just the sa. Shaking my head, I let out a sigh, before starting to tell her about my last couple of days.