- Frey Starlight's pov -
When I left the training grounds, night had already fallen, but the temple was still lively.
In an effort to distance themselves from the looming chaos of war, the temple's overseers ensured that the place remained bustling around the clock.
Even the students did their part in their own ways, and the temple's walkways were now packed to the brim.
I wandered between restaurants and shops that looked more like a small city than facilities belonging to an academy.
Monts like these… I really missed the old man, Shaheen.
Who knows what that cursed geezer was doing right now?
I just hoped he was still alive.
After wandering a bit, I picked a restaurant that served dishes from what used to be called French cuisine, then sat and started fiddling with the system for a while.
The new system hadn't changed much ... except for the introduction of the Affection Point feature.
I checked my stats, sa as always, alongside my current achievent points.
I was in Rank B-, right at the peak of that tier to be specific.
In terms of abilities, I had unlocked the Third-Person Perspective—a feature that allowed to observe or even lightly influence people who had high affection toward .
On that note, I decided to test it out, since I didn't have much else to do.
The first person that ca to mind was my sister, Ada, but I'd already used it on her several tis. So I decided to switch things up.
My pick ended up being Danzo.
His affection score toward was 50 ... probably the bare minimum required to activate the ability.
Danzo Smasher
Affection Points: 50
– Danzo sees you as both a friend and a trusted ally. Your unwavering will—
... strong enough to endure hell and still remain standing has earned his deep respect.–
Available Information:
Na: Danzo Smasher
Rank: B-
Combat Style: Sky Maneuver
"Alright then… let's give it a shot."
I activated the ability, and that strange sensation of imrsion returned ... like my soul was being pulled out of my body.
A wave of nausea hit as everything went dark.
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself floating in the air, and the scenery around had changed completely.
I was inside a spacious room ... simple, yet elegant in its details.
Looking down, I saw soone familiar.
"Huff... Huff..."
I heard the sound of rough breathing, and sweat dripping heavily.
There he was ... Danzo, doing push-ups like a madman, muscles gleaming under the light.
"Push-ups, huh? That checks out."
It was exactly what I expected of him. The scary part was ... he wasn't even counting. I figured he'd just keep going until he physically collapsed.
Judging from the look of it, his rep count must've been in the thousands.
I spent the next few minutes drifting around in my ethereal form, not gonna lie ...I was pretty excited at first. I an, spying on people as a ghost? Yeah, it's unethical… but also kind of thrilling.
To watch everyone, knowing none of them could see you?
If I wasn't ntally stable, I'd probably have caused so disasters with this power by now.
"Stay sane, Frey... stay sane."
I pushed aside any unwelco thoughts and continued floating near Danzo.
I tested the limits of the ability ... like range, for instance.
Unfortunately, I couldn't move more than a few ters away from the target, aning I was stuck orbiting Danzo's ass.
Second, I wanted to know if there was a ti limit.
Minutes passed, one after another ... but no signs of the ability ending.
So I concluded it must be aura-based.
In other words, I could probably stay in this form as long as I wanted, thanks to my SSS tier aura reserves.
I kept drifting lazily above Danzo, who had now switched to doing one-handed push-ups.
Bored, I opened the system interface and idly scrolled through it.
So far, every system ability had held so kind of aning. Whether it was the direct advice, the writing functions, or sothing else.
The system didn't give anything without purpose ...well, aside from side missions, of course.
Which made wonder: what's the point of this new Affection System, really?
Was the system trying to push into deepening my connections with others? Trying to make understand them better?
The more I thought about it, the more confused I beca…
And it wasn't just Affection Points that had changed.
There was another ability I hadn't touched in a long ti ..
A Glimpse of the Future.
The ability that once let see a snapshot of a coming event had evolved.
– Glimpse of the Future –
The upgraded ability now grants a short sequence ...a few seconds of a future event.
The image… had beco a video.
It was a terrifying skill, to be honest.
I an ...it literally showed the future.
I didn't use it during the Victoriad, because I was too afraid of seeing myself lose.
But now… now it might just be one of the most powerful tools I had.
Suddenly, I rembered what I'd seen before ...
That vision of half the temple in ruins.
Back then, I thought the cause was the temple core explosion ...but I was wrong.
Also...
Is it really safe to trust that the future shown to is accurate?
I don't know much about ti manipulation, but one thing I do know is that the future isn't fixed ... it can shift with even the slightest action.
In other words, just by seeing a glimpse of the future, my own behavior might change and create an entirely different outco. And that change won't necessarily be for the better.
So where did I even get an ability like this in the first place?
Could it be that the future is actually predetermined? That the destruction of half the temple hasn't happened yet ...but will, inevitably?
I started getting a headache just thinking about this whole ti-based nonsense, so I decided to shelf it for now.
"Yeah… let's not ss with ti."
It was probably for the best.
Suddenly, a realization hit .
"Wait… what exactly happens to my body when I enter this state?"
As soon as I thought that, I realized I'd been spying on Danzo for over half an hour.
The bastard was still doing push-ups which must've thrown off my sense of ti.
I imdiately deactivated the ability, and invisible hands dragged back into reality along with a wave of nausea.
When I opened my eyes ...
I found my face buried in the mashed potatoes and chicken stew that had been served to .
My hair and face were a complete ss.
I slowly pulled myself up, wiping off my face ... only to see everyone in the restaurant staring at like I was insane.
A few staff mbers were whispering worriedly, and I could tell they'd probably tried to wake several tis without success.
I quickly paid the bill, muttered an apology, and rushed out of there.
"Let's not do that in public again…"
Yeah. That was embarrassing.
I returned to the Elite Dorms afterward.
I didn't really have anything to do…
Even the system missions were empty aside from those twisted side quests telling to get into a relationship with people like Seris Moonlight.
I'd been ignoring those for obvious reasons, so I was left with nothing to occupy myself.
But I knew this quiet wouldn't last forever.
That blue-eyed bastard… the Engineer.
I knew he wouldn't leave alone.
It felt like he knew too much about ...as if he had orchestrated everything from the start… from the mont I was born.
A man like that could be lurking nearby right now, sowhere I couldn't see.
That's why I was sure this peace was only temporary.
The storms would return again.
Storms I wasn't even sure I'd be ready for.
"All I can do is keep giving it my all, just like I always have… right, father?"
With a faint smile, I returned to my room ...
thus ending another day within the temple.
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