Salvos

“That sucked.”

I sighed as I lay on the couch, the back of my right hand covering my eyes. While it might seem like I wasn’t really paying attention to my surroundings, truthfully I was using my new Skill, [Planar Navigation], to monitor what Saffron was doing.

I’d be able to tell if she tried to cast a messaging spell to Matthew, or if she tried to escape through the window. She didn’t do either of that, instead opting to retire to bed for the night after a quick bath.

The fact that I was found out by Saffron annoyed me. But I was also glad that it didn’t become a major issue. If the other students had discovered the truth about me, I’d have had to leave Mavos Academy. Fortunately, [Partial Mortality] allowed me to shapeshift between a mortal and a Human in an instant— as long as the cooldown time had passed.

If I still had [Mortal Form] as my Racial Skill, I’d have transformed too slow. The other students would’ve peeked out of their rooms to see a half-transformed Demon standing out in the corridor. Which was less than ideal.

I had done so well, avoiding being caught as a Demon for so long. And my only mistake was deciding to undergo my Class advancement. It was my first time even advancing a Class— and the circumstances differed from when I chose my Class for the first time. My Class choice had occurred when I was, well, me. I never would’ve known that I’d change back when I underwent a Class advancement.

It was irritating— especially having to deal with the consequences of being caught, such as constantly monitoring Saffron. And to put my mind off it, I focused on my new Skills. My Secondary Skills.

[Temporal Distortion], [Object Levitation], [Mystical Projection], and [Short Range Teleportation].

Right now, I had three Skill Slots available, and 13 Secondary Skill Points to spend. I wasn’t intending to do what I usually did, choosing a Skill at random and discarding it if I didn’t like it. I had four options, and I was going to choose three, leaving the last for future use.

The first one I decided upon was [Mystical Projection]. I knew I wanted this Skill because it was a consolidation of two good Skills. I concentrated on the Skill, adding it to my Secondary Skills.

Then I sat up, testing what it did.

[Mystical Projection]. I looked around, waiting to see its effects.

Instantly, I saw space bending around me within the vision of my [Planar Navigation] sphere. It looked like… arms were forming. But not just any ordinary arms. Long and massive arms that could stretch out to either ends of the room and more. It almost looked like wings, protruding from my back.

But they were arms. Invisible to my normal eyes. Yet, they felt as natural as normal arms did. I could pick things up with it, and I could settle them down gently. I could even claw at things, although it felt weaker than my regular clawing strike.

“Huh.”

With [Mystical Projection], I snatched a bug crawling on the walls a dozen feet away from me. I quickly retracted my invisible arms, bringing it to my mouth. I dropped the bug and crunched on it, before grinning.

“This is a good Skill.”

The next Skill I was interested in was [Temporal Distortion]. Unlike [Short Range Teleportation] and [Object Levitation], which were both rather intuitive. I wasn’t sure what Temporal Distortion would do. So, I was curious about it, and that was why I chose it.

“Now, let’s see— [Temporal Distortion].”

Instantly, the effects of [Mystical Projection] and [Planar Navigation] vanished. I blinked, almost in a panic, as I suddenly found myself in a bubble-like sphere. It was as if everything beyond this bubble was the ocean, and I stood in the only pocket of air deep underwater where the sun never shone.

Everything outside this bubble moved slower. I saw ants laboriously climb their way up the walls of the room, while the candlelight flickered slowly. It wasn’t a bubble I could control. I couldn’t move it from where it was placed. I paced around the bubble, trying to do something with it. Nothing happened.

I stepped outside of the bubble and realized that I could feel the effects of my other space Skills again. I looked into the bubble. It didn’t pop and disappear. And everything inside of it moved faster.

“Interesting. Although this Skill seems like it’ll be less useful than [Mystical Projection]. But I wonder if I can...”

I tugged at the strings of mana connected to the bubble. It was like I turned a switch. The bubble wobbled slightly, before steadying, and now everything inside of it moved slower.

“So, I can change the speeds of everything in the bubble, but only in the bubble. I see.”

It was like a [Haste] spell confined to a specific location. Except, it could also go slower. And I was pretty sure the speed could be adjusted to be even faster or slower once the Skill leveled.

“Very circumstantial. But under the right conditions, it could be very useful.”

I let it vanish, sitting back onto the couch.

“Now, for the last two Skills.”

[Object Levitation] and [Short Range Teleportation]. [Object Levitation] had some uses. If it did what I thought it did.

As for [Short Range Teleportation], it was a Skill that could make me move faster. But not too fast that it would be too significant of a change. Also, I could teleport without the Skill. So, it was ultimately not the most useful Skill to have right now. But it had the potential to become a better Skill, or even consolidate into another one of my Skills.

So, I left it alone.

Instead, I decided on [Object Levitation].

“Now, let’s see what you do.”

I raised a hand, activating the Skill.

And a bunch of cups floated into the air.

“Yep. It did what I thought it’d do.”

With that, I was done choosing my Secondary Skills. I distributed some of my Secondary Skill Points for now, depending on how useful I currently thought they’d be. But if one proved to actually be more useful than I initially thought, I’d focus on it more in the future.

Secondary Skills:

[Available Secondary Skill Points: 2]

[Mystical Projection] - Lvl 5

[Object Levitation] - Lvl 1

[Planar Navigation] - Lvl. 3

[Scatter Shift] - Lvl. 4

[Temporal Distortion] - Lvl 3

“Alright.”

I glanced up, facing Saffron’s bedroom.

“Now, what is going to happen with that?”

She was still sleeping. For now, she might stick to her promise. But… was she really planning on keeping quiet forever?