Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Powerful Senses

The stark white building not that far off from me has never been so interesting to me as it is right now. It promises a chance to engage in safe, sanctioned violence and for me to test out the litany of perks that I possess that are already active. As I close the remaining distance between the gigantic building and myself I can feel my “experience” with martial arts and unarmed fighting improving. The powers of “Hyperspecialization” and “Master of All” are so intense that even the very act of walking is granting me a healthy amount of experience. 

During the time that it takes me to reach the front door of my academy, I silently will away numerous notifications about skills I possess leveling up. It puts a smile on my face to see such notifications since it assures me that even just existing and doing the bare minimum is enough for me to gradually level up. The actual Hunger Games itself this year will provide me with opportunities to explode in power… All I’ve got to do is take the chance I’ve been presented with.

As I step to the front door of the building I ignore the number of auras that I see just beyond the thick, windowless door in front of me. I put a singular hand on the purposefully intimidating-looking thing and push it open, sending it rocketing back for the sake of testing my strength. 

The people behind the door gasp but when they look up and see me their faces visibly widen at the sight of my new form. They do not utter a single complaint even as I walk into the long parlor of the place. 

There are a number of adult staff members in the long white room in front of me. I can see eerily dressed members of the “Peacekeepers”, Panem’s military, receptionists, and professionals tasked with the maintenance and upkeep of the academy’s computers and other technology. 

They all glance at me with fear in their eyes, and I chuckle as I witness the passive effects of some of my more interesting perks. 

I possess a powerful number of my perks that hail from this world but this is not the origin of most of my perks. The majority of my perks hail from either a world or “Setting” known as “The Elder Scrolls”, which is sometimes referred to by my system as “TES” and these perks are all quite powerful. The next most common source of perks is “Generic” jumps, such as “Generic Vampire” or “Generic Dragon” followed by one very mysterious setting known only as “Kill Bill”. 

The inactive perks that are sealed away within me are interesting to read through. They promise to give me “Alt-Forms” and the powers of creatures like “Werewolves”, “Dragons”, and other powerful beings as well as potent command over magic itself. I know that these things must all be supernatural as I can’t use them yet, but they promise me a tremendous amount of power if I can just unlock them. 

I step into the building and read the subtitles that line the bottom of my field of view. They are amusing to read, as they clearly show a populace of people here who are both charmed by and terrified of me. 

A single glance at the individuals who gawk at me fills my mind’s eye with a variety of fun information. Text boxes appear in my field of view that inform me of their possessions and of my likelihood to succeed if I tried to steal them. I can see various weapons on their persons, as well as basic medical equipment, gear for use in the maintenance of electric equipment, and other miscellaneous things. Beyond that though… There’s also another perk that activates when I look at the individuals standing in the entry hallway; “Soulseer”.

“Soulseer” is a powerful perk that seems to compliment some of my more active perks like “Observe”. It allows me to peer into the very souls of those I happen to so much as glance at, as well as learn about objects through touch and glimpses. Even the most fleeting of looks reveal to me secrets, both big and small. As I glance at a peacekeeper guard I see visions of him cheating on his wife with a student at this school. A curious look at a receptionist fills my mind with images of her high on morphling. 

As I read the muttered remarks of my fellow citizens I swiftly make my way into the interior of the building. The hallway that I’m in is my brother’s favorite color; a harsh white. It is a long thing that leads to a wall of elevators that students are required to use to enter the part of the building where classes are actually held. 

I stride up to the wall and tap on one of the buttons to call an elevator to me. One of the doors quickly opens and I enter it before glancing back at the people I had frightened. I smiled and waved kindly at them as the doors began to close behind me.

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In less than two minutes I find myself seated at the table I was seated behind yesterday. A number of textbooks are on the table in front of me, one for myself and each of my peers who sits here. 

I am the first student to arrive at my particular class and school doesn’t begin for a few minutes which gives me enough time to go ahead and test out a fun “The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion” perk that I possess; “Page Turner”. I pick up the history textbook and open it to the very first page. As soon as I do I feel the contents of the page imprint themselves onto my memory! 

“Whoa…” I mutter as I feel the potent effects of “Page Turner”. I turn to the next page and the instant that I do I feel the powerful effects take hold once more. This is also granting me valuable experience for my “Studying” skill, and I chuckle as I hear the notification that “Studying” has just leveled up, alongside a few other skills. 

I spend a few moments testing how quickly this skill takes hold by flipping through the pages and I feel legitimately excited when I realize that it is indeed instant. I have memorized the contents of the book in the span of two minutes! I am filled with active, conscious knowledge of Panem’s history, at least as far as the textbook is concerned, and that level of knowledge is not small. 

At the very same time, the system notifies me that I have just earned a new skill; “Speed Reading”. The system, it seems, has a rather amusing sense of humor.

While touching the textbook, and staring at it, images fill a quiet corner of my mind’s eye of other students reading the textbook. It seems that in spending time with the book I am able to peer into its past, through “Soulseer”. This… also has intriguing possibilities, as far as powers go. If this power grows I could easily become a skillful investigator. 

I can definitely see the potential applications of my skills in the days to come, especially when I manage to flee Panem and enter another world. “Page Turner” guarantees that if I can find a history book that is even remotely accurate I can swiftly come to possess even more world-specific knowledge than I will by virtue of “General Knowledge”, one of my most handy generic perks. 

Before now I was never much of a book fan but with these upgrades to my previous capabilities… I can see myself learning to love books. In future travels, I will definitely make it a note to attempt to prioritize visiting places of learning. 

It takes a few minutes for other people to begin to slowly stream into class. Their arrival heralds a powerful wave of stimulation for my peak-human senses and my newly enhanced brain. I can hear, smell, see, taste, and even touch things that I couldn’t before. 

I can see the individual imperfections on the uniforms worn by my classmates. I can also see the individual hairs of both my classmates and the people who made the clothes they are wearing, all embedded in the uniforms they are wearing. 

I can smell their bodies, both washed and unwashed, and my nostrils are so keen I can even determine minor things about them through scent. My enhanced nostrils can detect their emotional and physical health, as well as their diets, and even their weight. 

I can hear their muscles twitching and their bones moving as they take even slight steps to get to their tables. I can hear their whispers and the beating of their hearts in their chests. 

I can feel the subtle shifts in air temperature due to their proximity to me. I can also determine their locations in the room, even with my eyes closed, thanks to the minute changes their presence makes in the room around me. I have something not terribly removed from echolocation with this level of sensitivity, which will surely be handy to have in the future.

As my classmates step into the room I quietly study them, passively thanks to “Soulseer” and then actively, silently, activating “Observe” which is one of my handier powers and one of the few “Supernatural” abilities I possess. It’s also one of my more… frightening powers for a very specific reason; its growth.

Whenever I activate “Observe” I conjure a text box filled with information about whoever or whatever I happen to be aiming the skill at. It doesn’t matter if I am using it on a projector or on one of my classmates, it is filled with at least minor details. When I use it on my textbook I get a small table filled with details like the initial publication date and other fun facts pertaining to the textbook that I have been forced to review every day for weeks. 

As I practice “Observe” I steadily feel my “Experience” with the skill rising. It is a bizarre feeling, one that reminds me of what it feels like to be in the middle of a workout and to try and feel one’s body, only for my mind. This is one of my more questionably supernatural skills, for the moment anyway, but as I use it I begin to feel my familiarity with it grow. 

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It doesn’t take a creative genius to figure out how frightening a power like “Observe” can be but its potential is not the most frightening aspect of it. What is truly terrifying about it is how easy it is to train. 

While I muse on the nature of the power I possess I take stock of one minor but not unimportant fact. Near the front of the class, one of my classmates turns, subtly, and glances at me for a split second before her eyes dart back to peer at her companion. 

“He looks… even better somehow.” One of my classmates mutters to one of her companions. The girl giggles, and for a second I almost forget that in strict theory I could have to kill her in a month’s time. Almost.

It seems that on some level my attractivity perks are already working! This is a curious fact given that, according to Ghriza, my classmate’s memories were supposedly altered to make sense of my new appearance more easily. 

It seems that even with that in effect the raw potency of the number of attractivity perks I possess is enough to draw wandering eyes toward me. I like the attention, especially since the girl is far from the only person to notice my newfound good looks.

At the moment class is beginning to occur around me, and I find myself with a lot of time to idly look around. As I do I activate “Observe” on everything I can see. Each usage of “Observe” gives it experience, and pushes it closer to leveling up. Normally that’d be only somewhat frightening, but I have a few fun abilities that work hand-in-hand to make this truly scary, at least to anyone who opposes me. 

Thanks to “Master of All” every single time I accrue experience with “Observe” that experience is not shared with my other skills but rather… replicated. Every single point of experience I manage to get spreads equally throughout all of my skills. Beyond that, I never acquire a sing;e “Point” of experience, but rather a few points, at least, thanks to “Experience Booster” and a number of other training boosters that I happen to possess. 

Class passes by, going both mercifully quickly and also painfully slowly. I take every chance I get to silently activate “Observe”, and I am quite grateful that the skill does not have some sort of “Cooldown” as my internal glossary of jumper terms calls it when some time needs to pass between using skills and using them again. I want to “Spam” usage of “Observe” as much as I can before I need to leave this class.

Somehow every single usage of “Observe” makes me an altogether stronger creature. With all of my skills put together, helping each other grow if I punch someone and then “Observe” five objects, my very next punch will hit just a little bit harder. 

It’s almost tempting for me to switch my active skill, for the purpose of “Hyperspecialization”, to “Observe” for a little bit. I manage to resist the urge though, which is thankfully quite easy. Resisting temptation has never been challenging for me, though the presence of even more temptation makes it easy for me to resist giving up on my current path. 

After all… It is right as class is beginning to get boring that a shrill bill rings out and dismisses the early morning history class I had been in for the last hour.

Of course, right when I am finally beginning to care a little bit about school is when the days seem to pass by quicker than ever. I quickly get up, though I find that I need to consciously control my speed to be able to do this in a way that seems natural, and I glance at the door that leads out of the classroom. As I do I allow myself to take a deep breath. 

My next class is sparring practice. Just an hour and a half of sparring training. That means that I can truly test how prepared my current body will be for the Hunger Games! I do my best to stay calm, and I take in the wide amount of sensory stimuli I receive purely by virtue of having senses as keen as I do.

I notice signs of tension among my classmates. There is a quietness to the class that is usually nonexistent, due to the looming presence that floats above us all; the incoming Hunger Games. Nevertheless, I am quite relaxed as the bell quietly shuts off, its sound slowly fading into the background. 

I shoot a glance at the open door leading in and out of the classroom. There is an enormous grin on my face as I begin to walk toward it. My next destination is a simple one; the sparring courtyard.

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The trip to the courtyard is an easy one. It is a short walk that manages to feel even shorter than usual, and before almost any time has passed I find myself in the very same courtyard where I had been practicing my combat skills just a day ago. 

The sun looms low overhead as my classmates and I all make our way to individual weapon caches in the vast courtyard. We are currently standing in the middle of the vast building my brother owns but we are not as fully surrounded by it as we normally are. 

The strange structure has a peculiar design where its middle is hollowed out and exposed to the sun while the rest of the building protects that odd middle part. The celestial object looms somewhat overhead, creeping towards its apex, as my classmates and I all slowly make our way to pseudo-cornucopias. The strange structures, all jam-packed with goodies and supplies, are tucked away in each of the corners of the square courtyard we are in. 

The Victory Academy prides itself on providing an authentic Hunger Games experience so it does little things like designing an artificial replica of the cornucopia that many tributes rush towards at the start of each of the annual games. Little things like this, plus a powerful endorsement from its victor-founder go a long way towards establishing a degree of realism that many of the parents of students here seem to like since it keeps getting students every year. 

Instructors watch us, students, from atop the courtyard and a few security professionals also keep watch to ensure we don’t get too rough for comfort. Even now I can feel their eyes slowly watching me and my peers, even as I head towards one of the cornucopias that have been painted a bright blue color. I slowly approach one of the things, not especially interested in grabbing a mundane weapon, and as I do I ball my hands into tight fists. 

These sparring practices are not particularly tightly structured, they like to let us loose to inflict carnage on each other. Other parts of the courtyard erupt with the sound of mostly spontaneous violence as “Tributes” grab weapons and begin to fight each other. I can even hear faint footsteps in the distance begin to turn towards me, as I somehow “feel” bloodlust begin to emanate from some of my fellow classmates from a short but not overly short distance away. Unsurprisingly they are armed and somewhat curious about me.

“Alright boys… If you want me, come and get me.” I quietly whisper even as I reach a small clearing near one edge of the courtyard, a very short distance from one of the weapon-holding cornucopias. Three of my classmates chuckle and step together to form one small line of boys standing shoulder to shoulder. I turn my head slightly, just enough so that I can stare at those who would challenge me curiously.

Three short warriors have approached me, and they are holding three simple wooden clubs. As the first one of them steps forward and begins to smile I get an amusing chance to see something that disadvantages him; the activation of “The Inverse Ninja Law”. 

The figure suddenly stops and coughs up a storm as he feels the powerful perk humble him. He is almost brought to his knees by the coughing fit he is suffering and he is lucky that I am patient and willing to let him speak. 

“Cossus…” He manages to get out, before painfully wheezing. He is glaring up at me, unaware of the fact that his current state is due to the fact that he brought friends to try and fight me with me. 

“I have come here…” He stammers out, quickly, before beginning to cough again. 

“To kick your ass!” He roars, almost clearing his throat completely before coughing again and fully falling to his knees for a little bit. I turn around fully and put my hands up, defensively, in what I know to be a “Basic Karate Pose”, though I have no idea what “Basic” means. 

“Alright, if you’re here for that… I’ll happily accept your challenge!” I reply, speaking much more confidently than he was, with a gigantic grin on my face. I was ready to test the limits of my powers in the most meaningful arena I could imagine at the moment; a sparring match! 

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