Chapter 152: Chapter 151 : Double-Edged Sword

A sleek black car drifted through Popleigh’s streets. It was in no rush nor did it have a fixed direction. Behind the wheel, Lisana had it circle aimlessly. She greatly enjoyed driving, directing the mechanical beast to her desired direction was one of her favourite pastimes, so moving through the empty roads surrounded by night’s light and darkness was most pleasant to her…at least it would be if not for the uncomfortable silence smothering her. She squinted before finally addressing the source of said silence.

“Haa, I don’t even need to turn to know you’re frowning.”

Micheal, sitting in the backseat couldn’t help but show a wry expression at the remark. It was true, well till a second ago.

“What’s there to be worried about? There’s a lot of unknowns but he comes off as a good apple…as she put it.”

“He does.”

Lisana’s eyes narrowed at the tone used. “You think it’s just another illusion he’s putting up?”

“That’s…my fear.”

Lisana’s grip on the steering wheel tightened a tad. “That would be a worrying possibility. With the power to copy other psionic abilities, he’d be very troublesome to deal with…”

Micheal and Lisana were under the not-entirely-incorrect assumption that Ralf’s Unique power was the ability to copy other psionic classes’ abilities. They had concluded this upon first hearing about him using Telekinetic class powers.

They believed that the first person Ralf had used his Unique power on was Hana, and that’s why he was a Rank 3 Telekinetic.

There was a discrepancy between Hana’s and Ralf’s Psi talent and basic stats, but they explained it away by believing that Ralf’s power didn’t copy others’ powers one-to-one, but more or less. In Hana’s case, it was more, much more.

Micheal reasoned that he couldn’t copy another Telekinetic class psionic or a psionic class he had already registered in his system. He cited the Charlie example. At the time, Ralf was supposedly desperate to save his mother from the clutches of the Red Star. Micheal believed that if he could do it, he would have done so. The fact that he didn’t do it then, or when he later met up with Sigurd, an Ascendant, made Micheal reasonably confident in this notion.

The chess game and Ralf’s proven Natural-like abilities also made Micheal question the possibility that Ralf had copied a Natural’s power as well. He also held up the possibility that Ralf had copied other powers already, with him heavily considering the possibility that Ralf currently had Mental Master-level Telepathic powers…more specifically Nikolas’.

Hana had given the explanation that the Mental Space was responsible for the ‘how’ behind Ralf’s ability to break out of Nikolas’ Telepathic prowess, but Micheal didn’t readily swallow it up. To him, the much more likely possibility was that Ralf copied Nikolas’ powers sometime earlier, or during that fateful moment, for the best way to defend against a Mental Master was to be one yourself. With his newly acquired Mental Master powers, Ralf’s giant-killing act made perfect sense.

Lisana relaxed her hands before following up, “...though, I don’t think that’s the case here, at least, I’m fairly confident.”

“I’m of the same mind. Still, negative thoughts continue to gather regardless. That’s just the way I am,” Micheal sighed a long-suffering sigh upon confessing.

He reclined back and shut his eyes.

“Dimitri…the Dimitri from back then,” Micheal started after a breath. “He was someone I looked up to, more than even Soren and the Mimics with their heaven-defying powers. He had magical powers, but even without them, he’d still be remarkable. His true power was ordinary and yet extraordinary at the same time,” Micheal said slowly and in a sombre tone, his complicated emotions leaking out with each word. “His mind couldn’t outspeed a Natural’s, and yet when it came to arriving at the right answer, he would be first by a thousand miles. Impressive as his intelligence and wisdom were, they couldn’t compare to the unique charm that radiated off him. It wasn’t showy or flashy like Soren’s, it was quiet,” after a short pause, Micheal continued, “yet undeniable.”

The Raven sighed as memories of his old friend stirred. Those were the best of times and the worst of times. His heart swirled with contradiction.

“When he spoke, you’d want to listen, where he’d go, you’d want to follow…that was the type of person he was. Ralf, or should I say Silver strikes me as similar…too similar for my liking.”

Micheal’s mind shifted to the videos of the duo. Replaying them in his head, his feelings on the matter only grew.

“Those same feelings of awe and admiration have returned. Just like the Dimitri from back then, he strides into the pitch-black darkness that is the future with certain steps, sure of his destination.”

“Hm, you sound envious,” Lisana spoke up.

Micheal smiled bitterly. “I am. The Dimitri from back then, Kai, and now Silver, that special property that drives them forward, long as I’ve lived and tried, I’ve never been able to recreate it.”

Lisana shook her head. “You’re great as you are, Micheal.” She had her Psi take control of driving for a bit and leaned into the backseat to give her companion a quick hair ruffling.

“Thanks, Lis.”

She nodded as she caught his innocent smile before returning to the wheel. Eyes forward, she returned to the previous topic. “So, along with those positive feelings, the similarity brings with it those negative feelings as well. You fear the possibility that he’s going to turn rogue like Dimitri or is rogue already?”

“Correct. Silver is incredibly skilled in deception and manipulation; looking at the stir he caused makes that obvious. The question is, how many illusions has he cast, and is one being cast on me right now? Against people who dabble in this craft, you can never be certain of the answer. For all I know, everything that’s happened, everything he’s done so far is for some aim or hidden nefarious goal.”

“Hmm, I think that’s pretty far-fetched. In retrospect, Dimitri’s betrayal wasn’t totally unexpected. There were some oddities. Dantry’s behaviour was passive-aggressive at best and hateful at worst, and William confirmed very early on that their souls were always linked. There were clues that could point to a negative outcome back then…but what about now? What has Ralf/Ray/ Silver done to warrant that same suspicion?”

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“More than any actions, it’s the troubling possibility his power holds?”

Lisana ignored the former and focused on the latter. “The ability to copy powers?”

“Yeah.”

Lisana shook her head. “It’s true, that’s what his power looks to be, but that’s assuming he can copy another power, and that he can copy an extremely powerful ability like yours or Val’s or Astra’s.”

“If he truly can’t copy any other psionic ability due to his slots being full, I wouldn’t be worried. But since I can’t know that, I have to assume the worst, which is what I’ve done. The worst-case scenario is that he is both evil and has unlimited slots with no restrictions.”

“Hmm, well if you put it that way, then yes, it’d be very problematic, well only if he’s as nefarious as you fear.”

“Well, of course.” Micheal’s mind delved into the information Sigurd had relayed earlier that day. “Silver’s two months in Zudrad hasn’t been without blemish, still, overall, it’s been exemplary. He’s saved people in the Monster Zone, destroyed gangs, eliminated internationally wanted criminals, been charitable, wowed with his Combat Arena matches and anime…there’s no shortage of good things to say about him. The way he is regarded in this region is exceptionally positive. It’s clear that he’s a well-loved and respected figure. Everything I come across just echoes this point.”

“True,” his female companion agreed. Micheal’s description matched her experience well.

“But,” Micheal continued, “in the back of my mind, I can’t help but feel that everything is a carefully constructed play he has fashioned. Our checkups are regular happenings, so he’d know to expect us in two months’ time. If he was as nefarious and cunning as I fear, he’d know to be on his best behaviour. The stellar last two months could have been just that, one long act to get into my good graces.” The Raven recalled images of Hana. “There wasn’t any notable change in Hana or her Psi. From the looks of it, his power might work discreetly. If that’s the case, he could copy people’s powers without others noticing them.”

Lisana’s face tensed up. “Mmm, that would be quite problematic.”

Micheal nodded. “Very. More problematic is that his power doesn’t copy others’ powers one-to-one, but also improves them. Hana, the person he most likely copied his Telekinetic powers from, has stats well below his. There are few Rank 3 Telekinetics in history with such extreme Psi Talent.”

The driver narrowed her eyes as agreement flashed across her golden eyes.

“Think about it,” Micheal continued, “I would show up and inquire about his powers. He wouldn’t be able to hide the fact that his power was copying other powers, but he could fall back to the defence that he could copy only one power. And he can explain away the Natural-like abilities he’s shown with the Mental Space. He could then copy my power and master it in secret. Even if he just copies my Unique power, he’d be very dangerous. If he could copy all my powers, and even improve it…” The Raven’s face darkened as he arrived at the possibility. “...and he held wicked desires, we’d be in for an unprecedented disaster.”

Lisana nodded. She knew from first-hand experience what Micheal’s power was capable of and knew that in the hands of a rogue, the world could greatly suffer or worse, suffer one last time.

“My powers would be troubling enough but if he manages to copy Astra’s, Val’s or Dimitri’s, or a combination of them, he would be an incomparable danger,” Micheal’s voice echoed a deep graveness to it.

“Ah…I see,” finally caught up to her companion’s thought processes, Lisana’s face paled a bit. “No wonder, you’re concerned. That would be dire - no that’s an understatement. It’d be terrifying. What should we do? Nip it in the bud?”

Micheal fell silent for a few seconds before his lips parted again.

“No, we won’t. We’ll observe him. Him enrolling in the Grey Wolf Academy is perfect. I’ll use those three years to observe him well and arrange tests that will assess his character.”

“What about Violet? She’s also enrolling this year. He could copy her power,” Lisana interjected as she remembered the isolated princess.

Micheal shrugged. “I’m not worried. It’s not just her, two other Mimics are enrolling this year as well. There’s also Aidan Fawkes who he’ll meet in his second year and Nightingale who he’ll probably run into as well. I don’t care if he copies one or all of these powers. The only powers that I want to keep away from him are my own, Astra’s, Dimitri’s and Val’s. Val is safe, he hardly leaves Luxen, and he’d never visit the Academy. Dimitri is also safe too; the Academy does regular checkups to make sure he’s not present. Just to be safe, I’ll do a quick check-up myself and have Elise stand watch while Sigurd is in this city. He won’t be a problem. Astra has taken an interest in Silver, but from Hana’s words, it seems she hasn’t met up with him yet. I’ll put in a few words to keep it that way. And as for me, I’ll be staying as far away from Silver as I can…at least until I can get a clear reading on his true self.”

“And then?”

Micheal opened his eyelids and looked ahead. The car was motionless at an intersection. A few seconds later, the robots turned green and the car crossed to the other side.

“I’ve been focusing on the negative till now, but in truth, there’s a part of me that’s quite hopeful. Silver is a double-edged sword at this time, a dubious existence in my mind. But if he isn’t a fake, but exactly as he presents, I’ll gladly allow him to copy mine and the other powerful abilities. After accruing so much power, he’ll be able to accomplish our dream, not in dozens or hundreds of years, but far sooner,” Micheal said, his voice betraying a slight optimism.

It was infectious as Lisana’s heart began bubbling with the same hopeful emotions. Their journey had been long and arduous. At the rate they were going, they would continue to be like this for quite some time, so the possibility of Silver being a key to accelerating the process greatly appealed to her.

“Hopefully, he’s just that then.”

“Hopefully,” Micheal repeated with a slight glimmer in his gaze. After blinking, said light vanished as his cautious nature kicked in. “Till that’s confirmed, we’ll operate under the worst-case scenario. Lis, head to the Adventurer Association branch, I’ll contact Astra right away.”

“Of course.”

With these words, Micheal enacted his stance. The duo, unbeknownst to them, had been placed under his and his faction’s microscope lens. Their time at the Hunter Academy would be closely scrutinised to assess their authenticity and character. Should they pass his tests, great rewards were in store, and should they fail…

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