Chapter 96: Chapter 95 : At The Cinema (Part 1)

Separating from Greg at the entrance, Ralf’s boots were set alight as he went about speedrunning his various tasks. This was no mere metaphor. Materialising his Psi Bike, he raced around town.

The first thing on his checklist was checking out previously notorious areas, searching for any familiar faces. Thankfully for his consciousness and the street cleaners, Ralf found no such face, and even asking around, no presence of those gangsters could be found. Finishing up with this, he moved to arm himself. Next, he paid a visit to his good luck spots before heading to the Adventurer Association branch.

“Yo Genise.”

Genise’s daze was shattered as the voice was registered. Her gaze snapped to the entrance where she caught a familiar youth. She instantly beamed.

“Ralf, you’re back, welcome back,” the mature receptionist smiled warmly as she greeted.

Ralf returned a smile and approached. “Genise, anything interesting happen since I've been away?”

“Not really. What about you?” she asked, anticipation bubbling in her.

“Of…course.”

Genise's eyes lit up. Those in the surroundings had a similar sparkle visit them.

“Well, share.”

“Hmm, I’m strapped for time. Long story short, I’m going to be fighting in the Combat Arena tonight.”

Eyes widened at the announcement.

“Really? When did you even have time to qualify?”

“I just got back from it now actually. Greg took me and my mom to a special event yesterday and it got me all excited, so I decided I want to participate too. I just qualified. I’ll be fighting my first match tonight. Stopped by Ganurg to let Jeff know,” Ralf glanced around, “is he even here?”

“Uh, no. He’s not. Jeff just left and is accompanying a group of inexperienced Adventurers right now.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. Wanted to see his reaction,” Ralf’s shoulders sagged a moment before picking back up. “Anyways, that was what I came for. Genise, want to watch? I’m going to show off something super cool.”

At his words, everyone shuffled in place as a bomb of excitement collectively exploded inside them.

“I’d love to!” Genise answered swiftly.

Ralf smiled as he took in her unbridled enthusiasm and anticipation. “Excellent excellent. I’ll be heading back to Popleigh now. I’ve already arranged things with Greg, so just head to Golden Jug. He’ll be heading up at seven.”

“Will do.”

He nodded, then turned to leave. “Till tonight then, look forward to it…bye bye.” Saying this, Ralf made his way out. Once on the streets, he quickly shifted gears and raced off.

In his wake, a similar need for speed was left. Chairs and tables scraped against the floor, beverages toppled over and spilt their contents, and meals became scrambled; a ruckus followed as Adventurers collectively sprang up and out.

“Shit, can we even get tickets now? Damn it, we have to try! There’s no way I’m missing this.”

This Adventurer’s sentiment was one, shared by everyone present. Burning with a desire to see Ralf in action, a mad rush ensued. News of Ralf’s participation soon spread around town. In several hours, an army of hundreds of Ganurgians would invade Popleigh’s streets.

***

*Shatter*

Dematerialising the Psi Plane, Ralf’s figure entered free fall. He indulged in the rushing air currents which massaged him for a few seconds more before acting to slow himself down. Psi Parachute equipped, his body descended nonchalantly until his figure touched down.

He hadn’t landed in Popleigh, but a kilometre away. Unless it was an emergency, unauthorized personnel weren’t allowed to fly over the city’s space. This law wasn’t unique to Popleigh; Lagner and Ganurg also had this law.

However, unlike them, Popleigh could enforce it. Breaking this law would result in hefty fines, and repeated offences would land one in jail. Ralf, being the good apple he was, wanted to avoid this.

Still a ways away, Ralf summoned his Psi Bike and headed towards the gateless city.

Tracing his way back using Samuel’s earlier path, it took him all of five minutes to reach the cinema. But even without prior knowledge, Ralf would have no problem finding the building.

Its incredible size stood out, but even more than that was the sheer number of telepathic tethers that ran to and from the building. It was a clear giveaway to its identity as an information hub.

Outside on his ride, Ralf’s eyes lit up as he watched the blue tethers continually flicker. Knowing what it meant, his heart swirled with excitement. Alighting, he moved to the entrance with brisk steps.

Entering, his eyes welcomed a large well lit space.

[[Snack counter, ticket counter, bathrooms; this is a cinema alright,]] Rei commented.

[[Yeah, nothing too crazy,]] Ralf’s responded.

However, his words were a tad too hasty as, upon accepting the telepathic Psi that had been requesting access since he entered, everything changed.

‘Whoa!’

Information had flooded into his mind, drastically altering the reality before him.

The venue was thoroughly transformed as bright and colourful lights was splashed across Ralf’s vision. Dozens of projections were added in. They fit in neatly and enhanced the previously bland space.

Where previously empty spaces, vibrant images appearing to be movie posters were now displayed in the large black boxes at the ticket counter. Images and artworks decorate the place, and not just static ones either. The duo’s attention was seized by the happenings at the wall; ‘several monitors’ could be seen playing what the duo assumed was movie or series’ trailers.

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Seeing the marked lines around each one and reading the text beside the monitor, they quickly moved. True to what was written, as soon as they stepped inside the marked region, the sound of the trailers were made available to them. Amazed, they darted in and out of the zone. The staffers watched this display with smiles on their faces. The duo’s astounded reaction was an all too common happening.

[[This is fucking sick,]] Rei couldn’t help but voice. He was over the moon impressed by it all. Even if the movies sucked, the creativity and ingenuity on display right now made the trip worthwhile in his mind. [[Augmented reality via telepathic illusions, Ralf, this world gets more interesting each day.]]

[[Indeed.]] Saying this, Ralf’s eyes shifted leftward and found Hana, who had just rounded the corner. He approached with a smile on his face.

“Find anything that catches your eye?” he asked.

“A few.”

“Good, then let’s not delay.” Ralf turned and gestured to the ticket counter.

“Sure,” she responded before following after her son. “Hey, have Ray come over to this side.”

Ralf nodded then said, [[You heard her.]]

Rei took a final sip from his milkshake before making the trip over. However, upon reaching the other side, something most unexpected happened.

*Snap*

The telepathic thread linked to Ralf’s mind was suddenly shredded, instantly shattering the flashy reality.

‘What…happened?’

The duo was baffled at the happening. However, their minds quickly understand what had taken place.

[[It looks like only our link snapped. This must be due to me shifting over, but we have to make sure. I’m going back. Connect to it again, and we’ll repeat and see what happens?]]

“Ralf, Ray what are you two doing?”

Seeing the shocked look on her sons’ face, Hana asked confusedly.

“Umm, just give us a moment.” Ralf focused on the task given to him.

Confirming that his other self was back in the Mental Space, Ralf reconnected to the network. Then, Rei shifted to the outside world as he did earlier, and again, the telepathic link was snapped. Moving from an occurrence to a coincidence, the duo looked to confirm a pattern, and so repeated themselves over and over and over…

Hana watched her sons’ strange actions with a quizzical look. The shock faded and a frenzied expression bloomed on the duo’s face. A blinding light beamed from their eyes and their smiles began widening to their limits; the findings were just that spectacular.

“Huh, what’s that kid doing?”

“Is he going crazy? Is he on drugs?”

“Hey, stay away from him.”

The duo’s strangeness naturally drew attention to themselves. However, at this moment, they couldn’t care less.

[[You do it now.]]

[[Okay.]] As Ralf was about to switch roles, a fed-up voice blasted through his ears.

[Can you knock it off already!] The staffer reprimanded. [The next time you snap the connection, you’re out, got it!]

[Oh…ah, sorry about that.] Understanding the annoyance they were being, Ralf apologised. Still, with his curiosity white-hot, he wouldn’t stop here. [Hey, I wasn’t just messing around. It’s very important. How about this, allow me to repeat what I’ve been doing another….ten times, and I’ll pay you for your services.]

[Pay?] At the word, the staffer’s tone immediately softened.

[Yes, I’ll pay you one gold. Just do as you have been doing.]

Hearing the offer, the staffer immediately went for it. [Then, young man, please go ahead.]

Ralf nodded, then proceeded to do just that.

[[And that settles it. What a crazy discovery. We have to do more experiments to confirm the exact limits of this, but this looks promising, very promising. If it turns out as we hope, this could be an ultimate counter.]]

Ralf rubbed his chin while sporting a contemplative look. [[It could. Though, I imagine it will be a long time before we can use it.]]

[[Who knows for sure. It’s reassuring to have, like a fire extinguisher, you never know when you’ll need it. This is the same.]]

[[True.]]

Shifting off Rei, Ralf addressed the helpful Telepath. [Thank you miss Telepath, you’ve helped me out more than you can imagine.]

[[Glad to. Now, head to the ticket counter and make good on your word. One gold to Samantha, got it?]

Ralf smiled. [Of course.]

Finishing up the exchange, he turned to his mom who was leaning against a pillar, patiently waiting for her sons to come to. He extended his hand in her direction and said, “Quit slacking, we have a movie to watch.”

Hana smiled wryly before pushing herself off the pillar. “Of course, my bad.” Taking his hand, the pair headed to the ticket counter.

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