Ten

Ten

The first thing I noticed was my Material statistics. They had all gone up by another four, but that was the same as going from zero to one. It looked like Exposition-san was right about that being the biggest jump. Still, four percent of the maximum possible was still quite an increase for the average person, as my physical testing had proved. As expected, the Intangible statistics had not improved either.

The second was that ‘First Node’ had changed to ‘Base Chakra’. I concentrated on this and a description followed.

Base Chakra- The first Aether centre of the body, connected to the Silver Cord. This has only recently been opened and the efficiency is bad. Can be trained to generate Aether from the surrounding Ether. As the foundation of the Chakra network, if this Chakra node is underdeveloped the rest of the system will be unstable and suffer poor, irregular performance.

This was interesting. I wasn’t sure whether it really followed the Chakra system I had researched online, or whether it had changed as that was the way I was thinking about it, but the extra information made me believe that there was definitely something deeper to be understood.

There was also the new skill Crude Aether Manipulation, which was as below.

Crude Aether Manipulation- A very basic grasp on using Aether to affect the higher realms, with terrible efficiency and weak potency. Easily suppressed by other Territories or strong Aether, and would not be effective in affecting the Material plane.

That was harsh! Of course my skills weren’t very good, I had only learned a day ago... still, I wondered if that applied both ways, and perhaps my Territory might be able to supress others? In any case, I couldn’t help but be excited as it was time to examine the information on my Territory, I had lost consciousness as it was being updated in the Boundary, so I didn’t manage to catch it.

Territory Rank - 1.

Territory Defence - Very Low. Your Territory will absorb Aether slowly from any hostile entities who enter it, increasing in potency as they near the Territory Anchor. A low level Aether barrier is generated around your Territory to defend it.

Your Territory will draw Ether from the surrounding Astral, stockpiling it, though without suitable storage facilities this Ether may be lost over time. Your Territory also generates a small amount of Aether for you, which is transferred automatically through your Silver Cord/Chakra Network.

Due to your claim on this Territory in the Material world you suffer a low penalty to your Territory's abilities, and as you do not have total ownership you cannot synchronise it for greater bonuses. You are unable to affect the Material world with your current levels of ownership.

You can construct various Buildings to improve your Territory’s performance. You currently have zero facilities constructed.

That was a lot of useful information. It looked as if it would now be harder for anyone to take my Territory from me due to the barrier, and the gain in ether and aether would be welcome. The most interesting thing was the ability to affect the Material world. I guess that was another reason to have full ownership of the Territory in both worlds. Damn, why wasn’t I born a billionaire?

No point crying over the impossible, this is still good. Still, despite the benefits I couldn’t neglect what I had to do here. Going to the fridge I pulled out my last bottle of tea and took a swig. I would need to restock my food and drink supplies and then see if I had any more work coming in. If I did I could do that quickly and then concentrate on training my Chakra network.

It was then my phone rang, which was unusual, as most people just emailed or messaged me. Picking it up I saw the caller ID. Surprised, I opened up my phone. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

“Oh I don’t know about that.” he sighed again, finishing off his cigarette and pulling another out of a case that was in his inside pocket. Lighting it with shaking hands he took another deep drag, before blowing smoke disconsolately. “I don’t really understand her. She’s in high school, yet she dresses up all flashy-like, and she’s always bleaching her hair and getting fake tans. She looks like a delinquent. There weren’t girls like that in my day, I can assure you that! Why she can’t be a proper lady like her mother was I don’t know...”

“It’s just one of the fashions these days.” I ventured. “They change over time. In a few years she’ll be into a different look I’m sure.”

“You may be right.” Hashimoto-san said absently. “Sometimes I wish I had a son instead, maybe I’d understand him better. Oh, look at me rambling on, I’m keeping you from your work. I have to go get changed soon anyway. Thanks for your time.”

“No problem. A good day to you Hashimoto-san. Make the most of the visit with your daughter, family is important.” I nodded to him and walked up the stairs to my room, shutting the door behind me. The temperature was beginning to build already, so I flipped on the air conditioning unit. It was an old model and a bit loud, but I had no intentions of slaving away in the heat today.

The first thing I had to do was check my emails, so I switched on my computer. I had received a reply regarding the paid work I had done yesterday, a glowing bit of praise thanking me for getting the work done so speedily, and promising to bear me in mind when further work was needed. They also promised me swift payment, which would be nice. There were a couple of useless spam emails as well, but apart from that, nothing pressing.

“Oh well...” I said, stretching. “I guess I can spend a bit of time trying a few more methods to improve my Chakras. A couple of hours won’t hurt.” I gathered the printouts I had made yesterday and studied them, before deciding on a couple of the most promising to try. Settling down into my chair I closed my eyes and began to run through the exercises.

For a few hours I continued to imagine various means of drawing in ether, with limited success. I could definitely feel the presence of aether, especially in the warmth within my lower body, but actually drawing in ether to convert was too hard. Still, I had only been trying for a scant few hours, so I refused to get downhearted. I had stopped when my email started pinging, so I decided to take a break to clear my head and see what I had received.

There was a reply from my sister, complaining that I never visit home anymore, which I promptly ignored for now, as we had already had this discussion a couple of days ago. I would reply later. The other was much more interesting, it was from an old colleague and good friend of mine, one who I had worked with back on that software project along with some other freelancers, and had a good time at university hanging out with. It read...

Word up my man, long time no speak. How‘ve you been doing? It’s me, Hayato! Just hitting you all up regarding a tasty opportunity I’ve been able to grab hold of. I’ve been employed in the outsourcing department for an up-and-coming new game developer, and shortly there will be a ton of coding, graphic design, 3D modelling and bug finding work available, enough to last us all for a few months. If any of you guys are interested, hit me back as I’d rather give it to old friends I know can do the work than look for some newbies. That sweet yen could all be yours!

I had to smile. Hayato-san was the real mood-maker of our little group of freelancers, and the one that suggested most of our social events. He was on first name terms with everyone within a week at university, even the more standoffish Hina-chan. In any case, this was a good, well timed offer. I should be able to blitz through work with my new abilities, helping Hayato-san out and making myself money at the same time. I fired off a quick acceptance, asking for as much work as he had going. Once that was done I was pretty much finished until some more work came in, so I decided to get back to training. It’ll annoy Shiro a bit since I asked for it, but obviously her work is last priority...

“Sometimes I envy those with a steady job...” At least they had a regular wage. Still, it would be hard to train if I had to work all the time. Got to look on the bright side, right?

Relaxing in my chair, I began to carry out the exercises that felt the most promising before, trying to raise my aether levels by dragging in the surrounding ether...

********

The next few days carried on much the same, with me simply meditating to raise my aether levels. I wasn’t having much success, but at least every day I felt more and more aether inside me, probably generated by my Territory. I also received a couple of bits of work while waiting for the tasks from Hayato-san to come through, and finished them in record time. My bank balance was looking a bit healthier at least. I had also made a start on the work for Shiro, modelling several items and writing the supporting code.

On the fifth day the warmth within me had spread to most of my body, and this time when I tried my aether-building exercises I felt my consciousness start to come loose from my body. Concentrating on that feeling I focused my aether, and with a surge of heat everything went dark, my thoughts receding. Opening my eyes a moment later I found myself once again in the Boundary...