Reading further ahead on higher levels was normally against my uncle’s rule, however this is a special situation. I had all intentions of reading ahead, but none of my uncle’s handwritten notes appeared. It only showed the normal text that was always there. After a quick hand me back from Eris I tested it to prove my theory. Like I thought it didn’t appear unless I was the one using it. Well, it was worth a shot anyway.
I handed the manual back to Eris and read through the level six to ten notes. The only bits of information that I gathered useful for Eris were level nine and ten. The rest mentioned ways to expand on Ki breathing which didn’t apply to her in the first place. The last two levels explained that ki output could be refined to require less energy and how to go about conserving it to last longer.
The concept came across as a contradiction and boiled down to using the smallest amount of ki required for the task you were trying to achieve. You were to use the smallest amount of ki required but to increase the amount of ki within your body, you had to repeatedly expend all of it. The thought of building up muscle entered my mind and it was through constant fatigue that made you stronger.
If ki is the same thing as magic like my uncle stated then this should apply to her. Eris normally went all out when it came to her magic. It was easy to see that she was never trained for combat and accepted her magic a bit for granted. It explained her constant fainting after blowing through her entire mana reserves and also explains how she became so powerful. That brought up a very dangerous thought about my own magic. What if the only way to gain control and improve was to experience as many near-death situations as possible? Something I was not looking forward to testing.
“I think you should learn the ki breathing technique so that you can apply everything it says in the book. It can’t hurt.” Eris was thrilled by the idea of becoming stronger and immediately entered into the sitting stance depicted by the images in the manual. Since my notes said to focus on my breathing, I joined a cross-legged position on the wooden floorboards.
Eris eventually went back to her suite, thanking me again for listening and being supportive. Earlier, I made sure to have Lily hand out four emerald coins to each of the fifty-one survivors to use for the day. They all deserved a much needed rest and relaxation after all the death. Lily lowered my initial amount from ten to four each, saying it was way more than necessary. I wanted to give them more regardless, though I chose not to argue with my financial advisor since it was her suggestion.
I could hear the voices of everyone trickle down the halls as they got back to their rooms to settle in for the night. I prepared for the endless amount of work ahead realizing that I enjoyed this type of busy work compared to my meaningless struggle for existence in the past.
We received the all clear from Alyssa by noon about moving into our new highrise building. I never would have imagined owning a whole skyscraper in my lifetime and felt stuck within a weird dream. It was an awesome sight to behold looking up from the streets below. The noisy stream of contract workers flowed endlessly in and out of the building entrance.
I waited for Mia’s arrival to park our bikes inside the underground parking lot. She mentioned how it would be helpful to have a few people assigned to her for teaching everything about the purchased security setup. I figured this would be a good opportunity for Selka and Nathan to handle more responsibilities and chose them along with three other randomly picked people.
Mia was warned about Selka’s rather unique ability and joked that she could be placed into her full body armored suit to prevent any issues from taking place. I almost took it as a real suggestion before she laughed leading into an awkward response on my end. As long as she stayed indoors with good air conditioning I don’t see any problems. I hoped anyway.
The elevator doors were see through, together with the walls. It offered a full view of every floor passed as we took it to the lobby floor. The elevators were definitely something to get accustomed to as I heard Tessa already refused to use it, to the extent of running away whenever the doors opened. Eris and I contemplated on the best solution to help her get over the fear of heights.
In the end, Eris said to just drag her onto it and get it over with. My shocked face caused Eris to shrug her shoulders. I figured their bonds were better than that as I shook my head, sorry about Tessa’s traumatic near future.
The expansive marbled flooring and pillars created a large open area, exactly how I remembered it last time. Instead of making the first floor the training room, Alexa recommended keeping it as a reception area for entertaining prospective new members into our dojo. It made more sense this way and allowed for more privacy from onlookers by having our members train on another floor.
For now, the layout had the second to fifth floor consisting of different training grounds ranging from beginner to more advanced sessions. The living quarters didn’t begin until the twelfth floor, so any number of additions could be made between those floors. Lily wanted office space for those that needed to do work involving logistics and ensuring the success of our business.
She claimed three floors, nine to eleven. They were to be filled to the brim with cubicles and appropriate items to help get their jobs done. She reserved the eleventh floor as a resting area for the purpose of relieving stress during downtime.
From what I saw it was going to have an assortment of arcade styled games. Even fun group activities like laser tag, and another section with a jacuzzi and sauna combo. The list went on and I felt that I’d end up spending too much time getting addicted to fun and games over there.
Clare’s cafeteria got the next floor above and underwent many alterations to put in extra plumbing for the placement of an industrial scale freezer room and fridges. In addition to an expansive array of stoves, ovens, and utensils. The synergy between science and magic cores lowered the cost of our bill by a considerable amount according to Lily.
Lastly, floors thirteen and up consisted of everyone's living quarters. In particular, my room ended up being the entire top floor. It had its own personal elevator that brought you to the main entrance and living room area. I had no issues with the existing furnishing and had no desire to spend the extra time changing it all. The amount of time spent on interior design would be destroyed if I happened to alter it at this point.
What in the world did anyone need this much space for, to begin with? I wasn’t planning to be indoors all day so it felt way too extravagant. I ended up showing discontent and that was where I fell into a trap. A most devilish of traps. Alexa mentioned that to use up all of the space, it was best to have others live here in addition to me. Then she added on by targeting my logical side stating how if not, there would be empty and wasted rooms.
I relented and stated how I didn’t mind the furnishing but ended up having things changed based on the other’s preferences. Eris claimed her own room furthest from mine while keeping the one next to her for Tessa, to have after she got over her fear of heights. At that point, I sighed and went back downstairs to let them do as they pleased.
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Melkord· Mar 21, 2021
