Last week I had this amazing plan that would help me get the one thing I am missing for now, proof that other power systems existed in this World. It was a simple plan. 

 

Make up a new identity, done. 

Spill the beans about some juicy info to the populace, done. 

Make them suspicious of me, done.

 

And yet, nothing happened. After the first day, and every day afterwards I went to the museum and stared at that huge statue of Amenhotep and his wife. Later in the evening I went to bars to get drunk and spread my sorrow and by accident spilled the beans on my story. With all that done there should have been people after me already. ` It didn't matter if I acted suspicious or not, it didn't matter what they thought something should have happened so why did it not. Have I done something wrong? Or could it be that my plan failed from the start? `

 

` Guess I will never know until I investigate it. ` With nothing happening for the last week I had decided to change my ongoing plan. Instead of waiting for something to happen, it will be me initiating the action. 

` Luckily not all was without purpose. ` One thing did happen. A small thing to be honest. Every time I went to the museum I was watched much more closely than before as if I stood out for some reason. Of course this meant I was on their radar, but not enough to actually move against me. 

 

For that purpose I have decided to break into that museum. As I needed people to react and make me seem suspicious I had to break in undercover but still be recognizable enough to at least warrant a thought my way. 

 

My current position was right in front of the museum. It was very dark but that did not hinder me from observing the small sphinx statue they had in front of the building. Yesterday at night I came and observed the guards and their routines. With my Invisibility Cloak I could walk by them and they would not notice me but as I wanted to be noticed I wanted to know the best way of being spotted just enough but still be able to run away.

 

“ Ok let's do this. '' For this fake infiltration I bought one of those pantyhose women liked to wear and wore it just like thieves often used in movies. ` I look stupid in it but it gets the job done. `

 

With all that I made my way inside. My goal was the secret safe I had noticed yesterday thanks to my Sphere of Perception. With it I could walk in like I owned the place but wherever there was a camera I made it seem as if I was sneaking in and every guard I came to I knocked out with a very precise chop on the neck. ` At least that will be what they see when they rewatch the recordings. No need to tell them I had used a bot of my power to knock them out. ` Normally even that would get me caught but before I started all this I spilled the guards in the monitoring room something extra. 

 

Whenever I chopped at them I sent a bit of Auril on their necks to interrupt the brain/body signals for a second. After that I used a bit more on their brain and suggested to them to sleep for a bit. It would last for long, maybe half an hour but it was enough for my purposes.

 

Many sneaking action scenes and chops on the neck I was inside their secret chamber. It was a big safe door and it was very thick to be honest. ` Hmm, now how do I get in? I don't think I can destroy it as I am right now as I have done no research on big attacks. `

 

Auril, this power of mine that I had acquired but a few months ago, is totally new to this World or I at least hoped it was. Right now I am its origin so everything is new to me, its limits have not been defined at all and there are many ways it could be developed into. 

 

Aside from the three passive abilities Auril has given me; ICM ( Internal Cellular Manipulation ), PoET ( Principal of Energy Transfer) and SoP ( Sphere of Perception ) which I can use without any kind of active involvement from myself there is another active part of the system. 

 

As the Auril power system is heavily based on intent and the Will of one's thoughts put into Reality I divided it into six categories.

• First is Enhancement - using one's Will to enhance one's Will upon Reality.
• Second is Emission - using one's Will to spread one's influence upon Reality.
• Third is Manipulation - using one's Will to manipulate one's influence upon Reality.
• Fourth is Transmutation -  using one's Will to override one's influence upon Reality.
• Fifth is Conjuring - using one's Will to materialize one's influence upon Reality.
• Sixth is Unique - unique interactions of one's Will upon Reality that does not fall into the above categories. 

 

When I first examined this system I came to the conclusion that Auril is but the medium to impress my own intentions upon others, in this case the other was The Reality in which I live.

 

With so many ways to utilise one's power it is no wonder that having just come to it I did not have the time to test the true limits of it. That being the case and my own preferences I had decided to focus on conjuring, which meant to materialize one's influence in Reality, which in return meant I could make constructs that mimicked things in reality. 

 

It was by this method that I had made my bike which I use to travel the world. I had examined a real one in detail, from its many parts to how they functioned when combined into one. Though unlike a real bike my version would not work no matter the details I put into it and how it was created. As Auril is heavily based on intent and the bike was created from numerous Auril construct parts I would need to actually manipulate all of it every second to make it work and that was, well not impossible but it was unworkable.

 

For that purpose I had made a core for it which would regulate the bike and all its parts into one just like a brain did for a real biological body. I made the core and separated a tiny part of my Will and infused into it the knowledge of how the bike worked in all its details. With that a consciousness appeared but it was only when I imprinted the name Midnight on it that it became self aware. 

Now it could use its own body however it likes but since it was made by my own fragment of Will it was subservient to me in all its being. Whenever I come across a new version of a bike it sends me its desire to scan it, to learn from it, to make a better body for itself. Like that it could take on any forms it had scanned before but its default right now was an American chopper bike of sleek black base design with silver in prominent places to make it look good.

 

` Ah, my thoughts went away a bit to the past, best I focus on the now. Lets see the insides of the door first. ` Like that I placed my right hand on the door and sent my Auril inside to check it out in greater detail as SoP only shows me shapes on the outside if I don't use a greater amount of intent to manipulate it. I usually leave it in default shape unless I need to look specifically for something like Light or similar things. 

 

With Auril inside the door all of its insides came into my mind. It showed me everything it could but that would not tell me how it worked. It was like looking at a blueprint of something, just because you see and perceive it does not mean you know how it works unless it has to do with a biological body. Those are very easy to work with.

 

With its design in my mind I perused them to figure out how it worked. After a few minutes of that work I could only come to one conclusion. ` This is really embarrassing. When I tried to make my bike it took me days to figure out all the details and make it work. I really need to start studying again otherwise I will forever be stuck at this level not to mention my current bane of electronics. `

 

` To make electronics work will take a lot of studying. ` There is a reason my bike is currently a chopper bike as aside from the ignition switch and the instruments everything else is mechanical. Giving up on the idea to unlock the door from the inside by skill I could only brute force my way in.

 

In this case I meant not pure physical force, but another aspect of Auril. The transmutation aspect of it is to override ones Will. In my current case I would utilize my Auril and override the Will of Reality of everything that the door represented and make it mine. 

 

That being the case I spread my Auril over the whole body and initiated the process to make it mine. In this process I would put my own Will against that of Reality. It sounded stupid if one was honest, how could one win when Reality is everything. 

` Thankfully it is because Reality is everything that it is possible to snatch something from it. `

 As Reality is spread out over well Reality, its own Will is far too mighty for one to win on a big scale but if it comes down to smaller things like this door it's a lot easier. ` Easier, of course' does not mean it's really that easy. `

 

Preparing myself mentally I start the process. Starting was the easy part, all one had to do is proclaim that the door belonged to oneself. With that declaration immediately a resistance appeared against me. With a direct battle initiated I pushed the Will of Reality outside the door and my Auril generation spiked as it was being consumed at a huge pace.

Push I did and soon a minute passed, and so did another, and another. The door being big didnt help but I knew I would win this battle. On the macroscale Reality will always win but on the microscale it would lose to me eventually. Time passed and the 10 minute mark came and my battle was coming to an end. A few minutes later and a huge amount of Auril used up the door belonged to me. ` Thankfully I still have not dipped into the negative. `

 

Auril has a static pool reserve. No matter what I tried I could not increase it. The only thing I could change was the generation of it but for any kind of increase it would take me years of constant usage to dip into the negative as only then would my body be forced to improve in that department a little. It just was not worth it at this point to even consider.

 

With the door being now mine it took but a thought for me to order it to unlock and its insides started to work on their own. For this it drew upon its usual power it was hooked into. Mechanism after mechanism clicked and the door was open. 

 

Once it was totally open I retraced my Auril from it inside myself. Immediately I noticed Reality start to slowly work its way back. ` Hmm, It would take some time for it to be done but Reality is King in the end. ` 

 

The door being open and nothing standing in my way I made my way inside. With my SoP I could know the general shape of everything inside easily. I had perceived many things inside but seeing it with one's eyes like every other human does change how something is realised.

 

It was full of artifacts. Usually they were on the smaller scale but usually it was those that were the most important anyway, after all humans were not that big when it came to size. 

` Lots of trinkets if I am being honest. Oh and there are the originals to the fakes I saw on display outside. Hmm, but nothing in my sphere is showing me anything magical or otherwise. Looks it will be only after I meet them that I will be able to perceive what kind of powers they use. Either that or there truly is nothing special here. `

 

Not perceiving anything supernatural I went for another look but a few minutes later an alarm was heard through to the building. ` Looks like my time is up. Let's make a good show. `

 

Immediately I left the safe and made my way outside the museum. Taking a good measure of to make it more believable I had a hurried pace but still cautious. Not one minute into my escape I met the first security guard coming towards me. Since I had perceived him long before he did me I prepared the classic encounter of bumping into each other at the corner. Making sure to time it perfectly I went around the corner and an accident happened to us. Unlike me he totally was not prepared for it and he went down on the ground and he got stunned for a second there. 

 

“Ughh. ” Was all that was heard from him. It took him a second to come to his senses and he saw me. To him I looked like a real thief with my face hidden and only my eyes being seen. He saw me with a stunned look in my eyes and immediately came to reason. Thief he called out, at least I hope he did as I didnt know egyption at all. With that I gave him a kick on the stomach before he rose and went away, but as I didnt hit him hard and before I was gone out of hearing range I heard him call for his people over the radio.

 

With that the chase started. Since they had a lot of guards and had not seen action in quite a long time it took them time to realise I was here but once they went after me their coordination started catching up to me. Corridor after corridor I bumped into some, hit others and in one perfect scenario for 3 of them on me I used more strength then a normal man could have and kicked one of them hard. He went into air for quite a bit before falling down and gliding down the corridor for a few meters and passed out.

 

One of them was stunned by that and the other jumped at me. With that we grappled on the ground and the second guard jumped me too. Knowing this was my chance I let him catch me on my jacket. With that I hit the first man hard with a backhand on the head and he let go but during that time the Ankh I had around my neck got exposed as the second one pulled on my jacked and it tore the zipper that held the jacket. I had made sure to make it fragile so this would happen. 

 

The guard saw it for a second or two and I hit him on the head. It was quite a hard hit and he let go. With that scenario enacted it was time for me to leave but not before I hit a few more of them with strength no normal man could have. 5 minutes later I was out of the museum and used my Invisibility Cloak and just stayed there. Now that it was used they would not find me no matter what.

 

Not long after some of the guards came out and looked for me but found no trace. I waited a few more minutes and went inside again. 

 

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Brrrr, Brrrr, Brrrr

 

` Ugh, why is the phone ringing now. It's the middle of the night. ` 

 

Brrr, Brrr, Brrr

 

“ Yes, yes I am coming. ” With that I pick up the phone. “ Hello, This is Ahmad, who are you to call me this late? ” Immediately a man's voice spoke and I recognized it. It was the main chief for security at my workplace.

“ I am sorry sir for waking you up but there has been a break in at the museum. ” Huh.

“ What? I think my phone is messing with me. Please repeat that. ” I must have heard wrong.

“ Sir, somebody broke into the hidden safe. I am not sure how but the door to the safe is wide open. Please hurry and come. We have no idea if something was stolen or not as the culprit has escaped. ” It can't be this must be a joke.

“ You are not joking with me are you? Otherwise you can kiss your job goodbye. ” I asked again to make sure. I have worked for over 20 years in that place and while there were a few attempts they had only been for the artifacts placed outside. There is a reason the safe is hidden.

“ No sir. This is not a joke. Hurry, and come. My men are still looking at the recording to see what exactly happened. ” Immediately the sleep vanished as a dread came from deep within me. Standing up I put on my clothes in a hurry and went to the museum. It took me but a few minutes with there being no traffic this late. 

 

Minutes later I was there and a guard had been stationed outside to wait for me. Immediately we went inside and I went to the hidden safe. Once there I saw its door wide open and my chief of security there alongside a few men guarding the entrance. 

 

“ Hassan, tell me what happened? ” The man heard me and turned to me.

“ Sir, as I said on the phone, somebody broke in. We are unsure if something was taken or not so I placed guards here. ” He knew they messed up but he still continued explaining. “ With them here there should be no problem for now. Let us go to the monitoring room. ” That said, we were on the way there. It took but a minute or two. There two men were going through recordings of frame by frame. 

 

The moment we came in Hassan shouted. “  Have you found anything? ” 

“ Sir, we found some traces of the intruder on video but if one did not look actively it was easy for one to dismiss it. It was only in rare cases he showed up and dealt with the guards in his way. What we are having trouble to understand is how it took so long for some man to notice that some guards were knocked out. ” Of course he did. For something like this to happen there had to be some major mishap. Best guess the guard stationed here went for a piss or something similar. Not that it mattered. “ But there is one thing we can't understand is how the safe was opened. We have looked at the recording but we are still puzzled by it.  ”  

 

I address the guard. “ Show me everything from the beginning. ” With that he went from the start. On the monitor on rare occasions the intruder appeared. He was moving methodically and with purpose as if he knew the lay of the building like the back of his hand. When he came upon a guard, one chop of his hand and they were down. Like that we watched and soon came the hidden security footage. There we saw the man stand in front of the door for a bit and then he placed his hands on it. He stood like that for about 15 minutes and the door opened. There was no safecracking used, not even for the electronics. It was as if the door opened on its own and let him in. 

 

For security reasons there was no camera inside it, so we do not know if something was taken or not. The next footage was when the alarm was triggered and the intruder bolted out of it. Now no need for stealth we saw him much more clearer. Soon he came into contact with the guards. First, second, third, many of them went down with only one hit as if they were made of paper but it was when he grappled with 3 of them that something came to our attention.  “ Wait, rewind that fight. ” Shouted Hassan. Immediately it was rewinded. “ There, rewind again for a few seconds and stop. ” When it was done we all saw something. At the intruder's neck was something golden, like a necklace. “ There, that moment. Who was in that fight? Get them here Immediately. Now! ” Again Hassa gave an order and soon the guard was brought over.

 

The guard came and was shown that moment. When he saw it, Hassan asked about it. “ Tell me you saw what that was hanging by the neck. ” The guard was hesitant for a bit as if trying his best to recall that moment. “ Sir, I could be wrong as I saw it for only a second or two but it looked a lot like those Ankh one can see on display. I am not totally sure though. ”

 

It was rare to find one of them and even rarer to find one of that size. It has been a long time since one was found and even if one was found they soon vanish into nothing and are never seen again, wait. “ An ankh? How sure are you? ” I asked the guard. 

Surprised he was at my question but he did answer. “ Like I said, I am not sure as it was darker in that part of the building and it only happened for a second or two before I was hit on the head but maybe 60, 70%. ”  Even the lowest chance is high enough that it can be close to the truth. 

 

Seeing me being fixated on it, Hassan turned to me. “ What is it? ” I turned my attention back on him. “ Last week, I saw a man come into the museum. At first he caught my attention when he was gazing at our main attraction in the hall. His gaze upon it was deep as if in trance. Seeing that I approached him for a bit and noticed he had an Ankh on his neck. It had golden edges with golden scrypt engraved upon black stone or something like it. I didn't get a good look at it but when I asked about it he hid it hurriedly as if he forgot it was out. He said it was fake. “ 

 

Immediately Hassan remembered who I meant. As I had asked him to watch him when he came again the next few days. “ So you think that it was him? Do you know his name? ”

 

Ugh, what was his name again, Stap, Step, Stephen. Yes, that's it! “ I think he said his name was Stephen but if it was him that broke in, it's very likely that the name was fake. “

 

Hassan sighed. “ The name does not matter for now. ” With that he turned again to the footage of everything. “ What I am more interested in is how he opened the safe and his strength. ”

“ Strength? What do you mean? ” He glanced at me for a second and spoke. “ Look I don't expect you to understand the human body but the amount he showed is abnormal. Look. ” With that he showed the footage of the intruder kicking one of the guards, who flew for a few meters and still glided on the ground for a bit.

 

“ That is not something that should be possible for one to do, at least I have not met anybody that could. And look how he made short work of the others, all it took was one hit. I wonder how he got that strength. ” He was truly interested to know that.

 

Me not so much. “ Hassan I will go check if something was stolen. ” He only nodded and I was on my way there but suddenly a thought appeared to me. ` It can't be, can it? No, I must be mistaken. ` Shaking my head to disperse it but for some reason it just would not leave me alone. The more I thought about it the more I felt a shiver grow up my spine. 

 

` No, I must be mistaken. There is no way that could be true. ` But the shiver inside me just grew and grew. Something deep inside me told me I should report this, otherwise I would regret it. Immediately I took out my phone and called my boss. ` Let them deal with it, I am just a lowly curator, nothing more. `