Chapter 9

But it was too late for that. He had to work with what he chose, he made his bed and now he had to lie in it. He concentrated on the name of the skill, closing his eyes as he felt something well up within him. Almost like an instinct. Frank breathed deeply, a mass of energy felt like it was swirling near his stomach. He mentally took hold of it and felt like he could expand some of that energy into a shroud around himself. He did as his strange new instinct asked and formed the shroud.

When he opened his eyes, the system informed him he had levelled his invisibility skill to 1 just as he had with teleportation. But that wasn't all. When he mentally dismissed the system with a thought, he noticed the room was darker around him. It was bright daylight outside moments ago, but it was suddenly very dark like clouds had just rolled in. This wouldn't be terribly unusual, except that the RGB lights on Frank's desktop PC also seemed to be strange. They were just as bright as usual, but it was like they didn't shine out onto the computer case or his desk the same way.

When Frank looked at his hands, he realized he could still see them, but a strange haze like a sidewalk or pavement on a hot summer day was emanating from every point of his body. He looked over to the bathroom mere steps down the hall and triggered his teleport skill. Now he was in front of the mirror in his bathroom, but he couldn't see himself. He was completely invisible in the mirror without a reflection, like vampires were said to be in their legends.

"This is so fucking trippy, I can't believe this is real"

He quickly flexed in front of the mirror, pinched himself, even turned on the tap, cupped his hands to collect water then threw it at the mirror. When it hit the mirror and still didn't change anything except making the mirror and sink wet, he decided the situation was real enough. He didn't feel any different other than his perception was changed, and it seemed others perception of himself would change as well if the mirror was any indication.

Thinking back again to his dream, it would explain why the orcs he fought didn't see him. He was combining the invisibility and teleportation. But he could only stay invisible for 2 minutes, this fact was clear given how after staring into the empty mirror for a few moments more to think things over, his reflection reappeared and all the lights in the bathroom and shining in from outside went back to normal.

He tried to put the shroud back on to see what it looked like when he turned invisible, but the system popped a small transparent square into his vision.

'Cooldown for [Total Invisibility] remaining: 1:50'

The timer ticked down in seconds, so it was clearly the 2 minute cooldown he read in the ability description. Fine.

Frank peeked out to the hallway, caught a glimpse of his room, then teleported inside. He picked up his clothes, grabbed a bath towel from the bathroom closet, and started the shower to let the water warm up a bit. With mere seconds left on the cooldown timer, he dismissed it and counted down manually. When it was over, he tried to use [Total Invisibility] once more.

This time, with his eyes open he saw the process at work. Parts of him turned hazy and smoky like a mirage, starting with his stomach and around his back, as the haze settled he was completely invisible in those areas, his clothes too. It expanded quickly to include his whole body and even the towel over his shoulder. It was so weird to watch his body disappear from view, and certainly something he would have to get used to.

But again, other than the weird changes to light and the inability to see his reflection, he didn't feel any different. So he stripped, dropped his clothes in the hamper, and watched as they became visible in the mirror when he let go of them as a further test of his ability. He finally got into the shower and let the weight of his new abilities and their implications really wash over him with the water.

"So, how accurate was my dream? I had the same abilities, but the cooldowns were all wrong. Was it showing my potential with training? Or was it some heavenly propaganda to hype me up and throw myself into some kind of war I can't even make heads or tails of?"

"Either way, I need to prepare. I need to get more income. But how?" Then it hit him. He could train his teleportation skill and make money by using a delivery app. He wouldn't even have to spend much money on gas, he could teleport around! But how would he even do that? He needed line of sight to teleport. Wait...

'Teleportation (Rank D Level 1): User may teleport to any space they can see within 15 feet with slight concentration, or any space with which they are deeply familiar using focused concentration. User arrives at the location with any items they are holding or wearing on their person. User may not teleport with other beings, or into a space which is directly occupied by another being. Cooldown period of 20 seconds Earth time between uses, 10 minute cooldown is applied if using the focused concentration option. Upgradeable by skill use and knowledge.'

That was it! The focused concentration option! Sure it was a 10 minute cooldown, but if he habitually used it and a map app to find the area he wanted to end up, he could reduce the cooldown, right? That... was how that worked, right? Well he would have to try and see what happened with further ranks.

After getting out of the shower and brushing his teeth, he decided to teleport to the couch and play on his gaming console once he got dressed. He had to sign up for a few apps, and plan some things out if he was going to prepare for the worst. What better way to do that than with a chill single player game that would wait for him patiently if he got distracted?