The Northern Aberration (2)

Another annoying encounter with the Pixie and the tutorial and I was free to roam again.

I made my trip over in the other direction from the city, making a now routine check to see if the Lost Forest would appear on this Regression.

…It didn't.

But I fulfilled my promise to visit.

I headed back towards the gas station and met Alyssa. This time I took her down without hurting her too badly. I had seen her moves hundreds of times over the month of constant fighting we shared.

However, this time, I decided:

'We need to speed things up.'

Jay wouldn't start following us until the emergence of dungeons. For now, Alyssa was still mentally stable, without the 'idea of God' Abnormality attacking her mind and spirit.

So, I diverted our journey a little bit. We headed into the North as our first destination.

Ah, right. I made sure to get a lot of cigarettes from the store before we left. Her favorite brand, too.

Even without Jay's interference, she should be able to last a lot longer with these, until Dungeons emerged, granting us the use of Materials.

-----

"Phew. Feels relieving to see you not wearing those rags anymore."

"Shut it." Alyssa frowned, holding the parka I had given her close to her body. It was really close to the one she had last time, but I couldn't find which exact one she had been wearing. Not without Jay here.

"Ha...you really lack gratitude to someone trying to save you from looking homeless..." I feigned being hurt, looking off to the side. Alyssa huffed, poking me in my side.

"I said shut it! Besides, I was comfortable enough in my old shit!"

"They were literally rags...we're going to the North. You would have frozen, you know?"

Alyssa didn't have much more to argue with, so she just turned forward and kept trudging on. I smiled, following closely behind her. 

Naturally in this Regression, we hadn't gotten as close as the other. We had barely been travelling together for two weeks, and I was already dragging her off to the coldest northern portion of the city. 

I was on a hunt for whatever caused the snowstorm that had frozen the entirety of the North over. 

The Northern Aberration was the temporary name I decided to give it.

"...by the way, how the hell did you know I liked cigarettes so much? And this specific brand, too."

Alyssa looked down at the cigarette she currently had held between her lips, inhaling the smoke nonchalantly while we walked.

"Dunno. Although with how foul your mouth is, I bet anyone could tell that you're a heavy smoker."

"Tch. You're a real smooth talker, you know that? Some Manager...I bet you just made all your employees leave the job!"

...did I mention that, in this Regression, Alyssa really thought I was the manager of the gas station's convenience store? Ah, this was a fun little change. I decided to keep it this way from now on.

"So, what the hell are we heading all the way up North for, anyways?" Alyssa's face scrunched into a nearly unreadable expression...no, just kidding, her displeasure was obvious and exaggerated.

There was a hint of something deeper there. A...fear, or some sort of disturbance. This always happened whenever Alyssa even slightly brought up her past.

Apparently she had fled the North, coming down towards my portion of the city immediately after the Tutorial was over.

"Hopefully, to kill an Abnormality before it can start getting out of control."

I answered plainly.

"Hehehe...I ain't sure where the hell you learned about something like that, but you're finally speaking my language! And here I thought it was gonna be something boring, like trying to find a safer place to hide out."

"You're really eager to jump into danger...Alyssa, I'm just letting you know, there isn't a joy ride. If you don't get serious, we're both going to die."

Alyssa was silent for a while. Then she spoke, in a much lower voice.

"You think I'm not taking things seriously, huh? Just having fun killing shit for no reason? Tch...I should have known..."

Her voice wasn't as lighthearted as usual. For whatever reason, she took serious offense to my...well, at least I thought it was reasonable.

We didn't speak much for the rest of that day. I had a feeling that Alyssa and I might not get along as easily on this Regression.

That was fine. I just didn't want to see her die. At least, not as helplessly as last time.

-----

It was the morning before we breached the North. Alyssa was sleeping, and I was remaining awake, on guard. 

However, what I was keeping sharp weren't my eyes or ears...but my mind.

I needed to unlock my Inner Energy, and quickly. 

And for some reason, I figured Jay's method of meditation, consistent and focused, might help me achieve that.

I wondered just what I was supposed to be searching for. Viola treated Inner Energy like you'd treat the mysterious different types of 'energy' you read about in cultivation stories.

I wasn't sure if Jay even possessed Inner Energy. But the way they resisted the cold produced by the Northern Aberration...I was sure that whatever they had gained from their own meditation had helped out somehow.

Meaning, if I combined the mental training I had done with Viola, alongside constant meditation...maybe I could find my own way to access it.

Right now, I was only slightly stronger than the average person. Barely beyond human limits in some aspects. 

Someone like Liliana from her first two or three weeks could still easily crush me, if she was serious about doing so. I only managed to outdo her in our sparring matches because there were limits and constraints.

Worst of all, I had no skill. The only thing I was trained in was the self-taught art of mop-handle-jutsu.

What was I going to do? Ask Alyssa to show me how to shoot people with imaginary guns? Besides, I had a feeling that guns weren't suited for me. It was why I never picked any up.

I took a deep breath, sucking air into my gut and holding it there, before exhaling. I repeated this gesture, over and over, while allowing my mind to further sink deep into unconsciousness.

Eventually, the world was silent.

I didn't allow any external thoughts or noises to distract me. I was completely immersed in my own inner world.

I began mapping out a mental image of my body. First, limb by limb. Then, going deeper, vein by vein...then I messed up somewhere along the way, and lost my focus.

I opened my eyes, sighing.

'Just need to keep at it...'

I wasn't sure when results would begin to show themselves, but I wasn't in too much of a rush.

I had all the time in the world. And my memory was infallible. All this would take was trial and error.

I closed my eyes, and began again...