10 Coincidence?
The trio continued singing their songs for close to two hours. When alcohol came, they would drink. When food came, they would eat.
As the end of the two-hour booking approached, the three of them felt like they were satisfied with their merrymaking. Shuffling out of the room quietly, they made their way back to the reception area to pay.
As if it was a completely natural and unintentional action, Plato moved forward first and reached for his pocket. Seeing this motion, Basara and Iwatani quickly sped up and stopped his motion.
"Wait, wait! We were the ones that invited you out, so we should be the ones to pay. Even if you have a full scholarship, you have no other income since you've only been studying ever since you came here. Just let us pay."
"Right, right! We have plenty of money. It wouldn't be right to have you pay for us."
Seeing that they were so adamant to treat him, Plato simply nodded and stood to the side, but not before saying a word of thanks.
As the two were paying, Plato's gaze scanned across the area once again, and landed on a small TV in one corner. On it, a breaking news emergency broadcast was playing. The screen showed an aerial view of a building that looked like two squares next to each other, on fire. The caption underneath said, "Edmund Barton Building (AFP Headquarters) blown up".
After a brief shot of the fire, the TV switched to the news anchor, as well as an image of the prime suspect for the bombing. It was a face that Plato was familiar with; he had just passed by the person two hours ago.
Indeed, it was the person that had a weird gait. When he scanned him with "All-Seer", he had noticed that the gait was not caused by an injury, but by the fact that the person had a metal prosthetic rather than a leg. There was a bomb wired inside the prosthetic, but it was well hidden. The police couldn't make him take of his prosthetic without any reason either, so it was the perfect vehicle for a suicide bombing.
This incident had deepened Plato's understanding of his special ability. While its activation depended on what he saw and not what he perceived, he could include and exclude certain things from his ability as long as he changed his perception. In this case, since the prosthetic was covered in clothes, Plato had assumed that it was a leg; and thus, part of the man's body. As a result, "All-Seer" had included it as a part of his body – if not, he wouldn't have been able to analyse it, since it was covered in fabric.
At the same time, he saw that he was able to analyse the news anchor and the bomber through the TV screen. This wasn't possible before, but Plato guessed that the extent of his special abilities was correlated with his physical strength. Perhaps it would evolve once he starts training his vital energy.
As for why he didn't report the bomber, it was really very simple. No-one would have believed him. Even if they did, they would be suspicious of him for knowing about it. They might have even associated him with the bomber, and detained him. Since he was here to study at ANU and on a full scholarship, he was not sure if they would be revoked if he was detained, even if he was later acquitted.
Apart from that, it also served as a test of sorts, to see if his ability was the real deal. He had connected the dots after seeing the bomb in the man's leg, his current state of mind, and the latest entry in his history log. All of them suggested that he was going to blow himself up in the AFP headquarters. As for the reason, Plato had no idea. He was also uninclined to find out. Doing so would only drag himself into more trouble.
By the time Plato was done concluding the results from this rather inhumane test, Basara and Iwatani had finished paying up. The duo was mightily uninterested in the news report, and left swiftly with Plato in tow. As for Plato himself, he had thrown the incident into the gutters of his mind. It wasn't something that he needed to mind anymore.
On the way back to Bruce Hall, Plato and Iwatani engaged in some light chatter, while Basara remained in silence, as if contemplating something. As for what he was thinking about, it was quite obviously the conversation he had with Iwatani back at the KTV.
He felt that it wasn't quite the right time to reveal things yet, since they were still in a foreign country. However, this fact also provided an opportunity. Since they were away from the strict supervision of their families, it would be easier to divulge certain facts. On the flip side, the family wouldn't be able to back them up if they got into trouble.
Basara continuously wracked his brains for a solution, and ended up deciding that he would subtly suggest for Plato to train his body. As he and Iwatani had agreed earlier, they would only be able to tell him things if he was able to protect himself.
It was already 1 in the afternoon when they got back. After a late lunch, the three split up again, preparing for classes the next day. Of course, Plato did the only thing that he had on his mind right now; which was to train. He had missed out on a morning's worth of training, but he didn't want to miss out on the afternoon and evening as well.
In the end, he ended the Sunday with a training session that lasted for four hours. His stamina had improved recently, so he was not as tired after every training session. He was still a long way away from reaching the peak. He estimated that, based on his current progress, it would take at least five years to max out his body. After that, vital energy training would take an even longer period of time.
Luckily, vital energy was a concept that belonged to a higher realm, so Plato was not worried about facing someone that was stronger than him any time soon. At most, it would be someone who had successfully activated their vital energy, but had no idea how to control or train it.
Nevertheless, vital energy had the added side effect of increasing a person's longevity, so it wouldn't be surprising for these experts to be hundreds of years old, even if they couldn't utilize the energy well.
As for Plato, he had undergone systematic body training from the age of 5, for 10 years. Most of those 10 years were simply to wait for his body to mature. If he started training at a young age, his body would naturally mature both at a higher rate and at a higher state. After that, another ten years had been spent training his vital energy. When this training period ended, he was 25. He spent another 13 years training his sword and honing his vital energy, and then the Great Calamity struck.
He roamed the world after his hometown was destroyed by the monsters, finally joining the First Century five years later.
Over his fifty or so years of life, he had never once stopped training his vital energy. That was one of the reasons why he was so strong in his previous life. Now, except for the vital energy itself – which was dictated by the condition of his physical body – all other aspects of his training had carried over. Whether it was fine-manipulation or a sudden explosion of force, he had perfected all aspects of control over vital energy.
Recalling his strength when he was at his peak, Plato felt melancholic, and couldn't help but wonder about the state of his own world. He was certain that humanity had lost, but did that mean they were exterminated? Perhaps there were still pockets of resistance. Maybe, a hero had been produced, and led humanity back to its previous path of glory.
Alas, Plato would not be able to find out now. He had to live here as an Earthling now, and he was not sure if there was even a chance for him to return to his previous world. Even if he could, no-one would recognize him; not only because he had changed bodies, but also because he didn't know ow much time would have passed.
Drunk on these sad thoughts, Plato slowly drifted into dreamland.
As the end of the two-hour booking approached, the three of them felt like they were satisfied with their merrymaking. Shuffling out of the room quietly, they made their way back to the reception area to pay.
As if it was a completely natural and unintentional action, Plato moved forward first and reached for his pocket. Seeing this motion, Basara and Iwatani quickly sped up and stopped his motion.
"Wait, wait! We were the ones that invited you out, so we should be the ones to pay. Even if you have a full scholarship, you have no other income since you've only been studying ever since you came here. Just let us pay."
"Right, right! We have plenty of money. It wouldn't be right to have you pay for us."
Seeing that they were so adamant to treat him, Plato simply nodded and stood to the side, but not before saying a word of thanks.
As the two were paying, Plato's gaze scanned across the area once again, and landed on a small TV in one corner. On it, a breaking news emergency broadcast was playing. The screen showed an aerial view of a building that looked like two squares next to each other, on fire. The caption underneath said, "Edmund Barton Building (AFP Headquarters) blown up".
After a brief shot of the fire, the TV switched to the news anchor, as well as an image of the prime suspect for the bombing. It was a face that Plato was familiar with; he had just passed by the person two hours ago.
Indeed, it was the person that had a weird gait. When he scanned him with "All-Seer", he had noticed that the gait was not caused by an injury, but by the fact that the person had a metal prosthetic rather than a leg. There was a bomb wired inside the prosthetic, but it was well hidden. The police couldn't make him take of his prosthetic without any reason either, so it was the perfect vehicle for a suicide bombing.
This incident had deepened Plato's understanding of his special ability. While its activation depended on what he saw and not what he perceived, he could include and exclude certain things from his ability as long as he changed his perception. In this case, since the prosthetic was covered in clothes, Plato had assumed that it was a leg; and thus, part of the man's body. As a result, "All-Seer" had included it as a part of his body – if not, he wouldn't have been able to analyse it, since it was covered in fabric.
At the same time, he saw that he was able to analyse the news anchor and the bomber through the TV screen. This wasn't possible before, but Plato guessed that the extent of his special abilities was correlated with his physical strength. Perhaps it would evolve once he starts training his vital energy.
As for why he didn't report the bomber, it was really very simple. No-one would have believed him. Even if they did, they would be suspicious of him for knowing about it. They might have even associated him with the bomber, and detained him. Since he was here to study at ANU and on a full scholarship, he was not sure if they would be revoked if he was detained, even if he was later acquitted.
Apart from that, it also served as a test of sorts, to see if his ability was the real deal. He had connected the dots after seeing the bomb in the man's leg, his current state of mind, and the latest entry in his history log. All of them suggested that he was going to blow himself up in the AFP headquarters. As for the reason, Plato had no idea. He was also uninclined to find out. Doing so would only drag himself into more trouble.
By the time Plato was done concluding the results from this rather inhumane test, Basara and Iwatani had finished paying up. The duo was mightily uninterested in the news report, and left swiftly with Plato in tow. As for Plato himself, he had thrown the incident into the gutters of his mind. It wasn't something that he needed to mind anymore.
On the way back to Bruce Hall, Plato and Iwatani engaged in some light chatter, while Basara remained in silence, as if contemplating something. As for what he was thinking about, it was quite obviously the conversation he had with Iwatani back at the KTV.
He felt that it wasn't quite the right time to reveal things yet, since they were still in a foreign country. However, this fact also provided an opportunity. Since they were away from the strict supervision of their families, it would be easier to divulge certain facts. On the flip side, the family wouldn't be able to back them up if they got into trouble.
Basara continuously wracked his brains for a solution, and ended up deciding that he would subtly suggest for Plato to train his body. As he and Iwatani had agreed earlier, they would only be able to tell him things if he was able to protect himself.
It was already 1 in the afternoon when they got back. After a late lunch, the three split up again, preparing for classes the next day. Of course, Plato did the only thing that he had on his mind right now; which was to train. He had missed out on a morning's worth of training, but he didn't want to miss out on the afternoon and evening as well.
In the end, he ended the Sunday with a training session that lasted for four hours. His stamina had improved recently, so he was not as tired after every training session. He was still a long way away from reaching the peak. He estimated that, based on his current progress, it would take at least five years to max out his body. After that, vital energy training would take an even longer period of time.
Luckily, vital energy was a concept that belonged to a higher realm, so Plato was not worried about facing someone that was stronger than him any time soon. At most, it would be someone who had successfully activated their vital energy, but had no idea how to control or train it.
Nevertheless, vital energy had the added side effect of increasing a person's longevity, so it wouldn't be surprising for these experts to be hundreds of years old, even if they couldn't utilize the energy well.
As for Plato, he had undergone systematic body training from the age of 5, for 10 years. Most of those 10 years were simply to wait for his body to mature. If he started training at a young age, his body would naturally mature both at a higher rate and at a higher state. After that, another ten years had been spent training his vital energy. When this training period ended, he was 25. He spent another 13 years training his sword and honing his vital energy, and then the Great Calamity struck.
He roamed the world after his hometown was destroyed by the monsters, finally joining the First Century five years later.
Over his fifty or so years of life, he had never once stopped training his vital energy. That was one of the reasons why he was so strong in his previous life. Now, except for the vital energy itself – which was dictated by the condition of his physical body – all other aspects of his training had carried over. Whether it was fine-manipulation or a sudden explosion of force, he had perfected all aspects of control over vital energy.
Recalling his strength when he was at his peak, Plato felt melancholic, and couldn't help but wonder about the state of his own world. He was certain that humanity had lost, but did that mean they were exterminated? Perhaps there were still pockets of resistance. Maybe, a hero had been produced, and led humanity back to its previous path of glory.
Alas, Plato would not be able to find out now. He had to live here as an Earthling now, and he was not sure if there was even a chance for him to return to his previous world. Even if he could, no-one would recognize him; not only because he had changed bodies, but also because he didn't know ow much time would have passed.
Drunk on these sad thoughts, Plato slowly drifted into dreamland.
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