He’s sponsored. I’m sure of that. Why am I sure? My tether connects us, and I want to know more about his class, so I pick at a tiny piece of it, just a grain of knowledge from the very surface. I get the intuition that his class is about social manipulation, as expected.

  And then comes the notification that lets me know he’s sponsored.

  [You have caught the Eye of the Deceptive Manipulator.]

  Another Eye on me.

  [The Creeping Darkness tells the Deceptive Manipulator to be dragged to the shadows.]

  I blink. What? Are they… having a fight over me?

  [The Deceptive Manipulator smiles sardonically.]

  That’s ridiculous. Surely, there’s no way.

  No more notifications follow, and the previous ones dissolve into particles of blue. I’m sure I saw them, though. How bizarre.

  Quickly, I shake that surprise off, instead trying to feel as for whether or not the mayor felt anything.

  No reaction.

  I take a deep breath, then activate [Deconstruction] again. The effect is minor, since I’m using a tiny bit of mana and he is so far away, but I am taking apart his class. Picking up pieces of it, however tiny, to observe what they do.

  [Deconstruction 3 > 4]

  I’m not putting them back.

  It’s a tiny thing. Barely noticeable, but I’m sure it will make him less effective in the long term. What a funny effect, that. The fact that I can permanently take something apart. It might regenerate on its own, but it’s yet another kind of insidious debuff I can apply.

  Can I send my solidified mana across the tether of [Selection]? I know I can use [Suppression] through it. What a fun little exercise that is.

  Marking someone, walking away, then whittling them down from a distance. I pick up another tiny piece of the mayor’s class, analyze it, and discard it. My knowledge base of mana structures increases. I begin to understand how classes work.

  [Class Up! Deconstructor 4 > 5]

  The experience pushes my class a little bit higher, and then that level pushes my supremacy a bit more.

  [Level Up! 11 > 12]

  All three points go into vessel, this time. More mana means I can whittle him down more, means I can practice more and learn faster. I can learn how to remake my body from the healing spell, I’m sure. I can make my skills more powerful, too. But I need mana to learn all that.

  In a lot of ways, mana feels like I’m investing in my training. All in on potential. I smile to myself. This world, the way it works… it’s fucked up. It’s horrible, in a lot of ways. I’ve seen corpses, and I’ve killed people. Right now, some idiot with a sponsor from a giant eye in the sky is trying to manipulate my mind.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  How do I feel about that?

  Great. I feel fricking amazing. It hurts. I did surgery on myself, tearing a shadow thing out of my side. I took an arrow through my shoulder. I despise the horrid feeling of the manipulation. It makes me feel dirty and disgusting.

  And yet. All I need to do is break it down, understand it, and then move on.

  I always loved learning. I love reading, I love watching videos, but if there is one thing I hate it’s needing to prove that learning to some outside force. I hate writing papers. Tests are tolerable because they’re fun puzzles, but papers? Just reviewing what I already know?

  Horrible.

  Now, I just get to use the skills, then grow them further. There is no one to answer to, nothing to prove except that I can keep myself and my friends safe. I smile. Some part of it all is freeing.

  Gently, quietly, hiding my mana, I pick another piece of the mayor’s class of him and analyze it. A bit of general sympathy in this one. I memorize and discard it. Another piece. Oh? Gaining levels for when he spreads his influence. A part of his experience module. A tiny piece of it.

  I study it, and discard it. I pick up another piece. And another. And another…

  Bit by tiny bit, I pick apart his class. I take the pieces of it, learn from them, then throw them away, letting them dissipate into motes of mana. Maybe he can regenerate them, maybe not. I find myself not caring very much.

  Really, the mayor is already dead, I think with a smile. He just doesn’t know it yet. But I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him.

  Not for manipulating people, or his safe zone shtick, not for any of that. But for trying to cage me. For trying to manipulate Inu and Thatch. For the way his aura feels like it’s invading my personal space.

  Really, I’ll kill him just for inconveniencing me a little. For a moment, just a brief moment, I wonder if he has a powerbank to charge my phone with. My battery’s running low. Maybe I’ll take it off his corpse.

  - - -

  Inu comes back. Sweating, distraught. I see it in her eyes. [Empathy] connects to me, and she offloads some heavy emotions. I accept them, laying a gentle layer of apathy over mine and hers, pulling her into a state of calm with me.

  There, I give her a while to relax. She needs it, and I sort through the emotions she sent.

  And wow. This mayor guy really is horrible. He’s done some messed up stuff to these people, using a skill that lets him take things from them.

  He’s been stealing mana from people, and even vitality from their heart points. It was all a willing trade, of course, ones that he just strongly pushed them too, but he has stolen from people. Worse, too.

  Suffice to say, Inu doesn’t need to say anything for me to want to kill him. I look at her, quietly, raising my eyebrows and gesturing at the door.

  She shakes her head. She doesn’t want to tell Norman, then.

  I point at myself. Another shake of her head. Not me, either, then.

  Thatch returns an hour later, bleeding from a stab wound on his leg, and another in his abdomen. Grimacing, I lay a hand on him, triggering my botched healing skill. It knits his flesh together, just a bit.

  Then, I review what it’s supposed to look like. Try to mimic it. Review. Mimic. Review. Mimic. Until I’m tapped out of mana, and Thatch’s skin is scabbed over.

  It still hurts, obviously, but he’s no longer bleeding. Slowly, he takes a long, deep breath. He looks at Inu, and through our links, we exchange info. I learn how he got into a fight.

  Really, it was simple. Someone praised the mayor, and he didn’t cheer. Then he got called out, and shrugged about his affection for the man. Slowly, sentiments turned, until someone stabbed him.

  Of course, the others pulled the stabber back. I look at Thatch, and he shakes his head. I sigh. No murdering the person who was manipulated, fine. Then I would simply hate the mayor more.

  Inu tells him of her experiences, and he grimaces. They’re just that bad. Slowly, we take our time to collect ourselves. My mana regenerates enough to take another piece of the mayor’s class.

  [Class Up! Deconstructor 5 > 6]

  And another point in vessel. Inu nods at Thatch, and at the door. He nods, too. He’ll tell Norman. We go outside, and head to Inu’s dad’s room.

  Except that the others aren’t there.