The next few months followed the same pattern. I went to work and taught the recruits how to defeat enemies in physical combat, and then I went to either manna-ball or dance. I ended the day by listening for suspicious conversations while sitting in the hot pools. During this time, I leveled my manna to +11, and I felt that my soul stat was about to level again, a benefit of all the meditation at the bathhouse. My stealth stat also increased as I had not been inspected. It was now a solid +5, and I felt more confident in my ability to interact with people without giving away my true intentions.

Mike had finished the manna array in the dungeon, and it was now fully operational. I had not inspected it yet as my city experiences were still more important. I wanted to get as much city experience as possible before my soul stat ousted me as a marked cultivator. However, It wasn't till late summer that unusual things started to happen again.

It was a sunny day when I arrived to work that morning. I entered the arena and started training as usual. Partway through the class, we heard loud yelling from outside. I told one of the recruits to run and check it out. He came back and reported that there was a large crowd outside. They were protesting the upcoming election.

We continued the training as usual, but the noise from the protesters outside was distracting. Finally, it was time to leave, and that's when it got interesting. I immediately noticed two people following me as I left the building. I kept walking straight on the smooth cobbled stones to where the road curved. As I approached the curve, I sped up. As soon as the line of sight was broken, I broke into a sprint and ducked into a side ally. I waited behind a dumpster as the two individuals continued by; the only problem was they didn't.

"I think he went in the ally," The first guy said. "Perfect," said the other "Let's kill him." I peaked from around the dumpster as the two attackers crept forwards. I stood up and backed up a bit, glancing over my shoulder to see if there was any way to escape.

The walls of the buildings rose high on each side, and the ally ended in a dead-end. There was nowhere to go. I turned back and raised my hands. "Hey now. What are you guys doing following me? The first guy grinned. "You the trainer of the guard? He slapped his knee and chuckled. "She doesn't like the guard, you know." The other guy crept forward. "Too bad you didn't change your occupation before we got to you." I backed up and replied, "Who is "She"?" He replied, "They say there is a time and a place. If you pray, she will hear you," he replied mysteriously.

I frowned as they both drew blades. My back hit the wall at the ally's end, and I knew I was out of time. I grinned as they advanced on me. "You boys don't seem to understand the gravity of the situation. It's not that I'm in the ally with you; no one knows you're in here with me". The guy in front replied, "Brave words from a little boy." Hey, Chuck," he said, glancing at the other guy, "maybe we should have some fun first." Chuck unbuckled his pants. "I always did like little boys."

I smiled at the pair of nincompoops. "You gentlemen don't seem to realize the size of my Imperial Upgrade Package," I said while I thrust my hips forward. "I don't think you can handle it" Chuck stepped forwards, "Oh, you getting bent like a little bitch!"

I stepped to the side and activated my new Firebolt spell. It blazed brightly in my hand. "I hope you like it hot!" Chuck and the other guy reacted instantly as I threw the bolt. Unfortunately, it looked like they had some experience fighting spell casters.

Chuck dived to the left while the other guy turned to the side. My spell did not travel very fast, and anything that didn't break the sound barrier could apparently be dodged with ease. I had already cast the 2nd bolt, though, and immediately threw it at the guy who had turned sideways to escape.

He ran at me, and right when the bolt was about to hit him, limbo style slid on his feet so that the spell passed over his chest as he continued to slide in my direction.

Seeing that my new magic was terrible without some upgrades, I activated my right arm Sg66 blade from the Imperial Upgrade Package. As the blade slid out of my forearm, I started the manna rune skill enabling the edges to pierce through dense manna-infused objects.

The first attacker was just inches away, his hand coming up to chokeslam me into the wall when my blade pierced his brain and slid out the other side. The blade was so thin that the top of his head looked intact as his dead body crashed into me from his momentum, temporarily causing me to lose sight of Chuck.

I shoved the body out of the way, and a slurpy mush sound resulted from the head as it impacted the wall and brains trailed down.

"That was gross," I said as I walked towards Chuck, who had now gotten to his feet and had his blade held out defensively. I continued, "Do you think your buddy liked the size of my package?" I said, gesturing to the blade protruding from my right arm.

Chuck backed up hesitantly, a look of confusion on his face. I pressed forward. "How does it feel when your victims fight back?"

A moment later, a startled scream echoed off the walls, and Chuck's brains joined his friends on the ground.

Level Up!

Effect

You killed an enemy without being detected as a cultivator

Stealth +1

I looked around, double-checking if anyone saw. No one else was present, so I opened a channel to the Armageddon. "Hey man! Clean up on aisle four".

I left the ally and started making my way to manna ball practice. Sweat finally started dripping from my face as the adrenaline of the situation caught up to me. I didn't understand the strange references to "She." It was defiantly something to add to my suspicious statement notebook. However, the statement could be concerning the political activity that was also going on. The protestors had been clamoring against government activity after all. I knew how protests worked in the empire. They were usually staged events paid for by political parties who could protect their constituents. I wondered if it was the same here, and "She" was a reference to the political party; it was either that or another statement relating to the weird soul stuff.

I got to manna ball practice without further incident. Practice went well. Today was a practice game, and I did exceptionally well. My +11 manna allowed me to be effective, and I knocked several people unconscious with my throws.

We were wrapping up the game when it got weird again. I was the only one left on my team and faced three opponents. I dodged the balls as they whizzed in my direction, doing all sorts of graceful spins and flowing movements to evade the objects.

Suddenly I heard a loud whisper in my left ear "Brian. Brian, it's above you. Catch!" I spun in the direction of the sound and opened my hands to catch the ball without thinking. Suddenly, everything went black for a moment as a manna ball hit me in the back—knocking me to the matt.

I sat up groggily. They got me. The teammates on the other side giggled and walked off the floor. I remained there for a moment, confused, trying to figure out what had happened—hearing the sound in my ear reminded me of old earth magician tricks using ventriloquism. Was that what had happened? Had they just tricked me into losing, or was this some weird spirit possession skill? I wasn't sure, but I figured they had still beaten me either way.

I noticed Jacob-the team leader whispering to his girlfriend. They were both looking in my direction, and I watched them out of the corner of my eye as I made my way off the floor to where everyone was gathering. Jacob whispered, "Look at him! It's like the energy is all over him. It's not just in his head."

I thought about the day's strange events as I walked back to the bathhouse for my nightly time in the pools. Things were starting to feel dangerous. My spirit stat was only level 2, below the level 3 required to oust me as a cultivator, and I still felt that my stealth wasn't high enough to save me from that. If I got possessed for real and not just tricked, the whole planet could be in danger.

I got to the bathhouse without incident and began to meditate. It wasn't long before Jimmy and Rob showed up. They sat in a pool a few yards down, but I could hear their conversations while I relaxed. Jimmy started, "Man, the guild has been a crazy place recently. Did you hear that they dispatched a high-level adventure team to chase that strange that was attacking villages?" Rob scratched his chin. "A high-level team? Let me guess, probably an Arch Mage, Warrior King, and maybe a Dominator?" Jimmy replied, "I'm not sure, but probably. Someone tagged the Strange with a dormant manna tracker back when it terrorized the villages. It finally activated, and apparently, they have verified it's where it seems to be nesting."

Rob replied, "Oh? Its got a base? I hope it's not a whole litter of those things. That would be really dangerous," Jimmy snickered. "That's just it; the reason the levelers at the guild are in such a craze is that they tracked it back to a Godlike Dungeon." "Holy shit." Rob replied, "The guilds going to want to get their hands on that first. If they can claim the area, they will be able to farm it and make ludicrous amounts of wealth." "Yeah," Jimmy replied, "It's like the strange led them to a golden goose. They are planning an expectation right now. They will probably be leaving as soon as the high-level team gets done scouting".

"Hey," said Rob, "Look at the guy in the pool. I mean, don't INSPECT him, but look at that energy. What's he doing?" I kept meditating, not sure if they were referring to me. Jimmy answered, "Huh, it looks like he's circulating life energy. I don't know. People like that are of interest to the factions, though." I opened my eyes, and Jimmy was looking right at me. They were defiantly talking about me!

I got out of the pool and left the establishment. As soon as I was out of apparent earshot of any passers-byes, I opened a channel to the Armageddon. "Dude, we got a serious problem. You know your bullshit with the Strange? Someone put a manna tracker on him back when he was messing around. They are on their way to the dungeon right now."