Chapter 2: A Remnant Of The Past Arrives

Walking down the road, the cold night air is refreshing. I can't help but yawn a little. And because this is the capital's outer edge there aren't any people walking around, making the traffic minimal. Also, since it is night, it is more calm, and there isn't any kind of busy period, where I have to interact with a lot of people. Therefore I think the perfect time of the day is right now.

Reaching the store, I glance at the glowing sign above that says LYWA before walking inside, a bell signaling that I entered the store. This was implemented to tell the clerks working here that someone entered, so please greet them. Though it is allowed to be turned off, when there are a lot of customers coming, since it would be ringing constantly.

"Welcome!" I hear an energetic welcome from the cash register, as I see a young girl, about the age of sixteen, standing there. "Ah! Bram! Welcome!"

"Two welcomes? That sure is a lot." Giving a small smile and a chuckle, I walked over to stand beside her at the second cash register.

Glancing to the side, I lean on the register, as I observe my coworker, May. She's a cute girl with medium long, chestnut brown hair, her eyes being brown as well. But she is still clearly a bit nervous even after working here for a little while, which you can notice since she is a bit stiff.

Sighing, I say, "Relax. If a customer walks in and sees that you're this stiff, then they're gonna get nervous."

"AH! S-SORRY!" Turning to me she bowed, as I can't help but sigh again.

Silence permeated between us. I mean, it makes sense. She was hired just a little while ago. But I wonder if I should worry more about this girl being nervous, or the customer. Maybe I should help her relax a bit?

"So? How are your studies going?" A casual question thrown out into the air; my feels quite calm right now.

"AH! G-GOOD!"

Chuckling, I reply, "Are you a robot? Is exclaiming in surprise and a one word reply the only thing you can give?"

"Uh..." Noticing she is having a hard time talking, I guess it was bad of me to reply like that.

"Sorry. I was just trying to get rid of this silence. Hahaha." Laughing, I turn to her, stand up straight, and ask, "So, do you have any questions? If you need help, you can ask me anytime."

Silent for a moment as she twiddles her fingers, she finally gives a reply. "I don't know how to use the register completely yet. Can you show me how again?"

"Sure." Using my register, I began explaining to her how it works.

As time began passing, she became more comfortable, as she began to have a serious expression instead of that stiff one from before. And seeing that she has become more comfortable, and is trying to seriously figure out the register, a soft smile grew on my face as I observe her figuring it out.

And suddenly, she shouted, "I DID IT!" Turning to me, it looked as if there are sparkles in her brown eyes, as she repeated herself again, "I DID IT!"

"Yes, you did. Good job." Patting her on the head, I can't help but praise her.

She sure learns quickly. It reminds me of Maverick when he was a kid. He had me help him find books, which led me to introduce him to the local scholar and doctor of the village, Rudolph Elstein.

I still remember how that kid Elstein began showing books to Maverick, even going so far as to order some expensive martial arts manuals for him. And before I knew it, both of them have grown older. The entire village has at this point. It really puts things in perspective...

"Bram..." Suddenly bringing me out of my own head, I look back at May.

"Sorry? What is it?"

"I was wondering if you could give me some advice..." Looking away from and lowering her head, a troubled and a little bit of a dark aura began surrounding her.

Knowing the look on her face from my dreams, I nodded. "Sure. If you want me to."

"How do you correctly control your ability? Is there... a trick to controlling it?" As she asked me how to control an ability, I could see her hands shaking.

I remember back in school there were a few people who's powers were hard to control. Some of them learned eventually how to limit their powers, but I don't know much about the others who didn't learn to control after the end of school. If I remember correctly, control depends on the type of ability you have.

So let's start with that.

"What is your type of ability?"

"It is... charm..." Covering her face, she's clearly quite nervous. "The limitation is the stability of the mind of the other person..."

"I see. So it is a mind controlling abili-" Stopping myself, I think about her words her words carefully again.

Charm? That's a mind affecting type of ability that either has a passive or active effect. From what I've heard, they are extremely rare and are quite high up there in grade. But because of how they work, those with them are usually feared individuals. Especially so since most of them have trouble controlling their abilities.

"That must be quite problematic. Sorry to hear that. As for how to fix your problem..." Putting my hand on my chin, I begin seriously thinking.

So, charm can be categorized as a mind controlling ability. From the context she gave, her ability is probably of the passive type, making it nearly impossible to turn off without years of training. And the limitation on the ability is that it has less effect on those with more stable and calm minds.

"So to lessen the effect, maybe you have to have a calm mind as well..." Muttering that, she turned to look at me, her eyes seemed more sparkly.

I wonder if those sparkles are part of the charm ability? They must be. No wonder she doesn't have any control. These kind of abilities that use the mind usually depend on the emotional stability of the user.

As an example, let's take the ability to control fire, the ability to read minds, and an ability to increase your physical strength. The pyrokinetic and mind reader have a higher chance of their abilities of going out of control than the guy with the ability to increase his strength. Why is this?

It's simple. Because for those kinds of abilities, you need steadiness of the mind. You see, an ability to strengthen your own body compared to controlling fire is different. Abilities stem from the mind, so to increase your strength, all you need to do is increase the amount of electronic signals you send to your muscles. Though stronger strengthening abilities might have different side effects.

For pyrokinesis and mind reading, it is a bit different. For pyrokinesis, you first need to create the fire, and then you need to control it to make sure it doesn't spread or move. For mind reading you have to focus on, what thoughts you want to and don't want to hear among a large amount of people. So increasing your physical strength is pretty simple and basic compared to them.

Therefore, to accommodate for this change in the control of different abilities, researchers came up with the term PP, otherwise known as psychic power. It is the power of your mind, which in turn shows how much power you can exert from your ability. A person might have a strong ability, but have no willpower or be sensitive, so thay have trouble using it.

For people like me and May who can't turn off our powers, we have to learn to have stable minds and stay calm, so that we do not hurt others or ourselves. Though for me it doesn't have much meaning since it could only me. But it does have a lot of meaning for her. And so, the solution is pretty clear.

"I think I know, what to do, when it comes to control." Not having noticed it, I had been staring at May this entire time. "Ah. Sorry. Haha." Rubbing the back of my head, I can't help but laugh a bit awkwardly. I can't believe I stared at her this entire time.

"Don't worry... I am used to it..." Looking downward, her cheeks are a bit red.

She is clearly a shy and sensitive girl. I think this might be a bit hard for her, but this is something necessary when it comes to abilities that need high amounts of PP.

"You need to become more confident. Then you will have the strength you are looking for." Then, looking back up at the clock, I say, "But, I do think it is time for your shift to be ov-"

"Thank you! I'll try my best!" Hugging me, she quickly runs out of the store.

"That was... weird?"

The night continuing on after that weird event, it seems like from the schedule that the replacement will only arrive at dawn. So it is only then I can leave and go to sleep, so that I can meet the new addition to the village. But... that is only after taking care of this "customer" who just arrived in front of me, looking as cold as she always has.

Right in front of me is the woman that was the complete opposite of me back in high school. Standing above others, she never cared for reputation or anything else, her beauty outshining everything by a large margin.

She was the epitome of perfection.

"Hello, Bram." Her icy blue eyes, her chilling light blue hair, and her pale complexion making her look like a beautiful figure in a fantasy, she greeted me.

Before I even noticed, I am already shaking. "Yeah... How have you been?" Looking down, I don't even dare to look her in the eyes anymore. "I've, I've seen you on the news a lot lately. Congrats on becoming a destruction level ability user."

Silent to my reply, I could feel her cold eyes staring holes through my body, as if she could see everything. Why was she even here in the first place? It makes no sense. After all, I was one of the ones who antagonized-

"I forgive you. You were weak."

Weak? I was... weak? No. I still am. I am still so embarrassingly weak. And I can't possibly be compared to you. But what does that have to do with you forgiving me!? WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH THAT!?

"Shut up..." For the first time in a long time, I felt anger.

Because of the time I have spent in my dreams, my mental age is well above that of my physical one. So I am usually calm and collected. But now? Why do I feel so much anger?

"It doesn't have anything to do with me being weak." Looking back up, my eyes meeting her, I spat out the words that I have wanted to for a long time. "So don't pity me and forgive me just because I am weak."

This situation reminded me of the two of us back in the day. I remember that I would show up to school, constant scratches and injuries on my body, as I continued to provoke everyone. And the one I especially provoked out of jealousy was her, Lyrim Frostwater, one of the rapidly rising in rank ability users.

At that time, I would stand before her every school day as I faced her eyes directly. And though at first she only looked at me as if I was insignificant, as time passed we stare each other directly in the eyes, as sparks would fly everywhere. Though this led to even more bullying, because her followers said I was "annoying her".

"It had to do with my jealousy of your power." Taking in a breath, I almost feel like I am going to see it in front of her. "So rather than forgiving me now because "I was weak", I would rather say that..."

After so long, I can finally do it. I can do the one thing I have wanted to do after such a long time. So... let's do it.

"I'm sorry I bothered you so much back then." Bowing down, she has not said anything in a long time.

But I shouldn't raise myself from this bow in the slightest. Not until she has said something. I can't just let myself be regretful of having never apologized. Back then I was so immature, so this is the least I can do.

"Alright." Putting a hand on my shoulder, I saw her face and my mind froze. "Thank you." On it was an expression I had never seen before. A smile.

And before I could say anything, she had left the shop and my coworker came in.

"BRAM! WAS THAT LYRIM FROSTWATER!? WHAT WAS SHE DOING HERE!?"

Shocked, he looked back and forward from me to her. Ahh, how long it has been since I have seen this kind of reaction in real life. It is kind of... nice.

"She was just visiting an old classmate. Anyways, I have to go home."

And with a refreshed feeling in my heart for the first time in a long time, I run home, a giant grin on my face.

I feel like today's dream is going to be extra special.