47 The cloak in action

Before long, Tracy unlocked the door and swaggered into the room, like a landlady checking on her tenements.

"Where is he? He should be done showering by now? Did he sneak out again?" Hugo heard Tracy say as she surveyed the attic.

[It works… It works.]

Hugo was ecstatic.

Nonetheless, his eyes tensely followed Tracy's silhouette as she languidly trekked away from him back towards the attic door.

But suddenly, Tracy stopped in her tracks and turned around, sweeping her gaze across the room.

[What's happening?] Hugo shuddered reflexively.

He felt his heart leap to his throat as she examined every single item in the room before finally resting her gaze exactly where he was hidden.

[Did she notice me?]

Adrenaline flooded his system, propelling his heart to thump like it was trying to jump out of his chest. His body was on the verge of being overridden by the instinct to either run out through the door or jump out of the window.

But he clamped down on his impulses and forced himself to remain immobile after oddly recalling one of Aladdin's stories about his aunt; Tracy had advanced to the mystic-queen realm; a dominion of power at which mystics could create and manipulate a mana-field around themselves.

The mana-field would vastly simplify detection and spell-casting for the mystic within the area in which it was active. A moving object in such a zone would stand out starkly to the spell-caster like a bright light bulb traversing a dark room.

Thus, there was only one feasible course of action for Hugo; stay still and pray that Tracy would get impatient and leave his room quickly.

But his prayers were all for naught. Tracy started ambling towards him, but all he could do was remain squatted down on the carpeted floor with his head between his knees.

He was reduced to feeling like an ostrich hiding from mortal danger by burying its head beneath the sand.

He could taste saliva thickening in his throat and beads of sweat trickling down his brows as Tracy's light footsteps drew nearer to him from across the room.

[Tracy must suspect that whatever abnormality she sensed was due to the barrier.] Hugo sighed silently in relief. Just behind his invisible outline stood one of the Matriarch's bookshelves sealed within a mystic barrier.

[But I mustn't gaze at her. As long as I keep my cool and stay still, she will lose interest and leave after determining that there isn't anything unusual going on in the room.] Hugo steeled himself.

He could tell that Tracy had only registered the irregularity at the exact instant when his eyes locked on her receding figure.

Tracy looked at the bookshelf for a short time, and then turned and walked back out of the room. However, Hugo decided to err on the side of caution and maintained his position and frog-pose; just in case Tracy's suspicions hadn't been completely alleviated.

[She must possess the ability to perceive any kind of scrutiny being directed at her. It may not even matter whether the observer is being discreet.]

[That is just like the sixth sense popularized in fiction back on Earth!] Hugo mused as he maintained his frog-pose. He even began practicing the Fibonacci-Breathing-Sequence to calm himself.

Within a few short moments, he was as calm as a sage. His entire presence seemed to meld further into the space between realities, making his silhouette invisible to an even greater extent than before.

Seconds ticked by, and minutes flowed as Hugo sustained his unusual posture.

When approximately eight minutes had passed, the door once again opened abruptly as Tracy budged into the attic once more.

[Just like I thought. An assassin would never ignore their sixth sense. Most likely, she was baiting me.] Hugo sighed in relief at having chosen to follow his instincts.

He heard Tracy survey the room for a few more seconds before retreating without a sound.

After Tracy left, Hugo maintained the position for a few more minutes before rising and stealthily tiptoeing in the direction of the window whilst his esoteric body sustained the invisibility granted by the Cloak of Thanatos.

Hugo sneakily opened the window, and effortlessly dropped out of his room, onto the roof of the house. His actions and movements were both silent and light.

Once out in the open, Hugo noticed that the heavy rain had virtually stopped. Only a slight drizzle remained.

[This is truly a remarkable spell.] Hugo marveled as he watched the rain droplets phase through his form.

Objects could only come into contact with his hands whenever he wanted to interact with the physical world. When he willed himself to feel the rain droplets, his hands became soaked with the moisture from the drizzle.

[I must be in a space situated between dimensions.] He mused.

Hugo felt that he was in an entirely different fabric of space from which he could extend his hand into the material world and perform actions. Only at that instant, did his invisible form come into contact with the material universe.

[I need to test whether the Cloak of Thanatos allows me to phase through walls. But not here. The Matriarch's walls are probably not the easiest to breach.] Hugo considered as he carefully closed the attic window.

He then quietly trekked towards the lightning arrestor at the far end of the roof and slid down its metallic rod which actually served no purpose in Giza town.

Although rain and sun rays could readily penetrate the town's barrier, there had never been any case of lightning doing so. Thus, Hugo couldn't understand why all houses in Giza still had lightning conductors.

As he slid down, he could feel boundless strength and vitality surging through him, making clinging to the metallic rod as simple as eating cabbage.

[I'm already physically stronger than my adult self in my previous life. The implications of mysticism are truly profound.] Hugo marveled; his invisible boots landing soundlessly on the well-trimmed lawn.

It was still drizzling so the southern side of the Matriarch's compound was devoid of any human presence. Even the next-door neighbors were huddled inside their house, shying away from the gloomy weather.

[What a nice day to explore the town.] Hugo mused as he removed his hands from the lightning conductor. At that instant, his hands turned invisible like the rest of his body; losing all contact with the physical world.

[I will check out the Giza Arena first. I hope it's as marvelous as Aladdin's stories make it out to be.]

Hugo's spirits were flying high.