Chapter 96: Unlocked a New Function

I walked down the narrow hallway of the S.T. Anne, my footsteps soft against the crimson carpet.

Then, the voice—Friday's voice—echoed in my mind, sudden and crisp. "𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘯."

I didn't flinch, didn't slow my pace. Friday always had a way of appearing out of nowhere, pulling me into conversations as if I had summoned her.

I smirked, my tone casual, almost lazy, as I answered her mentally, "𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦?"

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺,"she replied, her voice flat, no hint of apology. Typical.

I glanced at the passing doors, feeling the weight of her words sink in. Basic member. World Horizon. The thought tugged at the back of my mind, but I didn't have time to dwell on it before she spoke again.

"𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘗𝘰𝘬é𝘮𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶: 𝘗𝘰𝘬é𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘗𝘰𝘬é𝘮𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧."

I stopped. "𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘗𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘤 𝘯𝘰𝘸?" My voice was even, but inside, my mind raced. The possibilities of having access to such power...

"𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘬𝘪𝘥," Friday confirmed.

A slow smile tugged at my lips. "𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨."

I leaned against the wall, arms crossed, mind buzzing.

"𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥?"I asked, curious.

"𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦,"she answered smoothly, "𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵."

That piqued my interest. Multiverse. It was the first time she had mentioned that.

"𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯,"I said, letting the exhaustion creep into my voice. "𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮?"

"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥," Friday said, "𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦… 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳."

I huffed a laugh, closing my eyes. Of course. Of course, they'd have a rule like that. "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?"

"𝘚𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴,"she replied. "𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵."

Special. I felt the word hang in the air, heavy with meaning. I'd heard it before. But now, it seemed more like a promise than just a title.

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸?"I asked, my voice sharp, cutting through the haze of my thoughts. "𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?"

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘰 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳," Friday explained. "𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭, 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯."

My eyes snapped open, heart pounding in my chest. "𝘔𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?"

"𝘠𝘦𝘴," Friday's voice dripped with satisfaction. "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴—𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥."

I dumbfounded. The possibilities stretched before me like an endless horizon. New moves. Moves that no one had ever seen. The competitive advantage I could have… It was almost too much.

"𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘰 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦,"Friday added, her tone already fading. "𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘵."

I clenched my fists, feeling the rush of excitement coursing through me, only to be met with the sudden silence. I groaned.

"𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺? 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺—𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯, 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯."

I rubbed my face, forcing myself to calm down. Friday always dropped these bombs and disappeared. It was infuriating, but that was just her. I couldn't let it distract me. Not now.

I walked over to the window. The sea was calm, the stars reflecting off the water. Somewhere out there were trainers who had no idea what I had just unlocked. What was coming.

I grinned, the tension easing from my shoulders as I stared into the horizon.