A Journey Under the Influence

Manley went back to his college dorm, woke up, went to class, then the lab. He spent some of the day trying to sell his pills but without gaining much in the way of new customers.

As Manley pulled up by the apartment, he could see Pin just coming back from grocery shopping. He made it to the apartment five seconds behind pin.

Inside he could see that Pin has done some overhauling in the form of moving the furniture around. The tables and chairs were in the corner against the wall.

"You have any more of that medicine?" ask Pin. He just got back from putting away his groceries.

"Yeah…making yourself comfortable I see. Get ready, we'll go check out that place." Manley opened his bag, got some pills then handed it over.

"I thought you said you wanted to do this earlier?"

"Well, I have school so…"

"I have always wanted to go to school…"

"Sad…, let's go while there is still daylight."

They drove over to the site; Manley circled the place before parking. It was an old warehouse, the place looked like it was used recently. There was one entrance in the front, and a back door that was locked on the inside. Manley parked the car and approached the warehouse. There was a homeless man stumbling about, Manley decided to use scan on him.

SCAN ADVANCE LV3 Gained

The man had a lot of drugs in his system and other stuff that didn't make sense to Manley, but he credited to the drugs.

"These people from the Hand, how do they get here?" asked Manley.

"I didn't s—"

"What did you say?" asked the homeless man.

As the man got closer, Manley noticed he was 188cm, had grey eyes and brown hair. He had worn cloths on and through a tear in his shirt; there was a dragon shaped scar on chest.

"We don't have any change, you—"

Manley didn't even get to finish before the homeless man threw a kick at his face. He ducked and tried to tackle the man, only to get his head grabbed and kneed in the face. Manley was dazed, he brought his hands up in time to catch a kick on his forearms.

Healing himself, Manley assess the situation, the homeless man was staring at him, his rage plainly visible. Manley rushed in, threw a kick, had his leg caught, the man moved in closer, elbowed him in the sternum.

The fight wasn't over, with a kick to the inside of his right knee, he fell, then was lifted by the head. A punch to the face, followed by a spin kick as he tried to recover.

Manley was healing himself, but his mana was running low, and he has yet to even land a blow. He jumped back, dodging the mans follow up kick. Manley rushed back in with a kick of his own, the man batted it aside. He blocked a punch coming for his face, only to get a knife hand, fingers first, to the throat with the other hand.

Manley's whole body froze up, but not from pain. He wasn't sure what was happening, but he couldn't move, he was then tripped to the ground. The homeless man then proceeded to stamp his face in.

BRAWLING ADVANCE LV3 Gained

The only thing that saved him was Pin throwing a knife that the man dodged. Manley healed himself and rolled away. He got up and looked at the man, who was now assessing both as a threat. The man was too fast, despite his skills giving him bonuses, Manley just couldn't keep up.

"The Hand, using children—"

"Holdup, we're not with the Hand," said Manley. The man looked confused for a second but even more determined the next. "Wait, maybe this will help."

CURE ADVANCE LV4 Gained

The man seems to deflate, then scowl, and finally look confused. With Manley removing all the drugs from his system, the man's face settled on sadness.

"Listen, my friend here, was taken hostage by a member of the hand. I manage to save him, and we were about to checkout this place to get some revenge." Manley lied; he knew he couldn't beat this man but preying on his sympathy could be the only way to save this situation.

"How did you find this place?" asked the man.

"My friend was taken here before, we're here to have a look at the place." Manley had to change his plans on the fly. He just needed the man to cooperate, then he will have his teacher.

The man looked over at Pin. "You've been taken by them?" Receiving a nod, he looked back at Manley. "Hmm…judging by the way you fight; I can believe you're not of the hand. Leave this area and never comeback."

"Wait! You don't understand, they will be after us," said Manley.

"I cannot protect you; I am new to the city myself and cannot protect anyone. I will bring you more danger than you will avoid," said the man.

"You don't have to protect us, but you can teach us to protect ourselves," said Manley. The man looked like he was about to refuse. "I will sweeten the deal." Manley rushed to his car, opened his bag, use mana substitute, then brought a bag of pills to the man. "Try one of these."

"What is it?" asked the man.

"It's a pill that will make you feel better by simulating dopamine," said Manley.

The man popped the pill in his mouth without fear. "What's dopa…what's that?" A smile, slow at first but it was now stuck on the man's face.

Manley smiled too but for a different reason. "A Neurotransmitter."

"Uh ha, sounds great," said the man.

"Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that allow neurons to communicate with one another." Manley was waiting for the right moment. "Would you be interesting teaching me…us, now?"

"I can do that…just have…take care of the Hand. I am Orson Randall, give me a moment."

The man then entered the building, Manley and Pin were left alone. "What just happened?" asked Pin.

"We're about to become kung fu masters, what do you think just happened. I thought I would have to deal with brainwashing to…welcome to the team buddy," said Manley.

"What team, what happened?" Pin had his signature poker face, but Manley didn't answer him.

It took twenty minutes for Orson to come back. He had a yellow hood on that he quickly took off before completely exiting the building. "Traps and a few guards, should have waited but…follow…drive." Orson adjusted himself but was happier than he'd been in years. Since the war…he banished those thoughts from his mind and refocused on the children. He opened the car door and sat in the backseat in silence.

They all got into Manley's car and Orson directed them to an empty lot behind an abandoned building. The building was rather large and clean. It looked abandoned because no one seem to live there. Manley used his scan skill to check as many rooms as he could while Orson led them out back. He could find nothing that said people lived here any time recently.

"Your training will take place here, come to this place at the same time…how long do these pills last?" asked Orson.

"About six hours, I haven't tested exactly," said Manley.

"Hmm…training will be three hours every day, bring more of these." He briefly showed the package that Manley gave him then put it away.

Orson then had the two boys' line up, then he walked around them. "I will first check your foundation, then attempted to unlock your chi. I normally wouldn't do this, but we have little time."

He started with Pin, placing his hand on the boys back, taking a deep breath he breath out. Pin perked up, then deflated from exhaustion right after. "Sit, rest and recover."

He next went to Manley and did the same thing. Manley felt like needles were pricking below his skin, then his body started heating up, he sat down.

Endurance Attribute Gained

Manley was amazed, this was a lot more fruitful than he thought. He checked the changes to his status.

HP: 140/240 MP: 65/220 STA: 100/150

ATTRIBUTES

STR 20 MND 15

AGI 21 PER 12

DEX 22 END 15

CON 24

WIS 16

INT 22

CHA 8

As Manley was resting, he felt something looming over him, then he could see the shadow. Someone palmed his head from both sides.

"I sensed it when we first met but if I am going to teach you my ways, then we have too first fi—"

"Mister Randall, what…are you doing?" asked Pin.

"Do not worry child, you friend is very troubled. I will help him." Orson channeled his chi into Manley using Mind Meld and Hypnotism to fix what he perceived as wrong.

MENTAL DEFENSE LV2 Gained

Manley mind was in chaos, he felt drunk, dazed, and lost all sense of direction. Images assaulted his mind war, loss, and conviction. The things he saw started to make sense, he was experiencing Orson's life but mostly his emotions or so he thought. Things that didn't make sense were also present, people in cosplay, even a knight in armor but Martians…Manley was confused by these images or what they were to accomplish.

MENTAL DEFENSE LV4 Gained

The haze on his mind abated as his skill level increased, but this seems to extend the process as he could now experience the passage of time, whether real or imagined.

Orson kept up the process until he could sense no more ill intent from the boy. The kid's mind was extremely resilient, and it took everything he had to fix it. The harder the process was the more he was certain it was unnatural.

MENTAL DEFENSE BASIC LV1 Gained

Manley was released from the hold and the unpleasant experience. He shuddered and stumbled about trying to get comfortable in his own body again.

"I am sorry that you had to experience that, but you should be at peace now," said Orson.

"Wha…what did you do?" asked Manley.

"I freed you from whatever demons have gotten a hold of your young mind," said Orson.

Manley had no idea what he was talking about, because he didn't feel any different, but he will allow the misunderstanding as thanks for the skill levels.

"After a rest, we can then begin training in earnest." Orson took a sitting position, then started to meditate, while waiting for his students to rest.