Chapter 10: Walk, Talk, Eat, Repeat

Back at my apartment, I rolled the thousand-plus Gachas I'd amassed over the course of my last working shift as well as all others I'd gained throughout the day. I experienced both extreme sides of the excited-scared spectrum along with every emotion in between.

All the Skills I hadn't maxed out to Level 10 before were now and I'd gotten a few new ones to look forward to improving. I had dozens of extra health and stamina potions as well as new magic potions. Today must have been a lucky day because one of the new Skills I learned involved the use of my Magicka pool.

[Results: Rarity — Uncommon 27 | Mandarin Chinese x7 (Skill)]

[Results: Rarity — Uncommon 91 | Piloting x5 (Skill)]

[Results: Rarity — Uncommon 75 | Sailing x4 (Skill)]

[Results: Rarity — Rare -541 | Gang Initiation (Scenario)]

[Results: Rarity — Rare 204 | Novice Alchemist Kit (Item)]

[Results: Rarity — Rare 313 | Tamriel: Healing x2 (Skill)]

[Results: Rarity — Unique -2,996 | Terrorist Takeover (Scenario)]

[Results: Rarity — Unique -4,827 | Chuni Eyepatch of Power Suppression (Item)]

I really wanted to complain about the unfairness of my bullshit Gacha powers. Why was the cheat in my isekai power fantasy so random and unforgiving? Do you know how bad it feels to see all of my Unique Gachas for the day pull only Unique Negatives? It was a worse feeling than if they pulled Common grade trash.

I knew better than to actually feel ungrateful, though. Unsatisfying as it may be to constantly waste resources, I was still getting constantly stronger and more versatile at a rate that would make the average generic isekai protagonist jealous.

So what if I didn't have a use for sudden fluency in Chinese or Spanish? For every unhelpful Skill, I had a universally applicable Driving, Piloting or Sailing. What was the difference? Driving worked on land vehicles, Piloting worked on aircrafts and Sailing worked on sea-worthy vessels.

Even the negative pulls from the Rare and above rarity were probably situationally useful. The scenarios would likely put me in a spot where I presumably had to fight for me life. In the process, I'd be getting even more Gachas and even the items like that stupid eyepatch I just got could be used to help me train or something eventually.

Checking the time and seeing it was nearing midnight, I shook my head and ignored the sudden urge to accept the Gang Initiation Scenario to test my theory. It was entirely too late for me to go off on another presumably otherworldly venture and potentially risk my life. Tomorrow was my rest day, so I'd maybe do that, then.

For now, sleep was calling to me.

"...And his name is Katayoki!" The demented spirit shouted before letting out mock horn sounds with his voice as I slipped back into my inner world.

Right. Sleep was no longer an option. Instead, I had to deal with this bullshit if I wanted to get a handle on my nascent and weak spiritual powers.

I started a new knife-throwing war and we kept at it until my alarm began affecting my Inner World. Unlike yesterday, where I was dragged into consciousness, my spiritual power had grown to the point where I could resist the pull if I wanted to. I didn't, because dealing with my Zanpakuto Spirit was a labor of madness, so I woke up and got two more Unique Gachas for my trouble.

I took care of my morning routine before leaving for a two-hour workout. When I got back, hundreds of Gachas richer, I took a shower and lazed around until it was time leave the house in search of a spot to eat lunch and kill the boredom that was starting to form.

I was starting to understand why isekai protagonists turned into battle maniacs and grinding fanatics. When your life turned into a game with virtually endless progression, it was hard to slip back into a normal lifestyle when the temptation of "having more" was just a few actions and decisions away.

I mean, I could just stay at home and cook myself a meal that's probably better than anything I'd deign to spend my money on. But, where was the fun in that? Today was my rest day and I didn't want to stay cooped up at home like some degenerate NEET. There were too many opportunities around to miss out on.

'Like people watching!'

"What are you, some kind of voyeur freak?" Katayoki asked with a self-pleasing smile I could feel even from beyond my Inner World.

'Or restaurant hopping!'

"How much do you plan on eating, you sinful little glut?" Katayoki continued, testing my infinite patience and nearly succeeding in breaking it.

'Drama and adventure awaits!'

"If you really wanted either, you'd just accept one of the three scenarios you've been sitting on."

I ignored him and left my apartment in search of food and entertainment. I found both, but not particularly in that order.

Turns out that while I was aimlessly wandering the commercial district of Vale's downtown, my Ki Sense picked up a familiar signature once it entered my range. Said range got larger and larger by the day as my total Ki rose with physical training. It was a few hundred meters in radius at this point. Imagine my surprise when I found my would-be robber waiting in line at a crepe stall disguised as a teenage girl.

It was the perfect opportunity to enact petty revenge.

As I walked to get in line behind her, my scroll began to ring with Ozpin calling me. It couldn't have been any more perfect if I'd planned it all beforehand as the generic ringtone got Neopolitan to look over at me and do a double take.

Snorting in amusement, I gave her a smug look and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Lapis, I've arranged for that specialist we talked about to come and unlock your Aura for you on your visit tomorrow," Ozpin said, moving past all formalities and getting straight to the point.

"Great!" I was genuinely pleased by the news, "To be honest, while at first, I didn't think it would pay off, recent, um… developments have caused me to reconsider."

"I'm sure we can talk about it in detail tomorrow, right now I'm still on a rather tight schedule so I'll have to let you go."

"Good luck with that," I said.

"I hope you have a pleasant rest of your day," Ozpin responded before hanging up the call.

For context, Ozpin had been hesitant to unlock my Aura the day I first went to Beacon because usually the power of the soul was tied to the strength of one's body, mind, and character. My body was far and above anything that could be expected from people on Remnant, so Ozpin wanted to get someone with a massive Aura pool to awaken my aura in case it turned out that my own initial Aura pool was large enough to completely siphon and kill the person awakening it for me.

With the way my Gacha powers were, I doubted it would have happened back then, but after the Do or Die Scenario… After enhancing my spirit, probably exponentiating my soul nearly ten times over… After gaining Shinigami and Hollow powers…

Yeah, getting a specialist with ungodly amounts of Aura to awaken mine would probably pay off now. Or, it might not be enough and the poor guy or gal hired to help me would end up crippled or dead.

Good thing I had Health and Magic Potions. I wasn't sure either would help, but they were fiat backed by reality-warping Gacha powers. Hopefully, I wouldn't need to use either of them.

As I stored my Scroll in one of my pant pockets, I was faced with an agitated and disguised Neopolitan frowning and staring at me in anticipation for something.

"Can I help you?" I sarcastically asked.

She defaulted to indecipherable gesturing and I got the impression that we was not expecting me to suddenly show up.

"I can't understand you, but I'm guessing you want to know why I'm here." When she nodded impatiently, I said, "I was hungry and bored so I went on a walk to browse for a restaurant or street vendor with good food. I noticed you and thought it would only be polite to say 'Hi' and judge if you had good taste in food or not."

She made more gestures which I couldn't decipher.

"She's asking if you're looking for any trouble," Katayoki chimed in and I decided to take his word for it considering the agitated look in her eyes and tense body language.

"Relax," I waved at her dismissively. "I'm not here for a fight. Besides, fighting you now would void that payment you and that other guy owe me to ignore the fact that you tried to rob me and that he shot me."

She stared at me until the crepe maker called for her to place her order. With her eyes still trained on me she pulled out her own Scroll and handed it over to the woman handling the stall. Shamelessly, I watched the whole thing and saw that it had her order already layed out in text, formatted into bullet points.

"What the hell? Why don't you just communicate with me like that?" I asked, a bit annoyed by her apparant lack of common sense.

Neapolitan scoffed as she gestured disdainfully. "Because it's awkward and takes too long for a face-to-face conversation that I can't predict, dumbass," my spirit companion cheerfully translated.

"So you'd rather potentially miscommunicate? Or are you like some senile old lady with arthritis so bad that you can't text with the best of 'em anymore?" I asked.

After more disparaging gestures and a light snort, Katayoki translated, "You and Roman understand me well enough, why should I bother with other people?"

"Hey, you do you, I guess," I back off as I couldn't find it in myself to share my hypocritical opinion. I did whatever the hell it was that I wanted and anyone who thought better could go fuck themselves. I'm sure she could empathize with that sentiment.

She got her crepe, walked away, and then it was my turn to order some crepes. I ordered two and when I received both a few minutes later, I saw that Neopolitan had waited for me.

"Stuck around for me?" I teased her, trying to summon an infinitesimal amount of the irritation Katayoki inspired in me. "I never would have guessed you'd care so much."

Eyes narrowed, she gestured harshly, "This is serious. Roman and I are still waiting on you to call in that payment we owe you, but we want to know if there's any chance of you working with us. Roman and I don't have your contact information, so this is the best time to ask and see if your cooperation is worth dwelling on going forward."

"You want to talk business? Fine," I rolled my eyes. "I guess it all depends on what you guys want me to do. I did some research on you guys and thief work isn't something I'm interested in at all. Being a bodyguard or maybe even an assassin— For bad people," I interjected at her startled look. "You know, against serial killers, pedo freaks, and any others I might think society would be better without."

"That kind of work is something I could look forward to. Though, only if you could schedule it around my life instead of the other way around. Is any of that possible?" I asked her.

For once, I didn't need Katayoki to interpret her "so-so" hand gesture. Through my spirit, I understood her next series of gestures to mean that she would talk about it with Roman and gave her my scroll contact information before she left.