The Alchemical Star(2)

After his bath, he noticed there was something different about him. He was faster, stronger. He could catch conversations happening ten feet away with ease. Even now, the voice of the librarian drifted into his ear.

"Bloody hell. I hate this job. I hate everyone here. They all seem so pathetic," she whispered under her breath, her voice buried by the silence.

The distance between her desk and his table was more than twenty feet away. Still, he heard her gruff voice without a hitch.

Because of this troublesome newfound ability, he was forced to come to the library with his earplugs. As it turned out, enhanced hearing wasn't exactly fun when it couldn't be controlled.

Cain covered his ear with his favourite music and pondered, 'It is not just the basics. I feel hyper-aware. Like I can tell when people stare at me. I can tell the weight of their stares and what emotions they carry.'

Cain unconsciously scratched his fingers with his sharp nails. To anyone else, the sudden manifestation of strange abilities might be a source of delight, but for Cain, it only fueled his paranoia.

To have something that could not be explained. That was definitely cause for alarm. Unsettling.

Fortunately, he remembered something, which led to his intense research in the library. After hours of digging into books, he arrived at a bizarre conclusion.

"I have awakened an arcane…sigil?" Cain tilted his head in confusion.

He continued to peruse the information about the crest in his hand. A crest which remained visible only to him. Everyone he met today seemed to be oblivious to it.

One particular page revealed: "Originating from the depths of the mysterious ether, Arcane Sigils are tokens of the anima covenant with the Alchemical Star. Initiates of the Classification partake in this ancient covenant through a primordial elixir known as prima. They gain access to magic and arcane sigils as part of the oath."

Cain furrowed his brows as he flipped the pages. 'So, the crest is called an arcane sigil and only initiates awaken it through prima potions. But I have never consumed a single prima?'

He was well aware of primas. They were special items regulated by the government and highly expensive. The cheapest price one could get for them was around 100,000 sun coins.

Cain shook his head. 'To put it into perspective, an average monthly income is around 2,500 sun coins, and barely anyone earns that or much more.'

So, while everyone knew that consuming primas could take them to another world, the dream of acquiring even the tiniest drop of one became an outrageous fantasy.

Just then, a voice broke his reverie. "Interesting, huh?" 

Cain turned around to look at the person. Instantly, he straightened his body and gestured with a friendly nod. "Trix."

Trix's presence did not surprise him. She was a regular at the library. Somehow, she had enough money to visit the library on a daily basis. 

In fact, he knew that Mrs. Petra was the one supplying her with constant money. From the start, Trix was never like the others. She was favoured so much by everyone that rumours had started to circulate, suggesting that she might really be the secret daughter of the director.

"Cain, long time no see. I thought you had given up on the regional evaluation." She looked at the book he was reading and chuckled, "You changed your mind, huh?"

In her hands were stacks of books. A regular person would have trouble balancing them with just two hands, but Cain had learnt long ago that Trix wasn't a regular person.

She moved closer to the table and dropped the books. Then she grabbed a seat and sat.

Cain raised his brow and said, "Do you mind?"

"What's wrong? Can't concentrate?" Trix flashed a mischievous grin.

"This is not a competition." Cain let out a sigh.

Trix slammed her fist on the table and replied, "Petra says everything is a competition. You have to know I take this seriously. Besides, you aren't like those dumb retards. You actually have a brain, even if it's a bit on the smaller side."

"Should I be thankful?" Cain stared at her with exasperated eyes. He knew he could not push her away. She was always so wilful, far from the expected.

Cain chuckled inwardly as he thought of Roy's wild fantasies. 'If only he knew.' 

He quickly focused back on the book, desperate to figure out what exactly the arcane sigils were.

Trix interrupted, "You won't find what you are looking for in that book, you know?" 

Cain looked up in surprise. "What?"

"This library doesn't have much about arcane sigils. It's just a bunch of old books some aristocrat decided to donate as charity."

"Oh," Cain finally paused his reading and looked at Trix

Her yellow eyes twinkled underneath the warm light. She held one hand high as if waiting for something.

Cain sighed and brought out five coins from his pockets, which he gave to her. 

She then smiled and continued. "You know bout PPI?"

Cain's eyes trailed across the room as he dug out certain memories. "Yeah… Paranormal Potential Index. What about it?"

"PPI regulates the powers of supernatural beings, including humans," Trix explained. "The human race regulation is widely recognized as the Classification, but you know that already. In the classification, we start with Class-0, the normies."

Cain hissed. "Get to the point!"

Everyone knew about normies. Or rather, almost everyone was classified as normies—regular humans who were not outstanding in the slightest. The ones within the spectrum of normality. 

"Okay. Okay. Chill out," Trix teased with a grin. "We move on to Class-1, a.k.a Acolytes. Now acolytes are those who have touched the boundaries of the natural, threading the glimpses of the supernatural. They possess peak superhuman capabilities."

Cain nodded attentively.

"For acolytes, their human body has reached the limit, and so delving into the supernatural is the only way to gain power. Then comes the prima potions…"

....