The next step

For a regular person, a hot shower in the morning was just the usual thing, but after the pleasant hot shower he found himself on a joyful mood.

Morning class and physical training were uneventful and the day progressed until it was time for Uriel to head to work. As soon as he set foot inside the library he was greeted by mister Scofield.

"Are you alright young bookworm?" The librarian asked with a concerned gaze.

"I am, I just needed some time to figure out something about my trait." Uriel said scratching the back of his head, having someone worry about him was a new feeling and, although a bit awkward, it wasn't a bad thing.

"Your trait? Didn't you say you didn't know how to activate it?" Scofield replied with an incredulous look. It was weird that someone who didn't know how to activate their trait would worry about it, people simply accepted the fact that they weren't able to activate it and moved on with their life.

It was general knowledge that those people simply didn't possess a trait, which could only mean that Uriel, in fact, did possess a trait, but it wasn't as straightforward as super strength or the control over an element.

Uriel wanted to tell mister Scofield about his trait and what he had figured out so far, but before he opened his mouth, the librarian cut him short and led him inside the personnel's private area where no one could eavesdrop on their conversation.

"You need to be careful about what you tell people, you can't go telling anyone about your trait, it's dangerous." Mister Scofield said after they sat down to the table in front of them.

"Dangerous? Why dangerous? It's not like there are any cryptids nearby and even if there were, I don't think they'd understand human language." Uriel was confounded.

"Listen young bookworm, cryptids are dangerous, but people are more so. You don't know if anyone holds ill intention towards you and it's better if you keep anything about your trait a secret. Once it's known, people will never forget about it." Mister Scofield explained as he got up to brew some coffee.

"I see... so, do you have a trait mister Scofield?" Uriel asked.

"Of course I do! But it's a secret." He chuckled. "Now you can tell about your trait if you want. I know I just warned you against sharing information about your trait, but I promise I'll keep it a secret and that I don't mean you ill."

Uriel pondered his employer's words for a short while before making up his mind.

"Alright, here's the thing. They told me I didn't have a trait, but actually..."

Uriel showed mister Scofield his open palm and the pocket knife appeared and disappeared.

"Interesting, does it work with other items?"

"Not anything I've found so far, but I think I have an idea now. My trait is not making things appear or disappear out of thin air, it's something a bit more complex."

"How so?" Mister Scofield asked hesitating about whether he should ask any questions, but ended up doing it anyways because he wanted to help the young student in front of him.

Uriel proceeded to explain to him about his findings, about the museum and about some of his concerns, but making sure to leave out anything related to the carvings. It was an ongoing research and he didn't want to mess up by disclosing what he knew too early.

"I see... I see... And how do you call your trait?" Mister Scofield asked.

"I haven't given it much thought, but I guess it would be something like 'Mental museum'... maybe?" He didn't really like the ring of it.

"Mental museum, huh, That's quite an interesting trait. What's most curious about it is that I can't see it as a battle oriented trait, but it's certainly not that useful either and yet... I think it's the most extraordinary and complex trait I've ever encountered. The only explanation that comes to mind is that some of the people that are deemed as traitless, actually possess a trait so complex that its activation requires further testing." Mister Scofield theorized.

"That's what I thought too, I even made a private vlog entry in case I stumble upon something helpful, but... just like you said before, maybe I should keep it to myself by the time being." Uriel kept playing with the knife making it appear and disappear, fidgeting with its tools and whatnot, this seemed to irk the librarian, but he let it slide.

"Judging by what you told me, you got things figured out already. Why are you so worried then?" Mister Scofield asked.

"The thing is, well... I think I could, maybe, store more artifacts like this one." He made the swiss army knife appear on the palm of his hand. "But I don't have any money to buy them." He finished with a sigh.

"That will certainly be a wise thing to do young bookworm. May I give you a piece of advice then?" The librarian asked with a gentle smile.

"Sure." Uriel smiled back at the man as he took a sip of coffee.

"I think you should go to the cryptid hunter agency. There you could find more about your trait... and maybe participating on a few incursions could help you get some money."

The conversation with mister Scofield turned out to be quite helpful for Uriel, not only did he learn that he needed to be more careful about his trait and now he had a next step to follow on his investigation, but also he found the possibility to confide on mister Scofield quite reassuring.

Although Uriel was really eager to follow the librarian's advice, It took no less than two weeks for him to find the time and the mid terms were right around the corner when he was finally able to head over to the Cryptid hunting agency. It was the place where civilian incursions were organized and the favorite gathering spot for everyone who made a living thanks to their traits.

"Good day sir, how may I help you?" The receptionist in the counter asked Uriel with a professional tone of voice. She was used to see young, shy students like him every year, but never one so... out of place.

Uriel looked flimsy even for a college student, he was like a fish out of the water. Everyone inside looked tough and intimidating, it was nothing like the orderly behavior of the army men, everyone exuded a wild aura of fierceness instead of the discipline and cold calm of soldiers.

"I- Uh- I was just looking..." He meekly replied to the receptionist.

"You are new to this, correct?" Her tone indicated that more than asking, she was making a statement and Uriel simply nodded in reply.

"You can take a look at our prices, the prices are listed on the sign hanged on the wall right there." She pointed towards a white sign with black letters. For a brief second Uriel was impressed, but not by it's size or the huge amount of information on the sigh, but because he was able to read it properly even at that distance.

His eyesight had recovered a bit as a side effect of acquiring a trait and now he could see almost as well as any regular person.

"Wait, why do you charge people for going to incursions? I thought only the army charged for it. It's only going out of the city, shouldn't it be free?"

"While going out is not forbidden, as stated by law you are required to pay a fee if you wander with the intention of hunting cryptids. The reason behind this is to prevent any citizen without preparation or enough money to gear up, participate on dangerous incursions. You are also required to inform us of your intentions, the place you'll be heading to and pay for life insurance, vehicle and gear rental, you can even hire personnel. A single evolved won't be able to hunt by himself, no matter how strong he thinks he is." The receptionist explained a bit annoyed. It was her job and she dutifully performed it, but after repeating the same thing over and over, day after day for almost three years, she couldn't help but feel frustrated.

It was a necessary thing, though, because most of the population was kept in the dark about most matters related to cryptids. Children and people without traits weren't allowed inside the premises of the Cryptid hunting agency and for good reason, the less the general population knew, the better for everyone.

Uriel thanked the receptionist and then read the sign carefully.

[Incursion ticket fee: Evolved 1k credits, Ascended 5k credits, Heavenly 25k

The ticket includes life insurance, basic means of transportation and a tier 1 battery]

[Gear: Tier 2 battery 300 credits, tier 3 battery 1k credits.]

[Armor: light armor 100 credits, medium armor 250credits, heavy armor 500 credits.]

[Weapons: basic 750, intermediate 12,5k, advanced, 50k.]

[All armors and weapons are custom made.]

[Disclaimer: there's no return policy.]