Symna the Prodigy

She was wearing the same baggy brown clothes Frederick had brought her, her body cleaned of blood and grime. Now that Fate could see her face in more detail, he had to admit she was on the attractive side.

Being no older than nineteen, she had a mature air to her regardless, her blue eyes focused and her mouth in a slight frown. She scanned the room, her eyes lingering on windows and doors, potential exits in case things went south.

Her hair no longer clung to her from sweat, instead it cascaded down her back to rest just slightly above her tailbone. She was tall, only a couple of inches shorter than Fate, who was 6'1".

As such, she towered over Robna and Frederick, who were each just barely above five feet tall. She had an ample chest, not that big but not small either, and she seemed to step without making a single sound.

Fate latched onto that last detail. It was an invaluable skill for assassins, which gave Fate an idea. He was wondering how to help her so something like this never happened again. His first thoughts were to ask Frederick to mentor her, but he barely knew the man.

But if she was in the same line as work as him, she'd gain self-defense skills and make money at the same time. Of course, murdering for money wasn't for everyone, but Fate wasn't worried. If she took the offer, fine. If not, she'd be on her own.

He had too much to do to babysit. Besides, now that he was an Avatar, he could take care of their little "eagle" problem.

"How are you feeling?" Frederick asked.

"What did you do to me?" The woman replied angrily. "Why can I do this?" She motioned with her hand, and the bucket that once held synthetic blood flew into the wall, causing a loud crash. It fell to the ground with a clatter.

"You lost a lot of blood," Frederick explained calmly. "I had to give you more, so I made some with my Manifest Power. The high amount of Divine Energy that coursed through that new blood triggered your Manifestation seed. You are now a Prodigy."

"A Prodigy? Like the Scholars?" Frederick's following of Exemplars, Awakened, Prodigies, and Avatars in this town were called the "Scholars," and were dedicated to science and study.

"Yes, like them. It was the only way to save your life with what was available."

She was silent for a moment, lost in thought. Then she crossed her arms, looking like someone that was just scammed into slavery. "What do you want from me?" She asked, her voice a quiet mixture of anger, sadness, and frustration.

Fate and Robna shared a glance, the movement not lost on the blue-haired woman, who stiffened, her eyes darting to the window in the corner.

"Honestly? Nothing," Fate said. "I just brought you here as thanks for helping me strengthen my Manifestation."

It was partly a lie, but Fate knew people like her didn't believe in good for the sake of being good. Besides, he did feel like he owed her somewhat. "Now that you're fine, you can do whatever you want. Of course, if you're worried about money, I have something in mind…"

She tensed visibly, her legs bending slightly as she prepared to run.

Fate pulled out another business card, floating it over with his Divine Grasp. She snatched it out of the air and looked at it, her confusion evident on her face.

"You seem like someone who'd be good at what I do," Fate told her. "It's a dangerous job, but the pay can't be beaten, plus you'd learn how to defend yourself and use your new powers."

"You're gonna introduce this young, vulnerable girl into *your* line of work?" Robna asked incredulously.

"If she wants to. If not, no skin off my back." He kept his eyes trained on the woman's face, no doubt looking sinister with the mask covering the lower half of his face and his black-sclera eyes. To her credit, the woman didn't even flinch. She squared her shoulders, straightening and staring right back at him.

"If you are interested, meet me at the northern gate of the city of Tangronga, three weeks from now at noon, miss…"

"Symna," the blue-haired woman said proudly. If Fate recalled, it was the name of one of the first Incarnations on this planet, Pensinata.

"A strong name. Let's hope your skill and talent can do it justice."

Fate thanked Frederick and left with Robna in tow, not sparing Symna a second glance. When they passed through the city's gate and were a few miles away from Fate's ship, Robna broke the silence.

"So, you're an Avatar now. Think you're ready to take out Gregovich?"

"Weren't we supposed to call him the 'eagle?'" Fate replied in amusement.

"Ah, that name's stupid," Robna said, waving her hand. "Gerald always was horrible at names. But you didn't answer me. Yes, or no?"

"Yes. Easily." Gregovich had no physical prowess, and couldn't even find Fate when the latter used Null. The only thing that saved his life was that obnoxious Manifest Power, which prevented Fate from trying to kill him without failing.

Now, though, Fate could use his Divine Energy to eat away at Gregovich's, cutting the passive aspect off and forcing him to use it actively. By the time Gregovich realizes, Fate's knife should already be in his neck.

"So, why did you give her three weeks? And why in Tangronga?" Robna asked him.

"To give her time to think it over. Also, to test her resourcefulness and resolve. You need both in large amounts if you don't want to wind up being the one killed." In a place where almost everyone had powers, an assassin would need a smart head on their shoulders.

"Hm." Robna stayed silent until they made it to Fate's ship and took off.

Then, her face betraying her worry, she asked, "What did you see down there? An Embodiment of Negativity like you shouldn't be able to catapult from the peak of the Exemplar Level to midway through the Avatar Level. You had to have realized something extremely essential to your Manifestation for that to happen."

"I didn't see anything new, not truly. Just more of the worst this multiverse has to offer," Fate said, eyes on the sky outside the windshield.