75 Vhalar 719
Location: Raelia
There wasn’t much to do on a day where his business was in a lul and the Syns didn’t have any use for him. He had a rare break trial with which he could do as he pleased. He could venture into Emea, or try to make some quick nel, or practice magic if he dared not to get caught. Times were getting tough for mages outside of the city and there had been several times where he felt like he was being watched. The word that he was a mage had probably gotten out which made it unsafe for him to be alone at night. Every trip he took down an alley seemed to be accompanied by the wrong sort. If it weren’t for his ability to Attune and sense intentions with Empathy he would have probably succumbed to the stalkers’ desires.
“Problems for another day,” he said. The few Syns he knew had spoken of similar encounters but they were never scared. The stalkers were mortals and completely outmatched when it came to the power of a mage. Some even thought the notion of being scared of a couple thugs as laughable when they had the ability to warp the fabric of space or command a bolt of lightning to impale their foes. Abra was likewise confident in his ability to defend against the one off attacks, assuming they were human and not beast. He decided that he would leave his home and go do something productive with his time. If he was drawing undue attention unto himself he would practice hiding himself and seeking out help.
Abra decided that neither the forest nor his room would help him with his current desire to amplify the new skills that he obtained. So, he decided on a stroll in the city. An area that hardly seemed like a place for a magician of his growing attunement powers. Moreso, for him to openly remain without choosing to hide from the public eye. However, since he was able to silence his own frequency that made him trackable by a significant degree, Abra didn’t hold the fear of being caught by others that were like him. He dressed in simple clothing that made him appear to be a merchant rather than his chosen profession — the perfect disguise he needed while he walked along the same path of those around him.
While he looked around, he found a quiet place by a fountain, and he took a seat on the cement bench. Now that he was in the shade, he slowly extended his abilities so that he could sense those around him. There was a heavy concentration of frequencies because of the multitude of people, but Abra was able to tune out those that weren’t like him. He remained used to implementing singular focus as he tried to navigate through the many frequencies around him while having a pleasant expression etched onto his appearance. Many people passed by him with a smile, but they were merely humans with no magical ability in them to consider them a magician. He couldn’t realize it first, but this was a note that defined him as an expert with Attunement, though he would consider himself still a budding novice.
“Now… time to find one of you…” Abra mumbled to himself as he stretched out his abilities, making sure to have the veil of ether over him. After all, he had no intention of being caught so easily. With that in mind, he heard the familiar noise, but this one was quieter than the others. Meaning this person was trying to be calm as possible without their identity zeroed in by other magicians that lurked around. They were incredibly rare in the population especially with so many of them being in the Syns and therefore being on the battlefield.
Abra glanced down at his palms as he felt his body stiffen. He found one and the excitement was a usual reaction when he neared another magician. However, he was aware that his location was in jeopardy if he continued to feel as he pushed himself to remain silent without a single emotion to release. Detaching himself was more comfortable than being calm, his eyes glazed over as Abra found his abilities encroaching near the magician he had sensed with his magic. His breathing had gone shallow since he was expending a lot of effort in not being found but more so because he then felt the onslaught of her emotions. A muffled noise came from him, but it remained deafened by the loud noises the city made; no one heard thankfully.
The magician he was attuning, however, became alert, but luckily for Abra, he was unable to detect him. Instead, Abra now had access to how he felt. The emotions rolling in like a waterfall, suspicion rising, but Abra made sure not to delve in too profoundly since he didn’t want to become immersed. Instead, he processed the feelings that the stranger was feelings. Once suspicion had ebbed away towards the back of their mind, the tension faded. Next, there was another growth of emotions, curiosity sparking within the person Abra was observing. The person wasn’t that far, so Abra stood up; he wanted to experiment within a closer setting. The reason was so that it would add another element of possibly being caught, especially since his limits would have the possibility of testing himself.
Abra knew he was expending a lot of ether by using the skill Compass to navigate through the crowds to find the person, but he needed the experiment to work. If he was able to combine the multitude of techniques that he learned, then there was nothing that could stop him. Since he was veiled, there weren’t many attuners that could sense him, if any cared to. Abra sidestepped and quickly followed the path that his abilities were painting for him until he was only a few feet from his target, his gaze narrowing at them.
A frail man that was looking through the produce that was sold in the market, more importantly, at herbs. That was a curious product and one that Abra attuned to while he was here. The notes coming from the herb were relatively simple to identify and he recognized one of them as plant life. With this knowledge as a base he could expound upon it and determine the precise note for a herb. It was more specific than 'plant life' but still vague as there were many herbs in Idalos.
“How interesting,” Abra thought, though he made sure not to talk out loud. The man was a more experienced magician that he almost seemed not there since he used static to hide his powers. Abra watched from a distance, this time trying to accurately assess him as he began to sense him more properly as if was the older man.
Everything that the older man felt remained replicated into Abra. There was growing curiosity as he surveyed each object in front of him, along with the waves of annoyance when he wasn’t pleased with the qualities. The more Abra invested in the feelings of the person he was attuning; the more in tune he felt. However, because of the usage of his abilities, Abra could feel the wave exhaustion over him. Taking that into account, he slipped into a nearby alley that would provide him coverage in case something unexpected happens while still offering him the perfect view of his subject.
However, Abra wanted to take it a step further to the point where he could feel everything the man felt. Not just from emotions alone. As he pushed himself to that degree, he could almost feel the breeze that passed near the stranger. Or the joy he felt when he smelled roasted beef cooking in a nearby restaurant. Abra couldn’t help but laugh at the steady progression of his abilities as if he thought he was the person in his body. Realizing this, he wondered how many experiments needed to be done before he could completely control them: not just a mere puppet but a secondary body for him to use. Sinister intentions began to fill him, and he grinned from ear to ear. The only moment he broke from the detachment he was used to upholding.
Because of the break, the older magician spun around once more. He looked around trying to find the source but Abra had already retreated into the dark as he continued to cough uncontrollably. Thick phlegm over his hand that tried to cover his mouth. He heard the noise of the familiar frequency that was searching for him but luckily enough he was still wrapped with his shroud of static. For now, he would remain safe but he was losing composure and warmth. His vision was getting bleary again but he made a breakthrough with his ability to use multiple abilities at once.
He grinned, a malicious one at that as it painted his features with a gruesome touch. There was no one that could stop his steady climb as he obtained everything he was researching but he was far from being done. Instead, he warily walked home making sure to keep up his guard at all times. He went home and found that his door had been splattered with a message: “Mages Beware.”
"Abra", "NPC"
