John arrives in work. The conditioned air, humming printers, and silent chatters of colleagues fill the room. Keystrokes blend with John's footsteps as he nears his room. 'I will find whatever caused the disappearance of my parents.' Skinn's voice kept rewinding inside John's mind.
Again, he has not met Skinn on the way to work.
'I wonder why. Maybe he overslept?
Mariel, a colleague, then suddenly showed up. "Hey, you done with the reports for forecasting?" She asked, clicking the back of the pen against the wall.
"No, not yet. I'm re-editing some things. I'll DM you if it's all good." John assured.
Maria abruptly nodded, hinting urgency, "We might need it ready by tomorrow morning. Partners are arriving tomorrow noon, and we still need to make side-by-side comparisons."
"Okay. It'll be done by lunch." John answered, shifting all computer tabs to data sheets and pie charts.
Maria looked at John. He is now a bit more straightforward than usual. He seemed more reserved, as if he is hiding thoughts to himself.
...
It was afternoon. John have had a hectic day in the office.
'Jaz hasn't messaged me. Might it be because of what happened last night?' John thought with a questioning face which shifts to guilt. 'It might have been because of how I left them suddenly last night without any bye-byes. Should I message them and apologize?'
John thought for a second.
He took his phone out.
Three messages. 'Jaz?' John thought.
They were all from Skinn.
"Any word from your mage friends?"
John replied, "None. Might be mad at me cuz of last night."
Three dots popped, then a message. "Oh. That was my bad. I should go apologize 😭" , Skinn replied.
"No, that was on me. I rage quit from the meeting without warning 😞" John took the blame.
"We owe them an apology. That was too immature on our part ❌ " Skinn messaged.
John ended "😔😐".
He then remembered Jaz.
"Anything tonight? Sorry for last night. That was not what I was supposed to do. I want to apologize for that. Skinn also felt guilty, and wanted to apologize as well." John messaged.
Jaz then replied after a moment, "All good. Boss actually let it slide. Anyone would probably do what you did. Karl looked annoyed though, you might want to talk to him.
Oh and btw. Boss just left earlier. Didn't say where."
"Thanks. I'll deal with Karl. Tell me if there's anything." John replied with content.
John then sees another message from Maria. "All done. Just make sure that you have readied your slides after lunch."
...
'I hope everything flows well in the presentation tomorrow.' John thought.
As he walked towards school, a hand slapped his shoulder. John turned his head towards the hand.
Skinn looked mildly exhausted. "Sorry I feel a bit heavier today. I just did 100 push ups, 100 situps, and 100 squats after work, and a 10-kilometer run this morning."
"You did all of that just after work?" John asked, surprised.
"Yes, and ran here. Definitely not going to class without you." Skinn then grabbed a bottle of electrolyte drink and gobbled everything up to the remaining drops left.
The bell just rang from inside the university campus and class is starting. John and Skinn hurried their steps and went to the class and are barely late.
They took a seat and brought out their notes. Everything went like usual.
Still, Jaz hasn't updated John regarding any meetups. 'Boss must have been to somewhere really important, then.
....
Bell rang.
Skinn went towards where John is sitting. 'All good? Let's walk home.'
Just like the usual.
John got up from his seat. He took his back, packed his notes, put his phone in his pocket, and shrugged off his table. "No coffee?" He asked, then started walking.
"Not starting today. You got magic now, right? I need to be able to one punch enemies now, you know?" Skinn flexed his muscles.
John sighed with brief disbelief which quickly turned into adoration after he realized something.
Skinn is really serious about the mage thing.
"And this is one way I can keep up with a mage like you." Skinn added, face full of determination.
John, though relieved that Skinn was able to accept all of these quickly, felt bad for dragging Skinn into all of these.
Then he told Skinn, "Just so you know, you don't have to keep up. You can just live as you are–"
"Tsk tsk tsk." Skinn clicked his tongue thrice in proud disapproval, face filled with confidence. "Im not doing this for you, I am doing this with you. I will find the truth about my parents, and you won't stop me from bugging you about it now."
Then they were out of the school campus.
9:22 PM
Skinn talked about usual stuff. Memes, news, and homework. 'For the first time, everything felt normal', John thought.
9:28 PM
They just got past the coffee shop. John did not detect any mana. "That would mean a peaceful rest tonight. I really am exhausted with this mage thing. Too much to absorb."
They were walking in a street of cracked pavement that stretches long, surrounded by trees and the sound of critters that expand into darkness.
Skinn then teased John, "Well, you really don't dig the girl?" He wraps his right hand over his shoulder. "She looks nerdy enough and is highly compatible with your form, and on top of that, she wears a hoodie, bro! I am serious, you pair together."
"*Sigh* No, I got more problems now with this mage stuff. Not adding any more than this." John gloomily replied in disagreement.
Then Skinn, in mild disappointment for his dear friend, replied, "That is why you're hopeless, bro. Taking risk is always a part of life, and you should..."
The conversation went for a while, with Skinn showing random social media posts to defend his stance on John's 'romance problems'.
9:32 PM
For a brief moment, everything went silent.
John looked back. Skinn was holding his phone smiling, sling bag dangling and swinging by his shoulder.
"Skinn!" John shouted.
No answer. Skinn's expression did not change.
He was frozen.
Or at least he looked frozen.
John walked towards Skinn.
His vitals are good, clothes swaying by the breeze; his mouth steaming as air goes out of his lungs.
His skin shows his physical complexions; biceps showing from under his sleeve, slightly contracted to support his raised hands.
He looked normal and alive. But his expression did not budge a bit; he is still smiling.
...
"Don't flinch." Boss suddenly materializes in front of John's face out of nowhere.
John got pushed back to the ground by surprise, scratching his elbow against the rough pavement.
"Wh- why?" John, with his heart racing, raised his hand on reflex. "How did you... What happened?"
"I froze your cerebral synaptic activity. You know stuff about brain, right?" Boss said.
"I.. I don't understand. What do you mean froze my synapses?" John, perplexed, asked with a shaky voice. "What are you planning to do?"
"That's my magic. I kind of froze the flow of your friend's neurotransmitters. That is why he keeps repeating that action." Boss answered.
"Wha–how? You mean his whole brain?" John, now a bit curious, asked. "You mean he keeps repeating his actions? Shouldn't he drop down instead?"
Boss clarified, "No." He rolled his eyes towards the dark sky, pointing his thumb towards Skinn. "I'm controlling all molecules quickly, back and forth, thus preventing him to simply drop dead. However, his vitals are still good; I left the spine and all the hormones fully working."
"I'm not catching." John stood up. "You mean you can stop the brain from functioning?"
"No," Boss walked towards Skinn. "I can only manipulate the flow of complex liquid substances in a microscopic level. Brain juice, blood, and chemistry liquid stuff that are complex, they are all within my domain."
John sighs, shrugged his elbows, then asked. "So how do you usually use your magic?"
Boss, examining Skinn, "More of a support role, I guess." He then dispels Skinn's freeze state.
"–kind of burgers which she would–WOAH!" Skinn, terrified, stepped back with eyelids wide open. "Uhh... Woah. What was that?"
John, tired of all the new things that is happening, just gave another sigh. "Yeah, that is not teleportation, you were frozen and unfrozen. We just walked towards you.
Skinn, astonished, shifted his face with a curious smirk and hurried with a reply "What? You can freeze people?"
"No, not me. Him." John points his thumb toward Boss.
"This cute chil–I mean the mage? He is your boss?" Skinn got a bit curious with Boss, who is now by his side, eyes glinting.
"..Uhhh.. anyway." John got flashbacks about the first time he saw Boss and Jaz fighting with a mage. "Speaking of which, why haven't you frozen the mage from last time?" John asked.
Boss then answered John with a blank face, "I can't locate them. Illusion is my bane."
John then remembered his experience when he went from inside the cafe. The fake image of Boss was following John's sight.
"Oh... so, how about those people inside the cafe then?"
"I just remember their positions." Boss replied.
"Wha– But how? I mean... Okay. I guess you just have the photographic memory then." John went towards Skinn. "Are you good?"
Skinn's eyes were just surprised. Then John remembered something.
"Oh, crap. Now Skinn knows you. Should we not have hidden everything from Skinn instead?"
"The way you reacted when Skinn was taken off the frozen state means he already knows, no?" Boss then glanced at Skinn. "Besides, I want to talk to him about something."
Skinn looked at Boss, scratching his head while maintaining a puzzled look. "Uhhh.."
"What do you want to talk with him?" John interrupted.
"Just stuff." Boss replied back. "Just a minute."
Boss walked towards a nearby dead streetlight. He looked around.
"Here. Let's talk here." Boss then tapped the streetlight pole twice, signalling an invite.
Then Skinn told his side of story, and Boss communicated with Skinn and John about his plans.
He also clarified that Jaz already knows much about everything.
"So I am going to train my body with you present, so that you can drastically speed up my training. Right." Skinn restated. "That way, I can act as an undetectable information gatherer and protect myself in the process. That sits right up with me, because I was already planning to collect as much information about mages since they can hold the key to finding my parents."
"And John? You are going to be using your grimoire to mine and store mana crystals. I will be the one to detect any traces of mana crystals around. With Skinn, everything should be a little bit easier..." Boss stated.
Skinn peered at Boss with amazement.
"Yeah, I know that feeling, Skinn." John who turns back and readies to walk home, tapped Skinn at the back.
Boss then looked around. "Seems we are done here. Tomorrow, 5AM in the morning, Skinn."
Skinn, speechless, replied, "Yes, Sir."
They then all waved goodbye and went home, except Boss who remained standing.
The critter sounds fill the dark street with unease.
"I can sense you, Roof. Don't mess with my plans again. I am not going to be joining your clan."
Then the mana, previously at the top of a smaller tree, disappeared.
Boss, with his hands in the pocket of his jacket, walked home peacefully.