Chapter 573 (1/2)

Nathan understood the look that the pretty woman was giving him. He was slightly tired of it, but she was more circumspect than most. But what adults always seemed to forget was that as they grew more understanding of what was happening, they were slowly numbed to it. When they could spot things further out in the future, they could afford to be lax.

For children, there was so much they couldn’t understand. So their entire beings were wired to be sensitive to even the smallest change in the environment. Nathan thought himself as growing slowly older, but he felt like even now he was falling further behind Kiersty. It wasn’t a competition, but Nathan knew the day would come where she would need him. He needed to grow strong for that day.

Tatiana tapped her finger lightly on the corner of the desk. “I’m sorry if I seem distracted. Can you explain again what exactly you do for Baloo?”

Nathan smiled as brightly and reassuringly as he could. “I handle class stuff. You don’t really like your Class, right? I can help you find a new one. It’s a little bit complicated, but… basically stuff like that.”

Tatiana seemed anything but reassured. Hesitation was hanging heavy on her every motion and word. “Well… that’s unique. I don’t-...hah, it won’t hurt anything, will it? Okay yes, I’d like a better Class.”

“Okay, so what’s your Class now. Can you hold my hand while you talk please?” Nathan said, offering his hand. He had already used his Investigate Aether Skill to see into Tatiana, but he had found that people were more reassured when he pretended to need permission to do what he did.

That was a waste of time, in Nathan’s opinion. He much preferred times like his operation on Hank, where the other person was unconscious. It saved him so much time and meant he didn’t need to hold back in using his Skills. Still, Randidly had made him promise to keep a low profile. The holding of hands was motivated in a similar vein; he didn’t need physical touch to use his Skills, but people liked the reassurance

Sighing inwardly, Nathan wondered which of them was really the kid as Tatiana took his hand.

“Ah… my Class is Cutpurse. I’m Level 27, right now.” Tatiana said after a brief pause.

She was lying, at least about her Level. Nathan couldn’t see the exact Level, but she was much closer to 35 than 30. He wondered about that. Most people he had met would brag about their Classes by saying they were a higher Level than they were. Nathan’s curiosity was piqued, but he was a consummate professional and did his best to let it pass without comment.

“Level 27 huh,” Nathan couldn’t resist saying, doing his best to sound curious without prying.

Tatiana half shrugged, still holding onto his hand. “Yea, well… even living in the cities aren’t the easiest thing. Monsters sometimes infest the sewers or sneak in through the city limits. Besides, without Leveling up… I started to feel like I was stagnating, you know? I owned a business, but- Ah, this is just me complaining. Anyway, what are you doing?”

“Just getting a sense for you,” Nathan lied. Truthfully, he was testing how sensitive she was to changes in Aether around her. This was most important because how much Aether she could passively absorb had a pretty direct correlation with how much Aether Nathan could shove into her new Class. A person who had a Class that was a bit… insufficient for their images would cope by pulling from the world.

Tatiana was pulling from the world, but a relatively normal amount. Well, normal perhaps an understatement, but it was only about half as much as that man Hank was pulling in. And he was a little bit less than people like Tykes. But Nathan hoped that once Hank realized the changes that had happened inside of himself, he would learn to follow his instincts more directly.

“Okay! Next… what sort of Class do you want? Have you thought about it at all? Cutpurse seems a bit…” Nathan was going to say weak and mundane but thought it might be mean to say to the woman. Besides, Randidly clearly wanted to work long-term with her. So Nathan had to be nice.

He had one brief shiver, saying a thankful prayer that his mom was back in Donnyton, fussing over Kiersty.

“... yea, it’s a bit dishonest, but…” Tatiana’s eyes unfocused, as she looked at something in the sky. Then she sighed and glanced back towards their clasped hands. “Well, my old job was a little on the edge of the law. When the System arrived, this Class just made sense to me. It felt… right. But now… I wonder if I was thinking a little small time. And bound to the city. That, I think, is what I hate the most. I want to go out and help, but… I’m just a Cutpurse.”

Her face pinched as if she was sipping on lemon juice. Nathan remembered he had been disgruntled when he acquired his Soul Architect Class and received the Skill Disarming Presence. But it really seemed to work at letting people forget that he was a child. Instead, they focused inwards on themselves, as his questions guided them there.

“So what do you want to be? Don’t think about it, just visualize it.” Nathan suggested, and Tatiana’s mouth quirked up into a smirk. But she still closed her eyes.

And that was all Nathan needed.