I wanted to relax at home but there was no way I could do that. After a day of pondering, I found what I believed was the path to the highest chance of survival. Once I made sure Aginaci was settled, I prepared myself to go out again.
"I'll be out for some time. Are you going to be fine here?"
"You're leaving? Do you have something to do? Should I come with you?"
("Come to think of it, he said he liked sports? Is he going to do that?")
"No, it's fine. It's more important for you to study for now. Don't let Elodie disturb you too much. It's fine to tell her to leave you alone."
("I don't know if I can do that.")
"I'll try."
"Alright. See you later."
"Goodbye."
My first destination was the supermarket. The convenience store was close by but the supermarket was slightly further away and it took me around fifteen minutes to get there. I bought two kinds of different snacks, a foldable table, and foldable chairs. There went most of the rest of my savings. My arms were now full and I struggled to make my way back home.
Aginaci was indeed being bothered by my sister when I reached my room, as expected. Aginaci was surprised to see me back already. Her eyes asked for help but I didn't have time to play with them. After putting down the table and chair in my room, I went out again. My goal this time was the closest forest to the town. It took me around twenty minutes of walking this time.
When I was there, I extended my power in every direction to locate my target. This was yet another advantage I had. My ability could act as a radar. If I paid attention, it would be hard to ambush me.
'I mean, not really, but I might be able to detect them just before dying. Maybe.'
I corrected myself. I should say that it would be hard for normal people to ambush me unless they were a sniper or something. My scan was successful and I found the person I was looking for. I headed in his direction and waited for the correct timing by monitoring his thoughts.
It didn't take long and less than thirty seconds later, I resumed closing on him. And there he was, in the middle of the forest, eyes closed and one hand against a tree. This would normally not be a special sight, except that vegetation was growing at a visible pace around him while enveloping him. There was a tame green light around his body, pulsating slowly. He was smiling softly, enjoying his communion with nature.
As soon as I got close enough, he opened his eyes and turned in my direction.
"Oh, it's you."
This was the most apathetic possible reaction to someone witnessing him using a clearly abnormal power. His expression stayed neutral, neither agitated, surprised, angry, or even happy.
"Dukun… What was that?"
("So he saw me. Well, it was just a matter of time before something like this happened.")
"Well… I'm not sure what it's called exactly. I personally refer to it as shamanic power.
"Shamanic power? You have superpowers? What the hell, man?"
I could only hope my acting skills weren't too laughable. Fortunately, he didn't seem to doubt me, probably because he didn't care too much anyway.
("I suppose that's the normal reaction in this world.")
"As you saw."
I stayed silent for some time, acting as if I was trying to assimilate what he said.
"Are you for real? That was amazing! How did you do it? Can I learn it too?"
"You want to… learn it? Aren't you afraid?"
"No way! It looked awesome!"
("It's awesome? I guess that might be the case for a normal person.")
"I see. Why do you want to learn it?"
"Why wouldn't I want to learn it? Who wouldn't want a superpower?"
("I guess that's true.")
"It's not really a superpower. It's more similar to talking to plants and vegetation."
"Talking to plants. Haha. That would normally sound crazy but I saw it with my own eyes. So, can I learn it too?"
"You wanted to learn martial arts too. Do you like learning new things?"
"I sure do."
'I just want to get as many cards in my arsenal as possible.'
"Well, that's fine. Why not?"
"Seriously? Thanks, man! I owe you one."
Dukun grinned a little and immediately started his teaching. The whole exchange between us was extremely weird but I knew why he reacted like this. Any normal or abnormal person would have reacted more aggressively to being seen in such a situation. Some of my classmates would have silenced me without any second thoughts. But not him. Not only was he completely fine with me witnessing his power, but he also even agreed to teach it to me. A good way to describe his current attitude was that he was kind of floating through life. I didn't target him for no reason. I knew there was a high chance that things would turn out like this.
"It's not that complicated. Come here. Put your hand against the tree. Close your eyes and free yourself from upsetting thoughts."
I did as he said and when I was ready, he continued.
"Good. Now, recite after me."
He uttered a long sentence in a very foreign-sounding language. As he did so, the vegetation around him vibrated slightly.
"What language is that?"
"You can consider it as nature's language. It allows you to communicate with all and any plants."
"Wow, nice."
A normal person would have asked how he learned about it but this was the last thing I wanted to do. He would have trouble answering me. Plus, I already knew the answer. Making things awkward between us was something I was actively trying to avoid.
Following his example, I recited the sentence. Whenever I forgot about some parts, I just read them directly from his mind. My power didn't make me powerful but it certainly was convenient.