Virgil wiped a sheen of sweat that had accumulated on his forehead with a slightly exhausted sigh. Ever since their encounter with Animo, he had pushed himself even further to level up the skills he had acquired.

He took no opportunities to rest or cool off, spamming and honing the skills to the best of his ability.

Surface Walking[14/20]

Perception[27/100]

Flash Step[43/100]

Physical Conditioning[57/100]

He couldn't help but feel a bit of pride as he observed his skills menu. He couldn't count the amount of times he fell to the floor, exhausted and tired.

He had a few surprise a while leveling up the skills. After [Surface Walking] reached level 10, he was able to walk on water like it was solid ground. He recalled the wry smile on his face as he was reminded of some water walking shinobi.

After that discovery, he had thought of a crazy but still slightly sensible idea. He had begun using [Flash Step] while sticking to odd surfaces, even using it while on water to further increase the leveling speed.

Another discovery he made was that his constant use of [Flash Step] along with his ride with Xlr8 helped increase his [Perception]. Of course while doing all this, a lot of strain was put on his body causing [Physical Conditioning] to increase, further strengthening him.

All in all he was happy with the progress he had made.

Trudging his way back to the rustbucket that was parked quite far away. He had moved quite a distance away from the general population to have some privacy to level up the skills.

Upon entry, he noticed it was empty with Max, Ben and Gwen nowhere around it. His eyes then traveled to the ice cream shop directly in front of the parked vehicle.

'Probably went to get some ice cream.' He thought as he took out a towel and a change of clothes before entering the mini bathroom.

He recalled the horrendous need for three active people to flush the toilet and cringed. That wasn't something he would tolerate and he had deftly made the required adjustments and tinkering to fix that to which the Tennysons were very grateful for.

~Later~

He came out of the bathroom, hair still wet towel hung on his shoulder. His turquoise eyes scanned the surroundings only to still find himself alone.

'They're still not back? Where the hell did they go?' He asked himself as he dried his hair and threw on a shirt.

'Maybe I'll use this time to t-'

At that moment, the door opened, the Tennyson trio walking into the RV with a sulking Ben coming in behind.

"Hey Virgil, we got you some ice cream." Gwen said, holding an ice cream cone with vanilla ice cream on it.

"I didn't know which one was your favorite flavor so I just got this one." She said a bit nervous as she handed it to him.

He looked at it for a moment before accepting it with a nod.

'It's been a while since I had ice cream. Do I even have a favorite flavor?' He pondered as he gave it a lick.

He felt his body relax a bit as the cold nature of the ice cream entered his body causing him to unconsciously let out a small smile. Gwen perked up, satisfied that he liked it.

"What's with him?" Virgil asked, referring to Ben who had now sat at the table and was still sulking.

"Oh, grandpa Max said we're going to visit our Aunt Vera for the weekend." Gwen answered as Virgil racked his brain, trying to remember anything like that.

"What's so bad about that?" He asked, not quite understanding Ben's hatred/dislike for it.

"There's nothing bad about Aunt Vera. Ben's just being a baby." Gwen defended with a mocking smirk towards Ben.

"Am not!" Ben screamed from the side as Max turned to Virgil as he started the Rustbucket.

"Trust me Virgil, you'll love Vera." He said in a cheery tone to which Ben groaned in the background.

"I'll...take your word for it." Virgil answered warily as he walked into the back of the rustbucket to retrieve his laptop.

Settling in the small kitchenette area where Ben's head still lay on the table, he sat opposite him as he booted the device up.

His eyes that formerly displayed a tiny bit of laziness sharpened as he got serious. The image would have been more inspiring if he didn't have a cone of ice cream in his hand.

"When aunt Vera said she wanted to move away from it all, she really meant it." Gwen commented as the rustbucket drove down an empty road. The surroundings were no less empty, being isolated and desolate.

"Oh, man. This summer was supposed to be about f-u-n, not hanging out in some old lady's place." Ben complained as he looked out the window.

"I like Aunt Vera." Gwen said with a bright smile to which Ben retorted.

"Duh. That's because you act like you're a hundred years old."

Gwen offered no more comment as she turned to Virgil who hadn't stopped typing on his computer since the trip started.

He had earplugs in his ears to disassociate himself from the distractions around him. So far he had gained three levels in [Hacking] during the trip, leaving the skill at level 64. It wasn't high enough to achieve what he wanted to do but he would eventually get there.

Gwen looked away from his screen, feeling the usual headache that appeared when she tried to comprehend what he was coding.

The Rustbucket drew closer to a small town up ahead as it slowed down so as not to alarm the residents due to the speed he drove at.

"This is gonna be so boring." Ben complained as they drove into the town.

Their idea of excitement in this place is probably watching the grass grow." He continued, nobody paying him any heed.

Finally getting somewhat tired, Virgil put aside the work he was doing to search for something else.

'Does this town have any libraries? There could be a chance at acquiring a skill there if they have one.' Virgil pondered as he searched for said information online.

One of the reasons why he couldn't just order books online was the fact that they were constantly moving which worked against him.

"Whoa! Did you see that?" Ben exclaimed in shock, his attention outside the window.

Following his line of sight, Gwen looked outside only to see nothing but old people walking around the neighborhood.

"See what? The heat must be frying that pea-sized brain of yours." She mocked as Ben leveled a glare at her.

At that moment, Virgil tore off the earplugs as he closed the laptop. He got to his feet, moving towards the front of the RV under the confused gazes of Ben and Gwen.

"Does this place have a library?" Virgil asked Max who had a pondering look.

"I'm don't know. It's been a while since I came here so I can't say for sure." Max answered, not taking his eyes of the road.

"What are you looking to find there?" He asked the boy.

"Nothing specific. I'm just curious on what kind of books they could have." Virgil answered.

He was technically telling the truth as he was curious about the possible of there being a skill book there.

The Rustbucket arrived at Vera's house, coming to a stop. Wasting no time, Ben is the first to step out, holding his hand up against the glaring sun.

"Seriously, why do old people have to live where its soooo hot!" Ben complained as Gwen snuck behind him, surprising him by spraying a water gun at his back.

"Hey!" Ben complained causing her to laugh and run away as Virgil stepped out of the vehicle, observing his surroundings carefully.

He catches Ben's eyes looking at the window of the building beside Vera's house, design an elderly man peering through it. Hissing at Ben, the man cracked his neck in all directions before shuts the blinds on him.

Virgil's eyes narrowed at that sight. Though he could barely remember what happened at this moment, he could easily tell that that wasn't normal.

'This town isn't as simple as it looks. Then there's that feeling I've been getting since we got here...' He pondered as a loud female voice spoke.

"Max!" An elderly woman almost as big as the elderly Tennyson said as she came out of the house.

"Vera!" Max responded, reciprocating the greeting as he hugged his sister.

"I can't believe you're finally here! And look at you two. So...grown...up!" She exclaimed, now hugging Gwen and pinching her cheeks.

"Oww!" Gwen complained as the woman finally let go.

Vera then did the same with Ben, drawing the same sound of pain from him.

"Who's this little guy?" She asked Max as she moved to hug Virgil.

"I think I'll pass on that." The boy said, moving back to escape the woman's grasp as Max let out a laugh.

"That's Virgil. He's the kid of an old friend of mine." Max explained as the woman put her hands together.

"That's so nice of you Max! Nice to meet you Virgil!" She greeted as Virgil winced inwardly at the annoying sound of her voice.

"Come on in! I can't wait to chew the fat with all of you." Vera said, leading them inside the house.

Upon entry sniffed the air in the house, visibly cringing.

"Ugh, why do old people's houses always smell like somebody's cooking socks or something?" Ben commented rudely as Virgil couldn't help but silently agree.

Due to his [Enhanced] trait, his senses were also raised a bit, causing the smell to be more apparent to him than the others.

Max, Vera, Ben and Gwen sat around the table as a giant orange gelatin mold with brown and white bits sat on the plate in front of them, wiggling disgustingly.

"Ooh, Vera, this is delicious! Now, what are these brown chunks in the mold?" Max asked, genuinely curious.

"Pork chops, and the white parts are cauliflower!" The woman explained as Ben and Gwen exchanged looks of disgust.

"So, Ben, what have you been doing so far this summer?" She asked, turning to Ben.

"Dealing with alien life forms." The boy answered bluntly causing her to laugh.

"Ohoho, you!" She laughed as Gwen frowned a bit as she looked around.

"Where's Virgil?" She asked in confusion.

"Oh! He said he wanted to visit the town public library. Nobody goes there anymore but I hope he'll find what he's looking for." Vera answered as Ben's face squeezed up.

"Why does he get to run away? What's so interesting about a library? It's just books!" Ben complained.

~Meanwhile~

Virgil had arrived at the library Vera directed him towards. He would prefer to call it an abandoned building rather than a library.

There were numerous cracks in the walls of the building and it was so dusty that it seemed like it was abandoned for decades.

'Still, I have no choice.' He thought as he moved to the shelves that seemed like they would fall apart at the slightest touch.

He picked up a book from the collection as a prompt appeared in his sights.

Do you want to learn 'Sewing'

[Yes] [No]

He deadpanned, already seeing how this would take a while. He was sure to get frustrated while searching.

~Thirty Minutes Later~

He was right.

Though he didn't find anything largely useful, he found something nonetheless.

During his search he had acquired three new skills. [Voice Imitation], [Acting] and [Language Comprehension]. Despite how common they were, he could see them becoming useful at higher levels.

His ears picked up the sound of footsteps moving around the library. The floors were wooden and rotted so it wasn't that hard.

Activating [Stealth], he silenced his entire being as he carefully moved closer to the source of the footsteps.

'According to Vera, there shouldn't be anybody here.' He thought as he got closer to the source of the footsteps.

Peeking around one of the shelves to see who it was, his eyes widened a bit at who he saw. White long hair and purple clothing to match.

'Charmcaster! What is she doing here?' He thought in slight confusion and panic.

Unlike what most people thought, Charmcaster and Hex were two of the most potentially dangerous people that he could think of.

In a way, they could pose close to the same level of threat as Vilgax if they didn't waste their time and potential.

His body screamed in panic as he flash stepped away from his hiding place just as something smashed into the shelf.

Danger Sense has leveled up!

He looked back to what crashed into his previous position, his eyes widening immediately. A large stone golem with purple lines around its body stood there, its face looking in his direction.

He immediately blurred away from his current position as a purple blast exploded into it. Gritting his teeth as he stood upside down on the ceiling, he stared at Charmcaster who now stared him straight in the eyes.

"Now look what we have here, a stray. Sorry kid but this is where you die." She said bluntly as her palm thrust out towards Virgil, a blast of purple fire shooting at him.

Acting quickly, he allowed himself to fall freely, dodging the blast as it struck the ceiling. During his descent, he launched two daggers at high speed towards her with a flick of his wrist.

The daggers stopped midair as they got close to her. Her lips twisted into a mocking smirk as she spoke.

"Is that really the best you can do?" She asked mockingly as a black marble flew in her direction, freezing in midair as well, her smirk widening.

What she didn't expect was for the marble to explode in a flash of bright light, stunning her.

*BANG!*

"Aaahhhhh!" She screamed as she was temporarily blinded, allowing the floating daggers to fall to the ground.

While she was stunned, Virgil quickly dashed forward, appearing in front of her as he smashed his foot into her neck.

She was sent flying into the shelf by the side, crashing into it as it broke into pieces. Virgil could only look in surprise at the power of his attack. He hadn't fought any human since his body got stronger so he didn't know how much force he could put into an attack.

To his surprise, Charmcaster stood to her feet, dusting herself off as a purple glow around her body made itself known.

'Some sort of protection spell? Shit!' He cursed internally as he watched her get to her feet.

The two stared at each other for a moment, neither willing to make the first move. They stayed like that for some time until she began speaking.

"Are you going to stay silent throughout? Who are you?" She asked curiously and a bit irritated.

Virgil eyed her warily as he held a dagger in his grip to ready himself for anything.

"Virgil." He said simply as she raised a brow.

"So you can talk. The name's Charmcaster. I'm curious as to what you were doing in here." She stated more than questioned.

"I could ask you the same thing seeing as how you just tried to kill me." Virgil retorted, narrowing his eyes as she let out a laugh.

"If I really tried to kill you, you'd be dead already." She commented dryly making him narrow his eyes.

He still had numerous kinds of weapons in his inventory but he was saving that for a surprise attack if necessary.

"Then what do you want with me?" Virgil asked as Charmcaster lowered her guarded stance and said the one sentence Virgil never expected to hear from her mouth.

"You interest me." She said simply as he froze in confusion.

"Interest you? What do you mean?" He asked, regaining his bearings.

"Any normal kid would have run away once they saw my golems smash a few shelves. Then there's the fact that you managed to hide from my detection spell. I just barely felt you before I lost it." She answered honestly to his surprise.

'Note to self, level up stealth skills.' He thought as he digested what she said.

"I also didn't feel any magic from you despite your...interesting performance." She drawled out.

"What now?" Virgil asked, dropping his stance but still being on guard.

"I suppose a temporary truce would be the best option, for now." She suggested as the stone golem fell to a pile of rocks and Virgil hid his knife to her wonder at its disappearance.

"Follow me." She added simply, turning to walk away.

'I don't recall this being how Charmcaster behaved. Something's different. That makes her unpredictable.' He thought with an internal grimace as he walked after her.

Following her past a few shelves and reading areas, they reached a part of the library that was littered with books on the floor.

"What exactly are you looking for here?" Virgil asked as she walked to the pile of books, quickly skimming through them and discarding them.

She paused for a moment as she regarded him. He gave her a dry look at her appraisal earning him a small chuckle.

"Don't give me that look. I'm here because I felt some magic from this general area. I followed it and it lead me here. I'm guessing there's an ancient artifact somewhere here but my magic isn't precise enough or lead me directly to it." She ranted a bit towards the end.

"Maybe I'm reading it wrong but you don't seem like the type to come all the way here for fun." Virgil notes out loud for her to hear.

"That's right." She affirmed, not stopping what she was doing.

"So why exactly...?" He asked, causing her to pause her perusing to answer.

"There's someone powerful I want to beat. To do that, I'll need everything I can get my hands on to beat him." She said, her tone taking a dark tone.

"Maybe we can come to an agreement." Virgil's voice cut through her thoughts, surprising her.

"Do tell."

Looking at Charmcaster, he saw an opportunity to do something about his manaless trait. Though he could guessed that Hex was more knowledgeable, beggars can't be choosers.

"You have someone you need to beat and I have a goal I need to achieve. I'll help you with your objectives and you'll help me with mine." He spoked gaining her interest and attention.

"Do we have a deal?" He proposed finally to her surprise.

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" She pondered out loud with a smile.

"I'll take you up on that." She answered as she stepped close to him, sticking her hand out which he took firmly as a purple light shone on their connected hands.

You have made a magical contract!

Both participants of the magical contract are obligated to follow through with the aforementioned agreements or suffer severe consequences!

Due to Partial Gamers Mind, punishment upon breaking agreement has been reduced!

Due to Partial Gamers Body, punishment upon breaking agreement has been reduced!

He read the message with a raised eyebrow. He pushed down the smirk that threatened to surface on his lips as he asked.

"A magical contract?" He asked simply to her ever growing surprise.

"You're quite observant. Yes, it's a magical contract. Neither of us are allowed to go back on out word." She explained what he basically already knew.

"So, what did you need help with?" She asked.

"I'm sure you've already noted the absence of magic in my body." He stated as she pursed her lips.

"Yeah. Even new born babies have more mana than you do." She jabbed to his slight annoyance.

"Is there any way for me to gain control of my mana?" He asked, not hiding his intent.

Part of the conditions of a magical contract was that they couldn't willingly harm each other so he was slightly safe.

Charmcaster was silent for some time as she closed her eyes in thought. She opened her eyes, raising her palm to face level as a purple light emanated from it, passing over him.

He stayed silent despite the weird action. It continued for a few more moments before she stopped with a sigh.

"I would advise you to give up." She said simply, causing his eyes to widen briefly before narrowing.

"And why is that?"

"The process of learning to use mana exhausts a specific amount of mana depending of each person. With the minuscule amount you have, you'll die the moment you attempt it." She explained.

"It's a wonder you're even alive." She added causing him to grit his teeth.

He was silent for some time as he digested what she said. In the mean time, she went back to perusing the shelves.

Only a minute later, he spoke once more.

"Is there any other substitute?"

"Huh?" She answered oh so intelligibly.

"Mana is a source of internal energy that can be manipulated but it can't possibly be the only usable option." He said, a bit more detailedly, his words giving her something to think on.

"Well there is something else..." She trailed off unsurely.

"What is it?" She leveled a look at him before continuing with a sigh.

"While mana is more commonly used, there is another substitute as you call it. Aura." She answered as his eyes narrowed a bit.

"Continue."

"Aura is much more difficult to use and each person's aura manifests in different ways. Using even the smallest amount of Aura takes years of training and dedication. Even then, there are many risks." She said in a discouraging manner.

"So, how do I start?" He asked, causing her head to snap towards him.

"Didn't you hear me? It would take years for you to even begin to feel your aura, that's not even talking about using it. Even then, there's no guarantee that it'll work." She said, looking at him like he was crazy but the look in his eyes didn't change.

"What do we have to lose? There's no harm in trying." He answered, not budging from his decision.

'Even if I can't use mana, Aura is still a possibility no matter how slim it is. I can already see many uses for it.' He thought as he stared at her.

Charmcaster let out a sigh as the bag on her hip opened opened up, a small book flying out of it into her waiting hand.

"This should help you get there faster." She said begrudgingly as a notebook flew into her hands. She threw them both towards him which he easily caught.

He looked over the two books in his hands. The first book had a simply title over it reading 'Aura'. Looking at the second book, he was a bit confused. Opening the first page of the notebook, he saw that its content were completely handwritten.

"This is your persona-"

"I'll be surprised if you make any progress. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do." She said as she turned away.

After putting the books in his inventory, he made his way out of the library. He had achieved more than what he expected.

He made his way back to Vera's house with a smirk on his face.

'It may have taken others years to make progress but I'll do it in much less time than that.' He thought victoriously as he continued on his way.