Zephyr immediately took action to defuse the escalating situation, jarring out of his hyper-focused state, his eyes returning back to their normal lively shade of black.
Cedric noticed the change and eased up a bit, but not fully. He still watched Zephyr's movements as he raised his arms up in surrender.
"Hey man, what's with that look? You're making me scared."
"Should you be?" Cedric narrowed his eyes.
"What are you even saying?" Zephyr retorted. "You're looking at me like I'm some sort of beast."
"I dunno. Are you?"
Zephyr puckered his lips wryly. "Seriously man?"
Cedric shrugged. "Tell me something only you would know then."
Zephyr shook his head in exasperation, "Um..."
"FIRST FORM OF THE GALE SERIES! GALESTRIKE!!" He imitated Cedric's previous display, turning the guy's face a couple of shades deeper.
He cleared his throat. "That was just today... anyone could've seen that." He mumbled, already relaxing. Zephyr saw it too and chortled. "Hey, you know it's me, so why are you making things hard!"
"Tell me something else." Cedric waved dismissively, some sass starting to leak into his actions.
"..." Zephyr scrunched up his face in thought. "Your first real statement to Helga was you recommending her a warhammer."
"Hmm."
That seemed to do the trick as Cedric relaxed further, much to the chagrin of Zephyr.
"What was that anyways? Why were you being so cautious?" Zephyr queried.
"Sorry about that. You never know with these rifts. One always has to be careful... just like the instructors told us."
"Riiight." Zephyr raised a brow.
"Whatever. Forget about that. Why did you blank out so abruptly? Was it what I told you? Did it ring any bells? Don't give any bullshit excuse, Zephyr. I saw your expression, and it can't be explained by anything other than some recognition or understanding..." Cedric fired off.
"Yeahh... it was related to something in runesmithing." Zephyr quickly thought up an excuse.
"Runesmithing?" Cedric flinched in surprise, slightly taken aback by the response. He expected a sensational answer, either truthful or a lie, but either way sensational, on the extreme. Not this plain and straightforward answer. He didn't know what to make of it, as he didn't have any experience with runesmithing.
"Yeah. What you said earlier reminded me of some book I've read on runesmithing. I'll have to check back on it though."
Cedric clenched his jaw subtly as he stared at Zephyr's clear expression. This guy has very good control of his facial muscles. I can't even tell if he's bullshitting or not, he thought.
"Regardless. That's a problem for later. We're losing out on kills every second we speak." Zephyr reminded Cedric, eager to split. The previous notifications he got were still on his mind. He wanted to test out everything fully.
Cedric nodded carefully, feeling like he'd lost out on a deal, and as someone raised in a merchant family, it didn't feel good. He gave away good information, but so far hadn't received anything equivalent in return.
One could interpret this as being manipulative or transactional in relating, but this was how the world worked here. It was normal, expected even. And it had been drilled into all children of noble birth and also trickled down to those born in families with lesser standing, like merchants or artisans. Hence, he didn't see anything wrong with it.
They both parted ways with contrasting feelings on the basis of going to earn more points.
After they separated, Zephyr kept walking deeper into the forest. By now one would've expected he'd be testing every single thing out like he was eager to, but before he did, he felt that tingle again. The small details his heightened senses picked up— every slight rustle, every small change in the wind he was able to hear, the faint traces he could now see on some trees— were all pointed out and deciphered due to his new user privileges.
Someone was following him. Someone was watching.
He'd found his examiner, even pinpointed his general direction in the darkness. The person was always changing positions— sometimes he was at his front, above, waiting for Zephyr to pass by, sometimes he was behind, at the sides, sometimes Zephyr couldn't even sense him— making Zephyr take the time to recalibrate. It was like a game, and Zephyr was getting better at it, picking out details better, refining his perception.
Obviously, he wanted to do something else. In particular: learning about the systems Aegis mentioned. From the interpretation in his mind, he could tell that was where the answer to Cedric's Word lay.
'Huh?' Zephyr nearly paused. 'I'm not picking up any signs of being followed again.' It seemed the examiner had deviated to something else again. Within the last few minutes, he had done the same like twice.
Zephyr continued walking, listening and watching carefully for any signs.
Suddenly, he felt a change in the air and stopped abruptly, straining his ears to the max, sorting through the useless sounds and focusing on what he wanted to hear.
'Someone incoming. No. Two. Two people? The second didn't sound like the other though. Vastly different weights? No! That wasn't human!' Zephyr's eyes snapped open, ready to speed away. Whatever was coming was dangerous. It was even chasing after the examiner, so what else could he do but run.
Just as he was about to speed away, a realization dawned on him based on previous patterns. 'Could the examiner be testing me?' His eyes widened. 'That would mean he knows I'm aware of him. Is this his probe? Or has he concluded and is trying to test my limits?'
Dilemma.
Zephyr was stuck. If he moved now, he would confirm the examiner's suspicions. If he didn't, he would have to face something that he'd probably use all his newly acquired cards to deal with or escape from. Or it could all just be in his head. His new ability could be wrong since it was just an inference based on previous patterns.
To someone else, it could seem like a no-brainer. Just run, and let the examiner know you have sharp senses. But that would reveal one of his most vital trump cards to the authorities. Not to talk about how absurd it would be for a fresh recruit to have such insane perception. He had already revealed his strength and speed, so he was hesitant to reveal this also, instead, he was kind of willing to take his chances against the beast using only his strength and speed.
All this might have seemed long, but it all took place within a split of a second.
He could feel the vibrations and hear the sound of something bounding down his way now. He turned his head towards the direction naturally, like anyone would.
Zephyr had made his decision. It was too late for anything else now anyways. He would feign ignorance. He would stand and fight.
"Bring it on!" He snarled under his breath.