Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

Chapter 32: Someone's stroking the strings of fate (double chapter)

'Just keep on walking like usual,' I told myself while casually strolling down the street.

I was still well within the mob-controlled territory, but it was only a matter of time before I would reach the limits of their influence. But the goals of my outside mission for today all aligned only in the circumstances void of the gang's protection.

And it all came to be due to the talk I had with Fay directly before leaving her at the shed and moving out.

"You already taught me how to read auras," I spoke back then, moving on from the topic of money and how many burgers it could buy to something I was equally as eager to tackle. "Could you then explain one thing? Auras, what exactly are those?"

Fay's ability to speak English was currently the only limitation on how much of her knowledge she could share with me. At least, that was the case all the way up until this point.

First, she could simply lack the knowledge to answer my question. Secondly, she could have reasons not to divulge things that directly related to the world she came from. And lastly, she might judge me as not worthy to learn the answers I wanted.

In truth, there were many more possible reasons for Fay to refuse my question, answering it with silence or outright denial. It was a possibility I could only accept, given how I only offered some cheap luxury in exchange for this precious information.

Contrary to my worries, though, Fay didn't seem to mind talking about auras in the slightest. Quite the opposite, in fact, judging by how the lower parts of her hair suddenly started to move left and right, as if propelled by some sort of an invisible tail.

"Auras are... Spirit!" Fay nearly shouted after taking a moment to think and putting on yet another version of her cute expression to show. "Fay's aura is Fay's spirit," she struck herself in the chest with her hand. "Peter's aura is Peter's spirit," she added, turning her hand around and using it to gently poke me in my chest.

'That doesn't really...'

"Fay's aura strong!" Fay then exclaimed as an adorably smug smile flourished on her lips. "Fay's aura stronger than Peter's aura!" she added... while playfully stabbing me with her finger again and again.

'Okay, but what does that make aura to be?' I asked in my question, somehow willing to give up after only those few questions.

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The limitations to Fay's knowledge about the language... or maybe even her ability to describe this kind of thing in terms I could properly understand were still lacking.

Or rather, her genius has yet to bridge the gap that I couldn't even dream of fixing myself in less than a few years at the very damn least! It would be conceited to blame Fay's inability to use hermetic, technical language to explain phenomena that didn't exactly exist in the modern world and thus had no proper technical reflection in the language. After all, she only started to learn the language a mere three days ago!

"Peter doesn't understand..." Fay muttered, her enthusiasm giving way to the same, thoughtful expression I saw just before. "Peter's weak," the poke of Fay's finger now stung much less than her words. "Thus Peter's aura is weak!"

Fay then pushed her chest out and nearly stood up on her tiptoes, all just to make herself appear bigger while the mischievous smile returned to her lips.

"Fay's strong! Fay's spirit super strong!" she exclaimed again, slapping herself on the chest to put an emphasis on how strong she was. "So, Fay's aura's strong too!"

'Is one's aura a generalized reflection of their strength?' I attempted to forward a guess from the little I understood out of Fay's explanation.

Yet, a single glance over to the side and desire to see my system quickly proved this hypothesis wrong. The number simply didn't add up!

[Level: 2]

[Strenght: 1.25]

[Agility: 1.25]

[Wisdom: 4]

[Inteligence: 4.25]

[Endurance: 4.5]

[Aura: 3]

[Usable points: 3]

Even excluding the effects of the blessing of the celestial fox, I couldn't figure out a single mathematic formula that would bind either all six of the attributes or different groups of them together.

The sum of my strength and agility was half of a whole point below the level of my aura, and I could still remember lacking any aura back when I was still a mere level one.

'Maybe it's something people use to track the growth of one's level with?' Another idea came to my mind, this time harder to find any way to deny it. After all, my aura did rise by one point after leveling up...

But what would happen if I were to use my free points and raise it manually? And if that's the case, why didn't it work in reverse, back when I raised my other stats?

Back at the shed, I could only shake my head before gently pushing the topic further, towards the names of the rest of my attributes. Regretfully, though, while happy to help out while we were on the topic of auras, as soon as I started to ask Fay around about the meaning of strength, agility, and the rest of my attributes... She didn't seem to understand the very core of the question.

After all, if I suddenly forgot the physical formulas several years in school nailed into my brain, would I have any means to explain what strength is?

Back at the shed, that was the limit of what I could ask around. And yet, even after I left the shed with a considerable portion of the investment money from the mob, I couldn't help but keep throwing the mud of ideas at the wall of my analytic ability, hoping that by putting the pieces of this puzzle together at random I could make something stick.

'In the end, I know about as much as I knew before heading into this discussion,' I thought, rolling my thoughts back to my earlier ideas. And according to my observations, there were a few interesting points to my system.

First, my attributes could be split into two, a 'physical' and a 'mental' category. And while I could somewhat guess the meaning of strength, agility, and endurance... I couldn't really do the same with that damn wisdom and intelligence!

'I thought that by raising them by a fair bit I wouldn't have to struggle with questions like that,' I thought, slightly annoyed by how this gift from my long-missing father couldn't be any clearer.

Was it intentional that I now had to rack my brains like never before, or was it just an oopsie on the end of my father?

With those thoughts in my head, I didn't even realize it when I reached the border of the gang-controlled territory. And looking up... I couldn't help but gulp my saliva.

The city just a few steps ahead didn't look all that different than the part of it I was leaving behind my back. It was different for sure, with roads being properly maintained, sidewalks regularly cleaned and the streets being generally far safer than the mob-infested area I came from.

Besides that, though, one couldn't really see any difference between one district at the other. The safety and comfort of its residents were the one factor that put those two neighboring areas apart.

Behind me was the world where the mob rule was absolute even if it didn't grab everyone by their throats and choked them until they dedicated their entire lives to the mob. And In front of me was a part of the town where crime rarely happened under the scrutinous patrols of the police... and where people happily offered their souls to the companies they worked just for a chance of getting another title and a few bucks more than their coworkers.

Still, as I stood on the border, I couldn't help but look up at all the beautiful houses and apartment buildings decorating the streets with their artistically-sensible fronts. Even though I could only cast a single glance, the stylish class of those buildings gave birth to a small spark of jealousy... no, a spark of desire.

The desire to reach the financial level of stability that would allow me to move to some place like this and usher Fay in all the luxury and comfort the real world had to offer!

'That's it, only if I will be lucky enough for her to stick around with me for long enough to make this dream come true,' I thought, my mood suddenly depreciating.

But there was still one more aspect that split the part of the town behind me from the one ahead.

Behind, I was safe, under the strict mob protection, free from the tentacles of my dear aunt's influence. But after taking a step forward that I just did, I entered the place where everyone was likely to be my enemy and her ally. Still, for how rich and influential my vicious aunt could be, I wasn't delusional to believe she could have a whole damn city in her pocket! And with how many people lived in the area, it would take someone from above messing with the strings of fate, for me to meet even one of my active bullies out here!

And that's when I felt as if the air itself tensed up for a second, brought to a halt by a deity's finger stroking said strings of fate and causing them to create an anomaly.

An anomaly that took the form of my dearest, step-sister who just happened to be walking around the place while linking arms with her classic bad boy of a boyfriend. And to make matters worse, the same influence that I couldn't help but believe was messing up with the probabilities of certain events now made that little bitch raise her eyes... and lock them on my face.

'For fuck's sake...' I thought when I saw a bright, vicious smile emerge on Natalye's face as she turned and dove right towards me while pulling her boyfriend along.

"Hey, look!" she shouted with all her might as if trying to root me in place with just her voice alone. "It's my loser of a stepbrother!" she added in a now slightly lower voice...

But all those who could be bothered to get curious about the sudden shout could easily hear it. And seeing the familiar sparks of vile satisfaction appear in her eyes, even through all the distance that separated us, I could pretty much guess what she was doing all of that for.

She simply wanted an audience for what was about to happen... Or rather, what would happen if I was still the same man as just a few days ago.

'I thought I would have to roam around the city for a few days before I would stumble into any of those guys,' I thought, using every last bit of my willpower to hold back a positively surprised smile from rooting itself in my expression. 'I guess I'm not that unlucky after all,' I thought, just as Natalye' raised her hand and waved in my direction.

"Let's go and say hi!" her shout reached my ears just as I shrugged my shoulders and continued to walk ahead.

The first act of my mission for today was about to begin. And I had to do everything in my power not to reveal my hand too early!