Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?

[chalicejoker]

Heads up--if you run into Teruo, Kinji's infiltration, some kind of yellow sea snake mermaid--be really damn careful. He's a menace.

Asshole goaded me into what I thought was a spar, but then he started singing, and it...

[Hajime's mental voice trails off in embarassment here before picking up again.]

Look, I'm not proud of it, but it's hard to get me to back down from a fight. And what he did, it...I just stopped fighting. Didn't even think to defend myself. He kept it up long enough to hit me with a cheap sucker punch.

[The irritation is just coming off his mental voice here.]

He also said several times that if I was a warrior, I should be sticking closer to the boat and protecting my school--I'm still not sure if that was a threat or not. I wouldn't put anything past him.

...and if you do end up talking to him and he mentions someone named Chalice, that's me--I'm not about to go by my real name in the same world as the Bando, even if I'm a fish this time around.

Comments

[theflyingone]

Have someone teach you to protect your mind. If we Travelers pick up skills right and left, we may as well have that. The theory is that the same power that makes network conversations private also shields your mind from outside forces.

[chalicejoker]

I've got some protection, but...he caught me off guard. Really off guard.

I'll be ready next time.

[theflyingone]

Your mental armor needs to be stronger, then. If Claudia is right, this is not the sort of thing one needs to constantly keep on guard. It should just protect you without you having to think about it.

[chalicejoker]

Yeah, I...need to work on that. I can only do a little.

[theflyingone]

It is a sort of mystery to me as well.

[ Considering he only just found out that he might have some psychic resistance a day or so ago... ]

[chalicejoker]

Yeah, I'm better with the more concrete stuff. This is...going to be a challenge.

[theflyingone]

I am sorry I cannot be of much help.

[ He thinks of what his old Mentor had once said of him, why he could not be simply mind-controlled by the Apple... ]

Perhaps you just need to be stubborn about it.

[chalicejoker]

I'm going to be incredibly stubborn. I know what to expect now.

[theflyingone]

Yes, but... the point of it is to be prepared for the unexpected.

[chalicejoker]

...I'm more prepared now than I was earlier, at least.