《The unfair blessing》


 Chapter 1: A pervert boss

    Chapter 1: A pervert boss


    "Ahh, that''s one of the worst ones. Give me another one."


    "We have this new special red wine. We specifically brought it for customers like you, sir." Said the bartender with a feeble smile.


    ''I hate when someone gives me that smiley and innocently looking face.''


    "Whatever, I''ll take this one home this time." I turned my head towards the man I was sitting next to and said "It''s time for you to do your part of the deal, Brody."


    I paid my bills and started walking home. My car was there, but I chose not to drive this time, since I live in the neighborhood.


    ''Dam, this new red wine is hella expensive, a 482$ for a bottle. I think I''ll keep this one for the next Sunday. Tomorrow will be a long day of work.''


    The next day, as usual, my brain started to work properly while I was brushing my teeth, then I started assimilating my surroundings. ''I''m home, I just woke up in time, and I need to rush to work.'' Actually, I did not need to because I am the boss, but I got used to it, to the point where my body got up by itself.


    My name is Ray, 26 years old, I''m a hard worker, and I built this company. To establish a business from scratch and to be able to get a 482$ bottle of wine like if it was nothing at such a young age is a brilliant accomplishment, but it came with a cost that most people are not willing to pay.


    I walked to my car and drove to work. Finally, I''m in front of this shiny building, all covered with glass. My building.


    I walked in and said to the first person I met before I completely visualize him. "Theodore, you are the first one to be here again that''s impressive, keep up the good work! You know the rules the employee of 7 consecutive months is the employee of the year"


    He said hesitantly "This time I am not the first one here, she is" and looked right to my office.


    Theodore is a muscular and strong man that you can count on, older than me like most of my workers, but he has a lot of respect for me, but not only respect.


    "You know Theodore, why you are my favorite? It is because hatred fear and stress are not necessary for you to perform over the norm, and that''s less work for me." I said as I was walking to my humble office. And as expected from him he stood straight, waiting for me to enter my office.


    I classify people into 5 different categories. Theodore is one of the pawns, and it''s the category that I like the most.


    The pawns generally have less IQ than the others. I met a lot of pawns in my life but most of them got affected by other categories, which makes finding one difficult these days. They are the kind of people that follows orders with minimal questions asked as long as they get a prize for it.


    The second category, the Brain-locked category. These kinds of people, usually do not profit from the full power and wisdom that their brains can provide. They tend to have a virtual second brain located most likely on their hearts or their genitals, and it happens that I have one of them right in from of me.


    "Selia," I said with a serious voice and staring deep into her eyes, trying to spot and read every reaction she can make. Anxiety, cowardice, despair, and terror. That is exactly what I wanted. ''This girl should be an easy one.'' Without letting her enough time to make her thoughts into words, I spoke with a graduating tone of voice "Do you know how much trouble did you make MY company go through just because of your mediocre work, and your beginner''s mistakes"


    I added as my voice kept rising "For a high-level security engineer, it''s a shame to get hacked like this."


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    With her trembling voice, she tried to respond "But... I..."


    I interrupted "Enough!" As I slammed my desk with my palms.


    "They had our entire local database, and they even got access to the backup storage. And now that I, fixed the problem you need to make up for it. From now on, you work from 8:00 to 19:00 every day, weekends included for the next six months and the financial losses are directly compensated from your salary for the same duration, and luckily for you, the compensations do not exceed the 45% threshold."


    I took a moment to let her make a reaction, I have never seen someone terrified as much as her right now, then I looked away I felt like a smile was about to sneak out and break my serious face.


    She said with eyes full of tears "I can do anything but this, please" then I smiled. ''Checkmate''.


    Knowing that this gentle beautiful woman has to visit her dying parents in the hospital every week, for a stupid promise she made, and that their medical treatments are taking more than 45% of her salary, she would obviously say that she can do anything. On top of that, she cannot just leave the job; I can literally destroy her reputation, and make her never find a job again. Moreover, she needs to find a job right away to keep paying the hospital, which is impossible even without my interfering. I stood up, started walking toward her, and said with that diabolic smile of mine


    "Are you sure about that?"


    "Y..yes"


    I got closer to her, my hand on the wall behind her, my body leaning towards her. I looked deep into her eyes, our noses almost touched, and said again "Are you sure about that?"


    "Yes"


    ''Confident huh? then let''s hear YOU say it''


    "How can you pay me then" at that moment, I can see her soul screaming through her eyes.


    "I can pay with my..., my body."


    I got back to my formal position and said with a calm and serious voice." deal?"


    "Yes, deal"


    Knowing Selia she probably peed her pants, and she needs a break to be able to work as usual, so I let her free for that day.


    Selia


    Getting hacked through a picture that my only beloved son sent me, I never expected that to ever happen. It was a picture of me, my son, and my dead husband, a picture that we lost years ago. I didn''t think through it and I immediately clicked on it. The attack was sent to me at the latest hours of work of last Friday. 20 minutes later, I realized I got hacked and it was too late. Subsequently, the hospital informed me that my parents were ailing and that they might not live for another day. I called the boss informed him about the situation, even though he always insisted to let family problems away from the job as one of his rules, but I told him everything anyway. It was 18:00, so I could''ve left anyway.


    Arriving at the hospital, they informed me that my father needed an immediate intervention and that he lost a lot of blood during the operation. But luckily, they had a lot of blood compatible with him, that just got transferred. And what was more surprising was that the operation was expansive and that somebody handled the payment. I couldn''t know who it was, so I started referring to him as my guardian angel later on. After I checked on my parents it was time for me to check on the company, and to try and solve the problem I made as fast as possible. I called the president, no answers, then I called the vice president, and she explained how bad it was and that the president himself stepped in to solve the problem. The moment I heard that I knew that I''m in trouble, and I decided to apologize. Our boss wasn''t the type of person who accepts apologies, for mistakes like this. He always looks scary and strict but I''m sure he has a big heart deep inside, and he will understand my situation if I do get a chance to explain it. He indeed kicked a lot of people while I was working with him, but all of them were lazy people, and I always worked hard, and I cannot afford to get fired in my current situation. Monday morning, I woke up early, visited my husband''s grave, and headed to work.


    After having a long conversation with my boss that day, I knew fear for the first time in my life. He probably thought that I had enough courage to stand still and talk a couple of words, but in fact, I couldn''t move. I felt like his aura was a living force that crept over me like some hungry beast, immobilizing me; my brain, holding me captive. I peed my pants that day.


    I went back home. My son is used to see me cry over my sick parents, he didn''t ask many questions this time, I went to the shower looked up, and started thinking about the situation, I looked at the mirror and thought to myself that this is not the worst thing in the world, I''m a young and a beautiful woman, and I might get the boss''s intention this way, if I get his attention and we get married, he might also help me with my parent''s state.


    Ray


    The next day, the only thing that was out of my plans was that Selia will be the one asking me to let her start working. ''Sometimes I don��t know where this woman comes with all this motivation. Well, let''s see her reaction to what she has to hear for today.''


    "It''s good that you did not forget about our deal Selia"


    "Yes, the deals are one of your rules, and breaking your rules is not tolerated."


    ''Is she messing with me?'' "And what was our deal?"


    "I''ll pay with my body."


    "Are you ready for it?"


    she responded "Yes"


    ''How stupid'' and I said without hesitation "Okey, you will get the address later on. Tonight, you will have your first client."


    And I left her paralyzed and rooted to her seat.

 Chapter 2: Revenge

    Chapter 2: Revenge


    After my conversation with Selia ended, it was time for me to go for the next steps. I had to arrange two urgent meetings for that specific day.


    First and foremost, I need to meet, Clair the Vice President.


    Clair, The best way to describe her is that she is the closest person to my personality. I can rely on her decisions to manage the most difficult situations. She is clever, sharp, and strong. We used to practice martial arts together, but she quit not long ago because of an injury on her left arm during a practice fight. She is also one of the people that can make a lot of sacrifices to achieve their goals. I do not wish that she become one of my enemies one day. That is why I''m placing her right beside me.


    As for the category that she belongs to, I was not sure if it was the same as mine or not.


    I called Clair. I was sitting at my desk and looking at the street through the window as I started explaining: "Brody is getting Selia tonight, get Theodore''s crew with you, and make sure she does come, and most importantly" I turned to face her and completed: "she does not commit suicide."


    "What about the other part of the deal" she replied


    "The trucks will pass the frontier tonight, and the warehouse tomorrow morning."


    "And, we are not letting that bastard, touch her right ?"


    "As long as he is doing his part of the deal, I can not risk not do mine."


    My company is a financial technology that serves as an online payments system as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as checks and money orders, but that is just the visible part of the iceberg.


    We also sell and trade important personal and confidential information and statistics gathered due to our large network. The products that Brody is helping us let pass the borders are some illegal advanced hardware used to keep up with the evolution of security.


    ''Now it''s time for me to meet with Brody''


    As I left my office, I looked up at Selia. She was working, her eyes were red and full of tears. I acted indifferently and left.


    Afterward, I met Brody and set up a time and a place for the event.


    Brody is an ugly-looking man with black hair and big round glasses, and he is from the Brain-locked category. When he was, young he fell in love with a girl from his class, and she rejected him. She had an older boyfriend back then, and he was a student in the military school.


    After getting rejected, Brody decided to join the military as well. He served the military for years until he became a lieutenant general.


    Brody never forgot about his childhood''s love, and this time he was willing to propose. But unfortunately, he got rejected once again, and a week later, she got married. Later on, her husband died in an accident, and her parents got extremely sick.


    That woman is none other than Selia, and all those deaths were suspicious to me, so I started digging, and that is how I knew about Brody.


    Brody would do anything for a night with the woman he loves. I made his dream come true, and in exchange, I gained 2 million dollars payment before the plan start and a bypass for my products after the night of his dreams.


    Clair was a big help for me to make this plan even tho she still doesn''t appreciate letting Brody sleep with Selia. The only thing that caught my intention back then was that Clair was trying passively to delay the plan to next Friday every time, and without insisting too much, even tho I felt like it was important to her. My conclusion was that something is happening on one of the days that she would have to put in extra work. Either Friday the day of the attack or Tuesday the day we were expecting Selia to meet with Brody.


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    The last Friday, I made her stay with me most of the time, and when we got separated, I followed her myself and tracked her, but nothing was suspicious. And for today, I did not feel the need to follow her since she will be working this time with a crew of people, that I trust.


    ''It is 6:00 PM. Everybody should be leaving the company by now. I''m tired, I think I will go home.''


    I contacted Selia and Clair with the time and the location. ''I should be having a confirmation from Clair for Selia''s arrival, and 30 minutes later another confirmation that the trucks passed the frontier. Every piece is in its own place now.''


    At 9:00 PM, Clair called saying: "Selia did join Brody, but we have another problem here."


    "What is going on ?"


    "The company is on fire."


    I took a brief moment to think and come up with a plan and said "Let me talk to Theodore, he should be with you right? "


    "Ok"


    "Theodore, on the phone"


    Then I said, "You answer quickly and preferably with yes or no. Where are you right now ?"


    "Close to where Selia entered, hiding on the cars."


    "Can anybody else hear our conversation right now ?"


    "No, Boss, I think it''s not time for this, we can see the fire coming from the company''s direction."


    "Okey fine. Keep watching Selia, I''ll handle that problem."


    I ran to the place, the firefighters were already in place, and they took off most of the fire. One of them said "Hey, are you the owner? Luckily for you, the fire didn''t damage the building. The damage was only on the plants and trees surrounding it. And it was probably caused by a cigarette."


    I decided to step inside and have a look. The light source was damaged, and the only light I had was from my smartphone. Surprisingly I heard somebody''s footsteps inside the building, so I turned off my phone to not give up my location and bend down low.


    "Who is here," I said, expecting no answers.


    After a brief moment, I started to feel dizzy.


    "So this is how you want to do it, poison" ''if he is using poising, hiding won''t gain me anything anymore.'' I ran towards the exit, but I felt before getting out and lost consciousness.


    I woke up, and I was tied to a ''T'' position in my office. I finally can see clearly. It was Clair, the one responsible for this.


    "What is the meaning of this?" I said


    "Oh, Hi Boss."


    "I''m not dead yet. It means killing me is not what you want, so let''s settle this quickly."


    "You are mistaken, boss. This is the end of you."


    She had something hidden underneath my desk. It was a large and clean ax.''That should be the weapon she will be using.''


    "Don''t be scared, boss. I won''t let you die easily."


    "Is it the hand ?" I said with a dominant smile


    "So, you do remember after all." her voice started to rise as she continued "You do remember when you broke my arm, when you destroyed my dreams." As I was preparing my answer, I felt life was getting suck out of me, then a shock of pain came from my left arm. ''Where, where is my arm ?'' I screamed in pain after I realized that I lost my left arm; with a powerful swing of the ax, she pierced through meat and bones, revealing a clean cut on what''s left of my arm. My eyes were blurred with pain, and then I felt even a larger wave of pain coming in. She was burning the injury. She is trying to keep me alive.


    "Not, like this Boss. I''m not done yet. Do you remember what you did when you broke my arm? You kept attacking me like a murderous beast."


    She made sure I won''t die instantly of bleeding, and she released me. She took 4 spets backward, then said "ready or not, I''m coming " She dashed towards me, I tried helplessly to move, but I was completely paralyzed. She struck me with a full power punch in the middle of my face. I started to see flashes of my life. ''Is this the end? I, I refuse to die. How dare you?'' I opened my eyes again, and screamed with a voice full of anger "How dare you?" On my right was a cup of glass, I took it with my only arm left. The cup was out of her vision hidden by the desk, so she didn''t notice it. I hardly stood up, my left side on the front so I can hide the cup behind. "Tell me one last thing, was the mission a success? "


    She responded "She never came, the woman Theodore saw was just someone else dressed like Selia. "


    "So, no easy death for you vice president ."


    "What are you talking ..."


    Without letting her finish her words, I dashed towards her and I spun around myself. Putting all my force to my right hand I aimed for her head. She reacted defensively and used her both hands to block the attack. For a brief moment, it look like I missed her, which was purposely done. After she covered up her right side to block my attack, I swung my hand in front of her face to hit the wall with the cup of glass on her left. ''Now that I blurred her vision, I''m ready to attack.''


    With the same momentum, I got into an attacking position; my right arm stopped behind me and gained back force to strike again, with the help of my lower body to stabilize, and with all the power of my upper body, I stroke her face as hard as I could. Clair went flying to the other side of the room, her face gouty at the point where you can barely recognize her. ''I''m about to blackout at any moment, I need to finish her.''


    I thought about using the ax, but it was too heavy for me at this state.


    suddenly she moved and started waking up, without thinking I run towards her with my maximum speed and struck her head as she lifted it, and right towards the wall behind her, causing the wall to get cracked. A split of a second, before the hit happened, I looked at her for the last time, she opened her mouth helplessly, but no scream came.

 Chapter 3: Death

    Chapter 3: Death


    At that moment, I was disappointed because her death was quick and fast, but I had no choice. I sat beside Clair, trying to regain the force to stand up once again, while the sun started to show up. All of a sudden, I got up to sit on the chair, ready to attack. ''I can hear somebody''s footsteps, high wheels, a woman is coming in. No one should see this. Whoever comes here will die. ''


    This time I had more time to think of a weapon. I took a piece of the broken glass near me and was ready to throw it at whoever entered.


    "Boss, are you here?" It was Selia ''I think the best thing to do here is to send her away. If I don''t reply, she might just go inside. Or maybe bait her inside and kill her as well? '' Judging by the shape I was in, I chose to talk and send her away.


    "Yes, it''s me. What are you doing here? And why did not come to the night? Our deal? " I said while trying to make my voice sound normal.


    "What? I did as promised, and I just left Brody. I''m here because of the fire. I wasn''t going to get inside the building, but I heard some ... " ''I can''t hear her properly anymore. Am I having a hearing loss?'' I crawled to the door and put my back on it to listen to her and said "Selia, are you still there? I can''t hear you anymore. " She noticed my silhouette through the door, set on the other side, and said "Boss are you ok?"


    I responded: "Are you ok? Did he?"


    "Yes, he did, and I am fine" Her throat felt swollen, and she stuttered as she tried to speak the words in her head. She sobbed at last "I am not fine."


    "You don''t have to do this anymore. We will be talking about this next time we meet. Now you can leave. "


    She stood up. I could hear her loud footsteps as she was leaving. ''Usually, she doesn''t wear high heels. She was well dressed for the night. I can''t hear her footsteps anymore'' "I''m sorry, Selia."


    Suddenly, and out of nowhere, the window''s glass broke. At first, it looks like a rock was thrown into the window, but that glass is solid; no rock can do that much damage. I searched for the rock, it was stuck on the wall. I looked closely.'' It''s not a rock. It''s a fucking bomb. '' And then the door opened. I looked at it and screamed, "What the fuck are you still doing here?" I tried hopelessly to get the bomb out of the wall, but no use. I ran, took Selia''s hand, and dashed towards the window. I jumped first, with my back facing the glass to break it. The hole made by the bomb helped to break what was left of it, and then I used the rest of my strength to drag Selia down with me. ''Everything is in slow motion now. I am flying through the air with Selia in my hand. Are we going to live this fall? ''


    Then the bomb exploded. ''The explosion is fast, and it''s swallowing everything in its way. At this rate, we will not make it. Is this the end? '' At last, I yelled out, "I refuse to die." I let off Selia''s hand and repositioned myself in the air, ready to punch helplessly the explosion''s first wave, but it was pointless, and I died.


    I never believed in the existence of Gods. Maybe there is a powerful being that made this world. But he never tried or wanted to contact us or to prove his existence. If such a God really exists, there is no meaning to having an afterlife as long as he has never contacted us. Either way, death, for me, was the end of my existence. Opening my eyes again was implausible.


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    I opened my eyes again. I felt like a newborn child. My vision was abnormally clear and bright, and my ears started functioning. By sound, I realized that I was not alone. I hear the sounds of dozens of people. Some of them were crying, some of them screaming, and most of them fighting. ''Is this hell?''


    Afterward, I started to distinguish my surroundings. I was in some sort of white cocoon, but I could see through it. There are people, dozens of them, on a platform of the same color. No grass, no blue sky. The ground was flat and everything was snow-white. There are also a lot of cocoons. Most of them were torn and empty from the inside. I assumed the rest, just like mine. ''So I can simply get out of it whenever I want? ''


    On my left, there was a group of people trying to break through one of those white cocoons, but they couldn''t. From the inside, it''s soft like cotton, but from the outside, it''s solid like a protective shell. Their intentions were clear, that shell had a female inside. I ignored them and started analyzing. First of all, I decided to stay inside the shell for the moment. Then, I noticed that most people had dangerous weapons that are usually illegal to have. I focused so much on the outside of the shell that I forgot about the inside. I looked at my body, my 26-year old body. Everything was covered with white strings coming from the cocoon, and I couldn''t see underneath my chest. I tried to move, and it seemed like I was completely naked. And when I tried to move my left hand, I had a weird feeling; I felt nothing. ''Being handicapped in the afterlife, this is a good one.��


    ��I think this is a waiting room, and killing here is allowed. Accordingly, the stronger you are, the better you live; at least from what I''ve seen for now. '' I kept watching for several hours and came to the following conclusions: First, we do not feel hungry. Next, people can die here. Then, I noticed that something weird happens to you when you leave your shell. Last, there was no sun, which means no day and night system. And it appears that one man is highly respected here. He seems to be the strongest. And they call him Pedoro.


    People here were bored and fed up. And they started to do random activities. The most interesting one was what Pedoro decided to do. He wanted to make all the women in this group his wives and to spend every 12 hours with a different one. Men are usually more vulnerable when surrounded by women, so I decided to act and get out of my shell the moment Pedoro is preoccupied with them. Now all I have to do is wait for the right opportunity.


    Out of the blue, A girl with sky blue hair got out of her cell naked. The girl caught Pedoro''s attention, and he started walking towards her. She seems like she just woke up. ''What an idiot. The first thing she did when she woke up was to break her only defensive mechanism. '' Something was off about that girl. He put his arm around her neck and touched her breast from the other side. She screamed, pushed him away, and stepped back. Now that I have a better view of her face, I recognized her. It was Selia.


    I started getting flashbacks of my life''s memories; when I told her: ''you don''t have to do this anymore'', and when I tried desperately to save both of us from what happened. ''Was all of that meaningless?''. Her voice brought me back from my dreams to see Brody violating her in front of my eyes. It was only seconds before this illusion ended. I thought to myself that, with the current situation, I have one more reason to act now. I broke the shell and sprinted towards the two of them. With everybody''s attention focused on Pedoro, and with me coming from behind, I took somebody''s sword. With only one hand left and the sword still having its scabbard on, the attack patterns that I am used to are useless. I had to come up with something new and fast before he noticed me. At a high speed, I kept running towards him, then I jumped. I spun clockwise mid hair with the sword on my right arm. The spin was fast enough to make the blade get out of its scabbard. With the force of all of my body and the sharpness of that blade, I separated his head from his lower body. I landed perfectly without losing my balance and screamed so everyone could hear me: "Here, I am the KING. I am King Ray".

 Chapter 4: The voice

    Chapter 4: The voice


    Everyone''s attention was on me as I was standing still, looking fearsome with blood all over my naked body. At that moment, I completely forgot that I was naked with everyone''s eyes on me. I was trying to look scary and be ready to fight, as many people needed to show off and prove my strength. With only one hand, a couple of them should be enough to take me down, so looking scary was important.


    After a moment of silence, I thought to myself: ''Bunch of cowards, how can you let a one-handed young man frighten all of you like this ?'' Then I realized the throne was mine.


    Someone was approaching me. I gathered my left arm''s fingers together and was ready to strike, but he kneeled in front of me and spoke.


    "How can I serve you, sir. I watched you closely during that attack, and I think you are smart and strong enough to be our leader. " Surprised, I stopped my attack and said: "My hand ? How is my hand back? "


    "This world is different from the earth." You should hear a voice explaining some of the general rules. It will start approximately 5 minutes after you get out of your shell, and it will last for about 10 minutes, and everyone here experienced that. "


    I looked at the other people and, said "Is this true? "


    Surprised by how precise his information was, some of them replied: "Y..yes."


    I looked back at that man and said "Stand up, and show me your face."


    he did as I asked. I completed "I want this to be the last time, one of you kneel in front of me. Understood?"


    "Yes, Understood"


    "What is your name?"


    His name was Akira he was slightly taller than me, with black hair and blue eyes covered with rectangular glasses.


    "My name is Akira."


    I spoke up "Listen, everyone. While I will be busy with this voice, I want you all to do the following instructions, and Akira will be in charge. I want you to make four groups of people. The first group will have the strongest ones. The second with the smartest ones. The third group should have people that have a certain skill, other than being smart or strong. The last one, containing the remaining people. " I turned back to Akira and said as I was pointing towards Selia: "Give her some clothes, and put her on the third group."


    Selia was laying on the ground, covering herself with one of the broken shells. She seemed to be hearing something we couldn''t hear. ''I think she is hearing that thing. My turn should be in seconds, knowing that I left the shell right after her.


    "Ray" ''Is it the voice?''


    I said " Akira, what are you waiting for?"


    "Yes, sir" He nodded, and he left.


    "Ray, welcome to my world." ''The voice now sounds clear, but I feel like I''m disconnected from my body''


    "You don''t have to worry about your body. I would like you to pay close attention to the information I''m willing to give you. Unlike the place you came from, here you don''t feel hungry. Food will only replenish your stamina and your Mana. For the second thing, you already experienced it. You can naturally heal your bounds if you kill somebody as long as the area you want to be healed, is intact on his dead body. Last but not least, after everyone here is ready, the main event will start; the awakening day."


    ''As I expected, killing here is not forbidden. But he didn''t talk about the difference in the environment. And what is this awakening day? And what about Mana, can we really use magic? If so, why hasn''t anyone used it yet? ''


    "The awakening day is the day you will get to have your magical power. To be as fair as possible I will let you pick any magical power you would like to have but to balance power among you, you will have to live with a curse, a malediction chosen by me, depending on the power you chose and your personalities. "


    "What if I decided to have the power of a god, or to have no power?" I spoke


    "The price of having the power of a god is your life. The same goes for any power unique to a god, like reviving the dead. On the other hand, you will not be cursed if you decide to live with no power. But you should be aware that at the end of the awakening day, your new abilities will be tested. A person with no power or any external help will not be able to live that test."


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    "Can I get an example of power with its malediction?"


    "I already exceeded the amount of information you should be getting. Now farewell, Ray."


    I started hearing noises of dozens of people, I blinked to see myself back at that white platform. Now, I had clothes on, and a long one-handed sword. Before I started asking questions, Akira stood in front of me and said "We all get clothes and a weapon depending on our fighting styles, after hearing the voice. The groups you asked to be made, are almost done. " ''Now that I know about this awakening day, making these groups is less interesting. Because a mass of muscles with a peanut-sized brain, for example, will have a hard time beating a weakling that picked a strong ability.'' Akira continued "We are 83 people here, and there is 40 more on their shells."


    "Finish making the groups first, I''ll be giving a talk before we start waking up people. " The main reason for making those groups is to know the categories of people I''m dealing with. The pawns, the brain-locked, the leaders, the indolent, and the hell-bent. Some of them should be threaded carefully, others should be wisely manipulated, and some few cases should be eliminated.


    While I was thinking about a strong ability to have, and trying to predict a matching malediction for it, I saw Selia''s silhouette approaching me from behind.


    She said "Boss... or King Ray? "


    "I''m not your boss anymore, and I''m not planning to be a king either. You can call me Ray."


    "Thank you, Ray." She stood beside me, took my hand, put it between hers, and said "I know deep inside you are a good person. "


    After a moment of silence, I said "Did you think about your special ability? "


    "Yes, I''m thinking about having the ability to read people''s minds."


    ''Oh crap! I completely forgot about this one. '' "I don''t think this is a great one for you to pick. "


    "Why? I thought I picked a good one. "


    "Reading people''s minds won''t help you survive in a world full of magic."


    She looked down and said: "Then I will pick another one."


    "What about a curse breaker? You know, if you get it for me, I''ll be so very grateful. And in return, I will protect you. "


    She released my hand and said as she was turning back to leave "Sounds boring but I''ll think about it. I came here to tell you that the groups are almost made. Come have a look."


    I thought about making someone a curse breaker for me, but revealing this hack in front of people I don''t trust, is dangerous. My only option was Selia, but I didn''t have enough time to make a plan where she was forced to pick it.


    In front of 119 people divided into 4 groups, Akira on my right, and 2 more people still on their shells, I announced "We may have all come on different ships, but we��re in the same boat now. Today we are all lucky people here. We are lucky to be the founders of the new world, a better world for humanity, a better world for our families, for our sons and daughters, a better world for ourselves. Since we are the only ones in this world, let��s make history remember our names. I''m not your king, I''m just the one that will be leading you to the top, I''m your leader " The purpose of saying (I''m your king) before, was to scare people off because I was at a disadvantage. Afterward, I didn''t need that title anymore, and being a king is not my thing.


    Everyone was chanting and applauding, I felt like a king at that moment, but suddenly a strong and deep voice interrupted saying.


    "Who said you are the only ones in here? Humans This is the awakening day."


    The sky darkened as he was speaking "You will get to have an ability from your own choice. But you will have to live with a curse according to your power and personality. You will have to give the name of the power you have chosen, then imagine yourself using it. The rules for this are the following:


    1-Whatever you imagined, should be related to the name of the power chosen.


    2-Your powers can evolve with time, depending on your initial imagination.


    3-The curse you will be getting does not take into consideration the state of your power after its development.


    4-You will have to survive a test with your new powers.


    5-To break the curse, your only option is to do a certain task or condition depending on your choice of power and personality, given after the awakening day.


    And keep in mind that some curses may be instant death if you chose some specific powers. You have 5 minutes before the test begins. Farewell humans. "


    ''I think now I know what I should pick.'' I smiled.


    Five minutes passed and we all got to pick an ability. Everyone was waiting for the test, then the platform disappeared, and we found ourselves in the middle of the air falling to death. I said "Everyone, what are you waiting for. Activate your abilities, Please." ''Did I just say (please)? It doesn''t matter, I just want to see what abilities people chose.''


    I saw a lot of elemental abilities, fire, water, lightning, ice, earth, and air. For those, they can survive if they use their abilities efficiently. A lot more were shocked, meaning that their abilities aren''t going to help in this situation. Akira was flying, and he already revealed his power. He had big eagle wings, making him look badass. He flew down to me and said "Do you need help?" I said: "No, I''m fine. Can you help Selia instead?" She was freaking out. Obviously, she picked either the one I told her about or something useless. I ordered "Hey, everyone that can fly, help the ones from the tree first groups if you can. "


    The ability I chose wasn''t something I can help people with. I decided to be the first one on the ground to enjoy the view. I increased my speed and stood on the ground like it was nothing. The air pressure caused by my falling speed was ginormous, to the point where it caused the nearby trees to curve. I looked up and said, feeling smug: "It is raining corpses today. May the Lord forgive their sins?��

 Chapter 5: My power part 1

    Chapter 5: My power part 1


    78 people died from that fall. Most of them didn''t have any power letting them fly or survive the fall. With a total of 45 men and women alive, we found ourselves on a planet similar to earth. The only difference was the platforms, which looked like a giant cube from the outside. The one we were locked on, already disappeared but a lot more were visible to us, still floating in the sky. ''We are not alone.''


    Everyone was confused and tired. Some were trying their new abilities and excited to utilize them. And some other ones were terrified of that scene; 78 bodies that most of them don''t look like human bodies anymore. I started looking for any survivors or still breathing ones, I found a couple of them. After a long time of observation, I understood that our new powers are related to a new organ. And that is the source of mana. But surprisingly, on every dead body, this organ is heavily damaged, and as I watched one of them die, I understood that the moment a person dies, this organ auto destroy itself. I smiled and started experimenting.


    Twenty minutes passed, it was enough time for everyone to rest for a little bit, and get back to their feet. 6 persons came to me, and one of them said "Hey you, stand up."


    "I''m busy right now, go make your groups and tell Akira to come here. " I said


    He spat on the ground and said "I told you to f**ing stand up! "


    I looked at him, he was Pedoro''s little minion, I said: "Ah, it''s you." I completed as I was standing up:" Did you waste your wish on getting a bigger pair of b**ls or something ?"


    "You think we will follow you just because you killed Pedoro? "


    "Actually no. But you will, die if you don''t."


    "The only one dying today is you."


    "Don''t you want to know my power first? Don''t you think it''s dangerous to attack me without knowing anything about my ability? I''ll show it to you if you want. "


    He turned back to discuss this option with his buddies. And then told me: "We will let you show your power before you die."


    "Good, I need a volunteer. "


    One of them stood in from of me, activated his ability which gave him a metal body. I understood why they chose him but against me, it didn''t matter. I put my hand on his head, closed my eyes, and activated my ability. Suddenly, I took my sword, and I pierced my stomach. Then I removed my hand from his head with what looked like his soul attached to it. He stood still lifelessly for a couple of seconds, then his ability got turned off, his soul dispersed to the sky, and he collapsed. His 5 other buddies were furious and ran toward me to attack. I stood still waited for them to get closer. They probably thought that in order to activate my ability I have to do all that ceremony. But the purpose of this was first of all to bait them and kill them easily. And also, to hide my true power. Then I said: "Run guys before you die." ''Pff, so this is my curse then''


    They jumped and were ready to activate their power, but my attack had already stroke them: In a blink of an eye, my body turned metallic and formed 5 big spikes that pierced them, and made them hang in the air.


    I said "unfortunately, you died before we can see your abilities " Everyone was surprised how I killed the metal man with my bare hands in a weird ceremony, took his ability and killed his buddies with it. And when the fighting was over, I found that my wound has also healed.


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    In this world killing somebody will heal your wound if they are intact on the dead corpse, but for the mana core, it automatically destroys itself before death. But surprisingly when you make the spirit leave the body, the person is dead and not dead, both of them at the same time. Some similar theories from my previous life''s world explained this properly, like Schr?dinger''s cat in quantum physics. Utilizing this theory I managed to steal the metal man''s ability before. I damaged my mana core and got healed of my enemy''s core. It seems that I can take advantage of his abilities and suffer his curse if I do, but under certain circumstances. The first problem was that I can activate the ability only once, and to own an ability permanently I have to steal around 100 abilities, so my mana core can handle a new permanent ability. The second problem was that I knew about this the hard way. During my experiments with the bodies that failed to fly and dropped, I successfully got 2 new abilities to start with. The first one was an ability that strengthens my body and my senses. The curse was that I would have to eat like in my previous life to feed my body. Unlike everyone in this world, food is unnecessary to survive, it can only help replenish mana. Thankfully, I decided to keep that ability activated because the curse was something I''m used to, otherwise, I would''ve lost it the moment I released it. For the third ability, it was the metallic body, that I used to kill the five men.


    I release my ability, the spikes dispersed and I started feeling its curse. My body felt soo heavy for a time equivalent to the use duration, and the weight was probably related to how powerful my attack was. Even though my body''s weight was more than tripled, I didn''t fall, thanks to my first ability. I turned to the crowd and said "Didn''t I prove myself already? We are not here alone which means we are probably going to get attacked by groups similar to us. Do you want to live and be on the top, or to die and turn to dust? " I stopped for some seconds and continued again "I will not force you to follow me anymore, feel free to leave, and for the people that are staying make your groups again." Seeing me using all those scary abilities none of them dared to fight me, and what''s better they are now convinced that I can lead them. They started making the previous groups. Then Akira finally came to me.


    "Where have you been all this time Akira," I said


    He responded "I sincerely apologize for that; I was suffering from my curse "


    He explains that his ability was to have other animals'' power, but when he ends it, he will turn to a tree with the side of the biggest animal he transformed to for a 1/4 of the time.


    I ordered "You have a pretty nice ability, I want you to fly up carefully and gather information about our location, I''m looking for somewhere to build a base. I want suggestions when you come back."


    "Yes understood" And he immediately left.


    I turned to the crowd and said "I want to see your powers now to know if it will be useful for us or not." Among all the abilities they had, I picked five of them.


    Fuji with earth element manipulation, but his power drains water from his body.


    Taki with water element manipulation. This girl was talented but her purpose here was to provide Fuji with water.


    Touma with an ability similar to the one I used before. He can manipulate metal. His job was to make weapons and tools. The last two I named them the surveillance unit. Ohta with the power of vision, can see through things on a large perimeter and Benjiro is waves sensitive, he can locate everything moving on the ground or air from soo far away.


    Akira came back and he suggested a location hidden between mountains and that had some natural resources.


    I said "We need to protect ourselves as soon as possible. Let''s head to this location and build a fortress. Fuji you will build the base with earth, I''ll make you a blueprint. Taki will provide you with the water needed. And the first unit to start working will be the surveillance unit and the defense unit. Today is an exception but later on, every unit will have a leader chosen by competition and they will be the ones responsible for making the rest of the unit. And as soon as we build the city, we will start the defense unit competition "Suddenly Ohta and Benjiro from the surveillance unit, both turned to the same side. I got into a fighting position and said "Everyone, get ready to fight, someone is approaching" Benjiro confirmed and said, "They appeared out of nowhere, and they are slowly coming towards us, but they are still far away." and Ohta completed "A muscular man and a teenager, from their looks they seem strong." As I was focusing on those two and thinking about a strategy, I felt like the world flipped upside down. My head got cut and fell. Before it hits the ground, I caught it with my hand, and without moving I attached it back to where it was. I got attacked from behind, and the attack was deadly, but thankfully the second ability I stole saved me. It was the first and last time I used it.

 Chapter 6: Arrival

    Chapter 6: Arrival


    I was pretty sure that the person attacked me from behind, and the two newcomers, are not together because their attacks were not coordinated, and the two newcomers were acting like we didn''t know about them yet. My head got back to where it was, and that was the moment I knew that I cannot use an ability that I stole more than once, because I tried to harden my body with metal first and it didn''t work. The only one I had left at that point was the body and senses enhancement ability on top of my original one. People behind me understood nothing, and they affirmed that they didn''t see the attacker. ''An invisible attack?'' Focusing on my hearing instead of my vision I started hearing footsteps around me, and they were getting louder and louder. Then Benjiro screamed "Someone is there." and he pointed towards the footsteps. ''Now I know where you are'' I lowered my center of gravity and immediately dashed towards that invisible person. I stroked his face, and he went flying to hit a rock behind him. I rapidly followed him and grabbed him from the throat. "Invisibility, what an interesting power for a woman to have. Especially when you are using such a heavy weapon like yours, an ax." I said as she was turning back visible.


    She was a woman from our group, wearing a black hoodie, and covering her face with it. Her ability was invisibility, and she had an ax as a weapon. I told her "Let me give you a piece of advice. An assassin should use a small and light weapon and most importantly not make sounds when he is hiding " I stopped for a second and completed "Unless if it is your curse?" As I was going to unmask her face, we got attacked by a huge rock, and I had to let her go.


    The two attackers showed up and the smaller one said: "Not bad. Are you the leader here?"


    "Just body enhancement abilities. We can handle them quickly and go for the next summons. " said the muscular man. Then he added "We are the The Lion Cub organization. Either you work for us or we will be killing you one by one till you do. " I responded arrogantly: "Why would I follow someone weaker than me?"


    "Why You always make it hard for us!"


    The teenager closed his eyes put his hands on the ground. A sort of a black hole appeared under him. He got into it and was gone. The muscular man started screaming "Haaaaaaaaaaaaa..." His power was to grow up on size. He started getting bigger and bigger to the point where his foot was covering a surface of 15 meters long, and he had a height of around 120 meters. He grabbed a rock nearby and threw it towards us. I jumped up flying in the air and said "The physical abilities I have are far stronger than what you think." With only one punch I destroyed the rock while it was still in his hand. I flew to his face as he was still surprised by how strong I was and not expecting me to fly to him. I spun around myself to gain momentum and stoke him with my right leg on the top left of his head.


    The power of my attack was enough to destabilize him and make the earth shake. As I was preparing to make a second attack to take him down, Akira appeared. With huge eagles�� wings and the body of a gorilla, he flew faster than me towards the muscular giant man and hit him on the chest with an even more powerful punch than mine. The giant man started collapsing, and transforming back to his normal size.


    "Where did you get all this power from?" I said with my eyes wide open.


    he responded, "I just combined different animals'' powers."


    The big man was not done yet, as we were talking and he was collapsing, he swung his giant hand to try hitting both of us. With the weight of his hand, his attack was deadly, and we noticed it too late to dodge it. I turned towards it a moment before it hits me, and activated my ability. His hand flew through me like a ghost penetrating a wall. On the other hand, Akira couldn''t avoid the hit. He turned to a turtle and hid inside the shell. He took the hit and got pushed to pierce the ground, to end up deep inside. With my enhanced vision, I saw him turn immediately to his tree form to rest. His injuries were painful but not deadly.


    The fall of the giant muscular man and Akira created clouds of dust on the area. I got back to the ground, and the young man appeared in front of me and said "The power of a ghost, that is your power." He closed his eyes and made another hole under his feet again, and got into it. He then appeared behind me with another one in his hand and his eyes still closed and spoke. "Blackhole: Instant Destruction" I activated my ghost invincibility again and waited for his attack to go through it like the first time, but surprisingly his attack touched me.


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    I concluded that his Power was to make portals on his hands as black holes, and his curse was that his eyes have to be closed. And the ability he used, Instant Destruction, wasn''t damaging, he instead teleported me outside the planet''s atmosphere. For a normal human body, it wouldn''t last more than a minute, but in my case, I was on my ghost form, air pressure, cold, and lack of oxygen, aren''t going to kill me. The view up there was fascinating, I was amazed by how the world looks like from here. ''It''s not time for this, I need to get back. Let''s see how fast I can cross around 500km with my full speed!''


    Taki(water element manipulation)


    Everyone was shocked. The strongest man in our group got instantly deleted, and the second strongest got planted to the ground. Following this organization was our only option. Then the young man spoke: "Don''t be scared, even though you will start as slaves, you might get promoted. And as long as you are not appointed useless, you will live. Also, as far as I know, beautiful woman gets promoted faster than others." A woman jumped to stand in front of him and said, repeating exactly what Ray said before: "Why would I follow someone weaker than me?"


    He responded: "You really want to die like that arrogant weakling?"


    "Die?" She said.


    The fight started, the woman jumped towards him to attack, he closed his eyes and threw one of his black holes towards her. She changed direction mid-air, like if she stepped on the air to do so. And with incredible speed and agility, she dashed everywhere to appear behind him. As she was going to strike, he said with his eyes still closed and a smile on his face. "I knew, you would try to do that" And created another hole behind him. Her facial expressions got seriously out of the sudden, and she disappeared again to show up in front of him and she punched him before he realized what happened. With that strong strike, he flew to hit a giant rock behind. My focus was on the young man that got hit on the face, but moments later, I noticed that the woman had only one hand left. The one she used to hit him, vanished. Then he got up raging with injuries all over his body and said "Blackhole: HumanX." He added addressing his friend "Hey! Stop playing dead and wake up, you indolent! I need your help here." He responded: "I hate this job, man!"


    Ignoring her pain, the woman started running towards the injured young man. The muscular man stepped in, grew up in size 5 times bigger, and attacked her. She jumped up and focused on him instead. With the only hand she had left, and with a high speed, she hit him on his face. The big muscular man got knocked miles away from the strike and was having a hard time standing back up. The woman seems to be stronger than them as she injured them both. But the same thing happened again, she lost the hand she used. The young man said: "Why do you think I''m teaming up with someone like him? With HumanX, anything that touches me disappears, but also, I can give this ability to somebody else. With his huge body, we can even destroy the world." He started walking towards her as she was standing still and losing a lot of blood from her cut arms. He grabbed her from her neck, lifted her, and said "You could''ve made a wonderful whore. " As he was going to kill her, the ground started shaking and then exploded. It was Akira, he finally woke up. He had the appearance of a humanoid white tiger. His facial expressions were showing extreme anger, and he was looking scary and fearsome. He screamed like a beast in the wild and flew to them. The big man was still on the ground recovering from the last attack he got. Akira was running towards him first. Then the young man said, with the woman''s throat still on his hand "Don''t move or I will kill her."


    Akira was showing no hesitation and kept targeting the wounded man. The young man threw the woman, closed his eyes, and created a hole down his feet to teleport. Akira Immediately changed directions and increased his speed to show up in front of the young man and attack him. With his bestial claws and his killing attentions, he swung his hand to cut the young man in half, but unfortunately, the young man reacted at the last seconds to move and escape death, but he got his leg injured instead. The big man got up and tried to sneak from behind, and attacked Akira. He couldn''t land a single punch, even though Akira didn''t bother to turn back to see his attacks to dodge them. The muscular man grew up in size again and tried to crush Akira, and once again he failed. Ignoring the big man Akira started walking towards the young boy to finish him, who was down on the ground holding his leg from pain. Akira was moving slowly to him as if he was pushing his power''s limits. The young man started hopelessly throwing black holes, towards Akira, but he dodged all of them. Once he was close enough to punch the young man, Akira raised his hand as he was getting slower and slower with every move. And then we saw him freeze in that position, grow some roots and turn into a tree.


    The young man was looking scared, and as he was about to show some relief, the woman kicked him in the face like a soccer ball. Barely standing and with her legs shaking to the point where she couldn''t even lift up her head, she said: "Welcome back, Cap..."


    We all looked up to the air to see Ray flying in the air idly by safe and sound and looking down on us.


    He said "Eight minutes and a half, not bad. What is your name woman?"


    She responded "Maki, Zeying Maki."

 Chapter 7: My power part II

    Chapter 7: My power part II


    Ray


    I always avoided using my own ability, it was not only to hide it but also because I was afraid of my curse. With me only using a portion of it, I started hearing myself saying and doing weird stuff. This time it was time for me to use it properly. I wanted that woman to live, I wanted Maki to live simply because she deserves it. Depending on what is her real power, she might be even stronger than Akira. Talking about Akira he also did a pretty good job there.


    I went down and I caught Maki before she falls. I put her gently to the ground and said to the crowd "Any healers?" after a moment of silence I added "Bunch of useless cowards."


    A person from the crowd said "Why should we even fight for your side? We will have A better chance of living with this organization."


    Then the young man from the organization started hysterically laughing and said "Hahaha haha, some of our greatest fighters are joining us soon you will have no chance of living if they do so. Hear me out everyone, I''ll make you a deal. Whoever kills this man before they join is welcomed to the organization and will not have to be a slave."


    I thought to myself ''What an obvious lie!'' then I replied with a frightening smile "Very well said. Democracy! let''s do it."


    As I was speaking, the big man with a size not bigger than 4 men attacked me with his hand. I stopped it with mine while I was still talking. "Everyone on this group, this is your last and only chance to leave if you want to." And I pushed the big adult away.


    Some of them just left the battlefield, but most of them joined the enemy forces. We ended up being 6 at the end. It was Selia, Akira, Maki, Benjiro, Taki, and me, and I said "You all made your choices, so don''t blame me for this." And I dashed forwards to grab one of them from his neck, interrupting his breathing. I cut his legs with my sword, and as I was going to get attacked, I backed off again to my group of 6 people with the legless man on my hand. I threw him in front of Maki, and said: "Kill him, get your hands and your life back." The man already blacked out, she threw herself on top of him and bit him on his neck to death. Her arms grew up again, and her life was out of danger. But her face and her mouth were covered with blood like a vampire. Our eyes met, I immediately turned away. Then my face turned back serious again, and I said: "You heard what I just said, Maki? This is your chance if you want to join them."


    "I didn''t hear a lot, but what I am sure about is that they are all dead."


    Most of those people are just like normal people from my previous life. Among them, I can see fathers, mothers, teachers, nurses... All of them were not used to fighting and killing. This explains the reason behind the organization only sending only those two people. Their combination is indeed powerful and enough to take down groups like this. But unfortunately for them this time, Akira and Maki had an experience of fighting more than usual. Only With their simple abilities, they made things harder for them. And what made it even worst was me. I was a natural counter to their strongest ability HumanX.


    Now that I know what they are capable of, I can proceed with my plan.


    I said "Selia, take Maki away and wait for us. Benjiro and Taki, I know you are not used to this, so watch closely." A wind attack interrupted us as I jumped forward, and the other four jumped back. The fight is about to begin. With my ghost ability, I hovered and then speeded up towards them to appear in the middle of them. With my own sword in my right hand and another one I picked on the way, I started spinning like a whirlwind and cutting everything on the way. Most of their abilities were weak, and they had no idea how to use them, especially against me, who could easily dodge any attack by going through it. After killing a lot of them, I ended my combo in the hair and stopped. I looked down to see the hesitation on what''s left of them and frustration on the two attackers. I said "I had good plans for all of you guys, but you ruined it. You could''ve been the founders of the strongest nation in this world. I apologize, but your faith now is death." ''It''s too early for me to release my power, I need to hold on for more.'' I continued "You will have a better chance of winning if you attacked me all at the same time consistently from far away. And try to blur my vision, that will help too. " Suddenly I screamed "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa..." Then, I took a deep breath, punched myself, and said "Shut up, it''s not time for this yet." They took advantage of me being distracted, and they attacked me. I activated my ghost invincibility, nothing touched me. I was holding my curse all this time, it kept stacking up to the point where I can''t hold it anymore. Every time I used my ability, I feel like I''m losing my body. I said: "This is my limit, I can''t use my invincibility anymore, now it''s your chance." Fuji, one of the traitors attacked with his earth ability. I kept trying to dodge, but with the help of everybody, I felt surrounded. Then the big man with a doubled human''s size got behind me and held me with his big arms. And then Fuji with his earth manipulation he imprisoned the both of us with soil. Fuji was about to crush both of us inside, but the young man prevented him, they waited instead. After a couple of seconds, Ohta the one capable of seeing through walls said "I don''t see Ray in there. He is not inside anymore, and I''m pretty sure he did not leave. Is he dead? " The big man inside, got closer to the wall holding him and said: "Open up, he is dead." And Fuji released his ability.


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    Inside that prison of earth, it was only me and the muscular man. I told him "Your friend won''t let them crush both of us inside, right?" I added "Pff, I know you have no mana left. You started with a skyscraper size and now you can''t even hold an x2." And I forced him to let me go and said "See? By the way It''s a good thing that we are locked here, I''ll show you something new. Benjiro, I know you can hear us with your Wayves ability, I''ll be gone for some moment, find somewhere to hide and rest, and don''t attract attention."


    Whit what''s left of my mana I activated my ability and said "Grim Reaper: Takeover" I turned to my ghost form, dashed towards him, and got into his body. That ability gave me full control of his body, and I was happy that it worked exactly as I imagined it, but I knew that once I get out, I''ll have no mana to hold my curse anymore.


    I fooled them with this ability, and they opened up for me, thinking that I am the muscular man. As I got out, I ordered the young man "Let''s head back now!"


    "But we still ..."


    "I said let get back right now. Don''t you see you can''t even stand up? I''m out of mana as well. And for that arrogant man, I killed him."


    He made a giant black hole and said: "Everyone, jump in." And we all left.


    Benjiro


    With my power, Wayves, I heard what Ray said, and I did what he asked. We waited for them to leave, and I explained the situation to the others. Moments later, Akira woke up, and we left the battlefield.


    In my previous life, I was a physics teacher, and I died in a car accident. The power I chose, I knew it was not the strongest and most useful thing I could pick, but my orientation and my acquaintance of my life lowered my options and my imagination.


    With my ability, we avoided contact with people. We found an abandoned house nearby, and we decided to stay in it for the moment. Akira was the one giving us the instructions during that time, playing the leader''s role, and staying in that house was his idea. We picked up some fruits together from trees nearby, and we sat around the fireplace in the house.


    We sat there for a while without saying anything. Then Selia jumped in to break the silence: "What about we present each other? I''ll go first. I''m Selia. I used to be a security engineer. I like cooking and playing video games, and I knew Ray in person. "


    Her knowing Ray didn''t surprise us as we already knew that. I said after she was done: "My name is Benjiro, I am a physics teacher, or I used to be. As for my hobby, it''s not that interesting, I liked playing with chemical reactions, even though it was not my specialization. I''m married, and I have two kids."


    Selia was excited to hear from us, and when I finished she looked to the person next to me. He said: "My name is Akira." She kept starring at him, waiting for him to add something, he added: "I came here because I got killed, my father killed me." We were shocked after hearing that, then Maki jumped to save it, and said: "I''m Maki. I was a dancer. I also did some martial arts. And I knew Ray." We didn''t expect her to know him too. She added: "But he doesn''t know me."


    And for Taki, she was the youngest one of us. She said: "I''m Taki. I was about to graduate, but I died. My power is water. And I don''t like fat and or overly muscular boys." She blushed after saying that, and we started laughing. Even Akira smiled. Selia was pushing us to talk and get to know each other more. We kept talking about trivial topics all night until we slept.

 Chapter 8: The Lion Cub organization

    Chapter 8: The Lion Cub organization


    Ray


    A large city, with technology even surpassing the one we had in my previous life. And with the usage of different abilities, the city looks even greater. That was what I expected to see after getting out of the portal. Instead, we found ourselves in jail. They let me and the young man get out, and they locked everybody else in.


    They had a man with a dangerous ability, guarding the prisoners. He was able to put out the power of anyone he stares at. On a battlefield, anyone going against him will be at a large disadvantage. ''What a waste of potential. Locking such power with those prisoners, just to keep watching them, only shows how bad this organization is being managed.''


    Without looking at us, he said while his red and tired eyes kept watching all the prisoners: "What happened? you look so much wounded this time."


    The young man responded: "They had some annoying abilities." And we left that building, to finally see how the city looked like.


    It was a small city, probably all made using the power of an earth user. It had no sign of technological advancement. All the houses were the same except for a castle located in the middle of the city.


    The young man made another portal to teleport right inside the castle this time. He said after we got into it: "You are acting weird." And he looked at me suspiciously.


    "I don''t feel alright. I got hit on my head."


    "Then why didn''t you ask to go to the medical department first as usual?"


    ''I''m I busted? How should I answer this? Or should I run away now? ''


    The voice of one of the guards on the castle broke the silence: "Hey, you two! What are you doing there? The king is waiting."


    The young man said: "We will talk about it later, let''s go now!".


    We met the king, a fat young man named Marshall, surrounded by women feeding him while my companion was recapping what happened to us. His story wasn''t completely true. He made it seem that everything was under control the whole time, and he never mentioned any survivors.


    On the way out, I noticed that, in the castle, there were a lot of slaves, and most of them were women and girls. They all had attractive and revealing clothes, and they all had a tattoo of a dog on one of their arms.


    We left the castle, my companion said: "Don''t you want to go home now?"


    "Yeah!" I said with a fake smile while trying to hold eye contact.


    "I''ll make you a portal."


    When we got out of the portal, I started walking, and he stayed behind me waiting. I turned back to him and said: "Is this a joke?"


    He was suspicious of me, I assumed that he would''ve tried to test me somehow. The way he offered me a portal to home was fishy, and the fact that he got in with me and waited for my reaction confirmed that this place wasn''t what it is supposed to be. And on top of that, with my enhanced vision, I read far away that this place was abandoned.


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    He responded: "I''m sorry, I guess I''m tired too." And he made me another portal. This time he wasn''t going to follow me in, and I told him before I leave: "Can you meet me before sunset, In front of my house. I want to try something new in our combo."


    "Yeah, sure, just don''t be late again." And I left


    When I got out of the portal, I was in front of a house that seemed to be mine. I heard the sound of a little girl inside, I decided to not get in and avoid contact with anyone. I started walking, I was looking for a library, and I found it. I got in. The librarian greeted me. A black-haired teenage woman with round glasses. I simply said "Hi" with a smile on my face, and I avoided her after.


    I took the biggest encyclopedia in there. After hours of reading, I knew a lot of things about this world and this organization and its king.


    In geology and physics, this world is different from the one we came from before, the difference is that it is widely bigger and filled with what they called Black matter. The Black matter is a stronger type of mana, that only the earth and nature have and utilities to protect themselves. Roughly speaking, this world cannot be destroyed by a human being, nature will always protect or restore itself using the Black matter.


    In biology, newborns do get to choose their powers as well, at the age of 16.


    In history and politics, this world is governed by 4 pillars, and they are the strongest ever existed. And under those 4 pillars, there are 9 royal families. Marshall Elthias, son of King Albert Elthias, is one of them. And the one they are calling king here is only a prince. He deserted the kingdom years ago, built this organization, called The Lion Cub organization, and started calling himself king.


    In the last pages of the book, I read about the winter season. Some of those pages weren''t printed but written manually and weren''t clear.


    ''The seasons? Two or four seasons, it doesn''t matter that much in this world. And I have to go anyways'' I looked through the window to see that the moment of our meeting was up. I closed the book and left.


    On the way back, I met an old man selling fruits, he said: "Hey, soldier!"


    ''Do I look like a soldier? Or does he know me?'' I looked at him, and he said: "Those are some good and new apples. They can refill a lot of mana."


    "No, sorry!"


    "Those are free, take them" And he gave me two apples.


    He completed: "One for you and one for the little Lily." I took them, and I left


    In front of the muscular''s house, I saw the teenager talking with a little girl. When I got closer, they noticed me, and the little girl started running towards me. She jumped to hug me and said: "Where have you been, brother?"


    "I''m sorry, I just wanted to get some fresh air." It was awkward for me since I never knew how to interact with kids. I said: "Take those and get back inside. Big brother still has something important to do."


    "Are you fighting bad guys again?" She said with a sad-looking face.


    "Don''t worry about it, I''ll be back soon." And then tears started raining out of my eyes. It wasn''t me, and it wasn''t my curse. The body is starting to reject me. ''My time is almost up; I need to hurry.'' I put her down and said to my companion. "We need somewhere calm outside the city, but not far away."


    "Yes, sir!"


    We teleported to a hill outside the city where we could see the whole thing. I immediately said: "Give me HumanX."


    "What''s the hurry?"


    "My sister is waiting."


    "What are you trying to do?"


    "You will see, you will be impressed. It''s something new."


    His curse was that while his ability is active, he has to keep his eyes closed. I noticed that when we were fighting before.


    He closed his eyes, and I got a hundred times bigger with the muscular''s ability. When I got HumanX, I immediately swung with my hands to erase the whole city from the earth. Seconds before I deleted the city, I saw a lot of faces; faces of people I just killed. I saw Lily. Tears fell from my eyes, and I said to myself "Don''t be sad It was a painless death!"


    With his eyes still closed, the teenager said while he was tumbling: "What happened? what did you do?"


    I wiped the tears from my eyes, got back to the normal size, and said: "Why don''t you open your eyes and see for yourself?"


    He opened his eyes to see the face of his old friend, with a facial expression he had never seen before. He said: "Who the hell are you?"

 Chapter 9: My power part III

    Chapter 9: My power part III


    ''My mana is low, and my time is up. I don''t think I can hold for more than 15 minutes. I''m about to witness for the first time the consequences of abusing my ability.'' I had a lot of ideas at that time, but I was tired, and I couldn''t find the best decision to make. I wanted to get back to my group and also to kill the man in front of me. But if I do kill him, I will find myself lost in this tremendous world. The only way I found was to convince him to teleport me back.


    "They will kill you ... No, you will wish to die, because they will keep you alive and torture you." said the young man, while he was down on the ground desperate and scared with me looking down at him.


    "How am I in danger if all my enemies are dead?" I responded with threatening eyes as if he was my last enemy to kill.


    "You think you can kill a future King that easily ?"


    "What does that suppose to mean ?"


    "You didn''t kill Marshall Elthias, and he will be seeking revenge."


    I froze for a moment, I was tired, and I was shocked that my plan failed. From the look of his eyes, I could see that he was not lying. I responded: "More precisely, he will be seeking revenge against you and your friend. You killed them with your combined abilities." And I finished the sentence with a smile.


    I couldn''t imagine him getting even more scared, but he did. My words made him finally realize what happened and that he was responsible for destroying the city. On top of that, no one would believe him. Even if they do, he is still responsible for getting me in and giving me HumainX.


    I said: "You killed them. It was HumainX that deleted the city."


    The young man was trembling out of fear. He stood up, opened his arms, and said: "I''m ready. Please kill me and make it fast."


    I moved my big hand slowly towards his face, he closed his eyes thinking that it is the end, but I put it on top of his head and said: "Kid, what if I tell you that you can live."


    He opened his tear-filled eyes and looked at his old friend controlled by me. I completed: "One of my friends that you fought before has the power to completely change your identity; Your body, your smell, and everything about you. You can start a new life without anyone knowing about what happened here."


    "Can he really do this ?"


    "After all, this was my plan if I failed to kill everyone and hide my identity. And all you need to do is to help me find him."


    Signs of relief started to show up on his face. He said: "Where is that friend of yours? Where can we find him?"


    "The first thing you need to do is to get us back to where we fought before." And he immediately teleported us to the battlefield.


    He didn''t know that, at that state, I could barely move, and I had only 10 seconds before my curse took over me.


    "Now, where is he? "


    ''9'' I got out of the muscular man''s body, and it fell to the ground.


    ''8'' He went to check on his friend.


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    ''7'' I went behind him and got my sword out.


    ''6'' Without waiting, I cut his head off and said: "As you asked, I made it fast and easy."


    ''5'' I dropped my weapon, and I started losing control of my body.


    ''4'' I heard familiar voices on the other side, I did the only move I could do at that point; turn my head towards it.


    ''3'' I said: "Akira, I can''t..."


    ''2'' I froze


    And I said "One"


    Akira


    Finally, Ray was back. We immediately got out and started running towards him, after that Benjiro told us someone showed up on the battlefield. The moment we got there, we saw him kill the teen we fought before, and he said: "One" out loud. What we noticed after is a huge change in the aura surrounding Ray, from the usual dark black to a bright white aura. He was like a new person. He saw us and immediately jumped to ... hug me. Then he said: "Thank goodness, you are all safe and sound."


    "Is it you Ray? " I said


    He let me go and replied: "Are you blind? or you forgot how I look like?"


    We understood after that this was his curse. His curse was getting possessed by a friendly, mindless, soft, innocent, and weaker version of him. In fact, it does match his power Grim Reaper. Selia and the others were excited and happy to see him, and even happier to find him in this state. Except for me and Maki. Moments later we heard a familiar voice that broke up that awkward situation. The muscular man wasn''t dead, he started coughing and getting his consciousness back. Before he wakes up, we decided to tie him up and hide his partner''s body, and we brought him back with us. This whole time Ray wasn''t saying anything or giving us instructions, so I decided to keep taking the lead for the moment. We chained him to a tree near the house we were camping in, which became our base later. And then Ray said: "He is waking up. Do you guys know that he will automatically use his power to free himself? " We turned at him surprised and feeling dump, and he added: "When I was on his body, I figured out his curse. He can''t use his power in the dark, without sunlight. But a fraction of its reflection is enough for him to use the max potential of his p..." I ran before he could finish his words and took the prisoner and locked him in the basement of the house. The way Ray acted made me angry, but I calmed down moments later. Ray was doing random stupid and childish things, and it became worst and worst.


    When we were trying to figure out whether we kill the prisoner or question him, we heard Ray hit the ground soo hard, which caused a huge hole close to the house. He used body enhancement, the only power that stole and still has, just because he didn''t disable it yet. We immediately went out, panicked, trying to see through the dust. He showed up and said with a smile: "Sory, I scared you. I just was training. I didn''t think I am that strong. Oops." And he got back to the house.


    After that, even Selia and Taki felt uncomfortable and unsafe with him around. We decided to meet outside the house and talk about it when he was busy messing with the prisoner that just woke up.


    Maki started: "I can''t stand him anymore. He is making more and more problems. The boss would never do such a thing, and reveal our position while we are like this. Are we sure that it is him ?"


    Selia said: "Yes, it is him"


    Maki said aggressively: "Then how do you know? For how long do you want to hide your power from us?"


    Selia: "I don''t have a power."


    Benjiro said: "I can tell that you are lying."


    Selia said with a desperate voice: "So with your power, Wayves, you can tell when someone is lying." She took a deep breath and continued: "But my power is useless, and it doesn''t affect or hurt you."


    Benjiro: "She didn''t lie on this one though."


    I said: "Enough of this, now we need to find a way to deal with Ray."


    Maki: "Don''t tell me you are trying to kill him while he is at this state."


    Benjiro: "His curse will end soon, and he will be back to normal. We can just wait for him. Killing an ally in this new world is the worst thing we can do."


    I responded: "I never said anything about killing him. Locking him up while he is in this form is reasonable and understandable. I''m just afraid he would do something foolish again with his power."


    Taki: "How can we lock him up if he can use his power ?"


    Suddenly Ray showed up and said: "First of all, they call them blessings in this world." Now Ray is truly back, his curse is obviously over. We were surprised and relieved because the problem was solved. But he added: "Secondly, your prisoner escaped."

 Chapter 10: Am I special ?

    Chapter 10: Am I special ?


    Ray


    "The Elthias family is one of the oldest royal families existing. And we were all this time on their territory. Its leader and strongest member is king Albert Elthias. He and his oldest son argued years ago therefore, Marshall Elthias left and then build the organization that we fought. He also confirmed that the Elthias prince cannot be dead by that attack. The prince is a power stealer as well, and one of the blessings he stole is Second Life. It saves him from certain death, but only once every month. He passed his last month drinking and sleeping with women, which means that his ability was up, to save him." I said to my group while we were heading to Elthias''s capital city.


    And I added: "That was the information I traded with the muscular man before I let him go, while I was under the control of my curse."


    In order to hide and also to recruit people to build what I thought about when I came to this world, we decided to infiltrate the capital. Along the way, I kept feeding my body the vegetables and plants we collected. And we stopped from time to time to exercise to get used to fighting with our blessings and also to rest and sleep.


    Taki


    I still remember clearly the day where we started training. Ray separated us into groups of two people. Akira had to fight Maki, they both excel in the close fight, but they had their unique styles, fighting with each other was beneficial for them. Benjiro was with Selia. They were asked to gather food and furniture. Benjiro was consistently pushing his limits by trying to expand his range of sensitivity. And I was left alone with Ray.


    My blessing isn''t something special. I just can manipulate water. But the first thing he told me: "Your blessing is special Taki. You can become soo strong." I gave him a dump and confused face because I wasn''t expecting that. He added: "I''ll make it simple for you, don''t worry." Then He took his sword and said: "What does it take for a sword to be a great one?"


    I responded: "The sharpness? The solidity?"


    He said: "That is a correct answer, but not the best answer." He walked to a tree nearby and cuts it with his sword.


    Then he picked a solid stick from the ground and cut its edges to make a wooden sword of it. He walked to another tree and said while he was preparing to do the same move he did before but this time with the stick: "The hands wielding the sword are what makes it a great one." And he cuts the tree this time with the same move and only with the wooden sword.


    I said: "Impressive, how did you do that? "


    He said: "Come closer and see this." As I was walking, he continued: "Unfortunately, you cannot achieve such things just by training. In order to be talented, you need to be born gifted. Because if you are not gifted, people will easily surpass you." Ray had his hands on the edge of what''s left of the lower part of the tree, and as I got closer, I noticed what he wanted me to see. The cut on the second tree was cleaner and sharper, even though the first one was done by a real sword and the second one, using a stick. I was amazed and speechless, after a brief moment of silence I said: "Does that mean I''m born to be a good swordsman?"


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    He responded: "Definitely not. But you can do something even I, I am not capable of. Do you remember the first thing I told you?"


    "Uuuum? My blessing is special, that is what you told me."


    "In fact, it is special because It suits you. Put your hands in front of you with your palms up." Benjiro was passing by, he asked him to do the same.


    Ray said: "Don''t you see the difference?"


    I was surprised, and I said: "His hands look like they are shaking compared to mine."


    "Indeed, there is nothing wrong with him, it is you that has a great precision and stability on your hands and not just your hands but your whole body. Now, back to your blessing, water, the element that can take any forms easily, it can be the sharpest blade with enough precision."


    "I think now I understand."


    "Now, I want you to use your blessing. Imagine the sharpest blade you can make and cut that tree." And he pointed towards another tree.


    I stepped towards it, took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and then a hand holding a sword all made of water appeared beside me and made the same move Ray did before, and cut the tree. I opened my eyes, and Ray was applauding me. He said with a smile: "Great job." I got embarrassed, and I turned away.


    He said: "Look at what you did."


    I run towards the tree to see even a cleaner cut than the one he did with the stick.


    After he taught me the basics, he asked me to keep repeating some attacks with my ability. Most of them were attacks in the form of a sharp blade. While he was spending his time training alone. He either leaves elsewhere for a moment or sits down to meditate.


    After 5 days of me repeating swordsman''s techniques with a water blade, he asked me for the first time to fight him one-on-one. I was confident that day and, I felt so strong, I was delusional enough to think that I had a chance to win against him.


    Everyone stopped to watch our fight. They wanted, first of all, to see Ray fighting and also, to see how I progressed in less than a week.


    He had a bag with him this time, he puts it away, and we started. The fight started with Ray taking off his sword and running towards me. The first thing we noticed was that this was not how we are used to seeing Ray fighting. On one hand, his speed was lower, and on the other hand, he was using mainly his sword to fight and only the enhanced body blessing.


    I attacked him. I summoned two long swords beside me and started to cut trees and the ground near him, while trying purposely to miss him. He smiled, and he speeded up to fade away and reappear behind me, and said: "You should not be holding back on a fight against me, unless if you are asking to..." and he attacked me with his sword to cut my long hair and my clothes and also to make a long scratch on my back. And he finished: "Die."


    The attack was precise enough to just make a scratch and not be deadly, but it was sore for me, to bear the pain. I fell to the ground out of pain. The others were worried about me, Benjiro said: "It is a little bit too much for her." and Selia stepped up towards me to help. "You stay where you are!" Ray said to threaten and stop her.


    He got down to my eyes level and said: "Get up, we just started."


    After a lot of suffering, I got up and decided to fight him. This time I Spawned 4 water swords, I screamed and started targeting Ray and everything around him with my attacks. He said while he was dodging every single one of my attacks: "Mistake number one: you forgot the principles. You traded quantity for quality, precision and power" and he stoped my swords easily with his blade.


    He jumped away out of my range and said while he started playing with his sword: "Two, you need to work on your long-range attacks." And he threw his sword towards me. I barely dodge it, and it got planted on the ground behind me. I created bubbles of water and sent them towards him. He didn''t try to dodge them, and most of them missed. And the ones that touched him didn''t affect him. He smiled.


    I took a second to breathe, and to gain back my force, he said: "Sorry, we have to hurry, we don''t have more time." I had him in my sight, and I blinked to see him suddenly in front of me. He said: " Three, you should work on your defenses. He passed me to stop smoothly behind me. He picked up his sword and spun while keeping the same momentum, to cut off my left arm.


    I lost. He threw his sword away meaning that the fight was over. He sat down on the grass and said: "Now listen carefully. If you do not stop the bleeding, you will die. You need to be able to use your power in situations like this and stop the blood."


    He pointed towards me, raised his voice, and said: "TAKI, it is time for you to show me whether you are special or not. Stand back up!"

 Chapter 11: Old Friend

    Chapter 11: Old Friend


    Taki


    "Taki, are you still asleep? Wake up. You are late."


    ''Where am I?'' I looked around, with my vision still blurry out of sleep. ''Am I home?''


    "Taki, Wake up already!"


    ''This voice, it is my mother''s voice. And I''m home.'' I got up and immediately ran downstairs. It was my mother and my whole family. She was occupied making breakfast, and without looking at me, she said: "Hurry up, you are late." I jumped towards her, gently hugged her from behind, and said: "I missed you." She was surprised. She put down the kitchen utensils she had, placed her hands on top of mine, and said once again: "Taki, wake up."


    "What?"


    "Stand back up on your feet and show them that my daughter is special." I opened my eyes to see Ray in front of me, and the others waiting for me.


    Waves of extreme pain were coming from my arm. I endured the pain and tried to push myself with my other hand from the ground. The grass was painted with my red blood. And I remembered that I needed to stop the bleeding when I looked at it. I gathered what''s left of my mana to stop the bleeding with water. I lost my stability and my precision, and also my curse started affecting me. The water I make loses its stability and even starts boiling when I use my ability to mush, that was my curse. But I successfully was able to control the bubble I made on my left arm. I was consistently feeling dizzy. ''Just a little bit more, I still need to stand up.'' I started moving my body to stand back up. I never felt this heavy. Flashbacks of my previous life were what gave me enough strength to finally stand up. Ray stood to face me saying: "You finally did it, congratulations." He immediately took the bag he brought with him last time and emptied whatever was inside of it in front of me. It was a living human body. All its toes and fingers were cut, except for the left hand, the one that I''m missing. Ray said: "I found him when I was away last time, I tried to get information out of him, but he was useless. Now kill him and get your left hand back. And also, get some food from Selia to keep your mana always up, we never know when we might get attacked." And he walked away.


    I got physically healed after killing that half-dead human, but my mind wasn''t stable. Selia and the others tried their best to help me out. I even felt that Akira and Maki now think of me as a good future fighter that you can rely on.


    The night has fallen. We were laying down on the grass, looking at the stars in the sky. Except for Ray, who was still meditating. Benjiro interrupted the silence: "I still don''t quite understand the reasons behind Ray being this hard on you."


    "Ray''s intentions were pretty clear to me, from the beginning," Akira answered with a calm voice. And then he added: "First of all he pushed you to use your power to its extreme limits and to achieve this you need to be as close as possible to death. Now you have a better idea of your blessing and your curse. And also, you had to experience using your power in the most unusual and unstable state you can be in. Do you remember how Maki fought the two attackers from the Lion Cub organization? She lost both her arms, and she kept fighting. If It was you, you would''ve blacked out and died." And then Selia said: "Ray sometimes might look fearsome and evil, but in reality, he is not. He is the kindest person I know. He would never let you die like that."


    Benjiro said: "What about you Maki? What do you think of Ray?"


    We waited for some seconds, but she didn''t reply. Selia looked at her and said: "Maki?" She smiled and completed: "She is already asleep." After that, we all slept.


    Selia


    After a long trip, we finally arrived at Elthias''s capital city. From far away we could see that the city was surrounded by a steel wall and protected by a spell shielding it from the air. The only way in was the main gate entrance. We got in easily, pretending to be merchants, and using all the furniture we gathered as goods or products to sell. The city with the size of a large country from our previous world was fascinating. Ray also compared it with the Lion Cub city saying: "I wouldn''t be able to wipe out this city that easily if they teleported me here. If I had to compare the two, I would say that this one is up hundreds of years of development."


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    We were lost in the city not knowing where to go and avoiding anyone that has a strong aura or a solder uniform. Until Ray and another man crossed each other. After a few steps, they both stopped. I didn''t get to have a good look at his face. And he said: "Could you please follow me." and started walking. Then Ray turned back and started walking behind him without saying anything, but if you looked closely at his face, you would''ve seen a glimpse of joy and excitement. And without saying anything, we trusted Ray''s decision and followed them. He brought us to an abandoned large battle arena, far away from downtown. Maki said: "Why did we follow him. He is probably leading us to a trap." The man stopped and turned back to face us. I recognized him. Ray said, with a large smile on his face: "Show me what you''ve got!" And they dashed towards each other. Ray was faster and dominating the fight. He was attacking from all directions, and the mysterious man was on the defense. Ray kept attacking more and more for a long time, using the enhanced body blessing to increase his speed and strength. However, the man wasn''t getting affected at all by his attacks. When we noticed that, the others started getting worried. I looked at them to try and tell them the identity of that man, but a blast caught my attention back to the fight. It was Ray, he got kicked to the wall, making clouds of dust around him. Maki stepped to join the fight, but I put my hand in front of her stopping her, meaning that she shouldn''t go. She took my arm, put it down, and started walking again towards the fight while completely ignoring me. Thankfully Benjiro stopped her saying: "I can sense that he is alright. He doesn''t need our help. You know he is stronger than that. Let''s first try to figure out the enemy''s blessing." I responded saying: "He is not our ene..." But I got interrupted again. Ray started talking, and they all looked at him while the dust started fading away.


    "Interesting blessing. Strong for defense, and even stronger on the offense."


    "I knew you would like it."


    Ray looked towards us and said: "Hey, Taki come here."


    She gave us the face of ''Did he call me?'' We gave her a nod as a confirmation, and she started walking to the battlefield. On her way, I saw her new haircut from behind; A long but diagonal black hair, cut by Ray''s attack on their last flight. She decided to keep it, saying that she liked it. She stood beside Ray confused and also looking for injuries on his body, but she found none. And he shocked all of us saying: "You will be fighting him." And he jumped out to let them face each other. He walked to me and said: "You told them?"


    I said: "No."


    Taki attacked first. This time her fighting style changed. She was fighting with long strings of water with sharp edges, preserving the precision, augmenting the range, and increasing the quantity. She was attacking like an octopus; she was the head, and the strings were its tentacles. The mysterious man wasn''t as fast as Ray is, he wasn''t dodging all the attacks, but he was untouchable. And when he figured, he doesn��t even need to dodge the attacks, he stood still and got hit from everywhere. But as expected, nothing affected him. Then Ray spoke up: "Taki, think of other ways to use water. Sharpness isn''t always the way to go. And do not confuse it with precession." She started thinking about it, and she also seemed distracted. The mysterious man raised his hand towards a rock nearby, with his palm facing it. And the rock started moving. Then it flew to his hand. Ray said: "Do you now understand his blessing?" Then the man threw that huge rock targeting Taki with it. To stop it, she closed her eyes, she put her hand in front of her, and a current of water started firing out. With the current''s power, she was able to destroy most of it to stop it. And then she looked at the mysterious man and aimed with her hand towards him. She fired a stronger attack towards him, but he made an ''X'' posture with his hands, and as expected again, the attack didn''t affect him. The current kept going for a couple of minutes, while her opponent was not moving and holding the same posture. When she stopped, she was gasping and looking tired, but the man lowered his hands and looked at her, and he showed a victorious smile on his face. But she wasn''t done, she surprised all of us with her next attack. She activated her Blessing again to move all the water she sent towards the mysterious man, and imprison him inside a giant bubble of water. "Water element: Detention." She said after she locked him up.


    Ray


    I was proud that she progressed, and was able to do something against an enemy with a blessing like his. Gravity is indeed an interesting one. I wasn''t expecting her to win, I just wanted to push her more to progress.


    While everyone was applauding and unfortunately for her, her moment of joy ended quickly. Her attack popped like a balloon, and her opponent was intact. He said: "Not a bad attack, I had to push harder to stop it."


    I jumped between them, and I said: "The fight is over! ... Everyone, this is Theodore, someone I and Selia knew very well before we die."

 Chapter 12: A lucky eavesdropper

    <u>Chapter 12: A lucky eavesdropper</u>


    Ray


    (��?��) "Ray''s friend? He is so awesome and strong," said Maki, and she completed with her hands thrown in front of him, asking for a handshake: "My name is Maki, Zeying Maki!" He awkwardly shook her hand and said ��?_?��:" Nice to meet you!" I interrupted them saying: "What are you doing here, and how did you end up in this world?"


    He responded with a serious face: "There is a lot that I need to tell you about, boss." Then Taki coughed and Selia got worried about her. They walked away to get some food.


    And I told Theodore: "Ok, say what you have. And one more thing, I''m not your boss anymore. I''m just Ray now."


    "Brody, the man that wanted Selia. He is here too. He is not in the Elthias kingdom, but apparently, he followed you guys to this world."


    "That bastard is obsessed with Selia. Even I, couldn''t protec.... Anyways how did you die? And what happened that night?"


    "You do remember when you assigned me and Clair to make sure Selia goes to Brody?"


    "Yes, I do remember that clearly."


    "Well, after that Selia joined Brody, Clair attacked me from behind. And before I die, I heard her talking with him. She said that she wanted to kill you by herself. He responded: "I will give you the honor to do it. After all, I got Selia, and that''s all that matters." And she left. After some minutes, the room where I was laying down lightened, and I heard the voices of a group of people. That was the last thing I remember before coming to this world."


    "It seems like you died before me."


    I was looking at the ground, thinking about the situation. He said: "Does this mean she killed you?"


    I raised my head, looked at him, and said: "No... I killed her, and then somebody else attacked me." And I turned away again.


    I said: "And what are you doing in the Elthias kingdom exactly?"


    "I was on a summon nearby. They took us to the capital, and after a lot of questions and blessing tests and strength checks, I am now one of the special forces of this kingdom. But apparently, they are not doing so well lately. Prince Marshall, left the city a long time ago with a lot of its soldiers, five from the special forces included. And lately, they all got attacked."


    Maki said (?�y?): "And only that Marshall survived, because he had a power that he stole, and blah blah blah. We heard that story millions of times already."


    Theodore said: "You know about all of this? How? I just got that information hours ago."


    "It is because he was the one that wiped out the city," said Akira while pointing towards me.


    Theodore (???��): "What do you mean ''he wiped out the city''? If that''s true, were you going that easy on me when I was fighting you?"


    I responded: "To answer your question, yes, and also I deleted the city. I honestly thought that I killed them all. Now I want to know more about the circumstances of the change this made."


    Theodore ( ???`): "Uuuh, the sky darkened, we spent a lot of time here, let''s go to my house and finish the talk."


    Selia: "Your house is amazing! Do you live alone?"


    He responded: "Yes, for now. It is because I am now one of the special forces. We are considered the main military force of the kingdom. I became one just because I picked a strong ability, and I knew how to use it."


    A big house, the kind in which most people dreamed of growing up. Secluded among trees on one of the most exclusive streets, it has turrets, gables, dormers, balconies, a screened-in front porch, a gazebo, and a pool.


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    "You want some drinks?" Said Theodore. After that we got some drinks, he continued: "You just came to this world, and yet you are the most wanted man in this kingdom already."


    I said: "I had no choice but to kill them."


    He said: "And by the way, I heard they caught someone suspected to be the criminal. Do you know anything about this?"


    "Is he a big and muscular man?"


    "Yes, he will be executed in public next few days. You have a hand in this as well?"


    "Yes, but I wasn''t expecting that to happen. By the way, he is the only one alive who knows what really happened. I tried to kill him, but he escaped."


    "Well, all of your actions led to a very bad position for the kingdom. Other royal families are planning to take advantage of this situation to invade it and kill the king."


    "Do you know the blessing of this king?"


    "Every royal family has a specific blessing, and it is forbidden for anyone to pick one of theirs. If they find out, you will either be killed or sold to the kingdom that has your power. The Elthias family, for example, are all power stealers, but what''s different between them is how their powers work and also the curses. None of you is a power stealer, right?"


    I said with a fake smile: "Let''s not talk about my blessing." And I looked back to see the others all looking at me sweating out of stress �ѩn��.


    I turned back to Theodore and said: "What are your plans now? are you going to fight with them? Or..."


    He interrupted me saying: "Hell no, I''m going with you. It''s boring living alone here, adventuring with you will be so much more fun. And also," His facial expression got serious, and he continued (???_??): "I want to find Brody and Clair. They killed me, they betrayed us, and they did hurt a lot of people. I''m looking to get my revenge." We all slept, and we picked up the conversation between me and him the next morning on a tavern nearby.


    I said: "I need to recruit strong people. I plan to build a large kingdom, to have more freedom on my actions and decisions."


    "I know that when we fought, you were going easy on me, but I don''t think you can be as strong as one of the kings. The most recent kingdom was built 20 years ago, but it was an exception for this one. They say that they got help from another unknown king, and its purpose was to unbalance the power in the world. This change caused a lot of problems among the 8 original kingdoms, claiming that the four pillars should have only 2 kingdoms each under them."


    "I deleted a city alone with a single attack, remember? How I''m I not strong enough?"


    "Deleting cities is something most of them can do easily." A young skinny male sat beside us and said: "Sorry if I interrupted you, but I was wondering what is special about you two?... Sorry, my uuuh, my blessing is Luck, and I was lucky enough to have Lucky as my name." After a moment of silence, he continued (�i_�i): "One day, this joke will make someone laugh." We ignored him, stood up, and were preparing to leave. He said: "I overheard your conversation. Would you mind paying for my drink first, I came here without money." Theodore stopped and got some coins out of his pocket, wanting to pay for his drink to shut him up in case he really heard our conversation. I held his hand, and said: "Aren''t you supposed to be lucky?" As we turned to leave, somebody''s wallet dropped in front of him. We ignored him and left the tavern. He followed us outside and said: "You can''t just leave like that after I spent all my life savings on you two." He ran to us and said: "Don''t ignore me like that!" We kept walking not paying attention to him and a fight started in the tavern because of a missing wallet. He said: "I have information that you might be interested in. I know how and when this capital is going to be attacked."


    I stopped, looked at him, took a few steps towards him, and said: "Your blessing is Luck, right? Let''s put it to test first." Without waiting I raised my hand to punch him in the middle of his face, expecting him to use his blessing to avoid it. But he didn''t react to it, and I hit him on the face. Theodore said: "Luck is your blessing? Lies!" Suddenly a random knife was thrown towards where Lucky''s head position was. Theodore, not understanding what happened walked toward him and said: "For what reason you are lying about your blessing?" I said: "Wait! My attack just helped him avoid the knife." Lucky stood up covering one of his cheeks, and said while feeling frustrated (?_??): "I''m running out of luck. The way my blessing works is that I get an amount of luck every day, and I can either preserve it or use it. I decided long ago to hold on to my luck and use it all at once. Today I used all that I gained for years, and I met you."


    I said: "Hahahaha. You are indeed lucky. You avoided the knife by getting hit by my punch. I believe you. So, what is the information that you have for us?"


    He responded: "I have a condition first; I want you to let me accompany you. All my luck is spent on you anyways." I accepted, and we walked back with him to Theodore''s house.


    When we arrived Maki and Akira were fighting in the backyard. ��They both got stronger, they will be a great help to us in our next fights.'' We entered, sat down, and Lucky started explaining: "Three days from now, one man will drop from the sky to enter the city. It must be the same day when a death sentence is carried out. Once he is in, he should be able to kill thousands of people. But all of this is only a distraction to bait out the soldiers from defending the king. This is how the city is going to be attacked."


    I responded: "This plan would have been perfect if they could get rid of the king''s son as well. ... Unless if they have the information that he will be for the execution."


    Theodore said: "But there is a spell protecting the city from the air, how are they going to break it? No one has ever done that before."


    Lucky said: "The way they were talking, I felt like the man responsible for the spell is collaborating with them."


    I said: "Who are ''They''? who is behind all of this?"


    "I actually don''t know. I didn''t pay that much attention to it back then."


    "Ok, we will prepare for this, in case this information is correct. For the meantime, you will be staying here." I said while looking at Lucky.

 Chapter 13: The execution day

    Chapter 13: The execution day


    Ray


    I grew up as a kid thinking that I am different from others. Not just because I was feeling, I am the center of the world like everyone else does. But I felt like I was able to see, feel, and say things that even elders find daring to do. When I was five, I asked my mother once: "Mom, how are people made?" She blushed and said: "You are still young to know about this!" I said: "I wasn''t talking about sex; I already know about that. What I meant was, how did it start? How did the first humans exist?".


    I started questioning the existence of life from a young age, which usually happens years later. My parents weren''t a huge help for me when I was young, and they started avoiding my brave and annoying questions.


    I remember at school, sitting alone on the last seat in the classroom, bored, watching everyone''s actions and trying to get into their personalities and predict their future for fun. ''This kid is always late. He does not appear to be from a poor or wealthy family, but he is always messy, irresponsible, indifferent, and careless. If there were no major changes in his life, he would only get a C-tier job, with the typical problems that comes with it; some family problems, and perhaps a divorce knowing how messy, chaotic and aggressive he is.'' But my prediction that time was wrong. Eventually, a big change affected his life, and it was me. I couldn''t hold myself once, I spoke with him and said all that I thought about him. The situation escalated badly, and we got into a fight. It turned out with me assaulting him physically as well. After that, he got bullied by other kids as well and then excluded, to end up being on the wrong path and become jobless. I always felt superior, and I knew why. I simply was able to see the truth and speak it. And if my growth were to harm others, I would, without thinking, step over their faces to rise. But in this new world, I felt like I have changed. ''Would I abandon one of those people, if it is beneficial for me? Would I be able to do the same thing I did to my family years ago to build my company?'' And I looked at them while they were smiling and happy with their new friend Lucky.


    Akira brought me back to reality saying: "Ray, what do we do now?" After a moment of silence, I responded: "If the attack is really happening, we need to use that to our favor. Their objective should be the royal family. We need to find them first... The only problem is that we don''t know where to look for information."


    Theodore''s phone rang, and he started talking: "Yes... yes, sure... I''ll see you there."


    When he finished, I said: "I didn''t know you use phones in this world."


    He said: "Actually, this is just a device for us, soldiers, to get orders and instructions."


    I said: "Do the king and his son have something like this as well?" he nodded. I completed: "Selia, have a look at this device. Can you hack through the system?" She started messing around with it while we kept talking.


    Based on Theodore''s last phone call, the execution is in two days, and they need more guards for this event. The king will make a statement, but as per usual he won''t be there personally.


    After hours of discussion, we ended with the following plan. Selia, Taki, and Lucky will stay home. Their role will be to try to hack through their network for information like everyone''s position, or more specifically, where the king is. Theodore can keep pretending to follow the orders, and he will be having Akira and Maki close for help. Their role will be simply to slow down the attackers. As for me and Benjiro, with his ability Waves, we will be going straight for the king. After we cleared everything up, Lucky said (?????): "Everything is ready now, why don''t we enjoy ourselves tomorrow? Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Elthias kingdom. We can have a lot of fun." He was talking to all of us, but his words seemed to be specifically directed at Selia. And that was when I noticed that he didn''t stop flirting with her, the moment he saw her. She said while she was addressing me ^_^: "Yes, why don''t we go and have fun?"


    I said: "You apparently don''t realize how dangerous and serious this is. And as for you Lucky, I don''t fully trust you yet. As you can see, I did put you with Selia and Taki, just so they can watch you closely, till we prove that your information is correct."


    He said: "Soon enough I''ll prove that I''m a friend, don''t worry!"


    "Friend?"


    He said: "We can at least watch the fireworks from here, right? What do you say, Selia?"


    Selia responded: "Yes, that''s a good idea." And I left without saying a word.


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    The next day, we enjoyed the view from outside and were preparing for the execution day. I was wondering at the time, why would they execute someone right after a ceremony like this, but they had a reason for it.


    ...


    The execution day was overcast; a dark, cold, and gloomy day. Theodore''s team went first to the location they asked him. As for me and Benjiro, we went with the crowd. The muscular man, the one that got blamed for killing his family and the whole city, was standing in front of everybody waiting for his death. Apparently, he was paralyzed somehow, to not use his blessing. Suddenly the king showed up, flying high up in the air. An old man, with a wooden cane in his hand. Bald and had a winter-white devil''s fork beard. He said with his brittle and confident voice ?: "Greetings everyone. People of the Elthias kingdom. I, Albert Elthias, the sixth king of the great Elthias family, stand here, to ask for your help in deciding which verdict I should make. We all heard recently, what happened to our families and friends that left with my son Marshall Elthias." He stopped for a moment to wipe a tear out of his eye, and he continued: "I have here the man responsible for all of this. A traitor manipulated by other kingdoms that wish disaster for this beautiful city. I''m currently looking at him, not knowing what punishment appropriate is." He stopped, and everyone in the crowd started screaming: "Death, Death, Death, Death..." He raised his hand to stop them and continued: "But because we live in a democracy, we shall let him speak and defend himself first, even though he doesn''t deserve it... What do you have to say for yourself?" He then looked towards a guard nearby and said: "Let him speak!" The muscular man started speaking with his trembling voice: "As I said before, I didn''t do it. The man behind all of this is dangerous, and he killed my family as well. I don''t care if I die today, all I want is justice for my little sis..." And they stopped him from talking again. The king said: "Lies! Today is the day you will pay for your sins, and shall your soul never find happiness! ... They thought we were weak because my son and I were separated, but little do they know, their hopeless attacks just made us stronger and reunited us back again." And then Marshall, son of the king showed beside him. He said with furious eyes: "Whoever did that to my city, is a dead man." Albert looked at him to stop him. From what I have seen, their relationship is clearly still tense, even though Marshall was back in the kingdom. They probably knew the truth but decided to blame the muscular man. As for the king and his son, they now have a common enemy, which is me. I was disappointed because my plan backfired on me.


    Suddenly the sky darkened; it was like an eclipse but, it wasn''t clear what was hiding the sunlight because of the clouds. I immediately signaled to Benjiro, and we started running away. I said: "You are slow! I''ll try this! Grim Reaper: Takeover" I turned to my ghost form, and I got into his body. ''I can make you run faster, but this will extremely exhaust you.'' And I started running towards Theodore''s house... I got in, Selia was still working on the device we gave her. I looked at her and said: "Selia, get the others and leave the house now. The attack is bigger than what we expected!"


    She said: "Oh, Benjiro you are back? Where is Ray?"


    I said with a harsh tone of voice, forgetting that I''m in Benjiro''s body: "I said leave now!"


    "Okey, but first take this! I found all the locations of devices like this one. And after analyzing them on the map, I think these are the positions of the king and his son. it''s just a guess after all because they seem to be trying to protect these two." And then without waiting, Lucky, Taki, and Selia left the area. ''Benjiro you have to endure this with me. I need your blessing; I can''t let you go now.''


    From far away, I can finally see what was covering the sunlight. A meteor just appeared and scattered the clouds. It was big enough to destroy everything in that area. And on top of it was a man with green hair, looking down and smiling. The king and his son disappeared. Apparently, what we have been watching, was some sort of a hologram to display their images. ''My goal now is to find them. According to Selia''s map, they are so far away from this area.'' I headed towards that location. With the ability Wayves, I avoided the crowding of people freaking out after seeing the meteor. And I also avoided the guards surrounding the king with the help of Selia''s map. I got into a white villa house full of guards. After that I avoided a lot of traps, opened several doors, and barely avoided some of the strongest people in this kingdom, I finally was in front of the king''s room. ''From what I can sense, all those people are so much stronger than me. There is only one way to do it.'' And I kicked the door. Three people were in that room. The king, his son, and the man with the hologram blessing. I started running towards the king. He said??_??: "Who are you? Stay where you are!" And he raised his hand towards me and said: "Wind Element: Timeless Vapor Eruption" To fire a strong hot wind attack from his hand. I kept running towards the attack. When I got close enough to it, I got out of Benjiro''s body and went through the attacks with my ghost form. They didn''t know that I was hiding in Benjiro''s body and they thought that I got hit, so they lowered their defenses, I took the chance and kept flying towards the king with my hand in front of me to enter his body.


    ''There is no turning back now, I''m only milliseconds from touching his body. I can see a lot of guards coming in already, if I fail on this one, we are screwed.'' And when I touched him with my hand, I got electrified and blasted away. He had a shield protecting him from spells. He said: "So my son wasn''t mistaken. There is indeed someone behind all of this, that has nothing to do with the royal families." I really felt the presence of a king back then, he was looking down at me without moving an inch, and despite his age, he was talking with a lot of confidence. Dozens of guards and special forces started appearing as the ground quaked from the meteor''s drop. (��_(��_(��_��)_��)_��)

 The Cursed Crown

    CHAPTER 14 : The Cursed Crown


    Then the sky darkened, an unnatural shift that pulled all eyes upward. King Albert descended with a sweeping gust of wind, scattering the battlefield dust and clearing the view. He floated effortlessly, radiating an aura of calculated authority, with the young prince Marshall by his side. Marshall��s sharp glare fixed on the green-haired intruder, his frustration barely concealed.


    "Who is this man?" Marshall demanded, his tone laced with indignation. "How does someone so strong remain unknown?"


    Albert, calm and deliberate, addressed his son with the weight of wisdom. "Your arrogance blinds you, son. Observe. Learn. This man isn��t merely strong; he��s a declaration of war."


    The green-haired man let out a low chuckle, his smirk sharp and unrelenting. "War? Don��t flatter yourself, old man. We��re just a band of terrorists who despise your kingdom��nothing more, nothing less."


    Albert��s laughter echoed, laced with superiority. "Terrorists? Led by freshly summoned novices and a conveniently anonymous figurehead? You insult my intelligence. Do you take me for a fool?"


    The green-haired man��s grin faltered briefly before snapping back into place, his voice dripping with mockery. "And you, Albert Elthias��the so-called vampire king, blessing hoarder, and fraud. Tell me, how long will you cling to your stolen intellect? Borrowed power doesn��t make you wise, it makes you desperate."


    Marshall bristled visibly at the insult, his fists clenching as his anger boiled over. The taunts struck a nerve, tapping into the shadow of his father��s dominance and his own struggles to prove his worth. Every unspoken doubt, every failed attempt to match Albert��s power, flared within him. "I��ll kill you, you bastard!" he bellowed, surging forward with unrestrained fury, his actions a stark contrast to Albert��s composed demeanor.


    Albert��s hand shot out, gripping his son��s arm mid-swing. "Control yourself, Marshall. Your recklessness is why you lack what I have." He paused, his tone sharp as a blade. "If you stopped acting like a child and embraced your role, you��d surpass me."


    The green-haired man��s smirk widened, sensing a vulnerability. "Ah, yes, the rumors. The little prince��s curse. What was it again?  But I hear you��ve fallen behind your father��not willing to do what it takes, especially with men."


    Marshall growled, his face flushing with rage, but before he could act, Albert raised a hand. With a flick of his fingers, Marshall vanished��teleported away from the battlefield. The king turned back to the intruder, his expression unreadable.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    "Impressive," the green-haired man mused. "Fatherly discipline at its finest. But let��s test the other rumor, shall we?" With a sudden motion, he slashed his palm, flinging droplets of blood toward Albert. The crimson liquid arced through the air before landing on the king��s pristine clothing.


    Albert stood motionless, his face betraying no reaction. "Is that all? You thought a little blood would unsettle me?"


    The green-haired man tilted his head, studying the king. "Oh, no. That was just for fun. But it seems the great Albert Elthias can hold his composure. Interesting."


    Albert��s gaze sharpened, his voice dropping to a chilling tone. "Your tactics betray you. The blessings bolstering you are far too coordinated to be random. Such precision speaks of a guiding hand��someone who thinks they can act from the shadows unnoticed. Tell me, does your benefactor truly believe this charade will go unchallenged?"


    The green-haired man��s smirk widened into a wolfish grin. "Ah, the vampire king shows his teeth. But that��s for me to know, and you to suffer."


    He paused, his gaze sweeping the battlefield, as if calculating his next move. Albert��s eyes narrowed, his posture tightening as he braced for what was to come. The green-haired man smirked, enjoying the moment of tension. Then, with deliberate grace, he raised his hand. "Let��s make this interesting," he said, his tone calm but laced with menace. The air above him seemed to ripple ominously, drawing scattered gasps from the soldiers below before the tension erupted into chaos.


    With a commanding gesture, the green-haired man summoned meteors from the heavens, their fiery descent cascading toward the battlefield in a display of destructive power. Soldiers on the ground shouted warnings, scrambling for cover as panic rippled through their ranks. Albert��s eyes narrowed, his barrier already forming as he watched the devastation unfold with measured precision, his expression betraying no fear. The blazing projectiles turned the scene into chaos, leaving devastation in their wake. "Let��s see how strong your kingdom really is," he sneered, his voice thick with derision.


    Albert raised his hand, summoning a barrier of shimmering light to shield the kingdom. As the meteors struck, their force dissipated against the barrier. Yet, even as the kingdom stood protected, the green-haired man laughed, untouched by the destruction.


    "You see, old man, I��m not here alone. They are supporting me from afar, bolstering my meteors, my shield, and even my escape. And when I leave, it won��t be because you let me go." Albert��s eyes narrowed slightly as he processed the revelation. His mind raced, assessing the coordination behind the enemy��s tactics. "So," he thought, "the hand behind this attack believes themselves untouchable. We shall see about that." He raised his arms as a glowing sigil formed beneath his feet, a teleportation spell activating. "Enjoy cleaning up this mess."


    As he vanished, Albert remained composed, his voice steady. "He��s gone. Resume defensive operations." Once alone, he glanced down at his bloodstained clothing. With a slow, deliberate motion, he removed the tainted fabric and cast it aside, his expression briefly flickering with a mix of irritation and unease, as though the stain carried far more weight than he let on, before returning to its usual calm.