ã€ŠCultivators are extinct!ã€‹


 Chapter 1: I want to be a hero

    Mercury is a rich and prosperous city, named after a legendary human being who was said to be capable of running through the skies. There is already a well-established array of districts withthe constant hum of trains moving throughout the city.

    The city is heavily fortified, as every building is made to withstand heavy damage from the weakest of earthquakes to city sized meteors. In the heart of the city, sits a large skyscraper which is the main base of operations of the leaders of the city. And just beside the skyscraper is a dome shaped building made out of different materials, is the home of the hero organization God-slayers.

    Decades ago when the world was embroiled in a worldwide nuclear war, people with super human capabilities suddenly appeared.

    At first it was extremely rare, Meta humans numbered 1 to 10 million but then as the years passed, the effects of the nuclear war was apparent as more and more meta humans appeared.This age was appropriately called the Meta Age but shortly after the Meta Age, monsters of extreme strength, size and power appeared, terrorizing cities and people everywhere.

    Among Meta humans, there were those who could not stand the danger the monsters posed and formed a coalition that would hold back and destroy these monsters. This small group that one day would be the world¡¯s biggest hero organization was aptly named God-Slayers. The God-slayers defeated the monsters and repelled the majority of them back. They protected the cities from superhuman threats that conventional weapons could not handle. The sudden appearance of monsters could not be explained but scientists all over the world concluded that the monsters appeared because of the effects of the nuclear war.

    What people don¡¯t know is that a war so much more vicious and devastating than the world wide nuclear war happened thousands and thousands of years ago which nearly wiped out the human race and made those monsters that the people fear go into hiding.

    The war was called the ¡°Cultivation Genocide¡± which wiped out the first true Meta humans, the cultivators. The result of the war destroyed almost every cultivation resource on the whole planet, forcing the last survivors to fight each other to the death for even the most worthless resources, successfully killing every cultivator. With the death of cultivators and the loss of their secret techniques, eventually cultivators left history and entered legends as people started to believe that the horrible war was made up and there was no such thing as cultivators. Eventually the human race reached the current stage it is right now.

    ¡°What a bunch of fairy tales.¡± A voice full of disdain echoed out, as if the person who said it were told something utterly impossible. A woman in about her early twenties wearing a traffic enforcer''s uniform was sitting inside a library.

    The woman was reading an old book she found in the library and was immediately annoyed the moment she read the first few paragraphs. Sighing, the woman closed the book and set it down the table.

    ¡°Elizabeth, what are you doing?¡± No one answered, as the woman was seemingly talking to herself.

    After stretching her arms a bit, Elizabeth stood up and picked the book up. After returning the book, Elizabeth exits the public library.

    Standing up at a height of 5¡¯7, Elizabeth could be called average but her curvy figure and well-rounded front and back could easily make her a supermodel, making people who see her uniform very confused. She has a near flawless face that women would kill for, which makes her a perfect young beauty. Her head is topped with long black hair that flawlessly keeps up with her hectic job and she has deep black eyes makes one feel as if they are being drawn in by the abyss.

    ¡°Well break time is over, I need to help save the world again¡± Elizabeth¡¯s voice is laced with heavy sarcasm as she walks down the steps to go in the middle of the intersection to start directing cars.

    Yes you heard that right, Elizabeth will save the world through traffic enforcing but before the cars could start moving, a fast object suddenly maneuvered through the skies. All the people in the area even Elizabeth stared at awe as a hero flew above the skies at a speed faster than a jet.

    ¡°Mama, look it''s Sky Cutter!¡± a small child¡¯s voice, while being carried by his mother, could be easily heard while he calls out the name of the hero who flew by.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    People who stopped to look started moving again, as if a machine that stopped for a moment came back to life. Everyone started togo along with their lives again, except Elizabeth.

    A small voice came out of her mouth as she looked melancholic to the sky.

    ¡°A hero¡± the word seems magical as it came out of her mouth, full of utter reverence and touched with a tinge of envy but before Elizabeth could continue day-dreaming, the familiar sound of horns being blown wakes her up. Elizabeth started waving the cars to their proper direction and she started to do her job.

    What is a hero?

    Children would answer the saviors of the world, adults would say a high paying job and the more extreme would say that they are a bunch of violent miscreants. All of them are in their own way true. Heroes are violent saviors that get high pay.

    But if being a hero is a job, what are the requirements to be one. The most basic requirement of being a hero is to be a Metahuman. Meta humans are humans whose DNA has evolved because of the after effects of the nuclear war.

    After years of constant rebuilding and survival from the city destroying monsters, about 30% of the population of the human race are Meta humans. What sets Meta humans and normal humans apart is their power.

    Every Meta human, even the weakest Meta humans could at least deadlift 1000 kilograms and run at a speed of 25 kilometers per hour. Every Meta human in the planet is gifted with extraordinary strength and supernatural speed but what would set weaker Meta humans apart from the stronger ones. It would be super powers.

    The powers of Meta humans can be classified into three.

    The first part would be, is the physical ability. Every Meta human can at least deadlift 1000 kilograms and run at a speed of 25 kph but Meta humans can train their physical body to become stronger since their body has evolved to take harsher beatings and more dangerous environments.

    The second part of their power would be their mental abilities. Meta humans can train their mind to become more active since the brain of Meta humans can easily withstand 100 times the mental stress what the normal human brain can. Meta humans who have trained their mind could release potent balls of mental energy to damage, mend, stop, push, pull and destroy objects.

    The third and rare part are superpowers. Any Meta human could deadlift 1 ton, run 25 kph and the trained Meta humans could blow up cars with the energies projected by their mind but, rarely, some Meta humans are born with superpowers that could easily surpass the strength and speed of other Meta humans.

    Super powers are the rare phenomena of a Meta human gaining something to complement their already superhuman capabilities. Super powers are unique to each individual with a set of strengths, limitations, and capability.

    Oh you can kill every monster with one punch, what¡¯s the strengths and limitations then? What? You have to be bald and wear a stupid indestructible yellow spandex? Never mind.

    These three categories are what would make a hero.

    ¡°I want to be a hero¡± In a diner that¡¯s designed to look vintage, sits two female officers chatting away. Sitting across the table is Elizabeth and on the other side is a female whose height reaches 5¡¯7 and has been blessed with a good figure that only falls a little bit short behind Elizabeth¡¯s. Her short brown hair is well taken care of and her brown eyes could easily make any male swoon.

    ¡°Liz I know it¡¯s been your dream since you were a child, but face it, unless you magically become a Meta human, I doubt it will ever happen¡± Elizabeth¡¯s face scrunches up against the merciless words of her companion even though she¡¯s heard it a thousand times before.

    ¡°Narissa, I know that, but I can hope right?¡± Narissa is Elizabeth¡¯s best friend but her hopeful look is immediately shot down by an eyebrow raise.

    ¡°Sorry for being harsh Liz but even I¡¯m a Meta human and I can barely fit in the main force of police¡±

    Yes you heard right, Narissa is a Meta human albeit on the weaker side but still a Meta human nonetheless.

    ¡°I know¡­. But! I want to be a hero¡± Elizabeth¡¯s childlike complaint is met with an innocent laugh.

    ¡°Hey don¡¯t laugh at me¡±

    ¡°You should be happy you¡¯re not a Meta human, at least men won¡¯t be afraid to ask you out and Meta human males will always have to act courteous and gentlemanly with you.¡± Narissa jokes but her face crunches up with sheer annoyance.

    ¡°¡­.¡± Narissa¡¯s face is full of bitterness and Elizabeth¡¯s silence only serves to infuriate her more.

    ¡°Dumb men! It¡¯s not like I¡¯ll crush their hands while I hold them or break their body if we¡¯re doing it¡± It¡¯s been a common stereotype that female Meta humans sometimes get too much in the moment and forget that they¡¯re way stronger than their normal significant others and sometimes hurt them.

    Narissa has never hurt any male in her whole life but one of her exes broke up with her for solely the reason that she is a Meta human.

    ¡°I bet those men just couldn¡¯t handle a strong and independent women¡± I try cheering Narissa up

    ¡°That¡¯s easy for you to say!! I have to deal with muscle heads and stuck up heroes every day while you get the best of the best¡± Narissa¡¯s outburst calls the attention of the whole diner and she sits back embarrassed.

    ¡°My point is, that sometimes being this strong can hinder you as well.¡± Elizabeth sighs and Narissa pays attention to her meal.

    ¡°But you know¡­¡± I still want to become a hero.

 Chapter 2: There is a slim line between bravery and stupidity

    ¡°Goodbye Liz, take care¡± I wave back to Narissa who is waving me goodbye.

    The sun starts to set and the sky turns orange, as people start to pack up and go home. I¡¯m no different, as my work day is finally done.

    Despite being a traffic enforcer, it is still quite stressful and after finishing our meal in the diner, Narissa and I kept talking about how our work was going, how busy life is and, despite Narissa¡¯s bitterness about men, our love life.

    In my whole 21 years of life, I¡¯ve only had 2 relations, both didn¡¯t last long and both my partners regretted leaving me. So right now, I¡¯m single and have no intention of finding another partner since I still want to reach my dream of becoming a hero.

    ¡°Somehow¡±

    I start walking home after taking a bus ride.

    The district I live in is called Fallen Goddess district, aptly named after a story of a goddess who supposedly died and fell here.

    Usually it would be very dangerous for a female to walk alone at night but in Mercury City the crime rate is below 1% almost making it nonexistent. This is thanks to the heroes who are a constant source of protection and the good social policies that the city leader implements.

    It doesn¡¯t mean everything is absolute, so every person in the city, especially non Meta humans must at least have some way of protecting themselves. This has already been part of the law for a few years. I carry an extremely small taser imprinted in my fingernails that are activated via mind activation.

    Technology has advanced to the point where the human eye can act as mini computers, the mouth could have a built in speaker that amplifies one¡¯s voice without damaging the body and one of the smaller examples are my fingernails.

    They¡¯re concealed and can take down dangerous assailants easily by surprise. They¡¯re the perfect weapon for a frail and weak woman. Fortunately, I¡¯m neither frail nor weak, since entering the police force requires you to be able to protect yourself but most importantly protect others. These powerful tasers hidden are simply an addition to what I can already do.

    Eventually after 30 minutes, I reach my home, a simple single floor house. The outside of my house has half walls with small bars, protecting it from any would be thieves.

    After entering, I turn on my lights. Greeting the house is a small living room, on my right side is a small bedroom and on the left side is the kitchen.

    After reheating and eating the leftovers from the diner, I clean up and prepare to do my research.

    Yes, my research on how to become a hero with a pure human body.

    In the Meta age where people who can blow up buildings and lift mountains become a norm, there is what people call dormant Meta human DNA test or DMH test. Meta humans are born but their powers are dormant until the age of 10 and can awaken at any given moment, from age 10 up to the maximum of 18.

    Every year, the hero organization God-slayers conduct a country wide test for every person aging from 10 up to 18. 10 years old is the earliest possible age to awaken Meta human capabilities and 18 would be the last.

    There has never been any records of anyone below 10 or above 18 awakening. I took my DMH for 8 years straight and each year the results were the same, I was 100% human. If anything, I did set a record because I am the first human being to be purely human after the nuclear war.

    And since life is better now, there is no need to research my body, so one could say that I am lucky.

    I agree that I am lucky and I¡¯d rather not be the target for constant experiments on why my body is 100% clean.

    After cleaning everything up, I walk towards my bedroom.

    My bedroom is filled with endless notes, stickered on the walls. The stickers range from meteor sightings to alien landings.

    It might seem foolish and stupid but every sticker could be a lead to change my body, so I can finally become a hero.

    If other people saw the burning passion in Elizabeth¡¯s eyes, they would do nothing but stare until she focuses her eyes on other stuff.

    Despite being shoved the truth everyday, Elizabeth strived harder than any Meta human, so that one day she might be able to change the world. Such a lofty goal would be respected unless if it came from someone who had no power.

    ¡°New target for today¡± staring at the mess of stickers on the wall, one would notice that some of them have red colored exes on them, while some are still clear.

    The mutterings of the powerless beauty is so quiet that only she could hear it.

    ¡°Hmmm meteor sightings? No themedia haven¡¯t released any news concerning meteors, so I doubt I¡¯d find any¡± after putting a red colored ¡°maybe¡± on the meteor stickers, Elizabeth moved on to other pictures.

    ¡°Aliens, still no proof of their existence¡± after a little bit more of looking around, Elizabeth smiles.Stolen novel; please report.

    ¡°I think I can check this out¡± Elizabeth stares at the small sticker, saying radioactive electric fields.

    Radioactive lightning would usually turn the strongest normal humans to ash and would pose harm to middle tier Meta humans and can even kill lower tier Meta humans but hope is dangerous like that, it turns people crazy.

    After making her decision, Elizabeth immediately opens up her laptop. Unlike the new generation, Elizabeth still feels uncomfortable imprinting chips in her eyes, so she still buys laptops or computers.

    After a few minutes of continuous searching and looking, it is clear that Elizabeth has been doing this for a very long time. Every single type and click is made clear to find the most important information.

    ¡°Aha, I found you¡±

    After reading an article about a closed down nuclear plant, Elizabeth looked for more specific information. The closed down nuclear plant is named Cold life and its reason for closing is because they intend to renovate it to be more power efficient but after shuffling a little bit more, it seems the true reason for closing is because a random lightning bolt struck the power source when their systems was restarting and it overload it.

    "That''s weird..."

    Any level of lightning shouldn¡¯t be capable of doing that much damage to a nuclear plant that''s fortified to be capable of withstanding earthquakes and Meta human fights. The company probably does not know the true cause and decided to give a different reason to be able to investigate secretly.

    The nuclear plant is only a two districts away Fallen Goddess district. It¡¯s inside the Prometheus district. Making it not too far and not too close, striking a firm middle ground of distance.

    ¡°Pfft! They can¡¯t even keep their employees quiet but I guess I need to thank them for the information¡± After having a goal in her mind, Elizabeth becomes a woman of extreme focus, unstoppable will, and unshakeable intent.

    Elizabeth starts looking for some of her important items. These are prepared items that always help her when she starts to do dangerous missions like this.

    A few minutes later, Elizabeth is already outside her house, wearing black fit jeans with a shiny metallic sheen, dark colored running shoes that has a very small glow near the ankle anda long sleeve black shirt covered with a shiny metallic sheen.

    After preparing everything, Elizabeth dons a small black metal circle on top of her forehead which immediately spreads wide to cover her whole face, leaving space for her eyes but if one looked closer, they''d notice that even the eyeholes have a thin layer, protecting the owner¡¯s eyes from getting hurt.

    On her right arm is a thick metal bracelet and on her left arm isa small armguard and finally on her pants is a black belt that seems to perfectly fit her while behind her is a backpack capable of carrying a few items.

    The emergence of Meta humans has never stopped the human race from constantly making technology that helps and protect them. Elizabeth¡¯s body carries 7 items that the human race developed and would be a great help to her. She has multiple items but they''re not limited to her taser laden fingernails, life sustaining camouflage mask that can filter in clean air, a black colored top paired with jeans that¡¯s made out of camouflage fibers derived from the camouflaging properties of the chameleon, a bracelet that can emit weak magnetic forces allowing her to roughly manipulate small metallic objects, an arm guard capable of making a shield made out of energy capable of blocking and nullifying the force of small bullets, a belt that can stretch up 10 meters, and finally shoes that can increase Elizabeth¡¯s jump up to 5 meters.

    A normal traffic enforcer shouldn¡¯t be able to buy equipment like this but a hero eccentric that doesn¡¯t spend money on anything else except necessities could buy these if they save enough. Despite all her equipment, she could barely scrape by as backup for the backup of the main police force, since Meta humans are still so much stronger than her especially, if the Meta humans use equipment to augment their already superhuman capabilities.

    After making sure all her equipment is secure, Elizabeth starts jogging towards the nuclear plant.

    Elizabeth¡¯s continuous physical conditioning enables her to run long lengths without tiring. It would take an hour for one person to cross districts, if they took the rotating buses. It would take an hour and 30 minutes if one walks and 1 hour and 15 minutes if they jog and go through the shorter paths.

    After 2 hours and 30 minutes of continuous jogging, Elizabeth reaches the front of Prometheus district.

    Unlike Fallen Goddess district which is a home based district, Prometheus is a district that is solely for power production. Prometheus has rows upon rows of power plants, electric plants, hydro plants and nuclear plants.

    After reaching the Cold life nuclear plant, Elizabeth skimmed the outer part which is less guarded. When the company closed the nuclear plant, it left some staff to do maintenance and guard the place just in case thieves decide to steal a few important objects.

    After finding a smaller part of the fence, I activate my boots and jump across with my camouflage suit working its wonders. I land gracefully on the other side and hide. Once hidden, I deactivate my camouflage suit before I drain its remaining charge.

    Despite the advances in technology, power is still a problem and my camouflage suit can only last a maximum of 30 minutes before becoming like any black jeans and long sleeves. My boots can only activate its jumping power 10 times before it becomes just another fashionable pair of shoes.

    My armguard can only take so much force before it breaks and my magnetic bracelet can only continuously carry metallic objects for a max of 10 minutes. The only thing in my body that doesn¡¯t require external energy is my belt.

    Sadly my taser fingernails aren¡¯t perfect either. They don¡¯t require energy, as the energy they use comes from my body. The human mind generates an extremely small amount of electricity but it is enough for the mini tasers. My mini tasers take the small amount of electricity from my brain and then supercharge it. Once supercharged, it transfer it to my fingers before it damages my brain but I can only use it a maximum of 3 times or else I¡¯ll fry my brain.

    This is why normal humans can never surpass Meta humans.

    Imagine a Meta human having my taser fingernails, they would be able to withstand more electricity since their minds can take 100x the stress of normal people. They can discharge 100x the power and 100x the amount. If my hands have a taser fingernail then Meta humans have tesla hands.

    I start trailing the side of the power plant, slowly and surely. I bring out a small map, that I downloaded earlier, on my phone and go through the paths that I¡¯m sure have no patrols.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± Shit, I didn¡¯t notice him.

    I hide behind a corner before the securityguard notices me. I calm my heart and silence my breathing. I hear the familiar sound of the safety of a gun being removed and the heavy steps nearing my position. I prepare myself to knock out the guard but before I can do anything, I suddenly hear a blaring alarm.

    *ALARM ALARM ALARM*

    ¡°Subject No.42 has escaped the facility, prepare to use force¡± I calm myself and heave a sigh as the security runs to the gate.

    Subject No.42, who¡¯s that?

    I wouldn¡¯t be a good hero if I don¡¯t take advantage of this situation right?

 Chapter 3: Clash

    Inside a control room, that sits atop the power core, is a beautiful dark clothed female. This female is none other than Elizabeth.

    Right now,I''m currently looking for the camera controls to delete all the footage since I entered the nuclear plant, as to avoid any future troubles. While I''m looking for the controls, there is another man in the room with me, who I knocked unconscious earlier.

    ¡°Found it¡± After expertly messing with the controls, I finally found the ones for the camera.

    "Now, let''s delete all of the-" My heart stops...

    Before I could delete all the videos, I saw something that stopped my whole body. Almost every camera had multiple security staff members and all of them were dead.

    All of them were killed brutally, as if a giant monster came and ripped their limbs and heads off. None of the guards survived.

    Fearing the worst, I start movingthrough all the cameras to try and look for who or what killed them. I quickly switch through the cameras until I notice one of them.

    It was a camera stationed in a hallway, a few rooms away from the control room.

    It''s so close to me.

    There was a man standing with his back turned from the camera, but it was obvious that this person is the intruder because on his right hand was the head of a female maintenance worker.

    "Oh my..." I cover my mouth in disgust.

    As if sensing my stare, the man slowly turns around to look at the camera. The man¡¯s face is warped, as if someone mushed clay with their fingers and tried to put a human face onto it. The eyes move independently from each other but the points stare at one place.

    At me.

    Before I start doing anything else, I immediately delete all the camera footages and then shut them down. Immediately, I turn around and head to the guard that is still unconscious and start to wake him up.

    "Hey... hey... hey, wake up" I lightly slap the man''s face and quickly wake him up.

    ¡°ughhh¡­ huh?¡± The guard¡¯s eyes widen as he flutters awake from my ministrations. ¡°Who¡¯re you and why am I tied up?¡± I changemy voice to have a higher pitch.

    All those singing lessons were worth it!

    ¡°Something monstrous is outside.The alarms earlier called it subject no. 42. What do you know about it?¡± At the mention of subject no. 42, the guard¡¯s eyes widen with fear but before he couldspeak, I look towards the metal door and see a shadow.

    Underneath the door, we both see the small shadows of a pair of feet.

    I immediately untie the guard and tell him to draw his weapon.

    The guard obediently follows and pulls out an energy pistol.

    Energy weapons have long since replaced ballistic weapons, so it was obvious that the guard would pull an energy pistol out. We both stare at the shadow beneath the doorway and prepare for the worst.

    We wait for a few tense minutes but eventually the doorknob slowly turns.

    Before the whole doorknob turns, the monster pushes it open with extreme force almost ripping it apart from the doorway and immediately charges the security guard.

    I react by using my magnetic bracelet and hurl a small metal chair to its feet, tripping it. After it fell, I immediately turn to run but not before I pull the shocked security guard.

    If I plan to be a hero in the future, I need to save as much people as I can. The thoughts run throughmy head as we continue running through the hallway.

    Not even a few minutes pass and the telltale sound of heavy footsteps tell us that the monster is quickly catching up.

    We reach another hallway and the first thing we see is a bunch of dead bodies strewn across the floor but we don''t have the time to stop, as we start running towards the lobby.

    While running, I take a quick look back and see the monster literally a few feet away from us.

    "Shoot!" I shout a command and the security guard immediately turns around and fires a few shots, penetrating the monster''s body. We manage to push the monster back a bit but it''s obvious that it hasn''t slowed down.

    We continue running towards the exit and the sound of energy blasts ring throughout the air as we manage to finally reach the lobby with the hole-ridden monster following behind us.

    When we reach the lobby, I activate my magnetic bracelet and start flinging every metal object I can lift and throw it at the beast.

    Chairs, small metal fans, metal poles and even pens start to fly and crash towards the monster, flinging it back. The security guard doesn¡¯t let up on the shooting but eventually even the energy pistol ran out of cartridges.

    The monster shrieks in pain and anger as it dies with metal objects stabbing and holes riddling its whole body.

    ¡°Good job¡± After checking if the monster is truly dead, I give a thumb up to the security guard and he returns it with a smile but before we could continue our celebration, the head of the security guard is suddenly teared clean off from his body.

    "Tch..." I stare at the monster holding the poor security guard''s head.

    Behind the dead security guard is another creature, that has the same look as the monster before, except that its arms grew spikes and its hands are elongated with spike tipped fingers.

    "I really am unlucky." I slowly step away from the monster. Calm down Elizabeth, there was nothing you could do to save him.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    If one listened closely, they would hear the electricity crackling in between Elizabeth¡¯s fingers.

    The monster immediately closes the distance between us and delivers a claw attack to try and rip my head off.

    I immediately duck down, dodging the monster''s fast lunge. I stretch my hand and quickly touch its chest, releasing an extremely powerful electrical discharge. 10,000 volts suddenly course through the creature''s body, paralyzing it and inflicting unbearable pain to its body. Immediately, I dodge to the right, avoiding the creature''s feeble attempts at clawing at me. I pick up a metal pole that fell earlier and dash towards it. The creature sluggishly moves to face me but it''s too late and I use the metal pole to stab its neck with a well timed lunge.

    The creature slumps down the ground, dead.

    *Pant, Pant, Pant* After suddenly exhausting my body I mutter a complaint.

    ¡°There were 2 of them.¡±

    I stare at the monsters and think of the security guard who just died.

    I offer a silent prayer to the recently deceased and hope that their soul reaches the river of reincarnation.

    After the prayer, I look around and think of what to do next. I can''t leave yet, these monsters could escape and hurt other people. I need to find where they come from and possibly, stop them.

    I pull out my map and start checking the possible route.

    "I need to go to the core, where the damage was inflicted by the lightning bolt." I study the path towards the core.

    Once I''m done making a path, I go towards one of the dead bodies and collect an energy pistol, along with a few cartridges.

    If there were 2 of them here, I doubt there isn¡¯t more, so I need to be careful. After shutting down the cameras, I walk a little bit more openly than before but I keep my guard up, just in case one of those things shows up again.

    After checking the map, I finally found thehallway that leads to the core.

    When i reach the hallway, I see a gruesome scene that''s so much more pronounced than outside.

    Blood is literally everywhere, there is no spot in the long white hallway that isn¡¯t the color red. I draw my energy pistol and start walking. At the end of the hallway is a big double doorway and both doors are smashed open with giant claw marks and large dents.

    After a few minutes of staring at the bloodstained walls and wondering where the bodies went, I carefully walk towards the door with my weapon ready.

    "What happened here..."

    Reaching the doorway, I slowly move forward and enter. The room is circular in shape, it doesn''t have a ceiling and the walls reach 4 floors high.

    In the middle, is an unfamiliar machine but by the largeness of the room, this must be the core butI remember that power plants have more than one core, continuously producing power.Nevertheless this is what I am looking for, because the core right now has a parasite.

    Lightning continuously roams through the core,feasting onthe energy it¡¯s producing.

    "What the hell is this?"

    The lightning projects an earie feeling, as if it¡¯s sentient.

    Bodies litter the room and all of them are burnt to a crisp. The majority of them are unrecognizable by how badly charred they are but after careful inspection, I notice that some of the charred bodies are the monsters I met earlier, even after being badly burnt, the burns couldn¡¯t remove their monstrous appearance.

    I look towards the lightning again and stare at it. I''ve never seen anything like it.

    ¡°What is that lightning? That is anything but normal.¡±

    Eventually mycuriosity gets the better of me and I slowly move towards the very dangerous moving lightning.

    When I''m a few feet away, the lightning bolt stops moving and the tip, which I assume is its head, moves to look at me.

    Equally startled we both stare at each other.

    This is awkward.

    Beforewe could do anything else, I suddenly hear a loud roar and look behind. At the end of the hallway, I see a monster staring at me. Then another monster appears, and then they continue appearing until the hallway¡¯s other end is filled. The hallway is filled with multiple humanoid shapes with enlarged arms, deformed legs, bulging eyes, giant teeth and, most commonly, claws.

    Every single one of them is staring at me but no one charges. I look towards the lightning bolt and realize that these creatures are afraid of that thing.

    Contrary to my theory, one of the creatures suddenly charge but thankfully, the others don''t immediately follow.

    I take advantage of the situation and sprint forward to meet the monster head on.

    The monster roars as it runs faster.

    I immediately cock the pistol and shoot, hitting the monster''s legs with unerring accuracy. I continue to shoot multiple times, each shot meant to slow down the monster''sfreakish mobility. The monster jumps and lunges at me. I slide down with my body below the monster''s lunge. I raise the pistol and continuously shoot its body as it flies over me.

    The monster releases a wail of pain as it falls but I immediately silence it, asI shoot its head twice.

    Despite the dire situation,I don''t feel panic or fear. Ever since I can remember, no situations have ever made me panic or feel fear.

    Even when he made me leave.

    More roars reverberate through the hallway as the monsters charge forward. The smart choice would be to lead the monsters to an open space then start dispatching them one by one but an open space would allow the monsters to take advantage of their superior numbers.

    So what would be the correct choice?

    I don''t hesitate and charge forward to meet the monsters headfirst. Before I collide with the beasts, I activate my boots and jump above, higher than what the monster can reach, then drop in between the monsters. I immediately turn around and shoot the first monster to come close me in the head. It drops down and the monsters start to attack me with their deformed claws.

    Despite the monster''s fast speed, their attacks are clumsy, lack coordination andcan be easily dodged.

    I take advantage of the tight confines of the hallway, so I can prevent the monsters from ganging up on me.

    I continuously dodge and evade the attacks of the monsters. They sometimes attack their follow monster, in a desperate attempt to kill me. I take advantage of the situation and continuously shoots the monsters one by one, on their forehead with my energy pistol.

    Monster after monster drop down from the lethal shots I continue to dish out.

    Despite my good position I eventually run out of cartridges and while I''m dodging every attack gracefully, I''m starting to feel exhausted.

    ¡°I won¡¯t get anywhere with this¡± voicing my irritation, my eyes widen with an idea.

    I activate my boots again and I jump out of the monster filled hallway. I start running towards the core room and the monsters start chasing me. I immediately pull out the empty energy cartridges and hold them in a small clump. I immediately activate my taser,supercharging the energy cartridges. They start to glow blue and after letting them charge a little, I quickly throw them behind me without looking back.

    Once I reach the door, I immediately side step and hug the wall, as an explosion rocks the hallway, scattering meat everywhere.

    The building takes a few seconds before it returns to stability. Once the building is stable again, I take a look at my beautiful work.

    "They''re still alive..." my face scrucnhes a little. I managed to kill a lot of the monsters but there''s still a lot of them and the explosion didn''t even damage the walls.

    ¡°It¡¯s better this way, at least I have an escape route¡± I try to look on the bright side of things.

    The monsters that didn¡¯t die start to pick themselves up and look towards the door.

    They charge, seemingly unperturbed by the death of their unlucky allies.

    While frowning, I think of a way to deal with my dangerous problem. I''m out of bullets and if I use my taser once more, it could lead to permanent brain damage.

    I look toward the core and suddenly, I receive a surge of inspiration.

    "That''s it!"

    Istare at the lightning bolt, that¡¯s still greedily sucking energy from the core. It seemed sentient, when I stared at it earlier and maybe if I talk to it, it could help me with my monster problem.

    These thoughts run through my mind as I immediately run toward the core and shout.

    ¡°Help me!¡±

    The lightning bolt stops and stares at me with its tip.

    I have to admit, my face must''ve brighten up at the lightning bolt¡¯s reaction.

    "Hey spark! Can you help me deal with those monsters¡± The lightning bolt jolts a little at the pet name ¡°spark¡± but calms down to think about my request.

    The monsters quickly reach the doorway and continues their charge towards me.

    "Take your time" Despite the monsters charge, I respectfully wait for Spark''s answer. I have lived my life fearless, now isn''t the time to be scared.

    Time seems to slow down and the footsteps of the beasts sound heavier as a deep and powerful voice speaks.

    ¡°On one condition¡±

 Chapter 4: The last Cultivator

    In a white room with a table in the middle, sits two figures.

    The room¡¯s design is plain, the walls are painted white andclear windows litter the walls. This room would be empty if not for the table and two seats.

    Their are two figures sitting near the table. The one sitting in front of the desk is a very handsome man and the one on the main seat is an androgynous person.

    The handsome man¡¯s well-made suit, branded accessories and immaculate appearance clearly indicates that he is from a great background.

    Despite his obviously great disposition, the handsome man¡¯s face is nervously taut while he waits for the acknowledgement of the person across him.

    Sitting across the table is an androgynous person, his/her face is beautifully sculpted to be both masculine and feminine.

    The long hair might say she¡¯s female but his straight suit and the way she acts can go either way.

    An undiscernible but undeniable powerful voice spills throughout the room, which makes the man tremble.

    ¡°I heard that the nuclear plant Cold Life¡¯s subjects have escaped.¡± Every word goes high pitch like a female but has a very rough undertone signifying a male.

    Despite the nervous look of the man, he answers smoothly, safe in the knowledge that nothing will happen to him, as long as he performs well.

    ¡°Yes sir, the nuclear plant, Cold life, has been compromised. The appearance of the anomaly has destroyed the whole facility. It¡¯s been feeding on nuclear energy and its targets are always our test labs.¡± As the man continuous his mandatory report, he reaches through an empty space and pulls out a small blue folder. He stands up and hands it of the androgynous person.

    Glancing at the reports, the Androgynous person finds some details that require attention.

    ¡°Shortly after the escape of the test subjects, all the cameras have been shut down and every video is deleted along with all the backups, what happened?¡± The cold voice lowers the temperature of the whole room.

    The man immediately responds, ignoring the sudden drop in temperature.

    ¡°Sir nobody knows but we''ve already sent agent Lakes to investigate.¡± The man¡¯s report earned a half-hearted nod. ¡°We also lost 2 agents trying to capture the anomaly. The first loss was a Beast-rank Meta human, which can be ignored, but the second loss was a Lord-rank Meta human which, unfortunately, is a big loss.¡± The face of the man turns pale, the moment he reports the loss of a powerful agent.

    Silence takes the room, as the androgynous person mulls over the loss of a Lord rank agent.

    Heroes or to be more specific, Meta humans, are ranked depending on their physical ability or mental power.

    A Beast rank Meta human, on the starter level, can easily lift 5000 kg, release a punch as strong as4000 kg and their running speed can reach up to 150 kph. Beast Rank meta humans that focus on mental abilities can at least use psychic barriers, psychic cannon, and telekinesis with good proficiency.

    Despite all the abilities Beast Ranks can boast, all of it pales in comparison to a Lord rank Meta human.

    A Lord rank Meta human can easily lift 100,000 kg, release a punch as strong as 80,000 kg and their running speed can reach a, ridiculous, 1000 kph. Lord Rank meta humans that hone their mental abilities can use powerful psychic barriers, manifest psychic weapons albeit temporarily, manipulate the elements, use telekinesis with near flawless precision and most of all, they can fly.

    Super powers are a weird factor in Meta humans and even the weakest Meta human can reach Lord Rank or higher because of an obscenely powerful superpower.

    Nevertheless, the loss of a Lord rank is a big impact on any organization.

    ¡°Inform Agent lakes that his job is to only gather information and not engage the anomaly. We cannot afford to lose another Lord rank.¡± The man bows and leaves to do his order.

    ¡°What is that anomaly?¡± the androgynous person¡¯s muttering is barely audible but her weird tone cannot hide the curiosity hidden beneath.

    <hr>

    ¡°What Condition?¡± I calmly answer, confident that no harm will come to me until the Lightning bolt stops speaking.

    ¡°I have two conditions in mind.¡± The lightning bolt speaks proudly but also with some measure of respect.

    ¡°What¡¯s the first?¡± I ask while studying the surroundings. It seems time has stopped but only in a small radius. I can still see the clouds outside moving.

    ¡°In a few months, I will come back to find you and at that time I want you to help me?¡±

    I frown, what could I possibly do to assist a living lightning bolt.

    ¡°How could I possibly help you?¡± I gesture around. "You can even stop time!"

    "I merely projected my aura around me and used it to control the surroundings. In time, you will eventually learn to do something similar."

    What is he talking about?

    ¡°I will take on a human form and I want you to give me lodging¡±

    That''s easy enough... but how will a lightning become a human?

    ¡°Your second condition?¡±

    ¡°Once you awaken your immortal soul, I want you to guide and teach me on how to properly cultivate.¡± The powerful voice of the lightning bolt is heavy and oppressive but in front of me it seemed to humble itself.

    What?

    My face widens in surprise as I take in what Spark said.

    What immortal soul! Ascension? Isn¡¯t that only in fairy tales?

    These thoughts run rampant in my mind but I try to keep a calm face. I stare at the tip of the lightning bolt, as to look for answers.

    The lightning bolt picks up on my confusion and immediately speaks.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t cultivated yet, have you?¡±

    ¡°No, cultivation is impossible. Isn¡¯t that the stuff of legends?¡±

    ¡°All of them are true; if not how do you explain me?¡±

    ¡°You could be an experiment of the government science branch that somehow escaped¡± I''ve heard of impossible creatures that once roamed the world when Meta Humans haven''t come out yet.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°I am a hundred years old. I have gained sentience a hundred years ago. In the chaotic lightning storm of the sea Natal, I was a lightning bolt that continuously struck the same place for 500 years."

    Spark seems to reminisce the past.

    "The place I struck was an island filled with the dense energies of the earth and heavens. After continuously being exposed to the natural energies of the earth and heavens, I eventually gained sentience."

    Is that possible? What are these energies? I''ve never heard of them.

    "Thirsting for knowledge, I left and travelled the world only to find out that almost every place in the world is devoid of any natural energies."

    Spark seems to frown, even though it''s impossible to read a lightning bolt

    "To sate my thirst and increase my power, I kept absorbing the energy of these places ,you humans call power plants. The energy here is impure and weak but the amount is near infinite but even with the amount of power I intake, I am still unable to take human form."

    Spark goes quiet but suddenly speaks with ferocious anger.

    "Especially a month ago! I clashed with this being you call a Meta human. He was abnormally strong for someone who has no cultivation but I managed to defeat him at the expense of using months¡¯ worth of energy."

    Spark sighsquietly.

    "So I need to absorb energy to recuperate my power.¡±

    After carefully listening to Spark, an idea pops up in my head and I might have finally found the solution to my problem!

    ¡°You mean that cultivators are like Meta humans?¡± Despite my excitement, I ask a question.

    ¡°Cultivators are the original and truest form of Meta humans¡±

    Does that mean...

    ¡°Can I become a cultivator?¡±

    ¡°Yes anyone can become a cultivator¡±

    Yes!!!

    ¡°HOW?¡±I failed to control myself for a moment and blurted out my true thoughts.

    Spark suddenly becomes surprised but calms down and answers.

    ¡°First, you must agree to my conditions and I will teach you the most basic technique of cultivating but you must immediately correct yourself once you awaken your immortal soul, since my technique is the crudest version of cultivating.¡± The lightning bolt¡¯s tip droops in sadness.

    ¡°I agree!¡± I immediately agree, not caring about the consequences as long as Ican finally make a difference.

    ¡°Good!¡±

    Spark immediately splits into countless pieces of smaller lightning bolts.

    The countless lightning bolts immediately moves, with unparalleled speed, and pierces all the monsters, destroying their whole bodies in an instant. The crackling sound of lightning piercing the monster''s bodies fills the whole room and accompanying it, is the undeniable smell of charred meat.

    The moment the last of the monsters died, the psuedo timestop disappears.

    I turn to see what happened but immediately notice that the location changed.

    "Where am I?"

    After a quick look around, I notice that I''m standing outside of the factory and Spark is nowhere to be seen.

    Without any second thought, I start to run away from the factory while using my camouflage gear.

    After 2 hours and 30 minutes of continuous running, I finally reach my home.

    I make a quick check of my items and I notice my camouflage suit has already been drained.

    Getting inside, the first thing I do is sit down on my sofa and remove my mask.

    I stare at the ceiling and before I could do anything else, I pick up the nearest pillow and stuff it on my face.

    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" The muffled sound of my scream reverebrates through the living room.

    I remove the pillow and lie down satisfied.

    ¡°A cultivator¡± I''m sure that I''m smiling like an idiot.

    After a few minutes of resting, I stand up and go to the bathroom. Once inside the bathroom, I undress. My clothes easily slide down despite the large obstacles they have to overcome. Once I''m undressed, I go to enjoy a relaxing shower.

    After taking a long and relaxing bath, I wear some comfortable clothes and go to pick up my equipment and start charging the ones I drained.

    I take my laptop and bring it to bed.

    Now, time for some good old fashion research!

    I find a comfortable position and get to work. I start by looking up my old contacts and ask them any information about cultivators.

    After a few hours, I''m almost ready to rip my hair out. I''m sure Narissa would kill me, if she found out I would waste my beautiful long hair. I continuously looked for stories but I only saw folklore abouthow cultivators could blow up mountains with a breath or how cultivators keep their virginity for a thousand years.

    Eventually, I got tired of reading folklores and I decided to sleep.

    <hr>

    ¡°Wake up¡± I hear a calm and gentle voice pulling me from my sleep.

    ¡°Wake up Elizabeth¡± Opening my eyes, stare at the female teenager in front of me.

    Somehow she looks familiar.

    Her name is Felicia, a friend of Elizabeth.

    Wait what? A friend of mine?

    Looking around, I notice that I''m inside a shabby room made out of wood. On my right side is an open window showing the untouched beauty of nature which captured my attention for quite some time before remembering that my friend is waiting for me.

    Looking down, the bed is just as shabby as the room, a simple wooden frame, a mattress made out of cheap materials, and a thin as air blanket.

    ¡°Felicia, why are you waking me up so early?¡± Somehow even though this is the first time seeing her, I feels as if I''ve known her for as long as I remember.

    ¡°Come on! Wake up already it¡¯s the talent testing day¡±

    Right! Talent testing day, the test to see if one has good innate talent when it comes to cultivating.

    ¡°What are we waiting for then! Let¡¯s go¡± I rush out of bed and start dressing up. Once I''m done, I run out of the room, holding Felicia''s hand.

    Once I exit the house with Felicia, I start to wonder. Do I have what it takes to be a good cultivator?

    Outside the house is hundreds upon hundreds of children, with their parents, going towards the center of their village.

    I take my time studying the village, it seems they live in a beautiful and fertile valley.

    I start to run with Felicia towards the village center, as if I already know the village like the back of my palm.

    When we reach the center, we see 3 robed men sitting cross legged at the middle.

    Another group of robed men are asking the children to form a line, so they could be assessed one by one.

    I stand with Felicia in a line and we watch the children do the test.

    Time seems to fly by as we watch the other children pass by. We notice that most of the children who get tested cry, some laugh, and some of them even starts bullying others.

    Eventually, it¡¯s Felicia¡¯s turn.

    The talent assessment requires the person to hold a crystal ball, the size of a soccer ball and a figure appears.

    The more profound and more clear the figure is, the better the talents is.

    Come one Felicia, I''m rooting for you.

    I cross my fingers as I watch Felicia go towards the crystal ball thingy.

    When Felicia holds the crystal ball, a small figure starts to appear in the transparent ball of glass.

    Slowly, the figure becomes clearer as a beautiful platinum Roc, wreathed with lightning, appears and flies inside the crystal ball.

    One of the three robed men immediately stands up and appears next Felicia. The robed man congratulates Felicia telling her that her talent is only seen in a few hundred years.

    Felicia runs towards me with the biggest smile she can give and shouts.

    ¡°ELIZABETH!!!! The nice man said my talent the, Platinum Lightning Roc, is a once in a hundred years talent and If I work hard, I can easily reach the higher realms of cultivation.¡±

    Felicia¡¯s face is so bright but before I could congratulate her, I need to go and check my talent so I quickly congratulate her and run towards the crystal ball.

    When I reach the crystal ball, the man supervising it nods towards me.

    I see Felicia at the corner of my eye, cheering me on.

    I''m not nervous! You''re nervous!.

    I reach out and touch the crystal ball.

    At first, no figure appears indicating a lack of talent but then a woman whose face couldn¡¯t be described with simply beautiful, and a body that every female and male would kill for, appears.

    The goddess-like female starts walking and every six steps, a beautiful golden wing appears behind her, a total of six 36 steps resulting in 6 wings.

    The crystal ball starts to shine golden and starts floating.

    Wings appear and surround the crystal ball, as if a lover holding his partner.

    The golden energy explodes outward, affecting every living being in the whole valley. Trees that were long dead start to rejuvenate, flowers bloom, grass grows and even the people were affected.

    Everyone ill and injured in the village is suddenly healed, the blind can see, the lame can walk and the sick are cured but this was not the end of it, all the children that came to take a test were affected.

    The children¡¯s talents suddenly appeared above them. Each and one them were the same but something was different, all of them evolved to become stronger. Even Felicia¡¯s, once in a hundred years, talent evolved, instead of a Platinum Lightning Roc, it became a beautiful golden phoenix wreathed by golden lightning.

    All of the children in the valley had their talents evolved by Elizabeth¡¯s. Eventually the crystal ball starts floating down and everyone looks in extreme reverence towards Elizabeth.

    Then what happens next was expected, everyone kneels to show their extreme gratitude and reverence towards the divine appearance of such talent. Even the people who came to test the children''s talents kneeled. Then the world turns to black.

    I quickly open my eyes and stare at the familiar ceiling ofmy home.

    I remember the knowledge Spark imparted on me, it''s the most basic knowledge of cultivation.

    I can''t help but smile, as tears comes out of my eyes.

    "Hahahahaha" I start laughing while crying at the same time.

    ¡°I can change the world now mom¡± Smiling, I wipe my tears away and stare at the ceiling but unlike earlier, my stare seems to see beyond the four walls of my home.

 Chapter 5: A source of energy

    In the middle of a busy intersection stands a beautiful female wearing the blue uniform of a police officer wearing the orange-green uniform of a traffic enforcer.

    This beautiful female is none other than Elizabeth.

    Yep, a beautiful female that decided to be a hero. Thankfully, technology has advanced to high levels or else my hair would be ruined by all the smoke these cars could be releasing.

    Elizabeth is currently doing her job as a traffic enforcer and right now she is doing a wonderful job, somehow the drivers are obediently following the rules.

    This is because of Elizabeth¡¯s graceful beauty that strikes both men and female.

    Elizabeth¡¯s face is currently deadpan as she carefully does her job. Despite this, Elizabeth still retains her calm and heart-stopping beautybut if one looks at her carefully, they would notice small eye bags forming beneath her eyes.

    Yep! I haven''t properly slept!

    Yesterday nightI couldn¡¯t sleep because of the fact that I basic knowledge about cultivating, ingrained in my memory.

    According to the instructions embedded in my mind, there''s three simple steps in cultivating. First, I need to find a place with dense natural energies. Second, I need to sense the energy permeating the area. Third and last, I need to absorb and filter the energy.

    I know that my meeting with Spark awakened my ''immortal soul'', allowing me to regain some of the memories that used to belong to me.

    How does that work anyway? Is reincarnation real?

    Due to me awakening my immortal soul, basic instructions about absorbing the natural energies appeared in my mind.

    Everything was going smooth until...

    There''s no energy!!

    This city is literally a wasteland of natural energy!

    Calm down Elizabeth, you''re a reasonable person, you can do this.

    I calm down and reassess my plans. The city isn''t completely devoid of natural energy but it is so sparce, that it would take me a hundred years before I could absorb and filter enough energy to reach the first level. That''s not even the worst part! I noticed that the energy in the city is so impure that when I''m done filtering it, it''s even less than what I absorbed

    *Sigh*

    Instead of trying to cultivate the sparse and impure energy of the city, I started to write everything, lest I forget about my memories. Once I was done writing, I tried to sleep but I was too damn excited to grasp any form of sleep.

    When trying to sleep failed, I immediately opened my laptop and started searching for places in the city that has dense agriculture, ancient landmarks, and museums. While I was staying up, I started to comb my memories for places where natural energies appear.

    I know that natural energies are more dense in large forests, ancient ruins of cultivation lands, and energy stones. After hours of searching, I found out that the city has no inside forests, no ancient landmarks, no museums that allow fondling of exhibit items and I can''t simply exit the city without fulfilling the proper requirements.

    ''I doubt I''ll be able to find an energy stone in this city.''

    There are three requirements before one can leave the city. First, one needs a proper reason and a proper ticket. Second, one must have a form of transportation that can traverse nuclear fallouts. Third and last is self-protection, one must be at least lord rank or have bodyguards on that level since the outside of city is prowling with mutated monsters.

    I have none of those three requirements, so I need to find a source of energy within the city. Forests are a no, since the only thing here with actual greenery is the city park and the energy there was slightly thicker but the amount is still too scant.

    Absorbing the natural energies needs me to concentrate and meditate but it would take literal days for me to make any improvement if I started meditating in the park, not to mention that sitting in a public area for days will earn unwanted attention.

    Forests and parks are not available, and forest sanctuaries are expensive to visit if one went there every day. I took a good look atmy bank account earlier and my funds aren¡¯t enough for me to visit sanctuaries every day and have enough money to feed myself.

    My last options are ancient artifacts and energy stones.

    But where will I-

    *Crash!*

    My contemplation was suddenly interrupted, as I see an SUV crash on the wall of a small book store.

    The engine of the SUV is smoking.

    The driver seems to be unconscious.

    "What..."

    My mind suddenly goes into overdrive as I start thinking of the situation. I want to be a hero but that doesn''t mean I''ll be a stupid hero.

    I can''t change the world if I die early... but it doesn''t mean I''ll back away from danger!

    Looking at the situation, the whole area is eerily silent as people don¡¯t know what to do but stare.

    They''re waiting for heroes but they''re going to be late.

    Once the situation calms down, I immediately run to the SUV.

    After reaching the SUV, I immediately open the door and notice the person inside. It''s a young man wearing a black suit.

    I unbuckle the seatbelt and start to pull him out. I carefully drag the man away to a safer place, farther from the car but before I could go back to the book store, the man pulls the hem of my shirt.

    ¡°The¡­ Briefcase¡­Please...Go¡­ Get¡­ It¡­¡± I hear the weak voice of the man below me. I give him a reassuring look and nod. I start running towards the smoking SUV. Once I reach it, I check if I missed anything or anyone inside.

    I notice that a small black briefcase is in the back of the SUV lies a small black briefcase.I immediately get it and start to run towards the man.

    "Help!"

    A shout comes from inside the book store.

    I need to help that person inside first.

    I go inside the car and throw the briefcase to the other seat. Despite the smoke coming from the car, I start the car and the engine starts to roar.

    Technology is truly amazing!

    The cars of the world right now no longer need fuel to power it but instead they use a power source made out of nuclear fusion.

    One might think driving a nuclear car is scary but the government has been developing nuclear fusion to better the world for more than 100 years but it doesn¡¯t mean that it¡¯s 100% safe, the car can still explode but it is definitely weaker than the prototypes.

    The prototypes were practically small nuclear bombs that could take out large buildings but over the years, research reduced the blast radius to the size of a car.

    Suddenly the smoking engines start to burn but due to the years of improvement on technology, burning cars can still sustain movement.This feature was added so people could drive to places with less people should their car be in danger of exploding.

    They called it the martyr feature.

    Unfortunately, right now I''m the martyr.

    The car engine roars and I immediately back the car off the bookstore. Once the bookstore is free from the SUV, I run inside and see an old man trapped under the heavy weight of a bookshelf.

    An old female is trying to lift the heavy bookcase. I run forward and start to help the woman lift the bookcase but it doesn''t even budge, even with my fit body.

    Stupid heavy wood.

    Suddenly, a man wearing a thick coat, usually worn when winter, rushes in the door and easily lifts the heavy bookcase. After putting the heavy bookcase down, the man rushes out and goes near the burning SUV.

    Who?...

    A near-transparent ball of energy encircles the whole car.

    A meta human!

    *Boom!*This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    The sound of a contained explosion silences the intersection, as the man withdraws the transparent ball of psychic energy.

    After making sure that there is no more immediate danger, the man goes back in the bookstore and kneels to check on the unconscious old man. The man checks the pulse of the man and closes his eyes. A moments later, the old man''s eyes open.

    A rich and heavy voice fills the room as the man speaks to the old female.

    ¡°Miss, please take care of this man, I¡¯ve already called an ambulance. Medical support will be here in a few minutes.¡±The old woman is muttering her gratitude nonstop until the man stops her.

    Paying closer attention, the man¡¯s height reaches 6¡¯6 when standing up and he is wearing a gray colored winter coat that¡¯s longer than his kneecaps. He looks to be in his early-twenties but his strong jawline, and masculine appearance makes him look more mature. His short and roughly cut black hair adds to his appeal and his cold blue eyes can stop any female in their tracks.

    I''m not an exception as I stare at this perfectly sculpted man.

    ¡°Officer¡±

    Snap out of it Elizabeth! He''s calling you.

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve done a good job handling the situation. If you¡¯ve acted less courageous, these people might have been injured or worse, dead. Especially considering that you aren¡¯t a Meta human.¡± The man¡¯s cold eyes stare at me but somewhere inside, he seems thoroughly impressed.

    I can''t help but feel genuinely happy by his praise.

    He''s a Meta Human!

    After taking a proper look at me, the man wavers a little as the officer in front of him is very beautiful and after that display of bravery and courage his cold eyes melt a little. Unsurprisingly, the man returns a smile which immediately washes away his cold demeanor.

    Standing up, I offer him a hand.

    ¡°Sir, I suggest you watch what you say. Some people might think differently of what you said.¡± The man takes my hand and stands up. His smile is already gone and his cold demeanor is back but my teasing joke manages to squeeze another smile from him.

    ¡°Let them think differently then.¡± The man¡¯s reply prompts me to raise my eyebrow with amusement.

    ¡°My name is Oliver Frost¡± Oliver reaches out his hand.

    ¡°Elizabeth Rielle¡± I takes his hand and shakes it. A small electrical spark travels in between our hands and lightly shocks us.

    ¡°Oh, sorry! I think my tasers malfunctioned¡± I give an apology while trying to hold back my laughter

    ¡°It¡¯s okay¡± Oliver smiles and accepts it.

    After our greeting, we both go outside to survey the situation. The car is still burning but there are no severe casualties, the traffic has been halted but considering the city¡¯s fast response team, it¡¯ll get started within an hour or so.

    I decide to wait and it seems Oliver will be waiting as well.

    *5 minutes later*

    While waiting, two ambulances drive by the intersection accompanied with two police cars.

    "They''re here" Oliver hears me and looks towards the incoming ambulances and police cars.

    The ambulance retrieves the old man and the other one takes the unconscious driver. The police that came asked routine questions on both me and Oliver but thanked us for our work.

    They also asked the people in the surroundings on what happened.

    According to one of the witnesses, the man suddenly started driving wildly and crashed into the bookstore.

    ¡°Elizabeth!¡±

    I suddenly hear someone call my name and before I could react, a police officer crashes onto me. Catching the police officer, I notice that it was Narissa.

    On the side, Oliver still had his cold and serious expression while staring at Narissa.

    ¡°Liz! Are you okay? You aren¡¯t hurt, are you?¡± Narissa¡¯s overly protective attitude pulls a smile out of me. I return her gesture with a tight hug.

    I feel good today.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Narissa, I¡¯m fine¡± I laugh and start to calm my overly excited friend. Eventually she does calm down and after calming down, she immediately notices the Oliver. She pulls me a little bit further away.

    Narissa whispers quietly.

    ¡°Hey, who¡¯s the hot guy with you?¡± I laugh and look at Oliver.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go ask yourself?¡± I drag Narissa in front of Oliver.

    Despite Narissa pulling me away to whisper, Narissa brightly introduces herself to Oliver and contrary to what I expected, Oliver responded lightly without the coldness he displayed earlier but not as warm as the greeting he gave me.

    We continued to chat through the whole affair.

    After finishing her business, Narissa kisses me goodbye and seductively says goodbye to Oliver, which he just smiles off.

    When the police left, a small group of peoplein trucks came to fix the damage dealt by the car and to haul the car away.

    ¡°Well that was interesting¡± Oliver stares at the leaving police cars and turns to look at me.

    I notice his staring and ask.

    "Why are you staring?" He chuckles

    ¡°Well I just find you very interesting. Tell me, is saving people under duress at the risk of your life a hobby?¡±

    I chuckle at his sarcastic remark but answer anyway.

    ¡°I want to be a hero.¡± This earns an eyebrow raise.¡°I know that it¡¯s impossible for a normal person, but it¡¯s always what I¡¯ve wanted.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to be powerful or to be famous?¡±

    ¡°Neither, I want to change the world but I can¡¯t, if I¡¯m like this. So I¡¯m trying to find a way to become a hero. I know that within the hundreds of years that Meta humans have existed, there is still no way to make an artificial Meta human but I still need to try.¡±

    "For me, it''s do or die trying."

    Oliver looks at me as if he¡¯s seen something rare and special. Like how a critique would treasure art, Oliver simply smiles but before we could continue speaking, a phone rings.

    Oliver pulls out his phone and starts talking. Surprisingly, Oliver materialized a small barrier that prevents anyone from eavesdropping. Eventually, Oliver hangs up and sighs heavily.

    He takes a long look at me and apologizes.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I really need to go.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I kept you too long¡± I reply with good grace. I don''t want to bother him too much, I''m sure he''s a busy guy.

    ¡°Thank you, I enjoyed your company." He goes quiet but adds "I wouldn¡¯t mind seeing you again.¡± Oliver gives me a warm smile.

    I have to admit this guy is making me slightly giddy.

    I smile and agree to his proposition.

    We both say our goodbyes and Oliver starts walking down the road.

    Due to the incident, I was given the day off and a new traffic enforcer changed shifts with me, so I can finally go home!

    "Wait... I seem to be forgetting something important."

    Once I''m already halfway home, I notice that I''m still holding on to the small black briefcase I took from the poor man''s SUV.

    Oh... Well, I''ve got more important things to do, I can return it tomorrow when I get back to work.

    Right now, I''m looking for a good source of energy to use. I''m going home to try and look for one.

    Once I reach my home, I unlock the gate and go inside.

    I drop the briefcase in my bedroom and start removing my police uniform.

    After changing my clothes, I lie down on my bed and relax for a few minutes. I close my eyes and enter a state of relaxation. Slowly, I start to sense the energies surrounding me and as usual, the energy is still scant but for some reason, it''s slightly richer.

    What!

    I immediately open my eyes and look for the source of energy.I suddenly realize where the energy is coming from and look towards the briefcase.

    I see the briefcase emanating an absurd amount of energy that''s making the scant energy in the house richer.

    I''ve always wanted to be a hero and after sensing the energy being released by the briefcase, I suddenly forget that I''m a police officer and that the briefcase was a part of an accident.

    Reaching out for the briefcase, I quickly look for ways to open it. Almost lost to reason, I start frying the lock with my tasers, which doesn¡¯t work.

    After a few hours, I''ve tried literally dozens of different ways, ranging from knives, hammers, chairs to putting it in a washing machine, and nothing worked.

    I need to replace that washing machine on payday.

    My eyes are already bloodshot, as I see the briefcase only slighly scratched.

    It seems that no matter what I do, the briefcase won''t open. Despite being closed, the briefcase emanates more energy than any placeI''ve ever been butI believe that whatever is inside would emanate more, if it was free from this stupid briefcase.

    Giving up, I sit down near the briefcase and start to enter a state of relaxation. After a few minutes, I start meditating. Once I sense the energy, I start absorbing it.

    This feels utterly wonderful.

    The energy coming out the briefcase is pure and dense.

    What would usually take me years is only going to take me a week. Smiling, I continue to absorb energy.

    <hr>

    In a white hallway that¡¯s devoid of dirt, design, and darkness, is a tall man wearing a long gray winter coat that reaches past his knees. This man is none other than Oliver.

    ¡°Hey Peter¡± I hear a man calling my name. Behind me is another man, significantly shorter, standing only at a height of 5¡¯2.

    I ignore him and continue walking forward. I still have to send in my report.

    ¡°I heard from some people you helped save a bunch of normies¡± The man¡¯s face crunch in disgust.

    Despite ignoring him, the small man continues to babble on.

    ¡°Oliver Frost? Really you couldn¡¯t have picked a name better for you.¡±

    The man laughs as he gets closer despite my faster moving long legs.

    I continue ignoring him.

    ¡°Hey Peter stop ignoring me, or else I¡¯ll beat the crap out of you¡± I suddenly stop and turn around. I stare him down. The man reciprocates it by smiling the whole time.

    ¡°Agent Lucas, please stop provoking me. The division leader does not like it when we both fight¡± Despite my calm words, I can''t hide the chilling aura my body is releasing.

    ¡°Peter, spare me BS. You¡¯re just afraid of getting your ass beat again.¡±I don''t reply and leave him to his antics but unfortunately he has the same leader as me.

    After reaching the hallway, a dead end greets both of them.

    ¡°D. Leader is late again!¡± Lucas smiles as a door materializes on the wall. I reach the handle and open the door.

    An empty white room greets us and in the middle is a white table with the an androgynous person sitting in it. The same undiscernible voice comes to greet them.

    ¡°Come in¡±

    ¡°Agent Lakes greets the Division Leader¡±I give the division leader a very respectful greetings while Lucas continues being noisy.

    ¡°Hiyah big D.¡±

    ¡°Charming as always agent Lucas¡± The division leader gives Lucas a curt nod and orders us.

    ¡°Sit¡± Me and Lucas sit down on the other side of the table.

    Unlike the time before, the division leader is drinking tea.

    ¡°Agent Lakes, I heard that you engaged the anomaly despite being ordered specifically not to engage it.¡±My face freezes for a moment but I immediately recover and calmly respond to the division leader.Lucas¡¯ smile fades as it¡¯s replaced by a very serious expression.

    Despite the dangerous atmosphere, I calmly respond.

    ¡°Yes Division leader, after carefully examining the anomaly, it was definitely weaker than what the reports said. I decided to capture it and after a lengthy fight, it managed to escape but it became even weaker than before. I simply thought that capturing it was more important than gathering information. Please forgive me for not following orders¡±

    I immediately stand up and give the division leader a quick bow.

    The division leader¡¯s face mellows and she purses his lips thinking on what to do.

    ¡°No, it was right for you to do that. After fighting Agent Phantom and killing him, the anomaly seems to have been weakened and it seemed to be recharging, you weakening it further was the right choice.¡± Lucas¡¯ face relaxes as the Division leader pardons me.

    ¡°Lucky for you Lakes, I would¡¯ve ripped your face off if the leader said so¡± Lucas¡¯ casual comment earned an icy glare from me. The Division leader gives Lucas an appreciative nod and continues his questioning.

    ¡°Agent Lakes, you will continue your job monitoring the anomaly. If it appears, you are to find and capture it, along with this.¡± After finishing her sentence, the Division leader sends a folder floating towards me. After taking the folder, I start reading it.

    ¡°There is a new company that¡¯s currently researching on how to make artificial Meta humans. Eliminate them before they make any actual improvement.¡± I give the division leader a quick nod. ¡°Remember there must be no proof, nor evidence that will incriminate you or the organization.¡±

    ¡°Agent Lucas, you will continue your job of suppressing those filthy barbarians near the outskirts of the city. They have been very annoying as of late.¡± Lucas smiles malevolently at the idea of genocide.

    ¡°Agent Lakes you may leave¡± ... I stand up and nod, leaving the two alone.

    <hr>

    Once Peter exited the room, leaving the two alone, they continue their talk.

    ¡°Agent Lucas, I have another job for you.¡± Lucas¡¯ face changes abruptly because of the Division Leader¡¯s action of making Peter leave.

    ¡°I want you to watch over Agent Lakes¡± Lucas¡¯ face forms a very cruel smile.

    ¡°What brought this up big D?¡±

    ¡°I do not believe Agent Lakes¡¯ story about the anomaly. I want you to make sure that he is not a danger to this organization. If he shows any signs of betrayal, silence him. I believe that you can easily kill him if the time requires you too¡±

    Lucas smile become even wider.

    ¡°Understood.¡±

 Chapter 6: Boundless Talent

    ¡°Wake up! Elizabeth, wake up!¡± a familiar voice rouses Elizabeth from her sleep. The voice is shouting for her to wake up. Opening her eyes, Elizabeth sees Felicia with a pouting face. It seems Elizabeth is back into her memories.

    ¡°Felicia, why are you waking me up so early? What time is it?¡± Despite knowing that she¡¯s in one of her memories, Elizabeth can¡¯t help but speak, as if she¡¯s watching a movie in a 1<sup>st</sup> person point of view.

    ¡°IT¡¯S ALREADY LATE! THE FIRST CLASS IS STARTING NOW¡± Elizabeth opens her eyes wide and takes in the large room, where both of them sleep.

    It is a spectacularly large and very expensive room, decorated with equally large and very expensive furniture.

    ''What happened?'' Elizabeth starts to dig around her memories.

    Looking back, Elizabeth remembers what happened.

    After the checking of talents, the small sect that found her, tried to hide her along with the group of children whose talents evolved because of Elizabeth but news like this, could not be hidden.

    Eventually extremely powerful and large sects found out and went to contest over this child of heaven.

    After a heated exchange between the powerful sects, it was decided that all the children would be given a choice.

    Since all of them were extremely powerful sects, they could provide near endless supplies and favor to the talented batch of children.

    So, the children chose the sects that favored them when it came to their talents. When all the children, except Elizabeth and Felicia, have chosen the sect they wanted to join, the sects started fighting again on who will take Elizabeth.

    Eventually to silence all the other sects, Elizabeth and Felicia chose the Heavenly Lord sect, a sect whose patriarch ascended into immortal-hood and then ascended a second time to become a heavenly lord.

    When asked why she chose the Heavenly Lord sect, she answered.

    ¡°The nice handsome man in my dreams told me so¡±

    When the sects asked what the man looked like, the answer made the sects concede.

    The man was none other than the Heavenly lord himself.

    No one, not even the most powerful of immortals can go against the word of a Heavenly lord. Going against a Heavenly Lord is going against the heavens itself.

    Eventually, Elizabeth and Felicia became the twin prime disciples of the sect master itself.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go!¡± Elizabeth wakes up to prepare herself. After 5 minutes of cleaning and grooming, Elizabeth goes out with Felicia to their first class.

    ¡°Do you think our teacher will be bad?¡± Felicia asks with the usual innocence of a young teenager. Elizabeth looks at her familiar friend. Her appearance is extremely reminiscent of Narissa, except younger.

    It must be a coincidence.

    Elizabeth ponders on her friend¡¯s question.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but we need to be prepared and if our teacher is bad, we could try and ask for another teacher.¡± Felicia smiles at Elizabeth''s answer.

    Once Elizabeth and Felicia leaves the room, a young man that¡¯s probably around 26 years old is waiting for them. When the man notices them, he immediately comes and bows his head.

    ¡°Lady Elizabeth and Lady Felicia, please follow me. The master is waiting for both of you.¡± Elizabeth and Felicia smiles and follows the young man.

    The man easily traverses the large main building, while both of the girls gawk at the sights.

    When Elizabeth and Felicia pass through a balcony, they see the major expanse of the sect.

    The sect is built on the side of a mountain range. Looking past the main mountain, there is a total of 40 mountains.

    The whole mountain range is dominated by sect.

    Elizabeth and Felicia lives in the main mountain which was said to be the place where the founder ascended.

    Large rows of buildings form on the side of the mountain range and all of the buildings are made out of sturdy and extremely strong materials. Beautifying the mountain is thousands of beautiful trees and each one of them is emanating energy that could easily sustain two cities.

    The whole mountain range is covered by a transparent golden dome capable of shielding thousands upon thousands of nuclear bombs, planet sized meteors, and even a concentrated beam of laser from the sun that can wipe out all life on the planet.

    Cultivators of different realms, positions,and jobs walk around.

    They were some that were conversing and some were even exchanging tips.

    The whole sect is brimming with life.

    *Ahem*

    ¡°Lady Elizabeth, please we need to go. The master is waiting.¡± Elizabeth apologizes and starts to follow but keeps looking back to stare at the beautiful scenery, impossible to experience at a modern place like Mercury City.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    After reaching a large empty room that¡¯s devoid of flashy furniture and overlooks an outdoor pond with a small water fall, the young man bows and leaves.

    "We are here Lady Elizabeh and Lady Felicia."

    Elizabeth and Felicia sits on the clean mats set on the wooden floor.

    In front of them is the wide back of a man sitting and staring at his beautiful garden.

    ¡°Did you know that the founder is my master?¡± Elizabeth and Felicia look at each other and speak respectfully.

    ¡°No sir¡±

    ¡°It is not a secret but it is also not common knowledge. The founder was my teacher, master, and¡­¡± The sect master pauses as if looking longingly throughout the skies. ¡°Father¡±

    ¡°He ascended when he deemed me ready to succeed in his place. I succeeded him as the sect master, but eventually I reached the same level he did when he ascended but I chose not to, not yet. He made me promise that before I ascend, I must find a proper disciple that I will impart my teachings upon.¡± A sad aura as thick as air starts to emanate from the sect master.

    ¡°I found one. He was a good disciple. He was talented, hardworking, and very attentive but he had a problem. Despite all of his good traits, he became prideful. He became blinded by his power, his background, and his talent. I imparted my teachings upon him, thinking that all of this was a phase. I was wrong. He became so blinded by his pride, when he reached the highest heights of cultivation, he attacked me. He said that I was the ultimate goal, defeating me means becoming the strongest. I who has stayed here in the lower realms for hundreds of thousands of years have already become too strong to stay here. My very presence sends ripples that threaten to rip apart this reality. I have to limit my cultivation or else I will be forcefully ascended. With a heavy heart, I released my cultivation for a moment shocking my disciple. I easily defeated him but I could not deal the final blow.¡±

    The sect master doesn¡¯t continue and turns around. A young man in his twenties stares at the two teenagers in front of him.

    ¡°I will teach both of you, but be warned I will be strict and far less doting than I was with him. I will make absurd requests and I will make you suffer the most painful and excruciating training but I tell you, if you can survive I will make the both of you soar like a roc, ferocious as a tiger, and as strong as a dragon. So will you two accept me as your master?¡±

    The powerful voice of the sect master emanates extreme power. As if his words itself could shatter space and even bend time.

    The two young teenagers kowtow and bow deeply to the sect master.

    ¡°YES MASTER!¡± The sect master smiles, like how a gardener finds two good seedlings.

    ¡°Both of you are to call me master Bai¡±

    ¡°Yes master Bai!¡±

    ¡°Before we start the actual teaching process, I must personally take a look at your talents.¡± Master Bai beckons for Felicia to come near him.

    Elizabeth looks intently while Felicia nervously walks towards Master Bai.

    Master Bai reaches out to hold Felicia¡¯s forearm. Energy leaks out of Master Bai¡¯s fingers, deeply embedding itself onto Felicia¡¯s forearms.

    Felicia gasps with a little pain but endures it.

    After a few seconds, Master Bai retracts the energy. When he releases Felicia¡¯s grasps, he holds his palm in front of her face.

    A golden phoenix wreathed with divine lightning appears in his grasp. The manifested talent glows brightly, as the beautiful golden phoenix flies around Master Bai¡¯s hands.

    ¡°You¡¯re talent is the divine golden phoenix. You are the third person in all of the ages to have received its mark, allowing you to cultivate its power. It is the second child of the Xakan, the firstborn of the heavenly lord Vilnean. Xakan was called the God of air. When he achieved enlightenment through air, he breathed out his four children, all unparalleled in the skies. The first child was called the Infinite Dragon, the second was the Divine Golden Phoenix, the third was the Space Lord Kun Peng, and the last was the World Eclipse Roc. Their strength was not equal, with the dragon being the strongest and the roc the weakest. The phoenix was only second to her brother in terms of power. Once you cultivate your talent, you will be able to exert a boundless amount of vigor. You will never lose against anyone when it comes to stamina and your infinite regeneration will never allow you to be defeated but other than the endless regeneration, you can exert unparalleled control over any element. The Phoenix was named the undying bird for a reason. It¡¯s not because of its endless regeneration, but because it¡¯s so powerful almost nothing can kill it.¡±

    The sparkles in Felicia¡¯s eyes grow brighter with every word Master Bai speaks.

    ¡°Return¡± Felicia returns back to her spot near Elizabeth, but her awe-struck face doesn¡¯t waver the whole time.

    ¡°And you, the supposed child of heaven.¡± Master Bai calls Elizabeth. Master Bai does the same procedure with Elizabeth. Once done checking Elizabeth, Master Bai furrows his eyebrows, confused.

    After a few minutes, Master Bai¡¯s face makes a bitter expression.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what talent this is. In all my years of living, combined with all the knowledge I¡¯ve studied and learned, I don¡¯t know what talent this is. I apologize, but this talent of yours is something I¡¯ve never seen before and I think something this world has never seen before.¡±

    Elizabeth¡¯s face becomes gloomy, but it¡¯s immediately washed away by Master Bai¡¯s next words.

    ¡°The fact that I don¡¯t know about it, or the fact that your talent evolved Felicia¡¯s, means that your talent is both boundless and unparalleled.¡±

    ¡°Your talent will never be equaled in this age or the age before and after.¡±

    ¡°Your talent is Boundless¡±

    <hr>

    Lying in her room, Elizabeth stirs awake.

    Opening her eyes, the first thing she notices is the sticky yellowish liquid covering her body.

    Raising her hand in disgust, Elizabeth notices that her body is sticking to the bed.

    Despite this, Elizabeth isn''t annoyed or angry.

    Elizabeth would have been more disgusted if not for what she¡¯s currently feeling.

    Closing her eyes, Elizabeth looks inside her core, a term she found in her new memories. Every cultivator has a core hidden inside their body and that core is an orb filled with the cultivator¡¯s energy.

    Its appearance depends on the cultivation, talent, and energy purity of the cultivator. Elizabeth¡¯s core appears to be golden with countless beautiful golden feathers floating constantly, rotating around her core. After carefully looking, Elizabeth notices that each feather is beautifully decorated.

    Some of her feathers, despite golden, have an unmistakable sheen of red, some have blue, and some have multiple colors, but each of them have the unmistakable glow of an element, whether it be lightning, fire or water, the feathers have it.

    Despite the divine appearance of her core, the inside is extremely mundane. The inside of her core is an empty blank space with an unmistakable small ball of pure white energy floating in the middle.

    After looking around her memories, Elizabeth can tell that this small ball of energy is the sign of breaking through the first realm of cultivating.

    Opening her eyes, Elizabeth jumps out of bed in excitement, almost forgetting the disgusting liquid coating her body.

    Almost.

    Elizabeth walks towards the bathroom and opens the door but she doesn¡¯t realize that her new strength, along with her excitement, is too much and slightly bends the doorknob.

    Furrowing her eyebrow, Elizabeth goes in slowly but another accident occurs, as she slightly bends the switch of the shower.

    Sighing, Elizabeth does everything slowly and meticulously until she gets used to her new strength.

    The rest of Elizabeth¡¯s evening goes like this.

    <hr>

    The smell of burning flesh fills the air as a short person walks through a burning village, that seems rundown even before it started burning. The man gleefully treads through the burning wasteland stepping on the burnt corpses strewn around. The man is none other than agent Lucas.

    ¡°Ahhhhh, I just love the smell of death everywhere.¡± Agent Lucas gleefully stretches, as if oblivious to the living nightmare surrounding him.

    "Maybe I should start a restaurant, I''m good at this."

 Chapter 7: Physique Tempering

    ¡°Hey Elizabeth, you¡¯re out early.¡± A male colleague asks, as Elizabeth rushes to get outside the office.

    ¡°Yeah Stan, I need to do something later, so I¡¯m going out early.¡± Elizabeth waves off her colleague and immediately goes out.

    Elizabeth has already asked for an early leave because of two matters.

    The first and most important matter was Elizabeth reaching the first realm yesterday night. While continuously absorbing the pure energy released by the briefcase, Elizabeth reached a small bottleneck.

    It wasn¡¯t too hard breaking through and eventually, Elizabeth reach the first realm of cultivation.

    After reaching the first realm, new memories flowed through Elizabeth¡¯s mind.

    The first realm is called Physique Tempering.

    Physique Tempering focuses on making the body stronger by absorbing the natural energies of the earth and heavens.

    The energies make the bones tougher, the blood more malleable, the skin more flexible, and the flesh stronger.

    The first realm has 9 levels and each level raises one¡¯s strength considerably.

    When Elizabeth reached the first realm, her body released this mucus-like liquid that covered her whole body but before she could clean up, she felt that her body became considerably lighter and tougher.

    Because of her excitement, Elizabeth couldn¡¯t control her strength and when she decided to wash up, she managed to pull out the doorknob. After that, she accidentally bent the showerhead.

    Once ordeal of taking a bath has passed, Elizabeth tried calculating her strength.

    She¡¯s definitely stronger than an average adult person but weaker than a Meta human. She started checking her physical ability and noticed that she can easily lift 75 kgs, release a punch worth 75 kgs and a kick as heavy as 100 kgs.

    Because of this, Elizabeth¡¯s excitement shot through the roof and she wants to immediately return back home and continue her cultivation.

    Now the second matter is a little bit more complicated than the first one.

    While Elizabeth was at work this morning, her mind was on overdrive and she was thinking of what to do with the briefcase.

    When she woke up remembering everything she did, even the joy of reaching the first level of Physique Tempering, could not snuff out the shame and embarrassment she felt.

    What she did was a crime. Stealing an object during an accident is a crime andreturning a stolen object does not absolve one of their crimes, nor does it solve Elizabeth¡¯s first matter.

    Since Elizabeth is stuck at an impasse, she decided to do something valuable with her time while she tries to find a way to solve her problem.

    Elizabeth changed from her police uniform to more casual clothes. Right now, she¡¯s currently wearing a white shirt with black stripes all over it and black jeans that allow for easy movement. Her shoes are simple, white running shoes without any enhancements.

    Once dressed, Elizabeth rushes to get home.

    The main police station is situated near the center of the city just a few blocks away from the God-slayer organization and the main base of operations.

    Elizabeth works at a branch situated near the Portal district. Portal district, as the name implies, is a district that¡¯s focused on transportation. It¡¯s filled with trains leading to every district in the city and carpools leading to the parts unreachable by the train.

    Usually, Elizabeth would take the bus but her excitement made her take the train, since it¡¯s faster. After entering Portal district, Elizabeth rushes to the ticket booth for the Fallen Goddess district.

    Once she receives her ticket, she immediately walks to the waiting area. Due to her excitement, Elizabeth doesn¡¯t notice a strange man continuously stealing glances towards her.

    When the train arrives at the station, Elizabeth goes in and the strange man went in to follow her.

    It would take 2 hours for Elizabeth to go home from work if she took the bus but the technologically advanced train would only take 10 minutes.

    Despite the short amount of time travelling, Elizabeth couldn¡¯t stop being jittery from excitement and her obvious excitement and smiling face gained a lot of attention, as a lot of males and even females are looking at the beautiful woman sitting in the train. The strange man didn¡¯t stop looking but tried to look more natural.

    Looking outside the window, one can see the wide expanse of Mercury city and its 31 districts.

    The large metal buildings cover the sky but there is enough space to allow the civilians to see the skies. After 10 minutes of travel, the train settles in the train station in the Fallen Goddess district.

    Once the doors open, Elizabeth runs out quickly and started walking towards her home.

    When Elizabeth exited the station, she finally managed to calm herself.

    Now that Elizabeth is calm, her sharp senses returned.

    Looking at a passing mirror, Elizabeth notices a man that''s staring at her and following her from behind.

    Elizabeth made sure to check before assuming.

    Once she makes sure that the man is following her, she decides to confront him privately where there won¡¯t be anyone affected.

    Something bugged her though, as if something big was following her.

    After reaching a small road, Elizabeth dashes into her left, straight into a small alleyway.

    Her new body allowed her to move faster than before and she immediately covered a lot of ground and as expected, the man followed her but he seemed slower and unsure. He doesn¡¯t seem to be familiar with the district, because he keeps hesitating whenever Elizabeth disappears from sight but the fact that he could keep up means that he¡¯s a Meta human at the very least.

    Elizabeth''s continuous running just reinforces the fact that she''s no longer normal and she relishes that fact.

    Eventually, Elizabeth reaches a remote area in between multiple alleyways.

    It¡¯s devoid of people and the walls here are sturdy. After a minute, the man catches up and stares at Elizabeth.

    ¡°Who are you? And why are you following me?¡±

    Humans can never defeat Meta humans.

    That has been a fact since the time Meta humans appeared.

    Technology can shorten the gap but never fully close it.

    Meta humans are and will always be stronger than humans but why is Elizabeth facing a possibly hostile Meta human.

    One word.

    Excitement.

    Elizabeth is excited to test out her new body.

    Even though achieving the first realm made her stronger than a normal human, fighting a Meta human is still risky but there is one thing that gives Elizabeth a fighting chance.

    It¡¯s Narissa.

    Narissa is a squad level Meta human, a rank above the lowest, and Elizabeth constantly trains with her.

    Elizabeth always loses but after dodging bone breaking kicks and heart stopping punches, Elizabeth developed a way to fight Meta humans.

    Eventually after countless sparring sessions with Narissa, she eventually could fight her equally but still Elizabeth could never beat her.

    What about now? Elizabeth kept asking herself, would she win now.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been sent to retrieve the briefcase.¡± The man calmly adjusts his rough coat. He seems very uncomfortable with his clothes.

    Elizabeth¡¯s excitement immediately disappears.

    Sighing, Elizabeth prepares to speak.

    ¡°I knew this would happen.¡±

    The man doesn¡¯t reply.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do it like this. Tomorrow at the same time, let¡¯s meet here.¡± before Elizabeth could finish her sentence, the man dashes forward to punch her face.

    Elizabeth¡¯s excitement flares up to maximum and reacts quickly by dodging.

    But..

    It¡¯s not enough.

    He¡¯s too fast, faster than Narissa.

    Elizabeth still tries to dodge the fist that could very well smash her skull in.

    Then in that moment, the flying fist stopped for a second.

    That second was enough.

    Elizabeth managed to dodge to her right and send a kick to the man¡¯s chest.

    The man flinches a bit, surprised that a normal human can output that much force but the man immediately recovers, thinking that it¡¯s simply a fluke.

    Is he holding back?

    The man¡¯s face contorts in confusion.

    Despite the danger, Elizabeth still finds herself very excited and readies herself.

    One thing Meta humans never expect from a normal human is them charging first and that''s what Elizabeth did.

    Elizabeth rushes down low, taking the man by surprise. Elizabeth reaches her target and punches the man in his center with her full force.

    The man groans lightly and before he could properly react, Elizabeth opens her hands and clutches the man. Elizabeth smiles confidently as her fingers crackle with electricity, shocking the man.

    Electricity bigger than the night before envelops the man.

    It¡¯s definitely bigger than before but not enough.

    The man¡¯s face clutches in pain and he reacts by clawing at Elizabeth. Elizabeth dodges backward and kicks the man¡¯s lower body.

    The man winces from the pain but immediately charges Elizabeth with a flurry of punches and kicks but every kick and punch stops for a second, allowing Elizabeth to dodge with her body intact.

    ¡°HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT?¡± The man screams.

    Wait? He¡¯s not holding back? Elizabeth¡¯s eyes become serious. If it¡¯s not him, somebody else might be here. This is going to be dangerous but I need to test it. Elizabeth¡¯s eyes go serious as she charges forward again, but this time with more vigor.

    Weirdly confident in her mysterious helper, Elizabeth attacks with her guard wide open.

    ¡°Take this!¡± The man punches with bone breaking force towards Elizabeth.

    The man stops again.

    As expected he stops for a second every time he¡¯s near punching me. Smiling, Elizabeth launches a powerful kick, hitting the man square on the face.

    ¡°Ugh!¡± The man groans but Elizabeth doesn¡¯t stop on her assault and grasps the man¡¯s neck. Elizabeth immediately releases the 2 charges left on her taser.

    ¡°AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!¡± The man, despite showing greater strength and speed than Narissa, Elizabeth is having an easier time.

    Is this the result of cultivation? It¡¯s amazing!

    Elizabeth follows up by inserting her foot in the middle of his legs then hooking it behind.

    Elizabeth easily trips the electrified man.

    The man tries to stand but Elizabeth releases a continuous amount of powerful kicks and punches until the man is unconscious.

    Even when the man isn¡¯t attacking, his body is freezing up. When the man slumps unconscious, Elizabeth looks around to look for her mystery helper.

    Feeling a chill, Elizabeth feels that this cold is both familiar and protective.

    Eventually the chill disappears and the man is still unconscious.

    Elizabeth sifts through the man¡¯s belongings to find a small phone and a small folder.

    Opening the folder Elizabeth sees her public file and some information not open to the public. Elizabeth hides the folder and phone.

    *RINGS*

    Surprised, Elizabeth fumbles to get the man¡¯s phone. There¡¯s an unknown number but Elizabeth guesses that the number is an accomplice.

    She answers and listens.

    ¡°Hey Carlo, I¡¯m in the house.¡±

    He¡¯s inside my house?

    ¡°I¡¯ve tried looking for the case but no luck. I¡¯ll keep trying but.¡±

    The sound of a doorbell comes from the phone.

    ¡°I¡¯ll call you back there¡¯s somebody outside the house.¡±

    The man hangs up.

    *RINGS*

    Another ringing catches Elizabeth¡¯s attention.

    The ringing is comeing from her phone.

    Elizabeth puts away the man¡¯s phone and pull hers out.

    Narissa is the one calling.

    Elizabeth immediately answers the phone and Narissa¡¯s energetic voice comes from the phone.

    ¡°Hey Elizabeth I heard that you went out early. That¡¯s a first! To celebrate, I brought colas and foodstuff, anyway come out already, I¡¯ve been ringing the doorbell for 5 minutes now.¡±

    Despite her complaint, Narissa¡¯s good mood is felt through the phone.

    ¡°I¡¯m still outside¡± Elizabeth is cut off by Narissa¡¯s next words.

    ¡°Hey your door isn¡¯t locked. I¡¯ll come in first okay! I¡¯ll set everything up and wait for you.¡± Then she hangs up.

    Tsk, why couldn¡¯t you wait for me properly?

    Elizabeth hangs up her phone and looks at the unconscious man behind her.

    I can''t let them hurt Narissa!

    After deciding, she runs and goes toward her home. With her slightly stronger body, Elizabeth only takes a few minutes to get home.

    She opens the gate and rushes to open the door.

    *Gasp*

    Greeting her is the gruesome sight of Narissa sitting at the living room, stuffing her face with chips. Her guilty face gets paler once she sees Elizabeth¡¯s worried face.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! I was hungry. I couldn¡¯t help it.¡± Looking around, Elizabeth doesn¡¯t notice anyone or anything out of place, and after seeing her look around, Narissa starts looking around as well.

    ¡°Hey! What¡¯s the problem?¡± Once she''s sure the place is clear, Elizabeth heaves a sigh of relief.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±

    Smiling, Elizabeth closes the door and walks towards Narissa.

    Despite Elizabeth¡¯s calm fa?ade, she doesn¡¯t let her guard down and keeps her senses aware.

    Elizabeth sits in one of her couches while Narissa is sitting on the carpet near the small table.

    Elizabeth and Narissa talked and watched films in her living room for a few hours, which slightly annoyed Elizabeth, since it made her original goal disappear but she can¡¯t shut out Narissa just because of her newfound abilities.

    When their drinks were gone, Narissa went to the kitchen and noticed that some parts of the kitchen have thin sheets of ice.

    ¡°Hey Narissa I don¡¯t have any drinks out here. I¡¯ll go out and buy some okay.¡±

    Narissa nods in reply while watching a movie about a female having multiple partners.

    Elizabeth goes out the house to buy some drinks and look for any signs of danger.

    When she goes out, what she saw shocked her speechless.

    It was snowing.

    Beautiful white snow littered the subdivision.

    A district has multiple subdivisions and right now Elizabeth¡¯s subdivision is filled with snow.

    The snow fell slowly but heavily, as if it wanted to hide something. The big buildings are painted in peaceful white and the roads are covered to look like an empty easel.

    Recovering from shock, Elizabeth tries to feel the energy of the falling snow. There was nothing but the faint feeling of the usual small energy. It means all of this is artificial, yet Elizabeth has never seen something this beautiful except the mountain range and valley in her dreams.

    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful.¡±

    Elizabeth shakes her head and somehow feels that she shouldn''t go out anymore.

    If his friend went out to look for him, the man she knocked unconscious should be gone by now.

    And after thinking about it fighting two squad level Meta humans is practically suicide, so Elizabeth decided to stay.

    After going inside, she sees Narissa is fast asleep on her couch.

    She must be tired from all her work.

    Elizabeth gets a blanket and covers Narissa, then turns the television off.

    After that, she goes in her room and locks it.

    Elizabeth pulls out the briefcase from a secret compartment under her floor.

    ¡°What the hell should I do with you?¡± Sighing, Elizabeth stares at the battered briefcase in front of her.

    Elizabeth pulls out the man¡¯s phone and starts looking for clues.

    The phone looks new.

    It must be because they don''t want to leak any information but right now, information is what she needs.

    After sifting through the phone, Elizabeth found a message saying only a few words.

    Kill the thief and retrieve the item.

    Elizabeth furrows her eyebrows and start looking for any leads. Another message took her attention.

    Kill the failure, he knows too much.

    Elizabeth immediately dials the number of the hospital where the owner of the briefcase was confined and after ringing, a pleasant female voice answers.

    ¡°Hello? This is the public hospital how may I help you?¡±

    ¡°This is police officer Elizabeth Rielle. I called to ask about one of the victims of the car accident a day ago?¡±

    The sound of a woman calling other personnel is heard from the phone.

    ¡°¡­ Miss Rielle, I regret to inform you but the victim is dead. He was reported to die from asphyxiation. It seems the accident claimed his life. We¡¯ve already reported it to the police department, you could check up on them.¡± Elizabeth gives her thanks and hangs up.

    Elizabeth¡¯s mood turns even gloomier, especially after thinking that she may have caused the death of the man but there¡¯s nothing to be done, so Elizabeth lies down in her bed and starts brainstorming on what to do.

    Giving back the brief case is a dead end, since the owners seem to want this incident covered. So the most favorable option for Elizabeth is to simply hide the case and cultivate as fast as possible and when her power is sufficient, she¡¯ll have to deal with this problem head on.

    ¡°Ughhh, why am I so unlucky.¡± Elizabeth sighs and closes her eyes.

    Recovering her resolve, Elizabeth sits up and places the briefcase in front of her.

    Closing her eyes, Elizabeth feels the pure energy leaking out and starts to absorb it.

    She tried opening the briefcase earlier with her newfound strength but it¡¯s not enough, so she decided to open it at a later date.

    The energy swirls all over Elizabeth¡¯s body.

    Slowly, her body absorbs the clear and pure energy.

    There¡¯s no need for filtering, the energy is deliciously pure.

    The energy continuously fills her body, increasing the amount inside her core.

    Before the energy goes inside the core, they first move throughout her whole body, tempering it, like how a blacksmith hammers their product to straighten out edges.

    The whole process is painless but the feeling of her body constantly changing makes her uncomfortable.

    She can feel her body improving constantly, and thanks to her talent, even this scant amount of energy allows her to improve quickly.

    If she had no talent, she probably would take a few months just to reach the second level of Physique tempering.

    She can feel the strengthening of her bones, the malleability of her blood, the toughness of her skin, and eventually peace.

    Normal people would have a hard time cultivating because of the time it would take but Elizabeth immediately enters a deep meditative state, allowing her to absorb energy quickly.

    This goes on for hours and hours until Elizabeth hears Narissa¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Thanks for the time Liz! I had fun. I¡¯ll be going ahead okay! Take care¡± Elizabeth replies an affirmative and tries her best to return to her deep meditative state.

    Her body starts perspiring the same sticky liquid she released when she reached the first realm.

    She remembers that the first realm focuses on the improvement of the body, making the cultivator free of hunger, and thirst but for her, the most important point is getting stronger.

    Since the first stage is strengthening the body, cultivators of this stage cannot use any magical abilities but only physical techniques.

    The reason is because cultivators at this stage can only strengthen their body and not their core.

    A cultivator¡¯s core is the source of their energy and strength, so unless a cultivator reaches the second realm, which is ¡°Core Tempering¡±, they cannot use any magical or energy based abilities.

    Elizabeth knows that at her speed she can reach the second level if she continued cultivating for 3 days.

    I need to cultivate faster or else my life will be in danger. I¡¯m thankful they sent only squad level Meta humans, but it¡¯ll be dangerous if they start sending more powerful Meta humans, at that time only a miracle will save me.

 Chapter 8: Energy Bath

    In a noisy market place, filled with people, walks a beautiful and entrancing female. She¡¯s holding a small bag where she stores the items she bought. If one took a look they would see multiple fruits and vegetables. The weird part about that is that there aren¡¯t much of them. When one buys apples they would buy multiple pieces but the female brought only one. If someone buys oranges they would buy a pack instead of one but the female brought only one. This beautiful yet weird female is none other than Elizabeth and she¡¯s buying different vegetables and fruits.

    ¡°Beautiful Lady, we have good fresh apples from the agri district.¡±

    ¡°Come on miss, we have the best oranges from the sun district.¡±

    Many vendors are advertising their goods to Elizabethbut Elizabeth paid them no heed. Because of her job as a traffic enforcer, money isn¡¯t a commodity and she uses the money left from buying gadgets to buying cheap but good food.

    It¡¯s been 4 days since the incident and Elizabeth has already broken through the 1<sup>st</sup> level and managed to reach the 2<sup>nd</sup> level of physique tempering.

    Her body has undergone the same transformation she did, when she first entered the first level.

    The first thing she did after advancing was to calculate how much strength she gained, so she can control herself.

    After testing out the objects she can lift and the force she can release, Elizabeth concludes that she can easily lift 200 kgs, release a punch worth 200 kgs and release a kick of 250 kg and at night she ran in the district to calculate her speed.

    Her maximum running speed is 35 kph. Now she can ascertain that she¡¯s stronger than average human beings and possibly defeat a mob level Meta human, the weakest type of Meta humans.

    Elated, Elizabeth continued to cultivate but the problem was reaching the third level was too long.

    To reach the third level, Elizabeth needed to continuously cultivate for a month.

    The problem isn¡¯t the time but the urgency of her situation.

    Eventually people will come back to harm her, so she needs to become stronger and protect herself and eventually complete her dream.

    After reaching the 2<sup>nd</sup> level, new memories flowed into her mind.

    Will this work? Elizabeth thought while she was caressing a honeydew fruit.

    Cultivators absorb energy to reach higher realms and higher levels but that doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s easy to advance.

    Higher realms means larger amounts of energy and to counter this, cultivators created ways to help them advance faster.

    There are 5 normal ways to quicken cultivation, the first is pills, the second is rituals, the third is formations, the fourth is finding energy fountains and the last normal way is to bathe in herbs.

    Even though all these ways increase cultivation there is still a difference. Each way has their process and result.

    Pills are expensive but their effects are immediate.

    Rituals are cheap and increase your absorption rate but they¡¯re temporary and have a short amount of time.

    Formations are like rituals in the fact that they increase absorption rate and they have the advantage that they can last indefinitely but they¡¯re very expensive to make.

    Energy fountains are natural made energy sources that pump out dense and pure energy, it doesn¡¯t cost anything but the chances of me finding one is impossible.

    Herb baths are cheap because you only need to submerge yourself in energy soups that are made up of cheap herbs.

    The only problem is that herb baths are ineffective on people with higher cultivations unless they are using rare herbs, which would be more useful in pills than baths.

    For someone like Elizabeth, who doesn¡¯t have the backing of a sect or a lot of money and materials for cultivation, herb baths is the best option for her to increase her cultivation.

    It¡¯s both cheap and doesn¡¯t require rare materials.

    When Elizabeth found out that she could increase her cultivation without having to find rare herbs in a god-forsaken island, she almost broke her bedroom door. If she could use herbs, then why would Elizabeth buy fruits and vegetables.

    It¡¯s because even the cheapest fruits and vegetables are descendants of once powerful herbs.

    Apparently the apple is a descendant of the red dragon fruit but the last cultivation war, which almost purged all the energy from the world, forced it to become a fruit that thrived from large amounts of energy to a fruit that survived on scant amounts of energy.

    A lot of fruit and vegetables were once descendants of powerful herbs and plant life, so that means these fruits and vegetables have energy that can increase cultivation, albeit smaller.

    Elizabeth plans on creating a herb bath made out of fruits and vegetables to help her cultivation speed up, even if only a little.

    Thankfully, Elizabeth¡¯s past master was once the most powerful cultivator in his time or else she wouldn¡¯t know where to start.

    She was surprised when a specific memory of her told her that the peach came from the pink heart fruit, which makes the skin flawless and a person¡¯s countenance beautiful. This fruit despite being quite common became a rarity because of the women fighting for it.

    Elizabeth isn¡¯t a person who would fuss over looks but even, she¡¯s quite interested in that fruit, mostly for its cleansing properties.

    I wish pink heart fruits still exist; it might help Narissa with her problem. I don¡¯t see the problem though she¡¯s still quite beautiful.

    After walking for a while, Elizabeth feels the constant hum of energy running through the stalls.

    Despite being small, the energy here is definitely thicker than the city park or the city sanctuary but the amount the fruits emanate is still smaller than the energy the briefcase releases.

    Elizabeth plans on cultivating in the herb soup while the brief case is nearby.

    Apple, orange, banana, and watermelon, I already have them I should get home.

    Elizabeth checks her baggage one last time and starts to walk home.

    Maybe I should buy the products from agri district or maybe from the sun district? Elizabeth¡¯s thoughts are filled with how to improve her cultivation and also save more money.

    While walking home, Elizabeth¡¯s thoughts drift to the time it snowed. The snow stayed for a day and disappeared the next day.

    Despite being artificial, it looked very beautiful.

    Elizabeth reached her house and went inside to prepare everything.

    She took out a large plastic tub that could fit her, if she went in to lie down.

    She borrowed this from Narissa when they met at the police station yesterday.

    She fills it with water in the bathroom. When it¡¯s filled, she returns to the kitchen.

    Pulling out a knife, Elizabeth starts cutting the fruits. With her strength, the knife she¡¯s holding might as well be a factory made blade because she easily cuts through the water melon like butter.

    Elizabeth carries all the fruits to her bathroom and puts them inside the tub.

    The next step would be to heat up the water with energy.

    Despite being only in the physique tempering realm, Elizabeth can at least release the smallest amount of energy. She starts filling the tub with small amounts of her energy which immediately tires her out.

    The small energy reacts with the energy inside the fruits and the water starts to boil from the reaction. The water turns to a pinkish white color.

    Smiling, Elizabeth goes out to retrieve the unbreakable briefcase.

    After setting the briefcase near the tub, Elizabeth undresses and her clothes easily fall of her curvy body.

    She tests the bath with a foot and finds the herb bath electrifying, in a good way.

    Elizabeth slowly dips her whole body in the bath.

    *Moan*

    Elizabeth immediately covers her mouth.

    The bath feels incredibly good.

    The energy circulating in the bath isn¡¯t much but it¡¯s definitely helping and with the bath, she might be able to reach the third level in ten days.

    She closes her eyes and starts to meditate while enjoying the pleasurable sensation of being submerged in energy.

    Hours quickly pass, as Elizabeth happily enjoys the bath while absorbing energy.

    Eventually the water returned to its transparent state and all the fruits were dried up.

    Opening her eyes, Elizabeth looked inside her core and noticed that the improvement was quite big.

    This way of cultivating is far faster and less boring than simply absorbing energy.

    She stands up to wash herself but notices that her body became cleaner and became even smoother.

    After touching her skin, her eyes widen from its tenderness.

    I should really show this to Narissa.

    After cleaning up, Elizabeth dresses up and immediately rushes out the house to buy more fruits and vegetables.

    In the same noisy market, Elizabeth is buying the same fruits she bought earlier but this time with a very excited expression.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Instead of buying the fruits one by one, she¡¯s buying them by the dozen, despite the horrible pain she¡¯s feeling from losing money.

    Even the vendors are affected by her jovial mood. Some even gave her discounts, which she accepted eagerly.

    Today is such a good day. And to think that I just needed to illegally enter a closed down nuclear plant to get a chance to achieve my dreams. I hope that lightning bolt is safe though.

    Despite Elizabeth¡¯s inaction, she kept the sentient lightning bolt in her mind, hoping that it was safe and truth to be told, if something could harm a time stopping lightning bolt, she wouldn¡¯t be much of help but she¡¯s not really sure if that was time stopping but it felt like it.

    I wonder when can I do that.

    Elizabeth¡¯s daydreaming is cut short by the sound of shouting.

    ¡°WHAT THE HELL? COULDN¡¯T YOU WATCH WHERE YOU¡¯RE GOING?¡± A large burly man wearing clothes, that¡¯s close to ripping apart, is screaming at a child that fell down the ground.

    The man¡¯s clothes were plastered with ice cream, it seems the child accidentally bumped into him and dirtied his clothing.

    His reaction is a little bit overboard.

    ¡°LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID, YOU BRAT!¡± The man was about to grab the incapacitated child with his large fists. The man¡¯s muscles bulge with the familiar strength of a Meta human which made others afraid of intervening.

    Elizabeth moves to intercept the man.

    Not even the city leader could scare Elizabeth from helping others but before she could go and help, a hand stops the man¡¯s advance.

    ¡°You should calm down.¡± A cold icy voice that can easily stop volcanoes from erupting fills the silent marketplace.

    A young handsome man, wearing a long grey winter coat, stops the burly man¡¯s advance with his hand.

    Elizabeth pauses from the effortless action of the familiar man in front of her. This familiar man is none other than Peter Lakes.

    The burly man was only acting angry at the thought of his clothes being soiled but harming a child was still very unsightly to do, so he waited for someone to intervene so he could release his anger on that person. Smiling in the inside, he wanted to pound Peter to dust and have him pay for his clothing.

    ¡°HUH! WHO¡¯RE YOU? DON¡¯T INTERVENE.¡± The man pulls back his other fist and punches Peter with surprising force.

    He¡¯s strong.

    Elizabeth guessed that this man must be a Meta human that focuses on strengthening his body, instead of his mental abilities.

    *CRASH!*

    The sound of a heavy object colliding with an unbreakable wall resounds through the marketplace. The man¡¯s heavy fist stops just in front of Peter, stopped by a semi-transparent bluish wall.

    For a Meta human to be capable of using psychic abilities, they must at least reach squad rank. But Peter¡¯s psychic barrier is too strong for him to be just a squad ranked Meta human, he¡¯s at least a beast rank Meta human.

    The man¡¯s face pales in fear.

    Immediately, before Peter decides to do anything, the man retracts his fist and bows his head with speed that surprises Peter.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m ashamed that I showed such a disgraceful appearance to the people of this marketplace. I was just surprised by the child, I apologize!¡± Despite the man¡¯s sudden apology, nobody is surprised.

    There are laws against fighting, especially for Meta human.

    If two Meta humans fought, the one who first initiated the fight had to pay the damage incurred.

    It means that if Peter decided to damage all the stalls in the area while fighting, the man would have to pay for all the damage after paying for the medical bills he¡¯ll incur from fighting someone stronger than him.

    This law was made to make sure nobody would start a fight.

    ¡°Leave¡± The man didn¡¯t even hesitate as he ran the opposite direction. After watching the man disappear, Peter kneels down and checks the child.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Peter¡¯s voice was unusually gentle. His cold voice is nowhere to be found.

    The kid looks up slowly and when he notices that the burly man is gone, he starts bawling. Peter gently wipes the kid¡¯s tears and calms him down. After calming the child down, Peter asks for the assistance of a nearby helper.

    Peter tells the woman that came near to help the child locate his parents. After telling her what to do, Peter hands her money. The woman nods earnestly and gently picks up the child.

    ¡°Hello Elizabeth¡± Elizabeth is broken from her stupor, apparently amazed by Peter.

    ¡°Oliver!¡± Peter raises his eyebrow in question.

    ¡°You¡¯re amazing.¡± Elizabeth smiled eliciting a surprised look from Peter.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Peter resumes his cold look. It¡¯s mostly because he finds nothing particularly amazing about what he did.

    ¡°I believe that anyone could¡¯ve done what I did.¡± Peter states as matter of fact.

    ¡°But no one came.¡± Elizabeth¡¯s reply stumps Peter but he smiles and immediately replies.

    ¡°You came. If I didn¡¯t step in earlier you would¡¯ve came. You¡¯re too selfless and probably a little bit too reckless.¡± Elizabeth doesn¡¯t refute and accepts his compliment.

    ¡°What brings you here in the market?¡± Elizabeth answers the interested man¡¯s question.

    ¡°I came here to buy some fruits.¡±

    Peter replied with an interested ¡°ho.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not carrying anything so you¡¯re probably going to buy something right?¡± This time it was Elizabeth¡¯s turn to question.

    Peter¡¯s eyes widen from the sudden questioning, as if he didn¡¯t expect it.

    ¡°I went here to buy some ingredients good for cooking. Are you done with your groceries?¡± Elizabeth feels that if she says no, Peter will ask her to let him accompany her so Elizabeth answers negative.

    ¡°Well would it be okay if I went with you?¡± As expected, Elizabeth smiles and agrees.

    Peter¡¯s expression turns into a more amiable one and starts walking. Elizabeth follows and they start exploring the marketplace to buy more stuff.

    While walking, the two of them start chatting about each other and other useless chatter.

    Elizabeth¡¯s initial entry on the marketplace stopped the hearts of men and female everywhere but eventually people recover and some brave young men started talking to her but Peter¡¯s appearance stopped every single advance. Not because Peter stopped them but because no male had the guts to contest with Peter.

    After all the two of them are exceptionally beautiful people, and no one was brave enough to break such a beautiful image.

    After a while, they eventually reach another part of the marketplace. This part of the marketplace is filled with vendors that sell food, sells materials for everyday life, and cheap knock offs of authentic products. Elizabeth even managed to find a fake copy of her taser fingers. It¡¯s definitely cheaper but after considering its durability it would probably die out after a few uses but even so, Elizabeth couldn¡¯t hide her excitement.

    Inside her eyes is the gleam of a child looking at new toys. The combination of Peter¡¯s company and the cheap gadgets in front of her made Elizabeth utterly forget her purpose of coming to the marketplace.

    ¡°So¡­ You like toys?¡± Peter carefully tests the waters as to not offend the childish female. Elizabeth turns quickly towards peter with fire burning in her eyes. Elizabeth replies with an exaggerated voice unbefitting her beautiful face.

    ¡°These-¡± Elizabeth gestures at all the gadgets. ¡°-aren¡¯t toys! They are complex machines developed by the human race to be capable of protecting themselves!¡±

    Elizabeth picks up a small pistol like object and points at it. ¡°This is an X500 model pistol capable of housing M02 tranquilizer darts that can even render squad level Meta humans asleep.¡±

    Before Peter could speak, Elizabeth picks up another object. ¡°And this is a...¡± Elizabeth continued rambling with unquenchable energy until the vendor had to ask her to stop.

    Even when she¡¯s done speaking, Elizabeth doesn¡¯t stop browsing all the gadgets in the marketplace with Peter in tow.

    Elizabeth doesn¡¯t notice Peter¡¯s weird look towards her, like how one would look at a weird but cute animal.

    Every time Elizabeth finds something that she really likes, she immediately pulls out her wallet only to dejectedly return it after learning that she doesn¡¯t have enough.

    Peter almost pulled out some money, because of Elizabeth¡¯s pitiful yet extremely cute face, but he managed to resist it.

    While both of them were exploring, Elizabeth found out that Peter loves eating cold food. Peter gladly took Elizabeth to eat in one of the cold food places he frequents. After that, Elizabeth took Peter to eat some weird food, which Peter at first didn¡¯t want to try but caved in after hearing about fried ice cream.

    When the sun starts to set, only now did the two of them notice that they took too long.

    ¡°It seems we¡¯ve been enjoying ourselves for quite a long time.¡± Without any trace of regret, Peter says.

    Elizabeth agrees but looks very melancholic. Peter picks up on this and asks why.

    ¡°Well ¡­ It¡¯s just that I want to see the sun set but the high walls of the city doesn¡¯t allow it.¡± Elizabeth has never seen a sunset and has never thought of seeing a sunset, but her dreams of the past which showed her the marvelousness of nature made her yearn for the beauty of a sunset.

    Peter stares at Elizabeth and an idea appears.

    ¡°Do you want to see it?¡± Elizabeth turns to look at Peter with the same fire in her eyes that she showed earlier but instead of the childish gleam that desired toys, it felt like the desire of a human being to see something beautiful.

    The two people stare endlessly waiting for each other to break the silence.

    ¡°Do you want to see it?¡± In the end Peter gave in and asked again.

    Elizabeth just stares but hidden behind the flames of her eyes were excitement.

    To see something beautiful in times like this, where nature has been destroyed, is nothing short of a blessing. Elizabeth realizes she hasn¡¯t given an answer yet and nods in agreement. Awakening from her stupor, Elizabeth asks how.

    ¡°Only the biggest buildings and city walls can see the outside but there¡¯s another way.¡± Peter doesn¡¯t say anymore as to leave some mystery.

    Elizabeth is easily hooked and starts pestering Peterbut he doesn¡¯t budge and tell her to follow him quietly.

    Eventually they reach a small alleyway alone. When she realizes that there are no people around she starts to be a little cautious but her fear is unfounded, as Peter stops and reaches out his hand towards her.

    ¡°Hey¡­ What are you doing?¡± Elizabeth asks.

    Peter smiles and tells her to grab his hand.

    Despite her cautiousness, her desire to see a sunset overrides her fear. She closes in and holds Peter¡¯s hand. Peter smiles and pulls in Elizabeth closer towards him and holds her. Elizabeth looks surprised but trusts Peter won¡¯t do anything bad towards her. Right now if people saw them, they would think they¡¯re lovers embracing each other and immediately leave them alone.

    Elizabeth didn¡¯t mind but it might not be the same for Peter.

    ¡°Hey Oliver, what are you doing?¡±

    Slowly and gently, the two of them start floating.

    *Gasp*

    Elizabeth gasps from the sudden lightness of her body as they start to accelerate.

    At first, it was a turtle climb then it became faster and faster.

    They slowly float upwards going past the smaller buildings until they start climbing the higher buildings.

    Peter was smiling the whole time while Elizabeth was marveling at the beauty of the city, slowly shrinking as they get closer and closer to the sky.

    The city walls were huge, it was almost too big but there were monsters that were bigger than buildings so the city walls were an apt defense for the human race.

    A little bit more.

    Elizabeth thought as she used one of her hands to try and reach the sky. Despite it being impossible, the thought of holding the skies in one¡¯s hand, made Elizabeth¡¯s heart thump.

    Then that thumping turned from the skies to Peter.

    Elizabeth looks towards the face of the man holding her.

    Elizabeth knows that Peter is handsome but right now in the midst of the skies wreathed in the beautiful rays of the sun, Peter looked exceptionally handsome.

    Even Elizabeth couldn¡¯t help but gasp internally.

    Then it was there that she saw it, the sun. Elizabeth forgot Peter and stared at the setting sun.

    It¡¯s ¡­ beautiful.

    There were no words to express what Elizabeth felt.

    To see the sun this high was nothing short of a gift from the heavens.

    The sun was wreathed by a crimson sky that only served to make the sun look more beautiful.

    Elizabeth even felt something wet stain her cheeks.

    Even though she has seen the beauty of nature through her dreams the impact was completely on a different level in reality.

    They stayed like that until the sun finally set and darkness overwhelmed the heavens.

    Eventually Elizabeth feels her feet touch the ground and Peter releases her from his embrace.

    ¡°Oliver¡­ You¡¯re amazing.¡± Elizabeth breathlessly praises Peter.

    They stare at each other for a few more seconds until Elizabeth notices that she¡¯s still holding Peter¡¯s hands.

    Embarrassed, Elizabeth immediately lets them go.

    ¡°It¡¯s already late.¡± Peter smiles and replies that she should go home.

    ¡°Yo-you¡¯re¡­ ri-right.¡± Elizabeth stutters, still reeling from the shock earlier.

    Peter gestures to his left. When Elizabeth looks at her left she¡¯s even more surprised, she¡¯s home.

    Still reeling from the experience, Elizabeth stupidly bids her farewell to Peter and goes in her home.

    Peter smiles and bids her goodbye as well.

    Elizabeth waits for Peter to leave before she enters the door.

    When Peter is out of sight, Elizabeth immediately goes inside, slams the door and runs to her bedroom. Reaching the bedroom, Elizabeth jumps to the bed and muffles a scream with a pillow.

    *Sigh* Elizabeth looks up the ceiling with Peter on her mind.

    ¡°That guy is too intoxicating.¡± Elizabeth shows an annoyed face but she couldn¡¯t hide the fact that she was definitely happy. When the happy feeling started to fade away, Elizabeth¡¯s thinking process returned to normal and her eyes widened.

    ¡°What! He¡¯s a Lord rank Meta human?¡± It¡¯s common knowledge that the bare minimum for flight is Lord Rank. Elizabeth is surprised by the revelation that Peter is a Lord Rank Meta human. Before Elizabeth could be more amazed her eyes turn sharp. Despite hanging out with Peter, Elizabeth couldn¡¯t help but be a little suspicious.

    ¡°How did he know where I live?¡±

 Peters sideventure Ch. 1

    ¡°I suggest you close down your company sir Haram.¡± In the middle of a posh room made for business interactions, Peter is comfortably sitting on a beautiful couch and on the other side of the table is a middle aged man wearing a corporate suit.

    Peter is currently sipping coffee in a mug while he coldly converses with the man named Haram.

    ¡°Well, I want to take your suggestion sir Frost but I see no reason on why I should.¡±

    Peter sighs at Haram¡¯s answer, while Haram frowns, obviously annoyed by Peter¡¯s attitude.

    ¡°I see no reason to follow your suggestion sir Frost. Artificial Meta humans have been something that humanity needs for the past 100 years. We can¡¯t always expect that every 10 years one strong Meta human will appear to protect us from those bloodthirsty monsters. If we could solve the artificial Meta human problem, we would never have to be afraid. Imagine people everywhere, capable of protecting themselves. Everyone would be able to drag their weight.¡±

    Despite Haram¡¯s business like appearance, he seems very serious when it comes to this matter.

    Peter¡¯s small respect that came from Haram¡¯s speech immediately evaporates from his next words.

    ¡°And imagine the money! The average taser that normal working people buy costs 5000 credits and the Meta human grades can cost up to 500,000 credits but all of those items are disposable, finite, and expensive to make. The human race is indispensable, virtually infinite, and most of all very cheap. If the prototype is expensive, we have an infinite number of test subjects that want to become Meta humans and if we succeed, even the government might take notice of us. At that time when our product is perfect, we could make Meta humans with cheap expenses and large payments.¡±

    For a moment, Elizabeth flashes through Peter''s mind. That woman might be duped by companies like this.

    The kind fa?ade of business men really disappear when they talk about something big, that could make them rich.

    It¡¯s disgusting.

    Despite his thoughts, Peter silently sips his coffeebut if one took a careful look, the handle of the mug is starting to freeze.

    ¡°So, Sir Frost, please get out.¡± Haram¡¯s voice is quiet, like how a knife would come from the back, silent and deadly.

    ¡°Do you know why there has never been a breakthrough on artificial Meta humans? Haven¡¯t you wondered why we haven¡¯t made any progress?¡± Despite the blatant threat, Peter continues as usual.

    Haram¡¯s face twists in anger and screams at the calmness Peter shows.

    ¡°IT¡¯S BECAUSE YOU PEOPLE DON¡¯T INVEST ENOUGH TIME AND POWER IN FURTHERING THE HUMAN RACE!! YOU BASTARDS ARE SELFISH. I MAY BE GREEDY BUT MY GREED WILL FURTHER THE HUMAN RACE, UNLIKE YOU SELFISH ASSHOLES.¡± As Haram¡¯s impassioned scream fills the room, 10 men wearing black suits comes in from a door.

    Immediately they all surround Peter¡¯s comfortable chair.

    ¡°It¡¯s because, the distribution of power would belong to the rich.¡± as Peter speaks, an eerie air of ice creeps around the room.

    ¡°Ten beast-rank Meta humans and all of them are freelancers, I¡¯m impressed but it¡¯s not enough.¡±

    Haram is about to retort angrily but his words never leave his mouth.

    <hr>

    A factory located in the evolution district, a district that focuses on constantly evolving the human race, is dead silent.

    The front door opens quietly.

    Peter walks out with a duffle bag filled with files, folders, and tangible information.

    Behind Peter is the aftermath of the factory.

    Its interior is literally covered in thick ice, ensuring that everyone inside is dead.

    The stronger machines that can withstand low temperature have giant ice spikes jutting out of them.

    The room where Peter met Haram is no longer available. The whole room is a giant block of ice.

    Haram¡¯s face is frozen in permanent terror along with the ten Meta humans whose last thoughts were to grab Peter.

    When Peter reaches the outside of the factory, he reaches inside his long grey winter coat and pull out a phone.

    ¡°I¡¯m done here. All 400 workers including security guards, maintenance, staff, scientists, Meta humans and executives are dead. Every data is deleted and all the hardware is with me. I need a pick up.¡± After speaking, Peter immediately hangs up and puts the phone away.

    Once he hangs up, Peter walks towards the guard house near the exit. After reaching the guard house, he pulls open the door and instead of a guardhouse, a clean long white hallway appears.

    Walking in, Peter closes the door behind him and walks through the hallway.

    After walking through the long hallway, Lucas¡¯ voice reaches Peter from behind.

    ¡°Oi, you¡¯re late? I took my time but you¡¯re just finishing now? I bet you tried convincing them to leave, didn¡¯t you?¡± Peter turns around and sees Lucas walking, after coming in from the same door.

    His clothing is clean but smells of burned meat and if one took a look, his shoes¡¯ soles are coated with blood.

    His hands also have blood on them.

    Peter doesn¡¯t answer and turns around to walk to the other door, on the other side of the hallway.

    Lucas seems unusually unfazed by Peter¡¯s cold attitude.

    Smiling, Lucas walks until he reaches Peter.

    ¡°Usually I¡¯d get pissed and uppity when you ignore me but right now I¡¯m in a very good mood. So I¡¯ll letit slide for now.¡± Lucas walks besides Peter and quietly hums a happy tune. After reaching the end of the hallway, the same familiar white door greets the two of them.

    ¡°Hold the door for me!¡± A chirpy feminine voice reaches Peter and Lucas from behind.

    Lucas¡¯ good mood evaporates from hearing the voice while Peter smirks at Lucas¡¯ displeasure.

    Turning around, Peter and Lucas see a tall busty female running towards them.

    Lucas¡¯ face crunches in displeasure looking at the tall female going their way.

    The female¡¯s full height probably reaches 8 feet, probably more. She¡¯s wearing a white long sleeve shirt, black jeans, and black running shoes. Her face looks mature and her sharp features go against her chirpy attitude. Her head is topped with dark red hair and her features make her look very aggressive but despite this, no one can deny that she is a giant beauty.

    When she sees Peter, she gives a bright smile but when she notices Lucas her smile transforms into a smirk.

    ¡°Hello Peter!¡± The busty giantess crashes onto Peter and gives him a bear hug. Peter¡¯s body shakes a little from the sudden assault of the beautiful giant.

    Lucas¡¯ face scrunches up more in displeasure and slight jealousy.

    ¡°Hello Helen¡± Peter replies with a very small tinge of warmth.

    The giant beauty named Helen pulls away and kisses peter on his cheeks with a big smile on her face. After giving Peter her usual greetings, she turns to look at Lucas and her smile turns into a smug smirk.

    Helen walks towards Lucas and speaks with a very haughty tone.

    ¡°Hello Lucas¡± After greeting Lucas, Helen reaches out her hand to pat his head.

    Seeing the hand that¡¯s about to reach him, Lucas doesn¡¯t react and simply stares at the moving hand but before it could reach him, Helen pulls away and says. ¡°That¡¯s enough, I guess¡±

    ¡°He-He.. Hello Helen¡± Lucas stutters at Helen¡¯s greeting but he doesn¡¯t seem mad, only disappointed.

    Peter looks at Lucas with his usual cold look but his eyes reveal laughter and despite Lucas¡¯ attitude, he doesn¡¯t scream or try to pick a fight with Peter, lest he angers Helen.

    ¡°It seems both of you are reporting in.¡± Helen notices Lucas¡¯ bloody hands and meat-caked shoes.

    Her face contorts in disgust.

    ¡°And it seems that at least one of you chose to clean up before reporting in.¡± Helen looks at Peter with interest and asks.

    ¡°Peter, I heard that you met someone interesting.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Helen, I met someone who risked herself to save others despite not being a Meta human.¡±

    Peter¡¯s face doesn¡¯t reveal any emotion as he calmly responds to Helen¡¯s query.

    ¡°Ohhh it seems you met someone interesting and a female as well. It¡¯s about time you developed a love life. You¡¯re not called Ice heart for no reason after all.¡± Helen smiles at Peter¡¯s answer.

    Peter simply nods at Helen¡¯s enthusiastic reply. He also acknowledges the title given to him by the organization. Peter¡¯s title is called Ice heart.

    He¡¯s titled Ice heart because of his icy and cold attitude towards everyone whether it is a superior, a colleague or a lower ranked subordinate but it¡¯s not only his attitude, his super power is closely related to Ice but no one knows the specifics.

    ¡°It¡¯s a stupid title, if you ask me he should be called limp di-¡± Lucas¡¯ comment was immediately suppressed by Helen¡¯s glare while Peter ignores Lucas.

    ¡°We should go in. The division leader is waiting for us.¡± Peter calls the attention of Lucas and Helen.

    Lucas and Helen¡¯s attention goes toward the door.

    Peter reaches for the handle and opens it.

    ¡°Come in.¡± The familiar undiscernible voice comes out to greet the three of them.

    The three agents come in to see three seats waiting for them.

    Once they settled down, they notice another person on the side of the division leader. It''s the young man that usually assists the division leader. The young man wearing branded clothing and branded accessories is carrying small clipboard with multiple papers clipped onto it.

    His appearance hides his job as a secretary of the division leader but despite this, the three agents keep a respectful attitude towards the secretary, because the minimum of being a secretary of a division leader is at least Lord rank.

    It means that this man is on the same level or stronger than the three of them.

    The man speaks respectfully towards the division leader.

    ¡°Reports are in, it seems the company is destroyed, the village is razed, and the beast hadbeen repelled.¡± The man lists out missions that the three agents have finished.

    ¡°Good job. Lakes put the information onto the table, Lucas next time, clean yourself before you report in and Smith, good job on taking care of the beast that attacked our facility on the outside.¡± Peter nods and Lucas is quiet but keeps stealing glances towards Helen, while Helen smiles at the division leader¡¯s praise.

    ¡°There are no missions available for the three of you. All of you are dismissed and be kept on standby. Keep yourself free at all times. You might be needed for more missions. Dismissed¡± When the division leader finishes, he calls the attention of her secretary. The secretary calls the three agents and leads them towards the door.

    When the door is opened a large train station appears.

    ¡°They¡¯re dropping us off at Portal district?¡± Helen says to no one in particular.

    Portal district is near the center of Mercury city because it is mainly a transportation district.This district is overflowing with train stations, transportation vehicles and even underground subways leading to different places all over the city.

    ¡°It seems so.¡± Lucas answers nervously, obviously scared of upsetting Helen.

    Peter¡¯s the first one to go out of the door, Helen and Lucas follows afterwards.

    When the three of them are outside, the secretary closes the door. Looking back, it seems the door was for the employees of the train station.

    ¡°I¡¯m going ahead. I still need to buy some important stuff.¡± Helen speaks with her usual chirpy attitude as she starts walking towards a train that leads to her district.

    Peter simply walks off leaving Lucas alone.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Lucas stares at Helen not knowing what to do.

    <hr>

    Peter walks towards a ticket booth that leads to the Fallen Goddess district.

    After paying the ticket fee, Peter receives a card thathe canuse to get inside the train.

    Trains nowadays are protected by an energy field and only people that has train cards can enter.

    The energy field used to repulse people but an accident happened, where an old man¡¯s heart stopped because of the field. So the energy field is simply a transparent solid wall.

    Peter waits alongside the tracks and since it¡¯s still early, the amount of people waiting is not a lotbut someone like Peter who has super-human senses, easily notices the people around him without looking at them.

    One person piques his interest.

    Raising his eyebrows, Peter looks around and sees a beautiful girl running towards the waiting area of the station.

    It¡¯s Elizabeth and unlike the first time they met, she isn¡¯t wearing her uniform and instead, she¡¯s wearing casual clothes that make her look more beautiful than usual.

    Before Peter decides to do anything, the train appears.

    Elizabeth immediately rushes in.

    Peter immediately follows but he notices something is amiss.

    A man is following Elizabeth.

    The man is acting like a normal passenger but Peter easily notices the man¡¯s glances and reaction when Elizabeth does something.

    Peter stays back to watch instead of immediately greeting Elizabeth.

    Eventually after 10 minutes, the train reaches Fallen Goddess district.

    Elizabeth rushes outside, seemingly oblivious to the man stalking her.

    ¡°She didn¡¯t notice?¡± Peter mutters quietly.

    Peter exits the train and carefully trails behind the man following Elizabeth.

    When they exit the train station and start walking through the district, Peter creates an extremely thin layer of ice over his face.

    The thin layer of ice changes his appearance from a handsome young man to an average looking 18 year old. After changing his face, Peter quickly walks to a hidden alley and activates the changing ability of his coat. His coat quickly retracts, turning into a jacket.

    Elizabeth must have noticed because after a few minutes, Elizabeth starts running through different alleyways and shortcuts through the district.

    The man must not be familiar with the district because it takes him a few moments before he follows and every time Elizabeth changes directions, he hesitates.

    Thankfully, Peter lives here so he easily follows Elizabeth¡¯s trail.

    Eventually Peter understands that Elizabeth doesn¡¯t want to lose her pursuer but instead confront him in a private place.

    ¡°Who¡¯re you?¡±

    Peter stops and hides behind a wall. He sees Elizabeth confronting the man in a silent alleyway.

    Since I¡¯m here I¡¯ll help.

    ¡°I¡¯m sent to retrieve the briefcase.¡± Elizabeth stares at the man. After sighing, Elizabeth speaks.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give it to you, but we can¡¯t.¡±

    The man rushes forward and quicklypunches with his right hand towards Elizabeth''s face.

    Considering the man¡¯s speed and posture, Peter concludes that he¡¯s at least a squad level Meta human.

    Elizabeth dodges to her right but unfortunately the gap between a Meta human and a normal human is too big.

    Peter¡¯s eyes glow blue as the man¡¯s blood in his right arm suddenly freezes for a second allowing Elizabeth to dodge.

    Elizabeth responds by shoving the man with her hands and the man gets electrified.

    It seems tasers are installed in her fingers.

    The man pants heavily but immediately charges to kick Elizabeth.

    She starts to dodge again futilely.

    Peter¡¯s eyes glow blue once again, as he freezes the blood inside the man¡¯s legs slowing him significantly, allowing Elizabeth to dodge.

    After dodging, she kicks the man in between the legs.

    Ouch

    The man barely flinches but he¡¯s obviously incensed.

    Elizabeth retreats a little bit further, somehow glad that she could dodge all the man¡¯s attacks.

    The same pattern of the man ruthlessly attacking Elizabeth and Peter freezing his blood happens over and over again and each time, Elizabeth doesn¡¯t fail to counter attack.

    Eventually the man¡¯s appearance is beat up while Elizabeth is slightly tired from the exhaustion.

    Peter smiles in amusement.

    ¡°HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT?¡± The man is finallyat his wits end and screams.

    When Elizabeth hears the man scream, Peter notices a gleam in her eye.

    She immediately noticed me. You really are an impressive girl.

    Elizabeth¡¯s movement start to become more aggressive until she finally finishes the battle by grabbing the man¡¯s neck and activating her finger tasers.

    When the man gets incapacitated, Elizabeth makes sure by continuously pummeling the man until he¡¯s dead or at least very unconscious.

    I doubt she¡¯d kill anyone.

    Elizabeth shuffles through the man¡¯s clothing and finds a phone.

    *Ring*

    The phone rings and Elizabeth answers.

    Peter concentrates and hears some of the words.

    After another phone call from her friend, Elizabeth runs off.

    It seems they¡¯re really bent on killing Elizabeth. I wonder what that briefcase is. They¡¯re even brave enough to go to her house.

    Peter stares at the unconscious man and thinks whether to help the interesting girl or not.

    *Sigh*

    The man suddenly becomes fully encased in ice. Then Peter focuses his mind.

    *Boom*

    The sound of a controlled explosion fills the alleyway as the man encased in ice is utterly obliterated.

    That shouldn¡¯t leave any blood.

    The whole alleyway is covered with white ice with a more pure concentration in the center, where the man exploded.

    Now, time to look for Elizabeth¡¯s house.

    Peter flies up and looks around to find Elizabeth. Immediately he sees the beautiful girl running through multiple alleyways to get to her house.

    Peter is a genius. It¡¯s not an exaggerationof his talent or anything, Peter is a genius when it comes to logic and analyzing situations.

    Peter deduces that Elizabeth¡¯s house is at least in three places. Usually it¡¯d be very hard for a normal person to pick what house to go to, since it might be the wrong one and Elizabeth would be in danger but Peter is a Lord rank Meta human and even the weakest lord ranks can go at least 1000 kilometers per hour, just short of the speed of sound.

    I really dislike moving too much.

    Immediately after complaining in his mind, Peter moves with transonic speeds and goes near the three houses anddeduced where to stay.

    After checking the three houses, he knows that the two of them were not Elizabeth¡¯s house and immediately went to the last one before Elizabeth got home.

    Elizabeth¡¯s house comes into view and Peter surveys the area.

    There¡¯s only one person.

    ¡­

    What is a beast rank doing here? They¡¯re going overkill for a non Meta human.

    Peter quickly opens a window and goes inside.

    Before the man could react, Peter easily incapacitates him and carries him out, but doesn¡¯t forget to close the window.

    Peter rushes to the higher buildings with his knocked out captive. When Peter feels safe and unwatched, he throws the man near a wall, waking him up with the force.

    ¡°AHHH¡± The man screams from Peter¡¯s powerful throw.

    ¡°Who¡¯re you?¡± Peter calmly asks.

    The man notices Peter and a look of fear flashes in between his eyes. When human beings enter danger multiple times they develop a sense for it, especially veterans. This is even moreso for Meta humans.

    When Meta humans enter danger, it means that danger can kill them. Their evolved cells run rampant on making them survive, allowing some of them to become stronger but in most cases help them survive.

    Right now, that scared man is staring at a being far stronger than him. What the man feels when staring at Peter is when a person stares at an empty dark night, imposing and cold.

    ¡°Si-sir, we are put in hard times and help is always needed.¡± Peter tilts his head in confusion but immediately his eyes turn sharp.

    It¡¯s a code.

    Peter manifests an ice spear that stabs through the man¡¯s head.

    It¡¯s either a call for reinforcements or something else.

    Peter freezes the now deceased man and explodes it with psychic energy.

    I¡¯ll wait here for a few minutes.

    At most they¡¯ll send in small group of beast rank or if this group is more powerful than expected, they might send a lord rank.

    I doubt they have the capacity or time to send a king rank but if they do I¡¯ll have to send Elizabeth my apologies.

    Just like Peter predicted, someone did come. It was a single man, probably in his forties, wearing a dull coat. Peter¡¯s Meta human cells were screaming danger, but not the type that could eliminate him only threaten him.

    What is so important in that briefcase that they¡¯re willing to send a Lord rank Meta human?

    ¡°Are you the one who eliminated my men?¡± Peter doesn¡¯t answer and simply stares at the man.

    ¡°I¡¯m talking to you, I suggest you answer boy before I decide that you¡¯re not worth talking to anymore.¡±

    Lord ranks are always so impatient, I guess I have to thank division leader for the lesson he taught all of us. There is always someone stronger.

    ¡°What was in that briefcase?¡± Peter¡¯s sudden question raises the man¡¯s eyebrow.

    ¡°I see that you¡¯re also connected to that.¡± The man is thinking, then looks at Peter. ¡°You¡¯re coming with me. If you do not want to die, you will come with me.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I willbut since I¡¯m either going to die or at least be imprisoned for life can you tell me what that briefcase is for?¡±

    ¡°No, since you¡¯re going to die there¡¯s no point. Now come along before I decide that you don¡¯t need your legs.¡±

    *Sigh*

    Peter closes his eyes and tunes the noisy world out of his mind. Opening his eyes, Peter stares at the annoying man.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re going to tell me once I start chopping your fingers off.¡±

    Peter¡¯s sudden change in attitude startled the man and before he could react, gigantic claw-like hands made out of ice manifest behind Peter and surge out to grab him. The man moves with transonic speeds and dodge.

    *Crash*

    The man gets slammed to the ground by an invisible force. Realizing that trying to escape would be hard, the man stands up and charges the stationary Peter.

    *Ding!*

    The man¡¯s powerful punch is blocked by one of Peter¡¯s giant ice claws. Peter simply stares, as the man futilely attacks Peter over and over while he continues to block with his ice claws.

    Peter retaliates by continuously slamming his giant claws on the man and when the man tries to escape Peter keeps firing psychic blasts to knock him down.

    ¡°THAT¡¯S IT!¡± The man looks extremely disheveled but no apparent damage is seen on his body, after all despite the one-sided fight, he is still a lord rank.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to end you with this technique.¡± The man charges his legs and jumps up, ignoring Peter¡¯s continuous barrage of psychic blasts.

    When the man reaches a considerable height, he immediately drops down with his fist pointed downward. Copious amounts of psychic energy swirls around the man, as he resembles a violet drill made out of energy.

    ¡°Energy drill!¡± The man screams out a very obvious name for his technique as he drills downwards toward Peter.

    Tasteless.

    But that technique might be dangerous. I should set some defenses.

    The giant claws rush forward to catch the overbearing drill made out of psychic energy.

    *Shred*

    The sound of ice being shredded echoes out as the drill easily tears through.

    That was stronger than I thought.

    The drill reaches Peter but he immediately dodges back but unexpectedly the drill arcs in a near impossible way and follows Peter.

    Peter continues to back up avoiding the energy drill and any buildings he can damage.

    A small drill emerges from the main drill and charges at Peter and starts shredding through his psychic barrier. Suddenly multiple drills appear and start charging at Peter. Peter manifests multiple arms made out of extremely dense ice blocking the smaller drills.

    *Crack*

    The continuous barrage of drills is starting to create cracks on Peter¡¯s barrier.

    Peter reacts by constantly strengthening his barrier and releasing blasts of concentrated energy against the small drills while shooting piercing shots to try and unravel the drill.

    *Shred*

    A small drill manages to go past Peter¡¯s defense and cuts his right arm.

    Peter¡¯s right shoulder is exposed and blood is flowing.

    That was my favorite coat.

    Annoyed, Peter releases a sudden large blast of energy dispersing all the smaller drills and canceling out the man¡¯s charge.

    ¡°You really are tough, you¡¯re a lord rank yourself and you¡¯ve got a superpower to bootbut all of that is nothing in front of true strength. I will incapacitate you and bring you back. The headquarters will like you.¡± Peter¡¯s eyebrows twitch in slight anger from the man¡¯s annoying remark.

    Peter breathes in and breathes out regaining his calm.

    Peter repairs his barrier and closes his eyes.

    I don¡¯t like getting physical but I guess my usual style of just using my psychic powers won¡¯t cut it.

    Peter charges the man and since Peter never initiated during the battle, he caught the man surprised.

    Peter punches out, slamming the man backward with his psychic enhanced fists. Every attack Peter throws is charged with his psychic energy making his attacks hit harder.

    The man tries to retaliate but the sudden charge of Peter caught him by surpriseand when he finally regained his proper stance, he was surprised that Peter is trained in proper combat.

    *Slam*

    Peter kicks the man away with an extremely powerful kick and before the man could recover, Peter manifests a gigantic spear made out of extremely dense ice harder than extremely compacted alloyed titanium.

    While midair, Peter throws the spear with trained precision.

    ¡°Aghhh!¡± The man¡¯s scream is extremely loud as the spear impales him and stabs through a building.

    Peter charges up and immediately tries to follow up but a figure appears in Peter¡¯s peripheral vison. Peter¡¯s danger senses fly up to maximum and immediately backs up.

    A sword made out of powerful metal stab through the air where Peter was.

    ¡°Awww you dodged.¡± A female probably in her thirties is pouting.

    Another lord rank?

    ¡°You took your damn time Rain!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not my problem you couldn¡¯t survive longer than a few minutes Wine.¡±

    The female named Rain pulls out the ice spear embedded inside her ally.

    Probably code names.

    Wine grumbles but looks at Peter with death in his eyes.

    ¡°Hey Rain it doesn¡¯t matter if we don¡¯t bring him back right? Since that girl is still alive right.¡±

    Peter stares at the two lords in front of him.

    Peter stands up straight, starts strengthening his barrier and prepares a stance.

    Without a word, Wine charges with Rain as support. Peter charges with the same deadpan face and immediately clashes with Wine.

    Rain jumps up and attacks Peter with her sword.

    Peter doesn¡¯t even look up and continues clashing with Wine. Just as Rain¡¯s blade is about to hit, a hand made out of ice carrying a blade blocks her attack.

    Peter easily penetrates Wine¡¯s defense and kicks him far away while the hand made out of ice push Rain backwards.

    Peter¡¯s appearance right now is nothing short of menacing.

    A 6¡¯6 tall man wearing a jacket continuously exuding cold air and a transparent apparition behind him, with glowing eyes that seem sentient, that''s holding a sword, takes their stance.

    ¡°How is he so strong? He¡¯s just a starter Lord rank like us.¡± Rain looks very confused while Wine gets even angrier.

    Peter inhales deeply and when he exhales thick cold air seeps out.

    The cold air immediately surrounds the area and reduces visibility.

    Rain and Wine take their stance and carefully searches the area for Peter.

    *Slash* *Crash*

    A sudden blade appears and cuts Rain but thanks to her superhuman speed and strength she manages to block it but not before getting slightly nicked.

    A fist furiously pounds Wine but he manages to block multiple attacks but not before suffering some damage.

    ¡°Where are you?!¡± Wine¡¯s shout of indignation is muffled by the constant attacks.

    ¡°Show yourself!¡± Rain¡¯s scream is overwhelmed by the sound of blades clashing.

    ¡°RAIN! LET¡¯S DO IT! THIS PERSON IS WORTH USING IT FOR.¡±

    Rain looks toward Wine¡¯s direction and nods.

    Both of them collect their psychic energy and explode it outward scattering the thick icy fog.

    When they turn to look for Peter they see him still standing at the same spot before he emitted the ice fog.

    He looks absolutely calm.

    Rain and Wine pull out small syringes filled with green liquid. Peter¡¯s Meta human cells scream in both danger and utter madness, as if they¡¯ve seen something so vile and disgusting.

    They both inject themselves with the syringes and green liquid flows in their body, as their body start to change. Glowing green lines start to form in between their body parts. The lines remind others of nuclear energy.

    *Crash*

    Wine and Rain suddenly appear in front of Peter with astonishing speed that easily surpasses the speed of sound.

    *Shatter*

    The sound of ice and glass shattering fills the air as Peter¡¯s ice defense and psychic barriers is easily destroyed by Rain and Wine¡¯s joint attack. Peter immediately backs up but both of them immediately follow up with Rain going behind him and Wine attacking the front.

    *Slash*

    Rain slashes with sonic speed and Wine punches with building destroying force. Peter reacts by overusing his psychic energy and immediately recreates his barrier.

    *Shatter*

    Peter¡¯s barrier is immediately destroyed, as a blade wounds his back and a punch brutally breaks some of his bones.

    Peter suddenly manifests giant spikes from the ground forcing the duo to retreat, giving him some breathing space.

    This is going to be hard. I need to wrap this up quick or else I¡¯ll endanger the people around me.

    ¡°Hey Rain.Why do you think there¡¯s a barrier around us?¡± Wine¡¯s garbled and deformed voice is filled with mockery.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know! Maybe it¡¯s because he doesn¡¯t want anyone to be hurt or anyone to hear us.¡± Even Rain¡¯s voice is already garbled.

    Shit, I need to end this now.

    Peter manifests a blade made out of pure ice. The ice looks even denser and stronger than before. Peter creates ice inside his body to connect his broken bones and close his wounds.

    *Sighing*

    Peter drops his sword and it dematerializes.

    ¡°I can¡¯t beat you two with just my resolve and a stronger sword.¡± Peter¡¯s voice contains slight sadness and slight disappointment but not a single trace of giving up.

    I¡¯m gonna be in a coma for a month after this.

    The two mutated Meta humans look at Peter with disdain.

    Snow begins to gather and the skies turn to a grayish hue while Peter¡¯s jacket transforms back into a coat but this time his coat transforms into a grey and bluish hue version of it.

    Peter closes his eyes.

    Rain and Wine sensing the danger of the situation immediately charges to attack but the sudden onset of snow and ice literally prevents them from moving.

    Atop Peter¡¯s head forms a very discernable figure.

    It¡¯s a crown made out of ice.

    ¡°Superpower 1<sup>st</sup> manifestation: Winter King¡± Peter¡¯s first sentence, after the transformation, echoes throughout the snowy wasteland.

    Opening his eyes, Peter reveals blue crystalline eyes.

    ¡°Let¡¯s end this¡±

 Chapter 9: Brotheréˆ¥æªš Arrival

    ¡°It is common knowledge that the first realm doesn¡¯t allow cultivators to use energy based attacks but it doesn¡¯t mean that physique tempering cultivators cannot learn abilities, albeit physical ones.¡± Master Bai speaks coldly while lecturing the two children in front of him.

    Elizabeth and Felicia nod in agreement.

    ¡°Both of you have already reached the 6<sup>th</sup> level of Physique tempering, this is thanks to your monstrous talent but do not be arrogant and let it go to your head.¡± Elizabeth takes note of how fast she reached the 6<sup>th</sup> level in the dream world. It''s due to her talent and the energy here is denser.

    Sadly, her cultivation in the dream world stays in the dream world.

    Felicia managed to keep pace with Elizabeth''s cultivation but since her talent is inferior she had to give twice the effort.

    ¡°I¡¯ve also decided to teach you both a basic martial technique since it might take a while for both of you to reach core tempering. It is also to give both of you a way to protect yourselves and in a few days, the monthly sect disciple tournament will happen, as my disciples you must participate.¡±

    Elizabeth and Felicia looks at each other with confusion paired with apprehension.

    ¡°You might think it¡¯s a little bit early for the two of you to enter live combat, but remember the best teacher is experience second only to death. Death is still the best teacher.¡±

    Master Bai¡¯s grim words scare the two a little.

    ¡°Si-Sir! Wouldn¡¯t it be better for you to teach us more abilities?¡± Felicia nervously asks.

    It would be better if Elizabeth and Felicia knew more abilities, since it would improve their versatility and flexibility.

    ¡°I agree but time is short and the ability I¡¯m going to teach the both of you is very easy and very flexible. It can be added to almost any movement you do, allowing you to execute different attacks with the same ability.¡±

    Elizabeth immediately perks up, this is what she needed.

    In sects they have an annual testing for outsider cultivators with outstanding talents to enter.

    In the modern world there exists another system just like that, it¡¯s called the MHR.

    The MHR or Meta Human Ranking is a test that ranks Meta humans on how powerful or how trained their abilities are. Once ranked, Meta humans can go on to apply to different Hero organizations, the Police force, or private companies.

    Currently, the real world Elizabeth is only in the 3<sup>rd</sup> level of Physique Tempering. She managed to breakthrough after 10 days of continuous herb baths, needless to say her skin is flawless and Narissa can¡¯t help but rip her handkerchief every time they meet.

    After testing her strength out, she can easily lift 450 kg, release a punch of the same strength and release a kick of 550 kg. Her running speed managed to reach 40 kph.

    Despite becoming stronger, she¡¯s still far away from being on the same level as an average Meta human, strength wise. If she learns a new ability it might be able to bridge the gap between an average Meta human and her current cultivation.

    ¡°Its name is Mortal fist.¡±

    While Felicia¡¯s eyes glitter with excitement, Elizabeth frowns as her mind addresses a problem.

    Do I have to shout it when I use it?

    It isn¡¯t uncommon for heroes to shout out special moves or attacks when fighting but that always made Elizabeth cringe. She can¡¯t imagine herself screaming Mortal fist when fighting or saving other people.

    ¡°Is there a problem Elizabeth?¡± Elizabeth jolts in surprise at the sudden questioning but manages to reply immediately.

    ¡°No!¡± Master Bai nods and starts to impart the knowledge of the ability.

    ¡°Sir!¡± Master Bai stops and stares at Elizabeth indicating for her to continue.

    ¡°I just had to ask. When using this ability, do we have to scream its name or any of the sorts?¡± Elizabeth asks seriously but can¡¯t help frowning, thinking that this is a stupid question to ask.

    Master Bai eyes Elizabeth seriously and speaks with the utmost sincerity possible.

    ¡°Yes¡±

    Well there goes my future dignity.

    Elizabeth just nods.

    Mortal Fist is a martial art that utilizes one¡¯s physical strength with the most basic technique. It gathers all the strength in the body and releases it through the fist.

    Usually users of this technique would be able to deliver a punch that¡¯s three times stronger than their average punch.

    Not only is this technique very effective, it is also very flexible, allowing multiple ways of using it.

    The disadvantage to this is that its weaknesses are also very troublesome.

    Once a cultivator¡¯s realm is high enough their strength would be too high to be gathered easily, resulting in a slower release.

    Another problem is that there are more powerful martial techniques than Mortal Fist once a cultivator reaches higher realms, making it obsolete.

    Its last and most devastating weakness is that when the user gathers their strength, other body parts are more vulnerable and susceptible to damage.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we train a Martial Art that has no weakness?¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    After a basic explanation, Master Bai passes on the martial technique onto Elizabeth and Felicia.

    Visions flood in Elizabeth and Felicia''s mind. The image of a younger Master Bai taking a stance, slowly gathering power in his fists and releasing it, flows into the mind of Elizabeth.

    Only one thought remains.

    Isn¡¯t this a little bit too easy?

    ¡°Take position!¡± Elizabeth and Felicia takes a fighting stance.

    ¡°Gather your strength!¡± Elizabeth pulls back her fist, slowly feeling the coursing strength inside her body. Her fist fills with power but at the same time, she feels the weakness of her body.

    This is quite a big weakness.

    ¡°Release!¡± Elizabeth and Felicia outstretch their arms and punch the air in front of them releasing a small shockwave of air.

    *Boom*

    ¡°Good, your bodies are well. Nothing is wrong with them and if you master this simple move you can apply it to a thousand situations.¡± Master Bai seems satisfied with the performance of his disciples but before he finishes he adds.

    ¡°Remember it doesn¡¯t mean something has been shown in front of you, it means that it is only that.¡±

    What does that mean?

    <hr>

    It¡¯s been 10 days since Peter and Elizabeth¡¯s last meeting and unsurprisingly, the handsome superhuman hasn¡¯t appeared once.

    Elizabeth didn¡¯t allow herself to be perturbed and continued her cultivation, and through her effort, she managed to break through the second level and reach the third.

    Despite all that, Elizabeth couldn¡¯t fully ignore her thoughts.

    When she¡¯s not cultivating or working, she kept digging up information concerning Peter, under the name Oliver, since she didn¡¯t know his real name.

    ¡°His background is perfect¡±

    Elizabeth muttered clearly annoyed.

    After digging around police files, hospital files, school files, and even work files, there is a person called Oliver Frost.

    Everything inside is detailed and fixed to look perfect. The only thing is that it doesn¡¯t register him as a Meta human.

    Elizabeth¡¯s trained eye can tell her that everything here is absolutely fake but messing with a lord rank Meta human at her current level is nothing short of suicide.

    Obviously annoyed, Elizabeth shuts her laptop down and throws it on the other side of her bed and then lies down while staring at the ceiling.

    Why does that guy have to be so damn attractive! If that man was any less mysterious or attractive I wouldn¡¯t be this pissed.

    When Elizabeth is threatened by someone she creates a wall against them, as to prevent being put in harm.

    Peter managed to put a crack on those walls because of three things. The first thing is because of coincidence. When Elizabeth found out of the beauty of nature he was the first person to show her.

    The second thing is because he granted one of her life long dreams, other than being a hero. That dream is to fly.

    The last but probably the most illogical reason is his looks. Peter is handsome, and if she was asked, Peter is probably the most handsome man she¡¯s met.

    Curse my penchant for good looks.

    Sighing, Elizabeth gives up. She can¡¯t stop thinking of Peter. It¡¯s mostly because of the fact that she can¡¯t put out their last meeting out of mind.

    Sunsets are beautiful

    Frowning, Elizabeth immediately stands up. She goes to the living room and start clearing out her furniture, so she could have some space.

    After clearing out all her, more than what her budget can take, furniture she stands at the center.

    ¡°Take position¡± Elizabeth mutters Master Bai¡¯s words and takes a stance reminiscent of her dream.

    ¡°Hah!¡± Elizabeth punches out and releases a small clump of force weaker than the one in her dream.

    It¡¯s too weak.

    Elizabeth knows the reason why the force she¡¯s releasing is weak.

    Other than the fact that she has a lower cultivation in this world, she¡¯s experimenting on how to use the Martial art Mortal fist without its dangerous weakness.

    At most, she can increase her strength by 50% more before her body starts to feel vulnerable.

    After fiddling with her newly gained martial technique, she found out that she can transfer strength from the body to other parts, instead of just the fist.

    It seems this was what Master Bai really wanted us to learn.

    Elizabeth immediately started experimenting.

    She tried increasing her whole body strength at first but that was impossible, since the strength used is simply transferred from different parts.

    Then she tried increasing her upper body at the expense of her lower body, but the result was her speed taking a hit.

    She tried increasing her lower body¡¯s strength and it definitely increased her speed and kicking strength but her upper body becomes more vulnerable and her stamina tires faster.

    How will I deal with this?

    These thoughts were running in Elizabeth¡¯s mind while thinking of a way to properly utilize this new ability.

    I don¡¯t like getting hit.

    But there may be a time where I will need to act as a shield.

    After all, a hero will never allow people to get hurt.

    What is my hero style?

    *Ring**Ring*

    Elizabeth looks to one of her tables and notices her phone ringing.

    I''ll continue this experiment later.

    ¡°Narissa?¡± Elizabeth looks at the familiar face in the phone and answers the call.

    ¡°LIZ!!¡± Narissa¡¯s loud voice echoes from the phone.

    ¡°Narissa you¡¯re too loud, tone it down a little.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, sorry anyway I have news!¡±

    ¡°hmmm?¡±

    ¡°A new recruit showed up and he¡¯s cute as hell!¡± Elizabeth scrunches up her face and immediately thinks of Peter but pushes it down.

    ¡°Hell isn¡¯t cute Narissa.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an expression! Anyway he wants to meet you!¡±

    ¡°Meet me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah he wants to meet the so called *Goddess of the police department*.¡±

    Narissa overstretched that last part.

    ¡°¡­ Wait, when did I get called the Goddess of the police department?¡± Giggling comes from the phone.

    ¡°Well it used to be the beautiful law enforcer but when the news of you helping that poor old man and bravely maneuvering that burning car, people started calling you the Goddess.¡±

    Elizabeth could feel the strong sarcasm Narissa is releasing.

    ¡°¡­ You created that didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yes¡±

    ¡°I hate you Narissa.¡±

    ¡°I love you too! Anyway come down here.¡± Hanging up, Elizabeth just sighs and starts preparing to go to the police station.

    <hr>

    Inside a very spacious train is Elizabeth, still slightly annoyed at Narissa.

    I¡¯m so going to get her buy me something.

    Wait, will I really need any of those gadgets? I can already cultivate.

    The train is empty save for a few people including Elizabeth.

    When Elizabeth reached the 3<sup>rd</sup> level of physique tempering her physical senses became sharper but there is something that her cultivation cannot raise. It¡¯s intuition.

    Even when she¡¯s standing calmly, Elizabeth can feel people staring at her. Usually Elizabeth is used to the staring but right now, the stares are a little bit more than admiration.

    While Elizabeth was experimenting with her newly learned martial technique, she managed to figure out how to gather her strength without taking a stance.

    Its drawbacks are that she can only multiply her strength twice instead of thrice and the gathering of strength is slightly slower, but not slow enough to be impractical. Elizabeth starts gathering strength on her legs and prepares.

    The train stops in Portal district.

    Ready

    *Train door opening*

    Now!

    ¡°LIZ!!¡± Elizabeth¡¯s sprinting start is interrupted by a familiar voice¡¯s shout. The malicious stares disappear almost instantly the moment her name was called out.

    It was Narissa. She was wearing her usual police uniform and her short brown hair looks conditioned while her face rings with energy.

    She¡¯s waving towards Elizabeth with her right hand and on her left is a plastic bag.

    ¡°Narissa that title you have to-¡± Before Elizabeth could begin berating her, Narissa brought out her plastic bag.

    ¡°Fried pig guts and I also added chicken guts in there.¡±

    Elizabeth paused internally and externally.

    If I accept this, I accept her apology. If I don¡¯t I can change my name. But¡­..

    Reluctantly Elizabeth swipes the plastic bag and starts walking while Narissa follows, obviously amused.

    ¡°Anyway Liz I told you to come down because of the cute guy in recruitment!¡±

    ¡°Narissa just spill it out, I know you wouldn¡¯t call me for something that petty.¡± Narissa smiles and tilts her head, acting oblivious but eventually her smiles fades and her eyes narrow.

    ¡°Your brother came to visit.¡±

 Chapter 10: Style

    Elizabeth has a family, a very powerful one to boot but she dislikes talking about them.

    Unlike Elizabeth who was born normal, everyone in her family are Meta humans.

    She doesn¡¯t like talking about them, not because they''re Meta humans but because they''re quite discriminative and racist.

    They consider non Meta humans a dying breed not worth looking after and you can imagine what happened when they found out Elizabeth was a non Meta human.

    They didn¡¯t take it well and it caused Elizabeth to have a falling out with her family.

    ¡°Who¡¯s here? I have 3 brothers.¡±

    ¡°William¡±

    Elizabeth heaves a sigh, obviously relieved.

    ¡°Well if it¡¯s William there won¡¯t be a problem. I remember the last time Harry came. If the police chief wasn¡¯t there he would¡¯ve destroyed the station.¡±

    Elizabeth remembers the visit of one of her less civilized brothers.

    When Harry visited her, he decided that mocking her in a public place for no reason at all was a good idea, so every male and some females in the department started bombarding him with insults until he cracked and started attacking everyone.

    Thankfully the police chief stepped in and stopped him or else his ego isn¡¯t the only thing that was damaged.

    Despite her relationship with her family, Elizabeth was close with her youngest sibling William.

    Elizabeth is the middle child of 5 children.

    She always took care of William.

    Hehehe, that brat better has some food or else I¡¯ll smack him.

    Elizabeth walks with Narissa until they see the distant police building.

    A very fancy and over the top car is parked outside.

    The Rielle family is also very rich, excluding Elizabeth.

    Dammit

    ¡°That kid always liked to show off.¡± Narissa simply smiles at Elizabeth¡¯s comment.

    ¡°Jealousy~¡±

    Elizabeth didn¡¯t speak afterwards.

    When they reach the car, a lively shout catches Elizabeth off-guard but Narissa looks towards the shout with a big smile.

    ¡°ELIZABETH!¡± Elizabeth looks towards the shout and sees a young handsome man that¡¯s taller than Elizabeth by a few inches.

    His black hair, black eyes, and handsome face immediately attracts the attention of every female in the area and unsurprisingly some men also stare.

    ¡°¡­ I really abhor the fact that every single one of you is handsome and beautiful. Even Harry was handsome despite his utterly shitty attitude.¡±

    Elizabeth chuckles at Narissa¡¯s last comment before running towards William.

    ¡°Wil!¡± Elizabeth tackles William with a bear hug but thankfully the Meta human brother doesn¡¯t budge.

    William hugs Elizabeth with the same level of intensity she has, minus the supernatural strength.

    ¡°I missed you big sis.¡± William affectionately refers to Elizabeth as big sis.

    Elizabeth pulls away from the hug and smiles.

    ¡°I told you not to call me big sis anymore, you¡¯re already an adult. People might have the wrong idea if you call me that.¡±

    William laughs and his bright attitude brings a warm glow near the police station.

    ¡°Hey Willy, how are you doing?¡± Narissa walks toward the two siblings and pops a question which made Willy smile awkwardly.

    ¡°Narissa I told you not to call me that.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Narissa¡¯s smile turns slightly devious.

    ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s because¡­¡± William¡¯s fidgeting breaks Narissa into laughter while Elizabeth snickers.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry I¡¯m just messing with you.¡± Narissa jokingly punches William¡¯s shoulder.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    William nervously laughs with goodwill.

    ¡°Hey!"

    Elizabeth calls William and he looks at her.

    ¡°Did you bring anything for your sister?¡±

    ¡°Really sis? I came to visit you after a few months then the first thing you ask is if I brought something?¡±

    Despite his comment William is still smiling.

    ¡°Yeah Elizabeth aren¡¯t you satisfied with my offering? Willy why don¡¯t you give it to me instead? I¡¯ll be your big sister¡±

    Narissa winks at William while he sweats profusely.

    Narissa please stop.

    ¡°Anyway I did bring you something.¡± William brought out a pair of gloves.

    Elizabeth¡¯s eyes glitter with a little bit of excitement and guilt because she¡¯s sure this isn¡¯t cheap.

    ¡°Elizabeth this is a new creation of mine.¡±

    Part of the reason why the Rielle family is rich is because they create weapons.

    Yes, the Rielle family is the owner of a company that manufactures weapons and despite Elizabeth¡¯s relationship with them she can¡¯t ignore the fact that they¡¯re both the best and most powerful weapon manufacturers in the city.

    They manufacture weapons ranging from the smallest daggers to building sized mechs.

    Sadly she can¡¯t buy any of their products because they are very expensive.

    Despite their skill in making weapons, they barely use them because they believe that the Meta human body surpasses any weapon they make, giving them another reason to dislike Elizabeth.

    Rarely some of them use weapons to enhance their fighting style or to give them an edge against opponents they can¡¯t defeat using conventional means.

    William is one of them.

    Both William and Elizabeth had a fascination for weapon making but their fancy is different, while Elizabeth likes using weapons William loves making them.

    Not only does he love them he also has talent.

    ¡°I know very well how skilled you are in fighting with your fists so I thought you¡¯d love this.¡±

    William shows Elizabeth the black gloves.

    It¡¯s made out of an unknown material, but considering William¡¯s love for inventing this is probably made out of very good material.

    ¡°The gloves aren¡¯t anything special.¡±

    Huh?

    ¡°The material is made out of synthetic titanium making it extremely flexible while retaining the strength and durability of normal titanium but its real ability is inside this.¡± William excitedly points at the small square metal patch on top of the glove.

    The small metal patch looks very simple but if one took a longer look they would notice intricate linings carved into the metal patch.

    Elizabeth and Narissa seemed to have noticed and point it out.

    ¡°Yes! These linings are what make these gloves work. Inside the metal patch is a force chip created by yours truly. The linings are made out of strong and durable conductors. The force chip has condensed energy in it and the conductors draw it out. For example~"

    William puts the gloves away and pulls out another pair but instead of black ones they¡¯re white ones.

    He puts them on and starts flexing his hand.

    After a little bit of stretching, William¡¯s eyes start to become serious.

    Despite being an inventor, William is still a Rielle and every Rielle are powerful Meta humans, except Elizabeth.

    William is a low beast rank Meta human.

    William throws out a punch and a small white ball of visible force comes out from the gloves¡¯ knuckles.

    *Crack*

    The force hits a nearby tree resulting in a small hole.

    That tree took years to grow. The chief is not going to like this.

    ¡°It releases a small compressed force of energy comparable to the force of starter beast rank Meta humans. The energy inserted here is mine. The chip inside comes from outside. It is absorbed, so it can continuously refill.¡±

    A punch from a beast rank.

    Elizabeth¡¯s surprise isn¡¯t unfounded.

    Despite being in close contacts with a lord rank a few days ago, a Beast rank Meta human is still powerful, relative to normal Meta humans.

    A punch coming from a Beast rank is enough to kill and permanently disable weaker Meta humans.

    "Elizabeth I know for a fact that you¡¯re not good at protecting other people."

    Ouch

    ¡°But you¡¯re a good fighter probably the most talented in the whole family.¡±

    That¡¯s it!

    ¡°Don¡¯t fret about what style you¡¯re looking for, because you already have one. Don¡¯t try to be a conventional heroes. Be you.¡±

    William smiled with a knowing appearance.

    Elizabeth drops her jaw in surprise and immediately looks towards Narissa.

    *Whistles*

    Narissa looks away while whistling.

    ¡°Narissa¡±

    ¡°Stop right there, there¡¯s no need to be mushy. You¡¯ve been mentioning this style thing to me a few days ago and I thought you meant what your style would be when you become a hero. So I asked your brother for help.¡±

    Narissa still isn¡¯t looking but one could definitely feel her embarrassment.

    William smiles mischievously towards Narissa.

    ¡°I¡­ thought you didn¡¯t take me seriously when it came to becoming a hero.¡±

    ¡°Idiot, you¡¯re my best friend. Whether something is possible or not, I¡¯ll support you and just like your blockhead brother here, I believe in you.¡±

    Narissa turns around to look at Elizabeth. Her eyes are staring right into hers.

    ¡°I believe that one way or another you¡¯ll become a hero because if there is anything I learned being with you is that you¡¯ll never give up no matter what.¡±

    Elizabeth bites her lips and her eyes start to become watery. A few seconds pass before Elizabeth gives Narissa a big hug while William watches the both of them.

    After a few seconds of hugging Elizabeth let¡¯s go and looks at William.

    ¡°So what is my style?¡±

    William and Narissa look at each knowingly.

    Is this two dating?

    ¡°Elizabeth¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a good and very talented fighter but you¡¯re not a good defender. Remember one of dad¡¯s lessons before he found out about you being a non Meta human?¡±

    ¡°Yes and?¡±

    ¡°Protecting others is the job of heroes but as long as the threat is not neutralized there will always be the risk of hurting the ones you¡¯re currently protecting.¡±

    ¡°You mean.¡±

    ¡°It means that you need to remove all dangers before you start taking care of others. It may be selfish but it is true. If you don¡¯t remove the threat immediately there might be more that will be hurt.¡±

    Elizabeth closes her eyes and remembers the incident with the man who attacked her a few days ago.

    He¡¯s right.

    Elizabeth remembers what happened earlier at the train. If it really came down to a fight, she would¡¯ve led them away from populated areas.

    Elizabeth opens her eyes slightly brighter than earlier. She bows to William and Narissa.

    Narissa and William find her bowing weird.

    It seems Elizabeth inherited some old fashioned actions from her dream self.

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    Either way, the two says ¡°You¡¯re welcome¡±.

    ¡°Anyway¡± Narissa draws her word out and looks away.

    ¡°I need to go now¡± Narissa smiles and immediately bolts away.

    Elizabeth gets a little confused as to what Narissa needs to do. She remembers it being her break time.

    ¡°Well other than the gloves and advice, I actually have bad news to bring. Narissa just asked me to help with your current problem.¡±

 Chapter 11: Mercury Cityéˆ¥æªš Silver Dragon

    Elizabeth¡¯s family is very supremacist and mostof them cannot bear to talk to any non Meta humans or be in the same space.

    A few of them are considered moderates and can converse with non Meta humans but would like to avoid them as much as possible.

    And then there is the minority, the ones that don¡¯t have any problems concerning non Meta humans.

    William is part of the minority and it¡¯s mostly because of his sister. If it wasn¡¯t for her he would probably be a moderate or worse, a supremacist.

    Elizabeth¡¯s other siblings are considered moderates but her father is the problem.

    He¡¯s the biggest racist she knows.

    He hates non Meta humans and his hate doesn¡¯t stop there. He even humiliates Meta humans that socialize with non Meta humans and what¡¯s worse is that despite being a registered hero, he doesn¡¯t always help others unless they¡¯re Meta humans.

    What a horrible father, no he¡¯s a horrible person.

    Elizabeth frowns while listening to William¡¯s explanation.

    ¡°Father¡¯s racist tendencies have become even worse than before. He¡¯s started to advocate the removal of special laws concerning non Meta humans. I heard some rumors that he even started to sabotage organizations that help non Meta humans.¡±

    William looks disgusted but can¡¯t help but control himself. After all it¡¯s still his father he¡¯s talking about.

    ¡°And¡­ is that everything?¡±

    Elizabeth¡¯s question may seem like she¡¯s underestimating the situation but since she¡¯s familiar with her father¡¯s personality, she¡¯s sure this isn¡¯t the only problem.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°William you can tell me.¡±

    ¡°¡­He plans on permanently incapacitating you.¡±

    What!

    ¡°WHAT!¡±

    ¡°He isn¡¯t planning on killing you, but he intends to pull you out of the picture.¡±

    What type offathercan even think of hurting their own child?

    ¡°He¡¯s been hearing rumors that people on the same level as him have been badmouthing him since he has a non Meta human child. His mood was already down the gutters and when he heard the rumors he started to go berserk.¡±

    Elizabeth and William sigh heavily filling the empty room with the sound of annoyance and sadness.

    Thankfully, they entered a private room inside the police station where the both of them could talk. Narissa is waiting outside while looking out for people that could disturb them.

    Elizabeth looks away a little, remembering her mother¡¯s peaceful look when she was laid down on the coffin. William was too young to remember much but Elizabeth wasn¡¯t.

    Her mother died when she was 10 years old and at that time William was 4.

    She remembered crying for hours upon hours and how long she stared at her mother¡¯s peaceful look.

    William was too young to remember but that day was when her father started to change. He used to be so much kind and loving when their mother was still alive but something broke when she died.

    ¡°Sis I¡¯ve asked this a hundred of times before but was father different when mom was still alive?¡±

    Elizabeth nods but doesn¡¯t speak.

    William notices her sad eyes and doesn¡¯t ask. There are some things people no longer need to ask to understand.

    ¡°But despite my pleasant memories of the past I can¡¯t allow him to do anything bad to me.¡±

    ¡°I agree but we both know that only a few people in the city is capable of holding father back if he decides to attack you personally.¡±

    ¡°Yes but father would never do that. He¡¯s too proud and too condescending to even consider lifting a finger against a normal person. He¡¯d probably just hire people to do the dirty job for him.¡±

    Damien Rielle, the current head of the Rielle family is one of the most powerful people in the city, no the planet.

    The number of people capable of even comparing to the strength of Damien is less than 100.

    The Silver Dragon

    Damien is nicknamed the silver dragon because of his superpower. It is said that he once stopped a meteor from hitting Mercury city with his bare hands.

    And when someone gains the privilege to go into his room, they would see the core of an atom hydra, a 9 headed hydra larger than a skyscraper.

    When the city heard news of a large beast moving near the borders, Damien was dispatched to scout it.

    What returned was Damien dragging back the gigantic body of a dead atom hydra. Its body was thoroughly ripped apart and its head had multiple holes while its lower body was severely burnt. This easily made him a legend in the city.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    This has become his pride and in his pride, he became arrogant.

    He even invited famous individuals to see the core, as proof of his strength and ability.

    He was so proud of himself that he didn¡¯t absorb the core that could make his strength soar higher.

    ¡°I see the situation evolving like that but aren¡¯t you afraid that he might send powerful Meta humans like Lord ranks?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Elizabeth¡¯s silence starts to worry William since he¡¯s sure that she knows their father more than him.

    In truth, if William asked Elizabeth a few days ago she would confidently answer no but recent events left her quite baffled.

    Peter¡¯s appearance surprised Elizabeth and she knows that at least one Lord Rank is involved in her life and unfortunately she might have developed a small crush on him.

    Ignoring the last part, Elizabeth remembered when she saw signs of fighting neat the vicinity of her home. It was 2 days after the appearance of snow.

    She saw scattered debris everywhere and felt a weird energy permeating the area.

    After concentrating on the energy surrounding the rooftops, she realized that it¡¯s psychic energy.

    Beast rank is the level where Meta humans can start using psychic energy. It means that there were at least 2 beast rank Meta humans fighting near her home just when she was attacked.

    It wasn¡¯t coincidence, Elizabeth was sure about it.

    ¡°If he sends lord ranks, I just need to run away right?¡±

    Elizabeth¡¯s, full of holes, answer receives a worried look from William.

    ¡°Sis you know you can¡¯t outrun a lord rank. They¡¯re near the speed of sound, they¡¯ll definitely catch you.¡±

    I know that you idiot. I¡¯m just trying to lighten the mood.

    Elizabeth doesn¡¯t answer and just smiles.

    *Sigh*

    ¡°You¡¯ve always found a way to deal with your problems big sis. I¡¯ll trust you on this.¡±

    ¡°¡­But, I need to set up some precautions. I can¡¯t trust on luck only after all.¡±

    William¡¯s face lights up.

    ¡°Will?¡±

    ¡°Sorry I just had an amazing idea.¡± William¡¯s smile doesn¡¯t falter.

    ¡°Well whatever, there is something I still need to do, so be careful when you go home. I¡¯ll say goodbye to Narissa and get going.¡±

    Despite solving on one of her problems, Elizabeth still hasn¡¯t found a way to properly utilize Mortal fist. Slightly irritated but also relieved, Elizabeth wandered around.

    It¡¯s dangerous to wander alone especially since there might be someone after me.

    Elizabeth doesn¡¯t budge despite the obvious danger of walking around alone.

    This is stupid.

    After a long while of walking around the sun starts setting and only then Elizabeth notices the time.

    ¡°It¡¯s already dusk?

    Sunset

    Elizabeth stares at the dimming sunlight above the city walls.

    The thought of Peter suddenly showing up to show her the sunset comes to mind.

    ¡°Nah, he¡¯s probably not here.¡±

    Elizabeth waves the thought away and starts to walk to the train station.

    <hr>

    ¡°Lord Damien, Elizabeth has met with your son William.¡± An elderly butler respectfully addressed a young man looking to be in his twenties sitting at a table.

    His handsome face and immaculate appearance would belie his true age.

    Damien Rielle, the current head of the Rielle family, is 50 years old. His sleek black hair, clear black eyes, and young looking face would never be believed to be that old.

    But it¡¯s no mystery why the family head looks young. The secret of youth and immortality is said to be hidden but when Meta humans appeared, it revealed itself.

    The secret is in the DNA and Meta humans are the perfect example.

    Meta humans were evolved from the weaker human beings so that they could survive the harsher nuclear ruined worldbut it didn¡¯t stop there, Meta humans found themselves aging slower than their lesser evolved cousins.

    With this in mind, Meta humans tried to test their abilities to the limits. Some even tried to see if they were immortal.

    It didn¡¯t end well.

    But slower aging didn¡¯t apply to all Meta humans. Slower aging starts to take place when a Meta human at least reaches Beast rank and in Damien¡¯s case his aging has almost halted.

    ¡°¡­¡± Damien scowls when he hears his butler¡¯s report.

    ¡°¡­ Sir it may be impudent of me to say this but¡­ wouldn¡¯t Lady Ma-¡°

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Damien¡¯s shout reverberates through the room as if his very words are filled with colossal power.

    The sound of heavy objects falling down comes from outside the door.

    ¡°Sir your bodyguards have been knocked unconscious.¡± The butler¡¯s nonchalant but still respectful answer reaches Damien.

    ¡°Tsk, throw them out. To be knocked out by a simple psychic projection, how worthless.¡±

    The butler bows and goes out.

    ¡°That girl is really getting on my nerves.¡± Damien remembers his daughter¡¯s face when he kicked her out.

    Despite being 18 years old, she already inherited her mother¡¯s steadfast and strong attitude.

    She didn¡¯t cry once when Damien kicked her out. Even when he started to secretly ruin her life she didn¡¯t budge or show weakness.

    The room starts to shake and cracks start to appear on every corner when Damien remembers his daughter.

    Before any more damage appears, a cup of tea is placed in the table.

    ¡°Lord Damien please calm yourself. Have some tea.¡± The shaking stops, as Damien looks at his butler.

    Agni, his personal butler that was assigned to him since he was a child is a weird one. Usually when Meta humans reach higher levels they can sense the level of other Meta humans but not once in Damien¡¯s whole life did he sense Agni¡¯s level.

    He even suspects that Agni isn¡¯t a Meta human, which is unacceptable, but he has survived the most powerful psychic shockwaves Damien has released and came out unscathed.

    Once, Damien decided to intentionally harm Agni but all his attacks have been easily deflected, as if his strength as an emperor Meta human was nothing but a child trying to attack a soldier.

    And to add salt to his wounds Agni acted as if nothing happened and blamed the area damage to freak accidents.

    ¡°Agni you were very close with that girl right?¡± Damien refuses to acknowledge Elizabeth as her daughter or even mention her name.

    ¡°Yes Lord Damien, I took care of Elizabeth when she was younger.¡±

    Agni¡¯s voice cracked a little when he talked about Elizabeth but he immediately returned to his peaceful state.

    Damien notices but doesn¡¯t pick on it.

    ¡°Do you care about her?¡±

    ¡°Will you permit me to be frank Lord Damien?¡±

    Damien nods.

    ¡°I very much care for Elizabeth and I think of her very fondly.¡±

    Damien simply stares at Agni.

    ¡°Then why did you agree with my plan.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because I find it interesting Lord Damien.¡±

    ¡°And just because of that you¡¯re willing to let someone you¡¯re fond of get hurt?¡¯

    ¡°Lord Damien there is something about Elizabeth that you cannot see.¡± Damien raises his eyebrows.

    ¡°That girl will never lose. One way or another she¡¯ll get to what she wants. And to be even more frank, two of your children believe in her just as much as I do.¡±

    Damien¡¯s eye twitches and thinks of the plan.

    ¡°Maybe Agni, but remember she¡¯s still human.¡±

    ¡°I know¡±

    <hr>

    ¡°The energy is just not enough.¡±

    Inside her room, Elizabeth continuously absorbs the energy released by her stolen briefcase.

    Last time, it took her 10 days to break through the second level but this time it might take her 2 months even with the herb bath as an addition.

    Dejectedly, Elizabeth stares at the briefcase and at the bathroom door where her herb bath is placed.

    I need other ways to enhance my cultivation. If only I could find that sentient lightning bolt and get some pointers.

    Elizabeth¡¯s eyes slowly widen as realization dawns on her.

    Elizabeth immediately sits up and slams the briefcase.

    ¡°THAT¡¯S IT!¡±

    ¡°I just need to find him, it¡­ I think? What gender is that thing anyway?¡±

 Chapter 12: A small holiday

    In the Portal District is a familiar and beautiful woman that''s currently enjoying her day off. This is obviously Elizabeth.

    Elizabeth is wearing a formal suit so she can appear business ready and she has a pair of non-corrective glasses to cover her eyes. Make up is properly applied on her face and she both looks professional and beautifully deadly.

    She prepared herself for her business today.

    Now... Where to start? Should I go back to the nuclear plant? No that would be stupid. He said he''ll come to me anyway. Should I just wait?

    After a few minutes of waiting, a train arrives and Elizabeth enters it.

    While Elizabeth is thinking of where to find Spark, she is actually going somewhere important but not connected to cultivators.

    Elizabeth takes a seat inside the spacious train and relaxes.

    She looks up and sees a screen saying.

    *10 Minutes to Evolution District*

    Elizabeth looks down at her phone and remembers the article she saw earlier.

    A company called Gate To The Future has finally managed to replicate the nuclear mutation that happened after the nuclear war.

    They experimented on animals first and the results were amazing.

    When the nuclear war ended and the world settled, monstrous creatures started appearing. These creatures came from the multiple fallout wastelands from the nuclear war all over the world.

    These creatures were unnamed at first but ever since humanity managed to rebuild itself, they''ve been called evo beasts.

    For a very long time, humanity thought that evo beasts can only be born from the nightmarish landscapes of the nuclear fallouts but finally, humanity has managed to replicate its effects.

    Elizabeth smiles.

    If they can replicate the first evo beasts, they may be able to one day create artificial meta humans.

    After hearing about it, Elizabeth couldn''t help but submit a day off form request and go there. Thankfully, she barely takes a day off, so it was easily approved.

    Elizabeth can''t help but be excited. Despite being a cultivator, she can''t help but check it out. It is a habit after all.

    "~We are arriving at Evolution District Train station. Please check all of your belongings and train card.~"

    The generic announcement snaps Elizabeth out of her train of thought and she stands up.

    Once the train reaches the station, Elizabeth exits and immediately walks towards the gateway.

    She ignores the looks going her way.

    While Elizabeth is used to people staring at her, lately it''s been increasingly annoying. Ever since Elizabeth increased her beauty through the herb baths and intake of natural energies, more men have started staring at her.

    The most annoying part is that a lot of them are becoming braver and started approaching her.

    Fortunately, a sharp glare from the goddess of the police sends most men running.

    "Miss! You dropped something!"

    *Sigh*

    It''s these type of men that annoys her the most.

    Elizabeth turns around and sees a young man wearing a stunning suit running towards her with a confident look and a golden smile.

    Elizabeth internally rolls her eyes and impatiently taps her foot on the ground.

    Elizabeth doesn''t have all day but she can''t be rude and this might be important.

    Once the man reaches Elizabeth, he starts to pant a little from the running.

    In his hand is a small piece of paper.

    Elizabeth looks at it a little confused.

    "Miss I think this belongs to you."

    Elizabeth sighs and takes the paper. The first thing she sees is a phone number written in along with a name.

    Carlo Simmons.

    Simmons.... That sounds familiar.

    The man gives Elizabeth his best smile.

    "I''m sure that belongs to you. That person must be very interesting for you to take that number. After all, you are drop-dead gorgeous."

    The man pretends to die without falling down.

    Elizabeth can''t help but frown.

    While sarcastically smiling, Elizabeth gives the man her facade smile and the man practically swoons.

    Before the man could say anything, Elizabeth walks away.

    "Hey!"

    Elizabeth ignores the man and quickly throws the paper away when no one is looking.

    Do all men act this way? No I''m sure there are better men out there. William isn''t like this after all... Or is he?

    Elizabeth shoves the event earlier away from her mind, as she focuses on her plan.

    Elizabeth managed to get ahold ofGate to the Futureearlier through a phone call and the management would appreciate the visit of a Rielle family member, after all they''re a very prominent family.

    They don''t have to know I''m no longer a part of them.

    <hr>

    In an empty black room is a man using a non-descript laptop. He''s currently talking to the laptap through a technologically advanced headset and mic.

    The blacksilhouette of a burly man is on the laptop''s screen. It seems the man on the other side is hiding themselves.

    A rough and masculine voice comes from the man as he speaks.

    "Agent Karthen, your mission is to infiltrate Gate to The Future and get a copy of their files. We can no longer afford to destroy them due to the public knowing a lot about them. Agent Lakes is currently in his super power comatose and the other lord ranks are busy. We''ve decided to entrust this to the newer agents. This will be your first test. If you fail, do not get captured. If you are captured, you will die."If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Karthen gulps and nods seriously. This is his first mission and while he is a mob ranked meta human, he will be greatly rewarded if he succeeds. With the rewards he can get, he might even reach beast rank.

    "Yes sir! I will succeed this mission!"

    The man on the laptop nods lightly and the connection cuts.

    Once the man is gone Karthen frowns. While his mission will provide him good resources if he succeed, lord ranks and above have been pulled out from missions. This all started due to agent Lakes'' report concerning the two lord ranks he killed that used a mysterious substance.

    Karthen sighs and starts to prepare for his mission.

    <hr>

    A large and expensive complex comes into view, as Elizabeth finally reaches her destination.

    The complex is a huge reinforced concrete building that''s sprawling all over the area. It''s main entrance has a transparent glass window so people can see its interior.

    Meta human guards patrol the inside and outside of the complex.

    "I''m finally here!"

    Elizabeth''s appearance looks immaculate, as she immediately attracts attention.

    People start watching her but before anyone could start approaching her, a female wearing a labcoat accompanied by 4 men meets her halfway.

    The 4 men behind her is so full of awe and reverence towards her.

    They must have complete loyalty towards her.

    Once they meet, the woman stretched her arm in greeting and Elizabeth takes it.

    "Ms. Rielle, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Dr. Claire Galen, one of the head scientists of the lab. I have a partner but he is occupied."

    Claire looks annoyed at that last part.

    The Rielle family is a very powerful group of people and they created an image that makes them appear snobbish and pridedul.

    Elizabeth remembers her extremely proud father and how every time he brought her to the hospital to take her DMH, he would not give notice to the people trying to get his attention.

    And most of all, she remembers his facial expression when they found out that she failed her DMH at her last year.

    Full of utter disdain.

    Elizabeth shakes the painful memory and immediately adopts a cold prideful expression. Oliver''s facial expression flashes in her mind and she can''t help but chuckle.

    That man is really infuriating. He hasn''t appeared over a week now.

    Elizabeth can''t help but be both worried and angry at Peter. He gave her an amazing time yet he''s obviously hiding something from her.

    "Ms. Rielle?"

    Elizabeth snaps out of her thoughts and she returns to reality. Claire is waiting for her to speak.

    "I''m so-"

    No Apologies! You''re a Rielle!

    Even for only a short while.

    "I was thinking. Anyway carry on. I want to see your project."

    Claire nods and says "Would it be okay for you to wait a little miss? There is another person that will be joining the tour."

    Elizabeth pretends to frown and sigh which gets some annoyed looks from the 4 men with her.

    Claire immediately glares at them angrily and they stop.

    "I will allow it."

    Claire smiles.

    "You can wait with us in the waiting room."

    Elizabeth considers her suggestion and shakes her head .

    "I will wait in the lobby."

    Without waiting for their response Elizabeth starts walking towards the building''s entrance.

    "Let''s go."

    Claire hesitates for only a second but she follows Elizabeth. It seems she''s used to these types of people.

    The building''s glass doors open for Elizabeth and she immediately reaches the lobby.

    Once in, Elizabeth attracts the attention of everyone in the room. If one dropped a pin the whole room would hear it.

    Elizabeth ignores the stares and she looks for a comfortable seat.

    She didn''t notice the man seating on the lobby couches but she can''t let her cover be blown, so she continues.

    She stops in front of the man and stares at him.

    The man notices a change in the atmosphere and looks up.

    The thing he sees is utterly world shattering.

    A beautiful goddess that''s angrily staring down at him and her angry look doesn''t diminish her beauty. Instead it''saccentuating other parts of her beauty.

    "Get off."

    The man suddenly returns to his senses.

    He starts to speak but only garbled speech comes out and he embarrasses himself.

    "Uhh... Why... Sh-"

    He clamped his mouth before he could embarrass himself more.

    "Look she silenced her with a single look."

    "That girl must be some power person to scare the CEO"

    "Yeah even the CEO is scared speechless."

    What?

    ...

    Welp, no going back now

    Elizabeth doesn''t let herself be peturbed and continues her facade.

    "Sir!" Claire immediately goes by my side and immediately calls to the man.

    The man recognizes Claire as one of his main scientists and he finally manages to return to his original state.

    He speaks with a haughty voice with a little bit of shattered ego.

    "Claire! Who is this self important bitch!"

    Elizabeth reflexively raises her eyebrow.

    Claire looks apologetic and says.

    "Sir..."

    Claire''s face looks like it''ll fall off.

    "What?! Why are you looking at me like that!"

    The CEO got a little more incensed when Claire didn''t immediately answer.

    Before he could continue pestering the poor girl, Elizabeth speaks.

    "I said move. Didn''t you hear me?"

    The CEO stares at Elizabethincredulously. The CEO starts to speak again but Elizabeth beats him to it.

    "Do you know who I am?"

    Claire and the room stares.

    The CEO stands up and stares down Elizabeth.

    Elizabeth stares back at him unwaveringly.

    ''What is this! This woman has no energy fluctuations yet she''s acting so haughty!''

    While it isn''t obvious, the CEO is a successful mid level squad rank and if he wasn''t focused on his business he might have reached beast rank but the fact that he couldn''t feel Elizabeth''s energy scares him.

    After all if there''s a too large difference, levels can no longer be felt by the one below the other.

    ''Don''t tell me... She''s normal?''

    Even if the CEO guessed correctly he has the responsibility of a high ranking executive and he can''t simply attack a guest, no matter how prideful they are.

    Elizabeth pretends to yawn, as if extremely bored. Her appearance looks extremely sluggish and she seems to look a little pale.

    The CEO notices and says.

    "You must be some bigshot to talk to me like this! With the technology of my people, I will revolutionize the world! You think some rich girl like you can act like this in front of me."

    Claire lightly agrees with the CEO''s sentiment but her scared face seems like she doesn''t agree.

    After all, the Rielle family houses one of the most powerful Meta humans to date and is a major player in the city arms race.

    While all of this commotion is happening, Elizabeth just found out an important and shocking revelation.

    Ever since Elizabeth learned the Mortal Fist martial technique from Master Bai, she''s been constantly experimenting with it.

    Transferring it all over her body.

    Constantly charging at the expense of pain.

    But most of all, she''s been compressing it.

    Eventually after all her efforts, she has succeeded.

    This realization came after she managed to constantly create a large amount of kinetic force through charging and constantly compress it thus reducing the pain.

    The result was that she could create a dense and separate ball of kinetic energy.

    This means.

    Mortal Fist can infinitely stack strength as long as it is given time.

    But this newfound power wasn''t infallible. Elizabeth also found some grave weaknesses.

    One example is that if she charges a too large amount of power, she''ll destroy her body if she uses that power.

    Second, if she takes a powerful amount of kinetic force, the compressed balls of energy inside her would implode further damaging her.

    Third, she can only create a limited amount of energy balls, specifically three.

    Elizabeth was so engrossed in her experiment that she was ignorant of the situation surrounding her. She completely forgot about her act and the CEO.

    Inside her body is currently two medium sized balls of pure energy.

    These two spheres of energy is already charged up to deal 6x her current punching strength.

    If she were to use them, she would be able to momentarily release a burst of strength.

    "Don''t ignore me!"

    The CEO''s shout snaps Elizabeth out of her preoccupation and she reenters bitch mode.

    Her face looks back at the CEO and he almost bursts out of anger.

    "Sir! This is Ms.Rielle!"

    The CEO is surprised by Claire''a sudden shout but he calms himself. He''s momentarily afraid but he remembers his position.

    ''Even a family member of the Rielle will have to surrender to me. Once my technology is perfected, even the most powerful organizations will slave just to have me work for them.''

    "Are you still here? I''ve wanted to take a seat since earlier."

    ''WHAT ARROGANCE!''

    The CEO weighs his options. He could make this proud girl leave but he''ll lose a possible sponsor.

    Or he could give her the seat but at the cost of face.

    The CEO grumbles but he walks away.

    After calculating the risks, the CEO concluded that it''s not a good idea to antagonize a powerful family such as the Rielle for now.

    Elizabeth smiles and immediately sits down.

    The CEO looks at Elizabeth one last time before leaving. He gives Claire a glance that says ''make sure she''s impressed to the point of speechlessness''.

    Claire responds in earnest.

    "Ms. Rielle we will need to wai-"

    Claire''s words are suddenly stopped as a shriek of joy erupts.

    *Kyaahhh!*

    Elizabeth and Claire looks towards the entrance and sees a beautiful limosine drop a young and handsome man.

    Dozena of women and even men start to crowd over him.

    The man is accompanied by 2 bodyguards. He enters the building while his bodyguards prevent the mob from trampling all over him.

    The young man suddenly speaks with inborn confidence.

    "Do not worry my beauties! All of you are my loves! Do not be discouraged! I am sure you will find someone out there that''s just at least like me."

    The people cheer for him.

    Elizabeth ignores him and returns to experimenting.

    Another child of heaven huh?

    Why am I using such old words... My dreams are influencing me again.

    Claire meets the man halfway and leads him towards Elizabeth.

    Elizabeth doesn''t notice the man''s look as she continues to experiment.

    "Oh it''s you! My goddess!"

    Who?

    When Elizabeth looks up and takes a good look on the male in front of her.

    She sees a 6''2 male with golden blonde hair and blue eyes. His suit is definitely branded and his other items are top class as well. He has a young face and a well defined smile.

    "Ms. Rielle, this is Carlo Simmons, the heir to the Core Suits Corporations."

    ...

 Chapter 13: A beastly roar

    Meta Humans have always loved power and while their bodies can get extremely powerful if they train hard enough, they didn''t stop in improving technology for all of mankind.

    An organization like the Rielle family is into making powerful weapons and armaments but they limit their sales to meta humans, heroes and a few exceptional humans.

    Other organizations are not like the Rielle family and they open their items to everyone.

    The Core Suits Corporations is a prime example of this. It is a powerful organization that''s on the same level as the Rielle family with a tiny difference.

    As the name entails, the Core Suits Corporations focuses on creating powerful core suits. They''re the leading organization in creating powerful core suits.

    Core suits are power armor created from expensive and rare materials.

    Unlike the commercial power armor, Core suits are tailored to Meta Humans and normal humans can''t use them.

    When humanity managed to rebuild itself, they resumed improvement of technology and one of the most successful forms of this was the power armor.

    It served as a way for humans to be able to act on the same level as lower ranked meta humans within a limited amount of time. It wasn''t the same for meta humans since their bodies were more than enough.

    If trained enough, a powerful meta human can do almost everything a normal power armor can.

    So no one bothered to try and make power armor for Meta humans.

    Then came Simon Simmons, the founder of the Core Suits corporations and the developer of the original Core Suits.

    During the earlier days when Core suits weren''t available, Meta humans needed more power to protect the world from the evo beasts prowling the wastelands.

    Simon Simmons, a rich scientist who inherited his fortune from his business oriented family, had the idea to make power armor that even Meta humans can use.

    At first it was not possible since it was impossible for power armor to outclass a meta human unless someone truly poured a fortune on it.

    This was a stupid because the cost was usually not worth the small boost in power and Simon was dubbed a lunatic at the time.

    But Simon wasn''t deterred by the insults and criticisms of the public. He continued to look for ways to make power armor a viable choice to help strengthen Meta humans.

    It was an impossible idea until he found an extremely powerful energy source that he calls energy stones.

    It was unknown how he came to know of them but ever since he did, he''s been using knowledge that only he knows.

    Energy stones were self perpetuating balls of energy and as long as they had time, they would continuously recharge.

    Simon Simmons also found powerful metals hidden beneath the earth.

    With the current technology and the knowledge he has, he created the almighty core suits.

    Core Suits in itself is very simple. It was an armor that had its own power source and increased the user''s basic abilities.

    This included physical ability and mental ability.

    And the greatest part of Core suits is that they are very suited to a meta human''s growth.

    Core Suits increase a meta human''s ability by using the meta human''s energy along with its core to make the suit stronger.

    So in essence, the meta human itself is the battery the suit is using. The suit in turn will become strong, even stronger than the meta human using it.

    Stronger Core Suits had the ability to make the user three times stronger than their original strength.

    Eventually more improvements appeared and even the suits could be tailored to have abilities only the suit has.

    At first only Core Suits Corporations created the tech but after a few generations, other powerful weapon organizations like the Rielle family managed to create their own brand of Core Suits.

    Still, Core Suits Corporations are still the most powerful organization when it comes to building Core Suits.

    Well that''s basically it.

    Elizabeth tried her best to remember the basic history of the Core Suits corporations and the basic ability of Core Suits.

    Shequickly thought of all of this while Claire was finalizing everything with Carlo.

    After Carlo Simmons'' extravagant entrance, he immediately tried to get Elizabeth''s attention but since she''s acting aloof, she only gave him a curt nod and a look of acknowledgement.

    She had to act like he''s on the same level, after all they''re both carrying proud names, even though she''s no longer is a Rielle.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Elizabeth could feel the stares of the females outside but she ignores them.

    I''ve got no time for these people.

    Once they''re done with basic introductions, Claire asked Carlo to leave his guards since everything past this is classified.

    "It seems you already prepared for this my Goddess. After all, I don''t see your guards anywhere."

    Carlo looks around charismatically, as if every movement is filled with complete utter confidence.

    Elizabeth rolls her eyes but Carlo smiles unfazed by her coldness.

    "Please follow me Ms. Rielle and Mr. Simmons."

    Simmons hears what Claire calls Elizabeth and he freezes for a moment but not even a second he returns his smile.

    Although his smile is slightly different.

    Elizabeth decides to ignore Carlo for now and they both follow Claire through the complex hallways.

    When Elizabeth thought that Carlo would stay quiet he speaks with a cheery tone.

    "I can''t help but be utterly entranced by you Ms. Rielle. I believe it is utterly fate that we both meet here."

    ...

    Elizabeth stares weirdly at Carlo while they follow Claire. They ignore the guards following behind them as Carlo seems to fully focus on Elizabeth.

    Carlo continues but Claire speaks up.

    "We''re almost near the research lab."

    A minute late of walking, the group eventually reaches a door.

    Claire opens it with a key card and the group goes in.

    Elizabeth can''t help but be in awe as she takes in the large facility.

    The group is currently walking on a metal pathway that''s on top of the main research lab.

    Nope... I don''t know anything about this.

    Elizabeth laughs internally, since her knowledge about nuclear mutation is effectively zero.

    While walking down an elevated pathway, Claire eventually stops the group.

    She gestures downward.

    Elizabeth and Carlo looks down.

    Elizabeth and Carlo could see dozens of people wearing labcoats walking around, taking papers, and passing objects around.

    Nothing looks out of place and no creatures is in sight.

    "This is where we compile all our research and simulate possible results from our experiments."

    Claire looks proud as she shows her work.

    Carlo looks impressed but also a little skeptical as he studies the area.

    "Isn''t that dangerous? Keeping all the information in one place."

    Claire smiles and replies.

    "We obviously have back up but this is basically where we do our main research. I am the head of theoretical research while my co-partner, James, is the head of the experimental research. I simulate and he makes it into a reality."

    Carlo nods satisfied for now.

    "Please let us continue."

    The group pushes onward visiting other important parts of the lab although not as important as the main research area.

    While walking, Carlo continues to chat with Elizabeth even though she''s not replying.

    He''s talking about random stuff while Elizabeth is trying to gleam important information from him.

    The tour progresses on smoothly.

    <hr>

    In a supply room somewhere in the complex, a hidden back door suddenly opens.

    A man wearing black clothing enters the supply room avoiding the people working in the supply room.

    "I''m in."

    Karthen talks to hidden mic as he walks deeper towards the complex, avoiding routine patrols and crowded areas.

    He quietly and easily stalks the hallways.

    He''s almost near his goal but he sees a group of people coming his way and he immediately hides.

    ''Shit!''

    ''This wasn''t in the plan! There wasn''t supposed to be a patrol at this time... Wait they''re not a patrol.''

    <hr>

    "This place is where we keep our basic supplies..."

    While Claire rambles on, Elizabeth suddenly looks towards another hallway.

    Was there someone there?

    Carlo looks at Elizabeth.

    "Is there a problem Rielle?"

    Elizabeth frowns at that name. During the whole trip, Carlo took the liberties to call Elizabeth Rielle since he doesn''t know her name.

    Elizabeth shakes her head and listens to Claire''s explanation.

    "... I know you two have been waiting for this but we''ve finally reached the last part of the lab."

    Elizabeth and Carlo finally goes serious as they look towards the double metal door facing them.

    Claire starts opening the door through an extensive process.

    The door slides open andwe enter.

    A magnificent sight greets us.

    Largewalls made from absurdly strong material appears to cover the whole lab and flexible metal tubes snake around the whole area providing power wherever it''s needed.

    People run around wearing hazmat suits that protect them from the radiation.

    A glass room separates the group from the main lab.

    Shit....

    Claire gestures for her guards to stay put while Elizabeth, Carlo and her go deeper.

    Claire and Carlo doesn''t seem peturbed by the fact that they''re going into nuclear irradiated room. It simply means that both of them are meta humans and have a natural resistance to radiation.

    What about a cultivator like Elizabeth then?

    Elizabeth can''t ask for a suit now because if she does, it''ll be a sign of weakness. It''ll also be unusual.

    Shecalms down and steels herself.

    I can do this! I''ve gotten stronger. Cultivators can withstand some nuclear radiation... right?

    Elizabeth and the other two exit the safe room and enters the large lab.

    Once outside Elizabeth immediately braces her body for incoming cancer inducing energy... but she''s perfectly safe.

    Elizabeth can''t help but smile proudly. It seems a cultivator''s body is naturally immune to nuclear energy as well.

    Why though? Nuclear energy didn''t exist during those times...

    Carlo takes a peek at Elizabeth and notices that she''s smiling.

    The sound of a sharp arrow flies through Carlo''s heart and he can''t help but sigh.

    ''This girl is too much.''

    Carlo and Elizabeth start''s looking around. They both look at the whole lab with unrestrained awe.

    Workers stop for a moment to acknowledge Claire and the other two but they seem to return to work impatiently.

    Elizabeth stares at them and notices that these people are extremely devoted to their work.

    Humanity''s greatest strength is cooperation after all...

    "The whole lab is powered by an underground nuclear power plant that uses thorium. Thankfully we''re easily cooling our nuclear plant through an extensive underground ventilation system."

    Carlo nods impressed.

    Claire''s words are stopped by a man approaching us.

    An old man with greying hair and a thin frame approches us with an annoyed look.

    "Claire! What are you doing!"

    Claire smiles and looks at Elizabeth and Carlo.

    "Ms. Rielle and Mr. Simmons, this is Dr. Angelo. He is the head of the experimental department and my co-worker. Dr. Angelo these are our esteemedvisitors."

    Angelo raises an eyebrow and says nonchalantly.

    "Money doesn''t make you esteemed but I digress. You two follow me."

    Angelo immediately walks away.

    "Forgive me for his rude attitude, he hasn''t been sleeping for a month ever since his research became funded and showed fruit."

    Carlo nods and Elizabeth can''t help but agree.

    Even William forgets to control his curse words when he gets too engrossed in a project.

    The three of them follow Angelo into the deeper part of the lab.

    *ROAR!*

    A sudden and powerful roar comes from a large container in the corner of the lab.

    Carlo flinches a little and Claire takes a look at the metal box holding an unknown creature.

    Carlo notices that Elizabeth didn''t react to the creature''s powerful roar.

    ''This woman... is perfect!''

    In truth, Elizabeth''s lack of reaction is not because she is brave, it is because she saw something shocking.

    That beast inside the metal box has a core!

 Chapter 14: Pure Energy

    A core!

    HOW?!

    "Ms. Rielle?"

    HOW IS A CORE HERE?!

    "Ms. Rielle?"

    HOW!? A PHYSIQUE TEMPERING CORE HOW IS IT EXISTING?!

    "Ms. Rielle?"

    Eventually Elizabeth snapped out of it and returned her attention to Claire.

    She wants to apologize but for now, serious acting!

    Looking at the metal box, Elizabeth asks.

    "Doctor Claire."

    Claire looks surprised from Elizabeth''s sudden calling of her name.

    Dr. Angelo on the other seems furious that we''re forced to stop but due to Claire''s urgings he calms down.

    Claire then answers Elizabeth.

    "Yes Ms. Rielle?"

    "What is in this box?"

    Carlo seems interested as well so he comes near Elizabeth while waiting for an answer.

    "Yes Doctor what is in this metal box?"

    Carlo asks as well forcing Claire to answer.

    Clair nods.

    "Inside this box is one of our more successful experiments. It is a low squad rank evo beast and it has been contained for more experiments. It was created from a common house dog mutated by precise controlled nuclear energy."

    Everything seems to be simple. It''s like saying that by injecting nuclear juice in one creature can transform it but Carlo and Elizabeth knows it''s more than just that.

    But of course, the company would not easily release its secrets.

    "Is there anything different in the beasts?"

    Elizabeth asks as to check upon the beast core and how it came to be.

    "Well there isn''t anything different or out of the norm."

    Elizabeth nods.

    That means they still don''t know about the beast core... But why?

    "If there are no other questions, shall we continue Ms. Rielle and Mr. Simmons?"

    The two guests nod and follows Dr. Claire.

    They don''t know about the core. Don''t they perform dissections to the evobeasts?

    I need to confirm it.

    While walking, Elizabeth quietly talks to Carlo.

    "Simmons"

    Carlo smiles brightly.

    "This is the first time you talked to me Ms. Rielle. Please call me Carlo, there is no need to be so formal."

    Rolling her eyes, Elizabeth continues.

    "These evobeasts are not showing any differences according to the doctor."

    Carlo nods and asks.

    "Do you think they dissect or open them up?"

    Yes! Thank god you asked first.

    "I am not sure. How would I know?"

    Carlo smiles. Elizabeth ignores the man''s smile.

    Unbeknownst to Elizabeth, Carlo was already thinking around the same lines.

    The tour continues as the 4 persons finally reach the most major part of the lab.

    "Welcome!"

    Dr. Angelo suddenly speaks with great energy and zeal.

    "To the great nest, where humanity''s greatest leap will occur!"

    Dr. Claire whispers to the two guests.

    "Dr. Angel has a penchant of flair, please indulge him."

    While the two reluctantly agree with Dr. Claire''s request, Dr. Angelo continues.

    "In this laboratory of great technology and science, we will show you how we the pioneer''s of humanity''s greatness create the very life that powers our bodies."

    Dr. Angelo finishes this by flexing his fists, releasing powerful shockwaves beneath him.

    A meta human as well?

    "LET ME SHOW YOU!"

    Dr. Angelo then raises his hand and points at the center.

    At the center of the lab is a gargantuan machine with metallic tubes coming from different parts of the room.

    The machine itself is a large cylindrical glass machine with an enclosed area in the center.

    "Behold! Activate the machine!"

    Dr. Angelo points and many of his assistants start to activate the machine.

    A person wearing a protective suit enters the enclosed area pushing a metal cage on a cart.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Inside a cage, a monitor lizard is obliviously looking around, unaware of its terrible fate.

    The lizard is released of the cage and let free to roam the enclosed area.

    The person inside gives the people outside a thumbs up and then proceeds to leave the room, locking it.

    The lizard starts to move around free to roam.

    "Oooh, are we going to see the very process in front of us?"

    Carlo seems very excited as he goes closer. Elizabeth on the other hand is waiting for any indication of a core forming as to give her some insight on core forming.

    *crackle*

    Energy suddenly starts to hit the lizard, flooding it with nuclear energy and other forms of energy.

    The lizard immediately dies as its cells suddenly stop from the constant bombardment of energy.

    Eventually the process stops.

    Carlo and Elizabeth seem surprised but disappointed.

    Dr. Angelo suddenly chuckles.

    "Watch!"

    The lizard''s dead body suddenly twitches and then it jerks.

    This continues until solid movement happens.

    The lizard''s eyes awaken then it''s body starts to grow and rip itself apart as its muscles rip its skin and flesh as it grows bigger.

    *ROAR!*

    A powerful roar comes from the monstrous lizard.

    There!

    The moment the lizard completed its transformation and reanimation , Elizabeth sensed a sudden but small coagulation of pure energy inside the evobeast''s body.

    The energy was disorganized at first but then it slowly transformed into a core.

    Elizabeth looks at Dr. Angelo and speaks.

    "Something is wrong."

    The two doctors look at Elizabeth with weirdness but Claire asks respectfully.

    "What is it Ms. Rielle?"

    "How did you create this creature. It''s exuding a different form of energy."

    When Elizabeth said that, the two doctors look surprised but also nervous.

    Elizabeth also noticed that the creature is regenerating the wounds it incurred from the energy bombardment earlier.

    The healing stopped once the creature gained enough strength to be alive or at least regenerate naturally.

    "The cells are also healing but only temporary."

    Carlo listens intently, his joking facade gone only to be replaced by a very serious person.

    "What difference did you do to simulate the creation of the evobeast?"

    Before we could continue, we suddenly hear multiple familiar roars.

    A facility alarm suddenly blares as the whole facility locks down.

    "Dr. Angelo! Someone is inside the backup archives!"

    The two doctors suddenly look grim as they rush to leave the main facility.

    Before they could advance, they hear a roar.

    In front of them is a truck sized jaguar with white fur.

    It growls and its muscular body moves with power.

    "Test subject no. 19 is out!" Angelo suddenly looks afraid as the beast lunges towards him.

    Without thinking, Elizabeth moves with great speed. While she is slower than the jaguar, she manages to reach the two doctors.

    She infuses her fist with her modified mortal fist. The charged orbs go to her fist and a power sightly stronger than a squad rank meta human hits the evobeast.

    *CRASH!*

    The jaguar''s face momentarily deforms as Elizabeth''s powerful fist connectd with its face. Then it flies hitting a lab wall, creating a large indent on it and knocking the beast unconscious.

    "Doctors are you okay?"

    Elizabeth''s body feel some small amount of pain due to the modified ability''s weakness of dealing slight damage to her but she easily ignores it for now.

    The two doctors, while meta humans, are obviously weaker than Elizabeth''s charged attacks.

    ''She''s a squad rank!''

    The two doctors make the assumption while Carlo is surprised that Elizabeth went on ahead but he is ultimately amused by the turn of events.

    Before anyone could celebrate, a voice echoes from the building speakers.

    "INTRUDER LOCATED IN THE ARCHIVES!!!"

    "INTRUDER LOCATED IN THE ARCHIVES!!!"

    "INTRUDER LOCATED IN THE ARCHIVES!!!"

    The alarm continues with different and grave news.

    "TEST SUBJECT NO. 2 IS OUT!!! PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS!!!"

    "TEST SUBJECT NO. 46 IS OUT!!! PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS!!!"

    "TEST SUBJECT NO. 12 IS OUT!!! PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS!!!"

    After announcing more than one escaped beast, the announcement starts to give evacuation instructions.

    The personnel operating the main machine starts to leave but locks the machine down as to prevent it from getting damaged.

    "Doctors we need to evacuate. The beasts are free."

    The other staff starts to move but a roar forces everyone to run, even Elizabeth and Carlo.

    "Simmons! Help the doctors! I will evacuate the staff!"

    Carlo seems surprised that Elisabeth would suggest such a selfless act but agrees nonetheless.

    "Doctors you heard the miss! Let''s go!"

    Carlo leads the two doctors out while Elizabeth runs deeper in the lab and starts helping other staff to evacuate.

    While doing this, she starts creating more mortal charges.

    Yes, Elizabeth is calling the modified mortal fist technique, mortal charge.

    Currently she has two and each one is capable of releasing the strength of a squad rank meta human.

    She''s creating another one but this time, instead of 6x her strength, she''s increasing it pass her limit.

    She stopped charging once it reached 10x.

    Anything more and she''ll rip her body apart with irreparable damage.

    Elizabeth hears a light grunt and when she turns around, she sees the now conscious evobeast stand up and shake its head.

    It rears its teeth and looks at Elizabeth.

    *Roar!*

    It roars and starts charging towards Elizabeth.

    Elizabeth starts to dodge but...

    No! I''m right in front of the machine!

    Elizabeth stays in place and readies herself.

    It''s a mid level squad rank beast, I can do this!

    The creature then swipes with its gargantuan claw, ripping apart any metal it can touch.

    Elizabeth dodges with precision all the while leading the creature away from the machine.

    Elizabeth''s prediction skills manage to give her an edge in combat, preventing the superior beast to attack her even once.

    But she can''t keep up, she needs to finish this immediately.

    The beast makes a powerful jump which Elizabeth dodges leaving the beast open below.

    She immediately goes beneath it and charges both of her fists with her 6x mortal charges.

    *Crack!*

    *Thud!*

    Elizabeth strikes the creature''s abdomen twice with both of her fists, leaving indents on the creature''s stomach.

    The creature screams in pain as it falls to the ground twitching in pain. It''s having a hard time breathing due to its rib cage almost destroyed.

    Elizabeth sighs and approaches the dying beast.

    "I apologize but fate did not think to give you good fortune. I will end your pain."

    Elizabeth holds the beast''s neck but before snapping it, she checks to see its core and notices something strange.

    "The core is fragile?"

    That must be it! The reason why they haven''t noticed the difference in the evobeasts is because the core break downs once they die, leaving no trace at all.

    Elisabeth stopped trying to kill the beast because she was thinking of how to solidify the creature''s core.

    "I''m sorry but you''ll have to suffer a little."

    Elizabeth whispered to the creature and then held her hand on its chest.

    She pulls her hand and shoves it forward with mortal fist, multiplying her strength while weakening her body.

    *Roar!*

    The beast resists but is ultimately too weak to retaliate.

    Elizabeth didn''t do enough damage to kill the evobeast but enough to pierce its chest and reach its core.

    Once Elizabeth inserts her whole arm in the creature''s chest, she manages to reach the beast''s fragile core.

    In her hand it feels like a small jelly that''s about to pop at any second now but instead of quickly taking it out, Elizabeth then starts pouring energy to the core.

    "Beast I have the most pure energy in the world and your core cannot be solid because of the lack of energy here but I will fix yours with mine. I apologize but I will take it afterwards."

    Elizabeth says this apologetically all the while the beast whines in pain.

    The core in her hand starts to glow with golden energy as Elizabeth''s pure and golden energy starts to mend the cracks the core has.

    A cracked core means that the core was malnourished of pure energy thus making for a weak cultivation.

    Elizabeth''s energy on the other hand is the most perfect form of pure energy which fixes and mends the core as whole.

    Eventually the core is fully fixed and Elizabeth rubs the beast''s head.

    "I''m sorry, it''ll all be over soon!"

    Once she''s done apologizing, she quickly yanks her hand out taking the core with her.

    The beast cries as it falls down and dies.

    In Elizabeth''s bloody hand is a small white core the size of a golf ball. Its transparent shell is beautiful and its insides are a shade of milky white, signifying a concentrated amount of energy.

    Elizabeth sighs but smiles.

    "This is powerful."

    Even holding it, Elizabeth could already feel the powerful surges of energy coming from the physique tempering core. If she received this at the 1st level of physique tempering, she would''ve been able to reach the 4th level effortlessly.

    Elizabeth hides the core inside her clothes and looks at the huge evobeast lizard in the containment.

    "It... Wouldn''t hurt if a few escaped beasts go missing right?"

 Chapter 15: Plunder is Illegal!

    "Everyone! Over here! Doctors are you two able to go out without my help?"

    Within the now locked down building is Carlo Simmons who is currently assisting the doctors to go to the evacuation room.

    "Yes Mr. Simmons. The moment me and Dr. Angelo and I turn right here, we will enter the evacuation room. It''s beast proof and can even hold itself against a lord rank."

    Carlo nods and says.

    "Good! Sit tight there and wait until the facility''s problem is contained."

    Dr. Claire nods while Dr. Angelo is stuck in his own mind, seemingly angry at something or someone.

    "That vermin... Grrr... I will rip its head apart once I find him..."

    Carlo ignores the grievances Dr. Angelo is currently spouting and goes to leave.

    Once gone from the doctors, Carlo immediately turns to a right hallway that''s leading to a different part of the lab.

    Now where is that room...

    <hr>

    Elizabeth what the hell are you doing?!

    While the whole facility was evacuating, Elizabeth saved the lives of the many scientists and staff that were left behind but... She also killed 4 escaped test subjects...

    Plunder...

    Verb.

    To steal goods from (a place or person), typically using force and in a time of war or civil disorder.

    Stealing company property.

    Elizabeth looks at the 4 beautiful white cores inside her clothing.

    Check!

    Using force.

    Elizabeth remembers killing those test subjects.

    Check!

    Time of disorder and panic.

    Elizabeth looks around and sees the burning parts of the building and constantly blaring alarms.

    Check!

    Yep, this is Plunder.

    Noooooooo!

    Elizabeth screams on the inside as she let her greed take over her common decency. She allowed herself to take from the company without their consent.

    Wait! They don''t know about the cores! So it''s not stealing right?

    Ahh, the common dilemma of a first time thief. They always try to rationalize themselves.

    Elizabeth gives up at this point. She knows she''s doing something illegal...

    While sighing, Elizabeth starts to move and go to other parts of the building to look for other people and possibly help them.

    She ignores the blaring sound of the alarms everywhere.

    She also ignores the throbbing pain in her arms since the usage of mortal charge and mortal fist drained her strength and stamina considerably, especially now that she''s using strength too strong for her current body.

    Elizabeth reaches a part of the building she''s not familiar with and starts to look around for other people.

    Once she''s done, she realizes she''s alone.

    "Maybe... I should start absorbing a core... There are other beasts here that might be more powerful than those I killed. And the thief... I doubt it managed to escape, so it''s probably waiting around the facility."

    Elizabeth mulls over whether she should absorb a core now or later.

    Eventually she remembers the dangers of this area and the enemies she currently has.

    I''m sorry, I need to become stronger.

    Elizabeth finds a secluded area and takes out a core.

    She plays around it in her hands.

    "...it''s... beautiful"

    Even touching it sends sparks of energy inside her body, livening her core.

    She recalls the instructions set upon her by her master and she starts to absorb the core.

    The core''s pristine exterior suddenly cracks as a small amount of energy starts to seep out, infusing itself into Elizabeth''s body.

    *Crack*

    The core starts to crack even more, releasing more power.

    The core then explodes.

    Energy suddenly releases itself all over Elizabeth, overshadowing her whole body but the energy''s release suddenly stops as they all get sucked back into Elizabeth.

    Elizabeth sucks in air as all the energy goes into her pores. She circulates all the energy throughout her body and back to her core.

    Every vein and every muscle of Elizabeth is now infused with greater energy and power compared to before.

    Elizabeth opens her eyes and it momentarily glows golden before returning to its original abyssal dark color.

    Elizabeth breaths out and power from her muscles and body flexes as she enjoys her new strength.

    "4th level of physique tempering..."

    This time no mucus or disgusting liquid comes out of Elizabeth''s body and her body ache disappeared.

    Elizabeth stands up and calculates just how much energy she needs to reach the 5th level but was disappointed to find that she''d at least need 7 more physique tempering beast cores.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    This meant she needed to kill 7 more evobeasts bringing the total to 10 cores.

    She gripped her fist and made an approximation of her own strength.

    A minute later, she realizes that she can easily lift 1100 kg, release a punch of the same strength and release a kick of 1400 kg. Her running speed managed to reach 60 kph.

    Great! My strength isgreater than a mob level meta human! A few more levels and I can slowly even go further normal meta humans.

    With Elizabeth''s current strength, she''s just a few levels weaker than the required minimum for signing up to take a hero program. Fortunately, Elizabeth''s current speed already surpasses the speed of normal meta humans.

    Once I reach the 5th level of physique tempering, I can try out joining the hero program.

    Standing up, Elizabeth starts to go further in the building looking for more unfortunate staff members.

    *Click*

    *Click*

    *Click*

    The sound of a tough object hitting another tough object starts to reverberate all over the building where Elizabeth is.

    Frowning, she looks around looking for the source of noise.

    Elizabeth finds herself in the middle of a hallway and when she turns around, she sees a car sized ant.

    She sees the ant clicking its mandibles.

    "..."

    The ant seems to stare at Elizabeth with a hungry look.

    "Oh... Well I can try out my new strength then. Without using my mortal charge ability."

    The ant and Elizabeth stares at each other, preparing to charge at any moment.

    Then it happens.

    Elizabeth moves forward with great speed jumping up, catching the ant by surprise.

    The ant then spews greenish liquid.

    Elizabeth manages to dodge but the liquid hits the metal wall, quickly melting it.

    Elizabeth ignores it for now and lands behind the creature.

    Elizabeth launches a powerful kick behind the ant and it flies with great speed towards a wall.

    *Crash!*

    Debris flies everywhere as the ant destroys a large portion of the wall.

    Metal pipes hidden inside the wall suddenly spring loose as the ant tries to stand up.

    Elizabeth marvels at her new strength and grabs a metal pipe that got dislodged from the wall.

    This unfortunate ant is a mob rank evobeast and while it is stronger than a normal meta human, it is no match for Elizabeth''s skill and increased strength.

    The ant manages to stand up and turn around but it is too slow. Elizabeth already charged forward and immediately stabbed the ant''s brain with the metal pipe.

    It drops down, dead.

    Elizabeth then continues to do the process of solidifying the core and then extracting it.

    A few minutes later she removes the core.

    *gasp*

    Elizabeth''s heart suddenly stops as she hears a person''s gasp besides her.

    Looking to the hallway, she sees a very burly and suspicious looking man... With a bunch of files and papers in his hands.

    <hr>

    Hidden from the building''s main rooms, a young and charismatic man is currently walking towards a room that caused all the building''s commotion.

    "The archives."

    Carlo Simmons stares at the metal plate on top of the room which says ''Archives''.

    He notices the open door and frowns.

    Someone else took a copy of the files which means, he might have an enemy in the future.

    Going inside, he notices that the archives is an extremely large room with rows and rows of bookshelves and computers.

    Smiling, Carlo Simmons rummages within his clothes, taking out a small device which he throws deep into the room.

    The small metal object stops then suddenly opens, releasing a powerful but controlled burst of electromagnetic pulse which shuts down the archive''s security systems but not the computer systems.

    Once the security systems were shut down, Carlo goes in with a USB and starts plugging it in computers which starts to take files and delete the copies of the company.

    He also starts to take the files in the bookshelves, storing them in a miniaturized space within a ring on his left hand.

    Unfortunately some of the files are missing but Carlo is satisfied enough to get the smaller files which will still help his company.

    Once he got all the important files left and deleted the company''s copies, he goes to leave.

    Truly unfortunate, these people are unfortunate to have been gifted with such luck only to be taken from them.

    Carlo then smiles with his eyes closed. It was a smile that seemed very deep and showed many meanings.

    When Carlo goes to leave the archives he eventually reaches a hallway.

    Immediately he hears a small gasp from deeper in the hallway.

    To his surpise he sees two unlikely individuals.

    A very burly man holding papers that he assumes to be the important files and a very bloody looking Elizabeth with a white core in her hand which Carlo saw she took from the giant beast embedded onto the wall.

    <hr>

    Elizabeth suddenly looks afraid but her serious composure returns as she sees Carlo. Suddenly she notices the storing ring in his left hand which wasn''t there earlier.

    Her eyes suddenly go sharp as she notices how Carlo looks at her and the burly man.

    I guess I wasn''t the only one who took advantage of the situation. I can''t assume yet... I still need to make sure.

    Before Elizabeth could say anything, Carlo shouts.

    "MY GODDESS! I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU!"

    The burly man suddenly bolts.

    Carlo and Elizabeth suddenly go quiet as they react immediately, chasing the man.

    Elizabeth is twice as fast as Carlo and she notices that Carlo wasn''t a strong meta human.

    But Carlo didn''t seem afraid as he continued to pace with Elizabeth.

    Elizabeth notices that Carlo was wearing speed enhancers below his body thus allowing him to keep up with Elizabeth''s speed.

    While running, Carlo speaks with enthusiasm and elated energy.

    "My goddess! I''ve been looking for you! The doctors asked me to save you!"

    Not believing for one bit, Elizabeth ignores him and continues chasing the man.

    The man while running notices that he is slower than Elizabeth, so he starts opening a bag he brought with him.

    He pulls out a small round ball and throws it towards Elizabeth and Carlo.

    Elizabeth notices and immediately warns Carlo.

    "Carlo! Be careful!"

    Carlo simply nods and takes out an object from his storing ring.

    It was a storing ring!

    Carlo then throws the obect which collides onto the other object. Which creates a projected psychic forcefield.

    *Bang!*

    An explosion occurs inside the forcefield shaking the hallway but the two are unaffected and they continue running towards the man.

    Elizabeth''s face goes bright as she realizes that Carlo just used a state of the art weapon!

    Her mouth opens to speak and ask about it but she clamps it close.

    No! I''m the pretend rightful daughter of the Rielle family! I already have weapons like this! Huhuhuhu

    Carlo suddenly notices the teary eyed Elizabeth and is supposed to ask, but Elizabeth, to appease her own petty desires, screams.

    "You shouldn''t plunder!"

    Carlo raises an eyebrow then realizes that Elizabeth found him out.

    "Tsk... Let''s talk about it once we catch the thief!"

    The man who was running takes out a sleek looking pistol from his bag and shoots.

    It projects psychic energy that goes towards Elizabeth and Carlo.

    The duo dodges with quick precision.

    Elizabeth is fast enough to predict and dodge the bullets while Carlo dodges with machine assisted speed.

    "Just die already!"

    The man throws a grenade onto the two once more but Elizabeth who predicted it launched forward and kicked the grenade quickly to the front of the man.

    *Boom!*

    The pathway in front of the man explodes as he is pushed back to Elizabeth and Carlo.

    He hits the ground in pain as the explosion would''ve turned his guts into mush if he wasn''t a meta human.

    He tries to stand up but sees that Elizabeth and Carlo is currently in front of him.

    "Stay down if you know what''s good for you"

    The man suddenly quakes as he realizes that he might have failed.

    He can''t fail.

    ''I can''t fail!''

    The man immediately stands up and attacks Elizabeth.

    Elizabeth knew that would happen and quickly used her strength and punched the man with quickness straight in the face.

    "Geuhhh"

    The man makes a horrible sound as he falls unconscious.

    "Amazing! You truly are an amazing woman!"

    Carlo praises the object of his admiration but it merits nothing except a cold look from Elizabeth.

    "Those files retu-"

    "Wait. Why not split it?"

    Carlo smiles.

    "Split the files?"

    "I''m sure the Rielle family would appreciate the new information. It could lead to a brand new age of genius and prosperity."

    Elizabeth quiets down waiting for Carlo to continue.

    "Imagine artificial meta humans! I know for a fact that the Rielle family hates humans."

    Elizabeth''s face goes grim as her family''s dirt is fully apparent to other organizations.

    "Why would you offer this to me Simmons"

    Carlo smiles.

    "I am fond of making powerful allies and... It would be very easy to convince your father for your hand in marriage."

    Elizabeth waves that off and grunts.

    "Ughhh, shut up Simmons. We will return those files."

    Carlo looks despondent as he knows Elizabeth is adamant about this.

    ''I don''t want make an enemy of her. She''s so perfect''

    Sighing, Carlo says "Okay... We''ll return the files I took but I have a condition"

    Elizabeth chuckles.

    "Heroes don''t negotiate with thieves"

    Carlo frowns.

    "What about a friend then?"

    Elizabeth smiles and nods.

    "What''s this condition?"

    Carlo smiles brightly.

    "You must go with me on a date!"

    "This is plunder!"

 Chapter 16: Mobs and common beasts follow Lords

    Thousands of meters above the sky, a man who is currently levitating is angrily releasing powerful bursts of psychic energy everywhere.

    He then slams his hand, shattering the clouds all around him.

    "Ughhhh, such a stupid job. Division leader just had to lump this cleaning job to me. Damn that stupid limp dicked Peter... Now what was that stupid company''s name again? I don''t have to destroy it, I just have to fetch that idiot Karthun? What was his name again? Whatever"

    Lucas, a powerful lord rank is currently en route to Gate to the Future.

    Smiling, Lucas thinks.

    ''I wonder... I might see someone interesting.''

    <hr>

    "No! I will not indulge in such scandalous acts!"

    Elizabeth can''t help but speak rashly because even though she is used to men and women asking her out, she has never had a person such as Carlo ask her out.

    For a moment, Elizabeth forgot about her own decency and started thinking about the many powerful and amazing items Carlo could gift her.

    Then she sees her heartbroken brother William who was supposed to give her his brand new weapons...

    NO! I will not betray my brother!

    "Then I cannot give the file back to you then. You have no proof and this place doesn''t have proof either."

    Elizabeth frowned.

    "You destroyed their camera system then?"

    Carlo nods.

    "I told you, we can just share and I wouldn''t even ask anything from you."

    "And I told you, a hero does not steal."

    "But I''m not a hero." Carlo smiles at Elizabeth''s constant reminder of a hero''s responsibility.

    "Well you bette-"

    *CRASH!*

    BeforeElizabethcould finish berating Simmons,they both hear a powerful crash behind them.

    They both look back, and immediately see someone standing up from the debris caused by their landing.

    A small man.

    The person Elizabeth sees is small in stature but the power he is currently releasing dwarfs anythingElizabethhas ever seen in herwhole life.

    Purple lightning arcs from the person''s black clothing as his psychic energy manifests as pure power.

    The man stretches for a second, ignoring Elizabeth and Carloknowing full well that his power overshadows them.

    This arrogant and self absobed meta human is non other than Lucas.

    Shit... This person... I can''t beat him... No matter what... Don''t tell me... He''s after me...

    After stretching, Lucas looks towards the unconscious Karthen, ignoring the two people in front of him.

    He walks past the two and ignores them once more despite their height difference.

    Lucas stoops down and checks the unconscious Karthen.

    "Oh... he''s unconscious"

    Elizabeth and Carlo are frozen in place but they both manage to turn around facing Lucas.

    Lucas is still stooping down without putting any guard up, confident that none of their attacks will harm him.

    And he''s right, even if Elizabeth multiplied her strength by 100, she''d only be capable of damaging Lucas once with the same level of strength he has. And if Elizabeth actually did multiply her strength by that much, her whole body would explode into bits and pieces of gore.

    Lucas then retrieves the files that Karthen dropped when Elizabeth and Carlo knocked him out.

    Elizabeth sees what was happening and tries to move her mouth but fails.

    When she can''t speak, she tries to move her arms.

    She succeeds and she manages to weakly raise her arm.

    Suddenly her arm is grabbed by a whispering Carlo Simmons.

    Elizabeth looks towards her unfortunate companion and notices how much he is sweating.

    -Stop-

    Carlo whispers to Elizabeth.

    He shakes his head.

    Elizabeth closes her eyes and focuses on the moment.

    If I move... I die... but if I don''t move then these people''s life work will be gone... Carlo''s files are surely lacking compared to the ones stolen...

    Elizabeth suddenly tries one more time but eventually stops.

    Carlo calms down once he realizes Elizabeth gave up on trying.

    "Hey"

    The two of them suddenly got cold sweat as Lucas called for them.

    Lucas stands up while holding the unconscious Karthen on his shoulder.

    "So you two knocked out Karthen?"

    Of course the two are too frozen to answer.

    "Are you guards?"

    He shakes his head immediately after asking that question.

    "No, your clothes are too flashy and those leg augments aren''t cheap either. And you...."

    Lucas suddenly goes quiet when he sees Elizabeth.

    "... too beautiful."

    Lucas shakes his head and gives the two of them the most perfect smile he can give.

    Creepy!

    Unlike Peter who is bone-chillingly handsome and Carlo who is extremely appealing, Lucas has below-average looks and lacks any of the appeal the former two has. Not only that, he smells disgusting and after a cursory look over his body, Elizabeth notices that his shoes are caked with some solid unknown stuff.

    He doesn''t bathe?

    "May I inquire the name of such a beautiful lady such a yourself?"

    Lucas goes near in front of Elizabeth smiling.

    Elizabeth calms down but can''t help but look down on Lucas due to the large height difference.

    Lucas doesn''t seem to notice as he looks up and stares at Elizabeth''s eyes.

    "Miss?"

    Lucas adds a little bit of force because he noticed that she wasn''t answering.

    "Elizabeth..."

    Lucas smiles.

    "Such a beautiful name.... Almost as beautiful as you..."Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    Elizabeth feels her hairs stand up straight as she tries her best not to run from Lucas.

    Elizabeth right now has half the mind to try and blow Lucas away with her charged up 10x mortal charge.

    "Th-thank you!..."

    Now that Lucas managed to fluster Elizabeth, he then takes notice of Carlo.

    His face suddenly becomes brighter.

    "Wait... Aren''t you Carlo Simmons?"

    Carlo freezes and so does Elizabeth.

    "Wait... such a high profile person... so that means..."

    Lucas looks at Elizabeth.

    "You''re Elizabeth Rielle!"

    Lucas suddenly claps his hand laughing.

    "I didn''t think that such a beauty was the infamous Elizabeth Rielle! The Rielle family''s biggest disappointment!"

    Elizabeth frowns but tries not to show too much displeasure because she''s still aware of how powerful Lucas is.

    "And you!"

    He takes a moment to gander at Carlo, taking everything in.

    "So that''s why an ugly and weak person can buy such expensive augments... You''re Carlo Simmons! The cripple!"

    Elizabeth frowns a little at that comment. Carlo isn''t ugly by a long mile but the word cripple takes her attention and she looks at Carlo''s reaction.

    For the first time since they met, Elizabeth sees Carlo''s face go dark.

    "Don''t think I don''t know rich boy. I studied both your profile and fortunately for me, you have more information compared to little sweet Elizabeth over here."

    Lucas goes near Carlo and playfully taps his face all the while condescendingly chuckling.

    Carlo is obviously livid but knows he can''t say anything.

    While Lucas hasn''t done anything dangerous, Elizabeth and Carlo can feel that Lucas would kill both of them the moment he got mad.

    "Two worthless outcasts huh? It seems I found something interesting today." Lucas lets Karthen fall down on the ground to watch the two.

    "So you must be wondering how I know right?"

    Carlo nods.

    "Well you see, you can''t know that. But I''ll tell you this..."

    Lucas goes near Carlo face to face and he stares at his face full of confidence and disdain.

    "How did it feel being on top of the world? Only to fall down?"

    Carlo''s face is now grave and Elizabeth can see his hand shake with anger.

    Lucas then chuckles.

    "Well... let''s see how much money your dad invested in you once you failed him." Lucas then pulls his fist and quickly punches Carlo in the face.

    *Boom!*

    Lucas is suddenly knocked back into a wall by an extremely powerful force as Carlo''s body somehow released a powerful shockwave.

    "Elizabeth! Run!"

    Carlo grabs Elizabeth and they both immediately run away from Lucas.

    <hr>

    When Elizabeth and Carlo ran for their lives, Lucas did not immediately pursue because he was currently lying down on a bunch of concrete debris that he was blasted through. And he was also thinking.

    That... was the force of a lord rank... So is the cripple a lord rank? No... If he was, he wouldn''t have been so afraid... Welp, now I can have my fun.

    Lucas slowly stands up and stretches. He looks at Karthen and pulls out a syringe from a well protected case in his suit.

    He injects Karthen with the liquid.

    A second later Karthen''s eyes immediately open wide.

    "Hah!"

    He goes to attack Lucas with his fist but Lucas catches it effortlessly.

    "Agent Luca-"

    Before Karthen could regret his action, Lucas breaks the hand of Karthen.

    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Karthen curls up in pain as his broken wrist is turned around.

    "That''s for attacking me. Now get out of here, before division leader starts to scold me again."

    Karthen chokes and grits his pain away as he stands up, receiving the files from Lucas with his okay hand.

    "Wh-What about you sir?"

    Lucas smiles.

    "I''ll be back. I just want to have some fun."

    "Affirmative sir."

    Karthen still replies respectfully and once Lucas turns around, he walks the opposite direction, cradling his broken wrist.

    ''That bastard! Just you see... Once I rise up the ranks, I''ll get you back.''

    Once Karthen is gone, Lucas smiles and starts to move.

    He could easily catch up to the running duo with his superhuman speed but for now, he''ll keep walking.

    There''s no joy in hunting quickly after all.

    <hr>

    *pant*

    *pant*

    *pant*

    Elizabeth and Carlo is currently running quickly, ignoring the roars of evobeasts far away from them, in full knowledge that a beast is currently chasing them.

    Think! Think!

    How will I get out of here with Carlo?

    Carlo was weaker than Elizabeth but his body augments allowed him to keep up.

    Eventually they manage to reach a relatively far away part of the building.

    Carlo opens a door which leads to a large boiler room and the both of them hides in between a lot of mechanical pipes.

    Once the two manage to finally have a relatively decent hiding spot, they bunker down.

    "Carlo, we just need to hold out until the facility is removed from lockdown. They''ll have to send heroes or a powerful task force but it won''t be immediately noticed because the situation isn''t too dangerous for the outsiders but if we can only find a way to inform the outside that a dangerous meta human is here, they''ll send heroes quickly."

    "I know but we''ll need to go to the communications office which if I recall correctly is located near the facility''s front area. Going there means having to face that lunatic."

    Once the two managed to calm down a little, Elizabeth notices that Carlo was a little bit shaken up.

    "Carlo... I know it''s not my place to ask but what happened?"

    Elizabeth said this in the most polite way she can without any sign of forcing Carlo.

    Carlo sighs and looks at Elizabeth in a way that doesn''t fit the flirtyrich kid she met at the building this earlier morning.

    "Well... it was never publicized but as you know full well that all information no matter how well kept will eventually be found out by others."

    Elizabeth nods bitterly, remembering the time her father found out their mother died. It was the most painful time for them and him. Elizabeth likes to think that her true father died when their mother died, leaving only the bitter and hateful husk that he is right now.

    "It happened 5 years ago. As you know, I am the current only heir of the Simmons family. My father Simon Simmons was a very influential and powerful man but despite that he never set expectations on me and loved me so much that he was willing to give everything to raise me up."

    Elizabeth feels a painful pang in her heart as she hears a different variant of the rich parent story.

    I guess not all rich families are bad.

    "But I wasn''t satisfied to just live under my father''s vast riches so I strived to achieve. At the age of 7 I was already showing signs of inheriting my father''s great talent of inventing so I was enrolled in the University of Creation stationed in the Tinker District."

    Elizabeth''s eyes widen as she hears about the University of Creation. It is undoubtedly the most famous and most prestigious school when it comes to aspiring inventors. That''s where William is enrolled and only the best can go there.

    Carlo smiles at Elizabeth''s reaction and continues.

    "Well I excelled and made my father proud. I showed talent which surpassed my father and instead of getting jealous, my father showered me with praise and taught me even more. When I got arrogant, instead of letting me become a horrible person, he disciplined me and showed me how to live a noble and dignified life."

    Carlo sighs, remembering his father but he continues.

    "At the age of 10, my meta human capabilities easily showed itself and I quickly started training and strengthening myself. As everyone knows, the earlier the manifestation of powers usually mean great talent and it was the truth for me as well. With all the resources my father poured into me, I easily reached squad rank at the age of 12 then beast rank at the age of 14. By the age of 16, I was already a mid beast rank."

    Elizabeth''s jaw was hanging low because that is an extremely amazing achievement. Elizabeth is currently 24 years old and William is 18. It took William with a lot of resources poured into him to reach low beast rank at the age of 18 while Carlo managed to reach mid beast rank at the age of 16, that''s how talented Carlo is.

    "What happened?"

    Carlo looks at Elizabeth frowning.

    "An accident happened. At the age of 18, I was in the process of creating my own core suit."

    At this point, Elizabeth was both enthralled and depressed by Carlo''s story.

    "It was supposed to be the most powerful suit created by the Simmons. You see, my father helped me in the creation process. It was created from rare metal turned into alloys. The tech we used was state of the art. We even used items we found from ancient ruins."

    "Items?"

    Carlo nods and answers Elizabeth''s question.

    "Yes, I''m getting to it my sweet sweet angel."

    Elizabeth rolls her eyes.

    "I thought I was a goddess? Now I''m an angel."

    Carlo smiles.

    "Well because at first you were unreachable so I called you a goddess, now that my prayers are answered I realized you''re an angel."

    Elizabeth smiles at Carlo''s flirting but ultimately ignores it.

    "Well at that ruin, our organization''s exploration force found a very powerful energy source."

    "The energy stones?"

    Carlo nods.

    "Yes but it was different. It''s more apt to call it an energy core because of its shape."

    Huh? Energy Core? You mean a beast energy core?

    Elizabeth intently listens.

    "It was an extremely huge core that could produce 100 gigajoules per second."

    What?

    "Sorry what? I don''t understand the sciences behind that."

    Carlo chuckles.

    "Well in lay man terms, a high end phone takes around approximately18,000 joules to be fully charged. So that core could potentially charge5555555.6 phones in one second."

    WOW!

    Elizabeth stares at Carlo with amazement.

    "That energy core must be extremely powerful."

    "Yes it was, we haven''t found a core of similar power to it but I digress, during the creation of the core suit, the core somehow reacted to the suit and to me... because it... somehow knew I was the supposed owner of it."

    "Wait... your dad was okay with you owning quite possibly the most powerful core suit in the whole city?"

    Carlo smiles and nods.

    "Yes."

    "Anyway... the core was too powerful and it released a powerful burst of energy shocking me, permanently damaging my system. Because of the shock, my system couldn''t absorb energy..."

    Carlo looks sad remembering the accident but he continues.

    "And my body started to look energy quickly but due to help from my family''s connections and my father''s efforts, I was able to slow it down while they look for a cure. So for 4 years, I''ve been leaking energy non-stop and the doctors say that once I lose all my energy I might become... a normal human..."

    Carlo sighs.

    "This is why I went here. Maybe with the information this company has, I could maybe fix myself but... after taking a cursory look earlier there was nothing that could help me but I took it anyway for my father''s company..."

    Carlo suddenly starts to tear up a little.

    "Because... you know... even though I''m a freaking failure... my dad never forsook me..."

    Carlo wipes his eyes.

    "... So I want to help him even if I can only help him a little bit, I''d be happy."

    Elizabeth starts to tear up as well and she gives Carlo a hug.

    The two starts to quietly hug at first, remembering their amazing parents then Carlo starts to laugh.

    He then jokes.

    "So about that date?"

    "No, that is still scandalous for you."

    Pulling away, Elizabeth smiles.

    For a moment, Elizabeth remembers something. A meta human''s power and body is heavily similar to a cultivator''s body.

    What if... the reason why Carlo''s body can''t absorb this world''s energy is because his body is a chaotic mess of both pure and nuclear energy.

    "Carlo you said that your system was blocked right?"

    Carlo nods.

    "Can you give me your hands?"

    Carlo chuckles but hands Elizbeth his hands.

    "At least take me to dinner first."

    Elizabeth chuckles but adds.

    "Shush, I''m checking something."

    I was right! His body is a mix of extremely powerful pure energy that''s slowly cleansing his body of nuclear energy. It''s a chaotic mess! If his body was cleaned at an earlier rate, he could''ve returned to glory faster but he and his father slowed down the process because nobody knows how to deal with it. But I can!

    "Carlo what if I told you I can fix you?"

    Carlo''s eyes light up.

 Chapter 17: Small Tech

    Carlo and Elizabeth was currently hiding in a relatively hidden boiler room where they were relatively safe from Lucas.

    As for Lucas, he actually lost the two because they weren''t using psychic energy so he can''t sense them.

    "Goddamn idiot, now I lost them... Well at least I have something new to report. Elizabeth Rielle may not be a normal human as we thought she was."

    Chuckling, Lucas continues his hunt.

    <hr>

    "Okay Carlo calm yourself. I''ll be gentle I promise."

    "No it''s okay. I can take a little more pain than usual. It''s not my first ride after all."

    "Okay, I might go a little rougher then."

    Carlo starts to grunt as Elizabeth goes a little bit rougher on him.

    While many would think this an indecent situation, they are not doing anything sexual.

    Carlo is currently lying on the cold hard metal floor while Elizabeth is besides him on a sitting position.

    Elizabeth is currently holding her two hands atop Carlo''s chest.

    She''s infusing her pure energy onto his body slowly transforming the pure energy in his body.

    Once I get to transform all the pure energy in his body, his body will be a source of powerful energy that he can slowly convert to energy useable for meta humans.

    Elizabeth was worried at first on what would happen once she fixed him but realized that she''s practically cleaning Carlo''s system using her own energy, all the while slowly transforming all the excess pure energy into nuclear energy.

    Elizabeth actually thought of clearing the nuclear energy but if she did that, Carlo would effectively become a cultivator and she couldn''t allow him to suffer such a fate.

    He would be hard stuck in the lower realms because unlike Elizabeth who had monstrous talent when it came to cultivation, Carlo basically had none but his talent with being a meta human is exceptional so she decided to make it so that he would return to being a meta human.

    What Elizabeth is doing right now is practically enhancing his ability to absorb energy giving him an easier time becoming stronger in the future.

    And considering the amount of energy I''m converting.. He might jump back to his old state faster than before.

    "Elizabeth, what are you doing? I feel like there''s so much energy flowing through me."

    "Not flowing but just being converted. You told me that your body is a mess of energy right?"

    Carlo nods.

    "It really is. The blocking was horrendous to the point that the new energy was slowly pushing out your old energy."

    "Is that bad?"

    "Well it is bad for you because you can''t absorb that form of energy but I''m slowly converting the new energy into energy you can use. And be thankful, I''m also cleaning your system and once it''s fully cleaned your talent will soar even higher."

    Carlo''s eyes glitter.

    Suddenly Elizabeth remembers Peter who had deep and peaceful eyes that only rippled when he saw something he liked...

    If he was here... We could escape... Stupid lord ranks. Why is there even such a large gap between ranks.

    "Hey."

    "Yes?"

    "If you succeed on... Well fixing me. I''ll return all the files okay? I won''t hesitate to return them and I''ll do everything to repay you."

    Elizabeth sees Carlo''s sincere face and can''t help but chuckle. He reminds her a lot of William.

    Someone who has a lot to prove.

    "I''ll take you up on that offer then."

    Elizabeth continues on carefully changing the energy inside Carlo''s body.

    Carlo starts to sweat as his body is slowly adjusting to the elevated strength.

    Within a few minutes of conversion, Carlo who was originally a mob rank meta human, was starting to reach high squad rank meta human.

    At this rate, Carlo might reach beast rank within a few more minutes.

    *Boom!*

    The sound of a door being exploded into dust resounds a few hallways near Elizabeth and Carlo.

    The two immediately hear it.

    "Elizabeth, we need to move. He''s quite near. We need to be careful or else, he''ll catch us."

    The two stands up but Carlo''s body is slightly weakened due to the energy in him being more chaotic than usual.

    Elizabeth supports him and the two starts to walk away, deeper into the lab.

    They''re aware that they''re reaching a dead end but they have no other choice.

    "Carlo, you''re starting to reach beast rank and you might even return to mid beast rank once we''re done. Do you still have a whatever you did earlier when you knocked that guy away?"

    Carlo shakes his head.

    "No it''s a one time use tech. It comes from my father''s protective shield amulet."

    Carlo shows Elizabeth a metal amulet hidden beneath his extravagant clothes.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    The amulet looks busted because of suddenly releasing a powerful burst of energy.

    While walking, the two hears doors being destroyed and busted open.

    The sound of destruction gets closer and closer as the two suddenly hear a horrid singsong voice.

    "Come out, come out wherever you are~"

    The two continue walking, doing their best to be quiet and quick.

    "Elizabeth"

    Carlo whispers.

    Elizabeth whispers back.

    "What?"

    "I might be able to save us but you need to fix me fast."

    At this point, Elizabeth is willing to do anything just to get away from the potential pervert maniac slash lord rank.

    Elizabeth immediately nods and quickens her pace.

    Eventually the two reaches a hidden spot at the end of the boiler room. It''s the last room and quite possibly the last room Lucas will check.

    Elizabeth immediately gets to work and resumes restoring Carlo''s body.

    Carlo resists the weakness overwhelming him as his energy is slowly getting more and more purified.

    Just a few more!

    In the process of converting Carlo''s energy, he started to circulate his own energy in his body creating a powerful vacuum in which pushed out the energy he didn''t need and sucked in the energy he needed.

    Elizabeth gives a sigh of relief as she realizes that Carlo was taking care of himself properly.

    It''s almost do-

    *Boom!*

    "LAST ROOM!"

    Elizabeth and Carlo could hear Lucas just a few feet away from them.

    Elizabeth starts to weigh her options and she grips her hands.

    "Carlo, you''re almost done. The remaining energy can be resolved by your constant circulation. Finish yourself, I''ll delay the pervert as long as I can."

    Carlo''s body was already weakened before but now that his at the climax of his fixing, he can barely speak. He tries to reach Elizabeth but she already was too far away for him to reach.

    <hr>

    Hmmmm... this is the last room right? So if I just go into that corner, I''ll see those pests.

    Before Lucas could go to that corner, Elizabeth exits it with eyes filled with determination.

    Lucas smiles.

    "So... have you come to bargain for your freedom?"

    Elizabeth doesn''t smile nor react, only walking steadily towards Lucas.

    Once she reaches Lucas, they stare at each other with intensity. Lucas at first does nothing while Elizabeth is delaying everything she''s doing by a few more seconds.

    "No... I''ve come to fight!"

    Lucas'' eyes widen then he suddenly laughs while holding his stomach.

    "Really?! You?! A normal human?!"

    *thud*

    Lucas'' laughter stops as Elizabeth suddenly punches his face with all of her strength.

    Her fist lands on Lucas'' face but he doesn''t budge and Elizabeth''s hand start to throb with pain.

    She pulls away preparing to fight.

    He didn''t react... He didn''t notice that I''m no longer a normal human?

    "So... What was that supposed to be? I barely felt anything!"

    Lucas shouts and stomps his foot on the ground, creating a powerful indent on the floor.

    Elizabeth is pushed back from the force.

    What strength! Peter never showed strength like this... He was so much more calm and peaceful.

    For Elizabeth, Lucas was akin to a raging earthquake while Peter was the quiet and calm sea.

    "Now that''s true power! You are just an ant..."

    Smiling, Lucas approaches Elizabeth.

    Elizabeth doesn''t flinch but she doesn''t stupidly antagonize Lucas.

    "And as a worthless ant! Kneel and grovel and I might just let you live."

    Elizabeth knows that one flick of a finger and she''s dead so instead of antagonizing him, she tries another way.

    "So you didn''t notice?"

    Lucas raises his eyebrow, urging Elizabeth to continue.

    "My strength changed. I am no longer the same as I was before!"

    Lucas smiles.

    "A god does not know the difference between a slave and a king."

    Pretending to be despondent, Elizabeth speaks in a solemn and defeated tone.

    "So... I can''t hurt you?"

    "Of course!"

    Elizabeth pretends to be affected and this just stirs Lucas.

    "Hmph! Still your strength is worthless. Not a single blow, nay! Not even two or three blows will harm me. You are truly a weakling but thankfully you are beautiful so you''re not completely worthless."

    Elizabeth resists the rising anger in her stomach but continues to act despondent.

    "Three blows?"

    Lucas smile becomes malevolent as he suddenly moves with great speed and grabs Elizabeth by the neck.

    *CRASH*

    He slams her on the wall causing the wall to form cracks and Elizabeth to spew out blood.

    Thankfully, Elizabeth''s body is stronger than normal, or else she would''ve surely died or suffer a lot of injuries.

    "WHAT?! YOU THINK I''M LYING?! I''LL GIVE YOU THREE BLOWS AND I WON''T EVEN FLINCH!!!"

    Lucas screams at Elizabeth''s face just before letting her go.

    Elizabeth falls to the ground kneeling. She coughs heavily while gasping for air.

    Lucas spits on the ground.

    "So, where is it?!"

    Lucas demands and Elizabeth''s knows that it''s do or die at this point. If her next attack doesn''t harm or even make Lucas flinch, chances are, she''ll die a painful and humiliating death.

    Elizabeth stands up takes a stance.

    3 blows

    Quickly, Elizabeth used her mortal charge of 10x and hits Lucas... In the groin.

    Lucas'' face was confident that even if he was hit in the groin, he would not be affected.

    Elizabeth has a punching force of 1,100 kilograms and right now, she multiplied it.

    11,000 kilograms worth of force is going straightly towards Lucas'' groin.

    Please work! Even if it''s only 1/10th of his power, it must affect him!

    Lucas as he said would not move when Elizabeth would attack and he didn''t.

    Elizabeth''s blow connects.

    *crunch*

    Suddenly Elizabeth hears a crunching sound as her fist connects with Lucas'' groin.

    Elizabeth looks up and looks at Lucas'' face.

    Lucas looks absolutely confident then slowly he starts to sweat. Then his face slowly changes into one of pain. Then his eyes roll back as he goes pale.

    Without stopping, Elizabeth charges her 2 last 6x mortal charges into her fists.

    *crunch*

    *crunch*

    Elizabeth does two other blows to Lucas'' manhood or lack of thereof.

    "AHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

    After Elizabeth''s three blows, Lucas screams bloody murder as he then grips his lower body in absolute pain.

    Okay time! Quicker Carlo!

    Elizabeth prepares herself but eventually Lucas does manage to recover.

    He stands slightly out of breath.

    "Tha-.... That... Was painful... You were... Right... You''re no longer the same...."

    Lucas speaks while out breath and he tries to recover his earlier bravado but his pale face and sweaty demeanour isn''t doing much to change that.

    "You... Bitch... I''LL KILL YOU!!!!!!"

    Lucas suddenly moves with powerful force towards Elizabeth.

    Elizabeth sees it but knows she can''t do anything to stop him.

    So she only hopes for a miracle.

    *clang!*

    Without closing her eyes, Elizabeth sees a silver metal gauntlet catch Lucas'' fist.

    "What the?"

    Looking to her left, Elizabeth sees a silver colored core suit. It suddenly pulls the fist of Lucas and it uses its free hand to deliver a powerful blow towards Lucas.

    *thud*

    The sound of thick metal hitting Lucas'' face was so strong that Elizabeth thinks it''ll indent into his face.

    Lucas suddenly flies fast as his body was knocked back by the core suit''s punch.

    His body goes through the concrete walls and momentarily disappear.

    Once Lucas was temporarily gone, Elizabeth makes some space with the core suit.

    The metal mask of the core suit opens up, showing Carlo''s smiling face.

    "Elizabeth it worked!"

    Elizabeth smiles, happy for her new acquaintance... Or maybe a new friend

    "How did you get that here?!"

    Elizabeth asks, obviously amazed by the state of the art core suit.

    "It was always with me." Carlo says proud. "I guess the power was always in me! I just needed to believe!"

    Carlo starts making old culture references as Elizabeth admires the superweapon Carlo is using.

    "No I''m kidding. I never said we failed in finishing the suit, it just damaged me."

    "Then why wasn''t news of its success was televised?"

    "The suit was only tailored to me so no one can use it so it was hidden from the public eye but when we built this-"

    He gestures to the suit.

    "- It was too powerful for a normal meta human. If anything less than a mid beast rank uses it, all of their energy would get sucked up and they''d die. Core suits use the energy of the core and user itself, making for a stronger individual."

    "That doesn''t really answer my question."

    Carlo laughs.

    "It''s made out of nanotechnology. The core we found provided so much energy that could theoretically power the nanobots for a very very long time."

    Once Elizabeth understood how Carlo brought the suit, she asks a relatively more important question.

    "How strong are you right now then?"

    Elizabeth looks worried while being cautious from Lucas''.

    "With the suit''s boost, I''m currently peak beast rank. I''m weaker than a lord by a few thousands but the abilities of the core suit will hopefully close the gap."

    Suddenly the facility shakes.

    "YOU WORTHLESS ANTS!"

 Chapter 18: A Winner?

    After being knocked back by a lord rank''s force, getting hit in the balls thrice and being punched in the face, it is safe to say that Lucas is very pissed off right now.

    Those ants! They dare bite me.... Grrr....

    Lucas stands up angry at the bastard that dared to punch him.

    "YOU WORTHLESS ANTS!!!"

    Once Lucas stood up, he started running with power infused limbs. His steps were releasing powerful shockwaves that was destroying his immediate surroundings.

    Lucas charges through the destroyed walls.

    <hr>

    "He''s coming!"

    Elizabeth leaves Carlo for now, knowing that she can''t contribute much to the battle so she gives him some space.

    *Crash!*

    Elizabeth is suddenly sent flying by a powerful shockwave as Lucas appeared with sound like speed and clashed with Carlo who responded with almost equal strength.

    Lucas punches Carlo with all his strength.

    Carlo and his core suit responded by catching his blow. The suit locks itself to the ground through magnetic energy and Carlo counters using his enhanced strength.

    Lucas dodges Carlo''s attack and manifests a psychic dagger and stabs it quickly towards the core suit''s armor.

    *Clink*

    The psychic dagger stops a few inches away from the core suit after hitting a transparent energy field created by the suit.

    Carlo opens his palms and quickly points it at Lucas'' face.

    A powerful burst of energy hits Lucas straight on the face and he gets knocked back a few feet away.

    Before he could recover, Carlo immediately dashes forward delivers a powerful kick towards Lucas'' stomach.

    Lucas grunts as he''s forced down but Carlo immediately follows up by uppercutting him.

    *thud*

    Lucas catches Carlo''s fist and counters hitting the metal mask, stopping only a few inches away due to the energy field.

    *Boom!*

    Carlo''s shoulder pads suddenly open and release a barrage of miniature missiles towards Lucas.

    Lucas projects a psychic field blocking the explosions, creating thick plumes of smoke everywhere.

    Elizabeth who is slowly sneaking away is coughing from the smoke but she''s mostly okay.

    Lucas and Carlo continue their fight but Carlo pushes him back through the barrage of the suit''s advanced weapons.

    *Crash*

    *Crash*

    *Crash*

    Carlo manages to catch Lucas off guard and slams him through multiple concrete walls.

    "Die you maniac!"

    Carlo raises both his open palms. Energy starts gather in the palms.

    Raw energy suddenly bursts out of Carlo''s palms, hitting Lucas and obliterating a large portion of the facility walls.

    <hr>

    [System 100% operational]

    [Energy Shield 76% stability]

    [Opponent Lord Rank does not have any superpower. Supplement the gap through strategy]

    A robotic voice talks to Carlo as he pummels Lucas'' with a dozen punches.

    Carlo punches forward but Lucas'' manages to catch it.

    Lucas then pulls Carlo.

    "Duke, initiate magnetic footing!"

    [Yes sir]

    Lucas stops as he can''t pull Carlo''s body.

    "Release footing!"

    Carlo suddenly releases the magnetic footing and quickly turns around.

    The back of the suit suddenly opens as dozens of rocket tubes show themselves.

    "Shit"

    Dozens of miniaturized missiles get created by the nanotech of the suit and charge straight towards Lucas.

    *boom* *boom* *boom*

    Lucas tries to project a field but they were too fast and point blank and hit him straight in the body.

    This guy is tough... How many salvos has he taken... Lord ranks are truly tough son of bitches...

    Lucas suddenly manifests gauntlets made out of psychic energy and starts punching Carlo with superhuman speed.

    *thud*

    *thud*

    *thud*

    The sound of something big hitting a hard wall keeps resounding as Carlo desperately tries to block Lucas'' barrage.

    [Warning!!]

    [Warning!!]

    [Energy shield is sustaining heavy damage. Energy shield 54% stability]

    Carlo''s arms suddenly become thicker as two a hundred ton gauntlets materialize from the suit''s nanotech.

    Carlo blocks with them and when he gets the proper timing of Lucas'' blows, he dashes in and throws a punch with a force of a peak beast rank enhanced by a 100 ton gauntlet.

    *Boom!*This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    Lucas gets blown away from the powerful punch.

    Carlo capitalizes and moves forward.

    He raises both 100 ton gauntlets and smash them on the still mid air Lucas.

    *CRASH!!*

    Lucas hits the ground and goes deep until he can''t be seen anymore.

    Carlo''s core suit suddenly materializes jackhammers that connect to the 100 ton gauntlets.

    "Get destroyed!!"

    *RATATATATATATATATA*

    Carlo''s fists moves with continuous speed as he jackhammers Lucas deeper into the ground.

    <hr>

    Lucas could feel his bones starting to get damaged as two 100 ton fists rain on him with continuous rage.

    Lucas spews blood as he tries to get up.

    What the hell is this core suit! Why is it so powerful!

    Lucas tries to manifest a psychic barrier but before it can reach its full power, it gets jackhammered into nothing.

    Suddenly the barrage stops.

    What?!

    *Weeeeeewwwww*

    Before Lucas could react, he hears the sound of energy gathering.

    He sees a light.

    Then he sees nothing as a beam of concentrated energy hits him, obliterating the ground and pushing him even deeper.

    "SHITTTTTTTTTTT"

    <hr>

    Carlo pants as the constant usage of his power has drained him. The core powering his suit is still fully powered but his body is starting to become very tired.

    After the high powered beam of energy, Lucas surely must be dead or at least damaged to the point he would surrender or leave.

    "Elizabeth, are you o-"

    Suddenly from the depths of the disintegrated ground, a bloody Lucas appears with a manifested barrier and gloves.

    Carlo tries to react but his tired body can''t move fast enough.

    *THUD*

    Lucas punches Carlo in the metal mask sending him through many walls.

    Lucas immediately runs and follows.

    Before Carlo''s body could fall, Lucas immediately attacks and grabs the suit by the neck.

    *SLAM!*

    Lucas slams the suit through the wall and runs besides it, dragging the suit through solid concrete.

    "Duke! Engage shock pulse!"

    [Copy sir]

    The suit suddenly releases a powerful burst of electricity and lighting, shocking Lucas and pushing him away.

    Carlo falls down as Lucas gets pushed back.

    Carlo stands up and uses the core''s energy to recreate and fix the damaged parts of the suit.

    Lucas pants as he stares at Carlo.

    Carlo acts stoic and unaffected but currently he''s slowly blacking out.

    Both of them are tired and exhausted.

    I''m still not fully adjusted to my current strength....

    Lucas on the other hand takes a careful look at his wounds and sighs.

    Carlo smiles underneath his metal mask.

    Unfortunately for this man, one needs to be at least low lord rank to be able to use their psychic energy to regenerate wounds. For now he can only use his psychic energy to move broken body parts.

    Lucas stretches a little then quickly dashes forward.

    Carlo sticks both of his forearms and his suit materializes a dense metallic shield.

    *Thud*

    Lucas strikes a blow towards Carlo''s shield but the material doesn''t budge.

    This is going to be harder than I thought....

    <hr>

    While the two meta humans were fighting for their lives, another superhuman is currently walking away from the disaster area.

    Slightly wounded with very ruffled clothes, Elizabeth is currently looking for someone.

    The facility is currently in lock down. That means that Karthen person is still in here. If he still is, I can recover the files and present it back to the doctors.

    Elizabeth returns to the place where Lucas dropped down. She looks up and sees the large hole where Lucas dropped in from.

    "I can understand that these files are important but... I can''t believe they''d send a lord rank in plain view. Lord ranks are devasting as it is...."

    Elizabeth looks towards the hallway, thinking where Karthen might have went to.

    She goes through the hallway, and notices that there are dozens of dead evobeasts

    "Woah, maybe that agent was more skilled than expected..."

    Elizabeth stoops down and checks the deceased evobeasts and find that their artificial cores are melted because they couldn''t form properly from the lack of pure energy.

    Elizabeth sighs.

    What a waste.

    Elizabeth continues to follow the path of carnage that she believes leads to Karthen.

    *crunch *

    *crunch*

    When Elizabeth nears an area she thinks is near an exit, she starts to hear the sound of something chewing.

    What... Is that sound?

    Elizabeth starts running and she reaches a large receiving area and sees a shocking site.

    Agent Karthen''s upper body being chewed on by a large evobeast.

    His lower body is nowhere to be seen.

    Elizabeth covers her mouth but weirdly she doesn''t feel like puking.

    Nevermind... He wasn''t as skilled as I thought.

    She takes a careful look at the creature and Karthen.

    Karthen is dead beyond belief.

    Elizabeth looks at the creature and she sees a gargantuan wolf-like being.

    *growl*

    The wolf growls and swallows Karthen whole.

    NO! The files!

    Elizabeth starts cursing as she thinks of how to recover the files from the wolf''s stomach.

    *growl!*

    The wolf growls again once it senses Elizabeth.

    This thing is stronger than me righr now but... I can close the gap with my mortal charge.

    *Boom*

    Suddenly, the wolf lunges forward destroying the place where it was charging towards Elizabeth.

    Shit.

    Elizabeth dodges quickly as her hiding spot gets torn to shreds by the giant wolf.

    Elizabeth then rolls forward, going behind the wolf. If the wolf is just slightly stronger than the others, Elizabeth can kill it.

    The wolf proceeds to claw its way to Elizabeth, making claw marks on the surrounding area every time it misses.

    It lunges again to pin Elizabeth but she predicts it.

    She leans down quickly and clenches her fist.

    "Hero''s fist!"

    Elisabeth''s strength increases by 50% instantly and her body doesn''t become vulnerable.

    *boom!*

    Elizabeth punches the wolf straight in the stomach.

    It whines in pain as it is sent flying.

    Elizabeth jumps up quickly and continues to use Hero''s fist, her modified version of Mortal fist.

    Each punch is 50% stronger but she can use it constantly.

    Then she starts to barrage the wolf with dozens of punches.

    When she starts to fall, she immediately grabs the wolf with her enhanced strength and uses her pure energy to speed her descent.

    The wolf roars as it tries to escape Elizabeth''s grip.

    "Sorry!"

    *Crack!*

    The wolf hits the ground with powerful force and Elizabeth immediately lets go.

    She jumps up with her 6x mortal charge infused into her legs and she hits the ceiling with her feet.

    She uses another 6x mortal charge to push herself down.

    *boom!*

    The wolf tries to stand but Elizabeth reaches it first.

    Before she hits the wolf, Elizabeth pulls her fist and uses her 10x mortal charge.

    Then she punches the wolf straight in the spine.

    *splat!*

    Elizabeth pierces the wolf''s spine and reaches straight to the core.

    The wolf immediately dies from too much shock. Elizabeth fixes the core and quickly removes it. She admires its slightly bigger size.

    Once she hides it, she looks at the wolf''s body.

    After sighing, she does the gruesome job of ripping the wolf''s stomach apart.

    Once opened, she drags out Karthen''s body.

    She takes the files and sighs.

    "I guess... It''s going to take a long time for me to fully adjust."

    The building suddenly shakes from Carlo and Lucas'' fight.

    Elizabeth looks towards where she came from.

    "I just hope the heroes come quick. Carlo might be losing."

    <hr>

    *Crash*

    Carlo''s suit is suddenly slammed through multiple walls as Lucas pushes him back while charging.

    When they enter a large open area, Carlo''s back opens and thrusters materializes.

    *Boooosshhh*

    Carlo decelerates as Lucas is slowly pushed back by the suit''s thrusters.

    Carlo and Lucas interlock fingers as they push each other back.

    "You petulant... Worthless... Pathetic..."

    Lucas mutters insulting words as he tries to push and knock Carlo down.

    Unbeknownst to Lucas, Carlo is currently in his last straw.

    Carlo''s energy is almost depleted and he won''t be able to control the suit anymore after.

    Suddenly the suit''s thrusters shut down and Lucas pushes down Carlo to the ground, destroying a large area.

    Carlo momentarily blacks out as Lucas finally pins him down.

    Once Lucas realizes that Carlo isn''t responding, he starts to chuckle.

    "What happened ant?! Why are you suddenly quiet?!"

    Lucas starts bashing the suit with psychic enhanced fists.

    The suit becomes offline when Carlo blacks out, so it immediately creates a powerful barrier pushing Lucas away.

    Lucas starts hammering towards the barrier, slowly getting rid of it.

    *beep*

    *beep*

    *beep*

    Lucas hears an ominous sound as he looks at his chest and hands. His hands that were bashing the suit had dozens of small machines connected to them and some where in his chest.

    Carlo''s suit suddenly becomes enclosed in a barrier.

    Then the beeping stops.

    *BOOM!*

    The machines blow up and Lucas is sent flying away from Carlo.

    Lucas hits a solid wall and he spews out blood.

    He looks at his mangled arms and wounded chest and screams in pain.

    He tries to stand but the damage was too much and he couldn''t block it in time.

    He grunts in pain as he finally manages to stand up.

    Thankfully, Carlo was unconscious or else this might be Lucas'' loss.

    "Attention facility staff! Heroes have arrived! Please evacuate to the nearest exit!"

    The facility repeatedly warns the staff of the heroes arrival.

    Lucas'' face goes pale as he hears the news.

    "Fuck shit... The popos are here... I need to go"

    Lucas takes one last look at Carlo.

    "I''m coming back for you"

    Lucas pulls out a small emblem.

    "I need a pull out."

 Chapter 19: Most Wanted

    In a private and luxurious hospital room is an unconscious man resting on a ridiculously large bed with many machines strapped on to him.

    The man''s body was breathing weakly as machines pump digestible food and nuclear energy into his body.

    This person was Carlo.

    Besides the luxurious bed was another young man who was constantly pacing.

    The man was constantly biting his nails, rubbing his hair and grunting nervously.

    *Beep*

    *Beep*

    *Beep*

    The man looks at the machines that suddenly started blaring.

    "Not again!"

    The man goes to the side of the bed and immediately pushes a button.

    A door suddenly opens as dozens of nurses appear, all carrying machines and tools.

    The nurses check Carlo''s body.

    "WE NEED AN EVOBEAST FISSION CORE! HIS BODY ALREADY ABSORBED ALL THE ENERGY!"

    "What?! That''s the 6th one today!!"

    "I know! Just hook the new core into the machines."

    Dozens of people wheel in a metal box and open it, revealing a smooth green core.

    A man wearing a hazmat suit takes it and opens the machine that''s connected to Carlo.

    The machine''s core slot was empty, save for ash that was from the previous core.

    He inserts it and the machine stops blaring but the people besides Carlo continue to work on his body.

    But it''s calmer now.

    "Doctor how is he?"

    The nervous man asks the head doctor who''s currently over seeing Carlo.

    The doctor asks the man to go out of the room with him to speak.

    Once outside, the doctor speaks.

    "Carlo''s body is weird... His body is intaking so much more energy. It used to take 1 core to keep his body from preventing his energy drain but now... It takes 7. His body is not showing signs of drainage so we suspect that... He may be permanently damaged... The energy is also running throughout body smoothly without any stoppage or slowing down. It''s abnormal, in fact, we''ve never seen anything like it! So we have to run a few more tests to understand Mr. Simmons"

    Simon Simmons, the head of the Core suits corporation and possibly one of the most powerful men in the world is currently nodding his head obediently while listening to the doctor.

    "Is there anything we can do doc! Please! I''ll pay it no matter how expensive! My little boy can''t die!"

    Simon''s eyes start to tear as he shakes the doctor with his emperor level strength.

    The doctor does his best to try and resist but he is only a measly beast rank.

    Compared to Simon, who is leagues above him, is just like how an ant would compare to an elephant.

    "Mr. Simmons! Please put me down!"

    Simon stops and lets the doctor down like how a dog lets go of a toy.

    "Now, Mr. Simmons, your son is stable. He might just be in a state of recovery but we must still be wary because he is not responding to the usual treatments. We might ha-"

    *boom!*

    The hospital''s top floor suddenly shakes as amachine within the room suddenly explodes.

    "Mr. Simmons!"Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    Before the explosion could occur, Simon already sensed its trigger and moved as fast as he could.

    Entering the room with supersonic speed, Simon noticed the machine was about to blow.

    He was about to immediately disconnect his son out of the machine but noticed something weird.

    It wasn''t the machine that exploded, it was the generator.

    The machine shuts down as all its power was suddenly absorbed by Carlo and the Generator tried to compensate but a too large amount of energy flowed through and it exploded.

    Simon looks towards his son strapped into the machine.

    Carlo''s eyes were slowly opening.

    Simon''s reactive speed slowed down to normal as he realizes that his son just woke up.

    "CARLO!"

    Carlo is slightly dazed but notices his superhuman father charging towards him.

    He raises an arm and Simon stops in front of the bed but his bright smile looks similar to a dog wagging its tail.

    "Carlo my son! Are you okay?!"

    Carlo smiles looking at his doting father but he suddenly frowns.

    He remembers what happened.

    The doctors approach Carlo to do a basic check of his condition.

    "Carlo!"

    Simon is surprised and shouts as Carlo suddenly stands up after returning from his unconscious state.

    The doctors try to stop him but Carlo''s speed was too much for the weaker doctors.

    The doctors approach Simon and try to ask him to stop Carlo but they see a shocking appearance.

    Simon was utterly giddy.

    What Simon knew and what doctors didn''t is that Carlo''s speed is too fast for a mob rank that''s slowly regressing to a normal human.

    But before he could celebrate, his son immediately issues a command.

    "Everyone get me all the files related to Elizabeth Rielle!"

    <hr>

    "What do you mean she''s no longer affiliated with the Rielle family!"

    In a corporate office filled with dozens of files and complaints, a man who looked like he was about to have a heart attack was screaming at a telephone.

    The CEO ofGate to the Futureis fuming once he finished his call to the Rielle family.

    Once the other side hanged up, thr CEO slammed his desk, forming a big crack and spreading all the files to the ground which further infuriates him.

    "That arrogant bitch! I knew something was fishy! A rielle suddenly showing up? Ha!"

    The CEO continues to rage until he hears a knock on his office door.

    "WHAT?!"

    The CEO screams at the door but quiets down when he sees dr. Galen.

    "... Dr... Galen? You''re here late... It''s night."

    Dr. Galen comes in with two medium sized packages in her arms.

    "This is sent to you. It came from Ms. Rielle and another from Carlo Simmons."

    The CEO looks at Dr. Galen''s face and notices all the wrinkles and bags on her youthful face.

    She must''ve been stressed since we lost so many files...

    Not one for nonsense, the CEO sets them on the broken table and opens them with quickness.

    Claire''s face suddenly lights up as she sees the papers and usb drives in the two packages.

    She immediately takes a few files and starts reading them, with accelerating speed.

    "It''s all here!"

    The CEO''s face suddenly looks baffled as he sees the female doctor get elated.

    Then he checks the box of Carlo Simmons.

    "Woah!"

    Claire sees the CEO hold a piece of paper in his hands.

    "What''s tha-"

    Claire suddenly quiets as she sees the contents of the paper.

    "Simmons wants to make a company contract!"

    <hr>

    Screams of pain echoes through a hallway as a person is getting picked apart by a machine.

    "Goddamit! That piece of shit Simmons!"

    Lucas curses through gritted teeth as he resists the pain he is feeling from getting his body fixed.

    Apparently the suit''s last attack damaged a lot of his body''s nerves and veins, slowing down his strength growth.

    He had to undergo heavy surgery to repair them or else, he''ll have to suffer a weak strength growth for the rest of his life.

    He suddenly remembers Peter and then Carlo.

    Tall, handsome, capable and talented.

    Great... More... People to kill... That stupid Peter... If he didn''t have his super power... The division leader would allow me to kill him...

    Ever since Peter entering a coma, Lucas was unable to watch him and get dirt on him.

    Lucas continues to grit his teeth but within all the pain and people in his mind, he suddenly remembers Elizabeth.

    "I''ll kill that bitch as well!"

    <hr>

    "What?!"

    Damien rielle, the head of the Rielle family and the father of Elizabeth, is currently dumbfounded while staring at the report he just received from Agni.

    "Agni! Repeat what''s in this paper. Tell me I''m not delusional."

    "In what order sir?"

    "Don''t play coy with me Agni!"

    Damien hands the report to Agni.

    Once Agni takes it, he reads out loud the words Damien wanted to hear.

    "Elizabeth Rielle, slayed 7 evobeasts that''s under the jurisdiction of the company Gate to the Future."

    Agni returns it.

    "Explain this Agni!"

    Agni shrugs.

    "I don''t see the need to fuss sir Damien. Your daughter is a very talented fighter after all and they were mob level evo beasts. They could be killed by a skilled enough human or a lot of conventional weaponry."

    Damien slams the desk obliterating it into dust.

    "That doesn''t make sense! If it was one! I could understand but 7?!"

    Damien grumbles as he turns around and stares at the atom hydra''s core.

    It''s the only thing, other than his wife''s portrait, that can calm him down.

    But recently, he hasn''t been able to look at his wife without feeling guilty.

    "Agni."

    "Yes sir?"

    Agni replies while hauling a new desk from his personal space.

    "I want Elizabeth monitored. Don''t let the media touch her and pay off the company if needed. I want to observe her first and try to buy all the rights to the company."

    Agni nods and goes to leave.

    Once alone, Damien curses to himself.

    "What is with that brat"

    <hr>

    In a small underground laboratory, a young and handsome man was currently working on a pair of gauntlets and a pair of boots.

    He removes his safety gear once he''s satisfied with the results.

    He drinks some cola and uses his seat to roll over to the computer.

    He sets his drink down and stares at the message he received from his father.

    "Sis did what!?"

    <hr>

    Now, the person that everyone is looking for is currently... In bed sleeping.

    *snore*

    Elizabeth snores her way to waking up.

    "Huh? Did somebody call me?"

 Chapter 20: Too kind

    Elizabeth is currently on the park sitting on a bench with a small piece of paper in her left hand and a red marker on her right hand.

    She grips the marker hard and almost breaks it, thankfully she can control her strength.

    On the paper she has are dozens of hero agencies and almost half of them are riddled with red X marks.

    "Not this one."

    Another X

    "This one just tried to harass me earlier."

    Another X

    "This one.... Is a failing and closing agency with no interest in coming back up."

    Another X

    "Uggh!!!"

    Elizabeth covers her face with a handkerchief and lightly screams.

    "Why are all these agencies horrible!"

    Elizabeth continues to read the paper in her hand.

    Her eyes stop at the Godslayer hero organization.

    She shakes her head. For Elizabeth who''s already 24 years old and just barely stronger than a mob rank meta human, it is unlikely that they''ll even consider her.

    Once Elizabeth calms herself, she takes a careful look at the agencies she hasn''t tried yet.

    She notices one called "St. Davion''s Heroes"

    I haven''t heard of this... Also St. Davion huh?

    According to the history books, St. Davion was a legendary hero in the earlier times when Mercury city wasn''t as big as it is now and the Godslayer organization was the only actual hero group.

    Legends say that he was at the peak of emperor rank but was struck down by an impossibly strong evobeast.

    Due to his kindness and help to the City and humanity as a whole, he was canonized as a saint, a title reserved only to the most worldy and experienced people.

    His name is still considered a legend and it''s blasphemy for an organization to take his name. The government that handles heroic figures won''t allow it unless a large sum is used to pay them.

    Interesting.

    Despite that, this agency exists and Elizabeth can''t help but be interested.

    "Wait, don''t tell me they''re just using St. Davion''s name to get recruits?"

    Elizabeth starts to feel burning anger inside her.

    How dare a small agency use the name of a legendary saint! But I mustn''t assume... I will go there to check!

    Whether good or bad, Elizabeth''s curiousity and also creeping desperation is helping push her forward.

    I just hope that it''s pushing me in the right direction.

    Elizabeth stands up and follows the directions needed to go towards St. Davion''s hero agency.

    <hr>

    Within the heart of the city where the majority of hero agencies reside, a rundown building that resembles the pre-war apartment buildings comes into view.

    Inside the very rundown building is a cramp and old office.

    "What do you mean you can''t pay me?!"

    A man wearing a green spandex and a whole head mask is currently shouting at a young female behind a desk.

    "Jason plea-"

    "Jason?! I''m not Jason, I''m the great hero Flashfist! How many times do I have to tell you that!?"

    Jason raises his fist and flexes his strength.

    The woman stands up and says.

    "Jason please! We''re already on a tight budget! If you destroy anything else, this place will be ruined!"

    Jasom smiles cruelly.

    "So what?! I was just scouted by the Black Eagle agency! This worthless agency can go to hell for all I care!"

    Jason raises his fist and was about to hit the floor with his meta human strength-

    *knock*

    *knock*

    *knock*

    -but he suddenly stops when the two of them hear a clear knocking just outside the office door.

    The door opens and a very familiar face peeks in.

    It''s no one else but Elizabeth.

    "Ummm hello? Is this the St. Davion agency?"

    A shy but still firm voice calls out to the office.

    Jason and the panicking woman stops comically as they both turn around to see the person who interrupted them.

    The world suddenly halts as Jason and the woman stares.

    Elizabeth sees the costumed hero and the professionally dressed woman and assumes that they''re a part of the agency.

    The arrogant Flashfist who was about to destroy the rundown and old building suddenly stood up straight and gave the best smile he could, completely forgetting that he''s wearing a mask.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    The woman stands up quickly and despite her earlier panic, she manages to maintain a business oriented look.

    "Good morning! Welcome to the St. Davion hero agency! If you wish to hire a hero, here are our rates."

    The woman goes towards Elizabeth and hands her a pamphlet with the rates and heroes employed in the St. Davion''s agency.

    Elizabeth takes it and smiles, noting the rates which is... Extremely expensive!

    What are these rates! These rates are too expensive!

    Elizabeth looks at the woman in front of her and notices that she has an absolutely innocent look on her face.

    No... This... What is this?

    "How can I help you miss?"

    With a slightly tired face, Elizabeth speaks.

    "I was... Planning on applying for a hero position."

    The woman was quiet and was not reacting.

    "WHAT?!"

    Then suddenly she shouts surprised.

    She grabs Elizabeth''s hands with fervor and shouts.

    "Are you serious?!"

    Flashfist suddenly shakes as he sees Elizabeth get practically jumped on by his superior... Well after his earlier announcement, ex-superior.

    Elizabeth nods slightly surprised that a hero agency would want someone they haven''t tested or even checked if they have a hero license.

    "Ye-yes. I was planning on looking for an agency that would allow me to take the hero exam, so I can be licensed."

    The woman''s excited face suddenly drops.

    "You''re not yet licensed?"

    Elizabeth nods.

    Even Flashfist was disappointed.

    The woman suddenly speaks with a slightly stern and angry voice.

    "Sorry! But we no longer sponsor upcoming heroes!"

    Elizabeth''s face goes dark because sponsoring heroes is something that almost all agencies do.

    Why wouldn''t a small agency like this want to have their own licensed hero?

    Before Elizabeth could ask, she hears the other person in the room speak with an arrogant tone.

    "It''s not that they don''t but these people can''t sponsor anyone anymore! And more than that, everyone they sponsored left after completing their contracts!"

    The woman looks embarrassed but says nothing.

    Flashfist smiles at Elizabeth and says in the most courteous tone he can muster.

    "Miss, come join me. I already quit from this garbage agency and will join the Black Eagle agency. I have friends there and I''ll be able to refer you so they''ll sponsor you."

    Elizabeth ignores Flashfist for a moment and approaches the woman.

    "What''s your name miss? I am truly interested in this agency because I believe it used to be a great one."

    This isn''t true, Elizabeth doesn''t know if this place is a fraud or not but Elizabeth can''t help but meddle in someone else''s affairs.

    While this is a horrible trait for any normal person, it is the most important trait for heroes.

    The woman''s eyes glitter excitedly since it''s been a long time since anyone sincerely asked for the agency''s history.

    "My name is Sheena Barlen! And I am the CEO and current owner of the St. Davion''s hero agency."

    Barlen...

    Davion.. Barlen

    Elizabeth''s eyes suddenly go wide. Barlen is the family name of St. Davion himself.

    Elizabeth takes a good look at Sheena and notices.

    She has traits coming from St. Davion! Dark reddish hair, reptilian like eyes and an innocent naive demeanour.

    This is St. Davion''s descendant!

    Elizabeth grabs Sheena''s hand and squeals.

    "You''re Davion''s great grand daughter!"

    Sheena was suddenly surprised by Elizabeth''s fervor and was slowly panicking.

    She was never used to this type of treatment even though a lot of people used to react this way when the agency was still famous.

    Before Sheena could reply, Flashfist impatiently speaks.

    "Come on, if you apply here, you''ll be wasting your potential. This place might have been the agency of St. Davion''s family but it''s going down anyway. And worst of all they only give you a 20,000 credits monthly allowance!"

    20,000?!!!

    Elizabeth''s face practically falls off once she hears the monthly allowance of the heroes here.

    16,000 credits is the minimum wage and an increase of 4,000 a month is big but... the average hero allowance is 45,000.

    Elizabeth makes 18,500 credits a month as a traffic enforcer and it''s only that high is because she does her job well.

    Sheena replies weakly.

    "It''s because we don''t have much jobs! Nobody wants to hire our agency!"

    "And that''s our fault?!"

    Flashfist looks to Elizabeth again.

    "I already quit and I''m planning on entering the Black Eagle agency. They''re offering me a 35,000 monthly allowance as a starting hero. I''m going there now, if you want to try out you can come with me."

    Elizabeth looks at the rundown office and depressed Sheena.

    Money isn''t her goal as a hero but... she needs all the support she can get.

    She knows that she''s still in danger from unknown enemies.

    Closing her eyes and steeling her heart, Elizabeth looks at Sheena.

    "I''m sorry to bother you Sheena but will you allow me to be a sponsored hero here?"

    Sheena''s eyes suddenly widen as she sees the madwoman in front of her.

    Flashfist was startled by Elizabeth''s choice and he angrily speaks.

    "Are you a dumb bimbo?!"

    Elizabeth raises her eyebrow, annoyed by the term.

    "I just told you this place is falling apart and worthless. If you don''t come with me, you''re going to waste your beauty!"

    Elizabeth turns around with a serious look reserved to only the most annoying of people.

    Flashfist flinches from her stare but recalls that he''s a hero and she''s just a beautiful woman.

    "You think you can scare me! I wi-"

    Before Flashfist could raise his voice, Elizabeth pulls out a badge.

    It''s the badge of a police officer.

    While heroes are the saviors and protectors of the city, the law is still considered above them.

    A police officer might not be as strong as a hero but a police officer is the will of the law and even heroes are under the law.

    Fearful of the repercussions, Flashfist curses and goes to leave.

    He slams the door open ripping it away from its hinges.

    Sheena looks at Elizabeth and she thinks for just a moment.

    Maybe... This one won''t run away.

    When Elizabeth turns around, she sees Sheena smiling with teary eyes.

    Like a mother, Elizabeth approaches her and gives the depressed woman a firm pat on the head and opens her arms, welcoming her into a hug.

    Sheena suddenly cries and goes to Elizabeth''s open arms.

    "There, there. Has it been hard?"

    "YESSSSS!!!!"

    Sheena cries out with some snot in her nose. She thinks she''s absolutely disgusting but Elizabeth doesn''t pull away.

    After a while, Sheena calms down and Elizabeth helps wipe her tears and snot away.

    "So, Ms. Barlen I''m guessing this place is... Falling apart because?"

    Once calm, Sheena nods and replies.

    <hr>

    Elizabeth is angrily staring at a Sheena who is currently sitting in a kneeling position.

    How this situation came to be is because Elizabeth heard the agency''s reason for failure.

    "Well... We need to raise the prices so that even if one person hires us... We get a lot of it..."

    "Dumbass!"

    Elizabeth slaps her face slightly angry.

    She slowly removes her hand and looks at the teary eyed Sheena.

    "... Who taught you to handle this agency?"

    Sheena meekly replies.

    "My father...."

    "Was the agency already failing then?"

    Sheena slowly nods.

    "Who taught him?"

    "My grandfather."

    "Was... The agency already failing then?"

    Sheena nods again.

    "Who taught him?"

    "....."

    "Sheena"

    "St. Davion..."

    The saint was a horrible business man! They probably only survived because the saint was rich!

    Elizabeth takes a careful look around and sighs. They must''ve run out of funds.

    Elizabeth sighs heavily and starts thinking of her goal.

    Maybe it''s not too late to go to the Black Eagle agency...

    No, it''s not Elizabeth''s style to ignore people she can help.

    She stares at the helpless Sheena who''s probably the last of her generation to hold this agency.

    Alright, being a licensed hero can wait. You better be preparing me good food in heaven mom.

    Elizabeth who''s been self sufficient since 18 years old suddenly grabs hold of Sheena''s shoulders, startling the poor girl.

    "I''m gonna help you fix this place up!"

    <hr>

    A saint! No an angel! NO A GODDESS!

    These are the thoughts that are running inside Sheena''s mind as she stares at Elizabeth''s eyes.

    Elizabeth just met her now and yet, she''s already offering help without the assurance of payment or compensation.

    For a moment, Sheena remembers the line of his great grandfather that was passed down for generations.

    "Fear not! For I am here!"

    She somehow felt that if Elizabeth supported her, she could do anything.

    So with renewed vigor and strength, she gladly agrees in affirmative.

    "Yes! Once we get enough money we can sponsor you!"

    Elizabeth smiles, content in the knowledge that she''s helping someone.

    While stuck in their space of good and kind energy, Sheena lightly prayed to her great grandfather.

    Great grandfather, thank you for everything, you are a great hero and example but... you''re a shitty businessman.

 Peters sideventure Ch. 2

    Within a dark and cold void, a young man was drifting quietly.

    His face was calm and at peace with eyes that even the void would call ice cold.

    But despite the maddening darkness and empty coldness, the man wasn''t alone... He never was.

    It''s here again huh?

    Within the dark void, an impossibly gargantuan creature swims clumsily.

    Despite the void''s size, the young man could not ignore the creature for it had silver white scales that glimmers like the moon and teeth longer than any sword.

    This creature was of legends, for he was in front of a dragon.

    Peter was never a man who was easily scared.

    Even when the division leader almost killed him just to show him a lesson, Peter was never afraid.

    But there has been times where he became awestruck.

    This moment is one of those times.

    This majestic dragon had silver scales with a gargantuan body and wings that could blot out the sun.

    It spoke but no words came out. Peter thought it to be mute but he knows it can speak but he can''t hear it.

    In truth, this magnificent creature is absolutely beautiful. The only time he saw something as magnificent as this was... Because of an amazing person.

    "This is the second time we meet dragon. The first time was when I entered winter king form while fighting the division leader. Once I lost, I entered a coma then saw you... Now I see you again."

    Peter speaks knowing that he can''t listen to the dragon but it listens to him.

    The dragon replies but still Peter cannot hear it.

    Frowning, Peter speaks.

    "I can''t hear you. Your mouth moves but I hear no sound."

    The dragon stops, confused but understanding.

    The dragon suddenly closes its mouth, leaving a small opening.

    Peter raises an eyebrow.

    Then the dragon breathes ice and snow as cold air comes from its mouth.

    Peter is suddenly surprised as he sees familiar letters.

    Slowly the dragon creates words that Peter could roughly understand.

    In very rough letters, Peter reads out loud.

    "Greetings lord of Stygia."

    Peter smiles.

    "I am a lord but not of Stygia. My power is not as great as the legendary myth."

    The dragon bares its teeth as it smiles.

    Peter can''t help but feel cautious of the sword like teeth.

    Despite his strength, he feels that a single chomp would be enough to kill him even if you multiply his strength by a 100 times.

    It seems to notice Peter''s cautiousness as it suddenly closes its mouth again but only to open it and breath ice again.

    "No, you are not the lord I know but you carry his scent and eyes. Your power is nothing compared to him but you have his mark... I wonder will you succeed him or will you die against his other successors."

    Peter shakes his head.

    This is crazy. This must be one of those coma induced dreams.

    Breathing ice, the dragon speaks once more.

    "This is not a dream."

    "This is what a dream would say."

    Peter despite the situation is still maintaining his calm.

    The dragon seems amused by this attitude and snorts ice.

    "Time to wake up."

    <hr>

    *beep*

    *beep*

    *beep*

    Peter hears the sound of beeping as he opens his eyes.

    Moving his eyes, he notices that he''s expertly strapped onto a medical bed with machines keeping him alive.

    He slowly rises up, carefully removing the machines strapped to him.

    The machines start to blare but Peter''s condition is stable enough so he doesn''t bother to return.

    Peter sighs, knowing that people are probably coming to get or check up on him.

    Once out of the bed, Peter turns off the machine but it doesn''t stop the people from going towards his room.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    *slam*

    The door suddenly bursts open as an 8 foot tall giantess with a dangerously curvy body goes in.

    Peter sees her and thinks if he should just leave but before he could decide what to do the giantess crashes onto him.

    "PETER!"

    Peter is easily lifted off the ground as the giant meta woman hugs him.

    He tries to speak but is muffled by her body.

    "He-Helen. Plea-Please put m- me down."

    Eventually Helen calms down and sets the battered Peter down.

    Peter looks behind her and sees the dozens of nurses and people that are supposed to handle him.

    Helen smiles and looks at Peter.

    "Peter you''re awake."

    Helen says this happily but also with some slight poison behind it.

    "It means you can help me on all the paperwork you guys left me!"

    Large stacks of paper suddenly appear behind Helen, all summoned from her storage ring.

    Peter was surprised on how much paperwork was stacked up.

    Despite his always calm demeanour, Peter was unbelieving.

    This is because while in the void, Peter already calculated how much paperwork would be waiting for him and after taking a look at the stack of papers, this is at least 3 times his estimated value.

    Peter isn''t stupid so something must''ve happened.

    "Wait... Us guys?"

    Helen nods.

    "You''re not the only one who got knocked out of commission. After you entered a coma, Lucas followed shortly after getting badly beaten."

    Peter was surprised.

    This is the first time Lucas got so beaten up that he couldn''t work.

    "Did the division leader beat him?"

    Helen shakes her head.

    "No, it was Carlo Simmons, the heir to the Core Suits corporation."

    Peter eyes suddenly go wide as he recalls all the files pertaining to Carlo Simmons.

    He recalls the words.

    Unfortunate.

    Slowly weakening.

    A fallen prodigy.

    Peter would never call him a cripple but Lucas kept saying it when the three of them read the report.

    "What happened?"

    Helen shrugs "I''m not sure myself... Lucas didn''t say anything. Not even to me."

    Peter nods.

    After momentarily thinking, he takes a look at the nurses and doctors waiting behind Helen.

    "Helen please wait for me in our lounge, the doctors are waiting."

    Helen turn around and chuckled a little. She forgot that Peter needed checking and she prevented the doctors from doing their job.

    She nods and retrieves all the papers.

    "Don''t slack off once you come back."

    Peter smiles.

    "When have I ever slacked off."

    Peter waves Helen off as he awaits his diagnosis.

    <hr>

    "And don''t forget to reset your inner energy or it might fluctuate once more. Also your eyes have gone brighter. It doesn''t seem to function any less so it might just be an effect of your superpower."

    Peter nods while dressing up, wearing his long coat.

    "Do not use your superpower''s manifestation again, your body is not yet capable of handling it. Thankfully you woke up earlier than expected."

    Peter nods, genuinely surprised that he wasn''t out of commission for a month. It''s been only 2 or 3 weeks since he killed those two lord ranks.

    When he first used the manifestation, it took him a month to recover.

    Peter recalls the two lords he killed. He didn''t destroy their bodies so he could bring them back home.

    Peter also took some of their green liquid. He gave a lot to the organization but kept a few vials for himself.

    His own cells scream at him when he holds them though.

    Once dressed, Peter gives his doctor a thankful nod and goes to leave.

    While walking through their underground facility, Peter suddenly notices a used room.

    He didn''t see anyone but he heard it.

    A scream so much in pain it felt like it was happening to him.

    "Lucas..."

    Peter didn''t care for Lucas and in fact, he hates him but he was still a part of their three man team. If Lucas died or became a burden, he would be relegated to lower positions.

    Once relegated to a lower position, someone will have to replace him.

    While Peter absolutely hated Lucas, he knew Lucas enough that he wouldn''t backstab him in the middle of a mission.

    So he preferred the arrogant idiot alive.

    Peter enters the room where he hears the screaming and noticed that there is an inner room where Lucas was located while the room he entered is a place where you can watch.

    "Surprising isn''t it?"

    Peter heard the voice of a familiar person.

    Turning around, he sees a young woman that eearily looked like Lucas.

    It was his sister.

    Peter saw her watching him get tortured by a machine in front of a large tv screen.

    Peter didn''t react and joined her on the seats.

    "Carlo Simmons did this?"

    The sister nodded.

    "How?"

    Peter maintained his cold demeanour and asks.

    "According to Lucas'' report, Carlo used a core suit."

    Peter nods waiting for her to continue.

    "But the core suit was unlike anything any core suit ever created. All core suits give varying massive boosts to their owners but their abilities are supposed to be limited to how much tech and energy is put into them."

    Lucas'' sister suddenly frowns.

    "But according to Lucas'' report, the suit constantly used a large amount of weapons and kept changing."

    Peter was interested because while he doesn''t use a core suit, he could request for a standard mark IV suit that didn''t have weapons but would raise his strength from starter lord to low lord rank.

    The only problem was that he''d have to pay for the maintenance and energy cores himself and if he wanted to improve its offensive power, he''d need to install weapons that would cost thousands of credits which he could just use to buy evobeast cores to feed his energy pool.

    I need to strengthen my body, so I can use my manifestation easier.

    Peter recalls the dragon''s words and his current power. The more he grows stronger, the more his superpower''s raw ability improves but with enough training, Peter is planning on making more precise improvements to the ability.

    The sister then raised a small machine in her hand. It was a metal cube.

    The machine started to dismantle itself one by one, revealing small but important parts, then slowly transformed into another working metal object.

    The sister used it to give her a small self moving back massager.

    Peter ignored it.

    "Peter, you are aware of my brother''s hatred to machines. So you can imagine his pain after losing to someone like Carlo."

    Peter nods.

    "And he absolutely hates people like you."

    Peter doesn''t react.

    In Lucas'' family, everyone except him has talent with machines.

    Similar to the Simmons, Lucas'' family were a bunch of tech geniuses.

    Especially his sister, who can manipulate technology as a superpower.

    Lucas on other hand had no talent when it came to tech.

    But Peter knew why Lucas hated him.

    Still, Peter ignored it because he had his own goals and Lucas wasn''t someone of importance.

    He watched Lucas'' arms get restructured from the ground up as his veins and energy vessels get ripped out and fixed.

    It was painful and Peter knew that it would take a while, so he bid Lucas'' sister a goodbye and left.

    Once outside, the lord of ice walked towards his office.

    Inside his familiar office, Peter heard Helen typing and handling paper.

    "Oh, you''re here. Did you check up on Lucas?"

    Peter nodded and went to his desk.

    Members of the organization are usually outside during missions but in rare occasions when they''re not busy, they do paperwork related to research and information gathering.

    Once seated, Peter looks at Helen.

    "Helen, can I have the report about Lucas?"

    Helen went to Peter''s side and handed him a medium sized file. Since the mission was quickly handed to Lucas, there wasn''t much information filed.

    Opening it, Peter started reading the file.

    "So they sent a promising agent but got devoured by an artificial evobeast?"

    Helen replies affirmative.

    Peter frowns, reading about the Gate to the Future.

    He was the one supposed to deal with organizations like this but due to his situation, a company managed to slip through the cracks.

    Still frowning, Peter continues to read the report.

    The report detailed the damage and scale of their fight. The scale was considered to be on a starter lord rank fight so the damage was massive but still manageable.

    Peter didn''t find anything different or impressive to note, not until he reached the notes and extra information.

    He saw a familiar name which shocked even his ice cold expression.

    Elizabeth Rielle

    "What?"

 Chapter 21: An Electrifying Situation

    Within her comfortable bathroom, our beautiful female cultivator is currently surrounded by herb infused waters.

    "Haaaaaa"

    Elizabeth enjoys the fresh pure energy seeping into her pores.

    As always, the waters become clear as Elizabeth drained the power of the herbs in a few minutes.

    *sigh*

    Elizabeth is slightly disappointed because she can''t even enjoy her herb baths because her body absorbs the energy way too fast.

    She stands up and starts to dry herself.

    She recalls her meeting with Sheena a day ago.

    Poor kid.

    Elizabeth sighed, and decided to help the failing agency. It wasn''t just a whim and she didn''t change her mind either.

    Despite the world being a cruel and hard place, it was just Elizabeth''s nature to be kind.

    I just hope it doesn''t bite me in the future.

    Once dried, Elizabeth starts to dress up wearing home clothing because she doesn''t have any business today except drafting up a new system for the St. Davion hero agency.

    ... Or else... They''ll really run out of clients.

    In her living room, Elizabeth dries her hair using a towel while looking for her tv remote.

    Her clothes are a simple pair of shorts that are so short that if one looked at a specific angle, they would see her underwear. Her top is a white tank top that shoes her beautiful figure and voluptuous tops.

    Right now inside her home, Elizabeth is truly a sight to behild. Her black hair, flawless skin and sexy figure is the source of many people''s admirations.

    These were the taughts of a person who''s currently peeking through Elizabeth''s home.

    Such... a beautiful goddess...

    Elizabeth was unaware of the peeper but suddenly felt uncomfortable.

    Is someone staring at me?

    Elizabeth subconsciously prepares for a dangerous situation but after a while, the uncomfortable feeling disappears.

    She goes nears the windows and carefully looks outside.

    After not seeing anything or anyone, she closes the curtains and locks the windows.

    Elizabeth takes a look at her clock.

    8:30 pm

    Weird... shouldn''t the patrols be in this area?

    Elizabeth takes a careful look again at the outside of her window.

    Elizabeth notices something out of place.

    The lights are out.

    All the streetlights are off which isn''t supposed to happen because those are powered by miniaturized fusion cells.

    How can they be off?

    She didn''t forget to close her curtains but she can''t shake off the feeling that something is coming.

    Worried and slightly nervous, Elizabeth immediately goes back to her room.

    She starts rummaging throughout her supplies and collects the energy dense briefcase.

    While it is still giving her a very large amount of energy, it''s no longer enough for her.

    It''s just a liability for her unless she opens it but due to recent events, Elizabeth has developed a small amount of fear towards unknown objects.

    If she opens it, she might suddenly die. But she also can''t just leave it lying around anywhere.

    "Need to hide this then."

    Elizabeth takes a clear look at her significantly cleaner room.

    She no longer has large pinup boards in her room.

    Since she became a Cultivator, Elizabeth focused on gaining more natural energy thus forgoing the other plans.

    Elizabeth then locks the door and closes the window curtains to make sure that no one sees her.

    She quiets down and turns off every thing that''s making noise in her room.

    *inhale*

    *exhale*

    *inhale*

    *exhale*

    Elizabeth closes her eyes and her senses amp up as she slowly increases the range of her 5 senses.

    When she realizes that the house is clear, she clicks a hidden button under the bed.

    The bed slowly moves upward, revealing a metal box that''s made out of thick and dense materials.

    Courtesy of my unbelievably rich and talented brother.

    Elizabeth carefully puts the briefcase in the safebox, then slowly closes it once more.

    "Okay, let''s go check outside. The patrol might be in danger."

    Elizabeth goes to her precious stash of items and recovers her old stuff.

    "It doesn''t hurt for me to use them and I can always cover my body and face."

    Elizabeth wears all her slightly obsolete gear but since she''s already stronger than most of the abilities her items can give her, she only wears them to hide her appearance.

    She locks her house and exits through the back, where there isn''t a clear area for her to be seen.

    Once outside, Elizabeth starts to stalk her district''s street all the while following the usual path of the patrol.

    After a few minutes of continuous trudging through the dark, Elizabeth notices something weird.

    The patrol is missing and these lights are....

    Elizabeth goes to kneel down and check the lights for their energy sources.

    She takes out her badge and uses it to sign in through the streetlight''s emergency system, allowing her entry.

    She then opens the streetlight''s fusion cell container and picks it up.

    *pssh*

    Elizabeth''s hand smokes for a second and she drops it quickly.

    "It''s hot so that means it just lost power recently but... This thing is meant to last for years..."

    *step*

    Elizabeth suddenly hears a footstep behind her.

    Turning around with caution, Elizabeth sees an empty street.

    Huh no one...

    Elizabeth returns the fusion cell and closes the streetlight.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Once secure, she starts to walk and go towards another patrol route.

    "Agh!"

    It was at this moment that Elizabeth suddenly hears a cry of pain.

    Without any hesitation, Elizabeth runs with her superhuman speed and bolts towards the noise.

    Turning towards a corner, Elizabeth sees an unconscious person on the ground wearing a police uniform.

    In front of the police uniform is a medium height man with a lanky build.

    Elizabeth wrinkles her nose a little at the person not because of the unconscious cop but because the man is...

    Naked.

    A pervert!

    Elizabeth takes a stance.

    "Sir! Step away from the police officer."

    Elizabeth does standard procedure and prepares to arrest the man.

    The man doesn''t react and Elizabeth increases her strength and is ready to use her 10x mortal charges if this pervert is more than it seems.

    The man slowly turns around, revealing a young and beautiful looking man.

    "Immortal?"

    A calm voice comes from the naked man and Elizabeth suddenly loses her seriousness.

    Immortal?

    Elizabeth''s edge lightly dulls but she realizes that only one being has ever called her anything remotely close to "immortal".

    "Sp-sparky?"

    The man''s yellow colored eyes sparkle as he fully turns around.

    "IMMORTAL IT''S YOU!"

    Sparky suddenly runs towards Elizabeth with his naked body.

    Elizabeth scrunches her face and notices Sparky''s body.

    It''s dirty and stinks.

    "No! Get away!"

    Sparky stops with a heartbroken expression.

    He falls to his knees.

    "I knew it! I knew it was stupid to trust anyone."

    Elizabeth''s jaw hangs low as he stares at the pathetic appearance of this man.

    What happened to cultivators being dignified beings?!

    "Stand up you pervert!"

    Sparky forgets his position and stands up and starts acting with a dignified attitude once more.

    "Forgive me for my attitude, it seems I lost my-"

    "It''s too late for that!"

    Sparky''s dignified appearance is worthless in contrast to his dirty appearance, pathetic state and nakedness.

    Rubbing her forehead, Elizabeth says.

    "Sparky, let''s go. Follow me."

    Sparky nods as he follows Elizabeth.

    "Wait before I go."

    Elizabeth goes towards the unconscious police man and checks if he''s alive.

    A pulse! He''s a regular here and it would be a shame if died. He''s alive... just unconscious... wait! If he''s unconscious that means!

    Elizabeth looks for the police man''s badge.

    She finds it inside his coat and notice that at the center of the badge is a flashing white color.

    Oh no!

    In mercury city, police men and women are cherished as enforcers of the law as long as they don''t abuse them. Especially considering that not many people want to become a police officer since there is the hero profession. So to protect these police officers, they are given the choice to undergo an operation that allows them to connect their badges to their body. The badge is connected to all the hero agencies in the city.

    Elizabeth herself didn''t connect herself to the badge because of privacy reasons.

    If a situation happens where a police officer is harmed or incapacitated while at work, the badge alarms the nearest hero agency. At this point the badge is supposed to have a red color, meaning that the agency hasn''t seen the alarm yet. Once the agency has a white color, it means they''ve intercepted the warning.

    Good! That means there''s no one incomi-

    While thinking to herself, Elizabeth sees the badge''s light turn blue.

    Shit.

    A blue light on a badge means that a hero has intercepted the call and is incoming.

    When the badge turned blue, Elizabeth immediately stands up and goes towards Sparky.

    "We need to go now!"

    Sparky raises his eyebrows in confusion. Elizabeth doesn''t use her strength just in case she hurts him.

    Elizabeth''s eyes suddenly widen as she hears the sound of flight.

    "Stop villains!"

    *thud*

    The ground shakes and the two cultivators are almost knocked off their feet.

    Wait that voice... It''s familiar.

    Elizabeth curses in her mind.

    I just came from a dangerous situation a few days ago! Can''t I get some slack!

    Elizabeth brings up a device from her pack and she covers her face and immediately slaps it on Sparky''s face.

    She whispers to him.

    "Follow my lead."

    Turning around with their masks covering their faces, Elizabeth speaks.

    <hr>

    Not so far from the St. Davion hero agency, the Black Eagle hero agency building is neatly settled between another house and lot subdivision and a lot of commercial areas.

    It is the perfect area for an upcoming hero agency that wants to build its reputation but also keep enough distance from the big agencies to avoid trouble.

    Usually it is unethical for an agency to settle down so near another agency but the current owner of the Black Eagle is someone who doesn''t care about such ethics.

    And currently inside the luxurious office of the Black Eagle, a bulky and bald man is screaming at another person.

    "What do you mean you didn''t destroy that bottom barrel agency!?"

    The man who was being screamed at was a hero named Flashfist.

    He appears to look pitiful as his new boss and supervisor is screaming at him.

    His mask is currently off revealing a face that doesn''t seem to take care of himself.

    That goddamn bitch! If only....

    He remembers the humiliation he got from Elizabeth.

    The condition of Black Eagle taking him in was to damage St. Davion to the point it shuts down to remove competition.

    But because of Elizabeth, Jason couldn''t harm the agency except the destroyed door.

    Jason grips his fists digging his nails in his palm.

    Jason''s entrance fee to the agency was supposed to be the destruction of St. Davion but now that he wasn''t able to finish his part of the deal, he''s not supposed to be here.

    Luckily for him, Jason managed to convince his contact to let him in under the promise of untapped potential.

    *slam*

    "Are you listening?!"

    Jason is jolted as his boss slams the table in front of him leaving an indent on the table.

    "Yes sir!"

    "Now that you understand, I want to you destro-"

    The boss suddenly stops as the door behind them opens.

    The two looks behind them and Jason stiffens.

    "Hello gentlemen. It''s nice to see you two on such a wonderful evening."

    The man was young, probably in his mid twenties. He had white hair and small eyes with a perpetual smile on his face. But no one in their right mind would look at that smile and think it was real.

    This person was the hero called Dark Star.

    The agency''s top hero!

    The Black Eagle agency is a starting agency and no one would give it any attention if not for the presence of one person.

    This person was non other than Dark Star himself.

    A lord rank hero with a super power. Such an individual would be working in middle class agencies not a small one like Black Eagle, so no one understands why this person is staying here.

    "Gentlemen, you haven''t noticed but the police safety is alarming. Someone has been hurt."

    The boss'' face goes pale as he sees the alarm and he hasn''t answered it yet.

    "I''ll immediately send someo-"

    The boss goes to click the alarm but Dark Star stops his hand with his own.

    "Dark star?"

    "No... I think I''ll be the one to answer this."

    The boss is suddenly confused as to why Dark Star wants the job. It''s nothing more than annoying job.

    But he has always been someone who always looked for amusing situations, so the boss allows him.

    Dark Star goes to leave and Jason could finally feel his lungs come back online.

    What is that guy?

    Surprisingly enough, the boss calms down as well and Jason can''t help but praise Dark Star.

    "Sir what about the St. Davion hero agency?"

    The boss thinks for a moment and his eyes fall on a piece of paper in his desk.

    Smiling, the boss takes it and puts it in front of the table so that Jason could see it.

    Written on the paper is "God Slayer Battle Tower"

    "Sir what do you mean?!"

    Jason was baffled because the Battle Tower is an annual event that the God Slayer organization organizes and what connection does it have with the St. Davion agency.

    "It''s hard to destroy the agency now since you''re no longer a member and i''m sure their few heroes will do anything to prevent it from getting destroyed."

    Jason nods.

    "We can destroy their organization in a way which won''t endanger us."

    The boss smiles but Jason is still dumbfounded.

    "We just need to cripple all of their heroes so that the agency is forced to close."

    Jason suddenly smiles when he fully understands the cruelty of his boss.

    He remembers Elizabeth''s defiant appearance. Dominating such a beautiful and fierce woman would be so satisfying.

    Just you wait.

    <hr>

    Within the Prometheus district, the two cultivators who were in a pickle were currently staring at the man in front of them.

    They both saw a very muscular man wearing a golden suit with installed lights.

    Wait... That''s! Golden boy!

    Elizabeth seems stunned at the appearance of the hero she just met.

    "Gallant hero! Please don''t attack."

    Golden boy stares at the unconscious guard and looks at Elizabeth and the naked Sparky.

    His face crunches as he becomes disgusted by the current situation.

    Elizabeth''s face pales as she realizes what the hero is currently thinking.

    "No it''s not what you think!"

    Golden Boy waves his hand.

    "Don''t explain yourself you perverts! Your type is not welcome here!"

    Nooooooo

    Elizabeth curses herself as a hero thinks of her as a villain and worse of all, a pervert.

    Golden boy suddenly charges.

    Elizabeth''s mind goes quick as she estimates how powerful Golden boy is.

    According to the hero reports, Golden Boy was a starter beast rank and was able to fly due to his suit''s abilities.

    But after seeing his current speed, Elizabeth concluded that Golden Boy might be low beast rank.

    That meant he was at least 20% the strength of a lord rank.

    Elizabeth prepared to brace herself but Golden boy was too fast for her and she sees him appear in front of her to grab her.

    No! It can''t end like this!

    Powerless to resist, Elizabeth tries to move even if just a little.

    But her enemy is too fast and too strong for her.

    Elizabeth sees the hand approach her with speed that is at least triple of hers.

    *catch*

    Suddenly out of nowhere, Golden Boy''s advance was stopped.

    Golden Boy''s hand was stopped in front of Elizabeth.

    Another hand was gripping his wrist with very little effort.

    "My immortal, is this waterbug annoying you?"

    Sparky calmly asked Elizabeth with an extremely respectful tone.

    Golden Boy tried to retreat and even started using his tech to bolster his power but he couldn''t escape.

    The ground was starting to quake from Golden Boy''s force but still, Golden Boy could not move.

    Thankfully, the foundations of Mercury city is tough or wide spread damage would be everywhere.

    Elizabeth notices that Golden Boy is actually having a hard time while Sparky is mostly unaffected.

    Adopting the demeanour of the many arrogant brats she met in her past life, Elizabeth speaks with finesse and class, also a lot of hidden arrogance.

    "Yes. Blow him away for me. Don''t kill him though, he might be of use later."

    Now, Elizabeth is just praying that Sparky''s strength isn''t just a fluke or else this would be extremelyembarrassing.

    Sparky nods and he looks towards Golden Boy who''s face was now filled with fear.

    "Disappear you roach."

    *snap*

    With a flick of his wrist, Golden Boy is sent flying thousands of meters up the air.

    Lord rank! Sparky is at lord rank level cultivation!

    Elizabeth uses her pure energy to peer into Sparky''s core. Inside Sparky, she sees a dirty and unrefined core. Compared to Elizabeth''s pure white core, Sparky''s core is utter garbage.

    But his core is different. Right now it has dozens of cracks on the core itself as it is being buffeted by the many energies swirling around it.

    The cracks aren''t signs of destruction but forging and tempering!

    This phenomenon means only thing.

    Sparky is already at the stage of core tempering.

    Sparky turns around "Immortal, the nuisance is gone now."

    Elizabeth stares at him dumbfoundedly.

    Ummm, I''ve got a bodyguard now?

 Chapter 22: An Ally

    Inside her house and away from the dangers of perverts and blinding heroes, Elizabeth is currently staring at her friend/benefactor/teacher?

    Wait, I forgot to add pervert to that list.

    Elizabeth stares at the young...

    Wait is he young? He might be a thousand years old for all I know.

    Elizabeth stares at Sparky and takes note of his features.

    Oddly handsome but has a slightly feminine appearance, Sparky looks to be reverent and awe-inspiring in nature.

    Elizabeth notices some clear parts of his appearance that will definitely make him stand out.

    Elizabeth suddenly realizes something.

    I''ve been dealing with handsome men for the past months!

    Elizabeth rubs her forehead, obviously frustrated.

    Sparky raises an eyebrow worried.

    Now that, Elizabeth got that out of the way, she does her ranking again.

    Peter is rough looking and looks like a cold prince but absolutely handsome and Carlo is an appealing, clean shaven and outstanding individual while... While Sparky is a PRETTY BOY!

    Elizabeth can''t help but stare at this sentient lightning bolt.

    "Ummm immortal?"

    Elizabeth snaps out of her staring and looks at Sparky with clear eyes.

    "How are the current clothes fitting you Sparky?"

    Despite his childish name, Sparky took pride in his name and is not at all fazed by it.

    "It is very comfortable!"

    Sparky gives Elizabeth a bright smile.

    Well at least his old clothes got some use.

    Elizabeth frowns, remembering the one who used to wear those clothes.

    Sparky seems a little bit unnerved once Elizabeth frowns.

    "My immortal... Are you okay?"

    Elizabeth nods still focused.

    "I just remembered someone unpleasant."

    Sparky''s eyebrows furrow and immediately kneels with one leg in front of Elizabeth.

    "Who is this someone!? I will immediately slay him and correct the unjustice served upon you."

    Elizabeth isn''t surprised. In her other life, she encountered many cultivators like him whom both grovelled and curried favor from their superiors.

    But sparky must know that I am far inferior to him... Why is he acting this way? Maybe he''s feeling gratitude?

    Whether gratitude or a malicious intent, Elizabeth keeps caution towards the superbly powerful cultivator.

    After all, she''s seen many cultivators that have betrayed others.

    "No ignore it, it has been a long time. He is of no importance."

    Elizabeth says this with a tinge of annoyance and a lot of eastern dialect.

    Apparently, Elizabeth doesn''t notice that when she''s angry, her way of speaking reverts to her past life''s way of speaking.

    Sparky nods and stands up.

    Elizabeth turns around to retire to her room but reminds Sparky of something.

    "For now, rest on the and clear your impure energy."

    Sparky raises an eyebrow.

    "Immortal my energy is already at the peak of pureness."

    Elizabeth freezes and turns around.

    "What?"

    Elizabeth peers through Sparky''s core again and notices that it''s full of impurities.

    Once she made sure that Sparky''s core is dirty, she zooms back and stares at the proud looking sentient lightning bolt, who currently has a pretty boy''s body.

    <hr>

    She''s so beautiful...

    Currently, Sparky was staring at his immortal. She was awe-inspiring and beautiful.

    He didn''t think this way before but ever since he gained a new body, he can''t help but react to things differently.

    His heart beats faster when he stares at his immortal.

    "Are you serious?"

    Elizabeth looks dumbfounded after Sparky proudly announces the beautiful state of his core.

    "Yes my immortal!"

    Since Sparky just gained a new body, he didn''t know how to read the appearance of humans and didn''t know that Elizabeth had a very shocked and baffled look.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Elizabeth shakes her head.

    "You know what, it''s already late. We should sleep. We can talk about this tomorrow morning, when I don''t have to deal with my sleepiness."

    Elizabeth goes to stand and starts to walk towards her room but she stops when she notices something.

    "...."

    "Sparky..."

    "Yes Immortal?!"

    Elizabeth was currently standing in front of her room''s doorway and Sparky was just right behind her.

    Sparky tilts his head as he sees his immortal sigh.

    No Elizabeth, be patient. This sentient lightning bolt is the reason you''re here right now.

    Elizabeth stares at the pretty boy who''s wearing the clothes of her ex-boyfriend.

    It fits him way better compared to that asshole.

    "Sparky, I plan on sleeping."

    Sparky nods, still not aware of my meaning.

    "It means, I need some privacy and you will not be with me in this room."

    Suddenly, Sparky''s enthusiasm dives down rock bottom.

    He frowns and he shows Elizabeth a face that befits a puppy moreso than a human being.

    Elizabeth flinched.

    He''s so adorable!

    Sparky notices the chang and he continues on his depressed appearance.

    When he thought that he would break Elizabeth''s resolve.

    "Think again, Sparky."

    Elizabeth smiles with grim resolve.

    I''ve already dealt with two super hot men this past month! Your childish cuteness cannot defeat the likes of Oliver and Carlo!

    "Go sleep on the couch"

    Elizabeth says this with a tinge of finality as Sparky gives up and dropps his head down.

    He turns around and starts to walk.

    He turns around pitifully, just to check if Elizabeth changed her mind.

    When he sees that she''s not even batting an eye, he surrenders to his fate and he goes to the couch.

    When Sparky is finally lying down and under the blanket, albeit staring at Elizabeth with puppy eyes, Elizabeth gives a nod of approval and goes back to her room.

    The sound of locks engaging is heard by Sparky as Elizabeth locks her room.

    Sighing, Sparky laments to himself.

    Why doesn''t immortal want to be with me? If we were to sleep together, we would be able to share energy and leap up to loftier heights. She''d be able purify my energy and I''d be able to increase her own.

    The confused Sparky was thinking these thoughts as he went to do his business.

    <hr>

    Elizabeth was on her bed and slept, entering a meditative sleep, so that she could enter her past life once more.

    "Elizabeth! Wake up!"

    Elizabeth immediately opens her eyes and stares at the face of a familiar friend.

    Felicia.

    Elizabeth sits down and starts to stretch.

    Felicia started to prepare as well, while waiting for her friend to prepare.

    Elizabeth''s state of mind immediately adjusts to her past life.

    Fortunately, she''s been here many of times and have managed to understand her past self''s personality.

    They were similar in two regards. They both valued justice a lot.

    Standing up, Elizabeth uses her tempered core to clean herself and her clothes.

    Yes, in her current past life, Elizabeth is a peak Core Tempering cultivator with the purest core in the world itself, only matched by Master Bai''s purest core.

    If i recall, today will be the day Master Bai will teach me and Felicia the special types of cultivator realms.

    Hmm I should a-

    "What are you doing! You slowpoke!"

    Felicia uses her peak core tempering and forcefully drags Elizabeth while running.

    "Hurry up! You remember the last time we were late!?"

    Elizabeth shudders in fear as she remembers the time they were thrown into a cage with dozens of low level spirit beasts just because they were late.

    Spirit beasts were non humanoid beast creatures that developed somehow gained a small form of cultivation thus making them stronger than any normal animal.

    Fearful of any punishment, Elizabeth let herself be dragged along by Felicia.

    <hr>

    *thwack*

    Elizabeth rubs her head as she feels the soreness of being hit on the top of the head with an energy infused bamboo stick.

    Besides her, Felicia is doing the same.

    Master Bai was walking around while tapping his hand with a bamboo stick.

    "What did I say?"

    Elizabeth and Felicia repeat his words.

    "It is an important lesson. Do not be late no matter what."

    "It is an important lesson. Do not be late no matter what."

    "What should you say then?!"

    The two kneel and immediately bow.

    "We apologize."

    "We apologize."

    Bai stares at the two repentant children and sighs.

    "Now that you two get it! Raise your heads!"

    "Yes!"

    "Yes!"

    The two of them sit up straight and prepare for their lesson.

    "As I said before, after Physique Tempering, you will eventually need to tackle Core Tempering. Every Realm has a standard peak state but with enough luck, skill and even money, one can achieve a more powerful variant of the normal state... Or if one is not careful, they might even create a weaker variant of the original state."

    The two nods, listening carefully.

    "The Physique Tempering is the easiest of all the realms and thus have no other variants. But at Core Tempering-"

    Bai notices Elizabeth raise her hand and calls her.

    "Yes Elizabeth? Do you have a question."

    Felicia let this be because for the past few months, they''ve been training, Elizabeth was the type to ask questions over and over.

    "Is it truly impossible to create a variant for the Physique Tempering?"

    Bai smiles and chuckles.

    "Of course you''d ask that. You keep breaking records after records. I wouldn''t be surprised you''d want to ask that but it''s already too late, you''re already at Core Tempering."

    "Please humor me?"

    Bai raises an eyebrow but he nods.

    "Under common and even under very rare circumstances, it is almost impossible for a variant of Physique Tempering. Even I just have a pure Physique Tempering, the best of the standard."

    Elizabeth nods and frowns but perks up when her master continues.

    "But! According to basic theory, it should be completely possible."

    Elizabeth''s eyes sparkle while Felicia seems slightly uninterested. She wants to know more about how to create a Core Tempering Variant.

    "Our core is a very complex mechanism that allows us to control and use the natural energies in the world. It''s our conduit to the mysterious and mystical. Because of this, the core follows a ''standard'' way on how to manifest it''s abilities but under special circumstances, the mechanism of how the core performs and acts can be changed for the better or... For the worst."

    Elizabeth nods, understanding the basics.

    "Why is it hard to create a Physique Tempering Variant then?"

    "While we already develop a core during Physique Tempering, most of our energy goes to the body thus making it nigh impossible to make the core influence it but on the offchance that the body can be changed on how it deals with energy... It might be completely possible to create a new Variant."

    Elizabeth''s eyes suddenly sparkle as she found a way to maybe increase her strength.

    "But for now, I think it''s impossible."

    Master Bai shrugs.

    "For now, let me teach tou about Core Tempering Variance and my goal for you two..."

    The time Elizabeth spends in her past life goes by quickly as she absorbs all the knowledge she can.

    While her past life was playing she had one thought.

    I need a Physique Tempering variant that would help with my energy gathering!

    <hr>

    The sounds of slightly mutated birds chirping flutter in the air as Elizabeth opens her eyes.

    She sits up and stretches.

    Immediately, she spreads her senses to reach the whole house.

    Her eyes widen and she immediately stand up.

    She goes to her door and opens it by removing all the locks.

    Once out she looks around with quick emergency.

    Sparky is gone! Before Elizabeth could call the police station to file a missing person report, she hears a voice.

    "Immortal?"

    Elizabeth looks around and hears Sparky from the guest bathroom.

    Turning around, she sees an almost bare-naked Sparky drying himself off with a towel. He also goes to cover his hands with another towel.

    Sighing in relief, Elizabeth asked herself in her thoughts.

    Why didn''t I sense him. I can sense him perfectly now.

    "Where did you go?"

    Sparky looks confused as he stares at Elizabeth.

    "I took a bath in your house''s bathroom."

    Elizabeth raises her eyebrow.

    "Why couldn''t I sense you then?"

    Sparky shrugs.

    "I don''t know my immortal but I was here in the bathroom the whole morning, trying to understand yout technology."

    Elizabeth sighs and says.

    "Okay okay, i''ll start on our breakfast. Come."

    Elizabeth checks the time and her eyes widen.

    10:00

    "I''m late!!!"

    Elizabeth runs to her room to prepare.

    Sparky stares at his immortal with confusion.

    Why is immortal late?

 Chapter 23: A Brewing Storm

    Inside a bus, that''s currently parked in a bus terminal, was a driver who''s waiting for the time for the bus to depart.

    *ring*

    "Just on time"

    The bus driver mutters to himself as he starts the engines.

    Despite having no passengers, due to earliness, the bus starts to depart.

    "WAIT!!!"

    The bus was already leaving so the shouting woman could not have reached it on time.

    The bus leaves the terminal as a frazzled looking Elizabeth just reaches the waiting area.

    "Noooooooo"

    Elizabeth almost falls to her knees in despair but she remember''s she''s wearing her formal clothes so she refrains from falling down.

    Behind her, is the extremely powerful Core Tempering Cultivator, Sparky.

    He''s wearing a clean suit that''s a little bit too small for him.

    He tries to make space for his neck since it''s a little too stuffy. This suit was definitely for a smaller person.

    Why does immortal have a suit bigger than her but smaller than me?

    While Sparky was contemplating the intricacies of the human suit, Elizabeth was currently pacing around thinking.

    "Crap... How will I explain this to Sheena! She''s waiting for me at the hero''s loan authority. If she can''t provide a valid reason for a loan, she''ll have to make do with her measly funds"

    Elizabeth recalls being shown the agency''s bank, it was barely enough to last for a 2 months.

    After talking about it, Elizabeth and Sheena decided to apply for a loan, using Elizabeth''s background as capital.

    Ughh... Even now, my stupid father has a powerful influence on my life''s success.

    Elizabeth also thought about asking Carlo for a loan because he said would help her but....

    She looks at the clueless Sparky.

    I''ve already dealt with too many handsome men, can''t I have a simple adventure without a supermodel.

    It wasn''t really about the looks but Elizabeth didn''t want to rely on anyone but herself. She wouldn''t accept being supported if she couldn''t at least support herself.

    "My immortal, is there a problem?"

    Elizabeth looks at Sparky, who is now comfortable with his clothing.

    "Yes... We''re late on our schedule and my friend is waiting for me."

    Sparky tilts his head.

    "We could fly there my immortal, it would be far easier."

    Elizabeth shakes her head.

    "We can''t. Only heroes or licensed individuals are authorized to fly. And in my case, I don''t have the power to apply for one."

    Sparky frowns.

    "Why should we listen to them? We''ll just beat up anyone who goes against us."

    That mentality again.

    Elizabeth sighs and speaks.

    "That doesn''t work here Sparky. There are rules and laws set in place that prevent the ruthless old fashioned thinking."

    Sparky seems utterly confused and still reaches his hand out.

    Elizabeth declines and says apologetically.

    "Also, I don''t want anyone to carry me while flying. I want to fly once I reach Core Tempering."

    Sparky nods smiling. At first he wouldn''t have cared for the opinion of others but now that his immortal clarified that she doesn''t want to be carried, he stops asking.

    Liar!

    Elizabeth feels bad and starts berating herself.

    That handsome Oliver just carried you a while ago!

    Elizabeth asks Sparky for forgiveness in her mind as she thinks of a way to get to St. Davion''s agency.

    "Well my immortal, if you do not wish to fly. We can simply run."

    Elizabeth nods.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    "I also think that''s the only choice left."

    <hr>

    Within the dilapitated office of St. Davion''s agency is a very jittery woman.

    She was pacing around, biting her nails and is constantly looking at the door.

    Every passing minute raised her anxiety levels through the roof.

    This poor and scared girl was none other than St. Davion''s descendant, Sheena.

    She was currently thinking of Elizabeth and what they talked about a few days ago.

    Oh my gods.

    Don''t tell me she isn''t coming?

    Was that all a lie to get my hopes up?

    No! Elizabeth is such a kind person!

    Sheena looks at the clock and sees that Elizabeth is 30 minutes past their agreement.

    For a moment, Sheena looks down, obviously depressed.

    She... She''s not coming.

    Her vision started to become dark as her breathing became erratic.

    It''s weird that despite being a meta human, she still suffers from physical weakness.

    It''s stupid but it''ssomething that can plague even the strongest humans.

    It''s Anxiety, plain and simple.

    Sheena''s psychological state continues to deteriorate as she starts to think even more bad stuff.

    *Knock*

    *Knock*

    *Knock*

    Sheena''s drowning heart suddenly gasps for air as she hears polite knocking behind.

    Turning around with an invigorated soul, Sheena''s jaw drops to the ground.

    "Hello did an Elizabeth Rielle come here?"

    A handsome and tall man wearing a black winter robe that covers his whole body walks in with a very reserved look.

    "Uh...uh...um...We-"

    The man was none other than Peter who found out that Elizabeth was planning on being affiliated with this hero agency.

    Why am I here?

    Peter was currently questioning himself. Why was he here?

    Why did he want to involve himself with this girl who he randomly met at an intersection.

    Was it the beauty?

    No.

    Was it her attitude?

    No.... Maybe?

    What is it then?

    These were Peter''s thoughts as he ignored Sheena''s stuttering.

    While Peter was looking around the shabby office, he internally smiled, respecting the vintage design that the office kept to respect St. Davion''s original design.

    Not too bad... It''s a shame that it isn''t well maintained.

    Peter understood why though. According to the reports, the agency was falling apart so no matter how famous St. Davion is, the agency would eventually disappear if it wasn''t well taken care off.

    Before Peter could continue his thought process, he hears the small Sheena speak with an extremely emotional voice.

    "WELCOME TO ST. DAVION''S AGENCY. THE HERO OF THE PAST IS ALSO THE HERO OF THE FU-"

    Peter raises an eyebrow as he sees Sheena accidentally bite her tongue.

    He asks politely.

    "Are you okay?"

    Sheena turns around, embarassed and in pain.

    "Kyes"

    She nods.

    Then her eyes widen once more.

    "Wait you''re asking for Elizabeth?!"

    Sheena''s mood goes down once more as she remembers Elizabeth.

    "Uh.. Um she''s no-"

    Peter raises an eyebrow, slightly annoyed that he might have wasted some of his precious weekend time trying to look for Elizabeth.

    Philia will get mad at me if I take too long.

    Peter is about to turn around when he hears a drop of liquid hit the ground.

    He sees the weak willed Sheena quietly tearing up.

    "Oh... It seems my eyes are watery again?"

    Sheena turns around wiping them while muttering her own inadequacies.

    It''s not Peter''s job to meddle with these things and frankly, he couldn''t care less... But a small pang of guilt hits his relatively cold heart.

    Sheena reminds him of Philia.

    Sighing, Peter takes a seat on the office''s old couch.

    He calls Sheena''s attention like how a human would call an animal.

    "Huh?"

    Sheena sees Peter sit down and is generally confused.

    Wasn''t he here for Elizabeth?

    "Sit."

    Peter''s voice is calm and devoid of command but the strength in his voice is undeniable so Sheena takes a seat.

    "I''ll wait for Elizabeth. She''s not a person who would break schedule unless it was not important."

    Sheena looked at Peter and she knew that he barely knew her but she also knew that he had faith in her.

    What am I even saying?! He''s right! Elizabeth is a kind soul! I''ve been interacting with selfish people all the time, I''ve forgotten to differentiate the good from the bad!

    Now with strengthened resolve, Sheena waits.

    <hr>

    Inside a police station office, a superhero was interrogating another very downtrodden hero.

    The interrogating hero is actually just asking but the atmosphere he''s exuding says otherwise.

    "Hmmm so you''re saying that two shady individuals, one a naked man and another a tightly dressed woman, managed to knock you out in single blow?"

    The previously glowing and zealous Golden boy is currently half buried in his own suit. He nods in his weakened state.

    The powerful but nonchalant blow of Sparky ripped his armor a hole and forced his body to accomodate.

    If not for Golden Boy''s specialized technique, his body would have had a hole.

    In front of this previously bright hero is a very scary looking individual.

    With a perpetual smile on his face, Dark star studies the beaten hero.

    Then he asks a question with an eerie air to him.

    "How powerful was this man?"

    "... I don''t know... He was too powerful for a mere beast rank like me to measure."

    Darkstar nods and his smile goes wider.

    Goldenboy feels a shiver go down his spine as he stared at this beast in human skin.

    Darkstar has always had a reputation. Goldenboy shivers at the thought of what would happen to that villain he met if Darkstar found him.

    "Do you have a picture of this man?"

    Golden boy hesitates for a moment but eventually relents.

    Despite the rumors, Darkstar is still a hero and evildoers must be punished.

    Goldenboy pulls out a small card that was installed inside his suit.

    While it was similar to a core suit, Goldenboy''s suit is so weak that it would be an insult to call it one.

    "Thisis my suit''s backup drive so that I could review fights or situations that I could find fault in myself."

    Dark Start nods, chuckling.

    Golden Boy once free of any hesitation or doubt, stands up.

    "May I leave now Dark Star?"

    Darkstar nods again.

    "So you''ll leave this villain to me Golden Boy?"

    He asks in a singsong voice.

    Golden Boy reluctantly agrees.

    "Yes Dark Star but please excuse me, I need to report to my superior."

    Dark Star nods, now satisfied.

    *ring*

    *ring*

    "Sheena? Sorry I haven''t reported for the whole day, I''ve been in a police station-"

    The other side started to scream in worry as Golden Boy was bombarded by questions.

    "Yes yes, I know. I''ll be more careful. The suit... It''s ruined but I can pay for it with my insurance so it won''t cost the agency a single credit."

    Golden boy hangs up and calls for an officer to sign him off.

    The waiting officer starts to inform Golden Boy of the basic information and then asks an important question.

    "Where is your agency again Golden Boy?"

    "St. Davion''s hero agency"

    Golden Boy''s body shakes as he feels a cold hand grab his shoulder.

    He turns around and sees a very amused looking Dark Star.

    "You''re going to your agency right now?"

    Golden Boy nods immediately because of his ignorance of the tensions between their respective agencies.

    "Hmm I will join you. I should pay my respects to the descendant of Saint Davion."

    Golden Boy suddenly beams.

    "Huh really?!"

    Golden Boy strives to appear similar to St. Davion, a bright hero capable of protecting everyone. So when Dark Star said that he wants to venerate St. Davion through meeting his descendant, he was immediately happy.

    Maybe he isn''t as bad as the rumors say!

    The two exit the station and head towards the agency.

 Chapter 24: Meeting

    "Strength is not always the answer. Sometimes one must rely on other means."

    Peter simply repeated the words he said towards his sister to Sheena.

    Sheena gobbled it up like it was dog treats. The poor woman was obviously infatuated with Peter.

    "That, that''s so wise!"

    Peter on the other hand just wanted the day to end. He was in a loop of comforting Sheena and also trying to leave but every time he wanted to leave, she''d start to cry about Elizabeth and he''d remember his sister.

    So he''s been here for 30 minutes.

    At this point of time, he realized the only way to get out of his predicament is to pull an Elizabeth from whatever hole he can.

    Which might include him just calling her.

    After finding about about her situation in the lab, he looked for her contact number through his own network.

    But Elizabeth is a smart woman, Peter knows she''ll catch on and it''ll be dangerous for her and misfortunate for him.

    He''ll have to kill her, especially since she''s an extremely nosy person.

    Peter internally frowns at the thought of killing Elizabeth.

    So for now, the unfortunate winter king focuses his mind on other matters.

    Peter then remembered his time in his self induced comatose.

    That won''t be the last time. I''m sure of it. That creature is inside of me or is at least a manifestation of my super power.

    Super powers.

    The special ability that separates the unique from the average. These abilities range from extremely simple ones, like being able to weakly manipulate small objects to godlike in strength, like being able to manipulate and create black holes.

    It''s exaggerated but there are super powers similar to that.

    They are usually categorized into different levels but they aren''t important right now.

    Right now, what''s important is that Peter gets out of his situation.

    Just as Peter is about to leave, his cells scream danger as he senses a powerful meta human approach the agency with high velocity.

    Peter stands up, scaring the poor Sheena.

    "What''s the problem?! Did I do something wrong!?!"

    "Girl, tell me who is the strongest hero here?!"

    Sheena, surprised by the sudden question blurts out an answer.

    "Golden Boy! He''s our strongest hero. He hasn''t come back since he answered the police alarm yesterday."

    Peter nods and then recalls info on Golden Boy.

    A beast rank can''t fly. Even with a flight suit, it shouldn''t be this fast.

    Peter focuses his concentration towards the meta human getting close to the agency and took great care in hiding his own aura.

    Thankfully Peter had abnormally strong senses which even the division leader praises.

    "Are you expecting guests?"

    Sheena thinks for a moment and Elizabeth pops into her mind.

    She starts to tear up.

    "Tsk"

    This woman is useless.

    "Stay at your desk, I''ll be greeting this person."

    Sheena looks confused.

    "But you''re not a hero here?"

    "It doesn''t matter, it''ll be quick. Give me one of your pamphlets."

    Sheena does as she''s told and Peter walks and waits near the front door.

    Not a second later, a gust of wind blows past the door and Dark Star appears inside the agency''s office.

    Smiling with great amusement, he looks around, ignoring Peter.

    Peter on the other hand has repressed his power to minimum levels and only releases an energy signal similar to a beast rank.

    "Wow so this is the Davion Agency-"

    "Good Morning good sir."

    Peter speaks with a casual but business voice towards Dark Star.

    Dark Star finally notices Peter and he smiles.

    "Ooh, a beast rank door greeter? Even my agency doesn''t have that. I guess you learn new stuff everyday."This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    Dark Star''s eyes sharpen as he stares at Peter.

    "How may I assist you sir?"

    Peter ignores the stare and asks him.

    "Well I am interested in asking something important. Bring me the owner of the agency."

    Dark Star adds a menacing tone to his voice.

    Peter gives Dark Star a business smile, albeit a cold one.

    "Unfortunately, Ms. Barlen is not available to meet anyone without a proper appointment. You must first call to set an appointment and then you will be fitted in since she is a very busy person."

    Peter crisply delivers his line and hands the pamphlet to Dark Star.

    "Our agency''s number is here. Call us for any inquiries."

    Now leave, I don''t have the time to fight an actual licensed hero...

    Peter frowns inside as he recalls this man''s appearance.

    He was Dark Star, a starter lord rank that was in a low end agency for all the wrong reasons.

    For one thing, murder is one of his most common way of subjugating criminals.

    Peter didn''t want to trouble himself having to kill Dark Star but as fate has decided, Dark Star decided to be stubborn.

    The pamphlet in Dark Star''s hand disappears into nothingness, as if it was sucked into a void.

    Peter sighs.

    The building starts to shake as Dark Star grimaces.

    "I''ve never met someone as brazen as you. Someone who could face me without shaking in fear. Interesting."

    Peter wasn''t scared nor was he reciprocating Dark Star''s interest.

    He had other stuff to do.

    He just wanted to leave.

    While Peter had a very deadpan face, Dark Star was already staring at the main office door.

    Dark Star raises his hand.

    "Since you didn''t immediately show me your boss, I''ll have to do my responsibility as a hero!"

    Peter frowns.

    Don''t tell me I have to fight.

    Peter is slowly pushed back by the aura Dark Star is releasing.

    Maintaining a steady and heavy voice, Peter warns Dark Star.

    "Sir, I suggest you leave. We do not tolerate violent individuals."

    Peter starts to move forward.

    The energy of the two lords start to collide but Dark Star doesn''t notice due to Peter still releasing a lower level energy signal.

    "STOP!!!!"

    The energy of the two meta humans suddenly plummet as they hear a shrill scream besides them.

    Sheena looks angry and also teary eyed when she finally notices the heavy shaking the building was suffering.

    No matter how scary Peter or the unknown guest was, she could never let her and her ancestor''s home be destroyed without her at least trying something.

    Peter is surprised that the weak willed Sheena could scream with so much force.

    Dark Star on the other hand smiles.

    He lowers his hand and his energy settles down.

    Peter does so as well.

    "Ahhh... Ms. Barlen, I finally have the great luck to meet your esteemed self."

    Once Sheena realizes there isn''t any straight forward damage to the building, her liquid courage evaporates.

    She goes back to her fearful self.

    Dark Star finds this adorable and he steps forward.

    Not again.

    Peter moves backward to wall off Dark Star.

    "Sheena!"

    A timely voice uplifts the spirit of the two miserable individuals in the office and surprises the other one

    <hr>

    It was a sobering sight to see a very scared Sheena, a smiling Dark Star, a hero whom Elizabeth knows about and most of all, Peter.

    What...

    Elizabeth just opened the door to the St. Davion Agency and saw these three people having a small scuffle.

    This was just after a very long sprint with Sparky.

    She noticed them late after calling Sheena.

    Behind Elizabeth was a slightly annoyed Sparky. Annoyed because the cultivator was not allowed to fly.

    Sheena who was already in shock due to the current events suddenly screamed in joy.

    "Elizabeth! You came!"

    Elizabeth smiled and ran towards Sheena.

    The two hugged each other while Dark Star and Peter moved away.

    Sparky on the other hand was staring intently on the two lords.

    Elizabeth pulled away and stared at Sheena.

    She notices that she''s a little bit shakened up.

    Her eyes sharpen and she turns around to acknowledge Peter but turns her sharp eyes towards Dark Star who suddenly flinches from her gaze.

    Surprised by the intensity of Elizabeth''s eyes, Dark Star reaffirms his position.

    He internally laughs as he senses no energy signals from Elizabeth and Sparky, thus meaning that both of them are powerless.

    "Good da-"

    Dark Star starts to speak but Elizabeth cuts him off.

    "Dark Star, you are a hero of the Black Eagle agency. If I recall our two agencies are at odds against each other. Why are you here?"

    This woman was brazen!

    Dark Star replies smiling.

    "Well I just came to see my fellow heroes in theGod Slayer Battle Tower event coming this month."

    Sheena''s face becomes downcast as she remembers, she just lost a hero that was supposed to participate in the annual event.

    "I will be seeing this one right? He is most interesting after all."

    Dark Star gestures towards Peter.

    Sheena speaks weakly.

    "Uhhh... No... We might not be particilating in the event this year... We lost... A hero so... We don''t have enough manpower to represent."

    The St. Davion Hero Agency was declining and their heroes only numbered 3, which used to be 5 but Flash Fist and another hero resigned.

    5 was the minimum number of heroes allowed for each agency to join the annual event.

    It was obvious why Sheena wasn''t happy about the event.

    On the other hand, Elizabeth''s composure is suddenly shakened as she realizes something.

    Why is Peter here?

    Was he a hero here?

    No, she did her research before and Peter was not a member of this agency.

    She was curious because this mysterious man, who was also possibly her crush, was suddenly in this agency she wanted to join.

    She wasn''t sure why he was here.

    She had to make sure.

    "Oliver are yo-"

    Before she could finish, Peter speaks strongly towards Dark Star.

    "Yes, you''ll be seeing me there."

    Peter didn''t know why he did that hut seeing Dark Star so cocky annoyed him and seeing Elizabeth made him interested in actually participating.

    "Me too!"

    Not wanting to be on upped by other people, Sparky chimed in unaware of what he just signed up for.

    Sheena suddenly perks up as she is surprised with the answers of Peter and Sparky.

    Dark Star laughs.

    "You a non meta? Stop joking around."

    Before Dark Star could continue speaking, Elizabeth cuts him off again.

    "If you have no other business here, leave. You''ve already greeted us a d we''ll meet you in the tower."

    Dark Star who was interrupted twice was suddenly irritated. He raised his left hand to grab Elizabeth but felt resistance.

    Looking to his left, he saw Sparky effortlessly holding his arm.

    He raises his right arm to attack Sparky and Sheena gasps at the blinding speed of a lord.

    But before any damage could be done, Dark Star feels an even heavier if not equal amount of resistance from his right hand.

    He sees Peter nonchalantly hold his right arm.

    Surprised to the sudden turn of events, Dark Star was baffled.

    Elizabeth not losing a beat, continues.

    "Leave."

    Dark Star pulls both of his arms away and leaves quickly with a huff.

    He slams the door open ripping it off its hinges.

    Elizabeth sighs.

    Are all members of Black Eagle the same?

    <hr>

    Walking outside, Dark Star was filled with anger.

    He cursed the two meta humans who grabbed his arm but didn''t released any shred of energy.

    If he knew they were lord ranks, he wouldn''t had embarassed himself.

    He flies up and goes towards his agency and quickly enters it.

    Without an acknowledgement to anyone, he enters his office.

    He kicks a desk.

    *crash*

    He cuts it in half with his strength.

    Filled with anger, Dark Star suddenly remembers the files he got from Golden Boy, whom he left stranded somewhere.

    He plays the video and sees the whole incident play out.

    It was quick but he saw it as clear as day.

    A cruel smile appears on Dark Star''s face.

    "It seems, things just got more interesting."