《DESTINY GAMES》


 Chapter 1 Awakening.

    Kelvin''s heart was beating wildly in his chest as he ran. The damp air of the sewers rushed over his face because of the speed of his movements. He was fast because he was running for his life. He had to be, or the members of the justice league would catch him.


    He knew the sewers like the back of his hand, so the darkness didn''t bother him much. After all, he had lived here for most of his life. He knew the shortcuts, the dead ends, and the special dangerous sections that one can take to lose pursuers.


    Besides, spending most of his time underground had made his eyes adapt to the low light created by the mosses nted for that very purpose. This and his speed granted him the advantage needed to always stay ahead of his pursuers.


    But he knew it wasn''t going to be enough. After all, the members of the Justice League are all extraordinaries. They are not normal human beings. They have certain advantages and abilities that will help them find him.


    This is certain, if only for the fact that they seeded in finding his father''sir, breaking past its defenses, and killing him. Now they are chasing after him just like they chased after his ten thousand brothers and sisters.


    Many of his siblings have already been killed, so it is only a matter of time before they get to him. This knowledge weighed heavily on his mind. It didn''t help that he was already bing tired after running for hours.


    He was trained to be a soldier by his father and can handle long periods of strenuous activities, but this is too much.


    "It should be soon." He said to encourage himself. "Just a little more."


    It truly is a little more, and he would reach the ess point to the edge of the city. That way he would be able toe up on the surface outside the city walls. From there, he will venture through the radiation zone.


    The radiation should be able to scramble whatever means they are using to track him. That way he will be able to escape. As long as the protection pack they had prepared there was still intact, then he might be able to survive this horrible day.


    He had everything thought out. But then he heard steps behind him. The steps became louder and closer. Hearing them made him realize that whoever was chasing him was gaining on him fast. At this rate, he wouldn''t be able to reach the ess point. He was all but doomed.


    His heart skipped a beat because of the panic coursing through his vein. He was already in flight or fight mode and has been in flight for quite a while. There was nothing else he could do with this panic. So his heart skipped the next beat too.


    It was not a good feeling at all. His chest tightening in pain as his heart shut down. All of his stress, panic, and adrenaline spiked but stayed motionless in his blood. Not that more adrenaline would do any good, but it was going nowhere without the heart.


    But then his heart began beating again. It was not a pleasant feeling again. It was as if something had broken open within him. A dam burst, letting go of the hidden potential in his body. He awakened with a roar of pain that resounded within the sewers like the cry of a wounded animal.


    His vision was shaking as well as his limbs. The only thing he felt was pain. It was not phantom pain at all. His bones broke through his muscles and skin, and his blood spilled from his veins.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It was pain and more pain. It was all the pain he had ever experienced in his lifebined. He thought he was going to die. He actually wanted to die. He would have epted anything so that the pain would end.


    It took a few seconds, but it eventually ended. When it did, he was a totally different teenager. He could feel it in all of existence that he was no longer normal. There was a new awareness in his mind that informed him of his capabilities.


    It was just a feeling, butbined with his knowledge of the world and extraordinaries, he could deduce a lot about what he could do. What he deduced made him smile.


    He thought to himself as he examined his hand, "I might just make it."


    Even as he spoke, the fingers of his hands split into two to be a total of 10. Hebined the first eight into one. Then he hardened its surface by making a sheet of bone grow on it. This made it look like a hoof. Through it all, he felt no pain.


    This confirmed his suspicion, so he wasted no time in taking off all of his clothes. Then he changed his legs into bird ws. This made his steps silent.


    He snuck into a corner and changed his skin to match the dark walls of the sewer. He stopped breathing, stopped his heart of his own volition, and lowered his body heat by dting his veins.


    He also ttened himself to look more like a bump on the walls instead of a human trying to hide. Then he waited like the predator he had be.


    Prey came soon. A member of the league appeared in the tunnel beside him. It was a woman. She was looking at the ground intensely for signs of his passing.


    It took a while for her to notice that he had disappeared. She thought he had done something to make himself more difficult to track. So she stopped for a while to examine her surroundings.


    He watched her silently without breathing while silently umting power like a viper. Then he struck when she had her back turned to him.


    It was the fastest he had ever moved. All of his muscle mass had been concentrated in his legs so as to gain a burst in speed. Then he morphed one of his thin, emaciated arm into a bone spear.

 Chapter 2 A Changed Man.

    A bone spear met the flesh of a superhuman in a collision of violence. The flesh of the superhuman gave a worthy challenge, but it caved under the might of one of the hardest things in the body.


    Actually, this bone was as hard as his teeth, so it was the hardest thing in his body. It pierced through her skin, entered her body, grew spiky roots, tore her body from inside out, and then shredded her abdomen as it passed through her.


    It was a gruesome wound that would have left mere men incapacitated. But she was not a mere man. She spread her wings in an attempt to gain distance from him. Unfortunately, that wasn''t going to happen with his arm stuck in her.


    He morphed his mouth into an enormous jaw and bit down on her neck. She fought him off with her immense strength. Arms of steel mmed into his head with enough force to break walls.


    In retaliation, he sacrificed his lower limb to grow two more bone limbs, which he used to pierce her shoulders. Then he held onto her with his two other hands as he tore her wings from behind her.


    It looked like some kind of slimy, bloody spider was fighting an eagle in the basement. Things might have gone differently were they in the open. But the sewer is the worst ce for a bird to be.


    He ripped her to bits. There was no other alternative with him that close to her. The oue was set in stone when his first bone spear impaled her. The roots of the bone spear were growing within her while he was also doing damage to her.


    He was just trying to end her misery quickly when he tried to snap up her head in his jaws, but she would have none of his kindness.


    She spoke even as blood choked her lungs and throat, "You will not get away with this."


    He didn''t care. He had won, and that''s all that mattered. That''s what his father told him. The end always justifies the means.


    "I won. I actually won," he said in disbelief.


    He looked down at his hands and body. He couldn''t recognize the person he had be. His arms and legs were of different shapes and sizes. He realized that he was wounded with terrible gashes all over his body, but he didn''t feel any pain.


    What he had be didn''t make him feel revulsion. Instead, he felt proud. He felt on top of the world for being able to defeat a super and he even managed to kill her.


    His victory didn''te without cost, though. There were immediate and long term costs. She had almost crushed him despite the disadvantageous situation she was in. He could heal, but it required massive amounts of energy.


    The energy required to heal and the energy he had expended in shapeshifting his form made it impossible to heal in a short time. It also made it impossible for him to escape sessfully from those who would soon arrive. He had to do something to alleviate his energy needs.


    So his eyes turned to the shattered remains of the superhuman. He didn''t hesitate in making the decision to eat her. He didn''t hesitate in going through with the decision and eating her either.


    This will not be the first time he will be eating another human. He had done so many times during training with his brothers and sisters when their father had starved them to train their endurance.


    Those times were difficult because he had to fight off his other siblings, and the prize was more bone than flesh. But things are different now. They are slightly better. The only thing he would like to change was the fact that he was running out of time.


    Still, he ate as much as he could and restored his energy in time to continue his escape. He healed himself and even managed to do more. He changed the bone structure and muscture of his legs to mirror that of a feline. This gave him an extra sustainable boost to his speed that ensured his escape.


    -----


    He managed to escape the hunt for all the children of the Patriarch. He even returned to the city and gained entry through the front gate without any issues.


    He managed this by visiting the radiation zone outside of the city and changing how he looked. His ability truly changed everything for him.


    He was able to find somewhere to stay in the city. He had to kill the previous owner of the apartment, but that wasn''t much of a problem for him. It was a small price to pay for a roof over his head, food, and peace. He has paid far more than that to acquire those things from his father.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Now that he is no longer being chased, he could admire the city for what it can offer. He had the luxury to look through his window at the city below and enjoy the sunlight on his face.


    New London is a megacity. It is mostly skyscrapers, each with an average of 100 floors. Vehicles can be seening and going on the ground and in the sky. People could also be seen flying in the sky without the use of tools such as jetpacks.


    The city was loud. It was also too bright. But Kelvin savored all these sensations with relish. It was rare for him toe up to the surface. The times he did were when he was busy setting up some scheme with his siblings for their father. So he couldn''t really appreciate the beauty of the city.


    He certainly couldn''t appreciate it without fear of the authorities and capers like the Justice League. But now he was free from all of that.


    He looked at his new body in appreciation and delight. In his natural form, he is pale white, which makes his veins stand out from underneath his skin.


    His height hasn''t increased, so he is still 1.7 meters. But his hair has turned white, and his eyes have be gray. These are the effects of awakening as a Shapeshifter.

 Chapter 3 Destiny Report.

    To be specific, the ability he awakened was Malleable Anatomy. With it, he can make changes to his body, but the changes have to be organic and temporary. It cost energy to shift his body and a constant energy drain to keep the changes.


    He found out all of these through his destiny report. Anyone can do so if they rx and concentrate. All they have to do is close his eyes and picture the tower of destiny. The information wille to them that way.


    He was about to do that but was distracted by a news article on the television. He heard the word "Patriarch," which made him pay attention to it. After all, that''s the title of his father.


    The news anchor was a particrly handsome, bearded middle-aged man. The man spoke with some excitement, "I have just gotten word that the Patriarch has been killed. You heard that right,dies and gentlemen. One of the most prolific terrorist and viin of our age has been killed."


    "Hisir was discovered deep beneath New London and raided sessfully by the Justice League. Right as we speak, his goons are being apprehended for rehabilitation. Those poor boys and girls can yet be saved."


    "Our man on the ground over there in New London has managed to contact the Superhero in charge of the decade-defining sting operation. Here''s what she has to say."


    The screen faded away to another location. A caper was shown on it. She was a woman. She was dressed in red battle armor,plete with gauntlets. Her hair was burning on top of her head. It looked more like arge me than hair.


    Her eyes, eyebrows, and lips were red too.


    She was speaking with a deep,manding voice to the interviewer. "I killed the Patriarch myself. He is dead and gone. I can assure you all of that with uttermost certainty."


    The interviewer asked, "What about the brainwashed kids he had under his control?"


    "We are trying to recover them for treatment. We are sure that we can save them and even return them safely to their families. But it has been tough. Most of them don''t want to be saved. They resisted, and that has led to losses on both sides."


    The interviewer asked in shock, "Do you mean you killed those poor children?"


    She gritted her teeth as fire spilled out of her lips. "We tried to capture them as peacefully as possible by incapacitating them, but some of them escaped. This led to many altercations that imed both the lives of my surbodinates and the children."


    The interviewer was aghast as he asked, "How could you let that happen? How many children did you lose?"


    Thedy finally couldn''t take it anymore. Her eyes glowed yellow briefly before she lost her top. "They are not children. They are criminals. Do you hear me? Criminals, all of them.


    Do you know that many of them were responsible for the deaths of over a millionst month when they spilled that neurotoxic gas in Tempe? Do you remember that, or have you forgotten? I will not sacrifice the lives of my men for those criminals."


    She was still ranting, but the interview was cut off immediately. The television returned to the news anchor, who was also beside himself.


    But he quickly gathered himself and said, "I''m sure Superhero Fire Rose is just stressed from all the good work she has done. The Justice League is doing good work for the sake of mankind, and I hope that they will continue to do good work."


    "If you are a goon of the Patriarch on the run, please know that you are loved and epted. You will be granted amnesty for whatever you did and rehabilitated into society. You don''t have to run anymore. You can be saved."


    "In the meantime, I have special analyst Thorin here who will speak to us about the possible effects of the death of the Patriarch and the power vacuum he will leave behind among the viins. Tune in to find out which viins might take his ce."


    Kelvin lost interest then. He didn''t particrly care that his father was dead. ording to his father, "death and life are just two states of existence. Only the strongest are worthy of being alive."


    So if his father is dead, it only means he wasn''t worthy of being alive. Like the thousands of siblings he grew up with who died, he was weak and didn''t deserve to live.


    He thought to himself with a snicker, "That is if he is truly dead. It won''t be the first time they im to have killed him."


    It didn''t matter much to him anyway if his father was dead or not. All that matters is that he is alive, and the flesh bomb his father had nted in his neck had deactivated when he died.


    He also doesn''t want to partake in the so called rehabilitation that the capers are offering him and his siblings. It is true that their father kidnapped them when they were just four or five. It is also true that about 70% of them died during the process to train them. But he doesn''t consider those as bad things.


    Like his father always says, they have been sharpened into tools fit for achieving great things. Such a processes at a cost. He has paid that cost to be a better being. The means don''t matter. Only the end does.


    He shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts and returned his attention to his destiny report.


    He closed his eyes and focused. A bright light appeared in the darkness. It erged and grew into a sky-reaching tower. It filled his entire vision and continued to grow bigger. Soon it grew so much that he could see the particles that made it up.


    Name: Kelvin Thorn.


    Health: 100. Stamina: 100. Focus: 100.


    ss: Physique. Tier: 0. Level: 0.


    Strength: 10. Constitution: 10.


    Endurance: 10. Vitality: 10.


    Speed: 10. Mind: 10.


    Kill Count: 0.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ability: Shapeshifting (Alpha)


    1: Malleable Anatomy.


    This is his destiny report. It is the current value of his destiny. Seeing this information is also the threshold to entering the tower of destiny. Just a little more concentration, and he will enter it.

 Chapter 4 Types Of Destiny.

    The tower of destiny is everywhere. It is both a physical and mental location. It can be essed from anywhere by anyone who has awakened.


    ording to the history that Kelvin knows, the tower of destiny didn''t always exist. Apparently, it arrived almost a hundred years ago. Since then, the world has changed. People could awaken abilities; fighting in the destiny games became a thing; otherworlders coulde from other worlds; and people could even love forever if they managed to reach the top floor of the tower.


    He doesn''t have a lofty goal like his father. He doesn''t n to destroy the world and remake it into an utopia. He would be content with eternal life. This and the fact he is not a stranger to danger make him unafraid of the deadly destiny games despite being just 17 years old.


    He doesn''t have to enter the tower yet, but he decided to give it a go and see what it is all about. So he pushed past the threshold of concentration and then found himself standing in arge white space.


    There was no sky or ground. He was just standing in the air, surrounded by whiteness. But then he will end it for there to be changes. It made screens appear around him.


    Events were showing on the screens. They were numerous and kept increasing in number. They became so many that he became dizzy. He had to give themand to stop the changes for fear of fainting.


    He waved his hand and said, "Reduce."


    The screens reduced in number until only one remained. He thought for some time before giving anothermand.


    "Show me Patriarch''sst fight."


    The disy on the screen changed to disy an arena. A group of diators were fighting in what appeared to be an arena. He was able to pick out his father from the others despite the armor he was wearing.


    His father was easily the tallest. He was about 2.5 meters tall. His skin that showed through the seams of the armor was obsidian ck. All of these confirmed that it was indeed Patriarch.


    He had heard tales of his father''s great strength and even asionally caught glimpses of his fights with heroes, but he had never been opportuned to see his father in all his glory.


    He reached out to the screen, which caused it to expand. It filled the whole white world until he was standing as a giant over a three dimensional arena, looking down at the fight.


    "This is great. I can learn all the moves he promised to teach us but didn''t this way."


    He became engrossed in the fight and didn''t notice as time passed. His father won the game. He killed the otherpetitors or forced them to surrender. It was an end that Kelvin expected.


    He wasn''t worried much anyway. Death in the Destiny Games is not absolute. From what he has heard, unless someone loses too much Destiny, they won''t die in real life when they die in the tower of Destiny. They will only be weakened.


    "I guess I should find out more about the games. This is going to be my destiny now. I too must fight in the Destiny Games."


    He doesn''t know what the threshold of real death is or many other things about the tower of destiny. All he knows is that everyone that awakens must participate in it once every month for 100 fights. They have to survive all 100 fights and achieve eternal life, or they will die along the way.


    He believes that if he is to survive until the end, he must gain more information. So he willed it to return to the real world. This caused whatever he was standing on to fall from underneath his feet. He fell and appeared back in the room he borrowed.


    The abrupt changes to his environment made him stumble and swoon for a while. But he soon recovered. Then he got to work on getting the information he needed.


    The usual methods of acquiring information he grew up with were lectures, books, and movies. He was aware of the inte, but father had banned them from using it. So he was a little excited to borrow a phone.


    The phone was locked, so he had to return to the corpse of the previous owner of the room that he stashed in the fridge. He did so to copy their finger prints. It needed delicate work, but he managed it after 10 minutes. Then he granted ess to the great and powerful inte.


    "Show me your secrets," he said to the phone with bright eyes.


    It did show him its secrets. But it might have been too much. He had too many options and links at his disposal. His curiosity made him get lost several times. Thatbined with his inexperience made it difficult to acquire the information he needed.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He eventually managed to narrow down the details of the Tower of Destiny, how the games work, necessarymands, tools, and most importantly, how the power system works.


    Thatst part was enlightening. The whole article was, but thatst part showed him the path to survival.


    "There are two kinds of destiny in the Destiny Games. There is permanent destiny and temporary destiny. Temporary destiny is used to increase your attributes. It can only be acquired from your fans and flowers. The more fans you have that support you, the more temporary destiny you will have, the stronger you will be."


    "Permanent destiny is also used to make your attributes more powerful. It is your kill count. It can only be acquired by killing other participants in the Destiny Games."


    "Those are the two most important things to pay attention to if you want to survive the Destiny Games and grow stronger. Together they have a multiplicative effect on your attributes."


    "But you shouldn''t neglect game points, which you will have to use to expand the repertoire of the ability you have awakened. There''s also win streaks and achievements."


    -----


    A/N: What do you think of the power system?

 Chapter 5 Destiny Theory Of Ravin.

    The article exined the various aspects of the Destiny Games in depth. It even spoke about y styles and mentioned the fan count of some people as examples. Kelvin was surprised to see that his father made the list of exceptional climbers.


    Apparently, despite being called a viin, the Patriarch was loved by a lot of people. Something about his violent y style was appreciated by people. He had a lot of support, so he was very strong. This enabled him to createrger and more violent spectacles, which brought in more fans.


    He also learned that the need for support is why many have decided to be heroes. They perform both in the games and off the games to gain reputation and support from the people. This way they will be able to survive better in the games.


    That information got him thinking. He scratched his chin as he muttered, "I always thought heroes were stupid for doing what they were doing, but it turns out that they are getting something for it. It is just like Father says, ''Deep down, everyone is self serving and selfish.''"


    Bing heroes is not the only way to get acim; bing viins and besting those heroes is also a good way. It is not as sustainable, and the returns are slim, but it is quick and easy to do. It can be especially rewarding if the viins pull off a spectacr heist.


    There''s also the option of bing movie stars or stars of other forms of entertainment. All of these help to acquire fans, which increases temporary destiny. If they match it with kill count, they would be formidable in the games.


    The webpage of the article was a wiki, so there was detailed information about almost everything that is known about the Destiny Games. It was interesting to read, but it was more like studying.


    He wasn''t a stranger to studying, so he didn''t mind it. It is especially so since his life is on the line. Unlike the many times he had to pass a test before he could eat, this time was more enjoyable because he could snack while reading.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    His snack was the corpse in the fridge. It is like his father always says, "Waste not, want not."


    He also doesn''t have much of a choice since he doesn''t know how to cook. He could go outside or order a meal, but something about free food sitting there wasting away didn''t feel right to him.


    It might have something to do with the numerous beatings he has received and the many starvings he has endured to learn to appreciate every food he can get.


    So he spent his days napping, reading, watching fights, exercising, and eating. Food and exercise won''t affect his body anymore that he has awakened, but he still exercised to keep his mind sharp and in sync with his body.


    Meanwhile, the world moved on around him. He heard on the news that there was an incursion of monsters somewhere. Apparently, the monsters killed a lot of people and were being resisted by heroes, but he didn''t care about that. He just did whatever he wanted to do when he wanted to do it.


    It was a great change from when every moment of his day was controlled by his father. He was content and even began to feel what others might call happiness.


    Not that it would take a lot to make him content. Food, once a day, and shelter would be enough to keep him content. But something about freedom was making him feel new emotions.


    He decided he liked freedom very much and would like to keep it for as long as possible.


    His good days continued until it was time for his first destiny game. He decided to enter the tower of his volition rather than being forced into it for the game.


    He appeared in the white world. But this time there was a bowl of balls in front of him. The balls had numbers on them.


    He knew he was to pick 10 balls from the information he got on the inte. The numbers he picks will determine which game he has to participate in. He also knew that if he didn''t, 10 random balls would be picked for him.


    He shrugged and said, "Not that it makes much of a difference."


    ording to some theories, the matches are already preordained. The prevalent theory is the Destiny Theory of Ravin. It states that free will is an illusion. It was a theory that was tested with those with the ability of precognition.


    The theory also states that destiny is not infallible, as it has a limit of influence and can be broken with strength. So the games he will participate in are set, but the oues are notpletely set. His performance within each game will shape his destiny.


    Even so, he still went ahead to pick the balls to determine which game he would participate in. It is because he likes freedom. He wants to pick the balls, so he went ahead to pick them.


    Each ball he picked hovered in the air until all ten were picked. They formed a line of numbers for him. He didn''t know what the numbers meant, as no one particr does. That''s why many believe that it doesn''t actually matter.


    The only thing anyone can say for sure is that those who pick the same numbers as him will participate in the same game and be hispetitors. So it is more like a room number.


    For now, he waited for his game to start. He had the option of watching the games of others, but he wanted to be focused on his own, so he waited patiently.


    During that time, the people who were going to participate with him arrived in the tower of destiny one after the other. It didn''t matter if they were underground, in the ocean, sleeping, or dying. They would all be dragged into the match with whatever they have in their possession or without any possession. It all depended on the game.

 Chapter 6 More Than Survival.

    Anyone can ess the tower of destiny with their mind at any time. They can watch the games of others both present and past. But when it is time for them to fight for their lives, both their bodies and minds will enter the tower.


    He had heard how it was supposed to happen, but he was still intrigued to see it happen. He watched with rapt attention as the balls began to spin around each other.


    The balls became so fast that they couldn''t be distinguished from each other. They eventually fused before exploding in a sh of light and sound.


    It was like a sh bang went off in front of him. It disoriented him and caused him to swoon. By the time he recovered and could see again, he found himself on a basketball court.


    There were ten people in total on the court. Five were on each half of it. There were other people present in the hall, though. They were spectators sitting on the bleachers.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    These spectators were only six in number. But their presence weighed heavily on his mind because they are likely to be here in support of one of thepetitors. This will tip the scale in favor of whoever it is.


    A screen appeared in front of him. It pulled his attention away from his contemtion.


    Destiny Game 1


    -Title: Dodgeball


    -Objective: Survive


    -Rule 1: The match will start in five minutes.


    -Rule 2: Two teams of five will fight each other using any means possible.


    -Rule 3: The game will end after 10 minutes, or when only 5 people remain.


    It appeared in front of everyone, so the yers were engrossed with it. Even the spectators also received. This way, everyone involved, directly or indirectly, knew what the game was about.


    Next, a loud sound like that of an rm rang. It echoed off of all the walls, so no one could tell its source. But no one was wondering about its source. They were all paying attention to the timer that had appeared above their heads.


    The timer was for 5 minutes. It was counting down to zero. It was also apanied by the appearance of a basketball. These balls appeared in front of every participant, so there were ten in total.


    Kelvin read the rules with a glint in his eye. He examined hispetitors and teammates again. This time he watched them for weaknesses.


    He found a lot of weaknesses. It was in their posture, the way they were fidgeting, the scared look on their faces, and even the one that looked about ready to cry.


    They didn''t look like fighters. In fact, they didn''t look like they had fought for anything in their lives. They looked like weak sheep that would be easy prey.


    He didn''t excuse the fact that they were mostly young since the youngest of them was 16 while the oldest couldn''t be 20. He too was young, but he knew better than to appear weak in front of others. That''s just asking for a beating.


    The thought to himself with a dark chuckle, "A beating, eh? I can manage that."


    Someone spoke beside him, which caught his attention. "Let''s huddle up and n."


    The person that spoke was the person that appeared to be the oldest amongst them. She was blond and beautiful. She also looked confident, which brought out more of her beauty.


    This made the other pay attention to her and do what she said. Kelvin was mildly curious, so he decided to huddle up with the other four and hear what she had to say.


    No one balked or stated at him because he had changed himself to look like a random person from the inte. He looked just like an ordinary teenager.


    She introduced herself with a pat on her chest, "I am Alena. This is my third game, so I am level 3. I have some experience with these games, and I think I have the best way for us to survive."


    Anotherdy asked with a frown, "So what if you are level 3? What is your ability? I will only follow the strong."


    Kelvin raised an eyebrow to examine this newdy. He quite agreed with her. If he will follow anyone, they have to be strong. Unfortunately, he is not a follower anymore. His days of being a goon are over. But he was interested in what she had to say.


    Alena frowned but replied, "In the spirit of coorperation, I will tell you. I am a speedster. I am fast."


    Kelvin''s eyes narrowed, but he didn''t say anything. He didn''t let anything show in his demeanor either.


    Alena continued, "Levels 1 to 10 are meant to be easy games. We can survive them if we put in the right effort and are lucky. This game, for example, is a simple game of dodgeball. We can win it easily if webine our might to eliminate our opponents one after the other. The rules are simple and straightforward. All we have to do is remain thest 5 standing and we will win."


    "I rmend that we share our abilities so that we can n better. Let''s introduce ourselves and our abilities."


    Kelvin listened with his eyes narrowed. He wasn''t interested in what she had to say at all since it was not special knowledge. He also didn''t agree fundamentally with her n for survival. This is because survival is the barest minimum he hopes to achieve.


    Survival is good to aim for. But those who aim for survival are likely to die once they leave the novice league. If he hopes to reach level 100 and be a demigod, then he must make achievements. Only then will be able to make a name for himself and also increase the power of his ability.


    There was a list of possible achievements and how to achieve them online, so he is well informed on what to do. He ns to achieve one or two to increase his game rating. So the n of survival won''t do for him.

 Chapter 7 The White Augustus.

    He wasn''t going to settle for survival. But far more than his disagreement with the n is his disagreement with Alena. He can see someone who is aiming for more than survival in her. That means they will be enemies. And if she was speaking the truth about her ability, she would be a significant threat to him.


    While he was contemting what to do, it got to his turn to introduce himself and his ability.


    He had already picked a name, so he spoke without missing a beat. "I am Augustus."


    Someone snickered at that. It was the girl who imed she only follows the strong.


    "What''s so funny?" He asked her while stepping up to her face.


    They were about the same height, so his motion didn''te off as impressive as he wanted. But it served its purpose. She stepped back in fear with wide eyes.


    He took those actions as a sign of surrender, so he simply snorted and let her off. He continued, "My ability is super strength."


    Alena asked, "You don''t look like someone with super strength?"


    He exined curtly. "Looks can be deceiving."


    He was right about that. Looks can indeed be decieving. You couldn''t judge someone''s ability and strength from how they looked.


    Maybe she believed him or not. He didn''t care. It appeared she didn''t care enough to force the issue. She simply shrugged and continued.


    Kelvin listened with rapt attention as they made their n. It didn''t take long at all. The timer reached thest 10 seconds of its countdown, so they disbanded and went into a formation.


    Apparently the other team had also huddled up. They too were spreading out in preparation for the game. All of them picked up their balls in preparation for dodgeball. Tensions were high as they waited for the game to start.


    It was as if a noose was being lowered around their neck or a guillotine was being raised above their heads. Kelvin, for one, felt his heart beating wildly. It was not out of fear. It was for the anticipation of the uing battle.


    The same couldn''t be said about his teammates. Two of them were shaking like leaves in the wind. One of his opponents actually started crying. His face was in a grimace as tears fell down from his eyes.


    Then it was time, and all hell was let loose. Kelvin was like a catapult let loose. His two arms morphed intorge bone des, which he swung around him horizontally in a circle.


    He was like a spinning top. Or, to be more urate, the des of a blender. His arms sliced through his teammates and shredded them to pieces.


    All of them were caught off guard, but only three of them died. Alena survived thanks to her speed. She managed to dodge at thest moment and create distance between them.


    She looked at him with eyes wide with horror. She wasn''t the only one to. Everyone, including the opponents and spectators. He was covered head to toe in blood and gore. It made for a truly horrific sight.


    Alena shrieked, "What have you done?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He spit out a piece of flesh that had entered his mouth to reply. "You are sheep. I am Augustus. We are are not the same."


    She didn''t understand what he was saying, but he didn''t truly care if she did. He only said that as a tryout for his catchphrase. Every iconic figure, be they hero or viin, has one. It is only prudent that he starts working on one now so that he too would be iconic.


    Alena lunged for him. She was fast. She was so fast he didn''t see her approach him. But he saw her posture before she started running. It was for a punch with her right fist.


    His instincts warred within him. He wanted to dodge, but then he remembered he wasn''t fighting a normal person. So he swung his ded arms around like he did before.


    It turned out that it was toote to avoid that punch. Her fist smashed into his face with so much force that his jaw cracked.


    Alena didn''te out unscathed either. Her arm had shattered, and his ded arms had nicked her face. There was a cut that divided her nose. Blood was streaming down her face, and she was howling in pain.


    This time he spit out his teeth. It was apained with a lot of blood too. But he didn''t feel any pain. Instead, he felt refreshed.


    The bones and flesh of his broken jaw knitted themselves together so he was able toment idly, "If only I had been a little quicker, I might have sliced your head in half."


    Then he shrugged and said, "But this is good too."


    "In fact, this is better than good. I just wish you had kicked me instead of punching me. But beggers can''t be choosers, I suppose."


    The opponents were dumbstruck by the turn of events. They were supposed to be fighting, but their opponents were already at each other''s throats. What''s more, they were supposed to eliminate each other with the balls, not fists or other types of bodily weapons.


    But their expression changed from incredulous shock to dread when Kelvin turned his attention to them. That dread overwhelmed them when a bonyyer began to grow all over his body. He was soon encased in an armor of bone and ready to do battle.


    The boy that was shedding silent tears earlier couldn''t take it anymore. His legs caved him, and he began to bawl his eyes out.


    He called out pitifully, "My mommy!"


    All it took was for the white bone monster to take one step towards them for them to panic. One of them dropped the ball and turned tail.


    It was a stupid decision. Not only did he turn his back on a predator, he dropped the one weapon he could use to eliminate that predator. It was just too good an opportunity to pass over.


    Kelvin took another step towards them, but then the ball struck the boy, producing copious amounts of mucus from his face like a slime. That made all of them receive a notification.


    -End of Game.


    -----


    A/N: FYI Augustus means "The Greatest."

 Chapter 8 Archenemies.

    Kelvin was not looking at the ball that hit mommy''s boy. He was looking at Alena. His head had jerked towards her when he noticed her move.


    It turns out that she had picked up a ball with one hand and thrown it at another person. These two eliminations left only five people standing. That met one of the requirements to end the game.


    She exhaled in relief and said, "No more killing."


    Kelvin wanted to grind his teeth in frustration. Unfortunately, he couldn''t because his teeth had merged into the bone mask covering his face.


    He had to reverse the changes to his body before he could speak.


    "I don''t like you." He said to her. "I don''t like you at all."


    She shouted at him, "I don''t like you either. You didn''t have to kill them. No one had to die. It was just a game of dodgeball."


    He asked with disdain, "Are you stupid? Are you wondering why I would want to kill in a destiny game? That should be obvious."


    "But you didn''t need to."


    "I don''t need to. All I require is to want to."


    It seemed she finally realized what she was up against. She said in understanding, "You are a viin, aren''t you? You are evil."


    "No, I''m not. There is no good or evil. Only life and death. Only survival of the fittest."


    She didn''t agree with him. She pointed at him and said, "I, Alena Gold Light, solemnly promise to vanquish you for the crime that you havemitted today."


    Kelvin rolled his eyes. He thought she was stupid and naive earlier. Now he knows that she is stupid, naive, and heroic.


    He muttered to himself, "I should have seen thising."


    Alena continued, "We are archenemies from today on. I will eliminate you at every chance I''ve got. You better hope I don''t meet you in the games in the future or back on earth."


    Kelvin didn''t care about that. She was just making the resolution to eliminate him, but he had made that resolution the moment he narrowed his eyes at her. Her vow didn''t affect his emotions, but he was frustrated that he didn''t seed in killing her.


    He wondered to himself, "I guess this is my punishment for failing to eliminate a threat. Father always did warn us about this."


    The remaining participants and the spectators began to disappear. They and the arena dissolved into nothingness. That signified the end of the game.


    Kelvin found himself back in his white space. Words blurred in front of him and arranged themselves into information for him.


    Game Evaluation.


    -Difficulty: F


    -Achievements:


    1: First Hit +1


    2: First Elimination +1


    3: Highest Kill Count +1


    4: Kill Streak +2


    5: Survive +1


    Total Points: 6


    Game Points (Difficulty X Total Points): 1 X 6 = 6


    These brought a smile to his lips. It made him almost forget the fact that he could have had more if Alena hadn''t stopped him from killing or if that mommy''s boy hadn''t been hit by that ball.


    "It is not bad for a first game. I have 99 more to go, so there''s plenty of opportunities to increase my game points."


    He was in a good mood because while the other four who barely survived will only get one game point, he gets 6. That''s practically the value of six games in the amateur league.


    So with one game, he is already ahead of others who are content with surviving by five games. That means he will be able to acquire a new ability that will enhance his shapeshifting sooner than them. That way, his chances of surviving all 100 games will increase.


    So it was with a good mood that he called up his destiny report.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Name: Kelvin Thorn.


    Health: 250/300. Stamina: 30/300. Focus: 50/300.


    ss: Physique. Tier: 0 (Amateur League)


    Level: 1


    Strength: 30. Constitution: 30.


    Endurance: 30. Vitality: 30.


    Speed: 30. Mind: 30.


    Kill Count: 3.


    Fans: 0.


    Game Points: 6.


    Ability: Shapeshifting (Alpha)


    1: Malleable Anatomy.


    The kill count he acquired in the game increased his power by three times. It increased all of his attributes, together with his health, focus, and stamina.


    With improved stamina, he will have more physical energy to use his abilities, and with more focus, he will have more mental resources to activate, control, and maintain the effects of his abilities.


    As a physique ss awakened, stamina is the most important attribute for him. But focus is also important, especially for the full-body modifications that he did with the bone armor.


    As for health, while it is not as important to him as others since he can heal himself, arger health pool will make it easier for him to heal and more difficult for him to be one-shoted.


    It certainly will help him when he is poisoned, as he can''t heal from that. Plus, he can''t heal indefinitely. So arger health pool is highly weed.


    He thought to himself with a smirk, "What a stupid girl. Asking me why I killed them. This is why I killed them."


    He has be stronger, so his decision was worth it. Sure, the people he killed would lose half of their kill count or, if they didn''t have any, half of their total attributes. And sure, they will die if their total attributes be 30 in the amateur league. But what matters is that he has be stronger and that he makes sure that their sacrifice was not in vain.


    It is like he said to her, "There is no good or evil. There''s only life and death."


    He has experienced many near-death situations to know that he doesn''t want to die.


    And like his father always says, "If you are not willing to do everything possible to survive, then you don''t deserve to live."


    He wants to live, so he will do everything he can to survive. That has been his whole life. It is justmon sense to him at this point. He can''t live any other way.

 Chapter 9 Wasted Potential.

    But while he thinks she is stupid, he can''t deny that she is strong. In fact, he thinks highly of her strength and potential. He can still feel the ache in his jaws from where she struck him. She was the reason why he put on the bone armor.


    It was to increase his defense after discovering that she only had speed, not fortification or any defensive enhancement.


    These are weaknesses that she can fix with game points. But she is content with surviving and being mildly exceptional.


    She is like the heroes that his father hated. His father would call them hypocrites and say, "Only when humans are well fed and have no worries do they worry about others and talk about morals. But deep down, we are no different from animals. Make my words, when hungeres, when ites down to it, humans will eat each other for survival."


    He can attest to thatst part. But he doesn''t hate heroes. If anything, he finds them to be annoying. He also finds her wasted potential an eyesore.


    If she had put her mind to it, she could have done better than he did. After all, she is faster than him. She could have killed five people before anyone could react.


    He rubbed his jaws and said, "It is not to have an arch rival. At the very least, it will increase my publicity. If she bes a big hero someday and I defeat her, then I will get bigger publicity."


    He said that, but he didn''t let his mild sess get to his head. He thought about what he had seen about her and made up his mind to search for more information about speedsters.


    He is interested in her weaknesses. From what he knows, he believes that she is weak physically and alsocking stamina because she wasn''t able to sustain her speed for long.


    But he wants to know more about his so called archenemy, and he also wants to know more about his own weaknesses so that she won''t be the one to get the drop on him.


    With his mind made up, he returned to the real world. He found himself sitting on the same chair he was sitting on before the game.


    There were no injuries on his body, as the tower had healed thempletely. It is one of the benefits of surviving a game. He didn''t need it, as he could heal himself. But the same can''t be said for others.


    As for those he maimed in the game, their injuries will only be healed by half. So they will very much be near death and will require immediate medical assistance.


    He didn''t think about that. Instead, he called out his name, "Augustus."


    "Hmmm," he said to himself. "It just feels right. I think I''ll keep it."


    His borrowed phone was still in his hands, so he opened it with his borrowed fingerprint and went onto the inte to do the research he promised himself to make.


    There was a lot of information about speedsters for his perusal. They divided speedsters into two types: the physique ss like him and the mental ss. The two of them behave simrly, but are vastly different.


    The physique ss of speedsters rely on their bodies to run quickly. As their ability evolves, their bodies also change and be stronger.


    These changes include more and better nerve distribution, more and better muscture, more and better blood distribution system, and faster perception such as better eyes and ears.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    They rely mostly on stamina to support their speed, and their most important weakness is their legs.


    He pped his head and said, "Of course. I should have expected that. But how do I get the legs of a speedster? They are too fast."


    Apparently any injury to their legs can cripple the physique ss of speedsters. But the same is not for the mental ss of speedsters.


    The mental ss relies mostly on their mind for their speed. Their abilities can manifest as a forcefield around their bodies that grants them speed. It could be anything, but it doesn''t affect their bodies.


    Because of the reliance on their minds instead of their bodies, stamina and injuries to their legs are the least of their worries. Injuries to their legs will slow them down, but it won''t cripple them. They will still be able to run as long as they can move their legs.


    He read for a long time, but the mental ss of speedsters has the fewest weaknesses. He found it ironic that the mental ss are the most durable and fastest speedsters.


    Their weakness is that bodies are weak and can be easily injured. In fact, they can be easily killed if they are caught unawares. Apart from that, they are weak to the null ss of supers. The physique ss of speedsters, on the other hand, are immune to nullification.


    "But where do I find null that can help me? Do I even want to find a null? My ability is active too, so I bet a null can easily kill me."


    He grumbled some more after realizing that either way, Alena will not be easy to kill. Then he got an idea that made his eyes light up.


    He searched online for the words "Alena Gold Light."


    That was her name, and it brought up her face as the top search result. The find made him chuckle evilly.


    "Well, what do we have here?" He said as he clicked the link to her social media ount.


    Her information was all over the inte for him to see. It turned out that she was a mental ss speedster. She had awakened four months ago, and she was no stranger to the games because her parents were heroes.


    Apparently, the Gold Light family was a famous hero family. Her parents were D-rank heroes with fans in the tens of thousands. They were not the most popr heroes, but they were still significant.


    The Gold Light family was rich. It was to be expected since they were heroes. They lived in arge mansion and had a lot of food. They were celebrities in the city they lived in because they were the main protectors of the city.

 Chapter 10 Many Troubles.

    Alena had a lot of things that he never had. Most important of them were powerful parents that would protect her from harm. Not only that, she wasn''t living in New London. She was living on another continent entirely. This way, he wouldn''t be able to reach her easily to kill her, even if he had the power to.


    "I bet I can hire some viins to do it for me. But it will require money, and I don''t have money. Besides, it will be expensive since she has the protection of her parents."


    "It seems I need money and a lot of it. Maybe I should start taking some viiny jobs. It will give me money and publicity that will make me stronger. But it is risky business. I wonder if..."


    He was distracted by something he saw on the phone. He wasn''t the only one who was distracted by this news article. Apparently it was surging all over the inte.


    The headline read, "Rampaging Demigods."


    He clicked on the link to check it out. There was a video avable on the page. It showed two indistinct collosal figures fighting. The video was blurry, so he couldn''t see them clearly. All he saw were two figures likerge mountains smashing into each other.


    He whistled appreciatively as he watched. While the video was problematic, the audio was clear. He could hear explosions and thunderps. It sounded like a roar of weapons and a raging storm at the same time.


    The person taking the video panned away to show cracks spreading across the ground towards them. The cracks expanded rapidly while the earth shook. It was clear that there were three fighters in the fight, and the third one was taking a beating from the other two.


    The video went up to the sky next, where arge bird was flying straight at the camera. It revealed itself to be a flying boulder before it mmed into the camera. The video went dark then.


    "Oof!" he eximed. "That couldn''t have felt good."


    There was an article written below the video. It was mostly conjectures about the identities of the demigods and what they were fighting for.


    Not much is known about demigods. Not only because they are rare, but because they are too powerful for mortal creatures to be around. Apparently, the radiation from their bodies would kill normal humans , so they rarely associate with humans.


    Still, the article was informative. Kelvin learned that the reason the video couldn''t show what they looked like clearly was because of the radiation they were producing.


    He wondered aloud, "What could make these powerful figures fight each other?"


    He didn''t have an answer to that question, so he returned his attention to his earthly woes. Mainly, how to eliminate his archenemy easily and how to acquire money.


    But he was distracted again. Something caught his attention on the table in the center of the room. It was a ring. It was a golden ring. It was a very beautiful ring.


    His eyes were fixated on the ring for an unknown amount of time. He didn''t know how long he was staring, and he didn''t wonder why he had never noticed the ring until now. All of those details were not important in front of the most beautiful ring he had ever seen.


    "It must be the most beautiful ring ever," he said with eyes of worship and adoration. "No, it must be the most beautiful thing in all of existence."


    His awe soon turned to greed. He muttered dreamily, "I must have it."


    He wasted no time in taking action. He moved towards the ring, and as he did so, the ring seemed to glow in his vision. It grew brighter, such that it was the only thing he could see. It was the only thing in the world that mattered.


    His fingers touched it, but he had to take back his hand because of the spark of electricity that rebuffed him. But that didn''t dissuade him.


    He said with steely determination, "I must have it. It must be mine. It will mine."


    So he reached for it again. There were sparks again, but he didn''t give up. He forced himself to hold it even as his fingers began to char from the electricity and his fingers shook with the shocks.


    Unfortunately, despite his impressive disy of determination, he couldn''t lift it from the table. It was as heavy as a mountain. He struggled against the weight, but it wouldn''te up.


    He heard a voice in his head. It was like a whisper from deep within his mind. It asked him, "Do you want me?"


    He replied quickly, "Yes."


    "Do you want power?"


    "Yes."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Do you want to be the Paragon?"


    He agreed even though he didn''t know what it meant.


    "Then you must swear to kill Raijin."


    He didn''t ask who Raijin was. He didn''t care about why he should kill this Raijin. He didn''t even consider where the voice came from. He would have agreed to anything, including giving out half of the organs in his body. His brain included. So he agreed without missing a beat.


    "I will kill Raijin."


    "Swear it."


    "I swear that I will do everything to kill Raijin."


    The ring came off the table immediately, after he swore to it. His hands had be darkened bones, but he didn''t care. He ced the ring over his finger with joy and relish.


    His whole body tingled immediately. It wasn''t like the shocks of electricity he felt earlier. It was a pleasant shock that rxed him.


    But then his body began to heat up. He didn''t notice this, of course. He was too enamoured with the ring to care about anything else in the world. His eyes were fixed on the golden ring on his finger with all the attention he could muster.


    His body heated up until it began to steam. Maybe the pain would have jolted him out of his reverie, but he couldn''t feel pain, so he was unaware of it.


    He didn''t need to worry, though. He was only awakening for a second time. It is not a normal urrence, so it is normal that there would be abnormal manifestations and phenomena.

 Chapter 11 A Divine Fire.

    Humans, beasts, and otherworlders only have the potential to awaken once. It is the destiny of all to awaken once and only once. But there are certain items that can reshape destiny. With these items, one might be awakened twice.


    Information about these items is not public information. Less than 99.9% of everyone on Earth-11 knows about them. It is because those who know about them don''t want the information to be known, and those whoe into possession of these items rarely live for long.


    These items have a great potential that can be identified by even the most ignorant being. Even an animal would identify such items as divine with a single nce.


    Then the cells in their body would roar with a single voice that they must acquire the items. Their existence would hunger for the potential, and they would willingly do anything to acquire the items.


    Now it is Kelvin''s turn to acquire the ring of the Paragon. Its benefits were instantaneous. His body became so hot that the ring melted into a thin gold film, which covered his whole body. Then he cooled down.


    The gold film hardened after he cooled down. So he became a golden statue of a man admiring his fingers with a wide stupid grin on his face. He couldn''t move at all. Both his mind and body had been frozen.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    This incapacitation continued until the gold film was absorbed by his body. All the cells in his body had absorbed the ring. Thispleted his metamorphosis.


    His body had changed after his second awakening. He was no longer white. He was ck now. Even the whites of his eyes had be ck. His hair and teeth had be ck too.


    There was arge golden tattoo of a spiked ring on his right chest, just above his heart. The spikes on the golden ring extended outwards all over his ck skin. They formed golden lines that covered his face and hair.


    These golden lines weren''t just surface tattoos. They went deep into his muscles and bones. They were on his teeth and tongue. They were in his mind and soul.


    Kelvin was still unconscious even after his body was unfrozen. This made him fall down to the ground. The impact of the fall still didn''t wake him from the dream he was having.


    His dream was very vivid. He knew he was in a dream, though. He also knew the identity of the person whose body he was in and where the dream was taking ce both in time and space.


    He was Icon, and it was 73 years ago. He has just be the first Demigod of Earth-11. The beasts and monsters almost beat him to it, but they didn''t have the power of unity of mankind.


    Arge portion of the poption of humans that remained after the apocalypse supported him, so he was able to achieve this great milestone. Now he has finally reached the 100th floor of the tower of Destiny. Now he can repay everyone back for their support of him.


    He looked around the 100th floor to find that he wasn''t the only one there. There were others standing there, looking at him. From the look of things, they weren''t exactly in the room with him. They appeared to be somewhere else but were using a tear in space like a window to look at him.


    Even though they were not here physically, he could feel the immensity of their existence through the thin veil of reality that separated them. They were tall beings who looked down on him. But he didn''t cower.


    One of them spoke, "Wee, Champion of Earth-11. I am Odin, the All Father from Earth-1."


    The others introduced themselves. There was Zeus, Jupiter, Amun-ra, Baal, Amaterasu, Tian, Wotan, Indra, and Coloring. He had never heard of their names, so he didn''t much care.


    After they were done introducing their identity and where they came from, Odin resumed speaking.


    "You have reached a great crossroads. The majority of the people of Earth-11 have faith in you, so you get to decide the fate of your world. It is a great privilege and a great burden. But if you do the right thing, you cane out of this stronger than ever. This is why I will rmend that you..."


    Icon interrupted the god king. "I don''t care about anything else. My job is to cut off Yggdrasil and free Earth-11. That''s what I was supported to do, and that''s what I''ll do."


    The god kings didn''t like that. They didn''t vocalize their displeasure, but their silence was more than enough. Especially with the one called Zeus. Lightning was rippling through his body, and his eyes were glowing with lightning.


    But Icon didn''t care. He wouldn''t let them tempt him with the promise of power. Too many people had given their lives up for him to be here. He wouldn''t disappoint their expectations, so he matched to the center of the room where the weave of destiny stood.


    The god kings watched him go silently. He reached his destination to examine up close. The weave of destiny was arge ball of silver threads. This close, he could events happening to the owners of each thread and even identify the destiny of the person.


    This was his target. He reached out his hand to touch it. But nothing happened. The weave remained whole.


    Odin spoke to him, "What you have before you is the destiny of your whole world. It can not be destroyed so easily. You will need a divine fire to destroy it. Only something of that caliber can destroy something so powerful."


    Icon asked with annoyance, "Where do I get a divine fire?"


    Odin didn''t mind the disrespect. He even chuckled and offered generously, "Don''t you have a divine spark within you? You can use it to create a divine fire."


    Odin replied before Icon could ask, "Yes, it will cost you your life. You will not survive the process."

 Chapter 12 Tinder For The Spark.

    Icon looked at his chest. It was hollow. He didn''t have lungs because he didn''t need them. He didn''t have an oesophagus because he didn''t need to eat. He didn''t have trachea orrynx because he didn''t need them to speak.


    He didn''t have a heart either, because he doesn''t have blood anymore. There his heart should be, was a golden spark of light and energy. It was his reward for bing a demigod. Eternal life was his, but now he had to give it up to save mankind.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He took a deep breath. He didn''t need to, but it calmed his mind. It calmed his mind enough to make the decision he needed to make.


    He said with determination, "I''ll do it."


    Odin pped slowly, "Impressive disy from the champion of Earth-11. Exactly as expected."


    "But that is not the only thing you need to create the divine me. Go on and see for yourself."


    Icon heeded his words and put his arm into his hollow chest. He gripped his divine spark and took it out. This weakened him immensely, but it didn''t kill him.


    He extended the hand holding the spark towards the weave of destiny. He was rewarded with a notification.


    -Divine Spark Detected?


    -Do you wish to create a Divine me?


    -You will need to offer all ties of karma and 10% mortal lives as tinder for the me.


    -Yes or No?


    Icon was shocked. Then he became angry.


    "What is the meaning of this?" He roared in anger.


    It was a feeble roar since he was so weak. But his anger was strong. Even the spark in his hands responded to it. It grew brighter along with his anger.


    "I have done all of these only to have to sacrifice more? No one told me all of these."


    Zeus sneered at him and said, "What is the matter? Were you not willing to sacrifice yourself for your world? What is one more sacrifice?"


    Odin interceded with an exnation. "We have spent a lot of energy to align Earth-11 with Yggdrasil. That energy and the alignment have granted you the power and opportunity you currently possess."


    "But if you are hell bent on biting the hand that fed you, you must pay the price, and it must be in blood. You must give up the power you gained, and you must sacrifice the destiny of the people that supported you. After all, a spark still needs tinder to create a me."


    "It shouldn''t be a problem since it is going to be for the good of your whole world. Surely, your sacrifice will be worth it."


    Icon didn''t think so. To him, it was a big problem. Not only did he have to sacrifice himself, he had to sacrifice the people that supported him and the lives of 10% of all living things on Earth-11.


    The second request was the part he had the most problems with. These were the people that helped him. They were hoping for peace, but they would only get death.


    But there''s more. He can see all the people who will die because of his decision. Among them is his pregnant wife. She will die with the unborn child in her, leaving their young son as an orphan.


    That means if he goes through with this decision, he will leave his son without parents. His son will then be at the mercy of other humans. Could he trust other humans to take care of his son? Did he want his son to suffer the pain of losing both his parents?


    The answer is no. Not after he had seen the worst that the apocalypse had brought out of humanity. The main thing that motivated him through all the struggles he went through was to protect his family and friends. But now, the decision that will save all of mankind will kill what he cares most about.


    Unfortunately, for mankind, he wasn''t willing to make that sacrifice. So he said, "You know what? Fuck it."


    He took back his hand and deposited his divine spark where it should be.


    Odin smiled and said, "Now that we have gotten past that awkward moment, let us move on to more pleasant things. Take the weave of destiny and bring fuse with it. That will let you take control of the Destiny of your world. You will be able to create a Pantheon for Earth-11. Who knows, you might even be a god king like us."


    The atmosphere had changed after he decided not to destroy the weave of destiny. The gods were no longer angry with him. They still didn''t like him, but they were no longer radiating disapproval.


    Icon asked as he gripped the silver ball of threads, "I''m guessing that by doing this, I will open Earth to Yggdrasilpletely. You will be able toe here, and the monster incursions will continue."


    "Yes. But it is a small price to pay for power. And you don''t need to concern yourself with that because of your current power and the power you will gain soon. All will be well for you and your loved ones."


    Icon fused with the weave of destiny. He was granted power beyond imagination because of it. He felt like a god. He could kill anyone from Earth-11 with a single thought. He had all the power in the world.


    The power was addicting. But he didn''t lose himself to it. Actually, he did the opposite. He decided to divide the power with everyone instead of hording it.


    He knew he justified not sacrificing everyone he loves to save Earth, but he still felt guilty about his decision. So, he decided to do something to reward everyone on earth for helping him. He decided to give everyone power.


    So the weave of destiny scattered in his chest. He said to himself, "From now on, it won''t be just a few people who get to awaken. Everyone will be able to awaken. Everyone will have control over their destiny and will be able to protect themselves. It is the least I can do."

 Chapter 13 The Villainous Hero.

    A god king called out to Icon after the weave of destiny dispersed, "You are a fool. You will regret this decision."


    Even Odin was disappointed. The All Father said, "I am disappointed in you. That was indeed a foolish decision. You prioritized quantity over quality. That is a decision based on naivety. You should have created a Pantheon to protect your world if you cared so much about it."


    Icon refuted, "It is wrong that the destiny of a whole world should rest on the shoulders of a few. It is too much of a responsibility and also unfair to the rest. I prefer it that everyone should have power over their destiny. Whatever happens, I know that I have repaid the world for their help, and that''s all that matters."


    The god kings ignored him. They had gotten what they wanted, so they closed the window to the 100th floor. This left him and the vestiges of power from the weave of destiny alone.


    He had scattered the weave, but there were still some left overs from it. They were the foundation of the destiny of the whole world, and there were seven of them.


    They were the rings of immortality. There were for the immortality of the soul, mind, knowledge, body, power, mind, and paragon. Thest ring was the one that was to bind them all and the destiny of the world.


    They were supposed to be the foundation of godhood for the Pantheon of Earth-11. But now, they were waiting for him to choose one before they too were scattered into the wind for others to find.


    He could have had all of them, but now he could only choose one. The thought made himugh bitterly.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He would be lying if he said he didn''t feel the sting of loss. He has felt like a lesser being after losing the power of the weave of destiny. Now he has to lose more.


    Eventually he made his decision. He chose the ring of Paragon only because he wanted to be in control of it so that no one else would be able to use it to recover the other rings.


    The ring of Paragon was the weakest one. By itself, it had very little power. So he clearly wasn''t choosing it because of the power it would grant him now.


    He was not sure if anyone with the ring of Paragon would be able to recover the destiny of the whole world again, but he wanted to be certain that it wouldn''t be possible. After all, if someone else gets it, they might be able to undo the decision he made.


    He said to himself, "Better safe than sorry."


    So he took the ring of the paragon while the others scattered into the wind. Then he left the tower of destiny.


    The dream became a blur then. Events skipped too fast for him to see. Kelvin could only get a glimpse of certain events.


    It turned out that the god kings were right. Icon soon regretted his decision because the world didn''t like his decision. They didn''t believe him when he said he had no choice, no matter how he exined it. There was no proof, so they called him a liar.


    All everyone needed to hate him was the fact the monster incursions were still going on. What''s more, everyone has to participate in the dangerous destiny games now.


    Things became worse when strange and powerful beings from other versions of earth also began to invade. They killed a lot of people and caused a lot of chaos. The repercussions of their incursions sank a whole continent and cracked many others.


    Icon wasbeled a viin. He was called a deceiver. The Justice League was created by someone called Raijin to punish him for his sins and deliver justice on behalf of the world.


    The Justice League hunted him and his family for many years. They killed his wife and his two kids. They killed anyone who tried to help him. Then they seeded in killing him too.


    Kelvin finally woke up. His eyes were unfocused as he muttered, "So father was right. You either die young or you live long enough to see yourself be the viin."


    He doesn''t think there was a right or wrong in the matter. Icon did his best, but his best was not good enough. His best was never going to be good enough because everyone wouldn''t be satisfied with whatever decision he made.


    He was going to be a viin either way. But instead of using that power to protect himself, he used it to empower the people that would use him of being evil.


    Maybe others would pity Icon or sympathize with him, but Kelvin agreedpletely with the god kings. He believes that Icon was foolish. He believes Icon was naive, and he made inefficient decisions.


    A voice jolted him out of his contemtion, "It seems you have epted the legacy of the first paragon."


    He was on his feet in an instant. He looked around warily as he asked, "Who''s there?"


    A figure formed in front of him. It was a shadow. It was a dark phantom like a wraith. He couldn''t tell if it was male or female.


    Kelvin asked with suspicion, "Who are you?"


    "I am the voice of the ring. The spirit of the artifact, if you will."


    The reply made him remember what he was doing before he had the dream. He looked around, searching for the ring. It was then that he noticed the changes to his body.


    The shadow said to him, "The ring has fused with you now. It won''t be separated from you until you die."


    Kelvin had a lot of questions. The first one he asked was the most important one. He was still suspicious of this figure who suddenly appeared. So he asked, "I have never heard of an artifact spirit. Objects shouldn''t be able to speak."


    -----


    A/N: If you haven''t given a review at this point, please do. Please make your review informative for potential readers. Also, rmend DESTINY GAMES to your circle and socialwork if you can. DESTINY GAMES is taking part in apetition, and it will need all the help you can give it. Thank you very much.

 Chapter 14 Why, How And What?

    The Shadow replied, "Normal objects can''t speak out, but I am not normal. I am a divine object. Every divine object has a will. They can choose who gets to wield them, and if the conditions are right, they canmunicate with their wielder."


    Kelvin didn''t believe a word that it said. He reached for his phone and began searching for divine spirits. The spirit floated over and saw what he was doing.


    It sighed and said, "That won''t help. Divine artifacts are rare. Have you heard of Mjonir? Well, I have, but if you search the web, you will not find anything about it."


    He was spooked when the shadow passed through his body to look at the screen of his phone, but he didn''t let that discourage him. He tried to create some distance between the two of them as he continued with the search for what he wanted.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t find anything about divine spirits or divine artifacts. He couldn''t find anything about Mjonir either, but that could be because he didn''t get the spelling right.


    Next, he searched for the various god kings he saw in the dream. Nothing came up about them. He had to give up in frustration.


    The shadow said, "See?"


    "This doesn''t prove anything. The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence."


    "What now?" The spirit asked him.


    He replied with wariness, "Prove that you are truly the spirit of the object."


    "I can''t do that. All I can say is that I saw your first destiny game, and what I saw of your performance matched the requirements I had for my wielder. So I came to you. You tried to lift me, but I refused to budge. Then I asked you to swear to kill Raijin. You did, then you had that dream, and now we are here with you questioning my authenticity."


    "Hmmm," he said as he ruminated on what it said while eyeing it suspiciously.


    "See here. I like your cautious nature; I''m loving it even. But we have to get past this to do something constructive with our time. You are stuck with me until you die."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Kelvin narrowed his eyes and said, "Sounds like something an imposter would say."


    The shadow groaned audibly. Then it said, "There''s a way to prove if I am a spirit. You are the only one who can see me and speak with me. Let''s go outside and test it."


    Kelvin didn''t fall for it. He shook his head and said, "The only thing that will prove is that I am going crazy or that you have the ability to hide yourself from others. It doesn''t prove that you are the spirit of that ring."


    "I give up. It is not that I expected instant trust anyway, so I am fine with this. You will just have to learn to trust me in time."


    Kelvin asked, "Let''s assume that you are truly who you are. How did you find me?"


    "That''s easy. I just jumped through space to you. I am a divine artifact, so I can do that. Look at your body right now and check your destiny report. You will find that I can do a lot of things that don''t follow the rules of nature."


    "Do you just want me to close my eyes so that you can possess me or something?"


    "I''m not trying to do that." It moved over to a cup on the table. Then it said, "Look, I can''t touch it. I can''t touch anything, and I can''t harm you."


    "I wish I could believe you."


    "I wish that too."


    Kelvin did look at himself, and even without looking at his destiny report, he knew that he had awakened twice. He even knew what his second ability was. It made him feel disbelief.


    His shapeshifting ability had been stretched to the limit and forced to awaken again. It gave him an ability that he had never heard anyone have before. This incredulous situation made him begin to believe that the shadow might be right.


    He inhaled sharply and said, "Why me? You seem like a very powerful object. Why would you choose someone like me?"


    "It is because of my requirements. I need someone with an ability that has room for growth. You are the best one that I have encountered. Your ability is literally flexibility and change. I decided that it would be able to amodate arge portion of the potential I contained and evolve into something greater. That''s why I came here."


    "As for why I can speak with you, that''s because you agreed to kill Raijin. If you had refused, I would have left."


    "Is it because I am a shapeshifter? But there are other shapeshifters?"


    "There are, but very few of them are as powerful as yours and very few of them actually have the grit needed to attempt to kill their teammates on their first destiny game. That showed me that you had the correct mentality and were willing to do everything you needed to do to survive."


    That felt like apliment to him which improved his mood. But then he frowned when he remembered how he had behaved when he saw the ring and how he had been willing to agree to do anything to acquire it.


    It made him ask, "Did you affect my mind in anyway?"


    The shadow replied, "I did not. That was all you. It was an impulse like the need to eat when you are hungry or the need to mate when you encounter a sexually attractive person. It was like all of those thingsbined and amplified because every part of your body wanted me, not just your stomach or your penis."


    "Fine. I am willing to believe you for now, but you are on thin ice."


    The shadow would have rolled its eyes if it had one. But it didn''t, so it shrugged and said, "Can we do something productive now?"


    ------


    A/N: If you haven''t given a review at this point, please do. Please make your review informative for potential readers. Also, rmend DESTINY GAMES to your circle and socialwork if you can. DESTINY GAMES is taking part in apetition, and it will need all the help you can give it. Thank you very much.

 Chapter 15 Questions And Answers.

    Kelvin began to ask a series of questions. "Wait a minute. I still have some questions. What was that dream? You said it was a legacy. What does that mean?


    Am I the only one who has acquired you since Icon? If not, why did the others die?"


    He had so many questions that they all just came bursting out of him once he started.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Slow down, will you?"


    He stopped, so the ring replied, "Let me start from the beginning. The dream was a legacy of the first paragon. It was left there because Icon was my creator and also the only paragon to have ever be demigod. He sacrificed his remaining life to leave behind a legacy and set a requirement for who could be selected as paragons."


    "He sacrificed his life?" Kelvin asked with surprise.


    "Yes, he did. It wasn''t much. He was already dying."


    Kelvin nodded and said, "It was not a bad idea to leave behind the legacy, but I must say that I thought highly of him before I knew his side of the story. He is not the great and powerful viin that took the whole world to bring down anymore. He is just some naive fool who was brought down by the Justice League."


    "I don''t think what he did was foolish. Before he decided to distribute his power, not everyone could awaken. There was a great societal divide between those who had awakened and those who hadn''t. The awakened oppressed those who hadn''t awakened. His actions rectified that problem."


    Kelvin shrugged and said, "It still doesn''t change my opinion of him. If anything, you are making it worse."


    The shadow sighed and continued, "Where was I? Ah, yes. I was at the legacy."


    "So anyway, his legacy exins the true history of the world and gives the reason why Raijin must be killed so that his sessors won''t have moral gripes with killing the founder of the Justice League."


    Kelvin didn''t care about the reason for killing Raijin. He would have done it for just power regardless of who Raijin was or what he had done. But he didn''t voice that. He listened attentively to the shadow.


    "On to the next question. You are not the only paragon I have had since Icon. There have been many, and clearly, they have all died. They died because they were killed by ident or by those who wanted to get me from them."


    Kelvin couldn''t holb back at this point. He said, "That can''t be true. Why have I never heard of the ring of Paragon? Why have I never heard anyone in possession of it? I have read a lot of books, but I have never heard anything about this."


    "I can understand the absence of information about the god kings since they are not of earth. But what about your previous wielders?"


    The shadow replied, "They kept their identity secret just like you are going to do if you don''t want to die."


    That reply didn''t satisfy him, so he asked, "What are the names of the previous wielders?"


    The shadow sighed and told him. But it warned him, "You won''t find anything about them on the web."


    He went online to search for them. He didn''t find anything about them. This made him decide to check their records in the tower of destiny. If he didn''t find anything there too, then he would be too wary of the shadow.


    He didn''t care about the shadow as a threat anymore. He felt that he had to find any proof that the ring of Paragon existed to disprove his suspicion that he was losing his mind. So he sat down by the wall and went to the tower.


    He entered without issue. Then he searched for the names of the previous wielders. The tower provided him a lot of information about them. He could watch all of their previous matches. It was an enlightening experience.


    He also noticed that all of them had a golden tattoo of a spiked ring on their chest with golden lines extending all over their bodies. It was exactly like the one he has on his chest, but some of them had more tattoos on their arms, legs, or faces.


    He was finally satisfied that he wasn''t going crazy, but the information he acquired about the power of his predecessors made his heart heavy with fear.


    He returned to the real world and asked the shadow, "Invisibility, invincibility, teleportation, telekinesis, and many more. These people were far stronger than me, and they still died. How do you even kill someone invincible? You shouldn''t be able to harm someone like that at all."


    The shadow replied, "You suffocate him."


    "Oh. That''s actually reasonable."


    The shadow exined, "Right? The issue is that despite their immense power and their abilities, they are still mortal. Without oxygen, most of them will die. You can put almost any mortal in the void of space, and they will die regardless of their ability."


    "I was quite fond of the guy that could teleport. But someone cursed him, and he died. You can''t escape a curse no matter how fast you can run or where you can escape to."


    "The invisible woman was poisoned with a neurotoxic gas. The telekic woman who could move an ind with her mind was outrightly crushed with overwhelming power by a demigod."


    The more the shadow exined, the more Kelvin felt that he was in over his head. Just imagining what those monstrosities who couldn''t be captured by a camera would do to him made him feel fear like no other.


    He muttered, "I''m doomed."


    "No, you''re not. You have a good chance here because you can hide your identity. You can literally change how you look. The others couldn''t. Anyone who knew what to look for could identify them immediately because of their tattoos."


    That encouraged him. He nodded and said, "That''s good."


    The shadow continued, "That''s just your basic ability. What is the second one? I''m sure it is going to be something good."

 Chapter 16 Goals.

    Before he could reply, the shadow chuckled and said, "That guy with invincibility was my second Paragon. I made a terrible mistake choosing him. I thought he would be very powerful with my help, but it turned out invincibility didn''t like external influence. His ability fought back against me instead of absorbing the potential I had to offer. Please tell me I didn''t make a mistake with you."


    Kelvin replied with pride, "I got Power Shifting."


    The shadow eximed, "Oh, that''s a good one. I should have expected it since your first ability was shapeshifting. What are its requirements?"


    Kelvin considered it for a while before replying. "Something about stealing the destiny of others."


    The shadow became excited. "No, it is a great ability. It doesn''t have a lot of power now, but it will be formidable in the future. We just need the opportunity to grow it."


    "I think I can do that if I get a job. I already n to do that. This way I will be able to get money, grow my ability, and also grow my reputation."


    The shadow nodded enthusiastically, "Let''s do that. But don''t count on thatst one. You run the games as a viin. Viins focus on kill count, while heroes focus on fans. Reputation will do you very little good."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I know. But it can''t hurt."


    The shadow agreed, "That it can''t."


    Kelvin decided to leave his cozy borrowed apartment to find some work. He made sure to change how he looked first. He was d to see that his tattoos disappeared as well as his odd look.


    So it was a normal human that left the apartment. He wore a hoodie just in case. The shadow followed him along the way.


    He asked it as he entered the elevator, "What''s your name anyway?"


    "I am Wrath of Icon. But you can call me Wrath."


    "Ok Wrath. I hope we can do great things together."


    He doesn''t trust Wrath, but he has very little he can do about it. For now, he intends to go along with it and find out more information.


    Wrath, on the other hand, didn''t appear to have the same misgivings as him. It didn''t even seem to have any misgivings.


    It said confidently, "I''m sure we will do great things. I can already tell that escaping my prison was not a waste of my time."


    "A prison? What prison?"


    "Some demigods captured myst wielder and sealed him in a prison designed to trap me. My wielder died but I didn''t escape. I let them think they had captured me. I''m sure they are fighting over me right now. They probably think one of them stole me."


    "Fighting demigods? How soon ago didn''t you escape?"


    "Immediately after your game."


    Kelvin remembered the video of the fighting demigods. It made him gulp uneasily.


    But he overcame his fear to ask, "Do the demigods want you for a second ability too?"


    "No. What they want is much bigger. They need me to fuse the other rings. That way they will be able to create a Pantheon and be gods. Or at least what will pass of as gods on earth."


    "Unfortunately for them, unlike the other rings, I have a voice and strict requirements for my wielder. They couldn''t force me to do their bidding. And apparently, they couldn''t imprison me either."


    Kelvin was tempted. He said in consideration, "Hmmm. These other rings, I''m guessing that getting them will give me more power."


    Wrathughed. "Of course you will get a lot of power. With the ring of energy, for instance, you will have infinite energy. You will never tire and will be able to use all your abilities without rest. You will be unstoppable."


    "However, since it is so powerful, whoever is in possession of it currently will also be very powerful. If they are demigods, then you''re screwed."


    Kelvin chuckled. "Right. I should forget about them until I be a demigod."


    "Don''t be so glum. You have a chance. There''s this guy who calls himself the Patriarch. He is in possession of the ring of the soul. He has been killed several times but would always return. Only the Paragon can kill him permanently, so you have a chance."


    "If you kill him and take his ring, you will also be immune to death. You will have very little to fear apart from other divine weapons and artifacts."


    Kelvin almost couldn''t believe his ears. He shook his head and said, "It truly is a small world."


    Wrath asked, "What do you mean? Have you met him before?"


    He replied, "sort of. Why haven''t my predecessors gotten him, though? He is strong, but he is not invincibility or teleportation strong."


    The shadow replied, "The problem is twofold. The Patriarch is a powerful Null-ss super. He is also a trap for the paragons. So he is a difficult-to-kill bait meant to trap any paragon that goes after him. That''s how myst wielder was captured."


    Kelvin chuckled with mirth. "I''m not surprised."


    "That makes two of us. But my previous wielder was certainly caught off guard. He had intangibility and disintegration. He could move through walls or demolish them with a touch. He couldn''t be harmed while he could deal devastating blows to whoever he managed to get close to and touch."


    "He thought he was invincible. He thought he could catch the Patriarch off guard by sneaking up on him. But the Patriarch was too powerful. He lost his abilities when he got close to the Patriarch, and the rest is history."


    Wrath smirked thinking about it. "Maybe the Paragon with invincibility and reflection could have taken on the Patriarch, but certainly not intangibility and disintegration."


    Kelvin asked uneasily, "So there are demigods always watching the patriarch."


    "Yes. They will nab you immediately you show up to kill him."


    "Doesn''t that mean there is a demigod in New London?"


    "Where''s that?"


    "Where we are currently?"


    "Is the Patriarch here?"


    Kelvin replied feeling mncholic, "Yes. He was. He was killed three weeks ago."

 Chapter 17 Fountain Of Knowledge.

    Wrath didn''t notice his weird state. It continued unbothered, "Well, the Patriarch won''t be dead for long. He will nab a body and return soon enough. From what I know of him, he likes to prepare vessels for that eventuality. That''s one of the major reasons he kidnaps kids. He is grooming them in body and mind to be suitable for possession."


    "As for your question, yes. There should be a demigod here. Probably in a sealed off part of the city. I reckon that there is a demigod in every major city. Or at least their influence."


    "Thest I know, they are needed to prevent incursions from happening right within cities. Their heavy existence fortifies and anchors space, which makes it difficult for spatial tears to ur around them."


    Kelvin asked in genuine surprise, "So we need demigods to survive? That''s serious."


    Wrath said, "Don''t be surprised. Things are better now than in the past before demigods became a thing. An incursion could happen anytime, anywhere. Nowhere was safe."


    "It was why a lot of people supported Icon and why they hated him so much after he disappointed them. They hoped for peace and a return to normalcy, but not only did he dissapoint them, he also gave them more violence by forcing everyone to participate in the Destiny Games."


    Kelvin nodded in understanding. He thought to himself, "No matter what, at least it is useful for getting information."


    That is one thing he can appreciate about a spirit that has existed since the cataclysm that reshaped earth. Wrath didn''t know current affairs or even mundane information like the council of shareholders that own New London, but he knew that a demigod could be found at the center of the city deep underground.


    Wrath wasn''t certain about that, but he also gave an alternative option of the use of a special spatial machine that might do the job too. Kelvin didn''t know that, so he was always learning because of Wrath.


    The two of them discussed some more as Kelvin made his way to District 666. That''s not the official name of the district, but the official name has been lost ever since Thunderbeastid im to that portion of the city. Now it is known as the turf of the Thunderstorm Viin League and a hotbed for crime.


    From the little he knew of society when he was still a goon, the major difference between a goon and a viin is someone registered with a viin league. Any viin that wants a job or to make a name for themselves must join a league or create their own.


    To be honest, he had never considered that he would ever be able to join a league. He always thought that he would serve his father until he died, which was for a decade at maximum.


    He expected to live five more years as a goon working for his father. It is because he had never seen older kids among them. Even though he didn''t try to think about it then, he was smart enough to know that his days were numbered and that there was nothing he could do about it.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    So he was a little emotional as he made his way to one of the outposts of the league. One thing he had always wondered was how the kids with powers couldn''t defeat their father. Now, he knows that it is because his father doesn''t need to touch someone to nullify their ability.


    He took a taxi, which dropped right at the edge of the district. It was in an area that was dpidated and barren because of all the wars between heroes and viins.


    These areas, full of copsed buildings and overgrown weeds, formed a buffer zone between district 666 and the city proper. Behind him were the sprawling sky-high buildings of civilized society, and before him were the even higher buildings and prosperous society built on theck of rules.


    District 666 was positively buzzing with excitement and pleasure. It was a honeypot of prosperity created through the mixture of various crimes and viiny. Gone werew and order. All he could see was prosperous anarchy.


    He put up his hoddie and wrapped it closer around his body. But he didn''t fidget or stare. He didn''t move like a newbie. He didn''t make himself look like prey either. He walked with confidence and direction.


    It was easy to do. He already knew where he was going, so he didn''t have to act like he had a direction. All he had to do was not balk under the stares of people.


    There was no hostility in their stares. Just intense scrutiny. The hostility wouldeter if he proved to be receptive to it. In the meantime, he passed vers''s dens, prostitution parlors, gambling acloves, street racing corners, and fighting rings avenue on his way. He went deeper into the district, where there was order in the chaos.


    Despite the im of the absence of rules in District 666, there were actually rules that govern the district. The district had been demarcated into sections for various crimes and gangs. Anyone that went out of line would be put in their ce.


    So there was order in the chaos. The ce with the most order is the center of the district, where most of the official work of the league is carried out. If anyone didn''t know any better, they would think it was just a normal part of the city because it looked normal.


    If not for the sight of the tattooed popce, the tricked-out vehicles, and the non-humans walking about, this part of the district could pass off as the administration center of the whole city.


    Kelvin walked together with a beast man into his destination. He wasn''t flustered by the sight of the hairy man with a bear''s head because he was familiar with them and because no violence was allowed within the building. That''s an important rule that will be met with dire consequences if unted.

 Chapter 18 An Independent Man.

    Not that he was afraid of the beast man, but the assurance that he wouldn''t be attacked no matter the anger management issues of the beast man came handy in making him confident.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Beast men were illegal in most human cities because of their innate violent personalities and because people didn''t like them for being the descendants of otherworlders. Thetter reason is just racist, but the former is a very important reason why civilized human society doesn''t like beast men.


    Of course, beast men believe that humans are the uncivilized ones. They would mock humans and say that they are weak and live like sheep. As far as derogatoryments went, thatst part clearly needs more work.


    The two of them regarded each other mildly. Then they nced away and joined one of the six lines servicing viins. The line was long, so people were chatting with each other. There were also tables and chairs, with many sitting at them close to the walls, so conversation was brimming.


    Someone in front of him in another lineined, "You would think that with all the advances we''ve made in technology, we wouldn''t need to line up for something we could do online."


    The person beside him chuckled and said, "It seems you are new to this part of the city. Where did youe from?"


    "None of your business," came the curt reply.


    "What if I want to make it my business?"


    "Then you will have to buy me dinner first. But you''re not my type. I don''t go for scrawny weasels. I like my weasels with meat in them and female."


    That caused a loud roar ofughter to erupt in the hall. The viins were obviously having a good time. At least for now. Things might be different when they leave this ce.


    No one did give an exnation as to why people needed to line up instead of registering online. It is because viins are selfish with everything and very selfish with information.


    The guy who asked that question clearly showed that he was ignorant. No one was going to enlighten him by handing out information for free. If anything, they would be looking to take advantage of him. He had made himself look like prey with that ignorantint.


    Kelvin wasn''t that ignorant. He knew that it was because the inte wasn''t secure anymore. He knew that hackers were an issue long before the advent of the Tower of Destiny, but the weapons ss of supers made it too dangerous to leave important information on any electronic.


    Because of them, electronics would just give up the data they possessed as long as they were asked nicely. So thework being used by the league is an organic one.


    To be specific, it is a single person serving as the mainputer and smaller machines serving as terminals to ess this person. This way, thework couldn''t be hacked easily, and the location of the mainputer is unknown.


    He waited for 32 minutes before it was his turn. He entered the booth, which sealed him off from the surroundings. It was as if he had been transported to a different location.


    It was there that he made his registration. A robot helped him through everything he needed to do. He didn''t mind that he had to show his face and have his finger prints recorded for it. He wouldn''t have minded even if he was not a shapeshifter. The personal terminal they gave him made it all worth it.


    When he was done, the booth opened for him to leave. He could finally hear the drone of idle chatter again. He decided not to stick around for their pleasantpany, so he left. He went to a restaurant close by to ess his terminal in peace.


    Despite trying to control himself, he couldn''t help the smile that yed on his lips. The feeling of the terminal in his hand was the proof that he was his own man. It was liberating.


    Wrath noticed that he was in a good mood, so it asked, "What''s got you so happy?"


    "Nothing much. Just full of anticipation for the future."


    "Ok." Then it changed the subject. "This ce doesn''t seem so bad. So are you going to join a gang?"


    Kelvin sneered and said, "I would rather join a corpo than join a gang. Gangs are too messy. I just be an independent."


    "But you won''t have backup and support though."


    Kelvin shrugged. "I don''t need one."


    "Fine. So what''s the first mission?"


    "I''m thinking something with an interesting ability that I can steal."


    Wrath agreed. "That''s a good idea. Prioritize growing your ability over money. When you are strong enough, money wille to you."


    "I was not thinking of that. I was just too excited to try my ability."


    "That works too."


    He didn''t care about the increase in the amount of nces he was getting for mumbling to himself. They are just nces, nothing special. No one cares if he was crazy. They simply identified the possible threat and kept a safe distance between him and them.


    He finally reached the restaurant. The two of them eagerly huddled over the terminal as soon as he found a seat. They couldn''t wait to pick a mission.


    The terminal is a ratherrge device. It looks like a brick and feels like one. It is heavy like a brick, but it has a touch-interactive screen for inputs, so it is clearly an electronic.


    As a bona fide viin, he can ess the leaguework through it. Not everything had to be done by lining up. But some of the functions of the terminal required special permission or reputation to ess.


    In its base stage, he can get some updates about the events going on in the world. There is a news real and power wall that showed the ranking of viins. It was sort of like updates about the stock exchange. Except the updates are about which viins have been confirmed dead, which bank was robbed recently, or which viin was responsible for robbing a bank.

 Chapter 19 Power Rating.

    He can also acquire information about the abilities of viins from the terminal. The normal web does that for heroes, but viins keep their powers secrets as best as they can. All it will take is some money for him to pay for an investigation into any being.


    That is the main function of the terminal. That and hiring viins, or in his case, putting himself up for hire. Since he is an independent, he doesn''t need to put up a portfolio and hope to be hired by a gang or maybe even a corpo. He can peruse the mission list open to a viin of his rank and then choose which mission he wants.


    The rank they use is based on power rating. Power rating is considered the total stat points of all 6 attributes multiplied by the ascension of their destiny. It is also temporary destiny x permanent destiny x tier.


    Power is not absolute, as the effects of abilities influence the oues in battle. So power is just a means to categorize people based on potential danger and threat.


    ording to what he knows, the power rating goes like this.


    No. Rank: Total Stat


    0. Unranked: Less than 1,000.


    1. F: Above 1,000 (Thousand Mark).


    2. E: Above 10,000.


    3. D: Above 100,000.


    4. C: Above 1,000,000 (Million Mark).


    5. B: Above 10,000,000.


    6. A: Above 100,000,000.


    7. S: Above 1,000,000,000 (Billion Mark).


    8. SS: Above 10,000,000,000.


    9. SSS: Above 100,000,000,000.


    10. X: Above 1,000,000,000,000 (Trillion Mark).


    He has a total of 180 in his stats, and since he is in Tier 0, or what is called the amateur league, that makes his total power equal to 180 multiplied by 1. That is definitely less than 1,000, so he is unranked.


    Even if he were more powerful, the league will still consider him unranked until he proves himself otherwise. That''s why they made F-rank missions avable to him. They will always make missions that are one tier above his avable. That way, he will be able to work his way up until he reaches his limit.


    Unfortunately, he is not some powerhouse just starting out as a viin looking to make a name for himself. He is truly an unranked, so he won''t mess with F-ranked missions at all. The gap between 180 and 1,000 is just too wide for his ability to make a difference. So he only checked out missions for those who were unranked.


    There were a lot of those missions. In fact, the number of missions for the unranked is probably more than the other 10 ranksbined. It didn''t help that there were missions from other leagues from all over the world. So he will certainly find something that suits him.


    He narrowed down the search to only missions that he could do in New London. The filter out to be mission reward, but he skipped that in favor of mission types. He decided to go with missions that require him to kill a target since that''s the way to steal their destinies.


    Then he narrowed down the targets to other shapeshifters so that he would be able to improve his. There were a lot of this type of mission even after he narrowed it down by so much.


    There was a guy who could turn into a minotaur. There was another who could turn himself into a liquid form, ady could shape her bones into weapons such as ws, and a man who turn himself into some sort of gas.


    There was also someone who could impersonate others by copying their looks, voice, and habits. This grabbed his attention immediately.


    He muttered, "That one is weird. How do you copy someone''s habit?"


    Wrath replied, "That''s not a shapeshifter. I bet it is a Psychic-ss super that uses illusions. People just think it is a shapeshifter because it looks like one."


    Kelvin was impressed. He even said so. "Oh. So they will see what they think a person should look and behave like when they look at the super, which fools them into thinking the super is a shapeshifter. Pretty impressive."


    Wrath didn''t care for it. "It is just parlor tricks. Or a circus act, if you will. Such a super is weak and can be easily crushed."


    Kelvin didn''t agree. He said, "But they can fool me into giving up and running away if they look like a demigod. That has to count as something."


    "It could, but it will only work if you know what a demigod looks like and how they act."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "But I know what a demigod should look like."


    "Hmmm. That''s true," Wrath said in contemtion. "But I doubt you would be fooled if you see Icon right now. You know he is dead."


    "Alright, alright. You win. The ability is shitty. Let''s move on."


    He continued his search for a viable target. The target had to be weak, but possess an ability with potential. He eventually narrowed it down to three options. One man can turn his bones into metal, while another woman can turn her skin into metal.


    The man has permanent metal bones. They do very little for him apart from making him stronger and more durable. He doesn''t have to fear broken bones or a bullet going through his skull, but a bullet can go through his heart and a knife can spill his guts just as well as a normal person.


    The woman with the metal skin, on the other hand, doesn''t have permanent metal skin. Her ability is temporary, like his. It requires energy to make her skin metallic, but once she does, she bes resistant against bullets and other forms of attacks.


    The disadvantage is that if caught off guard, she can be killed easily. Her natural suit of armor cannot protect her from an assassination.


    Kelvin asked Wrath, "So which one should I go for first?"


    -----


    A/N: Which should he go for?

 Chapter 20 Same Thing Different Begining.

    Wrath replied, "I have seen these two abilities before. They are not shapeshifters. They are just your good old-fashioned Physique-ss supers with metallic transformation of the body."


    "What''s more, if they ascend through the tower of destiny, they will gain game points that they can use to awaken more abilities. Eventually, the two of them will be the same metallic being."


    "They just started from two different directions. The guy started from the inside while she started from the outside. They''ll eventually bepletely metallic; even their eyes will not escape the transformation, and it might be permanent."


    "Be that as it may, I rmend that you go after the man with the metal bones. You will be able to gain a bigger boost from it when you use it together with your shapeshifting. Plus, it will eliminate one of your weaknesses. With metal bones, your brain will be protected, and you won''t be killed instantly by a bullet to the brain."


    Kelvin nodded in agreement. "The metallic bones guy should be easier to kill even if I fail to catch him off guard. Now we have to decide on a n."


    They read all the information that was made avable about the man. It was extensive. There were notes, pictures, and even videos of important things to pay attention to.


    Apparently the man was the boss of a prostitution parlor. This parlor upies an entire floor of a skyscraper. The front room is a bar. People can get drinks there and move on with one of thedies or men to the rooms at the back to engage them in their service.


    There were pictures of theyout of the whole floor, including pictures of the front room and the ess point to the back rooms. There was a video showing a path from the entrance through the first room, the hallway behind it, and finally through the service entrance at the other side.


    The floor can''t be essed even if he can fly. It can only be essed through the two elevators and two staircases on both sides of the building. One elevator is public and can be used by anyone to ess any of the other floors, but the other elevator is private and can only be used by employees of the various businesses in the skyscraper.


    The prostitution parlor is not the only floor in the building. It is just one of the 123 floors. So he can escape into one of the other floors and wait out a chase there.


    Everything was nned out. The major problems of the mission were how to reach the boss of the floor and how to escape after killing him.


    He is confident that he can kill the man, but the man rarely shows up and doesn''t meet clients. Next is the issue of security in the building. Both entrances are manned with supers. There are men patrolling the floor, and there are men guarding the boss.


    So even if he manages to kill the man, odds are he won''t survive long after. If he is to survive, either he will have the strength to break through a wall and survive a fall from 80 stories up or he will have to kill the security.


    By the looks of the information avable on the security forces, theter might be more difficult than the former. He might be better off taking his chances with the wall and the fall than fighting 20 men.


    These two issues are why the person who ordered the kill is paying a lot for it. They are paying 100,000 dors for the kill. He doesn''t know how much that is worth since he hasn''t really had a use for money.


    Neither does Wrath know the value of 100,000 dors. The two of them are ignorant in that aspect. All they know is that the average reward of unranked missions is 20,000 dors.


    Some missions are 50,000, but they are few. 100,000 is not the highest though. There are others that are 120,000. But 100,000 is clearly up there. This information helped them estimate the value of the mission.


    Wrath mulled over the price range and said, "Either there is a lot of money to be made in the elimination of this guy or someone hates him a lot."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Kelvin shrugged. "It doesn''t matter. What matters is if I can do this or not. It is going to be difficult, but I am sure that I can do that."


    Wrath agreed. "Yeah. With your kind of shapeshifting, it should be doable. It would have been easy if you had intangibility and disintegration. You would be able to phase through any walls or destroy them. You would be unstoppable.


    Or not."


    Wrathughed as it said that.


    Kelvin ignored hisughter and focused on what he said. "It will be easy if I had them, but those kinds of abilities are rare. Besides, whoever is in possession of them will be very difficult to kill."


    Wrath waved his worries aside, "Forget about that. We''ll take things as theye. For now, let us see what you can do. We will need to activate your ability first to see what it can truly do."


    Kelvin agreed, so he left to do more research and buy or steal the tools and materials he would need to pull off the heist. The most important thing he wanted to get was a gun.


    He doesn''t have a ranged option of attack, so a gun wille in handy. Even if he did have a means of ranged attack, using his ability costs energy. It would be a good idea to conserve his energy, especially since he will be facing 20 guys soon.


    He returned home, and he went over the information again to n out his actions step by step. It was then that he noticed he wouldn''t be able to take a gun or any dangerous metallic objects into the establishment because of the metal detectors at the entrance.

 Chapter 21 Mission Impossible.

    The metal detectors are just one of the obstacles that have to be ovee if one is to bring contraband into the establishment. There''s also the examination by the bodyguards at the entrance for dangerous stic tools that will escape detection. But these difficulties didn''t discourage him.


    He printed out images of all 20 bodyguards, 10 of the prostitutes, and memorized how they looked. He memorized everything about their physique. It wasn''t easy. It took 2 weeks. Only then did he feel confident enough to ept the mission on the terminal.


    He thought about hiding wooden or stic weapons in his body, but the difort wasn''t going to be worth the sharpness of his bones. So he settled with some tools that woulde in handy. Then he waited for nightfall and made his way to the establishment in his suit.


    Wrath encouraged him on the way there. "It is going to go well. If it doesn''t and you die, then I''ll just have to wait for a while until I find a recement for you. So you don''t have to worry about me. I''mpletely fine with your death."


    Kelvin fought back the scowl, trying to force its way to his face. He said, "I am not worried about you. At least not right now. You are the least of my concern."


    "Hey, I''m just saying. I''ll remember you though. I might make fun of you to my next wielder, but I''ll make sure you don''t look too stupid in my stories."


    "Why, thank you." He said with dripping sarcasm.


    "You''re wee. I''m considerate that way."


    The jokes actually helped to ease his tension. It helped a lot because he was very anxious. After all, this is his first operation on his own. He won''t have the protection of his father or the help of his siblings.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He muttered to himself, "All on my own. I guess this is what freedom is."


    He walked confidently as he entered the skyscraper. He took the elevator to the 81st floor while humming to himself. Everything went well for him. He was granted ess to the establishment after a thorough inspection. Then he sat at the bar and bought a drink.


    He made sure to ogle the workers as he nursed his drink. He was acting the part, but he found himself aroused soon after. The exposed skins of the women got to him more than he thought it would.


    Eventually he picked a girl to spend the night with or maybe the next few minutes with. The two of them moved to the rooms at the back and went into a room to enjoy thepany of each other.


    The first thing he did in the room was to find a USB port in the room to put a sh drive into. The sh drive held a virus that would scramble the system and stall surveince until discovered.


    Then he waited until they were both undressed. Next, he jabbed a ss needle into her neck as soon as shey down beside him on the bed. She slumped immediately.


    The needle was bigger than a metal one, but it escaped detection, which he very much appreciated. Unfortunately, it was ufortable in his arm where he stored it. So it feels good now that he can discard one of the many he has prepared.


    He copied her physical form quickly with malleable anatomy. Then he wore her clothes and left the room. He didn''t kill her because she had health monitors installed in her body. They would notify the establishment of her demise, which is why he used tranquilizer.


    Unfortunately, he isn''t sure if the tranquilizer will kill her because the dosage is very high. He had to make it very high to make sure it would work quickly on anyone.


    He said to Wrath, "I guess I am running out of time. Either I finish this before she dies or she dies and rats me out like a snitch."


    Wrath chuckled, "Snitches are the worst."


    He waited to make sure that the virus had worked before moving on with his mission. First, he lifted her slumped body and hid it underground. Then he closed the door and went to the bathroom to ease himself.


    There was a guard in front of the bathroom, which he flirted with. The guard didn''t see the needleing. He only felt a little pain in his neck before he slumped.


    Kelvin dragged him into a bathroom stall and undressed him quickly. Then he changed his clothes into those of the guards and took his identity. Thest thing he did was to take his guns.


    The guns needed biometric authorization, but that couldn''t stump him. He left guard there and moved on to other guards. He aimed mainly to get close to the boss, but he got rid of any guards along the way too and reced them.


    Most of the guards were alone. This made it very easy to corner them, sedate them, and rece them. But even guards that were in pairs couldn''t escape from him. He just had to make sure to jab them at the same time and help them not to fall to the ground directly, or they would create noise. So he was able to make his way to the office of the boss this way.


    He had a lot of help from Wrath. The spirit helped him check who was on the other side of walls or around a corner. Its ability to phase through everything in its way helped as a good scout. He could have done things on his own, but the help of the scout made his movements and actions faster.


    The office of the boss was in a corner of the floor. There was a long, empty walkway that led to its door. This way the guards were able to get a good look at him and would be able to shoot him down far before he reached them.

 Chapter 22 Client Reveal.

    There were two guards at the door. Both of them were equipped with guns, but they didn''t shoot him because he looked like one of them.


    He moved closer to them and then swiftly dispatched them. Then he picked up themunicator attached to one of the guards and said, "Boss, Lady Grava is here to see you."


    He spoke with the tone he copied from one of the videos avable for the mission. It worked enough to fool the boss.


    A voice came from themunicator, "What does she want?"


    He replied, "Something about a new acquisition."


    "Come in then."


    The door leading to the office made a sound as its locks were removed.


    He didn''t go through the door immediately. He changed into Lady Grava''s figure first and changed into the dress of the prostitute.


    Then he had WRATH go through the door to make sure that there wasn''t an ambush on the other side. Only then did he open the door and go through it to therge office behind it.


    The boss was at the only table in the room. He looked busy with several documents. His presence made the boss look up briefly at him before returning to his work.


    The boss asked gruffly, "What''s this about a new acquisition?"


    He said as he approached, "Can''t I juste over to see you for some fun time?"


    He approached with a sway of his hips to take attention from the fact that he was getting too close.


    The boss replied, "No, you can''t. I''m busy."


    Kelvin whined at him in a silky sultry voice, "But I miss you."


    The boss sighed and was about to say something. But Kelvin cut him off when a needle entered his arm and injected him with anesthesia.


    The boss slumped just like everyone else.


    Kelvin was a little disappointed in the boss and suspicious of the tranquilizer. He said as heid out the boss on the ground, "I expected some resistance. Are you sure this tranquilizer is not too strong?"


    Wrath shrugged his shadowy shoulders. "I don''t know. But better safe than sorry."


    "I guess," he said as he patted the boss for anything that might interfere with his ability.


    He was mainly looking for anything organic. Those can interfere with his attempt to steal the man''s destiny.


    Wrath spoke while he worked, "I was right, though. Tranquilizers can bring down most supers as long as they are unranked. You will need something more powerful for ranked supers. But even then, you will still be able to do a lot."


    Kelvin finally finished his preparation. He said, "Here, I go."


    He ced the palm of his hand on the man''s open chest. He made sure that there was skin-in-skin contact because stealing destiny required that. Then he activated the ability.


    His eyes began to glow in response to the activation. The tattoos he had hidden with shapeshifting appeared against his will. He had activated them, so it wasn''t exactly against his will.


    The golden light he was producing from his eyes, nostrils, mouth, and tattoos spilled over to the man he was touching. Soon the man was glowing from within too.


    Small golden runes appeared all over his skin inrge enough numbers to cover every inch of it. They roamed all over the body of the boss, searching for something. When they found what they were looking for, they jerked on it and pulled it to Kelvin.


    The golden runes receded like a tide into Kelvin''s body. Their retreat caused the boss to stop glowing. They also caused him to lose a lot of weight. He had be thin and weak by the time Kelvin was done with him.


    The light show ended after he was done. It had only taken 12 seconds, but it has felt like forever for Kelvin. He had actually relived the moment the boss had awakened. The memories of that event tugged at his mind even after he was done.


    Wrath asked with impatience, "Well, how did it go?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Kelvin exhaled heavily. He was exhausted, but he was happy. Instead of speaking, he decided to reply with actions.


    Three white bone ws came out of his fist. They were bloody, but then they hardened and turned metallic. He swung them at the table and watched as they sliced through it cleanly.


    Wrath nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad. Not bad at all. I am guessing that''s steel."


    Kelvin agreed. "It is bones of steel, but it can grow stronger. However, we have to leave soon. We''ll talk about itter."


    The boss was still alive after the ordeal he had gone through. His chest was still rising and falling slowly.


    "He slept through all of that. Just how powerful is this tranquilizer?" He said as he severed the man''s head from his body.


    He took some of the man''s blood and used it to write something on the wall. Then he left the office and made his way out of the establishment. No one appeared to have noticed anything out of ce. That wasn''t the case, actually. Someone had noticed.


    Lady Grava had noticed the obviousck of guards patrolling the establishment. As the manager in charge of the prostitutes, it was her job to train them and watch out for their interests. She was always moving between the different sections of the floor to make sure that things were going well. So she noticed the missing guards, but she didn''t raise an rm.


    In fact, she did the opposite. She distracted anyone else who would have noticed. This included the guard in the surveince room. But it turned out that she didn''t need to have worried about him because all the guard was seeing was a repeat of the events that the cameras had captured a while ago.


    She thought to herself as she busied herself, "I hope it is the assassin that has created this much ruckus. I paid too much to have this flop because they were inept."

 Chapter 23 Power Shifting.

    She isining despite doing the barest minimum. She did the barest so as not to make herself suspicious. An investigation is bound to happen if the assassination fails, so she is looking out for her neck by being cautious.


    Lady Grava received a notification soon after that her mission had beenpleted. Her terminal also requested for her confirmation so that payment can be passed to the viin who took the job.


    She didn''t act out of character despite the notification. She remained professional and waited for one hour before she went looking for the boss. She found his corpse as well as the words written on the wall.


    She read the words out loud, "I am you but better."


    It didn''t mean much to her, but she didn''t care about it. She was busy looting the safe for important documents and money. Only then did she announce the death of the leader. Then she put her ns to take over the brothel into ce.


    It was hourster that she gave the confirmation that the target was dead.


    Meanwhile, Kelvin had been waiting in a hotel in District 666 for confirmation of the sess of his mission. He didn''t go home because he wanted to make sure that he wasn''t being followed.


    He and Wrath busied themselves with talking during that time.


    "That wasn''t so bad?" He said as he crashed onto the bed in his room.


    Wrath wasn''t in the mood for chitchat. He said, "Yes, yes. You did well on your first mission. Now tell me the full details of your ability. I''m sure you''ve awakened a lot more knowledge about it now."


    Kelvin replied. "I can only have nine abilities, so it is not limitless. What''s more, I can''t steal destinies anytime I want. I need to open slots with game points first before I can fill them with the destinies of others. I have used up my first slot, so I need to open the second one."


    "How much will it cost?" Wrath asked.


    "20 game points."


    "That''s not so bad. It is normal to need game points to expand one''s ability."


    "There''s more. I can only use one of the nine abilities at a time. I will need to shift between them each time I want to use them, so technically I''ll only have two abilities at a time."


    Wrath maintained, "Still, not bad. Many people can only have one ability, and they can''t even decide which one it will be."


    Kelvin chuckled. "Yeah, you''re right. It is not bad. I can activate or deactivate any ability I steal. I can also fuse simr abilities, so I can fuse that metal skin divine ability with the metal bones one. It will just cost me 10 game points to do so."


    Wrath became excited. "Now that''s something. This opens up a lot of possibilities. Can you imagine what we can do with this? I can make you into Esgod."


    Kelvin asked in confusion, "Who''s that?"


    "It is not a person. It is a title. It means the god of espers. In our situation, it will mean the god of supers. Or is it the god of destiny?"


    "Forget about Esgod. Let''s get back to the matter at hand. Can you also fuse stolen abilities with your shapeshifting ability?"


    Kelvin replied with a shake of his head, "No."


    "That sucks, but it is of little consequence. In that case, we should make your first slot for the hybridization of shapeshifting abilities. Let''sbine every type of shapeshifting ability into one to create god level one."


    Kelvin liked the idea. He said, "There are indeed plenty of other cool shapeshifting abilities. There''s sticity, inorganic transformation, species shifting, mechanical mimicry, matter-state shifting,..."


    Wrath cut him off, "Yes, yes. The metal bones and metal skin will work with inorganic transformation. Imagine what you can do with that. You won''t be limited to metal anymore. You can shift into diamond. You might be actually invulnerable."


    The shadow was so excited that Kelvin had to take a lot at him. Wrath didn''t care. He continued excitedly, "I knew it was a good idea to choose you."


    "Slow down your horses. Those guys are not going to be easy to get to. They are at least in the F rank."


    Wrath wasn''t discouraged. It said, "It will take time, but we will get to them. In the meantime, we can continue with what you are doing. We can also use the money you acquire to hire others to hunt abilities for us."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Kelvin nodded. "That''s a good idea. Thest thing we need are game points. It is just a pity that I can''t use my game name for my viin gigs."


    "You can''t, or you will help those who wille looking for you to be able to narrow you down. The whole Thunderbeast Viin League will cave under a single nce from a demigod. They will rat you out immediately."


    "You just have to rely on your best performance for the games."


    Kelvin smiled and said, "I have a good idea for the next game."


    He didn''t say what it was, but Wrath wasn''t interested either. The spirit was too engrossed in what he was capable of to care about that.


    "The ultimate goal should be to make you unkible by every means possible. That means apart from shapeshifting, we have to get an ability from the other 5 sses and abilities that will ensure you have no weaknesses."


    "You have be immune to being frozen, burned, crushed, shot, poisoned, mind controlled, illusions, physic attacks, nulls, suffocation..."


    Kelvin groaned as Wrath listed off the many ways he could die.


    Wrath finished with a final thing he had to be immune to. "Apart from being thrown in space, thest thing you need to be immune to are nukes."


    -----


    A/N: The catchphrase "I am you, but better" is courtesy of Sloth_Archon.


    I am open to suggestions for cool catchphrases and powers that we can steal. So feel free to share your ideas.

 Chapter 24 Aim High.

    Kelvin rolled his eyes at that. "I''ll eventually get survivability against nukes if I reach the X-rank. Everyone gets that. There''s no need to rush."


    Wrath didn''t agree with him. "No. We are not waiting for the natural empowerment of destiny for you to achieve that. It is too long."


    "Besides, that''s just resistance against radiation and the ability to run away from a nuke approaching you. An S-rank can manage that to some degree. But what if it exploded close to you? You will need some kind of invulnerability to ensure your life against the heat of the direct explosion of nukes. Maybe you can survive one at X-rank, but what about a hundred nukes?"


    Kelvin asked with augh, "A hundred nukes? Why would I need that?"


    Wrath replied, "Better to have it and not need it than to need it but not have it."


    "You have a point."


    Wrath insisted, "It is more than a point. It can happen because it has happened before. They used nukes against Icon several times. That''s what killed his family. It didn''t kill Icon, but it injured and weakened him enough to be killed."


    "Don''t think it won''t happen to you. Prepare for everything. What if someone drops a nuke on this city?"


    Kelvin finally conceded. "Fine. We will do everything we can to ensure I survive. But if nukes are dangerous to demigods, how am I supposed to achieve it without being a demigod myself?"


    "If it is possible, we will be able to achieve it if we look out for it rather than hope to stumble upon it. It is also better to aim higher than to be content with mediocrity, so let''s set the bar that high."


    Kelvin asked another question. "So what if I achieve this? What will you gain from all of these?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    That question made Wrath silent. Kelvin had been lying face up on his back on the bed when he asked the question, but the silence made him look over.


    The spirit finally spoke. "I want freedom."


    It exined. "I am trapped in the ring doomed to change wielders every couple of years. I have had no freedom for 73 years. You don''t know the feeling. I can''t move around however I want. I can''t touch anything.


    I know of food, but I can''t taste anything."


    "I am like a genie in amp. I grant wishes for random people and spend most of my time within the ring. So I need a demigod to free me."


    Kelvin could empathize with theck of freedom. He too has just gotten his taste of freedom. The exhrating feeling has made him question how he was ever content with being a goon for his father. So he could understand how Wrath feels about freedom.


    But he had something he couldn''t understand. He asked, "What''s a genie?"


    Wrath chuckled. "It is a powerful spirit from another world. If you capture it, you can force it to give you three wishes."


    The answer surprised him. "Really?" He asked incredulously.


    Wrath shrugged. "I don''t know. It might just be a myth."


    Kelvin nodded. "Don''t worry. Even if we don''t have the help of a genie, I''m sure we can make me into a demigod. And just like you said, if I fail, you can start again with someone else. Maybe it will be someone better than me."


    That made Wrathugh. Kelvin also became in a good mood when he received the notification of the confirmation of his mission.


    The two of them were in a good mood as they nned for his future. First, he put out a lot of missions with half of the money he just received for information about those with powerful abilities in New London.


    He specifically asked for the young and vulnerable. That way he will be able to nab them himself. Since he can find information about the strong supers on his own, he only wanted help with those with unique abilities that are not well known and are unranked.


    The major criteria he asked apart from vulnerability was the rank of the ability. He hoped this way he would be able to nab an omega ability.


    He thought briefly about offering to steal people''s abilities since many people consider them a curse. He is even sure that people will pay him to take their abilities so that they won''t have to risk their lives in the destiny games anymore.


    It is a highly feasible idea, and he would have gone ahead with it if not for therge target on his back and the many powerful beings looking to kill him at any chance of it.


    While he believes that no one should associate him with the ring of Paragon because of his second ability, both he and Wrath consider it a stupid idea to announce his ability to the world and draw attention to himself.


    One look by a demigod while he is busy extracting an ability is all they need to know the source of his second ability. So he decided to take things slow and steady.


    The second thing he did was to look for another mission. This one is just to earn some money since he won''t be able to absorb the ability without game points. It is also to train himself.


    Wrath suggested that he practice with a lot of real-life situations in preparation for his games. That way he would learn how to use his various abilities together for different scenarios.


    So he selected an easy mission. It is one that shouldn''t have any risk to his life. He signed up to be an hired gun for a gang currently engaged in a gang war.


    It is to be a long-term mission that will pay based on his performance. Apart from the use not to betray his employer, he can quit anytime he wants to. The mission will end when the gang war is over or when his employer is no more.


    The details of the mission made him smile. He said, "Now I can finally use my guns. I will even get to use better guns."


    --------


    A/N: It is actually easier to escape a nuclear missile than to tank it. A teleporter can do so easily.

 Chapter 25 Classes Of Abilities.

    He pointed something out to Wrath on the terminal, "See? The employer will give us weapons."


    Unfortunately, Wrath didn''t share his enthusiasm. The spirit asked with a sour tone, "But aren''t you taking the mission to train your ability?"


    "I''m sure I can manage to do both."


    Wrath shook his head in disapproval and said, "Guns will be obsolete soon. Only missiles, bombs, and nukes will have any say in the tussle of the strong."


    Kelvin asked, "What about the weapon-ss supers?"


    Wrath folded its shadowy arms and said, "Until you get a weapon-ss ability, I won''t change my mind about guns."


    Kelvin ignored him, "What a kill joy."


    He returned home briefly to pick new clothes and sleep. He also tried to do more research about the different types of abilities since he would be hunting for them soon.


    There are 6 general sses of supers. There''s the physique, psychic, null, amplify, weapons, and summoners. The physique ss relies on their body, and the psychic ss relies on their mind. These two are the most popr sses of abilities.


    The leastmon are the null and amplify sses. The nulls weaken or nullify different aspects of power like speed, stamina, strength, etc. They do this using various means such as touch or proximity and can do so for varying lengths of time. The amplify are the opposite of the nulls.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The ones that are in between are thest two sses. The weapon ss form bonds with inorganic materials or equipment of various types, which they enhance or which enhances them.


    They canmunicate and control different types of things ssified as weapons. This can range from a rock to a rocket or from a toaster to aputer.


    The summoner ss is the opposite. They form bonds with living beings. These bonds can be symbiotic, dominating, or parasitic, and they can range from ants to anteaters or from slugs to birds.


    The animals they make these bonds will either make them stronger or they will make the animals stronger by evolving them so that their animals can fight for them. Some summoners can bond with one animal while others can bond with 10. It all depends on their ability.


    He already knew most of this information, so it was the asionalments by Wrath that made him learn something new. He learned from that Icon was a weapons ss while Raijin was an amplify ss.


    He did find it odd that an amplifier-ss could defeat a weapon-ss super since the weapon-ss are known not only to be incredibly deadly but also capable of fighting numerous enemies on their own. But Wrath exined the reason for Icon''s defeat to be the Justice League.


    It was a good exnation. Aside from all the nukes they used against Icon without regard for the environment, an amplify with a group of others will be more than enough to kill the strongest man.


    He didn''t know that since information about those two is very scarce. But he did know that the leader of the Thunderstorm Viin League, Thunderbeast, was a powerful summoner of rats. His rays evolved to be deadly and powerful.


    Wrath was enlightened when it heard this. But it wasn''t impressed with Thunderbeast''s achievement. It shrugged and said, "Anything will be powerful if it can control lightning."


    "Come on, you have to give it to him. His summons are rats for crying out loud. He was ssified as a beta super with that ability. Who would have thought he would be powerful enough to create a viin league?"


    "You haven''t seen what I have seen. Watch Icon''s fight to learn more. Also check out the history of the strongest man in history."


    He decided to see what was so great about Icon, so he went into the Tower of Destiny to watch his matches. This made him see his updated destiny report.


    Name: Kelvin Thorn.


    Health: 300/300. Stamina: 300/300. Focus: 300/300.


    ss: Physique. Tier: 0 (Amateur League)


    Level: 1


    Strength: 30. Constitution: 30.


    Endurance: 30. Vitality: 30.


    Speed: 30. Mind: 30.


    Kill Count: 3.


    Fans: 0.


    Game Points: 6.


    Power Rating: 180 (Unranked)


    Abilities:


    A. Shape-shifting(Alpha) : 1-Malleable Anatomy.


    B. Power Shifting(Omega) : 1-Steel Bones (Fuse 0/10 | Remove 0/1). 2 -Locked (Open 0/20)


    He nced at it briefly and was surprised to see that he could remove the destiny he just stole. It would cost him 1 game point for it, which is something that he can afford.


    It made him contemte the next mission he was about to start in a new light. "So I can remove abilities. Maybe things will be more interesting than I thought. As expected of Power Shifting, it is worthy of being an Omega level ability."


    He hasn''t decided to remove it yet since Steel Bones is an helpful ability even up to the F-rank and he already has something lined up to fuse it with. But it is good to know that he has options. He just might change it if something betteres along.


    Then he continued with what he came for. He went right to Icon''sst match because he didn''t have all day and he wanted to see Icon at his best.


    He was not disappointed. Icon was a short man, but he was a one-man army. He was controlling what appeared to be robots. There were thousands of them, and each one appeared to have different abilities.


    It was truly suspicious because the robots exhibited the abilities of every ss, including the weapons ss. Some could heal the others, while others could wield guns of their own.


    "What kind of ability did he have to be able to have robots like this? It is practically power shifting but better. Unlike me, he can use all of them at once."


    The match was between Icon and a single person. They were both level 99, but the match was short. There was an oue quickly because of the overwhelming power that Icon wielded. So he was able to return to real life quickly to ask Wrath the question that was burning within him.

 Chapter 26 The Most Powerful.

    He asked, "Howe Icon can wield the power of so many sses with his robots?"


    Wrath replied, "Icon had a lot of abilities that enhanced his bond with robots, but the most important reason he was so powerful was because he had the help of a lot of people."


    Wrath continued with a wistful tone, "You see, from level 91 onwards, you fight other champions from other worlds. That''s why it is called the Champions League. That meant the champions of Earth-11 had to go through the champions of other earths for us to create a demigod. This was very difficult."


    "It was so difficult that most champions died at level 91. Things became so bad that Icon became the only champion from Earth-11 in the Champions League to ever reach level 92. So everyone became of one ord to support him so that he wouldn''t die."


    "Different people from different ways of life supported him. Even Raijin supported him. With the help of so many people, he was able to achieve things that a single person shouldn''t be able to."


    Kelvin chuckled and asked, "The leader of the Justice League supported him? I didn''t expect that. "


    Wrath nodded. "Back then, there was no justice league. The Justice League was created after Icon betrayed everyone''s expectations. Most of the people that supported him took back their help and even joined the Justice League to get rid of him."


    Kelvin shook his head. "Was their hatred for him so much?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "There was hatred, but the major reason why they hunted him was for the ring of the paragon. They hated him enough to kill him if they had the chance, but not enough to chase him all over the earth. But they wanted to undo what he did, so they came after him."


    "Unfortunately, Icon couldn''t give them the ring even if he wanted to. That and the hatred they had for him caused him to be hunted until he died."


    Kelvin eximed, "Wow. What a world we live in."


    Wrath reminded him, "It is a world where the Justice League will hunt you if they catch any trace of the current wielder of the ring of paragon."


    "Right." He thought of something, so he asked Wrath, "I am not Icon though. Can''t I work with them?"


    "No, you can''t. You will need to kill some of them to acquire the other rings so they automatically don''t like you. Even the ones that you don''t have to kill prefer to gain control of the ring themselves for power, trust issues, and other selfish reasons. And there are the ones that are not selfish but don''t want a paragon to exist at all so that such a being won''t have power over everyone."


    Kelvin sighed and said, "It is Icon''s decision all over again. I can''t satisfy everyone, even if I try. Someone will hate me or consider me a threat."


    Wrath agreed and advised, "That''s why you should prioritize your own satisfaction. And unlike Icon, you don''t need everyone''s help. You are good on your own."


    He continued his research on abilities, which made him learn that Icon was not the strongest demigod in the history of Earth-11. It turned out that the strongest demigod of Earth-11 is a weapon-ss super called Manhattan.


    Both he and Icon are the most popr demigods in history. What he read about this Manhattan increased his interest in the weapon ss. After all, it couldn''t be a coincidence that the first and most powerful demigods are weapon-ss supers.


    This increased his anticipation for his next mission since gang wars are ced where one can see many different abilities. If they are using guns, then it is likely that a gun super would show up.


    He finished his research quickly. Then he returned to District 666 for his new mission after he updated his knowledge on abilities.


    The terminal had provided a location and time for him to go to in order to meet up with his employer. He went there directly after signing up for the mission.


    He went there with the face and body of an ordinary person from the web. He was dressed in new clothes. It was a simple jeans and shirt. Something he wouldn''t mind losing in a heartbeat.


    The location was in a bar. There was nothing special about the bar to him. It had plenty of screens on its walls showing one form of entertainment or the other. It had holographic advertisements in front of it.


    It was just one of the many ces for rxation present in this part of the district. There were other establishments in the skyscraper it was located in. The only thing of note was that it was full of people.


    It was so full that he couldn''t find a seat when he got there. He had to stand at the back with the many others who camete. The fact that he was young and didn''t wear a mask also made him stand out figuratively from the others. Maybe people gave him more than a nce.


    He didn''t stare back at them. He simply looked at the front of the bar, waiting for his employer to show up. But someone decided to have a go at him.


    Ady whistled at him and asked, "Aren''t you a little too young for this?"


    He asked in return, "Aren''t you a little too old for this?"


    He didn''t take her jab without retaliating because he was taught that was the best way to deal with bullies. His father had told him that most bullies were hyenas. They would only attack the weak and vulnerable.


    He had to stand up for himself and prove that he wouldn''t be an easy mark. If that doesn''t work, then he must deal enough damage to the bully so as to make the fun they will get out of hime with a price. That price will make them rethink bullying him a second time.

 Chapter 27 Going Straight To The Point.

    Unfortunately, she wasn''t going to let him go that easily. What he had said had caused the entire bar to road inughter. She wasn''t that old, but being called old wasn''t pleasant to hear.


    She said with narrowed eyes, "Look who has a sharp mouth. I wonder what your mouth will look like when I break your teeth in."


    As far as threats went, that didn''t crack his top ten list of fears. Not when his jaws were cracked about two weeks ago.


    So he said, "Been there, done that. You should see the other guy. He looks just like you. Old and worn out."


    What he said was bad enough, but it was the roar ofughter that ensued that caused most of the damage. It made her so angry that she stood up angrily and began marching towards him. Blue scales grew over her skin as she erged to be a giant.


    Maybe it was all an intimidation tactic. Maybe she didn''t really mean him any harm. Maybe she wanted to rough him up to establish herself amongst these people. Maybe she would have backed off if he had begged. Kelvin didn''t care and he was not willing to find out. He went for the kill immediately.


    He dashed towards her at the earliest sign of agreession. That was when she had stood up angrily. He recognized that he was in a nest of vipers. The only thing he could count on was his strength and being the first to make the first attack in a fight.


    Three metal des came out of his balled-up fist as he lunged for her. He jumped over the table in front of him to close the distance between them. The people on the table and beside her scattered because of his actions.


    Despite making the first move, she was surprised by his actions. That surprise soon turned into anger when she realized that not only did he not cower to her, he thought he could beat her, and he was foolish enough to try to.


    She clenched her fist and swung it at him. The entire motion was telegraphed and clear as day to him. He shifted away from the punch and closed in on her. His right fist smashed into her stomach, impaling her with his three metal ws. Then he moved his fist up.


    His metal ws ripped open her torso immediately. He cut her from stomach to chest. Blood spurted out of the cut and sshed onto his face. Her fist also smashed into his head.


    The fist sent him flying immediately. This was despite him being heavy because of his metal bones. Such was her great strength. Not even a speedster managed to push him that far with a punch.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    But things were different this time. Apart from the tear of the skin on his skull, he was fine. There was some ringing in his ears, but it was ovee with the pleasure of seeing his opponent clutching their stomach to prevent their gut from falling out.


    He grinned wickedly and twisted his neck to pop the bones of his spine. Then he began circling her, looking for an opening.


    Her eyes were burning with anger; it could burn him alive if she could producesers. But she couldn''t. All she could do was re and seethe at him.


    Someone on the side spoke, "Maybe that''s enough."


    He warned whoever it was sternly, "Shut up if you don''t want me to gut you too."


    She too was not open to someone interfering. She said, "Stay out of this. He is mine."


    Kelvin was taken aback. He thought he was the one winning. He couldn''t fathom where her confidencey, but he wasn''t going to let that make him second-guess himself.


    He continued circling her. Arge space had cleared up for them to fight. He made good use of it by trying to get to her through the side he had cut open. She was using her arm to hold it together, so she was vulnerable in that aspect.


    Unfortunately, she was hell bent on making things difficult for him as she turned to keep him away. This forced him to approach her openly. He did so with another dash to cover the distance quickly.


    She reached her other hand to her back to grab something. It was an odd action, which he noted. They were in a fight after all. She was supposed to punch at him. If she isn''t doing that, then she must be up to something more dangerous.


    He didn''t stop his attempt to close the distance between them. But he was ready when she brought her hand forward again, but with a gun this time.


    She said with a sneer, "Looks like you brought a knife to a gunfight."


    She aimed for his head and shot him. The shot missed because he jerked his head to the side. He was already expecting something like that. The fact that Wrath saw the gun and warned him of itbined with his ability to shift the bones in his neck only made it easier for him to dodge it.


    She pulled the trigger again, but it was toote. He was too close. The second shot missed again. Someone howled at the back as the bullet struck them while a single swipe of his left hand severed her arm. Then the metal des of his right fist severed her head.


    Herrge head fell to the ground with a loud thump. Then it and her body began to shrink back to her small, young, and, one might say, beautiful form. Unfortunately, she isn''t any of those things anymore, all because she could dish it out but couldn''t take it.


    The onlookers howled and cheered. They pped and hooted. Some didn''t. Those ones were watching him warily. Killing is not forbidden, but killing so skillfully is different and worth noting. But most of the other viins cheered the victor of the deadly match.

 Chapter 28 Potential Of Abilities.

    Kelvin retracted his ws and took her seat. It was to be his loot from a battle well fought.


    Wrath observed their presentpany andmented idly, "Trashy skills on good ability or trashy ability with mediocre skills. Bottom of the barrel, the lot of them."


    He mubbled under his breath, "That''s what we signed up for."


    "Yes, indeed. By the way, good restraint on not using too much of your shape-shifting ability for that fight even though she had an alpha ability."


    At this point, Wrath grew excited. It asked excitedly, "Isn''t it great that we encountered an alpha super so soon? What are the odds of that? I''ll say that we are up to a good start."


    He nodded and pushed aside the ss of alcohol in front of him. He doesn''t like alcohol as it will mess with his judgement. It something he can''t have on a job. Instead, he thought back onto the fight while a cleaner went to work on removing the corpse of his in foe.


    The fight would have been easier if he had used everything he had against her. But Wrath suggested that he keep his shape-shifting ability a secret for public missions. It was to create a distance between his games in the tower of destiny and his activities in real life.


    He agreedpletely with it because while his identity is hidden with the fake body he is currently using, anything that makes him too simr to his game persona might make it easier for people to narrow down his position to this city.


    That would be very bad, as demigods could begin scouring the city looking for him. Aside from that, it was always a good idea to keep some of his abilities a secret. That way his enemies will mess up.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    So it is not a wonder why Wrath is so disdainful of every viin here. After all, despite holding back against her, he still beat her easily. Not even her guns would have changed that.


    He doesn''t think it is exactly a fair assessment of her. After all, her ability was powerful. It was probably an alpha ability like his. It granted her a boost in defense and strength. Unfortunately, she wasn''t a skilled fighter, and she didn''t have the boost of destiny to truly shine.


    Unlike him, she hasn''t many reasons to fight for each day that she wants to live. This made it easy for him to defeat her with a beta ability.


    That''s the level of the steel bones. It is a mediocre ability that would only grant superiority this early on. It won''t fare well against ranked opponents who have arge boost from destiny.


    In fact, the steel bones will hold its owner back unless it can evolve into something stronger. So is the metal skin. Unfortunately, those are the kinds of abilities he will encounter among the unranked.


    If someone had an alpha ability like shape-shifting, they would be able to go beyond level 10 and reach the professional league in the destiny games. They wouldn''t decide tonguish about in the amateur league or sign up for low-paying gigs.


    The thought made him chuckle to himself. "Maybe I shouldn''t be so hard on them. After all, everyone has to have a beginning. Besides, having a beta ability doesn''t mean they have to be mediocre."


    He decided to be open-minded and consider everyone a worthy threat. After all, he is also unranked. Any ability can be the end of him, and one''s ability is not the only factor that determines the limit of their potential.


    Thedy he just killed, for instance, had an alpha ability. It was why she was so cocky. She was full of herself, but it didn''t end well for her. Thunderbeast, on the other hand, had a beta ability, but he rose to great ces and did great things.


    Despite his open-mindedness, he would still appreciate an omega ability or consider them a higher threat than anyone else, even if they are unranked.


    Forparison, telekinesis, invulnerability, reflection, and super strength are alpha abilities. They grant a boost in power that is directly proportional to the amount of boost from destiny. That boost is in the form of a percentage, so the higher their power rating, the more boost they gain from their ability.


    Beta abilities such as eagle wings, steel bones, and steel skin only grant a fixed base boost that bes insignificant at high power ratings. But abilities such as intangibility, telepathy, invisibility, teleportation, mimicry, and Manhattan''s bond with nukes have effects that arergely independent of their power rating.


    A teleporter will teleport regardless of their power rating. Their power rating only determines how far or how long they can teleport. So a teleporter can survive anuke at the D-rank and a B-rank telekic can turn a nuke around while an S-rank shapeshifter like himself will definitely die.


    That''s what it means to have an Omega ability. They are dangerous to anyone, regardless of their power rating. Manhattan was so powerful that people avoided him at all costs or surrendered at the very sight of him at the destiny games.


    Unlike Icon, Manhattan did not need the help of the whole world to be a demigod. He and his trusty nukes were more than enough for him to achieve longevity.


    Just thinking about it made him wistful. "What I would do to get an Omega ability."


    He actually has an Omega ability. His power shifting is an Omega ability. But he wants more. That''s why he prioritized information about the possessors of Omega abilities in the gig he put up. Unfortunately, he has very little hope of getting one that way.


    It is because he is not the only one looking for Omega Supers. Large corpos are also looking for them. Unlike him, they are not looking for them to steal their abilities and then kill them to silence them. Large corpos are looking for them to sponsor them. That way, the Omegas will be able to protect their interests.

 Chapter 29 Silent Fight.

    There is also the higher chance of an Omega bing a demigodpared to other supers. If one of their Omegas bes a demigod, the corpos that sponsored the demigod will be able to create a city.


    He didn''t know that before. It was thanks to Wrath that he now knows why New London is owned by shareholders who are rich but weak themselves.


    If he were rich, maybe he would be able to contend with the corpos in the search for Omega abilities, but he is not. So he must work his ass off. And if he is lucky, he might encounter a good ability to steal in his missions.


    "That''s the dream, isn''t it?" He thought to himself. "It is one step at a time."


    While he was deep in thought, someone new joined them. This man wearing a thick aviator eyepiece and a ck windbreaker took a good look around the full room. They didn''t like what they saw at all. It was obvious from the frown on their face.


    The man stared at Kelvin in particr, looking as if to pick a fight with him. Maybe it was the fact that blood was all over Kelvin''s face or it was the fact that he was sitting right in front, but no one seemed to have any issues with him. It could be both, but for whatever reason, the man didn''t pick a fight with him.


    The man and the frown on his face changed to a more suitable target. The target he selected was a woman with yellow skin. The sight of the red spots on her skin didn''t warn him off. Instead, he matched over to her and ced his hand on her exposed shoulder.


    He pulled his hand away in disgust immediately because there was a thin film of transparent mucus on her skin. This got the attention of thedy, which made her turn to him.


    He rubbed his hand against his windbreaker as he said, "You are sitting on my seat."


    She didn''t refute him. She nodded and stood up from the stool. Everyone was taken aback by her reaction. Even the man expected some sort of resistance. He was ready for a fight, so her immediate surrender left him stunned for a while.


    Eventually he nodded and took the stool. Hemended her as he gotfortable, "You are a smart one. That is good. You will be able to live longer this way."


    She nodded in understanding, which made the man speechless.


    He felt he needed to continue, so he decided to advise her. "Actually, you''re notpletely bad. Maybe just a little weak. But I''m sure in time you will learn to use your powers better, or maybe you will even rise to the professional league and evolve your ability."


    "So don''t beat yourself up for this. I''m sure you have some potential to..."


    The man''s arm fell to his side. He paused what he was saying and looked it over, wondering why. But then the side of his face fell. He looked like he just had a stroke.


    But things became worse than that. Red spots popped up all over his droopy skin. Then his heart stopped. The man fell down from the stool dead.


    The woman returned to her seat quietly without missing a beat. Another round of workers came around to drag the corpse away. Only then did she speak.


    She said, "Use gloves. He is poisonous."


    Kelvin and everyone else noticed that her tongue was slim and long. It was coiled in her mouth, which made her words muffled.


    The workers thanked her for the lifesaving advice and returned to get gloves. Meanwhile, the man''s began to turn yellow, and more red spots continued to appear on this yellowing skin.


    That ended the encounter of a viin who wanted to fight for a seat with the most polite viiness in the room. Nothing changed after the short fight apart from the people around her schooching away from her.


    Wrath hissed in his ear. "Posion ability. It should be a beta ability, but it is very strong. You are vulnerable to her, so you should stay away or kill her from afar."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Kelvin nodded in acknowledgement. He heard someone mutter somewhere in the room, "Wanna bet that there will be a fifth?"


    The question was answered with a snort. "With this many viins, I won''t be surprised if there is a fifth, but I am not betting."


    The two of them argued for a while until their employer finally showed up 5 minutester. It was a woman. That wasn''t noteworthy. What was noteworthy was that she was part nt, part human.


    She was mostly vines, to be exact. Her skin was green, parts of her skin were brown bark, while her hair was red vines that fell to the ground beneath her.


    She was scantily d, whichbined with her full figure, red eyes, and red lips made for quite a mesmerizing sight.


    She looked at the blood stains on the ground and said, "Thank you for the four bodies. They will help my nts grow very well. That and the death matches were entertaining to watch. So this corporation is off to a good start."


    "I am Red Dream. I''ll be your boss for this mission. This is a meeting to inform you of what we are up against."


    "As you know, my smallmunity of businessmen has been embroiled in a conflict with another enterprising bunch. This conflict has developed from a hostile and aggressive takeover to a deadly removal. I need you to help me resist and remove thepetition."


    "Some of you might have heard of me. For those who haven''t, let me give you more background information. I am the creator of red dust. I started a business to make my creation avable to anyone who would like to escape from the troubles of life into a pleasant dream. I have done a lot of good for the world."

 Chapter 30 Red VS Blue.

    Someone snickered loudly when they heard her im of doing good for the world. Kelvin didn''t need to wonder why. He would have snickered too if not for his professional ethics.


    It was a small interlude, though. Red Dream continued. "But some people have developed a counterfeit of my product. As if that isn''t bad enough, they want to eliminate me from the market."


    "Negotiations have failed with the Blue Crystal Gang. Now it is time for war. You lot will be my weapons of war. If you have more questions, refer to the dossier that will be passed out soon. I''ll give you 5 minutes to make up your mind. After that period of grace, you can leave or you can follow me into battle."


    A heavily tattooed man passed across a tray around the room. Each viin picked one of the booklets on it and passed the tray on. Kelvin was not an exception.


    He wondered briefly why all of this information was not made avable over the terminal, but he glossed over it to concentrate on the dossier.


    The dossier was a little book full of pictures of people and information about them. On the first page was their boss. The information about her was mostly about her gang, its location, and the market share of narcotics that she controls.


    He didn''t like what he saw about the location of her factory. It is on arge farm outside New London. That meant it didn''t have the protection against incursions.


    His dislike is important because her factory is the most important target to protect. That meant he would have to leave New London.


    It didn''t help that the location of the facilities of the Blue Crystal Gang was also outside New London. All of the other viable targets were outside of the city too.


    The dossier was basically a summary of the targets for protection or destruction. Most of it was full of images of the leaders and officials of the Blue Crystal Gang. There was information about their abilities and the bounty for their heads.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    With this information, he can decide to either protect the interests of Red Dream or take the fight to the enemy by destroying their facilities or killing their officials.


    He is free to do anything that pleases him. They will pay him for each head he brings if he decides to take the fight to them. Or they will pay him for each hour of protection duty he performs.


    And in the likely case where the factory will be attacked, they will pay him for each kill he makes plus the bounty on the officials he kills. He can also give up and return home. All in all, it was a mission with a lot of freedom.


    He was still reading the dossier after the 5 minutes he was given. So he had to put it aside to follow their boss to the transportation she had prepared for them.


    There wererge, heavily armored trucks down in the garage beneath the skyscraper waiting for them. Each truck had two benches in its back where everyone could sit looking straight at the person opposite to them.


    There was no rush, as no one was in a particr hurry. Everyone got on one after the other in rtive order and peace. Then the buses moved out of the district and away from the city.


    Kelvin used the time to continue reading the dossier. He focused on the leader of the Blue Crystal gang. It was a man called Blue Crystal. He was blue and made of crystals. He was essentially a talking and walking humanoid blue crystal.


    His ability is the blue crystal. It is highly durable, which grants him all around protection. He can also break away pieces of his body and nt them in the flesh of animals. These would cause the pieces of crystal to grow.


    The crystals would infect the whole body and turn the animal, be they human or beast, into a crystal statue. Unlike the crystal of Blue Crystal himself, these crystals are fragile. They will shatter with the slightest force. Also, if crushed into powder, these crystals can produce an incredibly potent high.


    Only the crystals from Blue Crystal himself can grow in flesh, so only he can produce the blue dust, and it is safe to consume after growth. It is incredibly addicting, but that doesn''t count in the assessment of its danger.


    What mattered was that the blue dust was incredibly potent. Unfortunately, producing ites at a cost. It is not a particrly high cost since any kind of flesh will do. While a living creature is preferred for maximum thorough put , any meat will do.


    Red dust, on the other hand,es from nts that grow with soil just like any nt. Red Dream produces the seeds from the flowers in her vine hair. They will just need time to grow but she can nt as much as she wants. So she has an advantage over blue dust.


    The fact that red dust is cheaper to make makes it cheaper to buy, which bestows it with arge market share. People also look favorably of it because it is not as addictive as itspetition.


    She is not thergest producer of narcotics around. There are other movers and shakers in the narcotics game. Unfortunately, the fact that she can''t move her production easily and her nts can be destroyed, which will cripple her production, has made her a viable target for Blue Crystal to destroy in order to open up market share.


    From the information Red Dream provided, Blue Crystal had tried to buy them out. He did so without money. Instead, he had one of his officers use her powers of seduction to forcefully recruit her workers and subordinates.


    The allure of sex from this officer and the pleasure of blue dustbined with the threat of violence made Blue Crystal''s attempt mostly a sess. This is why Red Dream decided to hire external helpers to protect her interests.

 Chapter 31 A Changed Earth.

    Thisdy called Haze is Blue Crystal''s right hand man. She is the one whose power is arousing people with pheromones. She can make almost anyone beg her with everything they have just so that she will touch them.


    Her bounty is the second highest after that of Blue Crystal himself. She is worth 500,000 dors. That price tag made him tense up.


    He looked around and asked, "This is not right. I thought this was a low-level gang war. What is this kind of bounty doing in this kind of gig?"


    Someone replied. It was a skinny man. He said, "It is a low-level gang war. We are just the cannon fodder. Most of us won''t make it to get paid. We are here to support the ones who are to get rid of the big shots on the other side.


    And who knows? We just might get lucky."


    "So we have a big shot on our side? I am guessing they are worth around 500,000 dors too."


    The thin man nodded. "Yeah. This is a narcotics game. They have a lot of money to throw about. They can afford to buy quality and quantity. We are the quantity."


    That set him at ease a little, but he didn''t like it at all. He thought this gig was a low level skirmish between two bit gangs. It is only now that he finds out that things are bigger than they appear to be.


    He mused to himself, "I''m guessing this is why they didn''t give us all the information on the terminal."


    If he wasn''t confident in defeating thisdy and the money wasn''t so tempting, he would have decided to drop down this instant.


    The money is indeed tempting. There were other officers much stronger than Haze but were only worth 200,000 dors.


    Blue Crystal himself is worth a million dead, 10 million captured. He is the source of the blue dust, so his bounty is understandable.


    If not for her critical role in personnel acquisition and management, Haze wouldn''t be so valuable. After all, in a gang war, lives are the cheapest resources. They can be easily reced even without money. Just the temptation of money will draw a bunch of them. His presentpany is proof of that.


    He stopped focusing so much on the dossier after 10 minutes into their journey. His attention was taken by the sights of the environment. It was an interesting sight too.


    There were weird rocks with various colors everywhere he looked. The ground had soils of different colors every few distances apart. Animals and nts with odd mutations littered this multicoloredndscape. Clouds of various colors roamed the sky, and there was a constant aurora in the sky. It looked like a fairytale.


    Wrath eyed the surroundings with mncholy and said, "Earth didn''t use to be like this. It was the incursion that caused it."


    It didn''t make much of a difference to him, so he shrugged. He had seen pictures of earth before the tower of destiny appeared, so he knows that earth didn''t used to look like this. But he thinks earth looks better than this.


    In the pictures and videos he saw of Earth, everything looked so boring and drab. The environment was subdued, and there was this weird green color everywhere. Now trees had purple, red, or yellow leaves, not the same monotonous green.


    The animals were also boring too. Apparently, four limbs was the major number of limbs that animals possessed. That has increased to six now. He considers that an upgrade.


    If there is something he can do without, it is that any creature affected by the incursion and doesn''t die bes very aggressive. This is the main danger of the incursion, apart from the influx of otherworldly creatures.


    Otherworldly creatures can be aggressive or not. But most of them are just frightened after suddenly being disced to a whole new world. The creatures who suffer from the incursion, on the other hand, are always violent.


    Even now, many of them are crawling or shuffling over to the trucks. He can see what used to be humans among them. Their bodies have turned into a weird hybrid between flesh and rock.


    It is a colorful hybridization. If only it didn''t rob them of their mind and make them aggressive toward anything that moves, they wouldn''t be so bad.


    Wrath said to him, "They are incursion zombies. If the incursion doesn''t kill you, it will either turn you into them or make them eat you."


    "I read that incursions are caused by the collision of Earth-11 with the other earths."


    He was speaking to Wrath, but the others took it as a sign to weigh in.


    Someone far off to his side added, "Yeah. The collision of different worlds causes matter, energy, space, and time to go bonkers. The space tears are the least of our concerns with the incursion. It is this incursion zombies that we have to be careful of."


    "I read that Icon was supposed to fix it, but he became greedy for power. What a useless guy."


    "I''m impressed with him, though. He acted like a hero throughout the games, only to turn his back on the world when it mattered. I don''t have that kind of talent. Makes me wonder how many heroes are out there pretending."


    Another person shrugged and said, "Maybe he wasn''t pretending. Maybe the power was just too tempting."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Someone snorted and said with disdain, "How great is the power if he can still be killed? He is just a good for nothing guy. He is a failure."


    They were viins themselves, but they were quick to condemn Icon. Anyone would. It is amon thing to do after the betrayal of the whole world.


    Back then, heroes and viins came together to help him; now they cane together in agreement that Icon was a shitty guy who deserved what he got. Heroes condemn him as a failed hero and viins condemn him as a failed viin.

 Chapter 32 Together In Hatred.

    Wrath sighed while Kelvin listened halfheartedly. He didn''t feel thepulsion toe to Icon''s rescue at all. Maybe it was because he didn''t have anything good to say about Icon himself and that he thinks that what the world thinks of Icon is better than what he thinks, or maybe it is because he doesn''t care about what they think of Icon.


    He doesn''t even care what others think of himself , so he can''t muster enough concern for Icon''s disastrous reputation. That aside, he believes that everyone has a right to dunk on Icon.


    Things are so bad currently that wealthy narco bosses have to move their hired help in armored vehicles. Ordinary people who can''t afford armored vehicles have to live in cities, but city life is expensive and there is limited space.


    They have been increasing the height of skyscrapers and pushing the limit of how tall a building can be, but it is never going to be enough. This means some have to live outside a city at the risk of incursions.


    These people that have to live outside add to the number of incursion zombies and make living outside more dangerous by the day. At this point, only underground spaces and bunkers are safe for anyone to live in.


    He asked Wrath, "Why do the zombies not swarm the cities?"


    His presentpany thought the question was for them, so they tried to answer it. Their answers were failures. All they could say was that the corpos had a secret method for keeping their cities safe.


    This led to an argument as to what the secret method could be and why the corpos haven''t taken full advantage of it to create more cities. The argument became heated when someone began calling others stupid.


    Meanwhile, Wrath replied, "They fear demigods. Despite theck of a conscious mind, these zombies know instinctively to fear the territory of an apex being."


    That confirmed his suspicions. But he didn''t enlighten the other viins with this information. Not that it would have helped. Even if it could, he prefered to watch them argue with each other.


    His bus remained loud until they were attacked. It was a flying creature. It wasrge and had the flesh and colorful rocks hybridization that marked it out as an incursion zombie.


    It looked like it might have been a duck before. It had arge and t yellow bill that ducks should have. But it has grown toorge to be a duck. Someone joked that it hadn''t be too aggressive for a duck.


    Theyughed at the joke, which helped dispel the hostile atmosphere that the argument was creating. They didn''t really care about the giant zombie duck because it couldn''t do anything to them. They were in an armored vehicle after all.


    But the duck didn''t give up. It continued to harass them until they reached their destination. Someone had to shoot it down before peace and quiet could return. Their attention was quickly shifted to their destination.


    It was a walled property. The walls were made ofrge bs of brown earth made to stand together. Some parts of the wall were new, and some were old.


    A lot of the bs were broken either due to acts of man or random spatial tears caused by the incursion. They were easy to tell apart. Entry points forcefully created by men resulted in chunks of earth with the same color. But those created by the incursion had chunks of earth of various colors.


    The incursion always made it look like the resulting debris didn''te from the same source. For one, there were some parts missing. Secondly, there were some new parts. And finally, the parts present wouldn''t fit to form the earthen b.


    One thing of note that the walls possessed were turrets. They shot at anything that got too close to the walls. These being the incursion zombies. They ensured that the zombies didn''t flood into the encampment through the breaks in the wall.


    There was a gate made into the walls. It was pulled apart so that they could pass through. They could finally see what they were fighting for.


    It was arge farm. They could see vine nts extend far into the distance. There were also workers tending to the nts and harvesting from them.


    At a nce, it looked like a vineyard. Just a peaceful vineyard in the apocalypse with hard-working men and women doing their best to survive in hard times. But then one would notice that the eyes of the workers were zed. There is also the fact that their movements are mechanical.


    These phenomenabined with their hargard, thin, malnourished look and the rags they are wearing for clothes might clue a bystander into the fact that this farm is more than it seems.


    Kelvin saw all of these and didn''t look twice at the subhumans working on the farm. He did wonder briefly who was in a poorer state¡ªthey or the incursion zombies that have lost their minds¡ªbut most of his mind was on the type of gun that he would get soon.


    Wrath, on the other hand, couldn''t feel the pleasure of a good weapon in its hands. It could only look and not touch. It made it fixate on the sight of the men and women ving away day and night on the farm without any pay.


    It observed solemnly, "Humanity is capable of so many atrocities. It makes me wonder if there was anything worth saving."


    Kelvin shrugged. "There is no evil going on here. I am sure that they are here of their free will. I am even willing to bet that they will return here at all costs if you move them to somewhere you consider better."


    He is not a gambler, but he knows it is a safe bet to make. This is despite the dangers of living outside a city.


    He continued, "Besides, their situation might not be so bad. Existence is war. It is a constant struggle for survival. But they are having the best time of their lives right now. One might say they are experiencing heaven on earth. I don''t know if that is such a bad thing."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 33 Out Into The Boons.

    Many people threw his side nces for talking to no one, but no one bothered to point it out. They followed their boss into one of therge buildings at the edge of the farm.


    These buildings are factories for processing the harvested fruits of the vines into red dust. They also contain some living spaces for the members of the workforce that still require them.


    All of them bore the same signs of incursion as the walls. They were broken up in several ces. Certain parts also had more colors and materials than the other parts of the buildings.


    One of them is the armory. They were led into it and told to have their pick. Unfortunately, they could only pick two weapons each. It was like being led into a buffet and told they couldn''t eat all they could stomach.


    He picked a sniper rifle and a handgun. He did so while watching his fellow hired hands clearly. He was looking for anyone too familiar with guns beyond the level of skill. Those are the signs of a weapon-ss super.


    He doesn''t n to attack every weapon ss super he finds. He is not crazy. He only ns those worthy of having their ability stolen. In fact, they would have to be incredible for them to make the cut. As it is, they were falling far below the threshold of anything worth his attention.


    They eventually were sorted into living quarters for those who wanted to stay behind and protect the farm. The rest of them went to the briefing room to see the maps of Blue Crystals facilities.


    There was a copy of the maps for everyone. Then those who wanted to venture out were given bikes for transportation. Kelvin was part of them. He got a bike and a survival pack. Then he left the farm behind.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    His destination was one of the many abandoned cities of earth before the incursions. Many organizations use them as hideouts for storing their stash or as bases of operation if they can''t afford the taxes of a city or are avoiding people.


    It took two hours to reach his destination. One thing he noticed was that it wasn''t walled. There was almost no demarcation to indicate where the city began and ended.


    Thisck of differentiation became worse because of the overgrown flora in the city. The ancient concrete buildings had been battered by the incursion and were falling apart. This made it easy for the city to be slowly transformed into a forest. Colorful trees were growing out of buildings, and bright animals were roaming about.


    There was also the asional incursion zombies but they were too slow to keep up with him.


    He didn''t drive straight to his destination, though. He had to stop his bike far away from it so that those he was going to meet wouldn''t hear the sound of his engines and be alert to his presence.


    So he had to walk the rest of the way. That meant he had to deal with the zombies and he had to deal with them silently.


    It was easy to kill them silently. He just had to cut off their heads with his ws. But he couldn''t draw too much attention to himself by allowing a zombie hoard to form. So he prioritized hiding and escaping from them.


    It took him an hour to reach the cluster of buildings he was after. All the detours he took made him waste a lot of time. It also took him time to ascend a skyscraper without elevators. He had to climb the stairs and examine each floor as candidates for a vantage point.


    He stopped when he found a floor with sufficient sight ess to the Blue Gang facility that wasn''t full of too much nt life. It was about two-thirds up the skyscraper.


    He took out a bedroll, which heid on the ground. Then he began putting the sniper rifle together. He made sure to take his time with the process while eyeing the facility below him a couple of blocks away.


    He couldn''t see much from his position. All he could see was that there were guards patrolling the facility. He had to use his binocrs to tell their figures apart.


    The facility looked like a prison. It had several walls, turrets, and manned towers, and the windows were barred. What''s most odd about it is the use of a blue crystal to plug the holes in the walls and to reinforce the buildings.


    "This looks like it will be easier to get into than to get out of. Not that getting into it will be easy."


    Wrath sighed and said, "Now we wait."


    He nodded. "Yes, we wait. Hopefully, we don''t have to wait until my next game."


    He could infiltrate the facility, but it is too risky. The information Red Dream gave them was notplete. For one, he doesn''t know theyout of the facility.


    If he were to enter the facility now, he would essentially be wandering about. His odd movements might draw attention, but he will certainly draw attention if he asks for direction.


    That is, if he can even manage to gain ess to the facility at all. He doesn''t know what their security and rm systems are. He might not even be able to wander about aimlessly. He might just walk into a trap.


    And if something goes wrong, he will have a lot of difficulty escaping since he is not familiar with the environment and the security protocols.


    Secondly, the dossier only contained information about the subordinates of Blue Crystal. It said nothing about any hired help. There is bound to be hired help since tensions have already escted to this point.


    So not only is hecking in knowledge of the location, he iscking in the knowledge of the people. Those are dangerous enough, but there is more.


    Thest problem is the problem of his fellow hired help. He is not alone on this mission, so if he infiltrates the enemies, his teammates might mistake him for one of the enemies.

 Chapter 34 Incompetence.

    Currently, he has decided to camp out the location and wait for when the Blue Crystal gang will ride out to attack Red Dream''s farm. Their security will be at its lowest then. It will be prime time for him to attack.


    He can choose to infiltrate then or snipe targets from his position. He is leaning towards thetter since if he infiltrates then, one of his teammates might blow his head off.


    His metal bones might protect him from ordinary bullets, but sniper rounds are another caliber entirely. It will be extra dangerous if they are using armor piercing rounds like him.


    He is not even using special rounds because he knows that some of his targets might be extraordinary like him. He is using it because it is themon procedure nowadays. Everyone knows that anyone can be resistant to bullets.


    Besides this, he is supposed to keep his ability to shapeshift a secret on his missions. It is something that will be difficult to do in the current situation. So he is not inclined to infiltrating the facility.


    Heid back and rxed. Wrath told some stories to pass the time, but most of their time was spent in silence.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Fortunately, he had his phone and satellite connection with him, so he wasn''t bored. He used his phone to keep himself upied when he wasn''t fiddling with the rifle, testing its aim, or taking practice shots. This way, he was able to bear the four days of solitude without any major issues.


    Many vehicles hade and gone in the four days he was waiting. There have also been a lot of activities in the facility. But it was on the fourth day that the facility truly came alive.


    It was Wrath that called his attention to it. Apparently, the spirit had better eyesight than him despite theck of pupils.


    He used his binocrs to see what was going on. What he saw made him chuckle.


    He said, "It seems someone became impatient."


    "They appear to have kicked an ho''s nest."


    Wrath was right. The wholepound was noisy. There were the shouts of people and the loud, resounding sound of gunfire. Men and women were rushing about chasing someone or manning battle stages.


    The chaos didn''tst long. It quieted down after a while. But the activity did not return to its previous state. Men were still moving about. But this time, they were packing themselves into buses.


    Wrathmented, "It seems that person didn''t manage to escape."


    Kelvin shook his head. "There are approximately a hundred men in that building. I would be amazed if they managed to escape."


    Heined some more. "I wonder why they do things like this. It is as if they haven''t undergone any training at all. They are just idiots."


    He knows that most people aren''t like him. They don''t know to keep quiet before a mission and obey the rules of decorum. He knows that they don''t know not to fight before a mission. But it stilles to him as a surprise when he sees someone enter a highly secured facility that they know very little about.


    Sure, it is possible to enter and leave that facility with the right ability. Invisibility, intangibility, and camouging can achieve it. But anyone who has that kind of ability won''t be out here in the dumps slumming it. They will be in the city robbing a bank or something.


    Wrath pointed out curiously, "You have mentioned your training several times, but you haven''t mentioned where you trained at."


    He replied without taking his eyes off the binocrs, "I went to military school. I was raised to be a good killer."


    Wrath chuckled, "Thatst part is obvious. It is obvious that most viins don''t have that kind of training. Most people don''t have any kind of training to prepare them for their abilities. They mostly n to waste away in the amateur league where there is no danger. Only those who awaken special abilities decide to be professionals."


    "I know that. I''m just saying it is surprising to see such inept behavior."


    Wrath shrugged. "Things aren''t all that bad. At least that person''s mistake has given us the opportunity we need."


    He agreed with that. "Yeah. It seems they are moving to attack Red Dream."


    The two of them fell into silence as they watched.


    Then he said, "I was hoping to assassinate Blue Crystal directly from here, but he doesn''t seem to be joining the assault party. I might have to infiltrate after all. That or I attack the assault team on their way back."


    Wrath advised, "You should do both. Attack the base in their absence, and if it doesn''t turn out well, you can attack the assault team if they return at all."


    He nodded and kept his eyes on the facility. The levels of activity he saw continued for several minutes. Then it peaked after 30 minutes when the gates of the three walls were removed.


    There was a loud rm as each gate was opened. Then the convoy of buses passed through each gate. The sound of so many engines roaring scared the birds and other animals in the vicinity.


    Finally, the gates were closed, and the base returned to silence. Guards were still manning the towers of each section of thepounds, and everything looked normal.


    Wrath whispered in his ear, "How much do you want to bet that this is both a good opportunity and a trap?"


    He grinned, "I don''t gamble. But if I were a gambling man, then I would say that you are right."


    Wrathughed. "I know I''m right. The boss and his second inmand didn''t leave the base to lead the attack. They decided to remain in their secure fortress. It is obvious that they are baiting people to make a move on them."


    Kelvin was still grinning, but he had put away his binocrs. Instead, he reced it with his sniper rifle and looked through its telescopic sight.

 Chapter 35 No Worries.

    There was nothing special about the sniper rifle. It was semi-automatic, so the next shot is prepared by the gun. It was also silent thanks to the use of a suppressor. It wasn''t special, but he wouldn''t want to be on the end of its barrel.


    His first targets were the guards on the tower. There are four towers on each edge of thepound. Each one was manned by two guards.


    Wrath asked with a whisper, "Can you take them out quickly?"


    He replied, "I know what I am doing. Besides, there is nothing to worry about."


    He did know what he was doing. He has trained most of his life with most types of guns. He has also made himself familiar with this particr gun over the days they had been waiting. There is also another reason why he is not feeling any pressure in taking the shots.


    His first shot took the first guard in the face. The gun in his hands fell down immediately. Then he followed soon after. His body created a noticeable noise that drew the attention of the other guard.


    The guard turned towards where his partner should be. He saw the prone bleeding body instead of a living man. His eyes widened, and his mouth opened wide. It was either to scream or just because of shock. Whichever one it was, he didn''t get to say anything before a bullet took him by the side of the head.


    The second guard fell down too. Kelvin exhaled in relief.


    Wrath was impressed. "Not bad. Not bad at all."


    But it was too soon to celebrate because the rm went off. The wholepound was producing a ring rm much louder than the sound of the gate opening. Apparently, something had tipped off the security despite his excellent shots.


    He panned thepound through the sights and soon found the problem. A guard on another tower had been shot while he was busy with his shot. The second vuardbad noticed and sounded the rm.


    That second guard could also be seen rushing down the tower through the stairs. He was shouting too, as if the rm system he ticked off wasn''t enough to notify everyone that there was an attack.


    Kelvin sighed and said, "This is why I said there was nothing to worry about. It doesn''t matter if I make the shot or not; I am sure the rm system will go off."


    "I don''t know how many of us are eyeing the base right now, but if I can''t make the shot, I doubt everyone of them will be able to. Someone was bound to make a mistake."


    He said this with resignation and eptance but he was annoyed. It was with that annoyance that he shot the hysterical guard. Then he turned his sights on other guards foolishly enough to put their heads above cover under sniper fire.


    It turned out that there were a lot of such foolish people. It was partially their fault. They didn''t know that snipers were out there and didn''t think to suspect snipers. They were just following normal security protocols, which were to man the walls in the case of an attack. He used that opportunity to arrange a meeting with many men and death.


    He wasn''t the only one taking shots at the base. There were many others. This caused the number of guards to dwindle rapidly. It didn''t take 5 minutes to clear thepound of visible activity. Any guard still alive had to be in hiding in the buildings.


    This situation made some bold enough to take the fight directly to the base. They drove their bikes towards it or crawled to it. None of them could reach the walls because of the turrets.


    They were shot down as soon as they got within 100 meters of the wall. Their bodies were shot intos until they couldn''t move anymore.


    He and Wrath grimaced at the sight. Then they sighed when they saw others approach the walls with thick objects to shield them.


    He shook his head in wonder and asked, "What were they thinking?"


    "Maybe they had a special ability that they thought would help them weather the assault."


    "Maybe," he conceded. "If they did, then they overestimated its capabilities."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Wrathughed. They continued to watch others try to gain ess to thepound. Most of them failed because of other security measures like me throwers and mines on the walls. But some made it through luck or skill.


    He said with resignation, "I guess it is time to join the party."


    Wrath wasn''t optimistic. It said, "I still don''t think this is going to be easy."


    "What is ever easy?" he asked in reply.


    Blue Crystal still didn''t show up, which means he is either not present in the base at all or he is hellbent on luring them into the base. Either way, he has to find out, and it is not going to be easy doing so.


    He put aside his sniper rifle and strapped it to his back. Then he began descending the building. It was going to be agonizingly slow because of the poor condition of the stairs and his considerable height off of the ground.


    He used the time to inspect any material he could use as a shield. He eventually settled for a metallic door in rtively good condition.


    He picked it up and dragged it down with him.


    "I''m telling you, I think I should get a weapon ss ability to control electronics or a speedster ability next. I could do with those right now."


    Wrath cheered him on, "Come on. You don''t feel pain. You can do this."


    He shifted more mass into the muscles of his legs for a boost to speed. It was not an obvious change, as it was covered up easily by the jeans he was wearing. So no one noticed his erged calf and thighs.


    The second thing he did was to increase the thickness and density of the bones of his skull. Then he reinforced it with steel. That way he protected his most vulnerable organ.

 Chapter 36 Fainter.

    Thest thing he did was to remove his sense of smell and hearing. It was especially dangerous to remove his sense of hearing but it was too important not to.


    He went so far to scrap both his middle and inner ear. Only then and with his makeshift shield in front of him did he have the confidence to barrel into the walls.


    His intrusion was noticed and unwee. The two turrets close to him turned their barrels towards him and opened fire.


    Before the advent of the tower of destiny, the average athlete could cover the distance of 100 meters in ten seconds. Laymen needed more time than that.


    Currently, 100 meters in 10 seconds is the lowest speed of most supers, regardless of which ability they awakened because all of their attributes will be raised to 10. So everyone can cross 10 meters in 10 seconds unless they lose their stats in the game.


    He has 30 points in speed and can shift his other attributes to it briefly to raise it to 90. Even so, he still cannot match the fastest man before the advent of the tower of destiny. That means he will be spending approximately 10 seconds under the fire of the turrets.


    His shield did most of the work. It was made from a highly durable metal that hadn''t rusted or broken down after decades. If not that the walls it was attached to had decayed, then he wouldn''t have been able to take it.


    Even so, he wasn''t some flus along for the ride. He had to actually carry the heavy door and resist the push of the rain of bullets mming into him.


    He aimed for the weak spots in the wall where the incursion had wrecked havoc on it. Then he mmed his bullet-studded shield into it.


    The wall shook but didn''t break. He had to move backwards for another pass at it. He repeated this a third time before he could break through the wall.


    The only saving grace was that the turrets couldn''t shoot at him when he became too close to the walls. They couldn''t turn easily due to the metal guards around them protecting them from ranged attacks.


    The same thing that prevented them from being shot down from afar made them unable to shoot anything too close to the walls. He used this blind spot to gain ess to the building.


    He headed for the building in the middle of thepound. It was secured by two walls, each with their own turrets and security system. So he decided not to brave danger by himself.


    He first found the guard post to disable the security of the outer walls. The ring rm reduced by a third, and the turrets stopped firing immediately.


    The other viins looking for a way into the facility took advantage of the opportunity to swarm into the facility. All of them then rushed towards the center of the facility immediately.


    A way was created with everyone working together. Some used rocketunchers, and others used grenades. It caused a lot of chaos and destruction, which ensured that any obstacles in their way didn''tst. Both the guards and walls fell before them.


    Kelvin followed behind them with an assault rifle he had picked up from a dead guard. He can''t hear the explosions anyway, so the noise didn''t bother him.


    Their goal became closer when they breached the second wall. There was just one more wall between them and the main building. There was also someone on top of the wall.


    It was a woman. She was wearing a mask covering the upper part of her face. The mask wouldn''t be able to obstruct her mouth with the way it was ced.


    She opened her mouth now and shrieked at them. A sound wave materialized in front of them into something they could see. Then it smashed into them. It tried to drown them like a real wave of water.


    The men at the front of the line exploded into a shower of blood, flesh, and bones when the sbockwave struck them. The wave lost most of its power because of that, but it was still strong enough to make the ears of those behind explode.


    The men with the exploded ears fainted then and there. Even the ones at the very back had to hunch their bodies and hold their heads because of the pain.


    They didn''t look like they could mount up any resistance against her. This is despite many of them using masks to block their nostrils and ear blocks just in preparation to meet the three nightmares. This was the first of them, and they were already routed.


    Thedy on the wall smiled in disdain. Then she opened her mouth to make another attack. Unfortunately, a bullet from a sniper rifle took her in the mouth and blew her head away.


    It was Kelvin who killed her. Without any part of his ear functioning and being at the back of the pack, he was able to weather her sound attack and shoot her in the face.


    He raised his gun into the air and screamed, "Let''s go."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    His voice came out a little weird because he couldn''t hear himself, but no one cared about that. They cheered and rushed head first against thest wall standing in their way.


    Kelvin grinned to himself and thought, "That makes a clean 300k. Plus the cannon forder I killed, I should have 460k by now."


    As one of the two individuals just below Haze in the hierarchy of the Blue Gang, Fainter is worth $300,000. The 8 guards that he killed are worth $20,000 each. This rounds up to a tidy sum, which was enough to put him in a good mood.


    His mood became better when he regenerated his ear and could finally hear again. The sounds of explosions and buildings copsing because of the fire quickly spreading in the base was like music to his ears.

 Chapter 37 Combination Tactics.

    It was music that lifted his spirit. But he didn''t get carried away. He said to Wrath, "You''re up next."


    "I know." Then it asked, "What are you going to do about Blue Crystal? Will you try to capture him if he is not strong?"


    He shook his head and replied, "I''ll kill him at the first chance I get. I am not going to try and find out if he is not strong enough to resist capture. That''s how people die."


    Wrath shrugged and said, "I am just saying. We could make a tidy sum if we capture him."


    "If I could capture him, I would rather steal his ability and make the drugs myself. But I''m not going to tempt fate."


    Blue Crystal''s power level is another thing that is rtively unknown about him. Apart from the fact his body is made of crystal that can infect living things and crystallize them, not much is known about his fighting prowess. It is because he rarely fights. He has his gang do all of that for him.


    That much unknown is too much for him. So he will try to put a bullet into Blue Crystal at the very first chance he gets.


    His good mood reached a peak after thest wall was demolished. There was a gate, but they didn''t care for it. They decided to create a permanent ess that they can use for quick retreat without fear of it closing on them.


    But then his good mood faltered when they encountered the other two banshees beyond thest wall. It didn''t look like that, though. It looked like there was an army of women standing in their way.


    All of them women looked alike except one. That one was Haze. Haze was at the back of this army. Her ability had already saturated the air around them, so all the viins, be they men or women, became dumbstruck. They couldn''t take their eyes off of her. They forgot that they were in a fight.


    She said to them, "Knell."


    They obeyed hermand in order to please her. Their face mask didn''t protect them because Fainter had shattered them.


    It was thebination tactic of the three nightmares. Each one of them preys on three of the senses. Fainter takes advantage of hearing and makes them vulnerable to Haze. If they don''t die immediately, Haze will render them powerless, while Mirage will kill them.


    Everyone who heard hermand kneeled immediately. Only one person didn''t. It was a man made out of brown stones. He barreled towards Haze instead of kneeling to her.


    The army of women before them rushed forward to stop him. Unfortunately, theirs was a wasted effort. They popped like bubbles once they made contact with him.


    It was not because of his power. The phenomenon is due to Mirage''s ability. She creates Mirage''s of her figure to confuse the sight. It is an illusion of sorts. This way, no one will notice where her true body is. She will be able to assassinate them without them being able to fight back.


    Some try to fight back. They watch their surroundings carefully for signs of her true body. Unfortunately, thebination of Haze''s pheromones makes it an impossible endeavor.


    But not this rock man. He waspletely hard, but not because of the pheromones. He ignored everything around him as he ran straight towards Haze. He didn''t even spare the mirages a nce. Just like the enamored viins, he had only Haze in his sights, but for apletely different reason.


    His actions caused Haze to frown. Then she ordered her new minions, "Kill him."


    Everyone, including Kelvin, turned hostile gazes towards their previous partner in crime and even brought up their guns to kill him.


    Only Kelvin mumbled quietly, "Which one is it?"


    Wrath pointed with his shadowy figure at a corner to the far left. Kelvin didn''t know which of the women there were real or not, but he didn''t care. He unleashed his assault rifle and a grenade at the corner. He cleared out everything standing there.


    This caused the army to evaporate. Only ady riddled with bullet holes was left of the once proud army.


    Haze shrieked with grief because of what he had done. She pointed at him and said, "Kill him."


    Everyone turned their hostile gazes to him immediately. He turned and ran. He did not forget to shoot behind him and toss some grenades at them while he did so. This created a lot of chaos, which he was hoping to escape through.


    Unfortunately, his actions had little sess. Other than blowing up some and reducing the number of enemies he had, his grenades and gunshots didn''t distract them from shooting at him.


    They didn''t even flinch. They were focused on killing at all costs just because they were trying to impress Haze so that they could mate with her.


    His saving grace was that they were not turrets. They didn''t have the uracy and ammo capacity of turrets. In fact, they didn''t have the uracy and skill that they should have normally. Blood had drained from their brains and gone into engorging their sexual organs.


    He was at the back of the pack, so it didn''t take him three seconds to find cover. In that brief time, he was shot many times. But it wasn''t something he couldn''t handle.


    His enemies rushed after him, which made the funnel through the hole in the wall. This made them easy to target with a gun. He mowed them down while keeping to cover.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Meanwhile, the earthen man chased after Haze. She ran into the main building and locked the door behind her.


    The door was something that couldpete with vault doors. It was sturdy and would not be easy to breach. Unfortunately, it was slow in closing.


    It was too slow, in fact. So slow that Haze had time to bring out her gun and shoot at the earthen man behind her. Unfortunately, the bullets from her small hand gun couldn''t prate his natural armor.

 Chapter 38 Showdown.

    The earthen man was able to dash underneath the falling door. This put him in close quarters with Haze. It was a dangerous situation Tobe with him since her gun was useless. He got to find out that the rumors of Haze were not exaggerated. Her flesh was indeed soft to the touch.


    They said her flesh was like marshmallow. Many men and women would fantasize and bet that she was soft and mellow. They were right. She broke in two with a single punch. She was that soft.


    The earthen man was shocked when she fell like a rag doll with a single punch. He thought he was being pranked, or maybe he had punched another mirage.


    He was tempted to continue through the building in search of her and more enemies, but he stopped and returned to open the door. He found Kelvin and what was left of the viin coalition there waiting for him. .


    There were probably 30 of them that entered the base from the start, but now there are 7 of them in total. The earthen man, Kelvin, and five others.


    Those five were grateful to the earthen man and a little afraid of Kelvin. One of them said to him, "Thanks, man."


    He snorted and said, "I''m a woman."


    All of them, even Kelvin, took another nce at her. She didn''t look like a woman to them. She looked like a tall, muscr man whose muscles got turned into rocks.


    She was shirtless, so they got to see her upper body well enough, and it didn''t look like that of a woman. Maybe they would be able to tell if she was a woman if she pulled off her trousers for them to see, but no one asked her to do that.


    The man that thanked her scratched his head and said, "Well, thanks,dy."


    One of the other five couldn''t take it anymore. He burst outughing. He was so loud, he was holding his stomach to keep it from cramping because of all theughter.


    The earthendy responded with a punch. Her stone fist smashed into his head and shattered it. She rubbed the blood on her fist against her trousers while ring at the rest as if daring them tough.


    No oneughed. Kelvin sighed and muttered, "That leaves 6."


    Wrath wasughing though. It startedughing after the stone giant killed the man, so it wasughing that she was a woman.


    She said to them, "Let''s go."


    She turned and led the way. But only four people followed behind her. Thedy in their midst decided that she had had enough and chose to retreat.


    Wrathmented as he watched her go, "Smart gal. And we wonder why women live longer than men."


    He didn''t respond to it. He was in enemy territory, so he wanted to keep quiet so as not to alert the enemy to their position.


    The five of them moved quietly until they arrived at a door blocking their way. One of the viins managed to fool the security switch on the door on the wall into making it open.


    The door opened into arge hall which was glowing with a blue light. The glowing was because the entire hall was lined with blue crystals. They were growing on the walls and the roof.


    The beautiful sight made someone exim in awe. Kelvin pped the back of his head and motioned for him to remain quiet.


    Unfortunately, it was toote. They were not the only ones in the hall. There were many others, and two of them were looking at them.


    Blue crystal was in the middle of the hall. He appeared to be a pir, not a man. He was fixed to the ground in the middle of the room. There was a man beside him, shaving his flesh and depositing it in the bodies of the other people lining the room.


    The man had stopped his work to stare at them. As for the others in the room, they were in too much pain to notice or care about the new arrivals.


    The man was wearing safety sses. He was wearing thick protective attire, and even his hands were gloved with thick stic gloves that reached up to his elbows. Combined with the ss shield on his face, he looked like a welder.


    He removed the ss shield on his face to scrutinize them carefully. Then he said, "I don''t recognize any of you. Who are you? Where is Haze?"


    They didn''t reply, so he turned away from them and screamed, "Haze, get over here. There are some strangers here."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Haze didn''t answer his calls, which made the gears in the man''s head start turning. He called for Fainter and Mirage next. They didn''t answer either. This led him toe. To the conclusion he didn''t think was possible."


    He asked, "Are you enemies? Who sent you? What have I done to anger you?"


    Everyone looked confused by the situation. Both the viins and their targets were confused. Blue Crystal didn''t appear like he could move. His face and limbs had fused into one blue crystal pir, while the only other conscious person in the room didn''t know to expect them.


    Earthen woman replied, "Red Dream sent us? Didn''t you know your gang was in a war with hers? You attacked her, remember?"


    The man was aghast. He shouted in disbelief. "Attack her? We did no such thing. She was the one that has been harassing us. She was the one that wanted to buy us out.


    She sent someone to assainate me today. Only then did we have enough of her and send my men over to warn her."


    Kelvin shook his head and said, "This doesn''t make sense. Then again, it doesn''t matter. We have a job to do."


    He pointed his gun at the man after saying that.


    The man raised his hands and said, "Don''t shoot. I''m sure we can work this out. I''ll give Red Dream whatever she wants."

 Chapter 39 The Reveal.

    Kelvin was considering what to do with the man when he heard Wrath say to him, "There is someone behind you."


    He turned immediately, but he didn''t see anyone. He didn''t doubt Wrath, though. The shadow spirit can see more of the spectrum of light than humans can, so it can tell a mirage apart from a living human, and it can see beyond some invisibility abilities.


    So with this confidence, he unleashed a hail of bullets at the hall behind them.


    Someone shouted, "Don''t shoot."


    But it was toote. Red blood sttered into the air as a figure was revealed. It was the quiet poisondy that killed politely. Her yellow skin had gained more red and holes. She was naked as she slipped from the wall she was clinging to.


    It appeared that she had been using some kind of camouge ability to hide her presence from everyone. Now she was dead.


    Everyone was looking at Kelvin and the dead viiness on the ground. He shrugged in response. He didn''t know what to say, and he didn''t think he had to exin himself to anyone.


    His actions were clear to everyone. He shot someone who used to be invisible. That person could have been a friend or foe, but he wasn''t willing to take the chances. Now it doesn''t matter that she was supposed to be on their side. Nothing matters now that she is dead.


    Everyone was already at tentahooks because of the sudden shooting and dying. The man was extra spoked as he had hid behind blue crystal.


    The noise seemed to wake Blue Crystal up. He looked at them with eyes that werepletely white and said, "Help me."


    The man behind him shushed him. "Now now, don''t go scaring the guests."


    He took a syringe from the tray table beside him and plunged its contents into Blue Crystal''s body. Blue Crystals eyes became heavy. He blinked several times. Then he fell asleep.


    It was a sight no one sawing. Even Kelvin was surprised. He pointed his gun at the man and said, "I''m guessing Blue Crystal is not the boss of this operation."


    The man chuckled nervously and said, "Don''t mind him. He has his part to y. He is the foundation of this operation after all."


    Kelvin had wanted to kill the man and end this mission, but Blue Crystal''s state and the man''s apparently harmlessness are giving him ideas that have prevented him from shooting the man.


    He was mulling over those ideas now, but he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps from behind them. This time, they all turned back with sudden alertness, only to see someone else that they were familiar with ite through the door.


    It was Red Dream. She stepped lightly on the ground barefooted as she dragged the corpse of thedy that had quit on them earlier behind her with her vine hair.


    Red vines were growing on the ground and across the roof behind her. They dragged the corpse of the viiness and deposited them next to the body of the poisondy. Then they tore the two corpses apart and used the blood to grow thicker.


    They formed into a thick wall of vines that sealed the door behind Red Dream. That door also happens to be the only way out of the hall. So she has sealed all of them in here.


    This sight didn''t feel anyone with ease. Everyone stepped back, including the viins and their previous captive. Only blue crystal and the people on benches with crystal growing out of their skin didn''t move.


    One of the viins asked, "What is the meaning of this?"


    She replied with a smile, "I want to thank you for helping me clear out his base and cornering him. I couldn''t have done this without you. But I have to keep my acquisition of this resource a secret. I''m sure you understand. After all, there is no honor amongst thieves."


    Kelvin understood. That''s why he had disabled his sense of smell and taste. It is also why he put a gun to Blue Crystal''s head.


    He threatened his previous boss, "Let us go or you lose everything."


    She chuckled and said confidently, "Go ahead."


    Wrath said to him, "I don''t think that will work. Maybe your sniper rifle will be able to prate his defenses, but it might not kill him. His physiology is different from normal humans because of the crystal."


    As if that wasn''t bad enough, Wrath had more bad news to say. "Don''t bother shooting her either. This is not her real body. It is probably some nt manifestation."


    He cursed, "Damn."


    He didn''t bother to call her bluff after the series of news. He put away his gun.


    Someone else didn''t have the information he had. He shot Blue Crystal in the head. This created a hole in his head. But then crystals filled up the hole and returned it to its previous condition.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Blue Crystal didn''t even wake up throughout the process. It was as if he couldn''t feel pain. The viin felt pain though. He felt grave emotional pain enough to to make him fall to his knees and beg, "Please, you don''t have to do this. You could have hired us to retrieve Blue Crystal for you, and no one would have battled an eye."


    Kelvin said, "It is clear that this mission was a scam. She is hiding something that she does not want others to know. She has to do this to keep us quiet."


    Red Dream chuckled. It was a low sound of amusement that echoed through the hall. She said, "You are mostly right. I didn''t have to do this. I wanted to. I wanted to because I didn''t want some people to know about my acquisition of Blue Crystal.


    That meant I had to deceive the Thunderstorm Viin League when I created the mission."


    "I was able to set the mission up with less money than normal and acquire a lot of cheapbor. You know how the Thunderstorm Viin League gets about people cheating them out of their money. So you have to die. It''s nothing personal."

 Chapter 40 Waste Of Money.

    The man in protective equipment chose that moment to pipe up. He said nervously, "But you won''t kill me, right? I am needed to amplify the blue crystal. Without me, the blue dust will be some third-rate product not worth pushing."


    Red Dream narrowed her eyes at him. Then she said, "You idiot."


    Kelvin was already moving before she could finish. He had gripped the man by the neck and had a gun to his head quickly. The other viins surrounded him to reinforce him like their lives depended on it.


    Red Dream rolled her eyes and said, "He is important, but he is not the only amplify in the world. I''m sure I can find another morally corrupt amplify to keep blue dust moving and to grow my drug empire."


    She had been willing to keep him alive before. He would serve as a false front for her acquisition of his gang. She would have made everything looked legitimate through him.


    What everyone would hear is that she had the Blue Crystal Gang hade to an agreement and decided tobine their forces. Others would think she had been defeated. They wouldn''t know that she is the mastermind behind everything.


    That had been her intentions. But the man ruined it by pointing out his importance. It is unfortunate for him that her interest for a solid cover up wanez inparison to her interest in killing her hired help.


    "Enough of this. Now you die."


    She pointed at them, which made red vines begin to slither like snakes towards them from the wall they had formed. The viins panicked and began shooting at her.


    Their bullets were ineffective in culling the threat she posed to them. They sank through her body and came out the other side without resistance. There was no blood in the wounds they created. Only holes that closed soon after.


    The earthen woman roared and dashed towards Red Dream. She fought valiantly, but her strength was useless against vines. They bound her tightly and prevented her from escaping.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It didn''t help that the vines were producing a sweet smelling secretion when cut. This secretion was quickly absorbed by her skin to make her wboozy and euphoric. Soon her eyes became lidded and her resistance waned. She didn''t resist as the vines began to pull her apart in order to tear her to pieces.


    All the viins dropped whatever incindiary and explosives they had regardless of their safety in order to curb the spread of the vines. It worked well to drive back the vines. They even managed to free the earthen woman.


    But the earthen woman had be useless, and the reprieve from the vines was shortlived. They were soon crawling over as soon as the explosion died down.


    However, everyone stopped fighting when they noticed that Blue Crystal was no more. Apparently, the mighty explosion had scattered him to pieces.


    Wrath mused with amusement, "He doesn''t look like he is going toe back from that kind of damage."


    Wrath was amused, but both the man and Red Dream were distraught. The man screamed in anguish, and so did Red Dream.


    While the man was trying to put together the pieces of the man once known as Blue Crystal, Red Dream focused her reddened eyes and ring nostrils at them. "Do you know what you have done? You have just torn millions of dors to shred. You have destroyed everything."


    Kelvin wasn''t willing to listen to anything she had to say. He produced three metal des from his fist as if to fight. But he didn''t go after her.


    He said to the others, "Protect me!"


    They surrounded him while he went to work on the wall behind them. It was a wall that had been reinforced with bothyers of blue crystal and a thickyer of metal bs. This was apart from the fact that the wall behind theseyers had rebar in them. So the wall was very sturdy. But his ws cut through them nheless.


    It was easy to do. He cut through them like a hot de through butter. It is something he wouldn''t have been able to do easily, if at all, without the amplification of an amplifier. But now he could do it. All he had to do was convince the man to help him escape.


    Soon a makeshift wall had been carved into the wall. It granted them ess out of the main building and into thepound. Everyone took to their heels and scattered in various directions.


    Only the Earthendy was too bothered to escape. She didn''t even stand up. Shey there as Red Dream took out her anger on her. Her death helped to give others time to escape.


    Kelvin was far ahead of them, so he had to call back to them to speak with them. He said, "If you escape this, make sure to report to the Viin League. We have to get paid for our work and the danger we just encountered."


    That was theirst option, seeing as they just had a falling out with their boss. They surely can''t return to her to ask for payment. The best they can do is report to the League and hope for the best.


    This hope spurred them on in their escape. But only three of them managed to escape at the end of the day. Red Dream didn''te alone. She came with her two right hand men, who pursued them after they escaped.


    The man with the amplifying ability didn''t make it. His ability could only help others, and he needed physical contact to boost their ability. Those conditions did nothing to help him escape from pursuers.


    Red Dream still didn''t give up on them even after that. She sent many people after them to kill them. They chased after Kelvin and the others throughout the dangerous wilds. He had to escape from the incursion zombies as well as natural predators in the environment and unnatural predators of the assassination career.


    -----


    A/N: I know that more than 50 people read this book daily. If you are one of them and haven''t written a review at this point, please do so.


    Also, this is where the free portion of the book will end. I intend to lock the following chapters. I won''t lock them for a few more days so you can still change my mind if you have a good enough argument.

 Chapter 41 Replacement Conjecture.

    The assassins were not much of a danger since they were easy to fool and were not everywhere in the wilds. He could escape from them or kill them all. But the incursion zombies and beasts were everywhere, endless, and attacked strange creatures like him on sight.


    It didn''t help that he couldn''t take his bike. Not only could it be tracked, he couldn''t get to it from the direction he escaped from. So he had to walk through the wilds while struggling for survival.


    It was not an easy task to survive in the wilds at all. He was constantly running and had very little sleep. But the thought of the terminal waiting for him at home kept him going.


    It took him five days to return to New London. At that time, his clothes had be rags. He himself is in good condition. He is clean because it is easy to shed his dirty skin.


    He said after sighting the glorious city, "I can''t believe I made it."


    Wrath nodded, "I can''t believe you made it either. I thought for sure you were a gunner several times back then. Tell me again, what did they teach you at your military school? If I didn''t know any better, I would think you were a soldier."


    He asked with a frown, "What difference does it make?"


    Wrathughed. "Civilians don''t have your kind of survival instincts. I thought for sure that I would need to push and prod you not to get yourself killed. At the end of the day, you will learn valuable life lessons and be a better person because of your experience in the wilds."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "But looking at you, I''m guessing you didn''t learn anything major. You look, sound, and behave exactly the same as you did before this whole ordeal. Makes me wonder what kind of training you have undergone."


    Kelvin nodded. "I have learned valuable lessons, though. I have had time to think about them too."


    "What lesson is that?" Wrath asked curiously.


    "The first lesson is that missions might be more dangerous than I expected. The second lesson is that there is a lot of money in the narcotics business, and I want in."


    The lessons he learned made Wrathugh.


    It shook its head in wonder and said, "You are killing me here."


    Kelvin said with determination, "I am serious. The narcotics business will provide a source of easy money while serving as a front for my kidnapping business. So I will be able to get money and scout for easy but powerful abilities to steal."


    "The money alone will be able to even help me acquire abilities from much stronger targets, but the ability itself won''t be useless. Red Dream''s stimting vines and Blue Crystal''s infectious flesh do more than just produce narcotics, they grant deadly capacity and protection too."


    "So I have to get one of those abilities. I already know how to go about it. I''ll just rece a narco boss. I''ll steal their ability too to seal my identity. And if things go south, I''ll just drop the identity and escape."


    Wrath eximed, "Wow. You have truly put in quite a bit of thought into this. When do you n to put your n into action, and who do you n to rece? Is it Red Dream? Please tell me it is Red Dream."


    He replied as he walked towards the city, "It is not Red Dream. I am currently weak to her abilities. I can block my nose, but any contact with her secretion will screw me."


    "Besides, her ability is too slow for drug production. It is vulnerable to interference, and the drugs can''t be amplified using natural abilities. She has to use chemicals to enhance them, which adds extra procedures and expenses to the production process. Plus, if red dust was so great, she wouldn''t go after Blue Crystal with so much determination."


    Wrath nodded at his words. "I guess you''re right. I just wanted to see Red Dream''s face while you crush her."


    Kelvin assured it, "This thing with Red Dream is far from over. The information I have about her won''t go to waste. Heck, I know where her base is, and I have been inside of it. I know a little about her gang too. All of these wille back to bite her."


    Wrath pped its shadowy hands with glee and said, "So you are going to be a drug lord. When will you have a change of title?"


    He replied, "When I reach the F rank. I''ll be able to hold my own against these low-level bosses. The other option is if I cane across an ability that can preserve my ability like the one Blue Crystal had."


    The mention of Blue Crystal made Wrathugh again. It said hysterically, "Did you see his shattered body? He was all over the ce. Instead of Blue Crystal, he should be called Floor Crystal. Or Shattered Crystal. Or even better, shattered balls."


    Kelvin shook his head. He had to ept that his sense of humor didn''t quite cut it because he couldn''t figure out what was so funny about Blue Crystal''s death.


    Actually, the only thing he found funny about this whole thing is the fact the fearsome drug boss Blue Crystal is actually a drug mule.


    Everyone thought he didn''t act often because he had capable subordinates, but they didn''t know that he didn''t act because he couldn''t. Not that they were wrong about his subordinates. He truly did have capable subordinates.


    He voiced his thoughts to Wrath, "How do you think Blue Crystal became what he was?"


    Wrath shrugged. "It is anyone''s guess. He could have been kidnapped and used as raw material for blue dust right from the start, or he could have been the original drug boss, but his gang was usurped."


    "It would kind of like what you want to do. But I don''t see how that weak amplifier could have done it, though. Blue Crystal himself should be strong, from what I saw of him. So it shouldn''t have been easy to capture him and restrict him if he were the drug boss. My bet is that he was just an ordinary guy with a useful ability that someone forcefully recruited to make drugs."

 Chapter 42 Nouveau Semi Riche

    The two of them traded conjectures as he approached the city. The walls of New London loomed over him the closer he got to them. They cast a shadow that covered him from 70 meters away. It was the definition of Imposing.


    The angle of the light from the sun had something to do with it, but the walls were indeed tall. They were 50 meters tall, to be exact. From what he heard, a particrly powerful hero had spent a few weeks erecting the whole thing by himself.


    The walls were made of thick pirs that were aligned so that two of them needed to be breached in order to bypass the walls. Each pir is 50 meters long on the surface. There''s more of them beneath the ground. Each one is also 1 meter thick and broad. So the wall is 2 meters thick.


    Despite the imposing walls, the security wascking. The gates were wild open. They were like that at all times too. Anyone can juste in or leave anytime they want.


    Not many wereing in because very few leave after entering. As for those leaving, there were fewer than thoseing in. He blended right into the scant crowd.


    Wrath mentioned something about how the security was just right because the people who really mattered wouldn''t be stopped by a wall, a gate, or some turrets. Wrath imed not even a tank can stop the truly dangerous people.


    Kelvin was really paying attention. His body and mind were rxing now that he had returned to somewhere safe. The only thing on his mind right now is a warm bed and some good food he doesn''t need to kill his taste buds to eat.


    He eventually got home. He copsed on the bed immediately and slept for 10 hours. Then he had a shower and ate. Only then did he pick up his terminal to report the situation.


    Apparently, someone had beat him to the punch and reported Red Dream. The Thunderstorm Viin League was asking for his report on the mission and to confirm the usations.


    He wrote a brief message about how Red Dream didn''t make all the information avable on the terminal and how the information she gave them was a lie. He emphasized that she started the gang war in order to absorb the Blue Crystal gang and so tried to kill her hired help to keep them quiet about it.


    He mentioned that the Blue Crystal gang didn''t even know that there was a war. All they knew was that Red Dream had been harassing them, and then she sent someone to attack them. That lured most of their guards out of the base, which allowed the hired help to help her pave the way.


    He asked forpensation for the mission, citing the difficulty of the mission, the casualty rate, the fact that his boss tried to kill him, and his struggle to survive in the wilds without food and water because of her pursuit.


    He reviewed the message while Wrath offered advice on what to write. When he was satisfied with it, he sent the message to them. He received a message immediately.


    He clicked on the message only to realize that it was apensation of 1,000,000 dors. The sight made him jump up in excitement.


    He said excitedly, "I''m rich."


    Wrath rolled his eyes and said, "What a noon."


    Kelvin didn''t care. "I know it is nothing to you, and you have seen more than this before, but not everyone can rob banks."


    Wrath said smugly, "It is indeed nothing I haven''t seen. But it is worse than that. You worked for 760k of that money. Thepensation for everything else you went through is just 240k. Tell me, was your suffering worth only 240k?"


    That question doused his excitement like a bucket of water on a stove. He had indeed worked for 760,000 of it. He killed Mirage and Fainter, both of them worth $300k each. Then he killed 8 guards of the Blue Crystal gang.


    That is apart from the goons of Red Dream that he killed, the other viins he had to kill when Haze turned them on him, the poison viiness who he killed by mistake, the wild beasts, and incursion zombies he had to kill for survival.


    When his unfair treatment at the hands of Red Dream and his suffering in the wilds for five days are included, 1 million seems too little aspensation for what he went through.


    But he wasn''t too disappointed. He said, "It is part of the risk of the job. Besides, I have already learned this lesson. Missions are more difficult than I expected."


    Wrath patted his shoulders and encouraged him. "Don''t worry, in time you will have more money than you could spend."


    He replied without looking away from the terminal. "I know."


    He was looking at the offers for the mission he put up. There were a lot of them for him to go through.


    The people who saw his mission replied with a message about the ability of the target that fit his requirements. He can then decide to pay for the information they have on that target.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    There were a lot of the messages, so he was soon excited again. Unfortunately, his mood took a nosedive when he found out that most of the target''s abilities were useless.


    Not only were all of them betas, their abilities were weak and useless, such as the ability to make bubbles, talk to animals, ormunicate with machines.


    There were some odd ones, like the ability to put people to sleep by singing to them or the ability to see through sound waves instead of through the eyes.


    These two abilities could be useful, but they were not worth it to give up a slot for. He wouldn''t take them even if they were free and on his doorstep. So he certainly won''t pay for information on their wielders.

 Chapter 43 GIGO

    He was truly disappointed by the turn out. Wrath shrugged. "I didn''t expect much. Your n is a good one. You just need to put in some real money. As they say, garbage in, garbage out."


    Kelvin nodded and increased the reward for the mission from 40 thousand to 100 thousand.


    Wrath urged him. "Maybe a little more."


    He sighed and doubled it to 200,000.


    Wrath wasn''t satisfied. It asked, "What else do you even want to use the money for?"


    Kelvin thought about it and said, "I want to kill my arch enemy. She is a speedster. She is still unranked, but her parents are her D-rank."


    "Well, 1 million is not going to cut it. You will need at least 10 million to touch the D rank. Better to get a good ability for cheap and make it in the games. She won''t mean much then."


    Kelvin listened to its advice and doubled the reward to 400,000 dors. He would need to pay the viin league 10% of that 400,000 dors if the mission goes through, so he is really paying 440,000 dors for the mission. But Wrath was satisfied, so they put that aside.


    Kelvin had to decide if he wanted to do more missions or rx until his game in the next four days. He decided to rx.


    Not only was he tired, a mission could take up too much of his time and interfere with his game. So he rxed until it was time for another game.


    During that time, something noteworthy happened. He was watching the news during his free time from exercise. He wasn''t truly paying attention to the TV though. He was actually focused on his phone. The TV simply provided an ambience to what he was doing on his phone.


    But he had to pay attention to the TV because something interesting came on. Apparently, one of the goons of the Patriarch had been sessfully rehabilitated.


    It wasn''t a total lie because he recognized the goon. That''s what attracted his attention in the first ce. Whether the goon had been truly rehabted or he was pretending or he was being forced into sagiohe had been rehabilitated is another thing entirely.


    The goon was having an interview on the TV. A woman asked him, "What has been your experience so far?"


    The guy replied politely, "The Justice League has been kind to me. They took care of me. They fed me and kept me safe."


    Then the guy teared up. He said through tears, "They didn''t lie to me. This is the first time no one has betrayed my trust. They truly do mean well for all of us."


    Thedy interviewing him said something, but he wasn''t paying attention to her anymore. He was scrutinizing this goon. His eyes were narrowed in suspicion as he examined him.


    He thought to himself, "I didn''t know this guy much, but he seems to have changed. Maybe this rehabilitation thing is not a scam."


    So he asked Wrath, "Do you think the rehabilitation im is fake? Do you think he is deceiving them or they are forcing him?"


    Wrath took one look at the TV and beganughing. Its reaction made Kelvin frown.


    He asked, "Is something funny?"


    His question made Wrathugh harder. It said, "''Is something funny?'' he says. What isn''t funny about this? That should be the question."


    Kelvin couldn''t figure it out. So he checked everything again. He still didn''t find anything strange.


    "I give up. There is nothing odd about the whole thing. Look at the boy; his eyes are bright. I haven''t seen so much hope in the eyes of someone before."


    Then he remembered something. It made him frown. He thought to himself, "Come to think of it. His eyes are a little too bright. I don''t remember them being that color. Didn''t he have brown eyes?


    Were his eyes that bright before and I didn''t notice, or did he awaken an ability that made them bright? Also, aren''t those eyes familiar?"


    Wrath asked him, "Have you caught on yet?"


    He replied uncertainly, "His eyes?"


    Wrath rolled hispletely white eyes in derision and said, "Yes, his eyes. Those are the eyes of the Patriarch. His eyes are not bright. They are tattooed. He has golden tattoos in his eyes."


    Kelvin finally remembered where he saw those eyes before. His face changed when he realized the implications.


    He said, "The eyes are the windows to the soul."


    Wrath said in agreement. "Correct. That''s the Patriarch alright. He has returned from the dead. I wonder what his game n is."


    Kelvin was wondering the same thing too. Fortunately, they received more information to help them guess soon.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Thedy on the TV said, "That is good to hear. I also heard that you have awakened your ability. I hope that it isn''t too much of a stress to you."


    The boy shook his head and said with excitement, "Not at all. The Justice League has been truly good to me. They are going to let me join their junior division. I am so happy."


    Wrath wasughing again. It was getting on Kelvin''s nerves because he didn''t see what was funny about the whole thing. He still can''t find anything funny about it even after knowing that the boy is the Patriarch.


    He tried to work it out himself. "He was killed by the Justice League but now he is going to join them. Something is at foot."


    Wrath stoppedughing to speak. "Of course something is afoot. Maybe he let them kill him on purpose. Maybe he let them find hisir on purpose. Or maybe he even leaked the location of hisir to them. Now he has entered the Justice League.


    Just thinking about his possible motives is enough to crack me up."


    Kelvin still didn''t find it funny. He said, "If you can identify him with a nce, won''t Raijin be able to too?"


    -----


    A/N: I have decided to take your suggestions into consideration and lock the chapters at 44. Number 44 is a good symmetrical number. It should do.

 Chapter 44 Second Game.

    His question made Wrath stopughing. He considered the question for a while. Eventually he shrugged and said, "It is possible. It is also possible that Raijin won''t notice him. After all, he has a good cover story. He awakened and gained golden eyes.


    Such mutations are not rare. You have seen worse."


    He has indeed seen worse mutations. His mutations are an example. Both awakening changed him. One made him pale white while the other one made him ck and tattooed his skin.


    So the mutations that apany the awakening of abilities would make the Patriarch''s golden eyes appear normal. In fact, he is more normal that many others.


    Kelvin shook his head in wonder and said, "Not that it matters anyway. Raijin can''t kill him permanently. His soul is immortal, so he doesn''t need to be constrained bymon sense. After all, the rules of life and death don''t matter to him."


    Wrath nodded in agreement. "Well said. We will just have to see what he is up to."


    The interview on the TV ended with final words from the boy. "If you are a goon for the Patriarch, pleasee to me. I have found a new home for us. The justice league will take care of us."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Wrath beganughing again. Kelvin shook his head and went online to search for information about the boy.


    Unlike himself, the boy had some information about him online. They were useless information, like who his parents are. Apparently, they had performed a DNA test and used it to confirm who the boy''s parents are.


    There were other pictures of their reunion and other useless information. He couldn''t glean any information about the boy himself, which wasn''t odd. All of the goons had no online presence, so they didn''t have their information online.


    Eventually, he gave up the search. But he didn''t give up on keeping tabs on the Patriarch. After all, the Patriarch and Raijin are both targets he has in mind to kill. He doubts that''s the Patriarch''s n, but he wouldn''t want them to join forces.


    His life returned to normal until it was time for his destiny game.


    He knew it was almost time for his game when his vision shed briefly. Everything around him disappeared, and he saw the white space of the tower of destiny in his vision. The vision disappeared quickly, only for him to return to his position on the couch, snacking and watching TV.


    He decided not to wait for more warnings or for the tower of destiny to forcefully pull him into the game. So he closed his eyes and focused. He envisioned that brief vision he just had. It didn''t take long for him to appear there.


    His destiny report appeared in front of him, but he went past it into the tower itself. He saw the bowl of balls in front of him. They were just likest time. They had numbers on them, and he was to pick 10 of them.


    He didn''t waste time in picking them. While he was doing so, he said to Wrath, "What are the odds that the game I would pick will force me to fight bugs?"


    Wrath didn''t reply. The silence made him look around and realize that he was alone. It was a strange feeling to him. He had gotten used to the presence of the spirit. The two of them also work well together in his missions.


    He shrugged. "No matter. I have to be good on my own or I will die. If I die, it won''t matter if I have helpers or not. After all, we will all die alone."


    It was strange not to have the snobby shadow spirit by his shoulder, overlooking everything he is doing and pointing out mistakes, giving unsolicited advice, orughing at things only it finds funny. But he is, at his core, a lone man.


    He has been mostly on his own all his life, so this absence doesn''t rattle him. Besides, he is still wary of Wrath. He hasn''t ruled out that Wraty might be a figment of his imagination.


    The shadow might just be an aspect of his ability that has grown a personality. There is also his suspicion that Wrath is a devil. That is more likely than the first one since devils exist. They are otherworldly beings that offer lucrative deals in exchange for souls.


    That suspicion always made him chuckle. It is because he can imagine Wrath asking people for their souls while actually ying pranks on them forughs instead of giving them what they actually ask for.


    So it was a slight amusement that he made his pick from the balls. Then he shifted his appearance in preparation of the surprise he had in store for anyone watching. Next, he waited for the game to start.


    The game started with the spinning of the ten balls. His eyes got dizzy from watching them spin, so things became worse when they exploded like a shbang.


    ording to Wrath, the balls didn''t explode at all. They just look that way because he can''tprehend what they had truly done. The data from his eyes scrambled his mind and other senses just like a shbang would do.


    Wrath was particrly cocky about that exnation. He was so cocky that it refused to tell him what the balls were actually doing. He had to go online to search himself.


    It was then that he found out that the balls were tearing a hole in space and teleporting him through the tunnel they had created. The sight of the process and the unpleasantness of traveling through the tunnel is what disorients him.


    Even knowing this, he couldn''t stop being queasy and disoriented by the process. When he could finally see again, he was in the arena for the games.


    ording to what he saw online, every arena is in a sealed-off space, so he can''t escape by any means, including trying to fly away. Many people have tried and failed to do so. They all hit an imprable barrier at the edge of the arena.

 Chapter 45 Fun And Popularity.

    The barrier is nvisible barrier too. So many of them m into it and quickly regret their decision to escape.


    This time he was in a track and field sports center. Spectators were more than usual. There were up to 20 of them. Compared to the size of the arena, they were too few. It was something emphasized by how these 20 were scattered across an area that should be able to hold at least 10,000 people.


    Kelvin was on the tracks with the otherpetitors. They were more than the number ofpetitors from hisst game. They looked to be around a hundred, which is 10 times the number of totalpetitors of hisst game.


    No one was surprised, excited, or shocked by the identity he wore, but he didn''t mind. Alina the speedster is not well known, but word will spread after he participates in many games looking like her.


    He is still wearing his own male clothing, so his figure didn''t really fit his clothes, but Alina''s face is beautiful on its own, and that''s all he needs from her. As long as someone remembers her face or can identify her through his appearance, he would win.


    He is not doing it just to spite her. Sure, he is having fun imagining her face when she hears about what he is doing and sees him. It even brings a smile to his lips, imagining her shrieking. But he is doing this for more than fun. He is doing this for poprity too.


    Alina is just the beginning. He intends to make a name for himself by impersonating other popr people. He picked Alina first because she had sworn to be his archenemy. That sort of rivalry will go a long way in making him popr.


    In order to fuel that rivalry, he put his middle finger up so that she will see it when she eventually watches this game. He wants her to seethe and cry. Maybe then she will do something stupid like calling him out online and making him popr.


    He was still grinning with Alina''s stupid face when a screen of information appeared in front of him. A digital clock also appeared above everyone. The clock wasrge, and it was counting down loudly so everyone could see it.


    Destiny Game 2


    -Title: 1,000 meters race


    -Objective: Reach the finish line.


    -Rule 1: The race will start in five minutes.


    -Rule 2: Every participant can use any method toplete the objective.


    -Rule 3: The race will end after the first 10 crosses the finish line.


    Kelvin grinned when he saw the rules. He liked it very much. What he liked most about it is that he hasn''t been saddled with a team to drag him down. While the game is a simple race that should test speed, he was grateful that he didn''t have to consider the actions of his teammates.


    But he has to consider the actions of his enemies. Since everyone is on their own, he has 99 enemies instead of just 5 likest time.


    "What should I do?" He asked himself. "Should I go for kill count? But if I let that preupy me, I will be slow and might fail to be one of the first 10."


    If he doesn''t meet the objective of the game, he will lose the game. If that were to happen, his performance within the game will be invalidated, and he will lose half of his kill count as punishment.


    This means that whatever he does in a game, he must win if he is to gain game points. So he has to prioritize that above kill count.


    He grumbled to himself, "Maybe the rules are not so good. Unless I can eliminate 90 people quickly, I won''t be able to simultaneously pursue the objective and kill count."


    Then his eyes lit up. "I might be on to something here. If we can eliminate 90 people, then thest 10 will be able to win. But how do I make people do that? I can''t eliminate 90 people on my own."


    He couldn''t find a good idea topel the otherpetitors to fight. So he decided to air his confusion.


    He asked out loud, "What if 90 of us die? Will the remaining 10 automatically win, or do we still have to reach the finish line?"


    That question made the people around him give him a wild berth. It was especially creepy to hear such an unhinged question from a girl so innocent looking and with a voice as cute as his.


    One of them said, "You are insane if that''s the kind of thing on your mind right now."


    Another one asked naively, "Why will 90 of us die?"N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Many of them had a lot to say about his "irresponsible" question, but he had already achieved his goal. He has got people thinking and now they are suspicious of everyone around them.


    They were suspicious of his first. But that suspicion expanded to everyone else after they realized the importance of his question. They might not want to kill others, but if they suspect that others will kill them, they will be more prone to making the first move in order to gain an advantage in the fight that they suspect is going to happen soon.


    Everyone was still suspicious as they waited for the countdown. It formed a stark difference from thest game he participated in.


    Last time, there was a feeling ofradire. But this time, everyone was acting as if they were at the bottom of the ocean, surrounded by sharks who are out for blood.


    The five-minute countdown finished with the ring of an rm. Everyone went after each other immediately. It looked like it was a free for all instead of a race.


    Kelvin, the mastermind targeted those two scared to fight who took off scared or those who think themselves to be smart and have decided to take advantage of everyone else fighting to gain an advantage. He couldn''t let them ruin his n so he targeted them first.

 Chapter 46 Flight Or Fight.

    He didn''t use his armored form since it would make him slow. He didn''t use his metal ws either so as not to draw links to his viin identity. All he used was the good old-fashioned bone des for arms trick. He used it to great effect too.


    He cleaved everyone in his way as he chased after anyone trying to throw a wrench in his ns. Not even the woman screaming for everyone to stop fighting was spared.


    He had had enough of stupid and troublesome people like Alina. Unlike Alina, thisdy didn''t have the speed to escape from him despite being far away from him and seeing himing


    His eyes glinted in anticipation of what was toe. She saw his eyes and his appearance. It scared her. It scared her so much that she froze and screamed.


    She didn''t even try to escape. She just stood there, closed her eyes, and shrieked while willing him away as if she were in a bad dream. He thought she was a fool until his ears began to ring and his eyes began to swoon. He stumbled and almost fell because of her scream battering his mind.


    Her scream was not like Fainter''s. It wasn''t loud at all. It didn''t hurt his ears or cause people to explode. It didn''t cause any physical harm, and scrapping his ears didn''t work. It didn''t work at all because he could still hear her scream even though he didn''t have functional ears.


    The major issue was the migraine he was feeling. It was as if something was stabbing him deep in his skull. It was a knife twisting and churning his brain into soup in his skull.


    He felt like running away from her. His primal instincts told him that he would stop feeling pain if he moved away from the source of the sound. But he didn''t run away from her. To do so is to let her continue living.


    He failed to kill Alinast time, but this time he is determined not to repeat that mistake. He bore the pain and continued to approach her.


    It helped that the pain didn''t increase with proximity to her. So regardless of the distance between them, he would feel the same amount of pain as long as he could hear her scream.


    He eventually reached her and cut off her head. She didn''t see iting since her eyes were closed in fear. Her body disappeared in a sh of light after her death. Her scream also ended to the relief of everyone.


    He wasn''t the only one who suffered that psychic scream. Everyone had been attacked by her, and with the same intensity too. But they behaved differently to it.


    Some had tried to escape the arena. They chose to escape from the source of the pain, but there was an invisible barrier at the edge of the track. They mmed into this barrier and were knocked out cold.


    Many others shrunk onto themselves in vain hope that the scream would end on its own. It was only after her scream ended that they could move again.


    She was gone now, but no one was in the mood to fight each other anymore. Everyone inched away from each other. They watched each other warily for a while. Then they all took off towards the finish line.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Kelvin was very angry. "I have been foiled again."


    He had a decision to make quickly. On one side were the ones who had fainted after colliding with the barrier. They would make for easy picking as they can''t defend themselves.


    On the other side are those running towards the finish line. He has to catch up to them and overtake them, or he will lose the game.


    The choice was clear. He didn''t have much of a choice anyway. So he cursed and chased after them. He killed anyone he came within reach of aspensation for what he was losing out on.


    Not that he wouldn''t have killed them, even if he had the option to kill the ones that had fainted too. He would have killed them anyway, as there is no such thing as too much kill count. But this way he killed them with anger and malice.


    His actions were noticed by the people he was chasing. This frightened them and made them run faster. They ran faster than they ever could. It was as if their lives depended on it. This made it more difficult for him to catch up to them.


    One man roared in anger and stopped running. He actually turned to fight Kelvin.


    He roared in anger at Kelvin, "You fiend. Stop doing this. Don''t you know that you are killing people? This is not a game. This is a matter of life and death."


    Kelvin was taken slightly aback by the man''s reaction. It was because the man was at the head of the pack. He was right at the front because he was the fastest. He was so fast that the distance between him and the second ce was more than a hundred meters.


    So it was quite a surprise to see someone so far ahead rush back in anger just to fight him. Kelvin couldn''t believe his eyes.


    "Come on. No one is that stupid."


    He is the boggyman that everyone is running from, but the one person who is not in any danger and can escape from him is the only one turning back to fight him. It was astonishing to behold.


    But despite his surprise, he prepared himself to do battle. He didn''t stop killing as he ran forward. This seemed to anger the man even more. He actually produced steam from his nose.


    Not only that, his eyes reddened, and a red sheen appeared on his skin. Even his hair began to glow red.


    The changes were not purely cosmetic. The man actually became faster. He gained momentum, which he used to tackle Kelvin.

 Chapter 47 Gut Wrenching.

    Kelvin had shifted his bone arms into arge bone axe. He raised it high and smashed it down on the guy who thinks they are ying rugby, not racing.


    The axe didn''t split the man''s head open. The axe actually shattered after smashing into the man''s head. Kelvin was surprised as the man smashed into him. The two of them went down immediately.


    The air was knocked out of Kelvin''s lungs, but he didn''t let that stop him from fighting back. He grew spikes on the bones in his bones to defend himself. The spikes grew out of his skim and turned him into a porcupine of sorts. He became something no one should be hugging so tightly or wrestling with.


    Anyone else who was pinning him down like that would have been impaled on many spikes ande to quickly regret their decision to tackle him. But not this man. The spikes didn''t hurt him at all. They couldn''t get past the red, glowing film of force on his body.


    The man wasrgely unharmed. He was also punching Kelvin without regard for the spikes. Any spike he punched would break even though his fist had smashed against their sharp point. The force field coating his fist protected him. Then his fist would smash into Kelvin''s face.


    Kelvin, on the other hand, wasn''t having much sess. Any of his attacks bounced off harmlessly against his skin. Despite this situation, it was the man who was getting angry.


    He was shouting angrily, "You think you''re so great, huh? You think you are so powerful? What do you think now? Do you think it is right to bully others because you have some power? I will teach you the errors of your ways."


    He was ranting wildly as he cracked Kelvin''s skull. He didn''t even care that he was hitting a woman. He went out all out on dealing the hurt as much and as fast as possible.


    Kelvin felt him growing stronger over time. His face was a mess and his eyesight a blur because of all the punches he had received. But he noticed something about the protective field surrounding the man. What he noticed made him reach his hand into the man''s mouth.


    He pushed his whole arm into the man''s throat. The man choked and pulled his arm out. But he made pieces of his arm break off whenever the man grabbed him. This granted him enough time to really reach down into the man with his arm.


    The man would have choked, but Kelvin didn''t have the time to wait for that. He turned his arm into a bony root. He grew bony spikes within the man where the protective film didn''t reach. Then he tore the man apart from within.


    The man''s eyes widened in pain when the spikes appeared within him. He would have screamed because of the gut wrenching pain, but there was something in his throat. His stomach burst open, and he died.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Kelvin pushed the man off of him only to see most of all of the remainingpetitors had stopped to watch their fight. They were waiting to see if the monster would be vanquished by the hero of the people.


    He wiped the blood off of his face and said, "You all deserve to die."


    This wasn''t about his greed for kill count. He would have still killed them even if they didn''t deserve to die. This is more about them being stupid and how stupid people don''t deserve to waste resources by living.


    The Patriarch always said, "If you are not willing to do everything to survive, then you don''t deserve to live."


    Here are the people who stood to watch a fight against an enemy. They didn''t join the fight to help. They also didn''t use this opportunity to escape. Instead, they chose to watch.


    In his opinion, they are stupid and deserve to be killed for it. He also thinks the man he just killed had wasted his time to save them, but that was the case right from the start when he turned back from escaping even before the people he was trying to save turned into such disappointments.


    So the chase resumed. This time Kelvin prioritized speed above everything else because about five or so others have gone too far ahead. He couldn''t allow another five to overtake him, so he left some people he could kill if he moved to the side just a little bit.


    Instead of hunting them, he was actually running with all his might to overtake them and didn''t bother to kill them if it would dy him. It hurt him to let them go more than it hurt him to have his face cracked open so many times, but he did so. He did so and cursed them with Alina''s cute voice.


    The race ended with him as the 9th to finish the 1,000-meter race. He had wanted to stop before reaching the finish, like to kill the peopleing up behind him, but he didn''t want to risk a loss. Especially since he couldn''tpletely block the whole track.


    Many ideas shed through his mind about how to kill more people, but he rejected them in favor of crossing the finish line. The 10th person to do so made it toote for him because a notification appeared in front of everyone.


    -End of Game.


    Everyone sighed in relief when they saw the notification. Even the 50 people or so that failed to cross the finish line were relived.


    Relief turned to boldness, which made someone finally talk back to him. It was ady that did so.


    She said, "If you are so confident in yourself, tell us your name."


    He smiled sweetly at her with Alina''s face and said, "I am Augustus Many Faces. For now, you can call me Alina Gold Light."


    She said with hate in her eyes, "Good. I don''t think that''s your name, but we will search for you. You will regret what you have done today."

 Chapter 48 The Freedom To Chose.

    He didn''t pay attention to her threat and was instead thinking about the man that almost killed him in the game.


    He thought to himself with a smile, "That was quite the fight. I am proud of myself."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "It is like Father used to say, ''one should sturdy more. The mind should be sharpened as well as the body, or it will fail one when they need it the most and they will die.''"


    He had read up on the different powerful and dangerous abilities he could encounter when he was searching for the weakness of shape-shifters. He came up on a wiki with a whole list of abilities, their strengths and weaknesses. But the list was too long. He couldn''t go through it. He only skimmed some.


    It was there that he got confirmation that shapeshifters were weak to mental maniptions and attacks, fire, poison, radiation attacks, and intense physical trauma.


    He also confirmed that invulnerable people and others with protective abilities can be suffocated either by drowning them or stuffing their throats. These were more feasible alternatives to throwing them in space. That information clearly came in handy.


    He learned much more than that, but back then, he thought it was too boring to read. Not only was it cumbersome to read, but he doubted he could remember what he read. Now he is proud of himself for enduring the boredom to read more and he is also considering getting an ability that will improve his memory.


    He thought to himself in anticipation, "I''m sure I can afford the game points needed to open my second slot now. After all, I didn''t do so badly. I just need to find a memory ability."


    The game ended, and everyone was removed from the arena. He was deposited back in his own white space, where the evaluation for his performance began.


    Game Evaluation.


    -Difficulty: F


    -Achievements:


    1: First Hit +1


    2: First Elimination +1


    3: Highest Kill Count +1


    4: Kill Streak +21


    5: Finished 9th +2


    Total Points: 32


    Game Points (Difficulty X Total Points): 1 X 32 = 32


    "Damn it," he cursed. "I''m sure the first person to cross the finish line got 10 points. It is all that guy''s fault."


    The difficulty of the game was still of the lowest rank, as befits a game in the amateur league. In races like this, it ismon for those whopleted the objective to be rewarded in the order they finished.


    If he had taken his time, he could have made it to the fifth or sixth position and gotten some extra points for finishing among the first ten. But the guy who should have gotten the first position and 10 points for it gave it up to harass him and make him barely make it. That is after having to give up a lot of kills.


    What''s worse is that someone who didn''t deserve it at all became the first. That, more than anything else, pisses him off.


    "It is one thing to not value game points or whether youplete the race or not, but it is not right to let lessers reap what they couldn''t sow."


    He eventually calmed down after thinking about how sore the guy must feel right now for his foolish decision. The fact that he is still standing while his great enemy fell off hard makes his victory feel a lot better.


    His mood became better now that he could unlock more abilities. If he were in a normal situation, once he gets 10 game points, he can evolve his ability. The tower of destiny will give him a new random ability that will expand the scope of what he can do.


    For example, as a shape-shifter, he might gain the ability to increase the density of his body to levels beyond normal human flesh. That way he won''t have to use his bones as his sole weapon. He can harden his flesh into something resembling stone, which will grant him increased durability.


    On the opposite side is sticity. With this ability, he will be able to stretch his flesh beyond the stic potential of human flesh. His flesh will also be bouncy and more malleable.


    In between these two abilities are other abilities, such as the ability to take on the properties of inorganic matter, shift his formpletely to those of other species, shift his form into nightmare creatures that can enter dreams, and many more.


    These abilities will be granted to him at random. He will have a chance to roll for them when he gets 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, and 5120. That is a total of 10 chances for a total of 10,230 game points.


    These abilities will make shape-shifters stronger and eliminate some of their weaknesses until they finish climbing the tower of destiny and be demigods. It is why demigods are so terrifying.


    It is also why Wrath said the man with metal bones and the woman with metal skin will eventually end up the same when they reach the end of the games. That is, of course, if they performed well in their games and earned the 10,230 game points needed.


    As for him, he is not in a normal situation anymore. He can''t use the same system everyone else uses. Abilities won''t be given at random to him. He has the choice to pick, and he can even pick abilities that are outside the purview of shape-shifting.


    What''s more, he has the choice to remove abilities he doesn''t like and fuse simr ones to make something stronger. He has the freedom to make himself into the ultimate weapon. He just has to have the guts to fight for any ability he wants and take it.


    He thought to himself with a smile, "Freedom. It is how I like it."


    Next, he made the necessary changes to his second ability. Then he looked at his destiny report with satisfaction.


    -----


    A/N: I see that some of you have decide not to write a review. At least support DESTINY GAMES with your power stones.

 Chapter 49 Level 2.

    Name: Kelvin Thorn.


    Health: 300/300. Stamina: 540/540. Focus: 300/300.


    ss: Physique. Tier: 0 (Amateur League)


    Level: 2


    Strength: 30. Constitution: 30.


    Endurance: 54. Vitality: 30.


    Speed: 30. Mind: 30.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Kill Count: 24.


    Fans: 1.


    Game Points: 18.


    Power Rating: 204 (Unranked)


    Abilities:


    A. Shape-shifting (Alpha): 1-Malleable Anatomy.


    B. Power Shifting (Omega): 1-Steel Bones (Fuse 0/10 | Remove 0/1). 2- (Empty). 3-Locked (Open 0/40)


    There are a lot of changes. For one, he is level 2 now. He has also unlocked his second slot at the cost of 20 game points. He will need 40 game points to get a third slot. The expenditure reduced his total game points from 38 to 18.


    These are expected changes. What he didn''t expect was that he had gained one fan. Apparently, someone had been impressed with his performance enough to want to support his climb of the tower.


    This fan gave him a single unit of temporary destiny. When multiplied by his kill count, it made the single fan as valuable as 24.


    He put the single unit of temporary destiny into his endurance because he felt that he needed it. This increased his endurance and power rating from 180 to 204.


    He would be able to use the extra 24 power more if he put it into strength, as he would be able to shift it to constitution and speed with his ability if he needed to. But today''s experience showed him that he couldn''t handle prolongedbat that required intense shape shifting.


    The short, intense fight with the angry man had caused him to shift almost all the bones in front of him to grow spikes and turn him into a porcupine. Then he had had to lose a lot of his flesh in order to get his arm down the man''s throat.


    Next he had to shift his hands into a deadly weapon, heal himself of the injury the man did to his body, and shift himself to hunt while also running at his fastest speed over a distance of hundreds of meters.


    Those actions came easy, but they came at a cost of stamina. He was running on fumes by the end of it. This makes him feel that he has to prepare himself for such strenuous activities in the future, so he went with endurance, not strength.


    He was in a good mood as he left the tower. Wrath was waiting for him there.


    The spirit asked with a smile, "You are in a good mood. Why is that?"


    He replied as he moved to pick up his phone for another study session of abilities, "I won. Well, sort of. Ipleted the objective."


    Wrath asked, "Is that all?"


    Kelvin realized he had missed something, so he eximed, "Oh yes. I got enough game points to unlock the second slot, and I have enough left to fuse my first ability."


    Wrath was still smiling as it asked again, "Is that all?"


    His smile made Kelvin suspicious. He thought about what he could have missed before replying with a smile, "I got a new fan today. I guess I am rubbing off on some people."


    Wrath burst outughing. Its reaction made Kelvin roll his eyes. He asked, "What''s funny now?"


    Wrath replied in between chuckles, "I am your fan."


    Kelvin frowned. "What do you mean?"


    "I was at the game. I saw you and decided to support you. I didn''t know that I was going to be your first fan."


    His frown didn''t ease up. He said, "I didn''t expect that."


    "That''s why it is extra funny. I saw you as Alina. Poor girl. You''ve defiled her image. The look on her face when she finds out will be priceless."


    That removed his frown and made him chuckle. He said, "I wish I could see her face."


    Wrath said with a wistful tone, "Me too."


    Then it asked, "Have you decided on what ability you want next?"


    He scoffed at that. "I have a lot of abilities that I want, but their wielders are too strong for me."


    Wrath agreed, "That''s true. If you have money or power, it will be easier to get more powerful abilities."


    He shrugged and said, "In the meantime, I will just have to be content with the dregs of society. That''s why I think I should get that metal skin ability and something useful as a ceholder for my second slot."


    Wrath nodded, "When do we go?"


    He replied, "I''ll start preparations after I rx. Even then, it will take a while to do the research. A mental ability to improve my ability woulde in handy right now."


    Wrath considered what he said and suggested, "Those should be easy to get, but only if their wielders are unranked. Mental abilities like that usually apany some other nasty abilities, but they are harmless and weak on their own."


    "We will just have to see what the bush will give after we shake it."


    He returned to reading, while Wrath returned to watching television. Currently, arge incursion is being shown on the news channel.


    The incursion was in progress. It was alsorge enough to see more of it. Arge space in that location was twisting and churning. This created cracks in space that extended outwards, which made space look like cracked ss.


    Everything around the crack was eviscerated by the crack. The strange energy being ejected from the center of the churning whirlpool was tainting the things beyond the cracks.


    It was like a rainbow spring. It had many colors and looked pretty. Some might be fooled to think it was harmless. But it caused the mutation of flora and fauna as soon as it touched them.


    Some of the living things died outright. The energy warped them beyond their capacity to live. But some didn''t die. They became incursion zombies.


    This didn''t happen equally to every living thing. nts would either die or mutate and be something else. Only animals had the option to be incursion zombies. Something about the energy changed animals differently.

 Chapter 50 Mission 3.

    Even inorganic materials were not spared from the effect of the energy. They gained assorted coloration as their materials changed in constitution and properties. It was quite a sight to behold.


    Eventually the incursion reached saturation point. It exploded in a sh of light. When the light was gone, all that was left was a crater containing some strange materials and creatures.


    Everything in the crater had been taken and transported to a different world. Something from the world that collided with Earth-11 and caused the incursion was also transported here.


    This time, the animals that were transported were rabbits. This is usually the case. An incursion thatrge would only transport things stupid enough to remain close to it while it was preparing itself. Rabbits fit the bill.


    If the incursion had been smaller, it would have reached saturation quickly and it would have beenrgely unnoticeable. A human would remain asleep while it urred just a few steps away.


    The explosion after the saturation would then expand to grab the humans and deposit them in another world. That is if they survive the process. That''s why sane people aren''t lining up to let an incursion grab them.


    Sure, there are crazy people who want to go to another world at all costs. That and the threat of creatures being transported here is why the lockoff ess to anyrge and visible incursion. Those people believe that if rabbits can make it, then so should they. But that''s wrong logic.


    It is actually very wrong because smaller creatures have an easier time making it alive through the journey. So rabbits are more likely to make it than arge human. Other creatures that don''t make it will turn into strange materials that apany the rabbits to the new world.


    Wrath watched this while sighing to itself. Not that it had a choice. It can''t change the channel even if it wants to. It is watching the news channel because that''s what Kelvin watchedst.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Kelvin usually watches the news, so it must watch the news too. That has been its situation ever since it was born. It has to go along with whatever its host is doing.


    There are only two things that it can decide and change on its own. Who its next host will be and something else. Until then, it has to go along with its current host.


    So it could be the damage that the incursion has done to earth or the fact that it doesn''t have freedom that made it sigh to itself.


    Kelvin finished reading after two hours. Then he exercised and had his shower. Next, he ate while watching funny videos.


    It was after he slept and woke up the next day that he decided to go through the mission to assassinate the woman with the metal skin.


    The mission appeared to be easier and more difficult than his first mission. The woman wasn''t the leader of an establishment. She was just part of a gang.


    She was an efforcer, to be exact. She was muscle for a gang that dealt in arms smuggling. It was a small-time business that dealt mostly with firearms.


    Firearms have lost most of their value now that you would need to behead someone to ensure that they are dead. Shooting someone ten times is not enough to kill someone in the F rank, even if they don''t have any healing ability.


    Maybe shooting them in the head will kill them, but if they have any ability that grants them defense or healing, then even an unranked would be difficult to kill with a gun.


    Even grenades lost their value simply because people can run away faster now. Rocketunchers can only bully the F and E ranks that don''t have good defensive abilities.


    A D-rank super will take the rocket to their face and shrug it off. They will be injured, but it won''t matter. Then they will beat the person who shot the rocket at them with theuncher until both they and theuncher have turned into g. So being an arms dealer is not enough to make one a renowned crime boss anymore.


    Of course there are weapon supers who can make these things very dangerous, but they have various abilities that help them produce their own weapons or convert other weapons into their weapon of choice. Either way, selling guns has been relegated to the small league of criminals.


    But that doesn''t mean her gang won''t be strong. In fact, things can go sideways if her gang gets involved in the assassination. So he has to research the gang as well as the target.


    That''s why he sent a message to the issuer of the mission to send more information while he also searched the league''s archive for information on the metal hell gang.


    He made sure to insist onplete and urate information from the issuer, or he wouldn''t take the mission. He had a lot to gain from this mission, but that didn''t mean he would let himself walk into a death trap. Not after his recent experience with Red Dream.


    The issuer sent more information after a day of waiting. The things they sent gave him more idea of how powerful their gang was and its location. Hebined that with the information he got from the Viin League''s archive to have a better picture of the gang.


    What was in the archive was not specific information about the abilities of the individual members of the gangs. There were mentions of notable members of the gang, but the archive focused more on their achievements.


    So he knew their size when they first started, how they have grown over time, the enemies they defeated, or the other gangs that they absorbed.


    Rather than specific information, he was able to glean their mode of operation and behaviors. What they were confident it, how they react to enemies, how they conduct business and their level of cooperation and trust. Thatst part would be important if he ns to infiltrate them.

 Chapter 51 Unnecessary=Not Rich.

    Next, he focused on the information about their base. It was a location outside of New London. They need arge space to stash their goods, butnd in New London is worth more than gold. His target, being one of the strongest members of the gang, is usually assigned to guard this location.


    This information made him groan. "Looks like I''ll be venturing into the wilds again."


    Wrath advised, "You should prepare better this time. Get a vehicle that can''t be tracked. In fact, get one that can track you and return the money to your location."


    He nodded in agreement. "It shouldn''t take a long time to kill thisdy. A sniper round to the head or even a handgun will kill her. I just need to sight her or get close to her. But you''re right. I should prepare well this time.


    After all, I am rich now."


    Wrath pretended to cough as it corrected, "You''re not that rich."


    Kelvin insisted, "I am rich."


    "Fine," said Wrath as it relented. Then it asked, "What kind of vehicle does the rich man intend to buy? Does one with a jet engine catch your eye?"


    Kelvin''s eye twitched as he said, "I am not that rich."


    Wrath mulled his words as it said, "Hmm. Let me guess, nothing that flies will do."


    Kelvin exined, "You know those will be very dangerous in the wilds."


    Wrath nodded in agreement. "They will also be very expensive, so they are not worth it."


    Then it asked again, "How about..."


    Kelvin cut it off. "I already have something in mind. I''ll get a hover bike."


    "Ah. I see. I should have seen thating. It will do the job. It is also affordable."


    Kelvin insisted, "It being cheap is a good thing. That way I can rece it easily if it gets destroyed. I am going for a job, not a joy ride. It is unnecessary to go to a job with a luxury vehicle."


    Wrath didn''t agree. It pointed out a w in his argument, "See, if you were truly rich, nothing would be unnecessary or a luxury." Everything, no matter how expensive, will just be normal to you."


    Kelvin ignored it as he went online to shop for his new transportation. He didn''t argue because he thinks Wrath is right. Wrath is indeed right. He is not that rich. But he is also not wrong. He believes he made pretty good points as to why something like a hoverbike is the optimum choice.


    A hoverbike is more expensive than vehicles with the internalbustion engine or electric engine, but it has the advantages of beingpletely silent and capable of moving over any terrain.


    Plus, it doesn''t use expensive fuels like petroleum or jet fuel, so its daily use will not be expensive. Over time, vehicles with internalbustion engines be too expensive to use because of the scarcity of fuel.


    Electric vehicles, on the other hand, can always be used because electricity can be produced in the city. They don''t need expensive fuel that needs to be mined and transported in the dangerous wilds.


    A hover bike also moves close to the ground, which will help it to keep a low profile. Flying vehicles, on the other hand, are eye-catching in the wilds. They can be seen miles away, which will not only tip off his enemies but will also attract both walking and flying incursion zombies.


    Something that expensive to purchase, use, and also dangerous is clearly a bad idea for a job in the wilds. So he believes that he has made good points. But Wrath didn''t stop because he gave up.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Wrath asked, "How about a hovering armored tank? What do you think about that?"


    That was a good question, but Kelvin continued to ignore Wrath.


    Wrath didn''t mind his silence. It continued, "You see, if you were wealthy enough to buy a hovering armored tank, it would be necessary for your job. It is yourck of money that has made buying one unnecessary."


    While Wrath continued listing out various reasons why he is not rich, he went through the various offers for a hoverbike. Then he decided to get a proper viin outfit.


    He bought a bulletproof vest and stab resistant clothes his size. The clothes are resistant to piercing and shing attacks. That way, sharp objects will have less impact on him. They are also fire and acid resistant, so he will gain some protection against those weaknesses of his.


    The bulletproof vests are not needed since he can heal, but they wille in handy since they stop most kinds of projectiles. He won''t have to heal as often with them, and he can also fool his enemies into thinking bullets can hurt him.


    He picked ck for the two of them so that he would blend in with the night. Then he went on to buy other things he would need to survive in the wild, such as a pack of MREs and some bottles of water. He also got a water-cleaning device.


    Thest thing he had to buy were ammunition for his guns and explosives for missions. He still has the assault rifle, handgun, and sniper rifle from hisst job. He had stashed them outside of the city instead of returning them to his boss. He can''t wait to meet up with them, and it is just proper that he bring gifts for a proper reunion.


    These things couldn''t be bought over the inte, and they couldn''t be delivered to his room. He is buying them from the viin league, and he doesn''t trust their bunch enough to tell them where he lives. So he will have to pick them up at district 666.


    While he waited for his other things to be delivered, he went through the information of the base of the metal bell''s gang. There wasn''t information about theyout of the base. There were only pictures of the base from the outside, which didn''t provide much since the base is mostly underground.

 Chapter 52 Joy Ride.

    Eventually he finished his preparations after a week. During that week, he received a follow-up from the viin league about the investigation into Red Dreams illegal conduct.


    They had found her guilty on many ounts, including murder and theft. Apparently, only five viins out of the almost hundred that she hired survived.


    She had used the ones that decided to protect her base to defend against the men that the Blue Crystal gang sent to warn her. Then she had killed them.


    Those men from the Blue Crystal gang came looking to warn her. They wanted to pressure her to back off. If everything went well, they would ask her to give up two of her subordinates for the deaths of three gang members, whom her assassin killed. But they got a fight on their hands instead.


    Red Dream killed them and then turned on her helpers. Only two of them escaped. That made for a total of five. All those five were rewarded with 2 million dors for what they went through.


    This money was taken out of the hefty fine that the viin league billed her. They didn''t try to kill her at all. They asked her to pay the fine or be turned into a drug mule like Blue Crystal, or be turned into a prisoner used to mine resources outside of the city.


    So Kelvin received another credit of $1 million, which put him in a good mood for the rest of the week. When he was ready for his mission, he went down to the garage below the skyscraper where he lives to pick up his new vehicle.


    It is a ck bike currently resting on its t bottom. It looks like a normal bike, except it doesn''t have wheels. Where there should be wheels are to horizontal tes, which it uses to hover.


    He got on top of it and started it. It started with a low hum that vibrated through his thighs. Then it became calm and silent.


    He drove it out of the garage and into the street. It didn''t draw any attention because he was wearing normal civilian clothes, so he looked like an ordinary teenager going on a joy ride.


    It felt like a joy ride too. The sights of the city shed by him, and it was pleasant enough to make him believe it was a joy ride.


    The roads in the city are multyered. They are stacked on top of each other to make full use of the small space between the skyscrapers everywhere.


    There were shing screens on the sides of the buildings disying one advertisement or the other. Some of the drivers on the road could be seen with different types of cybeic imnts. It identified them as either weapon supers or mechanical augment enthusiasts.


    If they were thetter, he would know because they always drove expensive vehicles. Mechanical augmentation is not a cheap procedure. Not only are the parts expensive, even the surgery to use and maintain them is expensive. So a normal person is unlikely to use a mechanical augment even if it was given to them for free.


    Above all of these high in the sky are the flying vehicles. They are usually used by the richest of society. Not only are these types of vehicles expensive, their fuel is more expensive than it, and the permit to use them in the city is more expensive than the vehicle itself.


    Only supers who are rich, the well-renown crime bosses, and corpo morguls can afford that kind of privilege in New London. As for hard-working grunt men like him, they have to slum through traffic on the ground with their hoverbikes.


    This sight finally made him admit to Wrath, "You''re right. I am not rich."


    Wrath snorted and said, "Of course I''m right. What are the odds that I would be wrong about anything, especially your financial status?"


    He smiled. Admitting that he wasn''t rich didn''t spoil his mood. Maybe it was because he grew up with practically nothing. The "little money" he has, as Wrath calls it, and the freedom to spend it however he likes, are enough to make him happy.


    Besides, this has only given him more things to look forward to. He liked the idea of owning a hovering armored tank. It brought a smile to his face just imagining driving one and blowing up enemies with it.


    So the drive was still fun. The ammunition he bought was picked up without any issue, which put him in a better mood until he reached the wilds.


    He felt the difference as soon as he left the city behind. It was not like the difference between District 666 and the rest of the city. The gap between District 666 and the rest of the city is urban destion. It is still part of the city. But beyond the walls is just wildness.


    He veered off the patchy road immediately he left the city because not only will driving on it make him visible, but because driving on it will be difficult thanks to the hoard of incursion zombies that have made it their home.


    He would need an armored vehicle to traverse the road, but a hoverbike is far from being able to protect him. So he took the cautious route. Besides, a straight line to his destination across the wilds should be faster.


    He let GPS guide him to his destination across the ruins of a previous civilization being reimed by the forest. Incursion zombies chased after him, but they couldn''t catch him.


    His hoverbike could reach 200 kmph, and he was silent, so many of them didn''t notice him until it was toote to do anything. He drove like a ghost in the wilds.


    If not for the color of the hoverbike which formed a stark difference to his environment, he would be less noticeable. Unfortunately, nothing could be done about that. His hoverbike doesn''t have the ability to camouge itself. He didn''t buy one that could because it was too expensive.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 53 Snitches That Need Stitches.

    He reached his destination in less than an hour. It was a round-down location that used to be a filling station. It was close to the old roads of the previous civilization. There weren''t any buildings around it, so he wouldn''t be able to approach it without being spotted.


    Fortunately, he didn''t n to approach them. At least, not yet. Instead, he chose to camp by the road leading back to New London.


    He packed his hoverbike and brought out the suitcase of weapons he had prepared. The assault rifle was hung on his chest while the handgun was put in a holster on his thigh.


    The next thing he did was to prepare the sniper rifle. He had to assemble it for the mission. Only then did he prepare his new favorite gun. It was a beautiful grenadeuncher he purchased for missions.


    It is a gun forunching contact grenades at targets. The grenades would explode after colliding with something. That something could be the target or anything in their way.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    There was a sale for it that he couldn''t refuse. Wrath had called him cheap because he was tempted and wooed by a sale.


    A rocketuncher would pack a bigger punch, but it was more expensive and unwieldy. Not only would it be heavy to lug around, it would also be a hassle to reload.


    A grenadeuncher, on the other hand, could be used in indoor spaces. So it coulde in handy if he has to venture to the base.


    That time wille if what he is waiting for doesn''t show up by nightfall. In the meantime, heid prone on the ground and used a cloak to camouge himself.


    This camouge made him look like a rock by the side of the road of they were close enough. Anyone far away won''t be able to tell him apart from the ground.


    Then he waited for his target.


    His n is not based on luck at all. He didn''t pick a random day toe to sit by the side of the road. He picked this day because he had gotten a tip from the issuer of the mission that the metal hell gang would be leaving for the city today.


    He even knows the exact time the meeting they are going to the city for will be. It is because the mission issuer had arranged for the meeting.


    The meeting is obviously going to be a bust, and when that happens, the metal hell gang will be very upset. So it is his job to make sure that somethinges up to make it impossible for them to make the meeting.


    So what he is waiting for is a vehicle transporting the gang leader or other leaders who would be attending the meeting. He is to ambush the vehicle and make it unable to continue the journey.


    As an enforcer, his target should be in the vehicle. She is pretty high up in the gang, so she might even be the one sent to the meeting. If that is so, he will try to kill her here.


    Even if she doesn''t show up, his n won''t be ruined because he would have achieved the aim of stopping the vehicle and causing trouble for the gang.


    He knows and has confirmed that when there is trouble, enforcers are sent to take care of it, so his target will stille to him even if she isn''t apanying the vehicle.


    So he waited with the scope of his sniper pointed towards the gas station. Two hourster, the vehicle came from the gas station just like he expected.


    The garage on the building opened, and the vehicle came out of the building. This meant that he couldn''t pick off his target before she got into the vehicle, but he didn''t mind.


    He waited for the vehicle to leave the building behind. He was waiting for it to create enough distance to make assistance from the base dyed. Then he began putting holes in the tires.


    The tires were bullet-proof tires. They had an inner lining of metal ring to protect them from gun fire. But they couldn''t stop the kind of caliber that he was throwing at them. He just needed to put two holes in them to break their integrity. After that, the weight of armored truck made them crumble.


    The truck skidded across the road after losing its first tire. It barely managed to stop in time before it lost a second tire. But its troubles were far from over because Kelvin began shooting at its fuel tank.


    The fuel tank has actually been disguised and ted for durability. It would be difficult for some random person to shoot in the right ce, and even then, it would be to puncture the fuel tank with an assault rifle. But a sniper rifle is another thing entirely.


    The goons in the truck had been content to wait for reinforcement before getting out, but the explosion of the fuel tank changed their minds.


    The explosion didn''t wreck the armored truck; it only caused the engine to catch fire and smoke to fill the insides, so they were very well still alive. But they couldn''t hold on anymore. The fire was slowly cooking them, and the smoke was suffocating them. They opened the back of the truck and filed out in a rush.


    Kelvin began picking them off one by one. Wrath was humming a little tune to itself while men were having their brains blown out. But the shadow spirit finally became serious when his target finally appeared.


    She jumped out of the bus and came in the opposite direction the skulls of her mates were blown to. His gun was silent, but their brain matter were just horrid snitches. They ratted him out without hesitation. They were snitches that needed stitches immediately to keep brain fluid from leeking out of their skulls.


    Her skin had be a silver sheen of steel as she barreled towards him. She used her hands to form a makeshift protective shield for her head. Her actions made him snicker.

 Chapter 54 One Way Glass.

    She thought she could take him on with the level of preparation she had made.


    The sight made him think to himself, "Whatmendable confidence."


    He knew to expect something like this because that is what she usually does, but he was still surprised that she decided to go through with it after what happened to their armored truck.


    Her actions made him suspicious about what she was really up to. It is because can''t believe that she intends to take him on with what she currently has.


    He let that distract him while he waited for her to move far away from the bus before making his move. Then he shot her legs out from underneath her.


    His bullet struck her thigh and crippled her immediately. An armor piercing round shot from a sniper can do that to someone even if they have steel skin.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    If not for the fact that he didn''t want to kill her, he would have blown her brains out. Her little arms wouldn''t have saved her. It was a result he expected but was still surprised to see.


    Unfortunately, the fight wasn''t over yet. Their leader and two other strong people wereing for him too.


    Wrath said, "Looks like things are about to get serious."


    He nodded solemnly and put away the sniper rifle. Then he picked up the grenadeuncher and aimed at the trioing for him.


    The leader has an ability that creates arge rectangr shield in front of him. The shield is purple and opaque. But that''s only for those viewing from the front.


    The shield acts as a one-way ss for both light and other objects. He can''t see them from his position, but they can see him through the shield. Not only that, the shield will stop any projectile from the front but will allow projectiles to fly freely through it as long as theye from behind.


    The shield is light and mobile cover for them. It is so powerful that the round he shot from the sniper rifle is stuck in it. It caused the shield to crack, but it is far from being able to break.


    This protected the three of them while the leader and the two with him could shoot at their enemies. This is how they fight. The metal-skinned enforcer jumps into a crowd, guns azing and wreaking havoc. This preupies the enemy and allows the leader to shoot them down from behind cover.


    The leader rains down a hail of metal on the enemy without care. The woman with the metallic skin will be able to handle it, but their enemies won''t. Together they give their enemies hell.


    But not today. Today they have met someone prepared for them. Kelvin brought one of the few things that their shield is weak to. He shot the grenades at them just like the enemies that had gotten one over them had done in the past.


    A grenade doesn''t produce point nk damage like a bullet. It produces arge area of attack that puts pressure on arger surface area of the shield. The shield didn''t break, but it began to crack very quickly.


    After just three explosions, the purple shield began falling apart like broken ss. This made their leader call for retreat. If he had used a me thrower, their shield would have been useless entirely, and he would have cooked them directly. That way they wouldn''t be able to retreat without taking serious damage.


    But a methrower needed close distance to use. This made him rule it out to use in the mission. Besides, there was no sale on methrowers. He might have considered it had there been a tempting sale.


    For now, he had to be content with scaring off the leader and his gang. It wasn''t without its own type of fun because their retreat was aical one.


    The leader had to walk backwards away from him. He couldn''t turn, or he would expose his back to him. This is another one of the many weaknesses of his ability. The shield could only be ced in one position, and it would only block protectiles from one direction.


    It also couldn''t block attacks that were mainly made of energy. It could only block physical attacks and projectiles.


    It was a funny sight to see them go. It made Wrathugh, but Kelvin didn''t ease the pressure on them just because they put on a good show. He continued to harass them as they retreated. It was not to kill them. He did so to make sure that they wouldn''t try to help his true target.


    He didn''te for them, so he didn''t bother to kill them. Their lives have not been paid for, so they get to live another day.


    When he had chased off the others, he crawled over to his true target, and sedated her with enough tranquilizer to knock out an elephant.


    Even an F rank super will be knocked out by the amount of tranquilizer he used as long as they don''t have any resistance to it.


    She tried to resist him but he already knew her weakness. Bent her arm and broke it. Even though she had a skin of steel, she didn''t have steel bones.


    Theck of arms reduced her resistance, but she still maintained the steel skin to protect herself. He wouldn''t be able to knock her out by force with such protection. But he still overcame it easily by plunging the syringe into her eye.


    Steel skin didn''t grant all around protection like the man that almost killed him in hisst game. He was able to handle that man with little preparation, so she wasn''t worth much.


    With her sedated, he was able to bound her and carry her away. His mission was a sess, which meant the next thing to do was enjoy the fruits of hisbor. He had to find a secluded ce to harvest the destiny of the woman. Then he would send the picture of her corpse to the person who hired him.

 Chapter 55 Upgrade Of Steel.

    He found his hoverbike and used it to drive to an abandoned city. Next, he found a building he could use without the threat of copse. Then heid her down and began the process of stealing her destiny.


    The ability extraction went on without a hitch. His golden tattoos lit up and extended over to her body. Her was producing golden light, and so was she. Eventually, he was the only one producing light while she had shriveled up.


    The only difference this time was that he could decide what to do with the ability since he had options. He decided to fuse it with his first ability to create something better.


    He had to spend 10 game points to do so, but he wasn''t disappointed by the oue. The two of them fused into a new ability called Steel Physique. With it, he can turn every part of himself into steel.


    Even his eyes and hair can be transformed into steel. But he won''t be able to see through his eyes after the conversion. It is a permanent ability that he can turn on or off. But once it is on, it won''t require energy to maintain.


    He tried it out immediately. Every part of him turned into steel. He had be a metal man, but the steel was malleable. It allowed him to move despite looking like a metal statue.


    Kelvin was fascinated. He said, "This is just like Blue Crystal. Except my flesh is only steel. It can''t do anything else, like infect others."


    Wrath was going around him, examining him. It said, "What are the changes to your ability now? Can you still fuse another one, and how much will it cost?"


    Kelvin replied, "I should be able to fuse, but I am not sure. The empty second slot is confusing my senses."


    Wrath urged, "Then make sure."


    He nodded and decided to check his destiny report. It is something that he would have preferred to do in a cleaner and safer environment, but he too is curious about the changes to his Omega ability.


    So he sat down on the cracked floor of the apartment building he was in to meditate. He didn''t care that he was sitting on grass, and he didn''t let the fact that the roof was broken in many ces distract him.


    He was rewarded for his effort after five minutes of concentration. He saw the tower in his mind and the words that made it up appeared in his mind. He skimmed the first part to focus on the second half.


    Game Points: 8.


    Power Rating: 204 (Unranked)


    Abilities:


    A. Shape-shifting (Alpha): 1-Malleable Anatomy.


    B. Power Shifting (Omega): 1-Steel Physique (Fuse 0/20 | Remove 0/2). 2- (Empty). 3-Locked (Open 0/40)


    He opened his eyes and informed Wrath, "I can still fuse new abilities with it. But it has doubled in cost, and even the cost to remove it has doubled. It is like the ability has be more resistant to change."


    Wrath nodded and said, "Not bad."


    It was relieved so it could finally give its evaluation. "You have gained the base of the metal titans. It is a good defensive ability that will grant strength, defense, and immunity to poisons. But fire and acid are still dangerous."


    He nodded and said, "One step at a time."


    Wrath continued to warn him, "That''s true. You can''t get cocky yet. The real metal titans have nearly indistructible metal for their flesh, and they have other abilities that grant them resistance to fire, acid, gravity, spatial tears, psychic attacks, and many more."


    "Plus, their metallic flesh can do exotic things like break off and serve as poison or acid in the bodies of others. So you still have a long way to go."


    Kelvin was in agreement with what Wrath said. He has already been making preparations for the next ability he will fuse next with Steel Physique.


    He decided to talk about it with Wrath as he left the apartment and began his return journey to New London.


    He stood up and asked, "I am thinking of something to upgrade the steel to something more durable or something to broaden its range of defense to the psychic domain."


    Wrath considered it and said, "Anything will be good, really. But to broaden its potential, you should fuse an alpha ability with it. Currently, it is still a beta ability. Something like the inorganic transformation of the shape-shifting ss will turn it into a powerful alpha ability."


    "It will be a top-notch ability even stronger than that of other shapeshifters because the change will be permanent. You won''t need energy to maintain it, which is always a boon."


    Kelvin chuckled and said, "It is a good idea, if only for the fact that an alpha ability will be an efficient use of game points. But it is going to be difficult to acquire."


    Wrath shrugged. "Anything worth having is difficult to acquire."


    They continued to discuss this for a while until the conversation turned to the matter of the mission he had put up and the mission he would be doing next.


    His mission had bore more useful options. There is even one that he was considering. A girl had been found with the ability to create an aura that slows down people around her. They would find it very difficult to move around her.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    That was the only information he had about her for now. He would have to pay the 400,000 dors to get more information, so he was seriously considering it before deciding to pay the price.


    He was on the hoverbike returning to New London when the matter came up. The hoverbike was going at a fast speed, so the wind was blowing really hard against his face.


    If he were speaking with anyone else, it would be difficult for them to hear him, but Wrath could hear him clearly. The problem was on his side. He couldn''t hear Wrath clearly because of the wind. Apparently, Wrath had better hearing than him too.

 Chapter 56 Scam Or Boon.

    He had asked Wrath what it thought about the kid. Wrath usually has a lot to say about abilities, but this time it wasn''t sure.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    It said, "I''m not sure what type of ability she has from this little information. She could be a psychic or null ss for all I know. The person with the tip should provide more information."


    Kelvin said with frustration, "I already asked for more information. It has been two days now. It is clear that he or she doesn''t know much about the girl. They might be trying to swindle me."


    Wrath offered another alternative, "Or they might just be inept. But I''m leaning towards the swindling option."


    Kelvin put it aside for now to consider which mission he should go for next. Since he prioritized the ability of the target, he had to consider the mission carefully.


    He reached New London before the end of the day. At that time, he was ready to execute his routine before going to sleep. This included exercise, a bath, a meal, and some light reading before bed. But then he received a message from the person with the information about the girl.


    So he opened the terminal to read the message. Wrath was also reading beside him. As usual, Wrath finished reading before him. It eximed, "We have to hurry. Pay for the information immediately."


    "But why?" he asked as he continued reading.


    Wrath sighed and let him finish reading. He too felt the urgency after reading the whole message.


    He eximed, "It is at least an alpha ability."


    Wrath didn''t agree. It said, "It could be an omega ability."


    This made Kelvin frown. He said, "Or he could be trying to swindle me with false information."


    Wrath shrugged and said, "There''s only one way to find out."


    He knew what to do to find out, but he wasn''t willing to risk so much money on it. So he was hesitating to pay for the information. Wrath had to urge him again.


    "I know it is a gamble, but if you miss out on this ability just because of 400,000 dors, you might regret it for the rest of your life."


    Kelvin sighed and said, "I am going to me you if this is a scam."


    Then he went ahead to pay for the whole information, including the location of the girl. This didn''t prove that the girl was real or that her ability was the real deal, so he had to leave his apartment to confirm it and steal her destiny if possible.


    Wrath was urging him all the way to the garage. "Hurry, hurry, hurry!"


    "I am hurrying. This is as fast as the elevator can go."


    He understood the urgency of the situation, but there was nothing he could do to make the elevator go faster. Apparently, the girl could slow down anything moving around her, whether they be nts, animals, or objects.


    It was an ability that she could turn on or off, and anything that spent a prolonged amount of time under her influence would be cold. If they are living things, they would die.


    This is just a side effect of her ability. Her true ability is kic energy deprivation. Kic energy is deprived from objects around her and dumped into the area beyond the range of her ability.


    It is clear that her ability doesn''t belong to the null ss. She is a superb psychic. If her ability is real, then he haz to get it as soon as possible. He had his mind made up about that.


    The problem is that it won''t be easy to kidnap her. He could either pay specialized viins to do it for him or n out a mission to do it himself. Either way, kidnapping her will lead to the investigation of the authorities.


    The girl isn''t living in district 666. Unlike district 666, the other districts are patrolled by the police force of the city. They keepw and order in the city.


    While the girl herself can be kidnapped rtively easily and her parents can be ovee even easier, the police force will be a true force to contend with if he is to get away with kidnapping her.


    He is sure he can kidnap her, but he doesn''t want to risk his life, and he wants to do it quickly. So he intends to hire someone to do it for him. But first, he wants to confirm her situation to see if she is real and if he can kidnap her himself.


    He reviewed the information about her along the way to her location. She is just 16, so she just awakened her ability. She is living with her parents in one of the many skyscrapers in the city. The particr building she is living in has up to 50,000 inhabitants.


    The building is clearly a megaplex. It is tall, but not overly tall. It is almost 700 meters tall. But it is its length and width that are astonishing. It has more than 2 million square meters of space. It is almost a little city within itself because it has schools, restaurants, hotels, bars, sports centers, and many more within it.


    While it doesn''t sound bad at all, only the middle ss live in such a building. The rich live in more spacious conditions, while the poor slum it out at the edge of the city.


    The situation of the building makes it both difficult and easy to kidnap someone in it. The security within theplex isx. He can pick up a kid easily within it. But he won''t be able to enter or leave theplex without serious and thorough inspections.


    Theplex situation is why he is inclined to hire specialists for the job. He is a killer and can do that after days or weeks of preparation. That is even with the assistance of information. So nning a kidnapping on his own that will lead him to a sh against the police force of the city will be very difficult for him.

 Chapter 57 Fisherman.

    He was still thinking about this difficulty by the time he reached theplex. Packing his hoverbike was easy. He just had to pay for a packing spot nearby. Getting into the building was not so easy.


    He had to pass through many scans and inspections before he was granted ess to the building. These were all done by robots, so killing them wouldn''t be easy, and it certainly won''t go unnoticed.


    This thought went through his mind as he gained ess to the mall on the first floor. This mall is the heart of theplex. Goods and services enter theplex through the mall, and money leaves theplex through it. The residential and rxation areas were on other floors.


    He found a map showing the general floor-by-floor outline of the building besides the elevator. He used it to find his way to his destination.


    The girl''s family lives on the 37th floor. There is a park and other rxation facilities on each floor, which he ns to visit. He doesn''t n to go to their apartment directly. Instead, he ns to scout for information by asking around about the girl.


    He looked like a teenager himself, so no one would bat an eye about a boy asking about a girl. He was right about that. He just didn''t know how well he would be about it.


    He expected to ask around for a while and then use Wrath to scout the girls ce while he lurks around their apartment. But no sooner had he asked about the girl that he received information about her.


    He went to the skating park to ask for information. There were boys and girls there skating around on their skateboard. The first boy he asked gave him all.the information he wanted.


    "You mean Justine? I know her. She just awakened two weeks ago. She awakened with this ability that could freeze things around her. She couldn''t control it at first, so she created quite a spectacle. She was even rushed to the hospital for treatment."


    Kelvin sighed in relief and thought to himself, "It seems everyone knows about her. That''s good."


    But his relief turned to something unpleasant as the boy continued speaking.


    The boy looked up wistfully and said, "I wish I could be her. She has be popr and rich now. A lot of people have been asking about her. If only I could awaken a powerful ability and be recruited like her, I too would have a chance to be a famous hero."


    Kelvin kept the panic out of his voice and said, "Me too."


    The boy grinned at him, making the freckles on his face wrinkle. He said, "Right. That''s the wish. I will be able to move out of this ce with my family and eat anything I want anytime."


    Kelvin was nodding along. He eventually got around to asking, "Do you know who recruited her?"


    The boy rolled his eyes and said, "Of course it is the Lnyx corperation."


    Kelvin smiled wryly as he said, "Of course."


    He doesn''t know why that information is obvious, but he intends to find out.


    "So she is gone now. I guess we will never see her again."


    The boy agreed with a mncholic nod. He said, "We are different people now."


    He bade farewell to the helpful boy and left to confirm the information he just acquired. Unfortunately, what the boy said was true. Everyone knew about the girl because her story had be popr.


    His actions didn''t look strange because many people had been asking around for her too. Apparently, the Lynx Corporation, which owns thisplex, found out about the girl a week ago and recruited her three days ago.


    That was a day before someone offered information about vulnerable targets with powerful abilities that he could kidnap. The situation is clear to him now.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He gritted his teeth and said, "I''ve been scammed. I me you for this."


    "It wasn''t all a bust. You have learned some lessons with this experience, and that counts." Wrath said in encouragement.


    He asked, "Oh yeah? What lessons have I learned?"


    Wrath replied, "You have learned that you need a more trustworthy source of information that will provide the information you need very quickly and that you need a reliable way to nab your targets when you have found one."


    The shadow spirit had a point, but he wasn''t going to let things go just like that. He contacted the league and reported the scam to them.


    Both he had Wrath don''t think it would work, but he could only hope. After all, the information the person provided was true. It was justte. Besides, the information is still useful. He can still kidnap the girl if he dares to.


    He left theplex feeling angry and bitter. It wasn''t just because of the 440,000 dors he lost, but because of the time that he had spent on top of the scam and the fact that there was very little he could do about it.


    He felt that he couldn''t trust the mission system anymore. After all, he had been burned twice by it already. The first time almost took his life. Now he has lost 440,000 dors.


    Wrath didn''t think much of the 440,000 dors that he had lost. It was of the opinion that he should continue trying.


    Wrath said, "You are like a fisherman. Sometimes you will catch big fish, and sometimes you catch stunted ones. Other times, you will only seed in pulling up someone''s underwear that they threw into theke while havingkeside sex. But you can''t let that discourage you. You need to be patient."


    He was on his hoverbike riding back home while Wrath talked his ears off.


    "I don''t know. I feel like I should take the mission down and wait until I can use something more trustworthy."


    Wrath didn''t agree. "Come on. It is just 440,000 dors. You can earn that back in a week. You can even earn it by scamming some noob with useless but true information."

 Chapter 58 The Insect Whisperer.

    That jab at him made him grin. His mood eased up.


    He said, "I guess you''re right. If only there was a way to find out when powerful individuals awaken."


    Wrath scoff. "Unfortunately, you don''t have that. So you have to work hard."


    He asked, "Do you think something like that is possible?"


    Wrath said proudly, "I know it is possible. You can do something like that with the ring of knowledge. With it, you can know everything happening on Earth-11. I''m sure you can use it to find whoever you want."


    He rolled his eyes and said, "I meant something more practical and won''t need me to kill a demigod for."


    He already knows about the ring of knowledge. With it, the wielder will be aware of everything happening on the. The only beings whose actions and whereabouts that the ring can''t know are demigods, welders of divine artifacts, divine artifacts themselves, and the paragon.


    Having such a ring would make finding targets very easy for him. Unfortunately, he can''t have it. Wrath doesn''t even know who is in possession of it or where it is. So he has to keep his expectations low.


    He said, "I want something like a machine or an ability that will inform me of the location and identity of omega supers."


    Wrath shrugged. "Anything is possible. Maybe the weapon ss ability to form a connection with cameras or like the one to form a connection with the satellite would do."


    He nodded. Those abilities could make what he wants possible. He decided to prioritize them for his second slot. He wants something that will help him to acquire knowledge about others or things easily.


    There are many psychic abilities that help their wielders to acquire information. One particrly famous one was a visual ability that could see the weakness of others and view their destiny report.


    The wielder of the ability was able to find out exactly people''s power rating and what abilities they possessed. This knowledge helped them to gain reknown in the games until they were killed somewhere in real life.


    The memory of the viin known as the Schr brought to his mind about a mission he saw that required him to kill someone who couldmunicate with insects.


    The target is a summoner-ss super who was an information broker. He hadn''t been interested in the mission before becausemunicating with insects wouldn''t add to his power, and the target had arge armed force of supers to protect him.


    Not only was the ability a beta ability, it was worse than the ability to control rats. It didn''t seem worth the risk before, but now he is not so sure.


    He spoke to Wrath about it. Wrath said, "Targeting an information broker is a bad idea. It is generally bad business. They are supposed to neutral entities that you shouldn''t touch."


    "Don''t look at how this guy can''t fight. He is notpletely harmless because of it. In fact, the opposite is true. He will have a lot of connections in the underworld that he can use to bring a world of pain on you should you fail. But if you can get his ability, it will be good for you."


    Kelvin shrugged and said, "I guess I must not fail then."


    He returned home determined to get an ability to help him acquire information. This made him ept the mission to kill the information broker. He went over the mission and epted after seeing the mission parameters.


    Wrath mused beside him, "This is going to be difficult."


    He agreed, "It is. But I have a shot."


    The mission will be very difficult because the information doesn''t leave his apartment. He stays indoors most of the time, and his apartment is guarded by a lot of men. Everything he needs is brought to him.


    ording to the data he has, his guards are up to 100 in number. They rotate shifts, but there are always 50 of them around him at a time. They roam the whole floor that he lives on armed with guns or nothing else.


    These two factors show that the information broker is rich. Not only does he have the whole floor of a skyscraper to himself, he has enough money to hire 100 people to watch him constantly.


    Then there is the fact that the information broker''s partner and head of security is a weapon-ss super that speaks with machines. This makes two information-gathering abilities working together. It has raised the difficulty of the mission by a whole level.


    Next is the part where the information provided about the interior of the building and the guards is iplete. So either he finds a way to get more information himself or he will be going into this blind.


    Kelvin didn''t want to go through with the mission after seeing the difficulty of it. If not for the slight window of opportunity that he will have when the information broker goes to visit his father''s grave every month, then he would stand no chance at all.


    He said to Wrath after reviewing the information, "I can either ambush him when he leaves the city or rece one of his guards to infiltrate his fortress. But I am not certain of the second option. Something abouting under the scrutiny of two observant supers without enough information doesn''t feel like a good idea."


    Wrath chuckled and said, "It doesn''t feel like a good idea because it is not. You can look like someone and fool others into believing that you are the person you are pretending to be, but observant people, especially information brokers who have done intensive background checks on their guards and are ready for infiltration, will be very difficult to deceive."


    "Your habits, the way you talk, the tone of your voice, and other mannerisms will expose you. Then there is the fact that you don''t know the routine of the guards. You will be like a sore thumb in front of them. Even if you manage to pull this off and kill them, I doubt you will get away with it."N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 59 Stupid Decision.

    Kelvin nodded and said with a tone of finality, "Fine. I won''t infiltrate them. I''ll just ambush their convoy the good old fashioned way or wait for the man at the location of his father''s grave and put a bullet in his head with my sniper."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Then he asked, "But there''s something that I find odd about this whole process. He seems like such a cautious man. Why would he leave the safety of his house and the city to visit the grave of a dead person?"


    Wrath replied with exasperation, "It is his father''s grave. It is clear that he loves his father really well and misses him. He also respects his father a lot. I know that this can be strange to understand because of the current era. But in the past, humans had a lot of borate rituals for sending off a loved one.


    Some were expensive and some were simple affairs, but they did always did something to get a sense of closure."


    Kelvin was still confused. He said, "I still don''t understand. His actions seem so stupid. Why expose himself to so much danger for someone who is already dead?"


    Wrath sighed, "His actions seem irrational to you because he is spending a lot of effort and taking a lot of risk to honor the memory of his father. All I can say is that he can do so because he can afford to. He is clearly rich, so there is very little he can''t do."


    Kelvin shook his head stubbornly. "This isn''t about money. I still think he is stupid."


    "I''m guessing you are not going to honor your father when he dies," Wrath said with certainty.


    Then it asked, "Who is your father anyway?"


    Kelvin replied, "He is dead."


    Wrath chuckled and asked, "I hope you didn''t kill him."


    Kelvin didn''t answer. This caused Wrath to be surprised.


    It said in shock, "No way! You killed your father?"


    Kelvin finally replied. "I didn''t kill him. Though I wish I could."


    Wrath shook its head. "I don''t know if I should be d or not."


    Kelvin shrugged and said, "There is no major difference between my father and everyone else I have killed before. It shouldn''t be strange that I killed him."


    Wrath didn''t quite agree, but it didn''t argue. It said, "If you say so."


    Then it asked, "When your father died, what kind of burial did you give him?"


    Kelvin replied, "I didn''t attend his burial. But I heard that he was cremated. They burned his corpse and turned it into ash."


    He said that with a smirk of amusement. He doesn''t know why his father allowed himself to be killed only to resurrect as one of the justice league, but he hopes his death was painful. Just the thought of Fire Rose scattering him into smitherings makes him feel good.


    Wrath didn''t know what he was thinking, but it saw the smirk on his face, which was a little unsettling to see. So it said, "I see. I guess the fault is mine. I should have expected that you wouldn''t attend your father''s funeral when you hated him enough to want to kill him."


    Kelvin returned his attention to the printed-out copies of maps on his table as he said, "It is what it is."


    He and Wrath looked over this map and many others to n for their mission. They couldn''t find a good ambush point on the road to the burial site, so they decided that he would just assassinate the target at the burial site.


    Besides, the convoy had too many cars and me for an ambush to be viable. It would be difficult to identify which vehicle his target is in the convoy, plus so many men would be able to rush his position.


    He won''t be able to kill all of them as theye out of their vehicles, as there are more than 10 vehicles in the convoy. If all of the men scatter and approach him, he will be quickly overwhelmed.


    All of these reasons made it too dangerous to ambush the envoy or try to kidnap him. The smart thing to do was to find a vantage spot to kill the target after hees out of the vehicle.


    He had to give up on his goal of acquiring the man''s ability because of the difficulty. But he didn''t want to waste all the time he had spent preparing for the mission. So he decided to simply kill the man for the money.


    It was arge amount of money too. The person offering the mission was offering 500,000 dors for the information broker''s head. Wrath thought it was too little in valuepared to the value of information in the man''s possession, but Kelvin was fine with it.


    This brought up another problem of which position to use to kill the man. The maps were helpful, but they couldn''t provide urate information of the wilds because it was constantly changing thanks to the incursion.


    He had to drive out into the wilds to scout the location. Only then did he find someone with a good overview of the vantage point. Unfortunately, this vantage point was too high up, so he wouldn''t be able to escape quickly from it.


    It was a position on top of a dpidated skyscraper. It granted him a good overview but made it easy for him to be cornered. So he installed a system to rappel down quickly after making his shot.


    He made many more preparations which didn''t take time, but he still had to wait. It is because he couldn''t start the mission anytime he wanted. He had to wait for when the target would leave his fortress and venture out into the wilds.


    When it was a day to the time, he left New London to go camp out in his chosen spot and make sure the rappel system was functional.


    It wouldn''t do to be stranded at the very moment he needed to escape the most. Plus there were other important reasons for him to go early.

 Chapter 60 Burial Site Of Failures.

    It was important he got there as early as possible because he didn''t know exactly when the man woulde to the burial site. All he knew was the day, and it was the first of every month.


    The man could arrive at any time, so he had to be prepared to wait all day if necessary. So he prepared a bed roll and other necessities to survive in the wild.


    He put in a lot of effort into the mission so he was ready when the convoy reached the site. Wrath was the one that spotted them as he was napping. But he was quick to train his gun on them as soon as their convoy stopped.


    The vehicles were sport cars with electricity-powered engines, so they were silent. They formed a circle around the site without much of a ruckus. Only the sound of their tires crushing dirt and rock could be heard.


    The target emerged from one of the vehicles. He was a tall and thin man. Hisplexion was red, and he was wearing sunsses. He was wearing a ck suit that matched the sunsses but was at odds with his skin color.


    The man looked exactly the same as the target in the pictures. Kelvin couldn''t be wrong about that, so he fired his gun as soon as he got a good line of sight. The bullet flew quickly and smashed into the man''s head.


    The man''s head caved in unnaturally. His head was also pushed to the side. The force of the shot was so powerful that just the blunt force almost removed his head from his neck. But the bullet itself didn''t prate the skull of the target.


    The bullet had only created a dent in the skull of the man. But even as he watched, that dent was pushed out and the head was made whole.


    What''s worse is that the man turned to look at his position up in the sky. He took down his eyesses to reveal two ckpound eyes. Then he mouthed something to him.


    The man had said, "I see you."


    Kelvin had read it loud and clear from his lips. All of these and the fact that his bullet had failed to kill the target made him curse.


    "Fuck. We''ve been had."


    He began packing quickly. He made sure not to panic as that would make him make mistakes, but he was truly unnerved.


    He said to Wrath, "This mission was a bust right from the start. The information was wrong. The target is not a summoner. He is clearly a physique ss super."


    He was trying not to panic, but Wrath didn''t panic at all. It wondered aloud, "He looks like an insect. If I am right, thenmunicating with insects is just a side effect of his ability."


    Its eyes lit up as itughed, "Would you imagine that? What an interesting way to hide one''s ability. I am almost impressed."


    Kelvin didn''t have the time to analyze the situation and feel impressed. He felt he wasn''t fast enough at the moment, so instead of dying himself by analyzing the situation, he put his sniper calmly back into his case, set fire to the non-essentials like his bedding, picked up what couldn''t be burned, and then rappled down the building.


    It was only when he was on his hoverbike driving away did he have the leisure to consider his situation.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He said to Wrath, "He is too strong. He has to be at least F rank to be able to stop the bullet like that."


    Wrath gave an alternative: "Or he has the help of an amplifier."


    "Either way, this mission is done."


    With that, he drove off. But things were clearly not over. Back at the burial site, no one was panicking or rushing around. Not even the man who was shot felt anypulsion to escape. Everyone behaved as if there hadn''t been an assassination attempt a few moments ago.


    The man touched the side of his head where the bullet had struck him. It hurt a little, but he wasrgely unharmed.


    He smiled and muttered, "Another one. I wonder how good this one is." Enjoy new chapters from empire


    Then he said to one of his guards, "Zain, he is on a hoverbike going east. Find him and bring him here. Let''s see if he will join the ranks of the unworthy or not."


    The guard in question took off. Meanwhile, the man continued to look at the gravestone he came to visit. Unlike what the public believes, he is not a summoner ss super, and he doesn''te here to visit the gravesite of his father.


    The gravestone he is looking at doesn''t belong to his father. It belongs to everyone who has tried to assassinate him, failed to do so, and failed to escape too. Now he is waiting to see if another person will join the ranks of the failures.


    Zain the guard took off after Kelvin. He was a man built like a wall. He had an obviousck of hair on his smooth scalp, but that is rarely noticedpared to his body.


    He too was wearing a suit. He pulled off the jacket to reveal a body built like a mountain. His arms and chest were practically bursting through his shirt. He looked like he could crush a coconut with a single hand.


    First, he gave someone his jacket. Next, he kicked off his shoes and popped the joints in his neck. It was difficult to pop the joints in his neck since his neck was so thick. It was like a pyramid holding his head, not the cylindrical shape that normal people have for necks.


    Then he began running towards his target. He was slow at first, but he began to pick up speed as he ran. He got faster and faster. Soon he was crossing 10 meters in a second. The convoy quickly lost sight of him, but they weren''t worried.

 Chapter 61 Bad To Doomed.

    What''s odd is that he didn''t move around the obstacles in his way. He barreled through everything in his way, including trees or buildings. Everything in front of him was destroyed by force. This didn''t even slow him down. He had actually gotten faster.


    His increasing speed and the fact that he was moving in a straight line meant that he caught sight of Kelvin faster than Kelvin thought was possible.


    This time Kelvin heard the maning before Wrath pointed it out. The loud crashing sound of walls crumbling and buildings falling tipped him off. There was also the sound of the footsteps that sounded like war drums.


    He hadn''t even seen the man, but he had heard him. He nced back to see tall buildings crumbling and kicking up a lot of dust.


    He asked Wrath, "What in tarnation is that? Are we being chased by a giant?"


    Wrath replied, "You might be in big trouble."


    Kelvin rolled his eyes. "Tell me something I don''t know."


    His heart was beating wildly in his chest in response to the fear he was feeling. It didn''t help that all he could hear was the sound of the feet of whoever was pursing him smashing into the ground and cracking it.


    Experience new tales on empire


    Zain''s bare feet were indeed cracking the ground. He was stepping on the ground with so much force that he left craters on the ground. Soon he was leaping off the ground because of the force of the collision with the ground.


    The destruction he left behind made it seem like a herd of wild beasts was trampling through the ancient city. Kelvin would like to believe that except he saw the figure of what appeared to be a humanoid tank leaping and plunging down, demolishing everything in his way.


    Kelvin cursed when he saw this, "Fuck, I''m screwed."


    Wrath saw the miniature giant too. Instead of making a joke, it said, "I warned you not to target an information broker. I said things could go badly if you fail."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Kelvin shouted in reply, "You also said that it would be good if I seeded in getting his ability."


    He had to shout because the noise behind him had overtaken him and made it difficult to get to hear anything else. This noise also encouraged him to make his hoverbike go faster.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t go too fast because he was moving through the city in order to lose his pursuers. Unlike his pursuer, he can''t move through buildings. So he had to move to the main road in order to make full use of the speed capabilities of the hoverbike.


    This was helpful, but it had only made the path between himself and his pursuer open and free. It was a straight line that the miniature giant could follow to reach him.


    Wrath warned him, "Prepare yourself. At least die with dignity so that I won''t make fun of you to my next wielder."


    Kelvin asked with frustration, "Are you going to tell me something useful or are you just going to keep making jokes?"


    Wrath finally decided to be serious. It said, "He is getting faster by the moment. There are a lot of possibilities here, ranging from bad to doomed. I have seen many abilities like this before. One of them was especially memorable. The woman could convert all forms of energy around her, including sunlight, into power."


    "This looks simr to it, but it might be something else. It might be an omega ability called Unstoppable Momentum. If that is what this guy has, then you are doomed. I''ll try to say nice things at your funeral."


    "If it is like that woman''s, then it is an alpha ability that you have a shot at defeating. It all depends on if this guy has a limit or not. If he doesn''t have a limit to how fast and powerful he can get, then you are doomed. Even if he doesn''t, the longer you hold off on fighting him, the higher your chances of dying a gruesome death will be."


    Kelvin understood. He had heard of the omega ability, not because he had read about it but because Wrath had mentioned something rted to it when it was describing the ring of power.


    So he knew the danger he could be in. He said, "Even if it is the former and the man has a limit, we still don''t know what he is using to convert to power. It could sound energy, light energy, kic energy, or momentum."


    Wraty suggested, "His ability is currently manifesting as faster speed, so my bet is that if you can stop him, you will be able to defeat him."


    Kelvin nodded and unbuckled the grenadeuncher strapped to his back. Then he waited for the man to get within range.


    This happened quickly. The man was running on his two feet, but he was about to catch up with a hoverbike moving at 200 kilometers per hour. That means he was covering 55.6 meters per second. It was not up to the level of speedsters, but this was still terrifying.


    He couldn''t tell how fast a speedster is going since he was too slow. But this time he was moving at a fast speed himself and could see the buildings disappear past him in a blur. And yet, this monster of a man is gaining on him, which means the man is faster than him.


    He waited until the man was five meters before shooting a grenade in front of him, not at him. This put the man in a critical situation where the distance and speed made it difficult to dodge.


    The man was not a speedster with elerated reflexes and thoughts. He didn''t have perfect control of his speed and couldn''t maneuver himself around the grenade at the speed he was going. He either had to stop abruptly and run back to avoid the explosion or continue running and take the grenade head-on.

 Chapter 62 Proper Introductions.

    Those were the only viable options. It is because the grenade would explode anyway. It was aimed at the ground, so that was certain. If he is anywhere near the grenade when it explodes, he would be harmed by it. So dodging won''t help.


    But Zain didn''t stop to create distance between the imminent explosion. He barreled through like always. He was right on top of the grenade when it went off. Fire, light, and heat engulfed him immediately.


    He was out of the explosion soon after. His shirt had been torn to pieces, and he bore ckened patches on his skin. There were even scratches on his skin, but there was a also mocking smile on his face as he looked at Kelvin on his little hoverbike.


    Wrath sighed in relief after he saw the effects of the explosion and said, "Good news. It is not unstoppable momentum. Unstoppable momentum grants invulnerability as long as its wielder is moving. He got hurt by the explosion, so he doesn''t have that ability."


    Kelvin was relieved to hear that, but his eye couldn''t help but twitch because of the little damage the man had received. He had taken a grenade head-on and came out with scratches and patches of scorched skin.


    He asked Wrath, "What next?"


    "We still don''t know if he has a limit or not. It would be great if we could know, but the only option is to wait and find out. That''s obviously a bad idea. Regardless of his possession of a limit or not, we should not let him umte more power."


    He inhaled and said, "I guess the only way to end this is to put him down quickly."


    Wrath agreed. "That''s the only way. He can be hurt, so he can be worn down and stopped. It all depends on if you can stop him before he breaks you."


    Kelvin turned the bike to the sideways and stopped its engine. The man sped past him for a while before stopping. He came back a few secondster to find Kelvin waiting for him.


    What he found when he returned was a metal man. Kelvin''s stance and expression indicated that he wanted to fight, but the man still asked with a mocking tone, "Are you not going to keep running, little rat?"


    Kelvin didn''t reply. He didn''t reply because he indeed didn''t want to fight. He didn''t want to fight someone he doesn''t know much about to the death. If he had his way, he would be on his bike still running away.


    But he knew that, that wasn''t a viable solution. He knew that if he is to survive, he had to fight. That''s what made him stop running.


    Wrath said him, "This is no different from a destiny game."


    Kelvin nodded even though he knew it was different from a destiny game. He knew he was unlikely to die because of failure in a game. But he agreed anyway to ease off the fear in his heart. Besides, he is not a stranger to a fight to the death.


    Meanwhile, three metal ws came out of his fist, and metal spikes sprouted from his body. Then he rushed towards the man after making his preparation.


    A punch mmed into his face and sent him flying. He flew and smashed into a building, crushing it and getting buried by the whole building crashing down on him.


    He hadn''t seen the attacking. One moment he was rushing forward, and the next he was flying back faster than he was moving forward.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He muttered to Wrath as hey underyers of cement, "This is worse than Alina."


    It is actually way worse. Alina couldn''t fight at all. She was not a skilled fighter, but this man is. So even though he is not as fast as Alina, he knew how to use his speed better than her.


    Alina had punched him enough to crack his jaw. His jaw was not cracked this time around. However, half of his face has caved in. This is despite beingpletely metallic. Alina wouldn''t have been able to put a dent in his current body.


    Wrath encouraged him, "If you canin, then your brain is still intact, and that''s good. There''s also another good news. He can only use physical force and no energy attack. So you can take him if you hold on."


    He nodded and began digging his way back up. He shouldn''t have worried, though. Arge hand plunged throughyers of cement as if it were sand and grabbed his neck.


    Kelvin resisted by growing spikes around his neck and stabbing his ws into the hand. These two things worked but produced limited results. He managed to puncture the skin on the arm, but the muscle and bone beneath were too tough. They were like stones instead of flesh.


    The hand pulled and yanked him up through the rubble. His field of vision went from darkness to brightness and back to darkness again as he was smashed into the ground enough to make his vision swoon.


    Your adventure continues at empire


    He looked up to see the man staring down at him. The man looked at his bleeding fist and hand and said, "You are touch to hit. I don''t like that."


    Kelvin replied as he struggled to stand up, "You are speaking as if I like being hit."


    The manughed. He said, "I like you. I am Zain. I hope you will live to remember my name."


    Kelvin took a boxer''s stance with his two fists raised up. He said, "I hope so too."


    He was punched again and sent flying again. But this time, he was grabbed before he could get too far. The man had grabbed his foot, swiveled, and then smashed him against the ground.


    Kelvin hit the ground with so much force that he bounced up into the air after smashing into the ground. This made him understand that he stood no chance against this man if he wasn''t going to use all his abilities.

 Chapter 63 The Third Wheel.

    So he stopped holding back and let his leg go soft. Then he twisted his flexible leg around the hand of the man. He held on to it tightly. Next, he used this grip to pull himself to him and punch him.


    Zain was taken aback when the metal leg had turned into cable in his hand. He was further surprised when the cable coiled around his arm. This made him jerk his hand back in an attempt to pull away from this weirdness. But that only made him pull Kelvin to him.


    Even so, Zain was not caught away by the wed fist trying to impale him. He brushed the fist away with an expert maneuver of his free left hand. But then another wed fist came for his chest.


    Zain''s right hand was being tied up by the cable leg, so he can''t use it to block this attack. He also couldn''t avoid the attack by dodging. His speed had been almost nullified by the grip on his right hand.


    But he was an experienced fighter with good instincts. He realized that he didn''t have to sh with the fist at all. He decided to turn Kelvin''s ingenious move against him by swinging his right hand around.


    Kelvin was holding tightly to Zain''s right hand for his dear life. This meant he couldn''t stop himself from being smashed over and over again against the ground like some doll.


    Srill, he didn''t let go of the hand. He knew he would be doomed if he did. After all, he couldn''t match his enemy''s speed at all. So he began grabbing for everything and anything that he could use to stabilize his position.


    Wrath called to him again and again, "Grab his leg. Grab his leg."


    He couldn''t hear what the shadow spirit said clearly because his ears were ringing due to all the forceful and impactful collisions with the ground.


    But he managed to hear the advice in between collisions, and he also managed to twist his other leg around Zain''s leg. This made it impossible for Zain to lift him up and down. Unless Zain can tear him in half from his crotch.


    That''s exactly what Zain set out to do. He lifted his right hand to life Kelvin, but he couldn''t do so because Kelvin was anchoring himself to Zain''s right leg. But ZIn didn''t mind. He continued to raise his right hand in order to tear Kelvin in half.


    Kelvin couldn''t allow this to happen. Fortunately, with his two legs gripping something, he had enough foothold to fight back. He bent his body and raised it up. Then he punched at Zain.


    The same thing was happening again, but Zain''s right hand and leg had been locked this time. He only had one hand to resist the attack, and he knew it wasn''t going to be enough.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He knew he had one hand while his enemy had two. So instead ofpeting with his enemy in an area he is disadvantaged in, he decided to shift to his advantage. He decided not to stop the attack at all. Instead, he began punching Kelvin''s head and any other area he could hit safely.


    He did so while channeling all his power into speed. He knew he was going to be injured by the ws, but he was willing to trade blows. He was willing to bet that he would be able to turn his enemy into g before he was injured critically.


    So he opted for speed. His fist became a blur as they smashed into Kelvin. Kelvin also retaliated with everything he had. He shifted his power into strength and created two more arms so that he could punch double his damage output.


    Zain roared, but Kelvin didn''t bother to invade his bother through the opening in his face. It is because he can tell that Zain''s physique is tough all the way. Sure, his internal organs might be weaker, but he won''t be able to enter his mouth since Zain is sure to grab him and pull him out.


    Unlike the man with the protective forcefield he fought before, Zain is too fast and too strong. Zain will surely be able to pull his hand away or simply bite it off.


    He couldn''t target his eyes either because his aim was not urate. Zain was constantly moving around which made targeting specific parts difficult to him. Only therge torso was easy to hit. So he remained content with poking holes in Zain''s stone body.


    Four metal fists wielding three metal ws each smashed into Zain over and over again while Zain''s single arm smashed into his chest and face. This intensive exchange continued for more than a minute, causing serious damage to bothbatants.


    Kelvin''s spikes had broken off. His chest has caved in, and his head has long been deformed. Someone with metal skin or metal bones would be dead by now.


    Even someone with a steel physique will be at death''s door. But he was a shapeshifter too. He could heal himself, so he was able to hold on. It wasn''t easy at all. It was very difficult because Zain was getting faster and faster and stronger.


    Zain had be so powerful that his fist had begun to impale Kelvin''s metal body with each strike. Kelvin was quickly pushed to his limit. He couldn''t breathe because his lungs had been crushed. Many of his internal organs had followed suit too.


    He was moving his heart to his stomach and lower, but at the rate that Zain was pulverizing his body, it was only a matter of time before it was crushed. Not only had he be too weak to punch, he became too weak to shift anymore.


    His extra hands were absorbed back into his body in order to conserve energy. His punches had be slow too.


    He was more like a drunken person pretending to fight than someone fighting for his life. His punchescked the necessary power to even make the ws on his fists be of significant threat to Zain

 Chapter 64 Juggernauts Heart.

    The only good thing was that he was not the only one in the fight with a limit. Zain was also reaching his limit. He couldn''t absorb anymore power. His body had reached its limit. Things were so bad that his body was aching with every movement. Even breathing had beborrous.


    His muscles and bones were screaming out in pain every time he moved. It didn''t help that he was bleeding all over.


    None of the metal ws had managed to impale him, but all of the cuts on his body were leading to too much blood loss and the shallow cuts on his lungs were making it difficult for him to breathe. This was reducing his stamina and increasing the burden on his body.


    Eventually he became too tired to punch. He fell to his knees while breathing heavily. The sound of his inhtions and exhtions was like a drum being struck. It was so loud that it kept Kelvin from fainting. It kept pulling him back from total ckout.


    Or maybe it was Wrath''s screams that kept him from fainting. He couldn''t tell the difference. Everything was just too loud, and he had be too weak to move his arms. He certainly couldn''t punch or fight back in any way.


    Kelvin was content with lying on the ground and sleeping. He knew at the back of his mind that doing so would lead to his death, but he was just too tired to care.


    He wanted peace, but Wrath wouldn''t let him have peace. It kept shouting in his ear. Eventually, he recovered enough presence of mind to understand what it was saying. It was mostly because Zain had stopped punching him.


    "Take his destiny. Take his destiny now."


    Kelvin decided to do so. He activated the ability steal of the ring of paragon with thest bit of focus he could manage. This caused the two abilities from the ring to be deactivated and his form to revert to his true shape. He became the dark-skinned man with golden tattoos and golden eyes.


    He was soon glowing with golden light, and then so was Zain. Zain groaned as a suction force entered his body. The force groped all over every inch of his body, including his eyes. It was irritating and painful, so he tried to pull away Kelvin. But he was tired, and the grip on both of his limbs was still there.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "What are you doing to me?" he asked in panic.


    But Kelvin couldn''t answer him even if he wanted to. All Zain got was silence. He couldn''t move away, and he couldn''t resist, so he had to experience the torment of having his destiny ripped away from him. It was so painful that he cried out in pain.


    He seemed to understand what was happening to him. It made him plead desperately, "Please, don''t."


    Kelvin didn''t listen, but he didn''t stop pleading.


    "Don''t do this. This is just a test. You have won. You can go."


    Kelvin didn''t hear what he said, not that he cared enough to listen. Everything was too loud. Eventually he got his silence because Zain had stopped talking.


    The pain came with tiredness beyond anything Zain had ever felt. He lost all his strength, his ability, and all his power. He became worse than before he awakened his ability.


    He was so weak that he slumped over Kelvin. Kelvin, on the other hand, had be stronger. He had gained an ability called Juggernaut''s Heart. He put it into his second slot because it couldn''t fuse with his first ability, and he didn''t have enough game points toplete the fusion.


    Steel''s physique was an ability rted to matter, while Juggernaut''s Heart is an ability that deals with force. The two were notpatible on a fundamental level. But they could work together.


    Juggernaut''s Heart is not a physical object. It is a process by which external force is absorbed and stored in the body. So the body is the foundation of this ability. The stronger and more durable the body, the more force it can store.


    The stored force can then be used to increase speed and strength. As for the increase in the durability of the muscles, it is a side effect of using it to store explosive power.


    This is why Zain''s body is so strong and tough. But his body of flesh cannotpare to a body of steel. Steel has higher durability, so it can store more force. It also has faster conductivity, so it can absorb and transform force faster.


    Zain''s body had shrunk after losing his ability. His body was still toned for a normal person, but he had lost too much muscle mass as if he had been malnourished and his muscles had be soft like normal flesh. This made him lighter.


    He became much lighter when Kelvin separated his head cleanly from his body with a single metal w. This also caused blood to ssh unto his face.


    He didn''t mind the blood. He even drank as much as he could in order to replenish his strength. Then he pushed the corpse off of his body.


    He said to Wrath, "Let''s go."


    He would have liked to eat some of the flesh of the man because he was still weak, but he knew that the man was not alone. He doesn''t know why the others are not here yet, but he doesn''t n to stick around to find out.


    Besides, he has some biscuits on his hoverbike. They may be in small quantity, but they are tasty and safer to eat. He would have to manage them for the time being.


    He began walking to the hoverbike. It was difficult because he was still tired, but his body didn''t feel weak. His new ability was already paying dividend. It made so unless he reaches his limit, he will never feel weak.


    He might be exhausted because of theck of stamina, but he will always have strength and speed to spare. He liked that very much. It put a smile on his face as he got on his hoverbike and rode away.

 Chapter 65 Fixing Weaknesses.

    Wrath noticed that he was in a good mood, so it said, "I''ll take it that his ability was fantastic."


    Kelvin nodded. "It was."


    Kelvin was indeed happy at acquiring an alpha ability that can match omega abilities in raw power.


    Wrath asked impatiently, "Are you going to tell me about it or do I have to beg?"


    Kelvinughed. Then he decided not to keep Wrath in suspense any longer. He quickly exined the basics of the ability to the shadow spirit.


    Wrath had a lot to say about the ability. It started by correcting him. It said, "I don''t think the conversion of force is limited to speed and strength of the body. It might be possible to convert it into something else, like a forcefield on the body or for telekinesis. It might even improve abilities like invulnerability, super strength, super speed, and many more."


    Kelvin shrugged and said, "I guess we will find out when I fuse other abilities with it in the future. It will definitely enhance them then."


    Wrath was excited about the prospect. It said, "I can''t wait to see what it can be. You can fuse it with other abilities that convert the force to stamina so that you won''t get tired. Something like invincibility will go a long way for that. If you add invulnerability, your limit might be unlimited. You will be unstoppable."


    Kelvin rolled his eyes at it. "You have outdone yourself this time around. You are calling out omega abilities that I can''t acquire instead of the usual alpha abilities that I can''t acquire."


    "I can''t help it. I am just so excited to see what it can be in the future. This guy, Zain, is clearly unranked and hadn''t acquired the other abilities toplete the set, but he could already defeat F-ranks and E-ranks. He might even be able to tussel with the D ranks with his granite body and great strength. If not for his weaker body and inability to heal, you would be the dead one."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Kelvin asked with a smile, "I defeated him. Doesn''t that mean that I could tussel with D-rank before?"


    Wrath didn''t agree, "No. You could only take a beating from the D-rank at best. Your defense and endurance were high enough to take a lot of beating, and you could easily heal from the damage due to your shapeshifter ability."


    "Your might be able to survive an encounter with D-rank supers and defeat them by utilizing their weakness, but it is only now that you can match E-rank supers in strength. I reckon that you should be able to go further than that with thebination of Juggernaut''s Heart and Steel Physique."


    Kelvin nodded in agreement. F-rank supers have at least 1,000 total power ratings. This is something that only supers who have decided to advance to the professional league or exceptional amateurs can get.


    1,000 destiny is a lot of power, but that doesn''t mean F rank will always be able to defeat unranked supers. This is mainly because that 1,000 total destiny will be distributed among the many stats. Then there is the uncertain factor of abilities.


    His steel physique is a beta ability with a limit to its usefulness, but it is enough to make him capable of taking hits from more powerful foes.


    Even without it, he could already defeat F-rank supers. The first person he killed after awakening his ability was one such person.


    Her ability was a beta ability that granted her the physique of an eagle. It granted her wings and some other features of eagles, like excellent eyesight. But it also granted her hollow bones and a weak physique.


    Her massive amount of destiny also didn''t fix her weak body because she put most of it into strength and stamina. She needed the strength to life herself and the stamina in order to be able to maintain her flight.


    That''s the mostmon destiny allocation of supers with wings. They don''t need vitality has it is rare for them to be hit or hurt since they are always high up in the air. They also don''t need speed since they can escape by flying away. Unfortunately, she couldn''t use her main talent underground. This led to her quick demise.


    Steel physique has clearly improved his power, and he would be able to defeat her faster. But if he had the inorganic transformation omega ability of shapeshifters, he would be able to increase his endurance by transforming his body to diamond.


    In that case, not even the S rank will be able to defeat him easily. So power rating is not everything that can determine the oue of a battle.


    He said to Wrath, "You''re right. But I have a lot of weaknesses. Especially theck of stamina and focus. That fight didn''tst five minutes, but I was already drained. I need to fix that."


    Wrath didn''t think much of that weakness. "That''s what usually happens when you are beaten within an inch of death. You need to fix a lot of weaknesses, not just yourcking stamina. But the best thing about you is that you have potential. With it, you can fix your weaknesses. Others are stuck with their abilities, so you can''tin."


    Kelvin smiled, "What can I say? I want more abilities. I am just greedy."


    He and Wrath chatted as they rode away. They were in a good mood, but the same couldn''t be said about the information broker waiting for the oue of the pursuit.


    Someone came up to him and whispered in his ear. What he heard surprised him. He couldn''t keep his voice down as he asked, "Zain is dead? Isn''t that a little too quick?"


    He went through the information about the target again.


    It made him ask, "Didn''t my sources say he only had steel ws? I selected Zain because the boy should be of moderate threat to him. I didn''t expect that he would be able to kill Zain. Certainly not so quickly. There must be something fishy going on here."

 Chapter 66 Set Up.

    The person replied, "That''s all we have on him. It could be that hid his ability. It is highly likely since he is a new viin. The other option is that he is an E-rank or even D-rank super, but someone of that power shouldn''t take a mission for this caliber."


    The information broker drummed his fingers together as he mummured, "This is interesting. He might have an Interesting ability. I might have made a big catch this time."


    Then he said to her, "Take me to Zain."


    The convoy moved out on his orders. They passed by the wreck that Zain left on his way. The trial of destruction was not a surprise to them. It is why his death at the hands of newbie is so surprising.


    It is true that the buildings have be fragile due to the incursion, but even then, it can''t be easy to walk through them and have them fall on him and yet still wall out of the devastation unscathed.


    Zain did this, so they expected whoever killed him to be some powerhouse, not some scranny newbie. They expected to see some signs of devastation caused by his opponent too, but they didn''t see anything other than the craters formed by Zain''s feet.


    Eventually they reached the spot where the two of them had fought. They saw a lot of blood and Zain''s beheaded corpse. They almost didn''t recognize his corpse because it had changed so much.


    Not only had it shrunk, it was battered. There were cuts all over his body that were deep to the bone. Even some of his internal organs could be seen through the cuts. These internal organs had shriveled, so they were difficult to recognize too.


    All of them got out of their vehicles to surround his corpse. They were silent as one of them bent down to examine his corpse.


    It was ady wearing sses and holding a clipboard. Her examination took 4 minutes, during which she was writing down things on her clipboard.


    When she was done, she stood up to inform the group of her findings.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    She said, "Zain fought two enemies. One of them was a null while the other was the new viin with the metal ws. The null weakened him severely while the boy fought him head-on."


    "I believe that the null used a cable or rope-like weapon to tie Zain''s arm and foot. This interfered with his movements and made it easy for the boy to be able to kill him. It is also probably why Zain couldn''t escape. His speed was restricted which made it easy for the boy to gut him and behead him."


    The information broker didn''t care about Zain''s death before, but hearing this news made him angry.


    He asked in anger, "So they ganged up on him? That''s not fair. I can''t let this go."


    She reminded him, "But he passed the test."


    He shook his head. "He cheated, so I won''t ept this result. Contact him for further testing."


    She shifted her sses slightly as she said, "As you wish."


    Then she used her ability to get in touch with the electronics that she was in control of.


    While she was doing this, the rest of them burned Zain''s corpse and had a short burial ceremony for him. Then they returned to their vehicles and left.


    -----


    Kelvin finally got home. He had to burn everything he used for the mission, including his clothes, his guns, and his precious hoverbike, so as not to have anything linking him to the murder scene. He even passed through the radiation zone to throw any tracker off of his back.


    He had been sulking ever since he had to destroy his first vehicle and the guns that he loved so dearly.


    Wrath asked him, "That''s at least 600,000 dors gone to waste. How do you feel about that?"


    He replied calmly, "I''m fine."


    "Then you are a bigger man than I thought you were. I didn''t think you would be able to handle the fact that you spent all that time for nothing, didn''t get the 500,000 dor payment, and still had to burn 600,000 dors worth of stuff."


    "I know you liked that hoverbike. How much was it again? 400,000 dors? Remind me if I made a mistake. Plus the new grenadeuncher and the ammo for all your guns. Plus, your new outfit and bulletproof jacket.


    I''m sure something bulletproof and stab resistant has to be very expensive."


    Kelvin''s face twitched the more he heard of his losses. But he didn''tin. He said, "I''ll just take it as I spent 600,000 dors to acquire an alpha ability."


    Wrath corrected him, "Actually, that will be 1.1 million dors and your life. You spent that much and almost died to get the alpha ability."


    Kelvin couldn''t take it anymore. He didn''t re up, but he asked, "Why are you pouring salt in my wounds?"


    Wrath replied, "You are clearly down. I can''t be down with you. One of us has to be happy. So I have to pick on you to amuse myself."


    "Go on and amuse yourself another way. I will ignore you now."


    He decided to pay attention to Wrath anymore. Fortunately, he received a message on his terminal that gave him something to focus on.


    He looked at the message and realized that it was from the issuer of the mission for the information broker''s head. The sight of the source of the message made the ball of anger that Wrath had been stoking re up.


    "This fucker. I have a lot to say to this bum who set me up."


    He opened the message with the intention to text back a strongly worded message. But the more he read, the calmer and more solemn he got.


    "Hello, metal ws. This is your contractor speaking. I am also the information broker that you tried and failed to kill today. I put up the mission to assassinate myself. This is not a joke. I rarely joke.


    I put up the mission to set up a test."

 Chapter 67 Cheating Is Not Allowed.

    "The test is not for you to kill me or not. The mission was only bait for you to take the test. I gave you the information you had for the mission, and I came out to the burial site just for you, so I knew you wereing. So it is just right that you failed to kill me. You don''t have to worry about you failing the mission since it doesn''t impact your test."


    Kelvin continued to read the message with a single minded focus. Even Wrath was silent and focused too.


    "The true test is to see if you will escape sessfully after failing to kill me. You did, but I am not satisfied because you cheated. You were supposed to be the only one fighting Zain, but you ganged up on poor Zain with a null."


    "The null weakened him and bound his hand and foot with cables while you killed him. I can''t ept your result because of that. That is not a fair fight or a true test of your capabilities."


    This im broke their focus. They considered the usation seriously for a while. Eventually, they put everything together and figured out why the man believes he cheated.


    Kelvin snickered and said, "Maybe he doesn''t deserve to be an information broker."


    Wrath didn''t agree. "It is not his fault. He is missing an important knowledge that made hime to that conclusion. ording to his understanding, you should have only one ability. So it is easier to believe that you had helpers than to suspect that you have two abilities including an ability to remove your enemy''s ability."


    "Besides, you did cheat. You had my help."


    Thatst reason finally convinced him. He continued reading the message without the intention to take digs at the man''s professional skill.


    "I am a fair man, so I will credit you with the 500,000 dor mission payment since you managed to escape. But I will not let you go for cheating because there is a reason I set up the test and your cheating invalidates it."


    "Now you have two choices. You can contact me for another mission. It will be a test that you can''t cheat on. If youplete it, I''ll tell you why I created the test and reward you for the mission."


    "For the second option, you can refuse to admit that you cheated and refuse to take a makeup test. I will be angry because of it ande after you because of Zain''s unjust death. That will be very unpleasant."


    "I don''t even need to do much. I can just put up a 10 million dor hit on you. I assure you that that is the maximum that I will go. If you are sure you can withstand the viins that wille after you for that price, then you can refuse to take the test."


    "I am a civil man. I understand that you are in this situation because of me. That is why I am being cordial with you right now. I know you can be suspicious of my intentions, but if I wanted to truly kill you, I would have sent more than Zain after you."


    "I didn''t want to truly kill you then, and I still don''t now. Don''t make me want to truly want to kill you now. You have a month to decide. I will take it as you have refused if you don''t reply in a month. Good day."


    Kelvin reread the message and took some time to digest it. It didn''t help that Wrath was chuckling about the whole thing. The chuckling got worse when he received notification of a credit of 500,000 dors.


    He had to ask, "Is everything a joke to you?"


    Wrath couldn''t hold it in anymore. It burst outughing.


    Eventually it said, "Come on. This is funny. You almost died because of some rich guy''s hobby. Then he paid you off. You have tough."


    Kelvin refused with a frown, "No, I don''t have tough. I don''t find it funny. I almost died."


    Wrathughed harder. It took a long while for it to calm down. Then it asked, "Do you remember when you thought he was stupid for going to the burial site to honor his father? Do you still think it is stupid now?"


    "I still think it is stupid. I think this whole thing is stupid."


    It pointed at him and said, "Says the guy that was baited and almost killed for 500,000 dors."


    Then Wrath burst outughing again. Kelvin had to interrupt it, "What do you think I should do?"


    "You should see what this whole test is about."


    Kelvin frowned. Then he asked, "Are you saying that because you are curious about the test?"


    Wrath asked in return, "Are you not curious?"


    "Besides, the alternative is not pleasant. You will offend a scheming information broker who will begin investigating you and will send hordes of viins after you."


    Kelvin didn''t think it was much of a threat. He said, "They might not even be able to find me, much less kill me."


    Wrath sniggered. "Did you hear yourself? You said "might" not "won''t." It means it is possible for them to find you. If even one of them finds you, you are screwed. And you have a lot to lose if many people start snooping for information about you on the inte and everywhere."


    He did have a lot to lose if people started snooping around for him and trying to kill him. He can escape their search using his shape-shifting ability, but it will make things difficult for him. Then things will be even more difficult if his secret of having more than one ability is exposed.


    He can exin having more than one type of ability as he is not the only person in history who can use more than one type of ability either temporarily or permanently. But people like that are rare and they usually have an Omega ability, so he will certainly draw attention to himself.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 68 A Broke Villain.

    He didn''t want to believe this man or listen to Wrath, but three things convinced him to give it a chance. The first thing is that the information did have a point. That point is that only Zain was sent after him.


    It is logical to think that if the man had wanted to kill him, he would have sent more than one person to pursue him. But only Zain had pursued him.


    Wrath was almost certain of that. Unless there was someone else that is truly invisible in all wavelengths of light and more, then it was only Zain that was sent after him.


    He knows that the information broker had 50 men with him at that time. He also expects that he could spare more than one of the 50 of them. Wrath has also bragged about its ability to see dark matter and sub-spaces.


    All of these lead him to believe that the man has a point. But what truly convinced him was what Zain had said when he was dying. Zain had said it was a test and that he could go. This is the second reason why he is willing to believe the information broker.


    He is willing to ept the possibility that Zain was lying. Actually, it is highly likely that Zain was lying. After all, a dying man would say anything to survive. But it is unlikely that Zain and the information broker are telling the same lie.


    It could be a coincidence that both of them had said that the whole thing was a test, but if it is not, it would exin why only Zain came after him and why the man bothered to leave his fortress and venture into the wilds to honor his father''s grave site.


    He had called the information broker''s monthly venture outside of the city a stupid and dangerous endeavor. Now he knows that it was less dangerous than he thought. He also has reasons to believe that it might not be as stupid as he thought.


    The third reason is that he has two bad options. The first option is to ignore the information broker and gain a Hoard of unknown enemiesing after him. The second option is to deal with the information broker alone.


    The first option will bring a whole slew of problems that he can''t predict, but the information broker is an enemy he has seen before, can locate, can identify, and can target.


    While the second option is clearly dangerous, it has a lot less uncertainty. So he is willing to give the test a chance.


    He said to Wrath, "Maybe he is telling the truth. Maybe the test is real. But we just can''t believe whatever he says. We have to confirm somehow."


    Wrath shrugged and said, "Fine. Do whatever you want."


    Then it said, "At least you got something out of all of these. 500,000 dors hasn''t made up for the risk to your life, but it has reduced your loss to 100,000 dors."


    He scowled at the shadow spirit, but it didn''t stop taking digs at him. So he ignored it and made ns to do an independent investigation into the information broker.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He doesn''t n to take the man''s word without some proof. The man tricked him, so he can''t believe his words or the information he received from him, which he used to make his ns.


    So he ns to visit other information brokers for information about this particr one. He would have liked to put up an investigative mission through the terminal, but he has been burned three times by it already.


    The first time can be attributed to bad luck, and the second time can be called a coincidence. But this third time cannot be overlooked. It has proven that there is an underlying problem with the mission system. He just can''t trust it anymore.


    So he left thefort of his house to do legwork and get information from reliable sources. It is true that he had to use the terminal to find these sources, but he has very little choice in the matter.


    Fortunately, he didn''t get burned this time. He found a lot of information about the broker. He learned that the man was indeed hiding his ability. Apparently, his ability was a beta ability called Ant physique. He also learned that the man was at least D-rank.


    He learned a lot about him, but what truly stood out to him from the dossier he paid for was that the man had been leaving his house on many asions and on those asions encountered an assassination attempt.


    The frequency he leaves his house was not once a month, like he told Kelvin. He might not leave his house at all in a month, or he might leave up to three times. But each time, someone would try to kill him.


    Most of those who tried to kill him died, but some escaped and are still alive. These lucky few are also very strong or good at escaping.


    The dossier on the information broker was enlightening, but it came at a cost of 500,000 dors. So he had to spend his recent paycheck on it.


    The loss of that kind of money filled him with pain and heartache as he was reading the dossier. He made sure to go through every word and not miss anything so as to get his money''s worth.


    Eventually he decided to text back the information broker. He wrote, "I''m in."


    Wrath encoraged him by the side, "This is a good decision. It is good¡ªif only for the fact that you need the money. I believe that you are broke and beggers can''t be choosers, so you can''t be picky about this."


    He was indeed broke. He had less than 50,000 dors on him. That is a lot of money to him, but Wrath won''t let him be content with it. It has to remind him every time that he is not rich.


    He just shook his head and gritted his teeth at Wrath''sments. It is the only thing he can do because he can''t do anything to the shadow spirit. He can''t even touch it. So the shadow spirit can mouth off however much it wants.


    He was beginning to suspect that maybe the death of the previous wielders of the ring of paragon was not a mistake. After all, there is one thing in particr that they all have inmon.


    ------


    A/N: It is bad when you''re broke. But it bes worse when there''s someone there to constantly remind you.

 Chapter 69 Bounty Hunter.

    Maybe that thing they have inmon pushed them to death. Or maybe it pushed to them suicide. He was seriously considering thatst possibility as Wrath droned on.


    He pretended that he couldn''t hear the shadow spirit, but he was very grateful when the reply from the information broker arrived. It distracted Wrath enough to stop it from speaking.


    "I am pleasantly surprised that you have gotten back to me so soon. I trust you have done your due intelligence to investigate me. I would be disappointed in you if you haven''t."


    "It doesn''t matter anyway. My opinion of you is my matter, not yours. What matters is that you have decided to take the test. That is a good decision. I will forward you the details of your next mission. You have a month toplete it.


    I hope you will not disappoint me."


    The details arrived soon after. He is to destroy a human farm and kill everyone that tries to stop him. The human farm is right here in the city, so it is a wealthy establishment. They have a lot of nts too and are heavily guarded.


    Human nts are supers with the ability to regenerate organs. They are kept in captivity, and their organs are harvested regrly for sale.


    Sometimes their flesh is also harvested for clients with particr tastes or requirements. Not every client eats the flesh they buy. Sometimes they feed it to their summons or use them to produce stuff like drugs, as with Blue Crystal''s case.


    It goes without saying that most of them human nts are not at this facility voluntarily. Most of them are restricted in many ways be it physical, biological, or mental shackles to prevent them from escaping. They even dose them with narcotics to make sure that they won''t even think of escaping.


    He doesn''t care about the ethics of the mission. All he cares about is getting the job done and how to go about achieving it.


    For now, the objective is clear. He is to kill and destroy. He is not a stranger to this kind of mission. But he had to read certain parts of the details again to make sure he wasn''t mistaken because he saw something unexpected in it.


    It turned out that the mission is not straightforward, as he would have help with it. It is also not the kind of help he could have guessed. There''s just no way he could have guessed that the city police force will be the one helping him.


    Apparently, this particr farm has offended the police force. This is not the first time they would be doing so, but they kidnapped someone that they shouldn''t for their farm. The police won''t have any of it this time around and have decided to put an end to the human farm.


    The police force can''t do this themselves because they don''t have jurisdiction in District 666. This ismon knowledge. Many wars had been fought between the police force, the heroes of the city, and the viins of District 666. So they need someone to do the job for them.


    He knows this, but he still finds the mission unbelievable. So he texted back, "Is this mission urate?"


    The reply came quickly. "It is. You can get in touch with the police force yourself to check their bounty list. They are your employers for this mission. I just want to use the mission to test you. They will pay."


    He did immediately. He was not disappointed. There was indeed a mission to destroy a human farm on their website. It was a bounty worth 10 million dors.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    His eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw this. He didn''t believe what he saw.


    He muttered, "This can''t be real. Maybe there is a mistake on the website."


    He decided to check other bounties on their bounty lists instead of searching directly for the human farm one. This meant he had to go through a long list, which would be boring to read at any other time, but this time he was very interested.


    He found that there were indeed a lot of missions with a high reward. The 10 million was not an exception. In fact, it was in the lower portion of the rewards.


    Wrath said to him, "It seems you have been sessfully tempted. Maybe you should be a bounty hunter."


    He snorted and said, "You are speaking as if their money will be easy to earn. I might have to give up an arm and leg to get that 10 million. I know I did for the 500,000 dors I just earned. I don''t think I have it in me for another round."


    He said that, but he was indeed interested. The main reason he was interested is because they made the information about the mission avable for everyone at the click of a button. And this mission appeared to be reliable. That is a quality he hase to appreciate due to recent events.


    What they made avable is wasn''t everything to know about the target such as theyout of the buildings, but there was key information about the target''s identities, current location or ce of residence, and their abilities.


    This way, anyone who sees these criminals anywhere will be able to tip off the police force or actually kill them for the bounty. He would like to believe that the police didn''t lie about this information since they appear to be desperate and have a lot to gain. Besides, if he can''t trust the police force, there''s no one else he can trust.


    Their information was also straightforward and open. For example, for the human farm bounty, he was given the reason why the reward was so high. The mission didn''t corrte to the power level of the criminals. Their power is important, but it is the crimes they havemitted that truly determine the price tag for their heads.

 Chapter 70 No Cheating Possible.

    This is especially clear in the fact that most of the people working in the human farms are amplifiers and nulls. They can be taken out with a gun. They are not that dangerous. But they have offended the police force several times.


    The only one truly dangerous among them is a weapon-ss super who is their boss. This woman has rigged everywhere in the building with turrets.


    The amplification she receives from her numerous subordinates has enhanced her to the point that the building has be a death trap. Anyone that enters must be able to weather through a literal hail of flying ammunition.


    What raised the difficulty of the mission further is that guns can''t be used to fight her because she can control guns. So anyone who wants to take her down must do so with only their abilities.


    But if they are unlucky to be hit with a null ability and have their power or ability weakened, the boss will be extra deadly, and they can forget about leaving alive.


    This information exined why the information broker said that he wouldn''t be able to cheat. It is because this boss is not afraid of a group of people besieging her. She will gun down ten people as easily as gunning down one person.


    He should be discouraged, but he was tempted by the mission when he read what it entailed.


    He said to Wrath, "Maybe this mission is not so bad."


    "It doesn''t look bad. It doesn''t look bad at all."


    Wrath began to chuckle evilly. It matched the devious grin on Kelvin''s face. The pair were already thinking about the reward at the end of the mission. It made them giddy with anticipation.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Kelvin decided to get in contact with the police force, as they were willing to help him as long as he confirmed that he was sent by the information broker.


    He doesn''t need them, but he was tempted by the fact that they would help him with guns and other explosive ammunition. He is currently too broke to outfit himself with guns. While he might not need them, it is important to prepare so as not to be caught off guard.


    As for the things he truly needed, they were the information on the website and his abilities. The information was good. It made him know who to avoid making contact with and who to kill at the slightest chance.


    ording to the information, the nulls in the human farm are used to weaken kidnapped supers and make it easier to control them. The nulls are the main guard force of the human farm, and he must avoid physical contact with them at all costs.


    They are not that deadly, as they can''t stop an ability from workingpletely. They can only weaken its power, make it slower to activate, or increase the consumption of stamina and focus for the use of the abilities.


    Most of them can also weaken other aspects of his body like speed, strength, and physical defense, so he shouldn''t let them touch him at all. If possible, he should kill them quickly.


    The next obstacle are the amplifiers. They are used to enhance the regeneration of the human nts. This way they can double or even triple their production output. But they can also enhance their boss and make her more deadly.


    It was rmended to kill them on sight. It should be easy, as they are powerless themselves. But it will have to go through their boss to do that. So it will be very difficult.


    The information was detailed about their abilities, and there were even helpful suggestions about how to neutralize the obstacles. It was different from what he was used to.


    They even provided the ns and oues of others who have tried to take down the human farm. A lot of people had the same n as him. They used guns to kill whoever they encountered before the boss arrived.


    It was a good n as they were able to eliminate the nulls and other guards they encountered without risk. The guns didn''t turn against them since they hadn''t met their boss yet.


    They also nned to detonate the guns as soon as the bosses out to face them. That way, the guns also serve as explosives.


    Unfortunately, there was a slight hitch in their ns. That hitch is that the boss doesn''t need to appear to kill them. Every turret in the building is under her remote control.


    She can control the turrets while being safe and hidden somewhere in the building. If they want to kill her, they will have to search her while being obstructed by explosives and gunfire.


    This has stumped many people. But Kelvin is confident in sess because of Juggernaut''s Heart and Steel Physique. Those two abilities make it so that he is not afraid of gunfire.


    He can already take a beating with Steel Physique, but with the two of thembined, gunfire will actually make him more powerful, not bring him down. He just has to make some slight tweaks to his n to make it fool proof.


    He went to meet the police force immediately. He wanted more information, many guns, and a lot of bombs.


    They were very surprised by his request. The first two were normal, but thest one hinted at a stupid idea. But Kelvin didn''t back down.


    He got the idea from those who tried to use poison to gas the human farm. Unfortunately, it required that they gain ess to the base and leave it safely. They were not able to do so, but he can.


    However, he is not going to use poisonous gas because he is not immune to it. Besides, gas will be too slow. So he sought a more explosive alternative.


    The police force refused to give him what he wanted without an exnation. They wanted to know his n, so he had to exin to them that he needed something fast-acting that would take his enemies by surprise and eliminate them all at once.

 Chapter 71 Growing Dislike.

    They eventually agreed with his n and decided to gave him what he could use to achieve it, but it wasn''t a thermal bomb. It was an electroshock shock. It would fry the circuits of anything using electricity, including the nervous system of humans.


    Any human but by it would be paralyzed for a short while. That''s for the truly strong individuals. As for those who are weak, it will fry their brain and kill them.


    They gave him this alternative because they don''t want his bomb to bring down the building. They don''t want to pay for the whole building, and they also don''t want to kill the human nts.


    They intend to rescue the human nts. ording to their investigations, the electroshock bomb won''t kill them because of their regenerative ability. They should only be paralyzed while the guards are rendered catatonic and the turrets are fried.


    There is only one catch with this n. He has to bring the electroshock bomb to the center of the human farm. It is also best that he plugs it into the power supply. Then he has to leave the human farm in less than a minute.


    This catch is why many people don''t want to do the mission despite the doubling of the mission reward. If they don''t leave quickly, they will be fried along with the others.


    They might not even be able to reach the center of the human farm. Many have tried and failed. Even if they do, they would have to go through the turrets again if they wanted to leave.


    Kelvin was willing to be their suicide bomber. He is confident of leaving, so the reward of 10 million dors was particrly tempting. But he still insisted on getting guns. They had to be excellent guns too.


    He also got a bulletproof vest, a methrower, sh-resistant and fire-resistant clothes. He wanted to get a hoverbike or something more, but they refused. They imed he didn''t need a vehicle for the mission, so they were not going to give them to him.


    Eventually he finished his preparations and was driven to the site in a hired vehicle. It was his normal mode of transportation, but he didn''t like it all.


    He had be used to his hoverbike. But he didn''tin about this "unjust treatment" since they had already done well enough and he would be able to buy a new hoverbike after the mission.


    The handler beside him instructed him again, "You know the mission. Go in. Reach the center. Plug it in. Leave before one minute. Then get your money."


    Kelvin asked with irritation, "How many times are you going to repeat that? I am not stupid. I got it after the third time."


    She frowned and said, "That''s what you always say. But then you deviate. You viins are not reliable."


    He asked her, "If you are so reliable, why don''t you go in and do it yourself?"


    She replied haughtily, "I can''t do it. I know that and admit to it. So I won''t waste my life and the resources of the city by attempting it. You, on the other hand, might be in over your head."


    Kelvin didn''t like her. He didn''t like her right from the first moment they met. What she just said and how she was arrogant about it only increased his dislike of her.


    He decided to ignore her for the rest of the ride. But she wouldn''t let him.


    She asked again, "Are you sure you don''t want any monitoring attachments? With it, we will be able to monitor your mission progress and provide real-time guidance."


    He ignored her question. This is not the first time she will be asking, and it is not the second time either. In fact, it is not the third time. He had rejected her suggestions those three times, so she is either stupid, deaf, memory impaired, or in stubborn for her to ask him for the sixth time.


    He doesn''t care why anymore. He just ignored her. She didn''t like it. She frowned and stared daggers at him. She did so until they reached their destination.


    He got out of the vehicle quickly and practically ran towards the skyscraper in order to get away from her.


    Wrath teased him, "I think she likes you."


    He snorted. "I was this close to killing her. This close."


    He showed Wrath just how close he was with his fingers. The space between them was indeed very close. It made Wrathugh.


    "Don''t be like that. I''ve heard that human mating rituals can be frustrating. It only means the emotional reward will be high."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He shook his head and said, "If I spend anymore time with her, I might kill her. I don''t want to get into trouble with the police force, so I better avoid her."


    Wrath chuckled, but the driver and the officer didn''t think what he said was funny. They heard him talking to himself about how close he was to killing her.


    She said, "O dear god, we are doomed."


    This is not the first time he will be talking to an invisible person. She had been against sending such a mentally unstable person to their death.


    She is still against it because she felt it was a crime to use retards as suicide bombers. But her superiors said that he had been vouched for. So she can only pray that he fails to enter the human farmpletely instead of being torn to shred by a hail of bullets.


    Wrath pointed something out to him, "You have microphones, cameras, and trackers on your new bulletproof vest. This is why you should not take handouts. They usuallye with unknown attachments."


    Kelvin didn''t know that. It actually didn''t cross his mind that they would go behind his back and install the attachments that he had rejected so many times.


    Not that he trusted them. He had inspected the bulletproof vest when it was given to him, but he didn''t find anything out of ce with it.


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