11Disclaimer: all characters and mentioned universes belong to their respective owners and/or creators.
This is a work of fiction.
'Italics means he is talking to himself /inner voice'
"inverted commas" means a normal conversation.
"different languages" means speaking in a foreign language.
HE WHO WON
In the spectacularly furnished room of a towering mansion a man sat comfortably on his couch. The couch was of such a quality that he sank into the soft cushion, he had a mirthful content smile on his face as he quietly enjoyed his movie, playing on a 56" plasma curved screen TV. The man was John Mark Samson the third.
Mark couldn't be any happier with his life. He was at the very pinnacle of success and at such a young age, of course it didn't come easy, but what really ever did. Mark knew true poverty, Mark knew the meaning of suffering because you see, Mark was a rejected child.
An elderly couple found him on a rainy night when they spotted a young woman throw a crying baby into a bin. They took him in and raised him like he was theirs but they were old, they didn't survive long. Mark became an orphan at the age of 9. Mark saw the true faces of humans, Mark saw the darkness that lingered in human hearts during those years he spent living on the streets. The only thing he ever thanked God for, when he acknowledged one, was the common sense he was given. Mark spent every hour of his life planning for his future. He did things that left him traumatized, he did things that made sure a place in hell was secured for him. But he accepted that it was all he had to do to survive.
He topped his academics, not because he was blessed. No, Mark was never blessed. He wasn't a genius, he was particularly slow when it came to books, but he overcame that weakness through sheer will and unimaginable hard work. He rose from grass to grace through his very own hands. From the slums, from unimaginable adversities, from situations where moving forward was impossible, past insane odds. Mark succeeded. He achieved his goals. He reached the pinnacle.
He turned his handicaps into assets.
And as Mark sat here before his TV he was millions of dollars richer than he was a week ago.
He had enough money to sustain a lavish lifestyle, ten lifetimes over. He was satisfied. He didn't have to work anymore, he had everything he wanted here with him. He didn't need to leave the confines of his beautiful home for nothing. He didn't have to interact with people, he didn't want to anymore, in his terms he could live as a 'fucking rich neet'. He didn't care for anything else. He had all he needed, ranging from sustenance and health care to entertainments. If he wanted to fuck, all he had to do was make a call, but that was if he even wanted to. One thing mark needed not hide anymore, was his apathy towards others. He lost trust in people during his early years, trust would only come back to bite you in the ass, he always told himself after what he went through.
Mark was enjoying his movie.
Ding! An ad popped up on his TV. This wasn't the first time an ad had popped up when he was online streaming, but this time it was different. The ad was strange and its contents were even stranger.
[Do you want a chance at acquiring true power? Do you want a chance at becoming something greater?
Yes/No]
"Nope, I am awesomely satisfied with my life. So if this is one of those choose and disappear type of shit, please I am not interested" Mark, was playful sometimes. But he was genre aware, and he has read and seen works of fiction. In fact it was one of his favorite past times. But what happened next was something he never saw coming.
[You should've taken the 'Yes' option, little shit] Mark disappeared, and so did his home. It all vanished into thin air. All records in the world that once held proof of his existence was similarly removed from existence.
Be me. Just sitting around minding my own business. No one to bother me and I bothered no one. My life was great and I was just beginning to enjoy myself. When the next thing I know, I'm in an endless white space. I was absolutely terrified, and then angry and then stupefied. Terrified because I didn't know what to expect next, angry because my life was disrupted and stupefied because I was in a supernatural setting. I've read fictional works about these exact scenarios. And I laughed at it, but look at me now.
"What did I ever do to you?" I asked the formless being before me.
YOU SHOULD HAVE CHOSEN YES WHEN I GAVE YOU THE CHANCE. YOU'RE THE FIRST AND ONLY ONE TO DO THAT.
I heard it's voice in my being. Not through words but something deeper.
"I know I should ask who you are, but I presume I don't deserve to know that right?" I was calm. Panicking wouldn't get me anywhere.
"What do you want with me." I asked instead.
MORTAL. YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND It. WHAT YOU WILL GAIN HOWEVER, WILL HELP YOU EVOLVE.
"But I don't want to evolve. I just want to sit in my house and watch my TV. I had everything I ever wanted. Please, just let me go back. I'm sure there miserable people back on earth who'd take this chance at a pindrop." I tried to present another option at it.
HAH! CEASE YOUR MEANINGLESS THOUGHTS. QUIET.
I lost all means of making speech. It was simply disabled. I was like a TV on mute.
This wasn't a story. These higher beings aren't benevolent, they don't offer you second chances from the goodness of their nonexistent hearts. These beings are truly apathetic. Before it I was just a lab rat.
NO, YOU'RE NOT. BEING A LABRAT WOULD MEAN THAT YOU'RE SPECIAL, DON'T THINK YOU'RE SPECIAL IN ANY WAY. YOU'RE EVEN LESS THAN AN ANT BEFORE ME.
YOU WERE JUST CHOSEN AT RANDOM, IN ALL THE INFINITE REALITIES, THE ARROW POINTED AT YOU IN RANDOM. YOU'RE NOT IMPORTANT, NEITHER ARE YOU SPECIAL. YOU'RE JUST MY EXPERIMENT.
PROVE TO ME THAT YOU'RE WORTHY OF A HIGHER STATUS. SHOW ME YOUR SALT, CONQUER AND ASCEND. MEET ME AT THE PINNACLE
What a life I live. After everything I did to get to where I was and now poof all of it gone.
DO NOT WORRY, YOU'LL REMEMBER NONE OF THIS.
My vision turned dark
"Hmm" I woke up in a different place. That doesn't sound descriptive enough. I was in my home a moment ago, when an ad appeared on my TV. I clicked the 'No' option and now I was here. I specifically chose 'No', why was I here? And here seemed to be the inside of a very advanced jet. Judging from what I could see.
"Rise and shine boys" my head whipped to the side. A man with a bear like figure had a cigar in his mouth and a truly wicked smile on his lips. "Hmm, five people, not bad" he muttered. This was familiar somehow, this situation was very familiar to a work of fiction I had read. I gazed around the vehicle and noticed that, five other people appeared out of thin air. They seemed as shocked as I was at first, and I could see them beginning to get nervous. This was a very familiar scenario. I wasn't kidnapped, no, my homes' defences were top of the line. This wasn't a hallucination, neither was it an illusion, all five senses of mine were perfectly functional. I looked around and observed all four people. There was a middle aged man with a hardened look. A young adult with glasses maybe the same age as I was, but he looked to be a college student. A lady in office wear and heels and then a teenager, most likely a high schooler.
"Listen here, we don't have much time" The man tossed away his cigar "First, don't ask me any questions. Second, I don't give two shits about you or if you survive, I'm just doing this for the points. Third, don't interrupt me. You've all been chosen by a higher being to participate in its game. A-"
"What? Listen here bastard, you better tell me what the fuck you've done, or I swear to God I'll shove my foot up your ragged ass" The middle aged man angrily spoke up to the cigar man, interrupting him.
I clearly saw a gun appear out of thin air in the cigar-guy's hand. He pointed at the middle aged man and pulled the trigger.
Bang! "Arghh!" the middle aged man screamed as his kneecap was shot off.
"As I was saying, an information download should occur right about now."
A warm stream flowed into my mind and with it came knowledge of where I was and why I was here. This was a game created and overseen by a higher being. And it picked people at random to be transported into a different dimension where you'll have to complete mission objectives to survive and grow stronger. This was bulshit, this was a lazy fucking work of fiction. How could this be happening to me? After everything I've done to be satisfied with my life?! I didn't even pick the 'Yes' option! Calm down, cool it. 'Logic over panic'. I took a deep breath and successfully calmed my emotions. It would do me no good in trying to find answers if I was agitated.
"You can all see the mission directive by mentally calling out for it. You should also be able to see the rules listed there as well as tasks."
'Mission' I called out mentally.
[Mission world : The Avengers.
Prime Directives: 1000 points
the Invasion.
Bonus objectives -
Aide the avengers- Kill the Chitauri.
2 points = single chitauri soldier.
10 points = Chitauri glider.
500 points = Leviathan.
Warning! Failure to complete prime objective will result in death]
"You can't kill newbies or teammates as that would result in point deductions. Hence why I can't put this waste of space out of his misery." he kicked the downed man. "But I can make you suffer."
"You can't leave the plot specific areas, neither can you kill plot specific characters, if you do then you'll die. The countdown timer is self explanatory—duration of the mission. The 1000 points are the base points for surviving a mission and the rest you can see for yourselves. Oh, for those of you that have loose mouths, if you do tell others about the plot progression you will be terminated."
As he spoke I browsed through the rules before me, verifying his words. But there was something different with my mission directives and none of them could see it.
"The points are what we use as currencies. You can obtain anything with enough points even your freedom. For those of you that survive, you'll receive sufficient information upon reaching the safe-area"
The vehicle we were in shook heavily and took a rapid downward dive. The scraping sound of metal against asphalt rang through the interior of the vehicle, the doors opened to a clear view of new york. But not the one I knew. This one had a towering skyscraper with the word Stark written across it. And if thought this was all a vivid dream before, I clearly knew it wasn't now. Flying gliders with humanoid aliens, littered the skies above us. The screams of running civilians filled the surroundings, the dropping debris squashing unsuspecting people who ran for their lives. I noticed the guy with glasses had a manic smile on his face as did the cigar guy. "You guys are exceptionally lucky" the cigar guy said.
"Shield operatives, over here!" Natasha Romanoff ordered. A woman with red hair in black leather-like full body wear called out to us. I was seeing not only an actress but her actual character.
"Don't get left behind"Cigar guy said before running off with the others in tow. "No! Don't leave me, please!" the middle aged man screamed.
This wasn't a game, people would actually die here, and I didn't want to die like this. Oblivious to circumstance. I already knew my mission directives, it would be safer for me to follow the others, but….I had another way.
"Let me help you" I said to the middle aged man. The others already long gone. "Thank you" he sincerely gave me his thanks. I held his arm over my shoulder and took a different direction.
"Where are we going? We should follow them" He pointed out.
"Don't worry sir, I'm just getting you to safety" he looked very grateful after I said that. I took him towards a deserted road littered with broken cars and debris. Reaching a fairly safe spot I set him down. "Ugh" he grunted
"Let me see your leg" I offered.
"You a doc?" he asked.
"Nope, just a guy good at stitching himself up" I answered shortly
He was wounded pretty bad, no, he was crippled. There was no way for him to function properly again, making what I was about to do easier.
"Arghh!" he screamed in agony when I dug my thumb past the raw flesh of his injured knee. I slammed the rock I had grabbed down on to his exposed head. His skull cracking with the first hit, his eyes turning bloodshot, a trickle of blood flowed down his nose. I slammed down the rock again until it broke the skin barrier of his head, dying it red.
[1000 points, awarded. ] a notification appeared before my sight.
"One down" I said breathing out to calm myself. Don't judge me, I'm not a psycho. It's me or them. And I'm very selfish. No, this wasn't my first time killing. But this was my first time killing someone who did nothing to me. And it felt…the same.
…
Upon carefully making my way around the area, hiding from Chitauri soldiers I came across, I finally found an isolated cop in a deserted section of the roads.
"Officer help!" I shouted running towards the cop. He strapped down his gun and gestured for me to calm down. I bent down pretending to breath hard, and when he came forward to tap my back. "It's alright sir, you have to come this wa-urgh!" he choked on the metal rod I stabbed through his throat to the base of his skull. Blood spraying out from severed arteries, and veins that lined his neck. He fell flat on the ground, dead. Sigh I'm not a psycho. This is all needed for me to survive, I don't enjoy doing it. And since I didn't get any notifications, it must mean that he wasn't a plot central character.
I liberated the gun from the man's side. It was a sig and saucer standard police issue. I searched through his wrecked car for anything useful, finding a spare loaded clip for the weapon. I secured the loot to my side and returned to the fighting field.
….
I wasn't a crack shot, I'm the type of guy to score 6 out of ten shots. And that's if the targets are stationary, I'm not some kind of a super combat genius. So far I'd been sneak killing all my targets, so don't expect me to be a master martial artist that destroys his opponents , this isn't a story this is reality. The only thing I truly have is common sense.
I emptied the clip into the downed reptilian alien. This was the first Chitauri soldier I actually managed to kill. And I already emptied a clip. I received the notification of the point I gained. I pulled the blaster from its arm and test fired it.
Pew! A purple bolt of energy exited the weapon. The kickback rattling my arm. It was a good enough weapon. A glider dropped from the sky and with it, Chitauri. I opened fire on the shaken infantrymen, turning them into smoking corpses. I walked to the glider and grabbed more Chitauri accessories. Receiving messages of points gained. I began hunting Chitauri, making sure I was always on the move. I didn't give them time to notice my actions. Hiding and sniping to the best of my abilities. But in the back of my mind I wondered if this was all still a dream. This was just too unbelievable.
….
The climax of the movie seemed to have begun as waves of Chitauri fleet consisting of infantry, gliders and leviathans poured out of the portal above the stark tower. I carefully climbed the endless stairs of the rumbling building.
I heard a roar that shook the very foundations of the skyscraper. My heart beat faster than it ever did.
"Rawwrrggh!" Bam! bam! Something was being repeatedly slammed on the floor above me. "puny god" a deep and heavy voice sounded out. I sneaked to the entrance of the now quiet room and looked through the crack of the doors. Loki laid in a crater, beaten and abused. The green mass of pure muscles jumped out of the building through the broken glass walls.
I slowly and steadily approached the fallen Loki. He was truly broken and battered, his arm was bent in a way it shouldn't have. His body sunken deep into the crater that held his wrongly bent spine together. His breaths labored and slow.
He noticed me. His eyes gazed at me with clear disgust and hatred but there was a hint of fear in there. I know because I've seen it before.
Im sure this is the part where the mc begins monologuing, talking about how the villain's flaws and all that. My life wasn't a game.
I pulled out the loaded gun I carried and pointed it at Loki's eyes which widened in terror.
Blem! Blem! blem! Blem! Blem! Blem! Blem! Blem! Blem! Blem! Blem! Blem! Click-click
I emptied the clip into in his head, I took no chances. I shot till bullets were spat out the back of his skull. I shot till I could see through the blood soaked floors. I shot till I heard a notification.
[Discovered hidden bonus objective ~ Kill a hidden boss.
15,000 points, A-rank reward - Awarded]
I had deduced that if there were bonus directives, then there should be hidden ones as well. And who else but Loki to test it on. Of course, if I had been wrong then the deducted points would render me effectively terminated. Loki was a plot centric character, but not a 'hero' or a protagonist here in this movie.
I quickly left through the doors I entered, bolting down the stairs almost killing myself in the process. Thor is going to kill me when he finds out.
…
Two of the five mission individuals seemed to have died, the guy in glasses and the office lady, I saw their shot mangled bodies littered next to fallen Chitauri soldiers. Leaving the teenager who was also holding on to a blaster and the cigar guy who held two pistols. They stood in close proximity to the grounded avengers, shooting at the encroaching Chitauri soldiers.
"Haha, kid you're alive" the cigar guy laughed. "Guess you were smart enough to abandon the fool" even as he spoke he shot down the Chitauri with amazing precision. His gun seemed to have an infinite number of bullets.
The teenager nodded at me and went back to firing, but I could see his hands shaking in fear. He was just a child, fighting a man's war. "Stay strong kid, we've only gotta spend five more minutes and we're done" the cigar guy patted the teen's shoulder and ran ahead mowing down alien infantry. I looked at the clock and confirmed it. Meaning I didn't have much time, I had to complete the mission or die. What mission? This one.
[Unique directive - Make sure all team members are eliminated. 1000 points awarded per personal kill.
Warning! Failure to complete special objective will result in your immediate demise. ]
We got moving, following the cigar guy when a shadow was casted above us.
"Rraawhh" only one being could make such a sound.
Hulk smashed down the flying leviathan, the titanic sized beast rapidly falling towards us, it's shadow already eclipsing us.
I ran as hard as I could with the teen next to me. I found an exit, in the form of a narrow alley and jumped into it. The teen tried following me. My blaster was already pointed at his defenseles form.
Pew! The blast tore through his body, the impact force driving him back under the belly of the falling beast. [1000 points awarded] the notification coming in.
But what I didn't expect was the cigar guy appearing out of literal thin air.
"So you're the bastard" he said with an amused tone. Since I was found out there was no use hiding anymore.
I shot energy bolts at him in rapid fire, he dodged with inhuman reflexes. Shooting a single bullet that grazed my shoulder.
"Run" he said. And run I did. Bullets causing Sparks upon hitting the asphalt the cigar guy laughed at me. I turned around to fire another barrage of bullets at him, he dodged and took cover behind a car. "I'm coming for you boy. Nice and slow" he said with more blatant amusement in his voice. I turned around to run, but fell. Causing him to laugh harder.
Easily picking myself back up I began running again.
I heard his Footsteps but I couldn't see him. "Hahaha" I heard his laughter.
Boom! "Fuck!" he screamed in anger and agony. I had planted a Chitauri timed bomb in a hidden crevice when I pretended to fall. I banked on him not being alert enough due to the fun he was having hunting me.
The explosion mangled his arm and feet, and burnt the left side of his body to a crisp. "Haha! Kid you're fucked now" I felt a dangerous premonition as the air turned chilly. The cigar man was changing, silver fur began growing on his cracked skin. His arms and legs expanding and morphing into digitrade limbs, his face turned into one of a canine, his mouth morphing into a snout. I ran harder than I had ever run, while he was grunting in pain.
"Awooo!" I heard a wolf howl, I turned to see the gigantic towering figure of a wolf that just stared back me, it's mouth dripping with saliva.
The werewolf took a leap and covered such a great distance, it looked like flying. I threw all the bombs I had on me setting them to instantly explode. But the monster came through the sea of fire unscathed. I threw away my blaster to lessen my weight and I ran. Taking sharp curves through alleys, jumping over rubble and broken cars. The monster's claws tore through it all.
"HELP! Captain Sir! It's an Alien!" I screamed at captain America who stood holding his side next to Thor.
Yes, I was leading it here all along. The werewolf, howled in more anger at being tricked and it sped up, I could almost feel its breath on my next. It's claws about to grab my neck.
"By Odin's beard"I heard Thor exclaim.
Crunch a colored disc flew past my ear and then through the beast's fingers. Its howl of pain and fury silenced by a wet squelch of Thor's hammer pounding on the monster's head.
After the award alert I another notification.
[You will be transported to the safe spot in 5 seconds]
Woonn Mjolnir cut through the air and went back into Thor's grasp.
"Thank you, Captain sir" I saluted almost short of breath, my lungs burned from the overexertion, my clothes soaked wet in sweat. "Please allow me to get it for you" I gave him no time to reject, and hurriedly walked towards his fallen shield and picked it up.
"My pleasure soldier" he nodded with a smile.
And I smiled back, nay, smirked.
[Transported in..3...2...1]
[2000 points, D-rank reward will be deducted to retain Captain America's shield. Y/N ]
"Yes" I accepted. My A rank reward was broken down into smaller rewards, and then the D ranked reward was deducted as well as the points.
And the shield materialized in my hands. To be honest, it was totally unexpected getting the shield this way. But it was much appreciated. I turned around to observe the safe area.
An orb of light appeared before me. And with it, information I've been meaning to know. This safepoint was now my home, if I ever wanted to permanently return to the real world, I'd have to spend 1,000,000 points to return with any enhancement I acquire. The safe point looked like a person with ocd's heaven on earth. It was absolutely white in Colour, everything was pure and unsullied. Ten milky like portals were lined on one side. Those portals led to a room, which was customizable to your imaginations content.
I chose portal number 7 and walked through it. A simple living cube was presented before me. I imagined my TV and it appeared in the room fully functional. 'Maybe it's not so bad'. I imagined my mansion down to every detail I could remember, and the room expanded like an origami. It morphed into my house with the gardens and even the gates. I felt the soft sensation of grass as I walked on it. I entered my mansion and it was the same as I remembered, down to the tiniest detail. Even my wardrobe and all the clothes it held appeared. I set the shield down. I was going to take a shit and then a warm shower.
…..
After getting sufficient rest, I learned more of my situation. I was never going to be allowed to form teams with other transported individuals. It was a unique condition that only applied to me, reason being because I chose the 'No' option. I deadpanned at the orb, that was a very flimsy reason. But who do I complain to?
I could use my points to purchase anything I wanted, ranging from skills to items to weapons, and then enhancements.
Skills had requirements for learning them, and they occupied skill slots, but that's for bought skills. There aren't any limits on self taught or acquired skills.
A screen with my current stats was shown along with enhancements.
Level E.
Strength 1.4
Agility - 1.3
Vitality - 1.5
Intelligence - 1.70
Acquired rewards ~ 17,032 points. Two B-rank rewards, Two C-rank rewards. Two D-rank rewards.
Genetic points ~ 0.000.
Skill slots - all empty. 4 remaining.
Information filled my head on each attribute and its corresponding effect. Levels determined your ranking, ranking determined the treatment you received and the options of resources you had access to.
Strength had to deal with the physical might of an individual.
Agility determined movement speed and accuracy as well as reflexes and reaction times.
Vitality had to do with the constitution, sturdiness and regeneration of the body. Meaning a form of healing factor.
And intelligence was a measure of a character's problem-solving ability, comprehension and intellect.
An average human had between 0.8 to 1.1 in stats. Trained athletes and extraordinary people had 1.3 to 1.9 stats.
Genetic points, were needed when trying to acquire enhancements that contained 'Bloodlines'. Two thousand points = 1 genetic point. That was the conversion rate.
Enhancements were permanent. And you could only choose them once. Unless you upgraded your level rank to A, would you have another chance at purchasing enhancements. 'Bloodlines' needed genetic points as well as regular points to purchase them.
Such as these:
[
Anthony Stark A-rank reward 29,000 points. 4gp
Antonio Stark A-rank reward 20,000 points. 6gp
Rick Sanchez SS+ rank reward 600,000 points. 20gp
The Hulk S-rank reward, 20,000 points 10gp.
Spider-Man A - rank reward 28,000 points. 5gp.
Speed Force S+ reward 400,000 points 2gp
Superman - SS rank reward, 500,000 points. 95gp.
Captain America - A-rank reward, 30,000 points. 2gp
Sorcerer Supreme S rank reward, 500,000 points. 70gp.
]
The descriptions of abilities weren't listed.
I'm not really that much into anime, so I chose to look up the ones I knew of.
Enhancements evolved the more skilled the user became or the stronger they grew. I, as of now couldn't afford a single one of these enhancements. And I didn't even have genetic points. Which were more expensive than actual points. The higher the genetic points an enhancement cost, the more miraculous the changes it would cause to the body.
While I was looking through the enhancements. The orb grew brighter.
[As a consideration to your unique situation of being forever unable to recruit team members, you have been granted a one time only, ten second super discount on A-rank reward section and lower enhancement purchase!
Countdown begins now….10...9..8]
'Fuck fuck fuck!' I mentally screamed going through the list again. The enhancements prices were significantly reduced and the gp requirements removed.
I scanned through the list at the speed of light, while running calculations in my head. I found so many enhancements, that I nearly got lost. The ten second time constraint really was a sick joke.
"Antonio Stark B-rank reward. 10,000. points.
Quicksilver mutation B-rank reward. 5,000 points.
High level Chi Energy C-rank reward. 900 points.
Pure Holy Energy C-rank reward. 600 points.
Warning! Enhancement combination will have unexpected results.
Continue with procedure?"
"Yes, continue" I quickly answered. Damn it! Would be so bad to just wish for more time.
[5...4....3...2..]
[Are you sure?] This orb was trying to foil my damn enhancements.
"Yes! A 110% sure! Proceed!"
"Enhancements purchased, application procedure commencing"
[..1 Discount duration ended]
I was expecting a warm stream of light or something similar to that. What I got instead was a womb of some kind. The womb of light was just that, light. I was suspended inside the casing, tendrils of light smoothly spread out my whole body. I was being bathed in energy, inside and out, I felt it move through me changing me with a satisfyingly warm sensation. It lasted for a while and then it was all over. The light receded and so did the womb, but I felt this warm power deep inside of me. No, it was all around my body. In every channel, in every vein, in every cell. In my very being. It was pure, holy and bright. That should be the mutated combination of life force and holy power. Pure life energy was running in me, enhancing me with every breath I took, I would always be in top condition. Of course can the energy could exhausted but it would be eventually replenished. I relished the feeling of the Holy Chi, in me.
And then came the pain. My body was on fire and I knew why.
"Purchase bioarmor, D rank reward, 500 points. Y/N"
"Yes" I said through gritted teeth and painful breaths. I felt a sensation of thousand ants crawling over my skin as the thin molecular film began to form all over my body. It ended as soon as it started, and so did the pain.
The only thing I trusted here was science, it was the one true power I could rely on.. Were the enhancements even real? If they were, then where did they come from?
The other magical enhancements could be nothing more than a figment of imagination that would disappear upon the intervention of some transcendental, transdimensional entity. Heh, I remembered. The being said I wouldn't but I did. I didn't assert it before because it might still be reading my mind, but I was sure that it wasn't now. I was being watched, but I was sure that it could no longer invade my mind without me knowing. The energy in me would respond to any foreign one.
So back to my enhancements, I chose the scientific, 'real' versions because they were explainable. And I could see the results they had on my physical body.
Like how my body was slowly changing to be adapted to the rigors of high-speed running, and how my cardiovascular respiratory systems are mutating to allow extreme feats of speed, reactions and reflexes. That coupled with the extraordinary regeneration ability I seemed to have gained from the Antonio Stark enhancement. Antonio Stark was a version of Tony Stark from a parallel universe, he was infected with a virus at birth that caused him to grow neural tissue beneath his skin. His body was basically his brain, but that also led to very chronic pain. Upon exposure to air his skin would hurt like it was suffering from 3rd degree burns.
That enhancement resulted in me having flesh that mutated into neural tissue. My very body was a brain, and of course with it came the pain. The very sensation of touch, felt like scraping at my raw nerves with a hot knife. Hence why I needed bio armor.
But all these, expanded my intelligence to new levels. The quicksilver mutation radically increased the speeds of my neural activities to uncharted levels. The undifferentiated neural tissue in my body worked in perfect harmony with it to boost my intellect past the levels I never even considered. I had perfect recall, my problem solving capabilities were astounding as my stats could testify.
Level E.
Strength 2.4
Agility - 4.8
Vitality - 3.9
Intelligence - 4.6
Acquired rewards ~ 32 points. 1- D ranked reward.
Genetic points ~ 0.000.
Skill slots - all empty. 4 remaining.
The radical increase to my stats, were as a result of the symbiotic effect the enhancements had on each other.
And this was all aided by the light womb.
That light womb must have been a superbly advanced delivery system. That would not only introduce the "Mutations" to my body but it contained augmentation properties. You could take the Vita-rays for example, when the super soldier serum was introduced to captain America, the vita rays light beam augmented the procedure.
Sure, magic maybe real. Maybe it was an advanced form of science we were yet to understand. Or maybe it was a mysterious force that beings could tap into from the dawn of time. But I wasn't going to be indulging myself in it yet. I wanted to learn more and experiment with it. So why did I take Chi energy and holy power?
Chi is something I've heard of and witnessed once. Not as potent as the one in me, but I saw a martial artist cause a cup of water to boil and bubble with a single finger tap. He was exhausted after it, but still I had witnessed it. And I learned more about it, all beings possessed a life force. And said life force could be, manipulated and increased with training. I combined it with pure holy power to further purify and enhance it. And it worked. Of course I would run more tests on it, but I wasn't going to be able to perform spells. I would have to learn skills on energy manipulation and go up from there.
I also wanted to get more used to my enhancements, and figure out my limits.
The intellect expansion was as expected, everything came easier, even the unholy calculations I had dreaded. But I didn't know what I didn't know. If I had never read materials on the composition of matter, and never experimented on it, then I wouldn't know it. It wasn't a magical sense where I could find out all about things by looking at them without prior materials or correlating information. So don't expect me to build an arc reactor out of thin air, when I didn't read on nuclear reactions, and atomic interactions. I was solving that buy buying books on the item section of the orb. Books on very advanced sciences that I was steadily understanding.
But one thing I did acquire was to multi-task. Have you ever tried writing two different formulas with both left and right limbs, while singing a song? You should. It's crazy! It's like you're everywhere in your at once, no, your body is in your power and each part of it has a mind of its own that's not lesser than the one in your head but it's all fully connected to you.
Like I said it's crazy!
This would help me in my pursuit of the truth. I had to study myself. Science was and will always be the key. It's the reason why humans evolved. We didn't get to space by being super martial artists or fighting dragons. We got there by learning, through trial and error and then adaptations and solutions.
Chi was a form of science too. Science is a very vast study with multiple variant boundaries, and with each successfully crossed one, we gained advancements. These enhancements were just a means to an end. It would all depend on me, and my advancements to reach my goals.
*Cheers to a wonderful 2019. Let's go out there and kick ass. Not all asses, just the ones that block our paths. Show 2019 who's boss!
Victory!*
