Mark studied the creature before him painstakingly. Although its structure looked like a human's, it was impossible to consider the new being before him a human being. "What exactly did you say happened to him?" Mark asked for the umpteenpth time, his curiosity piqued, and his fingers tingling with anticipation. It was unlike anything he had seen before, and solving mysteries was one of the things he did the best. "We have no idea. One second he was a regular guy, and in the next second, he was screaming in agony, and his skin and everything about him immediately began to change. We suspect that the mutation levels of his cell might have exceeded what his body could handle." Charles explained. "If it had just been one victim, I would have concluded on the assumption of over-mutated cells, but it wasn't one victim. There had been four of them, and they were volatile in nature. I believe someone had a hand in it, perhaps a villain?" "It's unlikely to be a villain." Mark answered as t
Ben Fury remained at Shadow Vanguard's headquarters. He had received the information that more monsters, or rather Deviants as they were being called now, had broken out in the city. A ranked heroes were supposed to be at the frontline, but he couldn't move yet, not until he was certain that everything and everyone was alright here. There was yet to be a discovery on what caused these sudden changes, so there was no guarantee that one of the students wouldn't suddenly turn and attack others. "Perhaps you should take a break, master Ben. The third years can handle the patrols." One of the teachers, Ruth Ruby suggested. She used to be Ben's teacher, one that he wasn't exactly glad to see. Ruth had once tried to force a sexual relationship onto a younger Ben Fury, and while Ben kept it a secret to save the lady's reputation, he hadn't forgiven her for it. "I think I can manage on my own. Besides, no student is allowed outside the dorm." Ben replied in a formal, yet cold tone. He was do
Ben returned to the headquarters and found it in the exact condition as he had left it. Aside from Ruth, everybody else seemed to be normal, and everything seemed fine for the time being. Dusk was fast approaching, and it was time to serve the students their dinner. Because of the extra mouths around, it had taken a bit longer to prepare the adequate amount of food for everybody currently present in the headquarters. "I'll take care of the first year's, please focus on the second and third year' students." Ben offered, and the workers gladly agreed. The numbers were higher than what they were used to, so having an extra hand meant a lot to them. Without wasting any more seconds, Ben got straight to work. While he served the youngsters, his mind remained troubled with thoughts. He was yet to hear from Charles since they parted ways, and while he believed in his master's capabilities, he wasn't sure of the condition the man was in at the moment. Was he still a human? Or has he become
[Ability Magnet Failed! Enemy's resistance is too strong!] The system alerted the moment Michael tried to catch his enemy off guard with the ability. Thrown off balance by the notification, Michael's confidence faltered, and for a brief second he lost track of the man in front of him. Exploiting his opponent's moment of disorientation, the enemy rushed in to get a hold of Michael, but was promptly intercepted by an even faster Ben who immediately grabbed Michael and teleported a considerable distance away from the man. Ben took a second to get a good stare at Michael's face before returning his focus on the enemy. He had never seen anybody as angry as Michael Black at the moment, and he could understand the boy's feelings. According to the reports and vague description they had gotten from Michael, Ben was able to piece together various pieces of information and confirmed that this was the man who had attacked Michael Black and Daniel Hardwood a few weeks back. It was no wonder the
Ben was the first to realize the sudden jump in the opponent's energy level, and such increase had prompted him to re-strategize almost immediately. He couldn't let the villain before him get back to where the students were, not anymore. And at the same time, having Michael around would really weigh him down. The energy output of the man in front of them at the moment rivaled his while in peak form, and with the injury he had, it would be difficult to perform at full strength while also protecting Michael Black."Quickly, race for the exit—" Ben had barely finished when he felt a presence behind him. Instinctively, he crossed his arms to immediately block a powerful kick, before effectively teleporting out of a descending blade's range. "He's gotten stronger, I can barely keep up." Ben lamented as he inspected his arms for fractures. Luckily, he hadn't sustained any, which meant he could still engage in close combat with his hands. "He injected himself with something, it must have m
"Are you alright?" Ben asked as he pulled his bleeding body towards the still standing Michael. "You're losing a lot of blood!" Michael exclaimed as he snapped out of his trance. He rushed to Ben's side and examined the wound, and like expected it was bad. Things would likely get worse before help could arrive, and too much movement would worsen the situation. "It's okay, leave me here and call for help. I won't die." Ben promised with a bright smile, one that Michael found odd, yet relieving. He didn't want to leave Ben's side, not even for a second. If he hadn't been too weak, none of this would have happened. [Would Host Like To Unlock A Skill?] The system asked after reading its host's desperation. [Use Two Stat points to Unlock a skill!]"Unlock skill!" Michael screamed inwardly. [You've Successfully Used two stat points!][Skill Healer has been unlocked! Skill allows host to heal his allies wounded in battle! Energy consumption 4Ep per minute! Skill can only be used once a
Despite the unending chaos in the streets of Geo, a man clothed in a long overcoat walked on the sidewalk of a half empty street. His pitch black hair was perfectly cut, and his Harry potter glasses gave him the appearance of a nerd. In his left hand was a brown paper bag containing groceries as indicated by the asparagus tips poking over the top. His strides were long and steady to match his well built frame. When he paused to avoid a mud puddle by the side of the road, the street lamp shed some light on his face, revealing strong facial features. There was a faraway look on his face as he crossed the road. He had been feeling strange all day, as if something was coming for him. What annoyed him most was the fact that he had no idea exactly what that thing was. But he had a feeling he would not like it.He wasn't the type who wandered around during the night, but some circumstances had warranted him to carry out his shopping after dusk. He had gone to the Guild Contest, and since the
Although the syringe and vial Ben had provided weren't from his lab, Mark couldn't help but feel that all of this was connected somehow. But the more he thought about it, the less he understood. It felt as though a portion of his memory was missing, and no matter how hard he tried to remember, he just couldn't quench the restlessness in his mind. "I've examined the liquid, definitely a power boosting serum, and it's likely the cause of the transformation." Mark revealed to the heroes gathered in his laboratory. "Is there any way you can turn them back? Any possible cure?" Charles inquired, eager and anxious. With a disappointed look on his face, Mark shook his head to answer. "Unfortunately not, but I can try. It will take some time, but it's not impossible. If we could find the root of all this, and get my hands on the serum's formula, it would be a lot easier for me to create a cure." "Do you have any suspicions of who it might be?" Hector asked abstractly while hoping for a pos