Fortunately, luck was apparently on Johnny's side today. At the last second, he was able to dodge the attack and watch as it cut a car in two. He swallowed, thinking that it could have been him. Turning his attention back to the women, he saw that he hadn't even been the intended target. If he was, he didn't think they would be focused on each other instead of him.
[Don't worry. With your healing power, you should be able to recover from any attacks.]
Johnny had forgotten about the healing power he had. "Would I really be able to survive being cut in half?"
[As long as the injury isn't fatal.]
Seeing the amended statement, he supposed the healing power had to have some drawbacks or else it would be too powerful. If he could heal from anything, he would basically be immortal. At first, he thought that would be a great power to have, but seeing the women fight, he took back his words. Immortality actually wasn't a great power, and he was glad that he didn't have it.
[The user should focus on the task the system has set out for them.]
At the reminder, he recalled what he had been trying to do before he nearly got eviscerated. Looking down at his hands, he grimaced when he saw that the flames had gone out. He didn't know what had happened, but he was going to have to summon them again and keep them from going out. Concentrating on his hands, he watched as flames sputtered to life.
Once his hands were coated with flames, he stood up. Now that he summoned them again, all he needed to do was hold it for several minutes, like the system told him to. That should be easy. He was obviously being sarcastic, because that was actually harder than he would have liked. With wind, ice, and water flying around, keeping the flames lit was difficult.
Fortunately, he didn't have to worry about being forced into a fight since the women had completely forgotten his existence. Any attacks that came his way were just byproducts of the two fighting each other. It was like he was a speck of dust in their eyes. He could imagine why they would think that, but that didn't mean he appreciated being caught up in their fight.
When he was finally able to hold on to the flames for two minutes, the ground shook. "What now? It had better not be another bigshot coming to fight."
It was worse. The giant he had knocked out before was back on his feet and was the cause of the earthquake. The man was going on a rampage, destroying everything in sight as he roared and raged. Watching this happen from a distance, Johnny decided he should hide. He had a feeling that if he was spotted, he was going to be in a world of hurt.
Ducking behind some debris, he saw that his flames hadn't gone out yet. "System, what do you think?"
[The user had done well. Now it is time for the next step. The user has to use the power in a fight without losing control of the flames.]
He stared at the message for several long moments before asking, "Isn't that a big jump?"
[It is essential that the user learn to use their power in a life or death situation.]
[The system has determined that the user has nothing to worry about since the user has already defeated the blessed before.]
There could only be one person the system was talking about. Peeking from his cover, he watched as the giant smashed a fist into one of the buildings. The side of the building exploded, sending rubble flying everywhere. This didn't stop the giant, as he continued to punch the building until the damage was too extensive, and it caved in on itself.
Looking back at the system, he said, "I'll die if I fight him now."
[Why is the user not confident?]
[The user was able to beat the other blessed earlier.]
"That was pure luck. I would have died," he hissed.
[As long as the user avoids a lethal blow, the user will survive.]
Johnny could see why most liked to pretend the system didn't exist. "I don't think you understand. One blow from him, and my head will be sent flying."
Before he could get a response from the system, he noticed a shadow over him. His eyes widened in realization, and he immediately threw himself out of the way. As he rolled across the ground, a huge chunk of a building crashed where he had been previously hiding. If he had been a second too late, he would have been crushed to death.
"There you are," the giant roared as he threw himself at Johnny.
Seeing the giant coming at him, Johnny instinctively threw flames at the giant. Unfortunately, this was where his streak of good luck ended. The man grabbed a car to use as a shield against Johnny's flames. Johnny grimaced as he tried to increase the intensity of the flames. For some reason, they weren't as powerful as last time.
The giant was quickly bridging the gap between them, and Johnny was forced to stumble back to create some distance. However, the giant was moving faster. As the giant was about to reach him, Johnny threw himself to the side and started running. He could hear the giant stomping after him as he tried to come up with a plan to face him.
There had to be some way for him to deal with the giant without killing him. The only good thing so far was that his flames hadn't gone out yet. Suddenly, he felt something crash into his back. He swore he heard something break, and he coughed up blood as he was sent flying. Johnny crashed into the ground a few moments later.
When he tried to get up so he could run again, he found that he couldn't move his body. It was like he lost control of everything. As he panicked over what was going on, it suddenly hit him. The cracking sound from before must have been his spine. The thought of being paralyzed for the rest of his life terrified him, though he might not last long.
[Don't worry, user. The user's healing power is working to heal your spine.]
He was glad to hear that, but as the giant lumbered towards him, Johnny begged for the power to hurry up and do its job. He didn't want to die right after he was healed. Soon, the giant was looming over him with a twisted smile on his face as he looked down on Johnny. Johnny could only whimper as he prepared himself for what was about to come.
The giant threw a punch at Johnny, who unleashed a torrent of flames similar to what he had done before. However, the distance between them was too short. His flames barely did any damage before he was struck across the face and sent flying. As he crashed into a building, Johnny had a sense of deja vu. This felt very similar to what happened before he gained his power.As Johnny struggled to sit up, he coughed up blood. He was only barely keeping himself from screaming in pain. It might have been because his face felt swollen, but it was close. However, he could feel his healing power working its magic. The problem was that it was happening way too slowly. The giant was charging towards him like a bull, and he couldn't get out of the way in time.This time Johnny really did scream in agony as he felt his bones, which hadn't been broken before, break from the force. He was close to blacking out as the giant grabbed his head and lifted him up into the air like a ragdoll. Unable to think
Johnny briefly wondered if he secretly had another power at his disposal that only awakened because of the divine power system's presence. His luck today was just outrageous. It was actually kind of frightening. Well, he could have done without all the near death experiences. He was sure that he was going to have nightmares tonight if he got out of this mess."Who are you?" Dorothy demanded as she thrust her chin out haughtily.Now that he actually saw someone thrust out their chin in person, Johnny thought that it looked funny. He couldn't figure out how anyone thought they looked intimidating when they looked like they were desperately trying to stretch out their neck. Well, that wasn't important right now. What was important was that she looked pissed that he hadn't said anything.Rachel pushed back her hair as she said, "If you don't answer, you won't like what happens next."He had no doubt that she was telling the truth, so he really hoped that his new power was in effect. "I'm
When the two women just gave Johnny confused expressions, he became highly concerned about their current situation. "I mean, it's not normal, right?"After he added that part, their expressions turned to understanding, though he didn't miss the glint in their eyes. His years of experience in customer service warned him that he should be wary of what they were about to say. Nothing good came out of it when someone had a certain look in their eyes, especially if they were young mistresses with powers."You do know that there are rules regarding fights between blessed," Dorothy said in a mocking tone."Yes, I do," he said slowly.It was a simple rule, which was to stay out of their way. Once they got into a fight, there was no way a regular human could get in between them. It would be a death sentence to try to stop them. Only another blessed could interfere. That's why he had tried to get away as soon as he could, until that crazy giant attacked him out of the blue."Then you would know
[An anomoly has occurred. Please vacate the premises immediately.]While Johnny had no clue what was going on, he knew a warning when he saw one. He didn't want to wait around and see what happened if he didn't listen to the system. Glancing back at the two women, he could see why their expressions turned ugly. It seemed very likely that they had gotten the same message and weren't happy about the news either."What do we do now?" he dared voice his thoughts out loud."We will have to get moving unless we want to be trapped here," Rachel calmly said.Johnny was anything but calm. Did she hear what she just said? She said they would be trapped in this place if they didn't leave right away. That was basically a death sentence, if he ever heard one. It was terrifying to see how calm the both of them were. That meant that this wasn't unusual and was likely a very common occurrence if they didn't bat an eye."What a pain," Dorothy said as she scratched at her head. "I hate it when that hap
Johnny didn't hear her chasing after him, so he took it as a sign that he was in the clear. Just in case, he kept walking without looking back. As he was thinking about how to get to the registration office, he groaned as he remembered how his car got totaled. Now he didn't even have a place to sleep. A sudden thought crossed his mind, and he frantically searched his pockets.He nearly screamed in frustration. His phone was gone. It must have been destroyed in the fight, along with his wallet. That was assuming they hadn't fallen out of his pockets from all the running he did. This was the worst. He literally had nothing to his name except for his clothes. Speaking of clothes, he noticed the stares he was receiving.Glancing down at his appearance, he could see why. That made why they hadn't taken a second glance at him earlier strange. He looked like he had been put through the wringer. He needed to change, but he didn't exactly have the money to pull that off. Hopefully, no one call
When the Burns family had been mentioned earlier, Johnny never thought that he would be wrong and that the two women would have been right. Seriously, he never thought he was actually part of the Burns family. Well, that wasn't entirely correct. He had considered it long ago when he was young and wishing for a family, but he had gotten over it.Now he wasn't sure how he felt about this sudden revelation. The reasons he gave Rachel and Dorothy before crossed his mind. It made no sense for them to want to contact him now unless it was because he had developed his power. He frowned at the implication. They had thrown him out because they thought he wasn't deserving to be part of the family and were now doing a one eighty.At the sight of Johnny's frown, the scarred man quickly said, "You must be wondering why we're contacting you now of all times. The reason is simple. We were unable to track you until now."Johnny found that hard to believe, and it showed on his face. The Burns family w
Johnny's mind crashed at the sudden relevation that he was the heir to the Burns family. All his life, he had been treated as scum because he was an orphan with nothing to his name. People sneered at him for having the Burns name, but with seemingly no connection to the family. He had encountered many people who implied he had done it to get attention.Now he was suddenly elevated to the status of one of the most powerful and influential people in the world. As the heir to one of the seven great families, doors that had been previously closed to him were now open. No one would able to dare look down on him ever again unless they wanted to suffer humiliation or death. It was too much for him to process.Covering his face with his hands, he vaguely heard the scarred man say, "I understand this news is very unexpected, but it's the truth. Lord Burns and Lady Burns had been desperately searching for you after your disappearance."That was easy for the scarred man to say. Johnny knew nothi
Johnny tried to ignore the whispers and stares he was receiving as he walked up to the front desk. He kind of expected this to happen. It was hard not to notice the sudden guard that surrounded him as they escorted him. Even though he had wanted them to wait until he finished, they had insisted they stay with him for his protection.The receptionist stared at him with wide eyes before asking, "How may I help you, sir?""I'm here to register," he said as he placed his hands on the counter."Of course," she said before looking at the computer. "Please tell me your name.""It's Johnny Burns," he said as he braced himself.Her hands twitched, and she looked back up at him. "Excuse me?"Before he could repeat himself, one of the guards stepped forward with a menacing look on his face. The receptionist flinched and immediately looked back down at the keyboard. As she typed away, Johnny looked back at the guard to give him an unimpressed look. The man was unphased by his reaction. Seeing no
Hello everyone. I forgot to add a note in the previous chapter. Anyway, I just want to thank all my readers who have been following along. I really appreciate it. Now for the news you have been waiting for.Johnny's story has ended and turned out shorter than Billy's story like I expected. With its end, I currently have no ongoing stories on this site.I've decided I'll take a break from the site. How long the break will last I'm not quite sure. Hopefully, the break won't be long, and I have a new story up within the year, but we will have to see.Just like with Rise of the Demon King: Caleb Gonzales's Rat Race and Rise of the Desperate: Billy Wood's Save and Restart System, I might do a rewrite or remake of it.If I do go through with this idea, then I'll just immediately go to eBook and paperback, and it would be very different from the one here. We will have to see, and I'll let everyone know.As I stated before, if you want to stay in contact with me, you'll probably have to use F*
"By the way, I don't mean to rush things, but the time limit for the hour is until I return," she said.That certainly caught Johnny's attention as he demanded, "How long is that?""A couple more minutes," she said.A couple minutes wasn't a lot of time to come to a life changing decision. He still needed more time to think. Did he really want to take a chance and accept the offer, which meant leaving everything he knew, or should he stay and weather whatever the system had in store for the world? Weighing the pros and cons of each decision, he could feel sweat forming on his head."I need to go. Have you come to a decision?" she asked.After a brief moment, he said, "Yes.""Well, what's your decision?" she asked."I'll take the offer," he said.She smiled as she said, "Good choice."Suddenly, Katherine slumped over alarming Johnny, who rushed to check up on her. She appeared to be still breathing, and there didn't seem
"Okay, I'm listening," Johnny said."I'm glad to see you can be reasoned with. I've heard of others who aren't so fortunate," the intruder said."Others?" he said."We'll get to that later," she said as she attempted to make a waving motion.Unfortunately, Katherine's missing limbs made that a moot point. It honestly made Johnny uncomfortable seeing Katherine's body attempt to do something an ordinary person could do. He wasn't the only one put off by the situation. The intruder grimaced as she settled back into the wheelchair."Anyway, I'm here to give you a proposal from the system," the intruder said."What?" Johnny snapped."You heard me right. The system would like to offer you a deal, and it's up to you if you want to accept this," the intruder said.Johnny's mind whirled over what she said, scarcely believing what she just said. The system wanted to offer him a deal? This was completely unplanned. He had never heard of t
Johnny blinked. "Wait. EVeryone?"He couldn't believe what Frank was saying. Was he crazy? Did he really want to let the whole world know about the monsters being able to receive messages from the system? It would be complete chaos. Johnny was exactly advocating to tell no one. Far from it, but he couldn't see how it would help anyone to inform the public about this information."Well, not everyone," Frank said. "I'm referring to the authorities as this is a matter of security.""Will they take it seriously?" Johnny asked."It's hard to say. It's possible everyone will think it's a joke, but it's also possible that some will take the warning seriously," Frank said."I see," Johnny simply said."If that's all, I'm going to take my leave and let you get some rest," Frank said as he stood up.Johnny nodded. "Got it."Right as Frank was about to go out the door, he said, "Actually, there are some people who want to talk to you if y
Johnny's eyes snapped open as he sat up abruptly. His mind was moving at several miles per hour as he scanned his surroundings. He had to stop her before she got away. However, the monster was nowhere in sight. He wasn't sure how long he had been out cold, but he supposed it was a bit much to expect the monster to linger just because he told her to stop.More importantly, he was no longer in that place considering the lack of lava. Taking a good look at his surroundings, he deduced that he was back in his own world, which set him on edge. How did he get back? As he wondered who or what had brought him back, the door to the room swung open. He stared at the sight of Frank leading the backs of doctors and unknown men."Johnny, you're awake," Frank said as he rushed over to check on him.A tad bit uncomfortable with how Frank was acting, Johnny asked, "Frank, what happened?"Frank grimaced. "It's a bit of a long story. First, we should make sure you're okay."As soon as he said that, Fra
As Johnny stared at his mother, wondering why he felt uneasy about the whole thing, it finally clicked. "You're not my mother.""What are you talking about? Of course I'm your mother," she said.Johnny shook his head as he took on a relaxed stance. "No, you're not. I don't know why you're pretending to be here, but you should just give up now. It's not going to help you in the long run."The woman also dropped her stance and shrugged her shoulders as she said, "Well, this is unexpected. How did you know?"Rather than admit that it was just his gut instinct, he said, "I have no reason to tell you.""I suppose I should have figured you would say that," she said calmly.She was far too calm for his liking. He knew nothing about it here other than she was a fake, which didn't mean much in the end. It wasn't like he would have gone easier even if she was his mom. However, it did explain why she killed his father without batting an eye, but it begged the question of where his real mother wa
Johnny ignored his father, as he was just relieved that his healing power and fire power helped him survive his father's attack. His fire power apparently gave him some resistance to fire, and his healing power healed whatever managed to get past his fire resistance. He took advantage of his father's shock to lunge at the man and return the favor.He landed several punches before his father recovered from his shock and shielded against the punches. Johnny didn't let up and continued to barrage his father with punches, hoping to get past his defenses and continue his original onslaught. After some time, his father apparently had enough and roared as he unleased a wave of flames. With a grunt, Johnny was forced back, though he was unharmed.His father glared venomously at him as he snarled, "That's enough. I'm going to end this."With a bravo that he didn't completely feel, Johnny said, "Just try it. You're just going to fail again."As his father was about
While Johnny didn't like the idea, he didn't have much of a choice. Sticking around wasn't going to do anything except waste time and put himself in possible danger. With no one else with him, he had no one he could rely on if he was suddenly attacked by a bunch of monsters, which was a serious risk. He didn't want to take that risk."Where do we meet up?" Johnny asked."We'll try to continue with the plan and head for the head of the family's office," Frank said.Just as Johnny was about to protest that idea, he heard a loud animalistic roar. He frantically checked his surroundings and didn't see anything. Before he could feel relieved, he heard screams and shouts on the other side. He placed his hands on the rubble, hoping to at least find a small opening to get a better look at what was happening."Frank? What's going on? Are you okay?" Johnny asked frantically.There was no response except more shouting and fighting. He was completely in the da
Even though Johnny had said he wasn't going to let the matter go, wasn't it a bit much to storm the Burns family's home just days after his decision? He thought it would take a couple weeks to prepare. They couldn't take down such a powerful family in just a few days. What was everyone thinking? He wondered if they all had lost their minds."Johnny, is something the matter?" Frank asked as the car headed for their intended destination. "You don't look good.""I just can't believe we're moving in now," Johnny said."You have nothing to worry about. Everything has already been sorted out," FRank said."Are you really sure we're good to go?" Johnny asked."You have nothing to worry about. The plan was already in motion before you decided to throw your hat in the ring. It's been modified to include your involvement," Frank said.Frank might have said it to reassure Johnny, but it didn't in the slightest. Johnny had been at the meeting discussing