The dust of the Brotherhood's intrusion had long since settled, the violent echoes of crumbling masonry replaced by the sterile scent of fresh eggshell-white paint and reinforced carbon-steel wall plating. S.H.I.E.L.D. had handled the repairs with a no-questions-asked efficiency that Raizer appreciated, though he suspected Nick Fury was privately contemplating a career change to interior designer.
A full month had passed since the living room had become a battlefield. In that time, the world outside had begun to tilt on its axis. The news was saturated with the image of a red-and-gold titan dismantling the Iron Monger in the heart of Los Angeles. Meanwhile, whispers of Spider-Man swinging through the concrete canyons of Queens had transitioned from urban legend to nightly news staple.
The Age of Heroes had officially begun. The Marvel world was finally booting up, but Raizer had no intention of being a side character who died in the opening cinematic.
He had not been idle in the past month. While the world watched Stark, Raizer had been obsessively deconstructing his own performance against the Brotherhood.
He had won, yes, but the victory had tasted like a warning. His Mana reserves had evaporated almost instantly. A fourth of his entire pool had been sacrificed to deliver that single, Chi-boosted rupture to the Juggernaut's nervous system. Worse, half of his reserves had been burned away in those few, agonizing seconds where he had forced the laws of physics to drag Pietro's Mach-speed momentum down to a normal human's speed.
If the Brotherhood had been more coordinated, if Magneto hadn't been so blinded by his own ego, Raizer would have been forced to fight with the intent to kill just to conserve energy.
While Raizer didn't want to kill, he wasn't necessarily a saint or a 'pro-life' advocate; he was simply 'anti-trouble'. Dead mutants meant investigations, vengeful teammates, and federal inquiries. He wanted enough power to overwhelm his enemies so completely that they'd simply choose to stay down.
Furthermore, a dark thought lingered in the back of his mind: if Pietro was Eric's son, then his sister, the Scarlet Witch, existed somewhere. If she entered the fray with her reality-warping chaos magic, Raizer knew that his current 'Level 3 Absolute Control' would be like a paper shield against a hurricane. Until he could reach Level 4 or 5, he was vulnerable.
In the past month, Raizer had tried various training methods. But the returns were nominal. Perhaps because of the lack of Excelia in Marvel had reverted his growth to slow. Hence, he began focusing on the mental aspects than physical ones.
[Host, you are training with frightening intensity. Even now, you are multi-tasking your corporate duties with high-level energy manipulation.]
A translucent blue screen shimmered into existence, floating just above a stack of Quarterly Logistics Reports in Raizer's office cubicle.
'Nah, this isn't multi-tasking,' Raizer replied internally, a proud, almost mischievous glint in his eyes as he clicked a spreadsheet with practiced indifference. 'I simply look like I'm doing my job while I'm actually training. It's called 'having my priorities straight', System.'
[...Isn't that just "Wage Theft"?]
'It's 'Self-Investment' on company time,' Raizer corrected. 'I went to college just to learn words that can make my slacking seem cool.'
It was an irony that would have escaped most: the 'Employee of the Month', a man praised for his quiet diligence and impeccable reports, was actually using the office's ergonomic chair as a meditation throne. As long as the coffee stayed hot and the reports stayed green, no one cared that he was currently attempting to rewrite his own biological limits.
(A/N: Welcome to the corporate life, I guess.)
Raizer was currently condensing his mana. Increasing its density and purity over the past month.
'System, don't you think it's been a little too peaceful?' Raizer thought, his eyes tracking the cursor on his screen while his internal focus was pinned on the swirling vortex of energy in his solar plexus.
[Yeah, I feel it,] The panel flickered from a calm blue to an enthusiastic, blood-red hue. [My digital bones are throbbing with foresight! Something big is coming! Hahahaha! Bring it on! The King can take anything this world throws at him!]
'...'
The man simply shook his head, feeling a certain barrier as he kept condensing his mana. The ethereal power of mana refused to condense beyond it. Raizer had been stuck before this barrier for two weeks. Every try resulted in a failure.
It was like trying to pack smoke into a jar of holes; the moment he stopped applying 'Absolute Control', the energy would expand and dissipate, returning to its baseline state. After all, 'Absolute Control' was an active skill. It would be inefficient keep it focused on condensing mana.
There were only two paths before him; succeed or give up. Since time would be a luxury soon.
'Calm down,' He channeled the mist-like energy of mana into a semi-liquid form. It had failed in the past but with the help of his ancestors (Anime characters), he had an idea.
'If the mana cannot maintain its form because it is too ethereal, I must give it a physical anchor. I need to merge the power with the most vital part of my existence.'
And he chose blood for this.
'Transform the mana-mist into liquid and merge it with my blood.'
Using the surgical precision of his level 3 skill, Raizer began to guide the transparent, shimmering energy into his bloodstream. It was an excruciating process that required the focus of a diamond-cutter. He saw it in his mind: the pulsating red life-force of his blood twirling around the cool, blue-white threads of mana. They began to fuse, DNA and energy weaving into a singular, high-conductivity highway.
He felt the heat first. A searing, liquid fire began to race through his veins, reaching every extremity. From the tips of his toes to the crown of his head. His heart hammered like a piston, pumping this new 'Aether-Blood' through his system.
- Ding!
- Your recent actions have lead to a 'Limit-Break'!
- You have received the Skill: Mana Mind Lvl 1!
- You have achieved an amazing feat of biological alchemy!
- You have received 2 Free Attributes!
Skill: Mana Mind Lvl 1/5
Description: Mana is the flow of life! It isn't separate from you, it's a part of you! You are Mana and Mana is you! May the Mana be with you!
Effect #1: Your MP increases by 50%!
Effect #2: Your MP Regen increases by 100%
Raizer's eyes snapped open. The office around him felt different. The hum of the air conditioner, the tapping of keyboards in the next cubicle, the flickering of the fluorescent lights, everything felt slow, heavy, and incredibly distinct.
Raizer leaned back, a genuine pride on his lips. This was the breakthrough. By making mana a part of his biology, he had essentially installed a turbocharger onto himself.
[By the way,] the System chimed in, its tone suddenly shifting from epic to nagging. [You haven't called your mother in three days! She's going to scold you again! I can already see the missed calls stacking up in the cloud!]
'...Why?' Raizer groaned, his smirk collapsing into a look of pure dread. 'Why did you have to remind me now? I was having a 'Honored One' moment. I was transcending.'
[I can't let you be happy alone, Host! It's my job to keep you grounded. And nothing grounds you like a thirty-minute lecture about why you aren't eating enough vegetables.]
This system was truly a selfish one. How cold did you have to be to deliberately extinguish your master's happiness?
"Selfish bastard, you remind me of me. And I don't like that."
Sighing with a wry smile, he opened his status.
[Raizer Haze]
[Title: King-To-Be(provisional)]
- HP: 2314/2314 {Regen: 2.31/min}
- SP: 2314/2314 {Regen: 2.31/min}
- MP: 4655/4655 {Regen: 5.2/min}
[Attributes]
- Physique: 23.14
- Mind: 26 (???)
- Spirit: 31.03
- Free Attributes: 02
[Traits] - ⟪King Engine (EX)⟫ / ⟪King's Resolve (EX)⟫ / ⟪King's Aura (EX)⟫
[Skills] - ⌈Absolute Control Lvl 3⌋ / ⌈Mana Mind Lvl 1⌋
[Inventory]
The sheer efficiency gain was staggering. The new skill had effectively given him the equivalent of 40 points in his attributes through the percentage buffs alone. He looked at the 2 free attribute points. He could put them into Mind, he would effectively be gaining 4 attributes.
'Allocate my attributes to Spirit.'
Though it would be great to increase his Mana Regen rate, Raizer currently needed a larger mana pool. Hence, he coldly dumped his points into Spirit. The refilling taps don't matter when the tank itself is empty.
- Spirit: 31.03 -> 33.03
- MP: 4655/4655 -> 4955/4955
Feeling the energy running through his veins writhe and grow, he had a satisfied smile on his face.
.
.
.
The neon glow of New York City usually acted as a soothing backdrop for Raizer's walk home, but tonight, the atmosphere felt jagged. His new 'Mana Mind' was humming, his blood singing with the high-purity energy he had successfully integrated. To anyone else, he was just a salaryman in a sharp suit walking with uncharacteristic grace.
Two blocks ahead, a battered SUV was fishtailing wildly, its rear window shattered. Chasing it were four black sedans, moving with the cold, synchronized aggression of a professional hit squad. Raizer didn't slow his pace. He didn't even look up from his phone.
'I didn't see. If I didn't see it, it's not real,' he thought.
Unfortunately, the universe had a habit of dragging Raizer into the circus.
The SUV hit a patch of oil and debris, spinning out of control. It pirouetted across the asphalt, a three-ton projectile of steel and glass hurtling directly toward Raizer. He didn't panic. He didn't even stop walking. As the wreckage groaned toward him, Raizer simply shifted his weight.
His feet slid off the pathway with the grace of matador. Even if the car crashed into him, he would only get slightly scratched because of his strong physique. But he didn't want to dirty his clothes.
Unfortunately, for the SUV, it kept moving and slammed into a reinforced concrete pillar behind him.
Raizer stopped. He let out a long, weary sigh that seemed to carry the weight of the entire month's training. The black sedans screeched to a halt, forming a tactical semicircle that boxed in the wreckage. This encirclement had an 'unintended passerby' within it too.
"Every single time," Raizer muttered to the sky. "I just wanted to go home and eat leftover pad thai."
The door of the crashed SUV was kicked off its hinges with a violent, metallic clack. A young girl, no older than eleven, scrambled out. Her hair was matted with blood and dust, her clothes rags. But it was her hands that drew the eye. Two gleaming, adamantium claws slid from between her knuckles with a terrifying 'schink'.
Behind her, slumped over the deployed airbag, was a woman; a bullet wounds all over her left side. Her chest was heaving in shallow, wet rattles. Blood pooled on the dashboard. She was dying, and the girl was standing over her like a feral wolf cub, baring her teeth at the dozen armed men stepping out of the sedans.
These weren't street thugs. They wore tactical gear with the 'Alkali-Transigen' insignia. They carried high-caliber submachine guns and specialized capture nets.
"The asset is mobile!" one of the mercenaries barked. "Kill the woman, bag the kid. And eliminate the witness."
'Oi, oi, oi, 'eliminate the witness' is a bit rude, don't you think? I mean, you drove all over the city, chasing them. But eliminate the guy who is standing where you 'park' your cars?' Raizer chided them inwardly. These second-rate thugs weren't worth his time.
"Ggrrr~"
On the other hand, Laura didn't wait for a negotiation that was never coming. She let out a scream—a jagged, guttural sound that started in her lungs and ended in a predatory snarl—and launched herself into the air.
She was a blur of raw, unrefined carnage. Unlike the heavy-handed strikes of her 'father', Laura moved with the low-center-of-gravity agility of a panther. She didn't charge the men head-on; she dived under the first line of fire, her small frame skidding across the asphalt as she shredded the Achilles tendons of the lead mercenary with a dual-handed swipe.
As he went down, she didn't stop to admire her work. Using the falling man's back as a springboard, she propelled herself upward.
- SCHINK
The third claw—the one in her foot—snapped out as she performed a mid-air twist. She caught a second operative across the throat with a surgical kick, the adamantium slicing through his tactical collar like it was wet cardboard.
The mercenaries, momentarily stunned by the sheer ferocity of a child, finally found their triggers. "Suppress her! Now!"
A hail of lead tore into the street. Laura's feral instincts screamed. She didn't just dodge; she used the environment with terrifying ingenuity. She dived behind the engine block of the crashed SUV, the bullets sparking off the metal. When a mercenary tried to flank her, she didn't retreat. She reached into the wreckage, grabbed a jagged piece of the shattered windshield, and hurled it with pinpoint accuracy into the man's eye before lunging out to finish him with a gut-ripping cross-slash.
But the weight of numbers began to tell.
A high-output taser prong hissed through the air, catching her in the shoulder. Her small body convulsed, the blue electricity illuminating her skeleton for a horrific second. She crashed into the pavement, her muscles locking up. Yet, even as her nervous system screamed, her drive was absolute. She bit her own lip through, the copper taste of her blood jump-starting her healing factor as she used her claws to drag herself forward, inch by agonizing inch, toward the man holding the taser.
"Stay down, you little freak!" the man yelled, leveling his rifle at her head.
Laura didn't stay down. She forced her body into a roll, the net hissed over her, but she was already beneath him. She drove her claws upward, through the bottom of the man's tactical boot and out the top, pinning his foot to the road.
As he screamed, she looked back at the SUV. She saw the blood dripping from the dashboard. She saw her mother's hand go limp.
The grief hit her harder than any taser. It was a physical weight, a darkness that turned her movements from tactical to suicidal. She stood up, ignoring the four red laser dots painting her chest. She wasn't fighting to survive anymore; she was fighting to be the last thing these men saw before the world ended.
She crouched, her claws extended, her eyes wide and bloodshot, ready to leap into a certain death.
[Host, she has more 'MC energy' than you! I say we kill her!]
'What is it with you and killing other MCs?'