4 Chapter 4: Mission Rewards.
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(Billy's P.O.V)
My head didn't hurt. That was the first thing I noticed.
My mind was surprisingly clear. Actually...too clear. At least from what you would expect out of someone who had sustained mortal injuries after an encounter with bloodsucking monsters.
My arm was a bit tender at the spot I remember hearing a snap but it was nothing compared to the previously bent elbow.
I took a deep breath, feeling it smoothly escaping my nostrils.
My body was draped in something fluffy yet rough. Like clothes made out of a thin but warm blanket. Along with that sensation, I could feel a new alien perception stretch out.
I saw without eyes, heard without ears. I just knew what was there.
I could sense it all. And I could understand what I was sensing.
The mattress on the small bed that was more comfortable than it had any right to be, the hard but smoothened ground and the rough walls with veins of energy running within them; part of some huge web that connected to the ground and disappeared deeper into the earth than I could sense.
And then the bright points. Minds glowing like stars just outside the room, entering my range of 20 meters or so before disappearing.
20 meters? Back in the alley I could have sworn, I covered almost 3 blocks.
Thinking of the alley reminded me of what had happened. Immediately bile started rising up my throat, the nausea made me sit up with a groan, pinching my brow.
"Don't fight it. It's what the bucket is for."
The bald woman sitting on a wooden chair next to my bed said, flipping a page of the book she held onto.
And just like she said, a bucket sat at the bottom of the bed. I grabbed it and begun puking, only stopping a second to sit up.
A glass of water was placed in my hands. I received it with a word of thanks before drowning it in one gulp.
"Wow. That actually happened."
I said to myself. I found myself in the Marvel universe, met Mary Jane (I think), got my ass kicked by Vampires, survived, met Solomon, made the choice to become a Champion and...only then did I turn to the woman.
It was easy enough not know who she was. Bald, wearing yellow robes and a calm disposition.
The Ancient One. Her mind was...silent.
"Staring is rude."
She said, not looking up from her book.
"Sorry." I apologized, fully turning to face her while running a hand down my face.
"I'm guessing you're the one I have to thank for saving my life and also healing me?"
I asked her.
"I did heal you but the one who saved you was Spiderman."
She replied.
Spiderman saved me? Too bad I was passed out to actually see it.
"Oh, thank..."
The Ancient One closed the book in her hands suddenly, narrowing her eyes at me.
"Good luck Mr.Batson, you're going to need it."
"Huh?"
Before I could say anything else, I was falling through a glowing yellow portal. My last vision of the room from before was the bottom of her soles.
And then I landed on my bed, hard. The whole thing collapsed under my weight and I groaned, staring up at the ceiling. Not only did I not have the money to get another bed, I was going to have to sleep on the floor now.
Fuck you Ancient One. First impression? She sucks.
A very cold shower later( there wasn't any hot water available) and I started feeling like a normal human being.
I was a bit embarrassed at breaking down inside the shower but everything had just happened too quickly. I silently leaned on the wall and let the shudders rock my body, tears refusing to fall.
Once I was calmer, I toweled of, drying my hair as I walked towards the window and drew open the blinds.
Immediately, the New York noise assaulted me. Traffic, new yorkers being exceptionally loud...I took in the sites and sighed. This is going to take some getting used to.
After that I sat down and dove right into something that needed my attention, the mission rewards from the task that had showed up in the weird text box.
I was familiar with light novels, anime and Manwha. Infact any weeb related subject I was versed in or at least retained passing knowledge of.
The screen spread itself out infront of my eyes.
~~~~~~~
(Mission)
(Take a walk. Learn about where you are.)
(Reward:- Unlock more missions)
~~~~~~
[New Mission]
(Create An Original Skill using the Wisdom of Solomon)
(Reward:- The Ring of Solomon)
~~~~~~
What in the actual fuck?
This had to be a joke right?
I pressed my finger pad on the reward section and a description appeared.
( Ring of Solomon: A supernatural artifact that the king of Israel, Solomon received from Heaven. With it, Solomon can command the 72 demon pillars contained in the Ars Goetia. With it the armies of hell were under the service of King Solomon. Completely loyal. Takes immense will to use! )
I sucked in a breath.
Damn.
I'm just...not going to think about that for now.
~~~~~
[New Mission]
(Attend Midtown High)
(Reward:- New Bed)
~~~~~
Despite the thought of being in the same building as obnoxious loud hormonal teenagers making my stomach curl, I was happy with this mission.
It helped me get rid of one immediate problem. Plus, there was nowhere in the mission that said I had to keep going back. I only needed to attend for a short time.
Clicking on the mission description, it said a week.
I explored the Interface once more before deciding to finally begin practicing my abilities.
I sat cross legged on the bed and begun meditating. Fortunately it came easy to me.
My grandma was a very spiritual woman. She had lived half of her life in India before dad managed to convince her to come to the west after I'd been born.
She had a ton of stories about the country. Especially considering that I'd never been there. My mom was from a small town in the outskirts of Toronto and they had met when my dad and her had been in college.
Back to my grandma, I had always been fascinated by the stories of legendary heroes like Karna and gods like Lord Shiva. And epics like Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
Grandma had emphasized spiritualism, connecting yourself to the universe. To the Shakti and the Shiva. The former being the energy of the cosmos, divine and feminine in nature for its life giving properties while the latter Shiva, is masculine in nature and formless.
Through all that she taught me how to meditate.
Breath escaped my slightly parted lips easily. My chest inflated as I inhaled. The noise from the outside faded, a calm settling in my mind as I easily fell into a numb state. Just like I had done a hundred times in the past with my grandma.
My mind expanded.
It was easy. Like flipping a switch and watching the light spread to the room. Instantly I could feel everything inside my zone. It's range was still small though. No surprise there.
I played around with it, trying to pull in the zone, expanding it on one side or compressing it. My brow was scrunched up as it took a lot to manipulate the field.
This field was only the foundation. It was the basis in which I could jump onto the true abilities.
Telekinesis and Telepathy.
Pretty basic abilities but oh soooo very useful.
The difference between Shazam and I was that I didn't get the full package from the word go.
No, I'd gathered from my conversation with Solomon that each legacy came with a prerequisite.
I needed approval from the figures themselves. Shazam only had to utter a word and he would get the Wisdom of Solomon, the Strength of Hercules, the Stamina of Atlas, the Power of Zeus, the Courage of Achilles and the Speed of Mercury.
But for me, I had to tackle each legacy on it's own first.
That meant the origin of the legacies needed to find me worthy. It was why the first mission, apart from having what could prove to become a really good reward, was important.
I needed to prove to the gods, not only Solomon that I was worthy by completing the second mission.
Coming up with an original skill by using Solomon,'s legacy.
I couldn't expect the powers I had already manifested to count towards the mission. I had tapped into both telepathy and telekinesis before, back in the alley. Now I needed something different.
Something that was both useful for the fights I would definitely be part of but also easy enough to create as a skill.
First I needed to lay the ground work.
A normal person would have had their eyes wide open if they saw the floating trash can at the corner of my small kitchen. It was just barely at the edge of my active zone.
The trash can had the remains of the paper used on the envelope that had contained the cash.
It was wrinkled and made a small sound as it floated out of the trash can.
I frowned, feeling a headache bloom in the middle of my head. The folded up paper begun to straighten as I ironed it out with TK. (telekinesis)
The cataracts and wrinkles on it's form faded away though not completely.
The end result was a slightly ruffled piece of paper infront of me. By now my head was pounding like something crazy, so I stopped to rest.
Then a glass of water and 20 minutes later, I was back at it. This time I started trying to make shapes with it. The effort it took was much more than before.
My TK field had to act on two dimensions at the same time, the paper folding into two. Then I tried to fold it again and almost passed out as the sensation of a hot nail being driven through my skull, made me stop.
The paper fell into my hands and I shivered. My body was sweaty and I was feeling nauseous. I decided to call it quits for the day.
