108 Chapter 102: The Grind Never Stops

While the Autumn competition of Totsuki was being held. Ramiel was making something with Alexandra and Samus.

With the knowledge of the mind stone and the soul stone that lives in her head rent free, he has thought of creating something that has been overdue for a long time now.

They are Wisdom Cubes. Mysterious energy sources that can turn ideas and data of naval warships into a human.

"So? How are we going to do this? You have the soul of Bismarck with you right? We need to recreate her ship?" Alexandra questioned and Ramiel was having a headache, thinking of how it will store the rigging of a ship.

"I honestly don't know, we can create their bodies with how I managed to have one again with a concentration of energy. But wisdom cubes can contain their entire ship in it and form it on the go." He sighed and Samus had an idea.

"Well, did Alexandra have anything on the space stone? That can be a big help right?" She thought that the stones were amazing.

"That's true, but I didn't get it in my possession long enough to matter. I concentrated too much in exiting the universe and the soul stone just mysteriously gave me knowledge about souls." She shook her head and shrugged.

"Then should we return to that place and get more information about it?" Samus thought of just coming back. They already have the stones in their grasp it just didn't work outside of the place.

"That's true, but there are a lot of dangerous things there. You can't even imagine how many scary fuckers roam around in that place." He sighed.

"Yeah, that Galactus guy was something else. If I didn't have the stones. We would get killed instantly." Alexandra remembered the world eater.

"My body still isn't the same too. I feel it's a bit too weak. I can't assimilate the stones yet, I need a more robust body." He checked his current body and compared it to Alexandra's.

It would likely crash faster than hers. So he needed to increase his vessel's strength further. And coming to Marvel and adapting to the stones will take quite some time.

"The reality stone can make you a stronger body." Alex wanted him to be unbeatable, as quickly as possible.

"It doesn't stay that way permanently. We need to use all the stones for that. And we don't even know if his new potential body will just turn into dust when he leaves the universe. It is made by the stones after all." Samus theorized and he nodded.

"Too many theories, this is giving me a headache. I'll just do it the old fashioned way. Consume and adapt." His eyes glowed, like a predator standing at the apex. Kill and eat the losers for your sustenance.

"Where will we get a lot of opponents like that? Wait a minute... When we were coming back to Gaia, we actually found a universe that is brimming with energy." She smirked.

"Hmm? You got any interesting places you visited?" Samus was interested as well, she can absorb a lot of energy after all.

"Yeah, it's this place where there are a lot of monsters. Completely brimming with it actually. Humans and monsters fight for revenge or just land." Alexandra remembered it.

"Then we'll visit that place later, I'm out of shape. Gotta do some work here and there." Ramiel shrugged.

"How about we go and visit it and let the others handle things here? It is brimming with energy and life right? Then won't the others not benefit except just fighting experience? Which we can just train ourselves?" Samus raised a point.

"I agree, giving them Metroid DNA is also a bad idea." Alexandra read on Samus' writing on their origin and it was a bad idea to inject them on people with Jenova cells.

Ramiel also already tried and it doesn't end well, the two degrade each other so much that the end result just turns into rapid cell death.

He was fine when he took some of Samus' blood because he didn't strictly have Jenova cells anymore in Spira.

When his body was recreated, his mind subconsciously mimicked its properties. That's why Samus thought he was taken over by it.

"Hmmm, then we'll just file a vacation to Senzaimon. He'll understand, surely." Alexandra wrote an email immediately and sent it to him.

They then gathered the others. "Hey, everybody. I'm going to travel, I need some work done you see?" Ramiel gave a sheepish smile.

"Ehhh? Why though? Can we come with?" Yuna thought he was going somewhere in the world they were currently in.

"Ahh, I'm going to a different universe. You see, there's a lot. And I mean a lot of threats roaming around in the multiverse. And if we want to explore them peacefully, we need to have more firepower." He explained.

"But why can't we go?" Aerith asked as she had a feeling that he was going somewhere dangerous. "My method of getting stronger is extreme and unique. Don't worry, we'll find a way for you guys to get stronger too." He patted her head.

"Then get us some souvenirs okay?" Tifa smiled and supported his endeavors fully. Like a good wife sending her husband to work.

"Thanks, and I will. Samus and I are the only ones that will be going there for now, let's investigate another place later for you guys to grind when I return." He smiled and left after giving them some hugs.

"Hmm, so we are in charge now. What do we have in our itinerary?" Alex asked Scarlet. "Nothing for now, I'll handle the business. Don't worry, you go continue your job at Totsuki. Which is having some peace and fun." She smiled at her.

Alexandra has carried a lot of stress her whole life too. And Scarlet thinks that if she just relaxes in Totsuki, then she'll mellow down a lot and be calmer.

"Let's go watch the next match then, we finished judging already. And quite honestly, I don't want to anymore. They have to improve first before they can make me judge again." Lulu suggested and everybody went to Totsuki.

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Following Alexandra's direction, Samus and Ramiel travelled to a new place to grind. Absorb everything and anything that they can.

"I've rested long enough... It's time to be a bit more serious in powering up. I got a bit too soft and let Hojo do a lot of crap. But I'm not gonna let that happen again." He cracked his neck and his hunger for power and strength made Samus' skin tingle.

"Don't go overboard yeah? We can do a lot of damage." She prepared herself and expected an apocalyptic world that's chock full of monsters.

"Collateral damage is always considered, don't worry." He smiled at her and they entered the world.

What greeted them is energy blasts being thrown into a metropolis. "Where's the target?" Samus immediately scanned the city and they saw a violet creature that's bombing the city with energy.

Samus then heard Ramiel chuckle. It soon turned into a boisterous laugh as his eyes glowed. He gave a toothy grin, his teeth sharpening like daggers.

She has never seen him so pumped up before. "This place is more exciting than I expected. You know Samus, in our world. Gaia, I've always had to protect the planet. Because it will bleed if I cause too much damage."

He started enhancing his body with Mako. The ambient energy in the world was so high that he and Samus were already brimming with it.

Ramiel braced himself to the limit and his energy suddenly exploded. In an instant, he arrived at the location of the purple Piccolo and balled his hands to a fist. Vibrating with Mako, the muscles in his arm and back are tense like a spring.

"Hello and goodbye." No more words were needed. And before it could have a chance to move. His fist tore through its head, popping it like a watermelon.

The monster tried to regenerate, its vitality was still keeping it going. So Ramiel grabbed the cavity on its neck and ripped it in half.

"Eww, that thing looks disgusting as hell." Samus raised a brow at the monster's inside that was green and nasty looking.

"Heh, then don't look." He opened his mouth and started eating it while it was still wriggling around. Samus heard horrifying crunches and a gulping sound.

She opened her eyes and saw him devouring it like delicious meat. "W-what the fuck?"

Ramiel took out a milkshake from his inventory and sipped the delicious drink. "Fucking hell, what a nasty tasting bastard."

"Then why did you fucking eat him then?" Samus winced at his actions and he smirked. "Because they have so much delicious energy." He could feel his body start to change. His muscles, bones, organs. Every part of his body was nourished.

They got harder, stronger, and denser. "I haven't really acted like it, but I adapt to anything Samus. And this place is perfect for my evolution. The old fashioned way. Kill anything that's worth killing. And eat them up until nothing is left." Ramiel finished digesting the monster and he let out a sigh.

Steam came out of his mouth, his body heated up like a nuclear reactor that suddenly surged with energy. "Holy fuck." Samus scanned his body and he was changing rapidly. Too quickly even.

Ramiel then let out a pulse of Mako. He closed his eyes and located every being that wasn't human nearby. He then grinned and licked his lips. "Let the hunt begin."

After they left, a bald guy was looking for the supposed monster threat, but it suddenly disappeared after he went out of his apartment.

"Huh? Where's the purple guy? Maybe he got taken out by a meteor or something? Well, that was a waste of time. Better get to the supermarket, there's a sale on eggs." He walked back leisurely and started shopping.

After hunting down every monster that sprung up, Samus had some questions. "Why are there so many of these freaks? Seriously, a goddamned car monster with human legs. What's wrong with this place?"

She was absorbing the energy of a monster and it had a torso of a car, while its legs were human.

"I don't know, don't ask me. But it might be due to the ambient energy in this place. You see, even normal humans here can turn into monsters. Just with a strong ambition, obsession, or bad habit can turn people into one." He observed the monster they just killed.

"So that's why this guy was shouting so much about modified cars and all that crap? Seems like a dystopian world. I also checked the cities here, people are packed in cities and land is rare as hell. Monsters attack every single day and whole cities can be lost in just a moment." Samus frowned.

"Yeah, I don't know why. But monsters just keep on popping up here, intent on wiping out humanity. That's why we'll be doing them a favor. If they just keep on killing them, the energy they have will just return to the world. The cycle just continues, we'll break that." He smiled and thought it would be fun.

"I hope you rested well last night Samus. Because we will be hunting them down nonstop. This is going to be a marathon." He flew to the skies and kept finding more monsters to kill and absorb.

"Hah, this will be quite tiresome. He's really excited." Samus sighed and followed his flight path. Unleashing the full power of his Metroid DNA and suit, turning monsters into lifeless husks and then consuming them with her x-parasite genes.

After a full day of hunting them down, a big one appeared. "Kyahahaha! With my brains and your brawn! We'll conquer the world!" A scientist that was riding the shoulder of a giant was cackling.

"Yes! This is what I was aiming for, nii-san. I am the strongest man in the world now!" The giant was ecstatic and he was about to wreak havoc on the city.

But a barrier formed over the area he stomped on and was stopped. "Huh?" He looked right in front, seeing two individuals that were flying.

"Fuck him up, Samus." Ramiel ordered and her Valkyrie wings started burning violet. Drones appeared from her shoulders and they started blinking.

"Puny flies, what are these gonna do to the strongest man? Haaa!?" The giant shouted and Samus snapped her fingers.

Spinning really quickly. The drones stopped blinking and they suddenly shot thin lasers. Orbiting the giant, they moved quickly and were producing shockwaves as the little machines of death broke the sound barrier.

She pointed her arm cannon right at the giant's head and blasted it off. His body parts then started falling down, minced to pieces and cubed.

Blood and flesh started raining on the city, but Ramiel all caught it before it could hit the place.

He raised his arm and started squeezing the body parts to the maximum. After a bit of effort, it turned into a cube of flesh and bones.

Ramiel opened his mouth and bit into it. Samus winced as it sounded like metal grinding against metal.

It was already hard, but he made it denser to be more manageable. And it was like biting into super strong metal.

"Samus, go and take half of this. Integrate with it using your X-parasite genes." Ramiel remembered that the giant Marugori ingested some super steroids that his brother made. Called the Biceps Brachii king.

It turned him into a mutant that stood 270 meters tall. His muscles expanding rapidly. Samus integrated with it through her suit and she winced immediately.

Her muscles began expanding, her bones also grew. She gritted her teeth and controlled her body to not turn into a giant. Though she did grew taller a couple of inches.

She got heavier and heavier, her whole body becoming denser. Quickly passing the 1 ton mark. Her muscle fibers multiplied extremely quickly. Giving her more strength and durability like never before.

Her bones got thicker, virtually unbreakable due to the massive increase of density. She hissed and glared at him. "That hurt like a bitch." She was sweating after transforming.

Samus checked her weight and she was 10 tons now. "How am I going to walk around, weighing 10 fricking tons?" She got annoyed.

"Gravity magic of course." Ramiel rolled his eyes and he focused on his metamorphosis now. Letting it go, his muscles expanded even more. He then entered a cycle of growing and packing it in multiple times.

After a couple of minutes he tapped on his abdominals and it was like knocking on steel. "I'm approximately 50 tons in weight. Goddamn, that was a nice little upgrade." He smiled in satisfaction and Samus punched him.

A shockwave exploded above the city and would shatter windows for hundreds of meters if he didn't put a barrier below.

"Oops, sorry. My strength is much much higher right now." She blew on her fist that was smoking. Feeling a bit numb after punching him. His body was so hard that she felt like she slugged a wall of metal.

"Be careful next time, the people here are already dying like flies. No need to make it harder for them." He sighed at her antics.

"Hey, there's a hero association thing here? How about we go there and receive some work? We don't have any cash you know?" Samus just wanted to check it out. Because Ramiel can sell stuff for some money.

"If you want to go there and check the powers of others, then just say so." He smiled softly and Samus got embarrassed.

"Yeah, I'm interested in how people protect the cities here. It's damned insane, Spira's got nothing on this place." Samus remembered their killing spree yesterday.

They killed thousands upon thousands of monsters that were roaming around. And a lot of them even managed to hide in the city.

Going to their headquarters which is located in A-city. They just walked in and said hello to the person manning the desk.

"We want to register." Samus asked and the receptionist gave them papers. "A map to the testing facility and the contents of the exam? Hmm, at least they aren't just hiring anybody." Samus nodded at their tests.

"Well, let's go to the testing area yeah?" Ramiel urged her and they were put in a pretty wide area where there are multiple people testing to become a hero as well.

"Physicals and a written test, pretty basic. But effective, divide them into classes and you're golden. Though the vast majority of them that would be B and C ranks will vary wildly in strength." Ramiel read the ranking systems and it works, but it could be better.

Like putting people into special divisions. Kind of the different hero types in Deku's world. Especially in disaster scenarios which happen often.

If they widen their categories, then people will be graded more in their specialized skills more. Not everyone needs to have a superpower to help. The front lines isn't everything in becoming a hero.

"Then want to take over this place? It's too one dimensional. Heroes fight monsters, the end." Samus smirked and he thought about it.

"Let's just take care of the monsters as much as possible. When we reach critical mass in absorbing them, a surge will happen. I'm sure of it, but there's a guy here that will help us." He grinned and Samus was curious on who that was.

"Come on, it's time for our physicals. Do your best okay?" He patted her on the head and they began their practicals.

Side to side jumps, squat jumps, weight lifting, and 1500 meter run. They just completed it leisurely, because they'll inevitably put in B-rank anyway. No one knows what they've been doing since they arrived after all.

Though they broke all previous records and filled the essay portion of the test multiple times. Giving comprehensive answers on what justice was, the kinds that people might have, etc.

Ramiel also just added the idea of different divisions on there and left it to the association. He didn't want to manage their crap. He wanted to kill and eat monsters to evolve.

While they were taking the exam, another monster attack is happening in Z-city this time. Mosquitoes were sucking up everything they come across just like locusts.

A certain bald man watering his cactus was being pestered by a mosquito and he couldn't kill it all, annoying him to high heaven. Quickly turning into burning rage.

And the culprit, is an anthropomorphic mosquito girl that can control mosquitoes to her bidding. (pic)

"Ahhh, you guys. Is this all you can get for me? It's so little, you gotta work harder~" She was floating in the sky and absorbing blood to become stronger.

She suddenly heard something and someone spoke. "Target acquired." A burst of flame tried burning her down, but she blocked it and dispersed it with a burst of air from her wings.

"So that's how it works, you let the mosquitoes suck up blood and then absorb it for yourself. If I kill you, their leader. Then they will stop." He pointed his arm right at her and the hole on his palm started burning.

"Heh? Next meal's here boys. Suck him up dry." Mosquito girl sent her minions to suck the cyborg dry.

But when her mosquitoes wrapped him up in a dense black cloud of insects. They suddenly immolated.

His palm released fire and was burning. "Stay in place, you are a target for elimination." He charged up for another blast.

"Hoh? This will be much more interesting it seems?" She dived in and the cyborg released flames like a pyromaniac.

Mosquito girl went back in the air and used her air superiority. The cyborg quickly noticed it and ran to the walls to engage in CQC.

But because he didn't have any footing or reliable maneuverability in the air, his blows didn't deal any damage.

He tried one more time and his fist clashed with her claw, but they were dead even. He then got smacked down to the ground, but he recovered immediately.

"Incinerate." Bursts of fire escaped from his palm and he stood there like a turret. But she was too fast and took his arm with a dive. Skewering it with her horn.

"Maybe a leg next?" She chuckled in the air, Though her balance suddenly changed and noticed that her legs were gone.

The cyborg yanked them off in an exchange and calculated that it was a better trade off. She frowned and thought of getting serious.

She flew off to the skies to escape for a bit in order to get more blood that her minions have been taking from the wildlife.

"Escape, is inadvisable. You can't escape me." He fired another shot and it was a bit bigger, but the mosquitoes blocked the fireball that exploded.

She then called out to all of her mosquitoes that have been absorbing a lot of blood. He was about to tear it down with his flames, but he heard a civilian.

"Get back here dammit! You shitty mosquito!" A bald man was chasing a mosquito with some bug spray. "Ptui, damn. It got in my mouth... Hey, what the hell is that? Are those mosquitoes?" He paled at the amount of them.

'What's with this person?' The cyborg was surprised. "Hey, this place isn't safe. You have to get out of here. That swarm will attack you when they notice you."

"S-seriously? Then let's dip." He pointed at the other direction, but the swarm suddenly crashed onto the ground. And like a tidal wave, it was quickly overwhelming the city block.

Buildings toppled over and it was a mosquito hater's worst nightmare. Before it could spread even further though, fire that was much grander than the ones earlier came to life.

Streams of fire burned through them like paper and flowed to every nook and cranny of the streets. Like Shin Godzilla's initial atomic breath, the flames spread and superheated everything in a 500 meter radius.

"Hmph, since you could speak. I thought you had intelligence. But you gathered your swarm in one fell swoop and I could incinerate them all instantly. There were no people in a 500 meter radius when I found you. So I could fire away... Wait, what about that guy?" He looked behind him, but the bald guy was completely fine.

"Wow, that's awesome man. What did you do? You made them bug out. Ba dum tsh" He had a small smile on his face. But the cyborg didn't reply and just stared at him in disbelief.

"Ahhh, I was trying to make a joke about the bugs." He was explaining, but they heard a buzz in the air and a boisterous laugh.

"Idiot! I don't need the little ones anymore, after all. I'm so much stronger now!" She swiped a building from far away with her claws and it got split into three pieces.

The cyborg gasped and he was blitzed, she appeared behind him and sliced his torso in half. Making it barely hang on to his legs.

He then suddenly found himself in the air, uppercutted to the skies. The monster laughed as she cut him up bit by bit in the air.

'I miscalculated, she gets stronger when she consumes blood. I should've taken care of her much earlier. Chances of victory is zero. I need to self destruct my core and take her with me.'

"I'll have your head next!" She dove in, but before she could take another swipe at the cyborg. Someone appeared behind her with glowing eyes.

With a horrifying crack, her vision suddenly turned upside down. Her neck got twisted upside down and 360° horizontally.

"A bug huh? I owned some Hercules beetles back in the past. But mosquitoes are definitely not it." Ramiel really hated mosquitoes. He thought of genetically erasing the harmful ones and just leave the good ones that don't bite humans for the ecosystem.

"A-ahh. W-why is everything upside down?" Mosquito girl's voice trembled as she started to feel her body shut down.

The cyborg and the bald man watched as he opened his mouth wide and bit on her shoulders. He then ripped off a part of her torso that was almost half of its size.

Her eyes shaked and she knew what was happening, she was getting devoured like the prey in the bottom of the food chain.

Ramiel saw the two spectators and raised a brow at them. "You want some? I'm not giving you guys any." He hid her body and took a bite while eyeing them.

"Like hell we want some of that!" The bald man retorted. "Ramiel, you're the only one who will eat monsters like that." Samus sighed and shook her head at his antics.

"W-who are you?" The torn up cyborg wanted to know who were they. "Rude, you should introduce yourself first if you wanna know someone." Ramiel huffed and kept on munching on mosquito girl.

"I'm Genos." He stated plainly and they looked at the bald man who was naked. "Man, wear something. Anything, we don't need to see your junk you know? And don't worry, it's perfectly average. It's just cold outside." Samus commented and the bald man looked down.

"Ahhh! My clothes!" He took a road sign that was intact and hid his junk. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ramiel and this grumpy lady is Samus."

"I'm Saitama..." The bald man introduced himself. "He's gonna be out helper when we can't cover everything else Samus." Ramiel smirked.

"What? Why? Oh... His energy is so high it's insane." Samus squinted her eyes and checked Saitama's aura. To trained eyes, he was leaking a golden aura, full of vitality and strength. It was unreal.

"You're a hero for fun right? I'm a big fan, thanks for protecting the cities. But you lost your drive right?" Ramiel smiled at him and Saitama's derpy face turned serious.

"Y-you... Thank you! Finally, someone is a fan of me!" He got really happy and Genos was confused as hell.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.