MCU 4

After the girls, including the pets and Serena, who I counted as one, showed up and started exploring the apartment, I engaged in a little tradition I had recently started.

Firstly, I updated the Akashic Records book with the magic of this realm and created two additional copies of the same book.

Technically, they weren't true copies—they looked and behaved the same, but all three books drew information from the same pool, Aly's book.

I did this for the convenience of updating and absorbing knowledge from a realm without having to wait for Aly to show up. While I could have done it without the book, old habits die hard, and I saw no reason not to record the information for later.

"So, how do you like the apartment?" I asked, handing Aly her book and giving Olivia one of the copies.

"It's really pretty," Aly beamed, "Though I don't know how to use half of these gadgets."

"We'll teach you," I assured her with a smile, then turned to Olivia, who was more familiar with high-tech living standards.

"It's fine," Olivia shrugged, opening and flipping through the book. "Hmm... I'm not sure if I'll ever need this." She admitted, "You know I'm not a big fan of magic," she pointed out, with a confused expression, trying to understand the magical formula on the page she opened.

"I know. Also, you're holding it upside down," I chuckled, making her blush in embarrassment. "And no problem, I just thought to give it to you in case you ever get bored or actually need it." I shrugged as she nodded in understanding, still trying to decipher the content of the page she opened, now in the correct orientation. "Though, a quick warning, the books are interconnected, so don't use them as a diary," I added, making Aly unconsciously tense up and widen her eyes.

"W-who would do something so stupid?" Aly muttered, nervously opening the book. Before she could search its content, she locked eyes with me and froze mid-motion.

"Right..." I said, giving her a knowing smile.

"...D-did you read it?" She stuttered, averting her eyes, realizing the cat was out of the bag.

"No," I replied calmly, though my words sounded quite insincere.

"...Liar," she muttered, her shoulders sagging, while a crimson blush spread across her cheeks all the way to her neck.

"To be fair, invading your privacy wasn't my intention," I said with a sigh. "I use a skill to read the thing, from cover to cover, and all of the info just gets shoved into my mind. If it helps, I'm sorry," I said honestly.

She looked back at me, a cute pout forming on her face as she observed my expression. Our eyes locked, and after a moment, her shoulders sagged even more, and she nodded, "Alright..."

Olivia observed us suspiciously, and after her patience ran dry, she turned to Aly and asked, "What was in that diary that made you so tense?"

Olivia's question made Aly tense up once again and chuckle nervously. She looked back at me with an expression that all but shouted, 'Help!'

Her expression made me chuckle, making Olivia's undivided attention turn back to me. She squinted her eyes, not liking the fact that I had a shared secret, especially with another woman. "Don't look at me like that," I said with a smile, giving the pouting baby mama a pat. "I know that we said no secrets, but this one is not for me to tell. They are her personal thoughts and desires, after all."

Her pout intensified as she crossed her arms, but when I didn't buckle under her glare, she gave up and made an internal promise to later pester Aly, who had already torn the pages out of the book, about it.

"Anyway," I 'skillfully' changed the topic, then used Existence to conjure six drops of blood, originating from two different races prominent in this universe.

"Food?" Aly asked hopefully, her eyes shining brightly.

"No, Aly, it's not food," I replied swiftly, rolling my eyes at her practically drooling. "But you can have a bucket of it after we're done," I added, making her blush and express gratitude.

"The left ones are from the race called 'Mutants,' and the right ones are from 'Inhumans,'" I explained. "Convert them into race cards, and let's see what we'll get." I levitated a drop of blood from each race to the girls and converted two myself.

Both racial cards created from these species were Human-like, both granting minimal attribute increases per global level, some bonuses toward skill development, and a single random skill.

That's where the fun began.

The racial skills we gained were both powerful and hilarious, requiring us to use the Advanced Skill Management System more than once to remove part of the skills.

In Aly's case, her Inhuman racial skill was interesting and without a downside, somehow granting her the ability to warp the perception of others.

On the other hand, the Mutant racial skill was a secondary mental instance, and a twofold increase in her mental capabilities.

While at first glance that sounds fantastic, especially for a mage like herself, the downside was the passive effect that literally made her grow a second head.

"What the hell?!" screamed both of Aly's heads simultaneously, their eyes wide as saucers.

"Calm down," I said, patting both of her heads. "We can fix this easily," I assured her as she gave me a hopeful look.

At that moment, intrusive thoughts won, and before I showed her how to remove part of a skill, I made sure she was entirely certain she wanted to go through with it. "Though, do you really want to remove the second head?" I asked, making her confused.

"Yes! I look hideous!" both heads said at the same time, before glaring at each other.

"Hold that thought," I said, raising my palms, and making them focus back on me. "With this skill, you have the extraordinary ability to suck at least two dicks at once, and not a lot of people can say that about themselves," I said with a grin, and my statement had a twofold effect.

The peanut gallery, consisting of my travel buddies, released a collective groan of annoyance, while the two-headed girl stood there shocked. To be honest, I've got no idea how Sky or Fluffy knew what that meant, but I didn't have time to dwell on it. The clearly panicked and now extremely annoyed girl blinked in utter shock before shouting, "How can you say something like that, in a time like this!", and sent a torrent of water my way.

Good times.

After dislodging myself from the wall, fixing it up, and drying off, I explained to Aly how she could remove certain elements of skills, making her swiftly lose her secondary head but still retain all other benefits the skill granted.

Olivia, on the other hand, had a far better experience.

From the Inhuman side, she received a passive skill called [Soothing Voice].

It was a straightforward ability that applied a calming effect to those who heard her voice. However, in its current form, it had no effect on those with high mental processes, as they could easily notice the unnatural calm they were feeling.

Anyway, she was extremely happy, as the ability could be extremely useful with the baby.

Her second ability, originating from the Mutant side, had a side effect that altered the pigmentation of her skin, turning her blue. She handled the mutation much better than Aly, opting to remove it from the skill. While I was tempted to suggest leaving it, my 'infinite' wisdom restrained me from making such remarks, despite my thoughts lingering on tapping that blue ass.

Moving on to the topic at hand, the skill she acquired was called [Permafrost], and given its name, it wasn't surprising that it turned her blue.

Surprisingly, the ability didn't manipulate molecular motion in the way I anticipated or in line with the laws of physics. Instead of sapping away energy and slowing down particles, it simply encased something in ice and literally froze it in time.

Although the skill leaned more towards temporal manipulation than ice control, it still exhibited some extreme thermal effects.

In addition to freezing something in time and encasing it in ice with a constant temperature of negative 276 degrees Celsius, nothing—absolutely nothing—I attempted could alter its temperature or even melt it.

Maintaining the skill put a constant drain on her stamina, which spiked drastically when I tried to melt the ice with extremely high temperatures. However, thanks to her other skills boosting her regeneration, she could keep the skill active even under strain for what seemed like an eternity.

My skills, to the dismay of the girls, didn't come with any biological changes. Nevertheless, that didn't diminish their value; in fact, it was quite the opposite.

From the Inhuman side, I gained the ability to absorb emotions from my surroundings and use them as a boost.

[Emotion Syphon LVL: 1]

- Grants the user with the ability to draw and harness emotions from their surroundings as an energy source, each type manifesting unique effects on the user.

- Excessively extracting the same emotions from a single individual may result in a lasting depletion of that specific emotional type.

Based on the limited testing I conducted with Aly, utilizing [Mental Domain], I could imbue emotions into her and subsequently absorb them using this skill. Our brief experimentation verified that each emotion yielded distinct bonuses, ranging from positive to negative. For instance, confidence bolstered my defenses, happiness enhanced my regeneration, anger increased my strength, and fear heightened my agility.

We halted our testing at that point, as I harbored reservations about inadvertently depleting Aly's emotions. Pushing further might risk altering her lively and cheerful personality, transforming her into an emotionless figure—a scenario I was unwilling to gamble on.

While the initial ability was somewhat disconcerting, it exhibited considerable potential, especially when coupled with [Mental Domain]. However, it was the second ability that left me astounded.

[Talent Negation LVL: 1]

- Grants the user the ability to negate a singular natural or supernatural talent within their immediate vicinity.

Simply stated, the skill was bonkers.

Operating on a conceptual level, it nullified a specific chosen ability from my target, provided they possessed talent in that area. The most intriguing aspect was that it didn't exclusively apply to supernatural abilities.

This skill could cause a concert pianist to forget how to play the piano, compromise the dexterity of their fingers, or simply erase their knowledge of reading music sheets.

Regrettably, the same restriction prevented its use against abilities beyond an individual's control.

With a few exceptions, I couldn't erase someone's ability to breathe, nor could I negate an innate capacity for healing.

Nevertheless, through a series of tests on my somewhat unwilling partner, Aly, I confirmed that I could temporarily strip her of the ability to control mana, even though she had the assistance of our system.

"Thanks for volunteering as my test subject," I said, flashing a smile and playfully patting the girl's head.

"Like I had a choice," she grumbled, arms crossed over her ample chest.

Disregarding her grumbling, I clapped my hands to regain the room's attention. "Alright, everyone," I began as I conjured three binders before us. "I've crafted our backstories, leaving some details open for reality to fill in. Everything about yourselves is in these papers, including documents, IDs, licenses, cards—everything you might need."

The others nodded, flipping through the documents, but I didn't let them finish. "Do that in your free time. For now, we're in a world where magic is known but currently hidden from the public. So, no teleportation to or from public spaces with lots of witnesses unless necessary. While we can move faster on foot, sprinting at supersonic speeds would label us as mutants, which is bad for our image, so please avoid that."

"How are we supposed to get around then? Public transport?" She asked, grimacing as she tried to recall the information I gave her way back.

"I'm glad you asked," I smiled, conjuring three sets of keys and floating them before illusions of parking spots with cars inside. "Pick one."

"I'll take the white one!" Olivia exclaimed, her eyes fixed on the Lamborghini SC20.

I shrugged and handed her the keys, then turned to Aly, raising my eyebrows.

"I, uh, can't drive?" she mumbled, making me roll my eyes. I leaned forward, tapping her forehead to transfer my minimal driving knowledge.

"That's all you know about driving?" she asked, confused and tilting her head.

"It's a miracle I even know that much," I chuckled. "I lived in a big city all my life, and public transport was faster and cheaper than driving. With our attributes filling in the blanks, this will be more than enough. So, will you pick one?"

"I'll take the red one," she said, choosing the Porsche 911, and I handed her the keys with a nod.

"That leaves me with the silver one, the Koenigsegg Agera," I said with a smile, pocketing the last key.

"With that settled," I clapped again, pointing to Aly. "There's been a slight change in our plans. It appears my 'father,'" I emphasized the word with air quotes, "already had a secretary named Judy in the company. I've already met her, and she's quite capable and devoted to the company."

"How do you know that?" Olivia inquired.

"She showed me around the company earlier today, and I've read her mind," I replied nonchalantly. "She had a tough childhood, was kicked out of her home at eighteen, and then my fake father, like a knight in shining armor, swooped in and saved her." I rolled my eyes. "He gave her a place to stay, put her through school, and even gave her a job. From what I've seen, I'm pretty sure he was grooming her to be a mistress or something. Although, I didn't see any abuse of power," I added with a wry smile.

"So what? You're keeping her because you're sorry about her past?" Olivia asked, grimacing at what I revealed.

"... And she's kind of hot," I admitted, looking away.

"Yeah... That explains it..." Olivia and Aly agreed in unison.

"Anyway," I chuckled, "So Aly, you'll be my personal assistant—"

"With all the experimentations you've done with me, aren't I already one?"

I ignored her remark and continued, "You'll still do some secretary work, but they'll be centered around acquisitions, data analysis, and stuff like that." I shrugged, "Though the company is mainly a side project, I still want to see what we can accomplish with magitech, so you'll also be learning about technology, engineering, and enchanting," I explained with a smile.

"Alright," Aly shrugged. "With all the world jumping we did, this will be a nice change of pace."

I nodded in agreement and turned to Olivia. "Olive, with the baby on the way, I don't really have a task for you."

"Oh, come on," she protested. "I don't want to rot in the apartment for ages. I'm not made out of glass; give me something to do."

"Hmm, wanna be the spokesperson for the company?" I proposed.

"What would that entail?" She asked, perking up.

"You'll control our image, represent us at press conferences and stuff like that," I shrugged. "We'll think of something."

"I can work with that," she nodded, a happy smile spreading across her face.

"Lastly," I turned to the pets, "Serena, you'll stay invisible and always with Olivia."

"Yes, sir!" she saluted, and I ignored her antics, then turned to Fluffers. "Fluffy, you're also on guard duty. Stay within Olivia's shadow at all times."

"Shaa!" she agreed, imitating Serena and saluting with her tail, making me roll my eyes.

"Sky," I looked at the puppy, who tilted her head and gave me a hopeful expression, "Your task is the most important one out of all!" I raised my voice, making her tense up. Her eyes locked with mine, giving me her undivided attention. "You need to always, and I mean always," I repeated for dramatic effect, "Stay super~ cute."

While the pup blinked in utter confusion, then dropped to the sofa depressed, the room burst out laughing, and even Fluffy and Serena came to tease the little canine.

I opened my mouth to continue with the explanation but stopped suddenly as I detected a rapidly approaching aircraft on the edge of my perception.

Focusing my full attention on it, I laughed aloud, a wide grin spreading on my face.

"Seems like our little family meeting was cut short," I said with a smile, ignoring Aly's mumbling 'Family?'. "We're getting some uninvited guests any time now." And as I said that, the doorbell rang.

"Combat?" whispered Olivia, already holding a sword in her hand.

"Nah," I rolled my eyes. "They are simply an annoying bunch," I said, walking up to the door and opening it.

"Ah, Mister Thompson—" started a bald man in a wheelchair before I interrupted him.

"Sorry, we're not interested in anything you're selling," I swiftly said, then shut the door, leaving the stunned group of mutants rooted in place, blinking in confusion.

Much to the confusion of the girls, I remained standing in front of the door, patiently anticipating another ring. As soon as it came, I opened the door with a grimace, and before they could utter a single word, I shouted, "I've already told you, we're not buying anything!" and promptly closed the door again.