69 Noice #69

"Fuck..." I couldn't help but curse with a cough that made the blood clogging my throat shoot out of my mouth and fall right back into my face, causing me to grimace.

"Great..." I remarked as I grunted and wiped the blood off my face. My voice was faint and barely audible as I lay flat on the cold, hard ground in a puddle of my own blood.

I would have said I felt like shit right now, but that would probably be an understatement. The pain of tearing my own muscles (which I could still feel even after I fully healed) was one thing, but that wasn't even the worst part.

A funny fact about tearing your body inside out as I did is that it causes a shit ton of bleeding. Internal bleeding with nowhere to go that started seeping from everywhere at once shortly after it was over.

And I did mean it when I said everywhere, from every single pore on my skin, nose, mouth, ears, eyes, and yes, there too. I'd tell you all about it, but believe me when I say you don't want to know.

That shit isn't for the faint of heart.

I turned my head to the side and violently coughed, letting out the blood pooling in my mouth, almost choking me. I took a deep breath, raised my head, and tried to get up, but I couldn't conjure the strength to do it.

'Fuck it...' I mused with a sigh of resignation as I relaxed my body and let my head fall back to the ground. 'Now let's see if this shit was worth it...' I spat the last drops of blood in my mouth and brought up the system's interface.

[+51 points to the Body attribute]

[Due to merging your energy into every muscle of your body, you have unlocked the perk: Energy Conductor]

[Energy Conductor: your body is perfectly compatible with all types of energies, enabling you to channel and convert energy with 100% efficiency and even absorb a portion of any foreign form of energy affecting your body]

'Definitely looks worth it...' I mused as I read through the first two notifications. The 51 points alone were a massive gain, since I'd need to grind for at least ten days to get that much.

The Energy Conductor perk was the icing on top of the cake, and it made the shit I just went through worth it. I've been struggling with energy reserve, but now it should last me much longer.

The other part about absorbing energy sounds just as impressive, but I'll need to test its limits before I can pass judgment.

[Due to reaching a milestone in your Body attribute, you have unlocked the perk: Enhanced Durability]

[Enhanced Durability: your physical durability, the ability to withstand damage, is extremely high, allowing you to take numerous blows of internal or external assaults before succumbing to the effects. (The user can withstand bullets, grenades, and low to medium explosives)]

'That's another good one...' I nodded my head in satisfaction at the new perk. I might have my bulletproof trench coat, but it had its limits, and I might have to take it off to avoid some attacks like what happened in the shipyard.

Now I can take it off and rest assured that my throat won't be slit by some werewolf or some shit because I didn't want acid fucking up my coat.

'Whelp.. time to put those points to good use...' I mused as I turned to my character screen and started with investing 15 points into my Mind Attribute.

[Due to reaching a milestone in your Mind attribute, you have unlocked the perk: Empathy]

[Empathy: the power to fully interpret the emotions, moods, and temperament of other sentient beings, allowing you to understand their intentions within a specific range, depending on how high your Mind attribute is. (Empathy may not work on those with no emotions or exceptional self-control)]

'This should help me get the upper hand in negotiations or even simple conversation...' I mused, feeling conflicted about my new perk. The idea of infringing on other people's minds didn't sound appealing, even if it was merely to understand their emotions and interpret their intentions.

I'd honestly be pissed if I knew someone tried that shit on me.

Still, it was a convenient power to have, and though I might not like it, it's definitely better to have it just in case instead of needing it and not having it if the need arose.

'Moving on...' I sighed as I dropped the subject and dumped 15 points into my Spirit Attribute.

[Due to reaching a milestone in your Spirit attribute, you have unlocked the perk: Energy Manifestation]

[Energy Manifestation: the power to channel and manifest your energy through your body parts into the outside world in different forms as a means of attack. (the range, strength, precision, and everything in between rely on the user's energy reserve and proficiency)]

'First Spiderman, and now it looks like I'll be ripping off Goku next...' I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought as I read through the perk, wincing as my jaw started aching.

Still, it'll probably take a lot of work before I can get anywhere with energy attacks, and I don't really have times to put into it. But It's definitely something I'd be sinking a lot of time into in the future.

My chunibyo and inner Dragon Ball fanboy demand it!

'My fucking OCD though...' I sighed as I looked at my stats, frowning at the uneven numbers.

...

Name: Grayson Whitlock

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Age: 17

Archetype: (The Mad Scientist level 3)

Class: [Thief (level MAX)] [Fighter (level MAX)] [Acrobat (Level MAX)] [Programmer (Level MAX) [Gunman (level MAX)] [Mechanic (level 23)]

...

Stats:

Body: 138

Mind: 100

Spirit: 100

Stat Points: 26

.....

Skills:

[Brawling (level 44)]

[Crime (level 40)]

[Acrobatics (level 24)]

[Computers (level 33)]

[Gun Mastery (level 20)]

[Mechanics (10)]

....

Perks:

[Dormant Metahuman]

[Silent Step]

[Eidetic Kinesthesia]

[Superhuman Stamina]

[Perfect Recall]

[Accelerated Healing]

[Energy Detector]

[Augmented Reality Vision: the ability to see through the world as an augmented reality: a live, direct or indirect, view of the world that includes digital elements such as information boxes regarding places (this perk requires the Personal Computer power to fully function)]

(Author's note: this is the perk Gray got when he level Computers past 25. I forgot to add it to the chapter, so here it is)

[Energy Conductor]

[Enhanced Durability]

[Empathy]

[Energy Manifestation]

...

Archetype powers:

[Network Crash]

[Code Manipulation]

[Personal Computer]

[Machinery Scan]

...

'Well, at least my unbalanced stats aren't killing me the same way it did back then...' I shook my head, unable to do anything other than moving my head as I tried to get up and failed again.

'Not that it would make much difference... man, I'm spent...' I mused, bitterly chuckling as I relaxed my body, gazing at the ceiling. 'I need to test the new perks and get used to my newly acquired strength, but first...' I closed my eyes, the exhaustion catching up to me as my conscience began slipping away.

'A nap is in order...'

...

Gotham City Park

"Was it really wise to let the kid go through with that?" Benjamin blankly asked as he regarded his friend and brother in all but blood, Richard, with a hard-to-read expression.

"I don't know what the kid's been through or his circumstances, but he's troubled, and self-mutilation hardly seems like a healthy option to gain strength," he added, sighing as he turned away from Richard, a complicated expression on his face.

"O-sensei might have created the technique, but he only told us about it because he knew it would be impossible for us..." Benjamin added, sighing as he shook the nostalgia out of his expression.

"You know as well as I do how O-sensei felt about it, Richard," Benjamin said, looking straight into Richard's eyes, clearly demanding an explanation from the latter.

"But he did teach it to us, Ben. Our teacher was not one to do things for no reason," Richard replied with a sigh, clearly not intent on elaborating as he shook his head, causing Benjamin to frown in thought.

"I don't want Gray relying on such a method to gain strength, the same way our teacher didn't want it for us..." Richard added, his tone frustrated and expression helpless.

"Gray is vastly different from the two of us, old friend. You were troubled by your anger, and my lack purpose of troubled me..." Richard explained, having another sigh.

"But, Gray, on the other hand... He has all of that and then some. Growing stronger is the only thing keeping him together at this point..." Richard concluded while scratching his head.

"I just hope you know what you're doing, Richard," Benjamin said with a grunt as he turned around and walked away, leaving Richard alone to gaze at the stars.

"Me too, old friend. Me too," Richard said as he rubbed his forehead, lingering for a moment before he too turned to leave.

...

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