Bang!
A heavy ball hit the hand, it was Hellen who threw it, deviating the decayed hand’s original trajectory.
It was one of the things the Bureau’s team shared with her and it indeed came into use, rather too early. She didn’t use the gun, a bullet wouldn’t do much to stop a hand which doesn’t feel pain. At least not too much pain. A heavy ball was therefore a better choice, as it would at least deflect the hand.
Alastair was quickly alerted, taking a few steps backwards, he swung around his sword. His earlier gait, which suggested his expertise and plentiful experience with swords was nowhere to be seen.
Panic gripped the first-timer as he swung the sword in self defense. “Calm down.” Hellen yelled as she readied another ball in her hand and a pistol in another. There wasn’t a chance she would have been able to react so quickly if she didn’t have it in her hand already, being ready at all times was an optimal state to confront ghosts, also when babysitting first timers. It wasn’t her first time doing this.
Alastair collected himself as he continuously stepped backward, making space between himself and the ghost. Scottus was already beside him. Aiden noticed from the outside that he didn’t have any weapon on him. Only a fighting suit, with the stuff on his belt he saw earlier.
What are the conditions of his ability?
The ghost moved again, punching ahead, this time Alastair swung his sword with proper expertise, skillfully parrying the punch and stabbing its leg. It elicited a sharp cry from the ghost as it swung hard the hand which had been parried earlier.
Alastair blocked the arm with his sword, while Scottus quickly maneuvered himself towards the outstretched arm before the ghost took it back. He simply touched the hand and suddenly, the ghost curled up inwards and fell back.
Same move.
Aiden thought. He saw that the ghost took the hit far better than him, who had been sent tumbling. When that thought popped in his head, more began following up.
Normally, if a person is sent crashing through a punch in the chest, it should be a serious injury. Like rib fracture, internal organ bleeding and so on. But apart from the initial pain, it’s completely fine right now. Well, not completely fine, it still hurts like shit when I move, even more if I touch it. But it’s not as serious as I thought it would be.
Is my physique at the peak of mortal limits too now? It should be, I have an ability too now. But still, is it that exaggerated? Or is it that the process is gradual, it’s slowly upgrading towards the peak, and any injury sustained in the process is rapidly healed. The second option seems more likely.
In video games, all the lost hp was recovered when a character leveled up. Something similar must’ve happened. But then again, won’t it be suspicious to others? According to them, I don’t have an ability after all. Chuck it, I’ll think of something.
Aiden continued watching the ongoing battle. After Scottus used his ability, the ghost had curled up on the floor but it quickly stood up and approached the two with arms stretched.
Alastair took a step back and sharply stabbed his sword. Leaving a deep gash on the left arm of the ghost. A loud cry of anguish was heard from the ghost as the left arm hung limp from the middle of its left arm.
Alastair had almost run through the arm with his sword. Adrenaline had filled their bodies by now, fear left their mind as Scottus advanced towards the ghost. Taking the advantage that its attention was briefly caught up in its left arm, he put a hand on its head, the closest part of ghost to him and suddenly the lower portion of left arm which was hanging limp bent in opposite direction and flew off, completely detaching from the body.
Aiden got a good look at Scottus’ ability now.
He needs body contact. Hmmm, no wonder he had to place his hand on me when he used it on me. He also simply touched the ghost for the first time around, and touched his head this time. So does that mean it needs to be his hand which makes contact, and it can be any body part of the opponent?
What is the ability though? Inflict blunt force on the body in contact in any direction he wants? The first time it must’ve been the chest area, the second time he inflicted the force on the left arm in the opposite direction of its hanging.
That’s one crazy ability, both in fact. But you can at least dodge and block the sword. How would you go about dodging a literal human who only needs to touch his hand to you once? Just once and he can inflict immense blunt force anywhere on your body he wants. Maybe only the external part of the body? And maybe only a select few areas? Need more information.
What are his side effects?
Aiden carefully watched the battle. He couldn’t spot anything out of place. Their abilities were truly deserving of them being high rankers. He realized a few bits and pieces about abilities. Powerful abilities may not truly be ranked high if its condition were difficult to accomplish or if the side effect left you crippled.
The fight had completely turned once sided from the beginning itself when adrenaline filled up their body. The ghost was beaten brutally. When Alastair was about to pierce through another part of its body, it suddenly went through it.
It would’ve been good if the sword had indeed run through the body, but it had effortlessly gone through its leg and when he retrieved it, the blood and flesh pattern on it were exactly the same.
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Yes, its body had turned incorporeal. They watched as the ghost slipped through the floor.
“It’s time.” Hellen shouted to break the duo out of their reverie of seeing the phaseless ability. “Don’t forget why we came here.”
She turned to Aiden and Lucas, “Aiden, go and look at the laptop. Direct us from there, about the whereabouts of the ghost. I didn’t take my portable screen with me this time. Lucas, stay back as a backup.”
The next few minutes went by in a flash. Aiden was shouting into the microphone from the living room. Directing the team as they ran after the ghost.
At some point they divided themselves to speed up the progress but found out that the ghost had resorted to attacking, which caused them to move in pairs next.
The ghost didn’t attempt to assault once more as the group chased it all over the house.
“It left?”
Aiden spoke into the microphone with a confused voice. “What do you mean?”
Aiden reaffirmed, “Yes, it has left the area shown by the cameras. At least the ghost isn’t showing on the screen anymore.”
“Fuck.” Scottus’ voice was heard over the phone. Aiden even heard a faint ‘damn’ from Alastair. He understood their feelings very well. This time it wasn’t anyone’s fault, but the ghost accidentally went to a place where the cameras didn’t reach.
“He was last seen in the third bedroom to the left after ascending the stairs. Maybe we could search from there?”
“Alright.” After a short reply from aunt Hellen, he could hear their footsteps. Most likely heading towards the location he had just informed.
Cedric, who was beside him the whole time knew the amount of times the helping ghost had used the phaseless ability. Even though it wasn’t the full extent since the ghost left midway and it wasn’t looking probable that it would be found anytime soon, he could simply relay all that to the Bureau. Muttering some curses about being stuck in the town, he quickly went to a corner and called the Bureau.
Roughly a few minutes passed by as Aiden kept staring at the entire feed of all the cameras in the house. He could hear Valeria talking with the others but stopped paying attention when he realized it wasn’t anything of significance.
Finally, footsteps were heard continuously as the group descended down the stairs. At the same time, Cedric also returned from his call.
His expression was serious, but Hellen put up a hand to stop him as she sternly commanded Scottus and Alastair.
“In the bathroom! Now! No vomiting on the carpet. Alastair, demanifest your sword only after you enter the bathroom, not in the hallways. Clean the bathroom before you leave. It’s not me being strict but having manners.”
Only now did they notice that Scottus’ hands and Alastair’s sword were filled with blood, some decayed pieces of flesh and a putrid smell which only just hit everyone’s noses.
Their faces weren’t looking too good either. It looked like all the color had been drained, looking all pale with slightly puffed up cheeks, very likely barely holding onto vomit.
Both of them ran towards the bathroom, as the group descended into silence.
Cedric had a weirdly mixed expression of relief, tension, happiness, restlessness, and awe. Or maybe none. Aiden couldn’t read much into it.
The group took this small window of time for some personal use as there was a rare moment of silence and peace.
Ding!
A notification pinged on Valeria's phone, breaking the silence.
Hellen shot her a sharp look and put a finger on her lips. “Let everyone gather around first.”
Sounds of intense vomiting were heard from the bathrooms as everyone chose to politely ignore it. Hellen could understand the young men, it was their first time against the ghost, whose appearance didn’t leave room for mercy either.
Not vomiting the first time they saw the ghost was already a big thing. She was impressed they were able to fight and dominate the fight after collecting themselves, showing sufficient presence of mind.
It was roughly around 10-15 minutes later that the duo emerged into the living room. Receiving the looks from the crowd, they felt both proud and a bit shameful as Hellen explained everything they did to the crowd. Appreciation where due was her creed.
She called everyone to gather in the living room, and placed plenty of refreshments on the table for everyone.
“Do you still have the heart to eat and drink with the ghost in the house?”
Cordelia asked as she saw Hellen eating and drinking with no pause in her actions. The latter gave her a side eye as she finished the food in her mouth and spoke,
“I’ve done worse. Get used to it if you plan to keep confronting ghosts in the future. Even eating next to one wouldn’t be rare at that time.” She ended her reply with a smile as she nudged everyone to have something.
For the next 10-15 minutes everyone ate to replenish their energy, except Alastair and Scottus who looked like they’d vomit if they ate again. Hellen didn’t say anything to them, knowing their plight very well.
It was a few minutes before she finally spoke when everyone finished eating. “Cedric and Valeria have something to say to us. Let’s listen to them before we proceed with what we need to do next.” She gestured to Cedric. “You can relay the message now.”
Cedric coughed into his fist as everyone’s attention gathered onto him. He spoke silently, “The Bureau has judged that the situation is grave. The special ghost might be on the peak of Adept rank, or even at the Master rank.”
Everyone, including Hellen’s face, warped into horror as they heard the news. Aiden found it unexpected, because he had seen Cedric’s face when he returned after calling the Bureau. The guy in question continued,
“Unexpectedly, the Bureau is also short on supers at the moment. To face a special ghost at the peak of Adept, with the possibility of it being a Master, the Bureau can definitely not just send an Adept super.
“There should be a team of them, possibly 6 to 7. If they are sending Masters, at least 2-3. Unfortunately they don’t have such a huge amount of supers at standby.”
Bastard! Then what was up with your expression earlier? Aiden thought as he clenched his fists. He was stuck with a normal ghost while his childhood friend had fulfilled some conditions of the special ghost. What was up with this fucked up situation?
The middle aged man continued, his tone finally containing a hint of hope. “But the Bureau has notified that there might be one of the six heroes coming to rescue. They told us to wait, and use any means possible to stall the special ghost. None of the six heroes are free at the moment but they can manage so that one of them comes to our rescue.”