Braun strummed the strings on his guitar as he finished playing a merry song. Flexing his fingers, he smiled and placed the guitar to the side. He looked outside his window to the morning sky with fluffy white clouds roaming around and heard his stomach rumbling, protesting its hunger.
A week has officially passed since the day he acquired access to zenithral power and great progress has been made. His skills had developed nicely and he learned multiple skills across the span of one week; mastering the guitar, sharpening his ability to create art, and most importantly, he managed to learn more about cybersecurity, creating viruses, trojan horses, malware, and other technological gizmo that deepened his control over technology.
Not long before this, he managed to gain access to the camera footage of the apartment complex and altered the footage of him doing a ‘prank’ days prior, changing it into an empty hallway with no human activity in sight.
It took a little bit of video editing, but nothing too hard for Braun’s caliber.
Now that was done, the last remaining clue of his prank happening were the memories of the people who managed to see him running out of the building wearing the stupid black body suit.
And there’s really nothing I can do about that unless I somehow acquire memory-warping abilities, but I don’t even have any clue on how I’ll acquire any superpower for myself. Moreover, if anyone does link up the truth and deduce that the prankster killed Lucas, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal, I could just switch cities again, get a new identity, and act as if nothing had happened.
Braun stood up from his bed and changed into a new set of clothes consisting of a dark brown shirt, black pants, and a white jacket on top. Placing his wallet in his back pocket, he headed out to buy himself a nice little brunch to commemorate his succeeding business as an online pornographic artist.
Maybe next week, I’ll start posting some covers online. I already have the voice and guitar, so this only leaves me having to learn video editing, recording the actual song, mixing my vocals, and a whole list of other complicated mess.
Eh, it’s not as daunting if I create a neat list of objectives to complete, which worked well when I was still a newbie at art.
He descended from the apartment by riding the elevator and went outside, exploring the vastness of Nuwesca City with a subtle grin.
A few days ago, he had already placed his formal resignation letter for his job at the coffee store where the original Lucas’ attended, and extricated himself from his duty as a barista, leaving him with no worries.
Of course, it was quite scummy for him to leave without leaving a two-week notice, but who cares? He doesn’t, and that’s all that matters.
Proceeding to a nearby food truck that sells authentic Nehika food with their iconic spices, beans, burritos, tacos, etc, Braun ordered a couple of meaty food options. He left after receiving his food and clutched a large brown paper bag as he strolled around the city to familiarize himself even further with its terrain.
Perhaps one day, he has to run and hide, so this knowledge was a necessity for him.
Soon enough, he arrived at a nearby park with plenty of benches to sit on. Sitting on one of them, he opened his paper bag and took out one of his burritos full of minced beef and the food truck’s special sauces. Biting into it, a burst of savory, sweet, creamy textures erupted in his mouth, with the meat moist and chewy, and the wrapper adding a much-needed neutral taste to the burst of flavors.
He enjoyed his food and watched the other people roaming in the park. Some walked with their pets, others enjoyed their time with their partners, while others were just like him, spending their time watching others.
Braun ate his food, content with the taste and silently noting down the food truck in his mind in case he ever wanted to buy Nehika food again in the future.
Finishing one more of his ordered food, this time being a taco, he decided to leave the park to continue wandering around the city. As of right now, he was somewhere near the middle of the city and could go to three different distinct areas: The north, the southwest, and the southeast.
The city, if looked upon at an aerial view, was almost divided into three different parts like a circular pie. While there isn’t any real difference between the three sections, it provided a great indicator as to which part of the city one was in and was a common indicator locals used to tell their location to others.
Braun scratched his chin, debating on which place he should visit next.
Yesterday, I already visited and explored most of the northern area, and back when I was still looking for a person to steal their identity, I spent most of that time in the southeast part of the city. Considering my apartment is nearer to the southwest and could be considered my base of operations already, I should dedicate this afternoon to exploring this part of the city.
I’ve already completed a majority of today’s batch of commissions this morning, so I have plenty of time to wander around before doing my nightly roaming.
Braun concluded and headed left towards the southwestern part of the city. For now, he’d just walk around with no clear destination in mind, and see what kind of interesting spots he’ll encounter while doing so.
He encountered the first kind of unique place when he finally finished the last burrito in his paper bag. As he tossed his paper bag to a nearby garbage can, he encountered a strange, dilapidated building, with mottled red brick walls, shattered windows with holes, barricaded hallways, rusting iron, and missing doors.
One glance, and he could tell it was an abandoned building.
The building, if the map of the city he visualized in his mind was accurate, was located near to the edge of the city, and doesn’t really harbor that much attraction to the residents of this part of the place.
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Huh, maybe I could buy that plot of land later and use it for some sort of business once I have enough capital to work with. Braun mused and continued to roam.
The next cool thing he encountered was an abandoned warehouse further to the edge of the city, with people barely seen in the area. The large metallic frame of the warehouse had largely rust, and it appeared that years had passed since the place was last used.
This should be a neat little place to practice my superpowers with if I ever get one, although considering some superpowered organization probably exists out there, it’s better to do so out in the forest or such.
While traveling may be a chore, it’s at least safer.
Braun assessed before leaving and decided that he could consider using that warehouse for other purposes in the future. For now, he was satisfied training in his apartment.
Besides those two abandoned places, nothing of note was found in the city in his short exploration. He did find a couple of places that intrigued him, like an antique shop that probably held mystical secrets, a building belonging to a group of crooks that probably dealt with loans and loansharking, and a couple of other interesting places.
Maybe I could take over those crooks in the future and dabble in the underground world? He chuckled and left, diving deeper into the city in search of entertainment.
However, his thoughts were interrupted when, in the far distance, nearly over a hundred meters away, he saw a burst of flames erupt out of the glass door of a local bank, with screams barely registered in his ears after being muffled by the cacophony of honking horns and shifting gears.
As if the whole world slowed down, Braun’s vision rapidly zoomed in on the flying pellet of flames, his eyes analyzing the structure of the bullet-shaped flame.
There was no mistaking it. He wasn’t seeing things. He was definitely not hallucinating. What he saw was a bullet coalesced out of orange flames, a bullet that entailed one thing—superpowers.
Dashing amidst the crowd of alarmed people, he hid amongst the crowd that had gathered around the bank, curious eyes peeking into the chaos that was taking place within.
“You dumbfucks really think you can beat me?” A man shouted, his voice clearly heard by Braun.
The source of the voice was a man of average height wearing a dark gray hoodie, black pants, white rubber shoes, and a balaclava covering his face. Grasped in his hand was a strange pistol conjured from flames, its shape and form changing in seconds to transform into a more menacing automatic rifle.
Staff members and the people inside the bank cowered in fear, kneeling down on the ground while staring fearfully at the strange weapon the robber held.
Lying on the ground, a security guard cried out in anguish as he clutched the hole burned onto his thigh, with a searing pain overwhelming his mind.
“Hahaha, come on! The cops won’t be able to stop me with this power! I’m invincible!” he laughed and aimed his rifle at the sky, shooting out a torrent of fiery pellets into the sky, causing the people within the bank to scream out in fear.
The bankers hurriedly gathered money for the robber, afraid that a bullet would burn them if they didn’t meet his demands.
Braun watched with an intense gaze, his eyes flickering with amazement, amusement, and excitement. He clenched his fists, his mind calm and logical as ever, prohibiting him from committing any erratic actions.
As the fiery gun-wielding man waited for the bankers to gather his cash, he was suddenly alarmed as a blue portal opened to his side, where a card flew out with strange precision, accurately hitting his wrist.
The card, incomparably sharp and fast, tore through his wrist as if it were butter. A bloody red line formed on the section connecting his hand to his forearm, before a burst of blood erupted from the stump at the end of his arm.
He cried out in pain, yet his eyes remained focused on the blue portal as if his instincts were forcing him to remain rational till the bitter end.
In the next moment, two people rushed in, with one being a big burly man with a physique akin to an Olympic-level bodybuilder, and the other being a woman with a slim athletic figure.
They both wore strange skintight suits with blue lines running across them, glowing brightly as if being pumped full of energy, covering their whole body and leaving no skin to be seen. Covering their head and faces was a simple black helmet, albeit it appeared to be lightweight and barely interfered with their movement and vision.
The burly man rushed forward, their fists clenched and their muscles tightening.
The robber, wide awake from the pain gushing from his arms, conjured a fiery shotgun with his remaining hand and hastily shot a burst of fire.
Unfazed, the burly man thread forward, their body turning rough and hard in the process. The flames collided with his body, and as if barely noticing the pain, he dealt an uppercut and connected it to the robber’s stomach, launching him into the air.
The woman’s back arched, causing a pair of dark-feathered wings to erupt. She flapped and leaped into the air, grabbing the robber by the neck. She checked the robber’s face and saw his dazed eyes and frothing mouth, confirming that he was successfully apprehended.
“Mission done!” The burly man said with an elated tone and laughed.
“Aren’t we going to help him?” The woman hovered in the air and pointed at the man with a hole through his thigh. “Isn’t that protocol?”
“Yes, it’s protocol,” a voice murmured from the portal as another person walked in. Wearing the same skintight suit and helmet as the other two, he carried an imposing aura that, even from a distance, Braun felt.
In fact, the three of them carried a special aura, but the man who was last to appear was the most intense. It felt heavy, and powerful, as if there was a clear gap between him and the other two.
“Good job with today’s mission, Kaya,” the man praised, nodding his head to the winged girl.
Then, as he approached the man with a burned thigh, he took out a strange syringe and injected it into the man’s leg, pumping the unknown green liquid into their body. Unable to resist, the man watched as their flesh rapidly grew back, and their nerves reattached.
Before he could voice out his thanks, the mysterious trio returned to the portal, with the person known as captain murmuring to himself, as if talking to another individual through an intercom, “Wipe their memories.”
“Yes, sir.” Braun vaguely heard the static voice of a woman, before all of a sudden, he noticed a bright blue light appearing high in the sky.
He stood there frozen, astounded by the turn of events.
“Damn… So they were keeping everything a secret… FUCK!” He cursed, his hands swiftly grabbing at the pen and journal he kept safe in his pants.
He hurriedly hid and squatted on the ground, blocking any cameras from potentially seeing him jolt down his notes.
Damn it, damn it! How many times were my memories erased already?! Fuck, maybe this wasn’t my first time getting my memories erased! I should have encountered them in the past already but I couldn’t note down the experience considering I had no place to hide and was pressed for time.
Luckily, I can hide myself in this crowd. Hahaha! DAMN! I REALLY AM POWERLESS! FUCK!
“Whatever.” He clicked his tongue.
“So be it, let them erase my memories for all I care. My notes are here.” Braun penned the last detail he needed and was confident that the details he wrote down would prove sufficient for his future endeavors.
He relinquished to the inevitable outcome presented before him as he held his journal with a strong grip, making sure that his invaluable notes wouldn’t be lost or stolen.
A beam of blue light encapsulated the whole city, enveloping everything in a strange, mystical light. Slowly, Braun felt his mind fragment, his memories wiped and erased.
However, as the blue pillar of light began to recede, before his vision succumbed to complete darkness, a burst of green flames erupted from his eyes. Then, his body went limp, eyes open yet blank as if no consciousness operated from within.
Everyone else was the same, with every human in the city losing their consciousness for a split second.