Poppy continued on his merry way in the dark of the night, selling drugs to random degenerates and fiddling around with his blood manipulation skills.
If one looked closely as he walked through the dark alleys of the Right isle, they’d find a couple of rats skittering around his presence. They walked by his side, hiding in the shadows.
Those rats appeared quite monstrous compared to other rats one would usually find in the already gnarly streets of the island, baring sharp fangs and wild fur. Their eyes, though dim, would sometimes glow brightly with a scarlet-red light.
Although using blood manipulation through the rats is quite hard considering I can only activate their abilities through their body, and not with the vital control given by the soul in regards to a Super’s connection with their power, it’s still a decent way of practicing my blood manipulation skills.
After over three months of having been a Super, Braun has already concluded that the constituents of one’s control over their ability is split between their body, mind, and soul. With all three, they can tap into the power stored in their crystals and produce mystical results, producing what is known as superpowers.
Due to the fact that blood manipulation limited Poppy to only being able to control the rats’ bodies, and not their minds and souls, he could only tap into their blood manipulation abilities superficially.
Of course, with his already monstrous mastery over blood manipulation, with him being capable of manipulating the entirety of the blood within those rats’ bodies and puppet them without flaws, his own ‘superficial level’ of control is already at a notable skill level.
Just as he was about to successfully strike another deal with one of his reoccurring customers, he squinted his eyes and stopped moving, confusing the druggie.
“Hey, why did you stop?” he asked with a gruffed voice.
Poppy ignored him and silently turned around, locking eyes with a woman who silently stood behind him.
Most of her body was covered by a light layer of fabric and her face could barely be seen by the moon’s light, showing her supple lips and cold gaze.
“We’re from Black Tortoise Gang, come with us and you won’t get hurt,” she ordered coldly.
As she said so, more men walked out of the darkness, surrounding Poppy and the druggie.
The man was frightened by the reveal and shook like a leaf amidst a terrifying storm. When he heard the name Black Tortoise Gang, he felt his heart drop and silently cried, Oh why, God? Why did I have to encounter these superpowered lunatics?
Poppy’s gaze deepened as a smile formed on his lips.
He turned to look back at his dear customer and placed the bag of drugs in his hand. His smile turned warm and his gaze softened.
“Here, it’s on the house,” he said softly, confusing the druggie.
“H-huh?” the man looked down at his hands, bewildered.
“Don’t worry about the price. I’m feeling generous today since it looks like my hard work’s finally bearing fruit.” Poppy spun on the heel of his foot and looked back at the woman.
“Take the lead, madam!” Poppy beamed her a smile and approached her without any fear to be seen in his eyes.
“Smart,” she muttered.
“I’m more than just smart,” Poppy interjected, his smile turning playful. “I’m a monster.”
…
Laura stood at the balcony of her house and gazed off into the distant island that was connected to the island she was on by a lone bridge.
“A week has already passed and I’ve managed to enhance my body to Level 3. However, acquiring the physique of a Level 4 Demigod with a body-enhancing ability would be far from easy.”
“If I were to take Abbie King as a reference, I need to at least have the strength to collapse an entire building with just a punch or receive Level 4 attacks without dying in one hit.”
Laura sipped on some tea, with her figure vaguely illusory. If someone were to look at her from a distance in the current lighting, it would be akin to glancing at a fairy or a celestial beauty.
As of right now, she has Level 3 Nature Spirit, Plant Manipulation, Beast Tamer, and Space-Time Manipulation. At Level 2, she had Charm and Personal Mind.
The core of her abilities were definitely Nature Spirit, Plant Manipulation, and Beast Tamer, and those were the abilities she planned on fusing to create her Level 4 crystal, but there is still room for improvement.
Nature Spirit with charm should allow me to gain the affection of nature and beasts, so if I were to add it to my demigod ability, I would more easily control plants and animals.
Space-Time Manipulation would be risky though as it clashes too much with the domains of my other abilities. I wouldn’t mind using it as raw material to create a stronger initial ability though.
As she planned for the future, she also multitasked by absorbing the energy from her sunflowers, elevating the strength of her body and spirit to a whole new level. With her better mastery over her abilities and through the help of Personal Mind Mastery, she could more easily absorb solar energy unlike before when she struggled and had to focus fully just to do it.
Once Charm reaches Level 3, I could begin raising everything else to the peak of Level 3 and prepare fully for the fated day of demigod ascension.
That day would probably come closer once one of us finally gets the vital clue that would lead to the golden opportunity the original previously told before.
She sighed, wondering just what perilous event lied before her and all the other avatars that were currently doing their all to gain control over their bleak future.
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An environment that forces us avatars to strive for greater heights without rest, hahaha! She laughed as she realized something.
“That bastard’s emulating the nature of Zenith already.”
…
Poppy silently walked through the dark alleys of the Right Isle as men and women clad in black attire surrounded him. They watched his every move with threatening eyes as if to warn him that one wrong move and he was gone.
“How long is it gonna be? I’m getting tired already!”
That was a lie. With his body having already reached the peak of Level 3 long before this, he could last for an entire week in the desert and live without problems.
The only reason he said this was because he was already getting bored and wanted to fool around for a bit.
However, the goons of the Black Tortoise Gang had no plans of playing along with his tomfoolery and remained silent. They kept walking without speaking, diving deeper into the northern part of the Right Isle.
When they finally stopped, they arrived right in front of a large manor with a large garden in front, producing a stark contrast to the filthiness of the Right Isle.
“Wow, you guys are rich,” commented Poppy.
The others continued to ignore him as they approached the black gates of the manor and nodded to the guard standing behind the gate. As they opened the gate and allowed them to walk in, Poppy curiously looked around the garden as they approached the manor.
Going through a few more security checks, they soon entered the manor itself and walked deep into the gang’s territory.
Upon arriving inside the manor, they entered a large room where a man silently sat behind a dark wooden desk. He had rough, bronze-colored skin and a muscular frame. His eyes glowed with a deep blue light and he emanated a terrifying aura that even normal humans would subconsciously fear him.
He wore a simple black suit and held a glass of wine; the dark red liquid glimmered faintly. The moon hung high in the sky behind him, with its soft rays bathing him in a luminescent glow through the large glass window.
“You must be wondering why you’re here.” The leader of the infamous Black Tortoise Gang of Right Isle calmly took a sip of his wine and prepared to speak, but Poppy had other plans.
“Nah, I’m not wondering anything.” Poppy strolled forward with a gentle smile.
The goons from Black Tortoise Gang behind him abruptly fell to the ground, their bodies turning limp.
Blood seeped out of Poppy’s hands and lunged toward Black Tortoise Gang’s Leader’s hands and arms, locking them in place.
The man hastily tried to activate his ability but felt his whole body freeze and his blood turned cold. His spirit shook and his control over his body disappeared entirely.
“I’ve spent a week just trying to get one of you little rats’ attention, and after all this while, a maggot like you finally took the bait,” Poppy mumbled and stood right in front of the helpless Black Tortoise.
His eyes glowed with a piercing yellow light as he enjoyed the man’s fearful gaze.
“Black Tortoise Gang…” Poppy lightly stabbed his fingers into the man’s chest and pierced through his thick layer of muscle and skin, penetrating it so that the tip of his fingers would just be mere centimeters away from his heart.
He activated his ability, Blood Manipulation, and flooded the man’s heart with his own blood, assimilating Black Tortoise’s blood into his. Soon enough, all of the blood inside Black Tortoise’s body was under his full control, and the locks placed on his arms and legs disappeared.
Black Tortoise wore a calm and neutral expression as he sat on his chair. The people Poppy who abruptly fell to the ground slowly rose one by one as they ‘regained their consciousness’ and ignored Poppy who sat on a random chair placed inside the room.
“Utter trash,” he mumbled and stared at Black Tortoise with a disdainful stare.
“You didn’t even pose that much of a challenge. There goes my expectations for the four fearsome Level 3 of Insea City’s Right Isle.”
…
Layers of frost scattered across the forest and a man with a bald head and amber eyes roared loudly.
Plumes of flames and wind exploded out of his palms, lifting him into the air to avoid the encroaching ice.
A woman with short black hair and icy blue eyes raised her hands to the sky and the ice on the floor erupted to the sky.
The man barely avoided the spikes of frost as he gathered both of his hands together, shooting off a burst of emerald winds and orange flames. The wind and flames gathered into a pillar aimed at the woman.
“Mere tricks.” She snorted coldly and draconian scales grew out of her skin, with a pair of crystal-like horns growing from her head.
Her aura turned fearsome as she let the pillar of winds and flames hit her head on, and when the smoke dissipated, she received barely any damage.
However, by the time the smoke dissipated, the man previously flying in the air had already tucked his tail and run. His figure rapidly shifted across the air as he teleported from one place to another at quick intervals, quickly disappearing from her view.
That’s already three different abilities at Level 3. Her face turned dark as wings sprouted out of her back, lifting her into the air as she flapped her wings.
A trail of frost formed behind her as she used the cold winds to propel herself forward at a faster rate, quickly catching up to the fleeting man.
That bitch, she fucking escaped on her own! Regie is already dead, and I’m doomed to die at this rate!
There’s only one way left to live, I have to use my zenithral power beyond the limits of my body and soul!
Green flames sparked out of his hands and he grabbed one of the many lighters he had stored in his pants just in case he had to resort to using his ability beyond his limits.
Augment! He called out in his mind and dazzling green light coalesced around the simple lighter.
Turning around in midair, he aimed the lighter at the woman and gritted his teeth.
The draconian ice-controlling woman tried to slow down but it was already too late.
With a simple flick, a horrendous burst of bright orange flames covered the entire sky, expanding out to hundreds of meters in length and width.
It’s an attack on par with the power of Level 4 Demigods, and could quickly bring untold destruction to an entire city, but the price the bald man had to pay was severe.
He stared at his crippled arms and wore a grim expression. Even with his monstrous regeneration speed, it would still take him at least a week to fully heal his arms that were destroyed from the inside out, not to mention his weakened soul.
Just as he was about to continue his escape and do another jump through space-time, a blurry figure zipped through the flame-covered sky and arrived right in front of him.
A deadly grip grabbed his neck in a tight chokehold, lifting him higher into the sky.
The draconian woman looked at him indifferently.
So, this is the end, huh? So much for being a second-generation avatar! Even though I killed other avatars to quickly rise in power, I only managed to achieve four peak Level 3 abilities!
Well, damn it. It looks like I’m gonna have to go out with a bang!
Peak Level 3—Explosion Manipulation!
Peak Level 3—Fire Manipulation.
Peak Level 3—Wind Manipulation.
Peak Level 3—Space-Time Manipulation.
If I’m going down, I might as well fuck you over!
Space-Time, Fire, and Wind burst out of his body in a grand explosion, engulfing a large portion of the forest in a dazzling radiance of orange, green, black, and white.
In the distance, a petite woman with brown hair tied into a ponytail and astute green eyes stared fearfully at the light in the air.
Who the fuck leaked the location of our base?! Regie and Tyrel is already dead, I’m all alone now!
Damn it, I have to leave this place now! Someone’s clearly targeting me!
I need to destroy our second base and erase all of my connection with this area, or else, some bastard with a divination-based ability could locate me in the future.
FUCK.
Which of the tens of bastards we screwed over is seeking revenge now? Did one of them have some revival ability that we overlooked?!
Even though she continued to curse in her mind, not once did she stop running, for thoughts alone wouldn’t save her. Only by being proactive could she hope to save herself from her dire situation.
Don’t think that I would go down without a fight! I’ve killed a lot of you already, what’s one more added to the list?
Her eyes glowed with a dark red light as her killing intent flared. She gritted her teeth, hastened her pace, and soon blended in with the darkness of the night.