I took a deep breath in and collapsed into the chair. Anna sat in front of me, glaring at me while rubbing her bruising neck. I folded my fingers across the table and sighed.
"This... was a misunderstanding. I never walked into this house expecting something from anyone. Especially," I paused and glanced at Anna and continued. "from you, Anna". Anna grumbled about something and quieted down.
"I apologize for dragging you into this mess, uhh" Ami trailed off, forgetting that I haven’t given her my name. I had enough time to think of a new identity. "John" I gave an empty smile. "John Hamilton. I wasn't comfortable enough to tell strangers about my name. I guess we’ve gotten closer, in a weird way".
Jack and Ami brightened a bit after my comment.
We sat in awkward, empty silence for a few minutes until I decided to take my leave. I pushed the chair back, stood up and pushed it back in one fluid motion. Classy. "It seems that the atmosphere has grown a tad bit dry with me here. I hope you guys are well, and I'll be on my way" I said with a smile. Ami responded with some bland and cliché response that I didn't bother to process. But when Jack raised his voice, I listened.
"Do you have a place to stay?"
Ami and Anna looked at Jack with faces filled with shock.
Anna however, cared enough to voice her opinion.
"Are you kidding me!? You are NOT doing what I think you're doing!"
I ignored Anna and answered the question. "No, I don't have one planned yet".
"Then how would you like to stay here with us? Wait, how old were you again?"
I was desperate to get out of this house. A violent girl who's gonna kill me in my sleep!? No thanks!
"I'm 50" I lied. "Thank you for the offer but I'll just be a burden"
"No please," Jack smiled. "I insist"
.... God damn it
I frantically tried to come up with an excuse but I had no idea how getting a home in this maze worked. I finally caved in and accepted his offer for now.
“I gotta pick up my… uhh…” I stumbled on my sentence.
“Luggage?”
“Yeah, luggage.” To which he frowned and said "you're not gonna run away, are you?"
I laughed and replied, "of course not"
I walked out the front door and turned a sharp right. I am getting out of here as soon as possible.
Ami poked her head out and stared at me with a scary smile.
Or not.
I turned around the corner and took a deep breath. I checked my system monitor, and I was correct. {Tracking Eyes Level 3 has been activated!}. Ami is a scary woman. But that wasn't important considering the main course. {You have become a B- class monster!}. The Duel of Anger gives out splendid rewards though. Because I defeated such a powerful opponent in comparison to my low power, I instantly jumped up to B- rank.
I reached my hand into the sewers and recalled all of my mist into my body except for one. Just in case. {You have become an A class monster!} With my new found stat points, I opened up my menu.
「
Name: Akai
Strength: 1
Agility: 322
Health: 1
Mana:0
Remaining stat points available:9273
」
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
I cashed out nine thousand, and split them equally on health, agility, and strength. As a mist monster, my mist is my source of mana that regenerates. It could do whatever mana could do, so mana is quite useless.
I crouched and contemplated my next choice of actions. Do I try to make a run for it? Or should I stay with this happy-go-lucky family? But first, I need to take care of a boy who thinks he’s sneaking up on me. I literally have eyes on the back of my head, kid. Well, technically I have eyes all over my body considering… Nevermind, a conversation for later.
As he swung a fist towards my head, I simply disappeared in a poof of purple mist. The air pressure shoves my mist body away, but I simply gather myself together.
「Health: 30000/30618」
Tch. Some were lost.
This time, I looked the boy right in the eyes. Even with his fist balled, he looked no more than 19. He took a look at me and gave a large grin.
"So, I heard you bullied my unawakened younger sister"
So this was the rude son Jack was talking about.
The boy continued.
"How about you fight a real man?"
"You mean your father?"
The boy's face grew sour. He tapped the air, as if pressing on something only he could see. His {SYSTEM}.
「Naomi Sato has requested a duel!」
I knew a certain loophole to hide my name in a duel. By naming the body or object I've possessed with a different name, I could hide my identity.
「John Hamilton has accepted the duel」
{Cruel Flame Transformation Level 7} [Hyperspeed level 8} {Wind Pressure Fist level 7} {Martial Arts level 1} {Superior Energy Blast level 6} {Tracking Eyes level 1} has been activated!
{The Power of Legend Level 1} has been activated!
My eyes widened. This is going to be a different fight than before. This boy is a S+ ranked human.
He discharged his full S+ Ranked energy, as it surrounds him like a barrier.
I discharged my A Ranked energy, as he laughed.
"Is that really all the power you have?
"No, I'm just going easy on you," I said with an easygoing smile. Whatever smile I had plastered on my face was the opposite of how I was feeling. I might not win this one.
He scowled, and ran at me with an amateur punch. He stopped a few meters short and threw his punch. It wasn’t even close to a hit. Or, was it?
{Wind Pressure Fist level 7} has been activated!
A massive whirlwind shoved me back, lifting me up, then sending me crashing to the ground.
“I’ll make you regret that.”
“Oh, goo goo gah gah? Does the little baby want to fly higher?” Naomi cooed with a disgusting expression.
I grit my teeth. This obnoxious brat was getting on my nerves.
I began sweating {Scarlet Poison} out of my pores. A naughty kid must be punished with bitter poison. I think that was how the saying went.
This time, I charged after him. I struck at his head, and he blocked his forearms. I need him to ingest this. I aimed for the eyes, trying to poke his eyes out. He simply caught my fingers.
He grinned and took a breath, ready to spew his vile words again.
“Gotcha.”
I transformed back into my mist form, forcing him to inhale a good bit. As he coughed and choked on my mist, I materialized under him and hit his chin with an uppercut. He stumbled back, and I kicked him in the chest. As he fell on his back. He sat back up, angrier than before.
"...Poison? You coward!"
Oops, he discovered it.
He easily dispelled the poison in his body with careful energy flow. Scarlet poison is useless if it's discovered before the ten minute mark.
I decided to take his terminology from before.
"Well, it's just what I awakened with" I had no idea what an awakening was.
Inside his body was two poisons. He dispelled one. The second one is gonna be fun. The boy had zero to no combat experience, just like his sister. While he knew some martial arts, he didn't know how to utilize them correctly.
I swung at his stomach, baiting out his arms for a block. Idiot. I kicked him right in the calves. It dealt him noticeable pain, but not much.
Realizing that he couldn't beat me hand to hand, Naomi dashed back using his hyper speed. Opening his palm, he started firing blasts of pure energy. I dodged. He tried to predict where I was going but it was simple to throw off his prediction.
Sadly, even with my upgraded stats, it was difficult to finish him off. This time, he used a bit of his brains.
「Naomi Sato has temporarily fused Tracking Eyes level 1 and Energy Blast level 6 into Tracking Energy Blast level 4!」
Damn. I don't think I can dodge these ones.
"You're dead!"
He charged up his most powerful shot and it tracked me perfectly as I tried to dodge.
The attack gets closer and closer to my face, as I see white hot death towards my face.
But, that's to be expected, because it was all part of my plan. The blast completely turns my body back into the mist. Since it wasn't a physical but mana based attack, I completely absorbed the blast with my mist. I can only do this to attacks weaker than me, and this was drawing a close line. It's only energy from the blast I can use temporarily, but it works. I use the energy to summon a clone.
Me and the clone spoke at the same time, our voices resonating with each other.
“So, who's the real John?”
I circle Naomi, as he paces nervously.
“Damn it, just die!”
He surrounds himself with flames and charges directly at me. He guessed the right one. I force my body to disappear into purple mist as the impact hits me hard.
「Health: 15844/30618」
The clone spoke coolly "that was a mere doppelgänger".
Naomi turns around to face my clone, while I reform my body.
I ran forward as Naomi tried to shoot my clone down. As he screamed in frustration, I grabbed both ends of his jaw and forced it open. He grunts in surprise, as I give an ear to ear grin.
“Here comes the airplane~”
The clone transformed into purple mist and leapt into his mouth. It travels to his lungs, heart, stomach, whatever organs it could find.
「Omnipotent Parasite Has Been Activated!」