The sight alone would have been enough for anyone else to start running. Even Haruo reacted, but less because of what he saw and more of the possible considerations in his mind. ‘A cosmic particle? His power allows him to do that, but the threat of such a particle if it is anything that gives off radiation of any sort would be devastating to everything.’ If he had to guess, it seemed likely that it would give off gamma radiation, which he could do nothing against. It didn’t matter the sort of body he had, he doubted it would hold up to radiation, especially the strength likely stored.

Given the situation and prompt, Haruo had a good idea what his plan was. It hadn’t changed since they made loose introductions. ‘He’s trying to force me to fight with more effort. He’s not going to be satisfied with just a little understanding of how my power works. He wants everything.’ A dangerous emotion fueled Teris. Haruo could see it plainly in his eyes.

Greed.

A greed for knowledge. Or perhaps a lust for knowledge. Regardless, it was powerful and consuming. It controlled what he did. As skilled or knowledgeable as he was, he wanted more. A ceaseless pursuit for more without restraints. Caution or morals held no place for him. It was all hard facts. Pure information.

He needed to know, no matter the cost.

Reckless abandon summed it up for Haruo.

Chapter 253 – Prowling Beast

However, the problem remained for Haruo. An unknown particle rested inside the container before Teris. The man feared nothing from it, it was his own creation so it couldn’t harm him. The environment cried and pleaded for mercy after only ten seconds of exposure. Worse was the fact that it wasn’t even full exposure. The seal that managed to contain and hold back the dangerous radiation only released a small dose. A demonstration of the potency.

If it remained only a demonstration Haruo had nothing to concern himself over. However, it was a call or a threat. He needed to find a response. “You just want to see more. That’s unnecessary.”

“It’s meaningless if I take it away. You aren’t being serious and how am I to understand this interesting power if you aren't being serious.” He loosened the seal ever so slightly. Death spread out further in a radius.

“Remove it and I’ll show you what you want.”

“Oh?” Haruo had his attention now. What he wanted dangled in front of him. It nearly made him mindless, despite him remaining sharp almost too much. “You’ll have nothing to motivate you if I do. Dangerous situations bring out the best from living creatures, humans even more so. A crisis is exactly what someone like you needs.”

Lowering his brow a little, Haruo didn’t like the direction things headed. He could feel his side slipping quickly. The threat started to pour into the next jar, action. Following through. Haruo had to act immediately before the irreversible occurred.

He preferred playing the situation with caution, but the moment Teris introduced his little trick that stopped being a reality. It was something Haruo had to accept. The man meant to force Haruo’s hand and that was exactly what he wished to avoid. His powers were too easily read before a man such as Teris.

No choice.

Haruo raked his hand through the earth. Grinding it up in his hand, he molded it tightly. ‘The distance is greater than the others. I’ll need to space them out…’ In his hand, three balls of compressed earth rested, a slight shine emitted from them.

Feeding the first between his thumb and index finger, Haruo shot it out in the direction of Teris. Immediately following up, he slotted the next in and fired it off, but angled away from them with the third set at a more extreme angle than the other.

Teris prepared, hand firmly planted on the seal. The ball sped towards him glowing bright with each moment before suddenly coming to a stop in front of him. It expanded quickly, but something bit his hand dropped his gaze. ‘A squirrel?’ he pondered, batting it away with his hand.

It was all the time he needed. Before Teris’ hand returned to the container, a monkey, no larger than half a meter and bathed in white, appeared right in front of the oddly shaped metal vessel. It grabbed it away from Teris’ hold and started to sprint away with it, almost running sideways to keep up with the awkward size.

After ten meters of running, the monkey spun around a few times throwing off its stolen goods to another prepared monkey. Just as the monkey finished its delivery, it shattered into white particles. The same occurred to the next monkey and the third as well, but they managed to toss beyond the range of Teris’ Field causing it to disappear. The radiation would no longer be a threat.

The grin returned to Teris’ face. He had more information as he hoped. ‘Looked like a squirrel monkey or some related genus or subfamily. He’s got quite the range of animals.’ Near his foot, the squirrel that distracted him ran about. ‘I didn’t see it all, because of his little pet. But it seems that a component is necessary for his pets. It looked like he just used some dirt.’

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So many thoughts came to his mind. Theories changed and modified. New explanations came forward, but still remained far from fully answered. ‘But it does seem that unlike what I thought before, radiation will affect them. They don’t have normal physical bodies, but can still interact with other physical objects. So it’d make sense they’d break down from radiation, but what part is the radiation affecting that they’re unable to recover from the damage?’

‘I hope that was enough granted to him.’ Haruo managed to keep things hidden to some degree, but he knew that he let slip more than he wished. ‘It shouldn’t be enough to swing the advantage further to him. But he’s likely only a few hints away from fully comprehending.’ The threat did exactly what Teris wanted. Haruo knew it going in, but there was little choice. ‘I’m going to have to end things before he learns too much more.’

Digging through his pockets, Haruo found what he wanted. His hands drew behind him, using the broad length of his short body to keep things secretive. Light grew out from his back, but looked more like flashes as more bursts came.

A large pack of wolves walked out from behind him in a steady stream. They replaced the lost pack from before. However, it was even larger at a full twelve. Their size also increased from the last. But it did not stop with the wolves. More animals came out, rabbits, dogs and monkeys, like the previous ones. The count exceeded thirty.

‘Quite the collection of animals he’s got. So he can make them even bigger, huh. Those wolves are at least twenty percent larger. Means he really isn’t locked to the actual perimeters of the animals he’s modeling.’

The zoo collection began to fan out. Though seeming mischievous, the monkeys worked together to clear away many of the scattered vials. A quick toss far in the distance and explosion cleared away many of the lethal compounds. In this manner, the monkey managed to open up routes for the animals to move safely. Though how long before Teris changed things remained an open question in the air.

‘Is he controlling them all individually? Maintaining that many is impressive enough to make him a good MP.’ Admiration passed quickly with him refocusing. Teris found himself surrounded by the mob of beasts. ‘This should be interesting…what’s he planning?’

Circling around Teris, the wolves kept an inner line ahead of the rest. Weaving around them were the smaller beasts. They seemed to have their own orders apart from the wolves.

Tilting his head over his shoulder, Teris saw the signs of the wolves moving in earnest. ‘Looks like it’s time again.’ Moving his hand into his inside coat ended up being the trigger for it all. The actions played out quickly as though both sides had long planned every single move to razor precision. Hesitation disappeared.

A vial of green liquid appeared from his coat accompanied by three more cylindrical tubes of varying colors. The first container flew behind Teris with no checking. Three wolves charged at the position as the vial broke on the ground. Geometric crystalline structures erected quickly stacking upon each other forming a makeshift wall.

On his right flank, the wolves poured in partnered with the monkeys. Using tubes picked up as a screen, they opened a route for the wolves to charge. Another one of Teris’ vials flew from his hand spreading out a gas, which only remained neutral for a moment. He kicked a vessel resting at his foot into the expanding gas igniting it into a cloud of flames.

The left flank contended with Teris manipulating his two compounds creating an explosive force along his special glove. Everywhere he swiped with his hand the attacking animal went flying.

Ahead of him, a sinkhole opened up collapsing all of the would-be attackers into a pit. He packed earth on top of them with another of his vials, which he immediately retrieved.

Under foot, the smaller creatures had found some of his vials crushing them at his feet. The effect was non-existent, but served exactly what was needed. Distracted, the crystal wall stopping the wolves suddenly broke. A hole created in the middle let the lion, which had been unseen during much of the fight as of recent, through to charge straight for Teris.

Teris tried to cast out a defense with his materials and glove, but it was fruitless. The lion shattered it, plowing through everything. Nothing could stand between it and its prey, Teris. First strike had its mouth clamped down tightly on his arm. At the size of the lion, the whole arm could have easily fit down its throat without trying. Its paws pinned him down to the ground in the following instant. Teeth gashed at skin drawing up blood.

Wincing through the pain, Teris used his free arm to push through the air into an invisible space again. He smashed the spherical glass he retrieved on the ground. Splashing up, the liquid dotted his hand before changing states into a solid. Green crystals grew out from his hand completely covering it in a spiky mess.

His weaponized left hand plunged into the chest of the lion. The spread of the crystals left numerous puncture wounds from small to larger across the lion’s torso. An annoyed roar escaped the lion’s mouth before it squeezed harder on Teris right arm and bit and tore it off, leaving with its trophy. It limped at every other step bounding away, recovering from its wound.

‘A portal or gateway,’ considered Haruo, examining what happened. He saw Teris’ arm disappear into the air before. The report he pulled out made Haruo a little suspicious, but not until now did he have proof of it. ‘He uses it as a store, but wouldn’t it be more efficient to create it? The report…unless he stores things not created by his power in there. A dimensional pocket that can be accessed from any point and always safe from damage.’ It was just speculation for the moment.

“Damn, that hurts more than I thought it would,” Teris commented. Blood fell in globs from his shoulder, now lacking an entire right arm. His crystallized left hand poked into the dimensional rift again. Several bottles floated out. Some moved so he could swallow their contents and others went for the wound. “You went through my coat like it was nothing. Impressive jaw strength, clearly your animals don’t follow the same physical attributes as well, not just size perimeters.”

The whole thing before Haruo left him more than a little curious. ‘The bleeding stopped. The pain’s gone from his face. It must be medicine that he took, but such things aren’t possible with today’s medicine. He’s created advanced medicine, but it shouldn’t work on their bodies. It would only do so if it were…real.’ Realization set in quickly for him. Full implications of such a scenario played out in his mind. ‘He’s exploiting the loophole in their powers to its fullest. That dimensional store likely holds real compounds he’s made to achieve whatever results he needs. He could be almost unstoppable…’

Appearing casual in the whole situation, as if it meant nothing to him, the loss of an arm was just another routine day. His left hand opened the gateway once more. “Seems the cat’s out of the bag now. You’ve already figured it out.” Out came an energy bar, which floated before him to bite. Another few bottles left the void as well. He consumed them all immediately. “You know if it weren’t for the fact that you’re an enemy of the state I’d ask you to be my assistant. You’re far more competent than Didymos. You’re able to quickly and rationally assess a situation and the outcomes. Which is why you won’t be surprised by this.”

A growth came out from Teris’ right shoulder. It started as a mound, but quickly extruded out. Pale in color, it became clear quickly it was a new arm. In less than a minute, he had a completely functioning appendage. “Feels a little strange growing limbs, but it’s the least of your concerns.” He slammed his new hand into the air, the air panel once more.

Everything suddenly went up in a massive pyre of flames. Haruo had no chance to defend himself from the explosion. However, it wasn’t what he should have been focused on. Through the fire, Teris burst through somehow covering the distance of more than ten meters in a second. A force lifted him off his feet to send him falling a few meters backwards.

The red fiery torment calmed to leave only Teris and Haruo. He stared up from his prone position at Teris. ‘He increased his strength and speed, enough to take me off my feet. The power of a MP and enhanced physical properties. He’s a combination of them and us without any of the weaknesses. Is it possible for me to end this fight anymore?’