Next Day

Daniel woke up from a slumber dream; he can’t remember what it was, but it was unpleasant. His clock displayed eight past five in the morning. The morning was fairly windy and the lack of windows does no justice. Losing one was already over, but two or more. The sleeping game is torture. Luckily, Daniel is a bit of a heavy sleeper, so the issue was less problematic.

Mother Elaine now stays at his residence, taking the spare bedroom next door. She was exhausted before midnight, passing out immediately in bed. While Daniel didn’t feel as fazed when normally he was lying in bed at this hour.

However, he felt refreshed, wondering if it was another symptom of his containment of qi. He got himself cleaned up and dressed back in his suit, walking to the living room. It has been a while since he went to the gym. According to his physique, his entire torso grew to match the proportion of his arms. The suit adjusted to his increased size, and strength-wise was already noticeable. Today would be perfect for testing it.

A tightly wrapped zap pinched his right palm, causing him to stop embracing his wrist and sit down on the couch. While holding his wrist, Daniel saw a sparkle generated from the direct center. Water geyser type of phenomenon. He did not want to get his eyes too close, but enough to where he could see it unleashed from the surface of his skin. Sparkles blasted upward in a straight line before dissipating.

Electricity? He continued to observe for the next one. Then the zap feeling was already gone and let his hand go. He felt a little disappointed. Subsequently, that was when he tried grabbing his hand again, only for the sparkles to regenerate. Well, that was new. Suddenly, an idea flowed through his head. This was when he decided to try to test various appliances and items that require electricity as measuring how much power he could generate.

Daniel glanced around his house and saw the mini lamp. He reached over to the end table and grabbed the lamp, accidentally yanking the cord from the outlet. Eighty dollars down the drain. Such a cheap wire, he thought, for something worth that much. Pretty wild for a low effort, and he was glad he did not spend on a lamp that was overpriced as this was a gift. However, a perfect opportunity.

Making sure, he looked at his hand again, confirming there was nothing. He flexed his right arm, forcing the pressure towards the palm. The sparkling regenerated directly, followed by a crack popping sound. The charge was more vibrant and stronger, and he quickly placed his palm right on the surface of the lamp. An illuminating light glows through the dark color of the lamp where Daniel saw it sped up, similar to a thermometer reading a fever.

It flashed right at his eyes, and Daniel immediately dropped the lamp towards the couch. The light bulb dissipates once he has let go of his grip on the lamp.

“Fascinating,” he whispered, taking a minute to collect what had just occurred.

Not only that, he has to be aware that pressurizing his wrist and hand will summon a barrage of electric charge. With the lamp test, the light bulb’s immediate flash gave the hint of how much he had generated. More tests are needed to bring an accurate verdict. Daniel’s house has plenty of sources to attempt, which he gave a try, leaving the couch. Doing it outside is probably the safest.

Gears humming from the garage opener blended with the silent squeak as the door lifted up. Daniel hiked up on the hilly driveway to the garage, focusing on the right where a couple of steel base cabinets are stationed along with a cabinet shelf. A library-like organized setup. Two base cabinets were straight ahead against the wall. While the right corner is occupied by the sole cabinet shelf. He passed his Mercedes parked on the left and opened the center steel base cabinet.

There was an unprecedented interruption where a stampede of chirping and caws far from the garage startled Daniel while he was observing a pile of power banks. A loud boom jerked his head back. He glanced back, unsure of what was going on.

Other than the streetlight on the driveway, the rest is pitch black. He stealthily walked to the edge of the garage with his ears hyper-focused on his surroundings. Still, the sounds of birds cawing were at high volume around the vicinity. Downhill of the driveway illuminated by the streetlight, he got a grasp of what was down there. A pool of crows stationed exactly at that spot with a circulation from the air up, similar to a funnel. He proceeded to walk down and began to hear thumping footsteps. However, he couldn't see who it was, as by the time he turned toward the noise, it was gone. Or if it was already at a different location.

Simultaneously, Daniel felt his body boil from the end of his stomach. Adrenaline overwhelmed his body, along with the electric charge from the palm of his hands. However, something is odd. The electricity has spread and filled his entire arms and up to the neck. His eyes glowed gold because of the surge.

Crack!

Daniel instinctively shoots out a charging beam toward the cracking sound.

“Not bad for a first-timer,” a masculine voice muttered from behind.

Daniel jumped away and faced toward the voice. “Show yourself!”

The crows and birds barged into the air, clearing the driveway. The funnel dissipated with the entire fleet of those birds to surge up into the air, flying away in the distance. Once they disappeared, a figure revealed itself and stepped his foot into the driveway’s pavement from the hidden trees and bushes.

“It seems I wasn't mistaken,” the figure revealed itself from the darkness despite stepping onto the pavement. Silhouette-like birds soared away from the figure, dispersing the shadowy figure. Underneath the disguise was a young, middle-aged man. His entire outfit is totally out of this world. The whole body is entirely covered by a suit but long as an overcoat, reaching near his ankle. It was wrapped around his body, tightly stretched. A bottom layer covered underneath his entire fit that reached to his footwear which was substituted as boots because of the thick soles exclusively made for one rather than tennis shoes. The sandal clasped his entire foot up toward his shins. Underneath, the suit on his chest was strapped in the shape of a letter X with a black undergarment.

“What are your intentions?” Daniel asked while in a defensive stance, uncertain how the man was going to respond.

“I was at the venue when you were attacked by those men.”

“Do you know anything about that?”

“Why do you think I’m here?”

“What do you want from me?”

The man’s eyes widened and thinner. “There's something I need to do,” he responded and flashed. He appeared only a few feet from Daniel with his fist clenched. A whipping pressure struck Daniel's abdomen, blasting him into the bushes.

He stumbled out of the bushes, recovered from the daze during the first second of the impact, and dashed back in front of the man and he deployed another punch in his presence. Daniel picked up the sense. Therefore, he directed the pressure towards his dominant right arm, flexing his forearm and slammed it right at the man’s fist. The entire area in the vicinity took the event in a rough turn. Trees began experiencing violent gusts as the wind generated from the qi when the two clashed exerted a swirling pool of contrasting colors.

The two grunted, trying to overwhelm the latter with their strength. The man yelled in a roar, subsequently boosting his power, levering pressure on Daniel, and he leaned back. He was holding back this entire time? Daniel glanced below, seeing the circulating pool of qi grew larger with the shadowy white outline coming from the man overwhelming his bright blue, holding only a quarter.

Bang!

Daniel came with a subsequent hook from his unoccupied left, breaking the balanced clash and the force from the break thrusted the two hard to the pavement. He landed in front of the garage’s exterior and immediately closed it. Reacting to the footsteps, he sprinted through the shattered pavement and again exchanged a punch. A few tree branches broke off and the concrete wall surrounding the house quickly cracked.

The man swiftly nudged Daniel’s fist away and twirled his body to the left. He jumped, followed by a cycle of roundhouse kicks counter-clockwise, striking him in the face twice.

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Daniel braced himself in the ordeal, barely protecting himself by a misjudge of time. His forearm was partially up, effectively blocking his temple, but forced away by a strike to his front jaw and nose. Not letting himself down solely, he subsequently added a downward roundhouse kick. His foot reacted to the surge of qi, enabling the leg’s strength to overcome the defense of the man. He crashed flat to the floor, painfully grunting from the blow he unexpectedly took. He rolled away as Daniel got up and stood up, confronting him again with a little breather.

“You are an interesting human. And this is your first time…” Xavier said with an enthralled tone. His eyes closed shut momentarily with a drip of blood from his eye and nose, interrupting his talk.

Huh? Me too. Daniel felt a watery flow gushed out of his nose and mouth, spitting blue onto the pavement and his hand. He tried sniffing the blue blood back in and swallowed it while realizing the confrontation would end soon, no matter if he and the man didn’t call the shots.

“I understand now…” the man reacted to his blue blood, changing his composure. “Let’s end this.”

“Yeah…let’s do it,” Daniel said under his breath, giving an internal fatigue between each word.

He and the man exerted a deafening boom as they put all their energy into their final confrontation. The man did it smoothly as his flow of qi breezed and sailed around him. He inhaled, summoning the shadowy aura with a white outline, like earlier.

“Heh, no fair. Sucks that I don’t know how to create one. One thing I could do, though,” Daniel said with an astonished smile. He gripped his right wrist, forcing all the power to focus within. The man flashed step towards him. Daniel’s body instinctively flashed. Both deployed their final push, shattering the sound barrier and demolishing the entire region of pavement and anything adjacent to their surroundings. The bright light of blue and shadowy white engulfed them two.

5.2

The semi-sphere of light triggered an earthquake-like rumbling spread across the neighborhood. The surge of qi from both colors erupted upwards, shooting tower height and igniting a blast midair. An orbital ring illuminated around the towering light, and right after an ear-shattering shockwave spread out, pulling a bit of the explosive from the illuminating qi over at least a few miles. As a result, multiple varied rings accumulated in smoke debris hovered in the dark sky, orbiting around the tower.

The qi would eventually disintegrate into the air, leaving no trace in sight on the ground or air. What was left behind were the orbiting rings, barely hanging onto its structure as the clouds broke off.

5.3

When the engulfed light vanished, Daniel and the man were at a standstill. Both got their strike in, but refused to stand down. Daniel forced his eyelids open and figured he was struck on the cheek with the man’s knuckle striking his nose. In a fair exchange, he gave a hook at the man’s jaw, almost dislocating it, much to his surprise.

Daniel’s legs collapsed, sending his body flat onto the floor. He thought the man would walk when he stared at him, showing some commitment. Only for him to fall as well. It’s settled. He smiled at the conclusion. His legs were still unfelt, and he crawled back up to the garage. He then gripped the jamb of the garage to lift himself up. He lifted the keypad lid open, pushing a pin. The garage opened, and he tumbled to the floor and dragged through until his hand hovered over his Dodge Charger. He climbed up his body and sat over the hood, letting his body relax and heal.

The man, full of energy, jolted off from the floor. He wiped all the rubble off from his suit and his hair. Then he saw Daniel sitting on the car’s hood, waiting to have a conversation with him.

“You aren’t from here. I can tell from those clothes of yours.” Daniel commented.

“Name’s Xavier. I hope you didn’t mind that it was just a test.”

“Daniel, it’s a pleasure.” Both respectively shook hands and, to Daniel’s relief, he regained control of his legs. That’s when he stood up from the hood. He swiftly invited Xavier, which he accepted, and both went out of the garage, heading through the main door.

Xavier viewed the driveway and the front lot momentarily, “I will say, this world is more fantastic than I have ever imagined.”

“World? Want a drink?”

“Sure, I want that brown liquid I see people drink at the restaurant?”

“Ah, that’s called Coffee. I can make one if that’s what you want. They don’t have coffee where you come from?”

Xavier shook his head. “I’ll take a cup. Yeah, we don’t have that in our cuisine. I mean, for all regions, not one of them has ever had this drink.”

Daniel turned on the kitchen light, pulling out a small bag of coffee beans. “You guys are missing out, then. I have a dark roast. Do you want a small cup or a large one?”

Xavier heads to an empty seat at the dining table. “I’ll take a small cup for now. Just need a taste of what makes it so good in this world.”

The sound of the Burr machine revved up, coming with the cracks of the coffee beans.

He observed the house, finding it astonishing. In his eyes, the place is strange from the material it was constructed. The white interior, a large open space with no walls separating sections of the house. The kitchen is also in the open with a bar counter like bordering the dining area where he is currently sitting. Xavier grew curious and asked Daniel about it. “Daniel, what’s up with your house?”

The Burr Machine stopped with him looking up, “What do you mean? This is how the residence of a well-to-do was set up. Well, to be specific, in this area of the city. The open space type of housing has been around for more than a decade. What about yours?”

The machine revved as Xavier answered. “Ours are much smaller. Wall by wall in every direction. I mean, take your kitchen, the living room, and this dining room towards the main door. That’s our home.”

Daniel nodded accordingly while pulling out a croissant from the plastic-sealed box and setting it into the oven. “That reminded me of when I was young. My family was poor, and it was only by luck when one of my parent’s contacts went through luck and brought us to this city.”

“What happened then?”

“They died in a freak accident. I was left alone. Your description reminds me of that. I had to live in this tiny home and the Contact had to change offerings in the deal, so I had to endure for five more years.”

“Oh, I'm sorry.”

“Nah, don't. I guess you can call that reality training. I lived through a struggling life for eighteen years. Looking back, I'm glad I did.”

“You are an odd one. That's a first.”

Daniel walked out of the kitchen, bringing a small plate with a croissant and a napkin. “Everyone said that.”

“I didn't-”

“It complements the coffee,” Daniel said, returning to the kitchen, taking out the ground coffee, and pouring it into the coffee brewer.

He noticed Xavier was staring at the croissant. He figured he had never seen this type of pastry before.

The coffee brewer has finished. Daniel took the two filled cups and headed to the table, passing one to him.

Xavier took one sip of the hot coffee, and he stopped, glancing at the cup.

“So?”

“What is this exquisite taste?”

“I added just a bit of cream and sugar. Try it with the croissant.”

Xavier took a bite of the croissant and he went thrilled, taking another sip of the coffee. Daniel had to ease him as he already drunk half of the cup from those two sips. Xavier lets off his inner joyful self, savoring it. Daniel sat back, relaxed, taking a sip of his cup when a bulb flicked in his mind.

“Ah, that’s right. Why did you come looking for me? Especially, how did you even get here?”

Xavier placed his coffee on the table. “Have you got any updates on those men who attacked you at the venue?”

“There was one update a couple days ago where they have been held with no bond and would be sent to city jail in the coming days once they have recovered from their injuries.”

“Colemond’s Detention Center?”

Daniel nodded. “They asked if I wanted to make the following statement and I requested none. That was it.”

Xavier sat up, changing the situation. Daniel sat up and listened to his insight. During the entire conversation, the two remained focused, not getting distracted by the area of vicinity. By the time both exchanged information to understand the matter, the glare of sunlight already attempted to peek through the window blinds directly into the dining room.

Daniel looked through the watch, and the shorthand reached the seventh hour. He then heard the creaking of the door from the hallway. Oh shoot, Mother Elaine is awake.

“Is that her?” Xavier muttered.

“Yeah. She was asleep, and this is the usual time she wakes up. And she’s getting a welcome by a guest,” Daniel replied, standing up from his seat and grabbing Xavier’s empty cup and plate. He turned on the kitchen sink, swiftly washing the dishes, when Mother Elaine came out from her room, reaching to the end of the hallway. Her hair was all the way down, looking drowsy. This was also the first time he had ever seen her in pajamas. With all that appearance factor in, she looked like a different person.

“Morning…” she greeted, not aware Xavier was sitting with his back facing the hallway.

“You look like crap,” Daniel said. “Training day is today and we have another guest.”

Mother Elaine’s eyes opened when he mentioned another guest. She saw Daniel in the kitchen and he immediately pointed towards the dining room. She turned to her right, seeing Xavier give a slight wave, and her eyelids jolted up and speedily went back to her room.

Xavier turned back to Daniel, and both gave a shrug.