章節 33: Chapter 33 - Distress
Delving within the isolated borders of Spencer's training grounds, sounds of collisions rippled through the surroundings as two silhouettes flickered across the field at high speeds. One covered in a coat of electricity and the second looking relatively normal, but both doing their utmost best to overtake the other while kicking up dust as they moved at velocities invisible to the human eye. The floor was littered with scratches and holes made from the repetitive collisions of the two.
Viewing from the sidelines, four distinct silhouettes could be observed sitting on wooden benches, enjoying the performance of the two. They were Rose, Mishka, Quintus, and Spencer. They have been watching the fight for an extended period, analyzing the movements and noting the mishaps of their fight, reviewing them for potential future improvements.
"Hopi, Yarok, that is enough for now." Spencer suddenly shouted.
The two silhouettes being revealed to be Hopi and Yarok, immediately stopped their fighting and dropped to the floor covered in beads of sweat from their high-speed sparring. Out of the group, these two brothers held the highest level of combat adeptness compared to everyone else, second to only their sister, Castor who had a much more lethal output with her abilities. She was currently resting in a specially made living area due to overexerting herself in an earlier session.
It has been five months since the ultimate choice that changed the group of friends and family fate was made. Spencer offered them the chance to be something greater, though they hesitated in the beginning, they all inevitably accepted the offer. They were soon exposed to the meteor and their bodies bathed in its rays of radiation, changing them forever. Everyone developed unique abilities, each different from the other, pushing them into the realm far beyond normal mortals and bringing them to the world of the supernatural.
Quintus the head of the household gained an unusual form of superhuman conditioning. Though his bodily strength wasn't enhanced to a crazy degree, his power, speed, durability, and regeneration was multiplied approximately to ten times that of a normal person. His hearing, smell, and sight were also enhanced to an incredible degree and he could feel the world around him through a form of echolocation.
His wife, Rose along with Mishka developed similar abilities. Rose gained a new unorthodox healing ability, she could quickly heal anyone of their injuries as long as the person she is healing isn't dead, but she has to sacrifice her life force to do so. However, life first spent would be regained after a hearty rest.
Mishka, the last to join Spencer's circle, has also gained the power to heal. Her ability, however, didn't utilize her life source, but instead, it used the powers of nature itself! By siphoning the life from the surrounding flora and even the fauna, she could heal wounds or even restore lost limbs! Due to the horrific cost of such actions, however, the group agreed to only rely on her powers when it would be necessary.
Branching off to the three siblings, the powers take a massive jump in scaling. Hopi the eldest sibling developed something akin to bio-electricity. His body would generate extremely high charges of lightning energy that would allow him to augment his physical capabilities greatly. Mainly focusing on his speed and his cognitive output, his movement speed is not that much less than that of a bolt of lightning. In some cases, he can release the electricity from his body in the form of sparks of energy.
Hopi could also rapidly speed up his regenerative capabilities in an instant, recovering from potentially fatal wounds at the cost of his stamina. Though the cost is high, he needs to intake a large amount of energy-dense foods to maintain his energy output.
Yarok's abilities were vastly different from his brother, they were quite difficult to understand and would often change in potency based on the intensity of his emotions. From what was gathered over the course of months, his ability appeared to allow him to passively enhance his biology down to a cellular level, maybe even further.
He could dramatically increase his body's power output to an outstanding degree in an instant, forming dermal armor, growing blade-like spikes from his arms somewhat similar to Spencer. Yarok could drastically change his body without any warning or any indication of him doing such. He could also enhance his strength, speed, and durability output to a degree comparable to Spencer before he went on his first killing spree back in the ancient world.
His increase in strength wasn't without cost, the larger the increase in his capabilities the more of a burden his body has to endure until the changes are too great, causing the breakdown of his very DNA, which would force him to undo all of his self imposed mutations.
Castor already had powers beforehand, but she has earned her place as the strongest of her siblings, even though they could easily beat her in a physical aspect. However, when it comes down to the knowledge and usage of one's powers, she was unbeatable in terms of pure control. She would often outsmart her brothers in combat and normally win by insanely small margins.
Returning to the scene of the two brothers being sprawled on the floor from exhaustion, Spencer could be seen walking up to them and standing over their bodies. Squatting down, he placed his hand above them. In a few moments, she emitted a gentle purple mist that engulfed the two brother's tired bodies, seeping in through their pores and rejuvenating them in a manner of seconds. They both jumped up, ready to get back into action, looking at Spencer with excitement shining in their eyes.
"How did we do?" They shouted excitedly in unison.
They have been training hard the last four months after getting used to their powers and they wanted to do their best to get stronger.
Spencer looked at the two siblings and nodded his head before speaking.
"You have both become much stronger. Hopi, you have become faster and faster in the last few months. Both your physical speed and your reaction time gained an incredible boost."
Turning towards Yarok, he continued.
"Yarok, the amount of control you now have over your changes have become vastly more stable than how they were in the beginning. I'm proud of you."
Then, turning his attention towards both, he finished his speech, with a small smile creeping upon his face.
"I'm looking forward to what you two can become in the future."
The two seemed happy with his response and grinned, Spencer only looked at them for a few more moments before telling them to go clean themselves off and get some rest.
Waiting till they went inside, Spencer scratched his head in annoyance and began walking over to Quintus' group who was still sitting on the bench having a casual conversation.
For a while now, he had decided that once the kingdom regained its stability, he would leave this place. Now that the kingdom has the three siblings, Quintus, and the two ladies to protect it, he could finally move on with his journey.
Reaching them, they stopped their chat and looked up to him. Quintus immediately noticed the change in his expression.
"What's wrong Spencer?"
"We need to talk."
Spencer sat down on the bench next to Quintus as he spoke. It wasn't easy for him to say what he needed to say, even if he was already prepared for it by now. He wasn't sure how he would tell his decision to the three siblings, but at least he wanted to tell Quintus, Mishka, and Rose first. Taking a deep breath, he spoke.
"Our kingdom is finally stable. No big threats are lingering around us, life has become good once more. The people are safe and taken care of, and under the protection of you guys and the siblings, the kingdom no longer needs me. I have decided to move on."
Listening to Spencer's words, they felt their sadness welling up, but they forcefully held it in. After a while, Rose spoke.
"How will you tell this to the kids?"
Spencer looked down at the ground, shaking his head.
"I… I don't know. I was hoping you could pass the message to them."
"You can't do this Spencer!" Mishka jumped up, raising her voice she reprimanded.
Spencer couldn't answer, he kept his gaze planted on the ground. He could only heavily sigh.
They looked at Spencer and eventually nodded, reluctance plastered on their faces.
While the three were discussing Spencer's plans of leaving, the three failed to notice a figure listening from behind the wall leading to the living area. By the time Spencer realized someone was listening in, it was too late. The figure is revealed as Castor, she immediately ran out and started to speak.
"Are you leaving us?" she asked in the brink of tears.
Rose could see that Castor was about to start crying and went to comfort her, only to be pushed away. Spencer looked at the girl and walked up to her, kneeling, he spoke.
"Yes dear, I won't be here for much longer."
Spencer tried to reach out and pat her head, but Castor slapped his hand away and stormed off into the living area where her brothers were recovering. He watched as she ran away, he couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness wash over him for a brief moment. He stood up and went to sit on a bench, caressing his forehead.
When the two brothers saw Castor running past them crying, they rushed after her with faces of worry. Catching up to her, she was a mess, her face covered in tears and snot. They began asking her what made her like this, but she wouldn't respond, she only kept crying while reciting Spencer's name in a low tone. The brothers couldn't understand what was wrong with her, but they could only think one thing.
"Spencer did this!"
The two brothers frantically rushed outside looking for Spencer, pushing everything out of the way until they reached the training grounds. They scanned around until they saw him sitting on one of the benches. Upon seeing Spencer the two brothers immediately rushed at him, with not so good intentions.
Yarok mutated his body and bulked up, thrusting his hands into the floor and pulling up a chunk of stone, he quickly threw it at Spencer with all he had. Following after her brother, Hopi focused the energy within his body and fired a sharp bolt of electricity towards the still motionless Spencer.
Both attacks collided with him without hindrance, causing a dust cloud to form. Rose, Mishka, and Quintus were utterly shocked by the fact that the two would just blatantly attack Spencer like that without warning or apparent reason.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO CASTOR?!" The two screamed with rage.
As the dust cloud faded, Spencer was observed to be motionless on the still intact bench. His clothing was scorched and torn, but he held not even a scratch on his body. He did not so much as react to their assault.
The two brothers grew even more frustrated once they saw that Spencer was not responding to them. Yarok planted his feet and jumped into the air, cocking back his fist and plummeting furiously while Hopi channeled his speed and flickered towards Spencer.
As they reached closer, Spencer looked up for a brief moment and lifted one of his fingers to receive their attacks. Focusing only a fraction of his energy to the extended finger, Spencer froze the two in mid-air and embedded them into the ground. The two brothers were knocked unconscious in an instant. While the adults quickly ran over to see if they were okay, Spencer casually got up as if nothing happened and walked into the living area in pursuit of the little girl.
Spencer searched the entire living area, but he couldn't find her no matter where he looked. In the end, he resorted to using his ability to scan for the life forces in the area. After a moment of searching, Spencer could sense her life force which was still the most unique out of her siblings. Her signal led him to the mediation room that he built for himself on the training site. It was normally off-limits, but he would, -on rare occasions-, allow Castor to join him in his sessions.
Entering through the door that he set up, Spencer walked in to see Castor embracing her knees with her head placed between them, sobbing. He slowly approached the crying girl and crouched down in front of her to speak.
"Castor." He gently called out to her.
Castor flinched after hearing Spencer's voice. She ended her sobbing but refused to look at him. He could only look down at her pitiful state with regret.
"Castor, we do not have much time before I have to leave. Do you want to spend our last moments like this?"
Castor hesitated and slowly raised her head to look at Spencer. Seeing her face, he could recognize the sadness in her eyes. He quickly embraced her, unmoving as she continued her sobbing in his arms without holding anything in.
This continued until she soon drifted to sleep in the comfort of his arms. He then carried her out of the meditation room and brought her to the living area, placing her on one of the many handmade beds. He looked at her face for a few moments, it was now his turn to feel sadness.
Leaning over and kissing her forehead, Spencer engraved the memories of her into his mind. The memories of her as one of the first that he thought of as a daughter. Spencer placed his hand on her stomach and focused his mind, he gently infused a portion of his power into her being, this would be his greatest and final gift to her to remember him by.
Leaving the facility, Spencer walked back to the training field to see the group of Quintus, Rose, and Mishka still tending to the unconscious duo. Even though more than an hour had passed, they were still trying to get the two to wake up.
Thinking that he might have treated them a bit too harshly, Spencer waved his hand and healed both of them. They both woke up in the next moment and held their heads, perplexed as to what happened to them.
Smiling Spencer began to levitate off the ground, gradually rising higher and higher into the air.
"Will we ever see you again?" Quintus yelled out.
Spencer looked down and smiled at Quintus. He didn't respond to his question, no, he couldn't respond to the question. Quintus already knew the answer but was clinging to that sliver of hope to see his friend once again in the future.
"Take care of them while I'm gone, friend…"
Upon saying those words, Spencer flickered and vanished without a trace, moving at speeds imperceptible by even them. He was already miles away and getting further every moment. He was on his way to his next journey, but he couldn't help but feel a hole in his chest form, he simply ignored it and continued flying.
Tears drifted down the side of his face unbeknownst to him, the memories of the time he spent with them kept flashing in his mind without remorse, but he steeled himself and left only one thought in his mind.
"I will return one day."
創作者的想法 
Shaele
Shaele Oh yeah, yesterday I took a look at the power stones, and gosh darn, I was astounded! I'm not the type to really fuss about the rankings, but the amount of support you guys pour into this fanfic is incredible!
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