Chapter 56: Carl's Encounter with the Unknown Wind
Carl was kneeling on the ground as his eyes seemed hazy.
Right after he took the new ability pill and the system spoke to him, he felt a weird sensation, one that suddenly made him lose focus.
In front of him, he suddenly saw a planet.
Then he saw wind.
It was a green wind, one easily noticeable as if it was gas, not wind.
What was weird about the entire thing was the fact the wind was blowing and making its way through the void, which shouldn't be possible.
No air existed in the void, so how was wind moving, how was it even present?
The wind moved and reached the planet, and then, Carl saw a horrifying scene.
The planet ... it started turning gray.
The oceans became black, the soil lost its luster, and everything, even the clouds, became lifeless. The wind passed the planet and continued moving, leaving nothing but a dead planet on which all life had been extinguished.
Carl suddenly widened his eyes as the wind moved toward him. Before he was able to do anything, the wind reached him, and then, Carl felt calm, his mind relaxed as he suddenly entered a trance-like state.
He felt nothing.
It was as if all emotions had left his mind, he didn't feel happiness, he felt no sadness, no anger, no fear, nothing.
His soul was seemingly at peace, and then it hit him.
Pain.
But it wasn't normal pain, no, this one was faint, it didn't hurt a lot compared to the physical pain he felt each time he took a strength pill, no, this one was weaker, but it was, in a way, annoying.
Carl felt as if he would gladly start hitting himself just to feel another kind of pain that would make this one go away for a short time, it was like a weak headache that would constantly bother him, and yet there was nothing he could do.
The pain continued, and it increased slowly as Carl felt as if he was losing his mind.
His emotions and his senses were back, and he felt as if something deep inside him was changing.
No, it wasn't changing, something was being added.
That continued for some time, and Carl had no idea just how long it truly took before he opened his eyes and found himself kneeling in the shower.
His body hurt, he was drenched in sweat, but more importantly, he felt the existence of something deep inside him.
[Congratulations host, you have finally made contact with the flux. ]
'The what now?'
[ The flux, that is the energy all Fluxers, who you call superhuman, utilize when they gain their abilities. ]
[ In order for something to be created, something has to be used, right? ]
'Yes, I agree.'
[ That is how the abilities, the superpowers that people get are used, one can't just summon fire or water from nothing, they have to use flux, which is found everywhere around you, as well as inside you. ]
[ The weird sensation you feel right now is the flux in your body, as well as the brand of Desolation, which is what allows you to summon the wind. ]
'Is the mark harmful in any way?'
[ No, it only exists so that you can call upon the wind, it doesn't store the wind or anything like that, just think of it as a communication device, but instead of the device, it's something that is branded in your soul. ]
[ Compared to abilities that are completely physical, such as body empowerment, your bone manipulation, and the like, in order for one to use elemental abilities, as well as those connected to the mind or soul, a brand must be placed so that it is easier for those people to utilize them. ]
'I'm still a bit confused, maybe because of what happened, you didn't lie about that by the way, it was way too weird.'
'But anyway, I think I get the gist of it.'
Carl then went and showered before leaving the bathroom and going to his bed, immediately falling on top of it and closing his eyes. He was exhausted from taking the pills and gaining new powers, so he fell asleep in an instant.
About 2 hours later, he was woken up as somebody was shaking him.
"Wake up Carl, wake up."
Carl opened his eyes and saw Carla who was looking at him with a calm expression.
"Hey, you girls returned?"
"Yeah, we just got back."
'Damn, would it have killed her to let me sleep for just a bit longer, it's gonna take them at least half an hour to get ready, right?'
"So we're going out, to celebrate?" Carl asked before yawning.
"Afraid not, there's an emergency, you need to go to the agency right away."
"Huh," Carl asked with confusion as Carla shook her head.
"An outbreak happened, the whole region is under lockdown."
Carl's eyes opened wide as he heard Carla's words.
"Dammit, I gotta hurry then!"
"No need, I'll transport you to the agency, Isabella will go with you, I need to leave, and leaving her alone won't be a good idea, we still don't know how dangerous the outbreak is."
"Alright, that works for me," Carl said as he got up and made his way to the bathroom to wash his face before returning and putting on clothes while getting the items that Blorg had sent him.
"I'm ready, where is Isabella?"
"I'm here, I'm ready as well," Isabella said as she appeared at the door, wearing a tight leather suit that seemed to be designed for combat.
"Alright then, let's go," Carla said as she snapped her fingers, making them all see pink for a second before finding themselves right in front of the agency.
"Wow, why do we still travel by car, you can just get us to work right away," Carl said as Carla giggled.
"I like our rides, so I won't be changing that."
"Alright, be safe out there," Carl said as Carla nodded.
Both of them knew that she would be more than safe as the chances of her getting in a dangerous situation were minuscule.
As Carl entered the agency, he could see that there were already some people in it.
Lucius was standing at the entrance, and upon seeing Carl and Isabella, he nodded at Carl who nodded back at him before making his way to his office.
Lucius knew who Isabella was, so he didn't ask any questions.
Upon seeing her, however, Angela narrowed her eyes as she looked at the two as they entered Carl's office.
"Angela, have you managed to contact your villains yet?" A person suddenly shouted, making Angela look back immediately and answer.
"I have, two of them are in the region, they will be making their way to the entrance to help out if needed."
Carl entered his office and sat down before immediately calling Blorg and Nacht.
"So, I'm finally going to meet the other two villains you have contracted, huh?" Isabella asked Carl who nodded at her.
"Nacht is in a different region, so he should be safe, Blorg on the other hand, is outside the region, that madman loves being in the danger zones."
Blorg picked up the call first and immediately started talking about the outbreak.
"I'm going to get so many materials today bro, don't worry about a thing, I have equipped my lair with some of my custom defenses, the turrets alone should suffice for killing those bastards."
Blorg's manner of speaking, his physical expression, and the mess behind him made Isabella glance at Carl for a moment before looking at the screen again.
"Oh, and who is this, your girlfriend?" Blorg asked as he smirked.
"Since she is in your office, she is either a handler or a villain, maybe a part of management?"
"She's a villain, the latest one I have signed a contract with, as well as the newest addition to the main lab of the agency," Carl said with a smirk.
"This is Isabella, a B-grade villain."
"Another B-grade, humph, I'll reach that grade soon, don't worry about it."
Blorg suddenly cut off the call, as for Nacht, he wasn't answering.
"Alright, Nacht will be fine, his powers place him above a regular B-grade anyway, plus, the region he is in won't experience the outbreak."
"How many monsters?"
"A couple of thousand, it seems the strongest ones are A-grade, there is potential for some S-grade monsters to appear as well," Carl said as he leaned back in his chair.
"Yeah, I doubt they will be able to get through the walls."
The world Carl was living in was once very similar to Earth, but after powers appeared, the world changed.
It wasn't only heroes and villains that suddenly came to exist in the world, no, there were numerous monsters that appeared as well, and right now, the monsters controlled a very large area of the planet, more than 50% of it.
Not even the two G-grades of the planet were able to fully destroy them, the best they were able to do was to reclaim some territory, which was why humanity controlled slightly less than 50% of the planet right now.
Weekly Power Status
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