Chapter 144 - Acceptance

Brock fidgeted in his lap, his sister sitting with her arms crossed opposite him, her blind eyes glaring into his soul. Tensioned suffused the air, and the sound of her foot tapping the floor was the only thing that intermixed with the noise of their breathing. Warmth heated their bodies, courtesy of the stone fireplace to Brock’s right.

Stress left the man’s back a swamp as a million possibilities passed through his mind every second. Would she ask what happened? Would she understand if he told her? What if Mio had already said something? He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so anxious about anything, perhaps high school, and it was driving him mad.

He hated it, and no matter what he told himself or what he did, it wouldn’t go away.

“Brock…” Jane’s voice reached out to him, and he tensed, “Are you… ok? Your heartrate is almost 470 beats per minute…”

He froze, abruptly realising the utter pounding occurring within his chest. With enhanced Constitution and Vitality came immensely heightened bodily functions. And he knew all too well that Jane could probably hear those thumping bodily functions.

“I’m… yeah, I’m fine.” He waved her off, although he struggled to look her in the eye. He had no idea why.

Jane frowned, but otherwise didn’t comment, “This is your house?”

As if he was just realising it too, Brock glanced around, noting the smooth earthen walls, the flickering crimson hiding within the fireplace and the iron-wood furniture. Hidden behind a wall, he could see the beginnings of the staircase that led to the second floor. The windows had been covered with the holed fabric that constituted his curtains.

If not for the fireplace, the interior would be oppressively dark. He nodded, settling back into his chair as he felt a familiar calm settle over him. This was his home. His place, “Yeah. It was the first one Erin made when Hiroto sent over that ass… that architect to work with her and Margo.”

He didn’t particularly like the old man’s choice to send that knobhead Asahi over to King’s Cavity, but he supposed his opinion didn’t matter. It was Margo’s that did, and she was grateful. Jane nodded slowly, “It’s… nice. I assume it’s the place you’ve been holing up in for the past two months since you came back from your little crusade?”

“I wouldn’t call it a crusade,” Brock muttered, taking in a deep breath and using what Zonoebah had taught him to soothe himself. His aura followed along with it, “it was more of a murder hike. And yeah… this is where I’ve been.”

He hesitated for a second, before continuing, “has… has Mio told you?”

Jane’s head tilted toward the fireplace, as if her unseeing eyes were studying the way its flames flickered behind her blindfold, “No, actually. She has refused anything I’ve asked. She’s a trustworthy person, Brock. And she seems to consider you her friend. She wouldn’t betray that trust.”

Brock licked his lips. Relief filled him, although he could tell that Jane was rather sour that she hadn’t found out what was going on. He grunted his response and Jane shook her head.

“What are you doing Brock?” she looked like she wanted to stand up in her chair, but stopped herself, “three months ago, you were dying and you ventured halfway across the continent to save yourself. You even killed some monster that was responsible for the fall of Adelaide and New Paris. And now… what? You look like you wished you died.”

“I…” Brock didn’t really know what to say. Jane had mentioned something similar back at Ari’s funeral, though he was too enamoured with guilt to have really thought about it. He was the reason Zin came here after all. So he was the reason Ari, and all those other innocent people were in the ground.

And he knew Zin was here for him. He’d found a mission dossier inside his ring. Dispatched to exterminate Error on planet Earth-C137.

His shoulders sagged, “I don’t know what I’m doing, ok? I’m… I’m scared, Jane.”

“…Scared of what?”

Brock gritted his teeth, “Of myself. Just… just tell me about mum. What’ve you found?”

The woman opposite him looked like she wanted to continue their conversation topic focusing on him but chose to respect Brock’s clear avoidance of the subject. Her hand came up and pinched the bridge of her nose, and a long sigh followed out. Brock gulped audibly.

“Nothing. The units we dispatched have scoured almost the entire continent Brock. 213 Tyrants, 77 of which were E-Grade, 6019 Alphas, and over 2 billion people were entered into our database. Our mother, or even Harry’s mother, weren’t part of that 2 billion. Brock… I think…”

She didn’t want to finish her sentence, and neither did he. A silence befell them and eventually Brock nodded and stood, “I understand… I… I need some time alone, ok?”

“That’s fine… just… contact me, ok?”

And then she left, leaving Brock alone in the darkness of his house.

**

Several hours passed by, and Brock’s aura washed through the interior of his abode like a tide. Out, then in, following the tune presented by his breathing. His mind felt perfectly tranquil, and his emotions felt dull. Just the way he liked it.

While emotional calm was Brock’s main and most valued boon from his aura meditation, aura control, synchronisation and familiarity were added benefits. Zonoebah had told him it was a commonly used technique by those in the Multiverse to calm themselves and practice efficiently with their aura.

And while Brock had barely levelled since his encounter with Zin, his strength with aura as well as his Augments had grown exponentially. The Elemental was a good teacher and knew many things, and it was for that reason that KC had quickly become a rather important city.

Many powerful fire-based Augment users now resided in the city thanks to the corpse of Gor’eth and many of its warriors possessed superior aura control and Augment strength. The city didn’t exactly have the numbers compared to the others around them, but the quality far outstripped their quantity.

From when Brock had last checked, King’s Cavity had boosted from four hundred or so residents to just over ten thousand. It was… sizeable. The land around it had healed quickly thanks to assistance from Erin and some people that possessed Chlorokinetic powers and was now surrounded by abundant farms and lush fields. Humanity was well on its journey to rebuilding.

Brock took another breath in, and his aura flowed back into his body. Slowly, he stood. Then he reached up and stabbed his fingernails into the flesh of his arm. Blood oozed out and pain flared. It was dull, barely noticeable. She’s right. What the fuck am I doing?

I’m just going to rot away in my room for the rest of my life? I’ve evolved my race so that’ll be like 400 hundred years. Brock’s nails dug further, and he began to pull, tearing away his skin. Let’s just get this over with. I need to come to terms with it, cause I sure as hell can’t fucking change it.

He gritted his teeth. As he nails tore his skin further and further, his breath caught. Beneath the flesh, behind the oozing blood, was blackness. Blackened muscle so dark it could have been the void of the sky. He sighed.

That was what he was underneath. No longer human. Something else. A monster.

And that… that’s ok… Brock didn’t truly believe his own words, but he felt the idea of it was at least a start. As the Elemental had once said when they’d first met for the meditation, ‘emotions don’t change when you want them to, but when your ready to accept the ones you already have’. He felt this was a step in that direction of acceptance.

His flesh scabbed and quickly finished healing. The scab crumbled, revealing new skin underneath. Slowly, his mind settled on a single command, and he forced himself to open his status. He needed to accept who he was now. His talk with Jane was a wake-up call. How many lives could he have saved in his two months of sulking? What would the others say to that?

What would… what would his mother say to that? Brock snorted, but there wasn’t much effort behind it. She’d tell me to get off my ass and do something.

He breathed out. Status.

Brock Carter.
Race: High Human [E] LVL 32
Ascendancy: Fetters of the Bound [F]
Level: 100 [Evolution Available]

[Stats]

Strength: 446.85 [+35%][Base: 331]
Agility: 1366.2 [+35%][Base: 1012]
Dexterity: 725.2 [+40%][Base: 518] + 50 FS
Constitution: 506.25  [+35%][Base: 375]
Vitality: 591.3 [+35%][Base: 438]
Intelligence: 1674.4 [+40%][Base: 1196]
Wisdom: 1204.2 [+35%][Base: 892] + 112 FS

[Augments] - Augment of Sparks (97.12%), Augment of Skies (86.99%), Augment of Frost [II] (12.81%),

[Techniques] - Ethereal Shackles V [F] (14.93%), Salvation IV [F] (76.92%), Silence of the Abyss V [F] (62.87%), Touch of the Prometheans III [F] (54.73%), Penetrating Void II [F] (23.10%)

[Titles] - At The Precipice III, Agent of Chaos, Blessed, Destined for Greatness, Underdog, Hidden Fangs, Leader of the Pack, Login Bonus, Opportunist, Enlightened, Mass Murderer, Needless Slaughter, Masochist, Trophy Hunter (Unique), Budding Power, Brainiac, Attuned, Embodiment of Freedom, False Life, True Hunter, Purified, Mad Scientist, Evolutionary, Magic Man, Disciplined.

Free Stats: 0
Shards: 79,112,791
Stars of Ascension: 41

With several deep breathings, Brock surveyed his status. It was the proof of his efforts, yet also the proof of the events that empowered him but left him feel disgusted with himself. So much power, yet… he truly wanted none of it. All Brock wanted to settle down and enjoy life, not fight for his life or pursue power endlessly like some idiot.

He’d notice long ago that his upgraded race now gave 2 points per level. As for where he got the other 18 levels… the visions of a dark hand burrowing into Zin’s chest told him exactly where. He had stolen the demon’s power. His eyes naturally glanced down at his third Augment. He had taken the man’s power.

The Error had. That… was probably how I got my Augment of Skies too. The Error must have come out and absorbed it? That still begged the question of how Harry hadn’t seen it, though he supposed with all the dust the attack would have caused, it would have been hard to see even your own hands.

He’d also gained two new Techniques upon reaching level 75 and level 100. One was some sort of curse or hex, while the other was a ranged attack. Both were rather interesting, although he hadn’t levelled them as much as his others as they required targets, and the others could be used through his aura. Ethereal Shackles was the only outlier, as he mostly used its chains as extra limbs along with his telekinesis.

He pulled up the descriptions of his Technique ensemble.

[Techniques.]

- Ethereal Shackles V [F] (14.93%): The most horrifying shackles are those that do not truly exist. Scales with Strength and Intelligence. Mutated Power III and Fortitude I.

- Salvation IV [F] (76.92%): Shed your burdens, be granted salvation. Does not scale with Stats. Mutated Power III.

- Silence of the Abyss V [F] (62.87%): The Abyss is the most silent place of all, yet the whispers are deafening. Accept them. Nurture them. Scales with Wisdom and Intelligence. Mutated Efficiency IV.

- Touch of the Prometheans III [F] (11.99%): The fingers of those tormented haunt that which has been touched. Eternal, shall the torture remain. Scales with Intelligence and Target’s Fear. Mutated Fortitude II.

- Penetrating Void II [F] (56.84%): It lies dormant, trapped within the fabric between reality and that which lies Beyond. Penetrate that veil and call upon the power of the Void. Scales with Strength and Constitution. Mutated Efficiency I and Power I.

He could say safely that Salvation hadn’t destroyed his pathways once they’d healed back to normal and that it was in fact the ‘reflection’ power he’d assumed it to first be. And after his fight with Zin, the power it had stored up was… shocking. Another chasm now stretched across Denmark, although strangely enough it didn’t have any strange ores.

As for his other two Techniques, Touch was a curse that essentially heightened the target’s sensitivity to pain. So much so that even on monsters, it left them squealing. Void was a little stranger in that it allowed him to interact with the literal fabric of space.

Doing so, it allowed his attacks to travel over any distance. He could flick someone from 100 meters away, and it’d still hit them with the same force. 200 meters seemed to be the limit, however.

All in all, they were both welcomed additions to the arsenal he wasn’t planning on using. He glanced at his new Augment. Thanks asshole. You killed me so now I’ve got your powers.

Augment of Frost [II] (12.81%): +100 Intelligence, +100 Constitution.

It just about as it described. It was a ‘Tier II’ Augment that was clearly ice-based. And seemingly due to that Tier II status, it was horrifyingly powerful, far more so than his other two. In fact, since his Ascendancy hadn’t evolved and upgraded his pathways – according to Zonoebah – it was far too strong to be used through them. Unless he wanted to break them again.

So it was sidelined indefinitely, or at least until Brock decided to finally do the evolution trial. As far as he knew, there was a new trial round every week or so, as it would only start when enough beings from their ‘echelon’, or group of integrated planets, were placed in the instance.

During the first weeks when everyone was hitting E Grade, one happened every day, but now that all the forerunner of humanity and the other races had went and gone, it was beginning to slow. Which was fine with Brock.

But putting all that aside, he stepped outside his house and savoured the rays of sunlight and the feeling of the breeze on his skin. No one noticed him, as his house was built on the very edge of the city, where the district was yet to be built up, and he was thankful for it.

Although, he felt it was rather lonely. I… should go see Harry and Fon.

Last he’d heard, they were in Meiyo, running missions for Hiroto as valued operatives. They should be coming back from their latest mission by now. Yeah. Let’s go.

Brock’s legs began moving, and he headed toward the teleportation hub.