DC-PHD-CH4
A few days later, Pocket Hunting Dimension
Three figures were clashing against each other on the grassy plains of the Pocket Hunting Dimension in a 2 vs 1 fight. The combatants were two rabbits, one Black and one White, and Cain, who had completely adapted to the fighting patterns of the rabbits and improved his fighting style.
He was currently raining punches and kicks on the two rabbits without a single hit to himself. As the Rabbits slowed down due to injuries, Cain and the Rabbits switched their fighting style, choosing to crash toward each other like two wrecking balls. Cain mainly used shoulder slams to attack the Rabbits, maximizing the power behind his attack through his rushing attacks.
Slowly but steadily, both Rabbits started getting worn down. Finally, Cain managed to defeat them with a series of spinning kicks that broke their necks.
As they died, Cain observed something new. The white rabbit dropped two red orbs as usual. But the black rabbit dropped two types of orbs he had never seen before. The first was a pale purple-colored pearl-sized orb, glittering like a tiny star. The other was a translucent whitish orb, with a shadow of a tiny rabbit flickering inside it.
"Hmm, I guess I have two new mysteries to solve once I get out," Cain mused as he collected the orbs, "As usual, the only way I have is experimenting with myself."
Just as he finished collecting the orbs, he heard the rustling of the bushes. Turning in that direction, he was faced with the sight of three more rabbits, two white and one gray colored, stalking towards Cain with a bloodthirsty look in their beady eyes.
Cain grinned as he straightened up and cracked his knuckles, "Three this time, huh? Come on then, I can do this all day."
-x-x-x-
Later that night, in his apartment hideout, Cain woke up after being killed in the Pocket Hunting Dimension and went to make some coffee to wake up and remove the residual effects of the "death".
He had managed to defeat the three rabbits after the first two, suffering some injuries in the process. he gained five red orbs and one purple orb from that.
Barely any time had passed when he was assaulted by six rabbits before he could completely catch his breath. He still didn't give up and put his life at risk to fight against six rabbits.
Managing to defeat the six of them while suffering some severe injuries in the process, he was just collecting the orbs when he was sneak attacked. Something managed to blindside him and slash his chest deeply, making him bleed out in seconds.
Whoever the culprit was, they hid themselves well in the bushes so Cain didn't manage to capture even a glimpse before dying. But at least this time it was better than death by beheading.
Moreover, this time he had broken all of his previous records. He had gained 17 Red Orbs, 4 Purple Orbs, and one orb that he had temporarily termed Rabbit Orb, all in one night.
After finishing his coffee, Cain went to the bathroom to start taking in the orbs. He decided to start with the red ones first as he wanted to see if he could break through in the physique attribute.
The breakthrough Cain was thinking about was the breakthrough in Tier. Every Tier had an upper limit and 100 points were the upper limit of Tier 10 – Human. Once he surpasses that, he would officially break through the limit of regular humans, most of whom would never surpass that, at least not without some unique martial art training methods that DC has available.
The Tier after that was Tier 9 – Superhuman. At this Tier, Cain's respective attribute would finally reach the level that the majority of Supervillains and Superheroes in DC Verse had.
Of course, there were more than enough beings with Tiers much higher than this, but the majority of known heroes, vigilantes, and villains could be classified as belonging to this Tier.
Moreover, just because they belonged to this Tier means that all of their attributes were of this tier. Just like Cain, as long as any one of the three attributes reaches this Tier, they would automatically be classified as a being of this Tier.
With these thoughts in mind, Cain started ingesting the red orbs, feeling their power starting to quickly refine his body, pushing it to the next level. Once he ingested the 17 red orbs, a fire was stoked in the depths of his body, swiftly forging and remaking his physique.
As the process reached its crescendo, Cain felt like something shattered within his body. The next moment, a wave of power and incredible comfort suffused every inch of his physique. His muscles rippled with a single command, ready to exert their full power at a moment's notice.
Cain called up his attribute panel excitedly.
Name: Cain
Physique: 101 (Tier 9 – Superhuman)
Mind: 11 (Tier 10 – Human)
Spirit: 6 (Tier 10 – Human)
An excited grin emerged on Cain's face; He had finally done it. The difference in his physique from before the Tier upgrade and after was as clear as night and day. He was sure that he could now fight dozens of the rabbits and come out victorious without suffering any significant injuries.
His strength, speed, reflexes, muscle control, and combat instincts had all increased by leaps and bounds. He felt frustrated for a moment that he could not fight against more rabbits to test out his physique as he had already had his chance for the day, but he calmed himself down.
After a few minutes, as the euphoria of his newly upgraded physique subsided, Cain turned his attention to the other two types of orbs. He decided to experiment with the purple orb first as he had more of those.
Summoning one of those to his hand, Cain looked at the glittering orb for a moment before deciding to trust the products of the Pocket Hunting Dimension. He gulped it down in one go and waited for its effects to kick in.
The next moment, cool soothing energy seemed to spread all over his forehead. At the same moment, Cain started experiencing unbelievable levels of clarity, not to mention a noticeable increase in comprehension.
He instinctively started to think about his fights with the rabbits and his various vigilante actions in the real world. His mind started to dissect the fights at rapid speed, giving him better knowledge of what actions he could have taken and the improvements in his self-created fighting style.
Not only that, as he further started to comprehend his fights, his mind started to comprehend the bio-energy suffusing his physique and started to create a technique to employ it more effectively than just throwing punches and kicks.
Just as he felt he was close to a breakthrough, the feeling of clarity and comprehension receded, making him feel as if he had suddenly grown stupid. "No!!!" Cain yelled in frustration as he realized that the energy of the orb had been depleted and absorbed by him already.
He was gripped by the immediate need to have that clarity and comprehension ability again so that he could finish creating that technique that he had been on the verge of creating but failed due to the lack of purple orb energy.
He brought out the other three orbs and ingested them simultaneously, a bit reckless but then again, he was currently desperate and not in a proper frame of mind.
This time, the sense of clarity and comprehension came with an even greater force, enhanced due to the increased quantity of orbs. His mind started retracing his steps to creating the technique.
He started fusing every bit of his improved combat knowledge, experiences with multiple life-death fights, fighting style, and analysis of his newly upgraded bio-energy into the new skill he was creating.
Finally, just as he felt that the comprehension process was going to deplete once more, he managed to complete the creation of a rudimentary form of the skill he envisioned.
"I name you Kaio-ken X 1, after the special ability of one of the greatest combat characters I know." Cain named the skill, "Although, unlike the original, mine is not a boost for a single moment but one that can be constantly sustained for a while by expending bio-energy."
When Cain brought up the attribute panel to check for the permanent effect of the purple orb, he was greeted with a pleasant surprise.
Name: Cain
Physique: 101 (Tier 9 – Superhuman)
Mind: 36 (Tier 10 – Human)
Spirit: 8 (Tier 10 – Human)
Special Ability: Kaio-Ken(Current Boost Limit: x1)
"Kaio-Ken unlocked a new category in the Attribute Panel?!" Cain exclaimed in surprise, "This means that my creation was more significant than I thought if it is being considered on the same level as products of the Pocket Hunting Dimension."
"No wonder it took all of the purple orbs I had obtained to be able to create just the rudimentary version of this ability. I think I was lucky to be able to create it at the cost of just four of these purple orbs, especially when I mostly squandered the first one."
"Moreover, the purple orbs also gave significant progress to my Mind Attribute. No wonder these Purple Orbs are so rare that I just got a few after so many weeks. Their value is much more than the Red Orbs."
Cain finally summoned the rarest orb he had obtained, the Orb with the Rabbit Shadow. He was the most hesitant about this orb as this was very different from the red and purple orbs. Even with the purple orb, he had some guesses about its function. But this orb was a complete mystery.
Finally, he decided not to be scared of what were technically his powers. If he could not even trust himself, then who could he trust?
With a determined look in his eyes, he swallowed the orb. The next moment, he felt like he was transported to a different space and various visions of a small rabbit started flashing in his head.
-x-x-x-
The rabbit was small, the weakest of the litter. It would always be bullied by others of the same litter as itself, and never receive enough to eat. They were always stronger and faster than it, so he was always late and received the least juicy grass to it, often having to make do with dirty and dry ones.
Frustrated by this, the rabbit often would crawl into a corner, depressed by its life. However, as it grew up a bit more, it finally gained its chance to shine.
As it grew up with the rest of the litter and reached a certain age, just like others in its group it started getting infused with the mysterious energy that existed in this dimension. While others were content to let this mysterious energy passively nourish and strengthen them, this little rabbit wanted more.
It started greedily and desperately taking in more and more of this mysterious energy. It would actively infuse its body, especially its legs, with this mysterious energy, wanting to grow stronger and faster than others in its group. It desperately wanted to surpass them, grow strong and fast enough that it would be the one to have the juiciest grass.
Finally, after a while, it started getting its wish. Its actions awoke a special ability within its body that allowed it to leap and blitz faster and farther than any other of its group. As time passed, let alone its group but even the other predators who preyed on rabbits could not catch up to it.
Eventually, rabbit groups all over the dimension recognized this rabbit as their leader, granting it their secret store of energy that let it grow and develop its ability to become the fastest ever. It protected its followers using this ability, fighting off predators with its immense speed.
Finally, when the time came for this rabbit to pass on to the afterlife, it spread its teaching amongst the most talented of its group, allowing its ability to be passed on to the next generation. Even though none could ever reach its level again, this rabbit's legacy lived on in the fellow members of its race, generation after generation, until it became engraved in their very genes.
This was the Legacy of the Moon Rabbit's Quick Steps.
-x-x-x-
When Cain regained his senses, for a few moments he was confused about his own identity, struggling between a rabbit and a human. Finally, he managed to shake off the effects of the memory transmission and overcame the after-effects of learning an ability that would have otherwise been racially specific if not for the particular powers of the Pocket Hunting Dimension.
Cain had no doubts that he had gained the complete version of the Rabbit that created the Moon Rabbit's Quick Steps ability. His theory was further confirmed when he opened the Attribute Panel.
Name: Cain
Physique: 101 (Tier 9 – Superhuman)
Mind: 36 (Tier 10 – Human)
Spirit: 8 (Tier 10 – Human)
Special Ability: Kaio-Ken(Current Boost Limit: x1), Moon Rabbit's Quick Steps(Current Speed Multiplication: x2)
"Speed Multiplication, huh?" Cain muttered as he looked at the Attribute panel, "So, in basic terms, I am currently a knockoff version of a speedster. With Speed Multiplication of Moon Rabbit's Quick Steps and Kaio-Ken boosting my physical attributes ever further temporarily, I really could be considered a speedster."
"I would not be comparable to Kid Flash at this point, let alone the Flash himself, but it's a start for sure. Regular thugs and criminals hold no chance anymore. I seem to have directly graduated to being able to fight people like the trained Assassins of the League of Shadows."
-x-x-x-
The next night, Pocket Hunting Dimension
Cain looked around as soon he was spawned in the dimension, making sure he was alone. Having confirmed that he had a window of time before he was in threat of being attacked, Cain decided to try out his two new abilities.
Cain took a deep breath as he prepared to test out the first of the two new abilities he had acquired. Cain gathered the enhanced bio-energy energy that his body naturally produced now, and compressed it in the center of his body.
As the gathered enhanced bio-energy started to unstable due to the immense amount concentrated like this, Cain unleashed and infused it throughout his body, empowering his body beyond its usual limits. His enhanced bio-energy emerged out of his aura nodes, coating his body like a transparent flame.
"Unbelievable. I can't believe that it worked. Kaio-ken x1!!" Cain muttered excitedly. With his empowered body, he burst out like a bullet toward a specific tree in the distance that he had marked in his mind as a target.
He found that his current body was matching the speed at which a regular person could shoot an arrow. It barely took him a few seconds to reach a tree that was at least a hundred meters away. In the real-world standards for regular humans, he had practically surpassed the Olympic Athlete standards.
"Now, let's move on to the next one," Cain muttered as he deactivated Kaio-Ken. Accessing the memories of the Moon Rabbit that he had received in the legacy, he activated his enhanced bio-energy in a certain manner as per the technique. Immediately, he felt his body become lighter as if he was somehow rejecting gravity.
"Moon Rabbit's Quick Steps!!" Cain muttered as he rushed back from the tree to his previous position where he was spawned. He found that with Moon Rabbit's Quick Steps, he was almost gliding on the ground, rushing forward almost at half the speed of a bullet fired from the muzzle of a gun.
He reached the previous position where he was spawned half a second faster than when he was rushing towards the tree boosted by Kaio-Ken. By comparing the two abilities in his mind, Cain found the differences.
Moon Rabbit's Quick Steps was solely focused on speed. While it did increase his physical power, it was skewed mostly towards whatever the technique could do to make him faster rather than solely increase his strength.
This was why he had felt a slight anti-gravity effect, as that was the technique trying to make him "lighter" so that he could run faster. It was similar to how Superman could fly by using his bio-energy force field to negate the effects of gravity.
Kaio-Ken on the other hand was a simple complete boost to all aspects of his physical ability. Whether it was speed, durability, or strength, everything was boosted. While Moon Rabbit's Quick Steps was more of a subtle approach, Kaio-ken was more like a bull charging through, crushing everything in its path.
"Now, it's time for the final test," Cain said to himself as he once again drew on his enhanced bio-energy. This time he drew on almost all of his reserves, before dividing them in two so that he could try to use Moon Rabbit's Quick Steps and Kaio-Ken together.
However, everything didn't go as planned. The moment he started executing the two techniques together, Cain immediately realized that something went wrong. Instead of the two abilities working side by side, they instead starting fusing and rapidly mutating.
It felt as if a chain of explosions were being triggered within Cain's body, each one making the might of the out-of-control energy grow greater and fiercer. "Ahhhhhh!!!!" Cain screamed with bloodshot eyes as he felt his body start to tear up at the molecular level as it tried to contain the rapidly increasing energy.
Cain's shout alerted the residents of the grassy plains and dozens of rabbits emerged from their burrows to watch the show of a foolish man playing with forces he could not control. When Cain saw the watching him with what he considered amused expressions, he felt something within him snap.
"You damn rodents!!! Do you want to watch a show? Fine, I will give you one explosion of a show!!" Cain yelled in pain and anger, as he rushed towards the groups of rabbits, faster than a bullet.
Before the clueless rabbits could register the threat and try to escape, Cain had arrived in the midst of them all, his energy reserves going past the critical limit at that very moment. As the rabbits cried out in panic about their impending doom, Cain was torn apart by the out-of-control energy brewing within him, exploding out of him while wiping out everything and every being that happened to be near him at that unfortunate moment.