Chapter 8

"N-n-ni-nine point zero," the woman in charge of gauging my ability told me while hyperventilating.

After hearing this my mind was blown.

It wasn't every day that you saw an elite-tier let alone a 9.0 god-tier.

That was why I could understand her shock. In fact, I hadn't expected this either after all.

But my business was done here and I decided to leave to ponder these recent recent events on my own.

I didn't need to pay since the facility that gauged my ability was government-controlled and they allowed the gauging of abilities when one was an elite Tier or above to be free.

'9.0,' I thought to myself. 'That is pretty high, in fact, it was strong enough to handle the authorities, but I wouldn't illude myself into thinking that such a level would suffice for either Spectre or Ember.

One had to take into account the dangers they could pose to a person as Specter had ability dampeners and disablers at its disposal whilst the latter had ability amplifiers which, while they were never seen as anything other than a product for economical profit, could potentially be utilized should the need to do so ever arise.

That and considering the power of Embers agents without any external interference was an important enough, or so I believed, indicator of their high level of power.

Considering the level of the people inside those organisations, it was best for me to continue increasing my strength to be prepared for anything.

Such a thing was a necessity that I had always considered, and while thinking of possible training I could tackle to relieve myself of these problems the work of my dad came to mind.

I quickly activated my ability and utilized the speed-boosting features that were mimicked from its original owners and began to run towards my destination at very high speeds.

It would still take a while, perhaps a half a minute or so which would probably be enough to think about what my next course of action would be.

What if I became a vigilante like multiple other high-tiers did it to accomplish training?

Killing two birds with one stone right?

I could certainly use this opportunity to find new inspiration about different abilities that I had yet to hear of, to increase my own fighting skills should I encounter strong enough opponents in the form of Ember agents, to discover new ways to utilize the new abilities I would eventually copy through fighting and maybe find challenging opponents in the form of the Amber agents that could give me a potential run for my money.

This clandestine hobby would, although that was an aspect that I didn't hold in such high regard, be beneficial to those in the lower-tier districts.

I would have to give the job a new and much more brutal approach since simply beating them up, freeing the occupied from their tyrantsoo[oooooo and entrusting the criminals to the authorities wasn't going to be enough due to the high risk of the crooks being released and going out to do crime once more.

"I might have to kill them," I thought. The people who bought the amplifiers to mistreat their neighbours I mean.

Can't let trash linger and pollute the surroundings right?

Of course, I might just back down because of wanting to avoid sullying my hands since killing was a new territory that I had never crossed into and, even though I felt that I could kill easily I had never actually done so which obviously would mean that I wasn't prepared for what it could signify whether that applied to myself or to those around me.

"Hmmm... Home sweet home," I thought arriving just in front of the door to my house.

*Knock* knock* knock*

After knocking on the door, I could hear my father's steps heating louder.

"Coming!" he yelled right before opening the door to let me in.

"John, you're finally here, come in. I made some dinner so take off your shoes and let's eat real quick before I go to work," he said.

"Sure,"

I was kind of looking forward to this nice meal with him.

On the kitchen table, we each scooped a spoonful of rice.

"So John, you said you went out to get your ability level checked right?"

"Yeah," I quickly responded.

I see, was it higher than last time?"

"Yup, a nice 9.0,"

"... What... 9.0!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, I was shocked too," I announced.

"Well the fact that you reached 9.0 wasn't really surprising honestly, it was how fast you reached that level that really caught me off guard," he explained himself before lamenting.

"Oh man, look at the time. It seems like an old man like me can't even enjoy a simple diner with his own son," and burst out laughing.

"Well anyway, eat well kiddo and get to bed early, ok,"

"Got it, dad," I answered.