13 Chapter 13 - A growing perception ability

Queens, NYC, USA.

Ben's P.O.V.

Turning his face toward his loving wife, the latter having a satisfied smile on her sleeping visage, he rolled on his back with her unconscious body still in his embrace, his stiffening member still inside her warm coils. He did not move, however, as he knew her body was not able to take any more hardship that day. He thus stayed still, and let his consciousness fade into deep sleep after muttering in the otherwise silent bedroom. "I definitely have to ask her tomorrow about its effect..." 

As an unknown amount of dreamless but restful sleep went by, Ben's consciousness began to return, prompting his eyelids to flutter open, letting him take stock of his current situation. Whether it was visual, touch, hearing, smelling, or even tasting, every sense of his was turned up to eleven, sending him a colossal amount of information that should have normally fried his brain. Or at least given him a killer migraine.

However, he was not only fine, but he was even able to process everything without problem, having even the leisure of noticing a new and different sense working alongside the classic five. A sort of strong 'perception'. 'My brain's processing power definitely improved with my other power-ups. Mmmhh... So, it wasn't a dream... Am I gonna wake up and find all of this to be a crazy dream? Am I, Benjamin Parker, able to possess a Cosmic Level of power or am I going insane?' He thought, chuckling slightly.

Because of the vibration of his laugh transmitting through, he felt the woman lying naked on his equally naked body shuffle lightly in her sleep, prompting his thought to go in a completely different direction. A warm smile full of love on his face, he thought. 'I can feel her... It feels so strange as if I can never lose her...' A determined expression appearing on his face, he inwardly declared. 'And I never will. With those powers, I'll make everyone around me and myself so strong that we'll forever be safe from anyone. I only need time...'

As he was lost in his thoughts, something came to his mind, spurring him to check whether he was right. Focusing all his senses on her, alongside the Soul Bond they shared, he noticed how correct his conjecture was, drawing a satisfied smile to surface on his face. 'She's definitely stronger than she was yesterday. It worked!' 

As one of his last main doubts about his perks was answered, a weight seemingly vanished from his shoulders, as he thought. 'I was right. I can use my perk to help May become as strong as me... I just need to find another way for Peter and the others... It shouldn't be too hard in this Universe, with all those crazy things happening... Maybe a kind of serum or some 'random' divinity... Midi-chlorians?...' 

Chuckling lightly at his increasingly nonsensical thoughts, he turned his head toward his alarm clock on his bedside table, not really surprised at the time displayed on it: [3:30 A.M.]. 'Around four hours of sleep, uh?' He smiled wryly at the thought. It was both an advantage to sleep less and an inconvenience, especially in his current situation.

'I'll make do with it I guess, at least until May wakes up. Since I planned on training myself, I might as well start now... I do have to find a way first, though...' He thought while being a bit lost about how to go about it. 'Let's think. First, physical training is out of the way for obvious reasons. Intelligence training is also out of the way since my phone is in my pants pockets currently lying on the floor. So much for the easy ones, then. There are only magical or mental powers left. And I've no idea how to go about training those...'

Feeling himself reaching an impasse, he let his mind wander for a while, trying to find a solution that kept eluding him. "If only it was as easy as those cultivation novels I used to enjoy in my last life. They only had to absorb some volatile energy by using a weird breathing pattern and they would become stron..." He muttered before an idea suddenly came to him, stopping him from uttering anything else out loud.

'What if... What if I could somewhat use that way? After all, those so-called cultivators are just magic users with fancy names. And magic users use the ambient energy to power themselves up. Maybe I could do the same...' He paused his train of thought as a problem appeared to him. 'I don't have their Mantra though. Or whatever they're called. Although I could improvise, I doubt it'd work, or everyone who meditated would become magicians...'

Despite his current problem, he knew he was on the right track. 'Alright, what do I have that could give me a clue...?' Thinking deeply, he remembered something that he did not put much importance on. Something that appeared as soon as he woke up from his coma, and which appeared after his newfound power-up. His new 'perception'. 

Feeling a bit foolish for a second at how he should have seen it right away, he decided to put the guilt on his mind's present addled state due to the very sexy and very naked woman lying on him, with both of their lower bodies still connected with each other. 'The definition of thinking with one's lower body? Or not thinking in this case, I guess...'

Shaking his head slightly to remove his lustful thoughts, he decided to focus instead on his new perception, purposefully ignoring May for the rest of the room. The information he could discern was vague which worsened as he went further from himself. 'So, a few inches (centimeters) away is relatively clear, but a few dozen and it feels like a fog.' He analyzed inwardly.

'How do I train that ability? If I stay logical, it should be similar to working out. The more I use it, the stronger it should become... But I'm already passively using it all the time... Maybe by focusing my mind on it? Let's try it! I don't have any other idea anyway...' He determined.

Having made his decision, he started to consciously use this perception, focusing his attention on details that his brain did not register previously, in his 'passive mode'. As minutes went by, he could feel his mind becoming more and more exhausted until he could not focus on anything anymore, his 'perception', whether active or passive disappearing, making him feel blind to the world, despite his other more 'normal' senses still working fine.

A strong migraine even surfaced in his brain, making him regret his recklessness for a brief moment. That was until he remembered what was possibly threatening his and his loved ones' safety. 'I must train quickly. With all my current advantages, it would be stupid and even dangerous not to.' He considered.

As if to support his decision, the previous migraine started to fade after only a few minutes, probably thanks to his stronger physiology. Thanking inwardly the entity who gave him his powers, he resumed his previous training, alternating between feeling 'everything' around his body and feeling like someone was using a jackhammer on his overused brain.

Only after a few hours did he stop, and that was only because May was starting to stir. That and he desperately needed the rest as he felt utterly drained. The results were satisfying, though. Starting from a few inches (centimeters) away from his skin with only vague forms, to a dozen inches (centimeters) with a much clearer 'image', and all that in a few hours of training exclusively that ability. 

With his EAP Perk, it should not take him too long to reach a sort of perceptive dome with an overall length of a few feet (meters). When he thought of its use during combat situations, an anticipatory smile could not help but appear on his face. 'The perfect offense and defense combined...' Shaking his head to remove his delusion of invincibility, his usual cautiousness came back. 'I can't be cocky. After all, invincibility is always relative. A high-velocity bullet aimed at my torso at mid-range would probably kill me, even if I were able to notice it as it entered my perception range. I need to train my reaction speed... So many things to do...'

Feeling a bit dwarfed by the numerous tasks he would need to accomplish, Ben sighed discreetly. Thankfully for him, his train of thought was disturbed by the sleepy mumbles of his lovely wife. "I feel so full and warm... Mmmhh..." The moan of comfort escaping her lips made it hard for him to decide if he should laugh at her or become excited. Nonetheless, his body decided for him as his lower member started stiffening in her warm coils, drawing another moan from her sluggish form, from pleasure this time.

"You little temptress. Stop moving around or I won't be able to stop myself from doing a repeat of last night." He whispered while a groan of refrained pleasure left his lips, helping May's lethargic mind to focus on the current situation. When she noticed the way they were connected, Ben noticed her nipples starting to harden while her eyes became hazy with lust.

Unfortunately for her, her husband had something else planned today. Caressing her cheeks, he kissed her for a brief moment before pulling his lips away from hers reluctantly. "Belle. Not now. We have a bunch of things to do today. We'll have plenty of time to indulge tonight." Clearly remembering what they talked about yesterday about moving away and how they could be in danger helped her restrain her desires.

Despite the disappointment visible on her face, he did not hesitate to exit her warm insides, his genitalia soaked in her love juice appearing in front of their eyes. A small gasp slipped from the naked woman at the view. "I still don't understand how you put that monstrous thing inside me without breaking me in half..." 

Chuckling at her remark, he replied teasingly. "You're amazing, that's how..." That answer drew a smile on her face, as she retorted. "As if..." Thankfully for Ben, he did not comment on how 'flexible' she could be... That could have ended badly for him, at least from Damian Knight's experience.

Shaking his head inwardly to remove his random thoughts, he stood up and lifted the raven-haired beauty from the bed, holding her in a princess carry.

Looking surprised at his action, she asked. "What are you doing? I thought we had stuff to do?" Smiling lovingly at her, he replied "Wait a second" while walking toward the door quietly. Despite guessing that Peter would still be sleeping, as it was only 7 in the morning, he still stopped for a few seconds to listen if there were any noises outside their bedroom.

As the coast was clear, he moved one of his hands holding May's body to open the door, not bothering to close it all the way behind them. Moving toward the bathroom a few feet (meters) away, he decided to close and lock the door this time, as he did not want any unwanted visitors to see his or his wife's body. 

Having reached his intended destination, he finally put her down and decided to acknowledge the questioning look she had on her face. Patting her toned butt that seemed slightly bigger to the touch than the previous day, he relented. "I'll tell you, so you can stop trying to stare holes in my head."

"I'm listening." She declared, crossing her arms under her shapely breasts. A brief moment of distraction took over his mind at the view, before his focus came back, with an explanation along with it. "I wanted to show you something." Cocking her eyebrow, with a clear 'What is it?' in it, she looked befuddled as Ben turned her gently toward the mirror and her reflection stared back at her.

A few moments of silent surprise later, a simple "How?" came out of her mouth, expressing her intense perplexity at her current body's state. "Our soul bond. When I told you we'll stay together forever, it wasn't an exaggeration." Studying her new more muscular form, May asked, with some hesitation lacing her voice. "You mean...?" Nodding at her unspoken question, he replied. "Exactly. You'll also become a superhuman. Not right away, as we'll have to... 'indulge'... a few more times before that. But yeah. You'll become super-May, the sexy heroine."