26 The Final Push Begins! Attempted Theft!
After reading Tiamut's description, Dan suddenly felt much more motivated to train. The fact that this so-called Celestial had been sealed by otherworldly Celestials confirmed the existence of aliens. Not that he was too surprised at this point, what with all the mutants and heroes running around, it would be weird if there wasn't some form of extra-terrestrial life out there in the universe. Cosmic energy really would be an amazing power to have.
Dan knew however, that something was referred to as 'Cosmic energy' would be next to impossible to gather with his current body. This reminds me of those cringey Cultivation novels I used to read a few years ago, I'd literally have to possess a godly physique to harness that kind of energy. Now Now Dan, there's no need to go too far into it, that would really be courting death, wouldn't it? AAAAHH, I just made it worse! Me and my big mouth.
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Eternity is now watching you!
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F*CK! Sorry, I don't have any ill intentions, search my mind and soul as much as you want, I promise that you won't find anything suspicious!
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Eternity has lost interest in you!
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Name: Eternity (Cell)
Background: Eternity is an abstract entity in your universe who embodies the entire Universe itself.
[LOCKED!][LOCKED!]
Powers and Abilities:
Immortality: Eternity is immortal and does not age or die.
Cosmic Awareness: Eternity possesses vast cosmic awareness, allowing it to perceive events and entities across the universe.
Reality Warping: Eternity can manipulate reality on a cosmic scale, altering the fabric of existence.
Nigh Omniscience: Eternity has near-complete knowledge and understanding of the universe and its workings.
Personality: Eternity is often depicted as a stoic and enigmatic entity, embodying the vastness and complexity of the universe itself. As a cosmic being, Eternity transcends mortal emotions and concerns, focusing on maintaining the balance and order of the cosmos.
Extra Notes: Eternity's appearance is often represented as a cosmic being with a humanoid shape, sometimes adorned with cosmic symbols and patterns that reflect its nature as the embodiment of the universe.
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Dan continued to process all of this information, and before he knew it, he was home. Dan then got changed back into his running gear and prepared for an all-night run. His vitality had been steadily increasing thanks to his Constitution, and he'd found that he didn't really need to sleep. That was also probably because the Superior Booster was still active. With that in mind, System, can boosters be stacked?
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The multipliers cannot be stacked for now, but if you activate another Superior Booster, you will have 7 days added to that booster. The multiplier will only increase if the Booster's value is higher than your current one, and that multiplier will replace your current one. You also cannot activate more than one Grade at a time just yet.
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For now you say? Just yet? That means I'll be able to stack them in the future, alright then, System, activate the rest of my Superior Boosters.
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All Superior Boosters have been activated!
Duration + 35 Days
Multiplier: 20 -> 25
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25x instead of 20x, you really are spoiling me today! Dan left the apartment complex once more and began to run, once again incorporating the Walk/Run/Sprint system until he reached Central Park. He then started up his Shuttle runs, which involved running a distance of 25 metres, turning around and running back, he repeated this 50 times. With each repetition, he added 1 push-up and 1 burpee.
Of course, Dan had to take more frequent breaks when it came to the later repetitions. He could easily do 50 push-ups or burpees, but it was all of them adding up that started to tire him out. When Dan finally finished his Shuttle runs, he collapsed to the ground, where he lay there, breathing heavily for around 8 minutes. This much exercise was enough to exhaust even him, his physical stats would probably receive a drastic increase after this.
He could already feel his body mending itself after the strain he put on it, and he could feel himself getting stronger very slowly. He could also feel his five senses becoming slightly sharper over time, as well as his perception and awareness of his surroundings. This was probably what saved his life, because at that moment, he could hear someone treading very lightly and quietly along the path behind him. Dan pretended to not be aware of them until they were around 5 metres away.
Then he turned around and spotted a dark shape freeze as he turned in its direction. "Your senses are sharper than I thought they were, no matter."
Dan now realised the dark shape was a man dressed head-to-foot in black clothing, with what looked to be a... ninja mask covering most of his face, apart from his mouth and eyes. "Oh great, it's a weirdo playing dress-up, aren't you a little too old to be playing ninjas."
Dan knew that he was treading into dangerous territory, he could tell just from the way the other man stood, that he was confident in himself. Still, he winced after saying that. Provoking the guy who was clearly sneaking up on me with malicious intentions is a great idea Dan! Well done, you've really jinxed it now! The man's smile faded for a moment, "ohoho, you really know how to make a guy feel welcome, don't you? Now why don't you be a good man and just die quietly!"
Dan couldn't help it this time, he knew it was stupid to laugh in this situation, but he couldn't help it. Anyways, angry people had the tendency to make mistakes. "Sorry, I just can't take you seriously, that's the most hardcore case of Eight-Grade Syndrome I've heard in years! You should really join a Drama group, or a DnD society, you'd fit right in with those guys!"
The man snarled before yelling, "JUST F*CKING DIE ALREADY!"
Oh, he's furious, that's good, it's a good thing that I always keep a weapon on me too. The other man was holding a pocket knife which aimed at Dan as he charged forwards, and Dan quickly sidestepped him. The other man clearly wasn't expecting this, and he let out a grunt of surprise as his momentum carried him forward, tripping over a park bench in the process, smashing his head against the ground on the other side. Did he just knock himself out? I think he did.
Dan quickly ran over, and he realised that he was breathing more heavily than normal, and realised that he was terrified. Nobody had ever tried to take his life before. I was way too cocky just then, if he hadn't taken the bait then that would've been me down there on the ground. But I'd be dead rather than unconscious. Dan started to take deep breaths, and he managed to calm himself down within a couple of minutes.
Dan was relieved that he hadn't had to use the gun given to him by the system so soon. Now that he'd calmed down, he took a good look at the man, and realised that he couldn't see much. As Dan was about to dial 911, he suddenly noticed something. The man had also been wearing black gloves, and one of them had slipped off during his fall. On the back of his exposed hand he saw a symbol.
The symbol consisted of a distinctive red circle containing five smaller circles arranged within it, resembling the outline of a hand with fingers. Dan quickly memorised the symbol, and then dialled 911.
911 Operator: 911, what's your emergency?
Dan: Hi, I need help! I was just attacked by a man dressed in all black near Central Park. He tried to harm me, but he ended up tripping over a bench and knocking himself out. I'm at the second closest bench to the entrance nearest to Hell's Kitchen.
911 Operator: Are you injured? Is the assailant still there?
Dan: I'm okay, just shaken up. The man is unconscious on the ground. Please send help quickly!
911 Operator: Help is on the way. Can you stay on the line until they arrive?
Dan: Yes, I will.
Dan continued to give them updates, and it wasn't long before he heard sirens. He quickly checked to see if the man was still unconscious. The man was still very much unconscious, and he could see his chest slowly rising and falling. The sirens stopped, and in just over a minute, Dan heard the sounds of running footsteps. The cops had arrived at the scene, they quickly took in everything. From Dan standing there, still clearly shaken up by the ordeal, to the unconscious man.
Dan gave his witness report, even suggesting that there might be CCTV nearby that captured his encounter with the armed assailant. The cops were quick to phone the park security and asked them to go through all footage. One of the cameras was able to pick up the appropriate footage, while it wasn't quite Stark Tech, it was still enough to pick up on everything that had happened. After making sure that Dan was definitely uninjured, they put the unconscious man in cuffs.
One of them slapped the man's face until he eventually woke up. They then gave him the usual spiel about him being under arrest. The man, who had gained more of his consciousness back at this point, sent a hate-filled glare at Dan, but he remained silent.
As Dan made his way back home, he kept playing all of the events back in his head. I'll have to tell Andrei, he's the only person who I can immediately talk to. Angela's just too far away at the moment. He silently contemplated what he was going to tell Andrei all the way back home.
(A/N: Just for the record, I like Dungeons & Dragons, and I watch Rustage2's campaigns, but Dan is a character who isn't really into that kind of thing. So when I brought it up in that dialogue, don't take it too seriously!)
The 2nd chapter is on its way! The formatting messed up, so I had to reupload the chapters!
