Powers...

~Omniscient Pov~

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Ezra ran with maximum speed. Hurrying before the men could change their minds and attack him. He didn't dare look back, focusing only on putting as much distance between himself and the scene as possible...

As he ran, he finally found the path he entered from, with a swift motion, he quickly removed his mask and slowed down a walking pace.

"Phew..." Ezra said, not tired, but excited he got through with what he wanted that quickly.

He took out his phone again as if making a call, "ECHO... What are the chances of that guy recently getting his powers?"

Ezra nodded, considering her intel, "Makes sense. If he's new to this, he might not have fully explored the extent of his abilities yet. That tells me why I had such an easy time fighting him... Which also means I can probably expect some surprises if I encounter others like him."

[Indeed, master Ezra. It would be wise to remain cautious and gather more intel on any superpowered individuals you come across.]

"I'll try if possible. What I did was pretty reckless earlier, I trusted my instincts and I was right, and lucky enough he was inexperienced." Ezra said, pocketing his phone. He needed to find a place to lay low for a bit and process the day's events... The thrill of his success was still fresh, but he knew he had to stay sharp and keep planning his next moves carefully.

He continued walking, blending into the crowd and making his way toward his safer end of the city.

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"I'm finally home..." Ezra said, taking off his hoodie. He moved towards his sofa, sitting on it.

"Alright ECHO... You said all I needed to do was to inject myself with this guy's blood, right?"

[Affirmative, I will take it from there, however... Before you start, I'd advise you to get something to bite onto... Gene rewrites of this degree will be extremely painful. Also, please do this process in the bathroom as well...]

Ezra nodded, getting the biting half, but not understanding the bathroom part... But, he knew better than to question a being like her.

So he grabbed something to bite into as well as the syringe he got. He took off his clothes for good measure, and sat in the tub, "Alright, I'm injecting it... Now!" Ezra did so instantly, and as soon as he did, he grabbed what he was supposed to cover his mouth with.

"MRGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The pain was immediate and intense, like molten lava coursing through his veins. Ezra bit down hard, his body convulsing as the gene rewrite began. Every cell felt like it was being torn apart and reconstructed. His vision blurred, and he could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears...

His body immediately contorted with unimaginable pain.

Minutes felt like hours as the excruciating process continued. He could feel the changes happening at a cellular level, his DNA being rewritten in real-time. Sweat poured off him in seconds, and his muscles seized and spasmed uncontrollably... Slowly but surely, sparks of electricity started to crackle off of his body...

"ARRGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"

"GAAAARGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Ezra kept screaming.

[Stay strong, Master Ezra. The process is nearing completion.] ECHO's voice echoed in his mind, trying her best to provide a small measure of comfort amid his agony.

The sparks of electricity began to get larger and larger, encircling him, yellow arcs of static slowly turned into purple ones, getting larger and larger...

PziT~

PzIT~

After what felt like an eternity, the pain began to subside. Ezra's body slumped in the tub, utterly exhausted. He lay there, gasping for breath, as the last waves of pain slowly ebbed away, and the sparks of electricity dissolved.

And soon did his consciousness as well...

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[Mast...]

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[MASTER!!] ECHO shouted. Worry more evident in her voice than ever before...

"WHAA!!?" Ezra woke up. Thoroughly knocked out prior...

Slowly, he began to regain control of his senses.

"Couch! Cough!!* Urghh..." He choked out, lurching upright in a cold sweat. 

His eyes felt sunken and utterly drained, while his body ached with bone-deep fatigue, unlike anything he could recall. It was as if he had been through some intense physical and mental wringer, yet the actual events were a murky blur in his pounding mind...

Trembling slightly, Ezra glanced around, remembering that he was in his bathtub before he got knocked out... Feeling a bit off, he looked down, only to see pitch-black dense substances running off his body...

"What the fuck!?" He yelled, rubbing off as much as he could instantly.

[Master... Do not fret, it isn't anything dangerous. It's simply junk DNA from the process you went through.] ECHO said.

Still, the thing smelled worse than actual shit.

"Yeah, I gotta wash off..." He quickly turned on the shower, getting off as much as he could. After taking a well-needed bath, or multiple well-needed baths. He sat on his bed, thinking about how smoothly everything went so far...

"That... was, intense..." he muttered, still trembling slightly. He took a moment to collect himself, feeling a strange new energy coursing through his body. He could tell that something fundamental had changed within him, though he was still too drained to fully grasp it at that moment...

Not only that, Ezra felt like he could see surges of certain things around himself as well...

[The process was successful, Master Ezra. Your genetic structure has been significantly enhanced in some aspects. Take some time to rest, and recover before testing your new abilities.]

"Ye... Yeah... Though... How long was I out for?"

[Approximately 4 hours... I was still making some changes inside your body even 30 minutes before you woke up... At this moment, you shouldn't even be talking. Much less, standing and having a conversation with me, though that is likely because of your new abilities.]

"Huh... Interesting... Mind showing me everything I gained then?" Ezra asked.

[Of course... Recalibrating... Recalculating... Here are your new stats, master;

Physical Age: 15 years / 234.2 years

Height: 5'7" / 6'6"

Weight: 94.21 kg --> 95.89 kg (Effectively 66.43kg)

Physical Strength: 321.24 kg --> 354.32 kg / 1002.2 kg --> 4.67 Tonnes

Physicality: 7.52 / 26.42 --> 45.31

Perception/reaction speeds: 254.11 mph / 3,833.5 mph --> Mach 255.33 

Movement-Speed: 21.74 mph / 73.61 mph --> Mach 2.1

Intelligence: Very intelligent / Extremely Intelligent - low Genius --> Mid Genius

Proficiencies;

Hyper-focus: You can dilate your perception by approximately 125.31% for 26 seconds, per 4 seconds.

Knife Proficiency: Easily high master level.

Hand-to-hand proficiency: You are a master in the ways of hand-to-hand combat.

6th Sense: Via intuition and experience, you can make out danger extremely well before it heads your way.

Muscle-Reading: You can predict where someone will attack based on their muscle movements easily.

Enhanced Stamina: Your stamina amount and recovery have quadrupled.

Electricity Sense: Allows you to sense anything that has electricity powering or utilizing it.

Electrokinesis: Allows you to manipulate electricity, with sub-par standards.

Enhanced Regeneration: Your natural recovery from injury has increased by 321.89%.

Shock Immune: Immunity to conventional electricity.]

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Ezra marveled at the changes in his stats. He even noted the things that ECHO changed compared to last time.

"Damn... I'm a super-powered being now..." The idea was still fresh in his head.

He looked back at his stats and analyzed them further, "My perception got a massive boost, and so did my movement speed. I thought the latter would increase more, but I don't mind. My physicality got a decent boost too... Though, my raw strength is still lacking, severely..." 

[I'm sorry master, I could only enhance what was there. If you had received his exact powers, the increase would have been minimal. Your strength threshold wouldn't have increased at all. Your speed would have likely tripled, at most. And your perception would have only doubled...]

"You're joking... Are you telling me that he got some of the worst cards dealt naturally due to his genes?" Ezra asked.

[Yes master... Very bad cards. Enhanced capabilities weren't even his strong suit. His raw abilities were. It's bad to the point where your peak of human potential would trump his powered potential if we look at it from a purely physical perspective...] She added.

Ezra's eyes widened... "Still, a boost is a boost. And you boosted me massively. If it's as bad as you say on his side. Then you worked nothing short of a miracle." He finished, praising her.

[Thank you, master... Changing his DNA wasn't hard in the least.] ECHO responded.

Ezra smiled, "Can I ask since I'm a little curious... How does this all work? Do you add his potential on top of mine, I'm assuming that's the case..." He wondered.

[Not really, master Ezra. The process involves integrating specific genetic traits from the subject into your DNA, effectively enhancing your capabilities by incorporating beneficial characteristics. It's not simply adding potential on top of yours but rather a synergistic merge that maximizes the strengths of both genetic makeups.] ECHO explained.

Ezra's eyes widened even further, very fascinated by how this process was, "So, you're saying that I'm not just getting his abilities stacked on top of mine, but also optimizing them with my DNA? Like a fusion of both?"

[Precisely, master Ezra. Your inherent capabilities are being enhanced and refined by the new genetic traits, which allows for the creation of more efficient and vastly powerful genetic strains for use... This method ensures that you enhance your peak human potential while gaining additional strengths, so in a sense, the boost is multiplicative depending on the strains of code I get to utilize...]

"Thanks for the explanation... But, how the hell do I even use my powers?" He asked himself, wondering how he'd go about training them. Now that he had actual abilities. Staying in this apartment wouldn't do, at least not anymore.

He rubbed his head a bit... "Alright, since 4 hours went by, it should be around 10 pm now." He peaked outside, seeing that it was the dead of night.

He smiled, "ECHO... I think I'll test my, new toys." Already felt his drain earlier being washed away...

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Ezra could be seen walking alone in a nearby forest. Having ECHO guide him where a decently quiet area was...

He then walked in front of a tree, "Ok... Ok... How do I do this?" Ezra asked himself. He could feel the energy inside his body, but drawing it out would be something different entirely.

[Just imagine guiding the energy inside your body, outside of your body...] ECHO instructed.

"I, don't think that's how it works... I'm not an anime protagonist who can just will his ability out for the first try." Ezra explained.

[Just... Do it, Master...] ECHO urged, her voice firm...

He sighed, "Alright..."

Ezra took a deep breath. Deciding that trying was better than nothing. He closed his eyes, and tried to focus... He pictured the energy inside him, a glowing force ready to be unleashed. He imagined it flowing through his veins, gathering in his solar plexus, and then pushing it outward.

To his surprise, he felt a tingling sensation spreading throughout his body. His eyes snapped open, and he saw faint sparks of energy. Rather, it was Violet-colored electricity flickering around his hands.

"Whoa... It's, actually working!?" he muttered, feeling a mix of excitement and disbelief.

"What the... fuck!?" He mumbled again.

[Excellent, master Ezra. Now, try to control it. Focus on maintaining the energy flow and directing it where you want it to go...] ECHO advised.

Ezra nodded, concentrating harder. He managed to form a small spark of energy in his palm, watching it pulse and shimmer. It felt like holding a part of his essence, powerful, yet fragile at the same time...

With a focused expression, he imagined releasing the energy in his hands...

Vwish~

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BOOOOOOM!!!!

As soon as the bolt made contact with the tree, it caused both a loud explosion and small shockwaves to occur. Splitting the target in half easily, leaving only scorched marks with dust in the wind...

"HO-HO!"

"HO-HO-HO!!!!" Ezra said.

"Not bad for a first try..." Ezra said with a satisfied smile on his face. He was surprised how that little attack, was just that powerful...

"Hey, ECHO... Just how strong was that?" He asked.

[That attack was approximately 7.4 million joules worth of energy you just released... Which is approximately 740 thousand volts. Enough to kill a normal human being hundreds of times over...]

Ezra was surprised... 'This guy's ability... It really was his strong suit. No, he wouldn't have been as strong as I am, it's because of ECHO.' Ezra thought, looking down at his hands...

[Something of note... If you used all your energy in that attack just now, with my estimations, you might be able to release a maximum of 80 Million volts at once. However, such discharges would leave you extremely drained. So be careful...]

He nodded and asked, "So I've got a hundred more of those exact blasts in me to fire off?"

[Yes master... Approximately 108.11 more to be exact.] She added.

"Oh, shit... How the hell am I this strong already? I just got—" Ezra began, but ECHO interrupted him.

[Never mind that now. Officers are coming, I would suggest you move, now...]

Ezra's senses heightened soon after, as he heard the distant sound of sirens.

"Crap..." He mumbled.

Without wasting another second, he dashed through the forest. However, as he ran, he had some thoughts pop up in his mind...

"ECHO, I think I've got an idea..." Ezra began focusing his energy once more. Instead of just circulating it through his arm, he did it for his entire body, using less power than before this time around.

Soon, small sparks of violet electricity slowly crackled around him, giving him an ethereal glow. While his typically disheveled hair stood up slightly...

"Fuuh~" he exhaled deeply.

In an instant, Ezra's speed doubled. He moved with incredible agility, zipping through the forest like a lightning bolt. Trees blurred past him, and the ground seemed to disappear beneath his feet. The sensation was, exhilarating—Pure, unbridled power coursing through his veins...

Seeing this, ECHO was surprised, [Excellent, master Ezra.] Her voice echoed in his mind, [Your control over the energy has improved quickly... A technique like this will greatly enhance your combat effectiveness.] She finished.

Ezra grinned, feeling more confident than ever. 'I did it?... I did it!' he thought to himself, the thrill of having his idea work was nothing short of exhilarating.

'It's not just my movements... My perception, my mind... Hell, my entire body felt at least twice as fast..' He thought smiling to himself. The only thing left of him were the sparks of purple lightning trailing behind, which quickly disappeared after...

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END