Chapter 031 – Parting Words

[2009 – June]

Reappearing on the roof of my old apartment, I closed the portal and gave a quick look at my surroundings to make sure that nobody was in the vicinity.

I drew up a transparent barrier that encased my body tightly, which was made possible due to my new sensory perception linked to my barriers. Though I left my face uncovered, as my barrier would otherwise cut me off from the oxygen I needed to breathe.

Important to note was that changing the colour of my barriers from transparent to a deep black and anything in between was easy enough at this point, though I normally preferred them with a blackish tint.

My shield manipulation has also just made an incredible leap forward thanks to my newly gained 'barrier sense'. It was like the difference between day and night. Though I didn't have much time to analyze the changes before, with Charles and Emma around.

Before I gained this new perception for my shield, I had to form a clear image in my mind of what I wanted my barriers to do and how to move them, which required great focus and spatial thinking. And while spatial thinking had been my forte in my last life, my barriers had an inorganic and inflexible quality to them thanks to this.

Now though it was fundamentally different. It was as if my shields were now connected to me on a deeper level as if they were an extension of myself.

Similar to moving your limbs, you didn't have to imagine a specific movement pattern, your brain would do it subconsciously by using the information it received from your senses, including touch, vision, hearing, and smell.

This newly added sense of mine now worked the same, as it allowed me to move my barriers with much greater fluidity as if they were my limbs. Everything I sensed through them was directly transmitted to my mind, which enabled something akin to reflexive manipulation.

When I formed the shield around my body, I didn't have to think to manipulate it and allow myself the freedom of movement, as subconsciously I controlled it by sensing the movement of my body encased inside the barrier.

It was a marvel. And it increased my capabilities with my shields manyfold.

I don't know if it was luck or something else that allowed me to adapt to this mutant power on a deeper level so soon after I received it.

I did try and explore the limits of what I could do, and maybe creating the ethereal shield for Jean was just a trigger that made me adapt to this ability to a greater extent, like it was normal for stronger mutants and their powers.

Either way, I was incredibly content with this change.

Grinning to myself, I couldn't stop myself from being excited about what was about to happen next.

Following my mental command, the barrier around me moved a few feet upwards, causing me to move with it.

Two days into my new life, I had managed to do what no man had ever done in my old world.

I was flying without the use of technology, solely relying on my own abilities.

It was hard for me to suppress the urge to just shoot off into the atmosphere and see what it was like to truly soar through the sky. But I knew that this would attract too much attention, so I simply stayed close to the roof as I jumped over to the neighboring buildings with the help of my barrier.

After a few jumps, I slowly lowered myself down into an empty alley before dispersing the shield.

Seeing a dumpster a few feet away, I took out my old credit card before using a forcefield to crush the microchip in it and throw it away, as it was now useless to me.

Leaving the place, I enjoyed walking through the neighbourhood a little, before stepping into a small market and buying some groceries for dinner.

On my walk to a nearby alley, I also came across an ATM and withdrew two thousand bucks which was the maximum I could withdraw from the machine. Half of that, I planned to give Xavier for this month's rent while the rest was for personal use.

Moving into the alley, I opened a portal and went back to the mansion, where I directly stored away all the groceries.

It was a few minutes later when I was preparing the ingredients for the pasta I was about to make, that Jean sent me a message, telling me that she had just been tasked with a last-minute mission and wouldn't make it for dinner.

Wishing her good luck and a safe return, I went back to cooking, knowing I had a quiet dinner ahead of me.

…

When the sky was slowly turning dark an hour later, despite still feeling pretty worn out from my workout, I used a portal to go back to the city.

And as soon as I appeared on the roof of one of the buildings I had jumped over earlier, I encased myself in a barrier and took off into the sky.

Wearing dark clothes, I was hardly visible after I reached a height of several dozen meters up in the air.

Jubilant about the feeling of freedom rushing through me while I flew through the air, I kept at it for more than an hour before I was slowly starting to feel the pressure in my mind turn into a full-blown headache.

Knowing this to be the signal that my mental capabilities were reaching their limits soon, I descended onto a nearby roof.

Just as I was about to open a portal and go back to the mansion though, I heard a muffled shout coming from the dark alley beside the building. And looking over the edge of the roof, I saw some perp assaulting a young woman and threatening her with a knife.

Frowning, I sighed to myself as I decided to intervene.

I wasn't someone that would run around seeking trouble with criminals that didn't bother me, but I could hardly ignore an assault and attempted rape right before my eyes.

Summoning my full body barrier again, I simply jumped over the edge and dived right into the alley, slowing my fall and landing on my feet almost soundlessly behind the man.

I could see the young woman looking at me with wide eyes as she had seen me appear from above. I didn't care much about that or her personally, to be honest. I was simply helping her to have a clear conscience, not to do a good deed.

Stretching my hand forward, my transparent shield transformed into a blackish stream of water, as it flowed around the unsuspecting criminal's head, torso and arms. Directly immobilizing him, I froze the barrier in place and dragged him away from the woman.

He couldn't even let out a scream, as the forcefield prevented him from making a sound, or even moving his jaw, for that matter.

With the man's hand gone from her mouth, the young woman's rough breathing was very audible in the otherwise quiet alley, while she used her hands to cover herself as best as she could.

The man had ripped her bra and shirt, so she could only cover up her naked chest with a thin jacket, while she voiced out fearfully and still in shock: " W-Who ar-are you-u?"

My face was covered by an all-black mask-shaped shield that only left room for my eyes, as I didn't fancy seeing a drawing from me in the police files.

Not answering her question, I calmly stated: "You should leave."

Taking a moment to internalize my word, she hurriedly grabbed her handbag from the ground. Sending a thankful look my way, the woman quickly moved out the alley, leaving behind a soft: "Thank you."

The man, on the other hand, had been struggling fiercely all this time, with his feet kicking around the air and him trying to force open the barrier with his hands while he was suffocating. He didn't have any success though, as a normal human being wouldn't be able to even dent a forcefield I erected.

Looking at the mugger, calmness reigned in my heart as I silenced my emotions.

Twisting my hand, the barrier followed my will and gesture as it likewise twisted and broke the man's neck, the barrier vanishing and letting the carcass drop to the ground right after.

"Forgive me.", I whispered with an even tone, before I continued, "But I can't afford mercy."

I knew the man couldn't hear my words anymore but they also weren't meant for him.

They were parting words for my past life.