Chapter 8

"Daniel's combat skills are exceptional, but they seem ineffective against giant bugs, at least for now," Eric remarked, his eyes appraising Daniel with newfound respect.

Despite his initial disdain for Daniel's sharp observation skills, Eric now realized that it was Daniel's martial prowess that made him so perceptive—always on guard, always aware of his surroundings. In a way, Daniel was a reflection of Eric himself, albeit a lesser version.

Before anyone could respond, Daniel suddenly acted. With a flick of his wrist, a leaf soared through the air. Without hesitation, a sharp 'PAW' rang out, echoing like an old-fashioned gunshot. To everyone's surprise, the leaf embedded itself deeper into a nearby wooden pole.

The sight sent a jolt through Eric, his instincts on high alert. The atmosphere around him seemed to grow heavy, oppressive, as if Daniel's display of power had triggered something deep within him.

"I take it back—two shots into the eyes are enough," Eric declared with resolve.

While conventional firearms could dispatch the bugs, the limitation lay in their finite ammunition. However, Daniel possessed a different arsenal—leaves and small objects that were reusable, providing an endless supply of ammunition.

"I'll take them on with my bare hands. Give me three months, and I'll turn each bug's demise into pure agony," Daniel vowed, his determination shining through.

"Shut up, you arrogant fool! Think! You have the power to annihilate hundreds by just flicking your finger—literally! And the more you do it, the better you get at it . Why waste time, yours and everyone else's?" Jay countered, frustration evident in his voice.

"Because I'm a martial artist," Daniel replied simply, his conviction unwavering.

"Good Lord, you're insane." Eric muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

-----

"Listen up, everyone," first lieutenant Madison's voice echoed through the makeshift meeting area, commanding attention. Her usually bright demeanor masked the weight of recent events, the tragedy still fresh in everyone's minds. "Yesterday was tragic. The world turned upside down, and extraterrestrial beings emerged from rifts in the ground, claiming the lives of many in our fight for survival."

Her words caught in her throat as she mentioned the sacrifices made by brave souls like Captain Hudd and Second Lieutenant Davey. Despite her efforts to maintain composure, grief lingered beneath the surface, a heavy burden carried in the face of adversity. "For now, we stand united. Headquarters has yet to issue orders, and we mustn't linger too close to the rifts, unsure of when they might stir again."

Steeling herself, first lieutenant Madison continued, her voice steady with resolve. "I propose we relocate to the northwestern part of town. There, we'll find more resources—food, water, and supplies—to sustain us. We can bide our time until further instructions arrive, or we can establish a base of operations to fortify our position. Nowhere is safe; the threat of rifts looms over us all. It's imperative that we fortify our surroundings, wherever we may find ourselves. Are there any objections?"

Silence hung heavy in the air as the gravity of the situation sank in. Despite the uncertainty and fear, the resolve to survive burned bright in the eyes of each member present, a testament to the strength of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable adversity.

----

"So, any clue on how to work these gems?" Jay's voice quivered with anticipation as Daniel scrutinized them with both his naked eye and a military microscope.

"This substance is quite peculiar. Luckily, I have a knack for physics, though I lack the credentials," Daniel remarked thoughtfully.

"Go on," Jay urged eagerly.

Daniel's voice boomed with authoritative force as he addressed his friend. "What we're dealing with here goes beyond ordinary comprehension. The molecular structure suggests solidity, but upon closer examination, we unearth something profound . An anomaly within the atomic composition—a disturbance that defies explanation. This isn't simply matter infused with energy; it is energy itself, crystallized into a form of unparalleled purity."

A hushed awe fell over the room as Jay absorbed Daniel's words, their significance echoing in the silence. "This, Jay," Daniel concluded, his tone reverent, "is more than a mere crystal. It's a manifestation of high-grade energy, condensed into a form that challenges our understanding of the natural world. A potential of energy manipulation. I haven't even heard theories about this it's foreign, and not a concept common to us laymen . Maybe a scientist somewhere was researching this , but it's not something humans with our science can make."

"I grasp its significance, but how do we wield it? What purpose does it serve? If I can't harness it, is it nothing more than a bauble?" Jay inquired.

". Ingest it," Daniel declared, reclining in his seat.

"What?" Jay's eyes widened in disbelief.

"If I'm right , superhumans cease to be mere mortals. Our biology has adapted to assimilate high-grade energy. We are, essentially, biological machines, with these crystals as our power source. Consuming them may trigger further mutations, granting us strength beyond imagination."

"Isn't that risky?, like are we no longer going to be human?" Jay voiced his concern.

"Do we define humanity by our physical forms, or by our culture, deeds, and connections?" Daniel posed, met with silence.

"How certain are you?" Jay pressed.

"100%. I witnessed Eric ingest one during my sparring match with Jace," Daniel affirmed.

"... Hahahaha, hahahaha, hahahaha," Jay erupted into laughter, "you cunning devil. Eric must be seething. But what would your confidence level be without that observation?"

"30%," Daniel admitted with a grin.

"Isn't that too low?" Jay frowned.

"Thirty percent is more than sufficient. Furthermore, the energy is clean and stable. Even if your body rejects it, the consequences are minimal—aside from potential constipation," Daniel assured, his smile unwavering.

****

" I don't know what to say , you are smart but also daft at the same time it irks me , but that's why we are friends." Jay tossed him two gems

" You can have these. "

" Sure thanks man."

Jay took in a deep breath and exhaled . He then popped one into his mouth, and immediately upon ingestion it melted like water .

Jay felt invigorated, but he instinctively knew he'd need more than one to target a further evolution.

" Do you know that a single crystal has the potential to power an entire state for ten years."

Jay almost spat out the liquefied gem

"What?"he said with incredulity

"Actually ingestion is the most crude way . A majority of the energy is lost. I don't have the means to scan your body while you ingest it , but there is a strong intuition I have that the high grade energy just bathes you in energy and what your cells can absorb is absorbed before the rest escapes into higher dimensions."

" Did you have me just eat a power reactor?!" Jay yelled in indignation.

" It's clean stable energy. It wouldn't kill you."

"Anyway I'm going to train , good luck to you and Eric on your hunt."

" Are you not going to consume your gem? "

Jay asked perplexed .

" A martial artist doesn't take short cuts."

" ....." Jay really felt like punching Daniel. 'is he even serious about getting revenge?' he thought to himself.

Daniel came out and saw many packing what they had , ready to leave.

Daniel said he was going to train, but instead he went to the closest safe place to inspect the rift . That dark crack in the ground that monsters jumped out of . He wondered what was in there , and if it was possible to go in and come back alive.

-----

Jay and Eric as two supers lead the procession of mostly soldiers and some civilians.

Though Eric had declined to join the military, he accepted the request because they would be paying him in crystal gems.

So you could say Eric had become a contractual labor force.

But Daniel couldn't shake of the feeling that he was waiting here for something. With his diabolical mind , helping others isn't what Daniel expected Eric to do , so there was something. It might have something to do with why the rift stopped shooting out giant bugs.

It didn't take long for them to reach their destination. Probably an hour and a half.

First lieutenant Madison led her men and women to set up a designated parameter where they could protect at all times while still getting a clear view of the rift from a 16 story building.

No one knew why this rift in particular stopped spitting out monsters every two seconds. But they could speculate as to why this was happening. It's just that they couldn't relax , something about the way it stayed inactive was off. Like something really bad was going to emerge from it.

Daniel inspected the district bit by bit , he was looking for things, namely a private place no one would accidentally come to bother him, a place he could build his body , and a place he could secretly research and develop the method to make himself more than human.

There were requirements he needed for the last place . It needed to be somewhere Eric wouldn't go. Just being close to anything gave him complete presence !

Thinking of him Daniel thought of was to mitigate it.

Firstly he will not keep any written records. His mind was already beyond needing reference points .he didn't even need it to try and connect dots . His mind made them automatically, even as he stood there many interrelated and non related concepts were being connected. Like his previous division between the sciences , maybe those dividing lines weren't there. Like physics chemistry biology and earth science.

But back to track . He basically didn't need books , unless he was going to gain new knowledge.

He needed tech, state of the art tech . But he didn't have that . He was in no hurry to start his [ perfecting oneself] plan. Until he could draw out everything in humanity he wouldn't move on. He felt that doing so will lead to a more perfect result. So for now he just needed to find the place, and form a weird habit , draw in Eric to investigate him , find nothing, and make the habit extreme, have Eric investigate to find nothing, and repeat this process until no matter what he did he wasn't investigated.

But he needed this place he was looking for to still be uncomfortable for Eric to investigate.

Daniel found a gym , it was partially collapsed at the roof , but the equipment and products were intact. There was the possibility the platoon would make use of this place, so he as a selfish prick took every single supplement off the shelves . If they wanted it , they could have come for it earlier.

As for the private place , he settled for the bank vault located in the commercial area. There were three banks , CUA , BOA , TFU.

He setled for the one closest to the rift , arguably outside the parameter set by first lieutenant Madison .

He didn't have to deliberate long enough to find a place that would deter regular investigation.

Surprisingly it was also the most suspicious place for a person to be .

The seawage network underneath the town .

That was usually a mad scientist who had no financial support 's lair.

His options were an alley way ; there was none in the commercial district closed enough

An observatory, obviously it was being used to check on the rift .

Outside the parameter, this in fact was the best option, just that lord knew what could happen.

There Daniel would be alone . Like really alone he didn't know what atrocious vermin will crawl out of the rift , and if they would process esoteric abilities.

Daniel wasn't evil, but he'd rather have others be victims of an attack and save them than the other way round .

The day slowly came to an end. Daniel as a new recruit had to shadow his superiors and senior officers. Jay had split off from Eric and they were clearing the entire designated perimeter marked down by first Lieutenant Madison.

Daniel felt his time would be more valuable in the gym , but he had placed a leash on himself, and if he wanted access to the umbrella that was the military, then he needed to conform.

He only had to do this for a couple of days till he came to know the other platoon members.

So he interrogated them .

Full names .

Family members.

Childhood

Adolescence

Adulthood

Military service, and what they had to do before that .

He wanted to complete this assignment quickly.

When the sky went dark and he was allowed rest . Daniel didn't .

Using his understanding of human anatomy, human biology, and years of human body building and calisthenics research, he exercised in the darkness , no air conditioning and summer heat .

Each set and each rep performed by him was to be done right. He tensed where needed to be tensed , and relaxed what needed to be relaxed . His mind could process his body movement. And he took the needed breaks in between reps and sets not going above or below it .

He experienced pain. Serious pain . He wasn't unhealthy, he was really healthy, if he wasn't it might have held him back from his victory against Corporal Jace. but because of how much he put into performing all the exercises right ,each with all effectiveness ,put him in pain .

Normally Daniel avoided inflicting unnecessary pain on himself, thats why he never took bodybuilding seriously, because at least 40-30 % of all your efforts went to waste. But now with his mind and continuously improving awareness of his body in all aspects Daniel never wasted effort in execution.

If he kept this up for a month , he knew the surprising results he was bound to get.

Before , it was stated how sensitive Daniel was to energy. During the time he was investigating the red gems, he understood what a normal person would have utilized his abilities for.

Building puppets , mechanical robots to fight on his behalf, or building a mecha and stuffing himself inside. Meanwhile using this pure clean high grade energy crystals to power them. It was a useful application of his abilities. Just that Daniel had a preference. He preferred to have the strength, not just control it . He liked the idea of flesh buildings than cyberpunk buildings. He was just that weird . He liked wood more than he liked metal. Not that he didn't like metal, he loved it but between a wooden pole and a metal one , as long as the wood was as strong , he'd pick it over the metal pole.

So the progression path of [ perfecting human technology] will never be realized . Rather [ perfecting oneself] was.

Daniel released buckets of water out of his body , and the fats seeped out of his skin . It was only when he completed the days goal that he put down the equipment.