Is it Wrong to Copy Abilities in Apocalypse?

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Karan, a guy who had nothing other than a rather sharp mind before the apocalypse, was a child genius. He was someone who had won several awards and was admitted to the special children's school, studying there until 12th, when he decided to drop out.

Studying seemed boring to him. He didn't find anything that could make him think hard, making it all seem boring. The worst of all was that he belonged to a rich family with no need to work; even his father and mother let him be because they knew that he could do anything if he put his mind to it.

But just when Karan thought that everything was fine the way it was, even if it was a bit boring, things changed.

Things became interesting.

Things that no one ever thought were possible became possible, and finally, in order to survive and make himself stand out for the gods to focus on him, he had to use his brain, making him feel like he was living his life for real.

But this ability of his—Megamind—wasn't without a drawback. It made the user overconfident for a period, depending on how much the user had used the ability.

That was why when he used his Megamind to predict Alex's moves, which he had never been able to do because he had never been able to see Alex, his mind had worked overtime due to the power difference between him and Alex, elevating his confidence by a degree.

If Alex wanted to kill them, he would've just attacked them, injuring them just when they were about to clash with the beasts, whipping them out even without him doing anything. But he didn't. And that was why Karan knew that Alex was probably not going to kill them.

There was a chance that he would, but from his moves, Karan had predicted that Alex wouldn't do it. His prediction only became certain when Alex used killing intent to make everyone freeze in their spots. Making his confidence sour.

It was only when he was held up by Alex and his windpipe was almost crushed that his confidence broke. He was supposed to be relaxed since Alex wasn't going to kill them, but his overconfidence made him keep smiling as if he had won the game, annoying Alex.

Alex was an entity no one knew much about. Some people, like Karina and the other leaders, who had seen him using some of his abilities, knew some things about him, but anything other than that? No one knew.

Who he was? What did he do before the apocalypse? Why is he so hard on others?

No one knew the answer, or maybe some people knew, but they didn't think it would do them any good if they were to reveal it to the others.

*Gasp**Gasp*...

Right now, Karan was on the ground, gasping for air, as after a bit of convincing, Alex had let him off, letting him fall to the ground. Alex's cold golden eyes, however, stayed fixed on him.

"Speak."

Alex commanded, not caring about the fact that Karan was still trying to catch his breath. The other humans in the surroundings, staring at all of this, just lowered their heads, their minds running with different kinds of plans.

Karan was the one who made the plans, and they found it believable, but as they saw him coughing and wheezing—trying to get some air in his lungs—he didn't look as trustworthy to them anymore.

So, they started concocting their own plans of escaping if things went out of hand. They didn't bring their followers because of this as well. Without their followers, who would practically be pieces of baggage in a fight with Alex, they knew that escaping would be easier.

"W-We... will tell you the location of the... future safe zone... if you let us kill the lower-ranked hordes."

Those were the words that Karan could let out with great difficulty, as now, with his mind working right, he knew that the situation was way more severe than anyone could realize. Alex was an unpredictable person, someone who could do anything at any moment, so they needed to be mindful of how they acted.

Alex's eyes squinted as he heard those words, but he could tell that those words were the truth. It didn't seem like this guy had any intentions of lying in the first place, since this guy was asking something in exchange as well.

"Why won't I just torture you guys and get that information out of you guys?"

Alex, however, pointed the Tidebraker at Karan, its tip piercing the guy's neck, making him flinch in pain, but their eye contact didn't break.

Karan could tell that Alex was trying to intimidate him. He didn't have any intention of killing them—at least not yet.

"Who said the one who knows the location of the next safe zones is here with us?"

So, without waiting for a moment, Karan questioned back, still staring into Alex's eyes, making him frown.

"You don't have them here?"

Alex, however, didn't back down with just that. He asked another question, wanting to know if Karan was lying, bluffing to save himself, or if they really didn't have that person here.

"Who knows..."

Karan, on the other hand, didn't answer with either yes or no. He simply shrugged, making Alex press the Tidebreaker harder into the guy's neck, piercing it deeper, resulting in a trickle of blood flowing down, making the people in the surroundings tense up.

Alex's icy stare remained on Karan for a while before he pulled his short sword away from the guy's neck, whipping it in the air, making the blood at its tip splash on the ground.

"I won't step in even if you guys were dying."

Alex turned back, moving away from the location, leaving these people on their own demise. He had to recover energy anyway, and if they could clear some beasts, it was better since they would be attracting the attention of many beasts by doing so, and making use of that, he could go deeper.

As for Karan's answer, well, he had expected that much from that guy. The guy had Megamind ability, so him making stupid mistakes like others and simply answering his question wasn't something he expected anyway.

The others, however, just stood frozen in their spots, unable to believe that Alex had stepped back.

'Did the sun rise from the west today?'

They just couldn't believe it.

"Awwwooooooo!!!"

It was only when they heard the howls, growls, grunts, and roars of beasts nearing them that they broke out of their thoughts.

"Ready your attacks! Keep the formation the same as before!"

Karan, back on his feet, hurriedly tried to organize them, wanting to make the best use of the situation, especially with his loan on his ability having increased more than before.

Alex, who stepped back, kept walking a distance away from them as he had said he would, and soon, as the 14 players got themselves busy with the beasts, Alex stealthy moved farther away from them before he shot toward the center of the safe zone—the place where the bosses of the zone rested.

He wasn't going back on the deal. He was doing as he was asked to. He was dealing with the real high-level beasts, not disturbing the group from hunting the beasts, which Alex deemed low-level.

It was finally time for Alex to fight a boss beast or monster.