NOVEL NEXT Chapter 138 – ‘Energy Vessel’
[A/N: I'm back.]
[2009 – September]
Stepping back, I stripped off my clothes and turned around, walking into the middle of the training room after giving Jean one last kiss and a reassuring smile while brushing over Arya's soft little wings.
Having learned from my last mistake, I knew that using Self-Creation in our bathroom was no longer an option if I didn't want to risk trashing the place. With my growing strength, my reaction to the use of Self-Creation might become even more violent this time, especially considering that the ability that I had decided on was of a physical nature.
In preparation for this, I had chosen to come to the training room as any damages to this place were not a big deal since this was what it had been built for.
Sitting down on the ultra-durable floor panels, I gave one last look to Jean and saw that she had also sat down and was watching me with her bright eyes that just overflowed with intense worry, care, and deep love.
Closing my eyes, I took a few calming breaths, quickly settling into a peaceful breathing rhythm as my consciousness focused on the type of power that I sought to grant myself while all distracting thoughts had been silenced.
I visualized my new Omega-level ability with all my mental strength, its intricacies and inner workings clear as day in my mind and heart. And a moment later, I activated Self-Creation after not having used it for weeks.
A rush of warmth immediately flooded through my body, a tingling current racing through my limbs, head, and torso. It was mild at first but increased in strength drastically only a moment later.
Suddenly it felt as if hot plasma was pushed through my veins and forced into my every cell, unspeakable agony holding me captive as my cells underwent truly radical changes.
The only thing that I could feel at this moment was pain and even more pain.
My physical senses were utterly paralyzed and I could only force my mind to endure the suffering of my body silently. I didn't use Body Supremacy to cut off my sense of pain, and I wasn't even sure if that would have worked in such a situation.
Instead, I used this pain to forge myself into something tougher and stronger, something more dangerous.
What I couldn't see were the cracks that appeared on my body while a mist of blood was being forced out through them. It was a horrifying scene to behold, as if my body was on the verge of breaking down, death only a single step away.
…
Even through the thick fabric, Jean could feel her nails stab into her arms as sat there with her arms resting on her knees. Biting her lower lip harshly, she watched the horrifying scene of Elijah using Self-Creation.
The ambient psionic energy lashed out violently in response to his pain, creating deep furrows and massive fissures in the floor panels as blood seeped out from the cracks in his body. A storm of psionic energy ravaged the training room, evidence of his suffering.
Jean could feel her love's agony as if it was her own, and it took all her strength to stay put and not rush to his side. She wanted nothing more than to beg him to stop this, to stop torturing himself for power.
She swallowed hard but she couldn't force back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. Silently, they ran down her cheeks and soaked into the dark-blue fabric of Elijah's sweater as she watched him suffer unimaginable agony.
Jean knew that Elijah's life wasn't in danger but this kind of pain, how could it not leave its mark on someone's mind and heart?
She knew that Elijah was incredibly strong, his will a terrifying weapon in itself, but this … This simply was not something a human should have to endure.
His blood turned to ash as his body continued to spasm and tremble uncontrollably, his flesh cracking and reconstructing itself as the very foundation of his cells was transformed through a baptism of energy.
With life energy as its fuel, his Self-Creation engraved a bio-electrical matrix onto his cells that would make him indestructible.
“Huhu … Huhu …”
Hearing Arya's soft cries from atop her shoulder, Jean pushed aside her worry for the moment and took hold of the trembling little owl. She felt the tiny bird's fright, and she understood that Arya was able to feel that Elijah was in pain through her bond with him, though the tiny bird could not understand the reason for his pain.
Forming a little cave with her hands while brushing over the shivering baby avian's wings and head, and leaving a gap between her fingers so that Arya could peek through and keep an eye on Elijah, Jean suppressed her own concern in favour of comforting the little featherling with a soft voice.
"It's alright, Arya. N-Nothing will happen to Elijah.", she whispered, her voice hitching mid-sentence as she shrank back slightly when another floor panel cracked and shattered into pieces.
“H-Hu?”
A soft hoot sounded out as Arya pressed herself deeper into Jean's warm palm, the latter understanding what the tiny avian wanted to express.
"Yes, I promise that he will be fine.", Jean replied softly, cradling Arya to her chest, her voice a faint whisper, "He has to be. Because he is the strongest there is, and he belongs with me. With us."
…
I wasn't sure how long the pain lasted but from experience, I knew that the actual time couldn't have amounted to more than an hour even though I felt as if I had been in agony for days without respite.
Suppressing the urge to take a deep breath, the first thing that I did when I came to myself was to summon a barrier inside my body and pushed it outward, enlargening it at the same, which caused all the ash and dust on my form to be banished. It was a combination of an ethereal and material barrier that I could only use thanks to the fact that my senses were connected to my shields.
Slowly rising from my position on the floor, I finally took a deep breath while opening my eyes and taking in my rather dilapidated surroundings. The light from the lamps above fell on my bare form as I rose to my feet, the changes that I sensed in my body causing my eyes to shine with an unfathomable light.
All kinds of phantom pains that were assaulting my mind and body at this moment, were ruthlessly suppressed and dispersed by the sheer force of my will.
And I didn't hesitate to reach out with my Extrasensory Perception the next moment, pulling the ambient psionic energy closer, drawing it into my body with great hunger.
A faint warmth welled up from within the cells all over my body and I could feel myself becoming stronger every second that passed. My muscles become stronger and my bones became harder, though I didn't lose my flexibility, on the contrary, I also became more flexible.
My physical senses became even sharper and I could almost see and feel the faint airflow brushing over my skin. My thoughts also moved faster as my mind strengthened due to an enhancement of my brain cells.
The more psionic energy that rushed into my physical form, the stronger I got. Even though the increase to my physique and mind was minute, almost imperceptible even, I could sense them easily enough through the perfect bodily control my Body Supremacy granted me.
I couldn't help the smile that drew up the corners of my lips as I looked down at my hands with shining eyes.
This ... This was strength, this would be the very foundation of my invincibility. This was all the power I needed to tear open this very planet itself if I so desired.
Bio-electrical Matrix. Or as I called it 'Energy Vessel', was the power that I had granted myself with Self-Creation.
It was a simple Omega-level ability that created an energy matrix inside all my cells through my own body's bio-electricity, and its only function was to absorb and contain energy which in turn would strengthen my cells.
The most important aspect of this ability, and also one of the reasons that it was an Omega-level ability, was that there existed no upper limit to the amount of energy that this matrix could contain as it would constantly strengthen itself with the influx of energy, while at the same time making me stronger and stronger, invincible even.
And the other reason for this ability to be at the Omega-level was that it could contain almost every kind of energy: electricity, psionic energy, infrared waves, and even extra-dimensional energy, which was the source of strength for the Masters of the Mystic Arts, all of those would be able to fuel the energy matrix inside my every cell.
The only flaw was that I would have to be in contact with the sources of such energies as my body would only passively absorb the energy from sources that were around me, such as light and heat, or minuscule amounts of ambient psionic energy.
Naturally, this ability was heavily inspired by the DC Universe's most famous Superhero – Superman. In my last life, there had been theories in fan circles that Kal-El's Kryptonian cells had this exact quality, even though his cell matrix was restricted to the absorption of solar radiation, while mine wasn't.
His weakness to magic had been explained with this too, as magic was said to be able to interfere with the structure of the energy matrix in his cells, causing him to be vulnerable to such powers.
I wasn't worried that I may be susceptible to the same weakness, however, as no outside powers could invade my body, which was protected by ethereal shields that stopped any powers besides my own from affecting me.
The only limiting factor to my power at this moment was the amount of energy that I had absorbed.
My gaze couldn't help but be drawn to the small black chain that was wrapped around my wrist as I thought up to this point – the Quantum Tail.
“Elijah…?”, Jean's voice suddenly sounded out from beside me, her warm palm rising up to my cheek as she brushed aside a few dark locks, her beautiful green eyes reddened from her tears, her worries and fright clear for me to see.
“Huhu?”, Arya also called out to me from atop Jean's other palm, our bond humming with thoughts of dependence and affection.
Pushing aside any distracting thoughts, I let go of the psionic energy around my, no longer consciously drawing it into my body as I addressed her.
“I'm fine, my love.”, I smiled, one of my hands coming up to cradle Jean's cheek while the fingers of my other hand moved to brush over Arya's little wings and head.