On his way home, Adam decided to check on the abilities he managed to collect in today's heist.
"Thank you, Lady Luck~!" He muttered under his breath as he smiled at the list of abilities, despite mostly being composed of the lower-ranked ones, they have their purpose.
"One of those purposes is to become a sacrifice for [Energy Knife]'s growth back to its peak performance and… maybe beyond." He muttered with a restrained excitement.
Boom!
Suddenly a large explosion can be heard nearby.
"Before I go, I think I should prepare a little bit."
Adam's innate ability is called [Heist], its primary function is to plunder abilities and store them, yet it also possesses several extra functions, such as the capability of dismantling stored abilities into a material known as [God Essence] which can be used to upgrade other abilities.
Using that extra function, he converted all of the low-ranked useless abilities that he doesn't see a future of into a pile of [God Essences], and instantly upgraded [Energy Knife] from F-Rank to B-Rank, the remaining resources were divided among the other useful abilities.
He quickly wanders to the nearest point of the explosion he can get, taking a safe distance as he wants to avoid being caught.
With the help of [Eagle Eyes], Adam managed to get a glimpse at the situation, from what he managed to comprehend there was a group of Heroes going against a Monster.
"Huh? A fight, Lady Luck seems to be in a good mood~!" He muttered with a smile as he intended to steal the ability of the Monster for himself. "Though, I wonder who are those Heroes and what Monster is it?"
The smokescreen that temporarily blocked everyone's vision quickly dissipated as it revealed the three humanoid figures were seen to engage in an intense combat against an octopus.
Sorting through his predecessor messy memories, Adam managed to pinpoint their identities, the Heroes were the C-Ranked [El Diablo], C-Ranked [Frost Bat] and the B-Ranked [One Step Swordsman], and the octopus was the Monster of the species known as the B-Ranked [Thousand Handed Octopus].
"It seems this one is a mutated variant?" Adam noticed a strange pattern all over the Monster's body.
'According to the memories, the [Thousand Handed Octopus] are a species known for having at the very least a thousand tentacles sometimes even surpassing thousands depending on their age, they also possess extremely fast attack speed which combined with their thousands of limbs would leave no room to breath for its opponents, hence it's a contender for around top 20 strongest B-Ranked Monster…'
'Though, this one is certainly much stronger, from the colored pattern I assume its one of those mutated physique Monster, this one specifically are likely to be an anti-elemental build… what a bad matchup…'
He changed his focus towards the Heroes, they're certainly somewhat strong but two of them are rendered ineffective by the Monster's natural resistance.
[El Diablo], C-Ranked Hero, a former delinquent who had just recently awakened an S-Ranked ability known as the [Hellfire Bone Weapon Creation], capable of creating bone weapon coated with "Hellfire", supposedly a flame that will never die until the fuel disappears, his low rank was the direct result of his inexperience and incompetence.
[Frost Bat], also a C-Ranked Hero, a known figure in the internet circle as a former idol, based on public information she awakened a C-Ranked ability called: [Ice Bat Familiar], a summoning-centric ability, with a side function that allows her to manipulate ice, her Ice Bat summon are known for their suicide attack which can freeze the affected area.
[One Step Swordsman], a pretty well known B-Ranked Hero, outside of being a Hero he's known for his skills in swordsmanship, he awakened a C-Ranked ability called: [Line Rush], the ability to dash in a straight line with an incredible speed, paired with his expertise he managed to achieve a rank above his ability.
'I wonder… can they win?' Adam thought with a curious smile, after all it seems the only one to deal any significant damage was [One Step Swordsman].
He sensed a drone flying by, which caused him to instinctively hide his presence in the dark. He knew it was there but didn't expect it to get so close, but Adam didn't mind as he continued watching with interest.
Taking a stance, [One Step Swordsman] quickly popped his ability and managed to land a killing blow towards the Monster using his finishing move known as: [Last Cut], pouring nearly all of his body's remaining strength to cut the object he passed through when dashing. Then, when he rested himself, the sword broke into a million pieces.
[El Diablo] fell onto his back in exhaustion as [Frost Bat] struggled hard to remain standing, both were struggling to breathe, "We're lucky, if it had been even a moment longer, it'll be the end of us."
Amidst their short celebration for their victory, a shadowy figure walked into frame, sensing that presence the [One Step Swordsman] turned vigilant and nearly stabbed the figure's neck with the sword's hilt.
"State your name."
The shadowy figure simply stood there, confidence oozing out of their stance, the light then revealed the look of said stranger, a masculine body shape, wearing a white suit under their brown long coat, the red necktie and dark gray pants complemented the outfit, their feet encased in black leather shoes, atop their hat was a brown fedora, face covered by a mask and over their left eye was a monocle, all while having their body weight supported by a walking stick as they leaned against it.
"Oh? Me? I apologize for the sudden intrusion, you can consider me as just a nobody, good sir." They answered, their tone was calm and polite.
'I didn't sense anything just a moment ago, this guy has to be at least a rank higher than me for me to not sense anything even when exhausted…'
Fully vigilant, the [One Step Swordsman] approach remained harsh as his suspicion began to deepen at the figure's vague answer, "I said, state your name."
He added while an intense murderous aura escaped his body, "Just look at your get up, what kind of 'nobody' would be seen in a potentially still active combat zone while dressed like that?"
Sensing the murderous aura, they were slightly taken aback but none of them noticed, 'He's… really considering chopping me up, that's kind of scary… and also pretty annoying…'
Feeling threatened, Adam chose to upgrade his primary offensive option—[Energy Knife] directly into S-Rank, it might be overkill but he would rather not underestimate his opponent as he's still a newbie.
Meanwhile, the broadcast chat for the news was suddenly blowing up with the discussion regarding the shadowy figure.
| Broadcast Chat • 12.11k views |
[ Oh? A new face? ]
[ Who is he? ]
[ I don't know ]
[ Idk, he's really dripped the fuck out tho ]
[ Indeed, he does possess quite the drip! ]
[ Is this 3 vs 1? Betting on the new guy, these fodders gonna get aura-diffed! ]
[ Is this fella a Bri'ish person? ]
[ Theory: He wore a mask cuz his teeth are mad ugly!!1! ]
[ Gentleman rizz. ]
[ My brotha lookin like a certified gentleman frfr. ]
[ He doesn't seem to have any information on the internet. ]
[ ??? What the fuck did you search, fucking "guy in mask and brown long coat and hat with walking stick or some shit that just appeared in the news"???? ]
[ :( ]
[ Dumb fuck. ]
[ Such a mysterious aura—! ]
[ He must be strong! ]
[ Don't put all your stock on him, he might be all hype no substance! ]
[ You mean… all "potential" none "fulfilled"? ]
[ Fuck you. ]
…
Flooding the broadcast chat was constant messages from viewers having a lively discussion about the current situation.
'How can I effectively deescalate this situation? After all, this specific 'persona' is not really a violent one…' Adam thought, then his lips curled into a smile, 'Though, that doesn't mean I'll hesitate if they go for a killing blow.'
[One Step Swordsman] sharp sense picked up the change in the figure's presence, the threat level he instinctively assumed had suddenly spiked unexpectedly and in response a quick slash was directed at the figure's neck.
A smokescreen rose once again from the impact of the slash, the raised smoke was much thicker than before, 'Shit, did I kill him?' The [One Step Swordsman] thought.
As the smoke began to thin, the figure's silhouette was seen standing and then a deep voice exploded from within, "Worry not, my friends, for I do not seek meaningless bloodshed, my arrival here was simply for a minor goal."
Hearing the figure's voice alerted the Heroes instinct as they prepared for combat despite their miserable state.
Staring at their hostile stance, the figure couldn't help but sigh, "Friends, I am asking for the benefit of me and you to please not resort to violence, I'll just quickly get my task done and we can part ways without having to kill each other."
The Heroes slightly tensed up as they listened to the figure's proposal, and one of them voiced their thoughts, it was [El Diablo], "How can we trust you? For all intents and purpose, you're under suspicion of being a villain."
The figure stood in silence as they tried to form an excuse, behind the mask Adam's lips curled into a faint smile.
"One, I am in the middle of your domain, the Heroes domain, there's no doubt that some form of reinforcement would come if I am proven to be a threat."
"Two, while the conclusion of me being a villain is plausible and even more likely, the fact that I took so much time is rather foolish, don't you think?"
"And… three, even if I'm thinking of doing something bad, what can you even do? After all, you should sense it…"
The Heroes sensed the figure's intense stare.
"I'm stronger, but the point is that I don't affiliate myself with either side, if I would say who I morally support, it'd be the Heroes, other than that, I'm just a passerby with a task to do."
He also added, "The name's Gentle, Mr Gentle, I am a person that much prefers to deal with a problem without using bloodshed nor violence so I hope our conversation shall end the same way."
Giving him the benefit of the doubt, the Hero let the figure do their thing without resistance.
Adam placed his hand over one of the [Thousand Handed Octopus]'s massive tentacles.
[ Heist activated, 2 ability successfully plundered! ]
***
A-Ranked Ability Card
Name: Anti-Elemental Physique
Description: The user's physique would naturally resist against all the elements, as a side effect the body developed immense physical toughness.
Evaluation: An ability attained from a mutated physique, useful especially against elemental users.
—
B-Ranked Ability Card
Name: Thousand Armed Strike
Description: When activated, create a thousand tentacles and launch a thousand attacks in rapid succession leaving no breathing room for your opponent.
Evaluation: Considered to be one of the most effective offensive abilities from a B-Ranked Monster, useful in any combat scenario especially when high dps are needed.
***
"Amazing…" he muttered under his breath, 'Truly the ability befitting one of the strongest B-Ranked Monsters, though this one should be around… Low A-Rank or maybe just High to Peak B-Rank… who knows? It seems to also be a newborn as the tentacle count is under one thousand…'
Turning his head towards the Heroes, Adam exclaimed, "Thank you for your cooperation, friends! I'll be taking my leave now."
As the figure dispersed from thin air, the Heroes knees suddenly turned weak as they fell over as their adrenaline disappeared.
In the place where the figure of Mr Gentle once stood, a paper slowly fell onto the ground and was picked up by [One Step Swordsman].
"Light of Day Club? What's that?"
Noticing the card, the drone quickly zoomed in to show it to the viewer and in an instant countless theories began to bloom as the information took the world by storm.
Taking a peek at the theory crafting in the broadcast chat, Adam smiled, he had already prepared a rough outline for his plan, using Light of Day Club as a cover before revealing his true existence and his real organization: [Arch-Divine]!