'Another job done.'
He lowered his hands and decided the battle was over.
Part of the block had been destroyed. Smoke rose from the broken structures. Many of the cars were crushed like cans in the trash.
Poor car owners. Insurance definitely won't cover that much damage...
The boy with black hair and amber eyes dusted off his trench coat with a couple of pats and approached his friends. As he did so, he assessed the damage with his eyes.
'There don't seem to be any fatalities. The damage to the buildings will be covered by the government. I guess everything turned out as it should have.'
His thoughts echoed in a rather relaxed and calm voice, as if he really didn't care about anything.
He approached the unconscious Rober and crouched down to make sure the boy was alive. He touched his neck with two fingers and felt for a pulse. He nodded in approval and then looked back.
'Huh.'
Elara was prying the shield off the ground, and Miyu was helping her. After the roots crushed Elara, the shield was embedded in the pavement. Unfortunately, she couldn't use her sword in battle. She was too busy resisting the damage caused by the roots.
"Are you okay, Elara? Are you feeling overwhelmed?" the boy asked.
Elara looked at him, shaking her head.
"I'm fine. Miyu is fine too."
Miyu smiled relaxed.
"We're fine, Nova. You don't have to worry so much about us. We do this every day, after all."
Miyu is a cute, cheerful girl. You can tell how she feels just by watching the movement of her tail and ears. That was a disadvantage for humans who have the special conditions generated by the Psychological Virus, as their emotions are evident in their bodily reactions.
Nova nodded and picked up Rober.
"We have to take care of the portal. Did you bring the plaque? Because I forgot mine at home."
"Yes. Of course!" said Miyu, nodding vigorously. Her little ears trembled back and forth.
She took a small metal plaque out of her bag that looked very heavy at first glance. She held it up high as if pulling an object out of thin air was an achievement.
"Let's hurry," suggested Elara.
Then, the group approached the portal and looked at it closely.
'There are surely more of those things on the other side.'
He had his reasons for saying that. Whatever was hidden in there was not something he wanted to think about.
Besides, if you had an army of plant-type Aberrations, it would be a catastrophe for the entire city. That would require the Elite Empaths to come and save the city. It was extremely fortunate that only one Aberration had come out of the portal.
Ever since the Asteroid fell to Earth and reshaped the entire planet, Dimensional Portals and Aberrations had been constantly appearing. How the portals work and where they lead has always been a mystery to humanity. They only knew that the mysterious energy brought by the asteroid was the cause of this.
Too many things changed with the impact, from the geography of the planet to the races that inhabit it.
A very notable example of this are the humans who survived the impact, who were infected with a primitive version of the Psychological Virus and mutated.
At first, the Psychological Virus was a deadly disease that appeared with the Asteroid, but those who survived the disease became stronger and gained a wide variety of powers thanks to the mutation of the virus. There are cases in which the morphology of some humans changed.
Miyu and Rober are descendants of those humans whose morphology changed drastically.
"Let's activate the plaque," Elara said, speaking to Miyu.
She handed her the plaque, and Elara accepted it while looking at the portal seriously.
The plaque itself was silver, with geometric lines that looked like wires sealed in resin; it even had a company logo stamped on the edges [Datech].
'I think she's overthinking it.'
Nova looked like this was taking too long. He was a little bored, certainly. Elara seemed to sense a disturbance in the energy behind her, as if Nova was sending signals for her to hurry up.
She sighed and threw the plaque under the portal.
The metal plaque stretched, mechanically transforming into a platform. Now the platform was the same width as the portal.
Then, a sharp sound, like a metallic clattering, came from the platform. Immediately afterward, an aura as transparent as the wind began to absorb the portal.
The platform did not absorb the portal itself; what it absorbed was its energy. A portal without energy is a closed portal. It took humanity centuries to create these things, which are now of great importance in preventing cataclysmic disasters such as those at the beginning of the new era.
The portal was a very dark purple color, shaped like a two-dimensional circle floating above the asphalt. As it grew smaller, weakened by the lack of energy, it emitted spectral noises that sounded like moans of agony from beyond.
What is on the other side of the portal? If you want to die, you are welcome to enter the portal. You will likely encounter a beautiful female Aberration that will cut or crush you a thousand and one times.
'That's two portals this week. The reward should be big this time," thought Nova, slightly excited.
When the portal closed, the platform contracted loudly with a loud metallic click. It turned back into the small metal plaque it had been before.
Excited, Miyu took the plaque and held it up high.
"Mission accomplished! Now let's go to lunch!"
Nova smiled slightly when he saw Miyu. She is the kind of girl who makes noise wherever she goes. She has a bit of an ego, yes, but she is a lovely and friendly girl. Although her clothes are a bit revealing for normal people.
Miyu always wears a white blouse with a brown vest over it. Her hot pants, the same color as her vest, revealed her exquisite thighs. Her red hair was cut short to her shoulders, and her blue eyes were like the sky shining down on humanity. Although her big red boots made her look like a cartoon character, that didn't take away from the fact that she was a beautiful city girl.
To interrupt the group of friends, shouts of celebration were heard throughout the street. The people who had been hiding were now grateful to live another day in this hostile world.
They shouted:
"Thank you, Empaths!"
"You're the best!"
"Let me take a picture of you!"
Empaths were equivalent to local celebrities. They are the humans who decided to risk their lives to fight against the Aberrations of the Asteroid and the Dimensional Portals.
Although all humans have the ability to develop powers based on their Spectrum, many decide to leave that to those who are talented.
The Empaths of the Local Factions were those talents, who have the ability to use the energy that covers the world. This allows them to use the mutation to its fullest potential as if it were magic.
"We should leave right now."
Elara was very calm, as was Nova.
"But people are praising us... Let's go say hello!" Miyu insisted.
"Even though you like to be the center of attention, we have more important things to do. The first thing is to take Rober to the Doc. We need to heal his burns and get him some new clothes."
"I think so too," added Elara, agreeing with Nova.
Miyu's ears drooped, falling onto her soft, silky hair. Like her depressed tail, Miyu responded with her head down:
"You guys always agree on everything you say."
She had no choice but to accept.
Nova carried Rober over his shoulder and put his hand on Miyu's head, ruffling her hair a little.
"I'll buy you something delicious on the way. Now let's get out of here because a crazed crowd is coming."
Behind them, the people who had been saved were approaching, running like wild beasts. Nova glanced at them and wondered if humans weren't Aberrations too, but that didn't matter anymore.
"All right. Let's go!"
'This girl changes her mind very quickly.'
It seemed that slight caress made Miyu change her mind.
"Come on! Let's go!" said Elara, jumping onto one of the cars that had been crushed like a tin can.
Nova smiled inwardly and, together with his friends, looked at the civilians one last time. Then they jumped mysteriously and ran away over the buildings.
The civilians looked at them. Empaths always had style. It was like an unwritten rule in human history. Their powers turned them into killing machines, but their hearts filled with intense emotions made them people of this world.
That is the source of humanity's power: their emotions.
The Psychological Virus ceased to be a disease when the strongest emotion of the human heart appeared. In the past, this was forced to appear.
Anger, Grief, Love, Trust, Fear...
In the face of cataclysm; in the face of Aberrations, many stressful situations caused the surviving humans to forcibly unlock their powers. But today that has changed. The Psychological Virus is a fundamental part of human life, for the Spectrum that your heart chooses will dictate the path of your life.
The set of emotions that humans have, and that awaken their powers, was called the Emotional Spectrum.
"Hm?"
A notification sounded on the group of friends' communicators. As they jumped and ran across the rooftops of the lower buildings, Elara, Nova, and Miyu took out their communicators, which were nothing more than simple smartphones with cutting-edge technology.
The three opened their eyes and looked at each other.
Elara, who had remained serious until now, smiled in a way that perfectly matched her cold beauty and emerald eyes. She was so beautiful that the blue sky and blue clouds made her look like a mysterious and enigmatic being.
Miyu began to laugh, jumping happily on the rooftops as the wind blew her tail back.
Nova looked very relaxed and excited, but not as exaggerated as Miyu. He smiled calmly, accepting this momentary happiness.
It was a strange, subdued happiness...
'Great. The best day of the month.'
On February 1, 1324, after the Impact, the screens of these young adults' communicators notified them of a transaction to their bank accounts.
Today was payday.
"Do you know what we can do today?" Miyu asked.
Nova and Elara looked into each other's eyes.
"We have to celebrate."
'Of course we have to celebrate,' Nova thought.
If human emotions are what move humanity, then money moves the whole world. And if you have a lot of money, you can have fun spending it until you go bankrupt.