-Finally!!
Changing my aura to killing intent and projecting it to a living being had proved not only feasible but also really effective against weaker opponents.
Although the effect it had on humans required further testing, I was certain it would be useful in my upcoming fights.
To perform such a feat, I needed to tap into the resentment and hatred I bore against the people involved in the death of my parents.
Amplified by magi, the waves of killing intent I was able to emit had caused my precious lab rats not only disorientation but much more severe effects.
In the climax of my experiment, as the amount of murderous aura I had amassed was causing the pigeons to fall into insanity, I was interrupted by a familiar person.
"Rick something right?"
"I already told you, stop saying such weird things, you are ruining your whole image", I pointed out his addiction to historical dramas.
"Haha, if only you knew how respected I am in the business industry"
-Oh he is also delusional... there is only one way to deal with people like him
"And I am king Kendrick, a pleasure to meet you", I responded whilst brushing my imaginary beard and realigning my imaginary golden crown.
"Hm my older brother's father-in-law isn't that ugly"
"..."
At that moment, James Hawk, the manager of the branch arrived with the rest of the staff, saving me again from the blond weirdo.
...
Relaxing on my comfortable chair and booting the high tech computer mounted on top of my desk, I turned my focus to the empty workspace right next to mine.
-Someone is slacking off it seems
A few moments later, my horrible luck struck again when Rick came and sat down on the empty chair, greeting me with a pretentious smile.
"Fuck...why God?"
Making the best efforts to ignore him I began my first assignment, organizing the information collected about rifts.
[Rifts are possibly related to the existence of an excess of energy in the other worlds]
[Currently investigating whether the energy differential between two worlds is the cause that connects the two, according to the Law of Conservation of Energy]
[Based on the testimonies of the challengers that have returned back to Earth, the source of the power is either directly originating from an artifact, or has been partially assimilated into the bodies of the inhabitants of the world]
[System provided to challengers appears to be able to locate the energy signature of the power source]
As expected of the genius scientists that are working on the causality of the rifts, the results they had produced with their short-term research were groundbreaking.
I continued examining the contents of the files I could access with my level of security clearance.
Reading through the multiple worlds people had been, I came across the rift that led to the massacre of almost an entire military squadron.
The soldiers had entered a world with rich flora and peaceful wildlife, a place one could consider to be a paradise.
The guardians of this "paradise" were a female tribe of humanoid creatures that bore a striking resemblance to elves, with pointy ears, dark hair, and pale skin.
In the beginning, the elves were very kind to the outsiders, offering them food, water, and a place to rest and that's why the military squadron didn't engage in the elimination that the system instructed them to.
Alas, when night came the elves took advantage of the soldier's indecisiveness and under the cloak of darkness, ambushed them, severely reducing their numbers.
Further information about how their leader managed to close the rift was not available, apart from her name.
Sergeant Kim Rae Na.
...
The following days were pretty hectic in the office since the number of phone calls we were receiving from the press asking us to reveal more information, and prank calls from people claiming to have seen a rift was greatly surpassing the number of people that were actually reporting the appearance of a rift.
During the entire time I was not in the office, I diligently trained my stamina, while also testing the limits of my [Speech] skill.
And of course, my fame throughout the pigeon world must have reached that of a Hollywood star.
Attacking the opponent's senses with my killing intent had become a task I could now perform without much effort.
The toughest obstacle I failed to remove was my annoying colleague, Rick.
Throughout the entire duration of our working hours, he wouldn't stop mumbling and whispering to himself.
Although others couldn't hear him, due to my being right next to him and having increased hearing abilities, I could hear every single damn thing he was saying.
Not only that but whenever I would start getting angry and yelled at him, everyone would look me with a terrified expression, as if I was slandering the President or something.
But every time, Rick would silence them from saying anything to me, and bearing a childish smile would return to his seat and continue his monologues.
Thankfully the information that was added on a daily base to the database was enough to keep my mind busy.
Notably, the most important scientific discovery was that the rifts were emitting low-intensity waves of radiation that upon capturing and analyzing their frequency, one could gauge the artifact's strength and therefore the difficulty of the mission.
...
"Yes how may I help you?", Rick's annoying voice entered my ears.
It was his turn to answer the calls regarding the appearance of a rift.
"I see, local authorities have been informed, a squad will arrive shortly"
"Jay it appears a rift of unclear nature has appeared in the 5th district, inform the headquarters"
-Unclear nature...
It was the terminology used for a rift whose frequency readings were inconclusive and thus required a challenger to sense the power coming from the artifact on the other side of the rift.
"Hey Rick do me a favor and cover for me, I am going out for a bit", I tried to come up with an excuse to go and check out the rift.
"You are going to see the rift aren't you?", he whispered to me while repositioning his glasses.
-...you
"Why would I do that?"
I was surprised by the accuracy of his remark and was also afraid of him having found anything about my plans.
"Well, given that you never take a break, not even for coffee, it can't be a coincidence that you want to leave as soon as you heard about the rift"
"Truth be told, I also planned to go and see the rift, and I could easily assign us the task to go and meet with the specialist as an excuse"
I had forgotten that Rick had a higher level of clearance than me, and given his position, going under the pretense to meet the specialist was a great idea to observe the rift.
"Sure, let's go then"
I became aware that Rick was more intelligent than what he showed to others and learned to be more careful around him.
...
Upon arriving at the site via cab, which Rick gladly paid for, we were greeted by the police officers the had surrounded the area, not allowing anyone to approach the rift.
The specialist sent from headquarters had arrived first and was about to leave.
Rick approached him first.
"So what is the verdict?"
"Nothing out of ordinary, the Beta team will be more than enough to clear it, hic!"
The seemingly intoxicated man didn't even look at Rick and me and went on to finish his morning drinking session.
Beta and Alpha were the two divisions that existed in the Rift Task Force and the difference between the two was like day and night, with the members of the Alpha team having top-notch fighting abilities and amazing skillsets.
I approached the rift and reinforced my senses with magi.
-Hahaha
The drunk bastard made a huge mistake.
Although he was partially correct on the part that there indeed was an energy signature coming from a low ranked artifact, he failed to distinguish the second energy which was no doubt originating from a sinister and powerful source.
-Huhu, maybe I can use this to my advantage...
A chance to obtain a high-rank artifact while not having to face the "monsters" in the Alpha team was truly an amazing opportunity.
Even though I was certain that Julius could face them head-on on a 1 on 1, a group fight with them should be avoided by all means possible, given our current state.
Therefore without further delay, I messaged Julius about the time and place for our rendezvous.
...
The sun had fallen and the night breeze was soothing my anxious mind.
"Wear this."
I handed out one of the two black cloaks I had purchased to Julius.
"Why do I need to wear it?", he asked me with a puzzled expression
"You see, entering a rift without a warrant is a federal crime, therefore in case things go south, it's better for our identities to not get exposed"
As we reached the site of the rift, we noticed the police officers who were guarding the area, which according to my information should only be two.
Despite having to work in the night shift, they were determined in guarding the area and didn't slack off.
With the option to sneak past them now unavailable, I decided that it was a good time to use my special pigeon-killer move.
Therefore I slowly approached them, walking directly into their line of sight.
"This area is off-limits to civilians", the first officer shouted at me.
"H-Hey he looks scary man", the one next to him stuttered upon seeing my attire.
Unfazed by the guard's order, I steadily closed the distance between us.
"I REPEAT THIS ARE IS OFF LIMITS", he yelled at me and tried to take out his handgun.
-Sorry, not going to let you do that
I barraged them with my murderous aura.
"AAAAHH w-what is t-this!?"
His hands trembled, his face distorted from the fear, and his legs gave out, before collapsing on the ground.
I turned my gaze to the other police officer, who, after peeing his pants from the terror, died from a heart attack.
"Oh I didn't expect that big of a welcome"
Considering the were only doing their job, unless they were about to attack me, I didn't plan on hurting them, but ... bygones be bygones.
Although... now that one of them was already dead, killing the other one would surely provide us more time than simply tying him up.
But, with no means to find whether he is a corrupt policeman, the possibility of murdering an innocent person didn't bode well with me.
~Snap
Upon hearing the familiar sound, I turned my attention to Julius, who had snapped the unconscious policeman's neck.
"What? I thought the plan was to kill them", he noticed by my puzzled expression and explained his action.
-Ha...
I did my best to hold back my laughter.
"Nevermind, let's go"
Therefore, after hiding the bodies, we entered the rift.
...