Justine shifted her hands in the air and the air vibrated and created a thin film of transparent energy
The bullets flew to the thin film and a few of them stopped in mid air while a few more slowed down drastically. The bullet shaped Spirit Stones were seen floating in mid air
Justine did not relax as several bullets kept going through and aim at Philip. She slowly turned around in panic and her eyes glowed with a golden light. A few more bullets slowed and stopped in mid air, a few feet in front of Philip. Yet, just a few more bullets kept going
Justine had a hard time stopping the bullets since the bullets are made of Spirit Stones that is filled with Mana. She had a hard time analyzing the energy signature of the Spirit Bullets but she could stop the vectors of the bullet. It's just that she needs to directly see the bullets to stop their vectors
This is where Justine's second ability comes in to play. Energy Contemplation, where she can directly understand and locate an object that possess an energy signature in a specific point in space. If she located the object, she can directly use Vector Manipulation and deny the vector
Since Mana is a very different kind of energy, it took more time understand the energy signature of the Spirit Bullet using Energy Insight, especially since the bullets were modified and made by the researchers. The energy signatures of the Spirit Bullets were different from ordinary Spirit Stones and the amount of Mana contained within
After stopping several bullets, Justine was unable to stop four bullets that wete flying at Philip. She blamed herself for her incompetence and the fact that she held herself back because she didn't not want to fully reveal her abilities. Right now, she regretted her decision
She looked at Philip, expecting to see the fear that filled his face. She was surprised when she saw confidence on Philip's face, especially when she saw him with a wide smile. She was confused as to why Philip was like that, then she remembered his abilities, Pain Denial and Emotion Manipulation
Meanwhile, Philip instantly predicted that a few bullets would hit him. He would use Fate Control to make the bullets miss him, but a part of him wanted to feel the pain of being shot
He put down his left hand and let the bullets hit him
The bullet penetrated his left arm, left shoulder, right belly, and lower left lung. Blood spurted from the impact and the bullets got stuck inside his body because the bullets were under the influence of Vector Manipulation from Justine
Philip was pushed back by the impact of the bullets and his body parts flicked, like how a normal person would move when they get shot
Philip resisted to scream due to pain because if he did, he would lose the accumulated energy that he can release afte Pain Denial converted the pain into strength
No one from the residents of the mansion looked back because there were no gunshots that were heard. This is because Justine manipulated the vector of the sound that was made by the guns and turret and only circulated the sound around themselves
Justine did this because she didn't want for the rest of them to be worried and hear the conflict. If they would ever notice it, the conflict and misunderstanding might escalate further
All of this happened in just a span of a few seconds
Philip fell down on his butt and held his wound on the most painful parts, the right belly and lower left lung. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. Sweat dripped down his forehead
Being shot by a gun was very painful, there was also lingering pain around the wound as foreign matter was stuck inside the wound. Philip wasn't sure if this was more painful that being impaled by a large metal spike on his heart or the process of his body reforming during the fall in the chasm
Philip's body shook and trembled from the ever circulating pain throughout his body. Unknown to him, white lines began forming around the wounds like a swirl or spiral of a flower or a cyclone. The Spirit Bullets inside Philip were glowing bright that it penetrated his muscles and skin, it was like parts of his body had lights glowing inside of them
The silence was broken after mettalic and crunchy sounds hit the ground with force. The bullets penetrated the earth for a few inches
Justine's bangs swept in front of her eyes due to the force present around her. It covered her angry swirling eyes. She also clenched her hands that it was almost bleeding
The soldiers that were kneeling stood up and reloaded their guns. They went back to their vehicles like nothing happened
"So, that was your ability, huh? We were very curious about your secret ability that even the Old Man refused to say it, so we tried a plan." Chris crossed his arms
"We didn't want to involve the children, especially the strong ones, so the new one over there, Philip, is good bait to use your ability to protect him." Chris explained his plan
"No hard feelings, this is an ulterior motive to learn about your ability. You could be a threat and we need to prevent that if you ever become a bad person." He then turned his head towards the ehad researcher. "Satou?"
"She has some sort of ability that can manipulate force and impact." Satou told him Justine's ability just from observing
"I see... A pretty troublesome ability, huh?" Chris held his chin and thought for a while
"Well anyways, that Philip fellow right there... We will hold a funeral for him. There shouldn't be any problems since he just arrived recently. The kids wouldn't have interacted with him this early. No one will miss him"
Justine's heart and covered eyes twitched
"You know, I don't really believe that this person alone is enough to tag in my squadron to investigate the anomaly from now on... So, I'll be getting everyone join my squadron temporarily"
Chris approached Justine and placed his hand on her shoulder
"Don't feel bad, this is how the world works. It's also for the good of the entire humanity. Trust me, we are preparing to make the transition of Mysticism Age public in the future and collecting more information is a must"
Justine lifted her head and glared at Chris. Her eyes shined with yellow light and the glint on her eyes were red. She gritted her teeth with anger
Chris' hand that was on her shoulder was abruptly removed. He was thrown back on his feet and he smashed on the military jeep that he was on
The jeep tilted backwards but it maintained its balance and returned back. The special metal that the jeep is made out of was slightly crumpled and dented
The force was supposed to be enough flip an ordinary car and probably split it apart
The reason that Justine was angry is not because that Philip died, she knew that he was alive and in extreme pain but she believed on his abilities. She was angry because of Chris' way of obtaining information
As a general, he was willing to kill to obtain and hide crucial information. Not to mention, he made Justine pissed, who had a decent sense of justice and a good minded person
That's why she was offended that Chris and the military was wary of her when she herself knows that she won't do anything wrong, especially since the Old Man adopted her
Justine flicked her hand upwards and pointed her two fingers upwards. All the vehicles and the soldiers fleww in the air. They were floating as Justine held them there
Satou, Rue, Veronica, Robert, and Chris was still on the ground, unaffected by Justine. She chose not to affect with Satou and Rue because they are very important people to have in this current world. She thought about Veronica but she ignored him since she didn't do anything. She also ignored Robert because he seemed to be protecting the two researchers
But Chris seemed to be struggling to stand up while the ground was breaking beneath him. He also couldn't lift his hands nor move his legs
Chris was under the influence of increased gravity from Justine's ability called Vector Manipulation. She also has Vector Contemplation and Vector Insight that comes along with it. With Vector Contemplation, she can analyze and understand vectors that she hasn't learned of yet, with Vector Insight, she should fully understand the nature of the specific vector
Chris' body glowed yellow as he tried to stand up but the gravity only increases the closer he is able to stand up. In the end, he couldn't stand up and the yellow glow disappeared
Justine walked closer to Chris. Veronica was about to intervene but she couldn't move in her place. The part of her brain that sends a signal to her legs to move has been stopped by Justine
On the other hand, Robert stood in front Satou and Rue without daring to move. Rue also stopped Satou from talking
"You have the nerve to shoot guns in my land." Justine's eyes glowed brighter to the point that sparks were being generated
"You also have the nerve to use some underhanded method to know what my ability is, huh?!" Justine increased the gravity on Chris
"Ugh!" Chris exclaimed in struggle
"What if I have the ability to destroy the world right now because you pissed me?! What are you going to do, huh?!!"
The increasing gravity sent vibrations through the ground and made large cracks. Of course, Justine manipulated the vibrations and waves created from her anger and minimized it only to their area. If the vibrations were not stopped, it would cause an earthquake and everyone inside the mansion would definitely feel it
"If you and your military are willing to kill anyone that learned a classified information under your security... Then, shouldn't it be the same for me?!" Justine exclaimed with rage and anger on her voice as the gravity kept increasing by several folds
Chris could only look at Justine since he couldn't open his mouth. His vision also started to turn darker as the light around him began to get bent due to the increasing gravity
But he was calm and not afraid at all. He knows that Justine wouldn't be able to kill him, or more accurately, couldn't kill him. Even though Justine was willing to kill, she can't recklessly kill a high ranking official that is responsible for a Mana Hotspot
Justine looked at him with full anger but as Chris expected, she was holding herself back
Satou and the others were surprised at what they were witnessing, especially the floating vehicles and soldier above them. Satou then reevaluated his observation and identified Justine's ability as Gravity Manipulation
Well, it's still wrong
Just then, their attention was caught by a shining light and dreadful feeling that is several meters behind Justine
There was Philip, who is sitting and curling tightly. The white lines around the bullet holes glowed and it covered the wound with thin film of white light. The Spirit Bullet inside his wounds dissipated
Since Philip's body was reformed, so are is Spirit Fibers. Since the bullets are made of Spirit Stones and they are near his bones which houses the Spirit Fibers, they are one and same as stated in the Second Law of Mysticism
The Spirit Fibers absorbed the Spirit Bullets and the stored Mana inside them. The Mana circulated through his body and was stored in his Mana Spots
As the film of white light covered his wounds, the white light shone brighter and brought more pain
This made Philip deny the pain more and since there is nowhere he could release the converted strength, it directly went towards the amplification of his emotions, particularly the negative emotions
The aura full of negative emotions grew from Philip's back without him knowing. The dread was not aimed at anyone and only existed like a beacon
Justine couldn't feel this because her anger distracted her and the effect of the aura did not reach Chris because of the field of intense gravity
Everyone that saw Philip had their eyes wide. They were slightly confused and a little afraid, except for Rue, she was very interested at Philip despite her angry and annoyed look like a deliquent
At that moment, the thin film of white light that covered Philip's wound was shattered like glass and dissipated into the air like bubbles
The aura behind Philip also shrunk and went back inside him as a soothing feeling filled his wounds
He then let out a deep exhale because he hasn't been breathing this entire time
'Well, that was thrilling...' Philip said after recalling the feeling of pain of being shot
'I still couldn't figure out what those white lines and white light supposed to be...' Philip contemplated and was still lost about a new ability
Just then, he felt a change in the atmosphere and difference in density around him
He looked forward and saw Justine with the visitors from the military
'Fascinating'
Philip exclaimed in his mind after seeing Justine's ability. He also thought that it was Gravity Manipulation but he was wrong
He slowly stood up and he could feel a change in his weight as he struggled a little bit
"Justine..." He called out. "Just let them go"
Justine immediately deactivated her ability and the influence of gravity of Chris disappeared. She also gently places the floating vehicles and soldiers down. She released her influence on Veronica's brain which let her move that almost made her stumble
She turned around at Philip with slight surprise on her face. She did not expect that his abilities of Pain Denial and Emotion Manipulation was that very effective. Plus, his wounds has healed. She became suspicious if Philip had more abilities that he didn't want to reveal, like her
What's more surprising is that her anger were subsiding with incredible speed. She noticed that her anger was flowing out of her towards Philip, according to her Energy Contemplation and Vector Contemplation
She just found out that emotions can be a form of energy when it was flowing out of her. She also found out that the direction of the flow was toward Philip
Justine thought that it was Emotion Manipulation but Philip said that he couldn't manipulate emotions others beside himself. In addition to that, manipulating emotion could only be done inside the person. Emotion Manipulation doesn't have the power to transfer emotions from one person to another
This could only mean that this is another hidden ability of Philip
'Four abilities user...'
She could only gulp down upon having a thought of a person weilding four separate abilities
Alucard's 100 abilities from the Prueblood is different. In the end, it's the power of the Pureblood that can manifest 100 of the same kind of abilities. Therefore, Alucard could only use one power or one ability
However, Philip could use four abilities of different kinds that are completely different from each other. This made Justine nervous, even though she is one of those two abilities user
Little did Justine know, Philip possesses more abilities than she can imagine
She also did not realize that she followed Philip's request without question
Chris and the others are more than shocked. They would thought that Philip was severely injured or he died because they clearly saw that he was shot by a few bullet. They also saw him curl up in pain
Yet, here was Philip standing up like nothing happened. His injuries has healed but holes are still in his clothing. Rue stared at him with pure interest, like seeing someone she like
Earlier, Rue didn't know why Philip lifted his left hand in a snapping position, she just had goosebumps and acted reflexively as she crouched down. Good thing that Philip didn't snapped his fingers and her danger senses calmed down
She genuinely became interested in him
Meanwhile, Chris was initially shocked but he intentionally smiled
He expected for Philip to die because Philip knew about the transition of Mysticism Age when it shouldn't be available to public. If he would ever die and he is the new person that the Old Man was referring to, then it was enough for the rest of the residents of the mansion to join his squadron for the expedition
Now that he is alive and well, just as the Old Man said, Philip might be enough in joining his squadron. But it didn't convinced him hard enough. This time, he needed to know Philip's ability and he'll do whatever it takes
He stood up and wiped the dirt on his clothes
"Good choice! Thank you, Philip"
Philip did not reply at Chris' remark. He only looked at Chris with disappointed eyes. In all honesty, he didn't liked Chris, especially his methods, but it seemed like he will become very useful in the future
He decided to trust him for now
"Will you come with us? We will orient you on the emergency"
"Not now"
Philip refused his invitation
"Huh, that's an order, not a request?"
"Huh? Wait a minute..."
Philip paused after realizing something
"Are you one of those people that gets what they want and doesn't take no for an answer?"
Justine went out of Philip's way since she was in between Philip and Chris. She started to feel as if she was small and Philip became the one in charge. She was not sure if it's another one of his abilities, but she could feel a different aura from him
"What if I am?"
Chris kept challenging everyone, even though he was just beaten down and became immobilized. He seemed to be still underestimating Philip but wary of Justine
"Look, I don't want any trouble or needless fights... Come back in a few weeks or a month and I'll happily accept your invitation"
"But the disaster will come in a month! We need to prepare as much as possible... Like you just said, if you don't want any trouble or needless figths, then you need to come with us!"
"You don't understand..."
"Of course I understand. Do you?!"
Philip narrowed his eyes at Chris, he was being unreasonable right now. If only the Old Man was here, Chris would turn into a puppy from a wolf in a snap
"Don't make me do this..."
Philip warned Chris
"Do it! You won't"
Chris was expecting Philip to use his ability to stop them. This is his method to know Philip's ability. His behavior was supposed to be not like this but he needed to do it for the sake of the entire human race
"Ah! You're purposely doing this so that you would find out my ability, huh?"
Chris became surprised as Philip read him completely
"Since you're purposely doing this... I'll just leave and let you leave. If you followed me to the mansion... You don't want Jude, Mathilda, and Alucard to make you leave, wouldn't you?"
Philip warned Chris with piercing eyes. He placed his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie
"Come one, Justine"
Philip turned around to walk back to the mansion. Justine was agape and looked back at Chris and company. She then turned around and followed Philip just behind him
Chris had furrowed eyebrows and clenched fists. He turned towards Satou and gestured him to go back to the vehicles
Satou nodded and hurriedly entered the Me-Dan. Rue looked at Philip's back with expectant eyes before entering the vehicle and closing the door
It was the same for Veronica that entered the damage jeep and Robert that entered the second jeep
The wheels of the vehicles screeched as they quickly left, leaving Chris standing on his feet. He then closed his eyes and yellow aura covered his body
"Hold it right there!"
He opened his eyes and his eyes were burning with yellow fire. The yellow aura also exploded into all directions and burned the grass on the ground in his radius. It also scorched part of the earth
The Sun that was almost high in the sky, beamed and became brighter for some reason
Justine and Philip felt the heat. Justine immediately turned around and tried to understand the energy that was used with Energy Contemplation. She also used Vector Contemplation to identify the direction of the energy that was surging through so that she could contain the energy inside the vicinity of the mansion
"I will get what I want and you are needed to save the world! I will get you even if I have to use force!"
The yellow aura intesified as it began to swirl around the front yard. Fire started to grow on the ground and the water on the fountain immediately evaporated
Justine waved her hand in the air as she succesfully analyzed the vectors. According to Vector Insight, the vector on Chris ability is a type of Photonic Acceleration and Transference
By knowing these vectors, she could contain the growing swirl of Chris' yellow aura by using Vector Manipulation. The Energy Contemplation was taking too long as the energy that Chris was releasing was rare on Earth. The energy would only intesify in the contained area while it became nore powerful
Philip stopped on his tracks and slowly turned his head to the right side. His right eye was glaring at Chris while there was a white swirl and glint at the very center of his pupil
It was time for him to be the one who became angry. He hated the types of people like Chris, even though he was just acting and purposely doing it, it was too much that he became a thorn stuck on his throat
He wanted to get rid of him immediately and talk to Justine more about his role in the mansion
Besides, Chris was an opportunity that came in too early. As he said, a disaster would happen one month from now and there would be several developments since then
He also said that they should come back in a few weeks because there would be no point in scouting him this earlier. If only they knew Philip's abilities then they won't be too forceful
Philip lifted his left hand towards his face, making sure that Chris saw what he was doing
Chris became confused. What would a puny snap do in a situation like this?
Philip snapped his left hand and an audible sound reverberated throughout the front yard
A contained surge of energy bursted through the area of the mansion and covered it. The surge of energy disappeared before it reached the city
Chris' activated ability disappeared and verdant grass grew from the ground. Clear water flowed from the fountain
Justine lowered her hands and placed them on her sides. She then turned around and started walking
Same as Chris, he turned around and exited the premises of the mansion
Philip smirked and resumed walking towards the mansion, along with Justine
A few seconds later, Justine snapped and returned. She looked around in confusion as she was feeling missing
"What's wrong?"
Philip asked
"What happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"I feel like I should have been contemplating something... What happened to the General?"
"Him? He left just like that. He said he would return in a few weeks to invite me once again"
"Really?"
Philip only nodded in affirmation at Justine's question
Justine looked down, feeling like there was something definitely wrong, but she couldn't point it out
A few seconds later, they arrived at the front door of the mansion and entered
Alucard was actually watching the whole time in the waiting area, with the rest of the residents of the mansion. He was the only one who witnessed everything
He smiled proudly when he witnessed Philip using his Fate Control. It was a sight that excited him for the first time in a long time
~~~
Inside the military jeep, Chris woke up and became seemingly surprised. He was also confused as he looked around inside the vehicle
"What wrong?"
Veronica, his secretary, asked
"What happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"I feel like I wanted to get something but I couldn't..."
"Huh, that's surprising"
"What happened in the mansion?"
"What? You agreed to come back in a few weeks and invite Philip once more. We left under your command"
"Hm, I see... Very well then, let's return in three weeks prior! I expect that my whole squadron has arrived by then
"As you wish"
Veronica nodded and started typing on her high-tech laptop with incredible speed