In front of the guard, my father put his hand in his pocket and took out a badge. From the side, I could see a symbol of an all-black and round eagle, surrounded by a large acronym that read: Superintendência Humana de Intervenções Estratégicas, Logística e Defesa, which concluded as SHIELD.
Below this symbol was the number 6, along with an identification code. The guard used a small sensor to verify its authenticity. Once the scanning was complete, he checked what was written on a small tablet and spoke, looking in our direction.
"Special Agent Level 6, Gabriel Henutse. Confirmation received to approach object 0-8-4 found in New Mexico. He also received special permission to bring the consultant, whose identity will not be revealed."
As he finished speaking, he glanced in my direction but did not comment and turned slightly to the side.
I also greeted him formally and followed my father inside the facility. Walking along the path, I saw my father stop, and in front, I saw the same guy with the bow that I had seen when I arrived here. With relatively tall brown hair and a muscular and athletic body, he had different arrows in his quiver. In fact, I had already subtly used my eyes and haki around the quiver and saw that some of the arrows were not normal and had some kind of special technology or gadget.
While I was distracted and curious about the effects and capabilities of the arrows, I was awakened by my father's voice.
"It's good to see you again, Clint."
He spoke and moved in front of him, and I watched with curiosity. I could feel tension rising between the two for a few seconds, but soon both smiled and hugged.
"It's good to see you again, Gabriel."
Then my father turned and spoke discreetly and quietly into the ear of the person called Clint.
"This is the consultant and my son, Alex Henutse."
Upon hearing this, I saw him raise an eyebrow, seemingly curious about the purpose of bringing his son and how exactly he would interfere. However, he didn't ask anything and just shook hands with me.
"It's a pleasure," I said with a smile.
"Likewise, it's nice to meet my friend's son," he greeted me with a gentle smile.
"Now, please come with me."
After that, we passed through a few more tents and places until we stood in front of object 0-8-4.
In the center of an area surrounded by dirt, a hammer was situated. It had a strange handle with a slight loop, and the hammerhead was made of a clearly strange and abnormal material. Even from a distance, I could feel something written on the hammer, which I couldn't understand or seem to observe clearly, as if something was protecting it.
The scene itself seemed all strange. I looked to the side and saw my father frowning but not saying anything. Next to him, Clint began to offer explanations.
"It's a very strange hammer. No one has been able to lift it, whether individual or with the use of machines and equipment. It's as if it is indefinitely stuck to the ground. They are still researching some things from what I heard a little, I don't know the details, but it's said that they have a possible idea of its origin based on some kind of legend or mythology."
I nodded and walked a bit ahead.
"Be careful, son,"
I heard my father's voice and nodded, I didn't plan to touch it, at least for now.
A few meters in front of the hammer, I inserted my qi and mental energy into my eyes. They glowed with blue and green power and strength, and my Haki also spread out and enveloped the hammer.
However, the reaction that occurred was quite different from previous reactions when I used these abilities. The moment my eyes penetrated the hammer and my Haki enveloped it, I could see mystical letters in golden colors with magic and a kind of power above normal and strange, but not a second later, the sounds of thunder were heard in the sky, and I felt an energy of thunder and divine attacking my mind and seemed to even my soul. I couldn't turn my eyes and haki away from the object for a moment, as if it was holding me and trying to punish me.
Realizing the danger, my body reacted quickly and instinctively. Behind me, a ghostly black-purple lotus appeared for a moment and seemed to protect my soul and even generate a small counterattack, coming from my special ghost soul lineage.
While my eyes, taking advantage of the brief stall caused by the power and empowerment of my eye lineage, glowed, drawing power from the vast sealed part of my unique eye lineage for an instant. This effect allowed me to divert my gaze and protect my mind and soul safely.
However, I still fell to my knees on the ground, with my hands in front of my tired eyes due to the strong exhaustion. I also saw that a large part of my mental energy, if not all, was drained. My internal energy was also worn out as it was directed to support and protect my eyes.
At least my soul energy didn't seem to be affected. I can observe it nowadays, even if I can't use it actively and can only use it passively and protectively. I hope to find a reward or maybe spend some points to unlock means and abilities based on Soul Energy.
After all, my soul is quite powerful and one of my strongest points currently, due to the ghost soul lineage and partly because of the god's eyes (along with other abilities that strengthen the existence of the MC). Using it only as a base and pillar for my other abilities and energies seems a bit wasteful.
While my mind seemed to enter a state of random thoughts, possibly due to higher mental and internal energy exhaustion than I'm used to, I heard a notification sound in my mind and the footsteps and voice of my father approaching quickly.
"Son, how are you? What happened?"
I felt my father's touch and his concerned voice as his eyes alternated between me, the hammer, and the sky. I smiled softly at him, quickly getting up from the ground and responding.
"Relax, it was just a surprise. Let's go to the hotel now to rest... tonight I will be able to acquire more precise information, okay?"
Hearing my words and after observing that I was okay, he agreed and decided not to ask anything.
We ended up saying goodbye to Clint, and in the car, my father asked,
"Son... did you identify anything?"
"I want to take a closer look tonight, Dad."
He didn't say anything for a few seconds, and just as I was about to check the notifications, I heard my father speak again.
"If it's dangerous, you don't have to do it, Al."
I was surprised and turned to look at him. I noticed that my father's hand paused for a few seconds, seeming to remember something from the past, perhaps a situation of powerlessness or something similar.
So, I approached my father, kissed his cheek, and hugged him.
"Dad, I never do anything I'm not confident about. Tonight, I will be much more confident in observing it with safety and ability... and you know how 'special' and strange I am. I will handle it well."
Feeling his son in his arms, he seemed to relax a bit, but I could still see that memories of his past and possibly his childhood had come to my father's mind. I didn't comment or ask anything specific. And when I noticed that he relaxed, I let go and decided to open the notifications.
—--
Second Mission: The Hammer and Its Owner received.
Objective:
-Discover the more precise identity of the hammer.
-Look for a person or group that might have information about it.
-The hammer seems to have appeared here because of someone or something, find its original owner who is in the city.
Reward: 2 high-level physical healing potions, 1 mortal level mental damage repair pill for cultivation, main language book of the XXXX world [Received after receiving the previous mission reward]
Third Mission: ????
Description: You were affected by the hammer's defensive and instinctive measure, but still fulfilled the basic mission. Now it's time to discover more information and data about this strange and curious object.
—--
I read for a while and frowned. This mission definitely seems complicated to accomplish... but it still had some interesting information. For example, the hammer's attack now was instinctive, which should indicate that it will be easier to break with a minimally equivalent power when it shouldn't make me hostile to anyone specifically as long as it's purely for investigation.
Besides, apparently, the owner of this hammer or someone related to it seems to be on Earth and in the city. Seeing this, I still frowned. At this moment, I had some hypotheses about the object, remembering the general information from the system about the world, as well as its high power level, even if it was only a basic defensive function.
Regardless, it didn't take long for us to arrive at the hotel. Luckily, even though the hotel wasn't large, my father and I had different rooms. I officially decided to rest.
While my father went out to resolve some things, I sat on the floor of my small room. The room wasn't very large, with a bathroom, a double bed, and a wardrobe, a typical hotel room in a small town.
Sitting there, after resting and recovering my energies, I spoke to the system.
"System, I want to accept the reward."
After the message, a golden and green barrier covered a large part of the room. I also felt that after it appeared, the space and internal energy within it changed with some kind of strange, powerful,
and peculiar effect, but it didn't affect me.
After that, a cut appeared in front of me, like it was made by the claw of an ancient, primordial, and strong beast. I was surprised by its appearance and looked inside. From it, I saw something slowly emerging, a kind of apparent object with a beautiful and mysterious green color.