Stepping out of the building, Neto carried his bag slung over his shoulder and the egg secured carefully inside. The night air was cool against his face as he scanned the surroundings. He spotted Lencho standing nearby, pacing nervously while talking on the phone. Lencho's voice held a slight tremor, though he tried to mask it with a facade of calm.
Neto's mind buzzed with unease as he touched the wristband still locked around his arm. "This thing is still here… they can track me. But why did I escape so easily? Before, every attempt failed, and they dragged me back. Now it's as though they let me go... Why? Do they want me to leave?"
As his thoughts spun, a dark idea formed in his mind. Calmly, almost detached, he walked up to Lencho.
"Lencho," Neto said, his voice low and steady, "can your ability heal a severed arm?"
Lencho's hand froze mid-gesture as he lowered the phone. He blinked at Neto, wary and unsure how to answer. Neto's expression gave nothing away—his face a blank slate, void of emotion. Lencho swallowed hard.
"Yes," he admitted reluctantly, his voice shaking slightly. "As long as the damage isn't fatal or too close to death…"
"Good."
Neto reached down and picked up the bloodied sword Lencho's brother had dropped earlier. The blade gleamed faintly in the low light, its edge sharp and unforgiving. Lencho's eyes widened as realization hit him.
"Wait—"
Before Lencho could react, Neto positioned the blade just below his wrist, above the accursed band. With a single, deliberate motion, he sliced through his own arm.
Shink.
The sound of the blade cutting through flesh and bone was sickeningly sharp. Blood sprayed across the ground in an arc, the metallic tang of it thick in the air. Neto staggered slightly, but his face remained a mask of eerie calm.
"Ouch," he muttered flatly, as though he'd stubbed a toe.
Lencho staggered back, his face pale, his stomach churning. 'Ouch?! He just… he cut off his own hand. Who reacts like that?!' Lencho's mind spun. 'Is he even human? Did some ancient demons take over his body?!'
Despite his horror, Lencho knew what Neto wanted.
With trembling hands, he stepped forward and activated his ability.
Warm energy pulsed from Lencho's palms, flowing into the stump of Neto's arm. The healing process was slow—agonizingly so—but bit by bit, flesh reknit, veins reconnected, and bone realigned itself.
Lencho's eyes widened again when he noticed Neto's blood wasn't pure red. It had a faint blue tint, unnatural and unsettling. Yet Neto didn't flinch, didn't seem to notice, as though even his own blood was irrelevant.
After several tense minutes, Lencho stepped back. Neto's hand was whole again, his fingers flexing fluidly. He inspected it briefly before nodding in satisfaction.
A black car pulled up moments later, its sleek body reflecting the glow of distant streetlights. The engine was nearly silent, a soft hum that seemed to resonate with the cool stillness of the night. The vehicle was high-end, its tinted windows obscuring any view inside. The body was polished to perfection, dark and predatory, as though designed to glide unseen through the shadows.
The door opened soundlessly, and Neto climbed inside without hesitation, his movements fluid and mechanical. Lencho hesitated a moment, swallowing his unease before following suit.
The car's interior was pristine and luxurious. Black leather seats with intricate stitching absorbed Lencho's weight as he sank into them. The faint scent of aged leather and expensive cologne lingered in the air. Ambient blue light ran in soft strips along the floor and ceiling, giving the space an almost futuristic atmosphere. In the front, a digital console blinked silently, showing unfamiliar systems and faint green data streams.
The driver, a stoic man in a crisp black uniform, glanced at Lencho's hunter card before nodding. Without a word, the car moved forward, its engine so quiet it felt like gliding.
Outside the windows, the city sprawled beneath a dark sky, its chaos muted by the car's insulated cocoon. Neon signs flickered over narrow alleyways, and distant traffic wove like streams of light through the streets. Occasionally, sirens wailed in the distance, but here in the car, it felt as though Neto and Lencho were in another world entirely—silent, removed.
Neto sat perfectly still, his posture unnervingly straight. He didn't blink, didn't adjust himself, didn't seem to breathe. His blank gaze remained fixed straight ahead, lost in something deeper.
Lencho shifted nervously, sneaking glances at Neto's impassive expression across the side of his phone screen. 'How can anyone be so… still? What's wrong with him?'
A translucent screen was in front of Neto's eyes filled with glowing text and numbers,un-seeable to others.
The interface felt familiar yet foreign—a fragment of his life as a test subject.
-‐-------------
Name: Neto Amari
Age: 337 days
Race: Human/Nanoid
State: Human
Level: 12
Grade: Tier 1
EXP: 19,650 / 40,960 <48%>
HP: 100%
Energy: 190 / 220
Stamina: 200 / 390
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[Status]
STR: 34
AGI: 40
END: 39
VIT: 32
DEX: 40
INT: 22
CHARISMA: 22
SP: 12
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[Abilities]
Disconnection: Substitute 50% of one stat to gain a 30% increase in another stat.
Energy Cost: 200 to activate, 50/sec
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Copy: Learn abilities by observing and understanding them.
Energy Cost: Dependent on learned ability.
Flame: <10 to activate> (1 per second)
Gravity: <20 to activate>
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Reinforcement: Temporarily increase a stat by expending energy.
Energy Cost: 10 per stat point (1/10 sec active)
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KAINOS: Find more information.
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Quests: ø
Inventory: Store non-living objects (up to 100 kg)
{}
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Neto's eyes narrowed as he reviewed the details. "These stats… this body doesn't have a visible limit. All that pain, all those experiments—was it for this? If I can keep absorbing energy crystals and levelling up, my power will grow exponentially."
He flexed his hands, squeezing his fists tightly. His blood still carried that faint blue tint, a mark of something beyond human.
'KAINOS… Why can't it tell me more? Why does it just say 'find more information'? What kind of explanation is that?'
He stared at his hands again, his blank expression masking the storm raging inside him.
'So this thing really is like some kind of video game thing ,why does it exist though or where did it come from .
Is it because of this body?' Thinking about that, he stared at his hands while squeezing his fists.
'Disconnected is now an ability ? is that even possible? Its usage is insanely powerful following its energy cost, which is insane as well.
I barely have enough to do it for a second ,even if he had twice his initial energy, he wouldn't be able to use it for long.
This body is insanely powerful, and there isn't a shown limit .All the torture was for this power? Why, though?
These stats seem to show my physical attributes directly, strength ,speed ,endurance, flexibility, intelligence, and even charisma included.'
The screen seemed to have rearranged itself ,some names of things showed up some while some changed, and others didn't show up at all.
His stats had also increased after levelling up.
"Sp means stat points ,if I apply them well, I'll be able to determine my body's path myself.
My abilities changed as well,Inventory? Like a store of some kind?."
His talents came up as abilities.
They all had the same details as if they were techniques but consumed a shown amount of energy much to surprise.
Most energy users had to assume the amount consumed when they used their techniques.
All they knew was the frame rate, not the exact amount ,this was a gift to be able to see this.
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str :number *10,000 =kilogram [Strength]
agi : number *10 = meters per second [Speed] Highest speed reachable
vit : number *10= hp [Vitality]
int :number *10=Energy [Intelligence]
Dex: Dexterity = [Flexibility ]
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