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Kaelen's Status
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### Physical Attributes
- Strength: 9.5 → 10.5 (Enhanced due to absorbed cosmic essence)
- Agility: 9.0 → 9.8 (Enhanced reflexes and nimbleness gained from wolf's essence)
- Endurance: 8.5 → 9.5 (Increased durability and resistance from cosmic infusion)
- Speed: 8.5 → 9.2 (Speed increased by absorbing the mutated beast's swift movements)
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### Skills
- Hand-to-Hand Combat: Mastery
- Martial Arts Techniques: Advanced
- Stealth Tactics: Advanced
- Weapons Mastery: Proficient
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### Powers
1. Spectral Shift (Limited Phasing)
- Improved! Can now phase for longer periods and selectively phase specific body parts.
2. Enhanced Reflexes (Adrenal Surge)
- Improved! Reflexes heightened even further, enabling dodging at superhuman speeds and reacting to rapid attacks in real time.
3. Elemental Infusion (Adaptive Strike)
- Improved! Elemental strikes now carry a cosmic tinge, adding enhanced damage and a disorienting aura to each strike.
4. Spectral Echo (Afterimage Illusion)
- Improved! Illusions are now more convincing, exhibiting limited sound mimicry and slight physical interaction with the environment.
5. Force Repulsion (Kinetic Shield)
- Improved! The shield can now absorb and release stored kinetic energy, allowing a shockwave attack on release.
6. Enhanced Strength (Surge Augmentation)
- Improved! Boosted power, enabling Kal to lift even heavier weights and strike with added ferocity.
7. Energy Sight (Spectral Awareness)
- Improved! Expanded perception allows for pinpointing energy sources within a greater range, detecting hidden enemies with cosmic energy.
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### New Abilities Unlocked
8. Cosmic Siphon (Energy Drain)
- Ability to drain cosmic energy from creatures and enemies, rendering them weakened or powerless. Absorbed energy can be used to temporarily boost his own abilities or stored for future use.
9. Predator's Intuition
- A primal sense inherited from the dire wolf, enabling Kal to track targets with enhanced precision, even detecting subtle traces like heat signatures or faint heartbeats.
10. Howl of Dread
- Upon activation, Kal releases an aura-based intimidation pulse, causing enemies within close proximity to hesitate, feel fear, or even flee temporarily. Works particularly well on animals and non-enhanced humans.
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### Notable Effects
- Health Regeneration: Slightly increased natural healing rate as a result of cosmic essence absorption.
- Aura Intensity: Now exudes a faint, ominous aura that unsettles weaker-willed enemies, especially those sensitive to cosmic energy.
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Kal sat back in his dimly lit apartment, a faint, sinister smile creeping onto his face as he scrolled through the details of his enhanced stats panel. The cosmic essence he had siphoned from the mutated dire wolf had undeniably made him stronger. The feeling of power coursing through his veins felt intoxicating, his muscles almost humming with newfound strength. It was no longer enough to simply survive. He needed to thrive—and to do that, he needed purpose, a direction for his ruthlessness.
The idea came to him almost naturally: assassination.
Becoming an assassin for hire seemed like a natural fit for someone with his skills and his complete disregard for human life. His training, his relentless physical conditioning, his strategic mind, and now his lethal superhuman abilities—everything pointed him toward a path where he could profit from the death of others. Not only would it allow him to test the limits of his abilities, but he could also continue to grow in infamy and gather resources. With enough kills under his belt, his name would become synonymous with fear in the criminal underworld.
Without wasting time, Kal slipped into a new identity, one that could withstand the scrutiny of the underground network. He was no longer Kaelen—the broken soul who had been forged in the fires of a cruel facility. Now, he was Kane Mercer, a shadow in the city's underworld.
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The next night, Kane Mercer emerged, cloaked in a dark jacket and a cold, detached demeanor, blending seamlessly into the seedy backstreets of the city's underground sector. After some asking around and dropping hints with the right people, he was directed to an inconspicuous club known only to those in the know as The Blacklight. From the outside, it looked like a derelict bar, one of many in the city. But Kane knew better. This was a covert front for one of the most notorious hitman organizations in the country.
As he pushed through the doors, a cloud of cigarette smoke and the low hum of muffled voices enveloped him. Shadowed figures lined the bar, hunched over drinks, or engaging in quiet conversations. An air of danger and secrecy permeated the room, creating a thick tension that would unnerve most men. But Kane walked in with the calm confidence of a predator who had found his hunting ground.
He approached the bartender, an older man with a scar running down his left cheek.
"What can I do for you kid" The bartender asked paying little attention to him. Kal searched his pocket and slid a plain card across the counter with only the name "Kane Mercer" etched in ink. The man inspected the card, then gave a subtle nod, signaling for Kane to follow. He was led through a hidden door behind the bar and down a narrow, dimly lit staircase, descending into the depths of the organization's recruitment hub.
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In a basement room with flickering fluorescent lights, Kane met with the organization's handler, a severe-looking woman with silver hair tied in a tight bun, her eyes cold and calculating. She introduced herself as Madam Reeve. She took in his demeanor, his unwavering gaze, and the confident silence he exuded. With her years of experience, she could tell this man was no stranger to violence.
"You come here looking for work, I assume," Madam Reeve said, her voice like ice.
Kane nodded, keeping his answers curt. "Yes. I'm interested in establishing myself. Looking for jobs that pay well."
Madam Reeve observed him for a moment, as if weighing his worth. "We don't accept just anyone. Our organization prides itself on quality, precision, and a certain level of…ruthlessness. We don't care about your reasons or your background, as long as you deliver."
Without breaking eye contact, Kane replied, "Madam Reeve, if I'm not mistaken, your previous contractor went KIA in last mission in Belarus. I also know he was the best you had, thats why your agency received so many contracts." Kal or Mercer Kane spoke with a tinge of finality.
of course, this was true to an extent, there were currently 4 Hitmen Contracting agencies in the city and this one currently ranked 3rd place in quality of hitmen. What makes the agencies different is their Most skilled Assassin, Amount Successful missions and Payout range for Jobs.
Currently this Agency lost their Top Assassin in a Mission to kill a congress man in Geniva. The result? a loss in reputation and lower Successful Mission rate, as for the other Assassins working for the agency, they weren't that skilled and would constantly change agencies.
So kane wanted to exploit this opportunity and take advantage of their lack of skilled Assassins
Kane even toke a step further with visible confidence as he sat back in his chair, "So I understand why your standards for new recruits are so high, fortunately for you though you don't have to further waste resources searching for a capable hitmen to contract"
"And why is that" Madam Reeve replied matching his energy by leaning back too with a spark of intrigue
Kaenel clasped his hands and simply said, "Because your looking at one".
Madam Reeve smirked, a glint of approval in her otherwise stern expression.
"Your quite confident for someone who hasn't completed their first Job"Madam Reeve said as she handed him a slim tablet with a list of current contracts posted on the agency panel, all marked with extensive profiles of targets. Each job held different risks, ranging from heavily guarded officials to superhumans with varied abilities. But the rewards were lucrative, with payouts ranging from 500k to several million depending on the complexity of the hit.
Kane was surprised seeing the amount of contracts available, he had thought that based on the loss of their best assassin they would loss many contractors, but looks like there's still those who trusted the agency would deliver good results
Kane browsed through the profiles, taking note of each target's weaknesses, security measures, and, most importantly, the power class of any superhuman opponents. The thrill of it all was intoxicating. He was already visualizing his approach, dissecting each job mentally, and figuring out how he'd dismantle his prey.
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He selected a contract worth $700,000, targeting a corporate executive with known connections to underworld dealings. According to the dossier, the executive had recently acquired a Krystal fragment to enhance his own abilities, a class 2A power that allows one to manipulate matter on a minor scale, and bolster his security. The challenge was enticing—taking down a target with powers, and perhaps even collecting that Krystal as a bonus.
There were also details about his security team, frequent routes thats were used for travel and personal Data like height, age etc. Kane also noticed that the security manager a middle aged man had a class 2C power, manipulating his biological structure into almost any metal or creature, but only certain parts of his body.
After finalizing the contract, Kane looked back at Madam Reeve.
"Interesting....I'll start with this one, right here" he said, his voice carrying a deadly finality.
"See that you do, Mr. Mercer," she replied flashing him a smirk, her tone as sharp as a knife.
As Kane left the underground hub, his mind buzzed with anticipation. This was the beginning of a new chapter, one where he'd make his mark not just as a rogue survivor, but as a shadow of death in the underworld. With his powers, training, and ruthlessness, he'd become an unstoppable force in this world of killers and mercenaries.
He'd kill for profit. He'd kill for survival. And most of all, he'd kill to remind everyone that in the dark depths of this city, he reigned supreme.