CHAPTER 116: POTENTIAL PROBLEM

Potential Problem

Kris and Theresa looked at Mike dubiously, and the shorter boy forced a cough when he realized how his words sounded.

"I-I meant you guys should be more careful around me for the next few days." He tried to backtrack, but the two of them just looked even more confused.

However, Theresa seemed to realize that he was genuinely saying something worth listening to.

"Could you elaborate?" She asked with a small frown, and Mike took a breath.

He briefly glanced at his ferocity.

Ferocity: 17% (slightly unstable)

It hadn’t dropped since he woke up, and no matter how hard he tried to calm himself or make it go lower, it refused to drop past that 17%.

More than that, though, he could feel it.

After his perception had risen so much, his ability to sense his body had reached another level. As such, he was aware of how his heart was beating slightly faster than normal. He was aware of how his blood flowed faster, how his senses were a bit sharper, and how his body felt unnecessarily tense.

It wasn’t that extreme now, but Mike was certain that it would only get worse as time passed.

"I... Can’t say the details. But you might see me acting strangely in the coming days, and it’s only going to get worse. So I just think you guys should be careful..." He said while fiddling with his fingers.

Theresa and Kris shared a look.

"... Can you tell us what to expect?" Yheresa asked, her voice a touch softer. She seemed to realize that whatever Mike was talking about, it was a pretty delicate issue, and she didn’t want to make him feel bad about it. Moreover, since he trusted them enough to tell them about it, she wanted to know how to help.

"I’m probably gonna get a lot more... standoffish. You might see me snapping over dumb things... or I might do something impulsive, which I wouldn’t normally do," He blushed slightly. "And I could possibly do the... affection thing." The other two seemed surprised. They hadn’t been expecting that.

"So... you might be more volatile or emotionally charged?" Theresa asked, and Mike nodded.

"And it’s only going to get worse?" Kris added, and Mike nodded again.

There was silence for a few seconds, then Kris just shrugged.

"In that case... We’ll watch over you and keep you in check should the need arise." He said, almost like he didn’t see the issue.

Mike frowned at that.

"This is serious. If I’m not careful, I could..." He trailed off.

"Hurt us?" Theresa scoffed. "You’ve gotten a lot stronger since we met, I’ll admit that. But get it straight. You’d have to fight for your life in a one-on-one with any of us at full power. Let alone both of us together." She reached forward and tapped his forehead.

"What you should be worried about is whether you can snap out of whatever it is that’s happening to you fast enough to stop us from seriously hurting you." Mike’s eyes went crossed for a moment as he looked at her finger, then at her, then at Kris.

’... They’re sure.’ He thought. From what he could feel in regards to their emotions, there was no doubt or apprehension. They genuinely believed that they could handle him if it came down to it.

’I’ve never seen them go all out, now that I think about it.’ Mike suddenly realized. Theresa had never been in a situation that forced her to fight with everything she had, and Kris held back in their fight against the Rat King, which Mike was able to infer when he noticed the dormant Energy Pathways within his chains.

’That said... neither have I.’ His ferocity had risen above 50% exactly once, and the result of that was Mike somehow tearing apart an entire squad of presumably experienced Lizardmen, one of whom had an ability that became his main ability today.

He didn’t know how strong he’d become in that moment, but he doubted he’d be able to control himself. Who knew what would happen then?

Seeing his hesitation, Theresa sighed and moved her hand to his head before ruffling his hair like a child.

"Just trust us, alright?" She said, her voice gentler now.

Mike blinked, then slowly, his shoulders relaxed, and he nodded slightly as he closed his eyes.

"That’s better," Theresa let out a small smile as she kept her hand on his head for a few seconds, then she pulled away. "Now get some rest. I’m not letting you out of this place until you’ve fully recovered." She huffed, and Mike nodded obediently.

Meanwhile, Kris observed Mike with a slightly tilted head, his gaze thoughtful.

’... Is it related to what happened last night?’ He mused.

He could vividly remember that scene.

Kris felt all electrical signals from the Rat King cease as soon as Mike said, ’Die’.

The scene was startling, and he was about to move forward when he saw Mike’s aura dissipate along with the presence he was unleashing fade away. His body was rigid, and his eyes had rolled back, so it was easy to infer that he’d lost consciousness while standing.

However, just two steps in, Mike suddenly moved, and before Kris could make sense of what was happening, he brought the large core to his lips and started to chew on it.

The scene was... shocking, to say the least. It was common knowledge that a human ingesting a beast core was simpmy suicide. So when he saw Mike do it, he thought he had lost his mind.

Was he perhaps so low on energy that his body instinctively sought to absorb the nearest source?

Kris didn’t know, and now wasn’t the time to start wondering.

He wanted to reach forward and stop him, but something made him pause

Usually, if a human tried to absorb a beat core, the reaction would be immediate. The energies would reject each other violently, leading to a reaction that may or may not cause the person to explode from the inside.

However, even after taking several bites of the core, nothing happened.

In fact, Kris watched as Mike’s veins, which were blue and bulging unnaturally, started to recede, and his pale complexion became a bit better.

He still looked half-dead, but he seemed... better.

As soon as he finished devouring the core, he fell forward, but Kris was quick enough to catch him with a chain and lowered him to the ground.

He immediately inspected his body. Looking through his electrical signals to see if anything was amiss while doing his best to sense his energy, searching for signs of rejection.

Nothing.

In fact, if he didn’t know any better, he’d say Mike’s body was a tad more durable than it had been a moment earlier.

’... How is that possible?’ Kris frowned.

However, he couldn’t dwell on it too much. As soon as he was sure that Mike was okay, he carried him and left the area, using his connection with Theresa’s chain to find her.

Back to the present, Kris only felt his curiosity grow.

’What exactly is his ability? Is it truly just an aura-type?’ He wondered. However, he wouldn’t ask about it.

After all, he had his own secrets. He had no right to pry into Mike’s business. It was already good that Mike trusted them enough to tell them about a potential issue like that.

’Let’s just see how it goes.’ He let out an imperceptible sigh.

***

’What could have possibly happened here?’ Agnes wondered with a deep frown.

Even after hours had passed, the ash from the eruption last night hadn’t faded.

She along with some of her people, as well as Namor’s people had gone to investigate, and the longer they stayed here, the more apparent it was that this hadn’t been natural.

She looked at the surrounding devastation and shuddered. She thought the Titanic Corpse Flower would be the biggest threat in this place, and apparently, so had Namor.

However, when they saw giant plumes of ash and lava shooting into the sky late at night followed by the sounds of titanic explosions, they knew that it was the least of their problems.

Namor was already making plans to take down the Titanic Corpse Flower, and he didn’t like that there might be another powerful creature around, so he sent them to check it out.

Agnes wasn’t a huge fan of being ordered around like that, but she committed to it when Namor agreed to work with her.

Still, after arriving here and seeing the sheer amount of damage caused by... whatever it was that was in this place, she realized that being wary was the right choice.

However, she was unhappy.

’He said he would handle the tracking. But he still hasn’t said anything. Are his people even doing anything?’ She grumbled as she kicked away a loose rock.

When she asked about how they would find Mike and Theresa, Namor simply told her that he’d handle it.

To be fair, it was only the second day, and the area was large, so perhaps she was being harsh. However, she couldn’t shake the feeling of unease in her heart.

She needed them to be dealt with as quickly as possible. Otherwise, who knew what would happen?