Chapter 3: The Gauntlet
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~~~ [START]
Blackbird Manipulation, a curse technique that allowed Mei Mei to summon and control crows made of her own cursed energy. These crows were not ordinary birds, but magical constructs that served multiple purposes in combat and reconnaissance. Just like with all techniques, this one had its own conditions.
Summoning: Enabled Mei Mei to bring forth crows out of thin air.
Control: Granted her precise control over each bird, extending to their movements and physical actions.
Sensory shearing: Allowed her to experience what the crows could see, hear, and feel.
These were the only conditions Ken was bound to when using Mei Mei's template. And the only problem that he would have to consider was the consumption of cursed energy when her abilities were in use.
Standing up, Ken fixed his eyes to the crow he had just summoned. It was dark, purely dark, and he just couldn't help but stare at the crow in disbelief as his brain tried to process the large influx of information he had just received after summoning it.
And the baby crow just stood there, waiting patiently, its eyes still staring dead straight at his own. Its patience felt unnatural, as if every unmade movement was null in an effort to wait for an unknown command.
After some thought, Ken only dismissed the fact that it was little, concluding that his fusion with Mei Mei was only at 1%. He hypothesized that an increase in the percentage would likely cause the bird to grow bigger.
So, Ken stretched out his other hand, and instantly, three more crows appeared out of nothing. He could feel his cursed energy decrease with their summoning. Although his cursed energy manipulation was proving effective, he was still at 1 percent.
Now, the four baby crows all stood on his palm patiently, awaiting his command.
"Shear," he whispered, and his vision expanded sixfold, adding to his sight and becoming what only he could describe as three more pairs of eyes.
There were many, but his vision only seemed to be clearer. It didn't bother him in the slightest, despite the feeling of sharing three separate visions simultaneously. It did not even feel tedious. It only felt just right, as though the crows were one with him, as if they were an extension of his body.
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Time passed swiftly. And it had already reached early noon.
Ken, a 10-year-old child, was walking all alone in the tattered streets of Kamino Ward, with nothing but oversized hospital clothing and a doctor's mask over his face.
The Underbelly, a place that had become a home to the world's most notorious rejects. Ranging from a wide variety of villains to the lowest lows of small-time crooks, it was a junk home. One that had full-fledged criminals as its residents.
Ken walked through its streets as though he were one of them. And its citizens, those who walked past him, remained oblivious to his figure, as though he didn't even exist.
He needed money, but looking at where he was, he knew that it would only prove impossible. He was hungry; his body hadn't eaten in a week.
So his mind, in its desperate attempt for survival, gave him a risky idea, one that would need him to take advantage of where he was, one that was always deemed by most to be taboo: entering the underworld.
Over the last few hours, Ken had been trying to raise the level of his template. However, the more he attempted to do so, the more he realised that it wasn't truly effective. This, in his prediction, was probably because increasing the template at a rapid rate required the condition that it should be used in real-life situations.
Although raising the template's percentage by continually spamming its abilities was possible, it had taken him a full six hours to get it to only 3%. And for Ken, it simply proved too slow.
Now, Ken needed something that would provide both money and a rapid increase in the percentage of his template.
"What's a better way to do that than here?" he said with a smile playing at the ends of his lips. And his eyes widened as they stared at what obstructed their vision.
The Gauntlet.
A secret underground complex hidden beneath the city's streets. A place where fighters from all over Masutafu would gather to compete in brutal fights for food and residency. Run by a figure known as Ringmaster, who had connections with both the criminals of the underworld and the pro hero community.
So to Ken, the Gauntlet seemed like the perfect opportunity for him to increase the percentage of his template while simultaneously freeing his hunger for food.
On the surface, the Gauntlet was well-hidden and very difficult to find. Located at a back alley in Kamino Ward, behind a nondescript door that blended into the walls. The alley was poorly lit, with its flickering street lamps casting eerie shadows on the cracked pavement floor, even in the evening.
The only reason Ken knew about its location in the first place was because the man who was responsible for killing the original owner of his body was a fighter and member of the Gauntlet's establishment.
Ken, ignoring the unpleasant, confused glances from those who stood around him, walked in.
His oversized clothes crawled as he walked, bringing in with them nothing but dirt.
Passing through the door, he descended into a dark, dank stairwell that seemed to lead to a far-stretched arena. The walls were covered in graffiti, and the air was thick with the smell of sweat and a hint of smoke.
But suddenly, before Ken could proceed any further, the large hand of a bouncer stopped his body. His head was completely shaved, and he had sleeves completely covered in tattoos.
The man towered over Ken, and his eyes looked down directly at him.
There was silence for about ten seconds, but Ken didn't flinch or try to move. He just stood there and maintained eye contact, his expression housing nothing but a cold, unreactive expression.
Three more seconds passed, or perhaps less, until the bouncer finally removed his blocking hand. And Ken, completely unreactive to his actions, simply proceeded to walk. Descending from the stairwell, then moved to a room that had five large white doors that obstructed his movements.
Ken didn't even stop when he saw them; he just moved forward and picked one at random.
As he opened it, his eyes were met with a woman who was wearing a brown-coloured tailor-made suit. She was seated behind a table, with a small black pan and a single sheet of paper placed on the desk.
And despite her seated posture, she still seemed to be taller than him.
Yet, she said nothing. Just sat there, looking directly at where he stood.
Silence.
Then Ken finally spoke.
"I am here to fight the Gauntlet."
~~~ [END]
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Join my PT for extra Chapters ~ p*tr-eon name is DUSK_IS_MEE
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