"Ayoo, this is quite the barrage. How is anyone supposed to survive this?" Cyrus Blood muttered with amusement as he walked through a hallway full of laser guns and turrets that repeatedly fired upon him.
Most of them bounced off his skin and began to ricochet around, striking everything else but their target. By the time he was halfway across the hallway, most of the guns firing at him had destroyed themselves.
When he made a turn, Cyrus found that this hallway had no mounted weapons, instead it was chock-full of armed men wielding rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machinery. The young man's face became colorful, and he couldn't help but curse.
"Wow, guys, just wow. RPGs? For li'l ol' me? Ever heard of overkill?"
Despite sounding casual, he was thinking rapidly. He was confident in the defenses Orochi's power granted his body, but according to the God Serpent it came at the cost of Bloodline Energy.
So far, blocking and redirecting lasers, bullets, and the like had taken so little that the total cost was apparently only 0.2% of his Bloodline Energy reserves. Rockets he could theoretically block, but he couldn't reflect them so easily.
Not to mention that due to its explosive nature, it would cost far more Bloodline Energy to keep himself safe. If his energy reserves ran out before he managed to escape, the most likely outcome was him ending up like swiss cheese. That or a pile of ash.
The leader of this squad stood at the back, giving orders to his men as they prepared to fire upon Cyrus. The weapon lit up with a scarlet color as the rocket was fired out.
At that moment, the God Serpent Inheritor thought back to the list of powers Orochi had listed.
["The first head allows me to fly through the air without wings, the second head allows me to spit out the greatest toxins in creation, the third head allows me to breathe flames, the fourth head allows me to breathe ice, the fifth head allows me to teleport through space freely, the sixth head makes me possess the intelligence of a hundred dragons, the seventh head allows me to swim through water with ease and the eighth head allows me to use Darkness Energy."]
Cyrus took action. Channeling his energy through a visualization of Orochi's fifth head, he disappeared from his spot and appeared behind the squad right as the rockets exploded at his former location.
The squad cheered as they breathed out sighs of relief, feeling that they had survived a calamity. The squad captain did the same before admonishing his squad for being too excited, telling them to check for the corpse of their target.
Cyrus, who was behind them, rubbed his chin and pondered his next course of action.
'First of all, I am not a murder hobo! I have never consciously killed a person in my life. That was all Orochi. These guys tried to kill me, sure, but they were doing it out of survival. If I saw a terminator-like dude blocking bullets and lasers walking down a hallway, I'd shoot or run as well.'
'Seeing them now, they all must have families. At least a wife, probably daughters or sons as well. Even if they're all bachelors, they should still have parents who would miss them. I don't think it's a good idea to cause them such pain. I've already avoided the attack, so nothing should happen to me.'
'Still, they may backtrack and hound me later. So the best option might be to incapacitate them in a way that would prevent them from doing just that.'
'Hmmm I've watched martial arts movies and the like, but that doesn't mean I can knock out a person myself. Besides, with my strength, trying to chop their necks may just as well end up beheading them.'
Orochi then interjected Cyrus' thoughts. 'You're wasting Bloodline Energy using my sixth head, which speeds up your thoughts by a hundred times. The answer to your problem is simple.'
Cyrus paused with surprise. 'It is?'
Orochi grumbled. 'You're new to my power, so I'll help you out this once. What does my second head do?'
Cyrus replied instantly. 'It allows you to spit out the greatest toxins in creati-… shit, I'm a dumbass!!"
Orochi's eight heads nodded at once and spoke in unison. 'That you are.'
The Inheritor couldn't even bother to defend himself, as he had overthought the issue. Then again, it couldn't be helped, he had only learned about those powers a few minutes ago, that wasn't enough time to master them, especially since they were so manyfold and versatile.
Cyrus channeled Bloodline Energy through a visualization of the second head and produced a toxin that would knock out a person. He then breathed it out through his mouth, the purplish gas wafting into the nose of the squad and sending them tumbling to the floor asap.
The young man coughed a bit, some purple gas escaping his mouth.
'Come to think of it, aphrodisiacs should also be a form of poison, right? I could use that to taste any girl I want and live the life of a hentai protagonist, hehehe.'
Orochi didn't seem bothered by this, only saying one thing. 'You could, but is there a need to go so far?'
At this time, Cyrus passed by a wall that had chromium metal, which reflected his appearance as good as a mirror would. Looking back at himself, he could see a handsome young man with shoulder-length curly brown hair, two light brown eyes, a wide nose, defined jaw, and pink lips that had bits of purple on them.
(Author's Note: He looks a lot like Chad Danforth from High School Musical, but much handsomer.)
He was a bit messy as his hair was all over the place, and he looked a bit haggard, but the foundation was there.
'I guess not…' Cyrus answered with embarrassment.
He was good enough to call a random girl and have her stop to listen to what he had to say, and even likely end up with her number. However, whether he would climb to the next level depends on his own skill, his looks could only take him that far.
Cyrus frowned. 'I should get rid of this crap.'
He flexed his arms and realized he was still wearing his straitjacket and pants, barefooted on top. He looked just like what he was on paper, a very dangerous madman who had escaped.
If it was in good shape, that would be fine, but the lasers and bullets had left it in tatters, leaving him almost half-naked. Cyrus looked at the incapacitated guys and was tempted, but shook his head.
'In the movies, the hero always changed into the attire of the guard she knocked out, but those movies never mentioned how those clothes stank from sweat. Not to mention that since it's still being worn, it will be warm with their body temperature, which is just ugh.'
He decided to continue on, asking Orochi at the same time. 'You wouldn't have any ability that allows us to change our attire, do you?'
Orochi opened one eye and pondered for a bit. 'My eighth head, maybe.'
Cyrus pondered. 'Eighth head means Darkness Energy. Is it possible to use that to weave semi-permanent or permanent clothing? I mean, I've seen some cool characters on TV do that before.'
Thinking along those lines, he concentrated deeply and manifested a bit of darkness around his body. He first got rid of his old stuff and let the darkness that coiled around him solidify into what he envisioned.
When he checked himself out in the mirror, Cyrus was elated to see that he wore a black Lacoste shirt with black sweatpants that fit him comfortably. On his feet were a pair of black and red vans that looked sleek.
From a madman to a trendy handsome young man who would catch eyes at any party or social gathering for young adults, what a transformation!
Feeling more confident, Cyrus moved along the hallways slowly, recovering his Bloodline Energy as he went. Teleporting, creating the gas and creating his clothes had all drained him a bit, and he wanted to see how quickly he recovered compared to how much he lost.
He was kinda shocked to find that he regenerated 0.1% Bloodline Energy per second, which also explained why his invincibility never switched itself off.
As he was a rogue in Boundless, he understood that he was a like a mage who had crazy mana regeneration, allowing him to spam small spells. This led Cyrus to wonder about his mana capacity and how 'big' he could go with his attacks.
When he reached a door, Cyrus pushed it open to see that he entered a luxury lounge. Within the lounge was a bar, a small kitchen, and a few sofas set around a coffee table.
Opposite the coffee table was a large panel-like display that slowly switched on to display a conference room where a group of men and women sat with frowns on their faces.
At the head was a pretty young woman who made Cyrus gasp at how beautiful she was, but that was it. He looked around and sat down on the main sofa opposite the screen and put his legs up.
The beautiful woman pursed her lips and muttered. "Shockingly similar to that other one… is there a connection?"
"Ayo?" Cyrus asked with a strange smile, noting that there was a bartender and a cook in the lounge who were gazing at him with trepidation.
"Greetings, Cyrus Blood. You may know me as the President of the Superhuman Organization. I have been looking forward to meeting you."
Cyrus gasped with awe. "Superhuman Organization? Wow, what rank are you?"
The President seemed puzzled by his words. "Rank…? What exactly are you referring to?"
Cyrus gestured emphatically. "Your rank in your organization!"
The President looked at Cyrus strangely. "Did you not hear me introduce myself as its President?"
Cyrus looked like he was talking to an idiot. "No, I got that part, but that's just your position within the organization, right? Your organization is literally called 'Superhuman', so surely you have a bunch of them, and you must have graded their powers into different levels, no?"
"My question is where do you fall on that scale?"
The President understood and let out a chuckle. "Yes, we do have a grading of sorts for our people, but I'm not on it. I'm just the President of the board, simple."
Cyrus' excited expression was completely squashed by her reply as he gazed at her ludicrously.
"So you're telling me… that the person who leads an organization of superhumans… who should be capable of things no ordinary person could… is led by a stupidly, normal person?"
Cyrus' question created a suddenly awkward atmosphere as the president of the board was left speechless.. Her fellow compatriots seemed to notice this issue too, but they seemed to fear the President more than anything else, so they kept quiet.
