Chapter 30 - <Limiter Ring>
I reached their Base, and it was hidden underground in an isolated area of the city's outskirts. If not for MJ pointing the exact location, I couldn't have found it out.
I used the <Sword Aura> along with <Sword Aura Extension> on top of the <Stream Wind Sword> and the metallic entrance door was sliced apart with a single strike.
Once I entered, I used the Stream Wind Sword's inbuilt Skill, <Wind Sheath> and controlled the longsword to pierce the head of everyone that pointed their gun at me.
I used a dead Underground Syndicate criminal as a shield from the incoming bullets. Whenever some of them tried to throw a grenade at me, I would shoot a fireball at them before they could.
With my Hydraulic leap, closing the distance between them and me was done with ease.
In the close melee, It didn't take long before all the 34 Underground Syndicate criminals died. Except for those who died from the <Fireball> attack, none of the remaining ones died in a single piece.
With the legs, hands and heads separated and spilt everywhere, the whole place looked like carnage, and I was drenched in their blood.
Once they died, I didn't receive any Life Energy like how it was in Trial World.
But the strange thing was that my Innate talent, <LOOT> reacted to my rage clouded mind and it mysteriously functioned by itself and looted stats from them.
But with them being 2 stages lower than me, I only obtained 3* Looted Stats from each of them.
I obtained 102* Looted Stats in total but didn't receive any Skills from them. According to MJ, the skills that a person learns in their life before assimilating with the System were not recognised as a System Skill.
I didn't care about it and reached the vault door that was at the end of the pathway. The Metal Vault Door was so thick that it took me 5 strikes and on the fifth Strike, I even had to use the Skill, <Stream Wind Edge> on top of Lv.14<Sword Aura> and <Sword Aura Extension>.
Just as I entered the split opened vault door, I used <Wind Sheath> to control the <Stream Wind Sword>, and it spun so fast that it looked like a shield.
I ignored those who were shooting at me and looked at my brother, who was strapped to a metallic chair with wires attached to electrocute him.
Some spots of skin tissue on my brother's face were torn, and some of the blood vessels under the skin were ruptured, causing swelling and that severe case occurs when someone continuously punches on the face.
His fingernails were missing and with dried blood in their place, and his already weak body was covered in blood from the cuts and bruises that filled my brother's body. His eyes were barely open, and in his eyes, I could see his pain.
Upon looking at my brother in such a condition, my mind went blank for a second and for just a split second, the view in front of me changed into an unending pitch-black space.
Within the centre of the Vast Space was a golf ball-sized Orb and it continued to pulse from one colour to another. With the Orb as the centre, there were 10 circular milky white paths, like the planet's orbits around the sun.
As I looked at the golf ball-sized Orb, an intimate feeling rose within me, and I could instantly tell that it was my Innate Talent <LOOT>.
Then a series of notifications popped up, and my consciousness returned to normal.
[Congratulations! You attained a Super-Cluster Level Achievement by opening your own Spirit Space while just being in Tier-2.]
[Due to causing a Super-Cluster Level Achievement, You will receive a random reward that is one grade higher than your Tier.]
[Since you are a Tier-2 Lifeform, You will receive a random Rare Grade Reward.]
[Congratulations! You have received an accessory type Spirit Item, <Limiter Ring> (Rare Grade).]
By the time I regained my senses, the 102* Looted Stats that I recently obtained were automatically added uniformly to the 5 main attributes in my <LOOTED STATUS> while leaving 2* Looted Stats behind.
Then my overall stats in <LOOTED STATUS> became more than double the amount of the overall stats in <STATUS>, and the previously locked Innate Exclusive Skill <INVERSE> was unlocked.
My Innate Talent, <LOOT> respond to my Rage, and it activated the <INVERSE> mode by itself.
Once I was hit by a tsunami of pain from the sudden increase in stats and even with the Lv.50 <Physical Pain Resistance> it was unbearable.
I held onto my consciousness while thinking about the torture my brother was put through. When the <Physical Pain Resistance> levelled up 5 times, the pain sensation washed away.
Even though it all happened in a second, it felt like a lifetime for me. By the time I realised, I was already in <INVERSE> mode with 81* Stats in each of my 5 main Attributes of <LOOTED STATUS>.
Since all of the Attributes were in equilibrium, my Rare Skill <Harmony> was automatically activated, and I was able to adjust to the increased Looted Stats in an instant.
My emotions were forcibly suppressed as I entered a state of Harmony and I was no longer feel any emotion. With the synergy effect from all the Stats of the <LOOTED STATUS> being in equilibrium, my time perception increased to 8.1 times the norm.
Everything around me was in slow-motion and with my overall stats in <LOOTED STATUS> being at 405*, I was just 45 stats away from becoming a Tier-3 Lifeform in <INVERSE> mode.
Unconsciously, an oppressive force that originated because of the Tier suppression was spread from me, and I controlled it to not affect my brother.
But for the remaining Underground Syndicate criminals, it was not the case since they were not assimilated with the System, they were considered even below Tier-1.
Since I was on the verge of being a Tier-3 Lifeform, the Tier suppression was so high that they fell to their knees and couldn't even move anymore.
I shoved away all the thoughts about the notifications about Spirit Space, Rare Grade Spirit Item and other things to aside.
As the steam drifted away, I walked towards my brother and gave him a drop of the 'sap of <High Vitality Fruit>.'
His injuries closed up a bit, and he was not in a dangerous condition as before. It seemed to relieve his pain as he quickly slept.
By the time I already reverted from <INVERSE> mode, which was 11 standard minutes.
I already found all the information I needed on who was behind my brother's kidnapping and the remaining Underground Syndicate criminals were begging to kill them.
But that didn't stop me from continuing the torture for another hour before ending them. Following that, I erased all the traces of the Underground Syndicate criminal's dead bodies with the skill, <Fireball>.
When I exited their hidden headquarters, three criminals of the Underground Syndicate that were sent to procure the evidence and to kill me just got there.
That saved me the trouble to go after them, and before they realised how unlucky they were, they became my Looted Stats.
After that, I had MJ to remove any digital evidence of that incident and brought Kay to my house instead of a hospital, and for every passing hour, I gave a drop of the High Vitality Fruit's Sap to Kay for the past five hours.
All the injuries on my brother healed, and even his missing fingernails grew back. There was not even a single mark left from the injuries, and he doesn't look like he was tortured.
He was still sleeping, and I didn't wake him up.
Moreover, his usual weak body frame, which was the result of 'Polymyositis' was improved, and his complexion wasn't pale anymore.
I used the Skill <Inspect> on Kay to find whether my brother's physical condition improved or not. It only showed his species name as Lesser Human' that was similar to me, when I was in Tier-1.
But that was it, other than that I couldn't find any information. Then MJ's voice resounded in my head, "Master, it is because your brother is not yet connected to the system."
Then he flew up to me and puffed up his chest and said proudly, "But, with me here, Master needn't have to worry, I could simulate anyone's Status even when they are not assimilated with the System, but the only condition was that they have to be lower levelled than Master".
When I was in Anger and Rage, MJ felt the changes in me through our soul connection, and he didn't act childish and spoiled even though that was the instinct of his baby soul, which was a portion of mine.
Even though I didn't regret killing all of the Underground Syndicate criminals, It still affected me subconsciously as my rage and adrenaline died down.
Once we got back to my house, MJ subtly started to cheer me up and with his cute antics, even my mood turned better. That made me take quite a liking to MJ.
I reached out to his little head and ruffled MJ's hair, and he giggled comfortably.
Then I asked him to show me Kay's simulated Stats and also to explain the types of Achievements as I already encountered three different levels of Achievements (Universe level, Supercluster level and Galaxy level).
MJ waved his palms, and a square notification tab appeared floating above Kay, which looked similar to the System's <STATUS> tab except for the letters MJ that was big enough to fill the background of the simulated Status tab.