Tale of Discovery

Chapter 5: Power

I make my way to the street in front of our house, and begin warming up for a jog. Once I'm done warming up, I attempt to do a medium-paced jog, but suddenly, I find myself dashing.

My brain being unable to process what my feet are up to, I find myself falling to the ground. I take a few seconds to get back on my feet, checking out my surroundings to see if anyone witnessed what just happened.

Relieved to see that there wasn't anyone, I think about the little incident just now. I'm sure I attempted to move at a medium pace. Yet, I suddenly found myself dashing. Am I unable to control my body to such an extent or is there something else going on here?

I prepare myself for another jog, this time wary of any complications that may occur. I move, no, I once again dash forward. This is abnormal. I have no recollection of what a normal speed would be like, but I can tell that this isn't how it's supposed to be.

I take a deep breath and look around me. I look towards the west, where the fields are. I focus on a tree in the middle of the field. Suddenly, my vision blips, and I find myself staring at ants climbing a brown cliff(?) No, that's not it. I tried to imagine something and as expected, it was the tree. My vision and speed are both abnormal... Is that it, or is there more to it?

I prepare for a full-speed run, marking the tree as my stopping point. I dash forward, no, I LAUNCH towards the tree. I cover the distance between myself and the tree, which was about 1km in two seconds.

What's going on?! I exclaim within my mind as I find myself crashing into the tree the next moment.

I shut my eyes, expecting a painful crash. What happened next blew my mind. I didn't crash into the tree, no, I only felt something light being pushed away in my path, with a loud cracking noise, and found myself in the air about to crash into the ground several hundred meters away from the tree.

I fall onto the ground and roll for a short distance and come to a stop after a short while. Unable to make sense of what just happened, I stay on the ground staring at the cloudy sky.

I feel no pain whatsoever, in fact, I feel way better now that I've moved so much.

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Finally getting back on my feet, I try to dash. In the blink of an eye, I find myself several meters away from where I originally stood. Is this the sealed power that Janus spoke of?

I repeat what I just did several times, to master it. Once I'm satisfied with my mastery over my dashing, I move onto sprinting.

This one was much harder to master compared to dashing. I fell about a dozen times or so before I finally got the hang of it.

Aware of the abnormality of the situation, I checked my surroundings frequently for any people. This, in turn, led to me understanding the basics of how my vision worked. Not only that, but I also feel like I have a little control over my perception now.

Controlling my senses, I feel the movements of a cricket in the field that isn't visible to me. Upon further focusing my senses, I noticed several ants moving closer to the cricket.

It seems like everything about my physical body has been enhanced... I wonder how much my strength and endurance have changed.

I focus my vision on a distant building that is still under construction. I dash and sprint towards it, covering the distance in 3 seconds, coming to an abrupt stop in front of the building. I check my surroundings through my senses, making sure that no one is within the vicinity.

Once I'm sure that no one is near me, I raise my arm and approach one of the walls of the building. Standing exactly in front of it, I punch with as much power as I can muster at the wall. Striking it, I feel everything around me shake, and cracks form on the wall.

I feel the cracks through my senses and realize they're growing at a fast pace. Alarmed, I dash away from the wall, coming to a stop a good distance away from it. I then witness the wall collapse into rumbles, while making a great deal of noise.

I'm amazed by the amount of power packed in that one punch and look at my hand. No injuries at all. It's like my flesh itself has been enhanced.

All of a sudden, I detect an abnormality through my senses. I focus and realize that several men are running towards where I am. Aware of the severity of the situation, I sprint towards the fields, practically blinking away from where I stood.

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"This is amazing. Are there any other enhancements that I have yet to find out about, Juno?" , I question.

"That is for you to find out. I am only here to explain the basics of your powers, not to tell you about their existence.", she replies with no pause.

I want to get even stronger. I wonder what it would be like to become so strong to be unmatched? Sounds fun.

"Is there a way for me to get even stronger than I am right now?" , I ask, full of expectations.

"There are several. The most efficient one would be leaving the Rift and traveling to a Platform, where you can gather more power easily.", she replies.

The Rift again. She keeps on mentioning it, yet has to explain what it is to me.

"The Rift is a crack in the macrocosm that appeared several millennia ago. It has now become the linchpin of all existing Platforms, with the Mete being the only thing separating them."

"Platforms are what you refer to as dimensions. The Mete is the space that you met me in my spiritual form, and are only able to exist spiritually. To get to a Platform, the Mete grants you a body that is a copy of your original at the Rift, with a spiritual connection between the two."

"If you die in a Platform, your soul should be able to return to its original body albeit at a cost, depending on how you died."

It seems like I have a lot of exploration to do.

"How do I access these Platforms that you speak of?" , I ask her.

"Get to the Mete, from there I will be able to send you off to any Platform that you wish to travel to.", she replies with a hint of excitement in her voice.

Juno said something about my body falling unconscious when I accessed the Mete... I should do this when I can lie down without anyone suspecting a thing.

"What's the best Platform for me to access right now that will let me get stronger?" , I inquire.

"There is one Platform that will let you gain power at a tremendous speed depending on the actions you take.", she says.

"Your existence is marked by the aura of Janus, which makes the flow of destined events to be tied to you. If you enter a Platform, you would inevitably affect everything even if you just sit and do nothing.", she explains.

"Now that we have all that cleared up, get to the Mete as soon as possible, you're going to be going to a Platform known as-", she continues then pauses at the end.

"Project Charlotte"