Chapter 51 What We Aim to Do Part 4

“In the end you will lose. Alone in your madness, you will find yourself without friends or allies.”

“Even if you die here alone?”

“I am not alone, that is the difference between you and I.”

- Paradigm and Unknown

Aiden and Ranpo decided to split up.

Currently, there were multiple obstacles to their plan.

First and most obvious, the Rain that Beholds the Morning Grass. While Aiden didn’t know what kind of magic ‘Cultivation’ was, it gave the woman from another reality freakish physical strength, a host of magical items such as rings that could store items and swords that could duplicate and fly. Along with a technique that surpassed all his defences.

There was not a single cut on his clothes or tattoos, it was as if she had bypassed all those things and stabbed his flesh directly.

Second, the red A now branded on his chest, just below his shoulder. The ability and its effect were completely unknown. All they had to go off of were the few sentences Ranpo overheard.

It required a ring with a seal on it, the type used to stamp letter wax, to physically make contact with a target. Ya believed it gave a level of leverage, how that leverage manifested, neither had any clue without observing it.

However, one clue Aiden had was that Rain had a similar brand on her own chest. She had no problem showing him on their first meeting, indicating that it may be benign, or beneficial to her somehow. She didn’t care if she was marked, and didn’t mind showing it to a complete stranger.

If the ability Scarlet Letter did not have different modes and usages, it could mean that the letters on both Aiden and Ranpo’s chest were benign as well.

Could.

Third, neither Aiden or Ranpo knew where Ya was.

He conducted his meeting from a laptop, though his face was known to them, and though they knew the NecterTM came from where he was, they had no information on where that was.

Fourth, and perhaps most troublesome, that ‘doorman’, Vanta.

The only ability user they saw, his ability seemed more and more troublesome the more either of them thought about it. As they understood it, Paint It, Black created a black paint that Vanta could spray everywhere, and the paint acted as portals to a dark sub dimension. Aiden had already seen it employed in both stealth and capture, and he theorised it could also act as storage, meaning wherever Ya’s base was, there was the potential Vanta could move it all, if it wasn’t already within that dark pocket.

Knowing all this, Aiden and Ranpo knew there were multiple avenues for them to spy on them.

The unknown limits of Rain’s magic system, the mystery of Scarlet Letter and Vanta listening in from a dark corner.

It was not a matter of if Rain’s magic had an ability to hear every conversation, if the Scarlet Letter acted as a direct phone line from them to Ya, or if Vanta was hiding in a dark corner near them.

The chance of any of one the three being true made continued planning and conversation difficult.

Three enemies.

One was powerful, one had a useful ability and one was mysterious.

This was going to be difficult.

Meanwhile, Ya was thinking the exact same thing.

“A spawner who could copy powers and has unknown limits…” he muttered, brow furrowed in thought, “Showed applications of shifter types, but with severe backlash, at least strong enough to physically shake Rain…”

Ya knew any blow strong enough to shake Rain would be able to turn any normal human into a burger patty.

“Most dangerous however…”

The intelligence of the crow.

“Any spawner capable of creating autonomous entities removes the option of taking out the spawner to take out his minions. But why has he made just one?”

As Ya continued to think, he continued to frown slightly. Bemoaning how utterly they fucked up initial contact. Even discounting Rain, there were many instances where he could’ve helped alleviate tensions, if not to build a close relationship, then one purely motivated by business.

Aiden’s power seemed useful, a good utility counterbalance to the physical brute Rain was.

“Good relations need good first impressions, since we’ve ruined that, we need to build better foundations and fix old quarrels,” he ascertained.

So Ya stood up from his desk, putting on a coat as he made for the door.

“Business?” Rain asked, her eyes not even opening as she sat cross legged meditating.

“I’m going to fix the mistake,” Ya answered. “Aiden Bu has the potential to become an extremely valuable asset, that’s why I must answer with sincerity.”

Vanta’s black paint dripped down and disappeared, revealing the red door hidden underneath.

From the black paint, Vanta rose up, his hands flashing in sign language.

(Need a guard?)

“Not for a trip to the bank,” Ya answered, directly facing Vanta so he could read his lips.

(Do you think the enmity can be solved?) Vanta signed.

“Money is a great motivator, combined with family, it is worth killing over,” Ya answered. “In the end all it comes down to is the transaction. He can hate us, but so long as he is still willing to work for us, it is enough.”

“And what if he is a prideful person?” Rain asked.

“He is not,” Ya told them with certainty. “I knew that the moment he seriously considered our offer, despite the anger seething within him. He is the same type of person I am.”

(Entirely too greedy?)

“Shallow minded?” Rain proposed.

“Business oriented,” Ya cut in. “You were the one who stabbed him, so the NecterTM does not count towards true owing. That account is settled, but we need him to owe us.”

“Shallow minded,” Rain repeated, “to believe relationships are dependent on a transaction and account book.”

Ya ignored her and left.

Parkour was getting easy.

The ever shifting parkour course outside the school became easier every day. Out of curiosity, he timed himself, not all that precisely mind you, only glancing at the time start to finish.

He was a few minutes faster, and stood in school much earlier than he expected. He was only slightly out of breath because he wasn’t used to wearing a medical mask.

Early in the morning, with not a lot of students around, and classes not yet open, Aiden wandered.

He wandered until he passed by a wall.

Strolling past it, Aiden saw all the names on it. As he walked, more and more were crossed out.

Until he stopped.

There was a name written and crossed out on Ad Infinitum.

There was no realisation, no return of memory, all he could tell was that this name was crossed out recently.

But Aiden remembered that feeling he had a few days earlier, of him forgetting something, but not knowing what.

He left and continued on with his day, because there was nothing he could do.

Aiden went through his classes in a quiet daze. Silent, aware, but not quite there.

He was quieter, moodier, any of his replies went down to only one word. Terse and empty.

There was no specific reason he could give to explain this state. No small or big thing he could pin all the blame on.

Sometimes you just felt empty and nothing could be done about that.

When the lunch bell rang, he wandered alone, not seeking any of the people who became his companions. Silent and alone as he let time bleed away. No one noticed him, and he might’ve stayed that way for moments or days if left by himself.

But he wasn’t.

“Aiden!”

A familiar voice, a person who finally tracked him down. Waving as they ran to him, holding something in their hands.

“I finally figured out how to cook!” Jun proclaimed, waving the food in front of them.

Aiden was silent for a moment, his expression did not change, Jun did not notice anything wrong with him.

But he slowly raised an eyebrow.

“Those are cup noodles,” he said as he began walking beside Jun.

“Hey fuck off! I threw a sausage and egg in there, that makes it a meal!” Jun defended.

“Proteins and carbohydrates? You need vegetables in there.”

“I had an apple slice earlier, I’m healthy,” they replied. “Also what’s with the mask?”

“Caught a cold,” Aiden lied, before quickly changing the subject. “You need more than an apple slice everyday.”

Jun scoffed, swiping her left hand past her face quickly, “That’s the neat part, I don’t! Just swipe a mask on and I look great!”

“Your power covers nutrient deficiencies?” Aiden asked, genuinely curious.

“Fuck if I know but I’m going to find out!”

“That is a terrible policy to take with your own well being,” Aiden replied as together they walked back to class.

When the bell rang, and Aiden left class, he saw crows.

Without a word, he left the general cluster of buildings where most of the students and teachers congregated together.

Until he stood alone in a hidden crop of trees, with only Ranpo beside him.

“I thought the idea was to split up,” Aiden began, leaning on the trunk of tree.

“I had a thought,” Ranpo said. “That principal of yours, what was his name?”

“Principal General Wendall Richard Monger,” Aiden replied.

“He noticed that spat that kid had with Jun, right?” Ranpo asked to confirm.

Aiden narrowed his eyes. “You’re thinking that he likely has some awareness of everything in the school?”

“Which means there’s a chance that the Vanta fellow won’t be able to follow us here, same with Rain,” Ranpo continued. “They risk running into any of the numerous meta students here, along with the trained staff. If they were intelligent individuals, they would know the risk.”

Adding on, he said, “At the very least, it would be significantly safer than discussing at home.”

Aiden unconsciously rubbed his chest, where the red A was. “Leaving only this.”

“So,” Ranpo began.

“Do we dare make the assumption on what the Scarlet Letter can do?” Aiden finished.

A moment of silence passed between them.

“It’s better than nothing,” Ranpo said. “Locations with good security can’t surpass this place by a lot. An open hand is also important with meta abilities, Ya only dictated that we can’t contact any authority figure…”

“Revealing your hand is a suggestion with a benefit,” Aiden replied, eyes deep in thought, “that phrase could be a complete red herring. A way to make us mentally limit the abilities of the Scarlet Letter.”

“We’ll end up with the same result as the slit-mouthed woman if we think like that,” Ranpo argued. “Going in constant circles trying to figure out which is which.”

Aiden was silent for a moment, but he nodded.

“M.I.A is probably the safest place for us to conduct our discussion then.”

“I agree,” Aiden replied, “what did you need me for?”

“Rain, do you have an idea on how we can check her?” Ranpo asked, “Something physically powerful is needed.”

Aiden was silent again, for only a second, but it was a second noticed by Ranpo.

“Not physical, I’m not sure if I can reasonably create something with enough enhancing concepts to threaten her and also have a reasonable degree of control over the thing. Other than doing it with my own physical body or just letting it rampage.”

Ranpo looked at him.

Really looked at him.

“You’re lying,” he said with a tone of surprise. As if he had realised something so obvious, that he never had before. “I- I never noticed this before. You lie a lot, so much and with such a straight face.”

Aiden’s eyes flickered to the crow.

“Am I?” he asked.

“There’s no difference,” Ranpo muttered, mind lost in thought, “no difference from when you normally speak and when you lie. But I know you are. I know you are lying to me somehow right now.”

Ranpo broke out of his trance and stared at Aiden.

“Why are you lying about being unable to create something powerful?”

Silence.

A moment, a second moment, a third moment, before Aiden sighed.

“I heard this before,” Aiden said to no one in particular, “that strict parents raise good liars. Mine were different, but it seems like the results were the same.”

Aiden straightened himself, looking at Ranpo.

“Imagine creating something, completely by accident, not knowing the full extent of the power you possess. Treating it as a thing until they show you otherwise and the realisation hits you.”

“Imagine living with them, learning to like this person, enjoying his sarcasm, slowly finding yourself emulating some of the sarcasm, following along as you watch him discover the world.”

“And one day,” Aiden began, voice dying. “That person comes home in a body bag, or you’re in a fight and they die protecting you and you know it was your fault.”

Ranpo took a step back.

“You-” his voice died in his throat, for Ranpo knew not what to say.

“The temporary ones are fine,” Aiden murmured, “they exist for minutes at a time, I won’t spend enough time to get attached to them. The Umbrella is fine as well, it’s just a tool. You though? You are a line I don’t want to be crossed.”

“You don’t want them to die on you,” Ranpo realised, “You don’t want anyone to die on you, so you refuse to make that connection in the first place.”

“You can leave Ranpo, I’ve always let you be free,” Aiden told him.

“Why have you always given me my freedom?” Ranpo asked.

“Because I of all people know how much a child can hate their father.”

Silence.

Because what else could be said here?

And slowly, Ranpo opened his wings and flapped away.

Aiden watched him go into the sky.

“Is that the choice you made?” he pondered, standing alone in that crop of trees.

Only a few minutes later, did Aiden realise he was wrong.

As running in from the distance, from the crowds, there was a familiar figure. Closing in on him with a crow flying close behind.

Jun skidded to a halt, panting in exertion, as if she had run the whole way here.

“You-” Aiden began, but could finish, before Jun rushed up to him and grabbed his face.

She quickly pulled the straps of his medical mask off, feeling his bare cheeks underneath.

The skin looked fine, Aiden still had a Human Skin tattoo obscuring it.

But Jun’s finger could feel the bumps of the scars.

“Fuck, you were telling the truth then…”

Ranpo flapped to a stop behind her, “Of course I was.”

“Ranpo, what did you tell her?”

“Everything of course,” the crow said, “I’ve realised I’m not a big fan of lying. That’s a new thing I’m discovering about myself.”

“Why the fuck did you tell her anything?” Aiden almost yelled, an almost unknown emotion in his eyes.

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me anything!” Jun yelled back.

“This isn’t your business-”

“Why isn’t it!” she interrupted, tears dripping down her face. “You saved my fucking life while I ran like a coward! You taught me how to cook, you taught me how to ride a fucking bike!” she yelled. “No one else has ever done this for me! No one else has ever given a shit about what happens to me!”

Jun was hiccuping as they forced more words out of their throat, “I didn’t know I was alone, but then I did, and I realised I wanted to be like you, to be someone who was there for people you know? Someone who takes care of other people, someone who’s a good person!”

They were someone used to loneliness. To the point they forgot other people’s warmth and their solitary self became their normal self. In the end pushing others away. Talking too fast for others to hear them, and generally being obnoxious.

“And what do I hear? You’re getting your ass beat every other day!”

Aiden wanted to speak, but he hesitated, looking at the crying figure before him.

And he took out his Umbrella.

It was a treasure. Something that had blocked numerous bullets from the goblins, stalled for time while the slit-mouthed boogeyman attacked, and allowed him to last several more seconds against Rain. He would not be alive without it.

Aiden reabsorbed it without hesitation.

And a shudder went through him as he remembered why he saved Jun.

He tossed the broken cleaver, for that was all it was now. The excess Hume he turned into numerous other tattoos, storing their Hume before they dissipated.

And he took out a napkin, wiping away Jun’s tears.

“Let’s sit down,” Aiden said, his voice sounding… deathly tired. “Let’s sit down and talk.”

And they did, on that grassy bed.

“I am not a role model to aspire to,” Aiden said, his eyes staring into the ground.

“You-”

Aiden gently raised a hand, “Please let me finish.”

They paused.

And with a silent sigh, Aiden said, “I am not a role model to aspire to, I am not a person you should aim to become.”

“I am flawed,” he said, looking at his right arm, where the stump still was, “Most people care about bodily injury, they would care if they suddenly lost a limb, they would care if they were beaten all day. And most importantly…”

He didn’t look at them, he didn’t look up from his view of the ground.

“Most people would care if they died.”

Aiden sighed.

“Do you know what I felt when I made the decision to save your life?”

Jun shook their head.

“Relief,” Aiden replied, “because I finally got to die for a good reason.”

Jun’s hand tightened into a fist, Ranpo sighed but he had long realised it.

“I realised at some point, I had stopped trying because I wanted to go on, but because trying was all I knew to do. That continued struggle was the habit I fell into even when it became hollow.”

For the first time, Aiden looked up and met Jun’s eyes.

“You called yourself a coward for running, well I say I am the same, for I was also running, just in a different direction.”

Silence.

A pause.

Then Jun leaped towards Aiden, tackling him into the floor, arms wrapped around him.

“BUT YOU STILL FUCKING SAVED MY LIFE DIDN’T YOU!” they yelled.

Aiden froze.

“JUST BECAUSE YOU DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOURSELF DOESN’T ME IT DIDN’T MATTER TO ME! AND HONESTLY FUCK YOU! ARE YOU SAYING MY LIFE WAS ONLY WORTH YOU DYING WELL? AHHH I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS!”

As Jun babbled on, their arms wrapped tighter and tighter around him, their tears and snot stained his shirt.

Aiden hesitated. He realised with slight panic that in his entire life as Aiden Lu, this was the first time this had happened to him. He didn’t know where to move, every slight twitch of his arms was filled with awkwardness and hesitance. He could only instinctively wrap his own arms around Jun.

It was the first time he had done such a thing, but it was a hug nonetheless.

He didn’t know when they stopped crying, only that the sun was setting as they did so.

“What do you plan on doing?” Aiden asked.

“Duh, doing the same thing you were going to do,” Jun replied. “Rob them and help your sis.”

“This isn’t your fight.”

“I’ve decided it is.”

“And if I don’t want you?”

“I’m still here,” Ranpo said.

Jun chuckled, “He may not have my wit or good looks, but I figure the two of us can pull it off.”

“You have no plan,” Aiden said.

“We can make one up as we go,” Ranpo said.

Aiden sighed.

“Will I be able to convince you that this is stupid?”

“Are you able to do so for yourself?” Ranpo asked instead.

“No,” Aiden soberly shook his head. “No, I would not be able to.”

He sighed again. “If that’s the case, get up, I have spare Hume to spend right now.

All the excess Hume from the Umbrella, which he had transferred into a dozen different tattoos that covered his body. All spent, as Aiden began to phase slightly in and out of existence, Oro’s white body completely covered in black bark and colourful flowers as Aiden spent his Hume to the limit.

Aiden wobbled back, but Jun quickly caught him, eyes staring at the thing he had just created.

Anger, hate, alienation, all these emotions and a list of other concepts and memories gone from his mind, the only proof of it was a thin paper slip, detailing everything he had put into it.

“She’s pretty…” Jun murmured.

Aiden regained his bearings, then noticed a problem.

The problem of Jun staring with rosy cheeks at what he had just created.

The new creation was naked.

All of them were now that he thought about it. It was not generally a problem with all his other stuff, but this was…

Aiden slapped his hand over Jun’s eyes, “Hey!”

“Stop that you horn dog,” Aiden said, shaking his head as he reabsorbed the creation with his other, real hand, leaving only an inanimate training dummy that they had found in the school gym.

“I’m going out to buy clothes, wait here,” Aiden said.

“Hey don’t you think I should be the one buying the clothes?” Jun asked. “After all I’m a girl like eighty percent of the time.”

Aiden stared at them.

“No, because I don’t want her to end up in a maid costume.”

“Maid costume!” Jun said with utter outrage, “It’s short shorts and a sports bra! That or yoga pants!”

Ranpo began laughing.

Aiden edged away until he was out of touching distance of the crazy teenager, and silently turned and left to buy proper clothing.

Jun snorted as she followed him.

They returned and clothed the training dummy with something normal.

And Aiden put his hand on it and pushed the tattoo back onto it.

“Her hair is so long…” Jun murmured.

“This is just another tool,” Aiden said. “A-” he paused, as he realised he no longer remembered the word he was going to use.

“Puppet,” Ranpo supplied for him.

“Yeah, whatever that means,” Aiden said. Knowing he would have to pour through a dictionary later on.

Jun cracked her knuckles. “So I just need to be able to beat her?”

“Essentially,” Aiden said.

She stepped forward, “Hey puppet, I’m Jun.”

And the puppet’s eyes flickered open.

“Remember, it doesn’t have its original personality, and it's only a copy at best,” Aiden told Jun.

Aiden couldn’t risk her personality incarnating through his power, dealing with one was difficult enough, two would be a nightmare. So he did the same thing he did with the Umbrella, removing will by adding the concept of a tool, except here, he used the concept of a puppet.

“I am the Rain that Beholds the Morning Grass,” the puppet said in a language neither of them spoke, but could easily understand, “Disciple of Overcoming the Eight Shattered Mountains Sect.”

“Is it supposed to do that?” Jun asked.

Aiden frowned, not knowing enough of the woman to make a judgement.

“She said the same thing when you fought her,” Ranpo supplied, “it must’ve stuck in your head.”

The puppet clasped its hands and bowed. “Warrior of the Airless Lands who cannot sense Cultivation, I am a Cultivator of the Sixth Stage. Let us trade pointers.”

Jun smiled, “Let’s go.”

And they fought.

For about two seconds, before Jun slammed into the wall of the training room.

“Stop!” Aiden yelled.

The puppet immediately stopped in its tracks.

“Holyshit!” Jun groaned as she rubbed her bruises, “Yeah I can see how you lost to her.”

“Can you do it?” Aiden asked.

“Hell yeah!” she replied as she ran back up to the puppet.

Both blurred.

Aiden could barely keep up with the speed, but even as Jun was beaten back again and again.

He saw that she was able to react to puppet Rain’s movement.

Ranpo left the building, flying outside until he landed upon its rooftop.

There, waiting all around him were dozens upon dozens of crows.

“Help us find this person,” Ranpo cawed out to them, pushing out a sketch of Rain, Ya and Vanta, describing their features to the murder of crows before him. “Tell us where they move around, try to determine where they live, especially the male.”

“The previous deal of food still stands,” Ranpo told them. “Just this time you can trade this instead of money…”

Below him, Aiden had left Jun to her practice, walking towards the library.

Until his phone rang.

An unknown number.

Aiden answered it.

“Good afternoon,” Ya greeted him.

“Do I want to know how you got this number?” Aiden asked.

“Phonebook,” Ya replied.

“Why are you calling?”

“We got off on the wrong foot, Aiden Bu,” Ya said, “I wish to make amends, to salvage whatever part of our business relationship can be.”

Aiden closed his eyes.

Right now, his anger was all in that puppet Jun was training against.

“I am listening.”

“Your sister’s weekly hospital bills cost two thousand and a hundred dollars,” Ya stated. “As an apology, I have paid all costs for the next year.”

“One hundred and ten thousand dollars,” Aiden quickly calculated. “Is that what you want me to owe you?”

“Not at all,” Ya replied. “As I said, this is an apology. A gift that you do not owe me. In fact you may choose to leave now, and I will never bother you again. So long as you keep the Scarlet Letter on you to remain as a contingency for myself.”

Aiden briefly closed his eyes.

“You want to show me you are capable of casually dropping this sum of money.”

He could almost hear the smile on the other end.

“Very well, you understood. That is the array of wealth I am offering, can I rely on you?”

“What does the Scarlet Letter ability do?” Aiden asked.

A pause.

“I can tell you if you decide to truly join,” Ya replied. “You-”

Suddenly Ya paused, leaving only silence on the phone.

“We will continue this conversation at a later date,” Ya suddenly said, “I hope you will have an answer by then.”

And hung up.

Elsewhere, Ya hurriedly put away his phone as he glanced at the television screen before him, and of the casualties displayed due to a terrorist attack on a train.

And the names he recognised from the list of registered ability users that he had sold.

Ya immediately called home, which Vanta picked up but passed to Rain. “Rain, escort me back to base. Vanta, gather all the data we have on the man we sold the information to. The Murigan.”

“You sound worried,” Rain said over the phone.

“I made a mistake,” Ya said. “I’ve sold intelligence to a foreign power… if it were any other, it would’ve be fine, but I didn’t think these fuckers would actually make a move now. They’ve been silent for decades.”

“Who are?” Rain asked as she landed beside him, the phone still in her hand.

“One of the Five Threats,” Ya answered grimly.

“Which are?”

Ya paused, and almost slapped his forehead if not for his incredible self control.

“This world has five classified threats that we recognise as being if not world ending, then civilisation ending,” he grimly replied.

Pointing up towards the shards of the shattered black moon he said, “The first is a higher civilisation that tried to starve us out of sunlight by blocking it with a massive moon over six hundred years ago. They’re the reasons we dare not take a step out into space.”

He glanced around, eyes staring into the east, “The second is a threat in the Pacific, which humanity has long since lost the right to name or describe, I cannot tell you more, for then I will attract its notice, but know that every human knows what it is, for we pay a great price to pass the information to our children, and if we forget it, then it will win.”

“Third is the shattered timeline,” he said, glancing at a clock. “Time is currently broken and does not occur the same or correctly across the entire world. This one is not as dangerous, as The Order of the Clock Tower has made great strides in stabilising time. You may only experience a few continuity errors in reality.”

“Fourth you should already know, the forces of Hell and their Gate from Yuro-P. Legend has it that Hell is already shattered by some unknown hero, and their sword is left in the magma lake of Hell’s core-”

Rain perked up slightly at the mention of the sword.

“-However whether or not that hero or sword exists is up for debate, and Hell doesn’t actually seem inconvenienced if it was shattered.”

She shrugged, “The last one?”

“The last is the most recent, only appearing in the last two hundred years. It is the one that we’re dealing with, and the one I’m most familiar with,” Ya murmured. “It has taken over both the North and South Murigana Continents, and is the Living Concept of Democracy turned mad.”

Aiden put down his phone and continued onto the library.

Waving at Four who was at the desk reading a book, he entered, looking for a certain section.

He did not go and ask Ranpo to stop his search, nor did he ask Jun to cease her training.

He wouldn’t, for he knew now, what kind of person he wanted to be.

During the time when he had the Umbrella, when he had lost his acceptance of death, he was far more daring, far more motivated, far more willing to act.

For death was no longer an option for him then.

That proclivity slowly returned to him, even gone from his power, the emotion slowly built itself up, because Aiden was fundamentally the same person, just with a piece missing, a piece that his mind slowly tried to refill.

But what that gave him was a perfect comparison of two hims.

One who accepted death and didn’t even care to fix his own hand.

And one who didn’t, who acted and risked.

He knew now which was the better him. And though he was not in a hurry to remove that part of him again, he knew now how to act.

Aiden knew now how to be a motivated person.

So he simply wrote something down on a slip of paper.

Then he tried to make that thing with his power.

Looking at his arm, no visible tattoo appeared, yet when he read the paper, the name was gone from his memory.

It was a success.

Aiden didn’t want to create something he could get attached to and be exposed to danger.

That limited him to mindless tools like the Umbrella and Puppet Rain, object manipulation through tattoos, body shifting, and some very temporary creations that wouldn’t last.

But against opponents like Rain, who was physically powerful enough that even his best attempt barely phased her, there was a limit that he could do. He might eventually be able to break that limit, but he would be playing behind, facing a brick at their well, strengths.

So instead of constantly thinking bigger… Aiden decided that perhaps he should think smaller.

And he found the book he was looking for.

A book of Microbiology.