CHAPTER 5: INFINITE STRENGTH

CHAPTER 5: INFINITE STRENGTH

MARKO gulped down as his hands scratched the window pane.

He could see the stream of smoke rising higher and higher near the village square, the crimson light of the flame were impossible not to notice.

"Are the core five going to be okay?" He asked himself.

The sounds of the battle could be barely heard over the distance but still enough to spell the certain doom that would soon hit them.

"Shayla? What's the highest level of a terror the five have ever faced?" He asked.

Shayla hesitated a bit before responding. "A level two terror like the dark leopard is the highest they have ever faced. But you managed to beat that on your own so I guess you are much stronger than them all put together."

Teresa observed her son with a gloomy look on her face, she could notice his eyes carrying a troubling gaze she could not discern.

"What about a level four terror?" Marko surprised them by his response. "Can they beat that?"

Since he was the only one who could predict the level of the terror it was he knew they would be baffled by it.

Shayla pressed down on her chest and replied after a moment. "If it was a level three they would have had a very difficult time. But a level four would required at least a hundred more of gifteds their level. Level four are on the level of mid rank terrors where they can exercise a more sophisticated level of firepower and intelligence."

Marko ducked his head and sighed.

"Oh…! I see!"

Teresa became immediately startled at her son's change in personality. "Marko? We have to leave now! We might not be safe here anymore." She pulled her son and made for the door.

Shayla yelled as she reached the door, "I really hate to leave this village." She noticed that no one was behind her.

Glancing back she saw Marko standing by the window with his mother still holding on to his hand.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Son? You may be a gifted now but you are still new and inexperienced. If the core five fail to stop the Terror then no one in the village can!" Teresa cried as she buried her head in her son's shoulder. "It was Ted and his friends that made you go to the woods and got hurt, wasn't it?"

Marko buried his head in his mother's hair and kept mute.

"You don't have to prove anything to anyone. They knew what they signed up for when they chose to protect the village. This is just how the world is, we can't change it!"

"So, please let's go son."

"There is nothing left for us here."

Marko sniffed his mother's hair taking in his mother's scent for possibly the last time. His heart pounded hard against his ribcage.

"Mother you once told me that a hero is a pillar for what he believes", Marko started in a calm, tempered voice. "That was why I love hearing about heroes even though they were just stories. They inspired me."

Teresa raised her teary eyes to meet with her son's calm gaze.

"Heroes help those in need no matter what, you taught me that!" Marko said with a smile that made his mother cry more. "That is what defines a true hero."

"Hey Marko, that's crazy! You just survived one terror and you are off after another? Don't be foolish!" Shayla screamed her lungs out. "You'll die!!"

Teresa sniffled at the tears. "Son, you should not… I-- I don't want to lose you. Not how I lost your father."

"Then…" Marko grabbed his mother by the shoulders and gently pushed her aside. "Perhaps you should not have talked with me so much about heroes then!"

He glanced out the window and peered at the rising flames in the distance.

"Heroes create miracles!"

He repeated his mother words.

"Being a gifted does not make you a hero! Quit it!" Shayla slapped him hard on the back.

Marko smiled again. "No! Being a hero makes me a hero!"

With that Marko leapt out of the window and falling to his impending doom from the five story building. He could faintly hear the cries of his mother and Shayla as the wind blew violently at his earhole.

"Hey system!!"

He screamed.

[SYSTEM ACTIVE]

"Activate eye of power!"

[ON ACTIVATION OF EYE OF POWER YOU WILL PAY A PRICE]

[PRICE WILL BE DECIDED BASED ON AMOUNT OF POWER USED]

Marko's eyes sparked with a red glow as his muscles started to ripple with power. He landed on his feet and cracked the ground beneath him within showing any sign of being injured.

[YOU HAVE ACTIVATED EYE OF POWER]

[ON ACTIVATION YOU CAN UTILIZE INFINITE STRENGTH]

"What?" Marko exclaimed. "Infinite strength?!"

"What does that mean, system?"

[THE LIMITLESS SYSTEM GRANTS YOU SIX TALENTS CALLED EYES]

[EACH EYE CARRIES AN UNQUANTIFIABLE AMOUNT OF POWER]

[PENALTY WILL BE ASSIGNED BASED ON YOUR ACTIVITY WITH THE EYES]

"What does infinite mean?" Marko asked just to clarify what he had just read.

[YOU WISH TO UNDERSTAND THE POWER OF THE FIRST EYE]

"Yes!"

[THE EYE OF POWER ENHANCES YOU PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES, GRANTING YOU A NEVER ENDING AMOUNT OF POWER CALLED SUPER STRENGTH]

[THE LONGER YOU STAY IN THIS FORM THE HIGHER THE PENALTY]

[THE MORE OF THE POWER YOU SUMMON THE HIGHER THE PENALTY]

Marko gritted his teeth together and sprinted forward.

"In that case. I need to save the core five!"

"No. I need to save everyone!"

Marko found himself practically gliding over the ground, each of his footstep caused a shockwave that ruptured the earth beneath. His speed went so fast that he broke through the barrier of sound itself and crates a sonic boom.

"This is unbelievable, is this what super strength mean?"

From his heightened senses he could tell he was closing in on the battle.

The level four terror chuckled as it swung it's two tails to slice Ted's head off his body, att the last second Marko came screeching to a stop and landing a strong kick at the terror sending it flying with a sonic explosion that deafened the ears of those nearby.

Ted raised his arm to block the falling dust and rubble falling from the sky, there was a loud ding in his ear followed by a deep silence. As the dust before him cleared his eyes peeled open to see the last person he wanted to see.

"Marko Rivers?" His words words were drowned by the deafness of the explosion.

Marko stood before the core five and stared at the dozes of houses that had been reduced to rubble from the pressure of his kick.

"Did I just do that?" He asked himself, unable to comprehend his own offensive power. "How am I thaty strong."

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRR!!!"

The terror jumped out of the rubbled and roared in rage. It's eyes flashed at him as it tails swirled wildly on its back.

Marko screamed. "How are you still alive after taking that?"

He looked back at badly battered five and turned to glance at the terror approached at a astonishing speed. "You want to hurt my friend, my village? I will have to stop you, twin tail!"

[NAME TWINTAIL HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO LEVEL 4 TERROR]

[THREAT LEVEL: HIGH]

[SUCCESS RATE: 10%]