There is a saying that circulates among mutants. The power they are born with, their supernatural abilities, can never be narrowed in gap despite any amount of effort.
While other acquired abilities can be honed and improved through various methods, a mutant's power is clearly defined the moment they first acquire it.
To put it simply, there is a ceiling to their abilities, so no matter how high they want to go, they cannot.
There are some exceptions because among mutants, there exists the ability to amplify another mutant's power.
But that is ultimately just a temporary strengthening of one's power through external means, not a permanent increase.
When you run, your stamina increases; when you lift heavy objects, your muscles grow. When you study hard, your knowledge expands; when experiences accumulate, wisdom grows.
It's natural for these things to follow an upward curve depending on time and effort. In that sense, mutants' supernatural abilities had something inherently different about them.
Though their history isn't that long, mutants have tried all kinds of methods to enhance their abilities. And the conclusion they reached was that their powers cannot be strengthened no matter what they do.
The output itself doesn't increase. No matter what methods they use, there's no escaping the given parameters.
It was only natural, in a way, that mutants were classified by rank according to their abilities.The power you're born with becomes a lifelong mark you must carry until death.
It's useless to be dissatisfied with your rank and try to improve it. No matter how much you struggle, the numbers never increase.
One advantage might be that your abilities don't rust no matter how idle you are, but what mutant would be satisfied with that?
Of course, it's true that even the weakest mutant powers are formidable enough to easily kill an ordinary person but in Jonathan's case, he couldn't help but be despised even within mutant society.
He was a physical enhancement type mutant, capable of hardening his skin. That alone could block most bullets, but to other mutants, it was a completely unnecessary ability.
Just look at the field energy manipulating mutant Osian had fought. The fields he controlled could transform into various forms from shields to wings to swords. Moreover, the sturdiness of those fields far surpassed Jonathan's skin hardness, and he could manifest them like a storm around him.
Compared to him, Jonathan's abilities seemed too modest. Even among physical enhancement type mutants, there were significant gaps.
While Jonathan's skin hardened like stone or rock, resembling the hardness of minerals, Hogs' skin changed to resemble metal. Naturally, it was much harder and stronger than Jonathan's. Even the physical enhancement effect from activating his ability was stronger than Jonathan's.
No matter how hard Jonathan trained his muscles and built his physique, he could never surpass Hogs who did nothing but laze around.
That's how it should have been, at least but that impossible thing happened in reality.
"Ugh! You, bastard!"
Hogs, with his twisted arm, endured the pain while emitting killing intent. Being a physical enhancement type, he had relatively high regenerative abilities, allowing him to recover from serious injuries as quickly as possible.
Still, his arm was throbbing, and more serious than that was the psychological shock of being so easily overpowered by Jonathan, whom he had clearly considered beneath him.
Hogs shook it off once by denying reality, using his pain as fuel to strongly ignite his hatred.
‘That was just a coincidence. I was caught off guard for a moment.’
After convincing himself of this, Hogs immediately charged at Jonathan again. He enhanced his body to an unprecedented level and stretched out his fist, aiming for Jonathan's jaw.
Jonathan easily avoided Hogs' fist and then strongly struck his side with a punch.
-Thud!
With a sound like hitting a solid bell, Hogs' side was greatly bent. But Hogs grinned.
His clothes tore at the side where he was punched, revealing metallic skin that was glowing red as if it had absorbed heat.
As Hogs charged again, Jonathan this time threw an uppercut, striking his jaw.
Again, with a similar sound, the skin around Hogs' jaw turned red hot. Like iron being forged.
"Is that all you've got!"
At the same time as Hogs clenched his fist, a red energy flowed from his skin to his hand. Jonathan crossed his arms at the moment Hogs' fist connected.
Jonathan's large body floated slightly in the air and was pushed backward.
"You withstood this?"
Hogs frowned in surprise. His metallic skin could store the impact force applied to it and then release it outward.
And judging by the impact force he was striking with, it was no ordinary power. If it had been the Jonathan he knew before, this single blow would have broken both arms.
But the current Jonathan was fine. What's more surprising was that he hadn't even used his physical enhancement ability. Seeing Jonathan calmly dusting off his arms and looking at him indifferently, Hogs doubted whether this was really the same Jonathan he knew.
But Hogs couldn't back down here, so he gritted his teeth and took a stance. Having a pot belly didn't mean his fighting ability was diminished. Hogs had learned close combat techniques to maximize his abilities. The boxing stance he took now showed that.
Hogs approached Jonathan quickly with his guard up. With a swift movement that didn't match his bulky figure, his fist, transformed like steel, struck Jonathan's exposed side like lightning.
-Crack!
Clean hit. Just as he thought he had landed it properly, Hogs' expression darkened. There was no sign of pain at all on Jonathan's face as he looked down at him.
"It's not that you've gotten weaker, but that I've gotten stronger."
Jonathan muttered that and then struck Hogs' face with his palm. Hogs instinctively raised his guard, but it was useless. Jonathan's palm strike penetrated his guard and reached his face.
Hogs' neck snapped back as he fell backward. Hogs felt the sensation of the whole world spinning. And in that sensation, he witnessed a strange sight.
'What's this? Why are my comrades...?'
As soon as he was taken down, he saw his mutant comrades who had stepped forward were being helplessly defeated by just five humans.
"What's this? Are they really mutants? Aren't they too weak? Did these guys also skip meals?"
When one mutant used his ability, vines grew from the ground and tied up Jerey's body. It was powerful enough to wring a person like a rag with just a little pressure, but when Jerey swung his limbs, the vines were torn apart like thread.
On the other side, a mutant with field ability installed a translucent red energy barrier to block David but David looked at it, lightly clenched his fist, and then shattered the field barrier completely.
One of the mutants manifesting beast power lashed out with a giant claw, but the stoic Perkin grabbed the claw with both hands and broke it.
Anthony was also subduing mutants with his fists, and the youngest, Pers, was quietly doing his job as well.
These knights didn't even need to use the power of starlight. The Starlight Knights, trained to the extreme, overwhelmed the mutants with pure physical ability alone and completely subdued them.
The regular mercenaries watching from behind, with faces pale with fear, fled in a hurry.
"W-what is this?"
Hogs couldn't understand the situation. How could they, as mutants, be so thoroughly defeated by mere humans?
"Are you going to continue?"
Jonathan approached the fallen Hogs and asked. Not only was there no anger directed at him, there was even a sense of pity in that voice and those eyes, which made Hogs' eyes roll back in rage.
"You bastard!"
Who are you to look down on me? Who are you to pity me? You were crawling at my feet just a short while ago.
Yes. I never liked you from the beginning. From that stubborn way of talking to those eyes that never died no matter how much I beat you.
That unyielding attitude, as if rejecting the given laws of this world, was simply unbearable.
Hoggs got up and thrust his fist toward Jonathan's solar plexus. Jonathan caught Hogs' fist without even taking a defensive stance.
"Die!"
Hogs released the impact he had accumulated from Jonathan's hits at the tip of his fist and in a very narrow range at that. It was closer to a feeling of penetration rather than striking with impact but Jonathan was still fine.
He could see the reason why. Jonathan's skin had hardened due to the activation of his ability.
"What is this?"
But it was different from the Jonathan he knew. Unlike before when his skin just turned to stone, now his skin was burning with white flames.
From head to toe, his appearance had changed to that of a knight in armor, enveloped in white flames. And from inside the white helmet, Jonathan's blue eyes glowed.
The moment he faced that, Hoggs felt the strength leave his legs. Hoggs slumped down, his ability deactivated, and his appearance returned to normal. Towards Hoggs, who had turned pale as if he had seen a ghost, Jonathan growled a warning.
"Don't ever rely on that meager power and act cocky again."
"Hiiik!"
Hoggs fled, staggering. He looked no different from the ordinary people he had so despised.
And the factory workers who had been watching silently, let out a thunderous cheer with the victory of the Star Light Knights.
"I came because I was worried."
Asmer, who had been watching from the top of the factory, nodded with a satisfied smile.
"You've all grown a lot."
"Can you help us?"
Grace asked but Osian didn't immediately answer her question.
The servants of Red Eternity, commonly known as the Eternity Faith, are what people call heretics. Moreover, they dared to experiment with one of the fragments of the Sun Ring, which is one of his powers.
Therefore, he should raid them right away, but there was too little information.
"What do you want from me?"
"I want to borrow your strength because we need to defeat those guys."
"I have enough reason to fight them since they took my power without permission. But do you have a reason to fight so desperately?"
The Blood Brotherhood had planned to attack the Full Metal Heart company, which sponsors Dead Dagger. But behind that company, there were others hiding – the Eternity Faith.
Even for the Blood Brotherhood, it was not cautious to fight against those who borrowed the power of Outer Gods.
"Still, we can't stop fighting."
"Why?"
"Because it's related to Malina."
"You mean Dead Dagger."
Malina was an assassin from Dead Dagger, but she escaped from the organization on her own. Naturally, from Dead Dagger's perspective, Malina was a traitor who had to be killed. Conversely, Malina wants to eliminate the organization that raised her as a killing machine.
But this incident didn't end as a simple fight between Malina and Dead Dagger.
Malina joined the Blood Brotherhood, and behind Dead Dagger was the Eternity Faith. It would be one thing to fight Dead Dagger, but fighting an organization related to Outer Gods was quite unreasonable.
"Rather, it might be better to spread the information to the high-ranking people of the city."
"We thought about that too. But still, this is something we have to do."
"Why?"
"Because it's Malina's problem, my sister's problem. Naturally, as her older sister, I should resolve it."
The moment he heard Grace speak without a hint of hesitation, Osian could once again confirm what kind of relationship these people had.
The name Blood Brotherhood was not just a vicious name given because they bring bloodshed.
Rather, blood is in their name because, despite not sharing blood, they are bound together by a tight bond like a true family.
Those who were abandoned and despised by the world formed a relationship by reaching out to help each other.
A family more genuine than actual blood brothers and sisters was hidden beneath the surface of what the world calls a dangerous terrorist organization.
"Don't say such things when asking for my help."
Osian cut her off like that and stood up.
"I see. That's a shame."
Just as Grace smiled in resignation, Osian, who was about to leave through the door, turned back and said:
"I'm a fixer, so if you want to request a job, come to Violet Fox."
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