Chapter 146 A Ghoul“s power
It was their day off and early in the morning, Quinn was going out to meet up with Logan. He had left both Layla and Vorden behind to keep an eye on Peter. Quinn had told them that at some point, Peter would be required to eat human flesh, it could take up to a week, but it could also be tomorrow, there was no way to know for sure.
’It could also be as soon as today.’ Vorden thought to himself. ’We can’t be that unlucky right?’ He certainly hoped this was not the case.
Unfortunately, the tasks that Quinn had given to them were quite difficult. Not only did they need to look out for Peter’s safety, but they also had to find a way to get human flesh without letting him find out about it.
"Come on Peter," Vorden said. "Let’s head outside."
"Outside?" Peter asked, his tone slightly confused.
"Well, if I were you, the first thing I’d want to do was to test out my new powers. Quinn said that you are some kind of superhuman, right? Well, why don’t we take a look at what you can do now?"
"I think that’s a great idea," Layla said while bobbing up and down. Although she didn’t like the sound of being turned into a ghoul, perhaps it also had its good sides.
The three of them grabbed a few things and got ready to go outside. Layla even took her beast equipment with her. A lot of the students carried around their beast weapons as they walked through the city, but some chose not to. Mainly because currently, they were in one of the safest places on the planet. However, since the Dalki had attacked some students during the extra-planar expedition, everyone seemed to be more on edge and always ready for battle.
Just as they were about to leave, Peter stopped by the entrance.
"Don’t worry," Layla said. "Even Quinn doesn’t burn under the sunlight. He just feels weak and sluggish. Besides, just in case Quinn was wrong, I brought an umbrella with me."
’What are you doing’ Peter thought to himself. ’You spent your whole life as a weakling and now, just maybe, it can start to change.’
After convincing himself, Peter closed his eyes and stepped outside to where the sun could touch his skin. Just as Quinn had said, he didn’t feel any weaker than before. He felt the same on the inside as he did outside. With this information, a smile appeared on Peter’s face. At the least, he could live a somewhat normal life without having to hide in the shadows all the time.
The group walked towards the park, and once they arrived, they headed deeper into the park woods. They followed the man-made trail that was often used for people to hike through, until eventually leaving the trail, as they travelled farther away from the beaten path.
They continued to walk until they had finally found a quiet and clear area in the woods that was devoid of trees; it was also hidden from view. "This place is perfect. Besides, if anyone comes close, we will be able to hear them in time." Vorden said.
"What should we test first?" Layla asked.
"How about strength and speed?" Vorden said as he walked up to Layla, holding out his hand. "Do you mind?"
Layla looked at Vorden. These days, he seemed to be more reliable than before. She still felt that he was a bit crazy in the head, but couldn’t call him an outright bad person, not without any evidence anyway.
"Fine." She held out her hand and allowed Vorden to copy her abilities.
The two of them then lifted a bunch of branches and stick’s off of the ground. Because Layla’s ability was quite weak, the maximum they could lift was two each, making it four.
"Just do your best to avoid the sticks as much as you can!" Vorden shouted as the two stood around five meters away from Peter.
"Looks like, not only has his speed gotten better, but his reflexes as well," Vorden said. "But... He’s still Peter."
Peter nodded when he was ready, and the two of them immediately started to hover the sticks up in the air, aiming to hit Peter with them.
The sticks were light, allowing Vorden and Layla to move them quite fast. They were easily as fast as regular attacks, and with four of them coming from different directions, it was like two people were fighting against Peter at the same time.
For Peter it was the first time that he felt confident during a practice, it was like he could see the attacks coming towards him. When he told his body to move, it followed what he wanted to do, avoiding the branches of sticks. It was amazing since whatever Peter thought in his head, his body reacted and did it, unlike when his body didn’t respond to his thoughts against other people before.
Just then, Vorden timed both sticks at the right time - When one went in for the attack, if Peter was to avoid it, the other one would be right in time to strike him. Peter pulled his body back, avoiding the first stick. Then, the second one from behind came right at his face, but he still managed to catch the second stick out of the air at the last second just as he pulled his face back.
However, the tip of the stick still managed to cut his cheek, drawing the smallest amount of blood.
"Oh sorry, Peter!" Vorden yelled as the two of them rushed over. But by the time they reached him, the blood had fallen on the ground, and the cut that was once on Peter’s cheek was no longer there.
"Looks like the super healing can be checked as well," Vorden said with a smile on his face. He was actually glad that this had happened, because he was afraid that if they were to test out the super healing any other way, then it would cause Peter to grow hungrier even quicker.
The next test they had for Peter was his strength. For this trial, they used a simple tree. Although Vorden was considered one of the students at the peak physical fitness for his height and age, even he wouldn’t be able to damage a tree with his bare hands. That was unless he was wearing beast gear or had some type of ability to help him.
"So you want me to just punch the tree?" Peter asked, looking at it carefully. The tree was mighty, and its trunk was thicker than Peter himself. Just imagining punching the thing, he could already feel the pain in his knuckles.
"Just go for it," Layla said. "You already know that you have super healing. "
"But that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel any pain," Peter said.
But he was also curious to see how much stronger he had gotten. He readied himself and looked at the tree, then pulling back his fist, he swung it outward. However, at the last second, he tried pulling back his power for fear of hurting himself.
As he hit the tree, he had done so at an odd angle causing his wrist to bend on impact. He screamed out in pain. As the two went to take a look, they could see that a part of his bone had come out and pierced through his skin, but at the same time, it was healing then and there in an instant. When they looked at the tree, there was a large dent that had been made.
Not one large enough to cause the tree to fall over, but one that would be impossible for most humans by using their bare hands.
Once Peter’s wrist was healed, he started to twist it around and move it about - It seemed to be working just like normal.
"Well, we know you have abnormal strength that’s for sure, but I think there’s a clear difference between you and Quinn," Layla said.
"What do you mean?" Peter asked, still rolling his wrist around, making sure everything worked okay.
"Well, let’s say if Quinn was to do the same thing, even if he didn’t punch the tree dead on, his wrist probably would have been fine. I think that’s because his body is stronger than that of a regular human." Layla explained. "While yours, although you have super strength, your body is still just like ours, made of regular bones and flesh. If you attack at full power, you will probably end up hurting yourself, breaking a bone just like what you did back then. Heck even humans break their bones when they fight, so for you with your extra strength it’s a little worse. You’re going to have to learn to control it."
As soon as Layla had finished explaining, the wristwatch on Peter’s arm started to light up. When he looked at it, he could see a voice message that had been left.
"This is General Duke. Peter Chuck, you are required to come to my office in the second year building immediately. I have some important things to discuss with you."
As soon as Vorden heard the message, there was no longer any need for him to ask Peter who was behind everything. He had already figured it out. Why else would the head of the second years have anything to do with a first-year?
The only problem now was, how could he go up against a general of a military base.
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