Chapter 3 – Well, That Can’t Be Good

Jake rushed out of the room, snapping his attention to where the noise was coming from. Everyone was frozen. Jerry—one of his neighbours—had a hammer in hand. He had smashed the window leading to the outside.

That wasn’t the cause for concern. The culprit was an enormous… man, if he could be called that. Eight feet tall wearing greasy overalls, his forearms revealed thick, wiry muscles that looked more like steel cables, veins so thick they were raised like snakes under his flesh. A welding mask covered his face.

The thing grabbed Jerry’s head and squeezed, popping it like a zit. Blood and brain and viscera splattered all up the wall. His wife, Susan, screamed and by instinct, started wailing on the monster of a man.

He didn’t respond. He only raised his hand once more, this time to the window, and without any sign, the glass repaired in an instant. He turned, his steps thumping in the hall, then stepped into the wall, vanishing.

Susan broke down, sobbing uncontrollably, cradling what was left of her husband. Chloe was there to cradle her in her arms. Arthur didn’t know what to do, he just stood there awkwardly holding his shield—it was becoming a habit, it seemed.

Someone had pissed themselves, the stench wafting through the hallway. Make that two.

Jake’s lips twitched.

He could handle the strange reality of being able to use magic, the sight of monsters, or the fact his bow appeared out of thin air. This entirely warped his entire understanding of… everything. He appeared from the walls, killed someone with a pinch, restored a window like he was manipulating time, then walked through a solid wall, disappearing.

Well that can’t be good.

But also…

How do I become strong like that?

***

Everyone was crying, and for Jake, there was nothing worse in the world. Even that monster didn’t make the top five list of things he hated.

It was the uncomfortable awkwardness of it all. What to say? Do? Nothing? Something?

Just as he was about to enter his room, he heard hushed snippets of Arthur and a bunch of other people’s conversation. He didn’t mean to, and frankly, wished he hadn’t—he had his enhanced hearing to thank for that.

They were talking about food and water. Apparently there was none on the entire floor. Arthur had checked every single room and there wasn’t a single granola bar or piece of meat at all. Even his own apartment that he had remained the day prior—all of it was gone.

There were murmurs about forming a team to head to the other floors, though that suggestion was shut down pretty quickly as they remembered what was in the stairwell. Jake wondered if they’d shoot it down when they were hungry and thirsty and desperate.

He entered the room.

Whatever they were planning had nothing to do with him as he got back onto the floor, and pushed.

***

Strength +1

Jake pushed once more, healing through the pain and suffering as he experimented with his healing ability. He couldn’t heal the muscle, not directly, as the skill only healed shallow cuts. But it soothed it somewhat, and the mastery was increasing slowly but surely.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

His arms, chest, and his core felt like they were going to burst open from how tight they were.

Four hours had passed since the arrival of the Janitor. That’s what he dubbed him. Four hours of constantly healing his sore muscles to power through exercise, and it was working wonders.

Taking his top off, he flexed in the mirror. Before he had a rotund belly; skinny-fat, he liked to call it. Now he was still… a little fat. Damn it. But he noticed that his love-handles were a little smaller, and he’d put on a bit of muscle.

However, as time passed, he could tell the results he was getting were diminishing rapidly.

Was that because he was only doing one form of exercise? Should he start working on his legs now?

So that’s what he did.

He started doing squats. Up. Down. Shake it all around… He stopped shaking immediately seeing how stupid he looked in the mirror.

Back to his original spot in the middle of the living room, he started his squats for real. He did it for an hour, gaining one more point in Strength before realising that it was going even slower now.