Chương 106: Old Monsters

Ren had insisted on checking the vehicle area's perimeter.

'For monsters,' he'd said, as if a chorus of screams wouldn't have alerted them first. Kelly had followed, curious —dubious, even— but not about the perimeter. That was not what held a permanent spot in her mind regarding her current combat tutor. Kelly crossed her arms, studying Ren carefully.

"So, that blast you used to break the dome," She began, her voice calm but with a sharpness to it that hinted at her questions weren't just questions, but probes.

"The one that wiped out the mostly evacuated grid, and erase those idiots about to make the cube explode—was that really quantum tech? Or did you steal it from something... not human?" She paused, watching his face carefully for any sign of discomfort.

"Or maybe it's a relic. Something only you've got your hands on? The only one of its kind?" She didn't wait for an answer, her words flowing, each one sharper than the last.

"Also, you built that truck-sized cannon from your arms, right? What's your enhancement level score? What exactly are we talking about here?" Ren, her latest tutor, chuckled softly, the sound low and even.

"That's a lot of questions. The truth is, it's only known by a few at the top. The wars, the coups—they destroyed most of the infrastructure and erased the records. But it's not just the four family heads or Gideon who've broken past the 100EQ limit. I've done it too. Still, Gideon's so far ahead of everyone else that it doesn't matter." Kelly reeled at the revelation. She blinked, absorbing his words in silence, staring at him, taking a moment to let the revelation settle. That was… unexpected. The limit?

100EQ was supposed to be the absolute maximum—the unattainable peak-pure impossibility.

"You're past 100EQ?" She exhaled, looking at him carefully.

"And you're just... here?" Kelly let the silence drag out, processing the implications of his words. She didn't speak for a moment, then took a slow step forward, her gaze never leaving his face.

"And all this power," she began, her tone quiet but steady.

"You've got all this, and you're just holding onto it? What's the plan, Ren? What are you doing with it?" Ren didn't flinch, didn't seem to even register the weight of her words.

"The world's broken, Kelly. All of them," he said, voice as even as ever.

"We broke it. I'm just taking what's left and using it how I see fit. Like you. Using it better than anyone else could. Making what works, work better." Kelly just watched him. That meant that the older veteran, Ren, was a real, bonafide member of the upper echelon, and not just some glorified demigod. No, he was something more—beyond the peak. A fifth member of humanity's ascendants, and one Kelly hadn't even known existed.

Maybe it was a military advantage, or maybe the big players just didn't want anyone to know it was possible. Hell, even the global governments and the big four themselves had never confirmed the existence of new members in the over-100EQ club. It was a level of enhancement that was supposed to be impossible to reach. The kind of thing that, until now, only four people had ever managed in all of human history. That was the myth, the legend, the story. And now? Kelly knew that number had grown to at least five.

And the more she processed that, the more it settled into her gut. It was... unfathomable. And the worst part? She was standing in the presence of someone at the true peak of humanity. Just... there, in front of her. Ren. Of course, stories and legends and centuries of old history spoke about what these ascendants were capable of, about the feats they had pulled off over the past seven hundred years.

The stories painted them as the "ideal" to strive for, and to the common folk, those at the peak of enhancement, over 60EQ, were basically celebrities themselves. But even so, these beings—these monsters of human capability—were always seen as myths. Metaphors. A goal to aspire to. Something that felt unattainable. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

In practice, the average person would go their entire life and never even see someone at the peak-elite level of enhancement, let alone come face-to-face with one. Even peak-elite sightings were rare. But demigods? You might catch a glimpse of one if you were lucky, and if you weren't, well, that was your problem. A quick scan, maybe. A brush with greatness in passing, if you were lucky. To the masses, the top-tier were something you only ever saw in the distance. Somewhere, out there, beyond the smoke and debris.

So for there to be new members of humanity's true upper echelon—global powers in their own right—and for that new ascendant to be right here, right now, in front of her? Unfathomable. Yeah. That word was starting to feel way too small to contain it. That was the kind of information that could tilt entire worlds, and Ren just casually dropped it. It made sense, though. He always did have a knack for keeping things to himself—especially the important stuff.

Kelly stopped mid-daydream, the gravity of it still rattling in her brain. Her head cocked. She stared at Ren like he'd just admitted to bench-pressing a building.

"You're an ascendant?" Ren raised an eyebrow.

"And you've died a few thousand times, can bend time, and you're telling me you still walk around surprised that things exist?" He kept walking. His voice dropped. Muttering. She caught phrases. Kids these days. Back in my day. She watched him move. Measured strides. Nothing wasted. This man could damage a protective dome rated for bombs. Could pull weapons out of nowhere with the same effort she pulled a granola bar from her jacket. Could destroy. Had destroyed. Would again, probably before dinner.

Internally, she was still processing. Externally, she was already reaching. She equipped Mana-Focused Student. Worth a shot. Maybe something would rub off. Proximity learning. Observational osmosis. Standing next to someone who could fold reality like origami and pretending she belonged there. She turned.

"What's the highest EQ level in the echelon?" she asked.

"And the specialization. Gideon was a hundred eighteen, one hundred years ago. That still hold? Can you go higher? Even with the risk? And which specializations actually make it past the peak?" Ren glanced at her. That look. The one that said he was deciding between impressed and amused.

"The amount of tech you can cram into one person," she added.

"And the control issues. Tech going rogue. Person going rogue. At that level, one misstep makes a new enemy for humanity. Triggers another war. Levelling past the peak—no one says it's possible." Ren stopped walking. Faced her.

"Of course it's possible." He said it flat. Like she'd asked if water was wet.

"Not just in one specialization." She waited. He resumed his silence. She fell into metaphorical step.

"I'm old, Kelly. And good at my job." He said it without inflection. Stating facts. The temperature of water. The position of the sun. His own competence.

"I'm just above a hundred in weapon augmentation. The damage I can deal. The number of things my augments bring to bear. It pushes my effective level past the peak."

'Just' above a hundred. Just. Kelly put a pin on that, on her wall of pinned topics to note—right under things people say when they're humble-bragging from the top of a mountain. He was talking about himself like he was a baseline example. As though that was 'just' regular.

"That's almost all of us in the upper echelon," Ren continued.

"The true members, out in the field. Some specialize in speed, strength, resilience, cognitive function. Weapon augmentation, like me. But back in the wars, I met a tri-specialist. Enhancement Level ninety-eight. To the hostile, or enemies—" He paused.

"He was a walking monster." Kelly kept driving. Kept listening. Kept her face neutral. Inside, she was recalculating. Everything she thought she knew about the ceiling. About the upper echelon. About what was possible. She'd been swimming in a pond. A nice pond. Familiar water. She knew every rock, every current, every fish. Ren just handed her a map of the ocean. Ren changed subjects without warning. He said, "Once this is done, we need to get back and work on your time-slowing abilities.

Speed specialists are some of the strongest combatants in existence. They can only ever be taken out by teams that include cognitive specialists. The time slow makes you appear fast, but you are not untraceable to people like me. If you can stop time completely and still move within it..." He turned.

"You would be unstoppable." Kelly let that sit in the air for a second. Stop time completely. Still move. Unstoppable. She had died thousands of times. Bent time until it complained. Survived things that should have scattered her atoms across the landscape. And this man was talking about her next trick like it was a trip to the hardware store. Pick up some nails. Pick up omni-presence. She said nothing. Around them, panic erupted in and around the damaged dome. Foreign entities arrived.

The air carried new sounds, new pressures, new problems for other people to handle. Kelly and Ren left. They had a target. A rune-filled magical terraforming device. Thousands of runes. The largest mana-generating crystal in the dimension. Priorities. The car drove them to it.