My Tribrid System: More than a Monster

Chapter 86

Strolling into the room were Kai and Van.

They were just coming back from their trip to the infirmary.

With how severely injured Kai had been, if this were the ancient times—a time without the miraculous nature of abilities—he likely would have spent a full month recovering in a hospital bed.

But thanks to the resident healer, he was back on his feet within mere minutes.

A little distance behind him was Van, who proceeded to close the door quietly behind him.

And with that, the duo walked forward and took a seat across from Ray.

”We need to talk.”

”...”

Ray lifted an eyebrow as he glanced at the duo with a confused expression on his face.

”Talk? About what?”

”About what we witnessed in the gate earlier today,” Kai replied calmly.

”Huh? I thought you said that you didn’t care whatever I am or do. So where’s this ’talk’ coming from?”

Kai exhaled sharply as he pinched the bridge of his nose while staring at the Tribrid in front of him.

”... Yes. I said I didn’t care earlier, but it doesn’t mean that I won’t want to know who... or what my roomie actually is.”

’Fair enough. But what do I say exactly?’ Ray mused inwardly.

”So...?” Kai uttered with a raised brow, waiting for a response.

Ray cast a quick look at Van, who was staring at him calmly.

The boy didn’t have a judging or accusatory look on his face. Rather, he simply looked curious.

But that was a given; Van was naturally always curious about different and every little thing.

”...”

Ray sighed again and then shrugged his shoulders.

”I don’t even know. I think it’s an ability of some kind. After the Aberrant tore through my abdomen, something stirred within my subconscious and when I awoke, I wasn’t in control of my body anymore. I felt... different, and that was how the creature was birthed.”

«Creature? How demeaning. Elyon, you see why I said we shouldn’t help all these puny humans? They are so ungrateful.»

”Oh. I see,” Kai muttered as he rubbed his chin while staring deeply into Ray’s eyes.

Of course, the boy hadn’t spoken the entire truth.

After all, how was he supposed to explain that there was one annoying and one cool voice speaking in his subconscious?

Or that he possessed a system that grants him quests and helps him level up while also helping him grow stronger—faster than anybody else could? It would be totally absurd and non-plausible.

Besides; the cleanest lies were always those sprinkled in with a little bit of truth.

”Honestly, I can’t believe that an ability like that exists. Chloe had mentioned that you were a werewolf.

But I don’t recall any lists of abilities that can turn the user into a mythical creature,” Kai kept rambling on and on as he struck a pose with his hands crossed and his fingers caressing the side of his face.

”But,” Van interjected nervously, a confused look on his face. ”Where did the ability come from? How did you even get it?”

Ray shrugged indifferently.

”Beats me. But I’m suspecting something though...” He paused, wondering if he should actually say what was on his mind.

He knew Van all too well.

The lad would always try to dig deeper; he would seek to know the root cause of a problem before he finally rested.

He needed to throw his friend off his trail, otherwise, his secret would be found out in no time.

”... I feel like it has something to do with that incident that happened to me on the train that day.”

”.....”

Silence filled the room.

Van blinked, his mind flashing back to when they had been escaping to Wall Steel on the train.

He remembered the rock that had fused itself with Ray that day, causing him such tremendous pain.

”Right!” Van snapped his fingers as his eyes lit up in realization.

”The rock disappeared into you that day. There’s a high chance that it carried an ability with it. After all, it did look like a meteor.

And according to history, it was a meteor that gave humanity their abilities now. So in the same sense, the rock could have actually been part of that original meteor.

Makes sense, makes sense. Especially considering the fact that it caused you so much pain; that’s probably why your ability is so ferocious. Makes sense.” He kept spouting theories while nodding his head vigorously.

”....”

Kai and Ray just stared in silence at the rambling teen, who just kept going on and on with his deductions.

After Van stopped speaking, Ray just gave a silent confirmation nod.

”Yeah. Probably that’s what happened.”

’Let’s let him think that. Till I find out where that rock came from and how I got stuck with the powers of a Tribrid.’

Refocusing, something quickly came to his mind.

”What about Chloe and Trisha?”

Kai turned to face him, since Van was still mumbling to himself in the corner.

”They went back to their rooms. It turns out that the two are roomies but barely speak to one another.

Also, Trisha said; she doesn’t care about what happens to you, so she doesn’t need to find out more. Just don’t turn into another threat—is what she says.”

Kai paused for a moment before continuing:

”... As for Chloe, she is still in awe about the fact that a werewolf is around her. She isn’t scared of you for some reason. In fact, she wanted to talk to you, but something came up, so she said she would talk to you later.”

”Oh,” Ray muttered as his mind drifted back to the icy, stoic girl.

’She’s definitely a monster in human skin. Even though she was weakened and terribly powerless against her foe, she still went ahead to fight? But I have to admit; Bruce wouldn’t have been able to take the Aberrant down if it wasn’t for the combined effort of the others.

Having a team or a squad isn’t that bad. But still, I would prefer to work alone from now on so I don’t cause trouble for my friends.’

Ray groaned as he felt a sudden itch around his left arm.

He turned to scratch it, and that was when his eyes landed on something unexpected.

A little glow was emanating from around his wrist, flashing subtly at him.

His eyes widened as he spotted exactly what was flashing back at him.

It was the Corps’ wristwatch, the standard-issue device that usually displayed a meta-human’s grade and the current amount of credits they had.

Currently, his eyes were locked onto the specific grade his watch was displaying at that moment.

”What the fucking hell?!” Ray shouted with a loud intensity, jolting his friends and causing them to jump up in shock.

”Wh-what happened? Why did you scream?” Van shouted worriedly as he strolled over to the bed.

Ray didn’t reply for a few moments as he lifted his hand up.

He turned the back of his wrist to face the other guys in the room.

Instantaneously, Van froze mid-step.

His eyes widened in absolute shock.

”How...? How is this possible?”

”Huh?” Kai muttered as he tilted his head to stare at the watch face.

He didn’t have as exaggerated an expression as Van, but he was definitely shocked at the number being displayed on the small screen.

”How the freaking hell did you go from a 1.2 grade to a grade 5 meta?!”