Theo’s eyes cracked open on the 6th day, the dim glow of artificial lights flickering against the ceiling. His body ached, the kind of deep, lingering pain that settled into his bones. Every muscle felt stiff, drained—like he had been hollowed out and only a weak shell remained.

  But something was different, his heightened senses were barely starting to come back.

  He could hear things a little more clearly then before he got his power.

  Not just the hum of the monitors or the soft whir of the ventilation system—but the voicesbeyond the door. They were muffled, distant, but growing clearer. He could pick up the faint shift of fabric, the way boots pressed against the floor outside his room. The rhythmic beeping of machines far down the hall.

  His Bio-Energy was returning. Slowly. He was at about 18% now but it was slowly climbing.

  He barely had the strength to lift his hand, but when he did, he could feel it. The energy wasn’t overflowing wildly like before—it was sluggish, still unstable, but at-least it was there. He could feel it again, beneath his skin, deep inside him, everywhere, a faint pulse. Like a second heartbeat, struggling to regain its rhythm.

  Then, the voices outside sharpened.

  “It wasn’t just force. It was… something else.”

  Theo’s fingers twitched.

  “The suit was reinforced. Custom-made to withstand direct impact from A-Tier warriors.”

  Theo’s ming began to race, “A tier?” That was what they ranked the top people in factions. Just Bellow AA and S tier.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  A pause. Then the voices continued.

  “Then explain how it was completely destroyed.”

  Another voice, lower and filled with tension.

  “We’ve run every test. The suit should have absorbed the hit. Even at his maximum force it should have absorbed it, his feat of lifting the weight was strong but not as high as A tier. That suit, it was designed to disperse impact hits.”

  “But it didn’t.”

  “No. It didn’t just break—it was as if his hit ignored the armor entirely. Like the impact didn’t just hit externally. It… it was like the attack was from the inside out.”

  Theo’s held his breath as he thought, “Inside out, what does that even mean?”

  “That shouldn’t be possible,” someone muttered. “Currently no powers ignore impact damage.”

  “Well,Neither should have what happened to James be possible.”

  There was Silence.

  Theo’s grip tightened around the sheets.

  “We nearly lost James. The internal damage was worse than we initially thought. His sternum was shattered. Every rib broken. And his liver—”

  A deep exhale.

  “His liver had ruptured completely. He went into full system failure. We had to do an immediate transplant and a complete blood transfusion.”

  Theo felt like he’d been hit again.

  “He was clinically dead. No heartbeat for nearly 3 full minute’s before the Healing chamber stabilized him and ran the internal diagnostics. ”

  Another pause. This one heavier.

  “And what about the subject?”

  “You mean Theo?”

  “We still don’t understand what happened to him either. When he collapsed, his life force levels weren’t just depleted. They were unreadable. It was like his body had… no life force at all.”

  Theo swallowed hard.

  No life force?

  He clenched his teeth, his heart pounding against his ribs. His body felt weak, fragile—but his mind was awake now.

  He could tell from the sound of their voice, they were afraid of him.

  Of his power. Of what it had done.

  Of what it might still do.

  Theo let out a slow, controlled breath and forced his body to move. Pain flared in his limbs, his muscles screaming in protest, but he gritted his teeth and pushed through it.

  He needed answers.

  And he wasn’t going to get them lying in bed.