Partial harden it is!


    My finger hovers over it, and I confirm it with a tap.


    The dropdown menu retracts, and the Partial Harden is embodied into the metal plate.


    I close it and look around, checking my arms and body, looking for any abnormalities.


    "Hmmm."


    Nothing special, but since I know how to activate my first power, I guess this will be a similar process.


    I just need to find a lot of time to test it properly and not hurt myself or catch any unwanted attention, best would be, of course, the night.


    This day was extremely exhausting, but damn successful, I summarize and look at the party.


    They seem to be looking at me now, mostly Harald giving me ''that'' look while leaning over the shell, surprisingly Mike is minding his own business. At least I think I know how he looks at me when he is jealous, but this time even after me devouring the whole boss he is not. Might be the gruesome death he went through or whatever, but now is time to test something better.


    It’s time to flip the car back and get moving before it''s dark.


    <hr>


    I cannot resist, looking at my right arm, I start imagining the hardening process.


    No idea what it could look like, but I imagine all sorts of scenarios.


    “Harden,” I whisper while gazing at my hand.


    Will the skin get thicker, change color, or texture? Will I lose flexibility?


    "Mark? You alright? Need a hand?" The old man steps closer.


    He looks me in the eye and nods with a smirk.


    <hr>


    My hand is suddenly stiff for a moment, like I was stung by an insect—instant paralysis for a moment.


    I wave my hand and clench my fist.


    Old man knows very well what is just happening.


    “This went better than I could expect.” I whisper to myself.


    A large wide smile is slowly cracking on my face. I wonder why the receptionist guy that looks like a grinch from the Home Alone movie comes to my mind?


    Now, assured the power is activated, I turn around and try the hardness with a new gruesome idea.


    I press my palm against the cracked remains of the shell behind me, they seem to be hard and sharp enough to withstand the pressure.


    Pressing the dorsal side of my right arm against the sharp triangle, I push bit by bit to see how deep it can go.


    To my surprise, it is almost impossible to make a dent. Maybe I’m pushing too little?


    I need to see a non-hardened sample to compare.


    Time to switch my arms and test the one that is not activated.


    Pressing the dorsum against the sharp fragment, I see it is instantly pushing inwards.


    "Tschk."


    It goes fairly easily, and a bit more and I would definitely cut my skin, probably even make a deep wound.


    What leaves me stunned is the effect itself.


    On the contrary, the strength based Focus is volatile, it shifts my body, destroys my skin and bones, distorting everything. It is auto-adjusting and overall extremely invasive power.


    But this one?Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Whoa.


    There is literally zero change between my hardening power being activated or not. For a moment I felt a little paralysis and numbness; this is the only effect so far.


    Maybe I’ll give it another, even more rough test now. Since it is still activated, I’m a bit afraid it could deactivate right at any moment and I would hurt myself.


    Without any hesitation, the bold move is what I sometimes do.


    *Smash*


    *Thud*


    Quick smash over the pointy triangle with my fist.


    *Loud thud and a crack follows*


    "Aargh! Damnit!"


    My bare arm one; the shell remains - zero.


    Single strong punch and the pointy end of the shell is shattered, but the pain radiates from the impact.


    Quickly looking at my arm I see a little dent in my skin.


    Good.


    So this is my limit now.


    "Boy, you sure you don''t want to join the club again?" The old man stands there, holding the jug in his hand already.


    "You''re right. I got used to not feeling anything and now slight discomfort and pain bothers me."


    He gently pours the acid inside the lid and carefully hands it to me.


    Hyperventilating for a few seconds before the dip I quickly take off my sneaker and sock.


    "Three. Two.."


    "Tschk."


    *Hissing.*


    The tip of my ring toe is gone and my body relaxes instantly. I wasn''t aware of the slight migraine I had, but now I''m once more relieved.


    The old man nods at me while dripping the lid and screwing it back.


    "Anyone else?" He looks at the couple.


    Mike raises his eyebrow in disagreement.


    <hr>


    My hand suddenly twitches, and it can be assumed that this is the moment of deactivation of my new ability.


    I wonder if I can activate it right away, without any cooldown.


    Looking at the same spot, I whisper "Harden" but I''m interrupted.


    "Mark?"


    I stop focusing.


    “I know, I know. There are no car repairs anywhere nearby, but I had no other idea than this.” I continue trying to joke.


    Harald halts my excuses with a single gesture and starts to ask me questions.


    “How much?” he asks boldly and aloud.


    I flinch a bit as I expect him to go nuts knowing I wrecked his car, exactly as soon as he entrusted it to me.


    “Five.” I respond in the same manner.


    Mike seems to act uninterested, almost ashamed. Did I just break his pointless competitiveness, or did the gruesome death indeed change him for good?


    “New powers?” The old man continues.


    Now Mike is suddenly alert and notices my stare as Harald continues to ask.


    “Yeah, two indeed,” I answer him with confidence. Mike''s human eye widens.


    My hand goes right under my shirt, and I pull out the amulet.


    “This thing doubles my endurance."


    "That snail had it inside, but Mike refused to take it.” I look at him and continue acting chivalrous. “But he rightfully deserves it.”


    He still has this weird guilty look and tries to play it cool and politely declines the amulet.


    Guess it was the death, after all?


    Harald wonders and tries to touch the amulet with his fingertips.


    I''m about to take it off and hand it to him to try.


    “No, it''s okay,” he adds, and I’m quite pleased I don’t have to do it. No need for my wounds to be getting stretched again.


    <hr>


    A cold breeze blows through the trees, and I feel my skin shivering. It also carries the dusk with itself and finally takes the rotting stench away with it.


    We look at each other and don’t even need to say a word; everyone knows what to do.


    I turn right away towards the car and prepare for the lift.


    Am I doing this now? I ask myself and calculate.


    With so little knowledge of my powers, what’s the worst thing that could happen? Body smashed by a four-ton car, or my arms exploding. But on the other hand, all this without any pain.


    Good.


    While squatting, I look at both my hands and whisper, “Harden.”


    Stiffness and paralyzeI’d go with “numbness” over “paralyze” as before, but it seems to be distributed.


    My hands were hardened before, including at least half of my forearms, but now I can feel it takes up only my palms.


    Still, quite good for a quality grip at least.


    "Focus!"


    I squeeze the sharp metal with my palms and push up.


    God damn! Both powers at the same time. Today’s night will be a rough one--I won’t be sleeping without answers and tests.


    Mike and Harald are standing on the sides trying to help me with the lift.


    Their push is almost insignificant.


    I can do all of this by myself, and I feel kinda bad for them. How shitty must they feel, well, mostly Mike.


    I am basically overpowering them by mostly having a lot of luck!


    *Creaking metal* followed by a loud metallic *Thud*


    Leftover glass particles ringing as they fall in and out of the car.


    The car rolls back on its wheels, wobbles a bit on the suspension, and finally settles.


    The old man sighs.


    <hr>


    Test number two.


    "Are you sure? This again? He shakes his head in disbelief as I start to roll myself under the clearance again, like I just didn''t die a few hours ago doing the same thing.


    "Believe me!" I assure him while Mike is heading back to pickup Astrid as she is curious to see what''s happening.


    "Focus!" I say out loud.


    Left and right, I switch my sight between my arms and look for the bloating. My forearms, my biceps, my triceps, my shoulders. Everything is double the size!


    Locking myself in place, I start to push the car up, releasing slight groans and a steam if I was able.


    The hardening—I will use it differently now.


    Hungry for the answers, I look at my most used muscle, and that is my chest in this case.


    I imagine the skin around my chest getting stronger, maintaining the muscle mass more under control.


    "Harden!" I scream through my gritted teeth.


    The car starts to move, and so does the muscle mass even more.


    <hr>


    “Markus! Stop it!"


    "The car will fall!” screams Astrid suddenly.


    “What are you tal...”


    *Loud thud and crack*


    “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” The old man jumps away while swearing.


    “Aaaargh!” Astrid and the boys are screaming.


    I feel something grabbing me by the legs and pulling me.