Rise of the Crusader

Chapter 11: The Book

It had been eight hours since Raphael woke after that battle between him and Adrian.

After Bryan left the room, a couple of hours later and Aiden left as well. He had been waiting for Serena to leave the room, so he could barge into Raphael’s place and ask him how he knew Serena so well, but even after four hours went by, Serena didn’t leave his room.

Aiden was considering staying over till Serena walked out of the room, but he was chased outside by Devon once it was midnight.

“Urgh! This is really upsetting... Isn’t she supposed to go to her dormitory? Why does she have to stay here and inconvenience me?” Raphael grumbled as he stared at Serena, who was sleeping on his bed with a smile on her face.

There was no way he was going to be sleeping on the same bed with her, so he had to move to another side of the room.

Raphael had set up his room similar to how his room was at home. There were two sides, one where his bed, bookshelves, wardrobe, and Gus’s perch were, and the other was his working area, where all his gadgets and instrument were placed.

“Uhmmmm... The food is really delicious!”

.....

As he stared at Serena who was now sleep-talking, a sneer couldn’t help but appear on Raphael’s face, “That’s the mistake I made. I should have made it salty, then maybe you wouldn’t have decided to sleep here.” Raphael exclaimed. 𝐟𝘳𝑒𝗲𝘸e𝒃𝘯𝒐𝐯e𝚕.c𝒐𝒎

He then sat in front of his construction table, with a book and pen in his hand.

“The power to transform into a physical body made of metal.” Raphael put down the first words in the book with a stern look on his face, “It’s kind of awesome, don’t you think? It would grant you good defense and a good offense.” He said.

Raphael was speaking to Gus, cause a few seconds after he sat on the chair, Gus came to the table right away.

“Well, it has flaws all over it. Since the possessor transformed himself into a solid piece of metal with everything that comes with it, his speed is going to be below average. Also, he has a high vulnerability to electricity.”

Gus shook his head when he heard Raphael. “I know, it is not worth it. Besides, electricity, I only need to touch that scrap he transforms into, and I would wreak him.” Said Raphael.

“Metal man? What a joke!!!” Raphael jested, as he opened the next page.

The actual truth was, even if Serena didn’t sleep on his bed, he would still not have gone to bed early and would have spent his time jotting down the powers which he came across in the past few days.

Raphael wasn’t only outstanding in the skill of development, but he also dedicated his time studying and learning about superpowers He, however, focused more on learning about their disadvantage, and weaknesses.

So, whenever he saw a superpower, he would make his research on it, and write them down in his book. In the last few days he had encountered a few powers, and now it was time to write about them.

“Enhanced intelligence. I actually envy Devon,

a little because his intellect is far above others. But, I can pick a few flaws from his powers, despite how amazing it is.”

“Since his intelligence is just at the peak of a human level, he is still prone to mistakes. There is also a certainty that his intellect would affect how he thinks and that might cause several emotional and psychological problems.” Raphael said.

As he spoke, he kept writing it down, “In Devon’s case, he’s unable to talk to women. It’s quite strange though, but who knows, I guess it would have to do with his powers. And I also doubt if he has any other friend besides Aiden.”

Raphael suddenly paused, “Not that I think of it, there are actually high chances he becomes insane because of the information he has gathered all this while.”

“Mhmmmmmmmm...”

Gus and Raphael turned towards Serena when they heard her voice, “I will have to be more quiet.” Raphael whispered to Gus, who nodded its head as though it understood what Raphael had just said.

“If I had made more preparation, then I would have killed that dude. Though his power makes him unpredictable, and dangerous, his defense is complete shit.”

The power in writing was Adrian’s so-called ability to control dark powers.

Raphael, however, didn’t dwell on the power too much because he knew that the reason why Adrian was even able to land those hits on him was that he failed to grasp his powers quickly. Which was why the instant he realized that his defense was horrible, he gave the piece of crap a beat down.

“You know if I had the chance to choose any other power, it would be one of this three.” A smile then appeared on Raphael’s face, “I would have chosen either blood manipulation, temporal rewind, or space-time manipulation.” Said Raphael.

“There’s just so many things I can do with any of those powers. Did you also notice how Hector had made Aiden make a move on Bryan without even laying hands? That’s the kind of thing blood manipulation is capable of.”

“I wouldn’t even have to move, and I would be able to control so many people. The power is really astounding, especially if he should be able to drive himself into the bloodless state.”

While Hector might have arranged the match between him and Adrian, Raphael didn’t loathe him, instead, he was a big fan. As long Hector didn’t cross his path, then he would still remain an admirer of the power.

Raphael had a lot of reasons for taking interest in powers, but the most important one of them was for security reasons.

Whether stranger, friend, or foe, he always liked to be on a safer end.

“As for Bryan’s power, come on, that has to be incredible. Who wouldn’t want to be able to rewind time back? I wonder how far he can take it back to, seconds, minutes, or even days.”

“Hahahahahaha!!!!! With that kind of power, I don’t think anyone would need protection in that area. Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!” Raphael laughed hard at the words he had just said.

After a few seconds, he then stopped, “I would have to experience the space-time manipulation, a little before I can make any assumption about what its weakness would be. As for Bryan, there’s no way rewinding time wouldn’t take a toll on his body.*

“It is quite difficult to tell the weakness of all this without making extensive research. But before my powers, there are still lacking far behind, unlike the three powers which I’m certain that they would possess shortcoming, my power doesn’t.” Raphael uttered in complete confidence.

“I believe that’s all!”

The instant he said those words, Gus, who was standing on the top flew back to its perch. Its eyes were then shut closed.

A light smile appeared on Raphael’s face when he saw Gus flying to its perch. There had never been a moment in which he would be in his working space, and Gus wouldn’t be there with him. It had become something he was used to.

Raphael placed the book back in his interspatial ring, he turned, and seeing Serena still sleeping on his bed brought a frown on his face, “I wonder what sort of power you possess.” Raphael mumbled.

He had known Serena for a very long time, that she even knew his mother, and still, he was unable to figure out what her power was. She had used so many elements in front of him, that he had speculated that her power was the ability to control all elements, but when he asked her, she said no.

“Not even close!” Those were the words that Serena said that day.

Raphael stood from the chair he was seating on, then after stretching his body a little, he raised his hand slightly, and checked the time on his wristwatch, “There is still four hours to go.” He muttered.

“I guess I will spend the remaining time reading string theory.”