Loki’s Successor System

The rain had burst down on Jin, as he hurried through the strikingly quiet, busy streets. Luckily, he chose to wear his hoodie beforehand.

Panting as he trotted, he realized that he was still far from athletic. His energy had once again failed him; and he was already exhausted when his running had only just begun.

So many things were on his mind as he rushed to the pharmacy. What bothered him the most was his skill. His first skill. The one that had managed to strike fear in his heart already.

And if his first skill was the cause of such an atrocity, he couldn't begin to imagine how powerful and dangerous the rest of these skills might be.

Who might he become with such power residing within the fabric of his being?

He could only wait patiently to find an answer to this question. An unfathomable question that would certainly bother him until he crosses paths with its boundless answer.

Jin burst into the huge pharmacy that was not too far away from his home. The main color of the pharmacy was conspicuously white. The walls, doors, shelves—everything was white. With the exception of the boxes of medication that sat on hundreds of shelves.

What's more, all of the shelves were behind the pharmacist, who stood behind a white counter in white apparel. That is to say, the customer didn't do the shopping—the pharmacist prescribed medication to him; depending on his condition.

The strange thing to Jin was the fact that there was only one box of a specific medication each. Though, he quickly assumed that there was another part of the store that accommodated the real stocks of the boxes.

There were only two people in the line before him. One of them was short and human-like; supposedly a Hobbit. And the other was big, buff, and green—an obvious Orc. Jin stood in the line, awaiting his turn to speak to the pharmacist.

In no time, he found himself first in line, peering at the female elf pharmacist in his presence. The elf lady looked like she was in her late forties. She had grey, long hair, wrinkles on her face, and a pair of completely rounded glasses sitting on her nose bridge.

"Hello, dear. How can I help?"

"My grandma's really sick. She's like burning up and stuff. I don't know what to do about it."

"Fever much?"

"I think so…"

In truth, he knew it was a matter worse than just some fever.

"Okay," she constantly tapped her fingernails on the countertop, "If your grandma's not here to answer the questions—I won't know what to give her. However, you can purchase hyper-pills or Magic Pills."

"I'll save you the jargon, and just use simple words. Basically, these special pills are enhanced by either basic supernatural abilities or magic. They are scientifically proven to heal the average consumer without any problems whatsoever."

She raised an index finger, "Though, do note that these are expensive, child."

"Uh…how much do they cost?"

"Spell Suppression pills are for five hundred E-coins. But they might not be suitable, unless your grandma ran into someone who maliciously used a passive ability on her that still hinders her body. Is this the case?"

Jin responded, "No. I don't think she needs that one."

'Does she? I don't have the money to buy it now. But I'll have to come back for it after completely confirming that the normal medication doesn't work.'

'If the normal medication doesn't work, then it's definitely my skill that made her ill.'

The elf woman licked her lips, "Alright. Another option we have here are AHX Pills that single-handedly tackle bacteria—that causes illnesses. These are also magic pills as they tend to magically heal the body, and kill the bacteria. These cost one hundred and fifty E-coins."

"I'll take 'em," Jin blurted out.

The woman tilted her head a bit, and smiled at him. Then she turned around, and started roving at the shelves on the wall.

The shelves had labels, and so, she quickly found what she was looking for. When she found it, took the box up from the shelf, and turned around to face him.

"Take a look at this…" she said, peering at the box.

Jin watched as her hands began to glow with the box in them. She had a constant smirk on her face, as the brightness of the glow intensified.

She then slowly rested her other hand on the desk, with her palm upright and facing the ceiling. When suddenly, the same box she had been holding in her other hand, conjured up and appeared in her empty hand as well; leaving two boxes.

Jin's eyes shimmered at the jarring sight. She then slid the box across the countertop to him, and on an impulse, he quickly caught it before it could fall.

Slowly he looked back up at her again, "Cool.."

She simpered, "Gotta love my job, right?"

"What ability do you have?" Jin asked, scrutinizing the box.

"I was born with healing powers," she put a black plastic bag on the counter, "After becoming a pharmacist, I was given an ability called 'Perfect Replication' since my level of education was so astounding."

"Take care, kid. There are people in line," she pointed behind him, "I hope your grandmother gets better. And try not to catch a cold yourself, alright? It's raining bullets outside…"

"Thanks," Jin replied, putting the box of pills in the plastic bag she gave him.

Just watching the pharmacist work, swung Jin's sorrow a bit.

Abilities can be reckless. Abilities can be terrifying. Abilities can be harsh, especially in the wrong hands…

But they can be miraculous when used for the right things.

***

With his hood up, Jin, eyelids drooped, was walking in the heavy rain, holding the black plastic bag in his left hand while his other hand was in his kangaroo pocket.

It was again another rainy, grim day as always. It was unbeknown to the world why this was the case. They had no idea why the environment was altering so much. But they could certainly perceive the change.

Jin had walked into multiple puddles of water only halfway through his destination. Some water had sunken into his shoes, and his clothes were drenched in water as well.

He felt incredibly uncomfortable wearing his soaked clothes, while walking upon the wet pavements of the streets.

In front of him, he could see a massive Orc coming in his direction. Its hair was orange in color, and was quite long. Although the Orc was going a different direction compared to him, they were on the same side of the pavement.

Simply, Jin continued walking on this said side of the pavement. And when the Orc, who stayed on the same side of the pavement as well, drew closer, it shoved Jin sideways.

"Watch it, fool!"

Jin went edging off from the pavement, flying to the corner of the road, and collapsing into a huge puddle of water. The water splashed all over the people who were passing by.

As a red car came speeding down the road, Jin flinched while still on the ground, as he thought he was going to get hit.

However, he was at the corner of the road, and so, he didn't get hit by the vehicle. It zoomed by without touching him.

Suddenly, he heard a loud wail that sounded much like someone in agony behind him. And as he turned around, sitting in the puddle on his behind, he saw a figure crouched down on the floor, putting out its hand to assist him up.

Next to the figure, there laid the Orc, unconscious—sprawled out on the pavement as if dead. This was the same fat Orc who had pushed him in the road, and almost caused him a jarring casualty.

Jin slowly turned his head to face the figure again. Contemplating the figure, he could see a black-haired teenager, with impenetrable eyes and a smirk on his face.

The person had a high fade; sides cut low, with jet black long hair on top of his head that was curlier than Jin's. His lips were red, and his eyes were grey. His skin was clear, and smooth, yet had a pale tone to it.

Jin simply took his hand, and was pulled up from the floor by him.

"Hey," he said, peering at Jin.

Looking at the teen around his age, Jin could notice that the boy was a lot taller than him. Jin simply put his unoccupied hand in his kangaroo pocket, and responded, "Thanks."

"Yeah, these creatures are a damn pain. I'm glad I stumbled across the ugly bastard pushing you like that."

"Well, you showed him—again, thanks."

"No problem at all. I'm just glad I took those martial arts lessons."

"Ohh, no wonder why you were able to knock out a freaking Orc."

"I mean, it was an obese one, but I'll take the flatter," he put his hands in his pants pockets.

"Yeah. But I think its weight should've made it a lot harder to knock out nonetheless. Shouldn't it?"

"I don't know, man. Don't complicate things," he grinned, "I knocked him out for you. I knocked him out for you. That's all to it."

"Okay, then thanks for the third time. Really, I appreciated it."

"Say, which way are you headed? That way?" He asked, pointing in the same direction Jin had planned to go.

"Yeah. That way…"

"Nice!" He punched a hand into the air in delight, "We get to talk for a bit."

"Cool," Jin started walking.

The guy pursued his path, "I didn't get your name," he said.

While walking, Jin glanced at him, "It's Jin Pierce. What's yours?"

"I'm Flint."

"Cool name, not gonna lie," complimented Jin.

Flint smiled, "Guess that makes two of us."

"Thanks."

"Also, speaking of cool," he peered at Jin's face, "That's one hella cool tattoo you got there…"

Jin touched his face, and looked at his hand, only to see that his makeup had gotten washed off again, "Ohh…thanks. It's nothing really."

"Okay, if you say so," he gazed up at the rainy sky, "I think it's cool…"

"Thanks, again."

He looked at Jin once more, "Where are you from, Jin?"

"I live here in the city. Just right around the corner from here."

He pointed both his thumbs at himself, "Shameless city rat here as well…"

"Cool."

"What about your school? What school do you go to?"

"Bishop College—the one next to Frodmound Girls'."

He grinned, "Is there not something we don't have in common?"

"Really? You go to Bishop too?"

"Well, I oftentimes skip classes a lot, but yeah. Yeah, I do."

"What grade?"

"I'm a twelve-grader."

"Ohh, one class higher than me," said Jin, looking away.

"You're an eleventh grader? How come I've never seen you before?"

"To be honest with you, Flint. I'm barely known in that school. I'm far from cool there."

"Totally understandable. Even though I'm more so cool as fuck."

Jin giggled, "You look like you are. Confidence on another level. You just freaking knock-out-punched an Orc!"

He laughed, "Crazy shit, isn't it? Say that to my mom, and she won't believe a thing. All she knows is that her only son is a waste of her time and money. Parents, am I right?"

"Mine uh…they died," he gazed down at the floor, "six years ago…"

"Ohh," he droned, peering at Jin, "My condolences."

"Yeah…"

"If only humans were immortals, man. Still, I don't think I'd want to live so long in such a messed up world. Would you, Jin?"

"Nah," Jin peered at him again, "I'd prefer death after living a full normal life here. That's if I don't get killed by some hobgoblin that is."

"Jin, are you sure you're not secretly a badass too? That tattoo's sick! I'm totally gonna get one myself! I'll probably put six twenty as mine though…"

Jin chuckled, "It isn't even cool. Trust me when I tell you I'm just a weird shut-in. A dweeb who doesn't know what to do with his life."

"Don't we all too?"

Jin had arrived at his house, "Uhhh, Flint. It was nice meeting you and all, but I gotta go now," he pointed, "My house's right across the road."

Flint quickly raised his wristband and looked down at it, "Okay, I'm sending you a friend-request. Accept on your own time. I'm glad I met you today, Jin."

"Yeah, you actually made my day just now," Jin smiled at him, "Thank you."

"Also, since I know where you live now, can I pass by sometime?"

"Sure, but just remind me to not get on your nerves—I've never been knocked out, and I don't plan to be…"

He grinned, "No problem. Have a good day, man."

Jin smiled at him before crossing the road, "You too…"