There was still time before the mission briefing — which meant I had one more opportunity to experiment.
I sat cross-legged on my bed and closed my eyes. For the past few days, one idea had been consuming my attention: passive cultivation.
Meditation worked. My compatibility with the Universal Method was absurdly high compared to most superpowered individuals — where others needed years of dedicated training to accumulate enough Universal Energy to advance, my progress was already moving at a different pace. But there was still one problem.
Meditation required my attention. It required time. And time was the one resource I couldn't afford to waste. If I wanted to grow as fast as possible, I needed a way for my body to absorb Universal Energy continuously — even while I slept.
The idea sounded simple. The execution was not.
I focused inward, observing my body through Transfiguration, and dozens of failed designs cycled through my mind. Some modifications consumed too much energy to maintain. Others placed excessive strain on my nervous system. One design had nearly turned my brain into a biological furnace, burning Universal Energy faster than I could absorb it. I caught the flaw before testing it — otherwise I might have accidentally killed myself.
That would've been embarrassing.
After countless revisions, I settled on a new approach: a tiny organ, small enough not to burden my body, simple enough not to overload my brain. Its purpose was straightforward — constantly monitor my energy reserves, and whenever it detected available capacity, gently stimulate the biological pathways responsible for Universal Energy absorption. Not aggressively, not enough to interfere with my thoughts. Just enough to keep the process running in the background.
Like breathing. Like a heartbeat. A passive function.
Carefully, I began the transformation. Cells shifted, tissues reorganized, new neural connections formed. Several minutes later, the organ was complete.
I waited. Nothing happened.
Then — I felt it. Tiny streams of Universal Energy flowing into my body. Not through conscious effort, not through meditation. Just happening, automatically.
My eyes widened. "It actually worked."
I ran through the checks immediately. Mental strain — negligible. Energy consumption — almost nonexistent. Cellular instability — none. The organ functioned exactly as intended.
A grin spread across my face. This was huge. Before this, reaching Rank D would've taken close to a year — already considered fast; most superpowered individuals needed several years to advance. Now? Months. Maybe less. And if I could refine the design further, even that might shrink.
For a few seconds I just sat there smiling. This was the first biological modification I'd created purely for long-term growth rather than immediate survival. The possibilities felt endless.
A notification appeared on the wall screen.
*Handler 245 — Report to Briefing Room Seven. Meet your assigned teammates.*
My excitement cooled. I stood up and left.
Using my watch's navigation, I followed the highlighted route through Bloom's endless corridors. The deeper I went, the more personnel I passed — researchers, scientists, security officers, students. Bloom really did feel like a city crammed inside a single building.
A few minutes later I arrived outside Briefing Room Seven. The door slid open, I stepped in, and blinked.
"Well... that's unexpected."
Apparently Bloom had decided to save me the trouble of meeting new people. Almost everyone in the room was someone I already knew.
Ira was the first person I spotted — leaning back in his chair like he was sitting in a café rather than waiting for a potentially deadly mission briefing. The moment he saw me, he pointed dramatically at Anita.
"I told you."
Anita groaned. "You've been saying that for three days."
"And I was right."
"You were lucky."
"I prefer the term intelligent."
I couldn't help smiling. Somehow, despite everything Bloom had put us through, Ira remained exactly the same.
Then Anita noticed me, and a small smile crossed her face. "Good to see you're still alive."
"Likewise."
Simple words, but oddly comforting. Anita was one of the first people who'd shown me genuine kindness after arriving here.
Then my attention shifted to the fourth member of the team — a thin teenage boy sitting quietly beside Anita. The moment he realized I was looking, he glanced away. He was younger than I'd expected. Seventeen, maybe. Then I remembered something Anita had told me months ago.
"Khan?"
The boy nodded. "Y-yes."
So this was him. He looked surprisingly ordinary — not weak, not timid, just normal, with a trace of something in his eyes that you rarely saw inside Bloom. Innocence. Most people here looked older than they should, like the place had worn years off their faces. Khan still looked like he belonged in a classroom.
"I'm Khan," he said quietly. An awkward silence followed. Then, suddenly: "My power is Enhancement."
The shift in his voice was immediate — the moment the conversation moved to abilities, the hesitation disappeared.
"What can you enhance?" I asked.
His eyes brightened. "Almost anything." He raised a finger. "Strength." A second. "Speed." A third. "Endurance." A fourth. "Reaction speed." A fifth. "Durability. And some other things."
I stared at him. The only word that came to mind was *broken.* Then again, everyone in special operations seemed to have ridiculous abilities. Bloom clearly didn't recruit average people.
"I absorb the properties of metals through contact and temporarily transform my body to match them," I offered. The simplified version — no need to share everything.
Khan's eyes went wide. "That's cool."
I smiled. If only he knew what the power actually contained.
Anita went next. "My power allows me to create connections."
Khan rolled his eyes. "That's the simplified explanation."
"It is."
"You always give the simplified explanation."
"Because the full one takes too long."
Ira laughed. "Trust me, she's right." A few chuckles went around the room, and just like that, the atmosphere lightened.
Then Anita looked at me. "Inala."
My smile froze slightly. "Yes?"
"Where are you from?"
Immediate danger.
Of all the questions she could have asked. What was I supposed to say — that I came from another world? A world without Universal Energy, that would look primitive compared to this one?
Transfiguration kept my nerves from showing externally, but internally my thoughts were moving at a sprint. Anita studied my face for a second, and something shifted in her expression. Her eyes widened slightly.
"Sorry," she said quickly. "You don't have to answer."
The room went quiet. Khan looked embarrassed. Ira glanced away. Everyone seemed to reach the same silent conclusion: *painful past.* Bloom was full of people carrying things they didn't want to discuss. Nobody pushed.
I silently thanked her for letting it go.
Before the silence could stretch too long, the door opened.
A man walked in, and the atmosphere shifted immediately. Conversations stopped, attention snapped forward. The newcomer was tall and heavily built, muscles visible beneath his dark uniform. Yellow eyes swept across the room with the easy confidence of someone very accustomed to danger. Scars ran along his forearms. Spiky hair, rough appearance — he looked more like a gang leader than a Bloom officer.
But there was something about him that went beyond the surface. Something predatory. Like a wolf that had learned to pass as human.
He stopped at the front of the room and let his gaze move across each of us — evaluating, measuring, judging.
"I am Praveen." His voice was calm and controlled, the kind that didn't need volume to command attention. A faint smile appeared, and somehow it made him look even more dangerous. "I'll be overseeing your next mission."
Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. The relaxed atmosphere from moments before evaporated completely. Because if Bloom was assigning someone like this to oversee our team, then whatever came next was going to be significantly more dangerous than any of us had prepared for.
And I had a feeling this briefing was about to change everything.
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