Imposter System

The small electrical device had just finished recharging and detected an anomaly in the person it was implanted in. Matt was focused on Westley with his Detect Life and when the electrical discharge occurred, a large amount of life force surged into his brain. Suddenly, the man blinked a few times and kicked Matt away from him. His eyes regained all of their clarity and he immediately turned his view away from Matt's face.

"So, you're an esper! I'm afraid I can't leave you alive. No hard feelings, kid." Matt was able to make quick assumptions about what just happened. Without wasting time, he dodged the kick coming at him from the side. Westley had a knife sticking out of the toe of his shoe and Matt felt that was quite reminiscent of his era.

Westley wasn't going to let up and started with a straight jab using the other knife in his hand. Matt ignored it and only adjusted his hips in order for the knife to strike the vest. It clanged loudly as metal hit metal while Matt used that as a chance to back away to where one of the soldiers stood. With Detect Life activated, he was monitoring Westley closely. Once he determined that the device had a delay and was meant to break the recipient out of any influences, he started charging up his Mind Blast.

However, seeing Matt create some space between them, Westley didn't hesitate. He bit into his forearm until it drew blood, and suddenly his mental fluctuations increased exponentially. Matt could see large waves of life force coming from something in his forearm. This was some sort of stimulant that buffed all the user's defense. Matt was more than familiar with this drug. It was the dreaded 'Stim Pack.' Westley came at him moving extremely quickly.

If it wasn't for his improved reflexes, Matt wouldn't have been able to dodge. However, Westley was trained much more vigorously than Matt. The strikes weren't random. Each one was pushing Matt to exert the most energy to avoid. Any drop in performance would cause him to get hit. Matt switched on his Perfect Mimicry and relied on it to defend himself here.

He utilized his main body to retaliate. The Mind Blast was finally released and slammed into Westley. He was knocked back slightly from the illusion of being struck by something heavy. This was due to the mental strain Mind Blast had put on him. However, the Stim Pack reduced all damage taken by fifty percent.

Realizing that Matt had another form of attack, Westley immediately went to his personal device. The jamming device prevented any external transmissions, but he had something else in mind. He spoke a code word into the device, and a frequency began to play from the device. Matt couldn't hear it, but once he noticed his mental energy was unstable, he knew Westley had just done something.

"Although you managed to sneak past our surveillance, this technology can take down a whole group of Grade B espers and reduce a Grade A esper down a peg. Just give up."

Westley was very smug. During the reception, it seemed that Matt had tried to use his mind tricks on him. However, the safety device on his brainstem was a last resort since it had such a long charging period. He was trained to block weaker esper abilities that influenced the mind. Therefore, he didn't even notice the failed attempt until he thought back about it now. With a kick, he knocked the stunned Matt to the ground.

"Ha… haha." Matt started chuckling. Westley paused for a second, thinking that Matt had given up and was losing his mind. Westley took out a device from his jacket underneath the vest. It looked like a computer CPU with several pins on one end and a metal surface on the other. The device was made specifically to disable espers' mental abilities. However, Matt wasn't laughing because he gave up.

"I'm quite lucky, you know." Matt started. "If I had gone to you first, this would really be a tough fight…" Westley wasn't sure what Matt was going to do, but his instincts told him it wasn't good. He dived toward Matt to take him down before he tried anything funny, but it was too late. This whole time, Matt was moving closer to the soldier on the ground for a reason.

With his hand behind him, not visible to Westley, was touching the soldier's neck. Several tendrils drilled into his body and began to take in evolution points, eleven at a time. Matt didn't need much, so he wouldn't kill the poor sod, but he would feel weak for a few days. Westley using the stim pack and a piece of tech specifically targeting mental energy had pissed Matt off.

If he were a Faceless Devourer, he may have released his transformation and gone completely feral. But since he was in the Mind Flayer branch, his anger and instincts made him more insidious. His mind moved quicker when creating schemes and plots. The mind was his battlefield and intelligence were his greatest weapon. As a future Eldritch Horror, simple violence was too easy for his enemies.

[Psionics Lv. 1->2: Your mastery in mental energies has unleashed the full potential of your grade. Due to your mutation towards the Eldritch Horror pathway, you are the pioneer for future powers. May your achievements forever mark your presence in history.

]Ability: Telepathy

]Ability: Mind Blast

]Ability: Phantom Voices

]Ability (Locked): Sundering Strike

]Level Cost: 80->120]

[Psionics Lv. 2->3: (...)

]Ability: Telepathy

]Ability: Mind Blast

]Ability: Phantom Voices

]Ability: Sundering Strike]

[Phantom Voices: Allow a portion of your astral body to reach into the mind of the target and make them hear voices. The voices directly penetrate barriers and defenses around the mind, but do not cause much harm themselves.

Activation: Thought

Duration: 5 minutes

Range: 0.5 Light-year]

[Sundering Strike: Release all of your mental energy into someone's mind, then rapidly pull it out, dragging a part of their soul out with it. If your mind is too weak or you target too large of a section of soul, your mental energy will be crushed and lost forever.

Activation: Concentration

Duration: Instant

Range: Touch]

Although the descriptions didn't fully explain every facet of his abilities, he instinctively knew how to use them. His body was almost vibrating at the sudden change and power up. Matt brought an ability to its maximum potential, but he felt there was more. Something was cresting, but as he reached out to grab it, it slipped away. He was too weak to reach for that ultimate power. For now, he turned his attention to Westley.

Time had seemed to slow as Westley dived forward to take Matt down. This phenomenon was brought by the rapid increase in his Psionics. Matt released the Phantom Voices with a thought, and a part of his astral body reached out and penetrated a hole in Westley's mental defenses. The voices caused him to be distracted for a moment as he turned his head back. Matt reached out and placed his hand on Westley's head.

The force of his weight coming down was inevitable. Matt fell backward, holding the top of Westley's head. However, although the illusion of time being slowed ended, Matt still had the initiative due to the distraction. He sent all of the mental energy he could muster through that hole created by Phantom Voices. As Sundering Strike was activated, all of his energy pulled back simultaneously with something foreign mixed in. When his energy returned, he felt extremely energized.

"Wyat dud yoo du to me…" Westley rolled to the side, unable to control his limbs or half of the muscles on his face. He groaned as saliva dripped out of his half-opened mouth. He took his knife and jabbed at Matt again, however, he just rolled out of the way. Westley's movements had become groggy and sluggish. Instead of stabbing Matt, he stabbed the soldier. Blood flowed out of the knife wound as Westley tried to stand up.

Matt made a slight miscalculation as he was enjoying the feeling of being high from the portion of soul. Westley had grabbed the soldier's gun and pointed it at Matt. Before he could react, Westley went to pull the trigger. However, the familiar sound of a device charging buzzed into Matt and Westley's ears. The device discharged and surged up and down Westley's spinal chord into his brain.

His neurons began to fire at high capacity. Normally, this would disrupt mental effects and bring the user to an optimal state. However, Sundering Strike was not something that could be fixed with a bit of stimulation. Instead, Westley fell to the ground and started seizing. The electric shock had caused all of his neurons to fire simultaneously since a large section of his brain wasn't functioning correctly due to Sunder Strike. Once the rhythm started, it didn't stop.

Matt stood over his seizing body and heaved a sigh of relief. He realized his whole body was hurting. The side effects of Sundering Strike were no joke. Matt walked out of the building and laid down next to two people that were knocked unconscious with hypnotics. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. However, before his consciousness slipped away, a notification drifted in and out.

[Warning: Unknown Energy has been ingested. Identified to be Grade 2. Stimulating Genetic sequence utilizing Grade 2 Energy. 32 Evolution Points gained.]