Perhaps, out of fear, Jasper quickly perceived the energy flowing inside his body, stunning him. For some reason, the thickest concentrated energy was gathered on his brain, shocking him.
Am I a zombie? He instantly denied such a ridiculous idea. Nevertheless, discerning Eric's presence in front of him, he hastily controlled the energy inside him to gather on his fingertips, and he was successful.
He was stunned. At first, he thought he might be hallucinating, or his imagination was only running wild under the pressure of Eric. It turned out that the energy indeed existed inside his body.
Is it because I eat that disgusting thing? Despite feeling disgusted, he felt a bit awed by the mysterious energy.
As expected, the energy gathered on his fingertips but then he suddenly found it difficult to travel the energy towards the key. Of course, he could visualize the key on his fingertips, and also, for some reason, he felt an affinity with it. Nevertheless, he suddenly perceived there was a long distance for the energy on his fingertips to travel on the key.
"Visualize the key of being bent by the energy."
Hearing his voice, he was startled, but then finally managed to compose himself to follow Eric's suggestion.
Bend the key. Bend the key. I feel stupid talking to this energy. However, he was stunned when the energy suddenly flowed towards the key, overwhelming the latter's properties until it slowly bent sideways.
He heard numerous gasps a bit far from them. He recognized it belonged to most of the boys present except Eric.
Out of curiosity, he could not help but open his eyes and he was shocked to see the key bending similar to what he imagined earlier.
"I was not just imagining things?"
"Of course not," said Eric with a slight smile. "Since the energy is inside your body, it will naturally follow your brain. Hence, visualization is important in controlling them. Of course, you can manage to master them without having to close your eyes and control them naturally like moving your limbs.
Just think of it like you are just starting to walk."
Jasper listened attentively and nodded in a daze. He still finds it difficult to believe he suddenly obtained a superpower.
However, he soon realized how limited his ability was.
"Can I improve it?"
"Of course, you can."
Jasper was excited. However, his excitement soon dropped when he caught Eric's devilish smile.
"By eating more of that crystal."
"I-I'll think about it."
Eric chuckled. Jasper stared at him for a while and sighed helplessly when he knew Eric was not playing with him. Whatever. I'll eat it if it is for the sake of becoming powerful.
"Aside from that. You also obtain resistance, too."
Eric suddenly grabbed the curved metal key from him and stabbed the point part on his arm. Jasper was startled, but he was late to react.
"AAAAAAA–" He screamed.
"Stop screaming like a girl." Eric rolled his eyes as he pulled his hand with the curved metal key with no blood on it. "Be serious. You did not feel any pain, right?"
Jasper was taken aback. He tried to perceive any pain, but he was shocked he did not feel a thing. Have I become numb after eating it?
"Of course not."
Jasper stared at Eric, as though he was a monster. How did you know? He wanted to ask, but it was only voiced out in his mind.
"It's clearly written on your face." Eric shrugged.
Jasper was still in disbelief. He did not buy Eric's explanation, but the latter was indifferent towards his suspicions.
"Anyway, the energy inside your body seems to have affinity with the metal elements. So you can bend it, soften it, and have resistance from it. If you continue to evolve, who knows. You might be able to control a metal in a far distance."
"Is that really possible?" Andrew asked.
Eric turned to him and nodded. "It is only possible because the world has become an apocalypse. To be honest, the energy should be a good thing, but since it was released too much, the world has become an apocalypse."
"How did you know all of this?" Jasper asked.
He was suspicious of Eric. After all, his past actions, especially now, were too abnormal when the apocalypse had just started.
"Don't you read novels?" In fact, Eric was already prepared to answer such questions. Hence, he thought of various ways, until he discovered that Eric Fernandez was an avid reader and gamer.
Since what happened now was pretty similar to novels and movies, it was a good excuse. Of course, it was a ridiculous answer, but what could they do about it?
"You're tripping," said Jasper, staring at him with a face filled with suspicion.
Eric shrugged. "If you've read apocalypse novels, you will understand what I mean."
Jasper was still immovable. However, since Eric was being serious, he could only accept the reason without much thought.
He asked, "So, do you also have a superpower like me?"
"No?" Eric stared at him in disbelief. "In fact, you are the first person who obtained a superpower."
Jasper's eyes widened.
However, Eric's following next words infuriated him.
"I told you I read novels, right? From the novels, it said that there is a crystal inside the brain of a zombie and eating it can undergo evolution. I was skeptical at first. I do not want to test it myself, so I tested it for you. It's successful, at least," said Eric smugly.
"Y-You–" Jasper trembled in anger.
As much as he wanted to beat up Eric, he acknowledged the fact there was a massive difference between them when it comes to strength. Hence, he could only swallow his anger.
"Hate me if you want. At least, you obtain a superpower." Eric
"Um…" Andrew knew that Eric would only infuriate Jasper more, so he tried to break the conflict by asking what was on his mind.
"What is it?" Eric poked his right ear and blew the earwax.
"So, is it safe to consume that crystal now? Are you planning on eating it as of the moment?"