The Reincarnated Hitman

Chapter 4: Alpha Potential

Liam found himself sorting out the memories in his head again, this time, in search of a specific set of memories.

The ones on his Factor.

The first thing he came upon was Pragma, an energy that every living human produced.

That much was established science in this world, as settled and unremarkable as the existence of blood or oxygen.

According to the research Liam had done, Pragma was a biological energy generated at the cellular level, accumulating in the body similar to how a charge accumulated in a battery.

It was also present in every living person from birth to death in quantities that varied enormously and that quantity meant everything.

For the vast majority of people, this energy never became useful. To them, it was merely an energy that existed within their bodies, nothing more.

And then, there were the rare few.

Awakened Humans.

Twenty-five years ago, humans began experiencing unnatural Pragma buildup within them, and their bodies, unable to simply contain the excess, found a way for it to escape.

That somewhere became known as a Factor.

Nobody knew exactly why or how it had started, the simplest explanation was that some humans had suddenly started developing superpowers.

Though, scientists believe it was a result of an unknown form of genetic evolution.

The emerging Factor was shaped by something fundamental about the person’s biology, psychology and the specific circumstances of their Awakening.

It wasn’t exactly their personality, the science was messier than that, but something in the specific configuration of who they were at that moment produced a specific kind of output.

In simpler terms, their ’state of being’ affected what type of Factor they’d develop.

For example, Liam had read somewhere about a case of someone’s Factor being the ability to generate and control fire, which had manifested during a house fire they had been trapped in as a child.

Another case involved a woman whose Factor turned out to be an advanced form of echolocation because she had been born with a sight impairment. freewebnσvel.cѳm

The science behind the connection between circumstance and Factor wasn’t fully understood, and likely never would be but if there was one thing everyone agreed on, it was the fact that Awakened Humans were special.

And Liam was one of the special ones.

Or at least that’s what he had thought when his Factor emerged as he turned fourteen, a month after his parents’ death.

Perhaps it was shock or Trauma, but his Pragma had crossed the threshold and he successfully became an Awakened Human.

But his dreams of becoming a hero and earning enough to take care of his two siblings were shattered the very next day.

At the Factor Verification Center.

Apparently, his Pragma had only barely crossed the threshold, and the excess energy being produced wasn’t enough to power his factor.

In other words, he could only barely use his ability, if at all.

It wasn’t Null per se,

But it wasn’t anything useful either.

The technician at the verification center had been kind about it, which somehow made it worse.

The good news was that Pragma capacity could be developed over time through consistent use.

But if the baseline was low, the development curve would be so slow that it would be practically meaningless in any timeframe that mattered to a fourteen-year-old with two younger siblings and a stack of bills.

So Liam had given up on trying to improve in that end, especially given the fact that he needed money fast.

And his solution? Any job that would hire kids his age....which were surprisingly plenty.

Turns out, employers didn’t really care....as long as you did the job and they only had to pay you the lowest wage possible.

Even though the kid had been involved in lots of unsavory things for someone his age, Zero had to admit,

This kid had tried.

With everything available to him, in circumstances that would have broken most people, the original Liam kept his siblings fed...even as a kid himself.

But through that, his Factor had basically been forgotten about and he went back to living as a normal, unawakened human.

"What a waste," Liam muttered as he picked up the document that lay on the small study desk in the room.

Although the kid’s Pragma levels were minuscule, his actual factor was as versatile as they’d come.

He had a construction-type factor, and from the memories he possessed, it allowed him to create anything he could imagine.

A fact he hadn’t revealed to the assessing officer after his pitiful Pragma levels were revealed.

That was the only reason why the HA, Hero’s Association, hadn’t tried forcefully recruiting him despite his pitiful pragma levels.

After all, a Factor like that was sure to be classed with Alpha potential.

The downside to that decision was the fact that he and his siblings would have been in situation better than their current one had he been recruited by the HA.

Then again, he was only a fourteen-year-old who was still dealing with the death of his parents and being immediately forced to grow up.

So he wouldn’t judge the kid too harshly.

Liam then put the document down and muttered, "Let’s see what your Factor can do, shall we?"

He opened his palm and the next second, Pragma started moving towards his palm, confirming his thoughts on the fact that it came as naturally as breathing.

He then imagined what he wanted to create, the image of a small knife formed in his mind, and almost instantly, it also formed above his palm.

Liam grabbed it, a grin surfacing on his face as he muttered, "Awesome."

He grabbed the knife, confirming that it truly was an actual, solid object.

As a fan of comics, of course, he had also dreamt of gaining superpowers.

Every kid did.

And right now, having formed a knife from thin air, it felt as if he was back to his childhood again.

A few seconds later, the knife in his hand suddenly dissolved, but he wasn’t disappointed.

Instead, his grin widened as he looked at his palm, the excitement evident in his eyes and he muttered,

"Let’s run more tests."