Ren's apartment was silent when he stepped inside.
The door clicked shut behind him.
For a moment, he just stood there—then he shrugged off his backpack, and tossed himself onto the sofa.
The cushions sank under his weight.
"…Weld."
The word left his mouth quietly.
Earlier, he had copied Monoma's quirk—the one inherited from his mother.
Copy.
Ren closed his eyes and entered his inner world.
Two quirk factors floated before him.
One was familiar—Copycat, his birth quirk.
The other was new—Copy.
He reached out.
Carefully at first.
Then—decisively—he grabbed both quirk factors and welded them together.
The moment they made contact—
Pain exploded.
Not pain.
Agony.
"A—AGHHHHHH!"
Ren's body was hurled off the sofa as if struck by an invisible force. He crashed onto the floor, fingers clawing at his chest.
Every nerve screamed.
This was nothing like creating Seraph.
That pain had been unbearable—but this was on an entirely different level.
His vision shattered into white.
Every single quirk inside him shook violently, flickering, destabilizing—unusable.
Modifying a copied quirk was one thing.
Modifying his birth quirk was another entirely.
Blood spilled freely.
From his ears. From his eyes. From his nose. From his mouth.
It dripped onto the pristine white carpet beneath him, soaking in dark and vivid.
"Aghhh—nghh—!"
His body convulsed, muscles locking and releasing uncontrollably as if rejecting itself.
Minutes passed.
Long.
Endless.
And then—
Slowly—
The pain receded.
Ren lay there, chest heaving, staring at the ceiling with unfocused eyes.
Then—
He smiled.
"…I really need to change the carpet," he muttered weakly, a breathless chuckle escaping him as he noticed the red stains spreading beneath his head.
He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and focused inward.
On Copycat.
It felt… different.
Denser.
Sharper.
Stronger.
"If only I had something to test you on…" he murmured.
Then—
A sensation.
A realization.
Ren's eyes widened.
"…Wait."
He hesitated only a fraction of a second.
Then he tried it.
He targeted one of the quirks he already possessed.
Grip.
The moment he activated Copycat—
Something responded.
A new quirk factor formed.
Identical.
Perfect.
Another Grip.
Ren sucked in a sharp breath.
"…I can copy already copied quirks?"
He laughed softly, disbelief bleeding into excitement.
"This is… incredible."
But as he tested it, he quickly realized the limitation.
The two Grips existed simultaneously—but the new one didn't activate.
It was there.
Dormant.
Useless.
"Hm…" Ren murmured.
"Copycat is probably suppressing it," he reasoned.
He frowned slightly.
"Genetically speaking… having duplicate beneficial genes can still cause catastrophic defects. Guess that applies to quirks as well."
Then—
His expression shifted.
"But…"
A slow smile spread across his face.
"…what if I don't activate it?"
"What if I weld it?"
Ren didn't hesitate.
He grabbed the duplicated Grip quirk factor and pulled Dense Muscles closer.
Grip already enhanced his forearms—strength, stability, control.
He had once considered welding it directly with Dense Muscles…
But abandoned the idea.
During welding, some effects could be lost and attaching to surfaces was pretty useful.
It had happened before.
Muscle Fibers had lost its permanent physical benefits when it fused with Joint Reactor to form Surge.
But this—
This was different.
This was a copy.
Even if something was lost, it didn't matter.
Ren initiated the weld.
Pain surged through him—
But this time, he was ready.
Seraph activated.
A soothing, stabilizing force wrapped around his mind and nervous system, dulling the agony to something bearable.
The fusion completed.
Ren clenched his fist.
"…It worked."
Strength surged through his entire body.
Not localized.
Not focused.
The principle behind Grip—enhanced muscular reinforcement—had spread everywhere, amplified by Dense Muscles.
His whole frame felt heavier.
Denser.
More solid.
Ren exhaled slowly, grounding himself.
"And now…" he whispered.
He dove deeper.
Into Surge.
Into its components.
He isolated one.
Muscle Fibers.
Copied it.
Another quirk factor manifested.
Then—
Without pause—
He welded the Muscle Fibers copy into the newly formed quirk.
Pain erupted again.
Even with Seraph dulling it, the sensation was vicious—muscles tearing themselves apart and rebuilding simultaneously.
But compared to the fusion of Copycat and Copy—
This was nothing.
The process ended.
Ren froze.
His body—
Changed.
Not gradually.
Instantly.
His muscles restructured themselves at a fundamental level.
Fibers condensed, intertwined, layered upon one another with impossible precision.
Strength and flexibility coexisted perfectly.
His body wasn't just stronger.
It was optimized.
"This feeling…" Ren whispered, flexing slowly.
"…It's a mutant-type quirk."
He looked down at his hands.
They were human.
But also—
Not.
A human frame that had transcended its original limits.
A vessel rebuilt for power.
A quiet, reverent smile touched his lips.
"A human surpassing himself…"
He named it.
"…Herculean Strength."
The room was silent again.
Except for the faint creak of the floor—
As Ren stood up.
To be continued...
***
***
How was this chapter? Liked it?
Do you like the name of the new quirk? And no, it's not the crazy quirk combo I mentioned.