Chapter 42: Pop's Barber Shop

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While this would still be quite the number of languages, as there were many on Earth, with his enhanced mind Edward was confident he could master all those languages and memorize them without putting a burden on his mind. Actually, even a normal person could probably handle it, the brain had much more capacity than most thought.

However, another problem would come in the way. Taking all the languages in the world and using them was not that hard, it demanded some energy but taking the whole package made it easier.

Taking a select few though, complicated the spell by an ungodly amount. A good analogy would be a bag of rice. Let's say every grain of rice was one language. What was more difficult, moving all the grains of rice at once, or move 7457 grains?

And in reality it was even harder, as every grain would have to be numbered and mixed randomly, and one would have to move 7457 specific numbers out of the bag…

So taking a select few languages was much more difficult, and would take a lot of energy. Fortunately, the energy taken for the Allspeak was from a strange unowned dimension filled with nothing but pure energy, so Edward didn't have to worry about energy deficiency or a strange contract.

Of course, the spell would still take a toll on the body, which was why Merlin could only use it temporarily on humans while Asgardians had it constantly active.

However, Edward's body was now much stronger than a normal human, and with his Chi constantly circulating around his body, keeping this spell active constantly wouldn't be a problem.

So this spell was perfectly possible to use for Edward, and the only problem he had to deal with was modifying the spell so it would work as he intended. This was quite the humongous task, but he was now actually coming close to completion.

About an hour later, a spell matrix made of eldritch magic was hovering above Edward, and he was looking at it intently. He could feel he was only missing a small part to make his spell a working one, but the matrix was very complicated, so it was taking him a lot of time to decipher where the missing part was.

But as he was concentrating on the fiery red lines above him that usually delimited portals made by Sling Rings, that is what Eldritch Magic was, he heard a notification from his phone, and saw it was Diana messaging him back.

Only now did he remember that he was actually expecting a response from her. The matrix above him disappeared as he took a look at his phone. Diana had sent him 'No, something came up and I had to deal with it. I don't think I will make it tonight, sorry.'

This made Edward smile a little as he replied 'No need for an apology, I think I will go see my parents. Unless you need help from the mightiest guy in the world?'

Diana quickly replied with a laughing emoticon and said 'I am touched by the offer, but you can go see your parents. My 'problem' is just a misogynistic telepath, it would be more fitting for me to kick his ass.'

Edward chuckled and put his phone into his spatial bracelet. He quickly went for a shower, and changed his Armor of the Ancient… It was a mouthful, let's call it AA. Anyway, he changed it into casual clothes, and the shapeshifting cloth showed it's greatness as he basically owned every piece of clothing in the world.

All he had to do was look at the internet, and he could get anything he wanted. Edward wasn't much of a brand person though, and only put on a dark blue shirt below a grey jacket. With that were blue jeans and he was basically ready. He didn't worry about having to take off his jacket too, as several pieces of the AA could be separated. Magic.

However, as he changed himself, he looked at his body in the mirror, and felt the huge changes he had gone through. He didn't grow any taller, fortunately for him as he was tall enough already, but he had lost his slim figure, but he hadn't grown to become a big muscles person either.

His face seemed to have lost it's youth and innocence, and was replaced with sharper features. His jaw and nose looked more angular, and his blue eyes seemed to shine with a soft light. His eyes would probably stun strangers. It wasn't weird, just… captivating.

His dirty blond hair was longer than it used to be as it reached his shoulders, and wasn't really well cut. They were longer than he was used to, but he had been in the 6th century for three months, and he didn't really have any good hairdresser back then.

Many of the imperfections on his skin had also disappeared, and his hair always seemed clean and in great condition, courtesy of the constant circulation of his Chi.

Overall, Edward now looked more handsome and mature, and he also had a certain charm and charisma exuding out of him, although he did not know of this last part.

Now ready to go, Edward decided to go to the hair salon before going to see his parents. Although it was already past 8 pm, his parents lived in California so it was only 5 pm over there, and he wanted to eat dinner with them, so he had time.

Not having an appointment was a bit of a bother, but there were many salons that did not require one to have an appointment.

Before long, Edward found himself in Harlem, in front of Pop's Barber Shop. He remembered one of his assistants, John, told him his uncle owned a barbershop in Harlem. That was the shop.

Through the glass he saw several people inside, three in fact. One he recognized as his former assistant, John. Beside him were two men, one was a mountain of a man, and actually quite reminded Edward of Ben, who owned the dojo with his teacher, Dragon.

Both were mountains of muscle and looked like they could bend steel.

The final man in the shop was an older man, and whom Edward assumed to be Pop, John's uncle. He had a beer belly and a nice little straw hat.

As Edward opened the door, a bell rung, and the three men looked away from the TV. The big man looked at him with squinted eyes, Pop had a welcoming smile, and John opened his eyes wide as he exclaimed "Dr Bell?!"

Both older men looked at John in surprise, while Edward smiled back and said "Hello John, it's bee a while."

John looked at the two older men and said "That was my superior when I worked at Oscorp." He looked back at Edward and asked "What are you doing here?"

Edward pointed at his hair and replied "What do you usually do in a barber shop?"

Pop smiled and said "Come on, sit down."

Edward nodded and did as he was told. Pop looked at the third man and said "Luke, time to work." Luke nodded and asked Edward "What can I do for you?"

Edward smiled and was about to answer when he saw a bunch of portraits on a whole. They were all of famous stars, for example Al Pacino, but Edward was surprised to see a poster of him too. Well, of Serenity.

So he asked "Are those people you admire?"

Pop followed Edward's gaze and replied "Those are the only people who can get a free haircut here."

This made Edward smile, and he told Luke what he wanted. Edward's hair was actually much stronger than ordinary people, and he doubted any average human would be able to cut them. However, he had found a solution to the problem while in Camelot, he could use his Chi to weaken them and make them easier to cut.

While Luke worked, Edward asked "So, how have you been doing ever since Oscorp, John?"

He heard a sigh from the young man as he replied "Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a job since Dr Connors… stunt. But I've heard you managed to fall back onto your feet Dr Bell. First the anti serum, and then the Elephant Mice hybrid serum. It was brilliant."

Edward smiled and replied "I've had help."

John asked "Have you thought about building your own company? You could make millions with your inventions and fame."

Edward shook his head and replied "I've already created my own company, but I don't intend on expanding it. I know it sounds smug from someone with money, but I do believe there is more important than money in this world. Family, for example."

John fell silent at that, and Pop laughed "He's right you know. When I was younger I was all about money too, but that only led me to the wrong kind of people."

Edward also added "But you did look passionate about your job while we worked together. You know, you could try to go to Stark. You have the right skill set, and I'm sure Stark would be happy to recruit you, even if it's only to spit on Oscorp."

John lowered his head, deep in thought. This made both Edward and Pop smile.

What followed was some idle talk, and in the end Edward happily paid for his haircut as he found it to suit him. All the while, Luke hadn't spoken much, it seemed he was a man of a few words, but that did not bother Edward in the slightest, Pop more than made up for it.

While leaving, Edward wondered how Pop would like if he knew he was Serenity, and had even made him pay.

But as he was in his own thoughts, his excellent hearing picked up on the conversation of two teens not far away.

"Him, look at his clothes, he definitely has a heavy wallet."

This made Edward sigh a little as he discreetly looked at the two, and saw the one who spoke fidgeting with a hidden knife. New York was getting more and more lawless.

But as Edward was thinking of how to take care of them, the second young man grabbed the first guy's arm with strength and said with panic "Are you crazy man? He just left Pop's!"

The first young man clicked his tongue and replied "I'm not afraid of that old man." The second one punched him in the side and said "You don't fear him? What about Cottonmouth, wanna get killed or what?!"

The vindictive young man seem to finally cool down as he sat back, but he still stared at Edward, trying to scare him. This made Edward smile as he stared back, and released a bit of his Royal Will. Unlike before, he could control it, and he released it through his eyes.

The intensity wasn't very strong, but it was enough to make the young man feel like he was standing in front of an ancestral monster that killed hundreds of people. The sheer pressure made the young man shiver as he stumbled back, confusing his friend.

Edward smiled and walked toward a nearby alley, while he gave a last look at the barber shop. Things were more interesting than he thought…

Meanwhile, the first young man recovered a little, and ignored his friend's questions as he ran toward the alley Edward left in.

But much to his shock, Edward was nowhere to be seen.