45 Battle Style

"…And please take care of her".

That fearful killing intent disappeared as fast as it came. And I felt a weight being lifted from my shoulders.

'I told you it was going to be fine'. Rose was looking our exchange while floating next to me.

Thanks to Rose words from before and our current situation I had an idea of what his response was going to be.

I wasn't sure if it was really fine for him, but at least he didn't oppose. To be honest I put him in a rough spot too. If he tries to make things difficult for us he can break the group apart and hurt Rose in the process.

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to protect her and make her happy"

It was a little embarrassing to say that with her next to me.

"Yeah, yeah, just don't get lovey-dovey in front of me" He looked at the sky and I'm sure I saw a little smile.

"Deal".

Since everything went better than I expected, I decided to change the subject to not make the thing more awkward.

"By the way the water collector worked perfectly, you can clean yourself if you feel better"

"I noticed that most of them were filled, do you think we should change them?"

"Instead do you think we can make it fill multiple recipients at the same time? You are in no condition to carry more bathtubs and I don't think I can do it alone, also later we can wash our clothes and empty a couple of them"

"That's easy it may not be as precise as before, but it can be done fast. Bring the containers and anything you think can work as a funnel"

The next hour was spent going around the apartments getting the everything for G. Now Rose can go through walls too, so she was able to locate everything and all I had to do was carry them to the roof. From time to time Rose would use Astral Portal so we get used to it.

We also talked about my perk and attributes points. Without much debate, I choose good leader. seducer was denied immediately and between good leader and puppeteer, the effect of good leader was way better. The effect is strengthening the two main attributes of my allies (10%). Puppeteer was a bonus when I try to manipulate someone.

The attribute debate was more complex. We both agreed that int was probably the best, but it doesn't improve my battle prowess unless it has a battle-related perk, but that was a risk we couldn't take. Then it came to choose between end and agi. Probably this choice was also related to the path I should take as my battle style for at least the next few weeks, so it wasn't easy.

In the end, neither Rose or I could decide of which was better.

In that time G had recovered a lot and cleaned himself. There was one of the tubs that was just half filled now so I think everyone has done it at least once.

"How are you feeling?"

"Much better than before, give me a hand to finished this fast so we can build the crossbows"

"Just guide me on the modifications, don't waste your energy"

He gave really precise instructions and it took us just half an hour to finish.

"Ok let's make the crossbows now"

"Wait we should use the water of at least one of the tubs. Rose, can you bring me my clothes to wash them?"

'Sure' she used astral portal to leave the roof.

"Are you talking to my sister?"

"I can see Rose in her astral form and interact with her now… it was one of the rewards…".

I explained to him about Astral link and about the attributes points I got. It was uncomfortable for him to know how the fact that I got rewarded by the system for kissing his sister. The rewars were also the confirmation that my feelings for her were real, otherwise the mission wouldn't have been fulfilled.

Rose arrived together with Hope and our backpacks. We washed our clothes together, Hope and Rose washed Hayley's clothes too. They took one of the tubes filled and G and I took the one with less water.

My clothes were dirtier than the rest, so I washed them after G. They had blood on them too so, in the end, I couldn't get rid of the stains, so I decided to just throw them away. Anyway, I got used to wearing the clothes from one of the apartments.

Rose went with Hope who asked for help in her training, I wondered about how Hayley's training was going.

G and I went to the workshop and chat while assembling the crossbows. With G's guide, it was easier than I thought.

While we were working I also explained to him the problem of choosing agi or end to reach 25 first.

He answered straight away.

"Agi, it fits you more".

"Maybe but last time with the alligator what saved me was my endurance and damage reduction…"

"You are mainly a long-range fighter, keeping distance should be your priority. If you are forced to fight in close quarters, you should use your speed to dodge the attack and deliver precise counter attacks. That's how you fight in ours spars too and from your descriptions that was how you defeated the alligator"

"But it was thanks to my resistance that I defeated the alligator otherwise it could have broken my leg and killed me later"

"That's because you are an idiot". This caught me by surprise…maybe he was angry. "If instead of choosing damage reduction you picked dodge or used all those points in agility and dexterity instead of endurance the alligator wouldn't have even been able to touch you. Spence you indeed maybe can be a go in front of the group to absorb all the damage if you want …but doesn't fit you…

You are the type that goes in and delivers a fast and precise blow at the best moment. That was how it was always. The crow, you understood his attack pattern and then knocked down. You set a trap for the goat. When you killed that guy you dodged, knock him and killed him. The alligator, dodge and go for his weakness, so what is your style, a warrior or an assassin?"

There was no real way to know if it was true that with a different selection of attributes and perks earlier I would have really killed the alligator easier or die in the process. But it was true that my fighting style it's not that of a tank.

"You are right"

'Add 5 points to agi'

[Achievement Unlocked

Move like the wind

Possibly you can fight for a medal on the Olympics now… but that's not a thing right now.

Get 25 points in agi

Reward: Choose between Light Step/Acrobat/ Fast Striker /Light Weapons Mastery(melee)].

"I have to choose a perk"

"What do you have?"

I asked the system about the perks and explained each of them to G.

The decision was a lot more difficult than before. Light Steps allowed me to move faster and improve my stealth ability too. Useful to infiltrate and to keep a distance from my enemies. Acrobat grant me and improved flexibility and control over my body, which makes easier to dodge and make more complex attack patterns. Fast Striker lets me attack faster. The last allows me to use light weapons easier, I also acquire skill and improve them faster. Like natural talent. I remembered the battle with the alligator how I used the dive knife.

"You are in troubles"

"I know it's like all of them suits me in one way or another".

"Let's discard for the moment fast striker, I think your style is not the kind where you will try to attack a lot also I don't think it works for ranged attacks.

"You are right, even if it's attractive I'll discard Light weapons too, it has no use outside of battle. The problem is between the other two".

"Yeah, that's for you to think… be careful in this part"

We were finishing the crossbows, I checked with my eyes for imperfections, but I couldn't see any problem with them. We both loaded or crossbows at the same time.

[Mechanics Skill level up Lv.0->Lv.1]

I smiled at the notification.

"Perfect Let's try them"

We used the hallway to try them with the practice bolts I made earlier. We used the mattresses we found in this apartment to shoot.

The crossbows worked perfectly, and we didn't have troubles reloading them either.

With this, I was almost ready to work to complete the pending missions.

I stayed more time to work with G to have enough bolts, at the end of the day there were 20 bolt of each type and 5 of the hollow point ones.

G got tired and went to sleep. Outside was raining again.

A lot of things happened this day, so I decided to go to bed. I went to the girl's apartment to say goodnight to Rose. Hope told me that Hayley went to bed early too, she has been training all day, so it was understandable.

I went to sleep and while I was lying down phantom rose appeared and lied next to me. her phantom hand was touching mine, I could feel her warm and slowly fell asleep.