Brawl
Steel beams run all over the place, letting me move around the whole plot undetected, even if my sense of balance is much worse than spiderman's forcing me to move slowly in order to not fall off.
I try to be as quiet as possible while moving as in not to alert the people below. The system acknowledges my effort as I gain a new skill.
[DING!]
[New skill created - Stealth]
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[Stealth - Passive] (Level 1 - 1%)
Governs your ability to escape detection by others by reducing the noise your movements produce and making you blend into the background.
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The skill is gaining xp rapidly as I just squat here on the beam above them. I dismiss the window and focus on what is happening down below. Five people carrying baseball bats are surrounding a lone man wearing a construction uniform.
There is a sixth person in the back wearing nicer clothes than the rest who isn't carrying a weapon and is instead smoking a cigar. "So are you going to tell me what happened to boss's money, or will we have to beat it out of you?"
I use observe on him as he seems to be the leader of these people with baseball bats.
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[Name - Denis Sullivan]
[Description - A low-level goon]
[Affiliation - Kingpin]
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Kingpin's people? I guess that's the boss he is talking about, though seeing his description says 'low-level goon' he probably hasn't even met the man before. I use observe on the other people as well, and sure enough, they are all affiliated with Kingpin, except for the person they are surrounding, that is.
The surrounded man holds his arms up in a defensive position. "Why are you asking me this? I already wrote it all down and sent it to the boss. The materials, they became more expe-"
"You know that's not the money I am talking about, fuck it, Bob, give him a good hit to the head. Maybe it will jog his memory a bit." The boss of the goons says, prompting one of the people to step forward and lift the bat, getting ready for a swing.
The defendant hides his head in his arms, but the hit he expects never arrives.
"What the hell?" The man questions as the bat disappears from his hands. I was the cause of this as I shot a web at the bat and pulled it toward me, almost both hitting myself in the face with the bat as well as nearly falling off my high ground.
Pretty much everyone looks up, following the flying bat with their eyes, eventually finding me.
"Um...Hi?" I say as they all look up at me in silence. "How's your day been, lads?"
"Who the fuck are you supposed to be, freak? Trying to copy those fantastic four guys?" Their leader says with a sneer.
"Not quite, you can call me Spiderman." I jump down from the steel beam, trying to land in a superhero pose and failing spectacularly. That fall was quite painful for my legs since I'm currently an average human in terms of stats.
"You three take care of this 'spiderman.'" The boss points to a group of two men and one woman who quickly surround me, he tells the other two men to stay and guard the construction worker.
It just dawned on me that I am an idiot. I don't even know how to fight, the only thing I have going for me is my spiderman class skills and webs. I even stupidly gave up my high ground, never give up your high ground, did Anakin teach you nothing?
As the three approach me, I look around the lot. There are many boxes, materials, and construction machines all around for me to utilize in the fight, but I can't go too far or take too long, or I risk them losing interest and going after their hostage again. Let's just hope these guys are amateurs like me.
"Hey Denis," I say, pointing at the leader.
"Wait, how do you know my nam-" He doesn't get to finish his sentence as I shoot web onto his face, sealing his mouth. I wonder if he is still able to breathe.
This surprises the other goons surrounding me. Their eyes go wide, looking at their leader, giving me enough time to shoot webs from my other hand at one of their bats, pulling it out of their hands and whipping it into the face of the guy next to him.
I don't think I did much damage, at most giving him a bloody nose, but it does let me jump back into the shadows and get behind some of the many boxes filled with materials.
After doing that, their leader is able to free his mouth of the web. "Argh, after him, you idiots." He says, choosing to be the only one to stay with the man they were threatening.
They split up into two groups to search for me. The first one featured the three people who were surrounding me in the beginning and the smaller two-man group that was guarding the hostage. I decide to go after the two-man group first.
I have a huge advantage in this place with my night vision as there are very few lights around the place, and these guys down even have flashlights and are apparently too dumb to use their phones for light.
I sneak up behind the two people waiting for a good chance to strike. My plan is to stick one of them to the walls and take out the other one before he is able to react.
After following them for around a minute, I see my opportunity as one guy is right next to an excavator. I shoot three consecutive webs at both his hands and his head, sticking them all to the excavator. My perfect aim surprises even me, perhaps it's due to my web-slinging skill leveling up several times while traveling here.
I quickly approach the second guy before he can call out to the others and start choking him from behind. I'm not much stronger than him, but to my fortune, he swings his bat backward trying to hit me, only for me to move away and let him smash himself in the head. The idiot knocks himself out.
[Gained 2 experience]
[Gained 3 experience]
I'm halfway to reaching level one with the xp I just gained. Hopefully, I will be able to level up by the end of the day.
Things, however, quickly get worse for me as I feel a hard blow to the back of my head. I guess the guy getting webbed to the excavator made a bit too much noise, drawing over the other three hunting me. Also, Spider Sense, where are you?
The pain from the hit went away almost immediately, but I did lose 40 HP from that blow which is almost half of my total health. I recover fast, shooting a web at a nearby bucket on the ground and aiming to swing it at the person who hit me but missing and just casing a loud bang as it hits the ground further away.
I'm able to create a bit of distance between myself and the three goons by shooting a web at a construction machine further away and pulling myself toward it at high speed, this also helps me get up on my feet.
Not a second later, their leader shows up, this time holding a knife to the throat of the construction worker he is holding in front of him. "Alright, spider, stop moving, or this guy is dead."
That's not good. I stay still, raising my hands above my head in surrender, I don't want someone to die on my first night out as spiderman. "Hold on man, we can talk about this."
"Take off that mask and lie on the ground, then maybe we have something to talk about." He says, pushing the knife a little more forcefully.
"Okay, okay, but can I do something first?" I ask, and he just looks on curiously. I have no clue what I could do here. I'm not 100% confident I could move my hands fast enough and aim perfectly to web his knife away.
Instead, I talk to the only female goon here, "Hey you, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"
Everyone seems confused about this sudden question, but the woman blushes at my question "Umm, no. No, it didn't."
"Really? Color me surprised because your face looks like it was a really hard fall."
It takes her a moment to process what I just said before her whole face goes red with anger. "Wha… You asshole, I'll kill you!"
[DING!]
[New skill created - Taunt]
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[Taunt - Active] (Level 1 - 1%)
[Cost - 200 mana]
Make all nearby enemies attack you. They may act irrationally and make illogical decisions.
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The skill works amazingly well as all of them charge me, even their leader who pushes aside his hostage just to rush me with his knife. The construction worker runs away, not looking back. I never figured out why he was being targeted by Kingpin's men in the first place.
I swiftly shoot a web up at one of the steel beams overhead and pull myself up before the attackers reach me. This taunt skill seems a little too effective as even after I am gone, the four of them just stand under me, swinging their weapons up in the air.
The leader throws his knife at me, missing completely but disarming himself thanks to this decision.
I try to imitate something I've seen spiderman do and start spinning a web slowly around all of them and lift them up into the air, attaching the web to the steel beam so they would be stuck and unable to move until the police come.
The first part goes great as I am able to wrap them all up in several layers of webs from toes to neck, making them unable to move at all. Lifting them up into the air, however, seems like an impossible task with my current stats. Instead, I just push them over and roll them to the nearest machinery, attaching them to that.
I leave the scene, hoping the person who escaped earlier called the police to come to catch them.
[Gained 2 experience]
[Gained 2 experience]
[Gained 3 experience]
[Leveled up!]
[Gained 7 experience]
Now back on top of an apartment building, I feel myself getting stronger as my stats increase with the level up. I split my free points by putting three into intelligence and three into wisdom.
Usually, it would be smart to keep free points for later when it gets more challenging to gain them, but I'm not doing that for two reasons.
One, there is no way for me to train stats in the current system version. Two, intelligence and wisdom increase my xp gain speed which I think is more important than keeping points for later.
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Name - Peter Parker
Race - Human
Level - 1
Class - Spider-man (1 / 100)
XP - (6 / 20)
HP - 120 / 120 (24 per minute)
SP - 300 / 300 (30 per minute)
MP - 325 / 325 (32.5 per minute)
STR - 13
VIT - 12
END - 12
DEX - 13
INT - 13
WIS - 13
LCK - 10
CHA - 10
Free Stat Points - 0
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Leveling up had fully recovered my health, stamina, and mana, something to keep in mind for the future. I also notice the xp needed to level up has doubled, I hope that won't become a trend.
As I hear police cars approaching the construction lot I just fought at, I decide I have had enough spider-manning for today and get going back home.
Navigating the suburbs is once again the most time-consuming thing. Since I am already 18, I should be able to get an apartment and move closer to the city by myself. It would make it a lot easier to hide being spiderman.