Reflection

Jamie scratched his head and breathed out before shaking his head. No use dwelling on things he wouldn't fully understand. Moving on, Jamie decided to approach the Grunt units that were still on the rig.

From the original 10, only 2 remained. One of the empty mechas was knocked into the ocean during the fight, leaving only one empty Grunt left. The other Grunt still on the rig had a steel pole sticking out of the pilot chamber, the corpse of the pilot still pinned to the chair. The Grunt twitched from time to time, probably because the Mecha itself wasn't that damaged.

"There's gotta be a way to make something of it…" Jamie shrugged. "Screw it, just try absorbing it or something."

Giving the order, he watched Prime walk up to the Mecha and touch it. A few seconds passed with nothing happening, and just as Jamie sighed and was about to give up, a notification appeared.

[+10 Durability gained from DG-312]

"Yes! I knew it!" Jamie clapped his hands in excitement. It seemed that while the Magic Core absorbed affinities, the Mecha Core could absorb Attributes from other mechas.

Jamie also theorized that absorbing special or high-level mechas would reward him with an ability or function, similar to how he gained the Summon Killipede and Electric Armor spells.

Immediately, Prime moved on to the nearest Grunt, which was mostly just a pair of legs, everything above it mostly missing, looking like it had been shredded. Unfortunately, nothing happened when he tried to absorb it.

"So it has to be in good condition to be absorbed?" Jamie thought back to how he didn't get a destruction notification after killing the pilot with the pole, understanding how the mecha absorption worked. "Either way, it's good to see Wind Drill is as destructive as I expected it to be."

Moving on to the empty, untouched Grunt, Jamie smiled at the notification that appeared.

[+12 Durability gained from DG-255]

After the notification disappeared, so did Jamie's smile. Looking around the half-destroyed rig, he slowly lay down on the cold metal platform before letting out a large groan.

"Ughhhh… How long do I gotta wait for Beck and Lowe to get here…"

Prime lay down next to him with a loud thump. Glancing at him for a second, Jamie went into his thoughts, reflecting on these past few weeks.

'Just two weeks ago life was boring and hard, barely making ends meet. Then the three stooges of Dynamos come and lock me out, where I find this guy.' Jamie looked into Prime's red eyes, and the Mecha looked back at him.

He saw his reflection in his mecha's red lenses before turning away, blowing out. "Well, it's been pretty crazy.

One day I'm just another slum kid, the next I've got a mecha about three times bigger than me, fighting giant centipedes and beasts, becoming an assassin for a shady mob boss…

Now I'm actually somewhere off the slum sector, my family's grown bigger, and I've nearly died a couple of times. Hell, I don't even know how much I've killed."

Jamie let out a mirthless laugh that quickly turned awkward, making him stop. He pursed his lips and raised his hands, seeing his palms block out parts of the starry night sky.

"How much blood do I have on my hands by now…"

He thought about his kills. Recently, he didn't think about it at all. No, he never thought about it. He thought back to his first kill, the cop in that alley. Back then, after the kill, he changed his mindset, and since then, even the notifications provided unique names for some of his kills. Jamie swallowed.

"Man, some of the people on this rig probably weren't even evil or anything. A bunch of them were just technicians…"

Sighing, he pressed his palms into his eyes. As he started to feel guilty, faces came to mind. Aiden. Amy. Amanda.

"Yeah, I'm doing this for my family." He took his hands off his eyes, and looked at the sky resolutely. "Like I told Amanda, I'm gonna have to do a lot of bad things sometimes. Things I'm not proud of. And that's okay."

Remembering a conversation with Armin, Jamie also decided on something. Whenever killing Wizards, he wanted the notification to showcase their Realm and affinity as well, in order to properly start gauging strength levels.

"Yeah, I can't let my actions bother me, it's how I'll secure a good life for us. I won't stoop to the level of people like those cops who abuse their strength to be an asshole, but I won't be a pushover either."

He also needed to grow stronger. They were making big moves against Dynamos, the governing force of Old Orion. On top of that, Old Orion was a small subsidiary of the UHF. The universe was a big, big place, with many strong beings around every corner. Some might even take interest in Prime.

"It doesn't help that you seem to be special, but it's not your fault." Jamie said to Prime. "We'll just work really hard to achieve our goals."

Deep down, however, he had other thoughts. Different thoughts.

"Come on, Jamie. You're just using your family, your goals as an excuse. You LIKE killing. Seeing those levels rise. Getting new abilities and spells. Each life you end makes you stronger, faster. It makes you better."

Jamie shuddered at his inner thoughts. Was the voice right? Did he enjoy killing just for the reward of it? His inner voice had a point. After all, once he started, he never hesitated to kill, to get ready to kill, to think about how much he would gain from it.

"Do you really just want to settle down in the middle class sector? Think about Dynamos, think about their forces, their Agents. Don't forget about the high class sector, too. Think about it.

How many LEVELS would you get if you go over there and just kill everything? New affinities and spells? More upgrades for Prime?"

Jamie shuddered once more, this time in excitement. It was tempting, though he knew he was nowhere near strong enough to do it. But that was why he leveled up, wasn't it? To get stronger…

Suddenly, Jamie heard the roar of an engine somewhere in the distance, from the ocean. Dismissing his thoughts and standing up, Jamie walked to the edge of the rig, and sighed in relief upon seeing a group of motorboats quickly approaching. He waited for them to reach the lower platform connected to a staircase on the other side, calling out to them as soon as they docked.

"Where the hell did you guys get motorboats? I thought we lived in a slum?"

Stepping onto the rig was Beck and Lowe, followed by a group of people, some armed and some carrying some sort of equipment. The middle-aged mob boss chuckled.

"It's thanks to our best tinkerer, as usual."

Lowe coughed and brushed aside his silver hair with his hand. "It took a while, but I got them to work."

Jamie looked at how they were dressed in formal suits. "So, Phase 2 complete?"

"Yes, Phase 2 complete." Lowe gestured for the people behind him to go to the control panel before he and Beck stepped closer to Jamie. "So how was it?"

"Not bad. Kind of fun, even. I'll take clearing out a rig over fighting a Dynamos Agent anytime."

"Haha! You're amazing, kid!" Beck roared with laughter, clapping his hands in admiration. "You're making my dream come true, after all these years!"

Jamie smiled before glancing behind himself, seeing the crew they brought with them set up shop by the control panel. They even prepared tents and food rations.

"Well, now that the rig is secured, what's Phase 3? If Phase 1 was the hardest, and 2 was the most important, what's 3, the worst?" Jamie joked.

Beck laughed while Lowe let out a small smile. "Actually, it's the easiest. Meet us at the port tomorrow at noon, bring your family and whatever valuables you want with you."

As Jamie raised his eyebrows, Lowe continued as he and Beck turned around and walked towards the boats.

"Now that we've confirmed that the rig is under our control, let's go back. You can ride with us on the boat, but that Mecha of yours will have to fly after us."

"Hold on, back to that meeting at the port." Jamie called after them, making them turn around. "Is Phase 3 what I think it is?"

Lowe just smiled and nodded, while Beck grinned widely.

"It sure is, kid!" His smile somehow grew wider. "We're getting out of the slum sector!"