33 Preparing to fight

'Are you feeling better?' I asked Jean, still holding her in my arms.

'I... Yes, thank you,' Jean said and looked me in the eyes before gently kissing me.

'You should go now, I can feel how worried you are about your grandmother,' Jean started before mustering up her courage and saying, 'If anyone does come and you need help, don't hesitate to summon me.'

'I will if anyone that I can't handle comes,' I said, gave her one last kiss, and returned home.

Grandma was still awake as she was waiting for me, even though it was already 9 PM and past the time she usually went to sleep.

"Hey, grandma," I said and asked, "Have you eaten?"

I always prepared enough food to even have leftovers for the next day, in cases like this.

"Yes, I have," she said and asked, "I heard from Kurt that you went on a date today, how did it go?"

"I went very well! The girl I went out was amazing, and we had an amazing time," I said.

"How are you feeling? Are you ready to go to bed?" I asked, just wanting her to go to sleep, so I can start working on setting protections for the house.

"Is everything okay, Will? You know you can tell me if something is troubling you," she said, and I knew that, but I couldn't tell her that a madman wants to kill me and capture my girlfriend.

"Yes, grandma. Everything is okay," I said, and she studied me for a moment before nodding and letting me help her up the stairs. A quick massage later, she fell asleep.

I then entered an empty ID with time dilation and view to the real world. I exited my house and sat down.

I needed to start working on Warding, but I couldn't let anyone just sneak into the house while doing that. This way, I can keep an eye out on any suspicious behavior happening outside my home.

Create a Ward was not as easy as I thought. I had to use my mana to surround the area I want to place and force my will into what I want it to do before connecting that location/object with me.

If I didn't have the passive skills that came with reached the thresholds for Intelligence, I wouldn't have been able to do it.

[Through a specific action, the skill, Warding, has been created.]

[Warding(Active) Lvl. 1/100: A Magic that allows the user to create a protective ward/barrier around objects or locations for an extended period of time. Currently, the user can only create weak barriers/wards that last for a week and have only one effect. Each one costs 30% permanent MP until the barrier/ward gets destroyed or expires.]

Yikes, 30% is a lot since I wanted to place at least two wards. Hopefully, if I level it up, that would get reduced. Now, I needed to destroy the ward I created.

[Through a specific action, the skill, Barrier Destruction, has been created.]

[Barrier Destruction(Active) Lvl. 1/100: A magic that allows the user to destroy barriers and wards. The higher the Intelligence stat of the user, the easier it is for him to destroy barriers and wards.]

With those two skills acquired, I started working on increasing their levels. I would place a ward, destroyed, and repeat.

At the same time, I took out all the ingots I had in my Inventory and picked one up with Telekinesis while creating a fire to start melting it down. I started off with silver since it had a lower melting temperature.

I planned on making smaller items like rings and earrings to save up on metal while also gaining more Crafting experience.

My fire melted the silver, and I used my Telekinesis to shape the liquid metal into multiple rings. I would then use my Cryokinesis and cool down the metal before enchanting all the rings.

[Telekinesis has increased to 53]

[Cryokinesis increased to 25]

[Crafting increased to 33]

[Enchanting increased to 41]

Perfect. This way, I can increase five skills while also working on Warding and Barrier Destruction at the same time.

[Through a specific action, you have gained the title, Magical Crafter.]

[Magical Crafter: Awarded to someone who is able to create items through magical means. Items created through magical means have a 40% boost to their stats. Skills used in the process of creating such an item gain 40% more XP.]

This was an incredible title that I will surely use when creating my own items. However, for now, I kept Sorcerer on since I needed Warding to increase faster.

For the next fifteen hours, I worked like I was possessed. That's the only thing that I kept doing over and over again.

I had a bit over 600 ingots in my Inventory, and it took me about a couple minutes to melt one down, shape it into what I want, and cool it down. It also took me another minute to place the enchantments on them.

All of the skills I used grew a lot during that time, but Warding was the one with the highest priority at the moment.

[Warding(Active) Lvl. 47/100: Magic that allows the user to create a protective ward/barrier around objects or locations for an extended period of time. Currently, the user can only create medium barriers/wards that last for three months and have two effects. Each one costs 25% permanent MP until the barrier/ward gets destroyed or expires.]

The MP cost got reduced, but it was still not enough. 25% was a bit too much, I wanted to level it to 50 to get another reduction as I dropped to 25% on level 25.

However, I was all out of materials for crafting, so I got up for a moment and created a golem ID. I ran the Dungeon a few times, gathering a couple hundred more ingots before restarting my grind on warding.

About an hour later, the skill leveled to 50, and I was able to place wards that will last for six months with three effects and cost me only 20% MP. That was good enough for me, so I exited the ID and started layering one over my home.

The first effect of the ward was to make anyone that has evil intentions towards my grandma or myself simply forget where our house is. It will just be invisible to them. This will also serve as a defense against thieves and robbers.

The second effect was to physically block anyone that has evil intentions towards my grandma or myself. This one was in case someone manages to bypass the first effect. I wouldn't count it off for someone to have such powers.

The last effect was in case someone was about to destroy the barrier. It will transport anyone inside the house to the Mirror Dimension, but not the people trying to break in. I don't have any magical enemies right now, but this was an obvious flaw that I will get fixed as soon as I increase my Warding skill even further.

Since I had the ward up, I switched my title to Magical Crafter and created a few things for myself.

One unfortunate thing that I learned was that I can only have one ring on each hand active at the same time and one earring on each ear. It was still better than nothing, and with my current Enchanting being 57, I was able to place five enchantments on an item. I knew exactly which five I wanted to place.

[Magically Crafted Earring(Epic): A magically crafted item made by William Williamson. +62 to all stats.]

[Magically Crafted Ring(Epic): A magically crafted item made by William Williamson. +62 to all stats.]

[Magically Crafted Necklace(Epic): An magically crafted item made by William Williamson. +62 to all stats.]

With all of those equipped, I had an additional 310 to all stats. Nathaniel Essex attacked me, so I will wage war against him, and I have prepared myself.

Since I still had a lot of time left until dawn, I decided to use that time to work on my physical stats. I wanted them all over 100, so I made eight large bracelets to equip on my arms and legs and stacked them with weight enchantments with my Magical Crafter title on.

With all of those on me, I had 420 kg (925 lb) additional weigh on me. Even with the bonuses from Martial Arts, it was hard to even move.

I was breathing heavily and had to use massage very often to recharge my energy, but I didn't stop no matter what. I wanted all of my physical stats to pass 100 by morning no matter what, and I wasn't going to stop until that happened.

While I was huffing and puffing with all the weigh on, I kept spamming Mana Clone as well. I wanted to level the skill quickly as I planned on leaving at least one clone at all times in the house. He can hide in the Mirror Dimension and keep an eye out in case something happens to the ward.

And since I was able to create two clones now, I will send the other one to search around New York for that Essex guy.

[A Quest has been created.]

[Search and Destroy: Nathaniel Essex has sent men to kill you and capture Jean Grey. Locate and kill him for the safety of your grandma and Jean Grey.]

[Reward: 5 000 000 XP; ???]

[Failure: Loss of loved ones.]

[Duration: -]

I accepted the Quest and increased my pace, moving with a determination to get stronger as soon as possible. I will show that guy, why picking a fight with the Gamer is never a good idea.

Hours later, I got my first stat over 100.

[Due to Dexterity increasing over 100, the skill, Ambidextrous, has been created.]

[Due to Dexterity increasing over 100, the skill, Superhuman Speed, has been created.]

[Ambidextrous(Passive) Lvl. Max: The user is gifted in using both of his arms equally well. Hand to eye coordination increased. Attacks Speed increased by 50%.]

[Superhuman Speed(Passive) Lvl. Max: The user is able to move at superhuman speeds. Movement Speed increased by 50%. Reaction Time increased by 50%.]

One down, two more two go. I ain't quitting before I get them over 100 as well, and I even created one more bracelet for each arm to increase the difficulty even more.

I was awarded for my efforts shortly.

[Due to Vitality increasing over 100, the skill, Medium Healing Factor, has been created.]

[Due to Vitality increasing over 100, the skill, Superhuman Durability, has been created.]

[Medium Healing Factor(Passive): A skill that helps the user recover from bodily injuries or disease at a superhuman rate. Grants the user a medium resistance to diseases and foreign chemicals. Increases the user's lifespan. HP is increased by 25%. HP Regen is increased by 25%.]

[Superhuman Durability(Passive): The user has superhuman durability, allowing him to sustain more damage than normal humans. Physical Resistance increased by 20%. All resistance type skills increase 20% faster.]

Just one more, I can do it. I know I can. I increased the weigh on me one last time and focused on increasing my Strength.

[Due to Strength increasing over 100, the skill, Herculean Muscles, has been created.]

[Due to Strength increasing over 100, the skill, Superhuman Strength has been created.]

[Herculean Muscles(Passive) Lvl. Max: The user's muscles are at peak condition. Physical Damage and Resistance increased by 20%. Physical skills increase 40% faster.]

[Superhuman Strength(Passive) Lvl. Max: The user has superhuman strength. Physical Damage increased by 30%. Melee damage increased by 30%.]

Come at me, Essex, I'm ready for you!

[Name: William Williamson

Mutant Power: The Gamer

Level: 72 Next Level: 94%

Title: Sorcerer; Champion of the Phoenix]

[HP: 8,514

MP: 15,395]

[Strength: 101+ 131.3 (Martial Arts bonus) + 310(Enchanted Equipment)

Vitality: 104 + 135.2(Martial Arts bonus) + 310(Enchanted Equipment)

Dexterity: 101 + 131.3(Martial Arts bonus) + 200(Bow and Arrow of Apollon) + 310(Enchanted Equipment)

Intelligence: 201 + 277.38(Meditation bonus) + 100 (Bow and Arrow of Apollon) + 310(Enchanted Equipment)

Wisdom: 101 + 139.38(Meditation bonus) + 310(Enchanted Equipment)

Luck: 31 + 310(Enchanted Equipment)]

[Stat Points: 93

Cash: $153 943]

[Skills:

Crafting(Active) Lvl. 62/100 (+31)

Massage (Active) Lvl. 30/100 (+2)

Pyrokinesis (Active) Lvl. 80/100 (+4)

Telekinesis(Active) Lvl. 67/100 (+15)

Mana Clone(Active) Lvl. 19/100 (+5)

Kissing(Active) Lvl. 18/100 (+5)

Enchanting(Active) Lvl. Lvl 57/100 (+17)

Cryokinesis(Active) Lvl. 46/100 (+21)

Warding(Active) Lvl. 50/100*

Barrier Destruction Lvl. 50/100*

Parkour(Passive) Lvl. 78/100 (+9)

Ambidextrous(Passive)*

Superhuman Speed(Passive)*

Medium Healing Factor(Passive)*

Superhuman Durability(Passive)*

Herculean Muscles(Passive)*

Superhuman Strength(Passive)*]