Chapter 8

Velariel was getting up when she received a notification from the system:

[Mission completed: 8 Gacha Spins for exceptional performance]

'Great, at first it was five spins for reaching the fifth round, but I guess they gave me three more for winning... it's been a while since I've checked my status.'

[CTG System (Classes Template and Gacha)]

Current Class: Lone Hive Warrior, Level 43

Previous Classes: N/A

Current Template: Xenomorph Warrior 75%

Previous Templates: N/A

Skills: Negative Emotion Absorption Level 1, Corruption Level 5, Hard Skin Level 4, Veil Slice Level 9, Minor Regeneration Level 2, Enhanced Resistance Level 3, Battle Instincts Level 7, Natural Weapon Mastery Level 8, Last Stand Level 1, DNA Assimilation Level 10, Residual Images Level 1, Black Steel Spikes Level 1, Enchant Level 1

Gacha Spin Points: 8

Missions: N/A

Items: Kunai (Naruto) x10, Ken Kaneki Mask (Tokyo Ghoul), Weakness Removal Card x3, Trident (Minecraft), Upgrade Card x4, System Power Assimilation Card x1, M16, Hinami Fueguchi (Tokyo Ghoul), Combat Knife (Rambo), Poison Needles (HxH) x50, Mina Ashido (MHA), Smoke Bombs (Batman) x200.

Suddenly, she collapsed to the ground without strength. At first, she panicked but then remembered that there were still some traits left to unlock from her Xenomorph template.

She began to feel changes in the internal composition of her horns and noticed something forming on her skin. It was like hair growing rapidly in large amounts—hard to describe. A few seconds later, she managed to sit up, just in time to hear someone shouting:

"VELARIEL!"

She only managed to move her head before feeling the impact as someone knocked her back to the ground.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"But what happened?"

At that moment, more footsteps were heard, and the door opened.

"I grew an exoskeleton."

"An exo-what?" Spyke asked, confused.

"Ah, you know, like insects..." Seeing the group's puzzled expressions, she added, "It's easier if I show you." And she removed her shirt.

"NO!" x10

"What? My whole body is covered." And it was—the area of her chest, stomach, shoulders, and arms was now covered by a black shell, leaving only some purple lines visible, and her trapezius muscles were still covered with purple scales that extended up her neck, along with a bit of cleavage.

"Yes! ...but you don't need to undress to show us," said Ororo.

"It's okay," the little demon girl said as she dressed again.

...

Later, they went to the infirmary for some tests. 'This place feels more like a lab than a medical office,' Velariel thought.

"Well... first, you developed an exoskeleton over your skin and scales, but they're still connected through your hair follicles. Surprisingly, your scales also have pores. Secondly, your horns now act as temperature sensors. Thirdly, dental records from your uncle show that your second jaw finished growing this week. And lastly, did you know your blood is highly acidic? Seriously, all the tools I used to take samples melted, and now there's a hole in the floor," said Dr. McCoy, explaining in a mixture of surprise and annoyance.

"Acidic blood?" asked Scott.

"Scales with pores?" added Jean.

"Second mouth?" Bobby questioned.

"Yeah, I didn't know either, but yeah, let me show you..." Velariel responded to all three questions, showing her secondary jaws, which resembled those of a goblin shark or a Neomorph, but with purple-colored flesh.

"Wow," was all Bobby managed to say as she revealed her secondary jaws, while the others remained silent.

"...So how does this work? Will things just keep growing randomly?" Warren asked.

"I suppose," the girl replied, a little embarrassed, realizing she had just shown her secondary jaws to a group of people she barely knew.

"Does it hurt?" Jean asked, concerned.

"No, it feels like... like when your body falls asleep. I feel the changes, but there's no pain. It's weird."

"That's good," Jean responded with a sigh of relief.

"In that case, I think it's a good time to eat something," said the professor, clapping to get everyone's attention.

...

After eating, it was the other students' turn to use the Danger Room.

"First round, difficult level," said the mechanical voice as the students, except Velariel, who was in the observation room, entered the simulation.

Unlike when Velariel was in the room, the ground began to shift. When everything stopped moving, the place now resembled a ruined city.

'A hologram, I suppose,' thought the small girl, looking surprised. After several seconds of only watching the students assume fighting positions, she couldn't help but ask:

"What are they fighting?"

"That," Logan responded, pointing to a part of the city where a robot appeared from behind a building, similar to the one she had fought in the fifth round.

'Only one for six people?' she thought but changed her mind after seeing dozens of robots emerge from various locations surrounding the students.

"As always, Bobby, Spyke, Marvel Girl, and I will attack! Angel, Shadowcat, support!" shouted Scott—or rather, Cyclops, in this scenario.

"And those names?"

"They're aliases. In certain situations, they have to be used. They train with those situations in mind, which is why they use them," Ororo responded.

"Will I need one?"

"I hope not," replied the professor.

"But just in case, you should start thinking of one," Logan added, though the other adults shook their heads.

'An alias... I think I might have an idea,' the little girl thought.

...

The first to notice a robot was Angel.

"One's coming from the right!"

"Leave it to me," Spyke replied before long bone spikes grew from his arms, and he launched himself toward the robot. The robot tried to block the stab with its arms crossed in an X-shape, but at the last moment, Spyke lowered his center of gravity and stabbed the spike into its torso, making the robot glow red and fall to the ground.

"Five more coming from the left!" warned Shadowcat, to which Cyclops responded with a nod and a grunt as confirmation before holding his visor with his right hand. As soon as he saw the robots, a red laser shot from his visor, turning the five robots into melted scrap.

And so several minutes passed, with Angel and Shadowcat calling out where the robots were coming from while the other team members took them down. It seemed like it would continue this way until a loud crash was heard in the distance, followed by more smaller but constant crashes accompanied by slight tremors in the ground.

The two observers moved next to their teammates as everyone stared seriously in the direction of the sound. Then they saw it: a five-meter-tall robot, similar in build to the others they had fought, but bulkier, with a gray glow and a cannon mounted on its right shoulder.

"As always, aim for the legs first!" ordered Cyclops.

Bobby, with his body entirely made of ice, created an ice path that he slid along while dodging several projectiles from the cannon, which turned out to be nets. He got close to the robot just as it was about to take another step and froze the spot where it was about to land, causing it to lose its balance but not fall.

Marvel Girl took the chance to hurl some debris at its head, causing it to stumble forward. The robot didn't hit its head on the ground, only because it used its arms to break the fall. But the man with the red visor took the opportunity to shoot his laser at the robot's head, which wasn't enough to destroy it in one shot. He continued for several moments, but the robot raised an arm to block the laser and began lifting itself up with the other.

But just before it could fully stand, the robot glowed red, crashing face-first into the ground, revealing Spyke with his spikes stabbed into a small, unarmored cavity in the robot.

From the speakers, the professor's voice sounded, "Good job, my X-Men."

(I hope you liked the chapter. I'd also love for you to suggest a hero name for the protagonist and share ideas for classes, templates, items, and abilities for the system.)