A New Ability
Author's note: Apologies for the slightly late chapter guys! We had some personal stuff to deal with IRL. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy!
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The revelation from Mr. X was a huge surprise. He wasn't sure if he could trust Mr. X, but he knew for a fact that Mr. X could have killed him at any point and become a hero of the Brotherhood, securing him a spot as the next Boss. Instead, he had risked his own life to save Riley from the other thugs.
Entering his room and locking the door, Riley pulled out the burner phone he had received from Mr. X and examined it. There were no new messages. Shrugging and placing it on his night stand, Riley set his alarm for school tomorrow. So much had happened since he had first acquired his powers that going back to school like a normal kid felt weird. Riley glanced at his clock and saw that it was late, but instead of sleeping, he decided to summon his Skills window. From the previous mission, Riley was able to level up two skills: <Incognito> to level 4 and <Minimap> to level 2. He was excited to see what new things <Incognito> would offer, since he had already attained the full set. However, instead of jumping straight into the main course, Riley summoned <Minimap>'s skill description.
"<Minimap> Toggle Skill: Upon casting, a small minimap will popup within the view of the user. The minimap outlines the user's surroundings similar to a map in grid view. Through this minimap, the User will be able to pinpoint quest locations or quest targets. Due to its high level, Minimap now shows detailed layout of locations previously explored."
"Level 2 bonus: Minimap now enables the user to 'highlight' up to 6 targets at a time. By pointing at the target and saying 'mark', the user will mark the target on their minimap, tracking their position as they move. Marking disappears if the distance between the user and target is more than 20 meters."
Riley rubbed his chin. 'Hmm, let's test it out.'
Riley closed the window and summoned his <Minimap>. As the minimap popped into view, Riley realized that it looked different. Previously depicted as a satellite view of the city in grid view, it now showed the layout of his house's second floor, just like in a dungeon's minimap. Standing up, Riley left his room and walked down the stairs. The moment he did so, the map changed, showing the layout of his house's first floor. Amazed by this, Riley wanted to try out his new 'marking' ability, but realized that no one would be walking around outside at such a time.
The minimap, previously useful only for locating quest objectives, was now a much more useful ability that could potentially have combat applications.
'Well, it's late right now, so I guess I'll have to test it tomorrow at school. On to the surprise!'
Riley walked back to his room. Without any hesitation, Riley cast <Incognito>. Although he was casting <Incognito> for the upteenth time, Riley was still amazed by the animation of the spell; how it encapsulated his body with pixels and transformed his outer appearance into the special gear. Riley closed his eyes as the process was taking place and relaxed his body, with his arms outstretched and open. However, after the spell had finished casting, Riley's eyes shot open in shock by a sudden "clank" to his side.
Looking down for the source of the sound, Riley saw a black, metallic object shrouded darkness on the ground. Picking it up and examining it with the help of the moonlight shining through his window, Rile realized that it was a gun. The gears in his brain started turning and when they finally clicked, Riley dropped the gun and took a step back.
Not wanting to leave any additional fingerprints on it, Riley cast <Analyze> on it from afar.
"Vigilante's Gun"
"Class-specific equipment. Binded to Riley Petesgeralt"
"Gun. Level ⅕"
"+10 Dexterity"
"UNIQUE Passive - Shadow Gun: Unlike normal guns that rely on bullets, Vigilante's Gun is reloaded using <Bullet Party> or any of its variations. Up to 10 bullets can be loaded at a time."
"Unlocked at Level 2: UNIQUE Passive - Bullet Party Upgraded."
Riley released a sigh of relief and picked up the gun. Upon closer examination, he realized that though the construct of the object looked similar to a pistol, it lacked many characteristics that a pistol should have.
There was a slide, as all pistols do, but he could not rack it. He clicked on the magazine release, but it did not eject the magazine that was supposedly loaded. Riley concluded that although it looked like a gun, it lacked some of the functionalities that a regular gun might have.
Clicking on <Bullet Party>, a new window popped up.
Bullet Party - Normal
"Mana cost: 20 per bullet."
"Cooldown: None."
"Description: Upon casting this spell, the user materialises a <Bullet - Normal> into the magazine of the Vigilante's Gun. Deals 30 damage. Does not make any sound upon firing. Bullets can pierce through certain materials. Travels at a speed of 300 meters per second."
Riley smiled. So far, he had been able to handle close range enemies with relative ease, although the risk became greater when he was forced to face multiple enemies. This new ability was not only his very first — and only — ranged ability, but judging by the description of <Bullet Party>, it was a skill that could materialize bullets with varying effects depending on its level. Riley knew which ability he would be leveling with his class points now.
Jumping straight to his window, Riley made sure nobody was out before drawing out the gun. Riley cast <Bullet Party - Normal>. Upon casting, Riley could see a light shining on the grip of the gun. Turning the gun to get a better look, he noticed that there was a number "1" that wasn't there before.
'Must be the number of loaded bullets in the gun.'
He held the gun in a way where the grip was visible to him, and cast <Bullet Party - Normal> again. The dim light appeared again, and the number on the grip now showed "2".
'Pretty useful', Riley thought.
Remembering the first time he had ever fired a gun, Riley held it properly and pointed it down range, towards his backyard. This time, unlike the warehouse mission from just a few days prior, he was sure to hold the gun tightly with both hands, before pulling the trigger. This time, the recoil wasn't as bad, as Riley was fairly prepared for it.
Just like the description stated, there was no noise from the gunshot, until it collided with the tree that he had been aiming for, making a soft crack. Riley stared at the gun.
'This is amazing! I'm not sure about the damage; that's something I need to test, but it's cool that it runs on mana.'
Since there was still one more bullet in the gun, Riley went down to his kitchen and picked up a can of soda and walked to his backyard.
Placing the can on the ground, Riley took several steps away from the can, and stopped when there was around a 15 meter distance between them. Taking aim, Riley pulled the trigger. This time, Riley was able to briefly catch sight of the bullet exiting the barrel. Unlike normal bullets that were metallic in color, the bullet had a blue hue to it.
Riley saw some dirt behind the can fly, and swore under his breath. He cast <Bullet Party - Normal> ten times, maxing out the gun's capacity whilst draining almost all of his mana.
This time, Riley held the gun with just his right hand, placed his left underneath to act as a stabilizer. Aligning his eye to the gun's iron sights, Riley took aim at the center of the can.
Once he was sure that he would hit, Riley pulled the trigger. This time, there was a loud ping, as the bullet made contact with the can. Taken aback by the sound, Riley jumped and looked around, hoping that none of his neighbors had heard it. After a long pause of silence and no neighbors coming out to investigate the noise, Riley breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards the can with anticipation.
Riley was definitely happy that he had managed to hit the can; however target practice was not his real goal here. Instead, shooting the can had been a way to test the strength and power of his new gun.
Reaching the can, he could see that it had been knocked over, soda leaking from the hole produced by the bullet. Surprisingly, the gun did not have the strength to fully pierce through the can; however, the impact of the bullet had generated so much pressure that the top of the can had simply exploded.
Though not as powerful as some of the more ubiquitous pistols, Riley was still satisfied with the gun's current capabilities. The gun was reloaded with mana and spell, which meant that he did not have to spend time loading bullets into magazines, nor did he have to carry lots of magazines around with him. Furthermore, it seemed that the gun's strengths could be increased through leveling, a process known as "scaling", and Riley knew that such weapons were highly sought after. With the rest of the bullets in the gun, Riley decided to practice some more. Pulling out the empty cans of Bepsi and Doka-Cola, Riley placed them on the ground before heading to the kitchen to find more target practice.
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Patch 24.0
- Regular biweekly update
Name: Riley Petesgeralt
Age: 16
Job: The Roleplayer
Class: Vigilante
Level: 16
HP: 250
MP: 220
EXP: 138/400
Strength: 27
Dexterity: 23
Vitality: 25
Intelligence: 32
Wisdom: 22
Charisma: 26
Luck: 20
Skills:
Roleplayer's Mind
Virtual Body
Analyze (Level 5)
Blunt Weapon Proficiency (Level 4)
Physical Endurance (Level 3)
The Cinderella Effect (Level 1)
Dodge Step (Level 2)
Counter Flip (Level 1)
Leg Sweep (Level 2)
Power Punch (Level 2)
Extreme Agility (Level 2)
Sense Danger (Level 2)
Trash Talk (Level 1)
Power Swing (Level 4)
Quick Draw (Level 1)
Minimap (Level 2)
Incognito (Level 4)
Bullet Party (Level 1)
Equipment:
Vigilante's Mask (Level 3/5)
Vigilante's Cloak (Level 1/5)
Vigilante's Pants (Level 1/5)
Vigilante's Gloves (Level 1/5)
Vigilante's Shoes (Level 1/5)
Vigilante's Gun (Level 1/5)
Full set bonus unlocked: Shadow World