8 Equipment

Once they arrived home Kai climbed out of the car and then looked to the left. It was his mother's car and they were driving in his father's car. He remembered when he drove in the driveway there was no car parked anywhere. As they entered their house through the entrance in the garage Kai asked his mother, "Mom, where is my car? Is it still at Drauton S Tertiary or did you sell it?"

"Neither. It was just lying around gaining dust so we gave it to a friend to use until you came back."

Kai emptied his lungs in relief, "Do you know when I can get it back?"

She shook her head, "No I don't. I'll send him a message and ask." She touched her Genome watch and then she said," Send a message to John Jafter." Then she waited a bit, "Hi John, my son just woke up from a coma and he wants to know when he can get his car back. Reply as soon as you get this."

Once she was done she looked at Kai, "He usually takes forever to reply. So if you need to go somewhere I'll take you or you can use my car."

As she said that her Genome watch made a notification sound. She looked at her watch and then saw that is was from John Jafter, "Hi Brianna, what are the odds? I'm actually just about to pick up my car from the repairs. So I'll be at your place in about an hour or so. Someone just needs to drive me back to the repair shop so I can drive my car home."

Hearing the news Kai celebrated, he was happy he was getting his car back today. That's when his mom asked, "So will you take him back to the repairs?"

Kai nodded his head, taking him was no problem, he was in no rush.

"So where are you going?" Brianna Adler enquired.

"I am going to GQ. Now that I am lightning wielder and a Beginner Rankles I need a Kickstarter. I also need a weapon. I have done weapon training but as you know I was training with a lot of weapons because I didn't know which element I'd awaken. But now that I know I can choose as some weapons are better suited for different elements."

"Wow, you just came out of the hospital and you already thinking of training. Don't you want to relax just for one day at least?"

Kai laughed, "I'd love to but my future won't rest with me. Plus I have a sparring session with Mr Montreal's daughter. What was her name again?" Then Kai searched in his contacts, "Aah, Lexi Montreal, I have a sparring session with her. I checked her PI and academic history and she is really good. She awoke at 16 and has been practising to use her powers ever since. Me on the other hand, I just awoke so I need every bit of time I can get to have a chance to beat her. She wants me to be her partner but ultimately it comes down to the sparring. She said she has never lost yet which is probably why she is still searching. Anyway, I don't plan on losing not for anyone but for me. So I need every bit of time and practice I can get."

"Okay, I see that makes sense. Then go train to your heart's content." Then they left to go to their room.

Now that Kai had nothing to do he decided to go watch The Royals for the time he had left. He watched as much as I could until he heard his car's engine revving outside. That's when he immediately turned the tv off and rushed to the intercom where he opened the gate. Then John Jafter drove his car inside until the end of the driveway. Kai opened the front door then walked down the stairs and then went to greet him.

"Hi, I'm Kai Adler." He said extending his hand.

John Jafter smiled at him and said, "I'm John Jafter. A friend of your moms, speaking of which, is she here?"

Kai nodded his head, "Yeah, she is in her room with my dad. Should I call her?"

"No, it's okay. I need to go and pick up my car anyways. I'm assuming you are taking me?"

"Yes, I will," Kai said as he opened his car door and sat in the driver seat. John Jafter followed shortly and sat in the passenger seat.

Kai reversed the car to the gate then he hooted. After a minute the gate opened and they drove away. Kai drove John Jafter to the repairs then he left. After that Kai went to Jijito's. He wanted to eat something before he went to GQ. He didn't know how long it would take and he didn't want to be hungry while choosing equipment. Once he got there he found a table and then he ordered a sirloin steak and salad. After eating his favourite meal he drove to GQ.

GQ was so big that it could be called a mall there were building everywhere that are all connected by an enclosed bridge. Kai guessed that it was the different departments. GQ sold almost everything, they sold, homeware, sportswear, gardening equipment, even car parts and medicine in their pharmacy. Because of this, they were very busy so even with the multiple floors of parking Kai searched forever. Once he was settled, he walked to the receptionist's office which he was led to by signs because he had no idea where to go. Once he got the reception he waited in line for 10 minutes. Luckily there were a lot of receptionists so the lines didn't take forever.

It was finally Kai's turn, "Do you know where I can find the surpasser equipment specifically for a lightning wielder?"

She looked at Kai, "What level are you?"

"Beginner Rankles."

"Take the first elevator on your left then go to floor 52."

Kai thanked her then he walked to the left. There were elevators everywhere all taking you to different places. There were elevators up ahead to the right and even behind him. Kai walked to the first elevator to the left then he punched in number 52. The door was just about to close when he heard someone shout, "Keep it open please." Responding quickly Kai pressed the button to reopen the door. When he did a girl about the same age as him walked into the elevator. She looked at the number then she stood still on the other side of the elevator. Kai wanted to ask her if she knew what floor she was going to but he decided against it. As they went up Kai got a message from his mother, 'Kai you can use the credit card. You have a budget of 200000 guros. The hospital just refunded us all our money and paid us a settlement fee so we don't sue them. Spoil yourself.' Reading the message Kai exclaimed in excitement. He planned to use his savings of 10k to buy what he needed but now he had more than he could imagine.

When the doors opened he walked forward and so did she. There was enough space for both of them so they both walked out the same time. That's when Kai looked around. As he looked he saw there were multiple isles full of stuff he had never seen before. Kai was confused as to where to start but that's when two employees came, a girl went to help the girl and a guy came to help Kai. Relieved that he had help, Kai asked, "Do you know where I can find the kickstarters?"

The employee looked at Kai's clothing, "Did you recently awake?"

Kai nodded his head.

"Okay, and are you planning on buying anything or just browsing."

"I plan on buying."

The employee smiled, "Okay come with me." Then he led Kai to a section that had clothes everywhere.

Seeing that these were clothes and not kickstarters Kai furrowed his eyebrows, "This isn't kickstarters."

The employee nodded his head, "Yes, but you recently awoke so you won't be able to control your abilities to the extent where it doesn't damage your clothes. So I think you first need to buy surpasser clothes. Your clothes have a resistance too you know. As a Beginner, you want your resistance factor as low as possible so you can control as much electricity as you can muster. The clothes and shoes you are wearing were not designed for a lightning wielding surpasser. But these clothes were. We have a variety of styles so you don't have to change yours."

After hearing the guy speak he agreed with him.

Noticing that Kai was complying the employee got down to business. He had been doing this job for over four years so he had an eye for certain things. The employee looked at Kai and guessed him to be 182-185cm. Kai was 183cm. Then he looked at Kai's body type. Kai had an athletic build. He was medium sized with a toned body. He was supple yet firm. Agile yet boasted strength. After checking Kai's body he moved to his facial features. He saw Kai had void black hair. His eyes were Kelly green with tinges of honey yellow. Kai had a v-triangle-shaped face with a strong and muscular jawline.

Once he saw Kai's features he knew exactly what would look good on him. So after putting on the clothes, Kai put five outfits into his shopping cart. Each outfit was different. He had the classic white ripped jeans a black and white print hoodie and black with white lines high tops. Then he had the standard urban wear, Semi-formal, formal and another urban outfit. The quality of the items were Good. After checking the bill Kai saw this alone costed 25K guros. Because the clothes had a purpose other than to wear just to look good they were a lot more expensive. A passer could buy the same outfit for 13860 guros. The difference between the quality of the clothes is the resistance factor of each item. Good items have a higher resistance to electricity than an Excellent item. There was also a durability and comfortability factor.

Once Kai got that ready the employee directed Kai to another set of clothes. However, this time they were specifically battle-clothes. Techwear is what people wore as battle-clothes. Kai looked around for outfits until he found one that caught his attention. It was an all-black outfit. It had a lightweight techwear wraith hoodie, with a customizable pursuit tactical vest above it. Currently, the tactical vest only had an attachment apparatus for a bow at the back and two holsters in the front for a spear when it was in a portable state and his kickstarter. Kai could clip a bow on his back and then release it via fingerprint when he reached for it. He would add more features when he got more accessories. He also wore revo cyber joggers with a thigh dagger holster on his right leg. It came with a tactical belt and that is where he could store his arrows. His shoes were lightweight, waterproof, fireproof and of course, had a low resistance to electricity; they were GQ's own presto mid utility shoes. The outfit came with a black cap with GQ written on in white and a grey and black tech guardian mask. Once he knew he wanted it, he put on the outfit. However, Kai didn't equip the cap and mask as the cap reduces visibility and he had no need for a mask. Kai walked around to see if he felt free in the attire. After walking and running around there were a few kinks he would fix but even with that, it felt great.

The employee saw that Kai was satisfied but not 100%, "Is there something wrong?"

"Not really, It's not perfect. I would make minor adjustments like being tighter and loser in certain areas but it's still great and I'll take it."

The employee smiled, "I can change the dimension of the clothes for you if you want."

"You can do that!?"

"Sure." He said and took another outfit to a table. Once it was on the table a blue light scanned under and above it. Then a hologram appeared it had all the dimension of the outfit. The employee asked Kai what adjustments he wanted and so Kai told him. Then a white light flashed over the items and the adjustments were made. So Kai took off this outfit and put on the adjusted one. Again he walked around and ran in it and it was perfect, just how he wanted it. He was about to take it off when the employee told him to keep it on as he was about to test kickstarters. This outfit alone costed 10K guros. Seeing these ridiculous prices Kai wondered how someone from a less fortunate background would make anything of themselves if everything was so expensive. He wasn't even buying the top quality clothes. Kai's clothes were all Good quality. This made him wonder how much money his mother and father had to pay for Excellent and Epic grade pills. However, that was thoughts for another day as he had finally reached the kickstarters. Looking at the aisle Kai saw a whole range of kickstarters. There were Tasers, electrical rods anything that could shock you. But the one that stood out looked like a rectangular block. It was about 3-5cm thick. The way it worked was you held it in your one arm and then you squeezed it. Then the two sides would go inside the block causing an electrical charge. There were different sizes for different hands.

Seeing Kai's interest the employee took it off the shelf, "This one is good but it's not the latest technology. The latest lightning kickstarter requires you to go into surgery. In surgery, they will implant a lightning generator rod into your spine. It's very small so it won't cause any mobility issues. Well, at least not for the first three weeks. After that, you will be good as new. How it works is that you don't need to manually kickstart your powers every time you need to use them. You can use a voice command or even a thought command and the lightning rod will trigger allowing you to use your powers. This will give you an edge over many surpassers who don't use it. Now I have to admit it's quite expensive but the reviews are good so it's worth it. Surgery will cost about 300K then a good lightning generator rod will cost 250K. So a total of 550K but what's money when it's for your future right."

At first, Kai thought it sounded doable but he couldn't be lame for three weeks as he needed to train. Not to mention the price was far above what he could afford. So he would have to make do with the kickstarter he had picked from the beginning.

Seeing that Kai didn't take to the sales pitch he decided to give up. Then he took Kai to a separate room. This was a testing room where weapons and kickstarters etc were tested. There was a red line that separated the two segments of the room. On one side the person testing does his tests. On the other side, the employee is safe from any harm. Once Kai was on the testing side he took the poor kickstarter he asked for and held it in his hands. Then he squeezed the two sides.

Ba!

The kickstarter sounded out as an electrical charge entered into Kai. However, despite being faint and weak the charge itself felt iffy. So he looked towards the employee, "Do you guys have the same type of kickstarter, same quality but just a different model."

"We do." The guy said and walked to the wall of the testing room. He placed his keycard against the wall and then the wall became an interface. After scanning his retina, he typed into the search bar, "Poor kickstarters, Lightning" Then he pressed enter. Once he did a layer of the wall split in the middle going left and right. Inside were all the different models of kickstarters.

The employee then handed Kai another model and put the other back. Then Kai pressed on the new kickstarter and felt the charge enter his body, this charge felt really fast. It cycled through his body quickly. But this was not the feeling he was looking for so he went to the next one. This one was a stronger charge. However, it travelled to slow for Kai's liking. He kept testing charges until he found the perfect one. It was strong and fast. Well as strong and fast a charge as a Poor kickstarter could provide.

Once Kai new what he wanted he asked for the employee for the exact same model just higher quality.

The employee shook his head, "You seem like a nice guy so just a word of advice. That kickstarter was made from a company that was just created. It's from World S Tech. I'm sure you have never heard of their company before... No one has so it's unreliable. Rather go with the one you tested before. Bryan Tech created that device. It is by far the most popular and reliable."

Kai remembered that charge. It felt very mediocre. Seeing how this guy was saying their brand was popular was probably the reason it never stuck out to Kai. Stagnation usually happens when you get to the top. Where, on the other hand, this no-name company had the best one by far. Their drive and zeal was evident in their workmanship maybe that is what attracted Kai to it.

Still convinced he made the right decision, "No thanks. I'm sure this is the one I want."

"Okay… If you say so." He said then typed in the search bar, "All quality, World S Tech, kickstaters, Lightning." And the wall closed again. Then the sound of shifting was heard in the walls and after a minute the wall opened again and all the kickstaters were lined up in a row. The employee took the common kickstarter off the wall and said, "this one costs 2000 guros it's much cheaper than the others because they are unknown." Then he handed it to Kai.

Now holding the kickstarter in his hands he gripped the sides.

Ba!Ba!

The electricity coursed through his body. It felt exactly the same as last time just stronger. Having the electricity flow through his body was invigorating. Kai could feel the surge of power streaming through his body. He felt his strength increase drastically and his senses sharpen. He could smell the chemicals in his clothes, taste the meat in his mouth that he ate well over an hour ago. It was faint but if he concentrated, he could hear the lights in the room buzz. Kai could also feel a faint wind on his face. However, the most shocking was that he could swear the world slowed down. It was a very minute change in speed but it was there.

Kai repeated this over and over until he was used to the Common kickstarter then he moved on to the Rare and then the Good and lastly the Excellent. The Excellent costed 20K.

After Kai was happy he moved on to the spear. Kai had trained with this weapon extensively at Drauton and luckily for him, it was one of the weapons he was best at. After requesting the spear a whole row of different types were stacked on the wall. Some were designs he had never seen before. Some looked like a leaves others had extra hooks and blades, as well as others, looked more like a harpoon than a spear. But Kai just wanted the standard spear as that was the one he was most familiar with. At Drauton they trained with wooden weapons and only sometimes did they train with metallic ones. After finding the correct type of spear Kai asked to have all the different types of normal spears appear. Once he did the wall closed again and when it reopened the rack was stacked with what he requested.

Kai took the first spear off the wall and held it in his hands. Then he stood in a fighting stance. He was currently practising the Improved Drauton Arts. Kai was no spear genius but he did realise the spear arts they taught at Drauton had a lot of unnecessary movements. So whenever Kai practised the spear at home he would try and cut out those redundancies and improve the movement. He did this with many other weapons so his mastery of one wasn't too high.

Kai jostled the spear around here and there but the weight distribution felt off so he decided against it. Then he went to the next one but Kai didn't like this one either. Weapons designed for Beginners and Amateurs had embedded kickstarters in them too. And the electricity that was flowing out this one was not to his liking. Kai continued to sift through the riff-raff until he stumbled upon a familiar brand. This was none other than World S Tech. Holding the spear in his hands, 'Do not disappoint me.'

Kai stood in fighting stance and executed the 1-4th moves of the Improved Drauton Arts. While running through them the weight distribution of the spear felt perfect. The workmanship was flawless as it pierced and stabbed the air. Kai executed all his moves with a smile on his face. Happy with the way the spear felt Kai only had to test the embedded kickstarters capabilities. Pressing the button electricity flowed into Kai and it was a familiar feeling. It was the same electricity that his kickstarter produced. Seeing that it was perfect Kai asked if he could get the same model in Excellent...

Kai held the Excellent model in his hand and it felt far better than the one before. From the grip to the weight distribution, everything felt perfect. Satisfied he added it to the shopping cart. It costed 70K. Then he shrunk the spear to 10cm and placed in the front holster of his tactical vest.

There were two more items Kai wanted and he was holding one in his hands already. This was a bow and arrow. Kai loved archery and was particularly skilled at it even if compared to the students of Keshos and Strera. Kai already had a medium ranged weapon now he wanted a long-range weapon too. After falling in love with their equipment Kai didn't waste any time and requested the World S Tech bow and arrows. Kai searched for a bow that had a high tension string because he was strong enough to pull it back. The bow was only high tension in terms of Beginners. The tension in bows made for Amateurs and up would make this string look like dough.

Then he tested the embedded kickstarter and like always he was more than happy. After deciding, Kai added it to the shopping cart. The bow was Good quality and costed 40K. The arrows costed 500 guros each. They were Good quality too. Kai bought 20 of them for 10K.

Lastly, Kai asked for the Word S Tech daggers. This was his best close range weapon. This weapon wasn't particularly suited for lightning wielders but it didn't hinder them either. After checking the charge of the kickstarter and how it felt in his hands Kai bought it for 20K. It was Good quality too.

Finally, Kai was done, "That will be it for today. Thank you for your help." When Kai said thank you he earnestly meant it. Kai had been testing weapons for over 3 hours and a half hours. Yet not once did the employee show any anger or impatience instead had the how can I help you attitude. This pleased Kai greatly.

At the checkout, the employee asked, "Debit or credit card."

"Credit card," Kai replied and handed him a black card.

"Do you have a code that you want to use for a discount?"

Kai nodded his head, "SebastienAdler8745"

The employee ran the code through the system, "Wow you know a high valued engineer at GQ Tech in Shiyca. Unfortunately, he no longer works here but you are in luck. His code will work for the last time." Once the code was accepted it showed a 25% decrease in price. Normally it was only 10% percent or 15% but because Kai's brother was special his codes had a higher discount percentage.

Kai looked at the total price before the discount and saw all the items costed 195K guros. However, after the discount of 25%, it only costed 146250 saving him 48750 guros. That was a stellar amount of money he had saved. He thanked his brother in his mind but was sad that he could no longer use his code.

In the end, Kai added 2k more to the price and gave it to the employee as a tip. The employee thanked him earnestly as he was going to make a killer commission on the sale he just made plus he got a tip.

Kai carried all his items on him and then navigated himself to his car. Then he reached for his back and grabbed the bow. The bow read his fingerprints and then ejected itself from the tactical vest. Kai then put the bow in the boot of his car.

Driving home Kai couldn't contain his excitement. He had been training and preparing for this for his whole life. The moment he awakens and he gets to use his powers. It was finally that time!