Plus Ultra! (Going Ultra Overboard)

<<Essence Available: Nosferatu (C), Hercules (A)>>

After finally not being stupid for any longer, I went through everything that the system had to offer.

"Why did I not think about it before?"

This was a system and systems often had options that allow customization.

And it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure this out.

"This looks much cleaner."

Instead of just the cartoonish avatars, now there were names and their grades below them which made identifying the Essence easier and well, the overall look felt better in general.

And that was not all.

I finally learnt that Nosferatu was weak to UV rays that the sun had.

So, it was not simply sunlight that he was weak to, it was anything with UV –which was a problem.

"But that is why he is a C grade and Hercules is A grade."

Hercules.

I did not give this being enough credit. He was a monster.

Born to Zeus and a mortal still capable of going toe to toe with beings that even gods feared.

Not only that, he was quite a respectable person by Greek standards. Even after Hera –who got jealous of him, being the result of her Husband cheating– turned him mad which resulted in him killing his wife and children, he tried to pay for his sins by serving his good for nothing cousin who was king only because of Hera's intervention.

"He lost his family, his throne and yet he did not lose hope."

He faced the challenges thrown at him by the king. These challenges were the twelve labours.

This included killing the Nemean Lion, killing the nine-headed Hydra, capturing a mystical hind and boar, cleaning a stable the size of a castle in under a day, slaying man eating birds with steel for feathers, capturing the bull who was the father of minotaur, stealing the man eating mares of Ares' son, obtaining the girdle of the Amazonian Queen Hippolyta whom he had to kill, obtaining the cattle of a three headed giant, stealing the golden apples and capturing Cereberus –the hound of Hell.

Ridiculous feats yet he completed them all.

"It is insulting that I even thought of comparing Nosferatu with a demi-god."

But I also had to give credit to Nosferatu. I learnt that I could heal wounds that I had before using the Essence as well if I used Nosferatu.

Open wounds, at least.

A cut that I suffered healed the moment I used Nosferatu's Essence and well, he has the advantage that he can use blood manipulation which in a way gives long range that Hercules' lacks.

But this also made me chuckle.

"I am truly getting into this like it is a game lore."

But I knew how interesting it was.

To live with the powers of mythological beings, that was truly amazing.

To make it even more stimulating, I also took in the weaknesses of whom I changed to.

"Another advantage that Nosferatu has over Hercules is the stuff he is weak to."

Hercules didn't really have a lot of weaknesses but he was still a human.

A really strong human… like really really strong. In the sense that I doubt bullets could kill him.

Of course, that would injure him but not kill. However, the weaknesses he had were also similar to humans.

Poison of extremely high potency, infections and wounds that couldn't heal easily.

Yes, he had weaknesses and quite similar weaknesses to that of humans –just at a ridiculous level.

"But well, that is not something I should worry about for now."

It really wasn't.

At the moment, I tried my best not to dress like a thug but rather as a gentleman.

"Definitely not a bow tie."

Immediately throwing away the bow, I extended for the tie that I just bought.

I know that I might be over preparing and it was possibly not a big deal for most –but for me, it was.

After fucking up most of my earlier years and having no friends, this was possibly my first invitation to someone's house and even that for dinner.

"I cannot mess this up."

I wore a formal set with all black and a white shirt. The tie that I chose was expensive, possibly the second expensive item besides that coat.

But even though the rest of the outfit was cheaper, it was by no means cheap. It would easily cost an average person nearly his entire month of salary to buy the entire set.

It was definitely my most expensive set, and I certainly didn't mind putting it on for the event.

Satisfied with the suit, I decided to leave the room.

I was a little early, but that was fine. What was not fine was showing up with empty hands.

But what am I supposed to get?

Wine?

Yeah that sounds good.

And while I am not a wine connoisseur, I know that I have a few good wines that I got from a certain few individuals.

Immediately running back to the room, towards the small cellar-esque shelf built to the top, I took out of the three expensive wines that I owned.

All three were a gift by the same individual and it was probably best that I got rid of anything that reminded me of him.

"2004 Grand Cru Burgundy, that should work."

Checking the time again, I realized that I lost the time advantage that I had and so I rushed out.

"But is this enough?"

I don't know but it feels like it's not enough. Of course, her father should like it. But what about her mother? And what about Gwen?

I felt stupid.

"Why does this feel more difficult than dealing with gangs?"

No, I could not go without taking something for Gwen and her mom. So, I quickly walked towards the best gift shops that I could think of.

I could not give anything fancy like jewelry. I might not have been to a friend's house before, but I know that jewelry was not gifted.

At least, not on the first meeting.

So, what could be gifted?

Sweets.

And so I made my way to the most fancy looking bakery that I could find.

And of course, it ended up being French.

I didn't know a single word of French so all I could do was to try to not butcher the names written on the pastry labels.

"Excuse me, can I get a box of French Macrons?" I asked for the fancy and easy one.

"Sure thing, sir." The man, who was possibly the only non-french guy in the bakery, said, "Is there anything else that you would like?"

"Can I get the buchee…" Damn this was hard.

"Bûche de Noël?" The man asked, thankfully making my task a little easier.

"Ah, yes that."

It was a pretty looking chocolate cake that looked like a log. But all that mattered was that it was pretty.

And well, with those two I walked out and immediately made my way to the final shop.

"Can I get a bouquet of…" I read the name next to the pretty looking flowers, "Carnation flowers?"

The woman of the shop showed a bright smile, "Excellent choice, sir. Women love the carnation flowers and they more so like the thought that a man picked it."

Is it? I don't know but she had me sold on the flowers.

As long as they liked the gifts, that's all it mattered.

"Perfect, then please make the bouquet a bit thicker." I said, "I think the deep red would look nice."

It was a very pretty and bright color, so this should not be something that she would dislike.

"Perfect choice, sir."

It was either that the shopkeeper knew how to sell or me who was not good with these things, but the end result was me ending up with possibly a bit too thick of a bouquet.

Oh, well it doesn't matter.

…

…

[[East Harlem, NYC]]

"Don't think you can win against us, Spidy!" Hiding behind a black mask, a man shouted while gripping onto a shotgun. "All it takes is a bullet to the head!"

Without a second's warning, the man shot at the red silhouette in front of him.

Unfortunately for him, that red silhouette wasn't any ordinary silhouette.

"Then I think you have to change your gun, masky man!"

To the horror of the criminal, the red and blue costumed hero dodged the bullet with almost no difficulty.

"And don't think that I don't see you, sock head."

Immediately a white fluid shot past the man with the black mask and hit the man next to him who wore a sock shaped mask.

"Ugh!"

The webbing stopped him from shooting as well.

"Harlem isn't my turf, but that doesn't mean I don't stop by folks." The hero said, "So, bad luck for you that you ran into me."

"You don't know who we work for, Spider-man!" The man with the shotgun yelled, "You will regret stopping us."

"Do you thugs have a template for these dialogues?" Spiderman asked, both curious and confused. "Why do every single one of you say the same lines?"

"If we do not deliver this, he will come after you!" The thug yelled but all Spider-man did was sigh.

"That's like the tenth cartel that will be after me, then." He chuckled, "But that's fine."

And saying that, he shot his webs to the thug's mouth, "For now, I only care about getting the two of you to the cops."

And with that, Spider-man solved yet another case.

Or… that's what he thought.

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