New Power

Alexandre headed a ways into the huge forest that covered most of the archipelago, then removed the new gauntlets from his bag and inspected them with his Pip-Boy.

╔═══════Aurora Nexus: Inspection mode ═══════╕

╟─╼[Weapon][Set][Hunter][Boxer][Rare][Crafted]

╟─╼[Name] Powerful Black Steel Gauntlet

╟─╼[Price] $1,600,000

╟─╼[Designer] Jasper Grosburg

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╟─[STATISTICS]

║╰╼[Strength: Handle]: +4

║╰╼[Agility:Handle]: +1

║╰╼[Resistance:Handle]: -2

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╟─[EFFECT]

║╰╼[Impact: Shockwave on impact of punch.]

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╟─[SUMMARY]

║ "These cursed gauntlets, forged by Jasper Grosburg himself, are said to feed on the user's own blood—but this is probably just a legend. What is true, however, is that these gauntlets are extremely hard. This gives an advantage in terms of damage, but will also cause significant wounds to the user's hand. Use with caution!"

╚════════════════════════════════════╛

Alexandre had already known the stat bonuses were a powerful advantage. That much had been plainly obvious at first glance. But there was something else that was much more difficult to quantify: the supposed shockwave effect. Figuring that aspect out would require some experimentation.

He slipped the gauntlets on his forearms and shivered at the strange sensation that overcame him. His arms felt extraordinarily heavy, then suddenly much lighter. The gauntlets seemed to burn with an intense heat, though this didn't cause him any pain. It seemed that his own Hunter energy was somehow being drawn into the gauntlets like water into a sponge, filling up with his own power and then amplifying it.

Alexandre activated his [Steel Bones] skill, then stepped in front of a 20-meter-high chestnut tree. Alexandre pulled back his arm and observed with fascination how his own body treated the gauntlets as though they were part of his flesh, allowing Hunter energy to be condensed as his muscles contracted inside them.

Then he swung, striking the tree trunk with a violent blow. His armored knuckles ripped through bark and hardwood flesh as though through papier-mâché—and then a boom filled the forest as the back of the tree exploded behind his fist!

Alexandre ripped his fist free from the tree, curiously examining the hole that he'd bored cleanly through the tree trunk. He walked around the tree and saw that the hole was much wider at the back. The shockwave had blown outward from his fist in a cone.

He punched the tree again in another spot and the exact same thing happened. With these gauntlets, Alexandre could pierce a hardwood tree as easily as squashing a mosquito. He could only imagine what the results would be if he punched a Zombie… or a human.

Then Alexandre realized something was dripping from the elbow of his punching hand. Was it a thin sort of tree sap?

Wait, no, of course not. It was blood.

Now that Alexandre had begun to study the workings of his Hunter powers and how skills worked, he was beginning to understand that he didn't simply have an inhuman pain tolerance—his [Immortal] skill gave him the ability to completely ignore the effects of pain. It still registered in his brain as mere information, but it now no longer even made him flinch out of instinct, and he largely rejected its existence.

And that meant that, despite what he'd just done to his arm, Alexandre hadn't felt a thing. He now carefully pulled the gauntlet away with his other hand, grimacing as he saw what was left of the appendage he'd used to blast holes in the tree.

Alexandre's [Steel Bones] had worked, alright. His skeleton was in flawless condition… and pretty clearly visible in numerous places. His skin and muscles had been pulped by the force of his strikes, and the blood that had pooled inside the gauntlet now drizzled out of the gauntlet as he held it over the mossy forest floor. "All this after only two punches," he said aloud. "How long can I really keep fighting, I wonder? If I did a third punch right now, I might completely destroy what's left of my arm."

With this much force, amplified as it was by the gauntlets' special properties, it seemed clear that Alexandre would shatter the bones of his hands if he attacked without [Steel Bones] active… and there'd be further reverberative damage throughout his whole body, most likely. Even now, there were long fissures that had snaked up his arm from the wrist, wounds that were themselves shedding sheets of blood.

Alexandre would need to be very careful when he picked his fights. Otherwise, he'd destroy himself more efficiently than any enemy could!

Well, in any event, he now had a good idea how to spend his 12 remaining Statistic Points and 4 Skill Points, so Alexandre opened up his character sheet.

╔═══════Aurora Nexus: Character═══════╕

╟─╼INFORMATION

║╰╼[Name]: Alexandre HautVille

║╰╼[True Name]: Alexandre Goldberg *

║╰╼[Biology] Hunter

║╰╼[Class] Boxer

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╟─╼LEVELS

║╰╼[Levels]: 6

║╰╼[Exp]: 51/1,600

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╟─╼STATS [Tier]: E+ (12 [+] Statistic Points available)

║╰╼[Strength]: 1.72 [+]

║╰╼[Intelligence]: 1.15 [+]

║╰╼[Agility]: 1.15 [+]

║╰╼[Endurance]: 1.4 [+]

║╰╼[Resistance]: 1.1 [+]

║╰╼[Dexterity]: 1.35 [+]

║╰╼[Perception]: 1 [+]

╠══════════════╡

╟─╼SKILLS (4 [+] Skill Points available)

╟─╼ACTIVE SKILLS [+]

║╰╼[Steel Bones (1/5) (Lv.1)] [+]

╟─╼PASSIVE SKILLS[+]

║╰╼[Immortal]

║╰╼[Hunter Regeneration (Lv.1)]

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╟─╼EQUIPMENT

║╰╼[...]

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╟─╼Guild

╟─╼[Guild]

║╰╼[Guild Funds]

╠══════════════╡

╟─╼SUMMARY

║ "Yet another magic potion to power up your body! But what are you worth in a fight?"

╚═══════════════╛

Alexandre began to spend his Skill Points. Though it was tempting to add a new skill that might let him cause even more destruction, Alexandre controlled himself and focused on his existing skill. This would allow him to use 100% of his fighting power for as long as possible. With that in mind, he pressed four times on the [+] next to [Steel Bones].