Back To Work #260

Grayson's hideout

"Damn..." I muttered as I opened my eyes, stretching my arms. 'I can't believe I'm still feeling sore...' I bitterly mused as I massaged my shoulder with a chuckle.

"Whatever..." I shrugged as I got up and headed for the bathroom, taking a quick shower and brushing my teeth before putting on a fresh change of clothes and walking back to my living room.

'After all that fighting, I should have some levels accumulated...' I sat down as I brought up the system's interface and smiled at the accumulated notifications.

[+2 levels to the Brawling skill]

[Brawling (62)]

[+3 levels to the Crime skill]

[Crime (63)]

[+8 levels to the Acrobatics skill]

[Acrobatics (51)]

[Due to reaching a milestone in your Acrobatics skill, you unlocked the Perk: Cat Falling]

[Cat Falling: the ability to land on your feet after any movement or attack, regardless of your destination, as long as it's a flat or a semi-flat surface]

'Selina would be so jealous...' I couldn't help but chuckle as I read through the ridiculous descriptions of the new perk. Still, I was sure it would come in handy, especially in fights, so I wasn't complaining.

[+3 levels to the Computers skill]

[Computers (63)]

[+4 levels to the Gun Mastery skill]

[Gun Masteru (39)]

[+4 levels to the Mechanics skill]

[Mechanics (60)]

[+9 levels to the Medival Weapons Mastery skill]

[Medival Weapons Mastery skill (40)]

[+3 levels to the Knowledge skill]

[Knowledge (24)]

[+6 levels to the Language skill]

[Langauge (18)]

[+6 levels to the Chemistry skill]

[Chemistry (21)]

[+3 levels to the Medicine skill]

[Medicine (4)]

[+1 level to the Biology skill]

[Biology (2)]

'I still need to work on Biology and Medicine, but Chemistry is at a level where I could use it at least...' I mused, sighing as I shook my head at the low levels of the two last skills.

Still, I could do nothing about it besides shake my head and move on to the remaining notifications.

[+28 class levels to the Biologist Class]

[Biologist (level 29)]

[+84 stat points]

...

Name: Grayson Whitlock

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Archetype: (The Mad Scientist level 8)

Class: [Thief (level MAX)] [Fighter (level MAX)] [Acrobat (Level MAX)] [Programmer (Level MAX) [Gunman (level MAX)] [Mechanic (level MAX)] [Duelist (level MAX)] [Artist (level MAX)] [Scholar (level MAX)] [Linguist (level MAX)] [Chemist (level MAX)] [Surgeon (level MAX)] [Biologist (level 29)]

...

Stats:

Body: 300

Mind: 300

Spirit: 300

Stat Points: 00

.....

Skills:

[Brawling (level 62)]

[Crime (level 63)]

[Acrobatics (level 51)]

[Computers (level 63)]

[Gun Mastery (level 39)]

[Mechanics (60)]

[Medieval Weapons Mastery (40)]

[Art (5)]

[Knowledge (24)]

[Language (18)

[Chemistry (21)]

[Medicine (4)]

[Biology (2)]

....

Perks:

[Dormant Metahuman]

[Silent Step]

[Energy Detector]

[Augmented Reality Vision]

[Energy Conductor]

[Metallurgic Intuition]

[Ricochet Intuition]

[World Wide Access]

[Energy Conversion]

[Menacing Presence]

[Emp Surge]

[Supernatural Body]

[Supernatural Mind]

[Energy Adaptability]

[Ergo-Pisonics]

[Cat Falling]

...

Archetype powers:

[Network Crash]

[Code Manipulation]

[Personal Computer]

[Machinery Scan]

[Machine Control]

[Machine Morphing]

[Chemical Analysis]

[Metabolism Manipulation]

[Living Catalyst]

[X-ray Vision]

[Instant Surgery]

[Stitchting]

[Detect Weakness]

...

"Already eighteen..." I muttered with a smile as I noticed my age had gone up a year. "There goes all the plans I made out of paranoia, I guess..." I chuckled, shaking my head.

I've long since expected and prepared for someone to pop out of nowhere and point out that I was technically a minor to make me a state ward or make themselves my guardian to take my shit, but it's no longer necessary now that I'm an adult.

'And one more level to go...' I sighed, scratching my head as I read through the last notifications. It's only been a couple of months since I took the mad scientist archetype, but it felt like an eternity ago.

Everything from back then felt so distant now after everything I've been through, and no, I'm not brooding right now. In fact, I was in a good mood, surprisingly enough, but I couldn't help looking back now and then whenever I saw signs of the progress I'd made.

I went from a no-name kid constantly looking over his shoulder to fighting four powerful champions of the gods and holding my own, but I was far from complacent.

I still had a long way ahead of me, and I knew everything could come crashing down on my head if I made the wrong move, but even then, I couldn't help but smile.

But that's enough sappiness for one day. I had work to do.

...

The theatre

Crush grinned as she stopped in front of the theatre, pausing for a second to look around before walking to the entrance and giving the man standing guard a smile.

"Welcome back," The man said, returning the smile. "Come on in. I'm sure everyone will be happy to see you," He added, nodding at Crush as he stepped aside, gesturing for her to go inside.

"Thanks," Crush said as she walked past the ma and headed straight for the reception area, looking for Patrick. She didn't find him but spotted a petite Asian girl sitting behind his office, scribbling something.

"And who are you supposed to be, short stuff?" Crush asked as she stopped in front of the desk, raising an eyebrow as the girl stopped writing and raised her head, only to grunt in response.

"What's that you said...?" Crush asked, tilting her head in confusion as she didn't understand the girl, much to the latter's confusion, causing her to grunt more insistently.

Luckily Patrick happened to notice the commotion and showed up just in time. "Oh, hey, kiddo, welcome back," He said as he approached Crush with a beaming smile.

"I see you've already met Cassandra. She's been taking care of us, geezers, for a while now," Patrick Introduced as he gestured toward Cassandra, who merely smiled at his words and shook her head.

"Taking care of you, eh?" Crush said, skeptically raising an eyebrow as she gave Cassandra a once over, looking her up and down. "Are you sure it's not the other way around...?" She asked, tilting her head as she turned back to Patrick.

Much to her surprise, Cassandra didn't seem offended at her words but merely smiled and nodded in response.

"Don't judge a book by its cover," Patrick replied with a chuckle, shaking his head. "This little girl here could probably kick all our asses..." He added, shrugging his shoulders.

"In any case, Mara meet Cassandra; Cassandra meet Mara," Patrick went on, putting on a genuine smile. "Do try to get along," He added as he turned to leave.

"Well, you heard the old man, short stuff. Let's get along," Crush said, extending her hand toward Cassandra, and the latter shook it without hesitation, happily grunting as she did.

...

Grayson's hideout

'Marveilum, the so-called mightiest metal in the world...' I couldn't help but chuckle as I held a chunk of the golden-colored metal in my hand, scanning it with the Starheart ring.

It's supposedly the strongest and heaviest element in the universe, capable of binding even immaterial beings, yet the Wizard claimed he had given me something better.

I had no idea whether it was really the strongest or heaviest metal in the universe. But it was exceptionally durable and capable of efficiently channeling energy, more so than Richard's jade amulet, at the very least.

The only problem was that it was too heavy, and Richard would not be able to fight with an arm-sized chunk of the stuff or even carry it around, for that matter.

Luckily, I could combine it with Nth ore and lower its weight as the alien metal had gravity-defying properties. If all else failed, I could always incorporate my gravitational technology into the arm, so I wasn't overly concerned.

'Yeah, I'm definitely going to turn Richard into a monster...' I mused, chuckling as I retrieved the Nth metal from my inventory and headed for my forge, channeling my energy into the two chunks.

Gravity and magic negation, heat generation, regeneration, physical and mental augmentation, adaptation; Nth metal could all of that and then some. Add that to Marvelium's durability, my technology, and Richard's martial arts skill, and you've got a bonafide monster.

Even I wouldn't want to mess with Richard once he gets the prosthetic replacement I'm planning to build, but hey, I promised to make it better than his old boring organic arm, and I intend to live up to my word.

"I just hope he doesn't ask for a spar to test it..."

...

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