I Spit in the eyes of Death

"Lemuel, I am sorry buddy. I wasn't thinking ok," said Manley. He tried to come across as sincere as possible.

"Not thinking is correct, I am doing important research here. If—"

"What kind of research?"

"…If you must know am studying how octopuses quickly regenerate their arms, and nerve cords. This discovery could lead to a breakthrough in genetic engineering. I will get back to my work now," said Lemuel.

Manley walked away from Lemuel after he was ignored. He then walked over to another station, stoop down and opened the cupboard underneath. Manley checked all the supplies below the counter. He stood up, looked around and spotted some cages with rats in them.

After retrieving the rats, Manley began testing various chemicals on them. He copied the effects with mana substitute, used scan to take a closer look, and then fixed any damage caused by his experiments. He talked to the rats and tried to make them feel as comfortable as possible.

ANIMAL TRAINING LV9 Gained

MEDICINE BASIC LV5 Gained

CHEMISTRY LV8 Gained

GENETICS LV3 Gained

REGENERATION ADVANCE LV2 Gained

CURE ADVANCE LV2 Gained

MANA SUBSTITUTE BASIC LV8 Gained

SCAN ADVANCE LV2 Gained

After an eventful day of experimenting, Manley noticed that the Professor still haven't shown up. He looked around, then at Lemuel who was the only one besides him in the research lab.

"Hey, Lemuel, do you know what's taking the professor so long?" asked Manley.

"He is most likely held up giving lectures and answering questions for our less talented colleges. That is why I suggested that the professor just have me read the material and go straight to the lab. I assume he did the same with you?" asked Lemuel.

"Yeah, but shouldn't he have someone else doing that. He seemed very excited to do his own research."

"Yes well, that was precisely the problem. The professor spent so much time on his research he couldn't teach students effectively. The university has provided him with an understudy and it's his job to get him trained up."

"Really? I guess it's me and you for a while then."

"Yes, excuse me if I don't jump for joy."

After leaving the lab, Manley made his way back to his room. Roger was already there reading a stack of books of his own. It occurred to Manley that without the reading skill it must take longer for Roger to get through his workload.

"Hey, you want to do some quick exercise before I head out?" asked Manley.

"Head out where?" asked Roger.

"To see the city, fight crime and make money," said Manley.

"Okay, but don't you want me to come with you?"

"No, you have your studies, and you can't afford the distractions like I can. I am going to be operating on my own for a while. After I start production, you won't even need me to help with your workout."

Manley and Roger then went for a run around the university's athletic field, then did some improvised weightlifting. They couldn't get into the gymnasium because of it being in use by student athletes.

RUNNING LV5 Gained

"There are no girls here," said Roger. He was resting between sets of lifting and squatting a small boulder.

"Yeah…," said Manley. He was doing one handed handstand pushups.

"I am just…I just noticed that."

"Just noticed huh, well it's an all-boys university. The medical center has some women, but you don't need the distraction. Your hormones have gotten you in enough trouble."

"I wasn't…I heard there was a way for the boys to meet pretty girls."

"Let me guess, for a nominal fee you could get introduced to a prostitute."

"I don't know about that, I just heard it that's all…"

"Yeah sure, just don't waste your money on stupid things. I would hate to have to cure you of syphilis."

Manley went back to his room after the workout and shower. He then packed up the samples made in the lab and put it in a bag and left the campus. The first thing he did was find a map of the city that had some of the local businesses marked on it. He then went to the closes bank and got some money out, rented an apartment and bought a car, all before night hit.

Manley drove up to a boxing gym in lower Manhattan. The place looked rundown from the outside, the paint was peeling, the inside was bare. The place had a boxing ring and a couple of punching bags. He spotted some weights in the back corner, almost hidden by people jumping rope.

"Oyo boy, you looking to join the gym?" asked a burly older man.

"No, I am here on business," said Manley.

"Business? What type of business you have with us young man?" The middle-aged man assumed a defensive stance. He folded his arms and glared down at Manley.

"Oh, I am the business. I have here something you will be very interested in." Manley unshouldered his bag, then opened it up the reveal his product. In his bag was a bulge in pieces of paper bags that were tied up with string. That bulge being placebo pills imbued with the effects of regeneration on muscles using the mana substitute skill.

"What's that supposed to be lad?"

"This is the future; this little pill will allow you to train harder than ever before with no side effects."

"We don't want no trouble with the la—"

"These are not illegal; look why don't we give it a test." Manley walked past the man and into the gym. He looked around for the most exhausted figure. Picking someone, he walked up to him.

"Hey you!" The fighter stopped his training and looked over. "How would you like to participate in a trial?" The young man just looked at him confused. "Great, eat this."

The young boxer caught the pill flung at him, shrugged and threw his head back and swallowed it.

"What was it—"

The boxer didn't get to finish before he was overwhelmed by the change. He felt energized and ready to spar another round.

"What was that! This is amazing, do you have anymore?" asked the young boxer.

Manley was about to give his sales pitch before the rest of the gym goers started to come over, drawn by the commotion. The young boxer started explaining what was going on and Manley was out of a promotion job. The older man tried to dull the enthusiasm of the crowd, but they were clamoring for the drug.

"Alright, calm down. I will be selling a bag of five for five dollars. You can get a sample of one for free if you don't want to spend the money yet. Paying customers first, line up here—"

"You can't—"

"Oh, yeah, I will pay the gym a portion of the proceeds for hosting me."

Manley then drove to several gyms to repeat the same scene. Some places kicked him out, some tried to rob him, and others weren't willing to buy. His brawling skill was so high that regular people could barely scratch him, he didn't even level the skill. For those that didn't want to pay, he gave them samples and let them know he will be back in three days.

After night fell Manley was walking with a bag full of cash, and very little product left. He was already making plans to pay out of pocket, to have the lab restocked. He didn't want to buy those chemicals through outside sources just yet. He parked his car at a random spot and decided to walk around.

As Manley turned into a dark alleyway, he heard people approaching from behind him. He started walking faster, only to hear a clamor up ahead of him. He stopped and waited for the two groups to approach him.

The groups of multiracial, poorly dressed criminals almost brought a tear to his eyes.

"Well…well…well, what do—"

"Are you Warriors cosplayers going to serenade me or get to it," said Manley. He then took his bag off his back and toss it on the roof of the building to his left.

Manley then rushed the group of five in front of him. The tall skinny man swung his baseball bat, Manley ducked, moved closer then grabbed his hand. He kept the man in front of him by grabbing his shoulder with the other hand. He then spat in the man's face which caused him to freeze up, Manley took the bat out his hand. One strike across his face with his own bat and the man was down.

MANA SUBSTITUTE BASIC LV9 Gained

MELEE WEAPON LV4 Gained

Critical Strike

EXP Gained 15

The rest of the group was on him, and he was swinging his new bat. The group of ten behind him was about to strike right before he broke his bat on the last of the group of five.

Critical Strike X4

EXP Gained 50

He dived forward at the falling corpse of the last man and scooped up his knife. Manley turned around and feign throwing the knife at the charging group. They stopped, the ones to the back tried not to run over the ones in front of them. Manley ran up and slit the throat of the closest man, that had his hands out to the side trying not to get pushed over by the people behind him. Manley started slipping into the middle of the group, stabbing and cutting.

Critical Strike X15

EXP Gained 100

After taking down nine of the ten people, Manley froze as the last one had him at gun point. The man was terrified and about the pull the trigger. Manley spit and the man fired, luckily for Manley the man missed. The unlucky man was screaming as the spittle on his face started to burn him like acid. Manley finished him off with a knife to the throat.

MANA SUBSTITUTE ADVANCE LV1 Gained

Growth LV1 Gained

Critical Strike

EXP Gained 15

After the fight Manley started wondering what would happen if he did get shot, would his brawling skill save him? This fight Showed him the danger of fighting in the open.

"I have to switch to ambush, maybe target known gangs…how will I find them though…," said Manley. He searched through the pockets of all the bodies before climbing the side of the building to get his bag. "What's that new skill, and why did I get this one and not…"

Growth LV1 Accelerate the growth of living tissue

"Shit! Why would my class be this restrictive, the advantages might not be worth it, fuck!"