12 Truck-kun awakes
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Unauthorized Energy detected over [Truck-Kun].
Energy compatibility: 101%
Do you want to use it?
YES/NO
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Mark expected the compatibility to have been raised, but he didn't expect it to be by that much. So with a broad smile, he picked the <YES>, which luckily had found out he could choose just by thinking since both his hands were currently busy.
As he did so, he felt the energy truck move by itself towards the phone, like the energy was metal and the phone was a magnet. So he let it and saw that the energy truck didn't lose its shape. Instead, it was just getting smaller and headed toward the charging port at the bottom of the phone.
The energy truck became that small to go through it, and at that point, Mark was unaware if it kept its shape or what happened to it.
He unflipped the phone and wanted to turn it on, but it seemed to have done by itself as the screen lit up.
"YOU FINALLY DID IT. YOU TOOK YOUR SWEET TIME."
It was the Voice again, but Mark didn't hear it from inside his head but from the phone's speakers.
"Are you Truck-kun?" Mark asked one of his first questions to make things clear.
"It is MASTER Truck-kun for you. You better remember it from now on. But I will let it slide this time, as it seemed like you have done somewhat of a decent job breaking the seal."
"What was that seal? What are you, and why can I see all these panels and use those different Skills?"
Even if everything had happened less than a day ago, Mark felt like he had been through many changes in that short time. Although he had to admit his current situation seemed better, he wanted to fully understand what was happening to him.
"This will take a while to explain using this body, and I don't feel like that. Have you earned <Telepathy> yet?"
Mark was confident there wasn't any Skill called <Telepathy>, at least on D-Rank. He opened his Store and checked and had a match but not in D-Rank. It was a B-Rank Skill which cost 48 <Truck Coins>.
"This is above my Tier. I can't learn it or even afford it," Mark told Truck-Kun as he didn't know if he could see the panel as he could.
Mark was confident that other people couldn't, but Truck-kun wasn't people.
"WAIT!!! What Tier those assholes give you?" Truck- kun asked, and it seemed some frustration existed in his robotic Voice.
"I am level 1, and D-Tier."
As he gave his answer, Mark, for a second, could feel anger boiling inside him and tried to explode out, but it vanished as fast as it appeared.
"I should have expected them to play that dirty. Next time I see them, I will show them why I am the MASTER."
Mark was confident that he was referring to those other voices he had heard before appearing in that dark tunnel. He had noticed that Truck-kun ignored his questions, making him unsure if he should just push it for an answer.
"Ok, ok. No need to overthink with your tiny mind. I will explain a few things for now. But first, open your [Status] for me to check it out. I can see what you can."
Mark did as requested.
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Mark - Lvl 1
Tier: D
Race: Human
HP: 50/50
SP: 15/20
STATS
Power: 10
Agility: 10
Mind: 11
Defense: 10
Endurance: 10
Luck: 1
Unused Stats Points : 0
SKILLS
D-Rank: Appraisal (Lvl 25), Minor Energy Manipulation (Lvl 21)
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"Oh, you got one <Advanced Grade> Skill already? One <Luck> point, and also increased your <Mind> without leveling up? Not bad, kid. It seems you aren't a hopeless case."
Mark didn't like the way Truck-kun kept talking to him, but he was used to people giving him shit most of the time, so he just ignored it. But there was something that drew his attention to what he said.
"What do you mean with <Advanced Grade>? There was no mention of that at any notifications or the Store."
A sigh came from the phone, which was weird to hear from the robotic Voice.
"They will not pinpoint everything to you. Some things you need to use your little brain for. Either way, it is simple. Besides Ranks, each Skill had a Grade, representing its potency and potential. The Grades are <Apprentice>, <Basic>, <Advanced>, and finally <Master>. Your <Appraisal> is a <Apprentice> Skill since even if it can be useful, it is easy to be ignored by most items of worth unless your mental power or <Mind> can pass their defenses against that Skill."
It surprised Mark that he got a detailed answer with an example. But there seemed to be more as Truck-kun spoke after a slight pause.
"As you might have understood by this point, your <Minor Energy Manipulation> is an <Advanced Grade> Skill. So other than being more potent than <Appraisal>, it also can evolve once, creating a more powerful Skill of a higher Rank. But you are still far from reaching that point."
Mark had already thought that there was the possibility of his Skills being able to evolve, although he didn't expect to be only one Evolution.
"Can <Master Grade> Skills evolve more than once, then?"
"Oh, that was unexpected for you to notice that. Yes, you are correct, <Master Grade> Skills can evolve twice."
Mark was glad about his new knowledge, but he still lacked an important detail over that piece of information.
"How can I tell what grade a Skill is? It isn't mentioned to either the [Store] or their description."
Another sigh sounded from the phone, but after that, it continued explaining.
"As I said, they will not pinpoint everything on you, but there is a way. The higher their price in the [Store], the higher their grade. Although there are some instances, that isn't the case. If I remember correctly, <Minor Energy Manipulation> should be pretty cheap since even if it is an <Advanced Grade> Skill, it is very common for others to have, which had decreased its value."
Mark nodded as both <Appraisal> and <Minor Energy Manipulation> cost 1 <Truck Coin>.
"So, what other questions do you have? Ask now that I am in the mood to answer."
Mark gave it some thought, as he had so many he wanted to ask, but he didn't know how many would Truck-kun actually answer.
"What happened to my truck? I had used an app that could detect a chip in it, but it pinpointed this location. Are you able to somehow change into it?"
Mark couldn't think of why the app would point here, as there was no other way for it to be on him, and the chip it tried to detect shouldn't be far from the truck. Of course, that was unless someone removed it, but then he wouldn't be able to find it, as it would have no power.
"Yes, I can change into it. Or I usually would be able to, but because of your low Tier, that ability had been locked, so I am stacked into this lesser form."
Mark somehow could understand his frustration as if it used to big a big truck and now it is a small old mobile phone. It was like being an elephant and then turning into a mouse.
"So, how can I change my Tier?"
Mark needed a truck to work as he didn't know if the job his new Landlady spoke of would provide one. He didn't even know the job's details or if he would get it in the end.
"You need to level up. If you reach level 100, the max level for your current Tier, you can reach the next Tier if you fulfill some requirements. I am uncertain of the requirements, though, as they are random each time."
"And how do I level up. My Skills leveled up as I used them, but my personal level hadn't changed at all."
Mark expected another sigh to follow, but there was none. Instead, just a brief pause before Truck-kun spoke again.
"You need to either truck people up or explore dungeons. For the first one, we need a vehicle and some targets of some value, while the latter one will be harder to do as those damn crystals are hard to gain."
As Truck-kun finished his sentence, something popped up in Mark's brain as he opened his [Inventory]
"Are you referring to that crystal?" he said as he pointed towards the <Empty Training Crystal>.
"How the heck did you get that?"
Mark smiled as he could tell that Truck-kun was surprised by what he just showed him.
"It was a reward from the challenge I completed, which I got when my <Mind> increased after I first used <Minor Energy Manipulation>."
"Hmmm… good. Shouldn't expect anything less from the one chosen for this MASTER to be contracted with."
Mark rolled his eyes at the last sentence, but he was used to people around him acting like that. Especially before he got thrown out of his family, it was common to be around people that considered themselves above everyone else. Still, Truck-kun was just a drop of the ocean compared to them.
"Well, then we can use it to level up, but first, we need to find a suitable spot to fill it and create an entrance to a Dungeon."
Mark was excited about it, as it sounded like how it was in the RPG games he used to play. But then he remembered a significant detail that separated him from a game's character.
He had no fighting capabilities.
