Chapter 2: Arsenal

Adam Hope's point of view:

–My body felt warm, as if I were a child wrapped up in front of a bonfire in winter, but I couldn't see anything. Everything was black, empty and without anything, it was... sad. She wanted to do something about it, fill that void with something… something happy, a happy memory– Did I have those? Yes, yes I had them... –I said while a door emerged from the darkness that, when opened, took me to a completely different scene. It was a beautiful field of flowers with a large, gigantic tree in the center. It was beautiful...–

—Reporting: Two new skills have been successfully created –Said the always cold and mechanical voice of the AI—

"Next time you're going to make me faint, let me know beforehand," I said annoyed while covering my eyes from the sun's rays.

—Reporting: User preferences will be taken into account for future interactions.

—Anyway, you had told me that I had several abilities, what are they? –I asked as she stood me up and continued marching south–

—Reporting: the User currently has 7 skills. We will proceed to describe them:

#) Machine Brain: Extra Range. Logistics support AI.

#) Nature's Favor: Extra Rank. Improvement of the senses and ability to detect presences, recognize flora, fauna and minerals.

#) Rage: S Rank. Ability to double mana reserves when the User is in a state of rage.

#) Mirror: Extra Rank. Ability to copy any skill whose magic circle has been analyzed.

#) Reality Spinner: Error. Unknown range. Mistake. Unknown function.

#) Inventory: Extra Rank. Ability to store any object or dead organic matter in a dimensional pocket.

#) Transfer: Extra Rank. Ability to open a dimensional portal whose destination can be any place the User has been before or is within sight.

"Ok, there's a lot I don't understand," I said thoughtfully. "First of all, how do I use the abilities?"

—Answer: Skills are used by activating magic circles carved into the soul. There are exceptions such as the "Machine Brain" skill that can activate itself.

—So it's like using mana, but more focused on my core... –I said trying to move the mana deep in my core–

—Notice: An attempt to turn off the "Machine Brain" skill has been detected. Do you want to continue?

"No, I was just testing how this works," I said, happy to have done it the first time. – Do the ranks affect anything?

-Affirmative. The ranks indicate the power of the skills. These range from D to S, and there are two separate ranks: Extra and Definitive. Extra rank is any non-combat-oriented skill, regardless of its usefulness. Ultimate rank is a combat skill incapable of being blocked or countered by anything other than another Ultimate skill.

—I see that all my skills are Extra or S rank. How much mana do they spend when used?

—Answer: Mana consumption depends on the skill. Given a previous analysis of the User's abilities, it is known that the ability "Wrath" would consume all of the User's mana, "Reality Spinner" an unknown amount, "Mirror" and "Transfer" none, and the rest an amount less than the which produces the User's own magical core.

—If you can use the mana in my core to use magic, can you use my abilities?

-Affirmative. It is possible to use the skills by the User.

—Last question, why is the skill "Reality Spinner" buggy?

—Answer: It is impossible to analyze the skill "Reality Spinner". This may be because it has a higher rank than "Machine Brain", but since it is an Extra rank skill that would be impossible. Therefore, it is believed to be a superior ability to an Ultimate, but its functions or mana consumption are unknown, so its use is considered dangerous.

—I see, I understand –I said, assimilating all the information– I want you to use the "Favor of nature" skill for me to improve my perception of the world. As for the rest, help me in the background so I don't make mistakes –I said thinking that if I used the "Transfer" skill wrong I could end up killing myself by moving inside a wall–

—Notice: Applying new User preferences. Warning. A magical beast has been detected 30 meters from the User –He said while all my senses were heightened and I felt a strong sense of danger from a place not far from me–

—Have you already detected me? –I asked, preparing to escape again–

—Warning: Trace of enemy presence has been lost. Warning. This may be a stealth ability used to approach from a blind spot.

-Blind point?! –I shouted as I jumped to the side and threw a small fireball behind me to see how a giant gecko appeared out of nowhere. Its scales were brown, its bulging red eyes looked at me disturbingly, and its size was not far behind that of a lion – What the hell is happening with the fauna of this damn planet?! –I screamed when I saw that aberration of nature that wanted me for lunch–

—Reporting: It is estimated that the speed of the magical beast is much higher than that of the User, making it impossible to escape. No frontal attacks are expected, but several surprise attacks with the intention of killing the prey without resisting or exhausting itself until it is unable to flee. It is recommended to attack with a powerful spell when I let my guard down –He said while I barely managed to avoid the tongue of this thing, which shot out of nowhere like a bullet and extended for several meters–

—A powerful spell? Yes... I'll show that thing what a powerful spell is – I said while channeling large amounts of mana into my right hand while continuing to jump and roll around to avoid being killed – If what I need is power, then fire would be best. But a fireball is not enough, so I will do something else – I began to mold the accumulated mana into an increasingly dense ball of hydrogen – This together with the air in the atmosphere will generate a large explosion, but it is still not enough – I said, molding even more mana into oxygen and mixing it together with the hydrogen until pressing them enough to condense them into a ball of semi-transparent liquid - Both gases have different densities, to mix them I must force them through threads of mana and to increase the range of the explosion I will spin the mixture at high speeds.

—Warning: Imminent strike detected. Preparing threads of mana to repair any wound –She said when before I knew it I received a strong stab in my right shoulder. I had concentrated too much on shaping the spell and I couldn't dodge the damn lizard's tongue–

—Ugh! –I shouted, jumping back while blood gushed from the hole in my shoulder– I have to maintain concentration or else the spell will be deformed... –I told myself, forcing my mind to ignore the pain–

—Reporting: Repairing wound. Estimated time: 2 hours.

"I'm almost there," I said, panting as I surrounded the ball of liquid gas with a layer of vacuum, then another of fire to ignite the mixture when it hits the target, and finally a vacuum shield to nullify the rose with air and increase projectile speed – Ready! You're already dead, damn lizard! –I shouted elatedly before giving the spell a name– Eat this, "Explosion" –I recited the spell which was shot towards the gecko faster than it could blink, impacting the tip of its tail and then exploding in a dome of fire. pale blue that grew to 5 meters in diameter, disintegrating everything around it and leaving a small crater– Shit! That was more powerful than I expected - I said worried since I had the intention of using parts of the gecko to make weapons and clothes - I would like to go see the remains now, but I feel very dizzy. –I said resting my arms on my knees–

—Reporting: The User's spell has consumed half of his mana, which is why dizziness is experienced. Activating active circulation mode.

—Active circulation? –I asked as I felt how all the mana in the atmosphere swirled towards my core, relieving my fatigue and dizziness–

—Answer: Active circulation mode forces the User's magical circuits to absorb all surrounding mana.

"That gave me an idea," I said, walking slowly towards the still hot crater. "Wouldn't it be possible to keep it active during fights?" To have the advantage in combats of attrition –I asked while putting the little that was left of the lizard in my inventory–

-Negative. Maintaining active circulation mode while casting exhausting spells could fatigue or even damage the User's magical circuits, body, and brain.

—What if I were willing to take the risk? –I asked after thinking about it for a few seconds–

—Answer: In that case the User's preferences will be taken into account.

"Well," I said, feeling victorious, "But now I have a question. Where is the core of this thing?" –I asked, scratching my head after searching through the inventory and finding nothing–

—Answer: The magic core of the ghost gecko was disintegrated along with the explosion.

-That? –I said disappointed– I made all that effort and I don't get any profit? Were the cores that fragile? –I began to wonder in a spiral of depression–

-Negative. Magic cores are resistant proportionally to the amount of mana they contain. If they receive a blow as strong or stronger than that, they can break. The User's spell contained much less mana than the ghost gecko's magical core, but the firepower of the spell was similar to that of one with a higher amount of mana, so it broke anyway. Even so, the mana of the magic core was dispersed into the air, so it is being passively absorbed by the active circulation.

—Ah, that's a relief—I sighed, relaxing—And how strong have I become now? –I asked expectantly–

—Answer: The User has doubled his mana reserves. It is estimated that now he himself would be able to use the "Explosion" spell 4 times before passing out.

"That's good... in an extreme case I could even use it 8 times," I said, remembering that one of my abilities literally doubled my strength. "Compared to the rock golem, how strong am I right now?"

—Answer: The rock golem would still be 50 times stronger than the User.

-fifty?! That's all?! –I shouted in amazement considering that just a few hours ago the difference was 1,000 times– Is it normal to have such rapid growth?

-Negative. The mana absorption capacity has been increased to 100% thanks to the skills "Nature's Favor" and "Machine Brain", otherwise the estimated percentage would be 10%. Plus the mana beasts in the area are much stronger than those in other areas.

—No wonder I couldn't absorb the entire core of the golem. Such accelerated growth would have made me explode...

-Affirmative. –The AI ​​said what I said was an exaggeration, making me shiver just thinking about it–

"Well, now that everything is calmer, I want to make a weapon and some clothes," I said, looking at the very poor condition of the clothes I was wearing. "I need clothes capable of resisting blows, burns, and so on that can happen to me in this hostile world." , and a weapon capable of damaging the monstrosities that inhabit it –I said putting large pieces of rock and air in my inventory while I thought about what I should do–

—Reporting: It is possible to make a trench coat with the fabric of the User's clothing, the scales of the ghost gecko, and place internal chain mail armor. That would result in a set of clothing resistant to physical blows and earth and wind magic without impairing the User's mobility. As for the weapon, a prototype of a perfect weapon has been devised.

"Tell me more about that," I said, curious about the weapon.

—Reporting: It has been devised to create a ball of compressed material that contains everything necessary to create any weapon that the User needs. This will always be found within the "Inventory" skill, and when the User needs a weapon or change an existing one, they only have to store the material inside the ball and the "Machine Brain" skill will shape the weapon with the available materials. that the User needs at that time.

—A weapon capable of molding itself to any situation. I could even turn it into a shield if necessary... I love it, do it –I said happy with the new weapon– I'm used to using knives as weapons –Since it's the only sharp thing one can find in a ruined city. I thought to myself – So I want the first thing you make is a pair of daggers.

—Reporting: The User's preferences will be taken into account. Starting weapon creation. Separating all useful material from the rest. Gathering all the useful material in one place. Compressing. Material ball created. Molding daggers. Success. Extracting weapon –He said as a pair of daggers materialized in my hands.

—Wow... they are incredible –I said admiring my new weapons. They were a pair of daggers made of steel serrated with the claws of the ghost gecko, their handle was made of hardened rock and lined with scales – It would be absurd to name these daggers since they can be exchanged for a bow, a shield or anything else. Instead I will call it what it is "Arsenal", that will be your name - I said, saving them in my inventory - By the way, is it far away to get to a less dangerous place? – I asked, tired of walking without stopping –

—Answer: Uncertain. The distance to a safer area is unknown. It is recommended to continue walking without expectations.

—I see... –I said while crushing my illusions—We'll have to keep walking...

Author's words:

Hello, thanks for reading and sorry for the dense beginning. As I said before, I need to put the reader in context to understand how the world in which the story takes place works. But don't worry, the worst is over, and if I do it again it will be later and in smaller quantities.

Without further ado, until next time.

Best regards, Don_Miseria.