11 1.11

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"So, what did you exchange?"

I hesitated about answering for a moment, it might be good to keep some cards up my sleeve, but then realized he was supposed to be a teammate. And just as Hunter had proved to me, you wouldn't win this game alone.

"Super Soldier Physique and the ability to use the Force."

His eyes widened in surprise as he asked, "The Force? As in Star Wars?"

I smiled and replied, "That's right. I only unlocked the ability to use it though. I will have to train in it to actually be able to do so."

Next to him, Thomas nodded, adding, "The Super Soldier Physique is a good match then. I think I remember reading something about it improving learning speed. That might apply to the Force too."

"Exactly what I thought. Oh, by the way, we discovered something else about the houses while you were sleeping. You can modify them with your thoughts, and make yourself a real palace. For example…"

He stopped mid sentence however as he froze. I followed his gaze, and for a moment felt confused as he was staring into empty air. But after a moment I realized what was wrong. There were three houses, all quite different from each other, but only three houses.

Clara, Jonathan, Chris and myself survived from the mission.

Chris muttered, "Clara's house… it disappeared."

Neither of us said it, but I'm sure both of us knew the only reason for that to happen.

After a moment of silence, I sighed and said, "It was her own choice, in the end. Nothing we can do now."

And with that said, I walked to my house, leaving Chris and Thomas behind.

As for Clara… I felt a little conflicted. A little sad she was gone like that, but also a little regretful.

Not only had I wasted several hundred Points healing her, I had also probably worsened her suffering.

Because I healed her, she had to finish the job herself, instead of simply letting herself die out.

Shaking my head, I stopped thinking about her, and instead focused on my house.

I loved this house, I had grown in it, but it wasn't the best place for training. So with a thought of mine, a door appeared between the living room and the kitchen.

I walked through it, went down the stairs, and was greeted by a large basement.

It was quite amazing, I had created it with but a thought.

Reaching out to the side, a wardrobe appeared, and I grabbed new clothes from it. It was free, and my size too.

Not really feeling like struggling out of my already ruined clothes from the transformation, I simply tore them off me, before changing.

And only when I was ready did I sit down on the mat in the middle of the room, and tried to read the holocrons.

It went much better than I thought it would as all I had to do was wish for it, and in the next moment I felt information transfer into my mind.

And as it did, I realized that the 'Basic' Force training would be more apt to be called bare bone than Basic. It wasn't useless though.

Force Training for the Jedi and the Sith is a little different.

The Jedi split their training in Control, Sense and Alter, while the Sith split it in Offense, Body and Mind, and learned them in that order.

Control was about one's body and self, and their connection to the Force. It branched out in three types of skills: Energy Absorption, Healing Oneself and Increasing one's focus with the force. It was supposed to be the foundation of a Jedi's Force powers.

Sense was then supposed to broaden the scope of the Control abilities. If Control was about understanding oneself, then Sense was about understanding what was outside. It branched out in four types of skills: Life detection, Sense force, Psychometry and Telepathy.

Alter was the final step, and was about influencing the world. Telekinesis, the 'Jedi Mind Trick', creating barriers… most of a Jedi's abilities for combat were part of the Alter. Reaching this step meant having mastered the first two steps, and using them to 'flow' along the Force.

Siths saw things the way around. They did not flow with the Force, but instead seized it, and used it to their advantage.

That's why they started with Offense, which could directly be used in combat. Force Push, Force Choke, Force Blinding and similar techniques were directly taught.

Then came Body. It was quite the devious path, as it was about using the life energy in one's own cells to inflict harm upon the enemy. Force Lightning, Cryokinesis, Convection and Life Drain were part of this path.

And the final part of the training was Mind. It wasn't really about mastering one's mind, but instead to put it under one's control. For example, reducing pain, or affecting others' minds.

I also had the method to start training in both paths, and to be honest, they both held some appeal to me.

The Jedi Path was the safest one, as it would keep my mind clean and completely sane. However, I would have to go through extensive training before I could really get any battle skills. In Star Wars, the Jedi solved this problem with Lightsabers, but I didn't really have that.

On the other hand, the Sith Path was more dangerous, but also more rewarding. I would be able to quickly learn battle skills, which would directly increase my odds of survival.

The ideal way would be to be able to study both paths, but it was hardly possible. I know some did, like Mace Windu and Revan, but it was after years of mastery, and they hadn't learned both at the same time.

To learn the Jedi way, I needed to meditate and learn to put a leash on my emotions, while the Sith way would have me unleashing my emotions, making the two opposites.

However, I also unlocked something special in the last mission, something called the Genetic Constraint.

I was still not really sure what it was exactly, but at the end of the mission, when I opened it, I became completely emotionless, reaching my max efficiency as my instincts were also strengthened.

This strange mode had ended when I came back to God and it healed me, but if I was able to trigger it again…

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The nine days we had passed by quickly. I spent almost my entire time in my basement, training. I had next to no contact with my teammates either.

I hesitated about approaching Chris and Thomas for some hand to hand combat training, but in the end I didn't. That didn't mean I did not train at all my fighting techniques though.

In God's Dimension, we still had access to the Internet, and we weren't even restricted by any subscriptions or anything like that, meaning we could see about anything we wanted.

However, we couldn't interact with it in any way other than watching and reading. We were stuck as passive observers of the Internet. Not that it really mattered, as the Internet we had was a stuck version of when we were abducted for this game.

But it was good enough for me, as I searched for videos and books on martial arts, to improve myself. As for the equipment, like punching bags or treadmills, some I could freely make in the house, and others were worth fractions of a Point.

Thus, I got to not only experience the power of a Super Soldier, but also their talent. My talent.

While I hadn't turned into a fighting god, and I'm pretty sure I would still lose against Chris or Thomas in a fight with equal Stats, I had gone from a chump who didn't know how to throw a punch to being capable of accurately hitting my target.

This was better than it sounded, as I had also learned where most weak points were. There are the obvious ones, like the groin or the eyes, but the liver I did not know how to strike.

I do now.

Compared to me, my two teammates were less productive. Of course, they didn't have enhancements to get used to, but still, they were a little too inactive to my taste.

Chris and Thomas spent most of their time in their house, or on their balcony, and only dedicated a very insignificant part of their day to training, if Chris was to be trusted.

It wasn't much, but at least it was something.

As for Jonathan… At first, I thought I wasn't seeing him much because he felt awkward with me, with everything that happened in our mission.

But it was only five days in that I saw him again, and learned the truth.

He acted like nothing happened, which was enough to piss me off already, but that was only a part of it.

He came out with his Human Creation, whom I quickly recognized, thanks to my now improved memory.

Shizuka Mariwaka, from High School of the Dead. The blond nurse with enormous breasts. She was a little different from her anime counterpart, because she was made as a real woman, but she looked close enough for me to immediately recognize.

As for what Jonathan had been doing… In his own words, he had been letting off steam while doing intelligence work for their next missions.

In other words, he spent his day fucking, with pauses to watch anime.

I couldn't fucking understand how their brains worked. Here we were, stranded in a game that wanted to see us dead, and that had just killed someone who was the equivalent of a walking nuclear bomb, and they did absolutely nothing to increase their chances of survival.

It blew my mind honestly.

For now, I could only hope I would get better teammates in the following missions, because I didn't see these ones surviving for long.

Speaking of which…

[Enter the beam within thirty seconds. Target locked!]

As God sent me this notification, the twenty circles around it lit up, forming twenty beams of light.

Everyone was already outside, waiting for this.

Sending a look to the side, Chris and Thomas were holding hands, looking at each other. As for Jonathan, his head was nested between Shizuka's breasts as she caressed his hair, whispering to him.

Fucking disgusting.

I stepped to the beam of light, and entering it I felt something peculiar. A slight shift in the Force. Strange, but intriguing.

Chris walked to the beam next to mine. Without Thomas.

The army officer waved at Chris with a bright smile, while Chris looked… guilty?

The fuck? Not only did he barely train, he's not even bringing Thomas in?

Urgh, whatever, it's not my problem anymore.

Jonathan was the last to come, in the last few seconds we had. Fear was clearly etched on his face, and he kept sending glances at Shizuka.

The last few seconds passed, and I entered a state of being half awake, half asleep, just conscious enough to hear God's last notification.

[Starting transportation to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.]