22 Back to work, Hero Reports!

Dan woke up feeling more refreshed than he normally would be feeling. Time to check my stats, I haven't done that in a while. 

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Stats:

Vigour: 56

Sapience: 61

Deftness: 54

Constitution: 60

Luck: 41

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That booster is really working wonders, I still have around 5 days remaining, I should use that to my advantage as much as possible. Of course, I still have 5 Superior boosters left over, that's a lot considering how powerful they are! There's something I've been curious about for a little while. Will I continue to receive boosters or will that become less frequent over time?

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You will start to receive them less frequently from now on! The early stages were filled with many powerful rewards to give you a head-start, but you will still receive greater rewards after completing hidden quests and achievements. Most hidden elements are similar to the ones that you've encountered so far.

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That definitely clears things up, and that was a good hint, I'll make use of it when I can. Not only did Dan feel refreshed, he felt as though he was able to get ready much faster than he normally did. This was due to his major increases in physical and mental stats. The increase in stats didn't feel as significant earlier on, but it seemed that each increase was exponentially higher than the last. His metabolism seemed a good bit faster too.

It was normal for him to feel hungry in the mornings, but he felt more hungry than usual. Then again, that was also because he'd had an eventful evening the previous day, and was too tired to eat when he got back. Dan made a slightly larger breakfast after getting ready, and headed down to where Carlson was waiting for him. "Hey Dan, your car will be ready tomorrow from what I'm hearing."

Dan was relieved to hear this, he'd finally be able to get to and from work through his own means, rather than relying on others to get him there. The two chatted away until they arrived, Angela wasn't outside waiting for him this time. So he entered the building, and met her as she was heading down the stairs. "Ah! Dan, I was just coming to look for you, it's time to get you going in your new department."

"You'll mostly be learning how to write articles about heroes and known mutants around the world. I'll also be teaching you how to help with coordinating related to either filming their escapades, or conducting interviews with them. Wow, it seems that you're getting into shape in no time at all, you seem a lot more awake now too."

They didn't really need to take the elevator since Hero Management was on the 1st floor. They quickly entered to find Alejandro waiting for them. "Hello Dan, Angela!"

He turned to Dan, "I'm sure you have already been briefed on what you'll be doing, I will also take part in your learning process at times. Especially when it comes to practicing filming and keeping your target at the centre of the shot at all times. Sometimes they'll be moving fast, and you'll have to use whatever means you have at your disposal to keep up with them. Sometimes you'll have to wear specialised armour like the the armour suits Luke and Jessica were wearing.

That can get extremely tiring for normal people, I do know that you're not entirely normal though."

It was only the three of them in the room so Alejandro was able to speak freely for now. The rest of the Hero Management Department didn't usually show up until around midday. Dan was just coming in early for his first official day, and then he'd come in at the same time as the rest of the team after that. Dan found himself writing practice articles about heroes he'd never even heard about, the same went for mutants.

This included mutants like Dust, a mutant from Afghanistan, his X-Gene allowed her to turn herself into a pliable cloud of dust, which provided intangibility. Thanks to her intangibility, she could phase from walls, and survive in hostile situations. Black Tarantula, who was a hero from Argentina, possessed superhuman strength, speed, and agility, allowing him to pick up anything up to 25 tons. Dan wrote about their various exploits from a more neutral standpoint.

After writing about heroes and mutants for a few hours, Alejandro ran around the room, randomly changing directions, whilst Dan tried to keep him in the shot at all times. It was difficult at first but Dan adapted very quickly and soon he was able to focus the camera on Alejandro, no matter what he did to avoid him. "You really are a natural at this Dan, your ability to adapt to situations is frightening, but in a good way."

Since coming to The Front Line, Dan had been praised for his skills more than at any point in his life. Working here is the best decision I've made so far! "Thank you, that really means a lot to me! I really feel at home in this department, even if it's only been a day."

"We will be hiring you after your official apprenticeship period is over, which may be sooner than I anticipated. You've already learned all you need to know when starting out here. We just need you to experience everything this department has to offer first."

It was now 9 PM, it was one of Dan's longer shifts, but that didn't matter, he was doing what he enjoyed most, and that's the only thing that did actually matter in the end. He headed home with an extra large smile, and after he said his goodbyes to Carlson, he practically rushed up the stairs to his apartment. He was barely even breathing hard when he reached his floor, and wasn't even sweating.

Andrei was waiting for him when he got there, and he gave a start when he saw him. "Dan, you really are improving fast, wait, did you get taller too? That's not fair!"

Dan gave Andrei a smug grin, "I'm great, aren't I?"

He only said that half-jokingly, and Andrei knew it, and slapped him on the back, which Dan barely felt at this point. Andrei noticed this and looked a little mollified. "You're going to be stronger than me in no time at all now."

He's not wrong, I feel as if I'm getting closer to the enhanced boundary by the day. System, what is the minimum requirement for me to be considered enhanced?

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Once all of your physical stats reach 75, you will be at the starting line when it comes to Enhanced Individuals! You will be approximately 5x stronger, 3.5x faster, and around 4x more durable than the average peak adult male human! Your friend Andrei, he's not too far from that boundary himself.

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75 for all physical stats, that may be closer, and Andrei's close to that? So that's why he seemed a little envious, he's probably worked hard all his life to reach that point. I wonder if I can help him push past his limits once I reach that level.