Growing a spine... or not

After some time of consideration John decided that the Bioelectric Spine would probably be the best thing he could select now. The increased reaction time and boosts to Agility and Endurance would likely be lifesavers…

Selection denied! END too low to bear two Bionic Upgrades! (Current: 26, Required: 50)

Oh great, so there were some hidden requirements now… Fantastic...

Well, then it would be the second option he had considered: The Hidden Scorpion fighting style. When he thought about his current skill set, it relied heavily on one or two big combos that he’d need to hit on an enemy to do proper damage. To ensure that he could properly hit it, he had to rely on three things right now: 1. Magic Rope 2. Whittling down the enemy long enough so that it could barely move 3. Luck

While Magic Rope certainly was a trusty tool, it didn’t work every time, and it would be good to have some more ways to trap, ensnare and fixture an enemy. Twisting Serpent was simply too similar to Hummingbird by now and John didn’t really see the bigger merit in the fighting style. And Sticky Monkey, well… that was just asking for trouble…

Requirement: Melee Lv. 10, Previous Fighting Style Lv. 5, AGI: 25

Requirements not met!

Fuck! What did he not meet this time? Oh, he had too little points in Agility, two to be exact. Thankfully, that could be changed easily since he still had five statpoints from the last level-up.

Natural Threshold of 25 Agility reached! Crit Chance for Attacks increased!

Well that was nice. The remaining three points then went into his Endurance, because more HP was never a bad idea.

Hidden Scorpion selected, Fighting style will now be integrated into existing. Please wait.

New Fighting Style: Buzzing Scorpion

Stealth is now a Combat Skill

Essential Alchemy is now a Combat Skill

New skill: Trapper’s Kit, Lv. 1, 5 MP
Set a varying array of non-damaging traps that are activated by anyone (excluding you) that passes them/steps on them. You can set [Skill Level] x 2 Traps at the same time. If not specified otherwise, traps are single-use only.
Current Traps:
-’Trip’ Wire: Make a [Skill Level] x 30 Centimeter long thin wire that anyone will trip over.
-Tripwire: Make a [Skill Level] x 30 Centimeter long thin wire that will rip and give you a silent alarm.
-Pitfall: Make a hole with a radius of [Skill Level] x 50 Centimeters. The hole will be disguised depending on how skill level. It will also not actually be a hole in the ground. Will hold an enemy for [Skill Level] seconds.

New skill: Mana Spike, Lv. 1, 8 MP
Place a Mana construct in the shape of a completely flat disk on the ground that will trigger once an enemy steps on it. The trap will last for 2 Minutes + 30 x [Skill Level] Seconds. Once an enemy triggers it, a spike will protrude from the trap, dealing ([Agility]+[Intelligence])/3 x [Skill Level]/3 (rounded up) Magic damage. Damage will not be affected by Strength boni. Mana Spike can be imbued with Essences to deal additional elemental damage or deal abnormal status effects.

New skill: Shadow Cloak, Lv. 1, 10 MP
Become one with the shadows for [Skill Level] seconds. You can’t be seen at all while this skill is active. Afterwards your Stealth applies for detection. Can only be used in proximity of darkness. You can freely move inside the darkness while the skill is active, but the skill will automatically dissolve once you attack or step out of the darkness.

Buzzing Scorpion, Lv. 6

Okay, that style did feel a bit underwhelming, but on the other hand it made his most versatile skill into a combat skill, Essential Alchemy. That meant that the skill would level up his style, and that on the other hand the style would level up the skill once it reaches the milestones.

Mana Spike would be a great addition to his combat if he took advantage of charges of enemies. Trapper’s Kit was nice as well, that could be pretty handy in a lot of ways, especially because that skill didn’t say that there was an expiry on the traps and that there was no range. Maybe he could use it to surveil the strange Barrier in school?

Before John could formulate any other plans, he got another pop-up:

Bonus Objective complete!
Make an enemy
+150 XP
+1 Weapon of your choice (Rarity: Uncommon)
+2 Combat Skill Levels

Huh? Where did that come from?

That pop-up surprised John… and made him a bit paranoid. What did he just do so that someone would swear vengeance upon him? He had no idea, but it was a thought that would likely keep him awake… another night, because right now, he was tired as hell…

So, he wished all the girls good night, took off all of his clothes, and climbed into his bed. It was surprising how much he had missed that feeling even after a single day of not sleeping in a bed. It didn’t even take him a minute to fall asleep and forget about the troubles of the day.

Springfield, Unknown Location, 2 AM

Springfield was an annoying little town. Mundanes were running around without a care in the world, oblivious to the ‘real’ world around them. The Abyssals on the other hand were simply too stuck in their own ways and plans, barely looking left and right from where they stand, always proclaiming their perspective as the ‘only true’ way.

It was sickening. If they could see the world like he could. If they could see the potential to grow. The potential to be perfect.

But for that, they needed to be unified, either by **** or by determination. And that was the goal he was striving for.

Perfection.

Looking over his latest ‘creation’, Victor took a deep sigh and turned to the young man standing next to him. “And were you successful?”

The ‘young’ man calling himself ‘James’ shook his head, “So far, I haven’t gotten anyone that’s strong enough to be useful, but weak enough to not be noticed when he’s missing. But I might have a new lead.”

Victor only waved it off with a dismissive hand gesture, “How you do it is not of my concern, as long as you bring me what I ask for. Also, keep your feeding habits down a bit or take some damn animals. People around the town start talking about cases of teenager missing. Do I need to teach you how to be inconspicuous again?”

James took a quick step back, “No, no, that won’t be necessary… I will try to keep it down a bit from now on.”

The older man nodded his head, “Good, then go now, my son.”

The fake student then did a faux bow, “Of course, dad. I promise you to get you that body you want until the end of the week.”

With that, Victor turned his head back to the operating table that he was standing in front of, “I hate it when I have to let other people do my work, but, then again there is no one as capable as I am to deal with you, isn’t there?”

He was talking to the **** body of a young female in front of him. She had a slim and athletic body, fiery red hair and around C-Cup breasts. All in all, she was probably quite the looker, if it weren’t for the tattoos adorning her waist and arm… Disgraceful. Why did these young people have to disfigure their skin in such ways? Victor simply couldn’t understand it… But then again, he had lived long enough to live through many eras, and each one had their weird ticks he didn’t understand…

“Now then, let’s see what we can do to improve you,” as he grabbed a vial filled with a red glowing liquid that seemingly moved on its on.

“This will hurt quite a bit, but it will be a big step towards your perfection”

Because that is what he tried to give her, and all of the other ones he had worked on.

Perfection