Kaleb was an army vet and retired police officer who knew Chicago like the back of his hand. He had been a precinct liaison of sorts who helped coordinate with other government entities and the various precincts of the Chicago area. His day to day mostly consisted of shuffling government resources to make everyone happy or at least content, with some multi precinct coordination mixed in. When he had received a Legendary soul skill that allowed him to teleport himself and others, as well as link inter-communications through telepathy he knew he would have to join the force again out of necessity. The world was changing rapidly and his city would need him. There was a report of two special needs adults attacking a man and then turning his limbs into living creatures. Kaleb was assigning officers with combat related skills and one Mrs. Julia Giadoni as well who’s soul skill allowed her to create barriers that could be used to capture individuals. The country was in a state of martial law but the National Guard was spread thin- They needed to protect their city.
Kaleb assigned a single officer to stand outside the Rift Portal, as the system called them, who would contact him if the individuals came out of the Rift. So far none who entered that particular portal had come back, so Kaleb believed natural selection may handle his job for him. Pouring over other reports he began his thankless task of coordinating his fellow officers.
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The world was different, but people still needed crack cocaine. Crackhead Mike had an appointment with a man named Tater to procure just that. His soul skill [Crack Smoke Aura] made him feel like he was on the best hit of crack he ever had, but he quickly learned that smoking crack while on it made him feel even closer to perfection. In those moments he kept brushing against something the CIA notifications in his head called ‘The Dao of Energy’, apparently he was something called a genius of the Dao according to a CIA agent pretending to be a God. He had learned to ignore the whispers of Demons and Gods years ago and to always keep a watchful eye for the government attempting to control his brain. If they think their new hallucinations were any more enticing than their old ones they were sorely mistaken.
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From the fenced backyard at Reed's, Brett and Jason prepared to sneak out and find Ethan and Nathan. Cindy was worried sick and her super power’s only made it worse. But Brett was powerful now, his soul skill [Finger Guns] allowed him to shoot bullets stronger than real bullets as fast as he could say the word ‘Bang’. Jason used to drive before his dramatic brain injury, whatever that meant. so he was the perfect person to be his Chaperone and explore the city. Jason made them both float, legs and arms dangling downwards, butts pointed to the sky as he looked for a suitable building to land them atop of. They would look for more wrecked cars from their vantage point, like Cindy’s PT Cruiser, and hopefully find the two before anyone knew they had left.
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[New ???? Quest: ?????] (?????)
B̴̧̲͇̖̲̻̳̜̜̼̯̺̝̖̐̈̂̃̈́̋̉͊͒̅̅̏͑̚͜͝r̴̨̛͌̋̔̽̐̈́̔̒̒̐͆̾̌͛̚͝ę̴̧̥͍̝̝̤͚̺͇̦̻͍̯̻̗̱̤̹̘́̇͗̑̈́̚a̶̺͎̓́́͐̽̔̚k̸̡̡̢̨͓̥̜̖̲͚̫̗̦̰̖͕̈́͒͆̾̇̀̒̎̎̐͐̍̇̓͋ͅ ̷̜̯̖̅̏̆̈́̔̑͑͌̂̀̔ṱ̶̛̣̫͛͛͆̒̎̉̇̊̊̑̃͒́̿̅̏̊̍͐͝ḩ̵̛̫͙̹̾͛͑͌͌̿̎͗̽̈́̈́̋̔̇͌́͆̚ę̶̙̈́̌͌̎͌͆̀̎̓͛̕̚ ̵̢̦͉̪̗̯̰̲̏͋̑͗̍̓D̴̨͕̱̪̤͚̼̺͎̯̞̦͍̥̹͍̩̭̙̜̣͚̀̌͂̎͒̿̄̈͜ǎ̶̧̡̛̪̻̣͇͎̿͂͛̈͘͜͝͝ǫ̸̡͖̳͔̝̻͔͔̗̪̦̘̼̍̾̈́̀͋̅̈́͂͆̑̊̌̔̍̕̚͠͠.̷̨͓͉̠̦̗̯͎̘̲̓̏̎͊̈́̄̅͒̓͛̿̀͆̕͝͠͝ ̸̤̩̖͕̗̤̙̳̄̓̄̈́͊̄̓̊̄́̽̐̆̇̆̋͜͝͠͠͠Ş̷͖̮̣͈̺̥̗̙͉̺̙̲̪̰̀̐͑̃̄̅̽̃͒h̵̻̤̒͛̇̄͑̃̋̾͌̾̑͘ǫ̵̨͎̬̭̝͎̲̹̜͙͍̉͌̿̊̀͗̄͛̓̊ẅ̴͇̳̟̳͓̝̻̙̉̄̓̈́̈͌̈̇̔͆̉̈́̎̚͘͘̕͝ͅ ̵̧̡̨̨͇̺̜̭̗͎̗̫̙̯̩̙̎̎͑̊͗̃̍̋͘n̵̞̺͚͊̒̓̀͋͘ͅô̷̯͋̿̐̎͒̈̎̚ ̷̨̝̲͎͍͙̯̝̦̻͖͓̫͙̱̞͚͇̫̤͔̗̒̋̔ḿ̵̛̱̟̰̲͉̗̼̭͉̎͛͋̀̽̓͌̾̇̈́̀̋͒́͛͊̅͌̀͝͝ḛ̷̣̜̬̉͐͒̂̆͛̽̐̍̕̚̕͝r̶̢̛̛̙͖͓̟͈̟̖͔̙̪͎͛̓̊́̓̾̈́́́͂̃̓̈̓͛́̂̒̈͠ć̵̠͕̠̩̖͉̦̜͚̝̲̙̬͍̺͙̞̻̖́̏̃́̏̈́̀͜ÿ̸̛̛̝͈̩́̑͊̀̂̆͐̐̏̈͛̓̌̅́̚͠
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????? ?/?
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P̷̡̤̭̲̘͍̌̈̈̂̓͛͆̽̋̒̈́͘͜ȩ̸̰̦̩̹͕̘͔̯̼̹͕͖͖͖̻́̓̌̐̄̍̑̒ṟ̸̳̺̉̓̓͗́̒̋̉̋͌̕͘͘͘͝m̶̡̧̧̢̛̞̱͓̦̗͖̯͙͈̥̺̗̭̩̅̏̓̎̌̈́̾̐̏̑̈̈͑̆̕̚ä̵̧̧̦͉͈͔̬̺̗̰̫͇͙́̅͆̇̒́̒̓̄͐̂͒͛̉̑̒̿͐͝͠n̸̗̭͙̳̖͔̤͌̎͌͆̐̈́̅́̆̆͛̿̐͂̋̚ȩ̶̤̮͎͈̰̦̮̙́͑̽̆̉͑̐̽́̑n̸̢̛̦̝̲͚͉̖̯̠̐̇̈́̒̏͊̀͆͑̓͊͘̚̚͝͝ṭ̸̡̧̞̝͖̳͓̑̑͛̀̄̔͠l̴̹̰̤̫̫̞̙͍̗̮̜̟͖̿͂̚͜͝ỵ̶̢̤̺̬̰̯̳̝͚͖̱̠̭̒́̀̋̓͛͆͘ ̶̢̡̲̗̬͈̺̬͓͙͎̙̝͋͛̊̈́̐͗̎̋͊̃̌̌͑͆̍̒̒͛͛̈́̆̑͂d̵̛̩́̓̋̈́̓̾̌̔̂̈́͐̂̈́̇͊͊̕̚͠͠ę̶̥̲̞̘̗̗̗̜͙̣̝̺͇͓̃̌̀̋͛̈́̄̋̃̊̿̈́͛͆̍́̕̚͜͝͝ͅs̵̡̛̹͍͓̭̟̗̙̩͙̟̮̪̟͛͋̾̈́͋̑͒̅̌͗́͊͆͑̃͂̓̆͘͠͠t̵̡̢̥͈̳̹̹̤̼̺̞͓̄̔̈́̍̐̌̄̀̇̌̽͐́̃̊͠r̶͙̩̤̈̀̌̑̒̾͌̑̂͛̅o̴̺̻͔̎̍͌͆̌͋̂͌̋̓͘ỹ̴̯̋̈͊̾̓͗̅͂̽͝͝ ̸̲̙͆̓͊̌̅̏̍̔̇̂̅̽̂͘͠a̵̢̭̫̮͓̖̤̲̥̯̯̝̠̺̳̫̓͐͊̋͂̂͑̏́̇ ̴̨̡̡̡̘̦͍̥̱̩̤̺͍̬̼̜̖͉̰̠̝͓͑͛͗̎͋̂̅̽́̄̄̑͐̏̅̆̍̓̄̅͝͠ͅD̶̢̗͔͔̫͙̮̮͚̠̊̎̀̀̒̇̑͂͒͂͆́̂̓̀̏̀̎͘̚͝ä̷̤̪̖̘͚̩́͊̑̑̈́̋̍̔̕͝͠͝ó̶̝̪̬͔̬̘̩̙̭̀͒͂̈͗͋̃͌̉ ̴̧̦̗̯̺̮̈́͗̊͝V̵̯̐̓̒͆̈́̉i̴̧̡̛̛͈̤̗̖̯̞͍̯͉̱̠̳̲͑͒͗͒̌̐̇̍̐̄̃͝s̵̛̛͍̊̑͐͐͆̈́̃́̄͋́̂̂͂́́́͌i̵͖̥͊͆́͋o̸̦̤̖̭͙̰̠̬̻̮͈̘͚̜͓̪͖͉͍̲̥͎͆̓̽͒̋͌͆͌͛͗̃̃̍̓̋̚̕͝͠n̷̟͓͎̥̬̪͈͔͒̔͊́̉͑̆͂͋̒͜͜ ̶̢̧͎̠̭̬̣̪͓̮̤̺͍̭̺̮̤̉͗͛͒̓͂̉̎̐͒̔̓̃̃͘̚1̸̢͖͙̞̭͖͎̖̝͉̞̲̘̳̬͇̫͇̅͂̊̈́͛͑̄̈͂͜/̷̲̱͕̟̪̱̥͑̈͋́̂̽̀̑̆͗͊̋̋̅̋͋͊͘͝͝͝1̵̢͇̬͙̺̙̬͙͍͙͙͇͉͉̌̊̇́͜͜
This was the first thing Ethan couldn’t read in a long time, and he didn’t think his reading ability was gone. This quest was all scrambled, like a broken screen. Both in his head pop-ups and his alien iPad. He still had some innate understanding given by the system and his gut, and it was just wrongness.
He left his tabs alone. Him and Nathan were tired of being here and worried they were going to get in trouble since they had to spend the night in that pyramid. When flying monsters attacked them they had no readily way to retaliate, Nathan’s wind and sand friends only helping them to get away. They had made ran away with only minor injures, making it back to the Nice Lady. When they asked her to take them back to Reed’s, she acted like she didn’t know what they were talking about, saying she didn't even know Chicago was. Ethan’s gut told him they had to go to the biggest pyramid to go home, though he was reluctant with the Nice Lady’s warning. If they ran into more of the flying creature’s Ethan wouldn’t be able to just squeeze them to death like he did with the scorpions after giving up on his lance.
That reluctance changed when Nathan got a message from a different Demon, asking him to be a champion like Ethan. This would give Nathan some of those points that made you strong and powerful. Unlike Ethan Nathan also got a cool wizard staff from his new friend that would let him shoot ‘Ray’s of Death’. It’s like these guys messaging them were Santa Clause himself. This put them in a funny situation where they didn’t know if they should go kill the mean creatures they had run from before or go to the biggest of the pyramids. Ethan decided to Bamboozle Miranda and it worked.
[Intelligence has gone from 5 to 25]
Ethan got that rush he had been looking for, the feeling of being able to make mental connections he couldn’t before. He still let his gut guide him, but his gut had more to work with as he read through the ladies' things while Nathan entertained her with a dancing buddy made from her entire desk. He flipped through his Quests again, ignoring the distorted one. They couldn’t leave until they completed their quest, and the quest they had to complete was exploring the Pharaoh's tomb. They would need to skip the pyramid they ran from after spending so many hours clearing it out, and press onward through danger and an active skirmish between the two factions. Ethan felt himself becoming the kind of superhero John Cena was, focusing on squeezing his enemies into submission. He bought two common ranked skills from the Nexus Store, and one uncommon ranked skill, spending 2,000 of his remaining 3,000 Nexus Coins.
[Fighting Style: WWE Wrestler] (Uncommon) (Unique to Earth)
A martial art hailing from the WWE sect of Earth. This fighting style contains the common martial skill of Wrestling with a theatrical and performative twist hailing from Earth.
[Squeeze] (Common)
A powerful gripping attack that exchanges stamina for increased strength and grows more effective the longer the skill is active on an opponent.
[Reversal: Unarmed] (Common)
A skill that when timed correctly can turn an opponent's attack into an opening. This version of the skill is for unarmed fighters.
Ethan read through the class creation screen he had missed before, he already had enough skills and the 10,000 essence required to form a class. But if he wanted to make the best class possible he would need to get a total of nine skills, max out their levels, and then add an additional 90,000 essence, 10,000 per skill, in hopes that they would transform, fuse, and better synergize with his Tier 1 class. Not wanting to miss the chance when it came he set his class creation template to automatically form the class when he had nine maxed level skills and 100,000 essence available. He gave his remaining nexus coins to Nathan so he could buy a skill called [One Way Barrier] that would allow him to shoot his Death Ray from a protected area around himself. Ethan was stronger than anything he had encountered in this Dungeon so far but Nathan was one mistake away from death with his stats. This time they brought food and water with them, ransacking the ladies tent for anything they might need. Ethan didn’t want to know what the minus one thousand relationship with them would look like when the Nice Lady got her wits about her again, but he didn't want to find out.The two drove away from the camp without being stopped, but only minutes after Ethan lost his extra intelligence, he heard horns blowing in the distance. He used [Infernal Acceleration] and left the sounds of rallying guards in the distance.