After submitting the mission and getting my pay, I took a taxi home and collapsed on my bed. My head was throbbing and I felt a huge headache. I felt like I was being hit by hundreds of hammers at once. The headache became worse and I felt the world around me dimmed. I tried to escape it by going into my mind palace or Wonderland. It didn't work. Still, it was a little more manageable in there for some reason. Oh, it's not that bad now. After thinking that, I passed out.
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I groaned. There was still some residual pain and it wasn't exactly pleasant, but at least it was bearable. I lay there for a moment, trying to piece together what had happened. The serum. Aston. The mission. It all came flooding back, and with it, a flood of new sensations I couldn't quite explain.
I sat up slowly, rubbing my temples. The world around me seemed sharper, more vibrant. It was quite strange, to be honest. I didn't know what to do with all the information my senses were giving me. I could hear the very faint humming of electricity inside the wall and I could even hear the faint distant chatter outside the window. I instinctively looked towards the window to see if it was closed. It was. It gave me goosebumps.
What is happening to me? I thought to myself in dismay. Is it because of that Aston guy? Fuck. While the situation was currently advantageous to me, I didn't feel like it was. Instead, I felt scared, afraid of the consequences. This is surely a product of a big corporation. I shook my head. Take a deep breath. Calm down. Let's test this first. I told myself. I first started to do some testing. I noticed that every time I walked, I could hear the faint creak of the floor. I smelled the faint coffee that Nova and I drank today in the air and I could even sense the vibration of the lock as I opened it. It was quite exhilarating like a drug. I calmed myself down again. I had no idea what was going on and it was best to be careful. Still, I immediately thought of ways to use this. It could make my stealth abilities a lot better and it could also make my fighting style a lot more... flawless. The possibilities were endless. I also found that my proprioception, which perceives the location, movement, and action of the body parts, was also enhanced to an unbelievable degree. My balance was a lot better and I could stretch a lot more. It was like a miracle.
I sat down on my bed again as I started to think. The serum that the target injected me with... I knew that it was the primary suspect of my changes. Why did he do that? I frowned as I looked over at the desk. Right beside the node was another serum I found in the target's pocket. I've already tested it and it was acid. I almost burned my hand off that time. Did he choose the wrong syringe? It was understandable. Both of them had no labels and had similar colors. What I didn't understand was why he didn't label it. He shouldn't be that stupid, right? No use thinking more of it. It is what it is. I resigned to myself and started learning again. I was going to complete the 5 hours tutorial video of QuanScript and nothing was going to stop me!
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I was stopped. I got so tired and hungry for some reason. It was unrealistic. I've never really eaten a lot but this time, for some unknown and baffling reason, I felt like I could devour a whole cow! After thinking about it, I deduced that the serum was the obvious reason. It heightened my senses to a huge degree and it came with a price. I had to eat twice as much as before just to feel barely full. Nova looked at me with incredulous eyes as I wolved down 5 pizzas in a row. I panicked. I couldn't be eating this much in this economy! I had to work even more. Before, according to my calculation, one mission was enough to pay for my whole month of expenses if I didn't go out with Eliz. Now, I felt like it wouldn't even last a week. Pizzas were expensive but they were cheaper than buying meat on the market. Well, at least traditionally grown meat was expensive and rare but those synthetically created meat was pretty common. They were the same as the traditionally grown meat in every single way but how it was grown. And I hadn't done enough research to know if it was okay for me to eat or not so I avoided it.
I also found out that my learning ability was a little bit better than before. Before, I would have to rewatch the tutorial video multiple times to learn. That was how I learned Python and other programming languages back in the day. But now, I understood those concepts after listening just once. It wasn't just because of experience, even though that played a role. Due to this discovery, I deduced that the serum was mainly targeted to the brain. Think about it. It enhanced my learning ability and it made my senses better. No, to say it made my senses better would be wrong. What it did, according to my deduction, was that it enhanced my ability to interact and accept the information that the senses sent to my brain, which made it seem like I heard a lot better.
I smiled at Nova and continued to wolf down the pizza.
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I dodged the strike as I retaliated. My footwork went crazy as I was able to rely more on the knowledge given by the Blade Dancer perk as it required intense flexibility and proprioception. I danced around the robot, striking unpredictably. Still, the robot was still able to guard it as always but at least, I didn't get hit anymore which was a huge improvement. Well, my Blade skill being at level 4 also helped. I could still, of course, get XP for that but I had to land a hit to get XP, which was ridiculous. I would have to train for like a week more to get to that point!
I blocked again and tried to look for an opening. I thrust my katana, trying to get through its defense but it didn't work. Suddenly, I had a weird sense. It felt like my instinct but... a lot stronger. I followed it and swung my sword. The robot was able to deflect it but due to the weird angle of the strike, it still hit. I looked at my hand in amazement. What the hell was that? That felt like Danger Sense but it was more... intuitive.
I got a notification on my HUD.
Blade - 100XP
I felt a sense of exhilaration. It had been stagnant since my fight with the big guy during my first mission. Yes, I gained 100XP for blocking every 5 strikes before but I couldn't get any more after getting like 500XP because it would be too 'broken'. I felt pleasant seeing more numbers. I continued. I struck with unconventional angles and places, which landed a lot of hits on it. Soon, I was landing hit on it willy-nilly.
Blade - 100XP
Blade - 100XP
Blade - 100XP
Blade - 100XP
Blad...
I felt renewed and joy at that. Finally, after landing the 40th hit, I finally leveled up.
Blade level up
Blade - 5
As you've reached level 5 in Blade, you've gained a perk point.
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Due to having a perk in the Tier 1 Perk, you have unlocked the Tier 2 Perk tree for Blade.
Tier 1 Perks:
Perk Names Perk Descriptions Ambidextrous Allows you to use your non-dominant hand as if it were the dominant hand. Neon Glider Enhances your footwork significantly, making your movements swift and fluid. Knife Thrower Improves your knife-throwing skills, increasing accuracy and distance. Blade Dancer Your movements look like a deadly dance, confusing and mesmerizing opponents. Razor Reflexes Sharpens your reflexes, allowing you to react faster in combat situations.
Tier 2 Perks:
Perk Names Perk Descriptions Evasive Phantom Enhance your footwork to the point where you can dodge attacks effortlessly, appearing almost untouchable. (require Neon Glider) Blade Shield Use your blade defensively, improving your ability to parry and block attacks. Balanced Blade You can impeccably balance your blades, which allows you to quick directional changes in your strikes. Dance of Death Your Blade Dance is evolved, which allows you to strike more easily, move faster, and hit faster in continuous, fluid motion, creating a beautiful, almost hypnotic pattern of attacks. (require Blade Dancer) Reaper’s Reach You learn how to increase the reach of your blade strikes by controlling your body movements, allowing you to hit enemies from a slightly longer distance.
I scratched my head. Tier 2 perks sounded really cool and looked really advanced. But I made a promise to myself! And I don't break promises! I picked Ambidextrous.
... Nothing changed. I scratched my head. Am I supposed to feel any change? There's no new knowledge here... I quickly shrugged. What better way to test the ability than to do them in combat, right? Of course, not real combat. Training combat. I wasn't crazy enough to test out perks and skills during a bloody battle yet.
I picked up two blades. One katana, and a smaller wakizashi. The wakizashi was a single-edged, curved blade like the katana but smaller. I mean, I would love to dual wield two katanas but I felt like it would be difficult, considering that I've never dual wielded before. And since dual-wielding two longer weapons was more difficult than dual-wielding one longer sword with one shorter sword, I chose the current option.
I activated it. But this time, instead of choosing Intermediate, I chose Expert mode.
The robot activated and charged at me at full speed. I barely avoided it. It continued to advance towards me. I blocked with the katana and struck with the wakizashi. My eyes widened as it somehow attacked and defended with the same blade at the same time. It dismantled my attack and attempted to break through my defense. I quickly retreat but to no avail. It caught up to me and struck me. For a moment, I thought I saw something in the robot's eyes. It felt like emotions. I shook my head. What am I smoking? No way.
My eyes shone as I got up once again and started to fight. That day was a day of learning and I was determined to learn to the best of my ability. I knew I was outmatched, but I couldn't just give up. The robot's attacks were relentless, and I had to stay on the defensive, barely able to keep up. Each time I tried to counterattack, it shut all of it down instantly, its precision was terrifying.
I felt like I was being toyed with. Every strike I blocked sent shocks up my arms, and every dodge was by the skin of my teeth. It was like the robot was holding back, showing me just how outclassed I was. My enhanced senses were the only thing keeping me in the fight, allowing me to react just in time to avoid serious injury. But I knew I was just feeling wrong. It wasn't holding back... surely...
it was a losing battle. The robot was too fast, too strong, too skilled. I was just trying to survive. It pushed me back, strike after strike until my back was against the wall. I had no room to maneuver, nowhere to retreat. I blocked desperately, but my strength was fading quickly. I applauded myself for surviving more than 5 minutes against this monster of a robot. I admired Lil' Betty even more. She modified a robot that was supposed to help train hand-to-hand combat with this monster.
I quickly got up again. No, I wouldn't give up. I didn't manage to learn what and how the robot was doing some strikes but I did memorize its attack style. It was fast, aggressive, and unrelenting. The only way to deal with that was to break it with better skill or just desperately defend until you couldn't. All those years of playing soul games had finally come in handy. I thought to myself as I shook my head. This was similar, in a way. The first thing you do in a soul game when you meet a boss is to figure out the boss's attack pattern by dying again and again, and then try to fight against it by employing different strategies. I was an expert at that. Turns out gaming really helps you out in the real world too.
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In the corner of the room, Lucien dressed in a hoodie stared at Raven fighting and learning against the robot, his eyes shining. He never thought that the girl he met with Betty would be very talented. He wondered if he should teach her how to become better at fighting with a blade. It was his expertise, after all. But he looked away and walked back down, careful not to disturb her. He looked at the corner of his HUD to check the time. It was 7 pm. His hands twitched for a moment as he wanted to have a spar against the girl but... he was too shy to ask. Too introverted. He shook his head and quickly left after saying goodbye to the ever-present Betty.