“You know what’s better than all the gold in the world?
An hour or two’s worth of rest.
I might be crazy, but tell ya something: once you start working back to back with the line holding a city together from falling to madman in cookie suits, you start noticing things.
So do yourself a favor: never be a professional Meta.
Not all the money you earn makes up for the peace you’ve lost”
-Kalibre Shooter’s advice to newbie Heroes
----------------------------------------
After the little altercate in Gallutneck’s… lair, which Lawrence deemed such more because of the smell than anything else, they decided to help the poor mean clean up the mess at the very least. Not because it was a nice thing to do (Lawrence’s sleep deprivation kept him too cranky to be nice) but rather, because going to Lawrence’s house to discuss the terms of temporary recruitment was a stupid thing to do, and there was nowhere else worth the bother going. Mika’s hideouts were only still in the table when it came to a crisis, after all.
The smell wasn’t much better.
In the end, Christiane ended up being a particularly pleasant handful of surprises: she was excellent at tidying things up.
“I suspect it is a Hidden Feature” she whispered when curiosity got the better of Lawrence and curiously peeked at her swift, near-inhumanly efficient swipes. “As long as I have partial ownership of a location, I can moderately sense all things within, and control them efficiently.”
“So it’s worth for much more than cleaning… Hmm.” Lawrence suspected he had heard of something similar, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. But that brought another question.
“How comes you have partial ownership of this place?”
“Anything that belongs to you, Mr. Lawrence, is partially entitled to me as long as I continue loyal to you. I suppose it is one of the advantages of rightfully acknowledging you as my master. I suspect the same is true for Mr. Gallutneck. He appears to be quite scared of you. Mayhaps he fell in submission subconsciously. One can hardly blame him.”
Well, yeah, but that’s your fault for traumatizing him with that thing of yours. Don’t go blaming it on me, will you? I bet the poor guy can still hear the screech of a power drill whenever he looks in your direction.
Gallutneck had been silent ever since he dismissed him, although Lawrence suspected he was having a monologue with his other self and sorting out the mess he had created. It sure looked useful to have a second, split mind occupying virtually no memory space, and being able to run things in parallel.
He had been rather surprised when he took a proper look at Gallutneck’s Status.
Villain: Jean Gallutneck
[ Status ]
Rank: D
(6) Quests before rank-up
Reputation: None
Feature Points: 20 (Next Feature costs 25 Feature Point)
Embrace Insanity: The voices in your head make you who you are. Generate and manipulate materialized insanity as you see fit. Protects self and allies, damages others.
[ Features ]
There is Another:
- A perfect replica of yourself dwells within your mind, easing the burden placed upon yourself. Allows multitasking, idle chatting, etc.
- Passive skill
Trauma:
- Injuries caused by your Meta-Ability are unable to heal in the midst of battle, and instead grow worse with time.
- Passive skill
Impending Doom Approaching:
- Summon that which should not be named.
- Active skill (900s, 72h cooldown)
[ Quests ]
– First Stain:
Goal: Make your name grow famous around the local area (1%)
Reward: Free Feature Voucher
– ENTERTAINMENT:
Goal: Entertain yourself, at all costs, keep the monotony at bay
Rewards: variable
– Profound Evils:
Goal: Survive the nightmare that shadows insanity itself (1 Month remaining)
Reward: 500 Feature Points
That brought a lot of questions to Lawrence’s mind, but there was little to no sense in trying to read between the lines of a Meta’s Status. His own and Christiane’s were perfect examples of that. For all he knew, the guy was pretty ordinary, taking aside the fact he had a second self in his brain and he could fight with madness incarnate on his fists.
At least according to the System.
So that effectively makes him a Juggernaut-Psychic Elementalist hybrid. He could use pulses of energy to either protect himself, or hit very hard. Add a fast reaction time, wounds that get worse with time, and a powerful summon, and…
Ey, this guy’s got everything I wanted allright.
Lawrence gave up on complaining. The system had no ears. If it did, it was an ass, anyway.
One day. I will have a cool fighting power myself. One day.
Lawrence still had a lot of defensive and destructive power, but he couldn’t outright kill anyone unless he ordered them to kill themselves, or used his Chaos Borne Feature to materialize his hand on someone’s insides.
That would actually be pretty cool.
If it didn’t imply killing.
Let’s not think about it for now.
That wasn’t hard. There was a lot of other things to think about. One of them was, matter of fact, checking on his own Status. Lawrence had received several notifications for the last few days. He decided not to bother with it until the whole mess was sorted out and he had a chance to properly read the whole thing. But, since it appeared life intended to cut him out of his doze of peaceful moments, now was probably as good time as any.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Looking pensive also saved him the effort of aiding in the cleanup. He didn’t particularly enjoy the aroma mashup from the place.
[Status]!
-----
Villain: Lawrence Lakewood
[ Status ]
Rank: D
(6) Quests before rank-up
Reputation: 15% (Local)
Feature Points: 0(Next Feature costs 625 Feature Point)
[ Meta-Ability ]
Criminal Mastermind: Every time you do anything a teeny tiny chance you’ll trigger a chain of events that will help you on the long run
[Features]
Conqueror’s Spark:
- Since the beginning of times, humanity was gifted with kings and queens that led them to a brighter tomorrow. None shone as bright as the Bearers of the Spark. The Conqueror’s Spark is bestowed upon those fated to rule the world.
Greatly boosts all of the Bearer’s Features. The Bearer is unaffected by soul-prying Features.
-Pasive Skill
Gran Charisma:
- You emit a subtle aura of charisma, making others slightly more attracted towards you. This effect can be greatly boosted for a short period of time, resulting in a mindwash-like effect that lasts for 20 seconds. The effects will not apply after this period is over.
- Semi-Passive Skill (permanent effect; 24h cooldown)
- Boosted by the Conqueror’s Spark
Chaos Borne:
- Renders any attempts of tracking, mind reading or foretelling effects useless. If so wished, one can conceal their identity. Turns intangible for a short period of time
- Semi-Passive Skill (permanent effect; switch effect, no cooldown; switch effect, 2h cooldown)
- Boosted by the Conqueror’s Spark
Evileye of Truth:
- Boosts your natural sight and turns you immune to vision attacks. You can see things the normal eye cannot perceive. Display meta-humans’ Status. Forces others to answer the absolute truth to one question, punishing lies with unbearable pain.
- Semi-Passive Skill (permanent effect; switch effect, 2m cooldown)
- Boosted by the Conqueror’s Spark
Ebonspine:
- Summon an unbreakable ebony cane. The cane serves as a sheath for a hidden stiletto that can cut through almost anything but makes killing impossible. The blade can still inflict shallow cuts on enemies.
- Semi-Passive Skill
[ Quests ]
– First Stain:
Fear! Respect! Appreciation! And more fear! When a villain’s deeds grow famous, so does the villain’s name! And who doesn’t want to see people flicker at the sole mention of his name? And so, it is your turn to make this meek neighborhood to know your name!
Goal: Make your name grow famous around the local area (25%)
Reward: Free Feature Voucher
– Criminal Black Company:
Yeah, yeah, you have your first lackey! Wowie! But you ain’t conquering the world with a few people only. So, it’s time to start expanding your business!
Goal: Obtain more minions (3/3)
Reward: 50 Feature Points
-This Quest is completed. Claim Rewards?
– Not only A Storm can fell A Greatwood:
There are masterminds, always on conflict, whether for good or for bad. There are the ones who tackle problems bigger than themselves. And then there are those who attempt to slay giants with naught but a sword and a shield. You are one of them. This will be a most important experience… If you survive.
Goal: Get through the incoming storm… Alive
Reward: 500 Feature Points
-This Quest is completed. Claim Rewards?
– Severance:
The old Dragon guards the path to a brighter future. Cut it down and bring a new light to this City. Whatever it costs.
Goal: Defeat the Dragon’s Blood, the local branch of the Yakuza in Worne YK foes
Bonus – Homecoming: Usurp the Yakuza’s power
Reward: 750 Feature Points
(Bonus Reward: 750 Feature points, Free Feature Voucher)
That’s…
A lot, yeah.
He had 550 Feature Points right now- well, he would as soon as he claimed all rewards. That put him little behind the 625 needed for a new Feature.
And he had a lot of those already, if he did say so himself.
Five features. If he hadn’t decided to throw both Vouchers on a single feature, he would have six. That put him a level behind just about any hero and villain of renown.
The difference between a Meta of the bunch, and whose name was on everyone’s mouth. It wasn’t an easy thing to distinguish: the main reason so many Metas were out there in the world, yet so relatively little were known by the general public.
Part of that was because, well, folks like flashy things. And the amount of Metas with flahsy abilities was surprisingly low. Sure, almost every Meta ability was really useful on its own way. But few people really hit the jackpot and got something that made them strong and public-appealing.
In few words: you needed power and needed the ability to look cool wielding that power.
Of course, there were a few exceptions, on each side. For example: many heroes had such power that, in a certain point, the way they used it no longer mattered. Everyone knew Spyglass & Tobacco, even despite his power having little visibility for others. Or Helping Hand, whose ability to boost the human body’s own inherent properties to god-like levels worked without a single spark.
Then you had the opposite: celebrity heroes that despite being somewhat weak compared to others had learnt to manipulate the media’s attention on their favor. Galactic Girl, a hero with the ability to cast energy beams (and nothing but) had put her own innate talent for fame to good use, an in little to no time she had placed herself at the top of the entertainment industry.
Then you had, of course, heroes with a natural talent for both power and appeal.
Hurricane Hero, Stormlord Zeustro. The wielder of Mother Nature’s wrath itself.
Bondmaker, Date to Live. The living proof that love is a source of power.
Justice’s Hammer, Justice Man. He who fights all evil.
Of course, there were villains with the exact same talent, although they tended to bring fear rather than hope with their very presence.
Walking Calamity, Strife. A man with the power to rot and wither all he touches.
Untouchable, Force Drive. A person that cannot be forced back.
Those were names engraved in history. For better or for worse. Lawrence had grown hearing these names. The heroes themselves hadn’t done anything towards this recognition, but rather, it came naturally. But then again, that much was to be expected from people with the power to destroy continents.
They were people with a natural talent for heroing- or villaining.
Mika would definitively fall in that category. Gallutneck, too, if all his powers gleamed with that sickeningly green aura the energy pulse a hair’s breadth from pulverizing Lawrence’s skull had been.
Lawrence had to wonder, what would have happened with them if he hadn’t found them first?
Well there isn’t much sense in asking.
Those were the basics of recognition in Meta Society.
There was, however, one unspoken rule that just about every Meta, and many who were not, were aware of.
Those who obtain their Seventh are bound to have their names written down in history. No matter how, or why. It could be something great, or a mere side chapter, a little mention that people wouldn’t think much of. It would still be there. No one would forget their name.
You would hear their name, and think ‘oh, that’s that person from that place. Sure, I’ve heard of him.’
In terms of power, Lawrence was just a mere level behind that.
In all honesty, he would need two other Features to get to that point. But the first one costed 625 Points, and he already had 550 in his pocket.
And if he played things right, there would be another Feature Voucher on it soon as well.
That got him to think.
Am I really doing all of this?
Sometimes, he looked back on all that had happened and asked himself if this wasn’t all some kind of dream, or a bad joke someone was playing on him. Little did he know that last part was half-truth. But, the facts were facts.
He had gotten to a place other Metas would take years to arrive.
That really put world domination in perspective.
Not as something he would work towards, but something achievable within his reach.
Of course, there was a big con to it all.
“CITIZENS OF PLAZA!!! WORNEYKIANS!!! AMERICANS FROM ALL AROUND!!!”
A powerful voice shook the world around him. Lawrence winced. The shockwaves hit him in the ear hard enough to deafen him with a high-pitch sound. Yet, he could perfectly hear the interlocutor’s every word.
Oh, fuck me.
Here we go again.
“MY NAME IS BLAST!!!
I HAVE ENTITLED MYSELF GOVERNOR OF THIS STATE!!!
SURRENDER OR PERISH!!!”
There it was.
Because of course, he couldn’t live a peaceful life. That was the price to pay: in exchange for accelerated growth, his power would turn everything he did into a problem that would come back biting his own ass sooner or later.
Drop a wallet, get stuck with an orphan shadow assassin. Save a lady from being crushed to death, you have a sadistic drill-loving genius overestimating you to asphyxiation. Kick some ass, have a hammer-wielding muscle Joe running for your head.
This was no different.
Just what had he done to deserve this?
Lawrence sighed. He was so tired.
“Writer. Stay. You are in charge of decision taking and communications. Shade, on Gallutneck’s shadow. Gallutneck, right behind me. Follow my orders and mayhaps I won’t have Shade slice your windpipe. Everyone clear?”
A hum of excitement, a soft nod, and a grumble of dissatisfaction he ignored.
Lawrence Lakewood vanished as the team stepped out to the piercing darkness of the night. Below a glowing full moon, a person set on to fight this new inconvenience.
“NOW COME OUT AND BOW BEFORE ME!!!”
Ingenio strode forward.