August 30th, 2064. Today was finally the day, the beginning of the main storyline.
Duncan had spent the past two days productively. First of all, he decided to get his potential measured. In the world of Bastion, everyone is born with a potential, that acts as a limiter to their overall stats.
He had already figured that his potential was decent, considering the fact he managed to get into Bastion. His potential rank turned out to be C- Rank, just barely above average.
If Duncan wanted to survive the events of the story, he would have to figure out some method to raise his potential, luckily he was already working on one such way. Later on in the story, it's discovered that by bonding with a beast, you are able to raise your stats, and potential.
Despite the temptation to use his wealth to quickly bond with a decent mana beast, Duncan refused to settle for anything less than perfection. He had a plan to acquire the ideal mana beast, but it would have to wait.
For now, he bought a simple enchanted necklace to help him adapt to this world
[Necklace of Moxie: F-]: Provides the wearer with increased mental endurance, and fortitude
The necklace had a simple leather thread, with a shimmering green hexagonal bullet shaped gem on the end. Being able to keep his mental resolve up would be the biggest concern in this world, and this necklace would go a long way in helping.
Although he could have obtained more funds for better equipment, Duncan was cautious about his illegal conduct being detected. If someone uncovered his most important trump card, his inventory, it could spell disaster.
During his experiments with the inventory, Duncan made several significant discoveries. First, the size of objects he could store seemed limitless. He had successfully stored and retrieved a refrigerator with ease. But the size was limited by his understanding of an object. In order to store the refrigerator, he had to research a blueprint of it, in order to grasp all the components. He couldn't just casually toss a house into his storage, because he didn't completely grasp all the elements that made up the house.
There were also rules governing how he extracted objects from his inventory onto other objects. Duncan had tried to place the letter "S" onto his status window, to make himself [S] Ranked, but it ended up not working. He quickly figured out it was because he was trying to place an "S" he had written on paper onto the system panel, when they are inherently different. This is why he was able to change his credits, he was using code to interact with code, data to manipulate data.
Next, he discovered that he couldn't make objects enter his inventory without direct physical contact. The reason he was able to make the red blood cell enter his inventory, was because the red blood cell was technically part of him.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Now comes the two really terrible drawbacks he had discovered. First of all, Duncan was given the same inventory the protagonist had, but he was not given the system the protagonist received. Throughout the novel, the main character, Ryan Drakine, upgrades the inventory through the system.
Duncan had no system, meaning he was stuck with his inventory having a measly one slot. This was not the only problem with the ability though.
In order to put items into, and take items out of his inventory, he had to put his complete focus into the task. This means if someone was trying to hurtle a punch at his face, Duncan would be unable to simultaneously dodge, and use his inventory.
Duncan sat up, and inspected himself in the mirror. He pulled up his status window while lost in thought.
===Status===
Name: Duncan Linrad
Rank : G
Strength : G-
Agility : G
Dexterity : G+
Stamina : G-
Intelligence : G
Mana Capacity : G-
Charm : F-
--> Affliction :
[Tinnitus]
--> Profession :
[Unconventional Weaponmaster Lv. 1]
--> Skills :
[(E-) Rank: Photographic Memory]
============
With a charm stat of F-, Duncan was certainly not ugly. He had on a dark green jacket, contrasted with a white t-shirt. He looked himself once more in the mirror, and nodded confidently.
He threw on a pair of wired earbuds he had purchased from an antique store and set his music playlist to shuffle using his wristwatch.
Duncan had the idea of purchasing a pair of earbuds ever since he find out about his tinnitus. Back on his home Earth, one of his favorite movies has a character with tinnitus, who constantly wears wired earbuds to block out the sound of the tinnitus.
All he needs is a pair of sunglasses, and he would completely finish off the cosplay. With a slight smirk to the mirror, he turned towards the door, and left for Bastion.
----------------------------------------
"Crap! I'm late!" Ryan awoke with a startle after checking the time on his clock. He quickly rushed out of his room and into the bathroom, trying to brush his teeth while combing his hair at the same time.
"Ryan! What did I tell you about oversleeping!" His mom chided him from downstairs.
"I get it mom!" He yelled from across the house, while simultaneously struggling to put on a light blue shirt.
He glanced at his wristwatch to check the time. 7:42 AM, he still had eighteen minutes until the opening ceremony began. Rushing out the door, his eyes flashed a serious tone as he muttered under his breath "System, activate adrenaline rush."
[Activating G- Rank Skill: Adrenaline Rush (5:00)]
...
Arriving at the entrance of Bastion, Ryan was amazed by the sheer scale of the campus. He saw other new students similar to him rushing through the wide entrance, into the technological marvel that was Bastion. A low breeze brushed through Ryan's brown hair as the campus's hover train passed by above him.
Catching his breath, he glanced at his wristwatch, 7:56, he just barely made it in time. With a sigh, he subconsciously reached for a water bottle in his inventory when...
[ERROR: PRIVELIGE BORROWED BY $%&#!@]
He let out a depressing sigh as he read the message. Over the past few days his inventory had been mysteriously displaying this message, and he couldn't figure out the cause of it.
Just then he felt a stare directed at him. Glancing behind his back, he saw a man with deep black hair, and a pair of wired earbuds in his ears. The man stared at him wide-eyed for a few seconds, before looking away and continuing on.
Ryan looked at him bewildered for a second, he'd never seen anyone use wired earbuds before. He shook his head, quickly forgetting about it and focusing on his inventory again. It really was the worst not having the inventory anymore. Where was he going to keep his food and water now?