The more I ran to the colosseum, the more I lost my will to fight. The lives I had taken—not the ones my alter ego had taken—their names pressed down on my mind. Bark, Brier, Kuljack, Tasha, Tulm’i, the many more because of my actions… All of them, did they deserve their fate?
It was impossible to lie to myself any longer. I couldn’t kill anyone anymore. Watching people die was getting too much. Knowing that I was the reason they were dead made it all the worse. Maybe I can find Nyx and let her kill me. She can then use what she gets to destroy the Nexus. My heart’s no longer in it.
I made it to the colosseum. The crowds were shouting like there was a fight going on. From the blasts of lights behind and above me, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were watching Elveil and the sphinx fight. I probably should’ve been watching to learn how Elveil fights, but instead, I dragged my feet to where the sphinx sat when I met him the first time. Nobody even looked in my direction. Every eye was glued to the spectacle that was the titanic clash in the sky.
It’s the greatest event of their lives. None of them will probably get that powerful.
I sat in the room with my back against the cold stone. Out in the opening, Elveil streaked across the sky towards the sphinx. The sphinx teleported to above her and latched onto a wing. Spinning her around, the sphinx threw the shadow griffon to the ground, creating yet another crater in the town. I could feel the ground quivering from the impact.
He followed up the throw with a pillar of light right where she landed. Elveil’s shadow clone flew up and grabbed the sphinx’s tail. She gave the sphinx a taste of his own medicine. As the sphinx hit the ground, the pillar of light vanished. Heavy crashes followed up, sounding like explosions as chunks of buildings scattered in the wake of their conflict.
Name:
Rina Lone
Augments:
Predator Android:
Level:
85
Cellular reconstruction
Upgradable
Agility:
740
Cerebral prediction matrix
Weaponized
Arcane:
807
Synthetic eyes lvl. 3
Predator Senses
Power:
406
HUD
Predator’s superiority
Quickness:
1100
Olfactory nexus lvl. 1
Resilience:
610
Echo sensors lvl. 1
Toughness:
620
Mana battery (shadow) integration
Unassigned Points:
0
Synthetic skin (face) lvl. 1
Shards:
10,887,080
Additional plasma edge stinger arm X2
Plasma edge arm blade X2, retractable
Shadow Powers:
Synthetic tendons lvl. 3
Manifestation lvl. 19
Synthetic muscle lvl. 4
Shaping lvl. 17
Synthetic bones lvl. 3
Distance lvl. 7
Epidermal plating lvl. 3
Anchoring lvl. 3
Nanobot blood replacement
Infusion lvl. 16
Mana-weave hair lvl. MAX
Solidify lvl. 7
Voice projector
Shadow Lycan Form Spell
Plated dragon teeth
Shadow Kitsune Beast Form Spell
Synthetic tongue
Plasma edge leg scythe X2, retractable
Talons
Additional limb (fox tail)
Ten million shards to spend. Since I don’t know what I need, I think it’s better to just upgrade what I have for now.
Epidermal plating level 4 augment available:
Cost: 2,102,841 shards.
Synthetic Tendons level 4 augment available.
Cost: 1,392,487 shards.
Synthetic Tendons level 5 augment available.
Cost: 2,784,974 shards.
Synthetic Muscle level 5 augment available.
Cost: 3,342,206 shards.
Synthetic eyes level 4 augment available:
Cost 95,830 shards.
Synthetic eyes level 5 augment available:
Cost 191,660 shards.
Synthetic skin (face) level 2 augment available.
Cost: 34,390 shards.
Synthetic skin (face) level 3 augment available.
Cost: 68,780 shards.
Synthetic skin (face) level 4 augment available.
Cost: 137,560 shards.
Synthetic skin (face) level MAX augment available.
Cost: 275,120 shards.
Total cost: 10,425,848 shards.
It started with my face. The skin pealed away from muscle but didn’t fall to the ground either. All the tearing hurt, but I forced myself to feel it. There was no more hiding from it.
I’ve caused too much harm and damage to believe I’m above the pain. I deserve to feel the pain. For everything I’ve done, and everything I’m about to do, I have to hurt. It’s only right.
All my nanites broke down my skin as fast as they rebuilt it. The material was changing. Before, it was a simple polymer, but now there were new minerals. Most of them were ones that didn’t have names, just atomic structures. Of all the times my nanites upgraded me, I was never more aware of them working before. All twelve layers of different materials weaved together and melded into a single new substance.
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It was an awe-inspiring feeling as the nanites worked to create a one-of-a kind substance. Nothing like it existed anywhere in the universe. My nanites created it based on a theoretical combination through an apparently tested method of atomic fusion to create a stable, flexible, durable, yet artificial material. Before I understood that my nanites could harness the existence of a black hole, but this—this was creating something that never could exist without them.
The Game Master gave me a tool that could’ve rivaled a god, or something more powerful.
While my system said it was at its max level, I knew that if I learned of some new material out there, my nanites could replicate, integrate, and innovate it. There was “limitless,” but this shattered my understanding of what that word truly meant.
As the augment finished, the pain surged back as my new skin melted back to the muscles. It was different from before. An audible click sounded as my face settled into place. My muscles found several new mechanisms.
If I wanted, I could separate the muscle from the skin at will. That’s an odd feature. My face won’t fall off, but it will make it completely emotionless. Niche use.
My series of augments was only just beginning. My eyes were next. There was no pain—there hadn’t been nerves in my eyes from the first time I replaced them. But based on the grinding and whirling, it would’ve been excruciating. My vision flickered out as the grinding intensified. When my vision returned, the grinding settled down, but the whirling picked up. Everything was sharper, the colors were more vivid, and I could see the minutia of difference between the grains of sediment that made up the stone in the room.
But it wasn’t over.
A boring sensation dug into the sockets behind my eyes. The cable that connected my computer brain and eyes bulked up. My vision started showing a greater contrast between colors. Everything zoomed in and back out. In that moment everything was zoomed in; the air was full of particles, like I was looking through a microscope.
I can see on the microscopic level? Again, very situational. One day I might regret looking at something too closely.
My skin was next in line. Expectantly, things warmed up. More metal was built underneath what was already there. Heavy pounding cocked my body in rhythmic pulses. Every slam throughout my body was heavier than the last. Soon my bones were vibrating with each strike. Anything left of my nerves was crushed and sent a nauseating wave of pain each second.
My nanites were hammering my skin thinner, back to its original thickness. It intensified so severely that my body started bouncing off the ground. Each time I landed, I was slammed back into the air even higher up. Every landing cracked the stones beneath me.
Then I hit the ceiling before hitting the ground one last time. The thud was heavier. Having control of my body again, I started with pulling myself out of the crater I made. A dull throbbing echoed through my body. Despite every ounce of pain, I kept my teeth gritted and didn’t scream.
It doesn’t even begin to balance out the pain I’ve caused.
When I saw my fingers, the metal looked a dark, deep purple—almost black, but clearly purple. The layers of streaking purple were now the base color. Tiny flecks of white, almost like stars in the night sky, dotted my skin.
Purple? How fitting. If I could fly, I’d be a flying purple people eater. That would be a truly sad day. I can’t forget what I watched myself do to Tovar. Besides, learning to use my stinger arms was hard the first time. Now they’d only get in the way of wings if I got them. Which is never going to happen. Elveil first twisted my body to have wings, and I am nothing like her. No wings, not now, not ever.
Muscles and tendons rounded out my augmentation upgrades. I had pulled myself out to sit on the ledge of the divot I created. Things didn't get overly hot like they did in the past. Instead, they twisted and locked up.
It was the worst series of charlie horses that spread throughout my body. All my limbs went rigid, and I slid back into the crater.
Throughout my body, my tendons thickened with a strange, sinewy tightness, becoming more like living cables. They drilled deeper into my bones, fusing in ways that felt unnatural. The deep hum of my neural pathways exploded as many more were connected, implanting instructions on how to handle the new, heavy-duty tendons.
My muscles coiled so tight that I worried they would be unusable. When they compressed so far, cavities opened up under my skin, it started to click in my mind. My muscles were already a coil of flexible metal. Now they were becoming a braid of coiled metal.
At first, I thought it would be inefficient, and they would constantly bind up. That wasn’t the case. They fit together like a perfect zipper. Everything returned to normal. It was far less painful than I expected and thought it should’ve been.
I sat up and gave my hands an experimental flex. All the new tendons in all of my joints didn’t make them thicker, nor did they restrict my movements. There was no restriction, no sense of stiffness. The new fibers inside me didn’t just move—they accelerated. I could feel the difference instantly: I was faster—so much faster. Every muscle felt primed, always waiting for the next command. I flexed the muscles in my forearm and shins to extend my arm blades and leg scythes. They shot out faster than my eyes could register.
I put them away and pushed myself up by my stinger arms. My initial steps were cautious and exploratory, designed to help me calibrate my movements. Balance was harder to find because my range of motion actually increased. Because I had become so much faster and more flexible, the calibration process required several small adjustments to account for my new abilities.
After a minute, I was dashing with needlepoint precision. I could start and stop exactly as I wanted. The minutia of control would’ve been breath-taking—if I had breath to take.
Then I looked at my stats and new augment descriptions.
Name:
Rina Lone
Augments:
Predator Android:
Level:
112
Cellular reconstruction
Upgradable
Agility: (+588)
1328
Cerebral prediction matrix
Weaponized
Arcane:
807
Synthetic eyes lvl. 5
Predator Senses
Power: (+76)
482
HUD
Predator’s superiority
Quickness: (+295)
1395
Olfactory nexus lvl. 1
Resilience:(+260)
870
Echo sensors lvl. 1
Toughness: (+110)
730
Mana battery (shadow) integration
Unassigned Points:
0
Synthetic skin (face) lvl. MAX
Shards:
461,232
Additional plasma edge stinger arm X2
Plasma edge arm blade X2, retractable
Shadow Powers:
Synthetic tendons lvl. 5
Manifestation lvl. 19
Synthetic muscle lvl. 5
Shaping lvl. 17
Synthetic bones lvl. 3
Distance lvl. 7
Epidermal plating lvl. 4
Anchoring lvl. 3
Nanobot blood replacement
Infusion lvl. 16
Mana-weave hair lvl. MAX
Solidify lvl. 7
Voice projector
Shadow Lycan Form Spell
Plated dragon teeth
Shadow Kitsune Beast Form Spell
Synthetic tongue
Plasma edge leg scythe X2, retractable
Talons
Additional limb (fox tail)
Synthetic tendons level 5:
The host’s tendons have been upgraded to an ultra-dense advanced alloy blend of titanium, niobium, and a specialized graphene matrix. Response time for the host’s actions has been further reduced, reducing the latency between thought and action to almost zero. The host will experience an exceptional increase in dynamic actions based on their quickness attribute. The host can temporarily exceed their maximum quickness by 75% without risk of damage. Attack power is now increased by the quickness attribute.
Stat bonus: +700 agility.
Synthetic Tendons level 6 augment available.
Cost: 5,569,948 shards.
Insufficient funds.
Synthetic Muscles Level 5:
The host’s muscles have been upgraded with a hyper-efficient array of ultra-conductive nanofibers. The host has chosen the speed specialization. The nanofibers are now capable of reacting to electrical impulses with nearly perfect synchronization, granting the host precise control over their movements, and an even faster reaction time. The nanofibers are extremely conductive and will malfunction if exposed to excessive amounts of direct current. The new nanofibers are designed to withstand moderate amounts of direct current without malfunctioning.
Stat bonus: +700 Quickness, +120 Power.
Synthetic Muscle level 6 augment available.
Cost: 6,684,412 shards.
Epidermal plating level 4:
The entirety of the skin of the host has been replaced with an organic metal made from a unique folded, refined darksteel alloy. This metal is flexible, nonmagnetic, conductive, and immune to oxidation. Defense and resistance in the augmented areas are increased by three times. The host also has a customized retractable, watertight visor for the face.
Stat bonus: +330 toughness, +330 resilience, +56 agility, +32 power.
Epidermal plating level 5 augment available:
Cost: 4,205,682 shards.
Insufficient funds.
Synthetic Skin (Face) level MAX:
The host’s facial skin has been completely replaced with an advanced polymer blend, enriched with unique minerals and custom-engineered nanostructures. This upgraded skin allows for perfect control over its appearance and texture, including the ability to seamlessly morph the face into any desired shape, expression, or identity. The unique materials composing it grant it enhanced durability and flexibility, making it resistant to both physical trauma and environmental extremes.
Stat bonus: +160 resilience.
Synthetic Eyes level 5:
The host’s natural eyes have been replaced with advanced metallic replicas. These synthetic eyes are equipped with unique, state-of-the-art sensors and optics. They will provide the host with heightened visual acuity, clarity, and enhancement, including zoom capabilities that can magnify up to 200x without loss of clarity. Additionally, these synthetic eyes offer improved night vision. New vision options are provided to the host. The host may now emit and detect terahertz radiation to create a local mapping of their surroundings. The host’s eyes can now absorb infrared light, allowing the host to see heat signatures and thermal variations as well as ultraviolet radiation. An integrated micro-projector allows the host to display data or images directly onto surfaces.
Stat bonus: +60 Quickness, +80 Agility.
Synthetic eyes level MAX augment available:
Cost 1,916,600 shards.
Insufficient funds.
HUD (heads-up display):
The host’s vision will be supplemented with useful and relevant information, such as energy levels, mana levels, and other information the host desires at any given moment. The bars reflect the host’s natural limits and can be exceeded. The host’s level of Synthetic Eyes Augment now allows live calculations to be displayed. By the host’s request, an aiming assist function has been added.
Stat bonus: +5 arcane.
Surprisingly, My HUD had a recent addition along with an update to its description. A small red dot appeared when I held one of my machine pistols in my hand. It followed where the barrel was pointing. I could see the calculations of its trajectory, but didn’t really understand them.
I grabbed the second mana machine pistol in my left hand. A blue dot followed that barrel’s trajectory. They turned purple when I overlapped the two dots. Now I have help with aiming after I really don’t need it.
A final message tucked away after my status update demanded my attention.
Congratulations. Level one-hundred and ten milestone reached. Please select one of the following class perks:
Augmented weaponry—Enhances one random natural weapon.
Expanded armory—Receive one additional random natural weapon.
Improved predator senses—Upgrade augments for improving senses.
Hunting mobility—Receive augments for improved flexibility.
Predator’s superiority—Upgrade an augment for improving body.
Mechanized inevitability—Upgrade Cellular Reconstruction Augment.