In Jake’s hands, there was a large, three-barrel rotary cannon protruding from a slender box, with two tubes on the box.
New item (Shuttle weapons pod common): This pod has a fast-firing cannon and two grenade launchers. The self-loading system requires ammunition to be within the shuttle’s storage. The cannon has a 10% damage bonus, and the grenade launchers’ bonuses are contingent on the ammunition used. Low mana is required to operate the weapons pod.
Jake decided that after making this weapons pod, he would speak to Matt and Jess to see if they could make glass. So, he started with Matt first. Walking up to Matt, Jake asked, “How are things going? Are you gaining levels in your class?”
Matt looked at him for a second. “No, not as much as I need, but I am making some progress, so at least that’s something, I guess.”
“Well, I might have a solution for that. But first, do you know how to make glass? I need it to make a heads-up display for the shuttle.”
“I know it requires sand and a lot of heat. The heat I can produce in alchemy is not enough, but I do have sand.” Matt gave Jake a jar of sand.
“Why do you have sand?”
“Well, when I got to this planet, I picked it up. I never wanted to leave the ground again. Yeah, I know, it was a stupid thought.”
“Not that stupid, considering what I went through to get here. I don’t blame you for that thought. To be honest, I would rather never go up there again. Just look at my shuttle. Did you know it’s connected to my soul? So, that it looks like it’s going to fall apart is because my soul makes it that way. Take that as you will. Thanks for the sand; I’m going to check on Jess now.”
Jake left and walked down the stairs from the roof and into the building. On the top floor of the building, Erica had set up a room for Jess. Knocking on the door before being invited in, Jake saw Jess lying in bed with Erica in a chair.
“Still not awake yet?”
“She only just went back to sleep about 15 minutes ago.”
Jake thought about it for a minute, then said he would handle it and left. Jake walked back to the shuttle and sat in the cargo section with his cauldron in front of him. With a hand on the side of it, he heated it up, putting a bit of sand in it to see if he could get it to work. But try as he might, it just wouldn’t do anything.
“I just can’t get it to work. Sure, I can achieve a temperature in the cauldron way hotter than what is needed to melt the sand, but there’s just no way to form it. My attention needs to shift to a different idea. Someone must have used a different material for these windows; I don’t think they are made of glass. It’s possible that someone used some kind of stable mana to make them.”
Jake pulled out some metal and put it in the cauldron, forgetting he already had sand in there. Jake started working on the frame for the display, but just as he was about to finish, something odd happened. The sand rushed into the centre of the display’s housing, then turned to liquid, filling the location where the display should be. Jake felt a tug on his mana, so he released more mana into the cauldron, keeping all the energies separate so they wouldn’t explode. It was extremely difficult. Jake couldn’t keep going like this for too much longer, as his mana drained faster and faster until suddenly it stopped, the item being complete.
New item (HUD common): Can be integrated into a shuttle or similar vessel.
Jake moved into the cockpit and placed the HUD on top of the console, waiting for the message.
“Would you like to integrate this item into the shuttle? Yes/No.”
As soon as Jake selected yes, the HUD fused with the console, becoming one. Jake then went out to the nose of the shuttle and installed the weapons pod under the nose of the shuttle.
“Would you like to integrate the weapons pod into the shuttle’s systems? Yes/No. Warning: only three weapons systems can be installed at one time.”
After setting up the system, Jake decided to dedicate more time to making ammunition for the weapons. Three days had passed, and Jake had finally finished the ammo rack and the storage cupboards on both sides of the shuttle. The grenades were of three different types: smoke, fragmentation, and high explosive. Jake was happy with the upgrades to the shuttle; he couldn’t wait to show it off to everyone. Jake found them relaxing at the other end of the roof. The three of them turned and looked at him as he approached.
“It’s time to get back to work clearing out these bugs. But first, let me show you our additional support.”
The three of them followed Jake back to the shuttle.
“This is the new weapons pod. It has two grenade launchers and one rotary cannon. The cannon fires around 500 rounds a minute, while the grenade launchers fire 4 rounds a minute. There are three different types of grenades: smoke, fragmentation, and high explosive.”
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Jake and Matt went up to the cockpit. In helping Matt with the controls, Jake showed him how to select the different weapons systems and ammunition types. Jake explained the weapons system and then told Matt to orbit them at a high enough altitude where he wouldn’t be attacked, while also instructing him to monitor their movements. If he found targets of opportunity, he could attack them, but he was to keep enough ammunition left to help them if required.
“So, I’m to take on an air support role for you three. That seems like a fun job.”
Jake and the two ladies watched as Matt took off and orbited their position.
“Can he even see us from up there? And how are we supposed to call him for help?” Jess said.
“Well, in terms of seeing us, the shuttle has a zoom camera, so even if he’s in low Earth orbit, he should be able to see us. And as for communicating, there really is no way to do that, so it will be up to him to keep track of us and predict if we need help or not.”
Jake and the others left the building and started moving down the street. The environment had changed once again; they were now moving from a suburban area to a city with skyscrapers on each side of them, with narrow streets.
“It looks like Matt won’t be able to get down to us. We will need to fight our way to him if we need to fall back,” Jake said.
The three moved down the street, their goal to reach the centre of the city by the end of the day. Jake turned to check behind them; to his surprise, the street behind them was full of cockroaches.
“Not again. Contact rear!” Jake yelled, his voice cracking a little, before opening fire on the incoming enemies. Erica pushed forward into the midst of the oncoming enemies, her axe cleaving roaches left and right, as Jess fell back to get to a higher position for over-watch. Jake opened fire with his grenade launcher, blowing apart the rear ranks before switching back to his rifle, just before the cockroaches got too close to his position.
Gunfire rang out as Jake moved, using his higher agility to dodge a strike from one cockroach. Another strike came in from the right; Jake went to duck the strike, only to have the cockroach lift up on its back legs and strike down at him with consecutive strikes. Covered in his own blood, Jake rolled out of the way. Jake, knowing time was not on their side, moved forward once more, but this time, his mind was blank; he had no thoughts other than to kill his enemies. He pulled out his daggers and lodged one between the armour of the cockroach, then brought up his rifle, placing it under the chin of the cockroach and pulled the trigger hard. In an instant, Jake fired round after round until the cockroach’s headless corpse was left on his dagger. Jake pulled out his dagger and charged the next enemy, sliding underneath it and firing on full auto, tearing open the cockroach from head to toe, bug guts covering him as he continued. As he started running low on mana, he switched to just using his daggers, flashing across the battlefield like a flickering shadow, taking one enemy down then moving on to the next, his mind in a complete state of bloodlust; he could no longer tell friend from foe. Jess looked on in shock as she noticed some actions that Jake took were the exact same ones her brother would do when he would practice unarmed combat. This would not be odd since Jake was in the same team as her brother, but for the conversation she had with him about it.
Before the tutorial:
Jess was watching her brother in the training area he set up at the back of their house. His movements were like he was in some kind of anime, fighting against giant monsters, using only the nimbleness of his body and the razor’s edge of his blade. He swiftly moved from one position to the next, sweat dripping down his face as his breathing was slow and steady. After an hour of watching her brother fight an invisible monster, she finally spoke up.
“What kind of fighting style is that you’re using? It kind of looks like you’re from an anime.”
Jess’s brother stopped mid-swing, only now noticing that he was being watched. His face turned red with embarrassment.
“How long?”
“How long what?” Jess replied.
“How long have you been watching me for?”
“Not that long… only about an hour or so,” Jess said with a grin.
Jess couldn’t hold back any longer and started roaring with laughter.
“You should have seen your face. Priceless, just priceless. But seriously, what were you doing fighting some monster or something?”
“It is a training technique I’m working on. It helps me be more nimble and frees up the tiredness in my joints.”
“So, it’s not some kind of fighting style that your commander is teaching you?”
“No, God, no. Jake would never engage in such a practice, even under extreme circumstances. He is a serious kind of man, one of those people who struggles to interact with others. But a man you can rely on when times get tough.”
Present day in the tutorial:
Jess watched as Jake went on a rampage, slaughtering everything in front of him. His eyes turned red, and blood flowed out of them like tears. Jake carried on, killing more and more, until the cockroaches decided to cut and run, scattering in all directions to escape the demon of death that had slaughtered their kin. By the time the cockroaches left, Jake had killed over five hundred of them. Among the cockroach corpses stood a man holding a dagger in one hand and a cockroach corpse in the other, standing in the middle of the street with the moon rising behind him.
“He’s a fucking demon, a demon of death.”
New skill (Voices of the past unique): Tap into the experience of those who have died.
New skill (Berserker form common): Once activated, you will enter a state of mindlessness. Only the death of your enemy will concern you.
New skill (Fighter’s sight common): Your enemy will cower at your sight. Cost of use health points in proportion to the targeted.
Race upgrade demon of the past. Unique.
This is a unique race in the integrated universe. As such, the system has no information on its abilities.
Universal constant interface
Name Jake everval
Race human, demon of the past
Grade TG
Level 100 Max cap for this grade 166 unused
Class trooper shadow mage
Class level 1000 Max cap for this grade 372 unused
Profession Arcane Smith
Profession level 13
stats points available 11,480
Mana 23360
Arcane 23500
Stamina 23200
Health 33360
Strength 1116
Agility 1225
Intelligence 2350
Wisdom 2336
Perception 1157
Integrity 3336
All unused levels and grades will be converted to points at a 1:1 ratio at the end of the tutorial.