A/n - Hi everyone, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has ready my story so far, I've been enjoying writing it quite a lot. I wont be able to keep this uploading schedule up for long but since I currently have no life due to the virus there's nothing stopping me from writing all the time. Thanks :):)
Congratulations! You've levelled up a skill:
French – Level 80
Congratulations! You've levelled up a skill:
Increased Cognition (S) – Level 3
Congratulations! You've earned a new Special Skill:
Language Comprehension (S) – Level 1
Congratulations! You've gained a new title:
Title – Bilingual: 10% Bonus to the learning of new languages.
John looked in surprise as not only did one special skill level up, but he had earned another on top of that. For the past couple of hours, he had been practicing his French, he had become quite fluent in the language in the past few weeks. Not only that but all his stats had increased quite significantly due to his training regimen.
He looked over what he'd gained and equipped his new title quickly, there was not really any competition in the title he wanted to use since 'Always Average' didn't actually do anything unlike Bilingual.
Next, he checked his new Language Comprehension skill. It told him that for every language he was fluent in he would gain a new level in the skill, meaning that reaching level 80 in a language was classed as fluent. Furthermore, each level in his new special skill gave him a considerable boost in the learning of languages, meaning that he would be able to learn languages significantly faster if he levelled it up to max, and he would only have to learn ten languages.
That meant that, with the Bilingual title, the Increased Cognition special skill and the Language Comprehension special skill, learning languages would become an amazing way to farm skill points. Two skill points were earned per every level, meaning that 160 would be earned with every language that he became fluent in.
A smile broke out on his face. He placed th'
e book down and looked at the time, quickly realising that he needed to get to work quickly. Before he left however, he performed the customary analysis of all of his skills. He wanted to ensure he knew everything that he was capable of just in case people came after him and found out about his abilities.
John Smith – Level 4 (470/500)
Title – Bilingual
HP – 76/76
AP – 437/437
Str – 15
Con – 19
Dex – 16
Int – 23
Wis - 14
Skill Point: 546
Skills:
English – Level MAX
Cooking – Level 13
Cleaning – Level 37
French – Level 80
Increased Cognition (S) – Level 3
Stalking – Level 19
Stealth – Level 29
Pickpocketing – Level 25
Running – Level 27
Language Comprehension (S) – Level 1
Abilities:
Blessed Soul (Passive)
Danger Intuition (Passive)
As he read through, he began to consider whether he should use his skill points for anything. He had already decided that he would use them for skills unless necessary but there was something else, he could use them for, abilities. He switched to the menu for abilities, it only showed the ones that were available to him at that point.
Ability Shop:
· Water-breathing – 150 Skill Points
· X-Ray Vision – 150 Skill Points
· Paralysing Touch – 200 Skill Points
· Withering Touch – 200 Skill Points
· Prehensile Hair – 300 Skill Points
· Storage Dimension – 400 Skill Points
· Concussive Blasts – 500 Skill Points
· Sonic Scream – 500 Skill Points
He shook his head a little. Prehensile hair and Storage Dimension had not been on the list only a couple of days ago, meaning that as he got more powerful and upgraded skills, he would unlock more abilities from the shop. For a moment he considered buying paralysing touch and withering touch just to have a way of defending himself, but he decided against it, telling himself that he can buy the abilities when he needed them since he could simply have the intent to buy, and it would automatically do it if he had the points.
John sighed once again as he wiped down the sides of the laboratory, he was working his way through. He had been actively attempting to make it less boring than it would otherwise be by actively training his abilities such as stealth, but it wasn't working.
At that moment he was in the room with two others, but they had no idea he was there as he had used his stealth to get it, it had been a cakewalk. He was alright to be there, he was just bored.
As he wiped down the sides, he began to hear the two people on the other side of the room whisper in a hushed conversation. Moving slightly closer, he decided to be nosey and concentrated, listening in.
Congratulations! You've earned a new special skill:
Enhanced Listening (S) – Level 1
As soon as he gained the new skill, he was able to hear the two co-workers much better than before.
"What is the CEO going to do here?" He heard the woman ask, clearly referring to Justin Hammer.
"Apparently Hammer's got a project he's going to work on here. I helped to sort out the schedule. He's going to be arriving in a couple of weeks and whatever he works on in that time is going to be transported to the New York facility. I've been asked to work there on a temporary basis." The man answered.
"Surely it would be easier to just have it in New York, this facility is much less advanced." The woman rebutted.
"That's the thing, whatever the project is it's for the expo thing." The man spoke, confused too. John realised exactly what they were talking about, the Hammer armour suits they were working on.
"He's probably just trying to keep it out of the eyes of Stark and Oscorp, apparently he's paranoid about stuff like that." The woman reasoned.
'Shit, Hammer's coming here.' John swore in his mind, realising that that could be quite a dangerous situation for him when all the shit with the Stark Expo goes down. SHIELD will start to have a closer look at the facility where the drones originated, and he'd be at risk. He needed to leave Hammer industries, but he didn't have the qualifications to get another job, he realised.
He reasoned that he had been studying for his GED and with his increased cognition it had been going extremely well. He decided then that when he got home that night, he would book the tests for the GED and even one that would give him a certificate to show he was fluent in French.
Moving on, John moved out of the room, using his stealth so that he didn't seem suspicious and began to go through the motions until the end of the workday, only a couple of hours left.
John smiled as he moved down the street, happy that in just a few weeks, if everything went the way he'd planned, he'd finally be out of his old job and he'd have a better one. Not an amazing one, just better. It was of course difficult for an 18 year old with no work experience to get a quality job after all, but some places were either desperate enough or kind enough.
As moved through the crowd like a snake, dodging through people when he spotted something that gave him a little excitement. A wallet poking out of someone's pocket. He tried not to pickpocket too much, not wanting too much police attention on him, but something like that was just asking to be stolen, so he did.
He slid up behind the man with the wallet poking out of his pocket and reached over in a very practised movement, slipping the wallet out of the man's pocket as he'd done to quite a few others by this point.
However, he'd failed. The man noticed. He wasn't happy.
Instantly, the man whirled around, with quicker reflexes than any normal civilian would have. Without hesitation he grabbed John by the neck and dragged him into the alley. Those who walked by simply avoided them like the plague, simply turning their backs, even though all they had seen was a big man turn around and start to beat a normal guy.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" The bigger man spoke, and John swore at himself for thinking that he was an easy target. The expensive suit and watch were what usually marked a target that had a lot of money and was an easy target, but this one was obviously not.
It was as he looked at the man's face that, for the first time since he had gained his new abilities, he was in real danger. He had no way to defend himself as the man began to hit him. Again, and again.
"Do you know who I am, kid?" The man asked, fury on his face that anyone would do anything like that to him. "Joseph Lorenzini. Remember that name. Be careful who you fuck with."
Something tickled the back of John's brain, but he couldn't quite work out what it was. He dismissed the thought and remembered something. Using the game system, he brough the ability, Paralysis Touch and placed his hand on the angry man.
The moment he activated the ability the man stopped his movement. A moment later he collapsed, falling to the floor.
"Damn, man. I just wanted your wallet, it's not like I tried to kill you." John tried to catch his breath and stood there for a moment. His head was banging, and he was feeling dizzy, but he decided he needed to get out of there before the paralysis wore off, so he left the alley, blood running down his face.
HP – 15/76
He supposed it was good that he now had a way to defend himself effectively. If the paralysis touch always worked like that then he would be effective on anyone who came after him.
John Smith – Level 4 (475/500)
Title – Bilingual
HP – 15/76
AP – 412/437
Str – 15
Con – 19
Dex – 16
Int – 23
Wis - 14
Skill Point: 348
Skills:
English – Level MAX
Cooking – Level 13
Cleaning – Level 37
French – Level 80
Increased Cognition (S) – Level 3
Stalking – Level 19
Stealth – Level 29
Pickpocketing – Level 25
Running – Level 27
Language Comprehension (S) – Level 1
Enhanced Listening (S) – Level 1
Abilities:
Blessed Soul (Passive)
Danger Intuition (Passive)
Paralysis Touch (Active)