The slight creaking sound of a screw being tightened rang out in a bedroom. A young boy with black messy hair and turquoise eyes sat cross legged on the bed.
In his hand was a circular device with the top part opened as he used the screwdriver in the other hand to tighten a screw inside.
A few more moments of screwing and his sight was covered by a brief prompt.
Engineering has leveled up!
He let out a boyish grin as he closed the top part of the circular device.
The young boy's name is Virgil Harris and he had been reincarnated into his current world a few years ago.
The last thing he remembered before waking up in this world was going to bed after a long and busy day. He had been a normal 15 year old before waking up in this world.
He was somewhat content with his life. He didn't lack much in his life but his family wasn't Bill Gates rich. He was unpleasantly surprised to be reborn in another world.
If you asked him, he'd call it transmigration rather than reincarnation seeing as how he woke up as an 8 year old.
At first he thought he was in another version of earth but he was immediately proven wrong. The name Bellwood was a very familiar name.
Though he didn't remember the exact plot of the Ben 10 show, he could vaguely recall a few line of events.
His new father didn't necessarily help things. His new father, David Harris was a retired plumber who refused to accept that his glory days were over.
He was insistent on 'preparing' Virgil to follow in his footsteps and become a plumber. Of course the man waited until he turned 10, he wasn't mad enough to torture his only son.
Not that the 'training' he put him through was soft. He was already 11 years old and it had been a year since his system appeared.
He had initially been worried about how he'd survive without any form of abilities but the appearance of his system partially relieved him of his worries.
With a simply thought, he pulled up his system menu.
Name: Virgil Harris
Race: Human
HP: [100%/100%]
Skills
Engineering[52/100]
Hacking[61/100]
Dagger Mastery[40/100]
Stealth[64/100]
Flexibility[44/100]
Firearm Mastery[31/100]
Physical Conditioning[52/100]
Damage Resistance[40/100]
Unarmed Combat Mastery[39/100]
Medical Knowledge[73/100]
Mathematics[83/100]
Chemistry[80/100]
Physics[90/100]
Biology[75/100]
Cooking[70/100]
Partial Gamers Body[Max]
Partial Gamers Mind[Max]
Traits
[Lucky Drop]
Chance of loot drop is set at 40%
[Genius Inventor]
Increases leveling speed of technology related skills.
[Zero]
You lack the ability to use mana.
[Remorseless]
You aren't afraid to get your hands dirty if it means you achieve your goals.
His inability to use mana and lack of an MP parameter forced him to focus on becoming hyper competent.
His father's carelessness in leaving plumber gadgets lying around was the major factor that helped him level up the skill faster.
Dagger mastery was more of a personal project that he worked on. With the amount of daggers and small knives his father had, it wasn't surprising he'd give it a try. Coupled with physical conditioning which passively increased his body's physical abilities, he was able to hit harder than what he should be able to.
He'd spent a full week moping about the partial gamer mind and gamer body. It meant that his system lacked the ability to translate his stat into numbers among other things.
At least he still had an inventory. It would've sucked if he didn't have at least that in his arsenal.
'I guess the ability to store objects in a time frozen space could be counted as an ability.' He thought as he dropped the EMP device into his inventory.
"Virgil!" A somewhat elderly voice called out from outside his room, causing him to roll his eyes.
David Harris was a man that Virgil was sure would be admitted to a rehabilitation center if he ever went for a mental check up.
Apart from the somewhat harsh training, he was also forced to learn how to cook for himself as the man was barely home. From the memories he inherited, his mother died right after giving birth to him. He was probably reliving his glory days with his old pals somewhere.
He had a guess on what the man was calling him for.
Virgil walked into the living room with a scowl on his face as he was met with a middle aged man with short black hair and a neatly trimmed goatee.
Beside him was a fat man in a white shirt, covered by a red buttoned-up Hawaiian shirt with a floral design. He had grey hair and blue pants, as well as brown shoes.
Even if he didn't recognize the face, the Hawaiian shirt reminded him of the man's identity.
Max Tennyson, grandfather of Ben and Gwen Tennyson.
"Virgil, this is Max, an old plumber buddy of mine back in the days." David said in his usual manner of not holding it back, drawing a look of concern from Max.
"It's nice to meet you Virgil. I haven't seen you since you were in diapers. You sure have grown." Max said with a smile, noting Virgil's lack of question at his friend's comment.
"It's nice to meet you too." Virgil said a bit stiffly as he recalled exactly why the man was here.
"Are you ready for an amazing summer vacation with Max? He might be old but he's certainly capable of taking care of you and those grandkids of his." David asked with a look of nostalgia.
"I wish I could come along but I have some business to attend to here in Bellwood. You did remember that it's today, right?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Of course I remembered." He had totally forgotten about it but that didn't mean he'd admit to it.
"I'll go grab my things from my room." He said, getting out of the room as Max showed an amused smile.
He quickly made his way to his room, packing multiple sets of clothes and his essentials in a bag. On the small table beside his bed lay a laptop which he also packed along with him.
Whatever couldn't fit inside the bag went into his inventory. He looked around the room, making sure he had everything he needed.
'Snacks.' He thought, the sudden realization hitting him.
'I am not going to spend this entire summer eating worms and bugs every day.' He thought as he made his way to the kitchen using stealth.
It took him an entire minute to rob the kitchen of 70% of its edible content. He couldn't exactly take everything. David wasn't the best father but he couldn't leave him to starve to death.
Whether it was a combination of gamers mind and his remorseless trait that allowed him to even think about it so casually, he didn't put too much thought into it.
Deactivating stealth, he walked into the living room where Max and David were catching up, the conversation stopping with his arrival.
"It seems he's packed and ready to hit the road." Max commented, seeing Virgil with a duffel bag slung around him.
"It seems so. He reminds me of myself back in the day." David reminisced with some emotion.
"Try not to worry yourself too much. I'll take care of him." Max said with a laugh.
"It's not him I'm worried about." David retorted with a knowing smile as he stared at the somewhat bored look on Virgil's face.
His son had begun showing his brilliance right from when he learnt read. It had only gotten more shocking when he turned 10 as his learning speed skyrocketed.
The boy had always been interested in gadgets and putting junk together and as his father, though he wasn't the best, he did his job in providing the necessary tools for the boy to work with.
He could only feel proud of how well he had raised him.
Their goodbye wasn't anything special other than the slightly deranged man reminding him not to slack off in his daily exercise.
That was his own way of showing affection towards the boy.
Max lead Virgil to the rust bucket with a comfortable smile on his face as he spoke.
"We'll have a great time this summer. My grandkids Ben and Gwen are coming with us. Gwen's already here so we're going to pick up Ben. I'm sure you three will get along just fine." He said as he opened the door for the boy to enter.
"I'll do my best." Virgil said a bit dryly as he entered the vehicle.
Upon entering the vehicle, he spotted a familiar person seated at the two seat-dinette table beside the door.
The girl had green eyes and short red hair held by a blue hairclip and wore sapphire earrings, an elbow-length blue raglan shirt with a cat logo, white capri pants and white sneakers with dark blue stripes without socks.
The two stared at each other silently until Max entered behind him.
"Gwen, this is Virgil. He's going to be joining us on our summer trip. Now you two be nice to each other while I start up the RV." Max said before moving the driver's area at the front of the vehicle.
"So, are you also being forced into this?" Gwen asked as Max left.
"Something like that. Though it's more along the lines of my dad not wanting me to 'laze around' this summer." He answered as he took a seat opposite her, pulling out a mini music player from the bag and plugging his ears.
He let the songs filter out his environment as he went into thought. It wasn't too odd that despite also living in Bellwood, he had neither met Ben nor Gwen.
It was mostly due to the fact that he didn't go to school, David believing a school built for learning wasn't as efficient as having a one on one session of learning.
He wasn't exactly wrong but had he been a normal child, he would have been more than a bit socially stunted.
He felt the rust bucket start up as Gwen tried to engage him in conversation.
The drive to Madison Elementary School wasn't long as they got there fairly quickly. During the drive, Virgil had focused on trying to remember as much as possible to help him.
After all, it had been years since he watched the show and that was even before he transmigrated. He also found that Gwen was a decent person to talk with, though she tended to ramble a bit.
From the window of the RV he watched as a brown haired boy who he recognized to be Ben and a chubby kid with glasses hung on a tree branch by their underwear.
'That's more than a bit unpleasant.' He thought as he watched Max get out of the rust bucket to help them.
He noticed with amusement that Gwen's mood seemed to have plummeted the moment they arrived.
'The bad blood between these two is amusing at best. At least I'll have something to keep me entertained for a while.' He thought as Max walked into the RV with Ben trailing behind him.
"I've so been looking forward to this." Ben said excitedly before he blinked in brief confusion as he noticed Gwen.
"What are you doing here? What is she doing here?" He complained dramatically, pointing at her.
"Take it easy dweeb. This wasn't my idea. Somebody convinced my mom that going camping for the summer would be a good experience for me." Gwen retorted, turning to Max at the last part.
"Grandpa please, tell me you didn't." Ben pleaded.
"I thought it would be fun if your cousin came along with us this summer. Is that a problem?" Max asked as his eyes narrowed sternly causing them both to turn to each other nervously.
Only then did he notice the other presence in the RV.
"Uh who's this?" He asked, more than a bit confused.
"This is Virgil. He'll also be joining us this summer." Max explained.
"Is everyone going to just barge into my summer vacation?" Ben complained.
"Behave Ben. Virgil's dad is an old friend of mine. I'm honored he let Virgil come with us." Max scolded lightly as the subject of the topic barely paid them any attention.
'I doubt I'd be able to stop him from going into the woods so I'll just have to find it before him.' He was thinking about the possible ways to snatch the omnitrix before Ben had the chance.
He wasn't too confident in his ability to survive as he was. Though, he also didn't want the watch. When in use, it releases a signal that literally says 'I'm right here. Come and kill me'.
He wasn't too sure about wanting to put it on but it was a thing to consider for now. He could always grow stronger with the system rather than the omnitrix but it was good to have a backup.
"I can't believe it. I wait all school year to go on this trip and now the queen of cooties is along for the ride." Ben complained, sitting next to Virgil.
"Hey I had my own vacation already planned out too, you know! Each activity is color coded so I never do the same thing two days in a row." Gwen retorted, pulling out a timetable with colored rows as she complained.
"Now I'm stuck with my geekazoid cousin going camping for three months." Gwen complained, conveniently not complaining about Virgil.
"What's your deal anyway?" Ben asked, looking at Virgil who had one ear open and the other plugged.
'I thought it would be amusing but it's downright annoying.' He complained internally, wishing to shut them both up.
"Don't be rude!" Gwen said, touching on his lack of tact and manners.
"What? I'm just asking a question."
"Sorry to barge in on your little camping trip but I'm not here by choice either." Virgil answered calmly, not sorry at all.
He honest didn't care. What he cared about was getting strong enough to not die.
"See." Gwen said, dragging out the word.
"At least someone is being civil despite being stuck with your complaining for so long." She continued as Ben scowled.
"I can be civil." He said with irritation.
"Yeah right." She sarcastically retorted causing him to scowl even more.
"Geeks." He muttered.
"Jerk" Gwen threw back, causing Max to sigh from his seat.
"Something tells me it's going to be a long summer." He said as he handled the steering wheel.
"Virgil, why don't you tell us more about yourself." Max said, trying to change the topic.
He was successful as the two children turned their attention to the black haired boy.
"There not much to tell really. I'm good at a few things, particularly with technology. I like to build stuff." Virgil explained as Ben let out a mutter of 'Nerd' that was heard but everyone.
"Ben." Max said warningly as the boy gulped in his seat.
"Sorry about that Virgil." Max apologized on his grandson's behalf, Virgil giving a brief nod.
"Anything else?" He added wanting to know more. Though David had told him what to expect from the boy, he wanted to hear it from the boy himself.
David tended to over exaggerate things a bit.
"What kind of stuff do you build?" This time Gwen was the one who asked.
"I mostly put together junk and spare parts. I could probably dismantle this RV and put it back together if I have enough time." He answered, drawing looks of awe from Ben and Gwen while Max chuckled.
"Maybe one day I'll have you take a look at this old thing." He said jokingly, thinking that Virgil overplayed his ability.
"Chow time!" Max said as he set down a bowl of still moving worms on the table.
They had found a place to stop just outside the forest. The RV was parked directly beside them as Virgil stared at the disgusting food with...well, disgust.
"What is that?" He heard Ben ask Max.
"Marinated meal worms. Hard to find them fresh in the states..." He ignored the man's explanation as he decided on what he would choose out of his stock for his dinner.
'No way am I touching that.' He thought as a chocolate bar discreetly appeared in his hand under the table.
The moment Max left, he took a big bite out of it, almost eating the entire thing at a go.
"Where did you get that?" Ben asked Virgil as the boy munched on the chocolate snack.
"Emergency food. I'm not sharing." He clarified, seeing the boy about to ask for a small share of it.
He wasn't in a sharing mood. He also had to look out for when the 'shooting star' would pass. He'd have to walk around the forest to find it but he was confident in his ability of find it.
Dinner passed by quickly as Virgil found himself in the rust bucket with Max while the two cousins sat outside.
"Just how much do you know about your dad?" Max asked him as they were out of hearing range of Ben and Gwen.
"You mean other than the fact that you two are basically intergalactic cops? Just about most of it." He answered, somewhat amused at the man's look of frustration.
"So he wasn't lying when he said he told you. That explains your reaction when he brought it up earlier." Max realized.
"Yeah. The plumbers are apparently retired but that didn't stop his training." Virgil answered a bit bitterly.
"What exactly did he teach you?" Max asked, worried as he knew David wasn't exactly the epitome of stability.
"Just a few things here and there." Virgil answered vaguely, causing Max to frown.
He spent the next few minutes trying to get information about Virgil with little success.
"I'm sorry if you feel uncomfortable. Even though we're not related, you're under my care now. That means that your safety and comfort is equally important." Max said as Virgil nodded faintly.
"How're Ben and Gwen treating you?" He asked, moving to another topic.
"It's not bad. At least it's nothing I can't handle."
"I'm glad to hear that. They can be a lot to deal with but they're good kids." Max spoke in relief as he moved towards one of the cabinets in the small kitchen, pulling out a bag of marshmallows.
"What do you say we go roast some marshmallows with Ben and Gwen?" He asked, waving the bag in front of him.
"Uh-" Before he could respond, the man was already out of the vehicle.
"Who wants to roast marshmallo..." Max trailed off as he noticed something.
Upon coming down from the rust bucket, Virgil noticed the same thing. Gwen sat on the cold floor, using her laptop but Ben was nowhere in sight.
""Where's Ben?"" They both asked Gwen who shrugged.
"He said something about going for a walk a little while ago. He probably wound up bear food already." Gwen answered, causing Max to give her a disapproving frown.
"I can dream, can't it?" She added with a smile but Virgil wasn't smiling as he knew what had happened.
He had missed his chance.
'He's probably already found it by now.' He thought in slight frustration.
"What's that?" Gwen asked, looking behind him. He turned around to see what got her attention but the sight caused his frown to grow even more.
A large amount of smoke was being emanated from deep inside the forest and he knew who caused it and how.
'Shit!'
This is my first fanfic so it's not all that good. I just decided to try it out. Leave a review to let me know what you think.