Using the points was surprisingly easy.
All he had to do was bring up the menu, which appeared with naught but a thought, and then he was greeted by the same menu as last time.
[Body: 6] [Perks]
[Reflex: 7] [Perks]
[Technical Ability: 3] [Perks]
[Intelligence: 3] [Perks]
[Cool: 4] [Perks]
Attribute Points Available: 2
Perk Points Available: 2
Just looking at it hadn't shown him anything he didn't know. So before he put any of his points into anything, he wanted to check out what each of these so-called 'stats' actually did for him.
For this, he wanted to do it slow and well informed, because god forbid he fuck it up somewhere and ruin whatever chances this Level Up menu shit could provide.
Finding out what each thing did wasn't difficult either. By now he'd kinda figured out that this Level Up menu stuff was controlled by his thoughts, and the occasional hand movement if he wanted to, so it was almost trivial to bring up 'descriptions' of what each 'stat' did.
[Body]
[Focuses on your raw physical power. Upgrading this attribute will increase your physical strength and health, reduce bullet spread for your weapons, boost your overall melee damage, and increase your stamina pool]
[Perk Trees: Athletics | Shotguns/LMGs | Melee weapons]
David whistled softly to himself as he read through it, impressed. He didn't know how the fuck this technology was planning on bringing these benefits into reality, but he was willing to put his eddies on this bet.
[Body] was probably going to be a really good 'stat' for him to invest in. He could clearly remember the shocks of pain he felt when punching Katsuo with the Sandevistan activated, as well as the nausea he'd felt from overusing the Sandevistan.
Just from the sound of its description, it felt like upgrading it would get rid of the first problem over time, and to be honest, with how easy it was to use the Sandevistan for the 11th time yesterday, he wasn't even sure if the strain was going to be an issue after his 'reboot.'
But that would require testing later, for now, he needed to focus.
[Reflex]
[Determines your maneuverability. Upgrading this stat will increase your agility, your ability to evade attacks, and your ability to hone in on opponents' weak points to get 'critical hits']
[Perk Trees: Rifles/SMG | Pistols/Revolvers | Blades]
David nodded while reading the description for [Reflex]. It also sounded incredibly helpful. Especially the 'evasion' boost, however that worked. Being harder to hit was always a good idea.
The ability to make himself better with smaller guns like pistols and revolvers appealed to him as well. He couldn't really see himself ever rocking super-heavy artillery, like an LMG, especially since his main focus would probably be his speed.
Moving on, he brought up the next stat.
[Technical Ability]
[Focuses on your proficiency when Crafting Weapons and Items, as well as your proficiency with Tech Weapons and effectiveness against Drones, Mechs and Robots in combat. Proficiency with technology can also increase your ability to hack open doors]
[Perk Trees: Crafting | Engineering]
This one wasn't as good in his eyes. He knew that some gunsmiths could make some absolutely batshit weapons, but he'd never seen the appeal of being a techie, and that seemingly was what this 'stat' was offering him.
He could potentially see the benefits of being able to hack open doors, however, so he put it on the mental 'maybe' pile.
[Intelligence]
[Focuses on your proficiency with Quickhacking and Breach Protocols. Upgrading this stat will make quickhacks against targets quicker and more effective, and allow for easier access to building security systems.]
[Perk Trees: Quickhacks | Breach Protocol]
This one… was powerful in the right hands, but he was fairly sure his hands weren't the right ones. The only issue was that he didn't even have a cyberdeck. Unless, of course, the Sandevistan counted as one, but to be honest he couldn't really see himself as a Netrunner even if he had the option.
Plus, Maine's crew already had two Netrunners, so it wasn't really necessary for him to pick up the role. He'd keep it in mind though, just in case there was a perk that would make his own cyberware more secure. That definitely sounded like something it might offer.
And finally…
[Cool]
[Cool determines your social resilience, your ability to stay composed in stressful situations, and your effectiveness in operating from stealth. Upgrading this stat will make you more resistant to damage, make you harder to detect while being stealthy, and make you do slightly more damage]
[Perk Trees: Stealth | Cold Blood]
David's eyebrow raised as he read through it. This one… other than Body and Reflex this Attribute sang out to him the most. If he wanted to lean into his speed, [Cool]'s ability to make him take less damage and dish out slightly more would be very helpful.
A part of him wondered if it counted as stealth to be moving too quickly for someone to notice… he'd have to figure that out another time because for now he just needed to focus on what he was gonna upgrade.
[Reflex] was currently the highest, followed by [Body]. [Cool] had gotten a free point for the quest he had completed by convincing Maine to give him a chance, so he could probably hold off from putting any into it just yet.
For now, all he could think about when he tried to decide on which attribute to upgrade was the soreness he'd felt after using the Sandevistan, as well as how worn down his stamina had been after using it heaps the other day.
Nodding to himself, he focused on the [Body] stat and willed it to have both of the attribute points put into it. The 'button' for the stat glowed for a short moment before the number ticked up from [6] to [8].
Alongside the number going up, David swore he could feel himself get a little lighter, the minute strain of keeping himself upright in the chair diminishing as his body grew just that little bit stronger.
His eyes widened at just how quick the change had been. Unless it was some kind of placebo because he was expecting to feel stronger? 'Fuck it, I'm just going to trust that the Sandevistan did its job. Thinking too hard about this is probably gonna drive me crazy.'
He was saving the perk points for later, he had a feeling that it was probably better for him to get some actual experience being an edgerunner before he decided what sort of things he wanted to excel at.
Dismissing the menu, jumped in fright as he came face to face with Rebecca, who was leaning over him and staring into his eyes. He hadn't been able to see her because of the menu.
As he jumped back into the couch, Rebecca burst out into laughter, doubling over and slapping her knee. "Shit, choom, I thought you'd zero'd on us! Staring into space like that for like, 10 minutes or so."
David blinked at that, checking his implant's clock. "I, uh… I must have zoned out? Sorry if I worried ya."
Rebecca just turned, waving him off. "All G, choom! Just wanted to make sure that Sandy hadn't fried your brain, be a shame to lose a cutie like you before even a single job got done."
David sputtered at that, causing Rebecca to laugh again as she walked off. "Oh, I can tell that you're gonna be fun. Catch ya later, Davey! Oh, and I think Luce might have something for you already, I heard her hang up her call with Wakako a minute ago, so go check with her."
His cheeks still warm, he nodded, hopping up off the couch and heading out to where he saw Lucy leave.
"Ah, there you are. Was about to call you."
David gave Lucy his best 'no-hard-feelings-for-almost-getting-me-killed smiled he could, but from the way her face dropped slightly as well, he mustn't have done a great job with it. "Yea, I must have zoned out, Rebecca told me you'd finished your call with this… Wakako person?"
She nodded, placing a cigarette back on her lips for a moment, before huffing out the smoke in a plume. "Yep, asked her for the most newbie-noob job she had, and I still had to stake my own rep on your abilities for her to agree."
He felt a smile form on his face at that, and his chest got a bit warm at the thought that she was willing to stick her neck out for him. "I appreciate it, so what am I gonna be doing? Hunting Scavs? Maybe snatching a preem chip from some corpo?!"
Lucy's eyes glowed blue for a second, and an instant later, David received a message from her that contained a small file. Said file had about a paragraph of writing, and a bunch of images.
Lucy took another puff of her smoke, and then snuffed it out against the wall of the crew's home base. "Courier duty."
David froze at that, and he quickly read through the start of the paragraph he'd been sent to confirm what she said. After a moment, his shoulders drooped. "Really? Courier duty?"
Lucy raised an eyebrow at him, placing a hand on her hip. "You really think anyone is gonna trust you to do anything more before you prove yourself? Remember, Maine let you onto the crew in this trial run thing because you impressed him, not because you had a rep."
David sighed at that, running a hand through his hair, but nodded, accepting her words. "Alright, you gotta point. But just so you know, I'm gonna do some preem work on this job, and any others you give me until I can get the big stuff."
[New Quest: Package Delivery]
[Collect the package and take it to the buyer without causing any damage to it]
[Rewards: 200 XP | $$ ]
His eyes only flicked to the quest appearing for a moment as he listened to Lucy. Even though she seemed to be doing her best to stay stoic, David could see the hint of a grin that grew on her face at his words.
"I'm sure you will, David, I'm sure you will."
