Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Viscus laid down the hunk of a speaker, half of its wires strewn about. Viscus imagined that this was his limit, making him grumble under his breath. Tricky, the blessed soul that he was, continuously supplied the blond with random objects one after the other with varying difficulties, but three times now that Viscus couldn't take a piece of junk apart.
Indignance filled the blond as he silently screamed. The first hour or two of work were alright, but the remaining felt monotonous and frankly horrible. He was supposed to be "The Gamer," but the System didn't even help with boredom. How was he to grind out his skills if it didn't help with that!?
In an effort to distract himself, Viscus glanced at the mechanic and his table to note the lack of the hair dryer-motor amalgamation. In its place was a watch that turned from sleek to bulky in the span of a few hours, housing what looked like a glowing capsule on its side.
The mechanic himself didn't look as bored or frustrated as Viscus, his cyan eyes seemingly glowing with intent and focus. The man's face was blank, but that didn't stop his hands from moving expertly and efficiently, the only breaks that the blond noticed him taking were only to grab more items for Viscus to mull on, or for a very brief sip of water.
In spite of his problems, Viscus felt like he achieved more than he expected in this session with his [Crafting] reaching level 1, though he was curious what would occur once his subskills were maxed - would they stop granting him experience, and if so, what else was he to do?
Sighing, he already knew the answer to the second question. More likely than not, the System would stop handing him freebies and force him to put his skills to the test, utilizing them to actually create rather than play with junk. Maybe he could learn more from Tricky in that case - the man looked like he knew what he was doing.
Suddenly, an alarm sounded from somewhere in the room, startling Viscus. It rang for a few seconds before Tricky stood up, stretched, then walked over and disabled it. Viscus was curious what the timing indicated, but the question answered itself as the mechanic pulled out his scroll and began navigating through it.
"Say, V, I'm going to order food now, want some?" he glanced at the blond. "On me."
Caught off guard, the blond blinked for a few seconds, "I-I'm not sure?"
On the inside, Viscus began to panic, his mind refusing the idea. While the mechanic was incredibly friendly and helpful, traits that put the man in a class of his own, the blond felt apprehensive about joining him for a meal.
A part of him wanted to agree, to befriend Trick further, but instincts argued against that. It wouldn't be the first time he would get tricked, and he didn't feel like having a repeat of that.
Tricky didn't know what the blond was thinking, however, and decided to help Viscus with his decision. "C'mon, I know a good place. Let me do that for you, alright?"
Viscus shook his head, hiding a frown, "Maybe later."
"Actually, I think I have to go now, but thanks for the offer," he said while getting off the chair, but the other inhabitant couldn't help but sigh.
Tricky's shoulders dropped, bummed out. "Aw, man. Well, I guess I'll be here if you need me. Want my scroll number?"
"I.. don't really have a scroll of my own, yet." Viscus said slowly, but Tricky's face lit up.
"Aha! Hold on."
The mechanic rushed toward one of the lockers in the room and scrounged through it before he pulled out a silver scroll, its design different compared to the ones Viscus pilfered, though seemingly similar to the one Tricky was just using. It was smaller in size but thicker and with bits attached to its handles. The blond took it with a question on the tip of his tongue, but he held back and smiled, however forced it appeared, "T-thanks, but isn't that a bit much?"
"Don't worry 'bout it, consider it a gift from me. Also, it already got my number on it, so don't hesitate to contact me if you need, 'kay?" Tricky said with a glimmer in his eye.
Nodding, Viscus pocketed the scroll into his inventory and left the room, the door nearly slamming into someone passing by. The blond quietly apologized and quickly went on his way, making sure to avoid bumping into anyone.
The Gamer felt like asking Tricky why he gave him a scroll, one that appeared to be clearly tampered with, but he felt it best he left as soon as he could. There was no guarantee the man wouldn't try and convince Viscus to stay, after all, and he still had an actual reason for leaving.
While walking, the blond noticed that some of the people were on their scrolls while the rest weren't working. Instead of leaving quietly like he wanted, however, he bumped into Ive standing with a group in the pathway leading to the outside, forcing a confrontation.
"Oh, Viscus, you're leaving?" the orange and red haired man called out.
"Y-yeah, I have some other things to do," the blond said.
"Alright, just to let you know, we're going to need you tomorrow at 8 AM, there's a big project coming up and we need all the help we could get."
Viscus scrunched his face in confusion, "How am I supposed to help? I can barely do anything."
"We'll find something for you to do, but remember to come at 8, otherwise I'm not sure if we could still keep helping you."
"I.. Okay, fine, I'll come," the blond huffed, feeling some annoyance. "At least tell me what I will be doing, though."
"We're going to be working on a van tomorrow, and the group wouldn't mind an extra hand with menial tasks," he grinned. "Plus, it would be a learning opportunity for you. Best start early, no?"
Viscus huffed on the inside, but saw reason. No doubt, his skill would also improve as he assisted them, so, reluctantly, he nodded at the man and thanked him for the opportunity. It would drag him out of the hotel earlier than he would have liked, but training was still training.
"Good, see you then." Ive waved at Viscus as he left the building.
Navigating through the junkyard, Viscus couldn't help but note the various piles of junk, his eyes registering them as piles of gold. Even though he felt some dissatisfaction at the idea of dumpster diving, an act he would have never imagined himself doing pre-Remnant, fact was, with the pace he was leveling his [Crafting], he would need all the resources he could get his hands on, and he very much doubted the viability of that with learning from Blayne.
Regardless, this day could easily be classified as a success. The hurdle of [Crafting] was solved, and he would inevitably grow it out into something more useful than a reason to tear down and fix junk.
While on that note, he saw a tool shop coming up ahead, but it made his face darken for a moment as a thought crossed his mind. In the event that they decide they don't feel like helping him anymore, he could get himself some tools and work on things on his own. There was nothing stopping him or them from doing either, so the decision was made without hesitation.
If he wanted to get materials, he could always buy them. He had lien aplenty, after all, and this night, he would go on yet another hunt, supplying him with more lien and guns - weapons that he would soon start playing with.
While he wasn't a fan of the hunts, at the end of the day, he would be richer and stronger, both needed to achieve his final goal, both a requirement if he was to continue surviving.
He clicked his tongue and rushed back to the hotel, "Rest, then some training."
And after, a hunt.
-CEM-
"No, plea-"
The man's life was snuffed not a second later as the Gamer stared at the body, his cold gaze striking from behind the mask. The gun in his hand disappeared into thin air, smoke still seeping out of it. It was yet another weapon pilfered from the fight he was just in, resulting in a total of 4 bodies lying on the ground.
He began looting them, but he was startled as he heard footsteps coming from behind. The fact that these footsteps were becoming louder meant that he was in for yet another fight, so he aborted the process and stood up straight, staring at the group of 3 standing in front of him.
Two of them were pointing guns at him while the one in the middle silently tapped the steel bat on the pavement, so the blond didn't hesitate before pulling out a gun and aiming the barrel at them.
"So, you're the guy going after gangs, huh?" the middle man spoke, his piercing green eyes reflecting the image of a bloodied man surrounded by death. "Heard fighting in my streets and came as soon as I could, and I'm glad I did."
The man bared his teeth, anger clouding his face, "These men were my friends, and many others I've known fell one after the other, so, so fast."
"But,"
The blond narrowed his gaze.
"You won't leave this place alive."
[Gang Leader (Faunus) Lv. 13]
The Gamer couldn't take a breath before the green eyed man was on top of him, the metal bat bearing down on his head in less than a second. The blond jumped backward, the air whistling as the bat brushed against his clothes.
As the bat slammed onto the pavement, the Gamer immediately took the chance and wailed fire on the Aura-empowered gang leader. The bullets pinged off the man as he wound up a sideway swing, nearly batting the blond's head had he not ducked. What the Gamer didn't expect was for the man to use the momentum for a roundhouse kick, the attack striking him right in the face and sending him flying.
The Gamer rolled on the ground while feeling bullets assault his Aura, but these were the least of his troubles. While on all four, he spotted legs zooming at him, forcing him to roll to the side to avoid yet another overhead slam. Unfortunately, he wasn't out of the strike zone, and a golf-like swing sought the blond's head, but it struck with a gong as a barrier made of Mana materalized.
The hit shook the gang leader with its recoil, allowing the blond to swipe with his legs and trip the man. Rather than use his gun, the Gamer poured Mana into his hands and threw a ball of light at the recovering opponent.
Still on his stomach, the man's green eyes reflected the [Mana Bomb] before an explosion shook the ground and blasted the Gamer away. The blond fell to the ground tumbling and sliding until he struck a wall, forcing a cough out of him. The blast threw dust in the air, obfuscating the street, but the lack of an experience notification all but told him the man was still alive.
That meant the Gamer couldn't yet rest, so he stood up while replacing the gun in his hand with a pipe, and that instantly paid off as the smoke parted to the sight of a man rushing with reckless abandon, a roar escaping him.
Tightening himself, the blond made a Mana-empowered swing that met with the gang leader's own, the bat and pipe sparking as metal slid on metal. The blond won that exchange through the power of Mana, the bat flying from the gang leader's hands into the air.
That didn't mean the gang leader was harmless, however, as he shook his arms before rushing down for a powerful haymaker, but the blond swung his pipe at the approaching fist, hoping it would stop the attack in its place.
That resulted in the rusty pipe flying from the Gamer's hand, then he had to hastily block the incoming knee lest his stomach turned to mush. In retaliation, the blond parried an incoming punch, his arm shuddering from the sheer force it endured, and threw one of his own, the attack hitting his opponent's block and blasting him 3 meters away while sliding on his feet.
Huffing, the blond pulled yet another pipe out of his inventory, but he had to quickly return it as gunfire rained on him. He quickly pulled out a gun and aimed at the two offenders, but he couldn't fire more than two bullets before the gang leader pounced back in.
The Gamer instead trained the gun at him as he took careful steps backward, but the blond couldn't react fast enough before the gun was swatted off his hand and an uppercut reached his chin.
Hurriedly, a [Mana Shield] was raised, blocking the damage but draining even more of his near-empty energy. His resources were already partially drained from the earlier fight, so the blond kicked, forcing the man away as he assessed his options.
If he could play it right, he could retreat and fight the man another day. Unfortunately, the gang leader wasn't keen on that and began attacking the blond after only a second of rest. Gritting his teeth, the Gamer quickly formulated a plan and pressed the attack, his offensive surprising the enemy.
That brief startle gave the blond the ability to throw a Mana-empowered punch at his opponent's stomach, blowing the air out of him, and following up with a knee to the face, but he didn't stop there.
As the man was still recovering from the blow to the nose, the Gamer pulled out a gun and shot it at the gang leader point blank, the shots stunning the man until the gun clicked empty, though it didn't end up in the inventory after that.
The Gamer flipped the gun and grasped it from the barrel before hammering the handle onto the man's skull, the Mana strengthening the attack and concussing the man. However, the blond wasn't able to attack for long before the man hastily blocked the strike and sent a kick of his own, weak enough to not deal damage but strong enough to push the blond away.
Clicking his tongue, the Gamer replaced the gun with another and began shooting once again, but he was interrupted with more gunfire raining on him, and this time, he heard glass breaking.
He couldn't register it fast enough before bullets sunk into his flesh, but he grit his teeth and put his shaky aim onto the two supporting gangsters, one of them bleeding from a leg. In the moment where their gunfire stopped, the blond shot five times, two missing and the rest finishing off one of the attackers.
As he began aiming at the other, he spotted the gang leader running at him, slower than before, but fast enough to take the blond off guard. Where the gun was first aiming at the other gangster, it switched to the gang leader and two shots soon reflected the sound of glass breaking.
The gang leader stumbled before one shot reached his head, inertia dragging the falling man's body to the Gamer's feet. He quickly shot at the last remaining gangster, but not before he earned two bullets to the chest, the bullets searing into his flesh, but his shaky arm didn't stop him from landing the killing blow, ending the fight.
Huffing, the Gamer fell on his knees, the gun dropping from his hand. He groaned as he felt his body regenerate in real time, the bullets sliding out of the orifices and ringing when they fell to the ground.
Shivering, the blond gulped as he held himself from yelling from the pain, but it subsided within a minute, and he was back on his feet, still shaking, but not enough to incapacitate him.
While observing his handiwork, he glanced at the notifications and took a deep breath - the fights till now had yet to advance him to level 8, but it appeared he gained a new skill called [Blunt Mastery], currently at level 2.
[-HP : 24/150 (0.21/sec)
-MP : 13/127 (0.182/sec)
-AP : 26/277 (0.392/sec)]
He bitterly stared at his miserly status, yet another fight he survived by the skin of his teeth. The Gamer wasn't enjoying these life or death situations, and the reward wasn't even worth it. Killing a level 5 enemy rewarded him 25.5 XP, but a level 13? 61.5, which wasn't worth it given the difference in effort.
Next time, the blond would be avoiding any fight with higher leveled enemies, he promised himself. For now, however, he had to loot his opponents and rest, because the night was still young, and he was determined to reach at least halfway through level 8.
And hopefully, he wouldn't find himself fighting another Aura user.
He could only wish, taking off the mask before donning a cleaner outfit and stalking off to find yet another prey.
Soon, level 10. Soon.
With crafting secured, and a way to get resources covered, things should start speeding up a tad, but that wouldn't stop me from playing with the characters.
You know, I've recently read a gamer story where the mc sat in a cave for like.. 10 years or so? Just doing gamer stuff, alone, and I just can't help but wonder how come these characters get the willpower of a thousand suns. Certainly, Viscus would enjoy that perk, but he doesn't have it. Booo.
This chapter is dedicated to you, my friend Scoolio. It would have been delayed for just another week in case it needed more edits, but you asked for more, and Pasta shall deliver.
Final note: do read Street Lights Flicker On Long Walks by Rum Aficionado, it's a great piece of art, that it is.
Until then, Pasta wishes you a great day/night, and patience like that of these gamer MCs.