Chapter 270
Hello all!
First, as always, thank you for reading! A couple of quick updates:
Schedule - I will be traveling next week, though still expect 2 chapters. The Friday chapter will likely be delayed until ~5PM Central Time
Frequency - I intend to get back to 3x weekly posts, starting in September! Things personally have been chaotic for a while, but my writing groove has solidified pretty well; to the degree that I think it will be sustainable. I'll be posting 3x weekly on Patreon starting next week (Monday, Friday, Saturday,) so if you're itching for the advanced chapters sooner that'll be the place to go!
Thank you all for your support, and have a wonderful weekend!
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Storm Shelter expanded around Kyle, forming its signature protective dome. Kyle’s relief was short-lived, as he was still slammed flat on his back into the ground with incredible force, the cement below groaning and cracking under the immense shift in gravity. Gritting his teeth, Kyle forced himself to sit up and survey his surroundings. The floor outside of Storm Shelter was much worse for the wear; much of it pulverized to gravel.
Partially blocked, but not nearly enough, Kyle thought, looking at his barrier. As his skills went, Storm Shelter was undoubtedly one of his most potent. Most D Grades struggled to damage it, and the more his Willpower grew, the more resilient the shield became. But, as Marcus just demonstrated, it wasn’t without flaws.
During their spar on the Corthian Mining flagship, Skippy was also able to bypass Storm Shelter’s protection, using concepts tied to space in order to punch Kyle directly inside the barrier. Gravity, it seemed, was another concept that the skill struggled to mitigate. While he considered the issue, a handful of other drones circled just outside the radius of the increased gravity, launching blasts of fire and electricity at Storm Shelter.
The barrier held up just fine against those attacks, and Kyle stopped to think about why. It wasn’t as though flames and electric shocks were strictly physical, and Storm Shelter was more than up to the task of protecting him. What made concepts like space and gravity different? At first, he thought about directionality, but that didn’t make sense. The blasts from the drones traveled in a straight line through space, and Kyle was confident the portal Skippy formed did, too.
His line of thinking was interrupted when the pressure bearing down on him abruptly ceased. Seizing his opportunity, Kyle dropped Storm Shelter, launching a blast of Repel to disperse the flames, while another allowed him to vault over the line of drones. Some of the errant fire and electricity caught him, but was far from enough to deal meaningful damage to his Enhanced Carapace.
A few more of the drones launched themselves at him in attempt to slow him down, and he scattered them with a quick blast of Repel, which also served to alter the trajectory of his descent to avoid a hastily assembled gravity blast from the drones on the far side of the circle. Mana was slowly gathering in the formation above, but Kyle had no intention of slowing down long enough to let it recharge. At least, not while he was still committed to giving Marcus good test data.
Moments later, the test was over. Kyle went straight for the starting zone, making no attempts at subterfuge. A few traps were triggered; none of them sufficiently powerful to stop him. A robotic voice crackled over the intercom as soon as he made it. [THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION. TEST DATA IS BEING UPLOADED, YOU ARE FREE TO LEAVE.]
Kyle smiled as Adaptive Regeneration treated his last remaining injuries. He would have to talk to Marcus first, but he was confident the Originator wouldn’t mind letting Kyle get some more practice against the gravity attacks. His general approach to Kyle over the last six months had been very hands-off, giving him free reign so long as he was back on time for the necessary infusions and tests for C.H.A.D.D.
With a few hours left until dinner, Kyle decided some relaxing meditation would be in order, and asked S.T.U. to take him to the closest cold storage. Some of the elements and materials that Marcus worked with needed to be kept under extreme cold, and Kyle found this to be the most relaxing place to meditate while also working on building up his Adaptive Regeneration. The other primary areas he trained included the forges, the acid etching stations, and the sandblasting workshops.
The bitter cold bit into his skin as ice crystals began to form while Kyle settled in to meditate. With the gravity blasts in the previous test, he felt he’d crossed to the next level.
KYLE MAYHEW. ARTHRO-HUMAN CHIMERA (PARASITE), SURVIVALIST. LEVEL 90 (D)
CORE OF THE PARASITIC DEVOURER 69%
ADAPTIVE ANATOMY – 11/? – ENHANCED CARAPACE (FERRIC AUGMENTATION), AURIC PERCEPTION (SYNAPTIC BARBS), EXOSKELETAL STRENGTH, CEASELESS VITALITY (TENACIOUS VIGOR), INSTINCTIVE INTELLIGENCE (PACK LEADER’S INSTINCT), COVERT DEXTERITY, UNBREAKABLE WILL
VITALITY: 1224
ENDURANCE: 1433
STRENGTH: 479
DEXTERITY: 1018
WILLPOWER: 1770
INTELLIGENCE: 1770
PERCEPTION: 1277
FREE ATTRIBUTES: 54
With a quick thought, Kyle funneled his free attributes into Endurance. Compared to his growth on Er’Mithren, his leveling speed had been much slower over the last six months. Of course, there were other ways to progress. The improvements to his Enhanced Carapace and body overall, courtesy of Adaptive Regeneration, were incredible. Fire and ice were some of the most common types of combat magic, and his resistance to both had improved significantly. Adding in the occasional acid bath and scouring blasts of sand, and his skin had become strong enough to withstand most anything that early D Grades could throw at him without even needing to heal.
With a little luck, and continued investment in Endurance, Kyle was confident that he’d be able to stand against powerful attacks like the Shrike Matriarch’s before reaching C Grade. With more challenging foes ahead, and the threat of monsters like Zierlan lurking in the dark corners of the universe, Kyle wanted to be as prepared as possible.
He stayed in meditation as frost slowly crept over his skin, focusing his attention on the Core of the Parasitic Devourer. Without its easy access to the World Tree Seed, it hadn’t been able to unlock another tier of Adaptive Anatomy. The only times recently it had been able to get any of the energy was during his infusions, though he expected it would cross the threshold before he finished it.
Through his Pack Leader’s Instinct, the core had felt very passive over the last six months; a far cry from its behavior during his escape from Er’Mithren. It was an enigma to him, which was something Kyle would need to change. The mere fact that an A Grade wanted it badly enough to risk fighting a Progenitor illustrated just how significant the core could be. He watched the crimson sigils pulse with energy as they lazily swirled about, but got no deeper insights.
[PAGING MR. MAYHEW; DINNER WILL BE SERVED IN ONE HOUR AND FORTY-EIGHT MINUTES. PLEASE SEE YOURSELF OUT OF COLD STORAGE AND CLEAN UP BEFORE ARRIVAL AT THE KULHAVEY SALOON.]
The loud announcement brought Kyle out of his meditation, and he stood up among the loud cracks and pops of ice being shattered. The chill had yet to really start setting in beyond the outer layers of his skin, Adaptive Regeneration more than enough to keep him in top shape. Questions to ponder another day, he thought as he left the cold storage and hopped into the S.T.U.
Trains moved with surgical precision across the ground below, carrying both raw materials and manufactured components to and fro. Maybe I’ll get it figured out in C Grade, Kyle thought. Organizing a planetwide network like this was something well-beyond his abilities as he was now.
Of course, there was also the possibility that Marcus was just that exceptional. From their conversations, Kyle learned that the Originators learned about the existence of the Collective and reached out to them, not the other way around. That was all courtesy of Marcus’s innovations. And, in many ways, it was Marcus who left the biggest impact on Earth when he departed. The drones he created were pillars of day-to-day life under the Central Authority.
After cleaning up, Kyle arrived at the Kulhavey Saloon with four minutes to spare. Marcus was already there, tinkering with a small handheld robot when Kyle walked in.
“Good run today,” Marcus said, still focused on making minor adjustments to the robot. “I didn’t expect you would run straight in like that. The drones’ programming needs to become more adaptable to account for it.”
“Thank you,” Kyle said, grabbing a seat. By now, he was used to the eccentric craftsman wrapping up a project while he was waiting for Kyle to arrive. At first, he’d been tempted to call out the double-standard of not being ready to eat or interact on time, but that had passed. “So, what are you working on?” Kyle asked.
“A smaller type of avian reconnaissance drone,” Marcus replied. “The illusion arrays do a good job keeping it from regular sight, but a good enough scanner makes it clear that it’s a machine. If I can get an effective enough temperature regulator worked into the design, I think I can get it to pass for a bird. Just damn hard to do with how small the blasted things are.”
Kyle nodded, watching as a nearby S.A.M. arrived with plates of sliced steak and roasted potatoes. The robot bird was put away the moment the table was set, and Marcus began to dig in with gusto. Kyle followed suit, relishing the meal. As much as anything else, Kyle was thankful that Marcus maintained a high-quality menu.
“So,” Marcus asked between bites. “Tell me how you felt about the gravitic arrays I set up on the drones.”
“They were poweful,” Kyle said. “I’d love the chance to keep training in them, if it’s possible. They bypassed my shield without much effort at all.”
Marcus grinned. “I thought they might. It’s tricky for a D Grade design, but I was able to make it work. A lot weaker than the C Grade options out there, but for a smaller operation looking for security I think they’ll work out pretty well.”
“I assume that means you’re still hoping to take that drone system to mass market?” Kyle asked.
“Absolutely. The largest segment of the market is looking for D Grade defenses, after all,” Marcus said. “I’ll sell thousands of those defense systems for every C Grade project that comes up.”
“How would you define the project C.H.A.D.D. and I are asking you to do?” Kyle asked.
“Easily C Grade,” the Originator replied without skipping a beat. “The complexity of the inscription work and quality of the necessary materials make that clear.”
“And a C Grade project only costs you a few million credits?” Kyle tried to hide the incredulity in his voice.
“I’m taking this project on at cost, if not at a bit of a loss,” Marcus admitted. “The value for me isn’t credits, it’s getting some levels caught up on my second class. I’m hopeful that this will help me break the threshold into high-tier C Grade.”
“How does that work?” Kyle pressed. “I kind of assumed that your levels would grow normally until you either hit a plateau or broke through it, but you’ve talked about middle and late C Grade often enough that I’m second guessing myself.”
Marcus chuckled, taking a sip of beer before continuing. “You’re getting awfully optimistic, Kyle. If you make it to C Grade, there’s even fewer of us that get into the late stages.”
“Humor me,” Kyle said. “You have to admit, my odds are better than most.”
“I suppose they are,” Marcus replied. He took a longer pull of his drink, finishing the glass before meeting Kyle’s eyes. It was uncharacteristic, and the intensity behind his look took Kyle by surprise. “You already know enough that C Grade involves getting a second class. To progress and gain levels, you have to figure out how to harmonize the two. Plenty of stories out there about folks grabbing a second class without much attention, only to find out they can’t merge it into the path they set in D Grade.
“Their second class can cap at the peak of E Grade, and your main class and species will only be able to gain a cap of fifty levels. If you can align it, though, you’ll be able to evolve your second class, and progress to the next set of levels, where it starts over again. Early C Grade covers a second class in E Grade, middle C Grade gets the second class to D Grade, and late C Grades have both of their classes in C Grade.”
Kyle nodded, processing the information. “And you were all in early C Grade when you left Earth?” Kyle asked.
“Yep,” Marcus said. “I got out better than some. A couple of the other idiots picked classes that they couldn’t synergize well, and I’d bet that they’re still stuck in the early stages.”
“Do you think you’re the only one who isn’t?” Kyle asked.
“At least two of them had a good shot at getting farther, at least based on their class selections. Like I told you before, though, I have no idea what they’re doing, if they’re still alive, and I have no desire to find out.”
Kyle had plenty of other questions he wanted to ask about the other Originators, but knew Marcus well enough by now to understand when to drop the issue. Instead, he turned to a different topic.
“Other than C.H.A.D.D.’s upgrades, you don’t happen to have any C Grade projects you’re looking to test out, do you?”