CH 62: The Boys – Functions
Lex looked down at the handbook in his hands.
At first glance, it looked remarkably ordinary. There was nothing particularly impressive about its appearance, but Lex had already spent enough time going through the information contained within the Essence to understand just how absurdly useful it was. If he were to compare all the Essences he possessed purely in terms of utility, the Player's Handbook was probably the only one that could stand beside the Essence of Transcend Self.
There was simply too much packed into a single Essence.
Considering everything he had gone through to conquer this world, Lex couldn't help feeling that it was a rather fitting reward.
He opened the handbook and looked at the status contained within it.
{Status:
Name: Lex Everhart Race: Human
Level: 1 (0/20)
<Attributes>
HP: 100%
Mana: 100%
Life Force: 100%
Demonic Energy: 100%
Cursed Energy: 100%
Mental Energy: 100%
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 10
Magic: 10
Resistance: 10
Free Attribute Points: 12
Skill Points: 1
<Vitals>
Body: Optimal
Mind: Optimal
Soul: Optimal
Spirit: Optimal
Identity: Optimal
Abnormal Conditions: (None)
<Skills and Abilities>
[Gacha (ESX)] [Transcend Self (ESX)] [Ultimate Chad (ESX)] [Wealthy (ESX)] [Pet Owner (ESX)]
[Raphael - Lord of Wisdom (SSS)] [Telekinesis - Omega Rank Mutation (SS)] [Kara's Physiology (SS)] [Divine Eyes of Depth (S)]
[Nihil Light (A)] [Heretic Magic (A)] [Milim Eye (B)] [Psionic Soul Shaping - Inhuman Gene (B)] [Rey Tracing (B)] [Force Manipulation (B)]
[Lumikinetic Explosive Light Blasting (C)] [Annie's Physiology (C)] [Cursed Energy Manipulation (C)] [Cryokinesis - Frozene Variant (C)] [Moxie (C)] [Build (C)]
[Enhanced Physique (D)] [Enhanced Reflexes (E)] [Dead Signal - Quirk (E)]
<Bonds>
Summons:
[Sharon Rogers] [Donna Troy] [Kara Zor-el] [Kento Nanami] [Derek Hale] [Gwen Tennyson] [Regina Babylon] [Grayfia Lucifuge] [Komand'r] [Hela Lokidottir] [Bang]
Blessed of Transcend:
True: [Sharon Rogers] [Donna Troy] [Kara Zor-el] [Kento Nanami] [Derek Hale] [Gwen Tennyson] [Regina Babylon] [Grayfia Lucifuge]
Medium: [Jubilation Lee] [Annie January]
Lesser: [Margaret Carter]
Pets:
[Fluffy]
<Territory>
[The Boys Universe - ###174-H##] [Krakoa - Marvel - ###7725#03#] [Japan - Marvel - ###7725#03#]
}
Lex stared at the status for a moment.
It certainly gave him more information about himself than he had possessed before, but at first glance, it didn't seem particularly revolutionary. The levels, attribute points and skill points were new, obviously, and the entire concept of having his abilities translated into a standardized system of numbers was something he would have to get used to.
The attributes themselves were what initially confused him.
Every single one of them was sitting at ten.
Lex knew for a fact that he wasn't equally talented in everything. His physical abilities were obviously not identical to his intelligence or charisma, and there was no way his actual capabilities could be represented by eight identical numbers.
After going through the Handbook's explanations, however, he understood what was happening.
Ten was simply the Handbook's baseline.
Anyone who entered its system would have their basic attributes brought up to ten regardless of how weak they had originally been. Lex didn't actually benefit much from that particular feature because, even before taking his supernatural abilities into account, he was already a peak human, but the distinction between base attributes and the bonuses provided by abilities was important.
Most of his actual differences were represented through his abilities.
For example, Kara's Physiology provided a flat increase of three hundred to his Strength and Constitution, while its contribution to Dexterity worked differently, increasing only certain aspects of the attribute rather than simply adding three hundred to the entire thing.
Transcend Self worked differently again.
It didn't simply make his Constitution higher in the conventional sense. Instead, the ability provided a contribution toward his ability to survive, and the number attached to that particular aspect was so absurd that Lex had to stare at it for a while.
One trillion.
That was the Handbook's actual number for the increase to his survival.
Considering that Transcend Self allowed Lex to survive virtually anything short of the destruction of reality itself, he supposed the number made sense.
"Okay, that's actually pretty useful."
With the basics understood, Lex moved on to the other functions.
The first thing he checked was the [Tasks] tab.
It was empty.
Lex looked at it for a few seconds before shrugging.
"Maybe it'll only start counting tasks from now on."
He didn't have any reason to worry about it yet, so he moved on.
Next came the Encyclopedia.
The moment Lex understood what it was capable of, his first thought was Raphael.
<...>
There was a brief silence.
Lex continued through the Handbook before Raphael could argue.
The next function was the Skill Tree.
There were quite a lot of them.
Some were generic RPG-style skill trees, while others were tied to specific worlds or power systems, including Marvel and The Boys. Lex quickly realized that even skill trees with the same name could apparently exist separately as long as they possessed different codes, meaning there was an absurd amount of variety available.
The Marvel tree was particularly interesting.
Marvel.
>Innate.
>Genetic.
>>X-Gene.
>>>Ω Mutation.
>>>>Telekinesis.
>Energy.
>Technology.
The entire thing wasn't displayed as a simple two-dimensional diagram either. When Lex activated the function, the Handbook projected the Skill Tree into the air as a three-dimensional holographic structure, with different branches extending through space and connections running between them.
It made the relationships between skills considerably easier to understand.
There were clearly abilities that required multiple prerequisites, while others could branch into entirely different categories depending on what Lex chose to unlock.
Lex immediately tried putting his single Skill Point into Telekinesis.
It was locked.
"Huh?"
He checked the chain again and quickly understood why.
Telekinesis was already an Omega Rank mutation, and Lex already possessed that exact ability. The corresponding Ω Mutation node was therefore already unlocked.
When he tried interacting with it, the Handbook instead offered him the option to Overcharge it.
The cost was two hundred Skill Points.
Lex raised an eyebrow.
"Two hundred?"
Apparently, if he wanted another Omega Rank X-Gene of the same general level, he could unlock one for two hundred Skill Points, while Upgrading an already possessed Omega Rank mutation needed some hidden conditions. Further Overcharges would become increasingly expensive, with the cost doubling each time.
His single Skill Point suddenly looked rather pathetic.
"Yeah, I'm not spending it here."
There were plenty of other skill trees available, after all.
Lex eventually settled on one of the generic trees: Fighter.
He put his single Skill Point into its first node.
The change was immediate, although hardly dramatic.
Lex could feel that he was slightly better at fighting.
His movements felt a little more natural, his understanding of basic combat principles was somewhat sharper and his body seemed to respond a little more efficiently when he imagined different fighting techniques.
It wasn't anything extraordinary.
Then again, it was one Skill Point.
For what amounted to unlocking the very first node of a generic Fighter tree, Lex supposed the result was perfectly reasonable.
He moved on.
The next function was the Camera.
Lex initially thought it was exactly what the name suggested, but the more he examined it, the more ridiculous the thing became. It was a supernatural camera capable of being manifested physically when he wanted to use it or simply operated without being held at all. It could capture images from every direction simultaneously, including above and below, effectively giving it a complete 360-degree field of view.
It wasn't limited to ordinary light either.
X-rays, infrared, ultraviolet, gamma rays, thermal imaging and various other forms of sensing were all available, while an accompanying microphone could record practically any sound that existed, including frequencies that human ears couldn't perceive.
Lex decided to test the camera on the Sun.
The resulting image was absurdly detailed.
He could zoom in far enough to observe solar flares and examine details that should have been impossible to capture from Earth with any ordinary camera.
"Damn. That's one hell of a camera."
But photography wasn't even its most useful function.
The Camera could also analyze things it observed, with the amount and quality of information it provided depending on what it was looking at and what could actually be determined from the available data.
Lex didn't need much convincing before he handed the function over to Raphael as well.
<...>
Raphael seemed quite happy today.
<You're imagining it>
The [Map] function was next.
Unlike an ordinary map, it automatically marked landmarks and provided information about locations. More importantly, Lex could use it to search for places and then teleport to them, making the entire world feel considerably smaller.
He could search for something general, such as a medical shop, a restaurant or even a black market, and the Map could locate suitable places even when those locations were hidden from ordinary maps.
It couldn't simply be used to search for a random person, however. Typing in someone's name wouldn't magically reveal their location.
That distinction made sense.
The Map was for locations, not a universal people-finding ability.
There was also a Vehicle function attached to it.
That one immediately caught Lex's attention because it allowed him to teleport directly to any vehicle belonging to him.
Any vehicle.
Distance didn't seem to matter.
Neither did the world.
Lex stared at the relevant information.
"Damn... I can even travel across universes with it?"
That was certainly going to be useful.
After that came [Pocket Space].
Lex didn't need long to understand what that was.
It was essentially an infinite inventory.
There were no meaningful restrictions on how much he could store, although larger objects naturally took longer to put inside and retrieve. It wasn't a magical excuse to casually swallow an entire planet without consequences either; if Lex decided to put something enormous into the Pocket Space, he would still have to deal with whatever happened when he eventually took it back out.
Gravity, mass and all the other inconvenient laws of physics weren't going to disappear simply because he had stored something somewhere else.
Still, it was an absurdly convenient storage space.
There were already quite a few useful things inside as well.
Lex didn't bother going through all of them yet.
He had more functions to examine.
[Crafting] was next.
This one was almost exactly what the name suggested, except considerably more versatile than Lex expected. As long as he had the necessary recipe and materials, the Handbook could produce the finished product for him.
There was still a crafting time involved, but it was drastically shorter than what it would normally take to manufacture the same thing himself. Something that might require hours or even days of work could potentially be completed in a fraction of that time.
And the function wasn't limited to simply following recipes.
Lex could dismantle something that had been deliberately created and extract its formula or recipe, allowing him to reproduce it later. He could also analyze the biological components of living creatures and extract their bloodlines, turning them into something he could potentially work with.
It was essentially both a manufacturing system and a method of reverse engineering.
There were limitations, of course.
He couldn't pick up an ordinary apple, throw it into Crafting and expect the Handbook to spit out an "Apple Recipe." It could still dismantle the apple itself—separate the skin, flesh and seeds, for example—but a naturally occurring object didn't possess a crafted formula for the function to extract.
For things that had actually been created, however, the possibilities were considerably more interesting.
Lex skimmed through the [Treasurebeast] function afterward, but there wasn't much reason for him to focus on it right now. It revolved around beasts and related functions, and while he was sure he'd eventually find a use for it, there was no particular reason to dive into it at the moment.
That left one of the more interesting functions.
[Party].
The Party function allowed him to designate other people as members of his party, granting them access to a limited portion of the Handbook's benefits.
They wouldn't receive a copy of the Handbook itself, nor would they gain access to its other functions, but they could level up through experience and receive Attribute Points and Skill Points of their own. Each member could also be assigned a level cap if Lex wanted to restrict how far they could progress.
There was another benefit for Lex as well.
Whenever someone in his party gained experience, Lex would receive fifty percent of the experience they earned as a bonus.
"Not bad."
He could already see the potential.
More importantly, he immediately thought of Sharon and the others.
If he put them into his Party, they could grow stronger alongside him, gaining access to their own attributes and a single chosen archetype's Skill Tree without needing to possess the Handbook themselves.
Even the method through which they interacted with those benefits was rather interesting. When they slept, they could enter a dream where they were able to spend their Attribute Points and Skill Points, and they would instinctively understand that all of those benefits came from Lex.
It was almost like giving them a simplified version of his own growth system.
Lex smiled as he closed the Handbook.
"Definitely saving that for when I get back home."
For now, there was no reason to use it.
He had already spent enough time in this universe.
Soon enough, he would be going home.