After creating the three items, he checked the system to see his comprehension.
---
Comprehension up.
Innate comprehension: 7%
Learned comprehension: 35%
Total comprehension: 42%
---
'I guess when I'm creating something I don't entirely understand my comprehension increases when I figure it out.'
Feeling more confident with a gun in his hand, he created a strap for both himself and Alina and they slung them over their shoulders. They then entered the small village.
For such a small village, there was a surprising amount of people. Pushing through the crowd, they began their exploration.
In such a small village there should have been fewer than 500 people. However, this village had nearly 1000 villagers. Alina, annoyed about having to push through the crowd so much asked Salem. "Why are there so many people?"
"Likely because there are former slaves mixed in with the crowd. With such a massive slave operation, there are bound to be escapees, right?" Salem had also noticed that most of the buildings were two or three-stories high. "Not only that but the village seems to be made to accommodate a population this large." He said, waving his arm towards a three-story house.
"Oh. That makes sense. But why do they choose to stay here, despite the crowds? The crowd is horrible." Alina complained. "And the crowds make it both easy and hard for someone to follow us."
Salem glanced over at her. "Because with more people it's more difficult to spot one person, right?" Salem guessed one reason, but couldn't think of the other. "What's the other reason?"
"If you follow right behind your target, it's difficult to tell if they're following you." She replied, indicating with a glance behind Salem that someone was probably there.
"And I'm guessing that most of those someones would be thieves and muggers? In a village this small the would-be criminals would have at least some connection to anyone they're robbing." As he spoke, he felst his SKS get lifted off his shoulder. He finished his statement as he deconstructed his stolen gun and reconstructed it back on his shoulder. "Unless they're from out of town, I suppose."
The system gave him a notification after he completed that action, but he wouldn't check it for now. He'd wait until he had a safe spot to be. This village was almost certainly not safe.
They were there for exploration and to see if there was any part of the slaving ring intact. They wouldn't even be spending the night.
After an afternoon of asking around about the slavers turned up nothing, they left and broke camp about 1.5 kilometers away from the village.
Salem set up bugs around the campsite as he always did, knowing one day he would be glad he did.
When he laid down, he finally checked the system notification.
---
New skill acquired: Return
Return: At the cost of 50 psyche, any item that has been taken from you will turn into a cloud of nanobots and reform on your person.
---
'So it's an anti-theft device?' Salem was pleased. 'Oh I should check my status screen and see how my stats have changed after creating stuff.'
---
Name: Salem Argenti
Race: Void (Humanoid form)
Class: Nanomancer, Second class available
Psyche: 215/900
Health: 300/300
Intelligence: 60
Strength: 14
Insight: 36
Agility:20
Vitality: 21
Luck: 7
Status: Minor nerve damage
---
Salem's stats had skyrocketed. Not only did he get stronger with each successful creation, he also became more versatile, depending on the blueprint. Seeing the second class, he was about to select it and see what he could do, when the bugs he had placed sent warning signals.