Aki had managed to gather some sixty thousand more points plus a dozen skill points and change. He honestly didn't feel like checking the loot on the lobbies, but he also knew himself well enough to admit he'd forget to check on them at any point in the future, and he'd be going into his the tutorial dungeon some hours later, so it'd simply be akin to throwing away materials he might need later.
As someone that didn't believe 'doping' to be a viable way to beat any game, he was simply too unlikely to be using any such simple things like resistance increase potions and other such preparation material that could be found in droves in weaker player's rooms. There was, however, the great execption of turning hell mode on.
He fully expected something stupid to either seal his powers or to throw him in a god's hunting ground by going on the tutorial's special dungeon. He'd only ever gone into three dungeons, but there was no need to be a genius mystique to notice there was something wrong with the tutorial dungeon.
Nevemind the energy fluctuations, there was no way the system would be so graceful as to simply give out an easy dungeon for training those that received great evaluations. The training part was definetly true, but there was way more than one reason that he wanted to go to a dungeon above his level to be ready.
That he met the love of his life in there was just another proof that he'd made the right decision. However, the longer things go acording to plan, the worse they will be when hell falls down.
*****
{Main mission: The Major's call
Difficulty: Average
Mission description: Having reached the backlines, you are taken to the designated location of the meeting, but things are strange, the atmosphere of the whole city is tense with strange happenings. Figure out what is happening and help your allies stabilise the situation. Remaining time 29 : 23 : 57 : 53}
"Easy enough." Aki frowned, crossing his legs as he looked through the courtain on the small 'vip area' in what was clearly a brothel or a rather strange bar. It didn't take long for him to see the major though, and he smiled when he saw there was a beauty in each of his arms. The man had good taste. "Major, i didn't expect to see you like this. The one i remenber wouldn't be caught with an unmade tie, never mind here, enjoying life." He said, eyeing the brunete that sat close to him as he carresed her thigh, his hand going closer to her posterior as they started to eye each other up with lasivious glances.
*BANG BANG BANG BANG*
Before the fake could say anything, he quickly shot him in the head and waist twice, in case it had a backup brain, his own hand cannon and the revolver hidden on the dress quickly made a mess of the polymorph. The girl next to him was just a normal escort though, so she screamed before being brought away by the security that quickly entered the room.
"Nice to meet you, Aki." He introduce himself as the woman with too strong a body moved to get closer to the changing mass of flesh trying to reform itself without much concern to her risque outfit and how her ass was in full view. "Need a light?" He asked, fireball at his palm
"The plan was to restrain him, so i'd appreciate if you didn't kill such specimen." She said, voice much colder than her giggling form moments ago. Aki got up and stepped through the table between the two ends of the L cushion. As his hands sized the slouching flesh of what used to be a neck, he turned to the woman.
"Does it still serve if it's brain dead?" He asked, ready to absorb it's vitality so he cold stop it from shifting away.
"It is brain dead." She pointed out, getting up as she finished collecting samples.
"It's also regenerating. For all i know a copy of what this guy was before i shot him is going to appear and take over the body if you don't change the memory of every cell. It's not a mechanical life form, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have enough to get back to full capability." He shrugged. Looking into her eyes, he felt like the one in front of him was quite similar to Nes in the sense that they were scary good at thinking ahead.
"Only if it's body still works." She decided after a second of thought, blue eyes piercing into his lazy smile without any reaction.
"Sure sure, just make sure there's no red death infestation like in Russia, these things go underground and them you have to irritate them until the core gets to you and then burn the whole contaminated area of possible spores before dealing with the cleaning of the pieces of whatever the fuck are left behind in kilometers long ranges over a huge area dependant of the amount of time it is allowed to spread." He ranted, his eyes turning crimsom with gold specks as he used his hipnosys on one of the eyes that'd formed.
"Anything else of note?" She asked, still expressionless, though she'd taken out her heels.
"As long as you keep the core inactive, it can be used as a minor source of clean meat and blood fit for consumption, though if you overdraw it can still be killed without proper sources to break down." He shrugged, unfased by the shining gun she'd taken from what he guessed was another holster in her other thigh.
"Thank you. Now please follow my directions." She nodded.
"You got it. We both know that gun won't be enough to kill me though, and i'd bring the whole building down if it can paralise me." He noted, turning around and not getting any answer as they both started going through several corridors and stairs leading downwards then pass several sterile tunels leading somewhere completly diferent. The walking wasn't too boring, the agent eventually lowering her gun as they went back and forth on scenarios after there was no one else in sight. As they reached a big steel door though, she brought out the gun again and stopped talking, Aki not much bothered after they spent fifteen minutes basically taking turns on a improptu strategy game.
Inside the rooom he was guided towards, there were four or so guards dressed in what could only be called black ops uniforms, two for each door in the room, though there were a lot of bifurcations and other corridors leading to the same place. The guards and several cameras seemed to be guarding three hospitalised patients, all unconcious.
"Code name Aki, shows signs of being a functioning sociopath yet at the same time highly capable of formulating battle tactics and strategies for large scale conflicts both on the fly and with preparations, a developing dark empath that enjoys killing, with known kills passing two hundred, highly dangerous but cooperative through most development, special properties in development, redacted, danger level code red. That is what the major had on you. ALL, he had on you." Said the still unnamed agent.
"Good on him, my life before being a mercenary was boring. I would prefer to simply be refered to as a dark empath though, i can hold my emotions and pretend just fine." He rolled his eyes, still looking through the class towards the uncosious man that'd been his handler. "I just prefer not to. Anyways, was he even the one to call me here? Or did you just want to apprehend someone the brass decided to up into code black danger level?" There wasn't a gun pointed at him anymore, so his reaction seemed to be good enough for now. It could also be because of the mounted turrets though.
"He called you here. We were unable to get in contact with his supperior however, so we don't know why."
"Well, considering the doppelganger back there, i'd say it was because he was being hunted down after his promotion. Seems he at least heard my suggestions enough not to straight out die though. Any chance you could point me towards the most dangerous esper or whatever you're calling those awakening?" He asked with disinterest.
"It'd be useless. We've been trying, but many have already started appearing in the underworld while too few stay on the goverment's side." She looked him in the eyes from the side, completely serious.
"Yeah, thought so. Now, do you guys have a bounty list, target assesment, anything i can use as a reference when i go hunting?" He persisted.
"There are too many monsters to fight, nevermind their strenght." She tried to be blunt.
"I Know. It's just that i also got a further awakening. I was not kidding when i said a bullet to the head wouldn't kill me because it simply would have too much trouble penetrating my skull, nevermind that i can regenerate now. I don't know what you call a monster, but if it is just toppling buildings, throwing tanks around, mass murdering dozens at a time or controling people to do your will, then i can do it too. If one of those you mention can do it better, then i really want to meet them." He smiled at her, his worst possible smile, reinforced only by the amount of teeth in his mouth and their sharpness.
As expected, five humans and eight turrets pointed guns at him imediatly. They stayed like that for tense minutes, but he honestly didn't care. His spells were ready.
"Can you cure other?" Asked the agent after lowering her gun.
"Yup. Cancer and such would be kind of hard, but certainly duable. I will say it now though, i'm a killer, not a healer, get someone else to go through several people a day to stop burdening their own conciousness or something, just remenber not to break them too badly or they will just heal you of your sense of self. I'm not able to do that though, and the only 'cure' would be some kind of time manipulation." Aki said, nodding as he walked to the metal door besides the observation glass, unlocking it with some metal and eletromagnetic manipulation. Not his speciality, but doable. "This would be so much easier with phasing." He muttered as he entered the sterile room and touched each of the old man in bed. By the time he reached Pzarto, the other two looked much healtier, so no one was expecting him to slap the major after some five seconds. "Serously old man, you're the least important of the three here but you're still the one with so many curses in his body, did you cuck the mastermind or something?"
"Aki, still as crass as i remenber, good." Said the man with a red cheek, getting back with some dificulty despite getting some suport from the young man. "I couldn't track you down after you dissapeared, so i feared for the worst. It's still good to see you figured out healing so quickly." He said, taking out the needles and monitors on himself.
"Of course i did. Former medicine student, remenber? Now, is that girl human?" He asked, the old man imediatly turning his gaze to the one mentioned but sighing and relaxing after seeing who it was.
"Not entirely, but she was raised as one and is on our side." Was his answer. "Now help me up, the bastards got Gray." Said the man with murder in his eyes.
"No need, it will be my first mission. I'm more of a one man battalion instead of unit these days." Smiled the young man, the major trembling a bit before slumping down in relief. Even if he wanted to make himself look strong, talking was hard for his dry and half atrophiated body, nevermind moving around. If a monster was the one bringing his husband back though...