With Sher's help, I train with the holograms. Each bite, each slash, makes me stronger.
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[Battle Instinct Lv. 2]
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But that level hasn't changed for the past few hours.
"You should stop," Sher calls out from the throne that she made. "These mobs are too weak for you now. Haven't you heard of diminishing returns?"
Panting, I respond, "Isn't there the Amalgamation? Maybe I could fight that."
"Nonsense," she replies. "Training against a far stronger enemy is more damaging than helpful."
"But can't you make it weaker?"
"It's weakest will still be too much for you, Devon," she sighs. "It's unfortunate but until I consume a monster that's more your level, this training room will be pointless."
She's right. I've mastered fighting against these mobs and I know I can't even go against the spider swarm of the Amalgamation. I guess all I can do for now is make use of the other items I found. I pull out the book that I got after the dungeon raid.
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[Would you like to consume "Sinter's Theory of Robotics"?]
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"Yes"
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[Received: Clockwork Machinery Lv. 1 (Unique)]
[Clockwork Theory Lv. 1 (Unique) and Advanced Robotics Lv. 2 (Uncommon) are too similar]
[Combining]
[Received: Clockwork Robotics Lv. 1 (Unique)]
Summary: A specialized branch of robotics founded by Sinter and honed by Devon Miller. While he may have descended into madness, he did leave behind a system of creating machines unlike any other. Now, it is yours.
+
Woah, I didn't expect this.
"Hey, Sher how are the skills ranked again?" I ask.
"Common, Uncommon, Rare, Ultra Rare, Legendary, Mythic," she responds stoically. "Why?"
"It's just I got a Unique rated skill and I didn't see it in the guide."
She pauses and looks at me in surprise. "That's impressive Devon. Unique items or skills are just as the name suggests: unique. Only one player can get it and it can't be replicated."
I look at the skill and the item in my inventory. Two unique things from one dungeon huh. I guess them abandoning me was a blessing in disguise after all. But more importantly, I think with this, I can do more than just fix Jimmy. I can make him better!
"While it's been fun watching you train, it seems it's time for you to go," she says.
"What? Already? What time is it?"
She waves a hand. "Too late. Now, go feed your daughter."
At once, my consciousness gets sucked out of the space and I return back to the couch. As I reorient myself, I feel two tiny hands smack me repeatedly.
"Debwon food," Veronica pouts.
"Alright, alright," I pacify her assaults as I stretch my weary body.
The sun has set so it's already dark outside. I make my way to the fridge to see what's inside. I'm pleasantly surprised. It's filled with all sorts of good, fresh food. Damn, Eleanor. I guess work's been good for her huh. I look at my current gold.
[2440 G]
I sigh. I take what's familiar to me and proceed to cook.
"How does fried chicken sound?"
"Yay!" Veronica jumps and celebrates.
As I make my preparations and lay all the ingredients on the counter, the doorbell rings.
*Tururut*
What a weird doorbell. Veronica immediately runs to it and greets whoever's outside.
"Hewwo," she says.
"Veronica, who is it?" I call from the kitchen.
"Hey kid, don't go opening doors willy nilly. You don't know who's outside," a familiar, smoke damaged voice chides.
"Oh, is that you Barry? I'm cooking so I can't come out just come in."
"Well, if you're cooking, I guess I don't mind eating," he says as he closes the door behind him with a click.
He makes his way to the kitchen and the smell of smoke follows him.
"Why'd you come here?" I ask.
He presents me a bag and the doll I've been working on since yesterday.
"You forgot your shit in my apartment so I thought to give this back," he replies.
"Oh Jimmy!" I exclaim as I take them from his hands. "Thanks Barry. A lot's happened today."
He chuckles. "So I heard. Beat the shit out of that Infinity guy."
"Eh, when your name's Infinity, you kinda asking to get beat up."
"That's true," he scoffs. "Anyway, got anything to drink?"
"There's apple juice in the fridge," I reply.
He sighs. "I don't know what I expected," he complains but still makes his way to the fridge and pours himself a glass of apple juice. Veronica tugs on his coat and he pours her one too.
"Anyway, this will be done in about thirty minutes so why don't you rest up and play with Veronica. You look like hell."
He groans. "Fuck, is it that obvious?" he says and immediately closes his mouth.
"Haha, that's ok. Her mother swears more than you do so she's used to it."
With that, he relaxes a bit and takes a sip from his glass.
"Didn't know you had a kid and a girlfriend you lived with," he comments as he plops himself on the couch.
I chuckle dryly. "I don't. Eleanor's not my girlfriend and Veronica's not mine."
"Mommy and Debwon are fwiends," Veronica chimes in as she takes out her coloring kit.
"Friends huh. The way I see it, you should just seal the deal. I mean you're here taking care of her kid anyway."
"You know what? You are such a genius! Did you know you're the very first one to suggest that?" I say sarcastically.
"Really?"
"Hell no!" I scoff. "Eleanor's parents also said the same damn thing and I'll tell you what Eleanor and I told them."
"What is it?"
"No way in hell."
Minutes passed and I finish cooking. Veronica and Barry seems to enjoy my fried chicken and salad. Well, Barry barely touches his salad. After we finish eating, Barry takes his place on the couch and turns on the television. I guess he's just making himself home.
As I'm washing the dishes, he calls out to me.
"Oh yeah, I came here to ask you something too," he says without looking away from his nighttime drama.
"Shouldn't you have started with that?"
"Nah, I had to eat first remember?"
I sigh. "Ok, except for your clear disregard for your duty, what else are you here for?"
"Some of our guys pinged us saying that H.A.Z.E has been acting up recently," he responds.
"H.A.Z.E.? What's that?"
"Oh yeah, you were living under a rock this whole time," he snorts. "They're player criminals who kill other players to steal their shit."
"Like literally?" I gasp.
"Fortunately, just in Fractal," he responds. "But since Fractal items and currency cost literal money, it's become our job to deal with them."
"I get that, but why are you telling me about this?"
He then turns his head to look at me with the same cold expression he showed in the precinct.
"They went active the day after we fought that boss," he says with a grave tone. "The day after you activated that machine that Medacorp had to seize."
I gulp.
He then stands up and heads towards me.
"Look, while you're quite suspicious objectively, I know you're a good kid," he sighs. "So just tell me the truth. H.A.Z.E. isn't just an organization with criminal players. These guys deal with the real shit in the underbelly of this Metropolis."
I freeze and just stares at him. What should I do? What should I say? He's right. These guys are dangerous but I don't know if I could trust him in the first place. As I search for the words to say, the dodecahedron appears. Barry jumps at the appearance of the pearly object.
"Sher..." I mumble.
[It's ok Devon. I'll show him the truth. He seems to be trustworthy enough.]
The dodecahedron then shifts and rotates before breaking apart to a dozen pieces.
"What the fuck's happening?" Barry looks about in confusion as the dozens of pieces swirl around him.
Suddenly, he falls silent within the vortex of blue and white. Then, the storm calms down and the dodecahedron rests by my side.
[It's done]
Barry looks at me with the most devilish expression.
"Interesting," he mumbles.
I instinctively recoil.
"Bloody interesting, Devon Miller," he then rushes to me and to my surprise gives me the biggest kiss on the lips. "The first Kaleidoscope! The ultimate bait! With you, we can finally dig up those bastards in the Underworld! Oh, this is gonna be good! Let's go find ourselves some trouble."
He says all of that and then just leaves. Meanwhile, I am just standing in the kitchen, petrified. An old man just kissed me and left... Was he that happy? I look at Veronica who's looking just as shocked as I am.
"He kissed you..." she says.
"Yes, yes he did," I reply.