After recovering from the mental fatigue of fighting his newfound friend, Jack had his mind aligned with his determination to survive in this unknown world once again.
[ Name: Petra Tentacle {Power Level 1}
Type: Grappler >> Fighter {100%}
Length: 138cm
Width: 26cm-12cm
Weight: 17kg
Kinetic Strength: 55kg
Toughness: F
Regeneration: G
Growth Rate: F
Unique Feature: Suction Pads]
[Mutated Ability: Flammable Stone Creation {M2} | Kerosene Secretion {MX} | Anti-Heat Protein Production {MX} | Fire Igniter {M1} | One Sin And One Hundred Good Deeds {MX} ]
[Mutagen Sockets>
Socket: Mutagen {Spiritual Crystal Fragments} >> (57%)
Socket: Mutagen {Ignitor Fang} >> (40%)
Socket: Mutagen {Anti-Heat Flammable Fur} >> (37%)
[Artificial Intelligence>
Intelligence Quotient: 45
Body Feature: Host Allocation | Exteroception | Hostile Identifier | Weapon Usage | Soulbinded Mutation Holder
Action: Grab | Slam | Throw
Trait: Calm
Aggressiveness: 62 ]
"Hmm? The Aggressiveness is decreasing even though we're fighting like dead men plastered with biochemical weapons—at least that's how I feel when clinging onto my life."
The sound of his footsteps echoed through the long hallway like before. The only difference was, he walked towards the exit—or so what he believed to be the direction to the exit.
"There isn't much growth either." He looked both amused and conflicted. "Don't tell me that having myself coated in light as bright as the sun wasn't enough of a stimulant? Well, I got the new Soulbinded Mutation which increased my survivability by a lot, but isn't it a little bit disappointing that there isn't any physical growth too?
"Or it's basically stopped having any growth the moment the percentage of the Type's progression value had gotten into 100%. If this is true then maybe there would be a surplus of growth when I upgrade it into a Fighter when I find a safe place."
[You're right on the mark about that one, Jack. Also, the construction is complete, do you feel anything inside you?]
"Oh yeah, I noticed the last log message talking about that. Though honestly, I didn't feel anything."
[That is because I've hid it. Just a little bit of a countermeasure in case that you met an entity capable of reading your soul. To access it, just merely put your intent on 'it' just like how you open the status screen of your Tentacle and the 3D allocation perception.]
Jack immediately put his thoughts into it. At first, he was introduced with a blurry light. Eventually the light slowly morphed itself into a door?
He then noticed that it worked the same with how the space allocation of deployment worked just like how he did with his tentacle. For a brief moment of clarity, he just casually deployed the door of light near the wall of the tunnel.
"There~"
Together with a sharp sound of zing, the door manifested into existence. It was just like within his vision, fully made out of life. Even if it was a door, there was no way of knowing what was inside.
"Holy sheesh—this is trippy."
[Enter the door when you're ready.]
"I'm ready anytime." Jack chuckled.
With excitement and confusion, he walked through the portal of light. As he stepped onto the platform, his tattered boot was introduced into a much clearer and smooth polished surface.
A soothing and calming jazz music entered both of his ears, giving him a sudden culture shock—or rather, more of a surprise as he wouldn't ever have thought of having to hear this legendary tune again within this life.
The first thing he noticed aside from the jazz was the wide and straight bar counter that lengthens about twenty meters that existed across the vast comfy floor—more than around eighteen bar stools were available at the row in front of it.
On the wall behind the counter was a huge and tall array of bottles of liquor, showcased in multiple clear-glass open boxes. Lightning was also coming out from it, displaying the type of beverages in more grandiosity. Jack could notice a couple of brands and bottles that were borrowed within his memory of his past life, and some of them weren't even coming out from this world—just from how one of them is eternally burning in blue flame and there was also a container that emitted a golden vapor.
He noticed that the ceiling was so high because of it too. There was also the vinyl recorder player that played the soothing jazz on the corner of the counter.
Behind the bar was a tall female bartender. From afar she could be focusing and working something behind the bar with a cold expression. Her skin was darkish grey, like that of ashes. She had chin-length orange hair with long side bangs on her right as the other bangs were tucked to her ear, revealing a curtain view of her forehead. The yellow lighting from the surrounding sleek decor could be seen lightly reflected on her hair, showing how glossy her hair was—and possibly the effort of taking care of it.
She wore a normal barkeeper's uniform such as a plain black long sleeve top and possibly a matching trouser that was hidden behind the counter.
Rather nervous, Jack looked to the left and the right, there could be seen numerous comfy and sleek right-angled sofas surrounding a large round table. There were around six sets of them, showing how vast this place was.
'This looks like a really fancy tavern, an extremely pricey one, ahaha.' Because Jack didn't prepare anything for this, he was both confused and lost. 'Do I even need to get to the bar stool? Walk casually? The hell I know! Where the hell is Sephiroth when I need him!?'
Noticing that Jack was standing near the entrance for quite a while, the bartender threw her cold gaze at him as she sighed.
"Welcome to the Bar of Longingness," a mature yet soothing voice slipped from her lips. "Your reservation will be complied."
"My reservation?"
To prevent anything awkward from happening, Jack casually walked toward the middle bar stool, right in front of the tall lady behind the bar.
He realized that his body was as short as a ten year old and it was harder to see behind the table. At that moment, he noticed how tall and physically fit the bartender was. He also heard a couple of bottles were taken from the vibrant shelves and placed on the counter as he leaned his glaive on the front of it.
After he tried his best to climb the tall stool, his eyes were greeted with glitters of stretched liquid in the air being woven into a shaker. She then smoothly and effortlessly flipped the other part of the boston shaker and jammed it when it landed right on top of the metal glass.
"It's nice to meet you, Jack Armstrong." The bartender smirked in a smug way. "I'm Malkuth, the bartender, and also the Sephirah of the first floor of Asiyah. Please, make yourself comfortable~"