"Okay, look. Point that thing somewhere else, I am not in the mode." Leta scowled. She was sure this unusual bravado was a side effect of cheating death multiple times in the last hour, but she was going to milk that confidence for all it's worth. "I am not your enemy. I literally have no idea what the hell is going on right now. I've one hundred percent stumbbled a*s over end into god knows what kind of insane world where guys walk around with swords and werewolves exist."
Standing up, Leta met the eyes of the man in black with shoulders back and stance firm.
"In the last hour I have been chewed on by multiple monsters - multiple! As in 'more than one'. That's one too many. On top of that, a certain ninja keeps pointing his swords at me. I have had it. If there was a way for me to box these powers up with a bow and a 'thank you, come again' and give them to you, I absolutely would! I'm tired. I'm dirty. And to top it all off, I smell of blood and dog piss. So point that butter knife somewhere else, because I am done with this freakin' day and have half a mind to pick a fight with a stop sign if it looked at me funny."
Just as before, the man in black blinked one, paused, then blinked again.
"I feel as if that was a simple yes or no question."
"Gah! Friend! I'm a freakin' friend!" Leta shouted, shaking clenched hands at him like she wanted to pull out his friend.
The man in black nodded. "Good. I would hate to damage a valuable ally." He acknowledge, sheathing his sword as he spoke.
"Well, aren't I special?" Leta grumbled.
"Indeed." The man in black deadpanned, "To survive a Loupgaru pack attack with minimal knowledge of one's abilities and zero martial training, you are lucky to be alive."
"I have a feeling you're going to be insufferable." Leta commented, then sighed and looked at all the corpses.
"This is a super weird question and I know that we need to scoot because someone would absolutely have heard this racket, but can you give me a minute to, er, touch the bodies? I know that's gross and all, but the healing thing isn't something I can do on command and I need to have a build up of energy to do it. It's like a flashlight - cool to have but useless if the batteries are dead." Leta said the half truth easily enough.
The man in black tilted his head in curiosity. "Do as you wish. We have a minute or two until we must depart. In the meantime, I will contact my colleagues who will come and clean up this mess."
Leta approached her skewered attacker first as it was the closest, muttering to herself, "Don't ask about a clean up crew. Don't ask about a clean up crew. Don't ask about a clean up crew…"
[THE HOST HAS ABSORBED 2,824,002 UNPROGRAMMED NANITES.]
[THE HOST HAS 3,929,048 UNPROGRAMMED NANITES.]
"Oh… that's nice." Leta moaned in satisfaction. She felt stuffed to the brim with possibilities. Just as with the one that she'd first absorbed, the corpse seemed to rot before her eyes, now looking more like a mummy than a creature.
Gliding over to one of the other corpses and placed her hands on its fur.
[THE HOST HAS ABSORBED 1,577,352 UNPROGRAMMED NANITES. 5,506,400 UNPROGRAMMED NANITES LIMIT REACHED. UNABLE TO ABSORB 1,124,074 NANITES.]
"Sh**, I forgot about the limit." Leta sighed, disappointed.
'Gada, how much is it again to create unprogrammed nanite storage?'
[1,000 UNPROGRAMMED NANITES CAN BE STORED FOR EVERY 3,000 NANITES SPENT.]
Leta chewed on her lip, thinking it over. 'What softwares are available?'
UPGRADE OPTIONS AVAILABLE:
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTIC RECONSTRUCTION : Host is able to make changes to their physical appearance. This upgrade is affected by unprogrammed nanites available.
INTERNAL CHARACTERISTIC RECONSTRUCTION: Host is able to make changes to their internal structure, including the creation of artificial enhancements and structures. This upgrade is affected by unprogrammed nanites available.
SCAN - LEVEL ONE: Host is able to identify surface level information, such as class name, age, gender, etc. Nanites needed for this upgrade: 2,456,357
SHADOW STEP - LEVEL ONE: By creating a temporary link to the Shadow Plane, the host can teleport using shadows within the host's line of sight. Nanites needed for this upgrade: 3,258,159
STONE SKIN - LEVEL ONE: The host can calcify the cells on their forearms, back, and chest. Nanites needed for this upgrade: 3,986,741
CONVERT - LEVEL ONE: The host is able to convert programmed nanites to unprogrammed nanites at a ratio of 10,000,000 to 1,000. Nanites needed for this upgrade: 5,105,980]
Leta pondered her options.
'Will any of these put me flat on my back like the Magician's Hand did?'
[NEGATIVE. SCAN WILL HAVE A SLIGHT MOMENTARY DISCOMFORT OF THE EYES. DISCOMFORT WILL PASS IN FIVE SECONDS.]
'Awesome. Give me Scan.'
As Gada had said, Leta felt her eyes sting as if she'd walked from a dark room into the sunlight.
In a heartbeat, the pain was gone.
[SOFTWARE SCAN HAS SUCCESSFULLY DOWNLOADED.]
[HOST HAS ABSORBED 1,124,074 UNPROGRAMMED NANITES.]
[THE HOST HAS 4,174,117 UNPROGRAMMED NANITES.]
'Faaaabulous.' Leta purred. 'Add two points to all my stats.'
[ALL STATS HAVE INCREASED BY TWO.
POWER: 13
SPEED: 12
STAMINA: 12
REFLEXES: 14
CONSTITUTION: 12
MENTAL FORTITUDE: 20
[THE HOST HAS 4,156,117 UNPROGRAMMED NANITES.]
Leta sighed, feeling her muscles tighten then relax as they swelled ever so slightly. Even her pants suddenly felt a little more loose as the belly pouch she'd been working to lose since she was in junior high school shrank slightly.
While it would have been nice to go all in on her stats and bump them up even higher, she feared making such drastic changes so quickly would leave a lot of questions for her friends and family.
Leta placed her hand on another corpse.
[THE HOST HAS ABSORBED 1,350,283 UNPROGRAMMED NANITES. 5,506,400 UNPROGRAMMED NANITES LIMIT REACHED. UNABLE TO ABSORB 1,304,071 NANITES.]
A hand on her shoulder startled her as the man in black signaled for her to get to her feet.
"My colleagues will dispose of the corpses and clear this area. Come. We will go to a safe location."
"I think my definition of 'safe location' and yours are two completely separate things."
"Would you like me to leave you here alone, defenseless, with your bag of meat for the next roaming pack of Loupgaru?" He asked, one eyebrow raised in challenge.
"By all means, lead the way, good sir." Leta replied quickly, following her ally into the night.