"—red flags in one sentence!"
Senna woke up with a jolt. The complaint he didn't manage to finish poured out of his mouth.
He was now back in the ruined complex. It seemed he passed out only briefly, looking at the fact that a blazing fire was still enveloping his wrecked car.
"Ah, this is sad…" he muttered.
Standing up, Senna checked his body. The pain he assumed would assault him because of his reckless stunt was nowhere to be found.
*Swish* *Swish* He stretched to the left and right, rotating his hips, neck, and shoulders. Yup, everything was fit as a fiddle.
"How come? I'm pretty sure what I did would lead me straight into the hospital."
«It is due to the skill of Eldritch God's Blessing. The recovery of your injuries was accelerated because of its effect.»
The voice from before returned. If Nyaru was to be believed, this was the guide that would help him understand his power better, like a tutorial.
«I am indeed the guide you need, as I have claimed before.»
"You sound angry. Are you mad that I doubted you?"
«I am incapable of feeling emotion.»
So she said. Senna had decided to refer to it as a woman. He had a feeling that they would be together for a long, long time after all.
"What's this about skill?"
«They are special abilities granted to you by the system. To gain an overview of what they can do, please refer to the status screen.»
Senna did as she advised and opened that transparent window again. This time, it only showed his skill and magic lists, although currently, the latter was empty.
———
• Skills: Vehicular Manifestation, Eldritch God's Blessing
• Magic: None
———
Subconsciously he concentrated on the names. First, the one with the more exciting title, 'Eldritch God's Blessing.'
< Eldritch God's Blessing >
< A blessing granted by the eldritch God Nyarlathotep for a Hero reincarnator. Effects include Analysis, Language Comprehension, Rapid Recovery, and Lifespan Extension. Full package. Praise be to Nyaru. >
"Woah, lifespan extension?!" Senna's eyes immediately focused on the last effect it displayed. "I can live longer now?"
«Natural age. You would still die if you are killed.»
That, he knew even without being told. The other effects looked pretty neat too. Rapid Recovery, especially so.
"What exactly is this supposed to improve?"
«The recovery rate of your Health and Mana. For the average person, in order to fully replenish from the state of total mana exhaustion, one would need around 1 to 3 days. This effect would increase the rate to only around several hours.»
'Sounds useful enough,' Senna nodded in understanding. 'Being stuck with no mana seems dangerous.'
Having read the description, he returned the screen back to the skill list. There was another skill available on it.
< Vehicular Manifestation >
< Skill attached to the title Taxi Driver. Allows one to manifest a Divine Vessel of his choosing. The mana required varies according to the specification of the Vessel. No more primitive walking for the blessed. >
"Hey, this actually sounds incredible," Senna exclaimed. "By Divine Vessel, it means vehicle right?"
«That is indeed the term used by the inhabitants of your former world.»
That meant this skill could technically summon any car he wanted. It said so with the words 'of his choosing.'
"Can I summon a freaking Aventador?!" His mind went straight to the luxury sports car that was the dream of every car enthusiast.
«Have you even read the details of the—»
"Here I go, I'm gonna do it!"
Interrupting the voice, Senna concentrated and closed his eyes. That was how superpowers work in movies, right? By focusing your inner energy inside your body.
"Vehicular Manifestation!" Senna imagined the supercar of his dream. That sleek frame and curvy body. That dark unruly tires, glimmering rims, powerful headlights, and spotless windshield!
"C'mon, give me an Aventador!"
«Current Mana is insufficient for the specified Divine Vessel.»
A pain like being hit by a hammer assaulted Senna's head. "Gah?!" He fell to the ground, clutching his cranium in utter agony.
«You are still far too weak to summon such a powerful Vessel.»
"Kuh! My head!"
It was so unfair. He felt like he was in constant pain for the last several hours. Just what did he do to deserve this?
"Kah… Then, tell me what it is I can summon right now?" In between the throbbing aches, Senna managed to voice the question.
«Just focus on simply wanting to use the skill. No specified parameters are necessary. It will manifest an appropriate Vessel suitable for your current level of power.»
Even with that guidance, he hesitated for a bit, scared that a stinging pain would be inflicted upon him again. It was only after several minutes and dozens of deep breaths later that Senna regained his courage.
"Alright… Hah. V-Vehicular Manifestation…" This time there was no passion in his voice.
A small white orb appeared in front of him. It shone with a pale soft glow like an aging lightbulb. Slowly, the orb grew bigger and bigger, changing its shape as it did so.
"…Neat," Senna remarked as he observed the phenomenon.
It was unknown what would come out of that light. He hoped it would be a car big enough for him to comfortably lay down and rest. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, he needed to take a break and sort out his thought.
As Senna prayed, the light had grown to about the size of an average balancing ball. Its luminosity increased briefly, causing him to reflexively squinted his eyes due to the glare.
"This is—"
«Training Bicycle manifested.»
A tiny bicycle with support wheels attached appeared after the light faded.
"Fuck you!"
*****
It took Senna another set of minutes and dozens more deep breaths to calm down, this time not from pain but from anger.
"You're saying this is the most I can get with my current mana?"
«Indeed. You exhausted what little you had driving the Avalon. Divine Vessels do not use gasoline. They use your mana to operate."
That was the reason behind the burning discomfort he felt when he was tangling with Count Silverback. It was a sign of mana exhaustion.
"I didn't even drive it for more than 5 minutes!"
«Such is the cost of using Divine Vessels. You may verify it on your own.»
She was saying to open the status window again, this time the one with his stats.
< Health: 7/10 >
< Mana: 2/10 >
< Physical: 2 >
< Magical: 2 >
< Speed: 2 >
< PP: 30 >
Sure enough, his mana was barely above empty. Even his health had decreased, likely due to the jumping out of the car stunt.
«You passed out because your mana was depleted. It slowly recovered as you were unconscious. Manifesting the bicycle reduced it once again back to 2.»
This must be what Nyaru warned him about. Senna finally understood what he meant by terrible fuel efficiency. First-hand learning, indeed.
"This is ridiculous. I can't afford to faint every 5 minutes. Can't you do something about this?"
«The most effective way to address this issue is to use Progression Points to increase your numerical stats.»
Hearing that, Senna recalled what Nyaru told him. The shady admin-slash-god advised him to increase his magical stat.
Now that he knew his circumstance, the advice suddenly sound highly logical.
"I get it. Should I use my PP… to increase my mana capacity first?"
He still felt weirded out by that abbreviation.
«To increase your mana capacity, use Progression Point on your Magical parameter. Raising it by one will add additional 5 points to your mana count. The same is true for your health and physical parameters.»
"So that's how it works, huh? Sounds simple enough. What about speed?"
«It represents your overall mobility and reaction speed. Raising it will increase your movement and acceleration.»
That didn't sound as urgent as his fuel problem.
Senna decided. When he played video games, he preferred to balance his character in their growth. Min-Maxing wasn't exactly how he liked to build himself, but the current situation didn't seem to allow for such leniency.
He would round his physical and speed parameters up and throw the rest to magical.
< Progression Point >
• Raise Parameter: 1 PP per 1 increase
The prompt explained itself. After learning that specific, Senna chose to put 8 points to both his physical and speed parameters. He then poured the rest into the magical.
< Health: 7/50 >
< Mana: 2/80 >
< Physical: 10 >
< Magical: 16 >
< Speed: 10 >
With that, it was done. He had no idea whether those numbers could be considered high or not. Going by the logic of RPGs he knew, those stats were looking rather pathetic.
By the endgame, the heroes would have thousands in their parameters and hundreds of skills and magics. Senna knew he still had a long way to go in his growth.
«I would also like to notify the successful salvage operation of the Avalon. Please proceed to the wreckage to find out more.»
"Salvage…? That's depressing." That word could only mean that the sedan was truly gone, its broken pieces were all that was left.
Senna walked toward the burning car—the fire now slowly starting to extinguish—and inspected the pile of mushed-up steel frames. Surprisingly enough, no simian body could be found on it.
"Huh? Where did it go?" He glanced nervously around the area.
«Converted into Progression Points. It is part of the special characteristic of a reincarnator.»
Looking further away, true enough, the ruined complex was devoid of any Silverback corpses. It was as if that whole carnage never happened in the first place.
«Salvage result: Displaying.»
In time with her words, a new window appeared in Senna's mind. It was different than the ones he had seen earlier.
< Items Salvaged >
• Bumper Sword
• Steering Chakram
• Hood Shield
• Air Conditioner (4 Units)
• Seatbelts
• Radio
• Robber's Knife
• Crispy Fried Chicken (Bucket)
• Cheese-topped Pizza
• Fruity Cola (3 Bottles)
• Toilet Papers
• My Car Turned into My Girlfriend! (Adult Game)
It was a mess. Numerous items showed up on the list, some nonsensical, some mundane, and some were outright the groceries he had that night.
"What the hell's a Bumper Sword even supposed to be? A parody of Buster Sword?"
Choosing that item, a big, heavy, and curvy-looking object suddenly appeared in front of him with a clank.