[And the lesson ends here. Quality over quantity. Learn how to use each of your Nano-Suits to the best of their specialties instead of just relying on a quick gimmick]
The sun vanished as the temperature dropped to sub-zero. The winds raged and the moon rose up over the horizon. None of that really happened but it felt like that when he noticed that Dawn had disappeared.
She had smashed him into an abandoned apartment complex but he was able to leap from the fallen rubble into safety. She said she was one of the very best. He tried all his usual methods but still got bested in the end. Saw an unfamiliar combination. A projection of a blade and a glint of light. Was it a gun? Did she use a gun in the process of casting the spell? She was military and military was cutting-edge after all.
Maybe she was able to quick-cast a spell by pulling the trigger? That would work if there was an array that contained a copy of the spell. That would explain why he couldn't react to it. If the Sprinter was already in motion before the trigger was pulled, he could still counter it, but when the trigger was hidden and pulled, it would be a guerrilla move that he might not see coming.
He knew that arrays were simply a collection of objects that worked together. Books, containers, literally everything. The Nano-Suit provided a basic summary of how a Spell might be contained in an array. You had to physically inscribe it. You had to understand the language of the spell. The array would trace the physical shape of the spell and then convert it into something more tangible.
It sacrificed spell prowess for spell casting speed, so it was known as rapid casting. It was largely a secret government project and he knew exactly where to go to get such secrets.
Later at night, he was solving more equations in hopes of finding anything related to arrays. Books. Words could be written in books. Water. Ink could float down into water. Flashlights. Wires could be rewired into the image of a spell.
He was so intent on finding an array in everything that everything started looking like an array. Soon, he became so fixated on the exact dimensions of everything that he stood up and took a break.
Even if he found out how to create an array, how would he put it into a gun. Was that the only place he could put an array? Couldn't he put arrays in the Nano-Suit? Theoretically, the suit was made of a bunch of complex systems working together. Each system had multiple sub-systems that worked together to do their job.
But there was no space to put any array, let alone several of them. It needed to be a standalone, independent device specifically specializing in a single aspect.
So he gave up on the idea and tried to find ways to counter it. The Brawler, Sharpshooter, Sprinter, Composer, and Gambler were all useless against it. They were unable to know in advance since there were no indicators of the activation to begin with. Not only that, it came out really fast as well as having a reach speed that was unreactable. That left him with only one option.
The Genius.
Except the Genius was rather lackluster. Similar to the Composer, it required an existing action upon which it exerted its will. He couldn't directly operate it. Why couldn't he directly operate it? The primary purpose of the Composer was to seamlessly blend a series of non-logical moves together. Examples included a Rogue using the precision trait smoothly transitioning into a Warrior doing the same thing before applying Strength.
In a single move, both the Rogue and the Warrior were using Precision and Strength simultaneously. One of the ways the Genius helped him was to allow the Sprinter to access its speed of light computation speed at zero velocity.
But could he simply become a Genius without the setup?
What if he used the Composer to blend the Genius into a freestyle domain?
The hard part was figuring out how to accomplish that.
So he tried doing regular things that he needed to be a genius at. Solving the infamous Rubik's Cube in under 1 second. Evolving Einsteins Theory of Gravity. He didn't accomplish much. Just had no idea what he was doing.
He then had an idea. What if, as the Sprinter, he used Composer to seamlessly blend into a state of Genius and then try to do impossible things.
He ran so fast that it seemed like eons were rewinding. The void was cracking like a spiderweb around him. Then he smoothly switched into Genius mode and tried to solve the hardest equation in the world.
He had solved 1 trillion equations in a nanosecond when all of a sudden, his Nano-Suit fused with his bones and flesh. It invaded every cell of his body and rewired his brain. As the brain became the size of a nano-cell, another brain appeared out of nowhere. It grew to the size of the Earth before shrinking back down again. Hundreds, thousands, millions, trillions. Every cell in his brain was another brain that when placed side by side, formed another brain.
This was not another Nano-Suit, a Robo-Frame, or an alter ego. This was not even some secondary version of Leo Skyfang.
"I, Orchestrator"
The young man covered in a pitch black aura from head to toe smiled rather innocently. There were a few attractive girls in the background that feinted with pleasure after glancing at him. Some attractive blonde even rushed up to him from behind, ran around to the front, and hugged him while looking at unfathomable eyes. When he glanced at her, she shivered from lust and also fainted.
A beeping sound caught his attention. Several numbers appeared on his phone, although he didn't know what they were. The only thing he saw was
Entry added x5
The girl that fainted earlier was easily a 14/10. The blonde was closer to a 13.5/10. A 10/10 scales was meaningless if people claimed a 10 didn't exist. Therefore, just lower the standard to 8/8 where 8 is exceptional. You wanted an exceptional partner, right? Therefore, aim for 8/8.
But Leo 'I, Orchestrator' Skyfang wasn't dishonest to himself. 10's were rare but not non-existent. Higher then 10 was purely subjective, based off objective measures like the golden ratio.
"Why have these fellows been degraded so much? Also, my original path seems to have altered? Oh well, who gives a damn. Life is boring. Drama and chaos is always so fun"
Skyfang jumped into the sky about 100 feet and felt a familiar presence. He turned and took a step in that direction.
The girl that he was looking at, Dawn, was shocked. Blushing all over her face and her chest and the rest of her body, she felt the man in front of her looked familiar. She felt as though she could trust her life in his. But where had she seen him?
"Oh. You are Dawn? You smashed me into a building earlier. I have to spank you for that. Just a little"
Skyfang laughed innocently but Dawn had her mouth opened with incredulity.
'There's no way this is Leo Skyfang. Why does he seem so… awesome'
Around them, dozens of couples stared at the two, not daring to take a breath. One was impossibly beautiful and the other impossible handsome. They unknowingly compared the 2 to their own partners and felt depressed.
"What do you mean I am Dawn? Odd way of addressing a friend"
Dawn wasn't dumb. Her intuition told her this was Leo Skyfang but her guts told her this was someone else.
'If it's possession, there aren't really any frames or traits that could do this'
Without hesitation, but also mindful of the crowd, several fireballs flew at him and nowhere else.
"Did you know? Everything was originally S+++ at first, but for some odd reason, all of them degraded, no exceptions. I'm truly stunned on how that happened"
The Sprinter rushed up to the first fireball and the Brawler simply pushed it back at her. The force of the spell landed on her and sent her flying backwards. The heat dissipated on the spot. The other fireballs had a similar fate and Dawn was chained across several city blocks.
"What kind of freaking method was that"
"I don't know. To send someone flying across a city block requires immense strength"
"But we didn't even see how he moved. He just disappeared"
The couples were unable to tell if Skyfang was a Warrior or Rogue. He took another step and was at her feet now.
Dawn was struggling to get back up. She was unable to react to the fireball launching her across the block. She didn't even see how he did it. She only looked up at him in terror.
"Who. Who the hell are you? Mr. Leo Skyfang isn't this good…!"
"Isn't it obvious. I'm Leo Skyfang"