Closing the missile compartment, Jamie clapped his hands.
"Let's distribute these Attribute Points then take a look at the Magic Core."
After discussing with Amanda for a few minutes, they agreed that it would be best to focus on Durability and Energy then evenly distribute the rest. So that was 3 points in Durability, 4 in Energy, 2 in Strength, 2 in Agility, and 1 in Flight.
It ended up looking like this:
==Mecha Core==
Level: 12
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength: 7
Agility: 7
Durability: 8
Flight: 6
Energy: 9
Attribute Points: 0
There were no visible changes, but Jamie felt Prime change through the Pilot link. Now that he was done with the Mecha Core, it was time to check out the Magic Core.
==Magic Core==
Level: 5
QUALITIES:
Capacity: 5
Control: 5
Affinity: 5
Quality Points: 5
"It works like the Mecha Core, with a Quality Point per level. Capacity is the amount of mana Prime has, Control is how well Prime can manipulate mana to use just the perfect amount for spells, and Affinity basically boosts the power of elemental spells, raising Prime's affinity with the elements."
Jamie explained to Amanda before she could ask, a serious look on his face. Amanda frowned as well upon hearing it. "The only difference it seems is that while the Mecha Core grows from killing things, the Magic Core grows from eating elemental affinities."
"Did you say mana? Can Prime do what I think it is?"
Jamie nodded, failing to keep his serious expression as he broke into a wide grin. "Yup. Prime's basically a Wizard! And if it's like the Mecha Core, then…. bingo!"
When he thought of spending his Quality Points, a similar notification from earlier appeared.
[Would the Pilot like to choose a spell for Prime before spending Quality Points?]
Rubbing his hands in excitement, Jamie chose yes. "Here we go."
[Magic Core Level 5 Reward - Choose an affinity.]
[1. Earth (Burrow Rush - absorbed from Killipede.)
2. Fire
3. Water
4. Air]
"Huh, this is different." Jamie turned to Amanda. "It asks me to pick an affinity instead of just showing me the options. I can only see the Earth spell since I absorbed it from the Killipede. I guess absorbing affinities increases the options, otherwise I get a random spell."
"Well, I'm a mechanic, not a Wizard, so…" Amanda smiled. "Just pick the element you'd like the most."
Jamie nodded. "Fire it is, then."
"Wow, no hesitation."
"I'm a simple guy, if I get an option to shoot fireballs, then I'm gonna shoot fireballs." Jamie shrugged with an exaggerated expression. Amanda chuckled.
[Fire Spell - Fire Blast learned.]
A rush of information flooded Jamie's head. Unlike with the mecha upgrades, which just had him choose schematics, his brain was immediately filled with knowledge on controlling mana and how to cast spells, however the knowledge was heavily limited so that he could only cast Fire Blast and nothing else.
Fire Blast was self-explanatory. Prime could use mana to blast an area with fire. Speaking of mana, Jamie was now painfully aware of the mana inside of Prime as well as the Qualities as stated by the Magic Core. Jamie opened and closed his hands a couple of times before giving up, disappointed.
"Damn, I can't cast spells at all. It's limited only to Prime. I can't have Prime use the mana outside of casting the spells he learned by leveling up."
"Well, it would be unfair if the self-building and self-magic-teaching mecha suddenly gave you powers, too." Amanda comforted him. "Technically all that power is at your disposal, you know, being the Pilot and all."
"Thanks, Amanda." Putting on a sad expression, Jamie used this as an excuse to hug her again. Lucky for him, it lasted longer than the first one, since neither Amy nor Aiden came to disturb them this time.
"I didn't realize not becoming a Wizard was that heartbreaking to you." Amanda commented upon feeling that the hug was becoming awkward.
"Well, we all hope for miracles."
Jamie separated and sheepishly coughed before they deliberated over spending the Quality Points. They had 5 points, but there were only 3 Qualities, so it didn't take too long.
==Magic Core==
Level: 5
QUALITIES:
Capacity: 7
Control: 6
Affinity: 7
Quality Points: 0
"Well, that's the mecha done with. So, what's your grand plan for your brand new toy?" Amanda asked as she dusted herself off.
"Oh, I'm going to go kill things and level up." Jamie said as he opened the shutter door, Prime already right behind him.
"Wait, we were just about to have lunch!" Amanda called after him as he already started running off.
"I'll be back before Amy and Aiden's bedtime to tuck them in! I'll bring you guys something from the store!" He called back before disappearing around a corner, Prime grabbing a ripped bedsheet out of a dumpster and wearing it.
"I just cleaned that thing." Amanda sighed before laughing, going to close the shutter door. "Oh, Jamie…"
The boy himself was already back on the border, removing the junk he piled on it just a few hours ago and already exiting the slums of Old Orion again. He shut the door before hopping on Prime's back as the two took to the sky, flying towards a forest in the distance.
"Time to kill some monsters."
Jamie didn't really pay much attention to the fact that he was in too much of a hurry to level up. Well, when you grow up in an unsafe place, in poverty, governed by a police force akin to gangsters? You'll definitely jump at the first chance to get out of that situation.
"After some leveling, those 3 pigs are next. I'll give them another day or two to live. Oh, wait, I promised to bring something back." Jamie cupped his chin as the breeze ruffled his hair and clothes. Prime was approaching the forest slightly quicker due to the new point added in Flight.
"I'll visit that black market guy Amanda tells me never to go near. He might sell some quality food." Jamie came to a decision without taking a moment to consider the danger of it.
"I see my first targets. Light em' up, Prime!"
Spotting a traveling herd of large, dog-like beasts, Jamie had Prime hover above the trees a short distance in front of them. Jamie now had the opportunity to do something very stupid if he were fighting a sentient enemy.
"WRIST MISSILES, ACTIVATE!"
That's right, he was calling out the name of his attack! Jamie laughed as he heard the whirring of Prime's wrists as the compartments slid out, revealing 5x5 lines of micro-missiles on each wrist. Prime aimed directly below them, firing as soon as the herd began to pass by.
The missiles fired almost simultaneously, a small burst of air being released from each one. 50 micro-missiles immediately rained down on the herd of bests, wiping them out as well as blowing up some trees, leaving behind nothing but craters.
[You have killed a level 9 Mongrel]
[You have killed a level 12 Mongrel]
[You have killed a level 11 Mongrel]
[You have killed…]
[You have killed…]
[Mecha Core has leveled up!]
[Mecha Core has leveled up!]
[You have gained Attribute Points.]
[You have gained…]
"That was amazing!" Jamie felt like he just fell in love with the Wrist Missile upgrade. Two full boxes obliterated over 20-30 monsters! Jamie looked back down before frowning. "Maybe one box was enough, there aren't enough of them left to absorb an affinity from…"
Taking this as a lesson to not go too crazy, Jamie flew around the forest, beginning to just punch or kick small monsters to death and absorb their affinities. He didn't use the Wrist Missiles again, as not only was there a cooldown as the missiles refilled, but each shot of both wrists cost 3 Energy, meaning he could only shoot it 2 more times before a full refill was needed, and that took time.
After a few hours of killing beasts down in the forest, a large bear appeared, roaring at the two. Jamie grinned as he thought of how to deal with the beast. He pointed at the bear's chest.
"Rocket Punch!"
Prime stuck out his right arm as thrusters popped out by the elbow. The thrusters came to life, the fist detaching from the rest of the arm and quickly flying at the bear, punching a basketball-sized hole in the bear along with 3 trees before getting stuck in the fourth.
[You have killed a level 15 Grizz]
[Would you like to absorb the Grizz's affinity?]
"So cool… I wonder if all the mechs are this strong? …Probably not, hehe."
Jamie had Prime walk up to the dead bear and absorb the affinity, the detached fist activating its thrusters and flying back to rejoin the rest of the body. This was something Jamie discovered upon first using this upgrade. He couldn't just control Prime telepathically, he could control every part of the mecha.
That meant if Prime ever lost a limb or body part, as long as it wasn't completely destroyed, Jamie could just manually control it and use it to fight, or just reattach it to Prime's body.
[Magic Core has leveled up!]
[You have gained Quality Points.]
"One last run before we go back. Let's use magic this time."
Jamie mounted Prime once more as they took to the skies, flying to a nearby pond that had human-sized rabbits peacefully relaxing around it. Of course, our good-old Mecha Pilot didn't care one bit about how cute and weak these rabbits were!
"Fire Blast!"
Casting the spell, Jamie could feel the mana activating within Prime's body, rushing to the mecha's arms as sparks started appearing, the temperature rising. It frustrated Jamie to no end that beyond the feeling of the spell being cast, the rush and control of mana, he couldn't do anything with it.
The reward was so meticulous that it felt like his brain hit a roadblock the moment he tried to apply the knowledge of mana outside of using Fire Blast. The sparks were now the size of a small ball, sizzling for a bit before shooting away, hitting the pond and the unsuspecting rabbits.
The spark balls burst into wild, roaring flames on contact, roasting the poor rabbits and evaporating the pond. Jamie laughed at the scene, though he had already used up half his Mana Capacity.
He only had 7 points, and a single blast cost 2, meaning he already used 4 points. It wasn't like Wrist Missiles, where both wrists counted as a single shot. It also didn't help that the recharge time for mana was longer than it was for Mecha Energy.
"Alrighty, we're done here. I'll have dinner, tuck the kids into bed, then spend all your points." He patted Prime on the head as he hopped on the mecha's back. "Tomorrow we get to pay the black market a visit, for now we'll bring home some roasted rabbit monsters."