A week had passed since Frank had finished at the library. To him, the days blurred together, each filled with spamming of the skills he had acquired. Or at least they had until after day three when he maxed out his last combat skill.
'Jesus, "Aspiring Scholar" is no joke! I thought that would take way longer.'
"Mana Bullet" was the first to reach max level as he repeated the process he had done with "Fireball". This time, however, he took great care to ensure he aimed EXACTLY where he had aimed his Fireballs, not wanting to potentially cause more damage.
'I'm sure whatever was there has to be a burning crater, so it can't exactly get worse,' he grimaced, still uneasy about his earlier mistake.
This raised a new issue; however, you see, after his magic and martial skills were maxed out, he needed to level up his craft and trade skills. This was a problem since he needed materials.
Meaning, he needed to scavenge, and with the complex on lockdown, that wasn't going to be easy.
His mind raced, thinking of all the possibilities, until something somebody had said in passing a long time ago occurred to him.
"I've been scavenging for supplies since this whole mess started. Well, actually, I kinda started a few years ago; it's a long story."
He did say that back then, so just how extensive was this collection?
'Would he be willing to share? He did say we could use whatever we need at the time.'
Wasting no time, he set out to find the man he needed. Starting his search, he found him quite quickly.
"Leo! How are you, bud!" Frank waved Leo down as he was getting lunch in the mess hall, catching him off guard.
"Oh, uh, hi Frank. What's up?" Leo asked, confused by the sudden buddy-buddy demeanor. Frank was always nice to him, but this was unusually so.
"Oh, nothing. I've just been training. You can never be too careful, y'know?"
"Right..." Leo looked at Frank puzzled. A long silence passed before Frank finally exhaled.
"Ah, I just don't get how Elara does it. Screw this, I'm not cut out for it. Let me get to the point; you mentioned you had gathered supplies for the last few years. What kind and where are they?" Frank finally asked, deciding he wasn't cut out for manipulation.
"Oh, that," Leo looked relieved. This was far more "Frank" than before. "Yeah, I brought it all to the compound after everything started. I can show you if you want."
"Yeah, please, that would be great!" Frank smiled; this really was more his style.
Nodding, Leo took him through the corridors. They walked at a steady pace until eventually, he showed him to a storage unit.
"Commander Arlo was really accommodating. Outside of food and water, he pretty much let me keep the rest, which was awesome," he explained as he searched for the right key.
"I-uh, may have gone a little overboard, so don't judge too much, okay?" Leo found the right key and unlocked the unit.
When the door opened, Frank almost kissed him.
Inside was a veritable mountain of assorted goods. Fabrics, metal, electronic parts, among so many different types of other resources that Frank could hardly keep track.
"L-Leo, what the hell?" Frank stammered as he looked over the stash slack-jawed. "Is that gold?!"
"I told you, okay? I may have gone a bit overboard. When war with *REDACTED* seemed imminent a few years ago, I started stocking up. I was planning to build a bunker; that way, me and a few others could rebuild society once the fallout cleared. It's only natural, I was expecting nukes to drop." Leo shuffled uncomfortably, his face red as he thought back to his paranoid ways.
"Leo, you beautiful bastard," contrary to the judgment Leo expected, Frank pulled him into a headlock and tussled his hair, earning Frank a confused look.
"Uh, so what's going on? Why did you want me to bring you here? Did you need something?" Leo asked as he struggled to break free from Frank's hold.
"Leo, we're about to get a major upgrade."
---
Frank explained to Leo what was going on; how he had learned about skill acquisition and skill leveling up. He also explained how he had gone to the library and learned a whole bunch of new skills, including production skills. Hearing all this, Leo came to an understanding.
"So what you're saying is you need these materials to level up your new production skills?" he confirmed, making sure he understood.
"That's right! Think about it. I could give the whole team sorely needed upgrades to equipment. Besides, it doesn't do anyone much good just sitting here," Frank explained, eager to get started.
A sly smile took over Leo's face, giving him quite the devious presence.
"So that's how it is, huh? Well then, I will allow you to use these materials."
Frank was overjoyed; this was going way easier than expected. "Thank you, Leo, this is a bi—"
"BUT," Leo interrupted, "only on the condition that you teach me the skills you learned from these books you read."
Frank paused for a minute. "What?"
"You heard me."
"Like before or during?"
"Before, obviously."
"How many of them?"
"All of them, of course."
Frank couldn't believe his ears; all of them?
'Since when did this timid little bastard get so miserly?'
Frank started to sweat. "Leo, some of these skills just appeared in addition to the skills I learned from the books. I can't exactly—"
"Just the ones learned from the books directly is what I asked for, Frank. Do we have a deal or not?" Leo stated resolutely, turning away from Frank. He was making it clear there was no room for negotiation.
"Leo, that could take years—"
"Not my problem, Frank. Besides, it only took you what? A couple of days? I doubt it would take me years." Leo was adamant; these were his terms, and they were going to be accepted.
"You little bitch! When did you grow a pair?"
"Woah language buddy, is that any way to ask for a favor?" Leo mocked, he had Frank by the balls and he clearly knew it.
Frank was aggravated, but he couldn't blame Leo.
Sure, it would slow down Frank's progress, but why was he doing all this in the first place? It was to get stronger, same as Leo. It was only natural for the young man to want to do the same. Honestly, looking back, it had been selfish of Frank to start this process without the rest of the team.
"Fine, I accept. Just bear in mind I don't really know any shortcuts. Also, I'm level 10, so there may be some things that are different between you and me at the present." Frank finally surrendered, preparing for what came next.
"You can't control what you can't control. I am not unreasonable, Frank. Anyway, we can start tomorrow morning; I need to prepare a few things." Leo said, about to head back to his quarters.
"Hold on, Leo! Don't think I don't know how much you come out ahead in this deal." Frank stopped him, grabbing him by the arm.
"Yeah, what about it?" Leo questioned cautiously.
"I have two conditions, and I'm sure neither will be an issue for you."