Chapter 30 – Analysis
Chapter 30 – Analysis
When Sal had first used the Analysis ability, it had been an overwhelming experience. Quest’s tracker had provided some logic to the chaos and gave him a few additional pieces of information in a sea of numbers. Sal couldn’t be sure whether it was down to the Deduction ability, or if it was just Analysis at play, but the newly crafted visor was capable of controlling the data in a seamless manner.
Countless conclusions appeared as the visor calibrated to the information on screen. Graphs and numbers were overlayed on the screen, pointing out Upgrade’s features and making calculations at lightning speed. None of the hardship was placed on Sal, because the visor did all the heavy lifting by itself. All he had to do was watch in a stunned silence as each field populated at random. A smile tugged at his lips as the newly acquired information sorted itself into various sections, similar to the Appraisal skill. Most impressive of all was that it had taken a few seconds for more than half of the report to complete.
Sal didn’t want to blink in case he missed something, and a few moments later, his patience was rewarded with a full breakdown of Upgrade’s stats. There was a lot of terminology that he didn’t understand, but could probably guess. He scanned through the information a few times until it stopped adding new fields. It was absolutely overkill, and Sal loved it. He finally blinked before starting to read through the stat screen.
| Name | G. Ziemele |
| Alias | Upgrade |
| Class | Support |
| Profession | Current: Crafting Lecturer, Quest Academy Previous: Guild Officer II, The Workshop Previous: Trainee Hero, Independent Previous: Student, Quest Academy |
| Rank (Hero) | Guild Association: The Invention | Tier 5 | 1,743 Hunter Bureau: Current Rank | 10,490 Quest Academy: Final Rank | 90 |
| Accreditations | Challenge Crests: 5 Specialist Classes:
Certifications:
|
| Ability | Skill Name: Upgrade | Rating: VII Skill Category: Invention Skill Mastery: 87% Skill Efficiency: 36% Progress to Next Rating: 11% Evolutionary Capability: Yes Potential Cap: IX Natural Synergy: Restoration | Epicraft |
| Essence | Essence Type: Invention / Augmentation Essence Gates: 90 Essence Absorption Rate: 18% Essence Control: 100% Essence Refinement: 89% Essence Calibration: 92% |
| Physical | Strength Rating: III Mobility Rating: VI Speed Rating: V Fitness Rating: VIII Current Status Effects: Injuries: None Illnesses: Minor Fatigue, Minor Dehydration |
| Reputation | Ameye Locomotion: Revered Bastion Families: Known Doom Council: Known Doom Society: Regarded Guild Association: Regarded Hunter Bureau: Acknowledged Quest Academy: Highly Regarded |
| Threat Level | Analyzed Equipment: III - Current, VII - Activated Analyzed Martial Arts: N/A Analyzed Movements: VI Analyzed Techniques: N/A Analyzed Body Composition: VI |
| Wealth | Q-Credit: 29,248 |
Sal had literally no idea how to start unpacking all the information. There was way too much for him to go through, and he had to take a break halfway through the list. It was an absolute nightmare, and he could only imagine the pain of trying to read it aloud to Upgrade.
When his eye traced over the reputation section, it must have taken it as a sign that he wanted to list more of the known relationships that Upgrade had fostered over the years. A list of more thirty different organizations appeared a few seconds later, and Sal had to tear his vision away from the constantly expanding section in the hopes that it would stop assaulting him with data. He instead went to the areas that interested him the most, namely her skills.
Sal couldn’t be sure, but he thought that his Skill Master ability was giving him a lot more context than he’d have received normally. It broke down each of the different stats for Upgrade’s ability and contained more than a few surprises. The fact that there were grades to each level of skill was news to him, and the ability to evolve them into stronger variants was also new. The Synergy data looked useful for picking skills to later implant, and Sal was excited to try inspecting himself with the visor. A slight shiver of anticipation crawled up his spine, which he promptly ignored.
Sal looked to the bottom of the screen and was surprised to see that it scrolled up for him automatically, containing a host of unseen information that added to Upgrade’s profile. A few things relating to her threat level surprised him. It wasn’t that he was surprised Upgrade was capable; it was more the fact that the visor had understood Upgrade’s equipment and her ability to upgrade it for short periods of time.
Sal stood there for a few more seconds, completely blown away by the onslaught of information that was now at his fingertips. He couldn’t believe how much was on display in such a short space of time.
“You going to just stare at me all day?” Upgrade laughed as she slapped her hands against the surface of the table in a vaguely familiar rhythm.
It snapped Sal’s attention back to her, and he realized he had completely zoned out. With a guilty laugh, he gestured at the visor.
“This thing just gave me a full biography of you. It looks like it’s read the essence from your Q-Card and then cross-referenced it with the System ability that Quest set up. Like, Network and System aren’t even on the list of abilities and it seems to be using them? I can’t make sense of it but it’s incredible.” Sal was trying to get his head around it, but he was coming up blank.
“Okay, first of all…I’m going to want to know everything it told you about me. I’ll be the one to tell you if they’re all lies or not, but I can’t help but be a little curious. Not sure how I feel about having all my information gathered and calculated like that.”
Upgrade crossed her arms, and Sal laughed when her threat level increased slightly on his visor. It really was an incredible piece of equipment.
Upgrade gave Sal a steady look as she gestured vaguely at the revolver on the table. “Did your gun have an ability listed for ‘Shoot’? No, because that’s the function of a gun. Your tracker’s function is information retrieval, and since it was based off Quest’s design, you likely have functionality that incorporates the Network and System capabilities without actually needing the skills. Imagine if you crafted a radio. If you made it correctly, it would naturally intercept available frequencies. You don’t need an ability like Transmit to be able to send and receive messages, as it’s already in the design of the item. Does that make sense?”
Sal nodded, the smile not leaving his face at all. “That makes perfect sense. I’m surprised you only got a pass in your Advanced course for coaching and leadership. Your examples are great.”
Upgrade’s eyes widened, and Sal received a flash of warning from his visor that her threat level had suddenly spiked. He barely managed to evade the swipe from her hands as she tried to take the visor from his face. Her expression was a mixture of disbelief and shock, but after a few moments of staring him down from the other side of the table, she finally calmed down.
“Okay then, what else can you see? You seem to have my academic records, but what else?”
Sal took another step back with his hands raised defensively as he grinned at her. “I’ll tell you, if you promise not to try that again.”
Upgrade tilted her head. “No deal. Now spill. I want to know everything.”
Sal hooked his right foot underneath the bar of the stool and slowly dragged it to where he stood out of range. He made a show of moving it farther away from Upgrade as he took a seat. With a gesture for her to sit down, he realized that he might have been pushing his luck. Upgrade stood with her arms crossed and didn’t look amused. Sighing to himself, Sal explained what he could see.
“You’re no fun. Okay, it gives a comprehensive breakdown of your classes and certifications, with all the license numbers. Your skill is listed with a number of really cool stats, like how far off you are from getting to the next grade of proficiency. It has a list of your efficiencies like essence absorption, mastery, refinement, and calibration. Then, after that—”
“Wait.” Upgrade held up her hand, and Sal was relieved to see that she had finally taken a seat opposite him. She didn’t look as annoyed as before, but rather confused.
“Proficiency grades? Isn’t it a fixed skill? The only change I’ve felt in the last few years was when you untied that knot in my thread. I’ve never felt an improvement in the ability before then.”
Sal shrugged and pointed at himself. “I was thinking that it might be because of the Skill Master ability? Maybe it allows me to interpret skills differently. It doesn’t look like it’s lying, though—I can see that your power could be a lot more potent if I was to undo the other knots. Maybe the visor is just giving me a visual interpretation of what I can sense with my ability?”
Upgrade frowned as she shook her head. “I don’t mean to sound discouraging here, Sal. But I think there’s a problem with that visor. Lombardi is one of our top people when it comes to skills, and I don’t think he’s ever mentioned the possibility of skills evolving after they’ve manifested. Maybe I’m wrong, and your visor is right… But if it’s actually real, then it’s a little terrifying. Don’t suppose it tells you how to build the proficiency?”
Rather than answering immediately, Sal tried out something he was curious about. He had been using the visor without activating his own ability. It was such an alien feeling to have information appear in front of his eyes without having to draw any essence.
Instead of activating the Mythcrafter ability, Sal used the Skill Master one specifically to examine Upgrade’s internal weaves, wondering whether there was anything different since he last checked. As though interpreting his intentions, the visor activated along with his eyes, and Sal was once again rendered speechless by the versatility of the tracker.
Where he previously had seen threads of light, the visor added hard data to explain what he was seeing. It was the replacement of instinct with fact. Each of the knots appeared on the visor like a constellation of stars, with tiny lines drawing out from them. Each line had a percentage of improvement to Upgrade’s ability, and Sal could finally quantify how much he could safely unknot without it harming her.
All of Quest’s concerns were valid. There were some knots that would have thrown Upgrade into a serious imbalance if they had been undone, where she wouldn’t have been able to fuel her own ability because her expended essence would overtake her generated essence. From Sal’s limited understanding, he guessed that Upgrade would be in a permanent state of suffering the dregs if he undid them all.
“It works with my Skill Master ability,” Sal finally admitted as he worked through his thoughts. His eyes locked onto the threads in her body as he continued. “I can’t say for certain, but it’s showing me the knots that can be undone in your ability safely. It’s actually calculating the increase in your stats depending on which knot I look at. I don’t think it would naturally increase your proficiency, though… I think it would raise the cap of your potential.”
Sal mulled over the numbers for a few more moments, switching his focus to smaller knots that he would have instinctively targeted. It was like a minefield, where the wrong choice would result in Upgrade’s essence generation falling into negative numbers. After maybe five separate inspections, Sal was left with the thought that he was insanely lucky to have avoided certain disaster when he undid that first knot.
Upgrade’s palms stopped pattering against the table as she stared at Sal in confusion. “Every fiber of my being is hoping that you’re right, and that it’s all this easy and possible. The rational part of my brain is constantly reminding me that you’ve barely been enrolled for two months and you’re bound to screw up eventually. You can craft evolutionary items, implant traits into equipment, unknot the abilities of others…and now, you’re able to discern every little thing about people you look at? It sounds crazy when you say it out loud, doesn’t it?” Upgrade shook her head as she looked down at her palms.
“I never thought I would be the type of person who would be jealous of other people. Hell, my ability managed to alienate half of Quest Academy when I was enrolled here. I want to help train you up to be the best Crafter you can possibly be, but it looks like we’re nearing the end of that road already. Everything you’re talking about here is way outside of my skill set. Your Mythcrafter ability managed to produce three incredible pieces of equipment in just a single weekend. A single Rare grade would take my top second-years at least a month to complete.”
Sal felt a sudden pang of guilt at Upgrade’s crestfallen expression. He thought she’d be overjoyed to find out that her power could become stronger, but it was as if he had crushed her dreams. He didn’t know what to do, but Upgrade shook her head and forced a smile.
“Sorry, Sal—you can ignore that. I’m just a little shaken by all this. What you’ve created is incredible, and far beyond any of the expectations I could have placed on your shoulders. Just a few weeks ago, I saw a piece of equipment that is guaranteed to become a Mythic-grade weapon. That absolutely blew my mind, and it was a joint effort with all of us working together to make it happen.”
Upgrade gestured at the revolver and monocle that sat on the table. “Now I’m thinking that we probably held you back. Two of your pieces here have the potential to get to Mythic grade, and all it took was some materials and a sleepless night.”
Sal sat quietly as he listened to Upgrade. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but it still was a shitty situation. It was horrible to think that he had somehow crushed Upgrade’s spirit in the process of making the revolver and visor. An awkward silence enveloped the room and Sal could see that Upgrade was about to backtrack on her comments.
He raised his hand. “Can I talk for a minute?”
Upgrade faltered, and he could see in her eyes that she was ashamed of herself. He didn’t need the monocle to read the emotions clearly visible on her face.
“I’m absolutely terrified of demons.” Sal smiled. He could see that Upgrade wanted to interject, but he raised his hand even higher to indicate that it was still his turn to talk.
“I’ve grown up hating my ability. It caused me headaches whenever I looked at myself in the mirror and whenever I looked at powerful people. Sometimes, it would activate by itself and I’d get a massive fuck-off migraine. That was not a fun time growing up, but it got worse because I couldn’t tell people what my ability was. Any time I tried to replicate an ability, I would hurt myself because my body couldn’t handle it…or I’d be successful and hated by other kids who thought I was stealing their power.” Sal laughed as he looked at Upgrade.
“Honestly, I’m not trying to throw a pity party or wanting you to feel sorry for me. I just want you to understand the person I was when I first walked through the doors of Quest Academy. Yes, it’s barely been two months, but in that time, I’ve managed to create an ability that’s my own. It’s not something that I ‘stole’ from someone. It’s something completely new that I created myself. Yes, I borrowed your ability for a bit and yes, I did absolutely trash that machine, but you know what I mean.”
Upgrade smiled slightly but didn’t interrupt.
Sal placed a hand on his chest as he looked at her earnestly. “Like I said, Upgrade, I’m terrified of demons. I’ve never aspired to be a Hero, yet I’m surrounded by the incredible people with the determination and drive to protect others. I feel guilty that I’m constantly hiding away in a workshop, tinkering with inventions and blueprints when I could be out there in the field, learning how to take down demons. Every two minutes, I’m reminded by the lecturers that we’re at war and that we’re losing. All that does is heighten my sense of dread that I’m not going to be of any use out there.
“This gun? It was an idea by Barry and Quest, so I could hide in the back of my team and take out demons from afar. I don’t even know that I’d have the courage to pull the trigger, if I’m being honest. This visor? I’m supposed to have countless traits that I borrowed from Heroes during outings that I could imbue into it. How many did I go on? Zero. I made every excuse possible to avoid leaving the campus because I’m a coward. You’re sitting over there, telling me that you’re jealous? I saw you rush into a dungeon, killing demons left, right, and center. You were fucking incredible, and you’re a Support! Just like me.”
Sal’s throat tightened as he fought to push his emotions down. He let out an aggravated sigh as he shook his head. “I can’t for the life of me understand why you’d be jealous. If anything, I’m the one who’s jealous of you. I have so much that I still need to learn, and I want you to keep training me. Without your encouragement, I wouldn’t have gotten this far.
“Also, we’re nowhere near the end of the road. I don’t even know what Ethical Crafting or Technocraft are, let alone Synthesis Techniques? There are countless things you know that will make me a better Crafter, and if I’m able to make something incredible, it’ll be because of your help and guidance. Actually, without you, I’d have probably died with that stupid shirt that sucked all my essence dry.”
Upgrade snorted before she looked at the ceiling and let out an agonized groan. “My life would have been so much less complicated if you had just let me fall on my sword as a failed mentor. But fine, have it your way. Just remember that you asked for this.”
Sal smiled as he got to his feet, happy that Upgrade no longer looked upset. Her next words, however, froze him in place.
“We’re going to go to a dungeon together, and I’m going to show you how to kill your first demon.”