Chapter 52 – OptimiZe

Three days had passed since Sal had started to learn how to control illusions with Barry. He was lucky that the nightmares didn’t come for the last two nights, but he did get a fierce leg cramp the previous night. His daily workout routine was getting a little easier, and he didn’t feel the aches and pains nearly as much.

When it came to his progress with Barry, he was learning a lot more than he had anticipated. His control of the illusions had grown considerably, but it was still nowhere near the point that he could activate it with instinct alone. The other thing that made it difficult was that he needed to refresh his hold on the weave each time he met with Barry as it was too complex to memorize. That understanding made Sal curious whether he should create something and put the ability into it. Divinity made him swear that he wouldn’t step foot into the workshop until he had resolved his nightmare issue.

With that thought in mind, Sal had created a different kind of blueprint for the first time. He drew out the weave of the skill as he saw it in Barry, attaching it to all his open gates. Although the drawing of the weave came naturally to him, the physiology of how it existed within a person was much harder to map out.

Currently, he was taking a break in the canteen and having some food. His eyes traced across the lines he had drawn earlier. Sal didn’t know whether he’d need to study biology to get a better grasp of the human body, or whether it was even necessary at this point. Skill Master didn’t seem to work like Mythcrafter, as it didn’t offer any suggestions to him as he drew out the weave. It was a little disappointing, but Sal didn’t mind; he just needed to memorize the weave and that would be enough.

After he finished eating, Sal pushed his plate to one side and looked around the canteen. It was the first day of the excursion recruitment, and tables were filled with people chatting with one another, trying to team up for the next few weeks. It was a terrifying prospect to think that the people recruited now would be standing side by side in a tower in just over a month.

Divinity had been—unsurprisingly—approached by nearly everyone in the top ranks, but she insisted that she’d be creating a team rather than joining one. Barry was of the same opinion, and Sal respected that. They were both Controllers, so it made sense for them to take on the leadership role in assembling their teams.

Sal’s performance in the Silver cohort during the tournament had made him a popular choice too, with many lower-tier teams reaching out to him to fill the final spots on their team. Because he was a Support, many of the teams wanted to add him in as a candidate who was capable of pulling his weight.

There were also a few others who had actively avoided him. Because Chatfield explained that the rankings of the teams would set expectations, many teams didn’t want to have a high-profile Support who would increase the expectations for little reward. Divinity had suggested that they sit down later that evening to map out the best options for him, but mentioned that a few interested parties would make themselves known during the afternoon. She was cryptic about it and wouldn’t answer any of his questions, so Sal resigned himself to finding out the old-fashioned way.

On the table beside his sketches lay the small metal case that housed his visor and revolver. Students had been given permission to carry weapons around with them to familiarize themselves with having them equipped. Using them against one another was strictly forbidden, and a ridiculous number of white-uniformed attendants were dispatched to ensure no fights broke out.

Sal studied the sketch before finally placing the pen down on the table. He wasn’t going to get any further without some help, and even though he knew it was going to get him a few odd looks, it was worth the risk. Sal reached across the table and picked up the small metal case that housed both his revolver and his visor. Upgrade had improved it for him, so it could house all his cartridges too.

Placing his thumb down on the lock mechanism, he heard a gratifying click before the case opened. Sal didn’t bother looking around to see what sort of reactions he was going to receive. He was already accustomed to getting odd looks for having a completely different uniform from everyone else. You didn’t need to be an Appraiser to appreciate the difference between Epic Grade clothing and the gray garb they were assigned. What difference would it make if he had a glowing red visor and a revolver?

Lifting it up to his face, Sal turned his head to secure the earpiece of the visor. He hadn’t actually worn it since the day in the dungeon because of everything that had happened, but he couldn’t afford to waste more time. With everything coming up, he wanted to have as much information as possible. Sal smiled as the visor flashed upon activating. He looked at the sketch to see whether Analysis had anything to say about it, and to his surprise, it started processing.

Sal tried to nudge it with his intent by imagining the weave of Barry’s ability, and it seemed to do the trick. A humanoid overlay appeared in front of Sal’s vision, which showed how the weave didn’t line up. Sal discarded the page and started again, mapping out the different internal essence gates with his pen. Unlike other skills that he had inspected, Barry’s weave didn’t have a tethering point for activation. Sal, Divinity, and Quest all had abilities that attached to the eyes, while others had them attached to hands and legs. Barry’s seemed to be almost exclusively in the brain. The location was similar to Erika’s ability that Sal had only recently inspected.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Sal busied himself with his work, marking out all the different essence gates. It was only when he was tracing the lines between the gates that he realized that he wasn’t replicating Barry’s body. Only half of the gates were activated, revealing the internal structure to be his own. That wasn’t ideal, as Sal had wanted to study Barry’s ability as it worked on him, but he guessed he wouldn’t be able to do that until he analyzed Barry with the visor.

An hour passed by without Sal noticing. His sketch had become much more detailed than the previous iteration and was essentially a template for him to apply the ability weave.

When it came time to drawing in the weave, Sal hesitated and wondered whether he should take the blueprint and save it to one of the light benches, so he could use the template again and again. Barely half a second later, Sal shook his head and started to draw out the weave. He could always make another one.

Sal smiled as the visor planted the weave over the body, allowing him to trace it out with ease. It took nearly another hour of careful tracing until the weave was fully planted into the template. There was no physiological information displayed and the drawings existed in the constructed silhouette of Sal’s body, latching only to the different essence gates. It was rough, but Sal was happy with it.

Before his pen could make contact with the table, Sal’s visor flashed and started to process the final image. A screen appeared, and Sal wondered whether it had just used Analyze on the target.

Design Type	Ability Implant Blueprint
Skill Name	Illusion | Rating: X
Skill Categories	Psionic, Energy Manipulation
Skill Mastery	0%
Skill Efficiency	100%
Mental Compatibility	61%
Physiological Compatibility	81%
Evolutionary	Yes
Potential Cap	XV
Natural Synergy	Materialize | Creation | Sleep | Indexing | Deduction

Sal’s sat up straight as he stared at the readings. He had drawn it to better familiarize himself with the weave and used the technique that Upgrade had shown him with the blueprints. Yet he had somehow managed to create a template for an ability implant? Those were the most sought-after benefits that Quest Academy had to offer, with every student vying for a place in the Savior class to access them.

Sal glanced through the numbers to try to make sense of them. His best guess was that the visor channeled his Skill Master ability to better trace out the details. Maybe he couldn’t access it without the visor?

Sal’s eyes kept going back to the categories section. He had only ever seen people with one category for their skill, yet Barry had a combination of two for Illusion. His perfect rating was incredibly impressive, but the fact that it had another five levels it could climb to was even more of a shock. Skill Efficiency of one hundred percent was likely because Sal replicated the perfect version of the ability, but it didn’t explain the compatibility sections.

Compatibility is the combination of Physiological and Mental suitability. It is calculated by assessing the current capability of the implant target. Low Physiological scores indicate that the target would be at risk of personal injury from activating or using the ability. Low Mental scores indicate that the target would be unable to handle the processing requirements for using the ability. These scores can be improved with both mental and physical training, but only to an extent. It is advised to not proceed with implanting an ability when scores are below 75% in either category.

Sal was delighted that the visor answered his question, but after reading the text, his smile faded. It looked like the trove of information that Cooper had put into the visor was useful. It was still unnerving that the tracker was essentially reading his mind, but the results were perfect.

“Is it telling me that I’m too stupid to use the ability?” Sal muttered as he looked back at the sketch in annoyance.

It was incredible to have a breakdown of the damage that could be done to him based on the abilities he replicated, but there wasn’t enough context. Was it because Barry’s ability was at such a high level and he had acclimatized to it over the years? Would it be more manageable if Sal pushed the rating down to a lower level of the ability? All he needed to do was add a few knots to the weave and it would reduce the quality of the ability.

With a sigh, Sal activated his Skill Master ability and looked at the weave to see whether there was anything he could do with just the template. The visor flashed rapidly. Sal closed his eyes out of reflex. When he opened them again, the flashing had stopped, and he was met with a single line of text.

Optimizing Blueprint with Skill Master Ability.

Sal froze as the visor rearranged the drawing by adding a few additional layers with minor tweaks. With trembling fingers, Sal picked up the pen and followed the instructions he was given. He re-mapped the entirety of the weave with a new design that optimized the use of the essence gates Sal had available to him.

Sal ignored the stiffness in his fingers as he continued to map out what the visor was showing him. He desperately wanted to know what the outcome was going to be. In his haste, he made a few mistakes, but the visor wouldn’t proceed with the design until he corrected them. It was almost like a stern teacher hovering over his shoulder, which was annoying, but came with results.

Less than twenty minutes later, Sal held his breath as he waited for the visor to process the finished product. It normally didn’t need any time to load, but this instance must have been causing it some issues. Sal drummed his fingers along the surface of the table as he picked up his pen and then placed it back down again. It was exciting, but his anxiety was amping up.

Blueprint Optimization Complete

Sal exhaled violently as the screen appeared before his eyes. It was not what he had been expecting in the slightest.

Design Type	Ability Implant Blueprint
Skill Name	Illusion | Rating: VI
Skill Categories	Psionic, Energy Manipulation
Skill Mastery	0%
Skill Efficiency	100%
Mental Compatibility	100%
Physiological Compatibility	100%
Evolutionary	Yes
Potential Cap	XV
Natural Synergy	Materialize | Interface Creation | Concept | Deduction

Sal took in the most important details. His compatibility scores had maxed out, so that the ability was completely safe to use in his current state. It had degraded the ability by four ranks to balance things out, but that grade was still really high. Another factor that Sal took great interest in was that the natural synergies changed.

Was it because his natural abilities were in Replication and Invention? Mythcrafter and Skill Master had different categories, so did that change what abilities would best suit him? Interface Creation seemed relatively easy to understand, because it would allow him to make his status screens visible when it paired with Illusion. Deduction he had already used with the monocle, and it would likely make him ridiculously fast with processing illusions.

When he saw Concept, he was reminded of Chatfield, who was able to create weapons and equipment that he saw. It was a step away from Illusion, but a step closer to Mythcrafter. Sal guessed that Materialize had something to do with making the illusions real for a period of time. He went through the different segments again, looking at it proudly. He just needed to keep the blueprint safe so he could try replicating the lower-tier ability in the future.

Illusion (R:6) Blueprint has been saved.

Sal stared at the text in disbelief, finally understanding just how powerful his visor truly was. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice the person who sat down. When she spoke, Sal snapped out of his daze.

“We need to talk.” Healer Bitch stared at Sal with a conflicted expression.