Chapter 4 – Synergy

“Could you maybe write a little quieter?” Barry groaned as he cupped his face with his palms.

The canteen was practically devoid of students, and Sal had found Barry seated in a corner, feeling sorry for himself. Judging by the assortment of empty containers around him, he had tried to buy some miracle cure for his hangover.

“Discover any cool effects?” Sal laughed as he gestured at the litter on the desk.

Barry didn’t even look up as he shook his head. A pained sigh quickly followed. “The coffee doesn’t do anything for hangovers. I could barely eat the food stuff, and all it did was make me feel stronger or faster. Useless! Why can’t someone invent a hangover cure? Have you tried Healing? Maybe put that on the list.” Barry crossed his arms and cradled his head on them like a makeshift pillow.

Sal thought about it before writing down Healing as a potential attribute for the tracker. He had already incorporated a similar trait into that exoskeleton design, and he now understood that it was because of the interaction with Healer Bitch.

“How would a tracker benefit from a Healing trait? I’d probably just be able to see that you’re really hungover?” Sal asked aloud, eliciting another painful moan from Barry.

It sounded somewhere between despairing and frustration. With the slightest wave of one of his hands, Barry mumbled his thoughts. “Restoration knows how to fix things…why can’t you combine it with Healing? You’ve made new skills before—why can’t you just create something?”

Shock crossed Sal’s face. Surely, it couldn’t be that simple. He had internally made a weave during the Skill Registration, but there was no way that he’d be able to do that again without an insane amount of internal essence.

“I’d have no idea where to even start with that, to be honest. I’d need like a list of compatible skills that have good synergy…”

Sal froze before quickly reaching into his pocket to retrieve his tablet. He flicked past his notifications and navigated to the messages he received from Quest. It took him a few moments to get the list that Quest had sent him a few weeks ago.

Barry propped his chin onto his wrists as he looked at Sal in confusion. “Did you just go really quiet, or did I lose my sense of hearing?”

Rather than answering, Sal continued to scan through the list. A wide smile formed as he found a whole new range of possibilities.

Barry watched him for a while before he coughed dramatically. “Your team captain needs some sympathy. That’s a direct order.”

Sal laughed and gave Barry a passing glance before his eyes snapped back to the list. “You’re not team captain yet. You can throw your authority around when we get to the inter-cohort competition, okay?”

With a sigh, Barry pushed his hands against the table and sat back in his chair. “I’m going to try some water this time. It’d be pretty pathetic if I squandered all my Q-Cred on nursing a hangover. Do you want anything?”

Sal shook his head as Barry wearily got to his feet. As he was about to move, Sal glanced up at him. “Sorry, yeah. Actually, can you get me a coffee? I’ll pay you back later.”

Nodding, Barry shuffled off in the direction of the vendors, making pained noises as he went.

Sal smiled and navigated to the Analysis ability on the list and looked for what Synergies were listed there. To his surprise, there was a breakdown that showed all its documented aspects and variations. Was it because it was a module that was taught at the academy, or had Beck decided to create a comprehensive breakdown of the skill?

His gaze moved down the list and he started to wonder how powerful the Analysis ability truly was.

Analysis Categories:

• Vital Scanning

• Technique Reading

• Threat Identification

• Weakness Detection

• Power Level Measuring

• Enhanced Perception

• Enhanced Probability

• Enhanced Deduction

• Body Language Analysis

• Status Reading

Analysis Synergies:

• Interface Creation

• Interface Manipulation

• System

• Indexing

• Networking

Analysis Complements:

• Appraisal

• Investigation

• Perception

Sal had to look up some of the terms to see what they actually did. Many of them looked like they covered the same thing, and he wanted to be sure that they were actually different. Vital Scanning sounded self-explanatory, in that it would allow him to see the vitals of whoever he was looking at. It would be useful for a Healer, but maybe he’d be able to see the remaining health of an enemy if he incorporated it into the tracker?

Technique Reading was one he had to look up, and he was surprised to see that it broke down the movements of opponents. If they were using martial arts, he’d be able to predict their trajectory and understand the style of fighting they were using. He saw there was a list of Synergies available that matched his Replication category, but Sal didn’t want research skills he didn’t need right now.

Beck had asked him about Threat Identification the other evening. Sal hadn’t been able to assess the threat level, but apparently it was a whole skill in itself.

Weakness Detection was exactly what it sounded like and would be useful in learning how to take down opponents more efficiently. It would also help him identify the blind spots of his team and help cover them.

Sal was so engrossed reading that he didn’t notice Barry coming back and placing a coffee in front of him. He was hastily writing out notes of which abilities would be must-haves for the tracker, and which ones he could probably do without.

Rather than interrupting Sal, Barry leaned across the table and stared at the list with his chin propped up lazily on the palm of his right hand. A few more moments of silent scratching noises passed before Barry made his opinion known.

“It looks like you’ve come up with quite the shopping list. It doesn’t seem very likely that you’re going to be able to mash all of them into the tracker, does it?”

With a frown, Sal’s eyes turned purple as he activated the Mythcrafter ability and flicked through the different blueprints that he had memorized.

“The Legendary sniper rifle had seven abilities, with most of the Rare and Epics having around three to four. I don’t think I’ll be able to make something that uses all of them.”

With a blink, Sal’s eyes returned to their silver color as he gave Barry a grimace. “Even if I could combine a load of them into a single skill, I think the grade of ability would end up pushing the material and craftsmanship requirements up dramatically. I’m still getting my bearings with crafting, and while there have been a few incredible outcomes, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the team at the workshop. This is a personal project that I want to do myself.”

Barry nodded as he took a drink from his glass of water. He looked off to one side for a moment and then back at Sal. “Do you need it to be incredible right now?”

Sal gave him a quizzical look as he leaned back and sipped his coffee. “Well, obviously I’d want it to be the best it can be. I don’t want to waste the materials I get for it.”

Barry waved his hand as though Sal missed the point. “You’re able to upgrade and repurpose things, right? Why don’t you make something basic…like really basic…and improve it over time as you get stronger and more capable in your skills? It’s not like you’re in a race or anything. You just need something that can help you use the Analysis ability, right?”

Sal paused and bit his lip before answering. He gave Barry a level stare before his shoulders slumped in defeat. “Okay, yeah… I know I don’t need it to be incredible right now, but I kinda want to make something amazing. That sounds arrogant, doesn’t it?”

Barry grinned as he raised his glass to Sal’s cup. “He finally admits to being as flawed as the rest of us! Cheers to being a conceited piece of shit!”

Sal laughed as he tapped his cup against Barry’s glass. “I wouldn’t say conceited, just…ambitious? Like, I’ve never had an ability that allowed me to create things, and now I’ve gotten all this potential and capability. I don’t want to sit on my hands and let it go to waste. It’s exciting being able to see all this incredible equipment that I could probably make!” Sal pointed at his notes with an enthused grin.

Barry nodded as he reclined in his chair with a sigh. “You’re not really wasting your talents, though. You’ve already made a weapon that can turn into a Mythical grade at some point in the future. If I was you, I’d be dialing it all back and selling common shit that could evolve into Mythic grade. All you’d have to do is sell people on the possibility of it evolving, and then the onus is on them to make it happen. Not you.”

Sal stared at Barry in surprise. “That’s it. You’re a genius, Barry!” He added new notes while Barry stretched out with a yawn.

“Glad you’ve finally noticed. So, just so we’re on the same page, what specifically makes me a genius in this instance?”

Sal gestured at his notes and barely glanced up to meet Barry’s inquisitive gaze. “Evolution. I could create the blueprint of the perfect tracker that has all the abilities I want it to have. Then I just need to devolve the design of it through each of the grades until it’s at a level I can comfortably create. The materials would still need to be incredible to support the final evolution, but the crafting requirements should be much more straightforward.”

Barry placed his glass on the table with a heavy sigh. “I don’t want to burst your bubble, but there’s a flaw in this plan. How will your tracker gather the essence required to evolve? It’s not like it can kill demons and siphon them dry. You don’t want another instance of the shirt sapping all your internal essence.”

Sal winced and gave Barry a deadpan look. “Who told you?”

Barry grinned and tried his best to look innocent. “That’s not important. What will you do about the evolution?”

Sal continued to stare at him before finally relenting. “I don’t know yet, but there has to be a way for it to work. Mythcrafter will likely find the solution, but maybe it could gather atmospheric essence? The sniper rifle used the most outlandish tethering ability that sounds ridiculous. Just locking onto the target with bullets was enough to siphon off essence. Maybe the tracker could lock onto opponents and drain their essence?”

Barry snorted and shook his head with a laugh that turned into a cough of pain. “Yeah, your Vital Scanning would be pretty hilarious if that was how it leveled up. Imagine checking to see if someone is okay and you accidentally kill them by siphoning off their last remaining essence?”

Before Sal could say anything, Barry pointed at one of the abilities on the list. “What does Indexing do?”

Sal grimaced at the thought of accidentally siphoning essence from people. He moved through the list and navigated to the Indexing ability.

“Subcategory of Knowledge Manipulation? Encodes and preserves any and all sources of information. Allows the user to recall information of anything they’ve seen in perfect detail.” Sal looked up at Barry. “Do you think that’s Recall’s ability? I met him at the Doom Society, and he did something like that with Divinity’s power.”

Barry offered a shrug as he gestured at Sal. “You sure you don’t already have it? You’re able to look up blueprints with Mythcrafter despite them not being in front of you. Sounds like a memory ability is incorporated into it somehow.”

Sal shook his head. “That’s different, I think. I’ve always been able to do that with Appraisal, and it’s listed as a complementary skill of Analysis. Maybe that’s the crossover? Indexing sounds useful though, because it wouldn’t be limited to items. I’ll have to check and see if that’s Recall’s ability.” Sal formulated a plan in his head as he looked at the list of skills.

“Thanks for this, Barry. I don’t think I would have been able to figure this out without you. You sure you don’t want me to make some equipment for you?”

Barry gave him a slight shake of his head. “No offense, but I want to master my abilities without relying on equipment. Maybe that’ll change in the future, but for now, I need to learn as much as possible with my own abilities.”

Sal smiled and couldn’t help but respect his decision. “When you change your mind, just let me know. This tracker idea could end up being the perfect tool for a Controller class!”

Barry nodded in agreement, but his smile was still playful. “See, that’s where I think you’re missing the trick. You’re making a tracker that gives you all this information, but you’re still going to stay in the Support class? The sword you made is fantastic in Anthony’s hands, but what will you use to increase your combat proficiency? No offense, but I don’t think you’re the upfront and personal type of combatant. Why aren’t you making a gun or something for yourself? Throw on an evolutionary trait, and make something that’ll grow with you over time?”

Sal shook his head with a laugh, and got back to writing notes, but Barry persisted.

“The inter-cohort fights aren’t going to be easy, Sal. We’re going to be up against much tougher opponents, and everything from this point forward is going to be much harder on us. You’ll need something that can keep you in contention for the Savior class. Otherwise, I’m going to end up taking your spot!”

Sal looked up at Barry with a grin. “Didn’t you just make the case of how inhumane it would be to have a tracker that saps essence from targets? But a gun is suddenly the solution to my problems? I’ve barely seen any of them, let alone fired one…so I wouldn’t know the first thing about making one. The sniper rifle was different, because it was a restoration and upgrade. I don’t know how I feel about using one as a weapon, either.”

Barry crossed his arms and gave Sal a meaningful look, and as a way to placate him, Sal made a show of writing at the top of his notes to look into making a gun with an evolutionary trait.

“Happy?” Sal gestured to the words.

Barry nodded with a grin. “Overjoyed.”