Chapter 38 – HBR

“Did you have a good haul?” Cooper asked with a wide grin as he eyed the backpacks in Chatfield’s hands. Before Chatfield could reply, Cooper had a clear slate set on the stand and was busy withdrawing a series of inspection tools. “Come on, don’t be shy. Show me what you managed to get!”

Chatfield smiled as he placed the first backpack beside the stand, but held the second backpack out of reach.

Cooper’s expression didn’t falter in the slightest as he chuckled. “You drive a hard bargain, but it’s better than nothing. How did the kid do? He’s looking like he’s all in one piece.”

Sal tried his best to smile, but he couldn’t muster the energy to lift a single muscle in his face.

Chatfield came to his rescue with a few choice words. “Cleared it by himself. Not bad, right?”

Cooper’s eyes lit up as he adjusted his spectacles. A smile appeared on his lips, and Sal could have sworn that the man was looking straight through him. Cooper eventually laughed as he tapped the side of his glasses.

“Goodness! You must have put him through hell. His stats took a bit of a leap. Oh, you nabbed some void metal? Excellent.” Cooper’s attention was back on the loot as he sorted through the various shards that Chatfield had acquired in the dungeon.

Sal, on the other hand, stared at Cooper in surprise. He had the Analysis ability with his visor and understood that it gave a range of information points, but stats increasing after a single dungeon raid? It seemed unlikely.

“Excuse me, Mr. Cooper?” Sal started awkwardly as he approached him.

Cooper glanced up without answering.

“You said my stats took a bit of a leap? What did you mean by that? My Hunter Bureau rank?”

Cooper grinned and shook his head slowly, as though waiting for Sal to piece the puzzle together himself. Sal didn’t have the mental capability right now to jump through hoops but tried his best to figure it out.

“I know that Analysis gives threat ratings for people and demons. Did my threat level increase for you?”

Cooper clapped, dropping the tools and the void metal. He looked at Chatfield with excitement. “He has the Analysis ability? Why didn’t you tell me? I could have given him way more information at the start!”

Chatfield shrugged and gestured at Sal to explain. Rather than getting into it, Sal produced his visor and placed it on the table.

“I made this, along with this.” Sal placed the revolver beside the visor and took a step back.

Maybe it was the exhaustion of crafting continuously for days, coupled with the events of the dungeon, but Sal didn’t care whether Cooper knew he was a Mythcrafter. Upgrade and Chatfield didn’t react negatively to his actions, so Sal excused himself from feeling guilty needlessly. He wanted answers about the stats thing, and showing Cooper the equipment that allowed him to use the Analysis ability would save a lot of time and explanations.

Cooper picked up the visor and looked directly at Sal. “May I?”

Sal nodded that it was okay but gestured at the revolver beside him. “The gun powers the visor. They’re synced to me, so I’m not sure if it’ll activate for you.” Sal realized that he actually didn’t know whether it would work.

He saw that Chatfield was able to create a Concept visor that mimicked the design and he was able to wear it without issue, so maybe Cooper would be able to use the visor. Sal didn’t really know. Without any pomp or ceremony, Cooper discarded his glasses and equipped the visor. To Sal’s surprise and Cooper’s delight, the red visor flashed as it activated.

“Extraordinary.” Cooper breathed as he looked around him. “It’s brand new with very little information. Would you like me to give it some stuff to process?”

The question caught everyone by surprise, and Sal was a bit uncertain what he meant by it. Chatfield, on the other hand, knew exactly what was happening and answered on Sal’s behalf.

“Yes, please. Cooper, that would be incredible.”

Sal gave Chatfield a questioning glance, but he just gave a thumbs-up gesture in response.

Upgrade looked amused, and Sal felt like the only one out of the loop.

Cooper reached into his chest pocket and withdrew a series of cards that looked similar to the one Sal had received earlier. He rummaged around in his other pockets before taking out a small core. If Sal wasn’t so exhausted, he would have tried appraising it.

“So, let’s see…your archives are very material based. I can see that you’re definitely a Crafter! With expensive tastes, too…you don’t come across those materials every day.” Cooper was speaking almost to himself as he looked off in different directions.

“I guess this will be a good start then. Let’s show you where to get those materials.”

Sal took a step back as the visor flashed aggressively.

Cooper chuckled as he shook his head. “Simply extraordinary. I have to confess, I threw a chunk of data at it to see if it would break under pressure but it’s lapping it up and is hungry for more. Demon archives, behavioral analysis, location scanning, threat analysis, predictive algorithms…it’s a hungry little bastard, I’ll give you that.”

Sal watched in fascination as Cooper’s hands shuffled through the different cards, each one adding something new to the visor. Cooper chuckled as though he were lost in his own thoughts. “I’ve been getting ahead of myself. There’s no directory in here for Heroes? Just how new is this visor?”

Chatfield cleared his throat, and Sal saw that he was being stared at. Sal didn’t understand why Chatfield stopped answering for him. Stepping closer to Cooper, Sal tried to explain.

“I made them both yesterday. I needed a visor that would help me use the Analysis skill so I could determine the best materials for Crafting. I used it for the first time in the dungeon and read the stats of the leechers inside. It picked up materials too, but that’s about all I’ve done with it.” Sal shrugged at Chatfield to indicate that he wasn’t sure how much information he was supposed to share.

Cooper smiled. “Weapons attuned to you, that you made yourself. Both containing Mythcrafter essence as a key component?”

Sal’s blood suddenly went cold, and he looked at Chatfield in a panic. Neither he nor Upgrade showed any sign of concern.

Cooper chuckled at Sal’s reaction. “Doc Ameye finally has a competitor. I’m excited to see what you’ll do in the future. Just promise you won’t become a self-absorbed asshole like him!”

Before Sal could utter a response or try to explain that his identity was a secret, Cooper began talking again.

“I’ve added in the Hunter Bureau database, as well as the United Guilds Association. You should be able to identify affiliations of any Hero you interact with. The government directory is also publicly available, so I threw that in for good measure. Any criminals or people with a record will show up too.” Cooper took off the visor and placed it down on the desk with a grin.

“Your question about stats, though. Everyone has their own preferences on how they do it. Some put in stars to show potential and proficiencies, while others use gradings. Your system seems to default to Roman numerals. Personally, I prefer numbers with decimals to really track the incremental gains. This visor is a wonderful piece of kit, and you should be damn proud that you made it.” Cooper put his glasses back on and smiled at Sal.

“When it evolves, it will likely utilize the information I’ve granted it. You’ll see more details of what I’m talking about then, but to sate your curiosity now, I’ll tell you what stats changed.”

Sal stared at Cooper in anticipation. Had he really grown in the dungeon raid? There were no real differences that he could feel.

Cooper’s smile faded ever so slightly as he spoke. “Your Spirit decreased by 1.146. Dexterity increased by 0.214. Resilience increased by 2.642.”

Sal wasn’t sure what the numbers meant, but he understood the context. “You’re saying that you’re able to see my stats as numerical values, and they’ve changed by that much?”

Sal didn’t want to believe that was possible, or that things like his Spirit was quantifiable.

Cooper shrugged as he pointed at his glasses. “They haven’t lied to me yet. I will say this, though, because you’re just out of your first encounter. Don’t let your Spirit fall any further. Do things that you enjoy, spend time with friends, and keep yourself happy.”

Sal wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but Cooper continued.

“Dexterity increases are bound to be gradual as you earn muscle memory from your movements. It will take time, but it’s an incredible growth for you in such a short period. Continue to work on your shooting and it will flourish over time, allowing you to get even more out of the revolver. Resilience is vital in our line of work, and you’ll need it to overcome the challenges you’ll face in the future. Keep your mind sharp and your heart steady, and you’ll go far.”

“Thank you, Mr. Cooper,” Sal said sincerely.

He had managed to get a trove of information for his visor and insight into his own personal development. The comment about his Spirit was slightly worrying and Sal didn’t even know what it was. He resolved to find out more about it later.

Cooper’s trademark grin reappeared as he unpacked the rest of the loot from the dungeon. He gave Chatfield a sly look, or more specifically, the second backpack. “What price would you put on the goodwill I just showed your young protégé?”

Chatfield laughed as he handed over the second backpack. “You’ve more than earned it. Sal has a couple of pieces he’s keeping from the boss demon, but everything else is yours.”

Cooper winced and pointed a finger at Chatfield. “What have I told you about calling them ‘bosses’?”

Chatfield sighed as his shoulders sagged. “Fine. Captains. Sal is keeping the loot from the captain.”

Cooper still looked unimpressed, and Chatfield glanced at Upgrade for help. She offered none, which resulted in Cooper rounding on Sal.

“You’ve got it all pre-loaded into your visor, but I don’t mind explaining for the others in your group who seem to have forgotten. We assign ranks to demons to signify their danger level. It’s become a common trend among Heroes to refer to a slightly stronger variant as a ‘boss’ creature rather than their actual rank. You can probably tell why this is a terrible idea. By this logic, a commander variant would be the same as a captain variant. What you faced in the dungeon was closer to a corporal than a captain. At least, that’s if it’s the one that regenerates on the train each instance.”

Cooper muttered the last part, but Sal found himself curious about the phenomenon.

“How is it possible to farm the dungeon when I’ve already killed the demons inside? Like, if someone else goes in, won’t they just find the corpses?” Sal asked earnestly.

Cooper laughed. “Oh, I’m surprised you didn’t know. Weren’t you curious that the entire dungeon was simply a short corridor with a blocked tunnel and a wrecked carriage? We’ve sectioned off dozens of areas in the subway. Each of them is on a cooldown rotation that gives the demons time to regenerate. Rather than have a large dungeon with all the tunnels connected and sprawled outward, we keep it low-level by segregating them and controlling their terraforming. It yields lower quality materials, but it provides an invaluable hunting ground for Trainee Hunters such as yourself.”

“You mean Hero?” Sal laughed at the slip, but Cooper shook his head.

“You’ve got a HBR now. Your Hunter Bureau rank. The card confirms it, so you’ll gain accolades and accreditations from them in no time. They’re a useful association to be a part of, and all they ask is that you continue to fight demons. Where the guilds are excellent associations to be a part of a team, the Hunter Bureau is geared more toward individuals with great power. The top members of the Hunter Bureau could rival the might of an entire top guild.”

Sal felt his mouth dry. It couldn’t be true. A single Hunter could rival the capability of an entire top-ranked guild?

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you ended up getting a welcome gift from them, especially after you cleared a dungeon by yourself on your debut.” Cooper laughed as he continued to inspect the materials at a rapid pace. His chuckles grew in intensity before he glanced back up with a mischievous grin. “Or maybe you’ll be invited to the gala?”

“Cooper,” Chatfield warned, but it did little to stop the man from delighting in his teasing.

He gave Chatfield an innocent smile before looking straight at Sal. “The Hunter Bureau hosts an award ceremony for their top members. Doc Ameye will be there, and he always brings his train. You might want to run a few more of these dungeons and get your stats up, because meeting Doc will change everything you think you know about Crafting.”