Chapter 83 – Reset
Chapter 83 – Reset
Sal showered for well over an hour. His mind was still firing on all cylinders, thinking about everything Erika had said to him. There were a lot of accusations that he needed to unpack, but also a lot of harsh realities that he had been avoiding since he stepped foot in the academy. Her opinion was that he had an overpowered ability, and he couldn’t refute that.
Being able to replicate the abilities of others gave him an unbelievable amount of versatility, but he summoned an excuse almost immediately. Prestige had recognized his essence as Skill Master with just a glance, and Quest had successfully registered that skill onto his Q-Card. Mythcrafter had been the anomaly that hadn’t been seen before, which meant Skill Master was more common. Why hadn’t he heard of other people with the Skill Master ability launching to the top of the rankings?
Sal knew that it was a foolish thought the moment he had it. There was no way for him to know what powers the top rankers used. There could very well be Skill Master users in the top ranks, all doing what he could be doing too. The other consideration he had to make was that he was at Quest Academy.
Imprinting and Implanting were new technologies that really synergized with his ability, allowing him to permanently take abilities of his own creation. Yes, it had been a complete accident the first time when he created Mythcrafter, but he was sure that he could do it again under the right circumstances. All he’d need was a bit of practice and it would be fine.
He lifted his head and let the hot droplets rain down on his face. He ran his hands through his slick black hair as he considered his next move. Self-preservation was high on his list, and that wasn’t going to change any time soon. He wanted to help people, but not at the expense of his own life. Self-sacrifice wasn’t something he saw as noble, but rather as foolish. It wasn’t to say those kind of people were wrong; he just wasn’t like them. Divinity was the perfect picture of a Hero, as she was prepared to do whatever it took to protect everyone around her. Sal knew he wasn’t like her, and that he likely never would be.
The big question in his mind was whether he should start collecting the abilities of the people around him. He was already able to store them onto his visor, so it would give him an entire arsenal of abilities that he could alter to fit his current capabilities. With the addition of that breathing technique from Gallant, the Body Manipulation from Vanessa, and Healing from Rochelle, he’d be able to rapidly increase his capabilities. It wasn’t like he was starved of Q-Cred and forced into a corner with all this. He could start spending it on himself to ensure that he was developing faster.
Thinking back to his previous goal of working with his family in the Argento Auction, Sal knew that he could never go back to that kind of life. He’d be racked with guilt if anything happened to his friends that he could have helped prevent. Sitting in a workshop and hiding away from the world wasn’t going to cut it either. He had already seen how that had strained his friendship with Divinity and Barry. Well, with Divinity. He wasn’t sure Barry gave two shits about the time they spent apart.
“Fuck…” Sal breathed as he reluctantly turned off the supply of water.
He stood there as the cold embraced him, wondering what he was going to do. He had overthought every single thing since he was a kid, and that hadn’t eased off as he reached adulthood. He needed to go to the tower in a week with the rest of the team. They needed to clear five floors. Those were the main things he needed to focus on, but all he could see was Erika’s face, rolling her eyes as she admitted to letting him get hit a few times.
He clenched his fists, pressed them against the tiled wall, and let out a shuddering breath. Few things were capable of making him angry, but Erika seemed to have a knack for it. She expected him to embrace his power to its fullest, essentially changing his role and personality in the process. Someone who rushed into battle head-on, with devastating powers, wasn’t likely to be analyzing everything around them.
“Another excuse,” Sal groaned as he stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel from the metal radiator.
No matter what direction he moved in, he found an excuse that made him the martyr and everyone else the villain. Divinity and Erika had told him some harsh truths, and he wasn’t sure which direction his future was going to take him. Divinity feared that he’d step into a portal and never return, which sounded like absolute insanity to Sal.
Erika felt like he was squandering his powers. He didn’t want to think that his life path was set in a fixed direction, and that he had more control over his destiny than what Divinity had predicted in her countless futures. A part of him wanted to tell Erika to get the implant of Skill Master so she could be the Hero she so desperately wanted him to be. It was petty, but he was annoyed that everyone around him had such high expectations of him when he just wanted to find his own way.
The idea of starting a guild had sounded fun when Vanessa had pitched it to him. He’d get to continue crafting and potentially make a big difference with his creations. It would make good money and give him a comfortable life, and the equipment he gave to Heroes would increase their survivability.
Why did he have to rush into battle himself when he could provide so much more value to society as a Mythcrafter? Even if he did have the greatest powers of the top-ranked Hunters and Heroes, he was still only one person. In a worldwide demonic war, a single person wouldn’t be able to feasibly make a huge amount of difference.
If he had a guild, he’d be able to make a concentrated effort in making change and retaking territories. Yes, it would mean that he wouldn’t be leading the charge…but his power let him help others reach their full potential. That had to be a major point in how his powers weren’t suited to being on the front lines.
Sal dried himself off and dressed up to the waist before moving to his small workshop area in the dorm. The shard of dungeon heart was still resting on the side of his desk, and he barely acknowledged it. His eyes instead landed on the metal case containing his visor. He’d Appraise the shard later when he calmed down.
It was funny to think that a couple of months ago, he had won it for coming third in the rankings. He was so excited to inspect it and see how it could be utilized in his crafting, but now it was just a reminder of how quickly his priorities were shifting. It took a few moments to clip the visor onto his still damp hair. Erika had told him that he needed to look in the mirror, and Sal was going to take that advice literally.
Ever since the moment that he got the visor, he had been curious about his own stats, but hadn’t been able to check them out. Looking at his torso hadn’t activated the ability out in the woods, so he assumed that he’d need to look at his reflection to have a better chance of success.
No matter how many people he had inspected with his visor, he hadn’t been able to see the stats that Cooper had talked to him about. Perseverance and Spirit weren’t present in any of the Analysis reports. The real question was whether he was going to be able to see them when he looked at himself as the visor was innately connected to his essence and body.
Sal moved back into the bathroom and wiped the mirror with a hand towel to better see his reflection. It took a few moments before the visor flashed in recognition, detailing the information that Sal was so curious about. To be able to improve, Sal needed to know where his baseline was.
| Name | Salvatore Argento |
| Alias | Myth |
| Class | Support |
| Profession | Current: Student, Quest Academy Previous: Appraiser, Argento Auction |
| Rank (Hero) | Hunter Bureau: Current Rank | 48,944th Guild Association: Current Rank | 0 Quest Academy: Current Rank | 3rd |
| Accreditations | Challenge Crests: 3
Specialist Classes:
Certifications:
|
| Academic Report | Mandatory Modules:
Proficient (75%)
Pacing Well (60%) Elective Modules:
Excellent (90%)
Exemplary (100%) |
| Ability | Skill Name: Skill Master | Rating: VII Skill Category: Replication Skill Mastery: 64% Skill Efficiency: 100% Progress to Next Rating: 82% Evolutionary Capability: Yes Potential Cap: XV Natural Synergy: Amplify | Configure | Enhance Skill Name: Mythcrafter | Rating: XV Skill Category: Invention Skill Mastery: 18% Skill Efficiency: 41% Progress to Next Rating: 5% Evolutionary Capability: Yes Potential Cap: XXX Natural Synergy: Construct | Concept | Refine |
| Essence | Essence Type: All Essence Gates: 42 Essence Absorption Rate: 62% Essence Control: 84% Essence Refinement: 29% Essence Calibration: 35% |
| Physical | Strength Rating: III Mobility Rating: IV Speed Rating: III Fitness Rating: III Current Status Effects: Injuries: None Illnesses: None |
| Reputation | Ameye Locomotion: Known Argento Auction: Revered Bastion Colonies Families: Unknown Credit Floor: Well Known Doom Council: Known Doom Society: Known Guild Association: Known Hunter Bureau: Known Quest Academy: Well Known |
| Scout Status | Reavers Guild: Interested (Sponsorship, Tier 2) Delvers Guild: Interested (Tier 1) Cirque Guild: Interested (Tier 1) |
| Threat Level | Analyzed Equipment: V Analyzed Martial Arts: N/A Analyzed Movements: III Analyzed Techniques: Scouting (24% Calibration) Traps (7% Calibration) Warding (6% Calibration) Analyzed Body Composition: IV |
| Wealth | Q-Credit: 6,295 |
Sal moved through the whole block of text, and it annoyed him to see that the stats he was looking for didn’t appear. Maybe it meant that the level of the device was too low and he needed to wait for it to evolve further over time? Either way, it didn’t give him a huge amount of new information other than a marginal bump in his essence-related stats.
What did catch his eye was the fact that the Mythcrafter ability was able to evolve into another ability. That alone was enough to make his mouth turn dry. The cap for the ability was thirty, and he was already at fifteen. The same could be said for Skill Master, which could apparently evolve in time too. It was at seven, and could go to fifteen before it had any chance of evolving. Those numbers felt surreal, and Sal didn’t want to dwell on them as it would likely take years to get any sort of movement with them. He had essentially spent his whole life avoiding using the Skill Master ability, and when he used Purple Punch during the registration, it had heightened his grade to a seven. Mythcrafter had been created at fifteen, which just showed the disparity between the skills.
When Sal spied the Scout Status tab and saw that there was a new entry, he was curious to know why Cirque was suddenly showing an interest in him. He had only come across them when he used the visor on Prestige and saw that she was previously the guildmaster of Cirque.
Did that mean that the cloaked people were all members of Cirque? Had he impressed them during the exercise? Sal decided that he’d have to wait to find out. There was no point in worrying about something he didn’t have any control over. If there was a formal process for talking to the guilds and giving an answer, he’d happily tell the Delvers Guild to go fuck themselves. He was loyal to Vanessa, and after hearing about what she had gone through with them, he had no intention of going anywhere near them. If he was able to pull Sakura away from them too, that would be a bonus.
Sal wasn’t sure what to make of the Analyzed Techniques section of the report. Was the visor learning from watching certain actions being performed? He had watched Brophy moving through the forest repeatedly with his visor equipped, which might have given him a bonus amount of progress, but he wasn’t sure.
His Physical capabilities had improved, though, as they fell somewhere in line with the average student he came across. He was nowhere near the Brophys, Erikas, or Divinitys of the world, but it was a good start. The last thing that caught his attention was the new rank that he had achieved with the Hunter Bureau. Sal was almost bottom of the barrel—in the forty-eight thousands—as he was sure there were only fifty thousand registered with the bureau at any one time. Brophy hadn’t been active for years and had still managed to maintain a rank in the top thousand.
Sal scanned through the rest of the report to see whether there was anything useful and saw that there were a few suggestions of recommended abilities for him to add. One of them was Blathnaid’s Construct ability, which would be easy to replicate. Whisper’s Amplify ability was there too, as well as Chatfield’s Concept. Even Vanessa’s Configure ability was among the best Synergies, which left Refine and Enhance. Sal made a mental note to check them out in the list that Quest had given him. Maybe there was a piece of equipment he could use specifically for crafting that would allow him to use all the Synergies at once?
Lastly, there was a slight uplift in the amount of Q-Cred in his account, which he guessed came from the schematic sales on the Credit Store. The balance on his account was quite high, and Sal wondered whether he should do some retail therapy to distract himself from the feelings of inadequacy gnawing at him from every angle. It wouldn’t make him feel better; he knew that already.
Sal took off the visor and placed it down on the edge of the bathroom sink. Erika had goaded him about using his powers, but he disagreed with her.
The best work he could do was from the workshop, and when Quest gave him the green light to unknot abilities, he’d add even more value to the various Hunters, guilds, and students. Erika was right about one thing, though. Sal was finding excuses to avoid conflict, and he needed to improve himself to have any shot at making it to graduation. Sure, Quest and the other lecturers might pull the strings to ensure he crossed the finish line, but he wanted to earn it himself.
Sal looked at his reflection in the mirror as he leaned against the sink. “We’re going to clear the tower floors. After that, we’re going to take Brophy up on his offer to clear some dungeons. Any outings that come up, we’re going on them. Scavenger runs? We’re going to do them all.”
He stared at himself as he reaffirmed his intentions. Erika had told him that he wasn’t a coward. He just lacked conviction, which was what irritated her so much. His scatterbrained thoughts of fear, denial, and anxiety had likely been pushed at her on a daily basis. Sal didn’t know whether he’d be able to calm those voices, but he was going to try to improve his actions.
Sal stared at his reflection for a few more moments as he thought about the affirmation he had just committed to. He needed to prove to himself that he could overcome his fears and push forward like a real Hero. He wasn’t going to compare himself to others, as he wasn’t like other people. The goal was to not only keep up with those around him, but to surpass them and keep his spot at the top of the class. He’d become a Savior with his friends, and he’d deserve his place among them.
Just as he was about to wipe the mirror again, his tablet vibrated with a message from Brophy. He didn’t even need to read it to know that it was another picture of materials he had found at home. Sal had an entire week without classes and without distractions. Barry and Divinity were still in the Reclaimed Zone, preparing for their fourth ambush. He’d have a full week to work on his own projects.
Sal glanced at his tablet as he picked up the visor. The first step was always going to be the hardest.
It was time to restore Gallant to his former glory.