Zavier stepped back out into the street with Luna's gauntlet on his left arm and the loops of chain gripped in his other hand. He was a little concerned about using the chain without killing himself. He reviewed his stats:
Zavier Torres, Level: 5
Class: Opportunist
Core Stats:
● STR: 12
● AGI: 12
● END: 13
● INT: 15
● LUC: 12
● CHA: 8
Combat Skills:
● Melee Combat: Basic 1
● Ranged Combat: Basic 1
● Defense: Basic 1
● Tactics: Basic 1
● Attack: 1
● Defense: 1
His agility and intelligence were high enough that he thought he might be able to at least hit some things without blowing himself up. He hadn't paid much attention to his class before but now that he could dive deeper into it he gave it closer scrutiny.
Class: Opportunist. An opportunist is someone who is adept at using whatever is around them to its fullest extent. At lower levels it simply provides small boosts to luck, agility, and intelligence to give advantages in specific melees. As it increases the user may find many different ways to exploit new uses for the skill.
Zavier could tell there was something more that he could almost touch but that was just out of his reach. He just wasn't smart enough to understand yet, but he'd work on fixing that tonight. He'd realized something important when he was at the Bouchard's - he wasn't pushing hard enough. Their levels and just overall competence at using the system had shown him how far behind he was lagging. It was true that they didn't have the same path as he did and they weren't risking their lives for every level, but could he really say he had been?
Zavier shook his head and reminded himself of something he told the kids all the time. What someone else eats doesn't fill me up, he said to himself. It doesn't matter what someone else's situation is, you have to do you. The universe doesn't care if you were given the same deal as someone else or if you got a bum rap. In fact, this new System especially didn't seem to care. It gave out advantages in the wide open, letting everyone know that the best will succeed and the rest will fall behind.
The Bouchards had a pretty sweet setup and he was happy for them, but that didn't fill his stomach. Time for him to do that on his own. He held the end of the chain up and admired the craftsmanship Madison had put into it and the way the silver pen was locked firmly in place at the tip.
He checked his level and saw that he was 13% closer to level 6. He thumbed on his walkie, "Kids, I'm going hunting. I'm going to go radio silent for the next few hours. Tell your mom I'm not sure when I'll be home… oh wait!" He got excited as he remembered his level five enhancement:
Special Attributes
● Enhancements/Impairments:
Tactical Synergy (Level 1): This enhancement has been provided due to your proficiency in planning and your successful attempts to create team tactics. This skill will allow you to create a squad of up to four individuals. At its current level the skill will allow instant mental communication between all members as well as a visual readout of any buffs, impairments, and the current percentage of health for each member.
"Kids, I'm going to come near the house and try to add you to my squad!" He sprinted to the front door and suddenly felt that all 3 of them were within range of his skill. He activated it and his vision was suddenly superimposed with a new screen.
Squad Tactical Readout
Name: Zavier (Squad leader)
Health: 100%
Level Progression: 13%
Enhancements: None
Impairments: None
Name: Tess
Health: 100%
Level Progression: 0%
Enhancements: None
Impairments: None
Name: Cass
Health: 100%
Level Progression: 0%
Enhancements: None
Impairments: None
Name: Luna
Health: 100%
Level Progression: 0%
Enhancements: None
Impairments: None
He could hear the kids' responses in his head.
"Woah!" they chimed in unison.
"What is this??" Tess's voice came through the squad chat.
"I'm sorry honey, new skill. I didn't know exactly what it'd do. But this will let us keep an eye on each other without watching the cameras. What do you guys see?" Zavier asked.
"I can see name, health, enhancements, and impairments," Luna said.
"No experience? You don't see the 'Level Progression' section?"
"No, nothing like that here," Cass said.
"Do you need anything from me?" It was clear that Tess hadn't recovered in the time Zavier had spent at Owen's place.
"No, I don't think s"
*Tess Torres has left the squad*
Zavier sighed at the alert. "Alright kids, I'm going to go hunting. You can keep an eye on me here. Don't get worried unless you see my health drop to zero. If it gets real low I guess come running?" He realized the flaw in this plan as soon as he said it.
"How will we know where to find you?" Cass asked. Good question. One Zavier didn't have an answer to yet.
"I don't know. Just keep the skill active. I'll tell you guys more about it later but the more frequently you use a skill the more it'll develop," Zavier was thinking about the incredible enhancements he'd just seen. "While I'm out try to focus on which direction it feels like I am, listening through my ears, seeing through my eyes, reading deeper into my statuses, things like that. Whatever weird thing you can think of, try. I want to see what we can discover about this."
"And now," Zavier said, "these creatures are about to think my name is Xavier."
"Dad, please don't," Luna pleaded. "Not again."
"That joke doesn't even work dad," Cass added. "It makes no sense."
"Because X gonna give it to 'em!" he exclaimed in glee, the groans from the twins only feeding his joy.
Zavier did a slow turn in the cul-de-sac, not sure what he should do first. If he was being honest, he was a bit bored of killing things in his backyard and he was pretty sure that whatever higher level beings that were watching him were going to be bored of it soon, too, if they weren't already. They'd brought The System with the whole purpose of looking for standout talents and, by a lucky situation, he'd become one of those with an early start. He didn't want to waste what had been given to him by boring whoever he presumed was watching. The System rewarded overcoming risk and improving skills, so it was time for him to push himself. He needed to go into the woods.