Calling for Rain ( 8 )

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Mercury

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Idiot fell for it.

The old ' Pretend to be a prisoner ' strat, it gets them every time.

Luckily my name doesn't just mean an element, rather it also has allusions to a roman god... a perfect disguise while still keeping to Origin's standards. Heheh... I got so much Data, now we know what we need to target.

O' Mask of Death, O' Mask of Life.

Umbra, I bring this to you, as your Mask of Life-!

Heheh... this knowledge is perfect.

| You are being recalled by Umbra. |

| Warping... |

- " I have returned, Lord Umbra. "

" As expected. What Information did you gather? "

- " Much, my lord. My class certainly helped me, thank you for that opportunity. His weakness mainly lies within the two machines by his side, Syn and Scarab. They are responsible for a seemingly large amount of his strength. Next target should be Jotun, his daughter. Dice next, she is the most dangerous should she find a way to interfer with your powers. Next, Anise. She is a likewise high threat target, but less important than the other factors. "

- " Have they noticed the bug? "

" No, My lord. "

" Interesting... How do you suggest fighting them. "

- " Divide and conquer, Dice has a tendency to wander off especially when there is a female vying for Cobalt, Anise often secludes herself to study, Jotun will not refuse a challenge. Syn and Scarab will be harder to remove from him, but they could potentially be disabled with an EMP."

" Good. Prepare my strings, we will set off to find a suitable mate for Cobalt. A honey trap, if you will. Any lady in Origin will do, but see if you can borrow a favor from Lavender. Leave me, Specter."

- " As you wish, my lord. "

...

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Cobalt

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I fucking hate reporters... jeez, that whole thing took two hours... I didn't even say that much, hopefully I didn't fuck up...

Ugh... alright, well I guess I could continue working on this gun... or,

I... don't really know. Maybe I should take a nap but... huh... I wonder where that reporter went... it's almost like he disappeared ... whatever.

I guess I'll experiment a little more with the Gauss project... I wonder what I'll name that weapon anyhow...

How about this, I am going use my skill and stat points-!

System. Place my stat points directly into INT and DEX, 50/50.

| Confirmed. |

Alright, shall we go with skills now? Open the skill menu System-!

| Confirmed. |

| Strengthening Arts |

| Weapon Arts |

| Alchemical Skills |

| Magical Skills |

| Void Skills |

| Turret Skills |

| Tamer Skills |

| Nanotech Skills |

I see Void Skills. I am going to look at those, if you don't mind system. What a day.

| Don't even fucking bother. You aren't going to fucking use them anyways. |

I agree but shut the fuck up.

| Confirmed |

Alright, now we can get down to business

| Void Skills - Displaying... |

| When using void energy, be careful to properly manage it. Unlike Mana, Alchemy, Ether, and other forms of energy Void isn't managed by the System Automatically. As such, it is less predictable and it sources can't be properly traced nor targeted. Use caution. |

| ' Energies ' are meant to compliment Magic capability by accomplishing feats it cannot, for example ' Alchemy ' is a form of energy meant to bypass the physical world of StarDuster, a limit magic isn't able accomplish. |

| Listing specializations of Void Energy... |

| - Calamity [ Unknown { Warning: Unstable } ]

| - Radiance [ Unknown ]

| - Abyss [ Large AoE damage { Warning: Soul Based } ]

| - Consumption [ Attacks from within attacks { Warning: Unstable } ]

| - Corruption [ Mind Control / Manipulation ]

I know three of them... how?

| Answer: They have been seen before, Abyss was used by Mage ' ----- ', Consumption was used by ' Jotun ', Corruption was used on ' Crimson ' |

I see. Guess I gotta branch out then, use something different right? What's Radiance...?

| Answer 1: Radiance is a form of Void Energy that opposes Void Energy itself, it is more stable and has the additional property of ' Holy '. |

...?

| ... |

I see.

| Confirmed... adding ' Radiant Void ' to available abilities |

Alright, so now I have Alchemy, Magic, Void, Gun Arts, and CQC combat abilities... the only thing I lack is sight.

I really should get to organizing my abilities in the future....

Alright, what kind of skills are within Radiant Void?

| Skill points grant mastery rank in Void |

Oh, that energy screen correct?

Like how Tungston showed a 101/100 for Alchemy by making a new form of it... so, is this because Void isn't monitored by the System?

| Correct. |

Oh by the way, why is Alchemy managed by the system?

| Well, it is easy. |

Ah.

...

Gotcha. Hmm, anyways... I guess just... put all my skill points into Radiant Void?

| Confirmed |

| Current Mastery : 30/100 Proficient |

Not bad-!

It certainly could be... a lot better.

Though, I sincerely doubt that anyone really has this... Umbra does, I know he does, but... besides him and Jotun with her sword... yeah, that's it I guess... we did kill that Abyss mage right? I thought she used Desolate energy as opposed to Void... whatever.

So... what can I do with Void?

| No Data |

Gotcha, so untill I figure it out it will just be a crafting step... obviously I could force it outside of my body and into like a laser or something but, I assume it does something more than that...

Hmm, maybe I should do that vision thing with Void instead... it would let me use spells at the same time I guess, maybe it will work?

I should probably head to the deck before that just in case, but they are still doing their stupid brawl... Jotun is kind of cleaning them up, she has already taken like 29 of them... there are only about 50, I wonder if she can take them all... I'm rooting for her anyhow.

Still no sign of that reporter... huh.

No trace at all... as if he warped out...

Sigh... Alright, I might as well start finishing that damn pistol. With more mastery over Void Energy maybe I could do something more with it in crafting, like Alchemy crystals... fuck, I have been forgetting to use those.

I gotta remake my gear anyhow... maybe I should just to it now...

Alright. I am determined.

I am going to scrap my current gear, including Fantasm, and instead opt to create brand new gear with Soul and Void techniques as well as properly use Alchemy crystals.

Actually... I wonder if I can make metal out of Alchemy just like Mana... if then... maybe I could do my special metal with Alchemy... and if then... Void...

I have a plan now.

I'll put it in my temporary notepad...

...

1. Experiment with ' Alchemical Metal '

2. Experiment with ' Void Metal / Crystals '

3. Scrap current gear ( and Modifications )

4. Finish the Gauss Pistol with regard to Alchemy and Void.

5. Experiment with Transference

6. Make a new body for Transference

7. Completely transfer over to new body

I was planning to do stuff with transference anyways... if I can make an entire new body for myself then I won't even need equipment.

Let's start with part one then...

Alchemical force gathered within my palms, the illusive yet invisible force repelled the physical world around it like a reverse vacuum, it bended and contorted to my will, the shape pushing the air around it to make way for itself... I contorted it in on itself, it rejected physical form yet couldn't resist it's own force.

It got more and more dense, the shape slowly forming into a small bead, my crafting skills auto-corrected the process I invision for perfection of the object... it didn't snap into form like I expected nor did it bear physical form... maybe it needs a binding...

Or, something to form upon.

Soul, please.

| Deposited |

Cleanse it

| Cleansed |

Perfect... come one now then Alchemical power, form around the stone... if anything can bind and contain an unstoppable force it's got to be the unbreakable will of a Human Soul.

Come on....

The force sparked and attempted to escape from my grasp, the round soul attempting to contain it as hard as it could, though refusing to itself be held down by my power. With more force, I snapped each unto itself... the force melded with the soul, spinning and rotating will gathering speed until...

* Pop-! *

It sizzled and popped, the whirling object slowed, and with it came physical form. A large metal ball, it was as big as a shot-put yet was lighter than anything... in fact, it acted almost as if it were under 0 gravity.

I couldn't use Alchemy to force it into the shape of a sword, but I have other methods to getting things to bend to my will. Such as: Asking.

- " Force contained, in vessel of Alchemy. Bend, become blade. "

I asked the soul contained within the object in the most commanding voice I could accomplish, you may be considering me insane but watch... it shall listen.

And.... there it goes-! A small knife! It's no perfected weapon, and it certainly isn't anything to strong on it's own... but in tandem with everything else I can do... kek, I think my next item will be stronger than any other ever crafted... I still haven't caught up to Endgame world items yet, especially considering all of the updates since I've been gone, but this is getting close.

Why should I grind for weeks to get a top tier sword when I can make one in a day?