greed gamer

January 3rd 2016 Lord Mansion 8:00 PM EDT

I was bored. Which, you know, pretty standard for me, but still not something I actually enjoyed. One would expect that being the son of THE Maxwell Lord would make things interesting. They would unfortunately be wrong. Metropolis in general was pretty stagnant most of the time, with the exception of the crazy villain rampages and alien invasions, and we lived on the outskirts so we mostly avoided those, but between those big events my life was basically just a haze of hedonistic pleasure.

Which don't get me wrong, was pretty cool sometimes, but there's really only so much sex you can have before your body physically can't keep up anymore, and then you're bored AND tired. Today was one of my days off so to speak. It was a Sunday so I didn't have to go to school and I had decided to laze around the pool today on my own instead of with whichever cheerleader I felt like bringing home today. I just wasn't feeling anything today.

Which was was why I literally squawked and fell out of my innertube and into the water when I heard a voice ring in my head.

[Emptiness detected. Activating Greed System.]

I came up sputtering, whirling around the pool to try to see what the fuck had said that, but there was nothing. I was completely alone. I raised my voice "Hello?" I heard absolutely nothing, but I kept my guard up just in case. Telepaths were a thing in Metropolis even if they weren't exactly common, and my old man had made quite a few enemies in his day.

[Activation complete. The Greed System is a unique power that only the host can obtain, the host must obtain valuable objects and items. The more the host obtains the more Greed Points (GP) are accumulated. GP can be used to merge together valuable items to make even more valuable treasures. The more valuable the result of the merge, the more GP is required. Go forth and collect and merge the most valuable items in the world, host!]

I flinched as the words once again slipped through my head like someone was speaking them into my ear. I still didn't see anyone anywhere. I mulled over what the voice had said. Greed System? That sounded...neat. I'd been pretty bored for most of the day, and I didn't see a reason not to play along with this. Worst case nothing happened and it turned out I was nuts, but then, if that was the case that ship had already sailed so fuck it.

I climbed out of the pool, toweling off as I headed into my room. My pool was on a large balcony outside my own floor of the house. Dad wasn't one who enjoyed me being underfoot, and tended to spend most of his time on the top floor of the house, leaving me to my own designs for the most part. I headed into my room, looking around to find something I didn't care much about to test out...whatever the hell this was.

First thing was first, I had to see what I was working with. I cleared my throat. "Greed System, give me my current GP?" I wasn't sure if that was a thing but hell, I might as well just ask right?

[The host has 100 GP available, given as a complimentary gift with installation. The hosts worldly possessions were given as gifts by another entity, and as such do not increase the GP value. Buy, steal, or take valuable items to increase your GP host! Allow your greed to drive you host, all things will belong to you!]

That was interesting, annoying, and a bit unsettling all at once. I made a mental note to try to curb the obviously predatory and somewhat creepy voice that now lived in my head, but for now I had bigger fish to fry. I looked through my room, trying to find something I could use to create a new more interesting treasure. There was plenty of stuff in here but it was mostly valuable and honestly with only a hundred greed points I didn't want to experiment with anything I actually liked. Who knew how much a hundred points was even worth.

In the end I found a crappy mall goth knife I had lying around and a relatively sturdy gold paperweight. I set the two things on the table in front of me. I stared at them for a minute. I tried willing something to happen but it didn't work. Annoying but fine, the voice in my head wanted to talk I would talk. "System, how many greed points do I need to merge these two items?"

[Materials detected. Fantasy themed knife- Value estimation: J rank. Gold paperweight- Value estimation: E rank. Resulting item value: H rank. Cost 100 GP.]

I cursed. What the actual fuck? "System, what the hell? Why is merging some shitty knife so expensive. I don't want to blow my entire point total making some blinged out pigsticker." I wasn't even sure the damn thing would be useful, who the fuck needs a gold knife?

[Material: Gold contains percieved value. Gold's unsuitability for a weapon resulted in the item being on the lower end of the possible spectrum, bringing the item's value down to H rank. H rank materials require a hundred points to merge.]

I let out a frustrated groan but honestly that made sense. I wasn't going to say that having a big ass knife like that entirely made of gold wouldn't net me a chunk of cash. Assuming that was what I'd have gotten. Who knew. I got rid of the paperweight and went hunting around for something else to use. I basically turned my room upside down looking for something I could use, but everything was either complicated electronics or somehow valuable.

Finally I settled on a random half empty beer bottle. Because...well, honestly it was the least valuable thing I could find. I brought it over to the table and set it down. "Ok system, how about this? How many GP to make something out of this?" I gestured down to the two items dramatically, despite probably not needing to because I was talking to a voice in my head.

[Materials detected- Fantasy themed knife- Value estimation: J rank. Half empty bottle of Heineken beer- Value estimation: J rank. Resulting item value: I rank. Cost 10 GP.]

Ok, that told me a few things. First of all J rank was literal trash. Which made sense because that was a ten dollar knife I got off a hobby website. Secondly it told me that each rank the resulting item went up resulted in an increase of ten times in terms of point cost. Which meant making something J rank would cost 1 GP, except considering the whole beer bottle thing J rank was probably the lowest it could go. I nodded. "Ok, merge them."

[Treasure creation initiated. Congratulations on creating your first treasure host first time creation bonus applied, rank of treasure raised by one.]

I cursed again. Fuck! If I had known that I would have made something H rank in the first place or even waited to make something higher rank than that. I sighed, well no use crying over spilled milk. There was a flash of orange gold light and the knife and bottle vanished, replaced by a new blade. The new knife was made of green glass and I could see liquid sloshing inside the blade. "System any chance you could tell me what the fuck that thing is?"

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Liquor Sword- H rank: A viciously sharp knife imbued with an intoxicating poison. Upon insertion into the enemy injects an intoxicating substance into their bloodstream, causing immediate dizziness and a feeling of vertigo. Three uses remaining.]

Ok, well...cool. First of all the knife actually looked pretty awesome, the green glass blade was razor sharp and wickedly curved with a cool tracework of thorns across it. Second of all it proved my Greed System actually worked. I also knew that the thing could appraise stuff for value, which would be pretty useful in the future. I still had ninety points left so I got up and started looking around for some more stuff to merge.

Since I needed to make I grade stuff all my materials needed to be J grade, which meant I needed more garbage tier stuff. I settled on a bottle of vitamins and a small tub of crappy muscle building powder, because they were pretty much the cheapest things I owned. "Alright system, try these two."

[Treasure creation initiated. Materials detected -Vitamin A vitamin tablets- Value estimation: J rank. Mighty Mox Muscle powder- Value estimation: J rank. Resulting item value: I rank. Cost 10 GP]

I nodded. "Alright merge them, them appraise." I didn't feel like waiting until it was done to find out what it did, so I just skipped a step. Seemed like the easiest way to do it. The same orange gold light enveloped the two items and blended them together in a flash, leaving a sleek looking black pill bottle on the table.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Mighty Mox Muscle Tablets- I rank: A special pill created for accelerated muscle building. Increases rate of muscle growth by ten times from exercise done while under the influence of the pills. Functional pill uses: one per day.]

I whooped with joy. That was what I wanted to see! I could use this system to make stuff I could take to get stronger, or even give away or sell to get more GP or recruit people. I considered doing some more fusing but decided against it for now. What I really needed was to get some more GP so I could make some REALLY useful items. Hell just look at the liquor sword, that thing was awesome, H rank was clearly a step above I rank in terms of effect.

I slipped on a coat and stowed the liquor sword in a box that I decided to carry under my arm, the thing was way to sharp to keep in my coat or pants or anything, and then headed for the garage. My dad's garage was under the house. Our whole place was build on a hill and the garage was below the basement level and let out at the bottom of the hill itself. I took the elevator down to the bottom level and stepped out into the garage, stopping at the peg board full of keys to decide which car to take.

I had a tiny bit of hope taking one would count as stealing and give me some serious GP, but apparently since my dad let me use his stuff picking up the first key I found had no effect. It was annoying but I wasn't too upset about it because I knew exactly where I was going next. I had to get some GP so I was going to break into the nearest store and steal everything I could get my hands on. Then I might try to sell this glass knife, because honestly what else was I going to do with it?

I grabbed the keys to a towncar, easily the least noticeable machine my dad even had in this place, and hit the unlock button to make the car chirp, sliding into the seat and tossing the box with the knife (or maybe sword? It was hard to say, since it was about midway between the two, but I guessed it made sense to go with the description) into the passenger seat.

I started up the car, checked to make sure I had my license on me (I'd been pulled over a few too many times and if they caught me without it it would be a hassle) and then peeled out down the exit tunnel to the garage, hitting the button to raise the gate as I went. Look out Metropolis.

January 3rd 2016 Metropolis 9:00 PM EDT

I'd been pretty excited to hit a local store and rack up some Greed Points, but I'd run into a slight problem. I didn't know how to rob pretty much anything. I knew, for instance, that everywhere in Metropolis had some level of security, what with Lex Loser's whole "City of the Future" schtick. I could have driven to Gotham, but honestly I'd rather dip my hands in sulfuric acid than expose myself to that dumpster fire. So here I was, all dressed up with nothing to steal.

I pulled out my phone and started searching for stores nearby. I couldn't exactly look for "places easiest to break into", but at the same time, I figured I might see SOMEWHERE worth stealing from. Of course, I also checked up on Superman, but he was dealing with some kind crisis in Malaysia, at least according to the toxic squawk of that unbearable troll Godfrey. I mean, Superman annoyed me as much as any reasonable person, but even an idiot could see Godfrey's pathetic attempts to rabble rouse for what they were.

I flipped through channels a bit as I searched, hoping to find something decent. I finally got to a radio broadcast of an interview Cat Grant did a few hours ago with Zatanna. My stance on heroes aside, I was pretty sure a magic girl in fishnets with a fat ass was a tune everyone could dance to. Plus her voice was cute. They were talking about the alien attack on the UN and of course the Leaguers weren't stupid enough to actually say anything. Shame I just caught the radio show though and not the video footage, I hated to see Zatanna leave, but I did love to watch her go.

Finally I settled on a place nearby. A pawn shop, because they were the least likely to have decent security and hopefully there was some gold or something to steal. Plus with my appraisal skill I could totally find some expensive object to take and rake in even more. I pulled into an alley next to the place and pulled my car as deep into the shadows as possible, trying to make sure I wasn't visible in the darkened alley. Luckily the towncar was black so it blended pretty well and I was able to climb out easily enough through the window despite the doors being blocked off by the walls.

I'd taken off the license plates before I drove onto this street so even if there were security cameras around they wouldn't see more than "black towncar" and I had the hood of my jacket up and a bandana tied around my face just in case. I even dug out my winter gloves from the glove compartment so I wouldn't leave finger prints. I popped the trunk with the keys and checked the back and luckily, in the compartment under the spare tire I found a crow bar, still wrapped in the tag and right next to an unopened tire jack.

I grabbed the crow bar, slipped over to side door, and bashed the door knob off. I winced at the noise, but there shouldn't be anyone near here anyway so it was fine. I was relieved to see the place was empty, so I grabbed a pair of duffels off the nearby shelf, threw one over each shoulder and got started with my shopping. I also made a mental note to call my dads guy with MPD to have him make sure any evidence I left behind didn't get found. Street level crime did happen in Metropolis, mostly when Superman was elsewhere, and he mostly left the aftermath to the cops if nobody got hurt.

My first stop inside the pawn shop was the jewelry counter. I kept my head down and hood up since I was pretty sure there was a camera somewhere in here, but when I got close enough to see the jewelry I used appraisal on all of it. J rank, J rank, J rank. All of this stuff was fake bullshit. But they were small so I took them anyway. Finally I found a class ring that appeared to be made of real gold with an actual gem and I snatched it up. I mumbled to myself. "System. How many GP did stealing that ring just net me? How about the others."

[The host currently has 100 GP. Plus ten for miscellaneous J ranked costume jewelry, plus ten for I ranked gold signet ring.]

I blinked at that. "Wait, what the fuck? You said gold was E ranked and requires a ton of points to work with, I should have gotten way more than ten for the ring. Why was the GP so low when the cost to merge it is so high?"

[GP cost for merge is calculated based on perceived value. GP rewards for theft are calculated based on inherent value. Inherent value of soft metal: I rank. Ten points per ounce.]

I gaped. "Wait what? That's complete fucking bullshit." I groaned with frustration when it didn't respond. "I know you understand me, you make comments about my motivations sometimes, don't pull that braindead program bullshit with me." Still nothing. "Fine, this isn't over." I rolled my eyes at the stupid thing and went back to appraising. In the end I picked a decent amount of relatively small stuff, mostly more costume jewelry.

I filled one of the duffels with stuff like that, though I did find a box hidden behind the counter that had a bit of a jackpot in it. A few I ranked pocket watches and a sleeve of rare coins that came up as H ranked. I filled the other duffel with things I thought would be useful for merging, padded jackets, a bulletproof vest that came up as I rank, a few junk katanas and assorted knives and brass knuckles, also junk,a shotgun and a few books and DVDs on random stuff like martial arts and hacking because why not.

I saw a few video games and systems but they were all pretty low value, probably because they were old, and they would have taken up a ton of space so I passed on that and made my escape, loading the duffels into my trunk quickly but calmly, trying not to look suspicious in case anyone on the street noticed me, then I slipped back in my window and calmly drove off. The whole thing took me fifteen minutes in and out, and my heart was beating like a drum. I swallowed hard. "System, what are my Points looking like?"

[Current GP total is 460. Congratulations host, your Greed knows no bounds. Continue to consume and grow stronger!]

I called Benson, my dads guy on MPD ,and gave him a heads up. He'd helped me get out of more than a few jams in his day, from drunken disorderly charges to joy riding to getting caught balls deep in the throat of some cheerleader whose daddy had more than a bit of pull with the city council. Benson was discrete, effective, and loyal as hell. My old man had gotten him out of a scrape when he was a rookie and Benson never forgot a favor.

Then I drove into a nearby park, put my plates back on, took of the jacket and drove out nice and relaxed, the soul of plausible deniability. Once I was done and pulled out my phone to call my buddy Zack. He picked up first ring. "Hey Nicky! How's it going man? You have fun on your boring stay at home day? Sarah was asking about you today, and she looked pretty hot for it. You missed out." His voice was teasing and I rolled my eyes at his nonsense.

Sarah Braglin was one of the cheerleaders at Brentwood Academy and one of my regular hookups. I hadn't missed anything, and if I called her and asked she would show up anywhere I told her to wearing anything at all. I ignored my friend. "Funny, hey does your cousin Riley still work as a fence? I had some weird stuff I was looking to sell." Zack and I had broken more laws together than I could count, and besides he knew my dad would get me out of any jams I ran into and screwing me over would be pointless and stupid, so I wasn't worried about him diming me out.

He chuckled. "Your old man get his hands on something weird again? Surprised he let you have any of that, he usually keeps that kind of thing away from you. But yeah, Riley is still hooked in. He can help you unload some stuff. I can get in touch and have him meet us in the parking lot after school tomorrow if you want. I'm sure whatever you have he can find a buyer for. He works with all the big names. Hell he's sold to Toyman a few times."

I grinned. I had plenty of new things to try out my merge on, and all the money I made from sales could be used to buy higher quality stuff and get more greed points. Using my old mans money didn't count, but as long as I made the cash through my own effort, be that theft, sales, or force I should get points. I was betting that Riley had more than a few things to sell me too. "Yeah, set it up. I'll see you tomorrow man, I've still got stuff going on tonight." I wasn't going to tell Zack about my system, hell I wasn't going to tell anyone. No one needed to know.

I hung up and pulled into the tunnel leading to our garage, hitting a button to raise the gate. Hopping out, I tossed the keys onto the hook and headed upstairs with all of my stuff. When I got up there I the box with the Liquor Sword into the less full duffel, and briefly wondered if I should have just left the damn thing at home, but no use crying over spilled milk. I hauled everything up to my room, and decided to take a break before I did any merging. I grabbed the muscle pills and popped one, deciding to work out a bit to burn off some of the adrenaline from my heist.

The pill filled me with a ton of energy almost as soon as it hit my stomach, the power building through my body and racing along my muscles. I felt like I could punch out a truck. I dropped down and started hammering out pushups. I could feel my muscles start to burn but I wasn't getting tired, just sore from exertion. It was an intoxicating feeling, and I could almost imagine myself literally getting stronger as I worked. Once my arms were well and truly dead, I switched to squats, then crunches. Trying to get the effect for every part of my body.

After about an hour of non stop exercise my whole body felt like jello, but the energy from the pill kept flowing into my muscles, slowly repairing and re invigorating them. I realized what the whole ten times faster muscle growth thing really was. Rather than just magically augmenting my rate of muscle growth the pills made it possible for me to work out ten times more every day than another person would be capable of. I could feel it would take a few hours for the soreness to fade, but once it did I would be able to jump right back into it.

I wasn't going to complain about the ability to use my body ten times more harshly than anyone else, that would be an amazing boost to my capabilities. Especially if I got one of those martial arts lessons books or DVD's merged with some kind of pill or something and I was able to learn all that information via ingestion. Then I could just use the pills to hammer out way more training every day than a normal person at no cost to myself. I sat up, stretching my sore muscles and enjoying the feeling of the workout. I had to admit, I was actually looking forward to school tomorrow.

January 24th 2016 Brentwood Academy 12:00 PM EDT

I did not, as it happened, go to school in Metropolis. Not that I wouldn't have preferred it, but the schools in Metropolis were all garbage, so I commuted to Bristol Township to Brentwood Academy. Bristol Township was in New Jersey, right over the river from Metro but not actually IN Gotham. Bristol Township was where people like Bruce Wayne lived, so I grudgingly agreed to go to school over there when it was suggested. The commute was annoying, but they had a helicopter pad, so it didn't take as long to get there as it could have.

Zack was waiting for me when I showed up in the morning and told me he'd gotten in touch with Riley and that the fence would meet us behind the academy at lunch, so I ended up just relaxing and enjoying my day. The Greed System had breathed new life back into me it felt like and I couldn't help but think the sun was shining just a bit brighter these days, classes seemed less monotonous than usual, though the painted on skirt Miss Mendez was wearing in English class might have helped with that.

I usually didn't enjoy that class much but watching the thick Latina twenty something bend over to check her grade book definitely put me in a good mood. I considered texting Sarah for a little throat fucking in the janitor's closet to let off the tension but I decided to just tough it out. I was too excited about some of the new items I'd merged last night to really savor the pretty cheerleaders admittedly excellent dick sucking skills. I mentally reviewed the items I'd merged, most of which I had stashed in a bag in my helicopter, as I'd seen them last night.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Training Katana-I rank. Imbued with the skill and knowledge of a master martial artist inspiration flows through the user when wielding this blade. The embedded skills will slowly shape the wielder into a master of the blade.]

The unadorned katana was one of my best creations last night, and one I had considered keeping for myself, until I realized I could just make another one with another set of martial art's DVDs and then did so. I decided to sell off the original because something like would be mighty useful to pretty much anyone. I'd also decided to finally test out making my own H rank item. Biting my tongue and gritting my teeth through using a hundred points for a merge.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Renegade Mantle-H rank. A heavy leather jacket with immense durability, the mantle protects it's wearer from blunt object, knives, and even low caliber gunfire. The perfect raiment for a true rebel, the mantle is as stylish as it effective.]

That one I was actually wearing right now, and would be keeping. It really did look fantastic. I'd made it by merging the bulletproof vest with a padded leather bomber jacket. I was a bit weighty but it looked fantastic. I'd even noticed Miss Mendez eyeing me when I came in, and I made a mental note to feel her out a bit. I'd never fucked a teacher before, but pounding that thick jiggly ass over her desk would be a hell of a way to celebrate my potential windfall. I put it on hold though, I was betting I'd have to really work to get into her panties and I had better things to do.

Speaking of my windfall, according to the system I would get a single GP for every ten dollars I acquired. Given the vast difference in apparent quality between I and H grade I'd decided to use up the rest of my points making some other things I could sell for a bigger paycheck. I started of course, with weapons. Specifically those brass knuckles I'd grabbed which I merged with and I rank boxing manual I got from merging a pair of books on the subject.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Knuckles of the Pugilist-H rank. A pair of weighted knuckles made of durable brass that guide the users blows to vulnerable areas. Continued use provides guidance and improvement on the art of the fist.]

Another hot seller I was pretty sure, any random supervillain flunkie would love to get his hands on the tools to become a master boxer, not to mention the whole weakness seeking function which was pretty damn cool. After I got that gorgeous result I decided that I should make a version of that for the less physically inclined among my customers, which was why I decided to create yet another training weapon and probably the most valuable piece I had by using a hunting rifle and an I rank marksmanship DVD made from fusing two J ranked versions.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Deadeye's rifle-H rank. A rifle imbued with the spirit of a master marksman. Provides insight into the act of long range shooting and subtly guides the users shots to find their mark.]

A gun with homing bullets was basically the holy grail of mook weapons, and I was honestly curious if Riley even had the kind of distribution network to move gear like this, but sadly he was really the only option I had. I couldn't go to my dad about this without revealing where I'd gotten my new gear, and I wasn't stupid enough to tell Maxwell Lord that I had superpowers. He might not actually hurt me, but I'd basically become an item factory for the old man.

I kept my last hundred points after merging a few pieces of costume jewelry to sell. The merged versions came out silver with actual gems. Apparently silver was far enough behind gold in perceived value not to spike the ratings of the rings, which had all turned out to be I rank luckily. Three rings, all decent quality and made with semi precious stones like Opal and Amethyst had taken me down to the one hundred point mark. Class finally ended, and I couldn't resist asking Miss Mendez when her after school office hours were. She told me and I promised to come by when I had the time.

Then I headed out to the helipad to grab my stuff and meet Zack and Riley out in the parking lot. The duffel I used to carry the stuff was bulging but I wasn't too worried about it, nobody hassled me at Brentwood, the other students knew I was in charge and the teachers were all too scared of my dad to make waves, especially since I was a senior and this was my last year, it just wasn't worth the annoyance to pick a fight with someone like me when they could just wait me out. Perks of being a Lord.

Granted my family wasn't Wayne levels of rich. Our net worth was around four billion to Bruce Wayne's eighty billion, but it was more than enough to put us in the top ten richest families on the planet, and that kind of money puts some serious juice behind anyone's reputation. Regardless, I made it out to the parking lot with the overstuffed duffel easily enough, and I spotted Zack and his cousin sitting on the roof of Riley's armored black mustang. The fence had shown Zack and I the armored features a few times. The thing could take a point blank RPG.

Zack waved over to me when he I came into view, a big grin on his boyish face. My best friend was the best fullback Brentwood had. Dark skinned and tall, with wide shoulders and close cropped hair, Zack was the picture of the earnest high school athlete, something that won him more than a few admirers among the student female population. Hid reputation was further enhanced by the fact that Zack had no interest in hassling anyone, content to just party and live and let live. He wasn't scared to mix it up if you pushed him but he didn't go looking for trouble.

Riley, his cousin, was a smaller much leaner man, with the same dark complexion and easy smile, but the older man's hazel eyes had a streak of cruelty in them that always kind of unnerved me. Riley didn't just look for trouble, he relished it, and I tended to avoid him when possible for that exact reason. Money can get you out of a lot of scrapes, but as far as I was aware it couldn't bring you back from the dead.

Sadly I wasn't in a position to be picky for the moment, so I was forced to work through the one connection I had. I trusted Zack enough not to be too worried Riley would try something with me though, so it was an acceptable risk. Riley stepped up to shake my hand, with Zack clasping it after and pulling me into a one armed bro hug and I grinned at them both. "Hey Riley, you're looking good, hope you brought your inspecting A game today because I've got some great stuff."

He laughed amiably. "Of course Nicky, when I heard Zack say the Little Lord wanted a meeting I couldn't believe my ears. I know the kind of stuff your daddy mucks around with, can't wait to see what you've got." My eye twitched slightly at the nickname, which i fucking hated, but I moved on easily enough. Never let personal feelings get in the way of business, it was the first lesson my old man ever taught me.

I plopped the duffel down and unzipped it, handing over the rings. Riley glanced over them with an experienced eye, then bit down lightly on one. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Shame. These aren't bad but this is sterling silver. Sterling is good for utensils and things that see regular use because it's so sturdy but fine silver is better for jewelry. Still the Opal in this ring isn't bad, and this Amethyst is pretty cleanly cut. I can do they're natural stones too, so I can do three hundred for the three of them."

His voice was disappointed, clearly let down by the low quality of my goods. That emotion did an about face when he handed over the cash (netting me back the thirty points I used to make the rings at least) and I took out the weapons. The knuckles, rifle, and katana all caught his attention as I explained what they did, but the thing that drew him in the most was the Liquor Sword. He was staring at it like he needed to have it any cost, which was fantastic for my price potential.

I passed the items to him, letting him test the knuckles and katana, though for obvious reasons firing a rifle in the parking lot of a school was out, and I let him swing the Liquor Sword a few times to get a feel for it. In the end Riley wired me sixty thousand for all three of the weapons, bringing me up to six thousand one hundred and thirty points total. I grinned internally at the windfall despite being pretty sure I could have gotten more. It was good to build contacts.

Riley put the weapons away in his car with a satisfied smile and stuck his hand out again. "Pleasure doing business with you Nicky. If you come across any other goods of this quality feel free to reach out. i can think of a dozen high profile villains in Gotham and Metropolis alone that would pay top dollar for weapons of this quality." I thanked him and he took off, in much too big a hurry and clearly excited to unload the gear for much more than he paid for it. As Zack whooped in triumph at the massive haul I got another message from the system.

[Congratulations host on reaching the thousand point milestone, your growth has been impressive to witness. Continue to grow stronger and pursue more treasures. It would be a shame if you didn't get strong enough and were killed by the others.]

I blinked at that. Well, what the fuck did that mean? I officially had a headache. I waved Zack over to his car, deciding to ditch out on the next class. I needed some coffee or something to clear my head.

January 4th 2016 Gotham City 12:30 PM EDT

The system did not, of course, deign to answer any questions I asked it while driving to the coffee shop. Zack had begged off when he figured out where I was going, just tossing me the keys and informing me that I "Would owe him a Porsche if I scratched it". Honestly I wasn't too upset, having the time to myself to think was preferable, because there was a shit load to think about. The system had clearly implied there were other people with my powers, and that they had some interest in coming for me.

That of course opened up a whole line of questioning I didn't want to get into yet about whether that meant I should want to go after them, or if that would benefit me. In the end though it came down to the fact that it didn't really matter, and that I wouldn't give this power up even if I could, since I was happier and more excited about life than I ever had been before. Emptiness detected indeed. Fuck you too system, we don't love having our flaws exposed do we.

I drove until I hit a Starbucks, which I was pretty sure was in Gotham unfortunately, but coffee was coffee and I wanted some. I parked and got out, slipping out of the frigid winter air into the much warmer interior of the coffee place. I inhaled deeply, smelling that classic coffee smell as I tried to rub some warmth back into my hands. I'd made the mistake of driving with the windows down and I could barely feel my fingers.

As I entered the place though, my attention was stolen by a woman. Not a girl, not even close, she probably had a decade or two on me, but god was she gorgeous. Long blonde hair, totally stacked, aquiline nose and piercing blue eyes. Eyes which sat under brows currently furrowed with frustration as she hissed into the phone pressed against her ear. "No Ollie, I did not "give up" I'm taking a short break to get myself something to drink before I continue our search, how can you even say that?"

She listened for a moment, face growing cold. "You know, for someone so concerned with having lost Roy, you sure don't seem to be worried about losing anyone else. If you aren't careful maybe he isn't the only one you'll drive away." She closed her eyes, exhaling deeply. "You know what, no. I'm not going to engage. I'm going to go drink my coffee and leave you to cool down before we both say something we might regret. Goodbye Ollie." She jammed the end call button on the screen so hard I was worried she might crack the phone and let out a weary sigh.

I'd been accused of being many things in my life, but shy was not one of them. I slipped into the chair across the table from her and put on a sympathetic smile. "Hey, you ok? Didn't mean to eavesdrop but you sounded a bit upset there. You need to talk about anything? I'm always happy to lend a friendly ear." I gave her my most earnest smile, surprising a laugh from the older woman.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "You know, that would be much more convincing if you had been able to keep your eyes on my face the entire time you were talking, but still, I appreciate the gesture." The small smile gracing her pretty lips dimmed. "As for listening...it's a long story. Suffice to say that my boyfriend's adopted son ran away from home and is too old for us to drag him back. It's causing some...tension."

It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "That is complicated. Sadly I'm just a dumb horny teenager so my ability to give advice on complex emotional matters is next to none. Plus with that jacket unzipped so far...well we've already established I'm having trouble keeping my eyes up." She snorted a laugh at that, giving me another smirk. I held my hands up in mock surrender. "Hey, I'm still helping, don't you mature ladies like young studs like me showing interest."

This time the laugh was more open, a full throated, husky thing that sent shivers down my spine. Damn did she have a nice laugh. "Implying I'm old. Bold strategy for trying to pick up an older woman. But the whole cougar vibe sort of depends on scarcity. Do I look like someone who lacks male attention from any age group?" Her blue eyes were sparkling in a very distracting way as she said that and I had to give her that one.

I shrugged. "Maybe not. But it can't hurt to try. I'd have to be an idiot not to pay attention to a woman like you." I saw her expression twitch as I referenced her absent boyfriend in an oblique enough manner that she couldn't really comment on it. I took out my phone and waved it at her. "How about this. I really would be happy to talk, how about we exchange numbers and keep in touch." She opened her mouth and I cut her off. "I'm not expecting anything but decent conversation." I shot her a wink. "I find older women to be more stimulating partners."

She opened her mouth to say no, but as she did, she got a text on her phone. She opened it and her eyes hardened a bit. She reached over and snatched my phone away, inputting her number and handing it back. She looked a bit guilty but nothing major, she still felt the need to reiterate. "Just to talk. It might be nice to have someone to bounce my thoughts off of that doesn't know my boyfriend." She averted her eyes. "Nothing wrong with making a new friend."

I grinned and shot her a text. "You can save that number so you know who's texting. My name is Nick, but I'll accept "coffee shop stud" or "dark haired dreamboat" too. I gestured up to the counter. I was about to get my drink, do you have time to sit and have a muffin or something? It wouldn't be very friendly to make me drink alone now would it?" I gave her my most charming grin, and I saw her give it some thought.

In the end she shook her head with a wry smile. "I really have to get going. It was...interesting talking to you Nick. Mt name is Dinah. I look forward to talking more in the future, even if I don't usually text much. Maybe you can teach me a thing or two." She stood up, zipping up the coat that had been showing off her VERY ample cleavage and shot me a flirty smile. "Enjoy your drink, coffee shop stud."

I turned to watch her go, very much enjoying the confirmation that those curves were not exclusive to up top and that Dinah could swing those hips in ways that should be illegal. I swallowed hard as I watched her leave, happy with my result. I wasn't worried about being shot down. She wasn't going to fall into bed with me first thing. But opening communication was a good first step. Next time her boyfriend made her mad, I'd be the first person she thought of.

I made my way up to the counter, paying for a caramel machiatto and a slice of cheesecake which I brought back to the table I'd left my jacket at to save myself a seat. As I waited for them to call my name I considered my options and more importantly I thought about what I should do next. So far I'd mostly been reacting, but the old man always said great men act, they don't react. I needed some basic concept of what I should do going forward.

Oddly, I found myself scrolling through the news, looking for...anything. A museum exhibit or a private gallery opening or even just an idea. I needed something bigger than petty thievery, bigger than I was currently able to do. I had enough GP to make a few G ranked artifacts, which might make things a bit easier, but I needed to know where to point that firepower once I had it.

I scrolled through the news randomly until I noticed something I'd been ignoring. The League had been in a dust up with aliens. The things had infiltrated the UN and everyone was freaking out because they were lurking around doing gods knew what while we were all sitting on our asses with no clue what their next move would be. But where there's smoke, there's fire. No way some alien species got a single mole onto the planet and he just happened to end up the secretary general of the United Nations.

Infiltrating a government like that took backing, it took assistance. It took resources. Alien resources. Potentially priceless alien resources that I could steal literally without consequences if I could track down one of their bases or even just one of their agents. Hell I wondered how many points I'd get for one of those fake human shaped suits they were wearing. I was betting they would be pretty high ranked. That was impressive science. I started looking around on the internet for anything related to aliens.

I didn't find much on the ones in the UN. They were kind of unknown. But there were other aliens around too. Much more obvious aliens, and ones that might have gear that was just as juicy to lift, and with much less danger. After all, the "nice" aliens wouldn't execute the son of one of the most powerful men in the world. They would at worst turn me over to the cops, provided I made sure my presence there was known before I got caught and shoved into a dark hole.

I started doing research on "The Reach". Not committing to anything yet. I'd feel them out, check my dads sources, and see what kind of badass artifacts I could make with my current assets. Still, no reason not to take a look around and see what they had going on. Upon diving into my research though I realized...I was in no way ready to start stealing from The Reach. Sure, the GP from taking alien ships or even the whole planet away from them if the system counted that would be insane, but I didn't have the muscle or even the brains to come close.

People like Lex Luthor might be able to pull off some light sabotage, but I knew myself well enough to know I couldn't manage that as I was now. So then, what I needed was a plan, and more importantly, a crew. I considered going to Zack, but dismissed the idea, we'd been in trouble together a few times but I didn't really trust anyone enough for this. Plus being eighteen would make people assume I couldn't hack it and that sounded annoying. No, I would need to recruit people anonymously and build up slow.

I considered my options, the internet was too vulnerable to intrusion, I could use mail or something but that seemed slow and easy to slip up on. In person would be dangerous and might give me away, but only if I went as myself. No, I needed a new identity, a mask and persona like some of the villains in town had that would let me build up my own force and equip them with overpowered gear without exposing myself, plus steal for me so I could massively increase my GP gain daily. Taking by force or payment was an option for getting Greed Points so I should be able to send people out to gather stuff for me. I'd look into the reach later. For now, I just needed to get myself a costume.

January 4th 2016 Lord Mansion 8:00 PM EDT

I headed back to school after my run in with Dinah. I considered texting her to keep her thinking of me, but I decided the better move was to wait for her to get angry with her boyfriend and text me, or at least to give it a day or two. Haste makes waste and all that. So I contented myself with a quick blowjob from Sarah in one of the bathrooms to take the edge off as I planned my next move.

I had some ideas about my future gang, and in the spirit of those ideas I earmarked a few thousand points for future projects, deciding to use twenty one hundred GP to make my costume as good as it could be and save the other four thousand for a particularly interesting plan I had in the works. I texted Riley a wish list for that, and got a response from him within minutes that he could manage what I was asking for but it would cost me, in either money or items. I chose items and told him I'd send him a list and to have the goods ready, and returned to my project.

First up, and most importantly, was the mask. My mask had to be special, the most special item I had on me, because it was the thing that would protect my identity. I didn't want some nosy kryptonian looking through it or something, though hopefully I wouldn't be drawing attention from big blue himself. maybe that sexy little cousin of his, though she hadn't been around much.

So I took out the materials I had on hand. I had a comedy mask from a recent charity masquerade ball, the H rank coin

from the pawn shop, a swat helmet, and a strange idea I had based on a pop culture meme, a literal tinfoil hat I'd made. The mask and hat were both, J rank, the helmet I rank, and the coin H rank. I was hoping merging every step of the way would create something legitimately useful. First up, I merged the hat and the mask. Paying ten points for an I ranked item and then appraising.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Strange Mask-I rank. An odd, shiny mask. Created from the desperate hopes of a paranoid teen. This mask proves some small resistance to mind reading and any sort of extrasensory or supernatural perception. Effects vary widely based on the power of the observer.]

I almost cheered with joy. Granted that was complete garbage compared to what I needed, but I had two more merges to sup up the ability, I'd just needed the foundation. Next up I took out the swat helmet. I had been experimenting with the system a bit during my marathon merge session the night before and found that I could designate the primary item. Rather than a merge I suppose it would be more accurate to say the system allowed an item to consume another, which fit the whole Greed theme, but merge was faster to say. I activated it again and appraised the result.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Mask of the Stranger-H rank. Created from a strange mask with some small resistance to mental intrusion or extrasensory observation, this mask is a defensive artifact designed to keep out all but the most driven intruders to it's owner's privacy. Durable enough to take a bullet point blank, this is an excellent tool for anyone wishing to stay anonymous.]

I grinned, that would be enough to keep telepaths from poking around and Superman from seeing what was under the hood. Well from seeing my face. I wasn't planning to burn the points to make my body x-ray proof. If superman was enough of a perv to look through my clothes he would have to handle the inferiority complex that would inspire. I was plenty confident in what under my clothes. Still, it was time for the final merge. I took out the H rank coin and absorbed it into the mask, burning a thousand points to make it.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Plutonic Veil-G rank. A veil of secrets, ones kept and uncovered. Protects the secrets of the wearer and allows them to more easily perceive hidden or disguised treasures.]

This time I did actually let out a whoop of excitement. THIS was what I'd wanted. Hell this was even better than what I'd wanted. Given how strong the H ranked version had been in terms of protection there was no way this wasn't even better for keeping my mind and identity concealed. Not to mention the treasure detection ability. I stared down at the new mask with awe and expectation.

The thing was beautiful. Still a comedy mask, it was now made of beaten gold. The light seemed to dim around it, and as I picked it up and slipped it on it conformed to my face perfectly. I knew without even asking the system that this wouldn't come off unless I wanted it too. I glanced around the room. As promised I could see a subtle glow off all the valuable objects in the room, a glow that shifted in color based on it's value.

J ranked items didn't show up, being literal junk. All the I ranked artifacts or objects I had around glowed with a red light, while I could see an orange gleam from the H ranked training sword I had kept. I would assume based on the functions I was seeing the treasure vision allowed me to see the rank of things. The colors were clearly based on the rainbow, climbing as the value did. It was perfect.

Aside from the kick ass ability, a look in the mirror showed that it looked fucking awesome. Still I was a bit unsure a G rank artifact could hold off all the possible intrusion methods that came to mind, so I figured I'd ask. "Hey system, how effective is this item. It's only G rank, will that be enough?"

[The Plutonic veil is a single focus item, allowing for increased power for it's rank. Combined with extreme synergy with the system the Plutonic veil is on the upper end of G rank, and should be capable of deterring breaches of privacy from all but the most powerful observers.]

That sounded...good? I wasn't sure where that fell in the grand scheme of things. After my crafting spree I was down to five thousand nine hundred and ninety points remaining, which meant nine different chances create H ranks and nine to create I ranks. If I mixed and matched with the I ranks I had I should be able to put together a full set of H rank gear for myself. I decided to do a three piece suit, a tie, shoes, an undershirt and just leave the last three hundred as walking around points.

The suit jacket I combined with the bomber jacket, burning the second thousand points of the night to create a G ranked jacket after merging the original jacket with an I rank tactical vest. I quickly appraised the resulting artifact, excited to see another powerful G ranked item, despite the ache in my heart at spending another thousand points.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Kingly Raiment-G rank. A regal jacket that invests the wearer with consummate protection, forming an invisible field of defense around the body as durable as the wearers entire outfit. Able to withstand the most brutal blows, nothing short of an anti-material rifle will pierce this kingly garment.]

My second success of the night, that was exactly what I needed for my currently squishy body. I threw together an H ranked pair of pants, shoes, shirt, undershirt, tie, gloves, and even a pair of socks, having to create some I ranked versions to use for the merge and the gloves and socks had to be done separately but in the end I managed to create and entire suit. The abilities were nothing special, since I'd just merged clothes with other sturdier clothes they were all durability based, but with the raiment each one made me qualitatively tougher.

It also emptied me out, bringing me down to exactly four thousand points without the three hundred point buffer I'd wanted. If I hadn't gotten the raiment's ability I wouldn't have bothered with socks or gloves but with the G ranked coat buffing my entire defensive out put for each piece of sturdy gear I couldn't resist. Still, I wasn't upset at the outcome, the H ranked clothes were all incredibly stylish and comfortable on top of being durable. Even the socks were silky and padded in the most comfortable way I'd ever felt.

I slipped into my costume and stood at the mirror, checking myself out with relish. I looked fantastic. The raiment gave my whole outfit a sense of regality just by it's very nature, and the jacket's cut molded to me as if it was hand tailored by the most brilliant alterations expert who ever lived. The pants and other items of clothing weren't exactly up to par, but the jacket somehow elevated them by it's very presence, like it was all part of the set with the mask and coat as the primary centerpieces.

I stared at myself in the mirror, trying to decide what I should call myself in this new identity. A look this bold deserved a powerful name, and I needed something that fit. It should have something to with greed obviously, and treasure. Dragons would be a decent theme but that seemed so...basic. I needed something better, something with a bit of an air of ruthlessness. I slipped out my phone and did a search for powerful entities associated with greed.

Hades and Pluto were both out obviously, the Amazon's had made it clear the Greek gods existed and I didn't want to draw the attention of one of their heaviest hitters, especially since my mask seemed to have some relation to him already. I did end up looking into a few dragons, but nothing jumped out at me. Midas was out because I didn't do much with gold, Tantalus was a failure and a bit pathetic so I didn't like the vibe. Finally I found something I liked.

Mammon, Archdemon of greed. That was exactly the kind of weight I wanted behind my name, and I'd never heard of demons being a real thing. I decided that would be my new title, and it would be one I would make ring in the ears of every hero and villain. I had my identity and my basic plan in place. I needed to put together my gang and then we would start doing recon on The Reach. I wanted to stick to victimizing shady aliens to start, hoping to keep the League off my back.

I texted Riley, offering him my training sword all the money I had for the materials necessary for my plan. Luckily he said the training weapons had been a huge hit and he had a buyer who had instructed him to get more of them at any cost. He also told me the supplies I needed would be ready tomorrow, but that they were limited in quantity because of their deficiencies and the scarcity of the original product. I told him I'd take what he could get and stripped out of my costume, popping my muscle pill for the day and starting my first work out.

As I worked up a sweat I had to grin at my plan. I was going to create the strongest gang on the city right under everyones noses and no one would even know until it was too late. I already had ideas for exactly who I wanted to recruit, various people I knew or had run into with skills that I could use or exploit. As I finished my pushups and shifted to crunches I couldn't help but be excited for tomorrow. Granted Riley was only able to get thirty vials, but still, the stuff had possessed quite a reputation five years ago. I was interested to see what I could make from Kobra Venom.