Chapter 24: What's Your Name
Samuel noticed some changes in his status from the last time he saw it. Firstly, his progress percentage for his stage had risen to 16%. The second change he noticed was that his Karna's energy reserves had decreased by 10. "The ability only used up 10 units of Mythos. It's probably so low because of the rank of the knives" Samuel said to Sai. "The amount might be small but don't get too excited and lose track of how much energy you are using," Sai said.
Samuel nodded at her words. Samuel got a bit curious about his skills. When one enters Nexus it converts some of the user's skills and gives them magical effects. Most skills had a level assigned to them and the difference between each level was massive. The person with the highest skill in Radiance is his dad with a level 3 gun mastery skill.
[Inspection Successful:
Inspection (level 1-Beginner)- Gives the user the ability to view information about themselves and other targets. The amount of information provided depends on its level of mastery.
Hand-to-hand combat (lvl 2-proficient)- increases the damage and efficiency of the user when they use martial arts by 200%
Weapon mastery! :
Gun mastery (lvl 1- proficient)- increases the power/performance of any firearm the user uses by 70%
Dagger mastery(lvl 1-beginner)- increases the user damage and efficiency when using daggers by 70%.
Sword mastery (lvl 1-beginner)-increases the user damage and efficiency when using swords by 100%.
Armed combat(lvl 1-beginner)- increases the user's damage and efficiency when using any weapon by 50%.
Passives: none
Karna abilities:
Halo: A passive ability that gives the user the ability to sense Mythos in all its forms. It also enhances the user's senses to magical energies. It has an active mode of enhanced perception that consumes Mythos to stay active.]
Samuel was a bit disappointed by his weapon mastery skills. Level 1 skills increase the user's abilities by 50%-100%. Level 2 skills are from 150%-300% and level 3 skills are from 350%-500%. Samuel doesn't know how much of a boost skills above level 3 give to their users. He stopped thinking about his lackluster skills and focused on fusing. The amount of Mythos used wasn't large so Samuel decided to keep fusing more knives. The 6 remaining knives soon got fused. That gave Samuel 4 common-quality knives. Not all knives were the same type. But they still fused well. Samuel could choose which type of knife he wanted to keep as the main form for the forged item.
It was currently known through the federation that all items had legend grades and quality grades. Even if an item is from the outer universe it still has these grades. Through research, it was discovered that the quality of an item is divided into Poor, Common, Middle, High, and Perfect quality. With Poor quality being the lowest and Perfect quality being the highest.
Samuel proceeded to fuse the remaining knives. It still took exactly 10 mythos for each fusion. When only one knife was left this was its status.
[Inspection Successful:
Steel kitchen knife: A good knife used for preparing food. It has a very sharp and sturdy blade. Excellent for cutting all types of cooking ingredients and more.
Rank: Mortal (Middle quality)]
The new knife's details were much more impressive compared to the previous ones. Samuel discovered that the number of items needed to fuse to increase the quality of an item increased with each quality. To get from poor to common all it took were two ingredients. From common to middle quality took 4 items.
But Samuel was excited to test out his new knife. He held the knife in his right hand. Its handle is 13 cm long and the blade is 25 cm long. Its design had greatly changed making it look more like a combat knife than a kitchen knife.
Samuel raised his hand and slashed at the edge of the counter. To his shock, there was only slight resistance and the knife smoothly went through the counter. "The inspection skills description made this knife seem like just a good kitchen knife. This thing is a deadly weapon " Samuel said towards Sai.
Sai nodded her head and said "You better find something to carry that in. Or you might accidentally cut your arm off." Samuel took her words very seriously. But there was nothing in sight that he could use to carry the knife. His Karna suddenly pulsed. Samuel paused as he focused on what his Karna was telling him. 'You want me to store it in my Myth Zone?' Samuel said internally. His Karna pulsed again in response.
Samuel tried it, by focusing on the desire to place the knife in his myth zone. The Knife vanished without any resistance. That was a surprise to both Samuel and Sai. "Where is the knife? Did you store it in your myth zone" Sai asked in confusion. Her confusion was understandable.
It was common knowledge that only a Karna could enter their user's myth zone. While some abilities employed the use of the myth zone. It was impossible to store items in it. "Yeah, I stored it in my Myth zone. I don't know how" Samuel replied. "Can you store anything else? "Sai asked.
Samuel gave it a try with a random spoon. But it didn't work. After a while of testing, they figured that Samuel's Myth zone could only store items created using his "Legends Forge" ability. Although it had its limitations this storing ability would come in handy. Soon Samuel got some bags to use for when he went out. After a while of preparing he was ready to leave for the closest store to them.
Samuel went to the room Thorez was in to tell him he was about to leave. "Hey man I'm going to the stores to get food and other supplies. Is there anything in particular you want me to get for you?" Samuel said. Thorez was still injured so he couldn't go out to loot.
He looked at Samuel and replied "I don't need anything else. The food will be enough" Samuel nodded and was about to leave when a thought crossed his mind. "Hey, dude it's kind of awkward not knowing how to refer to you. All I can call you is bro or dude. So I wanted to ask you. What's your name?" Samuel said.
Thorez froze for a second but then calmed down and replied "There is no need for that. Just call me whatever you want." Samuel got closer to Thorez and reached his bedside "You would think after what we've been through I'd get a little bit of your trust. But you don't even want to tell me your name. Come on dude." Samuel said like a child "We aren't friends. So there's a need to tell you." Thorez replied. "Come on tell me," Samuel said only to be ignored. He raised his hand and began poking at Thorez's cheek. "Tell me, tell me, tell me" Samuel was persistent. Thorez 's eyebrow twitched in irritation.
Then he snapped and summoned his Karna. The pistol was pointed at Samuel as Thorez said "Poke me one more time and I'll put a hole in your hand" Samuel backed off and slowly left the room. Once the door was closed Thorez finally felt at peace. He rested on the bed as he covered his face with his arm "Stupid human" he said.
…
A few minutes later Samuel could be seen walking through the deserted streets of a fallen city. His steps were measured and his pace steady. Due to his perception of his surroundings being just vague blurs. He had to be careful when walking around. Luckily for him, Sai was here to guide him and warn him whenever needed.
"So did you tell Dad I'm ok?" Samuel asked Sai. Her voice came from the drone. "Yes, I have. He is very worried about you, but he also trusts you. Even your friends in the Celestial Academy are joining a search party to find you" Sai replied. "That's good to hear. At this point, all I can do on my side is to survive and clear this apocalypse. Easier said than done when you take into account that I have to save a whole world" Samuel said with emotion.
He didn't know how exactly to feel about his situation. First, he was grateful that he survived the Vashin's attack on the academy. But it was clear that this apocalypse zone was not suitable for a person of his level. "The reward from my previous mission was to send me to an apocalypse zone appropriate for me. But due to others getting dragged here during the teleportation somehow.
That suitability must have taken every person into account. This is so frustrating" Samuel said. "You are facing an unfortunate set of circumstances. But let's not give up. Jack and the others in Radiance are waiting for you and your friends are looking for you. So you have to keep fighting and getting stronger. So that you get back to them in one piece." Sai said.
"Why are you saying only they are waiting for me? What about you? You aren't worried about me?" Samuel said with a cheeky smile. "You stupid brats. Of course, I'm worried about you. But at least I can help you. Jack is practically losing his mind because he can't do anything to help you. He can barely focus on the mission his on." Sai said.
"Sigh! I trust Dad and I know he will be safe. So tell him not to worry. I'll be back home before he realizes it" Samuel said confidently. "I will tell him," Sai replied. After a few minutes of careful travel and avoiding all Aurora Mutants in their path. They made it to a large hardware store. It was their first target today and for one simple reason. Samuel's ability to fuse items. Instead of getting food right away. That could wait for a while. What Samuel needs right now are tools he can use to fight and protect himself.
The store was filled with things like axes, hammers and rope. Samuel and Sai's drone entered the store. Samuel didn't sense any Aurora mutants in the store so it was safe. They began looting everything they found useful. Samuel started fusion items inside the store. Using his Mythos and that of his Karna.
Samuel was able to fuse all he wanted to. Two hours passed in a flash as Samuel fused item after item. He took a few breaks to recover his mythos. Samuel's Myth Zone was now filled with a few more items. Seeing his new collection made Samuel smile. They left the hardware store and went on their way to a supermarket. As they were on their way to the supermarket.
Samuel sensed an incoming Aurora mutant. But instead of avoiding it like usual, Samuel stayed on track. The mutant appeared before them soon enough. "Samuel you didn't try to avoid this guy. It's risky to face an opponent stronger than you" Sai said. "It's ok, I need to test out my new gear. And I need the battle experience. A real fight to the death. Not just a sparing match or a tournament with rules.
I need a real fight" Samuel said. The Aurora mutant instantly rushed at him. With a wave of his hand, an impressive-looking axe appeared in Samuel's hand. The Aurora mutant was fast and it quickly crossed the 30-meter distance between them. Samuel's heart was beating incredibly fast. The monster reached him within seconds.
'If I want to get stronger I have to fight.' Samuel thought as he raised the axe and held it with both hands 'If I want to join my friend in the future. I have to be stronger' the monster reached striking distance. Samuel launched a horizontal slash "Slash!" the monster's claws and Samuel's axe made contact. The monster's arm was split open and blood splashed onto Samuel's face.
"Roar!" it roared in pain. Yet Samuel didn't give it the chance to regain its senses. 'It's nothing personal. I need you to die for me to advance' Samuel made an overhead swing. The monster saw this and tried to parry the attack. Its remaining claw was coated in a black energy. "Clang!" A sound similar to metal clashing with metal was heard as the monster managed to redirect the attack instead of its head being split. Only its other arm was cut open.
The monster may have survived but it only prolonged the inevitable. Samuel leaned closer to the monster. A determined light glowed in his eyes. Then using all the strength in his body, he swung the axe in a horizontal arc. The axe blade cut through the monster's neck. The feeling of cutting through flesh made Samuel feel sick. But he didn't stop and completely decapitated the monster's head.