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Edge of apocalypse 62
🕑 Added 2023-06-08 20:23:18 +0000 UTCThird chapter of the pre-weekend burst of three!
***
Since he had time to waste before having to return home, Albert decided to move on to the other item in his agenda. Considering that he didn’t need to study the teleportation device anymore, he was free to use his daily charge of [Analysis Mode] on the healing skill to bring its level up a bit. His mother seemed to need it, for some reason, but regardless of what she needed it for, Albert had to admit that having a high-level healing skill was quite important.
Never would he have guessed what this seemingly simple and innocuous thought would have entailed.
“Lair, I’ll be going downstairs for a bit.” Albert said, then paused as if to think about what he was about to say or do next. He took off his ring of protection, and placed it in his inventory.
“Can you fabricate a set of torture tools, please?”
“Sure thing.”
“Alright. Analysis Mode.”
And let’s hope [Mental Fortress] works with pain too. Otherwise this is going to be quite nasty.
***
Healing Touch Skill level up!
· I: You can perform a quick healing incantation on yourself or on others. The skill will attempt to restore the body to its peak condition. Cost will adjust to the injury being healed.
· II: The skill will no longer drain all the mana it needs to complete its task. You can choose the degree of healing by limiting the supply of mana.
· III: Efficiency increased by 10% for large wounds.
· IV: The skill will attempt to fix any congenital disorders.
· V: Efficiency increased by 10% for stabbing wounds.
· VI: Efficiency increased by 10% for blunt trauma wounds.
· VII: Efficiency increased by 15% when repairing broken bones.
Mental Fortress Skill level up!
· I-II-III-IV: Increased resistance to mind attacks and altered mental states.
· V: You can recognize illusions and attempts of mental manipulation, and dispel them.
· VI: Your resistance to pain is increased.
· VII: Your resistance to pain is increased.
· VIII: Your resistance to pain is increased.
· IX: Your resistance to pain is increased.
· X: You have total control over your pain perception.
· NOTE: The skill has reached MAX LEVEL. Evolve it or split it to keep improving.
***
“I am finished with the portal.” The Lair said, finally putting an end to Albert’s self-torture. “Where do you want this side of the portal to be?”
Albert did not immediately reply, instead rising from the floor where he was staring at the ceiling with slow, controlled movement. There was blood all around. His clothes were in tatters. He looked at the mess he made in disgust and said nothing, opting to go straight for the shower he remembered seeing in the gym section of the upper floor.
His head felt heavy, and although he was looking at what was in front of him, he didn’t feel like he was really there. It felt more like a vivid dream. A dream whose boundaries were quickly evaporating as time passed after Analysis Mode was deactivated.
The Lair’s self-cleaning function would take care of the blood and gore, he thought with unusual lightness, yet heavy and slow.
He showered in complete silence, not uttering a word nor thinking any thought. No, that was not accurate. He was thinking thoughts. But all he could think about was what he just did, and he didn’t want to remember it. Ever, if possible.
Just what was a mind capable of when it was obsessed on a fixation? Was it the skill? Or did the skill only amplify a natural tendency of his? If the latter was true… it could be dangerous. He knew very well that his brain was predisposed to OCD-like behavior.
And what happens when it gets mixed with a skill specifically tailored to make him focus on one thing and one thing only?
Albert just now learned the answer to that question. And it disturbed him greatly, enough that not even a max level mental fortress skill was enough to wash away the feeling of unease. The realization that it was him who did those things to himself.
There was to say that the mental fortress skill was quite skewed towards pain now, and might be subpar when it came to other kinds of protection. But still.
“Remove any trace of what I did.” Albert said.
“Sure thing.” The Lair said, and its voice told Albert that the dungeon was being incredibly serious right now, forgoing its usual jokes and witty remarks, as well as it propensity to talk too much.
“And never mention it to anyone.”
“Of course.”
“Good. What were you saying before?”
“The portal. Where do you want it?”
Albert hummed. “Put it in this… room. Does it need a wall?”
“Yes! I will put it on the gym’s wall, facing the table. By the way, I call this room the Open Office. Because it’s like an office, but also an open space!”
There it was, back to its usual self. But it was a welcome change, one that helped dispel the heavy air that stemmed from the equally heavy mood taking over Albert’s mind.
“…oooookay. Open Office it is. Now, why is the portal just a dark hole? Do you need the coordinates for the other end?”
“Right so, I do. Use this.”
Something appeared on the table close to the wall.
“Is this like a portal gun?” Albert asked, once again impressed. Where was the Lair pulling all this stuff from?
“Single use only! Choose wisely. Ah, I’m out of materials now… can I ask you to bring me something the next time you come here?”
“Sure. Just make a list.”
“I’ll do you one better.”
New Quest: Coreful Setup II
· The Lair can acquire basic resources from its environment, but it can’t produce more complex materials.
· Provide the following:
o 100kg Glass scrap
o 200kg Plastic scrap
o 150kg Metal scrap
o 10kg Mixed electronic scrap
· Reward: Lair Control Room expansion.
***
If there was a day Albert dreaded, then that day was tomorrow. Mostly because now that he could simply choose not to feel pain anymore – although the thought of what he did in order to get there was traumatic – his only source of suffering would be psychological stress.
Speaking of pain. It was cold outside, and tomorrow was predicted to be even colder. Not that the forecast could be trusted these days.
Albert could simply choose not to feel the sting of the cold. But he chose to feel it anyways. It would suck to suddenly fall over and die of hypothermia simply because he wasn’t feeling the symptoms creep up.
In any case. Tomorrow Albert would finally be seeing Marc for the first time after the whole kidnapping situation, and he didn’t know what to expect of it.
To be fair, he kind of wanted to cancel the meeting. Maybe he should just ghost his friend. No. That would be scumbag behaviour. Fortunately he still had a full day he could fill to the brim with things to do to get his mind off those bad thoughts.
The first order of business was the portal.
“I don’t think we will have many guests around the house.” Mother said. Grandpa was also there, having joined them as soon as he heard the news about the portal. “But it’s better to hide it from view anyway, just to be safe.”
“How about the broom closet?” Albert suggested.
“Good idea.”
Firing the ‘portal gun’ was intuitive and easy. Just aim and shoot, and the portal appeared in the wall. It was an oval opening leading straight to the Lair.
“Do you want a tour of the place?” Albert asked.
Lloyd pushed his way to the front, suddenly taken over by a burst of energy.
“Of course, lad! What, you think you can show us this and then not take us through?”
Albert scratched his head, laughing. “No, no. Come.”
Both him and his grandpa went through the portal without stopping. Samantha lingered on the threshold for a moment longer instead, interested in studying how the dimensional boundaries worked. Albert didn’t say anything: he too would be spending quite some time studying the portal, with the aid of his magic sight.
But the voice of her father from deeper in the other space soon shook Samantha away from the portal and made her cross the threshold from her house to the other side. The process was instantaneous, like walking through an open door, and looking back she saw that the inside of the broom closet was still visible through the hole of the portal.
“Holy hell, boy!” Lloyd yelled, almost jumping around. Albert was sure he would have actually jumped, had he been a little younger. “You built yourself one hell of a base. It’s like a fucking palace!”
“It’s called the Lair.” Albert said.
“Lair? What a fu—”
“It chose its own name.” Albert threw his hands up. “Isn’t that right, Lair?”
“It is! I like my own name!” The disembodied voice of the dungeon said.
“It speaks!” Lloyd said. “And it’s… british?”
“It is.” Albert said. “Don’t ask why. Oh, by the way!” He turned to his mother. “It also told me it can access the Quadrangle feed. You just need to plug this in.”
“A USB stick.”
“A Trojan virus tailored to use the AI we put there, actually.” The Lair said.
“You sound different than what I imagined the Quadrangle would sound like.” Samantha said.
“That’s because I am the Lair now.”
Albert’s mother hummed. “Fair.”
“So, we’ll be able to come and go as we please?” Lloyd asked.
“Yup.” Albert said.
“I’ll fucking stay here. Look at all that nature outside!” He said. “Holy crap! The fridge and the kitchen are full of stuff!”
Albert perked up. “Oh yeah! The elves came here earlier and brought some gifts.”
“Elven food????? I’m eating and then I’m going to see them in person.”
The three shared a laugh, but after Lloyd was off to the kitchen to eat some of the elven delicacies and it was just Albert and his mother, the mood shifted.
“What did you do?” She asked, staring at his eyes and looking at his soul.
“What do you mean?”
“You are different. Darker. You might fool him but… well no, I don’t think you fooled him. This means that you haven’t fooled me either.”
“Ah. You noticed.”
Albert felt like he didn’t have a choice but to tell her what he did to get his healing skill to the level it was now at. And in all fairness, it was very therapeutical, something he didn’t even know he needed until he did it.
“Shit. I’m sorry I made you do it.” Mother said. She did look sorry. Strange but welcome.
“It wasn’t you. I would have done it myself, sooner or later. What worries me isn’t what I did. I mean, not as much as the thought of why I did it.”
“I get it. Trust me, I do. Hell, I once spent a week cooped up in a lab to come up with a way to— the Pylons. You saw them. I invented the tech they are based off of.”
“A week, you say?”
She nodded.
“Then you must know how to deal with this particular character trait of ours by now, right?”
Samantha Cromwell inhaled deeply, then the corners of her mouth curled up in a thin motherly smile.
“Not really.”
Well, well, well. Something not even the great Samantha could figure out.
“Just be careful with the skill.” She added.
No super long warnings, no telling not to use the skill unless she approved of it? What what happening?
Whatever it was, Albert hoped it would last. Because, as he looked around and saw his grandpa helping himself to the fridge, his mother talking to the Lair and teleporting around the structure to get a feel of the place… it really felt like it was them against the world. And he liked it.
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