Chapter 447: More choices
For now, Michael wasn’t thinking of buying the Defense upgrade. His Mithril Artifact was already sturdy enough as it was. And since other Maugnetics only had access to Mithril Relics that were partially degraded, his Drone would always win out in a battle of sturdiness.
Of course, that doesn’t take into account Aubilities. So if he had any spare Soo in the future, he would definitely purchase this upgrade.
The next system upgrade was something that caught his eye from the very start.
It was titled Expansion, with a couple of interesting upgrades. The first one being related to [Drones].
As he picked on this option, the 3D Drone suddenly split in half horizontally like a briefcase opening fully.
The interior of the Drone showed a smaller box that fit perfectly into an indent inside.
As the Drone finished opening, the smaller box inside started to pulsate with light, just like a computer booting up to start.
Four miniature propellers mechanically folded outwards before starting to rotate. The blades gave enough lift for the smaller, miniature Drone to take flight!
[Mini Drone: This upgrade allows you to create a miniature drone that is linked to the main Drone.
If the camera upgrade is purchased, then you will be able to see through the mini drone and control it just like the main Drone.
The mini drone doesn’t have any capacity to store any Switches, but can pick them up and attach them to any surface.
The mini drone doesn’t have any offensive capabilities.]
[Cost: 1 drop]
This upgrade would be very useful if he needed to keep track of a lot of things in the battlefield. Just like the description said, he would be able to see through the mini drone just like the main one, giving him even more vision in the fight.
Being able to simultaneously attach switches onto two different targets using two drones was very tempting for Michael. And since the cost was only one drop, Michael considered whether this would be part of his shopping spree later.
Of course, he had to reign in his impulse. There were still two upgrade options that he could buy.
[Reduce: This upgrade will allow the Drone to significantly reduce at the push of a button. This reduction will increase the speed of the Drone, but will decrease its offensive capabilities.]
[Cost: 1 drop]
[Enlarge: This upgrade will allow the drone to significantly increase in size. The offensive capabilities of the Drone will increase, but its speed will take a hit.]
[Cost: 1 drop]
The [Reduce] upgrade turned the Drone into something that was as small as a bird and could fit neatly on top of his palms.
Meanwhile, the [Enlarge] option turned the Drone as big as an eagle. It was big enough that a human could step on top of it and ride it like a hovercraft.
Both options were useful in very specific circumstances. The [Reduce] option increased its stealth capabilities, allowing it to maneuver through tight spaces that only small rodents could pass through. If he wanted to infiltrate a fortress, then he would definitely consider buying this upgrade.
As for the [Enlarge] option, Michael didn’t really see much of a reason to buy this upgrade. Having a larger Drone can be useful, but only if he had already bought the [Unity Gun] upgrade.
Out of all the options available, he would buy this upgrade last.
All in all, these enhancements would completely change the way that he used his Drone. And it looks like these weren’t the only ones that he could buy. Throughout the options, he always saw the [????] appear next to the upgrades.
It was easy to guess that these options were hidden upgrades that he would only get once he had bought the previous upgrade before it.
"So many options! What do I need to buy?"
Right now, he only has one drop of Soo to spend. That was because the first coating only needed one to establish a connection with him and the Mithril Artifact.
However, he still had three drops of Soo from the vial left. If he hadn’t passed out, then Chucky would have helped him coat his Mithril Artifact with all of those drops.
"This means that I can only buy one upgrade for now..." he pondered.
And although there were a lot of options, his focus eventually landed on one single upgrade.
The camera.
This was such a substantial upgrade from his normal Drone that it was the first one that he truly needed to get. If he only had one Soo to spend, then getting this upgrade would be the most cost-efficient since the value it gave him was better than what the other upgrades could offer him.
"ChatJK4, I want to purchase the [Drone Vision]."
[Understood. You have consumed one drop of Soo. The Drone will begin its upgrade automatically.]
The 3D projection of the Drone started to morph. Circular indents appeared on the top and bottom sides of the Drone. And slowly, these nanoparticles started to form through the indent, creating the 360 degree glass camera from the ground up.
This process reminded him of how his own Diva formed. Except this time, the formation was through an actual object in reality, not just a projection that could not be interacted with.
It made much more sense now that these Mithril Artifacts were considered a link to the Diva. Magic wasn’t the one creating morphing the Drone into something entirely new. It was the power in his GodForge pieces. Clearly, it was now connected with his Drone.
[The upgrade will finish once you have woken up from your slumber. Would you like to sleep to pass the time?]
With nothing else to do, Michael accepted.
Soon, his consciousness started to fade away, losing sight of the dark space all around him. Even the system interface for the Drone had disappeared, leaving Michael to drift off into sleep.
...
...
...
A few hours later, Michael felt light hitting his closed eyes.
As he slowly woke from his slumber, his eyes opened, which was almost immediately blinded by the rays of the sun peeking out from the window.
He blinked and immediately got up from the bed.
He looked around and didn’t recognize where he was. But judging from the pillars and the domed ceilings, Michael guessed that he was somewhere in the Associations’ headquarters, just like ChatJK4 said he was.
Just then, he noticed that there was something heavy on his feet.
He looked down and saw someone sleeping on his legs. He saw her long black hair sprawled along the bed and immediately recognized who she was.
"Yuna," he called out to her.
Yuna slowly awoke and turned in his direction. She rubbed her eyes before immediately flashing a smile once she realized he was already up.
"Morning. Looks like someone had a good sleep," he said to her.
Just then, he felt a pinch on his legs that made him wince in pain.
"Ow!"
Yuna glared at him. "You don’t get to talk. You slept for a whole day and a half and had us all worried!"
Michael scratched his head. "Thanks for the concern, but I’m fine now. I’m more than fine."
He then used his shadow skill to take out the vial of Soo from his inventory, eyeing it with a smile.