Name: [Zarek Ashborn]
Role: [Hero Candidate]
Core Stats:
>[Strength: D] <B+>
>[Dexterity: D-] <B->
>[Intelligence: D-] B>
>[Endurance: D-] <B->
>[Charisma: D-] <B+>
Talents:
>[Temp Duplicate: D-] <B->
>>[Abilities: Mirror]
[The world's matter…]
>[Harmonic Recall: D-] <B+>
>>[Abilities: Echo]
[The echoes of the past…]
>[Atom Link: E-] <A+>
>>[Abilities: Link]
[The particles of the world speak to you and communicate with one another. Listen in on their stories. Using this Ability, link two items together. No matter the distance, experience sensory recall and perception between the two]
>[Empty]
Skills:
>[C Class Scouting: C+] <C+>
…
Notes:
[Barely any improvement in a half month. Don't you think you should be a bit, I dunno… embarrassed?]
—
Zarek stood with a slight hitch in his breath, holding the flat of a machete over his shoulder.
The system might have been annoying, but sometimes it was right. He hadn't improved much at all in this last half month. By comparison, Priya was already well on her way to C-Grade. If not for their insistence on Core Breakthroughs, she would probably only need another half month or so before she started getting her first C Class stats.
The problem with Growth Potential was rearing its ugly head. But funny enough, Zarek was actually in a better position now than he would be without his Hero Candidate Role.
Right now, the volatility in his stats gave him an average of around B or B+ Growth Potential, which was actually higher than it would otherwise be—especially for his Intelligence and Charisma.
This was just the natural progression of things. Everyone seemed to be improving rapidly, but that was only because they were still in the lower Classes.
Regardless of the life, even with the influence of Rebirthers changing things, it took decades before the first S Classes would start to appear, and then the process after that was even slower.
Even with S Class Growth Potential, it would take a month or two before C Classes started to appear, and maybe half a year to a year before the first B Classes came into view.
After that, it would slow exponentially again.
On average, most probably had around B Class potential, so most would never even sniff A Class, or would take forever to get there.
While S Classes would start reaching B Class in about a year, those with B Class Growth Potential would take half a decade to a decade—likely even longer.
There was simply no time to rest on his laurels, especially not when living out three lives had knocked his Growth Potential down so continuously. Without [Limit Break], he would really be screwed. But it took [Limit Break] so long to accumulate that he would still lag behind inevitably.
That was why he'd have to make up for it with Core Harmony and other methods until he could bridge the gap. Unfortunately, he still hadn't quite grasped Core Harmony again even after all this time and the methods he had self-created.
'There's not enough of these bastards.'
Zarek stood on a wide and empty road. He had been killing for half a day now already, and the pace of the Turned coming had slowed considerably.
He knew that he had killed a lot, and none of them were much of a match for him, but it was still a bit disappointing.
Not a single D Class had appeared, and that just made things too easy on him. He didn't even use his Lurker's Godsfall Armor, which was what he had started calling his method of mitigating his fluctuating Growth Potential.
Even with the Matrix Hub, this amount of E Class Godsfall Droplets would be hard-pressed to move the needle with Zarek's Intelligence. The gap between Classes was too large.
Zarek couldn't help but wonder if they planned this far as well. It was possible.
Or, had they maybe sent the stronger ones after the other warehouses?
Avoiding him? Possible.
Zarek looked up as the sun began to wane. A smile crept onto his face.
He had thought of this, of course. He didn't mention it because he had his own methods of dealing with it. It was about time.
[Godsfall Eclipse Resonance].
[Limit Break].
Zarek took a breath and crimson solar flares began to emit from him.
These days, Zarek was quite cautious with how he used these two techniques. He knew it had lethal attraction to Turned, so he had only recently begun to use it in his and Priya's condominium because he had Fallen Steel to use to mitigate how far it projected outward.
But now… he might as well use it to have a little fun.
Sakks and Dalton.
"Sakks is really dead."
The voice sounded as though it wasn't the first time it had asked this question, but also like it couldn't believe the answer it had gotten the first few times.
The truth was that the Dalton half of Sakks and Dalton hadn't been in the city for the last few weeks, having been off on official business. He thought that leaving things here to Sakks would be good enough, but it was important to coordinate with the attorney general so they could decide how to move forward, and decide how many of their cards to actually show.
But this… was a huge loss.
It wasn't a matter of how much he cared for Sakks, though that was true as well. The two of them were practically brothers.
The real issue now was that if the attorney general felt that they weren't of use as a pawn anymore, he would begin to ignore them. In this situation where so many lives were on the line, that wasn't a lifeline they could afford to lose.
Dalton stood there in silence, dressed in traditional Japanese robes despite being of European descent, and looking like every bit the stereotype of a silver fox. But his handsome countenance couldn't hide the dreary darkness on his face.
Blades in the dojo they stood in trembled before settling down.
He took a breath and exhaled.
"This doesn't change anything for now. What is the message the Green Corporation left?"