Damien ignored the new notifications and stepped around Ivan’s dead body, picking up the Jagged Fangs that had been dropped on the ground. The heated spinning blades had come to a full stop after clinking off the ground, and they now looked like normal knives once again.

A quick search found that Ivan didn’t have anything else worth looting, so Damien pocketed the weapons and quickly left the alley, making his way back to the main section of the market, and losing himself within the crowds. The last thing he wanted was to be found looting a dead body in a shady alleyway, and having the police called in against him.

He’d already had a tense run-in with the NPD in the form of Lieutenant Zhurkov, and even that single encounter was one too many. Having seen their corruption and brutal methods of law enforcement first hand, he was eager to stay off their radar for as long as possible.

As he continued walking, Damien opened his Stats & Skills page within the T-Deck.

Stats

Level: 6

Reputation: Nobody

Strength: 11

Agility: 15

Durability:13

Technical: 9

Blades: 15

Firearms:7

Skills Master Level

Description Parry Adept

Deflect oncoming [Weak] projectiles and melee attacks. May exceed physical limits.

Adept Bonuses:

Focus Cost: -10%

Additional Effect: May parry [Blunt] weapons

Tempest Flurry Rookie Exert maximum potential to unleash a vicious flurry of sword strikes. May exceed physical limits.

Cost: 10% Focus, 90% Stamina Talents Master Level

Description S.S. Core

Rookie ??? Way of the Samurai

Adept

[+1] Blades

[+10] Maximum Focus

Gain additional bonuses from Samurai weapons and armor.

Adept Bonuses:

[+15%] additional bonuses from Samurai gear

May wear [Uncommon] rank Samurai gear with no penalties

Back Stab

Rookie Deal 15% additional damage when striking enemies from behind. Scales with Lethality.

Available Skill Points: 1

Titles Description Pirate +25 Street Cred Traits Description - -

He looked over each of his skills and talents, satisfied with how quickly his arsenal was growing. Parry was the first skill he’d ever unlocked, and he’d have died many times by now if it wasn’t for such a useful defensive tool. Tempest Flurry, on the other hand, was a devastating offensive skill that came with a steep price. With it, he could deal a massive amount of damage to one enemy, but he’d be rendered virtually useless afterward due to that heavy stamina cost.

After leveling up, he now had a single skill point to allocate. Though the mastery level of Skills and Talents could increase on their own through use, they could also be increased through the use of these skill points. A single skill point could increase the mastery level from Rookie to Adept, but an increase from Adept to the next stage required 2 skill points.

If he used the skill point now, Damien could only improve one of Tempest Flurry, S.S. Core, or Back Stab. S.S. Core was the only talent that he’d had from the beginning, but he still had no clue what it did, or what it’s purpose was. Because of this, he’d vowed not to spend any resources on it until he learned more, fearing that they would go to waste.

This meant that he only had three options: upgrade Tempest Flurry, upgrade Back Stab, or save up the skill point for later. He considered his options carefully until he made his decision.

I guess I’ll save up this skill point until I get another one. Parry and Way of the Samurai are the foundation of my abilities, so I want to prioritize them. Besides, I wanna see what the next stage is, as well as how powerful those bonuses will be.

As Damien made his way to the entrance of the market, he reflected on everything that he’d gone through. It had been just over a week since he’d woken up in the city of Neopolis with no memories of his past. He’d been rescued from a gang-controlled warehouse on the east side of the city by Kat and Marcus--two pirates living the life of outlaws within the city.

With their help he’d managed to settle down somewhat in this new environment, a place he quickly learned was something of a war zone between the government, gangs, and corporations. Somewhere in between these powerful forces, pirates like Kat and Marcus made a living by taking jobs as mercenaries for pay.

With his mysterious background forcing him into the outskirts of society, and the allure of an outlaw lifestyle gripping him, Damien decided to join their little pirate crew, and he set his sights on finding out what had happened to him.

Throughout these dangerous but exciting days, he’d gained some knowledge and clues about his background, as well how he may have ended up unconscious and memoryless. Most of these clues pointed to TrillTech, a large Biorobotics corporation operating within the city. Coincidentally, Kat and Marcus had their own ax to grind with the organization. They’d had suspicions that the disappearance of Jay—a dear friend and previous member of their crew— was also tied to TrillTech.

With multiple clues pointing to the Biorobotics corporation, and the help of of a mysterious man by the name of Zero, the three pirates had staged an assault on a secret underground research facility operated by TrillTech. During the mission, they’d managed to secure important files regarding the secret experiments, of which Damien suspected that he was a test subject of. It wouldn’t be much longer until all the information within those files would be revealed.

The full truth will come out soon enough…, he promised himself.

As Damien reached the entrance of the market, he approached a terminal with a square, glowing red tube beside it. Above the interface, the bold letters U.T.S. were clearly displayed, labeling it as the Underground Transportation System. The U.T.S. was a system of conveyors running throughout the entirety of Neopolis, and could be used by anyone to transport goods all around the city.

Initially, this system was under strict control by the government, but that changed due to the Freedom Channel--a potent hack that allowed the contents and shipments of packages to become untraceable. This was the work of the mysterious hacker known as XO. Of course, Damien had met XO in person, and found that her real name was Lana, a hermit in her late teens. She’d become an ally to the trio, playing a crucial support role in their assault on the research facility.

Damien placed the Thermal Fangs into the glowing red tube, and started clicking away on the digital interface. The system was easy to use, and he shipped the weapons to his apartment, keeping them in safe storage until he would decide whether to keep or sell them.

He left the U.T.S terminal behind, satisfied with the success of his mission, and the payment he’d received. After the assault on the research facility, Zero had paid the three pirates a large sum, and Damien had used a good portion of it to pay off the debts that he’d accrued.

He’d originally planned to splurge on some fun gear that he’d been eying, but ultimately decided to rent a decent apartment for the first time. The places he’d crashed in previously were depressing to say the least, and he appreciated having a decent living space for once. But now that that was all sorted out, he could finally treat himself properly.

I’m finally done being all responsible, Damien noted to himself, half sarcastically. Time to splurge.

While the payment from Zero had been sweet, the real score from the job came in the form of the Archangel files they secured. Lana had taken it upon herself to handle the decryption of these files, hoping to get some answers about Damien’s past as well as Jay’s location. She’d been working diligently on the task over the last few days, drip feeding the three pirates whatever information she’d learned.

Among the data contained within the Archangel files, they’d confirmed that TrillTech was indeed performing some kinds of illegal experiments on human test subjects. They also obtained an ever-growing list of the identities of those subjects, and learned that Jay had been one of them. Unforunately, he’d been labeled as one of the failed experiments, meaning that he had been killed soon after.

Though both Kat and Marcus were deeply hurt by those findings, they were ultimately grateful for the closure. With Jay missing for so long, it seemed like they’d already prepared for the worst, and they didn’t grieve for long. Instead, they spoke of avenging their fallen ally, and taking down TrillTech at any cost.

Damien was more than willing to help his allies in that cause. Unfortunately, his name hadn’t shown up on the list of subjects, frustrating him deeply. Though all signs of his condition pointed to the corrupt organization, he wanted the final confirmation that could be pinned on them.

As he mulled over his thoughts, a prompt popped up before him.

Incoming Call from Kat.

Accept Decline

He mentally accepted the request and Kat’s voice came to life in his head.

“Yo. What are you up to?” She asked, her icy voice only audible to Damien.

“Just finished up a job. Got some time to kill.”

“Good to hear. Lana’s finished decrypting the Archangel files. You were asking about something called the S.S. Core, right? Looks like she found some mention of it within those files. Get your ass to Club Starlight so we can discuss our next moves.”

Damien swallowed hard, hope swelling up within him for the first time. Finally, they found the confirmation he was looking for.

“Club Starlight? I’m on my way.”