P-System Log

We're in the big leagues now. Any reservations I had about Jerome not being strong enough to take on the R Beasts and do the job he's supposed to are pretty much gone, thanks mostly to my own efforts.

Damn, having this much power is nice.

And my Admin Tier--whatever that is--also increased! I wonder what that actually does for me, though it's nice to see it's there at least.

There's some important stuff to do right now that kind of takes precedence, though. Mostly involving killing.

[Edgelord] activating! Passive invoked: [Divine Protection] Passive overriden! [Edgelord] dealt 1098 damage! Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: 1098 damage.

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: What?

[Aster K'lon]: I see your skill was redirected. It must be a passive. Some R Beasts have that, where their passives don't show up on our Systems.

[Jerome Smith]: That guy is super beefy. He'd be a nightmare to fight if he was any higher level.

[Aster K'lon]: True. One more hit should end it.

[Edgelord] is on cooldown! Please wait seconds before using it again. Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: It's on cooldown. I don't know when I'm going to be able to use it again.

[Aster K'lon]: I suspected there had to be a drawback somewhere. This seems reasonable.

[Aster K'lon]: Use another skill, then.

[Arcs S'tar]: I don't understand.

[P-System]: You don't need to. Stay out of our way.

P-System Log That was a beautiful first activation of that new skill. The motherfucker started spinning, and he was waving some energy sword so fast that he looked like a human Beyblade. Even for an effect that visually flashy, that was a lot of damage. So that's what happens when I take the kid gloves off, huh? Skill invoked: [K??i?oika?i] [K??i?oika?i] dealt 711 damage to you! P-System Log

That was a direct hit. Straight to the center of mass, Meteor strike, laser death ray, holy smite--I don't know what that was, but it dealt a fuckload of damage.

But Jerome is still standing. Behold, the power that Parker wields when they're actually serious about this shit!

Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: That thing took around 400 then around 1000. With an initial health of 1790, that means a few more hits still.

[Aster K'lon]: It does not, as far as I can tell, have any resistances. Just a massive Health stat.

[Jerome Smith]: Well, I've got that too now.

[Arcs S'tar]: I think I can take it down. Just give me a bit.

Skill invoked: [Tentacle Storm] [Stareater] cast! Skill invoked: [Berserker's Taunt] [Stareater] cast! P-System Log Holy shit, she just yote those skills out of existence. Looks like Arcs has some level of competence of her own. [Stareater] executing! Enemy defeated! Experience split and distributed! Party Chat

[Arcs S'tar]: I've had that one building up for a few days. 683, but I won't be able to use the skill offensively again for at least an hour.

[Jerome Smith]: Three to go.

[Ethereal Stride] cast! P-System Log

Interesting. I've been pretty immaterial this whole time, but I've only seen Jerome's matter vanish a couple of times on top of that, mostly through his [Misty Strike] ability. This feels different from that, almost like he's walking besides me in my state of not-quite-existing.

And doing it sharpens my senses at this level too. There's another presence with us here, still stuck in its [Nightwalk]. It's not attacking.

Coward.

Private Message [K]

[P-System]: Get your ass moving or I'll do it for you.

[K]: P-System... Joann? Is that you?

[P-System]: I left the only Joann I knew behind me when I got sent here. What's your deal?

[K]: Oh, so it's not...

[K]: It's so cold, being a dungeon mob. I fear I may never be warm again.

[P-System]: Get out there and do your fucking job. If you monologue over DM one more time, I swear to the fucking idiot who reincarnated me here that you won't live to see the next daybreak.

[K]: Okay, fine, fine!

[K]: ...are you also a reincarnator? Nobody else calls it a DM here.

[P-System]: Fucking worry about that later.

[Nightwalk] + [Secret Strike] = [Shadowblade] cast! Passive invoked: [Divine Protection] Party Chat

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: I feel a bit useless.

[Aster K'lon]: When dealing with reincarnators, it comes with the territory. The [Berserker] is down. Looks like the passive protection wasn't enough to keep it alive.

[Jerome Smith]: RIP in piss bozo #packwatch

[Aster K'lon]: Jerome, please. Not in front of the rest of the party.

[Jerome Smith]: Shit, thought this was my personal log. My bad.

[Jerome Smith]: I'm going back in.

[Misty Strike] activating! Passive invoked: [Divine Protection] P-System Log

Yeah, fuck that noise. That protection needs to get the fuck out of my way.

I was able to reverse-engineer [Acid Immunity] from acid. I can probably do something similar with this shitter of a spell. It'll be harder because they're R Beasts, but I'm a lot more willing to toss W Inertia at the issue now.

Here we go. It really doesn't want me to steal it and handle it, but I've got it. With a thousand W Inertia behind me, how could I not?

P-System Log

Fuck off.

One thousand not enough for you? Let's add some more into the mix.

Admin Tier increased! 4 -> 5 P-System Log

Huh, 3000 W Inertia in and it caved. Looks like I get to name this skill, too. Is there not an equivalent in the System already? Or is it just because of the amount of shit I put into it?

I'll take the opportunity in either case. I knew this skill was going to be powerful just based off of the amount of W Inertia I dumped into it, but it looks like it's going to be even stronger than I'd planned for.

Damn, I'm spoiling Jerome. I went from barely giving him a single new skill to amping him up this far. To be fair, I've just about had it. Dicking around and preserving every last drop of W Inertia was nice and all, but why even bother with [W%M;G,P] when I can just make Jerome OP as fuck? It's not like I'm going to be able to do anything outside the bounds of Jerome anyway.

New skill unlocked: [Unblockable] When active, opposing protective skills are invalid. P-System Log While we're at it, why not give some of the skills some upgrades? I still have 27,000 points to spare. Skill leveled up! [Misty Strike] lv. 2 -> lv. 10 Damage increased by 16R10+2. Mana cost increased by 15% per level. Skill evolution! [Misty Strike] -> [Cloud Zenith] Become one with the clouds and temporarily become invincible while casting. P-System Message Go for it. Hero's Personal Log 090

Holy shit, I'm getting spoiled.

Thanks, whatever AI is running this. I can't really put how helpful this is into words.

P-System Log

Of course he starts getting humble and shit after I give him everything he needs... I swear, Jerome acts just like your average 11-year old.

Well, it is what it is. I've given the power of a god into the hands of an idiot that might not be quite as dumb as he seems.

All I can do now is watch. And give him more powers to fuck shit up with more, but that's besides the point.

[Unblockable] activating! [Cloud Zenith] activating! Passive invoked: [Divine Protection] Passive denied. [Cloud Zenith] dealt 292 damage! Enemy defeated! Experience rewarded! Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: 292. That's the [Cultist] dealt with. Unfortunately, it looks like he got friends along the way.

[Arcs S'tar]: You've grown so strong so quickly. How?

[P-System]: He's cheating. Now can we focus on the fucking fight?

[Arcs S'tar]: The System speaks?

[P-System]: It does, and it's telling you to stop thinking about random shit and start thinking about how we can end this fight.

[Arcs S'tar]: ...valid point.

[Ethereal Stride] activating! [Cloudy Zenith] + [Ethereal Stride] = [Ethereal Zenith] activating! P-System Log Damn, that's a weird effect. Jerome is both here and not here, and the disconnect between what's real and what isn't is so thin that I think it's affecting the stuff around him. [Ethereal Zenith] dealt 695 damage! Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: 695. All my high-level skills are on cooldown now.

[Aster K'lon]: It may be best to withdraw. Powerful as you might be, this is still a very strong R Beast.

[Jerome Smith]: Ugh. I was this close.

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: It's okay. There's always another day.

Skill invoked: [Hasty Retreat] P-System Log Well, they sent in three and came back empty-handed with only one guy left standing. During that, I fucking amped Jerome to the moon. The rest of the dungeons here should be a cakewalk. [H?? WA???F?? ?Y?] How interesting.