《The Marine》Log Date: 2.35

Advertisement

[Canister Rifle Bullet:

Complexity: Basic

Cost: .2 Material

Creation Time: 10 seconds]

[1 Psionic Energy consumed]

Kellin watched along as purple/blue wisps left his fingers, floating to the center of his two hands and slowly forming what he instinctively knew was a bullet specifically formulated to go into his [Cannister Rifle]. The process was beautiful, in a way, the bullet forming from base to tip, starting out as a simple gridlike pattern that grew upward until a metallic sheen began to cover its earlier sections. Ten seconds later the single, approximately one and a half inch-long round, allowed gravity to take hold of it as Kellin's right hand swept forward and grabbed the round out of the air.

"One gone to create one bullet at half efficiency, huh. Defaults to [Psionic Energy] too. If we made a simple blueprint for bullets, I could make ten a minute with some time left over," Kellin said, thinking out loud as he set the bullet on the table. "Or, twenty, since we can [Create] two things at once. Easy to fund so long as we don't go through more than we can regain overnight," he muttered to himself, still staring down at the bullet. "What is the rate our resource pools regen anyway, Gyps?"

"In order: 0 per hour, 8 per hour, 1 per hour, 10 per hour, 3 per hour, 5 per day."

[Body Status(Separate):

Condition: Normal

Integrity: 100/100

Health: 80/80

Energy: 96/100

Stamina: 100/100

Mana: 50/50

Psionic Energy: 49/50]

Kellin pulled up their [Condition] to follow along. Integrity to start out and not regenerating at all... made sense, but also didn't with everything they had access to. A self-repair function didn't seem too out of pocket, but then again, the [System] giving them a repair ability when it hadn't given a healing one made a little more sense now. His eyes widened a bit at the tragic rate [Psionic Energy] regened. He regretted using it to make a bullet now, easily becoming the [Stat] they'd need to be most conservative with.

"As for the blueprint, if ammunition is the goal, AI suggests [Creating Blueprint] that allows making one hundred at a time, or one thousand. Set to [Build] while busy with other things, or overnight and process should finish by morning."

"Ah, yeah. That's brilliant, Gyps," he replied, pulled back to the earlier conversation and thankful he hadn't actually wasted their [Blueprint] on crafting a single bullet.

She'd just saved him from a monotonous endeavor of making each individual bullet he was to use from this moment on by hand.

"Additionally, AI suggests choosing weapons before setting any [Blueprints]. If [Cannister Rifle] disappears, bullets for it not compatible with [Gauss Rifle]," she tacked on.

Kellin nodded, looking toward their options for weapons once more.

"Reccomendation remains on [Wave Pistol], [Combat Knife], and [Gauss Rifle]."

Kellin considered her final input, but shook his head ultimately in light of what they'd been given via the [Profession].

"While I don't know what all goes into a giant blade made for combat, I do know every single nook and cranny of my rifle over there," Kellin said, pointing toward the [Cannister Rifle] set on the workbench. "And I could make a [Blueprint] for a Empire standard Gauss Rifle without a second thought as well if needed. We should grab the blade for you."

Advertisement

"Unable to wield [Combat Blade]. Irrelevant to possess useless weapon," she replied. "Save materials. AI can create blade later if needed."

"As well crafted as the [System's] would be? I know you have nothing in your logs on making melee weapons. Plus, you've shown you can move the suit if you try," he said, looking over at the suit that was resting in the Repair Bay again. "I'm sure you could move around the room here without crashing into much with some practice. The ability to spike [Energy] in your systems to swing faster, hit harder... as much as a dead-eye I'm sure you could become with guns, having you take a frontline would be our best bet for now, in my opinion. As for the second option, both [Pistols] would probably be better than the knife if we went with the [Combat Blade]."

The AI remained silent for some time before two beeps eventually sounded out, signaling her agreement. Kellin could almost feel the reluctance radiating off the AI. It was nice she was choosing to trust his judgment, but it made him uneasy to feel like he was shoving her into a decision.

"Then, the other option, just to clarify. Offense?" he asked.

"Agreed. Increase in resources related to [Cloak] and crafting higher priority. Can purchase [Armor] for low [Credit] amount," she replied immediately.

The quick response drove home just how reluctantly she was agreeing to the blade, but at least with this she seemed sure. Without further adieu, Kellin and Gypsy both selected the [Minor Evolution's] offensive option.

[Congratulations! Individual Kellin Finnel, Gypsy has begun their first Class Evolution! Time until final Stat adjustment: 1 hour]

A few minutes passed, Kellin setting his coffee mug in the sink and laying down on the bed while Gypsy remained silent. He was mulling over the weapons options, still not entirely sold on it, when she broke that silence.

"Captain Finnel hasn't selected weapons."

He nodded, sitting up.

"As confident as I was, committing to the [Combat Blade] before we're sure you can move seems like a bad idea. I think we should put the choice off until its clear-"

"Unnecessary."

The Combat Suit exited the Repair Bay without his influence after the interruption. It began moving around the Med Table jerkily, but without bumping into a single thing in the room, even pushing in the desk chair Kellin had forgotten to. Gypsy rounded the table, moving past him slowly until finally finishing a lap around the Hutch. Back where she started, the suit moved itself back into the Bay where it once again resumed its stationary life.

Kellin watched the proceedings with shock and a bit of pride.

"When did you learn all that?" he eventually asked, motioning with his hands the path she had taken.

"Practice with movement systems in small increments while Captain Finnel read," Gypsy replied.

"But... you were reading along with me and talking," he pointed out.

"Unnecessary to devote full attention. Simulations during note-taking allowed theoretical movement about Hutch. First test. Success"

"...Definitely a success," he said, eyebrows raised and a bit jealous of the multi-tasking she was capable of. "Then, do you agree on the Blade?"

Advertisement

The question was met with silence for a few moments before she finally spoke up.

"AI... acknowledges potential of utilizing Combat Blade."

"Good enough for me," he said, smiling and selected the weapons choice while feeling a bit less guilty.

[New Equipment Aquired: Combat Blade, Wave Pistol, Pistol]

She selected it right after him and within moments the three weapons begun to appear slowly, creating themselves out of almost an identical process as when he'd made the bullet. The large, single-edged sword came into being on the back of the Suit, while the two pistols formed themselves on Kellin's hips. Two holsters formed around the suspended guns once they'd finished, gravity taking hold after they attached to his belt.

Calling them pistols seemed a bit of a stretch, in his opinion. The first looked more like a handgun modified to accommodate shotgun rounds, a much larger barrel that fanned out in a bit of a cone set atop a small, thinner chamber. It was sleek and relatively thin, a mix of black and a reflective electric blue coloration. Kellin knew it was the [Wave Pistol] due to it's strange construction, but if he had any doubts, the teal insignia of a wave on the sides drove them away.

The second [Pistol] was as standard as they came for the Empire. One massive, single grip, 50 caliber round hand-cannon, ready for use and fit to a Combat Suit's gauntlet. Trying to [Create] ammo for it informed him it would cost 2 [Material] for just one of the bullets, making them twice as costly as his [Cannister Rifle's] rounds to make.

Thinking of his gun, he glanced over to the desk and was disappointed to see it was fading out of existence. He'd assumed it would with it not being able to be upgraded, but it still hurt to see the weapon he'd used in the last five years of his life go away.

Though, he doubted it was even the same rifle. It was spotless and had been in his holster upon waking on Terranis. There was a chance his old gun had been disintegrated in the [Portal].

Shaking his head, Kellin did what they'd agreed upon earlier and used [Create Blueprint] to make a replica of the old gun. He felt 15 of their [Credits] disappear as a 1-hour timer began in the upper right-hand corner of his mind, a couple of notifications popping up afterward that he dismissed for now. There was still no telling how long it would take to make the gun or exactly how much [Material] it would cost, but this was a start. He couldn't even check with [Create] since it was a moderate difficulty build.

"Alright. Let's spend the next few hours outside practicing with that thing," Kellin stated, pointing at the sword. "Once the blueprints done, our [Stats] are settled, and we've got some bullets, we can build the gun and start scouting the area."

Two deeper tones sounded out, voicing out Gypsy's displeasure at the statement while disagreeing. He glanced over at her and motioned with his hand for her to explain, the AI picking up the conversation after a few seconds.

"Captain Finnel rushing decision to leave safety of Life Hutch. Excess of 25 days of food remains. Priority should be-"

"Gypsy, it's a nice shelter, but it's not permanent," he interrupted. "The sooner we map out our surroundings, the better. I'm not saying run in a straight line west and map out Savul territory; I meant we should begin doing circles around the Hutch, starting with going up and getting a vantage point. We need to know what's around us. If there's some big bad thing out there able to kill us before we even cloak, chances are we'd die to it when trying to leave in a few days anyway."

"Delaying for even a week to practice [Skills] and understanding body limitations would increase rate of survival when encountering several medium-threats at once," she countered.

Kellin shook his head despite the solid point.

"We aren't waiting to be rescued here, Gyps. We are alone. Delaying gives more time for everyone or everything else that got sent to this planet time to grow and establish territory. What if scouting now gives us information we can use to make our second [Blueprint]? We wouldn't have it if we left in a week. You and I have years of experience in scouting out hostile territory together, as well. What is always our first priority?" he asked, trying to take some of the timidness out of her every suggestion.

The AI remained silent and after thirty seconds, Kellin began to inspect the regular [Pistol]. He had no plans to ever use the regular fire mode of the [Wave Pistol] and left that alone for now.

The regular handgun had the same [Stats] it was advertised to, but it came with 5 ammunition. Ejecting the mag, he noticed that 5 was all that there was room for. He immediately chambered a round and then checked on how much it would cost to [Create] a single round.

[Pistol Bullet:

Complexity: Basic

Cost: .4 Material

Creation Time: 20 seconds]

Kellin noted the doubled cost, choosing to sacrifice 4 [Health] for enough [Material] to make the sixth-round. Within moments of choosing the option, he felt as if something was... removing a core aspect of himself. As if he was being drained from the inside, his blood all being pulled to a single spot on the back of his neck and being sucked out until 5% of it had disappeared.

It was extremely unpleasant.

By the time he was just finishing up, Gypsy finally responded a bit hesitantly.

"...Logs indicate priority whenever on scouting expedition was securing a perimeter."

Her voice seemed a bit... exasperated, but he simply nodded and refastened the gun to his hip with the extra bullet loaded, safety on.

"Exactly. So let's get you moving properly, [Equip], and do just that. We aren't waiting around to die, Gypsy. We have a dictator to murder."

Two normal beeps sounded off and he stood up, moving out the door to the Hutch and hearing her following.

    people are reading<The Marine>
      Close message
      Advertisement
      You may like
      You can access <East Tale> through any of the following apps you have installed
      5800Coins for Signup,580 Coins daily.
      Update the hottest novels in time! Subscribe to push to read! Accurate recommendation from massive library!
      2 Then Click【Add To Home Screen】
      1Click