Once he escaped the crowd and came back lighter and stronger than before, Roberto helped the others pick up the trash and do a general cleaning of the plates and cups. The empty packages and cans had already evaporated a while ago, which made their job extremely easy, allowing them to speed up the whole process.

"Good," the young man then said after glancing around to make sure he hadn't left anything behind. After that, he spit out with circus-like skill the extinguished butt he held between his teeth in the homemade ashtray (a cup), called the rest of the group together, and headed out.

He didn't talk much during the walk, and the others didn't exchange many words either. As safe as they felt at the moment, they didn't have the slightest confidence that things would remain so quiet. In any case, silent or not, they arrived back at the ground floor, at a point close to where they had first met.

"Very well... I'd guess this is good spot. Not that it matters much really," Roberto resumed saying after choosing a pile of rubble of the right height as his new chair, continuing his scoutmaster speech with renewed lit tobacco hanging from the edge of his mouth.

Seeing no complaints or questions from the others, who on the contrary had voluntarily arranged themselves in a semicircle in front of him, he took another breath of good air and said: "So, let's start with the most important things," stopping almost immediately to make an object appear in his right hand and one in his left. The first, the one on his left, was the famous plainly designed knife he had found in the welcome box, while the other was the large, shabby-looking tome also of the same origin.

"Just for simplicity's sake, I'd say we could call these kinds of little objects as System Objects or Items, if we prefer to keep the nerdy undertone. Either way, this stuff so far is the only stuff that when held or parsed with the Terminal generates a response from the System. Something like this..." He then continued by bringing the knife closer towards himself, making the System's metallic voice ring in everyone's ears and making a bluish semi-transparent notification visible above the object itself.

[Shifting Blade. Skills Possessed: ??? Rarity: Uncommon].

"Nice as can be, no?" He asked immediately with a hint of a smile on his face, however, not finding the surprise he expected on the other side of the fence.

"Ah, well... Considering the general atmosphere I imagined some such devilry would pop up." That was indeed Alex's response, unimpressed by the way, to the presentation of the weapon. "Yeah, it's weird to say that, but it doesn't surprise me at all at the moment..." Mario then added more, bringing a hand to the side of his head and playing with his unruly hair.

"Rather," The beloved Camilla finally planted the last nail on the coffin of the boy's amusement, leaning forward in the direction of the System notification to study it more closely. "What's that supposed to mean [???], is this one of those video game things like you guys discussed yesterday? Is that supposed to be normal?" She began to ask, turning to the three of them expecting to find an answer, particularly given the fact that no one else had highlighted that detail.

"Oh, that?" Alex was the first to take the floor, turning his head slightly to the side to look in his direction. "Going by logic I think it's hidden capabilities of the object, some video games use gimmicks like that to differentiate weapons from each other. Sometimes it's a hidden variable and other times it's visible... Well, in general I think it's something like that," was his answer, far too articulate considering the hardware model on which the software was running. This answer was further supported by a wild Mario who said: "At the very least they will make us use consumables to discover the hidden effects. I don't see much originality in the choice of mechanics," crossing his arms after concluding to harass his own hair.

"Not even the slightest satisfaction... Since I have to take responsibility for putting proposals on the table at least let me have some fun doing it..." Complained the smoker with gritted teeth as he watched them discuss relatively quietly, giving him the impression that they actually expected who knows what revelation from him. Not that the discovery of System Objects was anything small.

"Great, great..." He resumed saying raising his voice this time, making himself heard well by his companions. "Before we move on to the other important matters, I'd like to make one thing clear. For all we know, the focal points of this 'game', even if defining my own life in this way puts a certain sadness in my heart... Moving on. The focal points at the moment are Skills and System Objects. Do you agree with me?" He concluded by asking the rest of the crew, patiently waiting for their answer without putting any hurry and indeed resuming smoking nice and comfortable.

"Well... I would say yes, wouldn't I?" Alex stepped forward, hesitating a little, wanting to have his say on the matter since he was beginning to guess where the conversation was going. Even Mario seemed to realize a little something, dropping his eye on the ancient-looking book in Roberto's hand, but only said, "Probably. Leaving those two factors aside, we didn't have much else to work with. So I can agree with that," not pushing any particular position.

"Wait, wait a minute..." It was instead Camilla, a second time, who started off more fired up on the warpath; now paying more attention to the items in Roberto's possession. Still in the distance, held by the wrist by a worried Alex who otherwise knew well that he would have created trouble, she decreased a little the distance separating them by staring him straight in the eyeballs

From that position, a bit comical if you look at it from a distance, she immediately shot off her mouth saying: "That stuff came out of the till yesterday, didn't it? Why did you pocket it without saying anything? Did you want to keep it all to yourself or were you hoping no one would say anything? Oh! Are you listening to me!?" Coming towards the conclusion of her remarks in an increasingly annoyed and vigorous voice and tone, as the other was doing nothing but standing there fuming with almost no reaction.

This one must be a devil in bed... I honestly cannot decide if I should congratulate Alex or offer him some condolences. Well, I guess as long as no strange toys or tools are brought up I should tend towards compliments....

Yeah... Well, luckily there would be no way for her to really know what was going through his head at that instant. If their thoughts were also on a channel shared on a public channel like the notifications were it would have been trouble.

Having said that, however, considering that at least for the time strictly necessary he should have answered seriously to avoid creating unnecessary hostility, he said nothing and so all those beautiful thoughts remained a crime without any victim. It's a pity, if the variables at stake had been different it would have been a good game to pass the morning.

"Seeing how we were yesterday," he took to answering a few seconds later, returning the girl's steady gaze. "I preferred to avoid raising a fuss ahead of time. Need I remind you who it was yesterday that had a hysterical attack at least a couple of times? Here, if we had this talk yesterday we probably wouldn't have gotten a thing out of it." He then continued, sighing slightly towards the end, pretending nothing had happened when Camilla looked away having realized she was also a little bit in the wrong end of the stick.

"Today instead we have a clearer mind," The boy didn't stop talking, moving his right wrist as he went along to make the gazes of his listeners fall where he was most interested. "Plus, it's not like I consumed anything. This knife, or sword you see, we can decide later who it should belong to. While instead..." Here he stopped emphasizing the weapon and moved on to bring the big book forward.

"For this one, however, I already have half an idea. In fact, I've already got a pretty good plan on who should receive and use it. There's a Skill in here called [Supergravity], and I'd say its effect is almost self-explanatory on its own come on, so it would be the equivalent of doubling the Skills available to that person. A good advantage, don't you think?" He concluded by surprising for the first time the small group around him, more for the fact of being able to double the Skills of a person rather than for the capabilities of the book itself.

Mario was probably the most interested. The night before Roberto had not mentioned anything about the subject, although they had discussed amiably. The fact that he had waited to bring out the 'good stuff' (his expression, not mine, I don't want to know anything about it. Thanks for your patience.) when the others were also present was a good sign. From what he had seen at the moment, even with all the probable mental problems he was carrying around, Roberto seemed more capable and aware than he was trying to show off.

Because of that, the big guy laughed a little under his breath, saying in an almost ironic tone, "Oh... They gave us a little something like that?" Before retreating from the battlefield he well imagined would come out. Watching the scene from a distance, not really having any particular interest in the new Skill. Of course, had it been in his hands, perhaps he would have been able to find a worthwhile use for that Skill. But he left the decision to Roberto; finding the exchange fair, since he would be able to study his character because of it.

"Half an idea? Half an idea you say!?" And then Camilla raised her voice, ready again for a second act, almost as if her moment of embarrassment had never happened. Great willpower; a little fake considering she still had a slight blush on her cheeks, but still great character. Perfect for a war tank.

"And let me guess," she then continued, with a particularly desperate Alex who was even now holding her back and very unwilling to speak his mind. In fact, at this round, due to reasons of greater necessity, he had already swallowed his own pride from the beginning; having the strong impression that it would have been better to let Roberto decide. His analytical skills were superior, and by a lot, plus he also had cold blood on his side. If the price to pay was so cheap then it was fine, considering that on the table was the survival of the whole team.

Of the team, eh. Not one particular member, but the entire group. Alex was a man with such a big heart.

Avoiding to get lost in gratuitous bullshit however; it was obvious that with such thoughts in his head he had already taken Roberto's side from the beginning. In fact, maybe even before the discussion started. Sabrina then hadn't said a word yet and was unlikely to do so in the near future, so all that was left was poor Camilla to fight the cardiovascular disease lord.

"Let me guess," however, don't think that demon in disguise thought to step back despite the numerical disadvantage. Charged as a fighter, she nonetheless resumed her complaints with the same tenacity and latent nastiness that an ex-wife would exhibit during the trial to terminate alimony.

"I guess that precious Skill should go to you, did I guess? What do you think you are our boss!!!? I don't know anything about your fucking games, and shit Alex don't squeeze like that you hurt me! I don't know anything about your games but as far as our situation is concerned even for me it is clear that those Skills could be as dangerous as firearms! No fucking way I'm letting you take that shit without a fight. And shit, Alex! Don't squeeze! I said don't squeeze!"

The hand grenade with the nice ass continued its lonely battle remaining the only active actor in the conflict for the whole time. Roberto didn't interrupt her even once and, on the contrary, he almost told Alex to fuck off when he pulled his girlfriend to make her stop. It had been a remarkable spectacle; so much so that it almost made him sad that it was already over.

"Actually no, I mean yes; but also no." Said the smoker then with a straight face to be envied, causing natural and intentional incomprehension in the girl's face. Fortunately, or at least considering Roberto's feelings, Alex managed to avoid disaster by forcing his hand and taking a backhanded blow on his side. A necessary sacrifice that, if not made, would have otherwise allowed Camilla to start a new argument.

"Ah... That sucks," Roberto found himself huffing as the amused part of the little drama, finally deciding to set the record straight; saying shortly after, "About Skills being weapons, or I would prefer the term tools actually, useful there is no doubt. However, I have no intention of learning this particular Skill; it would not be the most efficient move at the moment. Rather..." He paused briefly, looking up in Alex's direction before proceeding again with a, "I would like him to be the one to learn it."

Obviously, the target of good fortune couldn't help but respond by saying, "Huh?", extremely confused by the turn of events that had taken but, deep down, a little bit excited and pleased because becoming a super man was a typical male fantasy. No point in saying otherwise.