I found it suspicious that he always stayed out of sight on the space station. I did not like it so I tried to find out where he was and what he was doing. One time I found him in the Training Room, shooting holographic targets with various weapons. Another time I found him in the garage, examining available upgrades for our Humvee on the screen of the computer terminal. Sometimes I saw him seemingly purposely walking up and down the corridors of the space stations or sitting somewhere, just staring off at a point in the distance, as if musing over something.
Every time he saw me, Vlad got mad at me for spying on him. I was trying to find out what he was doing all alone, but I never saw him doing anything suspicious. So I soon gave up on spying on him. There was no way he could do us any harm in the Control Room, anyway.
And to be honest, I did not really believe he was plotting a nefarious plan to do any harm to us despite the fact that he clearly did not like us. When we were on a mission, we were armed to the teeth. However, the Russian never turned his guns on us. If he really wanted to kill us, he had plenty of opportunities to do so on one of our missions. However, he had never attempted anything like that.
So I left Vlad alone.
Then there was one time when Vlad waltzed into the Control Room, surprising us all. It was not too often that he joined us in the Control Room unless he was going to sleep. I watched him closely and noticed that while he was doing his best trying to look casual, he was trying hard not to smile. I asked him what was on his mind, but of course, he did not spill the beans.
And when Vlad thought nobody was looking at him, I saw a wide devilish smile spread across his face.
I did not like that smile. Not at all. At that moment, the Russian looked like he had finally found out the answer to a question that had been preying on his mind for a long time.
I really wanted to know why Vlad looked so happy at that moment. But of course, the Russian would not tell us the reason for his good mood.
After that small mysterious episode, Vlad seemed to begin to gradually revert to his old self. He spent less and less time alone and more with us in the Control Room. He seemed to have completely overcome his bitterness and hostility toward us and when resting after a mission on the space station, he spent most of the time hanging out with us in the Control Room.
I was not sure why he changed his attitude toward us. An old proverb goes, “Time heals all wounds.” So it was probably the case with Vlad. He might completely have overcome Nate breaking his nose after our first mission and no longer had any issue with us. However, I was not so sure about that. Vlad did not seem to be the kind of person to forget old grudges.
That episode when he had returned to the Control Room doing his best to keep that devilish smile off his face kept coming to my mind. He had clearly found out something on that day when he had been wandering around the space station. He had been so happy about it he had even seemed to begin to forget about his old grudges.
Every now and then I wondered why the Russian had looked so happy that day. What had he found out that lifted his mood and even seemingly made him willing to make up with us?
Unfortunately, it was impossible for me to find out.
Anyway, Vlad was back to his old grumpy, pain-in-the-ass self. He was not ignoring us anymore, but it was still hard for us to get along with him.
As to the other teammates of mine, I had grown real close with them. Nate and Alyson were nice people and good friends and it was easy for me to get along with them. We spent a lot of time together on the space station, having a good time, exchanging jokes, or telling one another stories about our past lives.
At some point, I realized that Alyson had fallen in love with Nate. I was not sure when exactly it had happened, but her affection for the British guy was becoming more obvious with every passing day.
However, Nate was the only one who did not seem to be aware of that. So at some point when Alyson was out taking a shower, I walked to Nate and asked him if he knew that the girl was in love with him. The British guy replied that he surely was aware of that fact, yet he pretended not to. He said that while he liked the girl, he was not going to become an item with her because it would only complicate things.
After that, we never returned to its conversation again.
Alyson tried to hide her apparent affection for Nate but did not made a very good job of it.
Every now and then, Vlad, being Vlad, made fun of the girl, making jokes about her being in love with the British guy, making Alyson blush and avert her eyes, avoiding looking at anyone. One time, his stupid joke almost made the girl cry, which resulted in Nate snapping at the Russian. He might have even punched him and broken his nose again had I not stopped him. After that, Vlad once again stopped talking to the rest of us and avoided us for a few days.
So for the last six months that we were working for The Weaponized, I leveled up to 30. Leveling up took way longer than it did in a real role-playing video game.
Every time I received skill points, I brought up my Character Menu and learned new skills or upgraded the old ones.
I had all three skills on the First Branch of my Active Ability learned and fully unlocked. On the Second Branch, there were two skills that I could learn: Faster, Faster, Faster and Trigger Happy. On the Third Branch there were two skills to choose from.
The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Branches were currently locked, so I could not see the descriptions of the skills on those branches yet.
Green Rune (Active Ability) — Blink
The Second Branch of the Active Ability:
Name: Faster, Faster, Faster
Description: For a short amount of time after using the Active Ability, your movement speed increases.
Speed increase: +10% (Current: 0%)
Duration: +1 second (Current: 0 seconds)
Status: 0/5
Name: Trigger Happy
Description: For a short amount of time after using the Active Ability, your reload speed increases.
Duration: +3 seconds (Current: 0 seconds)
Speed increase: +10% (Current: 0%)
Status: 0/5
The Third Branch of the Active Ability:
Note: While the Third Branch of the Active Ability contains two skills, you can learn only one of the two. So choose carefully.
Name: Going supernova
Description: This is an active skill. After using the Active Ability, you can use the Going Supernova skill to temporarily blind nearby enemies.
Effective range: +1.5 meters around (Current: 0 meters)
Duration: +0.5 seconds (Current: 0 seconds)
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Status: 0/5
Name: Pusher
Description: This is an active skill. After using the Active Ability, you can use the Pusher skill, which creates a powerful gust of dark energy originating from you and spreading in all directions, which might knock your enemies off their feet.
Effective range: +3 meters (Current: 0 meters)
Pushing power: +20% (Current: 0%)
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Status: 0/5
However, after examined the available skills, I decided not to learn any of them at that time. My Active Ability was pretty powerful at that point, which was why I decided to learn some skills for Sixth Sense—my Passive Ability—instead.
Blue Rune (Passive Ability) — Sixth Sense
The First Branch of the Passive Ability:
Name: Guardian Angel
Description: You gain an improved recharge delay for the Passive Ability.
Recharge delay: -1 second (Current: 4 seconds)
Status: 2/5
Name: Speed Maniac
Description: Increases your overall movement speed.
Speed increase: +10%
Status: 0/5
So I put the first three skill points into the Guardian Angel skill, fully upgrading it.
The next five skills I used to l
earn and fully upgrade the Speed Maniac skill. Since I was a Flanker, movement speed was extremely important to me.
Name: Guardian Angel
Description: You gain an improved recharge delay for the Passive Ability.
Recharge delay: 1 second
Status: 5/5 (Completely Learned)
Name: Speed Maniac
Description: Increases your overall movement speed.
Speed increase: +50%
Status: 5/5 (Completely Learned)
After I put ten skill points into the skills on the First Branch, the Second and the Third Branches of my Passive Ability got unlocked.
The Second Branch of the Passive Ability:
Name: The Eagle Eye
Description: Increases the range of the Passive Ability.
Distance: +25 meters (Current: 25 meters)
Status: 0/5
Name: Fast Hands
Description: Makes you nimbler, which results in increased reload speed, weapon draw speed, and aiming down the sights speed.
Speed increase: +10%
Status: 0/5
The next five skill points I allocated into the Eagle Eye skill on the Second Branch to increases the range of the Passive Ability.
Name: The Eagle Eye
Description: Increases the range of the Passive Ability.
Distance: 125 meters
Status: 5/5 (Completely Learned)
After that, the Fourth Branch of my Passive Ability got unlocked. As to the Fast Hands skills on the Second Branch, I decided not to learn it. I did not really feel like I needed this skill.
On the Third Branch of my Passive Activity, there were three skills that looked very useful.
The Third Branch of the Passive Ability:
Name: Tracker
Description: Actions performed by your enemies leave markers that you can see. When you look at the marker, the Voice will tell you how long ago they occurred and vanish after some time.
The lifespan of markers: +5 seconds (Current: 0 seconds)
Status: 0/5
Name: Malicious Whispers 1
Description: When you take damage, the spectral Voice begins to whisper into your attacker’s ears, trying to confuse them. The voice has a chance of:
1. ruining your enemy’s aim;
2. persuading your enemy to stop attacking you and choose another target;
3. bamboozling them into attacking their allies instead.
Chance of ruining your enemy’s aim: +20% (Current: 0%)
Chance of having them pick another target: +10% (Current: 0%)
Chance of having them attack their allies: +5% (Current: 0%)
Note: Only one of the effects can be applied to an enemy at a time. The Voice randomly chooses one of the three. If it fails and the enemy still attacks you, the Voice tries another one. After being successful, the skill goes on cooldown.
Recharge delay: 60 seconds
Status: 0/5
Name: Spectral Protector
Description: The spectral voice warns you when you are in danger.
Current: Rank 5
Rank 0: The Voice warns you when danger approaches without specifying what kind of danger it is.
Rank 1: The Voice warns you when an enemy is aiming at you and from what direction to expect the attack. It also tells you when a grenade is thrown at you.
Rank 2: The voice warns you when a sniper rifle is aiming at you. It works even if the sniper is beyond the range of the Passive Ability.
Rank 3: The voice warns you about nearby traps.
Rank 4: The voice warns you if there are many enemies nearby.
Rank 5: The voice warns you if many people died near you.
Status: 0/5
After giving the matter some thought, I decided to learn the Spectral Protector first. It seemed like an extremely useful skill to me, so I put the last five skill points that I had at that moment into that skill.
Name: Spectral Protector
Description: The spectral voice warns you when you are in danger.
Current: Rank 5
Rank 0: The Voice warns you when danger approaches without specifying what kind of danger it is. (Learned)
Rank 1: The Voice warns you when an enemy is aiming at you and from what direction to expect the attack. It also tells you when a grenade is thrown at you. (Learned)
Rank 2: The voice warns you when a sniper rifle is aiming at you. It works even if the sniper is beyond the range of the Passive Ability.
Rank 3: The voice warns you about nearby traps. (Learned)
Rank 4: The voice warns you if there are many enemies nearby. (Learned)
Rank 5: The voice warns you if many people died near you. (Learned)
Status: 5/5 (Completely Learned)
The Forth and the Fifth Branches were unlocked, but I decided to check out the skills on those two Branches after I got more skill points to use.
My current level was 30, and my current build was as follows:
Stats:
Class: Flanker
Current Level: 30
Experience Points: 79450
Experience Points to Level 31: 85000
Abilities:
Active Ability — Blink
Maximum distance: 30 meters (Learned Skills: Reacher 3/3)
Amount of charges: 3/3 (Learned Skills: Unstoppable 1 2/2)
Delay between charges: 1 second (Learned Skills: Unstoppable 1 2/2, Unstoppable 2 2/2)
Cooldown: 30 seconds (Learned Skills: Ready for Action 3/3)
Passive Ability — Sixth Sense
Effective range: 125 meters around (Learned Skills: The Eagle Eye 5/5)
Cooldown: 1 second (Learned Skills: Guardian Angel 5/5)
Movement Speed increased by: 50% (Learned Skills: Speed Maniac 5/5)
The spectral voice can warn you about: 5 kinds of danger (Learned Skills: Spectral Protector 5/5)
Ultimate Ability — Teleport
Maximum length: 50 meters (Learned Skills: No Skills Learned Yet)
Duration: 30 seconds (Learned Skills: No Skills Learned Yet)
Cooldown: 10 minutes (Learned Skills: No Skills Learned Yet)
Learned Skills:
Green Rune (Active Ability) — Blink
The First Branch of the Active Ability:
Name: Ready for Action
Description: You gain an improved recharge delay for the Active Ability.
Recharge delay: 30 seconds
Status: 3/3 (Completely Learned)
Name: Unstoppable 1
Description: You gain an additional Blink charge. While the Active Ability can be used several times before going on Cooldown, after you use the Active Ability, you will have to wait some time before you can Blink again.
Recharge delay: 1 second
Status: 2/2 (Completely Learned)
Name: Reacher
Description: Increases the distance of the Active Ability.
Blink Distance: 30 meters
Status: 3/3 (Completely Learned)
The Second Branch of the Active Ability:
Name: Unstoppable 2
Description: You gain an improved recharge delay for the Unstoppable 1 skill.
Recharge delay: 1 second
Status: 2/2 (Completely Learned)
Required skill: Unstoppable 1
Blue Rune (Passive Ability) — Sixth Sense
The First Branch of the Active Ability:
Name: Guardian Angel
Description: You gain an improved recharge delay for the Passive Ability.
Recharge delay: 1 second
Status: 5/5 (Completely Learned)
Name: Speed Maniac
Description: Increases your overall movement speed.
Speed increase: +50%
Status: 5/5 (Completely Learned)
The Second Branch of the Passive Ability:
Name: The Eagle Ey
e
Description: Increases the range of the Passive Ability.
Distance: 125 meters
Status: 5/5 (Completely Learned)
The Third Branch of the Passive Ability:
Name: Spectral Protector
Description: The spectral voice warns you when you are in danger.
Current: Rank 5
Rank 0: The Voice warns you when danger approaches without specifying what kind of danger it is. (Learned)
Rank 1: The Voice warns you when an enemy is aiming at you and from what direction to expect the attack. It also tells you when a grenade is thrown at you. (Learned)
Rank 2: The voice warns you when a sniper rifle is aiming at you. It works even if the sniper is beyond the range of the Passive Ability.
Rank 3: The voice warns you about nearby traps. (Learned)
Rank 4: The voice warns you if there are many enemies nearby. (Learned)
Rank 5: The voice warns you if many people died near you. (Learned)
The Weaponized: The Complete LitRPG Series Page 25
