"No..." Frizz instantly declined, not giving it a second thought.
The room fell silent. Divine and Nathaniel exchanged wary glances, unsure how Hei, their leader, would react.
The floating eyeball hummed, idly spinning. "Perhaps I was too forceful; I will give you a week for a proper answer."
"Didn't you hear me? I said no."
"Consider this," the floating eyeball's volume increased, sweetening the deal. "I guarantee you'll reach level fifty within two months. Moreover, my protection of your family will remain."
Frizz's brow furrowed. He clenched his fists, confusion warring with suspicion "My family? Protections? You've been spying on me from the start!?"
The floating eyeball hummed; the bait worked. "There were already several attempts on your family's life and yours too; we made sure to intercept most. The rest were let through since we needed your development as a leveler."
"I find that hard to believe..." Frizz countered, scoffing and unconvinced.
Divine stepped forward, putting up a hand. "Those criminals have the connections, influence, money, and ruthlessness to kill you and your family ten times over. You being kidnapped should've been the final nail in your coffin, but..."
The floating eyeball nodded approvingly. "I made sure that your kidnappers were busy with another problem, one that superseded you. Breaking out was your sole initiative, but the lack of manpower for you to handle was mine."
Frizz coldly glared at the floating eyeball, deep in thought. (Now that I think about it, there weren't a lot of people back at that warehouse. Even when backup came, I was still able to make a run for it.)
(Was it really because of them?)
Frizz clicked his tongue, breaking eye contact and shaking his head. "If you wanted my favor, you should've saved me back then."
"Hardships contribute to character, proof that you're not extremely system dependent. You became arrogant with instant power, and you needed to be put in place."
"You're still childish," the floating eyeball continued rhetorically, its gaze unwavering. "But after your capture, you have mellowed, correct?"
Frizz remained silent, grudgingly acknowledging the truth in the statement. There was something about the person behind the floating eye infuriated him. (If anyone needed to be put in place, it was this arrogant person.)
"We were destined with power; join us, and we can help you achieve that. Remember, your goals of 'cleaning' this city align with ours; we should be allies, not enemies," the floating eyeball declared as dark smoke appeared from the ground, quickly enveloping Frizz.
"Remember, one week."
Frizz gasped, but before he could react, he vanished, disappearing within the barrier.
Nathaniel stretched and dispelled the barrier. He picked up the unfinished plate of roasted chicken, planning to feed it to the dogs. (What a waste of good chicken.)
The floating eyeball darted to the duo. "Nathaniel, Mina. Frizz's bounty has increased, and so will the attempts to claim it. Stop intercepting these threats and only intervene in dire situations."
"I will let you decide what a 'dire situation' is, but make sure no one dies," the floating eyeball ordered, spinning and flying away with a loud boom and a gust of wind. Scaring the dogs Nathaniel was about to feed.
Divine sighed, approaching and collapsing on the bed.
"What a stressful day. Why didn't he say yes?"
"You should've held back then."
"I...he was just weak," Divine muttered, then her eyes widened. "Oh, right! We never asked why he was leveling up so slowly."
Nathaniel shook his head, slamming his hand on the wall. "I hate babysitting that idiot; what a waste of a second-rate system. That idiot is reckless and dumb; have you seen his work on that brothel and that loan shark's office? He didn't even properly destroy the footage."
"To his credit, at least he used a disguise, albeit shabby." Divine sighed, feeling the weight of her stress and nearly drifting off to sleep. "Still, we need to follow Hei's orders. Be prepared for tomorrow."
⟐
In another location...
*Thud!* Frizz stumbled and felt the cold floor, standing up as the dark smoke slowly dissipated, providing a clear and recognizable vision of where he was. "My room?"
He scratched his head, ruffling his hair as he sank on the bed with a gloomy expression, staring at the blank ceiling.
"I need to be stronger. I need some new perks."
"Perk list."
[System]
Perks: [Serene Life], [Righteous Fury], [Gluttonous Approach], [Telekinetic Bulwark II], [Alcoholic Advantage], [Mark of Decrepitude], [Iron Peak], [Chameleon], [Survivor], [Soothing Touch II], [Poisonous Words], [Intimidation], [Wind Dash], [Sturdy Bones], [Jump to Conclusions], [✬Efficient Recovery✬], [✬Single Minded Fool✬], [✬Unique Battle Sense II✬], [✬All About Me II✬], [✬White Knight's Resolve II✬], [✬White Knight's Constitution II✬], [✬High Morale II✬], [✬Unfair Duelist✬], [✬Antibody✬].
"Goddamnit, give me something new. An achievement or something, a talent, anything! Fuck!" He cursed, venting his frustration.
[System]
Inadequacy detected.
« Shortcut to power considered. »
Materializing a contract...
Displaying terms and conditions:
⟐⟐⟐
« The removal of the daily objectives (due to cheating) shall be uplifted and subsumed by the new given mechanic, providing ample experiences and opportunities. »
<⬪ Daily Talent Creation and Acquisition Mechanic ⬪> will be seamlessly integrated with the user, and upon the formalization of this contract, <⬪ Perk Combination Mechanic ⬪> will be subsequently removed.
<⬪ Daily Talent Creation and Acquisition Mechanic ⬪>, a mechanic in which the user can potentially acquire up to four talents when conditions are fulfilled until the given twenty-two hours allotted time.
« In exchange. »
« An independent and autonomous soul will slowly manifest and integrate within the user, providing significant operational autonomy effects. The timeline for this manifestation is within 10 years, following the finalization of this contract. »
« Manifestation side effects include but are not limited to nausea, auditory and visual hallucinations, arrhythmia, depression, seizures, stroke, impotence, and consistent regional pain. »
« Accelerated progression via 'leveling' may further shorten this manifestation. »
Do you agree to the terms and conditions?
[YES] or [NO]
This contract will expire within one hour...
⟐⟐⟐
The dim illumination of the system window was the only source of light and Frizz's eyes glimmered upon reading the contract. The monotonous ticking of the wall clock was the only ambience.
(Significant operational autonomy effects... that means possession, right?) He rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
"I should combine some perks before I lose this mechanic."
"System, combine poisonous words and intimidation, then jump to conclusions and chameleon, then sturdy bones and iron peak. I sacrifice alcoholic advantage for the guaranteed effect." He decided in haste, half-caring.
"Don't show me the combining process and result, just do it instantly in the background."
[System]
Request acknowledged.
(Now, for the main event. I can handle a little soul inside me.) Frizz shrugged, grinning widely as he pressed the 'yes' option.
[System]
Contract:Signed.
Initiating soul integration and system modifications...
Frizz jolted in pain, clutching his left chest and spasming on the bed. (A heart attack!?)
He tried to call for help, but the agony was overwhelming. Gasping for air, he barely managed to stand and shambled towards the door. (Dad!)
*Thud!* He tripped over a shoe, falling and hitting his head on the doorknob, his vision fading as he slowly lost consciousness. (It hurts...)
Early morning...
Frizz slowly woke up as the sun shone in his eyes. He groaned, stood, massaged his head, and looked around. *Huff!* *Huff!*
"Ah, damn. My jaw hurts." He muttered, adjusting his jaw.
Taking several deep breaths, he clutched his chest, feeling something unusual; his chest felt like it was pierced by several needles, and it wasn't subsiding. He tapped his chest several times, trying to relieve the pain.
"What is this heartburn?" He reasoned, sitting down and persevering through the pain. However, it didn't relieve, despite three minutes of waiting.
"Damn, is this pain going to go away? My fucking heart hurts," he said, writhing in pain.
"Soothing hands plus healing hands plus lesser power."
"GOD, SMITE THIS GODDAMNED PAIN AWAY!"
[System]
[Soothing Hands II] perk is active.
[Righteous Fury] perk is active.
Frizz combined both perks and skills, hoping for relief. His hands glowed dimly, both abilities working in unison, but the pain still persisted. After several minutes of focused activation, trying to push his abilities to the limit, the heartache eventually stopped.
[System]
Mana: 0/60
"Goddamn, what a way to start a day." He muttered as he drank from a water bottle.
[System]
<⬪ Daily Talent Creation and Acquisition Mechanic ⬪>
Today's Talents: Refreshes in 21 hours.
⬪ 『Icarus』Fall four hundred meters and survive: 0/1
⬪ 『Gigantification』 Activate Lesser Power 1000 times: 0/1000
⬪ 『False Promises』Heal and assure 1000 people with life threatening diseases: 0/1000
⬪ 『Borrowed Time』 Survive on the brink of death: 0/1
Frizz glared at the new mechanic's system window, reading the talent's prerequisites, shaking his head in disbelief. "Two of these requirements will kill me if I am not careful; the other two can't be realistically accomplished within a day."
He sighed, noting that his frustrations were being dampened by his perks. "If I had received this back then, I'd be cursing at these outlandish requirements."
"It's nice to have clearer and somewhat detached thoughts sometimes," he mulled, looking at the talent requirements again.
"I think I can complete Icarus and Borrowed Time together, but how? None of the buildings in the city are that tall." He mulled again, looking for a way.
A shot of inspiration passed through. He clapped his hand together, an idea forming.
"Divine! That woman!"