It was common knowledge that the slums were a sort of dumping ground for those who lived above. Often, when things were destroyed in beast attacks, they would be left there for months till someone found a way to clear or repurpose it. A recent attack by fire-breathing creatures had burnt out a personal transport vehicle only last week. Unfortunately, that was in the next section over, so Lenny was unaware of its existence.
He spent the next couple of days traipsing through the sections on his own, taking long walks, hoping to find a good piece of scrap in his travels. He'd seen such things many times in the past, but unfortunately, when he needed it, they were nowhere to be found.
It was after Wednesday's service that he had remembered the newspaper article he had read a couple of weeks ago. The Salamanders had cleared a level 2 gate with relative ease and, knowing the faction themselves, either the beasts or the members would have caused some damage in the area.
It was with this knowledge that he entered the area, still hopeful about what he might find, and he wasn't disappointed. He found the burnt-out frame of a vehicle down a side street. It had been dragged away from its initial crash site, leaving scraped pavements in its wake.
Lenny approached the wreck cautiously, careful to not be observed. Every now and then a person would walk past the turning, and eventually he had to decide if it was really something he ought to be doing in broad daylight.
"Screw it," he thought. He went up and grabbed onto the vehicle with one hand, whilst holding one of the crystals in his other. As the process started, he felt an immense pain his arm. It was a deep pain, internal, as if flesh was being moved and he had intense pains in his bones. Roughly a two-inch chunk of steel disappeared at that point, and he felt a searing pain in his flesh. He knew the process wasn't finished, however. He grabbed the other spirit core and performed the same again. Another chunk of steel disappeared from the carcass of the burnt-out wreck. He waited a few moments for the pain to subside. The system confirmed the process was over.
"Steel plating is complete. Plating one of two: radius. Plating two of two: ulna. Description: Overlapping steel plates are covering the bones in your left forearm. These allow some movement while the bones are still growing, with an increased resistance to physical strikes. You have received an increase in your health. Current health: 11 of 15."
It looked like the physical toughness of the new enhancements was offset slightly by the damage caused by the transmogrification. Sensing the direction of his thoughts, the system chipped in: "Increasing your spirit essence will reduce the trauma of any enhancements."
That was two of three spirit cores used. He thought about what the other could used for. Would it be best as saved for another physical enhancement? Maybe strengthening the other side? Or focus on the lower part of his leg, another area susceptible to breaks? At the moment, he wasn't willing to go through such pain again, so the idea of absorbing the other core for its essence was also attractive, but eventually, he decided to just save it for another day. The car had found a new resting place and was unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
He raised his left arm, clenching his hand a few times. It really did feel heavier.