"Please welcome back to the stage, our oldest contestant, John Wayne!" Alec said, beckoning John to come over, the normal fanfare of his arrivals reaching its crescendo. The fake appuse, bright lights, and loud music, once so annoying to him, now almost felt... well, it was still annoying as hell, but it felt normal to him now.
Probably because I am not being immediately assaulted by it after coming out of a high-stress situation.
John stole a quick kiss from Xiaolin, then walked out of the breakroom in much higher spirits than when he had arrived, smiling and waving towards where he knew at least one of her cameras was located. It was funny that these beings used the cameras, since they could watch whatever he was doing from any angle, but chose instead to watch a 'film' of his life. Xiaolin had expined that the director preferred having the story presented to him like this, so he could just sit and enjoy the show, something about it being retro and cooler this way. John just shook his head and smiled at that. Everyone had their own preferences.
John stood beside Alec, then shook the man's hand before taking a seat, unhooking the Sword of Truth from his waist, and leaning back against the chair where he had retrieved it earlier. He took a drink of the water, strawberry-fvoured this time, and leaned back in his seat until things quieted down.
"So John, did you enjoy your break?" Alec asked him after the canned noises died out. He was sitting in his usual position with one leg crossed over the other, a gss in his hand, and that wide smirk on his face. It was still quite punchable, but John was getting used to it now. He was getting used to a lot of things.
"It was very rexing and much needed, thank you for setting that up for me," John replied, truly thankful for the break. He felt he was ready for anything now, even if he went back to StarCraft to handle the Zerglings.
Wait no. Let's not do something rash. I don't think I am ready for another Death World at the moment.
"My pleasure. Honestly, it was nice for me as well. I hadn't taken a day for myself in a long time." Alec said, sounding slightly despondent for a moment. "Anyway, we are not here to talk about our days off; we are here to talk about your time in Infinite Frontiers! So tell us, what are your thoughts on your second dive into that world?"
"Honestly, I felt like I was living in a sci-fi action movie. The fights, the intrigue, the beautiful women, everything. If the... if Ash hadn't been on the brink of death, I don't think I would have returned here. Not for a long time anyway." He replied honestly. "May I ask what the original guy did in that situation?"
Alec ughed. "The original guy, Nick, was never in that situation. While you were following the INP around hunting pirates, he would have been transporting Greg back to their home pnet with Tanya and Niki. Then, upon his return, he would have found the station just starting to be evacuated, Chris freshly kidnapped, and Ash unconscious in the Dwarfs' apartment from a blow to her skull. The INP would be scrambling to bring its force of only 500 ships to bear against that swarm of bioships. Then Katrina... well, I will stop the story for now, it is about to lead to future events that are now uncertain. You made some serious changes to the timeline, both for good and for bad."
"I see..." He said, unsure of what to think about that. Ash just being knocked out seemed to be much better for both of them... but 200 000 people scrambling to evacuate a station with no warning... that would lead to a lot of death.
"Don't dwell on it, John. It is a logical falcy you are about to spiral down. Is it better to save the life of one person you care about, or 200 000 strangers? It doesn't matter, because without foreknowledge, you had no reasonable way to know that was even a choice. Besides, you also saved the life of another woman who had died in the original timeline, which could be interesting once you return." Alec said, then leaned forward. "For what it's worth, I like this more than the original. You will do well there, John."
"Hah, well, that would lead me to a question for you then, Alec. I am not returning there until I can learn magic that can save her. Can you tell me which of these doors can lead me to what I need to save her?"
"John, you know I-" Alec started, then paused a moment, nodding his head like he was listening to and agreeing with someone. "Okay, the director has an offer for you, to be made after we go through everything, but before you start adding stat points and the Gatcha. Do you have any further questions before we begin?"
An offer? Why do I think that I am not going to enjoy this?
"Just one. What was my New World Bonus? For the life of me, I cannot figure it out." He asked.
"Well, you found it, but you didn't 'find' it. Maybe the next time you return, you will be able to figure it out. Now! Let's see how you did!" Alec said, then continued the show before John could say anything.
I found it, but didn't find it? Is it inside one of those ships I brought onboard?
A screen popped up in front of him dispying the changes he had made.
[World - Infinite Frontiers]
[Canon Completion (By AVN) - 30%][Current Canon Integrity - 83.5%]
**[Anomalies]**
[Major - Provided Katrina with a pn to attack the pirate base + 7%][Critical - Gave Katrina a chocote bar from another world, leading to her investigating you deeper - 15%]
[Minor - Chris acted as your first 'Gatcha' crew member - 0.5%][Minor - Drove the Phoenix Hawk like it was a tank - 0.5%]
[Minor - INP fleet did not nd directly on the Phoenix Hawk's Interdictor Bubble during pirate base attack - 0.5%][Minor - Mercs did not aid you in salvaging the pirate wrecks - 0.5%]
[Minor - Canon Acceleration - Met the O'Leeg siblings early. Learned more about Javarians, Hiring crew, and IDS - 2%][Minor - Healed Niki and bought her burgers for guiding you to the guild - 0.5%]
[Minor - Did not accept BJ from Tanya. Instead, learned more about the nguage impnts and medical pods early - 3%][Minor - Did not immediately contact Katrina about shooting the gang members. Led to Timur discovering your identity early - 2%]
[Minor - Butterfly Effect - Katrina did not have time to research all of Niki's situation - 0.5%][Minor - Butterfly Effect - Katrina's investigators learned more about you - 2%]
[Minor - Learned why Mercs don't get up until noon from Ash - 0.5%][Minor - Did not send Niki into the Sims to begin training once she became a merc. Instead, she went shopping with Ash Early - 4%]
[Minor - Butterfly Effect - Did not meet Valkyrie Company in the Sims - 3%][Critical - Butterfly Effect - Met Tim early due to knowledge about the nguage impnts, learned why OG MC was sent there - 15%] [Minor - Fought gang members with a sword instead of using the pistol - 0.5%][Major - Offered Tanya a job on board the Phoenix Hawk - 10%]
[Minor - Healed Chris and id her on your p after her squabble with Greg - 0.5%][Minor - Showed the O'Leeg's your magic. Nearly hit Ash by accident with a firebolt - 0.5%][Minor - Teased Niki about her purring - 0.5%] [Minor - Did not take Niki up on the offer of sex (She gave a HJ in canon) so she could feel useful - 2%][Minor - Butterfly Effect - Fed Niki breakfast in bed instead of her deciding on her own to wake you up with a BJ - 2%][Minor - Gave Niki a Substance X pill before training, increasing her training efficiency - 4%]
[Minor - Offered to heal Serena. Let slip to Tanya your memories were returning - 2%][Minor - Butterfly Effect - Conversation with Niki about their future. Assured her you wouldn't abandon her - 1%]
[Critical - Went to the Hospital and healed Serena, Annie, and other patients. Met Estra Early. Received a list of your Impnts. 15%][Minor - Called Tanya your Backpack and gave her a piggyback ride - 0.5%]
[Minor - Tanya talked you down from going to find and assault Greg - 1%][Minor - Offered to sell Serena a pod - 0.5%]
[Minor - Butterfly Effect - Discovered more detailed events about Niki's past from Ash instead of Niki - 1%][Minor - Canon Acceleration - You and Ash discovered that she gets off from mixing pain and pleasure early - 0.5%]
[Canon Colpsed][Lore Successfully Changed to Follow the New Canon]
[Remaining Anomalies will be Counted for Bonus Points][Only Major Changes Will Be Listed]
[Major - Trained onboard Phoenix Hawk/Hospital instead of at the Guild for multiple days - 4%] [Major - Found out the Javarians would attack soon from Tim - 10%]
[Major - Went on pirate patrols. Revealed advanced mapping tech to INP. Recovered &*#^%@. Niki received Bronze Cross - 10%][Major - Tanya and Niki accepted into a retionship with you. Chris and Serena were kidnapped for longer. Ash decided to run away from you - 5%]
[Major - Rescued Chris with a sword and pistol instead of using a Mobile Knight. Revealed your dark side to your companions - 5%] [Major - Timur and Cami escaped Parrax along with most of their gang on a medical transport instead of dying - 5%]
[Major - Brought the full 'Gatcha' crew to the Karrax battle. Rescued *&#^ and Ash. Escaped the mothership - 10%]
[Diversion from Canon - 132.5%][Canon Snapback - 37%][Total Change - 90.5%]
[Canon Integrity - 0%][Overage Bonus - 12%]
[Rewards][Gatcha Tokens]
[Percent Change - 9000][Third World Changed Bonus - 8000][Overage Bonus - 12000]
[Total Reward - 29 000]
[New World Bonus - Confirmed][Stat Points - +21][Achievement Earned -You Can Bring It With You]
[World - High School of the Dead - Closed - Evolving][World - The Great Cleric - Closed - Evolving][World - StarCraft - Open][World - Infinite Frontiers - Closed - Evolving][World - High School DxD - AU - Open]
[Calcutions Complete][Would you like to allocate stat points now? Y/N]
"Of course it is locked," John said, looking near the bottom of the list at Infinite Frontiers. None of the other worlds he had broken the canon of had unlocked yet, either. "So what do I need to do to open those back up, Alec? I need to find resurrection magic, and I am willing to bet that if anyone knows of it, the pope in The Great Cleric would. Or maybe able to point me in the right direction anyway."
"We will get to that. First, congratutions! You crushed the canon significantly on this dive. Funny how giving Katrina a random chocote bar led to massive changes in the story. Everything else snowballed from there. Good work!" Alec said, leaning back in his chair, steepling his hands. "Now, any questions on the anomalies? Or shall we continue?"
John had honestly just gnced past it, only caring about the numbers at the end and which worlds were open to him now. Unless he wanted to go and tangle with another Zerg in a Death World, his only real choice was a new door. He gave it another cursory look to see if anything that was bugging him was on this list.
"Wait, the very first thing, giving Katrina a pn against the pirates. Why is that +7 percent?" He asked.
"Because we took -8% from the Lore Integrity st time you were there for not providing a pn to Katrina. The first real thing you did after you arrived was not only provide her one, but it was actually simir to the one in the story's canon, so we gave the canon back most of those points. Actually, you kept doing that for a few days. You would do nearly the same things as the canon MC, then you would do something wildly different, then go back to following the canon again. It was amusing to watch." Alec replied.
"So I can inadvertently repair the canon?" He asked, confused about that.
"Yeah. In fact, you do that in every world when you take simir actions to follow the plot; we just don't show you those instances on the list, just the canon snapback results. Don't worry too much about it, John. Once a world's canon is broken, we will change how the list looks to streamline this part of the show. Just seven more worlds to go."
He looked down the list, nodding to himself. He had never asked the dwarves their st name, which seemed to be an oversight on his part, though they were probably just hiding the fact that they were nobles. That chocote bar seemed to have snowballed into a full-on investigation. Most things made sense in one way or another, at least until after the canon broke.
"There are two more unidentifiable names again? I think one is the mercenary we rescued, but who is the other?" He asked.
"I cannot reveal that one yet. You will most likely find out once you return. It is a good thing, though, John."
"Well... wait, what is 'Gatcha' crew? Did I spin the roulette wheel to get crewmembers when I wasn't paying attention?"
"Ahh... yes. Back on the original MC's Earth, in this game world, you spin a 'Gatcha' to get your crew members for your ships, bases, and a variety of other things. They would all call you Captain or Master, and would serve you happily, even if you sent them into battle to die. These characters were additionally managed by an advanced artificial intelligence, and you could have full-on conversations with them just like they were real people in that game world. The thing was, other than the odd free one you would gain through a quest or achievement, you had to pay money to spin the Gatcha for a chance to win them, or pay even more money to buy them out directly.
How this transted to the real world in the multiverse was through the IDS and guild systems. You have to pay for your 'Gatcha' characters to make your ship operate more efficiently, either with the cheaper IDS or the more expensive guilds. So, your crew was all part of the Gatcha in that sense: Niki, an IDS, and Morgan, a Guild member. Tanya was a free gatcha, an achievement, and Serena and Chris would have been quest reward spins under a single emergency quest with a time bonus for the second crewmember. If you were much ter, Chris would not have been there, so be proud of the fact that you took decisive action to rescue her." Alec said at length.
"You mean, Chris was about to die because of a quest?" He asked. He could almost feel his blood pressure spike. He took a few deep breaths to calm his temper. He just got back from the most divine weekend getaway he ever experienced, and didn't want to sour his mood this soon.
"Hardly. That is a real world, full of flesh-and-blood people. Its concepts were based on that video game, but there are no 'quests' you need to do unless you impose them on yourself." Alec said, taking another sip of his drink. "Now, would you like me to delve deeper into this for you? Or shall we leave it at that and move on?"
"Let's move on," John said, then hit the ‘Y’ button.
[Status - John Suzy Wayne][Age - 84 ]
[Mana - 75/75% - +]
[Stats - Human Average 20][Free Points - 21]
[STRENGTH - 31 +2 -> 25 (Compromised Internal Structure)][REFLEX - 28 +2 -> 19(Compromised Internal Structure)]
[SPEED - 24 -> 16(Compromised Internal Structure)][ENDURANCE - 34 +1 -> 23 (Compromised Internal Structure)]
[INTELLIGENCE - 28->12 (Early stages of Alzheimer's. DEN System Maintaining Reincarnator. Exhaustion degrades condition significantly)][WISDOM - 39->14 (Early stages of Alzheimer's. DEN System Maintaining Reincarnator. Exhaustion degrades condition significantly)]
[LUCK - 42]
[DEN Achievements - You Can Bring It With You]
[Current Gatcha Tokens - 4650 + 29000 = 33650]
[Skills]
[DEN Return (24 hr cooldown)][General Magic - Adept][Pilot - +Savant] (NEW)[Dig][Ambidextrous - Adept][Swordsman - +Novice (TGC)][Animal Husbandry - Adept][Gardening - Novice][Firearms - Adept] (NEW)[Gunnery - Novice] (NEW)[Status Ailment Resistance - Novice][All Magic Affinity - Novice (IF)](NEW)[Healing Magic Affinity - Adept (IF)] (NEW)
[Ejacution Control - +Novice] (NEW)[Tonal Connection - Adept] [Scouter - +Novice] (NEW)[Refractory Period - +Novice] (NEW)[Fortified Sperm]
[Known Magic]
[Heal][Cure][Detoxify Poison][Paralysis Recovery][Sleep Recovery][Middle Heal][Firebolt]
(NEW)
[Barrier (Basic)][Water Ball][Wind Bde][Mud][Darkness][Bolt]
[Quest]
[The Cross-Worlds NoFap Challenge Level 2][Take the virginity of five different women - 2/5][Rewards][One S-Css Impnt From Infinite Frontiers][One A-Css Impnt From Infinite Frontiers][X][X][X]
John reviewed his stats, happy with his progress so far. Then he noticed something. "Wait? What is this Achievement? You Can Bring It With You?"
"Ahh, you must have missed it earlier. It was for bringing things from two other worlds into a third. Some chocotes and spell tomes in your bag, and surprise, you got a fun little achievement. You can now carry over a small amount of any stats you gain while in these worlds when you return to DEN, or in a world like IF with no innate system, you get to keep some of your gains from your time studying to working out. So, just like your skills, your stats can start improving more as you move around these worlds."
"That sounds useful. Too bad you won't let me keep the repairs the Auto-Doc made... even when I was in pain and exhausted, I didn't fall that mental spiral as I did in The Great Cleric... That scared me."
"I understand all too well, John. Now, I want to point out one st thing before I give you the director's offer. For the rewards for your second quest, we have decided that for each girl, you will be awarded with a reward from the world they are from. For example, if you were in High School DxD and took a virgin, your reward would be from that world, like a sacred gear or other unique things from that world. In Infinite Frontiers, you will receive impnts based on the 'Gatcha' potential of the partner you are with. So, you are receiving an S-Css one from Niki and an A-Css one from Tanya."
John just shook his head. "So... based on what you just said... The more potential the partner has, the better the reward I will receive? Who is the judge of that?!? What makes Niki any better than Tanya?" He asked. He knew not everyone was created equally, but he didn't like thinking about possibly being biased with any of his romantic partners because they didn't have a high enough potential.
"It is just about their potential. Right now, Tanya is well beyond Niki in most things, but she is already nearing her peak abilities. Niki, however, is just starting her journey and picks things up quicker than most people, even without the Substance X boost you are giving her. Given enough time, she could shine brilliantly in any position you put her in. If you were in more peaceful times, with your backing, she would be able to build a merchant company that would be the envy of many in the Empire within a decade." Alec said, leaning forward in his seat before continuing.
"Ash and Chris are also both S-Css. In different fields, mind you, but the potential is there. For some of your other known potential partners, Rias has the most potential at SSS-Css, but she has a bit of the aspect of sloth in her, making her zy. If she were focused and trained diligently, she would be on the same level as her brother, who is pretty much the most powerful Devil in that world.... then there is..." Alec continued, but John's mind began to wander.
He tried to listen to Alec, but lost the thread halfway through the expnation. He wasn't going to hunt down virgin women with the highest potential just to get a better reward. He would go where his feelings took him, and that was that.
"So, what is this offer?" John said, interrupting Alec as he was expining the different potentials of the girls in The Great Cleric.
"We are going to offer you two paths towards your goal of getting resurrection magic. One is short, painful, and tragic, but you could return to Ash and save her in forty-eight hours. The other will take longer, probably also painful, and you will lose some of the freedom of choice you currently have."
"Okay, stop beating around the bush, Alec. What are the details here?"
"If you take the longer route, DEN will choose your next few doors until you have unlocked all the remaining worlds. Once that is completed, we will offer to sell you the way to acquire the solution needed to reach your goal in each world you have access to at 20 000 tokens per solution.
The other option is we give you a scroll of resurrection right now for all your tokens. The caveat is you need to go back to High School DxD, watch Issei die by the fountain, and then remain there to console his parents for the next two days. Then we will allow you to-"
"Fuck off, Alec, you know I would never accept that. Peeping Tom or not, he didn't deserve to have a... lightning bolt shoved into his chest by that Fallen." John said, exasperated. Why would anyone want to kill that kid? "I will take the first option. I was kind of pnning on doing that anyway if the other worlds hadn’t unlocked yet. If I can buy the information I need at the end of that, all the better."
"Very good. Now, you have twenty-one points and over thirty thousand tokens. What do you want to do?"
With his bag gone, he didn't have his pistol. Or the advanced healing tomes. He did have his sword and his leathers.
Do I want to have actual armour again? See if he could get a ranged weapon? He tabbed over to the Gatcha screen on the menu.
[Please Choose Your Gatcha]
[Low Tier 100, Mid Tier 500, High Tier 4000, Special Tier 20000]
[Weapons][Armour][Equipment][Clothing][Vehicles][Housing]
[Skills - 2000]
[Ability Points - 20000]
[Eroge - 200]
[One-Use Spell Scrolls - 200]
Fuck it, let's go shopping before he jacks the prices again.
"Okay. Dump my stats into magic. Then I want a high-tier weapon, a high-tier armour, a high-tier vehicle, a high-tier housing, a single skill, and five eroge, please."
"Excellent choices," Alec said, then things started to move.
[Mana - 75 100/75 100% - +]
The wheel spun, ticking over a list of potential weapons faster than John could see them. It eventually came to a stop on a bow, and a bunch of lightning shot out of the wheel, enveloping him in a cage of electricity for a moment. It then consolidated into a long bow in his hand, and a quiver propped up beside his sword.
"Congratutions, you have received the high-tier weapon, Taulmaril, the Heartseeker, accompanied by the Quiver of Anariel. This powerful and highly accurate bow fires silver arrows imbued with lightning. Fret not about running out of ammunition as this quiver will never run out of arrows." Elvis said over the PA, the first time John had heard the King tonight.
"A bow? Well, I did want a ranged weapon but... I was a kid the st time I used one." He mused to himself. Still, it was an option other than his magic to reach out and touch an enemy. He did not doubt that there would be a ton of enemies in most of these worlds at some point. He wasn't even sure he could even draw it without some practice.
"Yes, and a very respectable one at that. The previous owners had used it to great effect over the years, felling beasts that a normal weapon would be useless against. You will find it a great asset against enemies who have weaknesses to silver, such as werewolves and the undead." Alec said.
"Well, as nice as that would be to have something that works well against the undead, we have rifles and shotguns in High School of the Dead that seem to work just fine," John replied. Though if silver were more effective, it might be a good idea to get some silver spears for the survivors to use. Another thing to add to that list he hadn't started yet.
Alec just smiled, not wanting to ruin John's surprise when he finds out that in some of these other worlds, the undead come in a greater variety than just zombies.
The wheel turned again, this time, different types of armour spun past him. It stopped on something bck, but the image turned into a bck mist before John got a good look at it. The mist circled his chair for a moment, then settled on his belt, turning the small bck buckle into a rger bck one with a silver cross embossed on it.
"Congratutions! You have acquired the high-tier armour, Bck Tempr. By feeding your magical energy into the belt buckle, you can activate the armour, which will quickly form over the user's body. The armour itself is made of both orichalcum and mithril, providing excellent protection against both physical and magical attacks. The armour also provides bonuses to both holy and darkness spells."
John stood up and took a step away from his chair, then pushed a little of his magic into the belt buckle. The buckle began to unfold rapidly, and in just a moment, John was covered head-to-toe in bck-and-silver armour. The pte mail sections on his chest, shoulders, forearms, thighs, lower legs, and feet all had fancy silver crosses on them that he recognized somewhere from history. The rest of his body was covered in bck chainmail or a bck-and-silver brigandine with more crosses. A bck helmet with one rge cross on the front was in his hands.
It is a mess of different eras of heavy armour, but I think it looks pretty cool. It isn't too bad to move around in either.
"Looks good on you. Good for those days your leathers might not be the optimal choice." Alec said, toasting him before taking another drink.
The next gatcha started to spin before he could reply. "Thank you. How do I shrink it, though?"
"Feed more magic into the buckle on the skirting. It should revert just fine."
He did, and after a moment, he was standing in his leathers again. "Holy crap, that is going to be handy."
"Yes, though depending on the world, people will question an item like that. Not many things have their own pocket dimension they can expand from or draw themselves back into." Alec warned him.
"I will be sure to remember that." He replied, then looked at the vehicles as they spun by. "This might have been a bad idea..." He said worriedly. He had forgotten that the vehicles could also be animals. How do you expin owning an animal that doesn't exist in that world?
Luckily, it didn't happen. However, he wasn't expecting this. It was a fat, dark grey aircraft that made him think of some futuristic cross between an A-10 Warthog and a Bckhawk helicopter. It had a rge cannon mounted below the cockpit, a wide bay door at the rear of the body, and a wide tail above the door with weird engines mounted on it. He had no clue about this one either.
"Congratutions, you have acquired the High Tier vehicle, UNSC D77 Pelican Dropship. This particur variant comes with an M370 Autocannon and eight Anvil II air-to-surface missiles. Capable of both atmospheric and space operations, this variant sacrifices some of its cargo capacity for a Slipspace drive with limited faster-than-light capabilities for operations within a sor system. Not suited for transit between star systems." Elvis expined a little about his new ship.
"These are all over the pce today. How does that ship compare to the ships in Infinite Frontiers?" He asked Alec while activating his magic to shrink the ship down to a small toy he could stuff in his pocket.
"About the same as it is compared to a Sopwith Camel from Earth's WW1 period. The slip space technology is different from what is used in Infinite Frontiers; otherwise, there is a several-thousand-year gap in technology between them. Still, depending on the situation, it could be a handy thing to have." Alec replied.
Finally, the housing started to go by. After seeing that amazing castle of Xiaolin’s, he wanted to have a pce he could use in case of emergency, or for when he returned to High School of the Dead, which could be the start of the new settlement they would found. The gatcha stopped spinning on...
"You have got to be kidding me." John groaned.
"Congratutions, you have acquired the High-Tier housing, The Pyboy Mansion. This building was owned by-"
John stopped listening. It was a really big house, which is all that matters.
I hope it is clean already.
Alec was chuckling at John's thoughts.
"Congratutions, you have acquired the skill 'Dancing - Adept'. You are now more worried about your partner stepping on your toes than you stepping on theirs accidentally!"
"Congratutions, you have acquired 'Increased testicle girth'. 1 cm added to the circumference of your testicles."
"Congratutions, you have acquired 'Repaired L4 disc'. You're one step closer to being able to bend over without needing to think about it first."
"Congratutions, you have acquired 'Repaired L2 Disc'. Your back has returned to normal! Getting up is no longer a challenge!"
"Congratutions, you have acquired 'Increased Tongue Length'. 1 cm added to the length that you can stick your tongue out."
"Congratutions, you have acquired 'Increased ejacute volume'. You will now release rger loads when you cum (10 ml -> 15 ml). You will really be able to give your dy friends the pearl neckces they always dreamed of!"
"Seriously?" John ughed. He thought the joke was a little amusing, but that wasn't what he was ughing about. His back was finally repaired!
He jumped up and down, and sure enough, he felt no pain any longer from the jarring impact of the motion. "I thought you would have kept being healed away from me for much longer."
"Well, you still have a weak shoulder, but it is tougher than it used to be. That said, you have Alzheimer's and ALS still." Alec replied, then his expression became more serious. "John, we are going to reduce the support we have been giving you to maintain your body's functions. You may see more episodes like those you had in The Great Cleric. In turn, however, we will provide you with more days off in the future, where you can go rex and reset yourself."
John's gaze snapped to Alec then, the implications of his words beginning to set in. In exchange for more days off, he would be more susceptible to losing control of his mind and body again. "I assume I don't have a choice in this matter?"
"No. However, I suspect that with your improved body, you won't get as tired as before, reducing the likelihood of suffering as bad an episode."
"Right...And here I thought we were starting to become friends, Alec. Fine, whatever you DEN people want to do." John replied. He was done with DEN's nonsense for today; if he was going to go crazy, so be it. He would push through this because Issei's and Ash's lives were on the line right now, and he would go through pretty much anything to make sure they both came out of this alive.
He pulled his stat page open.
[Status - John Suzy Wayne][Age - 84 ]
[Mana - 100/100% - +]
[Stats - Human Average 20][Free Points - 0]
[STRENGTH - 33 -> 29 (Right Shoulder Injury)][REFLEX - 30 -> 27(Right Shoulder Injury)]
[SPEED - 24 -> 22(Right Shoulder Injury)][ENDURANCE - 35 -> 32 (Right Shoulder Injury)]
[INTELLIGENCE - 28->12 -4 = 8 (Early stages of Alzheimer's. DEN System Maintaining Reincarnator at minimal setting. Exhaustion degrades condition significantly)][WISDOM - 39->14 -6 = 8 (Early stages of Alzheimer's. DEN System Maintaining Reincarnator at minimal setting. Exhaustion degrades condition significantly)]
[LUCK - 42]
[DEN Achievements - You Can Bring It With You]
[Current Gatcha Tokens - 14650]
[Skills]
[DEN Return (24 hr cooldown)][General Magic - Adept][Pilot - +Savant] (NEW)[Dig][Ambidextrous - Adept][Swordsman - +Novice (TGC)][Animal Husbandry - Adept][Gardening - Novice][Firearms - Adept] (NEW)[Gunnery - Novice] (NEW)[Status Ailment Resistance - Novice][All Magic Affinity - Novice (IF)](NEW)[Healing Magic Affinity - Adept (IF)] (NEW)[Dancing - Adept] (NEW)
[Ejacution Control - +Novice] (NEW)[Tonal Connection - Adept] [Scouter - +Novice] (NEW)[Refractory Period - +Novice] (NEW)[Fortified Sperm]
[Known Magic]
[Heal][Cure][Detoxify Poison][Paralysis Recovery][Sleep Recovery][Middle Heal][Firebolt]
(NEW)
[Barrier (Basic)][Water Ball][Wind Bde][Mud][Darkness][Bolt]
[Quest]
[The Cross-Worlds NoFap Challenge Level 2][Take the virginity of five different women - 2/5][Rewards][One S-Css Impnt From Infinite Frontiers][One A-Css Impnt From Infinite Frontiers][X][X][X]
John nodded at this. He was actually excited about that dancing skill. He didn't know many dances, but if he could learn some during his travels, that would be a hobby he could have in any world, and no one would think it was odd. After these days off, he realized he really needed a hobby other than reading spell tomes.
And it might transte to better footwork when I get a chance to train with the sword again. Stop it! It is for fun! Stop making everything about training to get stronger. This is a marathon, not a sprint.
"Do you have any further questions for me, John, before you depart?" Alec asked.
"Yeah, can I get a notebook attached to my stats window. I know I keep thinking there are things I want to ask when I am here, but when we get to this point, I have already forgotten all of them." John replied.
"There already is one, next to the party menu. Just open it up and say 'Note One' then say what you want."
"All this time, that was there? How did I miss that?" John rubbed his forehead, unable to believe he missed that.
"Yeah. It is mainly used by contestants who dive in for months or years at a time. As you recall things, jot them down there, and we can talk about it next time you're here."
"Alright. Off I go. Wait... which door did you guys choose?"
"Head to the Brown one, John. See you soon."
"Easy enough. Take care." He replied. With the sword and quiver on his waist, the bow in his hand, the house and vehicle minatures in a pocket, he stretched and then blew a kiss towards Xiaolin's camera position. He couldn't see her, but he assumed she was there somewhere. A stray thought went through his mind as he stepped through the door.
I wonder how she follows me around these words to record me? Is it just her mind's eye, or is she invisible somewhere with a bunch of cameras?
As John disappeared, the lights above the door changed from 'World Randomizer' to dispying the new world.
Alec ughed at that, then looked over to Xiaolin. "You might be getting another hot springs trip with John sooner than you expected."
Xiaolin just shook her head at the words above the door. John was in for a rough time.