Torn City: The Almighty System

The Almighty System

“What the hell was that?” Johnson exclaimed. 

He doesn't know if he should be scared or happy, either way, his friend just did something impossible. 

Well, not entirely impossible

“I think you've just awoken the system. It's been going around these days. I heard it in in a brothel not long ago. There was this guy also…”

Johnson kept on rambling as he was driving but Lincoln gave no response, he was fully occupied

All of his attention is placed of the words in his sight that only he could see

[Welcome to The Almighty System]

[Authenticating Identity…]

[Authentication Success: Lincoln Zane, 18, Student, Orphan]

[Introduction: The Almighty System requires you to complete missions, in return, you'll get unexpected rewards]

[Mission: Serve Justice. The more you serve justice, the more you get rewarded]

[Successfully defeated Xavier, reward has been sent to gift storage, open gift storage to collect them]

The words in Lincoln's sight were written on a big white led screen, it has an arrow that curved to the left side. 

His experience with computers told his that's the return button so Lincoln clicked it. 

He landed on the main page of the system, it has three pages; his identity, skills and inventory. 

[Identity: Lincoln Zane, 18, Student, Orphan]

[System Assigned Identity: Detective]

[Attributes: Intuition I Strength I Constitution I Spirit I Agility I]

Somewhere in the page, there's the gift storage option

[Your reward has been distributed between your skills and attributes based on your previous victory]

Lincoln doesn't really know the meaning of these attributes yet but he at least knows that that is what saved him in his previous fight. He went to the skill page, he was shown his skills from before the fight and after the fight. 

At first, he had no skills. After activating the System, he was given some basic skills and after the reward was distributed, his skills were upgrade

The first one to upgrade was [Hand-to-hand Combat].

It was the first to upgrade because of its related attributes, which were [Strength], [Agility], and [Constitution].

The second to upgrade was [Firearm (Light Firearm)], which overlapped with [Strength] and [Agility], and had an extra [Intuition] attribute.

[Tracking] was third.

[Hand-to-hand Combat reaches Master Level, choose one special effect]

[A. Master the art of Hand Combat (When you attack with a punch, gain Agility +1 Effect.)]

[B. Master the art of Leg Combat (When you attack with a kick, gain Strength +1 Effect.)]

[Please choose one...]

The sudden pop-up option startled Lincoln a bit. He had not expected any special effects.

“So every skill that reaches the Master level could have a special effect attached to it?” he wondered.

The answer was obvious.

Each special effect would affect the Inmate’s growth towards a different playing style.

Just like the option before him would.

Mastering the Hand Combat no doubt was intended for punch-favoring Inmates who wanted to further their growth, while mastering the Leg Combat was intended for the kick-favoring Inmates.

Lincoln guessed that further down his journey, there would be special punching and kicking skills as well.

It was possible considering the options at hand.

“If so...”

Lincoln frowned a little. He could not decide which one to choose.

Both punches and kicks would be useful.

Finally, he made up his mind. He saw that his other two skills, [Firearm (Light Firearm)] and [Sharp Weapon (Dagger)] both required the use of his hands.

The option was suddenly obvious.

“I choose B!”

[Chosen option: B. Master the art of Leg Combat]

[Name: Hand-to-hand Combat (Master)]

[Related Attributes: Strength, Agility, Constitution]

[Skill Type: Offensive]

[Effects: You know how to use your fists and legs better during combat, Increases damage by 30%]

[Special Effects: Master of the art of Leg Combat (When you attack with a kick, gain Strength +1 effect.)]

[Consumes: Stamina]

[Prerequisites: Strength II, Agility II, Constitution II]

[Remarks: You’re on the same level as an MMA champion!]

......

[Hand-to-hand Combat skill upgraded, related attributes enhanced...]

[Strength II → III]

[Agility II→ III]

[Constitution II → III]

......

After he chose his skill, the transferring process began once again, synchronizing his body. Lincoln felt the warm stream replenishing his body.

When the process was over, he felt full of power.

He could not help but strike with his right fist.

Boom!

A sharp, precise punch tore through the air. 

“Feels damn good!”

After throwing a couple of punches, his face was filled with happiness and his fists felt extremely powerful.

He went on to check his second skill.

[Firearm (Light Firearm) reaches Master level, choose one special effect.]

[A. Master Reloading (Whenever you reload, Agility+1 Effect)]

[B. Master Aiming (Whenever you aim, Intuition +1 Effect)]

[Please choose one...]

“I choose B!”

This time, Lincoln made his choice without a second thought.

The option of Master Reloading was meant for guns that required a lot of reloads; Lincoln wanted to become a sniper though, so it was natural for him to choose B.

[Inmate’s option: B. Master Aiming]

[Related Attributes: Strength, Constitution, Intuition]

[Skill Type: Offensive]

[Effects: You know how to use a handgun, a rifle, a revolver, an assault rifle, a submachine gun and a sniper rifle even better, Increases damage by 30%]

[Special Effects: Master Aiming (Whenever you aim, Intuition +1 Effect)]

[Consumes: Stamina]

[Prerequisites: Strength II, Constitution II, Intuition II]

[Remarks: You are the king of light firearms!]

......

[Firearm (Light Firearm) skill upgraded, related attributes enhanced...]

[Strength has reached capped level for the current skill level, Unable to enhance.]

[Constitution has reached capped level for the current skill level, Unable to enhance.]

[Intuition III → IV]

......

Everything was going according to his plan. All II level attributes were capped because of the skill level and unable to upgrade any further.

Lincoln turned to his [Tracking] skill.

[Tracking reaches Master level, special effect added: Master of Tracks]

[Name: Tracking (Master)]

[Related Attributes: Intuition]

[Skill Type: Ancillary]

[Effects: You can follow all kinds of trails and tracks to track down your target!]

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[Special effects: Master of Tracks (You know everything about trails and tracks!]

[Consumes: Stamina]

[Prerequisites: Intuition III]

[Remarks: Your overall senses are better than a hunting dog’s!]

“This is the skill that enhanced my sight” Lincoln thought to himself 

......

The [Tracking] skill did not disappoint.

With his [Intuition] at IV level, he felt that he could see even farther away and listen even clearer. He could even see the dust on the floor.

It excited Lincoln even more.

The more changes he noticed, the more powerful he felt.

After having three skills up to Master, Lincoln felt pumped up and checked all his remaining skills all on Master.

The [Sharp Weapon (Dagger)] (Entry → Master) the special effects offered were Master Slashing or Master Piercing.

The first effect had a 5% Crippling Effect while the second one had a 10% Bleeding Effect.

Judging by his own experience, the first skill would be more effective for him. Although the second one had a higher percentage, the first one suited his assassinating style better.

The [Evading] skill went from Entry level to Master, The special effects offered were Master of Swift Steps and Master of Dodging.

[Master of Swift Steps: You steps allow your body to be more flexible, Increases Evading by 10%]

[Master of Dodging: You can roll away further and faster, and become more efficient in your movements, Increases rolling distance by 1 meter.]

Lincoln chose Master of Swift Steps. Although Master of Dodging sounded appealing as well, he was more keen on the additional 10% of Evading adding to the original 30% of the skill.

[Undercover] Entry → Master, and the special effects offered were Master of Light Steps and Master of Shadows.

[Master of Light Steps: Lowers the sound of your steps, making it harder for enemies to detect you, Decreases stepping sounds by 30%. Special effect not applicable if overweight.]

[Master of Shadows: Allows you to hide even better in the shadows, Increases undercover effect by 10%.]

These options both sounded good to Lincoln, so he hesitated a bit.

The lowered sound made for harder detection while the second option made it easier to go undercover.

He thought about it for a while and decided to go with the second one.

His reasoning was the same as with [Evading].

His total undercover percentage was 40%, already reaching the next level.

Next were the [Medical Treatment] and the [Medical and Medicinal Knowledge] skills. 

[Medical Treatment] was similar to [Tracking]. There was only one option available.

[Fast Treatment: Increases treatment speed by 20%.]

[Medical and Medicinal Knowledge] offered Master of Potions and Master of Poisons.

[Master of Potions: Increases recovery rate by 10%.]

[Master of Poisons: Increases poison effect by 10%.]

Lincoln selected the second one without a second thought.

[Reward successfully distributed. Remaining rewards are as follows 

4,200 Points, 1 Skill Point, 1 Golden Skill Point.]

Lincoln did not really know the worth of what he has so he went to the forum option he found after toying around the system. 

On the forum, he saw many guides written by other people with the system, the one that interested him most is the worth of the points.

1 point is worth 1000 dollars

1 skill points is worth 10 points

Golden Skill points are untradable 

Calculating his current net worth, Lincoln has 4.2 million. 

His joy knew no bounds. What really gave him joy was that he had to complete missions and he would get more. 

[The more you serve justice, the more rewards you get]

Lincoln's eyes shined at these words. And then he sobered up again. 

Completing missions surely won't be easy. 

“Let's see if I can upgrade more skills 

Then he opened the [Hand-to-hand Combat] further upgrading options.

The next [Hand-to-hand Combat] level was Professional (Pro) and cost 4,000 Points and 2 Skill Points.

He frowned a little as he read it before he opened the [Firearm (Light Firearm)] upgrading options.

It cost 3,000 Points and 2 Skill Points.

He moved on to the others.

Even [Medical Treatment] cost 1,500 Points and 2 Skill Points. Everything else, excluding [Tracking], cost around 3,000 to 4000 Points and 2 Skill Points.

[Tracking] cost 6,000 Points and 4 Skill Points to upgrade to Pro level. It was about double what the others cost.

Although he still had some points left, Lincoln was short on skill points.

He had to give up on any further upgrading and save his points and skill points for the future.

A global chat option was also in the main page. Lincoln message someone hoping he can ask for information about the sys

tem 

Now, he had to do was wait

“...like damn he was so strong… Lincoln”

“Lincoln…”

Johnson hit the brake sharply and shook Lincoln who has been absent minded for long

“I'm okay” Lincoln responded

“You have awoken the system too, right?” Johnson asked softly

“There’s nothing more like it”