Weapons of Mass Destruction

Chapter 453: One of us

Passive Skill: Mana Pulse Circulation (Low Arcane)

The user's mana pathways are not only enhanced but supercharged with pulsating mana, passively optimizing all their physiological functions. This results in vastly increased stamina, increased energy reserves, and near instantaneous healing of minor to moderate injuries. The effects increase with more mana, and the constant high-speed circulation of mana through the brain grants enhanced cognitive clarity.

Passive Skill: Mana Veil (Low Arcane)

The user becomes nearly imperceptible to all forms of magical and physical detection, making them almost impossible to locate by normal or supernatural means. The veil not only blurs their outline but also distorts light and sound to the point of making the user appear invisible to the naked eye. Incoming attacks are not only distorted but are also partially redirected or nullified, and disrupting their mana flow becomes an almost futile effort.

Passive Skill: Mana-Fortified Mind (Low Arcane)

The user's mind becomes an impenetrable fortress, fortified by impossibly complex mana weaves. This passive grants immense resistance to all forms of mental attacks, including illusions, mind control, and psychic attacks. Additionally, the passive allows the user's mind to endure the immense strain of using powerful skills and traits.

Passive Skill: Thermal Rebirth Matrix (Low Arcane)

The Thermal Rebirth Matrix allows one to absorb and convert ambient and internal heat at an exceptional rate. The user can regenerate from grievous injuries, including regrowing entire limbs and organs, almost within moments. This process also cleanses the body of any poisons or harmful substances. The user now possesses high resistance to all but the most extreme flame and heat-based attacks, making them virtually impervious to most forms of thermal damage.

Passive Skill: Mana Sculptor (Low Arcane)

The user becomes a Mana Sculptor capable of shaping mana into intricate and versatile constructs. These constructs maintain exceptional durability and adaptability while gaining enhanced precision and refinement. The user can now create more complex forms to serve a wider variety of purposes. These constructs often possess special properties like self-repair and operate with improved efficiency and stability, allowing for longer-lasting creations without additional mana expenditure.

These are the passives I’m seriously considering.

One that grants minor mana-based healing, body strengthening, and a bit of overall improvement.

Another that grants mana-based mind protection and likely slight improvement to cognitive abilities.

And then there’s the healing passive based on thermal energy and the Mana Sculptor thingy that I really liked the look of.

The dark horse here is mana veil, honestly, the part about distorting the trajectory of incoming attacks interests me, and then there’s the part where it promises to help me hide my mana, which I can only think will become more and more important as I grow stronger.

Overall, any of these passives could give me a huge boost. Though the descriptions are about as simple as ever.

With a few changes, one might even cause one to mistake them for epic passives, but the term 'arcane' in their name speaks volumes. You could easily have a passive with 'rare' in the name and damn near the same description, yet the difference would be immense.

Even so, I can only ever bring myself to think of them as learning tools offered by the system. Sure, it’s a goddamn arcane passive, and I’m quite sure that means there can’t be many people that have one.

Getting it before level 300 could also improve my selection of Primary classes when I get my next upgrade. And given a few months or years, I may even learn to emulate the passive’s effects on my own. Perhaps I could even turn it into a more active healing skill, right? Right?

They’re all low arcane, so I could always just wait until I can afford something in the range of mid arcane, but I bet if I did and got to mid arcane, I would just convince myself to wait for something in the range of upper arcane.

These are tough times indeed. I truly have the mother of all first world problems: too many good passives to pick from.

“Biscuit, I’m frustrated and I can’t decide,” I groan, laying back against the rocky ground.

The cute corgi leaves the pile of items that he was selling. It’s interesting to note that it’s the first time I’ve seen him interact with the system this way. Well, he has been able to use the Community from the beginning, so it’s not too big of a surprise, but some functions still seem to be locked on his end, I think.

His cold nose boops its way into my ear, and I hear him sniffling for a moment before he moves a bit and licks my temple.

He lays down next to me, resting his chin against my neck while I lift my hand, mindlessly stroking his back. I can feel his warm breath against the bottom of my chin, and it tickles, and I let it be.

And for a while, I rest, just like that.

“So, how is the group?” I ask, finally broaching the topic with the others.

“Not well after the Mana Desert,” Dennis replies, his tone solemn, while his brother remains silent. Though I can imagine him silently nodding along.

“Sophie took Izzy and left the group after getting into a fight with Tess,” Aaron eventually confirms.

“I see.”

“You don’t seem surprised at all,” Dennis says, though he looks surprised himself.

This time I decide to ignore it and shrug, but gently, to avoid interrupting Biscuit’s rest.

“Believe it or not I think about these things, little twerp. And if you’re worried about it, don’t be. You may not have noticed, but Tess can be a bit naive at times and sometimes she pushes things too far. She's still a good person though, and Sophie knows that.”

“They could always just solve it with a bikini clad mud fight,” Aaron suggests, sighing alongside me.

Then we turn to Lily, hearing a soft sobbing coming from her corner, as she wipes her eyes with her sleeves. "I didn’t know," she mumbles. "I didn’t know any of that."

“It’s not like we go around telling people,” Dennis says, a gentle smirk on his lips, his blue eyes glinting in the light from my cube.

“We mostly kept it to ourselves,” Aaron adds. “It’s not exactly easy to talk about.”

Dennis looks at his brother. “But we always had each other, no matter what happened. I hate that creep sometimes, but hey, we’re still in this together.”

“Dennis is a dick, but hey, at least I can do some evil things and blame it on him.” Aaron nods seriously and turns to Lily. “So what about you? Everyone here seems at least a little messed up. Particularly Tess with everything she’s done, Kim mentioned something in his own past, poor Biscuit—and I bet Nat also has a thing or two, at least looking at the way he and his sister fight.”

With curiosity, I watch as Lily hesitates, but the twins wait together with me.

She starts softly, “It wasn’t until I got older that I realized my father and I were poor. He was hardly ever home, there was never much in the way of food, and our apartment was either freezing cold or unbearably hot. I couldn’t leave because it wasn’t safe outside. For years, my only friend was Grumpy, my cat.”

I increase the warmth from my cube, and we sit quietly, soaking it in for a moment.

“They eventually took me from my father and placed me with a new family, they even let me keep Grumpy, I haven’t seen my dad in years. The people I’m with now are kind enough sure, there’s always food, and I’m not cold anymore. But over time, the way they treat me has changed. I wasn’t behaving the way they wanted. ‘They’d always ask, “Why don’t you smile more, Lily?”.’ ‘Why are you so quiet, Lily?’ ‘Why doesn’t your father ever visit, Lily?’ ‘Why, why, why, why, why.’”

She swallows hard, her voice catching, but then she smiles as she looks from the twins to me.

“When I get back to Earth, I hope Grumpy is still alive. He’ll be old, but cats like him can live for 20 years. I know it! I’ll make him immortal, I’ll make him young again, and then we’ll be together just like before.”

For the last time, she wipes her eyes, “I know it’s childish, but it’s something to hope for. So tell me, Aaron, am I messed up too?”

“You’re totally messed up, Lily. A fitting member of group 4,” Aaron confirms with a nod.

Slowly, the conversation shifts to other topics, and I notice they deliberately avoid asking about my past.

It’s more comfortable that way, and I feel a quiet sense of relief, so I let it slide.

Then something cold pokes my left hand, the pale one.

I look down and my eyes meet Biscuit’s.

He doesn’t say anything, but he keeps poking me.

Firmly. Gently.

My conversation with Tess back in the caves under the Mana Desert comes to my mind.

The silence stretches on, but no one pushes me to speak.

“My father was a drunkard who beat my mother and sister, who always protected me, despite the fact that it only ever got her extra beatings.”

All conversation stops, but I don’t look up, fixing my gaze on Biscuit. And he stares back at me.

A gentle little soul with a terrible past, just like the rest of us.

“I tried to kill him one day, but I couldn’t go through with it. I still remembered how he was when I was younger. Our visit to the zoo, when he bought us the tastiest ice cream I ever had. All the times he carried me on his shoulders when my legs hurt from walking. A perfect sunny day in the park. That time he and Mom danced in the kitchen when we moved into a new home—they were both so beautiful then. I still remember all the times he put Vic and me to bed and gently kissed our foreheads.”

Another cold-feeling prods my hand.

“My sister killed him in the end. Because I couldn’t and because he would’ve killed our mom eventually. Ever since then, she’s been in prison, and I was decried as the brother of a murderer.”

Biscuit licks my arm, and I ruffle his head, lifting my head up. “Tell me am I as messed up as the rest of you?”

“You are truly messed up indeed,” Dennis confirms, nodding along with me.

“Terribly messed up,” Lily whispers quietly, her big eyes on me.

“Just like the rest of us,” Aaron says. “Another fitting member of group 4.”

(Food!)

I look down at him and feel myself smile, "You as well, Biscuit. You’re one of us too."