Chapter 217 General Upgrades
The girls had mostly disappeared, but there were still the Generals.
"It feelsss like it hasss been forever sssince the last time I sssaw you!" Meckel exclaimed as she came over to the group of Annokale Generals.
"Do not overstep yourself just because Katie and Marely are not here. We stand with him, not in his way, remember?" Angelise warned, and Meckel sighed a hissing noise.
"The fire is nice," Goldar said with a smile, and Pyke laughed, slapping his shoulder.
"You can say that again! I can't believe this is the world that we stopped on, and everything changed! I am glad that things worked out the way they did. These last few days have been a big eye-opener for me and, I am sure, the others. The Challenger Dome is pretty humbling!" Pyke laughed.
"That also can be said again, but Timala and I are doing pretty decently! Both of us are on the fourth floor already!" Beltzer laughed with his arm around Timala, who scowled up at him.
"You only just made it to the fourth. I am already on the second door with Goldar, but this one seems to neutralize a lot of my powers," Timala said.
"It is good to see you all here! I wanted to hear about how all your training went! It sounds like things are going well!" I said as I waved for them to come over and join me around a fire that we started in a pit that I made.
The group gathered to stand around, Cyndia, Angelise, and Meckel coming to stand over beside me. I tried not to laugh as both the women scolded Meckel until she stood on the other side of Angelise. She had decided that since the other girls had taken sides, she would stand behind me.
"Sorry about that," Cyndia said, and I smiled.
"No worries. How is training going with you all?" I asked, and Cyndia sighed, which was not a good sign.
"For some better than others. I think that I am not really suited for fighting, or at least not in the ways that we are trained in," Cyndia explained, and I nodded.
"That very well could be, but I would like you all to be able to get to the fourth floor. You don't have to attempt anything past that, and I will transfer you to different work. As some of the most powerful Systems that we have, I need all of you in the best shape and fully capable of defending yourself, then the people around you. I know that this is hard, but there is merit in this all, and I believe in you all. We are all one big team and a family. That means I want to make sure that you are all properly prepared to make sure that none of you die," I explained, and everyone nodded.
"I see. That is going to be hard since my system doesn't really give me many ways to get around or defend. I think that half my time is spent in the regeneration pools. Those courses are grueling!" Cyndia complained, and I grinned.
"That they are. Let me see your hand," I said, offering my own.
"Oh? I mean, if you want to hold it, I guess that is okay, but I am not sure what the other women will think about it," Cyndia said with a playful smile, and I rolled my eyes as she slipped her soft small warm hand into hers.
I closed my eyes, and Cyndia's Acid System appeared in front of me. Once she was strong enough, there would be very little that she wouldn't be able to eat, though. The System was fine, and she was progressing along nicely with it, so I switched screens.
I opened my eyes as my System pinpointed different places in Cyndia's body. Each of them displayed what the System was about to change.
"I am going to give you a body enhancement if that is okay with you? I will do it for everyone if they want. It is just going to help strengthen your body and heal better; that, and you will be able to do everything from seeing father to running faster," I explained, and everyone's faces lit up, but I should have already done this.
They had all been working hard at training, but now this would give everyone an extra boost.
"Yes! Please!" Cydia exclaimed, and I activated my System.
Cyndia flashed, and her body changed slightly, but the major changes were ones that could not be seen. Cyndia let go of my hand, staring down at her own.
"What did you do to me? I feel amazing! Like I am a completely new person!" Cyndia exclaimed, and I nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, I really should have done this right off the hop. I hope that none of you got hurt badly during it?" I asked, but everyone shook their heads as I turned back.
"No, your girls are pretty good at making sure that no one gets seriously hurt. Only bruised bodies and egos! Haha!" Hellyle laughed, and I grinned.
"Good to hear!" I said and then turned to Angelise, who was about to put her hand out to me, but Meckel pushed her out of the way forcefully.
"Do me firssst!" Meckel begged as she grabbed my hand, but then she flashed.
"All done, next!" I said, and Goldar came and pushed her out of the way roughly, sending the snake woman flying. Mr. Tree caught her, and Goldar chuckled.
"I love those trees. I don't think you need to give me an upgrade since you just did me, but I do love chucking these bunch when they start to get annoying!" Goldar laughed, and I laughed with him.
"Just make sure you don't do that to normal people. Mr. Tree will deal with them," I said, and then the gold man nodded to me.
"Don't worry about me, boss; I am just keeping the kids in line, hehe!" Goldar chuckled and moved out of the way as Angelise stepped up to me. Her poor hair was a mess now.
"That woman got what she deserved. She is going to have to learn her place one of these days!" Angelise snapped as she straightened her hair, and I smiled.
"How is the training going for you? Are you going to stick with it for the whole week? Or are you stopping at the fourth floor?" I asked as I offered her my hand.
"Quiet? I am a Valkyrie, and fighting is what I am good at. This is really a dream for me, and I will probably spend more than a week here. I might even ask the girls if I could build a house to be closer. The courses are always changing, and the farther you go, the more they adapt to you. If I could complete this thing, I would become an unstoppable force," Angelise said with a determined smile, and I nodded, putting a bit of work into her Valkyrie System.
I gave her wings and a new ability that would allow her access to more weapons and skills. If Angelise planned on becoming the best that she could be, I would make sure that her dream came true.
Angelise flashed, and angel wings formed on her back. She let go of my hand with surprise and tried to spin around to see them.
"You gave me wings?!" Angelise exclaimed with delight.
"If you plan on becoming an unstoppable force and training all the way to the end, I can only give you my highest blessing. You know what you want, and I can feel your drive and the power of your soul! Every one of you has this drive, but you need to find your direction! Find it! Together, we will become more!" I said, and everyone cheered as roots passed around drinks to everyone.
"So, what do you have for me?" Pyke asked, and I raised an eyebrow.
"How has training been?" I asked, and Pyke rolled his eyes and let out a groan.
"Can we just not talk about it? Without Dogra around, I just get what I need twenty percent of the time if I am lucky. R-N-Gesus has been a cruel bitch, and Murphy has been working overtime on me lately. I think I am losing my edge or something," Pyke sighed, and I patted his shoulder.
"Your system is a strange one, but I can help you out with that, but I have one more question. What happens after training week?" I asked, and Pyke looked off to the side with a shrug.
"I don't know. Even if you fix the system, what is the point? It's cool, but, I don't know, hard to explain," Pyke said, and I nodded.
"What if I changed the way the system worked?" I asked, and Pyke looked up at me hopefully.
"What do you mean? Like how would you change it?" he asked, and I smiled.
"Do you like guns? Or melee weapons?" I asked, and Pyke grinned.
"Give me a gun, and I am happy!" Pyke laughed, and I grinned.
"Sure, but this time we are going to change the way that your system works and use the chaos of randomness to your advantage and everyone else's disadvantage!" I said and offered my hand to Pyke.
Pyke grabbed it, and he flashed and then stepped back from me as a strange black pistol covered in glowing red cracks formed in his hand. His clothing changed and became a black hat with a wide brim, a black trench coat, and a leather suit that was covered in red cracks.
"Hot damn! You really gave me a makeover!" Pyke laughed, and I grinned as Pyke's new System flashed across my screen.
[Chaos Trigger System activated!]