The Atlantian System: Creation

Obviously, some kind of combat skill would come in handy since she could almost guarantee she’d end up in another scuffle.

Gremlin’s Trick wasn’t exactly her style. She couldn’t see an instance at this time where she’d need to hot wire something, but you’d have to be an idiot not to see it’s potential. It was also the first time she’d seen two ‘skill branches’ cross to form a skill that used such different talents.

If this is what she currently had while having Electric Misconduct and Magician’s Hand, just imagine if she had the ability to control water.

Pushing thoughts of water bending away, she turned back to reviewing the options.

Storm Witch and Arc Chain were both serious skills to consider. The idea of calling a storm to her was tempting, considering she already had the Herald of the Storm skill that would make her electricity more powerful when she was in a storm. On the other hand, Arch Chain would be great when going up against a lot of enemies at once. If she’d had that skill last night, she could have probably taken out all three of the Hell Hounds at once.

The question was, what was more important? Crowd control, or firepower?

Leta sighed, knowing that these choices would have to be made after some minor upgrades.

“Gada, up all my stats across the board by two.”

[Converting 12,000 inert Nanites now.]

She winced as a migraine flashed across her brain. She could feel her skin cells toughening as her vision became even more clear and defined. Even from across the room, she could see the individual tubes of light on the screen of the television as easily as reading words in a book.

[1,771,882 inert Nanites remaining.]

“Constitution helps me to take a hit. How high does it have to be to not break a leg next time I get thrown out of a moving vehicle?”

[Based on the Host’s current physiology, calculations indicate that a Constitution of 42 would prevent the injuries that were sustained. However, it would be recommended to also increase power, stamina, reflexes, and bone density in order to compensate for the changes to the Host’s body from such an increase.]

“Can you go further into that? I know if I dump a lot into power I’ll Hulk out but my muscles will explode off my bones. What happens if I dump all my points into Constitution without balancing it out?”

[Constitution affects the overall resiliency of the Host’s natural bodily protections. While the most obvious of these protections is tightening the bonds between skin cells in order to prevent piercing damage, it also includes layers of fat and muscle tissue to protect internal organs as well as reinforced skeletal structures resilient to bludgeoning and fall damage. When Constitution is overcompensated without support, it may lead to muscles, fat, and skin tissue that is rigid and motionless. This could lead to slower movement speeds and self-injury as the body breaks its own skin and muscle cell bonds in order to function.]

“Ew, gross.” Leta wrinkled her nose as she visualized her skin splitting open if she so much as sneezed.

[It is indeed an unpleasant experience. Persons with unnaturally high constitutions without aspects to support them become living statues, unable to move for fear of breaking their own, indestructible bodies apart.]

“Jezzus. Wow, okay. Let’s not do that. How about if I up my constitution by four? Would that be bad?”

[Increasing Constitution by four will not have negative effects on the Host’s overall physiology at this time. However, it would be beneficial to also increase Power and Stamina by at least one to further support this change.]

“Alright then. Let’s make it so. Up Constitution by four and Power and Stamina by one.”

[Converting 6,000 inert Nanites]

Leta watched in fascination as her body adapted to the changes quickly, her almost anorexic-looking body filling out ever so slightly so that she looked skinny but not sickly like before.

[1,765,882 inert Nanites remaining.]

“Can you go further into detail about replacing the bones with Atlanite? I know earlier you explained the concept of why it’s a good idea, but after going through two fights, what are the best options to take based on the previous experiences?”

[In both situations, the Host received trauma to the ribs which resulted in fractures, breaks, and punctured lungs. Based on the most common traumas received during both instances, it would be recommended to replace the rib cage with Atlanite to protect the lungs and heart. The host does not have the required Nanites to replace the entire rib cage, but the host can use 1,755,399 available inert Nanites in order to replace the four middle ribs, which are the most common ribs to break and the most likely to cause injury.

[Another recommended option is to replace the Ulma and Radius bones in both forearms. Opening the Combat Skill Software options suggests that the Host now has access to basic training, allowing the Host to utilize their forearms as an internal shield during the confrontation. In future situations, the Host can use their forearms for both defense and offense, unlike the ribs, which would be used for defense only. This option would require 1,765,692 inert Nanites to complete.

[It should be noted by the host that since both are made of Atlanite, both options introduce inert Nanite storage capabilities. Replacing the Host’s ribs would increase the Host’s Nanite storage capacity from 5,120,453 to 5,705,586, and replacing the Host’s forearms would increase capacity to 5,709,017. It should also be noted that replacing skeletal structures with Atlanite is permanent and cannot be undone.]

Leta bit her lip as she pondered her options.

Now that she had all the facts about the Atlanite bones, she realized that if she picked either of the skill software she’d be turning herself into a glass cannon - super powerful but easily damaged.

On the other hand, in both instances where she’d had to fight to survive, it had been her electricity that had saved her life, allowing her to decimate the Nixie and literally disintegrate the Minotaur. If you could upgrade from a bow and arrow to a tank, wouldn’t you?

Then again, in both fights, she’d been forced to survive thanks to her lightning because she didn’t have a lot of defensive skills on her own. Persuasion was a very helpful skill, but she’d learned that it didn’t mean everything she met would be susceptible to it and it wouldn’t be a good strategy to rely on it.

In the end, she knew she’d need to go replace parts of her with Atlanite for added protection, but what?

Gada was right, her ribs had taken a lot of beatings in both instances. The memory of white-hot pain searing her insides as a broken rib pierced her lung twice had her shivering. She could happily pay the price for this alteration if it meant avoiding that again.

But then, changing her ribs to Atlanite for protection, was just that - protection. It didn’t provide any benefits in regard to offense, other than allowing her to store more inert Nanites. Replacing her forearms would allow her to use them for defense from multiple angles while also acting as a conduit for applying force during hand-to-hand situations. The downside was, that she was woefully inexperienced in hand-to-hand she might as well be an infant going against a world-class heavyweight.

Before she could make a decision, she was startled by the sound of the door handle rattling open.

Inside walked a young woman around Leta’s age wearing the light teal scrubs of a nurse that stood out against her olive complexion. Her thick hair was tied back in a messy bun which made the twinkle of mischief in her dark black eyes all the more easy to spot. She was smiling as she held a tray of food, closing the door behind her with her foot when Leta realized that this woman was another Arisen.

“Hey there!” She greeted cheerily with an Arabic accent, “I’m Afra. Got your lunch. Hope you’re hungry.”

Leta’s stomach took that moment to make a rather loud impression of a dinosaur. “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry.”

Afra laughed, putting the tray on the rolling table and positioning it in front of her, “Don’t be. I heard you’re new to all this. I’d say welcome, but I’ve never met a single person who had a pleasant experience being brought into the fold. Anyway, you’re going to find that all Arisen get super hungry after using their talents a lot or getting seriously injured. Hopefully, you don’t have to actually find that out a lot, but you know, it is what it is.”

The spread before Leta would have put her off if she wasn’t so famished. Unlike the hospital in Santorini, the food before her was nothing short of decadent. An artisan sandwich, fluffy mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables, fresh sliced chicken, a Mediterranean salad, and a sweet honey roll had her mouth-watering.

“Oh, I’m about to be very unladylike.” She exhaled, to which the nurse waved her hand as she took up the chair Dr. Kudela had been in before.

“Don’t be! Eat up.”

Leta didn’t need much more prompting and quickly devoured the sandwich in record time.

She was taking a sip of water when she looked up to see the nurse was reading something on her phone. “Hey, Ismenesays you should pick the forearms option.”

Leta nearly choked on her water at the casual remark. “What?”

Afra shrugged, not even bothering to look up from the phone, “Not sure what it’s for. She just sent a text to give to you saying ‘Pick the forearms option’, whatever that means. Also, she said not to tell anyone about the bugs. Gross.”

Leta’s mouth dropped open in shock, the feast in front of her nearly forgotten. “Who’s Ismene?”

“Oh, crap. You haven’t met her yet.” Afra winched, “Sorry, sometimes it’s easy to forget with Ismene. She’s the Priestess for Athens, and she sees the future. You’ll like her, she’s also an American. Anyway, she just put an emphasis on the bugs part, so you’re really not supposed to talk about that. Annnd she just sent another text that she’ll explain tonight, so I guess you’ll probably get released today. Good for you.”