Soon, Eli got up to his feet and cleaned the mess on the floor. He then checked the feeling in his head and found out... That he had absolutely no idea how to use it. While he did get a new sense, it was blurry. Blurry like a man with a vision acuity score of 20/300 trying to see without glasses. Since he was currently not in danger, the only way to test it was by making guesses. Guesses were relative to chance. So... Rolling a dice? If what he assumed was correct, then he will get a higher average than 1/6.
He went back to his parent's room and took an old cup with 1 dice in it. He then proceeded to roll the cup with 1 dice 100 times, making a guess based on the feeling in his head each time. The result? 35 right guesses. That means, in a game of chance, where the winning chance is 1/6, he won 1/3 of the times. What would happen if he played roulette in a casino? What would happen if he coupled it with Back? If the apocalypse wasn't coming in a year, he would probably enjoy life as a multimillionaire high roller. Maybe get a playboy mansion and fuck hot models all day. How cool would that be? Alas, he can't change the coming apocalypse, but he CAN earn a lot of money to get a lot of good stuff right?
After thinking about it for some time, he put on a side note to fly to Las Vegas after a few weeks. He can also switch his killings to gangs over there after he finishes in the Bronx.
A few minutes later, the pizza guy arrived. After finishing eating it, he got a call from Abel.
"Hey, Eli! Papa said to come to meet him at 8 at our base. It's in a warehouse. Here is the address."
"Ok, I'll make sure to arrive on time."
Ending the call, he checked the hour now and it was now 7:20. Checking the location on the phone, it was a 15 minutes drive away from here.
Eli got dressed quickly in better clothes and did a bit of hygiene check before hailing a cab.
He got there 8 minutes early. He walked to the base, where he saw 3 tattooed gang members guarding the entrance. He walked up to them.
The member on the left saw him coming and stopped him, "Hey hey hey, this is purple skull gang turf, you're not a member, were you invited by someone?"
"I'm Eli, Abel told me to come here at 8 to meet your boss," Eli answered honestly.
The gang member was apparently informed, as he put a big smile, "So it's Mr. Eli! Big bro Abel told me to let you in. C'mon, follow me!"
The gang member led Eli through the warehouse. Along the way, Eli saw many gang members, mostly male, moving crates, and machine parts. This place must be a machine-part racket.
They soon reached the office, where the management of most warehouses is usually located at. Inside the office were Abel and a 45-50-year-old man that had similar facial features to Abel sitting behind a desk. His head had short black healthy hair, had a mustache growing, a beer-belly, and was dressed in a checkered shirt, white T-shirt, and black business pants. If it wasn't for the muscle on his hands, expensive watch, visible tattoos on his body, as well as the vibe he gave off, he would assume this was not a gangster at all!
This man was undoubtedly Vivian's and Abel's dad, and leader of the Purple skull gang, Ramón Berganza!
Ramón looked at the young man who entered the office. 1.8m, broad-shouldered, athletic and muscular build, light brown skin, short black hair, and sharp black eyes. Angular jaw and a straight nose with slightly high cheekbones. He was dressed in a leather jacket with a white T-shirt below, blue jeans, and wore sports shoes. Overall, the guy looked handsome. What caught his eye, however, was the vibe he let out. He felt like he was facing one of the veteran capos' of the organized mafia, who fought and killed many times, some even ex-soldiers from the army. And even among those, he only met 3 who let this kind of vibe. "Little Abel and Little Vivian spoke true, this guy really is the real deal, a veteran... Though I'm skeptical about the 10 seconds part..." He thought to himself.
Ramón smiled warmly and said, "Mr. Eli, come in, come in, make yourself at home! Please have a seat." He motioned to the chair in front of him. Abel gave a silent nod to Eli and exited the office. Now only Eli and Ramón were inside the office.
Eli smiled and sat on the chair, "Mr. Ramón, thank you for taking the time to let me meet you so quickly."
Ramón smiled and said, "Don't worry, it is the least I can do for someone who helped my daughter. Without you, she would be in an MS-13 human merchandise warehouse by now." After he said that, his smile looked a bit grimmer, but soon returned to normal.
"It's fine, It's fine! They broke into my house and tried to grab me suddenly right in front of my house, I would naturally protect myself. And please just call me Eli."
"Ok, Eli, then just call me Ramón. "Ramón got up and went to a nearby locked cabinet, and took out a bottle and 2 small glass drinking cups and placed them on the table, He asked, "Ever tried mezcal?"
Eli shook his head, "I drank tequila a few times, but not mezcal."
Ramón smiled a toothy grin, "Than you are in for a treat." He opened the bottle and poured two full cups and placed them on the table. "Del Maguey 2010, I usually don't drink this expensive stuff, but this time I need to show my thanks. Drink it straight at room temperature but don't drink it at once, savor the taste." He then opened the drawer under the table and took out 2 Cigars, "Cigar?"
"Sure." Eli smoked on some occasions, such as now.
Ramón started cutting the cigars and handed one to Eli, along with a special light to cook it.
While they were doing that, Ramón started some small talk with Eli about some stuff. Like some things from the news, or recent happenings in the Bronx.
After finishing cooking the cigars, they raised they started drinking and smoking together and talked for about 10 minutes. Ramón then started probing for information. Work history, religion, parents, girlfriends, ambitions, etc. Naturally, he asked it in roundabout ways. Eli just answered and didn't mind it, editing sensitive information if needed. Ramón on the other hand started having a good impression on this young man. Earlier, his daughter Vivian came to his office with Abel. He scolded her for being careless and making him worried and grounded her in her room for a week. Abel then told him about Eli. From what Abel said, Eli saved Vivian from 3 kidnappers. Also, he learned that Vivian has a crush on Eli and that Abel actually approved him! When he heard that Eli wanted to meet him for business, he agreed right away! First, it was to thank him, and Second, it was to test him! As a loving father, naturally he would test any potential suitor to his daughter! If luck would have it, he might even recruit this guy, and they would be one big family!
Eli, unaware of being tested like that, started talking about the main business, "Ramón, I want to buy info on all the gangs in the Bronx and their locations."
Ramón's eyes immediately narrowed hard and considered if this guy is a cop! But then, he realized that it is impossible! Why would a cop ask something like that? They have all the info on their databases, just no proof, or no balls, to make the arrests! Upon thinking that, he relaxed a bit, but still asked, "Why do you need that info?"
Eli didn't beat around the bush. He leaned forward and said with a dead serious face, "I plan on cleaning the Bronx from the more cancerous gangs."
"PFFFT!!! Ahahahahahahahah...haha...ha... Your not joking are you?" Ramón at first burst out laughing, but then he noticed Eli's serious face. Ramón looked at the young man, and realized that the guy was serious! He could tell that Eli is strong, but cleaning the Bronx? Madness! Even if he pulls this off, the police would find the trail of bodies to him and put him in federal prison, or just execute him!
Ramón sighed and said, "Listen, kid, I like you! I can tell you are strong, but cleaning the entire Bronx from cancerous gangs? There are hundreds of cancerous gangsters! Even if you somehow manage to pull this off, the police would be on your tail in no time! You would be lucky to not get the death penalty! Just don't do it!"
Eli decided to tell a white lie, "Ramón, I struck a deal with the higher-ups in the police and city management. If I pull this off, they would just strike it off as gang wars and not investigate it more. But I cant get info on the gangs and locations directly from them. That is why I need your help! I need off-the-record info on the gangs!" Honestly, even he did not fully believe what he just said, but it was his best bet!
Ramón, the experienced gangster, obviously did not believe the lie he just heard. However, he could tell the determination of the kid was real. So he made a compromise, "Alright, Eli, Ill tell you what. I will provide the info for free. But you will need to prove to me that you are not just bluffing. There is a small drug warehouse of the MS-13 in XXXX... There should be about 10 guys stationed there, all armed with guns. If you can clear it by tomorrow morning, then I will give info to all the other locations in the Bronx!"
Eli thanked him with a smile and nodded, "Wait for the good news!" And exited the office.
Ramón sighed and said to himself, "Sorry Vivian... I might have just sent your crush to his death..." And then he poured himself another cup of mezcal and downed it.
Eli hailed a cab home, on the way, he checked the notification he got from the quest menu.
Quests:
Main Quests:
- Prepare for the Apocalypse
Side Quests:
- Chain Quest: Cleaning up the Bronx: Prove it!
Chain Quest: Cleaning up the Bronx: Prove it! : You went to ask the leader of the Purple skull gang information about all bad gangs in the area. Ramón Berganza, Its leader, Is not convinced you can pull it off and decided to test you. Prove yourself! Show him you are not just bluffing!
Description: Kill all MS-13 gang members in the specified drug warehouse, without leaving any leads to yourself. Time limit: 28/12/2021 at 5:00 in the morning.
Rewards: 10 points, The trust of Ramón Berganza, information about all other gangs.
Penalties for failure: -5 points, Ramón Berganza will be disappointed in you.
So, quests are a thing, and they can give extra points. That seems like a very farmable part of the system. Just give hundreds of easy to do quests to a friend, and reap the point rewards on each one when they give similar level quests back. And boom! Murder free points.
Hmm... Yes and no. Quests can give you points, but they cant be meaningless. You need to actually challenge yourself. If someone else who just got the system received this quest, I don't think he would be able to complete it.
But then again, the system will not issue something you cant complete. Probably.
@bignt ah, I see. So there are limits to the quest. I still think it's something that should be used as often as possible, just because you can though. Like, a record of what needs to be done today or whatever. Doesnt provide much, but it does provide.
Also, he isnt going to be able to unlock mana is he? Thing is, the system he is using is mana based, right? Or is a law written upon reality, designed to help sapient species deal with mana, without actually needing mana to run. In which case, why not give it to everyone so that they can properly grow strong enough to deal with mana and not just turn into zombies?
@MrBookL The system spreads with the mana wave and binds itself to non-monster intelligent species in the hopes that they survive the mana wave and continue evolving. Eli just got early access to it since somehow bound a godly relic to himself.
As for mini-quests? Maybe to a super weak individual? The upgrade from lvl 0 to lvl 1 is not that absolute though. For example strength. If a bodybuilder got it to lvl 1 and a nerd got it to lvl 1, the bodybuilder would still be stronger by a large margin. Of course, the cognitive function of a nerd would be higher than the bodybuilders usually. Since Eli is already so powerful, he does not need to have mini-quests to make himself stronger.
@bignt ah, so quests would be designed in such a way that they are always a challenge to the recipient. They should still be attempted to be used whenever possible, just for those extra points, but the likelihood is low, and if you do get one, well, things just got serious.
And I would hope there is that kind of limit, otherwise all of a sudden everyone is equally strong in every way, making training your body and mind pointless.