bignt

So, I decided to Nerf Cognition, from being able to read a university page and perfectly learning and understanding it from 15 seconds per page, to 30 seconds per page. That means, to read a 300 pages university book, he would need 2.5 hours, or in other words, to finish a 24 courses Bachelor's degree, he would need 60 hours. Honestly speaking, it sounds fair. He is getting a goddamn brain upgrade after all.

I also decided to Ax Flexibility and fused it with agility instead. Flexibility was a sub-category of agility in any case.

Dexterity lvl 1: Better skill at performing delicate and intricate tasks with arms and fingers, better eye to hand coordination, more fluid motion in high-speed movement, better balancing, more controlled and natural movement in general. All of these can be achieved naturally and without extra concentration from your mind.

Eli selected this upgrade first. Dexterity was, first of all, an extremely useful thing. It governed delicate body movement in general. While people might think that it is rather useless compared to raw strength, they couldn't be more wrong. Raw strength was good and all, but without the Dexterity to manage it, you would be as clumsy as an elephant in a china shop, a wrecking ball that hurt others unintentionally. Also, Dexterity helped to aim a gun better, using a knife better, better martial arts in general, and could even with other things, such as drawing, knitting, or using a scalpel in surgery. If a brute that only has raw strength faced a dexterous opponent, the result would actually usually favor the dexterous one, unless they entered a grappling match of pure strength.

Besides that, Eli wished to get Agility after that, so laying the foundation for it, Dexterity, was crucial!

Immediately after he selected it, he felt a headache, and felt like the nerves in his body were itching a bit. The whole process surprisingly did not hurt that much in general. It also only took a single minute to finish. After the process was done, Eli was not sweaty or anything, and was only slightly disoriented, which he recovered quickly from it.

He felt like his movement became far more fluid than normal. He picked up a pen from the table, and without even thinking, he started doing tricks with the said pen between his fingers. Tricks that he never succeeded in doing before. He also felt like, if he went to the shooting range, he could score 10 10-pointers in a row with a pistol in a 100-yard shooting range, instead of the 4-5 10-pointers from before, and he might even be able to achieve that while wielding 2 pistols Akimbo! Eli actually wondered if he should have actually upgraded this first after immunity since this was just so useful!

After Eli was done with his small testing, it was now 6:51 pm. So he quickly fixed himself up, and put on some celebrative, but not too fancy clothes and a raincoat, and left the hotel room. When he was outside, he noticed the cloudy weather and light trickle from the clouds. From the forecast, it said there would be a thunderstorm close to midnight. That was why they didn't go to times square this time and instead celebrated at home. Eli hailed a Taxi and after 10 minutes of driving in the light rain, he arrived at the Berganza household.

The house was a middle-class Villa, and on the door and windows were new years decorations. When Eli knocked on the door, he immediately heard a rapid clattering sound and a beautiful 19-year-old Latina opened the door.

Long black flowing silky hair cascading down to her shoulders. Light Brown Glossy skin. Thin eyebrows, cherry lips, a small nose, light makeup, long eyelashes, big and shiny black eyes, clean trimmed nails, an hourglass figure, and a large D cup chest and round butt. She was 1.75m tall with her golden high-heels on. She wore an A-line short V-neck blue dress, properly highlighting her assets in a not too revealing way. Her lip piercing was gone, and she had her butterfly golden earrings on. The girl held a natural provocative and mischievous vibe, like that of a temptress. Naturally, this stunning girl was Vivian.

While Eli, who already released his pent-up lust on the three girls in Manhattan had a much clearer head, so he was not gawking at her like a hungry pervert but looked at her appreciatively. On the other hand, Vivian, who saw the now enhanced Eli was stunned silly! Eli before looked older had stubble, his skin was rougher and had some minor scars. Now, he had no stubble, his skin fair and glossy, he looked younger, and there was no Blemish or scar on his face. While Eli was handsome before, he was now a certified hunk! Besides that, he strangely gave of a manlier, more dominant vibe than before, which made him even more attractive,

Since Eli saved her before, She already had a crush on him. And if you add his changes now... Vivian ended up gawking at him, mouth slightly open, and cheeks reddened.

Eli, who was still underestimating his own charms and oblivious of her feelings, smiled brightly, revealing his perfect and pearly-white teeth, and said, "Hey Vivian! Happy new year!"

When Vivian heard this, she snapped back to reality, her cheeks going to a crimson hew from embarrassment at her behavior. She immediately greeted him, albeit, embarrassingly, "H-Happy new year Eli! Please come inside!"

Eli smiled and walked inside the house, letting Vivian help him take off his raincoat. They walked inside the house and were greeted with a lively atmosphere.

Ramón and Abel were sitting on a sofa together and were chatting with a middle-aged man and woman, a 16-year-old teenager was playing on his phone. When Ramón and Abel saw Eli walk inside the house, They were first shocked, since Eli looked younger and more handsome than before, but quickly shrugged it off. Abel immediately got up and went to him and gave him a warm bro hug, "Hey Eli! Happy new year! Come, sit with us!"

Abel led Eli to the living room, and introduced the sitting couple, "Let me introduce you! This is my father and mother in law, Matias Costa and Asunción Costa." He then gestured at the still distracted youth, "And this is my brother-in-law, Jairo Costa."

While Abel was introducing him to everyone, Vivian already went to the kitchen to help her mother and sister-in-law.

After Eli greeted everyone, he sat down next to Abel and joined the conversation. After some chatting, it turned out that the couple was actually quite rich and influential. Matias was a self-made millionaire in the car business and Asunción was a senior epidemiologist that even won a few awards for her meritorious deeds. 

Overall, the couple gave out a very warm vibe, without a hint of the usual snobbery that many rich people do. Eli had a good impression of them, and vice-versa.

As for their son Jairo... An unsociable high-schooler was a very apt description. That is until Eli said he was an ex-soldier, and the kid closed his phone immediately and started turning rapidly into a chatterbox, firing questions that left even Eli dumbfounded!

Now, you might ask, how the fuck did Abel manage to score their daughter as a goddamn son of a gangster? Simple, Vivian was sent to learn in a private school and became friends with Ximena who also learned there, and through some twists and turns, he ended up dating Ximena through her. The parents were chill with that, as long as their daughter was happy.

After chatting jovially for about half an hour, the dinner was ready, and Vivian, a middle-aged woman that looked like the older version of Vivian, and a 3 or 4 months pregnant 20-year-old girl brought food to the table. Eli soon learned that the woman was Rosa, Vivian's mother, and the girl was Ximena, Abel's wife. He greeted them both but felt that Rosa was appraising him for some reason.

Everyone sat down next to the table, and Vivian sat next to Eli. Soon, everyone was eating the special holiday dinner with great appetite. Eli, who went through an evolution, ate plenty, but still managed to hold himself back from eating too much. Unlike before he had vitality, he now had more energy stored inside his body, so he could afford to evolve even without eating a lot, but he will still need to replenish on nutrients.

During the dinner, Vivian got a bit closer to him and rubbed her elbow on his arm. Also, her leg constantly rubbed his own leg, and she gave him glances from time to time. If Eli did not understand that she was hitting on him until then, he most certainly did now. Abel and Rosa noticed Vivian's behavior but turned a blind eye to it. In any case, Eli did not mind it, he was a bachelor. If a woman hit on him, as long as they were hot enough and he had no moral reason to reject her, he would just say 'Go ahead'. In any case, he was also attracted to her.

After finishing dinner, everyone came to the living room and chatted, occasionally drinking something, until midnight, where they watched the new year's eve celebration on the TV. Normally, they would have gone there to watch it, but right now, the sounds of thunder were outside, along with heavy rain.

About half an hour later, Ximena's family said their goodbyes and left. Meanwhile, Eli stayed and drank together with Abel and Ramón for another hour, before he got up to leave. When he was at the doorstep Vivian stopped him at the exit, face flushed slightly from drinking a bit too much wine, holding a mistletoe in hand, and smiling mischievously.¹ New Year's eve is still on Christmas, so this still counts.

She held the mistletoe high up, and asked mischievously, "You know what this means, right?" After she said that, she closed her eyes, and puckered her lips a bit, expecting a kiss.

Eli's response was... To kiss her on the forehead. Vivian opened her eyes and said with mock anger, "You tease, do it on the Mpff!" Before she finished, he sealed her lips with a kiss, holding her closely. Vivian was first surprised but then melted in his arms. After 10 seconds of kissing, Eli let her go and smiled at her.

He then teasingly asked, "Was that good enough? Or do you want another one?"

Vivian did not reply, but held him by the collar, and pulled him in for another passionate kiss, this time, it was a French kiss with tongue involved. After another 15 seconds of entwining tongues, she let him go, gasped for a bit, and said, "Now it was enough."

She then placed a piece of paper in his pocket, hugged him closely, and whispered in his ear, "Call me..." And let him go.

Eli was not a fool, she was clearly implying that she wanted a date, but he needs to invite her. He smiled, pecked her one last time, and told her, "Ok, tomorrow." As far as Eli was concerned, Vivian was definitely good girlfriend material, so he was willing to give it a shot.

He wore his coat, exiting the house, and was exposed to the elements. The sky was raining, lighting could be seen, and thunder boomed. A taxi was already waiting outside the house since he called it a few minutes earlier. He went inside the taxi, told the driver to go back to the hotel, and they drove away.

Halfway towards the hotel, Eli looked at the side of the road and saw a silhouette carrying a traveling bag. He thought it was strange for someone to do this in the middle of a stormy night, but that was it. Just then, lightning flashed in the sky, illuminating the silhouette. What he saw was a beautiful face of a girl who had weary but determined eyes.

However, the moment Eli saw that face, Eli's eyes constricted, the tattoo on his chest burned unnaturally, and his instinct screamed with all its might! He had a vision at that moment...

The vision was of an extremely beautiful woman, almost angelic in beauty, with the same features as the girl he just saw. However, the girl had ruby-like red eyes, white hair, pale skin, wore a strange red skeletal armor, and a pair of skeletal wings on her back. Surrounding her was a destroyed NY, rivers of blood and bodies littering the whole streets by the piles. Millions of horrific creatures were surrounding her, worshipping her. More than 20 other individuals, with white hair and ruby eyes, wearing skeletal armor but without wings, were kneeling around her, awaiting their commands. And at that vision, he saw himself, crucified on some sort of horrific bone cross, helpless to resist. The woman walked to him leisurely and surprisingly kissed him deeply before the two wings on her back pierced his chest. The vision ended there. The vision lasted barely a millisecond in real life, but to Eli, it felt like minutes. ²Queen of blades?

At that moment, he knew what he had to do. He shouted with all his might, "STOP THE CAR!"

bignt

Current status:

Spoiler

Current date: 01/01/2022 1:40 am

Status:

[Overall Evolution Rank: lvl 0]

[Strength lvl 0]
[Vitality lvl 1]
[Toughness lvl 0]
[Agility lvl 0]
[Dexterity lvl 1]
[Cognition lvl 1]
[Nerves lvl 1]
[Senses lvl 0]
[Instinct lvl 1]
[Immunity lvl 1]
[Mana Conductivity lvl -]
[Mana Core lvl -]
[Mana Sense lvl -]

Skills:
[Firearm Mastery lvl 0], [Athletics lvl 0], [Acrobatics lvl 0], [Medical Skills lvl 0], [Pharmacology lvl 0], [Cooking lvl 0], [Alchemy lvl 0], [Animal training lvl 0]

Unique Skills:
[Time Stipend lvl 1, Time saved: -81 minutes]

Equipment: Stealthboy lvl 1, Storage ring 7 cubic meters, lvl 0 gloves + boots, lvl 1 helmet + knife, evidence collector, contraception ring, A shitton of ordinary weapons and ammunition.

Points: 67

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BTW: Do you think I made this chapter look like a script too much? Did I skimp too much on human interactions? Or is this ok since this whole chapter was basically filler, and there was no need for detailed human interactions?