The man nodded shortly curiosity clear in his bright eyes I’d love to see you use it You’re a mage ain’tcha That’s pretty rare in our Zone
Dinesh made note of the twitch in Hank’s companions when he said that so easily Although Hank didn’t appear to regard it as such their two Zones were clearly in a competition of sorts A friendly one if the Ghosthound had his way but a competition nonetheless It wasn’t yet clear what benefits the Fate Stones beyond the first would have but with how much time the Ghosthound had spent in the past two days inside of the Danger Zone it seemed significant
In a way the others reactions to him made Dinesh pity Hank The man didn’t understand how deeply he was in the schemes of others But at the same time Dinesh had a feeling that things weren’t that simple When he looked at Hank he was reminded of Dozer of all people There was an implacable brutality to him although Hank’s was of a more sophisticated variety
In their eyes was the sure confidence of a man reliant on violence and experienced in its execution
Focusing his thoughts to the task at hand Dinesh carefully channeled Mana into the plasma pistol After Karlito fed the group they had met and agreed to carefully exchange technology For the Zone 32 group that meant providing equipment to Hank and his peers as an example The one who unleashed that strange poison spell was still unconscious but the others received various leather armors with Engravings done by the Ghosthound himself
The Engravings were of a very high quality but the equipment they were on was just average Still the effect was staggering
Fucking hell Hank swore Then he glanced apologetically at Nathan before continuing You mean all of your clothes provide stats Like 10 each
That was another redeeming quality in the man’s favor Dinesh thought He had a kindness towards children that was rare in the post System world
Well more or less Dinesh said The examples provided are geared primarily towards stats most equipment simply provides flat health increases Still in an extended fight they often are extremely useful
The short Asian woman with the milky eyes ran her fingers over the boots in her hands a wistful expression are her face May we may we keep these
Dinesh nodded solemn Of course consider them a gesture of goodwill Repayment for stealing your kill
The group seemed to accept this all of them cheery at the newly acquired equipment The singular items seemed strange compared with the rest of their dress but they all put them on in one way or another But although this was a touching scene it didn’t make sense at all to Dinesh
Surely their Village Spirit or the Champion would have provided equipment to them Why do they not have it ’ Dinesh wondered but there was no real way to ask without revealing how much he was confused by this occurrence But perhaps that just displayed Dinesh’s own prejudices It was something worth reflecting on
To pay him back they provided him with a basic plasma pistol which he held now He raised it aiming at a large stone sticking out of the ground 50 meters away They assured him that the weapons had little recoil and therefore more accurate than most handguns
Not that this information meant anything to Dinesh he had never fired a gun before
It was strange at first his Mana almost cramping from the strange use but then some barrier broke and he learned the Mana Infusion Skill A bright azure bolt sailed across the distance striking the rock squarely Very quickly the projectile burnpumpkin sizedsized hole in the stone
Dinesh whistled All that for only 20 Mana No wonder they mass produced these It would make the beginning stages of the System a joke
Chapter 497
However the more Dinesh thought about it the more he wondered how having access to such an easy tool would affect the growth of people He didn’t want to leap to any conclusions from only a simple spar but from the fact that they hadn’t been able to completely kill the ram only fatally wound it made Dinesh wonder about their capabilities
It seemed that they were at a comparable Level to him and Tykes yet
Dinesh’s eyes glowed knowingly It must be Skill Level so much so that the difference bleeds over into stats Interesting
In addition it wasn’t as though the two of them were invincible either Tykes was extremely powerful sure but his power was often something that he couldn’t exercise effectively Most monsters simply dodged his attack The only sort of monsters that didn’t was half dead rams that were bound and blinded
Dinesh turned when he heard Hank’s voice
Ah I’m not too sure about the details but for people with higher Intelligence I’ve heard ya can compress the Mana somehow The man shrugged and scratched the stumble on his chin
Dinesh nodded a smile on his face He had felt it the inefficiencies in the first shot He also was aware that the pistol was capable of handling more Mana How much he wasn’t sure but it was surely more than he had just channeled through it
For his first experiment he focused the Mana turning it into a highly dense slug The projectile streaked out and ripped a hole in the stone making a hole almost all the way through the likely 2 meter thick rock before it ran out of momentum Dinesh’s eyebrows rose That level of punch was definitely something that was worth knowing about His appreciation for Hank grew with every passing minute
Next he left his Mana in a raw and unfocused state but pushed more into the gun This made the projectile bigger but that basically just increased the area of effect
Then he pumped more Mana into it and concentrated it This time the projectile was a dark blue and it ripped completely through the stone Dinesh chose another target and did it again upping the dosage one more time
However before the Mana discharged something snapped inside the pistol There was a fizz a spark and then the thing lay dead in his hand inert His Mana had very quickly overloaded what it was capable of
Inwardly Dinesh was disappointed Was the pistol only capable of this much But it made sense in a way This weapon was effective at low levels but it was designed as a beginner piece There were likely stronger pistols available to those who had high Intelligence but with the exception of the unconscious man none of these seemed to have chosen to go the path of Intelligence
my apologies Perhaps the application of my Mana was insufficient Dinesh said offering the pistol back to Hank after a slight hesitation Would they require another gift for this
But Hank snorted waving a hand and producing a dozen other pistols before making them disappear with another flourish Don’t worry about I’ve got plenty And my Mana might be low but my Focus isn’t I blow out the baseline pistols all the time Higher grade pistols require too many hoops to jump through and seemed less sure than bullets so I’ve never bothered with the plasma pistols too much
Dinesh’s eyes traced Hank’s easy smile then slid past him to the sharp faced woman with auburn hair behind him THere was something off about this one although Ptolemy wasn’t sure what it was Nathan had given him a look when the group arrived his gaze going meaningfully to this woman That was more than enough confirmation
When it came to Classes almost no one was as skilled as Nathan now was
Well how about we share a drink now Dinesh offered And exchange some information about our Zones
That would be great Hank said motioning for his companions to set up camp After a small hesitation they did erecting tents near the thorny cabin Then Hank continued Would you be able to send a message to the people in power back in your Zone Our mission is primarily a diplomatic one if we could communicate
Unfortunately our leader is a bit determined to not give many of the power players back home even the time of day Therefore we can point you in the right direction but the communication is up to you Dinesh said slowly Even he was unsure exactly where the Ghosthound’s surliness in regards to Lyra came from How could he explain it in a succinct way to a stranger