[A skill has been created through a special action.]
[Through the power of your body to endure pain and damage, 'Physical Endurance' has been created.]
|Physical Endurance (Passive) Lv. 1
| EXP: 5.24%
| The body's durability increases, and you take less damage.
| 3% decrease in damage from physical attacks.
-
[Physical Endurance level increased by 3]
[Danger Sense level increased by 2]
-
Gerhard looked at the notification and nodded. At least the near-death experience wasn't for nothing. At level 4, [Physical Endurance] granted a 11.5% decrease in damage from physical attacks. This was already a great advantage, but not even close to enough. And yet, Gerhard couldn't help but smile seeing the little progress. Now that he was inside the instant dungeon, he was going to abuse this to the maximum.
Now, what made a Gamer truly a character?
As Gerhard already made sure, after going over the intricacies of his skill, the Gamer has the power to create something out of nothing. But not only that, through the power of Mana or MP, Gerhard could now use skills and create new ones, making the process of creating something out of nothing even more ridiculous. So the plans were as follows.
Step 1: Food and Water.
Ensure he has a stable food and water source. As a Gamer, he has no real need for food and water, since his health doesn't drop on its own. But eating food and drinking water help regenerate his HP. After he had found something as precious as the seeds, there was no way that Gerhard wasn't going to cultivate them. It was basically the food of the gods for someone like him, who had lived far below all his life.
After the first step was taken care of, what would he do then?
Step 2: Research and Creation.
The second step would be dedicated to studying everything he had salvaged and was currently in his inventory. The lasguns, flak armour and the other things. Because, and this also went into Step 1, after he knew how the different things were made, he could make them as well. But all of this was dependent on a single skill.
[Creation]
Gerhard sat on the ground and took out some of the scrap metal he had salvaged. There was a lot, so he needn't worry about losing some initially. And he would lose some, that was inevitable. Without overthinking, he started using some of the other, larger metal pieces to hammer another one. He hit it in specific areas and used all his strength to shape it.
He felt exhaustion slowly build up, but ignored it. This was his moment; there was nothing more manly than creating his own stuff. After the first hour, Gerhard was exhausted, but he saw his progress and didn't stop. Only when he sat before an ugly piece of what should have been a pot, and he saw the notification, did he finally stop hammering metal on metal.
[A skill has been created through a special action.]
[Through the power to create new things, 'Creation/Manufacturing' has been created.]
|Creation (Active) Lv. 1
| A skill to make something. Humanity has advanced its civilisation through inventing things. Created objects become better as the mastery level rises.
| Effects:
| Registered blueprint: 1.
| Probability of failure when crafting: 50%
-
[Metal Pot - Rank: Average]
A poorly made metal pot by novice creator Gerhard, the Gamer. Its artistic value is non-existent, and it is an insult to art. But it can hold some dirt.
-
Well, it was something. The pot was atrocious, the Gamer system was kind in its description, but that didn't matter to Gerhard. He had the biggest smile on his face when he saw the pot. He had done this. He had created something with his own two hands. Now, one had to ask, why was this supposed to be overpowered, or a cheat skill?
The reason this was overpowered was that now that Gerhard had the blueprint for the average-ranked metal pot, he could create it right away, as long as he had the raw materials at hand. No more spending hours hammering metal to create it. Oh, but wait, there was more. Far more.
After the [Novice Creation] skill reached level 100, it could advance into [Beginner Creation]. Novice -> Beginner -> Apprentice -> Adept -> Special -> Legendary -> Mythical -> Transcendental. One had to imagine that once Gerhard reached [Apprentice Creation], he would unlock several insane effects. For example, right now, when he wanted to create something, the chance for failure was 50%. That meant that he wasted half of all his resources. Naturally, this decreased as the skill level increased.
But once he reached [Apprentice Creation], the chance of failure when creating Novice-grade items... was 0!
And not only that. Should he reach [Adept Creation], creating Novice-grade items wouldn't even require resources anymore. Meaning, he could create them out of thin air!! And now, imagine if he learnt how to create lasguns, bolter pistols and the ammunition for those.
Limitless. Ammunition. And. Limitless. Resources.
The potential of this was INSANE.
However, to reach that point, a lot of work and resources were needed. And Gerhard knew that he didn't have endless resources to begin with. But he had two things in mind to help him in that regard. The first was another skill, which he was working on right now.
[A skill has been created through a special action.]
[Through the power to take apart all things, 'Dismantle' has been created.]
|Dismantle (Active) Lv. 1
| A skill which allows one to take apart anything. The loss of resources decreases as the mastery level rises.
| Effects:
| Resources lost when dismantling: 90%
| 1% chance to clean each part after taking it apart
-
This was the first way to reduce resource loss. Gerhard would use the resources he gathered, use [Creation] to create items, then use [Dismantle] to take them apart again. This will allow him to level up both skills and to lose fewer resources each time. The second way to address his resource needs was through instant dungeons.
The Gamer ability generated a range of items, from killing monsters in illusory barriers, even if the monsters didn't have physical bodies. These items included crafting and healing items (usually potions), real money, weapons, skill books, and other magical items. This was very useful, since it allowed Gerhard to level up, allocate points as he wished, improve his fighting experience and weapon masteries, and, of course, gain resources.
[For making wise decisions, WIS has risen by 1]
So, the Gamer system agreed with Gerhard's plan. Without further ado, he went right ahead with this first step. He took apart the metal pot. As he did so, some minor parts of the metal he had used to create it were lost, but it was very few, and after a short time, he sat in front of the pieces of the pot. Without thinking, he pulled out more pieces of metal and then used [Creation] to create another metal pot, according to the blueprint.
[Creation level increased by 1]
And after he dismantled it again.
[Dismantle level increased by 1]
...
After time passed and Gerhard had gone through roughly 30% of the scrap he had collected, he finally succeeded in creating a particularly impressive pot, at least for his skill level.
[Planting Pot - Rank: Common]
The bare minimum of a metal pot made by novice creator Gerhard, the Gamer. Its artistic value is very low, but it is better than previously. It can hold some dirt.
| 10% increase in plant growth speed
| 5% less nutrients needed to successfully grow a plant
| durability: 10/10
-
Gerhard was happy. This was already very good progress. Also, the traits the common grade planting pot possessed were unlike anything you would have if you were to create a planting pot without the Gamer system.
Now, however, Gerhard had to stop. Right now, he was preparing, and since he had already planted some seeds, he needed to wait. But before he could go further, he would need more scrap, but to get that, he would need to leave the instant dungeon. And to do that, he needed a way to defend himself.
He took out the lasgun from his inventory and used [Observe] on it.
-
[M36 Kantrael Pattern Lasgun (Damaged) - Rank: Common]
A standard-issue Lasgun used by the Astra Militarum and Planetary Defence Forces across the Imperium of Man. Known for its reliability, durability, and ease of maintenance, the Lasgun is the backbone of Imperial infantry forces.
This particular weapon has suffered damage during combat and poor maintenance. The focusing crystal is misaligned, and the power transfer capacitor shows signs of instability. Despite this, the weapon remains operational.
- Durability: 47/120
- Damage: 45
- Critical chance: 2%
- Charge Capacity: 150
-
This checked out, according to what Gerhard remembered of Lasguns.
The lasgun used the same basic technology and operated along the same lines as other laser weapons, emitting a beam of focused light. The high amount of energy in the beam caused the immediate surface area of a target to be vaporised in a small explosion.
It was a relatively unimpressive weapon when compared to other weapons in the Imperium or the wider galaxy, but it was still capable of cleanly severing limbs or piercing the power armour of a Space Marine, but only through a vulnerable spot in the armour and also only if the Space Marine wasn't named and still had his helmet on...
Most designs had iron sights mounted along the top of the weapon. It was powered by a small, rechargeable power pack located beneath the weapon, in front of the trigger guard. And so did the one Gerhard held in his hands right now.
-
[Power Pack - Rank: Common]
- Capacity: 94/150 shots
-
This was rather lucky for Gerhard. The power pack was operational, and while damaged, the lasgun was as well. Now, the decision Gerhard had to make was whether or not he wanted to first train with the lasgun and use it to defend himself, or if he should take it apart and level up his skill and potentially be able to create more lasguns and power packs.
An idea came to mind.
[For making wise decisions, WIS has risen by 1]
Gerhard picked up another set of scrap and went ahead with hammering it into a specific shape. He didn't worry about it looking pretty, but eventually, it was a somewhat round metal plate. He used another piece of metal to carve shallow circles on it, creating a very crude target.
Then he stood up and walked out of the room he was in. He was still inside the instant dungeon, so there was no danger for him. He walked to a more open space and then placed the target on a higher level and moved into position.
The distance was roughly 30 meters, so not even close to the maximum range of the lasgun. But he was here to learn, and all things started small. He placed the power pack back into the lasgun and then raised it, looking through the scope and aiming it at the target.
He breathed in slowly and then out, pulling the trigger at that moment.
A beam of energy was emitted and missed the target entirely. It was a strange feeling for Gerhard to fire a weapon for the first time in both his lives. He messed up, but that wasn't what it was all about. It was about the skill the Gamer system created.
[A skill has been created through a special action.]
[Through the use of a lasgun, 'Firearms Mastery' has been created.]
|Firearms Mastery (Passive) Lv. 1
| A skill that allows the user to freely handle firearms.
| Effects:
| 10% increase in attack damage with firearms
| 5% increase in accuracy when using firearms
-
Gerhard raised the lasgun again and aimed. He pulled the trigger and shot the energy at the target. Different from the first time, he managed to hit the outermost part of the target. This put a smile on his face and motivated him to go again.
The third shot was again off target, but the fourth one hit the target again. So did the fifth one and the sixth.
[Firearms Mastery level increased by 1]
Gerhard continued. He used [Observe] to look at how many shots he still had left.
[Power Pack - Rank: Common]
- Capacity: 88/150 shots
After that, he ignored everything and pulled the trigger, following his instincts, which constantly grew sharper in terms of accuracy, thanks to his skill.
...
[Firearms Mastery level increased by 1]
.
.
[Firearms Mastery level increased by 1]
.
.
.
[Firearms Mastery level increased by 1]
...
By the time the power pack was empty, he had levelled up [Firearms Mastery] four times.
|Firearms Mastery (Passive) Lv. 5
| A skill that allows the user to freely handle firearms.
| Effects:
| 18% increase in attack damage with firearms
| 10% increase in accuracy when using firearms
| Improved recoil control