Veyric couldn't wait. He tapped open the second reward: Venom's bond.
[--- Venom Bond Reward (Lv. 1) ---]
[Experience ×1 received.]
[Venom Talent Half-Price Voucher ×1 received.]
[New Venom talent unlocked: Venom Doppelganger.]
[Price: 20 experience points.]
[Description: Expend a portion of symbiote mass to rapidly generate an identical body double. The clone possesses no offensive capability and dissolves upon receiving lethal damage. Can also be recalled manually. Useful for misdirection, decoys, or diversionary tactics.]
[Purchase requirement: Symbiote count ≥ 5 (Current: 1/5).]
His eyes lit up.
Venom Doppelganger.
Images flooded his mind: a clone taking a killing blow meant for him, a decoy luring zombies down the wrong alley. In an apocalypse where the dead outnumbered the living a thousand to one, this wasn't a combat skill. It was a survival skill.
Then his gaze snagged on the purchase condition.
Symbiote count insufficient...
He frowned.
Right now he'd only recovered a fraction of Venom. Unlocking this talent meant tracking down and healing more symbiotes first.
Something to look forward to, at least.
A long breath. He shelved the talent for now and opened the last reward.
[--- Blade Bond Reward (Lv. 1) ---]
[Experience ×1 received.]
[Blade Talent Half-Price Voucher ×1 received.]
[New Blade talent unlocked: Weapon Mastery (Lv. 1).]
[Price: 8 experience points.]
[Description: Significantly improves proficiency with cold weapons and firearms, along with combat intuition.]
A practical combat skill. Fitting for Blade's profile.
Every talent unlocked so far was a direct upgrade to his fighting ability. But the experience points...
Veyric glanced at the top-right corner of the panel.
[Available Experience: 5]
Two left over from before, plus one from each of the three bond rewards. Five on the dot.
Five points. What to buy?
His eyes swept the talent list back and forth before settling on a single name.
Spider-Sense.
Base price ten points. With the Spider-Man talent half-price voucher, exactly five.
He stared at the skill name, and a memory hit him like a slap.
That day at Aunt May's house. Pushing open the door. Blade lunging from the darkness, his sword cleaving through Veyric's wrist in a single stroke.
If he'd poked his head out first, that blade wouldn't have taken his hand. It would have taken his neck.
Even now, the thought sent ice down his spine.
Until his combat ability underwent a real transformation, what he needed wasn't stronger offense. It was better odds of staying alive.
Spider-Sense offered danger warnings and instinctive evasion. For where he stood right now, nothing made more sense.
"Spider-Sense it is."
He selected it and applied the half-price voucher.
[Spend 5 experience points to purchase talent "Spider-Sense (Lv. 1)"?]
"Confirm."
[Ding! Purchase successful!]
[Talent "Spider-Sense (Lv. 1)" activated.]
[Effect: When danger approaches, the Host receives an intuitive warning. Reaction speed briefly heightened during moments of imminent threat.]
[Available Experience: 5 → 0]
The next second, a crackling, electric tingle detonated at the base of his skull and raced down his spine, branching through every limb to the tips of his fingers.
Veyric shuddered.
The sensation defied easy description. Like some invisible antenna had sprouted deep inside his brain, receiving everything around him in a constant, low-frequency hum.
Maybe it was his imagination, but the drift of air currents in the room, the faint footsteps at the far end of the corridor, the muffled clink of Beast handling equipment in the lab next door... everything sharpened. Not louder but clearer. A primal awareness that lived below conscious thought, the way a spider feels vibrations on its web.
Tomorrow I'll grab Peter and run some tests. But tonight...
He closed the system panel and let himself fall backward onto the bed.
The day had wrung him dry. Beaten half to death, bled multiple times, every muscle screaming with exhaustion. The clothes Black Widow had left sat neatly folded by his pillow. He didn't even bother trying them on. Within seconds, he was out cold.
---
Morning.
His body clock woke him.
The ceiling lights were still in night mode.
He lay still for a few seconds and flexed his limbs.
Most of the fatigue had drained away, though his shoulders and lower back still ached. Courtesy of Black Widow's fists, no doubt.
Veyric sat up, grabbed the folded clothes from beside his pillow, and changed. Dark grey tactical pants, a fitted black top. The fit was surprisingly good.
He pulled the door open and nearly walked into someone.
Natasha was leaning against the wall beside his doorframe, arms crossed, red hair loose over her shoulders. She'd switched to a white tactical suit today, though the zipper was still losing its battle with her figure, stuck at the same ambiguous halfway point.
He blinked.
"What are you doing here?"
"Everyone sent me to get you for a meeting. Planning next steps." Her tone was light, unhurried. "But you were sleeping so soundly when I got here, I didn't have the heart to wake you."
Veyric scratched his head, a little sheepish. "How long were you waiting out here?"
Natasha didn't answer directly. Her gaze drifted over him, casual and appraising.
"That outfit fits you well."
"Thanks to whoever picked it out." He smiled. "Good eye."
"Obviously." She lifted her chin a fraction. "Come on. Everyone's in the conference room already."
Veyric paused. "Everyone's waiting for me?"
"You're the captain, aren't you?" She turned and headed down the corridor without looking back. "You certainly had the energy for it when you yelled 'Assemble' yesterday."
His mouth opened. Nothing came out. He shook his head and followed.
They look up to me because I can cure the virus, he told himself as he walked. That's all this is.
The conference room was compact but well-equipped. A rectangular metal table dominated the center, and above it, a holographic display screen hummed on standby, washing every face in pale blue light.
When Veyric stepped through the door, every pair of eyes turned to him at once.
"Morning, everyone." He hesitated for a beat, then walked to the head of the table, the seat they'd left open for him.