As we all enter the gymnasium, the girls find a seat while Genshirou hovers at the edge of their group.
He doesn't seem to pay attention to them, as it seems I would be the target of his attention.
The loss against me must've triggered a want to get stronger because that's a pretty intense gaze.
Shaking my head to get into the zone, I quickly look at my status screen.
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[Host: Sam Barnes]
[Race: Human]
Active Abilities (2/2)
- Lightning Claws - Uncommon
- Exoskeleton - Rare
Other Abilities
- Energy Regeneration—Rare
- Lightning Breath—Rare
- Reactive Activation—Uncommon
Skills
-N/A
Traits
- Enhanced Vitality - Uncommon
- Hero Candidate—Rare
- Gym Nut - Rare+++ [35%]
- Perfumer - Common+
- Enhanced Stamina—Uncommon
- Lethal Charm - Elite
Items
- Familiar Contract - Rare
- Tank - Common
Familiars
- Black Knife Tiche - Rare
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'Switch out Lightning Claws for Reactive Activation.' I command the system as I do some basic stretches.
As I see the status panel update with the new active ability, I nod.
'Let's test out Exoskeleton first.' Looking around for a mirror or reflective surface, before quickly giving up.
The one thing I hate about my transmigration is the fact the world's tech is 10 to 20 years behind what I'm used to, I'll forever miss the convenience of a smartphone.
'I'll just use the restroom's mirror before I leave today.'
Before I can have anymore distracting thoughts I take a second to clear my head so I can feel what's about to happen, I activate the ability.
What I feel is odd, to say the least; I can only really describe it as clothes that are you. I can feel the weight of it, but it doesn't hinder me.
My guess is the enhancements it comes with are enough to compensate.
Taking a minute to test the drain of the ability, I feel it's about a quarter of what Lightning Claw drains. Doing simple math means that if I don't use any other abilities that also drain my energy, I'll have this form for roughly four minutes.
Using the rest of my energy as I test the power of my new form, I roughly guess that my physical abilities have doubled. The ability specifically mentioned endurance as well, but I'll test that when I'm healed completely.
As my energy was completely spent, which took longer than I thought at roughly 5 minutes, the form receded into my body; I felt nothing as it did so.
I switched out the Exoskeleton for Energy Regeneration. As I waited for my energy to recharge, I again noticed a change: instead of the 30-second recharge to full, it took 40 seconds.
With a small smile I commented to my self internally, 'My base energy pool got larger by 20-30%.'
My mind tries to figure out what caused the change, but nothing immediately comes to mind. Putting it off for now, I focus on Reactive Activation.
Reactive Activation is probably going to be huge; if I can get the conditions for my other abilities correct, I'll be able to use them all at any time.
As I played around with the ability, time quickly passed by, and before I knew it, an hour had passed by.
I wasn't completely satisfied with Reactive Activation; apparently, you can only set one condition per ability, and using abilities through it makes it cost more depending on the condition set.
Luckily, the status screen did show what my current conditions and the costs for them were.
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[Uncommon - Reactive Activation]
Conditions currently set:
- Lightning Claws: When attacking with the host's hands/fists and channeling lethal intent, this ability activates. When no detected lethal intent is found, this ability remains dormant. Increased energy consumption by 20%.
- Energy Regeneration—When energy reserves reach 25%, this ability remains active until reserves reach 100% or the host whispers "Regen off." Increased physical stamina consumption by 30%.
- Lightning Breath: When the host yells the keyword "Lightning Breath," this ability will start to charge; the next time the host opens his mouth, the attack will be released. Charging requires 15% more energy consumption.
- Exoskeleton: When the host yells "It's morphin' time," this ability activates. When the host whispers "Form change," the ability will deactivate. Increases energy consumption by 40%.
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These were the best numbers I could get within an hour, and well... I'm kinda strong now, as long as I'm not put into a long fight, that is.
Another thing I noticed is that Reactive Activation doesn't do Ability Combination conditions, which dampened my enthusiasm for it considerably.
As I drew my attention away from Reactive Activation and its conditions, I started thinking of combinations but quickly stopped myself as I had an ability I hadn't tested.
Lightning Breath
It's in the same rarity category as Great Lightning Spear, even though the latter seems stronger. I guess that it is due to Lightning Breath's ability to charge an attack for infinitely if energy concerns weren't a thing.
Switching Energy Regeneration for it for a quick test, I activate it immediately. I can feel my energy dissipating fast. Luckily, my Energy Regeneration condition activated, but even now it's draining more than any of my other abilities.
It took 5 seconds for it to trigger my condition for energy regeneration and an additional 10 seconds for it to functionally make me hit the rock bottom of my reserves.
Feeling even my impressive stamina drain quickly after another 5 seconds, I decided to let it loose.
I... I don't quite know what happened next as the massive amount of electricity blinded me for a few moments.
Rapidly blinking to regain sight, half of the gymnasium was blackened due to the electrical discharge.
I turn towards the group that was watching and seeing them all wide-eyed makes me chuckle awkwardly.
"We can fix that right?"
Several minutes later
I was told to go home and report to Rias and Sona tomorrow for both my new abilities and the ambush a week ago.
Thinking about the respective leaders i notice that ever since her initial visit, Rias hasn't asked about it or about Tiche which surprised me.
She's was pretty difficult when we talked in the past but outside our first conversation, I detected no hostility.
Even now, Rias probably holds some reservations with me due to things I can't properly explain.
According to conversations I've overheard from people visiting my house, Rias seems to be under a bit of pressure from her family and other nobles due to multiple incidents in this territory, and well, my existence doesn't exactly help.
Sona, or the president, has been friendly whenever we do get the rare conversation in; she visited once with Momo and the VP after the first day. Our conversation was mainly about school, but there were some personal questions sprinkled in.
When I arrived home, Tiche was out, or, to better say, she arrived home with me since she's most likely followed me.
"Tiche! We're going to order out, so get whatever you want; I'll be in my room."
I didn't get an immediate reply, which was strange, but she probably heard me so i continued to head towards my room.
Entering my room, I noticed a strange smell in the air and that my bedsheets were missing...
'Is Tiche cleaning my room? But that doesn't explain the smell...'
As I was about to investigate, I heard Tiche from the other room.
"My lord, I'm cleaning the house, so please help yourself."
With Tiche busy, it's up to me to get dinner. As I exit my room again, I see Tiche exit from the bathroom. She wasn't wearing her cloak or armor as I got my first view of Tiche's figure.
Looking away in embarrassment and surprise, I quickly walk past her to head outside to get food.
All I have to say about her figure is that it is impressive, and given her size, it seems to make it even more... impressive.