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Chapter 40: System app
Now that Uriel had some sort of insight about his trait, he was able to notice a few things.
First, he now knew the name of his trait which was 'Museum' which meant that from now on he could say confidently what his trait was about.
Second, he guessed that if the system informed him about the current exhibitions, it was more than likely that he would be able to unlock at least one more. Just the thought of what could it be made Uriel eager to put his life at risk to get new artifacts.
Finally, now he knew exactly how strong he was. Even if those numbers made no sense to him for the time being, at least it gave him a general idea of his physical prowess.
There was, however, something he couldn't really understand and it was related to the 'Flux' stat. He didn't know if he was able to store this energy inside of his trait or if he himself possessed that amount of flux. He knew that 'orbs', the small glass beads left behind after a cryptid corpse disappears, possessed some sort of power but he didn't know that flux itself could be measured. This left him puzzled for a while, but then he decided to look up into it, this time with the smartphone on his hand.
The system app wasn't as user friendly as Uriel would have liked, but that wasn't all, because now he realized something he missed the first time he looked at it. The whole cellphone's interface was on the ancient glyph language. 'How can this be? Did the people from before the arrival know about this language?' No matter how he thought about this, it didn't make any sense to him. Poking and tapping at the phone, Uriel was about to give up on finding anything useful, but then something came to mind. 'What if it's related to flux orbs?'
Then he proceeded to grab the flux orb that was left after the skinwalker disappeared. It was different to the ones he'd seen before, it seemed somehow deeper, but that wasn't useful at the moment. What Uriel wanted to know was something entirely different.
He attempted to store the flux orb inside his trait, but although he had some sort of feeling when he grabbed it, it wasn't the same as with the artifacts he was able to put inside his museum.
"What if..." Uriel said out loud as he tried to crush the glass like bead with his hand, only to be stopped by Sam.
"Hey! That thing is expensive, don't try to break it!"
"I'm sorry, I really didn't know what I was doing." Uriel quickly apologized. "How expensive is it anyways?"
Sam didn't know the answer, in fact, the existence of flux orbs was something new to them. The only clue they had is that the flux orb they got from the skinwalker was different from the ones dropped by horned rabbits and black dogs.
"Would it be ok if I crush one of the less expensive ones? I'd like to test something." Uriel insisted. "I guess you could... but I don't really see the point. Oh! and it will totally come out from your share!" Sam shrugged.
Driven by curiosity and his instinct, Uriel grabbed one of the lesser flux orbs into his hands and crushed it.
Stat points: 1
Strength: 4+1
Speed: 2+1
Flux: 1
'Now this is interesting.' Uriel pondered if it was really possible to become stronger just by crushing flux orbs. 'Could this be the true reason why this flux orbs are so valuable or is this something related specifically to my trait?'
Someone else would have been tempted to quickly allocate his free stat point, but Uriel wasn't that kind of person. Before making a decision he needed to think about the most efficient way. While it was true that he lacked the strength his companions had, speed couldn't be disregarded easily.
'I don't know how many strength points I had before becoming an evolved, but ever since I acquired my trait I can perform a lot of tasks more easily. I can also lift more weight, but it's nowhere near Atomic who could bash through a concrete wall. Even if I gain a point in strength, nothing says I'll be able to do the same, but speed is different, since I have so few points in speed it means that a single point can make a huge difference.' He was just about to tap on the speed stat, only to find out that he didn't need to do anything.
Once he made up his mind the stat point was immediately allocated into speed. He really didn't feel any different, his body was the same and there was no apparent change, no strange glimmer, nothing.
'Maybe I should have spent it on flux just to see what happened.' he sighed, but then he realized that feeling different and being different weren't the same thing. 'When people workout they become stronger and faster, but it's not like they notice the difference. The only way to know if someone becomes stronger is to perform a test, like lifting more weight. The same way, they can only know if they became faster by measuring the time it takes them to run the distance over and over.'
Comforted by his thoughts, he decided to believe that he was indeed capable of becoming stronger just by crushing flux orbs. To say he was excited would have been an understatement, he really wanted to get as many flux orbs as he could as fast as he could.
Uriel wasn't a power hungry person by nature, but being on the bottom of society for so long allowed him to see the value in having power. But strength and speed weren't the only ways of having power, at least not in this dog eat dog world, he also needed money. He could have asked their group for more orbs and, perhaps, he would have become stronger immediately, but then he wouldn't get any money after the incursion.
'I can't pay the bills with strength.' He shrugged, giving up on his temptation to ask for more flux orb. Now that he truly had nothing else to keep him entertained, he finally decided to rest for a short while.
"Hey guys, is it ok if I take a little nap?" He asked asked to no one in particular.
"What, you're tired already?" Sam replied.
"Uh, right, I forgot you're just an evolved." Sam sighed.
'Just an evolved? what does he mean with just an evolved? I fought against the skinwalker while he was too busy shitting his pants.' Uriel bit his tongue to prevent himself from saying it out loud, not wanting to embarrass his friend. He was really grateful to Sam because he wasn't used to receiving any gifts, let alone something so valuable as a smartphone.
Now finally he didn't have to carry around that crappy flip phone he had convinced himself was 'vintage', when the harsh reality was that it didn't have even the most basic features. Not having a proper cellphone had always been a hindrance for Uriel, he wasn't able to use any apps, the screen wasn't touch and it had the most annoying ringtone.
Tired and sleepy as he was, Uriel fell asleep to the coarse but rhythmic sound of Medusa's breathing, hoping that when he woke up Miss Dragonfang would be back and everything would be alright. But both his hopes and nap were short lived.