A/N: Couldn't write more chapters last week because of an ongoing, stressful family situation. I'll see if I can write at least 4 chapters this week to balance it out, but I won't make any promises.
A few of my original chaos gacha additions made it this chapter, so don't be surprised if you don't find them in the website index/entries.
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What to buy? Leon asked himself for the umpteenth time as he looked at his Gacha Points while seated on the foot of his bed.
Sleep could come later. This required his immediate attention.
His vast arsenal of three dozen rewards still wasn't enough. The Walking Dread, even when juiced up, wasn't anywhere close to the level of a Viltrumite and he struggled to put him down through conventional methods.
He either needed way more oomph or a way to bypass someone's invulnerability. A lot of extra speed would be nice, too. There was no point in getting either of the former if he couldn't even tag a Viltrumite.
Or maybe he could? Mark kept getting tagged by the same enemies even after the "training arc" he went through.
7.2k was plenty and buying a Diamond Ticket with it was a done deal. A diamond would at the very least get him a Rare or Elite. It was the leftover 2.2k that had him stuck in contemplation.
Quality or Quantity?
Higher quality tickets ensured a better minimum reward tier. But if he went with quantity, he could get lucky and get more high-tier rewards.
Despite thinking about it for another twenty minutes, he still couldn't come to a decision.
He scratched his head in frustration. "Damn it... Fine! I'll leave it up to a coin toss."
Heads for quality. Tails for quantity. Fifty-fifty odds.
Leon performed a grabbing hand gesture at his wallet, pulling a coin into his hand. He kissed the coin and took a deep breath before he flicked it in the air. Eyes closed, Leon caught the coin in his hand and slapped it onto the back of his hand.
It was… tails.
"Quantity it is, then."
[1 Diamond Ticket, 3 Platinum Tickets, 5 Gold Tickets, 10 Silver Tickets, and 8 Bronze Tickets requested. Confirm purchase?]
"Confirm."
[Purchase confirmed. You have received1 Diamond Ticket, 3 Platinum Tickets, 5 Gold Tickets, 10 Silver Tickets, and 8 Bronze Tickets.]
[Remaining Gacha Points: 2]
Watching several thousand points go down hurt. It hurt more than that time he was so broke, he couldn't pay for a cup of noodles.
He went with the Bronze Tickets first. I'll leave the best for last. Maybe this time, I'll get some good ones.
[Induce Baldness]
|Trash Ability|
"A power so cruel" Allows you to induce baldness within a target by making contact with them, whether that is making them lose hair over the course of a long time or instantly making all of their hair fall out. Beware, using this may cause you to become the mortal enemy of the recipient.
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[Great Ass]
|Common Trait|
You have a great ass with incredible cushioning abilities. You can sit upon practically any surface without discomfort. It also looks and feels very good.
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[Measure King]
|Common Ability|
Measure once, cut twice. Allows you to know the exact dimensions and measurements of anything you come across just by taking a look at them.
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[Gordon's Crowbar]
|Common Item|
Half Life - A crowbar that once belonged to the legendary Gordon Freeman. It has spilt innumerable alien blood, making it deal conceptually more damage to all inhuman enemies.
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[Natural Scent]
|Uncommon Trait|
Upgrade of Perfumer - You smell really good to the point that it could even arouse those physically attracted to you. Even your sweat smells pleasant. Your natural body odor is like perfume that most people like. You never have to worry about smelling bad ever again.
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[Thirty Dollars]
|Trash Item|
Thirty dollars in cash.
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[One Day Blinding Stew]
|Trash Item|
A good and reasonable punishment for those who misbehave. This is an unusually hot and spicy but still nutritious stew that renders whoever drinks it blind for 24 hours. Restock Timer: 12 Hours
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[Project Image]
|Common Ability|
Allows you to conjure 2d planes that show images or play a video that you can remember or imagine accurately. The 2d planes created are stationary and are as durable as 1cm of untempered glass.
Nevermind.
Everything aside from Project Image, One Day Blinding Stew, and maybe Gordon's Crowbar was absolutely useless. He thought the Bronze Tickets could give him an ability he could use to test the fusion function of The World, but what the fuck was all this?
Leon was beginning to think the gacha really was trying to turn him into a bard class character. He already had Charming Smile and Perfect Skin. Now he also had Natural Scent on top of Great Ass? What was it going to give him next? Perfect Ass Hair?
If the batch of silvers turned out to be major disappointments as well, he would never go for quantity ever again.
[Shock Absorption]
|Rare Ability|
Your body absorbs kinetic energy like a sponge, reducing the effectiveness of physical attacks against you.
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[Silver Bag of Holding]
|Uncommon Item|
A proper bag of holding woven out of silver. The inside of the bag is larger than it seems on the outside, containing 25 cubic meters of space inside. Whoever plunges their hand inside instinctively knows all its contents and how to pull out what they want.
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[Weather]
|Trash Ability|
You are able to accurately tell the weather of a given area for the span of a week.
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[Sexual Calibration]
|Uncommon Trait|
All of the minor inconveniences sex once had are now gone. Forget about STDs, hygiene precautions, or unwanted pregnancies because you can adjust how all of those interact with you. In addition, you are very talented in the tantric arts.
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[Guardian Shield]
|Uncommon Item|
God of War - An extremely durable bracelet that can unfold into a supernaturally durable shield faster than the blink of an eye. It can also serve the duty of a bludgeon if need be.
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[Cuddle Emperor]
|Rare Trait|
Your existence is one that "Cuddles Greatly." Your hugs and snuggles are incredible, being able to comfort even broken souls. Being cuddled by you feels like being wrapped by the softest, warmest blanket. And they are even therapeutic, helping stabilise the mental state and comfort of whoever you are holding.
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[Receptive Body]
|Uncommon Trait|
Your body is incredibly receptive and open to change without getting damaged and curbing negative side effects. Healing is more effective on you, and you are less likely to suffer from negative effects from changes caused by a super soldier serum or abilities that create physical instability.
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[White Mage]
|Rare Trait|
Nobody fucks with the white mage. All of your recovery-based abilities are more potent and cost less energy to use, and people are more grateful for you healing them because they better be.
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[Hlanith Wine]
|Rare Item|
Blacksouls - A wine favored by the ones beyond the stars. Its taste is indescribable. While making the drinker tipsy, drinking it also grants heightened mental clarity and insight. Restock Timer: 24 Hours
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[Iron Fist]
|Uncommon Trait|
Your fists are like iron, enhancing the power behind your unarmed strikes and fist-type abilities.
Not bad.
Leon chose to ignore a few specific rewards and focus on the ones with actual combat capabilities. He didn't know how effective Shock Absorption would be, but anything that made him more of a tank was welcome. White Mage was an excellent trait to have and synergized well with Receptive Body. As for Iron Fist…
Testing it out, he punched his other palm with a decent amount of force. Pain shot through his arm. He shook his hand, nodding in approvement. Definitely stronger.
Now if only it had instead given him the abilities of the Marvel character with the same name. That would make his day.
Each new trait, skill, and ability settled inside him without a hitch. On a whim, he brought out Kratos' Guardian Shield. The defensive armament appeared on his left forearm in its compact form, attached to his skin through some kind of magic.
At first glance, the intricately designed shield seemed like an antique you'd spot in a museum, being made out of a material similar to gold in appearance, but with a duller sheen. It was only when he willed it to expand did the shield show its true beauty.
Accompanied by a burst of mechanical clicks and a clang, the shield expanded into its full form. Leon had no idea how it was able to function as it did, but the incredible craftsmanship it showed was undeniable.
Leon returned the shield into his storage subspace and continued on with the tickets.
Golds, don't let me down.
[Movement Ring]
|Rare Item|
Very useful when you really need some mobility. This ring has 3 total charges and recovers a charge every hour. You can use a charge for three things: a 10-meter range blink, 10 seconds of flight, or 10 seconds of Haste.
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[Expert Driving]
|Elite Skill|
You are an expert driver for all kinds of vehicles ranging from scooters to spaceships. You can probably outrace a motorcycle while riding a tricycle. If it has controls to steer it, you can make that baby purr for you in a way others can only hope to imitate.
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[Lightning Cloak]
|Rare Ability|
Allows you to cloak your body in lightning, increasing your speed, power and reflexes while also imbuing electricity into your attacks.
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[Hypnos' Blessing]
|Rare Trait|
You are blessed by Hynos, the God of Sleep. Whenever you sleep, your health and energy recovery speeds drastically increase. In addition, you are able to fall asleep anywhere and still experience an uninterrupted restful sleep. Blessing needs at least 10 minutes of constant sleeping to start.
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[Metal Kaiser]
|Elite Ability|
Worm - Allows you to create metal from any non-organic surface such as giant blades, walls, and pillars. The more energy you expend, the more metal is created.
Now this was what he wanted! Wait…
Leon's eyes narrowed in thought as his rewards settled. Lightning Cloak. Wasn't that the Raikage's signature jutsu? The reward didn't specifically assign 'Naruto' to it, though, so it must be a different ability with the same name.
Either way, it didn't change the fact that it was a great ability to fuse with Reinforcement.
He flipped his hand and the tarot card, 'The World' appeared in his grasp.
["XXI - The World" has been activated. Select two abilities you would like to fuse.]
[Reinforcement and Lightning Cloak selected. Warning: the two abilities selected will be permanently lost. Confirm fusion?]
Leon hesitated. Would the resulting ability still be able to do what Reinforcement does?
Reinforcement was currently his only way of making his equipment better and more durable. But he also needed more power. As he was now, even taking on a Mark who just got his powers would probably be a tough or impossible fight.
Taking a deep breath, Leon took the plunge.
[Fusion confirmed.]
The tarot card in his hand released a flash of light, forcing him to look away. When it receded, the card had turned gray, as if all color was drained from it.
Hopefully, I'll have another pair of abilities to fuse by the time the cooldown is done.
[Congratulations! You have received Voltaic Reinforcement!]
[Voltaic Reinforcement]
|Elite Ability|
You can infuse your body and any object you touch with energy, greatly enhancing their physical properties. While enhancing your body, you generate a cloak of visible lightning that supercharges your speed and reflexes to a degree that scales with the energy invested. All strikes carry electrical discharge and your body shocks anything that contacts it uninvited. At its advanced stage, you can use Alteration to reshape any object you are enhancing.
It actually kept Reinforcement's effects!
Grinning, Leon shot to his feet and ran towards the indoors gym. Standing in front of the wall mirror, he activated Voltaic Reinforcement. Sparks flickered across his body and his hair rose into spiky bundles as a cloak of electricity enveloped him. Thick, crackling arcs of electricity constantly jumped around his frame.
Killua with Godspeed activated. That was what he was reminded of as he looked at his reflection.
Leon clenched his hands, marvelling at the feeling of power coursing through him. He wanted to test it out, but Lily and Nyx were still asleep. It could wait. At least he now knew how fusing abilities worked.
Can't wait to show this to Lily.
This was on top of getting Metal Kaiser, Blessing of Hypnos, and the Movement Ring. All amazing rewards. The blessing, though a little redundant, was far better than the Hypnos Mask in terms of effects.
Metal Kaiser meant he could produce his own metal and wouldn't have to rely on his surroundings. He'd been planning on contacting Cecil about special equipment for his metalbending based on the ones in Legend of Korra. This saved him the trouble.
The Movement Ring was potentially even more useful. It could act as a lifeline or a way for him to land an unexpected hit. Expert Driving was more on the meh side, but it was better than everything the Bronze Tickets gave him.
The rewards just keep getting better and better.
Leon returned to his room. He plopped down on the bed just as he pulled the next set of tickets.
[Greater Enchanting]
|Epic Ability|
You can permanently enchant items with your abilities and traits, creating lasting magical artifacts that retain their power indefinitely. A sword enchanted with your pyrokinesis can burn as hot as your own flames. If the item is of high quality, it can hold and combine multiple enchantments for synergistic effects. You can grant enchantments that recharge or renew themselves, and imbue items with complex, conditional effects that activate under specific circumstances.
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[Flow Method]
|Elite Ability|
Re:Zero - You are able to use energy to transcend your natural limits, boosting your physical capabilities to superhuman extents. At the start, your body can become tough enough to withstand strikes from blades and shatter them, leap great bounds with ease, and dash over a long distance in seconds. Potency scales with experience and mastery. Advanced mastery allows for the creation of special techniques.
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[Book of Summoning]
|Legendary Item|
Vermeil In Gold – Sealed within this book is Vermeil, an incredibly powerful demon marked by humans as "The greatest disaster in history". Summoning her and turning her into your familiar will require a vast amount of energy. If you succeed in entering a familiar contract with Vermeil and gaining her loyalty, you will have an extremely powerful companion by your side.
As his rewards rooted themselves inside him, Leon nearly gasped in surprise. He didn't know what to think.
Did he just pour all his luck this year down the drain?
He got one of the most versatile abilities he'd seen, the perfect ability to fuse with Voltaic Reinforcement after the cooldown was over, and a Legendary item as the cherry on top.
But Leon was apprehensive of the item's potential danger. He wasn't familiar with 'Vermail In Gold' and the item's description didn't exactly paint a good picture. Then again, he was always in need of powerful familiars. Lily may be strong, but he was nowhere near being strong enough to take on Viltrumites. The only question was if his current self could handle summoning such a powerful demon.
The answer's a clear no. Better save that for later. If I summon the demon and she turns out to be too powerful for me to subdue, I won't be the only one in danger.
It was time to pull the Diamond Ticket, the most expensive ticket and the one with the highest risk. Leon took a deep breath and hoped he would at least get an Epic.
A burst of resplendent pink blinded him.
[Ancestry]
|Mythical Trait|
You have some... unique ancestry. Your parentage and lineage have changed from mundane or regular to you being the secret child of extraordinary figures. Which figures? Who knows? Maybe they are legendary magicians. Once you unlock your lineage, this trait gets replaced with it.
Leon's jaw hung loose.
A Mythical. His very first one. What the fuck was going on with his luck today?
He tried to sense any changes in his body but found none.
"I have to unlock it?" Leon massaged his jaw. "How?"
No matter how much he thought about it, he had no idea. Regardless, he couldn't help but smile. This was better than anything he expected. He only hoped that when it did unlock, it would give him enough power to take on Viltrumites.
After reviewing all the rewards he'd received this time, Leon felt reassured.
Just need another month or two of preparation. I think I'll be able to at least fight Mark on even ground after I fuse Voltaic Reinforcement with Flow Method and use the Heavenly Tribulation ticket.
According to Cecil there were still no signs of Mark or Aria getting their powers. The Mauler Twins have been quiet for the past few months as well. And although not everything he'd been through for the past few weeks ended in the best way possible, nothing catastrophic or world-ending happened either.
All things considered, Leon felt far more optimistic than the Leon from three weeks ago. No news was good news as far as he was concerned. At this rate, he might even grow strong enough to take on Omni-Man before canon events started occurring.
He should have known the universe wouldn't be generous enough to grant him that small mercy.
OOO
Less than a week later, Leon answered the communicator in the middle of preparing breakfast, thinking it was just another status update from Cecil. The GDA Director had been working non-stop.
Cecil had told him they already acquired the Deep Dweller sound sample and were working on weaponizing it. The deranged bastard, DA Sinclair, was also being worked like a dog. ReAnimen were already being used by the GDA in select operations with great success.
Then there was Leon's rebranding. Cecil had questioned why Leon wanted to change aliases now of all times, and he simply told the old man that Wild Card just fit better. Cecil accepted it easily enough.
With a wave of his hand, the communicator hovered next to his ear. His other hand continued stirring a fragrant pot of stew.
"Yo, bossman."
Leon expected an exasperated sigh on the other side, like always, but it didn't come. Cecil's voice was clipped. Urgent.
"Turn your TV on and look at the news. Now."
A sense of foreboding began pooling in Leon's stomach. No. No fucking way.
The remote flew to his hand. What he saw on the screen made his heart drop.
"As you can see, the scene is absolute chaos as the Mauler Twins face off against the Guardians of the Globe at the White House. Sources say they arrived…"
Fuck…!
Heart pounding in his chest, Leon swallowed his unease. "Mark and Aria?"
"Neither are showing signs of developing powers just yet." Cecil sighed. "But if what you told me before is right, today's the day, isn't it?"
Leon covered his mouth with a trembling hand as he continued to gaze at the TV. "Yeah."
The first domino had fallen.