Chapter 496 (2/2)

But Ghost still had a bad feeling, which was extremely strange for him. He was not an entity that typically relied on emotional or spiritual cues; he was a machine, and everything that was him was calculations. But this was a calculation without any real basis. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the basis was there, but as of yet Ghost had been unable to make any sense of it.

What was the advantage that Zone 32 possessed so that they were able to become the second Zone that was part of New Earth? Only three days after the arrival of their Zone 1?

*****

Dinesh held the plasma pistol in his hand, considering it as a weapon. Even without the requisite Skill that these others from Zone 1 talked about, he could still feel the channel through the simple machine into which he could thrust his Mana. He looked in askance at the leader, the Gunslinger Hank Howard.

The man nodded shortly, curiosity clear in his bright eyes. “I’d love to see you use it. You're a mage, ain'tcha? That’s pretty rare in our Zone.

Dinesh made note of the twitch in Hank’s companions when he said that so easily. Although Hank didn’t appear to regard it as such, their two Zones were clearly in a competition of sorts. A friendly one, if the Ghosthound had his way, but a competition nonetheless. It wasn’t yet clear what benefits the Fate Stones beyond the first would have, but with how much time the Ghosthound had spent in the past two days inside of the Danger Zone, it seemed significant.

In a way, the others reactions to him made Dinesh pity Hank. The man didn’t understand how deeply he was in the schemes of others. But at the same time, Dinesh had a feeling that things weren’t that simple. When he looked at Hank, he was reminded of Dozer, of all people. There was an implacable brutality to him, although Hank’s was of a more sophisticated variety.

In their eyes was the sure confidence of a man reliant on violence, and experienced in its execution.

Focusing his thoughts to the task at hand, Dinesh carefully channeled Mana into the plasma pistol. After Karlito fed the group, they had met and agreed to carefully exchange technology. For the Zone 32 group, that meant providing equipment to Hank and his peers, as an example. The one who unleashed that strange, poison spell was still unconscious, but the others received various leather armors with Engravings done by the Ghosthound himself.

The Engravings were of a very high quality, but the equipment they were on was just average. Still, the effect was staggering.

“Fucking hell,” Hank swore. Then he glanced apologetically at Nathan before continuing. “You mean… all of your clothes provide stats? Like 10 each?”

That was another redeeming quality in the man’s favor, Dinesh thought. He had a kindness towards children that was rare in the post System world.

“Well, more or less,” Dinesh said. “The examples provided are geared primarily towards stats; most equipment simply provides flat health increases. Still, in an extended fight, they often are extremely useful.”

The short Asian woman with the milky eyes ran her fingers over the boots in her hands, a wistful expression are her face. “May we… may we keep these?”

Dinesh nodded, solemn. “Of course, consider them a gesture of goodwill. Repayment for stealing your kill.”

The group seemed to accept this, all of them cheery at the newly acquired equipment. The singular items seemed strange, compared with the rest of their dress, but they all put them on in one way or another. But although this was a touching scene, it didn’t make sense at all to Dinesh.

‘Surely, their Village Spirit, or the Champion, would have provided equipment to them. Why do they not have it…?’ Dinesh wondered, but there was no real way to ask without revealing how much he was confused by this occurrence. But perhaps that just displayed Dinesh’s own prejudices. It was something worth reflecting on.

To pay him back, they provided him with a basic plasma pistol, which he held now. He raised it, aiming at a large stone sticking out of the ground 50 meters away. They assured him that the weapons had little recoil, and, therefore, more accurate than most handguns.

Not that this information meant anything to Dinesh; he had never fired a gun before.

It was strange at first, his Mana almost cramping from the strange use, but then some barrier broke, and he learned the Mana Infusion Skill. A bright azure bolt sailed across the distance, striking the rock squarely. Very quickly, the projectile burnpumpkin-sizedsized hole in the stone.

Dinesh whistled. All that for only 20 Mana? No wonder they mass produced these. It would make the beginning stages of the System a joke.