A Black Market LitRPG

There was still one more combination left to do - a defensive one. Kyle laid out all the combinations related to defense – Pain Nullification, Harden, Heal and Point Defense.

Point Defense was not really related to the other two, but Kyle wanted to see if there was a way to utilize the concept into his new combination engraving. However, as Kyle continued to dive deeper into deconstructing the point defense engraving, he soon came to realise that the point defence engraving itself was a combination as well.

Point defense automatically fires at anything flying in at fast speed, tailored by the engraving itself. But how does it measure the speed of an incoming pellet? Kyle did not know enough to figure out, noting that Point Defense could hardly be integrated into the other two engravings.

However, the concept could be used. Kyle also recalled Nox’s armour who could absorb kinetic energy into arcia energy before releasing it in a burst, though he did not have the time to fully comprehend it. The armour only absorbed at a specific point rather than everything around, otherwise the armour would have absorbed even gusts of wind coming in.

Kyle played around a bit with the Point Defense engraving, trying to eke out a basic version of the module that allows the point defense systems to track incoming pellets. Soon, a crude copy of the extracted module was written onto a piece of paper, before being etched onto another prototype plate.

While the engraving itself was obviously lackluster, Kyle could already see the potential applications. He repeated the same process as he did for the other combinations, eventually coming up with a new engraving, though it took him even longer this time.

The consumption of the engraving was monstrous, but Kyle was not flustered at all, knowing the Advanced Arcia Crystal would be able to handle all of this consumption and even more.

With this combination completed, Kyle now had the trinity of engravings – movement, impact and defense, all of them uniquely created by himself. However, he still knew that there were deficiencies in the engraving, such as their consumption cost as well cooldown for the movement. If it were not for the crystal, this master engravings could be considered close to useless for the purpose of building his exosuit.

Kyle began his Version 1 exosuit in earnest, utilizing everything he had learned over the past months to make the best arctech armour suit he could. He even took inspiration from the rusted exosuits left in the Oracle Chamber, extracting any form of Sturore that he could find within.

With the new engravings, he did not have to layer as much, save for the point defense engravings that he failed to improve. Movement engravings were placed at every joint to allow for complete axial freedom, while impact engravings were placed on the fist, feet, knees and elbows, allowing Kyle to strike with his bare hands as needed.

The new exosuit was even sleeker than before, discarding the crude steel that he previously had to work with in Desham. With better quality metal mixed with the remanent exosuit’s Sturore along with extracting it from Version 0, Version 1’s exosuit was far lighter and manuverable, while boasting the same amount of defence as long as the Advanced Arcia Crystal was functional.

Kyle of course did not rely solely on the Arcia Crystals, placing an additional four smaller slots for basic arcia crystals in the event of failure, providing a small and brief auxiliary backup energy system. Furthermore, Kyle himself had some MP as well, though he would not be able to sustain the enormous consumption rates for long.

The exosuit took the better part of two days, with consistent reports from his subordinates pouring in. The intensity of the skirmishes in Raktor was picking up again once more, as the Cretins and Demons regrouped after the battle of Culdao Peak.

Kyle knew a devastating strike was imminent, as he would expect Sebastian to capitalize on the loss of the tunnel network to take out the Seven Snakes and Baron Cain once and for all, capturing the whole of the South Sector. He did not know when this strike would be, but he would not sit by idly and let it happen. Orisa’s clone in Raktor would immediately let us know of any attack, and I can reach in a moment’s notice.

Until then, Kyle did everything in his power to further polish his exosuit to the best of his ability, even bringing Reese and Gordon in to boost its efficiency further. While Kyle had a better grasp on advanced Galactic Era technology, the two of them still retain clear talent for arctech engineering, spotting out problems and issues that Kyle had missed in the production phase.

Kyle let the two of them perform the finishing touches to the exosuit, while he focused on making his new weapon that he believed could be the strongest. The key was to be unstoppable, and while his Version 1 exosuit afforded him that speed and defence, he needed something that could annihilate even the strongest armoured enemies in a single blow both from afar and up close. I’ll leave the massacring for the machine guns.

Before he could implement his idea, Kyle headed back down into the mining tunnels to check on the result of the detector. There were now thousands of crystals dug up, apparently forming enmasse deep under the mountains, though all of them were of basic quality, with not even an intermediate one in sight.

While the lack of higher quality crystals meant that they were limited in hovercraft and armour capabilities, the abundance of arcia crystals gave Kyle the confidence needed to implement his idea, working quickly. A few prototype for weapons were juggled about, but Kyle needed something that could excel in both melee and ranged combat.

The result was surprisingly mediocre – five heavy spears embedded with up to ten basic arcia crystals along its shaft and its head, looking more like a harpoon than a normal spear. However, Kyle was more than satisfied with the result, especially a sixth spear in which his title’s effect had triggered, improving the quality tremendously.

Kyle headed over to the firing range, hefting one of the spears up before arming it, the engravings on the spear activated. The moment he flung it towards one of the trees, the spear accelerated, pushed forwards by the burst skill that triggered, consuming the arcia energy within the shaft.

The head of the spear pierced into the tree, lodging its head in before it blasted open in a furious storm of blue arcia flames, the arcia crystals exploding in a chain reaction.

Reese and Gordon ran out of the factory to see the resulting chaos, as the explosion engulfed the nearby trees in a raging ball of fire. “What the hell?!” Reese exclaimed as a gust of wind buffeted them from afar, the explosion’s sound echoing through the valley.

Kyle decided not to throw another one. As abundant as the arcia crystals were, it still took time and effort to find them as well as charge them. Saving them in storage, Kyle held the upgraded spear in his hand, the one that had received the bonus effect from the title.

It was his first Master quality equipment, and the feeling was impeccable. Kyle had seen plenty of well machined and handcrafted weapons, both traditional and modern during his time as a Crime Lord. He could tell this one was not lacking at all in quality, slightly impressed with his own abilities. Mostly with the help of the System.

However, the cost was astronomical if Kyle hit at full force, nearly taking out half of his own base arcia energy pool if he used it. It also constituted one basic arcia energy crystal entirely, which was the reason why he had embedded slots all along the spear to account for the increased usage. Naturally, Kyle resolved to never through the Spear of Defiance like he did for the Detonation Spears – this spear would be his main weapon for the upcoming war.

Nevertheless, he decided to test it on a tree, slamming it hard while activating the maximum impact force. The tree practically disintegrated from within after two seconds, the wooden splinters blasting outwards in a dazzling array, the fragments cutting Kyle’s skin. He quickly ejected the depleted arcia crystal from the spear, the sizzling surface melting the grass as it clattered to the floor.

Five crystals in the shaft, so I got five shots. Theoretically, thanks to the abundance of arcia crystals, Kyle could strike indefinitely as much as he wanted. However, the Spear of Defiance could not work at range, being a drawback. For the purpose of the war, Kyle needed as many Detonation Spears as possible, ordering Reese and Gordon to begin mass production. At least the Detonation Spears can be used by anyone.

The source of the detonation came from the arcia crystals themselves, so Kyle was effectively using them like bombs.

Three days left. Kyle had spent four days in the Culdao Peaks so far, and everything has been going smoothly thus far. He moved over to inspect the squads of five that Sasha had assembled for the elite strike force, checking them over. As expected, they were mostly Sasha’s direct subordinates, well-trained and experienced in battle. Fifty of them were lined up, all grim and stoic as Kyle walked through their ranks.

“Each of you will be directly reporting to Sasha, who will give you your targets and objectives. The overall goal is to completely cripple the supply line of the Cretins, and eventually all major gangs to achieve complete control. If we cannot capture it, destroy it.” Kyle explained to them. There was no reason to leave abundant resources behind for the enemy to take back again – scorched earth tactics worked for a reason.

“Every squad has a hovercraft allocated to them – we have not produced enough, so rotation is necessary. Timing is of the essence, as everyday we dawdle, the enemy will strike back even harder as they regroup. We must hit them all over the county, force them to spread out their forces before taking back the South Sector in one fell swoop when they are starving.”

“Sasha will now provide you with your first mission objectives. Two squads will be deployed first, one with me and one with Sasha. Get your gear and move out.”

The elite force immediately kicked into action, with five squad members following Kyle from behind towards the hovercraft. His Version 1 exosuit was already waiting for him, cleaned up by Reese and Gordon.

“Time for a test run.”