After opening the Ability Enhancement interface, the first thing Anthony did was cash in the free ability draw the mission had rewarded him.
Free is free. No point leaving it on the table — might as well see what the random pull had in store for him.
As he exercised the option, an enormous spinning wheel materialized before him. Anthony stared at it, momentarily dazzled. The thing was covered in abilities — so many that the segments blurred together into an incomprehensible mass, and the individual labels were too small to read. Even the pointer used to indicate the result was thin as a hair.
After squinting at it for a moment, Anthony let out a sigh. He reached out, gave the wheel a casual spin, and decided he couldn't be bothered wishing for anything specific. Whatever it landed on was whatever he'd get.
After all, according to the chat group's description of this feature, every ability produced by the wheel was guaranteed to be useful to him at his current stage — the only variable was by how much.
The wheel launched into a violent spin. After a long while, it gradually slowed to a stop. The pointer settled on a segment so narrow Anthony could barely make it out — and then the chat group panel lit up before him, informing him of what he'd drawn.
[Congratulations — you have obtained the ability: Magic Circuit. Based on your personal characteristics, this has been automatically corrected to: Soul Circuit.]
[Soul Circuit]
[Origin: TYPE-MOON]
[Effect: Upon acquiring this ability, your soul will contain a Soul Circuit, accelerating the flow of Soul Force within you. You will also be able to absorb ambient Soul Force that has dispersed into the surrounding environment and store it within the Soul Circuit.]
Anthony stared at the result for a moment, blinking.
Then, after dutifully reading through the enormous wall of footnote text below the main description, his expression shifted into something between disbelief and mild exasperation.
It wasn't that the ability was weak — if anything, its ceiling was high. Very high. With Soul Circuit, he now had a means to passively regenerate Soul Force on his own. He was well and truly on the path of a mage with an absurdly long blue bar.
The problem was that Anthony currently resided in the Primordial River.
This was a place so desolate that not even birds bothered flying over it — a place where a soul that wandered in would be ground to ash in a matter of seconds. Where, exactly, was he supposed to find dispersed Soul Force to absorb?
Dispersed Soul Force sounded impressive, but the concept was simple enough: it leaked from living beings in trace amounts during everyday activity, and in massive surges at the moment of death. It existed almost everywhere — with the singular exception of this godforsaken Primordial River, where it was absolutely, categorically absent.
His first instinct was to write it off as a dud. But after thinking it over more carefully, Anthony realized the ability actually had a fair bit going for it.
Temporarily useless, sure — but he could build an entire strategy around it.
The Primordial River might have nothing to offer, but his fellow group members' worlds certainly did. Terra alone looked like it was practically overflowing with the stuff. And Night City, with its population cycling through death on a daily basis? Anthony didn't even need to think hard — the Soul Force density there had to be off the charts.
What he was imagining, roughly, was this: use Soul Circuit as the foundation for a kind of "power station." Find a way to engrave the circuit onto some object, drop it into one of the group members' worlds, and let it run idle in the background — passively feeding him Soul Force while he focused on other things. It would save him a not-insignificant amount of Points in the long run.
As for how to actually engrave it — his soul ability tree covered a broad enough range that Anthony was confident he'd figure something out before long.
Setting Soul Circuit aside for the moment, Anthony opened The Angler's ability tree. Without much deliberation, he selected the upgrade for Angler's Throne.
No matter what else was going on, upgrading The Angler's abilities was always his top priority. It was currently one of his primary sources of income, and a great many items could only be obtained by reeling them in — the faster he leveled it up, the faster his overall development accelerated.
Besides, his decision to upgrade it right now carried more than a little desperate last-minute cramming energy.
He couldn't help it. He was about to go fishing for an Arrow.
He'd already looked at the drop rates. They were genuinely, insultingly low. If he didn't buff The Angler first, he had absolutely no confidence in his odds.
[Ability enhanced: Angler's Throne]
[Cost: 5,000 Points]
[Angler's Throne → Angler's Bronze Throne]
[Effect: Significantly reduces your fishing time. While fishing, you have a higher probability of obtaining rare items.]
[Next tier: Angler's Iron Throne. Upgrade cost: 60,000 Points. Upon reaching this tier, a "pity" mechanism will be introduced.]
The instant the enhancement completed, something shifted at the edge of Anthony's vision — and he felt a change beneath him.
He glanced down. A brief silence followed.
...Huh.
His toilet — previously a standard white ceramic — had turned a distinctly metallic shade of bronze.
It really is a Bronze Throne.
After a moment, Anthony accepted this development without further comment. The Angler's Bronze Throne's effect was genuinely excellent — worth the 5,000 Points, no question. He supposed he could live with sitting on copper.
What he was really envious of was the next tier's effect. Unfortunately, sixty thousand Points was a sum completely beyond his reach.
Once again, Anthony felt the full, crushing weight of being broke.
"Five thousand Points left…"
He considered it for a moment, then navigated into the soul ability tree. Without any hesitation, he pressed down on the glowing orb.
[500 Points consumed.]
[Soul Foundation unlocked: Soul Solidification. This Soul Foundation will serve as an auxiliary base.]
Ever since the fight against DIO — when holding down a drain cover for one second had burned through four hundred hours of lifespan — Anthony had reached a clear-eyed conclusion:
For the sake of his wallet, strengthening his soul had to happen immediately.
Getting his stats up was the single most urgent task in front of him.
The unlock triggered a cascade — several more glowing orbs on the soul ability tree lit up as newly available, though noticeably fewer than when he'd previously unlocked Soul Spirituality. That was probably because Soul Spirituality was his primary focus branch.
Anthony gave them a quick scan. The options were roughly what he'd expected — mostly further stat-boosting abilities, somewhat specialized in nature. After a brief deliberation, he decided to hold onto the remaining 4,500 Points for now.
He was enhanced enough for the immediate future. The main work ahead was fishing. The leftover Points could sit in reserve — if the chat group issued any new missions, he could pick up some situationally strong skills on the fly. And if no missions appeared, he'd wait until he'd reeled in the Arrow and see what Stand emerged, then decide on his enhancement direction from there.
With that settled, Anthony closed the enhancement panel — and almost immediately felt the effect of Soul Solidification taking hold. He glanced back at his lifespan counter, and a flicker of genuine surprise crossed his face.
His lifespan had jumped by roughly 15% in an instant.
Lifespan, at its core, was a measure of how much attrition the Primordial River inflicted on him. An increase in lifespan could only mean one thing: the rate of erosion had decreased.
And decreased by a full 15%, effective immediately.
"Now that's a good stat."
After allowing himself that small moment of appreciation, Anthony settled back onto his bronze throne. A fishing rod materialized in his hand.
[Current World Bond switched to: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure World]
[Affinity Bond Level: 6 (5+1)]
He cast the line. The float drifted and bobbed on the iridescent surface of the Primordial River. Anthony fixed his gaze on it, chin tilted slightly upward.
Watch me fish up an Arrow.
Easy as breathing.
____
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