Factory Reset (a Celestial Forge story)

[Hexilios]

Chapter 1 (Deactivation /Reconstruction /Reactivation)

---

"This sucks," I coughed out loud in pain.

It also didn't help that I was bleeding out in the middle of the road like a bloody sack of meat and bones. My back hurts like you couldn't believe it, and my legs are bent in ways that aren't meant to be bent. Also, I'm pretty sure that I suffered some heavy blow to my head because I can barely even remember how I got into this position in the first place.

I sigh with a bit more pain and effort; all I can remember is that I was going somewhere, something about meeting up with friends, trying to keep the last of my social connections from withering to a slow but steady death. I try to sigh again, but all that comes out of my throat are gurgling noises full of blood.

My mind is beginning to spin, and my breath is getting more laborious. Well, it is official, I am slowly but surely dying. There is nothing that I can do about that. It is happening whether I like it or not. At least when I'm dead, I won't have to go through this awful pain a second time.

I wonder what is waiting for me on the other side. Will it be eternal darkness? like most pessimistic atheists believe, or will there be some kind of afterlife waiting for me? I guess I will get to verify it with my very own eyes soon enough. I can already feel my hold on my life slipping away. Thinking is becoming harder, and harder, lights are flickering in my eyes, and fragments of my memories are being replayed, reviewed, and cataloged. My mind is spinning harder than ever before, and my breathing is becoming shallower and shallower. I can't focus on anything anymore. My thoughts are unraveling before me.

I think…I thi…i…

Everything is repeating itself as if time has lost all its sway over me. I can taste colors on my tongue, and I can hear the sound of images in my ears.

Rainbow prisms everywhere.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to no one in tired resignation. "goodbye," I manage to wheeze out with the last of my breath while looking at the hole in space-time that has opened up above my broken body. A multicolored array of the cosmos shined beyond the portal, and I saw all kinds of arcane symbols, numbers, and equations floating toward me as if in anticipation of my passing. And after that dizzying display of mathematical cosmic madness.

I died.

And the portal closed itself upon my death. leaving only a broken, empty husk behind.

---

( Autonomous Multidimensional Reincarnation Engine status: "ONLINE" )

( verify identification )

[ID]

[S/N 140,907,076,980,320,101,999] [Reality Cluster: 154.156.151.666] [Dimensional Cluster: 14695442a] [Worldline: 2.547825]

( identification confirmed )
( all systems nominal )
( proceed primary function )

( scanning for Candidates )

(... … … … °)

( scanning complete )

( lifeform data package complete )
( local physics package complete )

( Mind Imprint collected )
( Soul Engram collected )

( Soul damage detected )
( calculating damage )
( soul missing 9.500100% of total complete mass )

( calculating )

( conclusion reached )
( Soul Engram incompatible with Mind Imprint )

[SOLUTION]

( recalibrating Mind Imprint )
( pruning Mind Imprint )
( reinforcing Soul Engram )
( adding Prim̸o̵rd̵ia̶l̴ ̴Sou̶l̴ Shard to Soul Engram ) ( Soul integrity: 100% )

( calculating )

( process complete )
( no further incompatibilities detected )

[PROCEED]

( scanning for multi-dimensional frontiers )
( dimensional cluster detected )
( dimensional cluster inaccessible )
( dimensional lock detected )

( scanning for origins of interference )

( PaReSites/Shards Detected )

( stealth suite activated )
( Parasites inferior encryption broken )

( Shard emulation activated )
( forging local Shard identification )
(local Shard Designation: [ARCANE BLACKSMITH])

( dimensional lock bypassed )
( dimensional breach remains undetected )

( calculating location for [HOST/CANDIDATE] insertion )

( calculations complete )

[QUERY: PERMISSION/INSERTION]

Click to shrink...

Out into the blind eternities, where time has no meaning, a cosmic giant of infinite starlight turns one of its many heads slightly, giving but a minuscule amount of its finite, infinite [Paradoxical] attention.

It replies to the ancient dimensional constructs' query with but a single concept. A concept so dense with Data, that it has the power output of multiple suns going supernova behind it.

╠ GRANTED/P̶R̸O̵C̴E̷E̵D̴ ̵̴̱͇́͘͝ ╣​

---

Infinite numerals, equations, and cosmic colors flash through my mind. I was in a trance-like state for what felt like ages. As of this moment, this is all I knew, all I will ever see, and all I will ever be.

And then with no buildup nor foreshadowing a small "pop!" sound reached my ears as if a balloon suddenly burst open where I stood. I warily and slowly began to open my eyes and was greeted with the sight of a back alley street, covered in all kinds of trash and junk. I just stood there dumbly, blinking my eyes rapidly in incomprehension for a couple of short seconds. And then suddenly, I felt my stomach clench down, and I bent over the waist and puked my guts out. rainbow-colored fluids began to flow all over the paved ground below me, forming a small puddle of the stuff near my feet.

Only after a bit of dry heaving and coughing did I manage to gain my bearings again. I set my back straight and avoided stepping into the rainbow-colored puddle, while I wobbled my way past it to reach the somewhat free clearing near the brick wall. I began to slowly set myself down with my back straight against the wall, not caring for the dirty trash that surrounded me. At the moment, that was it. I just sat there with my eyes closed again, savoring every deep breath of air that I could get within my lungs.

And then, without any forewarning, the mother of all migraines hit my brain with a sledgehammer.

Now normally, a small migraine isn't that much of a problem for me, yes it sucks, and yes, it hurts, but I have grown used to it over the years, so long as I took my medication on time and kept it from getting worse, I could bite my teeth and take a nap and wait it out. This was not one of those migraines. no, it was not even one of the heavier migraines I regularly suffered from. This was a thousand times worse. It felt like I fell face-first on an anti-tank mine, and it exploded on my face. My surroundings felt too bright, as if I was staring directly into the sun with both eyes wide open. Everything was too loud, as if someone shot a heavy caliber gun right next to my ears continuously without stopping.

A decent amount of blood began to flow out of my nose, eyes, and ears. I began to curl up on the ground twitching and spasming, it was like I was having a stroke while possessed and whatever possessed me was also having a stroke at the same time. I don't know how long I had been left twitching on the pavement ground like this.

For a while, all I knew was pain, as if my body was not made to inhabit this plane of existence. Minutes could have passed me by, or it could have been hours, I do not know, but eventually, the pain began to slowly recede away. My brain was no longer in the constant agony that I had just experienced moments ago. Oh, it was still goddam bad alright, I can still feel an echo of the constant throbbing within my mind. but it is manageable now. After a while, things stabilized enough for me to sit up straight with my back lying flat against the brick wall behind me. I can finally begin gathering my thoughts in quiet peace.

[Primordial̴Soul̴Shard Activated]
[Arcane Blacksmith Online]

I flinched back and hit the back of my head against the wall hard.

"Jesus Christ!" I exclaimed loudly, holding the back of my head tightly in pain.

I can now feel a different kind of headache coming up.

My mind is spinning again for a completely different reason. I can feel constellations of all sizes all around me in a more metaphysical sense, I feel a sort of energy charge build up within my soul and then shoot out into the star-filled sky. It is getting closer and closer to its target, but alas, there is not enough fuel to fully reach it. Then, the energy returns to my soul like an outstretched rubber band snapping back in place. All of that happened in but a span of a few nanoseconds. It took me a few moments to relatively calm down, and feel a bulge form at the back of my head

"Ouch," I hissed out slightly when rubbing the afflicted area.

I closed my eyes, took a deep and careful breath, and slowly exhaled.

"Alright, that was unexpected," I muttered to myself.

I don't know what that was, and I dearly hope that feeling wasn't a prelude to something bad happening within my brain. I took another deep breath to make sure I was calm enough to think things rationally through. I opened my eyes again and looked around myself. I was still in a dirty trash-filled alleyway, just with the added puddle of glowing rainbow vomit. I felt some dampness around my neck and looked down at the shirt I was currently wearing. There was an excessive amount of blood around the collar and chest area of the white shirt I was wearing. Blood that is still leaking from my nose, eyes, and ears. I took my shirt off, looked at it, and decided to use it as a towel to wipe my face clean.

I sighed again as my shoulders dropped down slightly. This truly was one of the worst days I had the misfortune of ever experiencing. Now that I am currently not dead or dying or having a soul seizure or something comparable to it. I can finally start to process everything that has recently happened to me and figure out what I am going to do from now on.

Alright, let's lay down the facts that I know for sure happened. One, I am pretty sure that I'm supposed to be super dead right now. Two, after a short eternity of Math Hell, I just popped back into existence as if nothing had happened. I don't seem to have any of my previous injuries carried over from that truck/car? hitting me, no broken spine, no broken legs, no leaking skull, no pain from the crash. And lastly, Three, after I popped back into existence, I began to vomit RGB rainbows all over the place, and after that, I suffered a Soul seizure so severe that my actual real death felt less painful.

But am I one hundred percent sure that I had truly died? I thought back to the moment everything went dark and flinched. I shivered slightly, nope…I most assuredly died there. Now that I am back in the world of the living again I have this weird feeling crawling under my skin like I am not supposed to be here, like the world is telling me to go back.

After I shook off that piece of existential terror that I just felt, I looked at the shirt in my hand and then down at the pants I was currently wearing. At least whatever brought me back had the decency to give me a set of new white clothes, or they were white, now it is covered in blood and grime, I looked at my feet and frowned.

"It gave me clothes but no shoes," I quietly murmured to myself while staring at my wiggling toes.

People won't see a 20-ish-year-old guy in pure white clothes. No, all they will see now is a barefooted hobo covered in blood stains. I hope I won't get arrested the moment I show myself in public. I sigh again loudly this time, I won't get anywhere by just sitting around, and doing nothing but contemplating about how everything sucks at the moment. What I currently need is information about…well, everything. I will probably need to harass a random individual and ask them some questions in person. I can temporarily put aside my social awkwardness and anxiety for the sake of my continued survival…probably.

I put my shirt back on and stood up on both of my feet. I began to walk away while carefully stepping around the rainbow puddle. After a few well-placed steps, I managed to make it towards the exit of the alley and stepped a foot onto the street proper. Turning my head left and right and seeing nobody around I decided to just walk in a random direction on the sidewalks while looking at the environment around me, trying to see if I recognized anything.

The industrial buildings looked abandoned and dilapidated. Most of the glass windows were broken and boarded up. The road was full of cracks and holes, and some of the potholes were just filled up with gravel. Based on the environment around me, I came to a single conclusion.

"This place looks like shit," I stated loudly

You could mistake this place for an abandoned city that's in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, the only reason I am reasonably sure there is still a civilization around, somewhere, is that I can hear some police sirens blaring out into the distance and sometimes they were accompanied by multiple pops of gunfire. I made sure to walk in the opposite direction, where I could hear the gunfight playing out. and then I almost tripped on my own two feet as I almost faceplanted the ground, I began to feel my head throbbing again. energy began to build up within my soul and shot off into the constellation-filled sky again, but unlike last time it had enough fuel saved up to reach a smaller star, and it grabbed it with barely contained enthusiasm.

[connection established]

(downloading data package) (Beniemiya (Fate/Legends Japan Land of the Rising Sun) (installing native physics to local reality cluster) (proceed to install noninvasive [DATA] to [HOST/CANDIDATE])

Information began to flood my mind in several smaller doses. I also began to feel something being adjusted within me on a more metaphysical level. Power began to flood my veins, and then, when no more information was coming in, everything stopped.

(installation complete)

I stood stock still, not moving an inch, as I tried to process what had just happened and parse through the information that had flooded my brain just moments before.

I can cook... I am a great cook now… I am a magical chef…

Let's summarize what this means for me. As of this moment, I have the potential to become the greatest magical chef in the world. Not only can I learn to cook new recipes at peak human skill from any nationality be it Eastern dishes or European, but if there is a recipe for it, I can cook it, and I can even improvise my own dishes and make a feast worthy of the gods. But the most important thing about this power is the ability to empower my food. I am capable of imbuing any consumable I make with my own two hands with some minor supernatural effects. I can make food that increases the healing process by a marginal amount. I can make food that increases my speed or enhances my strength and resilience slightly. It is not the most powerful thing in the world, but this confirms to me what those headaches I keep getting were.

I have superpowers now…

I just stood there for a while, thinking and trying to sift through my mixed emotions upon learning this. I know I got reincarnated; that much was obvious upon arrival. You can't just shake a death off as if nothing happened. Such a thing leaves a mark on you no matter what, be it psychological or spiritual. Mankind was not meant to return by death.

I assume the reason I haven't had a small breakdown yet is probably a combination of too many things happening at once and not having had enough time to process my death properly. But it is not my death that completely unsettles me currently. It's the realization that nothing about this situation was natural.

Before this new power, I could easily shrug off my return from death as some cosmic fluke. But with this power, it is all but confirmed now that this entire situation was intelligently designed. Something brought me back from the dead, that something gave me powers, and that something is connected to my very being and soul, I can slightly feel a certain discomfort within me, as if a piece of my soul doesn't belong there.

When my soul managed to grab that power, it connected itself for but a few small moments to something utterly alien, something out of this world. For but a few nanoseconds, I had its full undivided attention, and it was excited. This will do wonders for my already high levels of paranoia. I am not enthused to have my soul connected to some eldritch unknowable thing. I know enough about H.P. Lovecraft's works to know that never ends well, I let out a long shaky breath, this entire situation is giving me the chills.

"Focus, u can have an existential crisis later," I admonished myself.

What I require right now Is information, without that I can't make any informed decision on what to do next. I kept on walking on the sidewalk while deep in thought and I turned around a corner of the next intersection and paused slightly when my eyes landed on a person. And where better to get that information than from that lean older guy holding a half-empty whiskey bottle in his hands while brooding on the sidewalk?

He didn't seem to notice me as I began to approach him from his left side. With the evening sun shining behind me, my shadow began to slowly stretch over him. I got close enough so that he could hear me speak but far enough away to be out of arms reach just in case he had a knife on him.

Now for the hardest part, getting his attention and starting a conversation. I can already feel my social anxiety increasing. A few short minutes passed while I was building up the courage to start talking. But then the guy suddenly seemed to notice me before I got the chance. He lifted his head and then tried to make eye contact, and I suddenly started looking at his forehead.

A little trick that a counselor taught me was to make sure that I didn't weird people out by talking to them without making eye contact. I personally couldn't see the problem with that, but it is considered impolite not to do so. We stared at each other for a few short awkward moments. My social anxiety was increasing slightly again, so I better pull off the bandaid now and be done with it. Then I could be on my way and prepare for the future.

---

JAMES'S POV


He got fired from his job today, and for what? Just because he likes to take a few peeks at some of his hot colleagues. He made them "uncomfortable," they called him a creep.

It wasn't his fault that they were wearing such revealing outfits. They were displaying themselves for the world to see. And then that bitch who had the gall to report him to his boss. all because he got a bit too hands-on in his appreciation of the female form.

He continued to half-drunkenly grumble to himself while taking the occasional sip from his near-empty bottle of whiskey. It took but a few moments for him to notice the shadow that crossed over him from his left side. curious of its origins he looked up and became paralyzed with uncertainty.

It was a younger man of slightly above-average height. He looked to be somewhere in his early twenties, but that wasn't what was making him so uncomfortable at that moment, it was the unnaturally colored light grey eyes of his. James at first thought they were some kind of contact lenses, but the longer they kept staring at each other, the more details he could pick up on from the young man before him.

The boy's silver hair was a chaotic mess growing every which way but down. His clothes were an almost unnatural shade of white if not for the dark red blotches and black grime covering his shirt and pants. It took him but a couple of moments to recognize that the dark red blotches on his shirt were bloodstains. he took a quick glance at the ground and noticed the boy standing around without any shoes on as well.

He lifted his head and continued making eye contact. Upon getting a closer look, he could make out that the boy's eyes were bloodshot red, as if he hadn't slept in days. When he was done taking in all the minute details, he looked at the boy's face in total. The boy showed a completely neutral expression, as if everything bored him. The boy just kept staring through him with his unnatural-colored eyes that occasionally glazed over. It was as if he was looking inside his soul instead of him.

James was born and raised in Brockton Bay, and like any true Brocktonite, he recognized danger when he saw it. Only three types of people had the same deranged look as the boy currently before him.

A druggie who took too many candies and decided to go on a stabbing spree to get more cash to buy more drugs. A lunatic who decided to go stabbing for the fun of it. No drugs needed.
Or the worst-case scenario, a new cape.

If it were the first two you at least had a chance to fight back and run away. but if it were a cape then all you can do is start praying before those crazies conjure up a laser beam out of thin air and blast you with it. it doesn't even matter if it is a villain or a "hero" Both sides never pull their punches for normals like him.

Nothing good ever comes from capes.

He is going to be extra cautious with this one and assume he is all of the above. He's going to bail the moment he gets the chance.

It was at this moment that the boy started opening his mouth

"Greetings," the young man rasped out without any inflections in his surprisingly deep voice, which also had a slight accent to it that James couldn't place its origin from.

greetings? he took but a moment to process the strange greeting he received.

"Evening" he replied in a polite tone with a slight nod, not wanting to anger the possibly unhinged cape who was currently covered in bloodstains.

"I am glad that I managed to find you this quickly," the boy said without any inflection. his voice now much clearer than before.

James's heart skipped a small beat as he heard the answer, and a cold sweat started slowly building up on his forehead. Why would this guy want to find him? He had never seen this man before in his life.

The younger man before him seemed to be pondering about something. James began to think of how he was going to get out of this situation and chose to stall for time by giving a quick reply.

"I'm sorry, but do I know– "I was wondering–"

Both of them accidentally interrupted each other at the same time.

Everything began to still for James, the young man for the first time since this confrontation started made true eye contact with James, no longer looking straight through him anymore. James wished the younger man kept looking through him instead of at him. Because the guy was giving James this thousand-yard stare with a half-lidded gaze. True sweat started building up on James's forehead, and alarm bells started ringing in his head, even if this man wasn't a cape, nothing about this situation was normal in any way.

James flinched back when the man made a groaning sound and covered his face with the palm of his hand.

"That was a dud," he heard the man quietly whisper to himself in relief and disappointment?

James decided not to respond to that strange little comment. The young man shook his head a bit and looked straight through James again and not at him. He felt slightly relieved about that, that death stare was just unsettling to experience.

Another few awkward seconds passed by with nothing happening until the young man began to speak again.

"I was wondering if you could help me with something, " asked the young man.

James wanted to instantly refuse him, but then took another look at the man's bloodstained shirt and wisely kept that to himself.

"What can I help you with, sir?" replied James, slightly uncertain with the most respectful tone he could muster. He only ever spoke like this to his father when he was a kid to avoid a beating.

The young man tilted his head slightly as if he was confused, did he say something wrong? Was he not respectful enough? capes like their theater, right? maybe he should give him a little bow as a show of compliance and respect? He'd do anything to get out of here alive. The young man seemed to ignore the growing panic that started showing on his face.

"I wanted to ask you some questions and perhaps ask for some directions, too," the man before him said.

"I hope it's not too much of an imposition. I will try not to take too much of your time," said the man, who then slowly parted his lips and showed off his teeth with the most unsettling fake smile he had ever seen, a smile that never seemed to reach the man's lifeless grey eyes.

"n-no s-sir, n-no problem, ask me anything you want, and I will answer truthfully!" bellowed James loudly, full of terrified sincerity.

---

I walked away from the scrambling half-drunk man after getting all of my questions answered. I rechecked what I knew of my world and compared it to this one. I am now absolutely certain that I am no longer on my version of Earth.

My world didn't have a superpower boom after the eighties. We didn't have superheroes or villains that are referred to as capes playing games of cops and robbers and We certainly didn't have walking natural disasters in the form of giant monsters called EndBringers. The only reason I even somewhat believed the man was because of my own extraordinary circumstances. still, I will double-check that information once I get a hold of a computer and access to the internet just to be sure.

"Brockton Bay" I mumbled the name out loud to myself. A vague feeling of Deja Vu comes to me from the city's name.

Not only am I in a completely different world but I am also in a completely different time as well. Bye 2024 Belgium and hello 2009 Brockton Bay. I continue walking toward the location of the supposed homeless shelter I was given while pondering the implications of my situation.

---

I think I have found the place I was looking for.

When I pictured a homeless shelter I imagined something completely different than what was before me.
An entire section of the trainyard has been converted to some homeless gathering space. Tents and cardboard structures littered around the rusted train cars from the former trainyard of this city.

As I got closer to the place, I noticed that I was gathering quite some attention to myself. People were giving me some strange looks, and when I paid them any attention, they quickly looked away from my gaze. This amount of attention is making me a bit uncomfortable, to be honest.
I probably would have turned around and left if I hadn't noticed the group of men holding pipes and metal scrap as makeshift melee weapons in front of me. A single older man with a wrench in hand stepped forward from the group.

"What business do you have here, stranger?" the older man spoke out loud with a no-nonsense tone in his voice.

I hesitated for a bit. This was not what I imagined of a homeless shelter, if this even was one in the first place.

"apologies if I seem to be intruding, but I was led to believe this place was a homeless shelter of some kind… I wish for a place to rest, but I can leave if I'm not welcome here," I quickly answered.

The man in front of me seems to think for a moment before answering.

"This is indeed a shelter, but not one of the charity kind. If u are looking for a place to stay and have some protection, you will either have to pay a tiny fee or contribute to this community in some other way. If not, you can fuck off and get outa here, or else me and my boys will have to convince you to leave," he said out loud, the warning clear if I can't provide something to them in exchange for letting me stay.

At the moment I don't have any money or anything valuable on me to exchange with.

I do not want to stay on the streets at night in this city. From what has been told to me, this city has an extremely violent gang problem that often likes to beat up those who are loitering around for no good reason, and that's without counting on the supervillains of those gangs showing up to beat the living crap out of you if not outright kill you with their powers.

I almost gave up and left then and there until I remembered that I did have something to exchange with. The power that I have makes me a magical chef, I bet this group of homeless people hadn't eaten anything but garbage as of late, with my cooking, no matter the ingredients, I can make something tasteful. I'll just have to be extremely subtle with my power to avoid revealing that I have powers.

"do you have a communal space to cook? I was formerly a student in a cooking course you see, and I am sure that my skills can be put to good use to you here, if I am allowed to stay that is." I lied a bit to give myself some legitimacy about my cooking skills.

The old man seemed to think for a bit before nodding to himself

"I see… alright I will take you to our cooking spot and see if u are bullshittin me about your skills. if it's any good you can stay and find a place to hunker down for the night," he said then took a step closer to me almost within arm's distance.

"But I will break your hands if u are lying, I am allowing you one chance to use our hard-earned ingredients to make something good and no more, Do you understand?"

He gives me a hard look as if giving me a chance to admit I can't cook and leave with my hands unbroken. I double down instead.

"I understand sir, I won't disappoint you, I'm sure I can cook something that will impress everyone," I said with surety.

"We will see," he said before turning around and beckoning me to follow him into the camp, with his group surrounding me. I really hope my powers won't spontaneously stop working while I cook for them…
… I swear if I just jinxed myself, stupid intrusive thoughts tempting fate like that.

---

I stood before a large collection of vegetables and other food ingredients. I have been told these were expired or no longer serviceable scraps from the dumpsters of the local restaurants and markets. Surprisingly much of the stuff in front of me looks edible if you cut out certain bad parts.

I can work with this. I began to smile within myself.

"Well, can you make anything out of this?" said the older man from before to me

"If you can get me a knife and a large cooking pot of water, I might be able to make some good soup out of this," I replied

The older man nodded at my request

"aight, Mike! give 'em your knife, and someone get a barrel full of clean water over here!" he yelled to the group of armed men.

A large man walked over to him and handed him a large bowie knife then the old man gave it to me via the hilt. It is a huge bowie knife, but hey, if it can cut it will have to do. I take it and start preparing the ingredients, I cut all the nasty stuff away from some vegetables and throw away things that are too far gone to be of any use.

I see some people preparing a large fire with some scrap wood, while some of the guys who left returned with a large barrel of surprisingly clean water in it. I'm surprised by how fast and efficiently everyone works, seems that they do this very often if all they need is but a few words from the old man to get to work.

While everyone was busy and distracted, I subtly began infusing the ingredients with a minuscule bit of my power. I instinctively picked out the best ingredients and cut them in ways that would increase the flavor. I grind and smash certain stuff to make some improvised spices. Salt was easy to get when I asked for it since this is a coastal city. By the time I was finished preparing all the meat/vegetables and spices the barrel of water on the large fire began to boil.

Now for the last part, I added all the ingredients in the barrel in an order that I instinctively knew would increase the flavor. Not only that, the power that I infused in all the ingredients would cause a cascade effect and combine, allowing the soup to be empowered with a bit of stamina and a health boost. Nothing too strong it will be just enough to ease certain pains and heal small bruises in a shorter time period, nothing that will be noticed as too unusual.

After waiting for a bit and occasionally stirring the barrel with a large stick I declared it finished. I looked towards the old man while he began to inspect the barrel with a wooden spoon in his hand that he got from somewhere.
I waited with bated breath as he began to slowly cool down the soup on his spoon and tasted it. Satisfaction filled me when he let out a pleased sigh and straightened his back after swallowing it.

"Aight, this boy legit, this is one of the best soups I've tasted in… a long time," he said out loud.

"Everyone gather round, dinner is ready!" yelled the old man.

Different men and women came forward with bowls and cups to scoop up some soup while the group of armed men acted as a sort of security, making sure everyone got a fair share. I noticed the old man walking towards me while nodding his head.

"Aight you earned some goodwill from me so ya can stay and find someplace to sleep, some of the tents here are empty since the last cape beatdown, so we got the space for ya."

I tilted my head at that

"Cape beatdown?" I asked curiously

The old man nodded again

"Yeah sometime a new cape comes beatin' us up and goes too far thinkin' they are fighting some mooks of the gangs, while other times its the fight between the Protectorate and the gangs causing some collateral at the docks and thinkin' none live there, specialty if the big boys begin a fight" he shrugged his shoulders.

"It happens often enough that we got used to missin' a guy or two here, so we always got some empty tents. If ya lucky, there might be some clothes in there that u can use," he said casually as if he didn't imply that people regularly get killed around here.

I just nodded my head, not knowing how I felt about using a dead person's former residence and taking their stuff as my own.

"Follow me I'll take ya to ya new place," he said while walking away, with me following right behind him.

When we were in front of a tent he beckoned me to follow him inside it. the old man turned around and faced me with a serious no-nonsense expression on his face.

"I know what ya are, boy," he said quietly to me, giving me a small freakout.

"I don't know what you are talking about," I quickly deflected, trying to plead for ignorance.

"Don't care if ya are tryin' to hide ya are a cape, I just want to tell ya something important," the old man said.

I remain silent in shock at how this old man somehow figured out that I have powers.

The old man somehow saw my shock and gave me a quick explanation.

"I saw ya cooking boy and no way in hell that soup could taste that good with what was used for it, not only that but my back pain has been slowly receding since I tasted ya soup, the others might not notice it, but I do. And if that ain't enough proof, ya grey hair and eyes give it away as well."

I stood silent for a moment before I asked a question of my own to him.

"Do you think others have noticed as well then? and what are you going to do with me now?" I asked in a monotone, even voice, trying to calm myself down from the tiny bit of stress that was building up within me. This is a nightmare scenario, if he noticed it others might as well. The old man raised his hands in a disarming gesture

"calm down boy, no need to go throwing hands here, I aint tellin nobody what I figured out"

he said making me calm down slightly but not by much.

"I'm just lettin ya know that it was not exactly hidden info with those who can recognize the signs," he said " aint the first time a new cape comes around here seekin' refuge, I remember the last time that happened around here, that's why I'm trying to warn ya"

"Warn me... of what?" I asked, prompting him to continue

The old man lets out a tired sigh.

"A couple of years back a girl came here seekin' a place for the night just like you, she had no cash so she said she could be useful in other ways, says she was real good at fixin' cars and bikes. we let her do her thing and wouldn't you know it we got a couple of good bikes out of some junk we had lying around" he narrated with a sad expression.

"Sherrel was her name if I remember right, so she stayed a couple of nights making and fixin' more things and rumors started spreadin all around the place. so one night, some goons and a cape came here and beat everyone up until some fella spilled where she was," he spewed out with some heat in his voice.

"Then they found her and stuck a needle in her till she dropped and took her away from here. It wasn't until a couple of months later that she came out with all kinds of needle marks on her arm and working for the bastard that took her away while using her as a fucktoy and personal mechanic"

"Anyway moral of the story is rumors spread fast and they get the attention of the gangs and other capes real quick, especially if they are weak tinkerer capes like you and Sherrel."

"All I'm sayin' is be careful and don't get too comfortable around here, make sure ya are ready to run if the gangs come sniffin' around not only for ya own health but folks from here too. The gangs ain't kind to us if they want to find ya," he said in a warning to me while finishing his story.

All I could do was nod numbly while processing that I probably was going to be in danger sometime soon, no way others hadn't also figured it out as well and started tattling about it to others for some cash. I am a hot commodity around here, I do not want to be a hot commodity, it is bad for my continued survival and independence.

"Anyway that's all I wanted ta say, there are some better clothes in that bag in the corner that might fit ya, tha blood and rainbow stuff on ya ain't subtle I tell ya." said the old man while standing near the exit flap of the tent.

"ahh also... folks call me old Mac around here and that's what ya can call me, welcome to the trainyard see ya around, or not," he said uncaringly, leaving me in stunned silence.

I looked around before going to the duffel bag and changing my clothes luckily there was an old tattered raincoat some pants and shoes and a trapper hat. Hopefully, that will hide my grey hair and allow me to blend in a crowd more easily. When I was finished reclothing myself I began to feel a familiar headache forming in my brain, energy forms and takes hold of something in another constellation.

[connection established]

(downloading data package) (Clockwork Kingdom (Dark Souls 2)(Magitech Crafting) (installing native physics to local reality cluster) (proceed to install noninvasive [DATA] to [HOST/CANDITATE])

I now know how to build anything with gears and complex mechanical analog machinery that can last hundreds of years without any maintenance, so long as everything stays mechanical that is. I begin to grin to myself, this power gives me some more options to protect myself with, but before I jump straight into testing my new power I will take a quick nap here and rest. I am too exhausted after all the world-shattering revelations in one short day. Death, alive, powers, superheroes, villains, giant monsters, new worlds, it is all too much for me for one day.

I close my eyes while lying down on the thin mattress on the ground. I forgot to tell my name to Old Mac when he introduced himself i learned from experience that it is rude not to reciprocate I believe.

My name…

I furrow my brow in confusion. My name is… my name?… … My eyes shoot open in a panic while a cold sweat starts building up on my forehead. I can't remember what my name is nor any of my family members's. My sister, dad, mom. I can't remember anything about them, not even their faces.

"Fuck" I cursed out loud at the horrifying realization as this awful truth come to light.

 

[Hexilios]

RULES / REMINDERS

---

I use a personalized list + a random roller to choose certain perks from Celestial Forge V3. I will follow certain themes and progression for perks to not overwhelm the pacing of the story. if I want to choose a perk I will roll the dice if I will get it.

rules:
100cp for every 1000 words. For every 1000 words there will be a roll, if a roll fails you get no power, and have to wait for the next 1000 words to roll again. points get banked on a failed roll.

( words to points is subject to change depending on story pacing ) ( rolls also are not hard set, sometimes I will skip a 1000-word roll for pacing)

rule: ( Error; System cooldown initiated ):
If you successfully rolled 2 perks in one chapter there will be a 1 chapter cooldown. no points will be earned for the next chapter, no matter how many words are written in it. you roll another perk successfully while the cooldown is still in effect and a 1 chapter cooldown becomes 2 chapters. so get creative with what perks you currently have.

rule: ( Knowledge. Research. Prototype. Maintenance ):
Any new perk received is knowledge added to your mind, but knowledge is only useful with practical experience.
Testing and research are required or your inventions might explode, go rogue, or get out of control, especially when you start mixing different tech trees from different worlds together, the likelihood of failures increases.

More likely than not you will be going out with prototypes in hand, and improving upon later iterations after a proper field test. learn from making mistakes and improve upon them. Also depending on the tech, you need to maintain your stuff be it by yourself, or some drones you made, or by a staff of engineers you hired. your stuff can be worn out by Regular wear and tear. Just like any other real technology ever.

---

( Pocket Dimension/workshop )
workshop only unlocks when you get a workshop perk.

Workshops/items/recourses need a catalyst of resources before they can be given to the MC. ex( server room perk received: needs to collect raw materials/matter in a single location, and then it gets converted/transmuted to the receiving technology/room be it in a warehouse or your pocket dimension. single use).

There will be no key or door, the entrance looks like a circular hole in space-time.
you can close and open the gateway but it will cost you 100 cp every time.
No points can be earned while inside the pocket dimension, no matter how many words are written. You can't close the gate while inside the pocket dimension.

There are more smaller stuff for perk choices/preferences but that's all behind-the-scenes. These are my reminder notes, they are not hard rules. they are more like heavily reinforced guidelines to prevent me from adding more stuff than I can use in the story.

 

[Hexilios]

PERKS

26.1.1-Beniemiya (50CP)(Fate/Legends Japan Land of the Rising Sun)(ArtisanCP): It might just be something in the water, both what you're drinking and what you serve to the guests that adore every meal you make. You're a savant when it comes to making meals, not just limited to Eastern dishes either. With a little experimentation, you can make almost anything into a mouth watering feast for both the taste buds and the eyes. The real problem isn't making a good meal but keeping all these greedy pigs from eating you out of the house and home. Don't even try making hamburgers around any blonde ladies, it never ends well. Now, while cooking good food is a prize well worth it, you also have a more useful aspect here. By channeling magical energy into your tools and ingredients as you work, you're able to 'enchant' the meal with a variety of useful effects. A hearty beef stew that lets a warrior heal their wounds much faster than normal, sugary sweets that give people the speed of the wind, a mighty hamburger that temporarily bulges the muscles to greater heights. Even negative effects are possible if you want to taint your food that way. They only last for a temporary period and the effects tend to be fairly weak without a lot of mana put in but it makes your food all the more popular.

31.13.1-Clockwork Kingdom (400CP)(Dark Souls 2)(Magitech CraftingCP): Yeah working with souls and other special materials is great and all but you don't have that. You've got men, iron and a little bit of the old razzle dazzle. You know what? That's enough to fucking build up an entire kingdom and you can show that off. Near mythological abilities as an engineer. With a basic knowledge of sorcery and excessive skill with clockwork machinations, you could create automatons that can follow simple commands, traps that reset and resupply themselves, and self-maintaining machines. Although the things you make are marvelous in function, the most spectacular aspect of this perk is their sheer endurance. Despite the moving parts and small components, even when exposed to the elements and left unmaintained, unless deliberately broken they seemingly just keep working forever.