บท 200: Bloody Hell!

Afton looks to Dhatri and asks, "Tell me about Driver Nephi." he asks, wanting to see if the NCR knew anything Afton didn't.

"Driver Nephi, not as sick as Cook-Cook but definitely up there. Bastard's killed many of the men I'd sent to deal with him, putting their heads on pikes outside his hideout just to mock me. He seems to take satisfaction from killing those that come for him, thinking of it more as a sport than anything else... I want you to put the fear of God in him, show him that this shit ain't a game."

"Any tips on how to deal with him?" Afton inquires.

Dhatri shakes his head, "I'd say bring a sniper but you already have one," he says gesturing to Boone, "Even then, the bastard never leaves his hideout. You'll probably have to go inside to deal with him."

Afton scratches his face, not bothering to even notice the slowly growing beard. "Hm, well, we'll think of something." he says just as the soldier Dhatri sent off comes back with a few large sacks of caps in hand.

Dhatri hands them to him and Afton nods gratefully, judging how many caps are in each by their weight. Yep, around three thousand. He was about to thank the man when time freezes, he shakes his head at the sensation, it was almost familial at this point...

[WELCOME TO LEVEL 28]

[WELCOME TO LEVEL 29]

He's immediately greeted with the skill selection of the system, he was obviously going to max out his Energy Weapons skill, but what to do afterwards? He wondered to himself if it was finally time to max out Science...

First of all, he points 18 points into Energy Weapons to see what Perk he'd get for it. His brow almost reaches his hairline when he spots a Vault Boy who looks suspiciously like Ewan McGregor, wearing robes and holding what looks like a laser pistol...

[Uncivilized Weapon] : All Energy weapons become overcharged, adding +100% damage to any Energy Weapon you use! Wow... That was definitely unexpected, the Guns Perk [John Wick Style] didn't primarily affect only ballistic weapons, so Afton had been expecting something similar... But now it seemed he'd need to readjust his fighting style to incorporate more Energy Weapons...

With this new Perk he was sure a Gauss Rifle was way more powerful than his Anti-Material rifle could ever be. He remembers the Deathclaw who took a blast straight to the chest and imagines it being reduced to red mist. Yes, he'd definitely make use of this in the future.

Afton's eyes brush over new available Perk, wondering if the system was on its last legs or something... Still, the Perk it showed was incredibly valuable.

[Rad Absorption] : -1 Rad every 20 seconds. This Perk would essentially make Afton all but immune to radiation. He'd not have to worry about everyday things like the rad levels of food, water, and other consumables. The only thing that could possibly harm him would be intense levels of radiation, akin to standing next to a cracked nuclear reactor for a good amount of time.

The only other Perks he was actually considering at this point were [Explorer] and [Intense Training]. Still, both of those could wait, [Rad Absorption] was simply too good to not get right now.

Once he selected confirm, time stopped and Afton found himself looking between Major Dhatri and his companions... Just as the pain hit. The burning sensation moved through his body like a wave, trigger every pain receptor it touched and causing it to blare in his mind. He managed to stifle a scream, but still dropped to a knee. Presumably, people would be curious over what was happening to him, but he was in no state to explain anything.

Knowledge of Energy Weapons and a huge amount of scientific theorems stuffed themselves in his cranium, all while he was trying to figure out what was happening within his body. He could feel something wet dripping from his ears, nose, and mouth, and upon touching the warm liquid he quickly realised it was blood.

Soon enough even his vision started turning red as the cells in his eyes ruptured and started reforming themselves. From his knowledge of the human body, he could tell he was undergoing massive mutations across his entire body, the only thing he could think of that would be causing this would be the [Rad Absorbtion] Perk.

Damn! He'd known that some Perks affected his body, but he'd just selected a Perk that would most likely mutate his body to suit it, all while in the middle of a conversation. He didn't know how it looked from the outside, but if someone dropped to a knee and started bleeding from their entire body he'd run as far away as possible, fearing it to be contagious. What is the NCR saw fit to put him out of his misery and discovered his [Miracle Maker] Perk? He could only imagine the experiments he'd be subjected to.

Soon enough even his muscles gave out as he dropped to the floor. It wasn't long before he felt something picking him up and carrying him away. He hoped it was just to the medical facility within Camp McCarren and not somewhere else... He doubted Boone and Karl would allow them to start experimenting on him, but who knows what could happen in a panic...

It wasn't long before he felt himself be placed on something soft, presumably a bed. Afterwards having many things attached to him, from the pinch he could tell they'd hooked him up to some blood bags... Hopefully they'd checked his blood type beforehand... The only people who actually knew that information was the Brotherhood of Steel, Christine, and Veronica.

He struggled to try and stay awake, but the softness his body was pressing against allowed him slowly relax, the pain had dimmed and everything finally went black.