4 Upgrade

Alan barely restrained himself from spending all the points at once. He took a deep breath and headed towards the exit.

He squeezed through a crowd of people and finally left the safe zone.

Exactly 25 minutes later he sat on his bed in the homeless shelter pondering of how to utilize points efficiently.

'Yeah, that makes sense.' Suddenly his thoughtful expression changed into resolute.

The most adequate choice was to utilize stat points first. To be more precise – to increase his intelligence. Only then will he think of shop points.

[Processing...]

[Your intelligence will rise by 1 point within 8 hours]

After a few seconds Alan realized that something was wrong.

"Erm ... Pot, why can't I add more than one point to intelligence?"

[Cause you should wait till cool down ends.]

"Cool down? Sigh ... how much time left?"

[32 days, 3 hours, 12 minutes and 43 seconds]

Alan was disappointed to say the least.

But he couldn't complain. The opportunity to increase such stat as INT without effort is miraculous itself! So he regained his joyfulness and added one point in Charm.

[Your Charm will rise by 1 point within 8 hours]

It wasn't a very smart decision, but Alan decided to develop evenly. In fact, this was the first thing he wanted to spend points on. And he came up with this lame excuse.

[Charm| Cool down time: 32 days ... 52 seconds]

After that Alan plunged into deep thought. He can now acquire the same physical capabilities as Captain America. But first he has to do some calculations.

He rummaged the shop for something useful. First thing he needs at the moment is money. And the easiest way to obtain some is to sell accessories from the shop. He estimated how much a kilogram(2.2 pounds) of gold necklaces, rings, etc. would cost.

It was approximately 600 points. So, roughly speaking, 600 shop points equals 40,000$. That's without discount.

Alan decided to save 2,000 points for living expenses. Next movie after Avengers was Iron man 3. But it was reasonable not to be involved in this event.

He felt that those people who had the ability to regenerate and heat their bodies were even more dangerous than Chitauri. It was hard to describe it, but Alan would rather confront Thanos than them.

So he decided to skip it and go straight to the 'Thor: The Dark World'. 2,000 points are more than enough to live till then.

Next up was his tagging ability. Unfortunately it had limitations. Alan could track down Cap only if the latter was half a mile or closer. That's why he needed to purchase another power.

It's called Psychic Radar. And it can amplify the range of his power by 30 miles. Alan hold over another 1,400 points. Actually it was really cheap.

And last but not the least is Illusuon Casting(500 points). It will help to get documents.

Cap's power, living expenses, Psychic Radar and Illusion Casting. In sum 7,300 points. 6,570 with discount.

It means that Alan has 1,722 extra shop points.

'Phew...'

[You acquired new power |Psychic Radar|]

[You acquired new power |Illusion Casting|]

[You acquired new power |Super Soldier|]

[Your body will gradually change within 7 hours]

[*Advice* In order not to turn into a mutated monstrous creature you should purchase |Body manipulation|. It will allow you to stop external muscle growth and mutations. It also can set a limit of your powers so you won't accidentally harm anyone.]

[Price: 12,000 points]

Alan stretched out on the bed, covering himself with a blanket. '12,000 points ... Body Manipulation ...' After some deliberation, he decided that this power is necessary. So Alan will try to save points for it in the future.

Yawn...

'I'll test abilities tomorrow' It was only 6 p.m. but Alan felt very sleepy.

Soon after, he fell asleep.

****

Twelve hours later, Alan woke up and headed to the restroom. He slowly washed his face without looking in the mirror. Then he dried off with a towel, took a breath and looked up.

In the reflection, he saw a muscular, good-looking guy. Changes were quite astounding. His cracked skin became smoother and looked more healthy.

The curls of his brown hair became thicker and seemed more docile than before. His lifeless blue eyes were replaced by two bright sapphires.

Now Alan was taller and looked older. He thoroughly examined himself and then smiled.

'Easy life' He thought.

His current appearance was easily above average. He couldn't imagine how he would look with 10 charm points.

Alan went to the kitchen and had a quick snack. Then he took one bag and turned toward the stairs to the second floor.

'Time to go' It was indeed time to find a better place to live.

He carefully passed by the beds. Alan had no keys so he slowly walked out of the window of the second floor.

He jumped down and headed towards the nearest jewelry store that he had noticed beforehand. While walking, he checked his stats.

[Alan Rowan

Powers: |Tag|, |Super Soldier|(NEW), |Psychic Radar|(NEW), |Illusion Casting|(NEW)

Age: 16

STR: 6.4

AGL: 6.38

END: 6.7

INT: 2.4

Charm: 1.6]

[*Note* Average adults indicator: 1]

Now Alan was 6 times stronger, faster and tougher than a normal person. He felt like his body was filled with energy.

As for intelligence, Alan couldn't tell if something about the way he thinks changed. He felt refreshed and his mind was clear, that's all.

Some time later Alan arrived to the jewelry store. He hid in the corner and purchased different golden accessories, which then appeared out of thin air, and put them in the bag. Only then did he enter jewelry store.

Inside, everything looked gorgeous. Marble floors, silver walls, a huge chandelier in the center of the hall and long glass showcases with different jewelery inside.

Alan, with his shabby shirt and black pants, didn't fit into the interior. Nevertheless, he confidently approached one of the employees of the store.

It was tall man in a suit. He had a sharp, long nose, pale skin, and a penetrating gaze. He looked more like an owner of this place rather than just an employee.

"How can I help you, sir?" He asked politely.

"I would like to sell some jewelery."

"Let me take a look."

"Sure" Alan pulled 5 gold necklaces out of the bag and put them in front of a man.

Then the store employee took out a magnifying glass and began to examine the necklaces. After a while, he nodded in satisfaction and said:

"24 carat gold, excellent. Let's measure the weight." He took out small scales and put necklaces on them.

"1.76 pounds(0.8 kg). It will be 32,673$. Is that fine with you?"

"Yes." Alan responded briefly. After that, store employee handed him 32,673$ and said goodbye.

Alan exited the jewelry store and took a deep breath. It was time to spend some money.