Chapter 179 - Stranger

As soon as Afton stepped away from the King he was greeted by a familiar message.

[WELCOME TO LEVEL 25]​​

[WELCOME TO LEVEL 26]

Huh, he hadn't thought that he'd done enough to deserve a level up... Shaking his head he just ignores it and starts looking at what to do with his skill points.

Well, obviously he'll be maxing out his Sneak skill, but after that he didn't really have a clue... Maybe maxing out Energy Weapons and then moving onto science would be the best choice? Guns gave him [John Wick Style], so he was curious at what its counterpart might give.

[Sneak skill maxed out! Blur awarded!]

[Blur] : Sneaking causes enemies to lose track of you even while in line-of-sight. Shadows provide a subtle camouflage.

Afton wasn't sure what to make of the skill, but it seemed pretty useful... Even if his enemies had locked down his position he could possibly just sneak away... Man, that'd be a mind fuck if he ever pulled it off.

Moving onto Perks, again, there was only one new one to pick from.

[Nerves of Steel] : 20% faster AP regeneration. It's good, almost OP even. But it doesn't suit his current fighting style. He hadn't made use of VATS in combat for a long time, finding it more comfortable to be in control of his body at all times, instead of handing off his movements for VATS to attack.

Shaking his head, he looks back through the Perks and eventually decides to just up his S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats again. He could put strength to 9, or upgrade another stat... To be honest, he was leaning more on Perception as it was one of the most important stats for him, strength was only really useful in close quarters combat anyway...

He quickly picks [Intense Training] and ups his Perception and time resumes. Ignoring the slight twitch of pain from maxing his Sneak skill and the extra knowledge from his Energy Weapons skill, he continues walking out of the Kings building.

Afton could already feel the effects of upgrading perception, his senses were sharper, more reactive. He felt he could notice details that weren't there before. Hopefully it wouldn't be too distracting as he had a task set for him.

Stepping out, he walked towards Dirt-Bird, it seemed to have attracted some attention from the Kings, but they were smart enough to leave it alone... They'd presumably heard of the 'bike that kills', or whatever other stories the homeless and thieves were telling about it.

First things first though, he wanted to go find Karl and Boone as they'd most likely know how to better navigate the task he'd been given. Unfortunately, they'd probably be looking all over Freeside until the meeting point, so he was on his own until then.

He glances over to one of the Kings and spots Chance looking at him warily... To be honest, it was kinda difficult to tell any individual apart from the group... They are all impersonating Elvis Presley after all. "Yo, Chance?"

"Y-yeah?" he asks, stuttering slightly as he'd not expected to be called upon.

"Got any idea where some NCR guys might be in Freeside? I need to talk to them see," he explains.

Chance quickly composes himself and looks thoughtful, "The King asked you to deal with this then?... Last I checked there was a large group of NCR civilians that'd claimed a building... Course, they don't seem to care that other people were living there..."

"Uh huh... Think they'd be willing to talk to me?" he asks.

[Spies Guise is in effect]

Chance shrugs, "As long as you didn't mention you were working with the Kings, we kinda roughed 'em up for stealing property. Both groups seem to... Dislike each other." he says ambiguously.

After nods after Chance tells him their location, giving thanks before kicking up the bike stand and accelerating Dirt-Bird towards the civilian's position.

The building itself was in one of the less populated locations in Freeside, trash littered the road, rubble hadn't even been touched aside from the occasional scavenger, and ruined vehicles are strewn about the place. Clearly no one seemed to care about this area at all.

Though, the closer he got to his destination the more people seemed to be around, all of which seemed somewhat cleaner than the usual Freeside denizens. Stopping his bike he waves at one of them and flicks at cap at them, "Yo, I'm looking for whoever in-charge of the NCR civilians in Freeside." he asks, he could try to be stealthy in the way he goes about this, but it was generally just easier to go head-on.

The man who'd caught the cap just scoffs at him and dips into one of the nearby abandoned buildings without handing back the cap. Afton was tempting to walk in there and wring out the money from the man, but it was only a single cap and not really worth the effort.

Shaking his head, he continues onwards, eventually reaching a large building that didn't look to be all that damaged from the Great war. It had around six floors, and all the glass windows had been shattered... Other than that it seemed a fairly good place to set up shop.

Out at the front doors there was a large congregation of people just sitting around, most were playing card games or day-drinking, but a few were looking around as if they were keeping watch... The low thrumb of his bike's engine caught their attention eventually as he pulled up. "Yo."

His greeting seemed to surprise a few, though most were more interesting in Dirt-Bird than they were Afton. His weaponry being the only other thing they took notice of.

"Stranger." a man with a prominent scar on his cheek states, not giving any indication on how feelings towards Afton.

...

"So... I was looking for-"

"I know what you're here for, we don't want you here stranger." he cuts Afton off and states.