Chapter 369 - Swept Away...

[WELCOME TO LEVEL 47]

[WELCOME TO LEVEL 48]​​

Afton is awoken from his sleep by notifications suddenly appearing under his eyelids. He was wondering when he'd level up, after all, he'd killed Deathclaws, Supermutants, and an Army of Legionaries. It was about time.

Though, he wondered why he'd levelled up now?... Did Boone kill something during the night? Regardless, it didn't matter he supposed. Now he just needed to distribute points, which was fairly easy since the only two options he had were Barter and Lockpicking.

Barter would be useful for his future plans, but he knew Lockpicking would grant him further knowledge that might help in his scientific endeavours. It'd give him a pretty clear idea about how his devices could be accessed by external sources, he knew that if anyone ever managed to access Glados, everything would be fucked.

So, in the end Afton puts all his points into Lockpicking, raising it from 29 to 59. Next, he turns to Perks, but ends up ignoring most of the new ones. There were quite a few but most were generally just small boosts...

[High Ground] : +30% damage when on a higher position than your enemies... Afton smirks at this despite having just woken up, 'You underestimate my power' he mutters while chuckling to himself. Regardless, this Perk ain't all that great.

[Higher Ground] : +200% damage while at least 100 meters above your target. Despite how it sounds like an extension of the last perk, it was actually a perfect sniper Perk, something he'd choose if he hadn't already decided on one.

[Death's touch] : Your hands deal small amounts of damage when touching a living person (Damage = 0.01 per second). This Perk just feels like a gimmick, he couldn't even be bothered to do the maths to figure out how long it'd actually take to kill someone.

[Mime] : You are unable to speak, but gain +5 to all stats. Yeah, no.

[Mimick] : Enables you to almost perfectly copy the actions of people you have observed for a while. Sounds useful but really isn't when you realise Afton was perfectly capable of mimicking people already... That, and he was already way more advanced than anyone else in most fields.

[Stick your hands up!] People for some reason mistake your fingers as weapons, allowing you to command them as if you were really threatening their life! Again, just a throwaway Perk some chucklehead decided to include. Though, it would allow him to break out of prison fairly easily if he needed to. That, or it'd make him unable to ever surrender...

He'd already been intending to raise his Endurance to the max level to acquire the Perk it'd grant. So, he takes the Endurance upgrade while wondering if level 50 would be the max he could reach, or if there was something else after it...

[Endurance has been maxed out! Perk granted : A Pool of Dead]

[A Pool of Dead] : You possess incredible regenerative properties! Anything lesser than being decapitated is eventually healed!... To be honest, Afton was pretty salty he'd not discovered this Perk when his arm had gotten blown off... Additionally, Afton can't help but scoff at the Vault boy wearing red and black tights wielding two katanas.

Fortunately, unlike most other times where he'd acquired a Perk that changed his physiology, the only effect after confirming everything was a slight twinge under his skin... And all of his teeth falling out before quickly growing back... Yeah, not a fun moment, and would've likely scared someone half to death if they saw it.

Afton tosses the teeth into a pouch and slowly gets to his feet, rolling his shoulder and marvelling at just how tough he currently felt. Drawing his knife, he jabs his regular arm with the tip, not doing anything at the light thrust.

He tries again but with a little more effort, eventually managing to draw a tiny amount of blood, though, the wound seals itself up as if it'd never existed in the first place. Afton smirks, wondering just how broken his [Grit] Perk would be when combined with his regeneration.

A couple days after the group had arrived and assisted Novac a contingent of NCR soldiers approach the town, though, the only reason they weren't immediately shot was because of their uniforms...

Of course, they were not well received by the townsfolk at all, most scoffing at them and refusing to speak. If Afton had to vote on the funniest reaction it'd definitely be Daisy...

(Flashback)

"Ma'am, we appreciate what you're saying but-" a soldier tries to placate the elder woman but is interrupted yet again.

"You 'appreciate' it? My that's a mighty fine way of saying nothin'! You boys left our town and even your own men alone to face an army, and you still have the face to come down here and ask around for our guests!?!" she loudly scolds as the other townsfolk stick their heads out of whenever they are to watch.

Afton himself was sitting a good distance away on a piece of scrap metal he intended to use for his new vehicle.

The soldiers continue to try and explain their actions and blame the Legion, but Daisy isn't so easily convinced, eventually causing her to grab a nearby broom. "You better be on your way! You want to talk? Show some shame for abandoning a settlement under your protection... Why on earth would we start paying those god-damned taxes if you'd just run like sissy-shit pansies! Go on! Get!" she shouts, prodding them with her broom.

The lead soldier allows a couple of pokes but eventually looks as if he's about to lose his temper... However, he's 'convinced' to reconsider his options when the other townsfolk send angry, almost blood-thirsty glares at them.

His retaliatory retort get stuck in his throat as he glances behind him at his soldiers, "We will return and report the situation to our commanders. We thank you all for your time and understanding." he says before leading his men away.