Broken

Chapter 33

The next week almost seemed to fly by in a flurry of paperwork, testing, and explaining. Once the decision was made to join Chaos, Carson wasted absolutely no time making it official. Though I supposed I wasn't surprised seeing as, in the future, I could be a real asset to any guild. So long as I managed to get the right skills, no matter how lacking my current skill set happened to be.

Yejun seemed to settle in almost immediately, and didn't take all that much time to adjust at all. It wasn't all that surprising; so long as he had a place to work that was all that really mattered to him. The first couple days were hard, but that was only because we had to go back to our old apartment to collect the rest of our things. The guild and I had wanted to just leave Yejun back at base while I and the boys cleared it all out, but as my brother explained: If we touched his things willy-nilly, then he couldn't be held responsible for any property damage or loss of limbs.

The packing was slow and arduous, with little for anyone but Yejun to do when it came to his room. We didn't really need much else, other than our clothes and a few sentimental items. Carson had taken the opportunity to inform the still lurking press that I had officially joined the Chaos guild, and that he would 'greatly appreciate' allowing their new members time to adjust.

Not that his pleas did all that much in the way of convincing the vultures hovering outside the apartment complex.

After the moving was taken care of, and Yejun was humming happily in his new lab, I had to then explain- in detail- to the rest of the group what it was that I could do. They took the effects of <Broken> about how I had come to expect, given the example the twins had been. Though, when I described <Honesty> they all looked a little uncomfortable. It almost made me laugh. I guess everyone has embarrassing secrets that they rather not have anyone know.

It was yesterday that I finally used the second empty slot afforded to me by <Broken>'s newest little feature: the <Index>. The skill I'd been given this time was none other than <Sword Aura>. An amazing skill, to be sure (and one I used to great and gruesome affect back during the Selection) - but a skill that wasn't really a pair for my fighting style. I had next to zero sword skills, and my fighting style basically amounted to: punch real hard, will eventually hit... I had minimal experience- and next to no talent- with bladed weaponry, mainly because I could never afford to get a sword that wouldn't completely disintegrate after one raid.

Still, not only was I in need of any sort of combat skill, but <Sword Aura> was a top tier skill, and that meant top tier backlash from <Broken>. Within moments of gaining the skill in Yejun's lab, three things exploded, filling the room with a noxious gas, resulting in us having to evacuate the room for a couple hours. A single, narrow eyed look from Yejun told me he knew who was at fault. It was a long standing rule that I was to be no where near his 'babies' while <Broken> was riding my ass.

So, while clearing a low level instance with the twins- apparently their favorite way of blowing off steam- I saved <Sword Aura>. Doing so would- theoretically- give me a powerful combat skill, as well as nullify the potentially lethal backlash of my crap luck. Of course, Misfortune wasn't gonna just let me keep <Sword Aura>! That would be just plain silly, right?

[ Would you like to save <Sword Aura> to the <Index>? Yes/No ]

As soon as I saved the skill, I set a hand on the nifty tool Yejun had made me the day before. Now that he had nearly unrestricted access to a high end facility and materials, the kids was on a roll. Especially since he would have to go back to school in a couple days and would then be unable to play with them for a time.

It looked like a simple metal bracelet at a glance, but Yejun had managed to enchant it with an ability to examine ones own stats. He was in the process of making one for everyone, but had given it to me first. I would like to think it was because I was his beloved favorite sister, but it was most likely due to my ever-changing skill set making my need to examine myself more urgent than the others.