He opened his status screen and studied his Gift Skills one by one. His eyes landed on a skill called Create Abyss Weapon Rank SSS. He immediately started figuring out how to use it. He held out his palm, and a small, purple flame danced on his hand. He clenched his fist, and a purple light filled the room. Vozk, who was asleep, didn't stir at all.
Leon held out his other hand and a second purple flame appeared. He then clenched both fists together. The light grew brighter as the purple flames began to form something within his grasp.
Leon closed his eyes and imagined a combat knife he had seen in a movie. "Pyaaaash!" A moment later, a plume of purple smoke rose from his hands, taking the shape of a long, curved knife, like a katana, with serrations along the inside of its purple blade. Tap. The steaming blade settled into Leon's hand.
"Hmm... so this is what it's like," Leon thought, examining the unique knife. It looked like a small katana with serrated edges and a black hilt with a handguard.
He placed the still-steaming knife on the table and tried to create another one. Before long, he successfully created a second identical knife with a reversed curve, so the two could be used together, one for each hand. Leon took both knives and swung them slowly. Then he looked over at Vozk's rifle.
"I think I need a rifle too. My skills can use firearms," Leon muttered to himself, looking at his skill screen.
Leon closed his eyes and clenched both fists again. He brought his hands together and pulled the purple flames into the space between them. Slowly, the purple flames formed a sleek, long-barreled carbine with a purple glow along the black barrel. Ssssh. The rifle, still steaming, settled into Leon's hands.
"Hmm... cool. Like something from a sci-fi movie. But I guess I can't test it out here," Leon said, holding the rifle that looked like an advanced carbine with the length of a sci-fi laser gun.
Leon glanced at Vozk, who was still asleep, then stood up, carrying all his weapons, and walked outside. He looked up and saw that he was in an incredibly deep chasm, so high he couldn't see the top. He also saw a city with tall buildings made of iron, and glowing, boxy structures filled with lights that cut through the darkness.
Neon signs flickered on the buildings around Vozk's apartment. Drones flew around on patrol. Small zeppelin-like balloons floated by, displaying TV shows on holographic screens. Many people from different races walked back and forth, wearing clothes similar to what he and Vozk had on. Almost all of them carried weapons, both guns and melee.
As they passed, they would glance at Leon but didn't say anything, just kept walking as if he wasn't standing there. Finally, Leon went back into Vozk's studio apartment. He leaned against the door.
"So this is what the slums of Zetopia are like, the area where the Non-Factions live. It's clear I can't test this rifle out here. Now, how do I store all this?" Leon thought to himself.
Suddenly, both knives and the rifle turned back into flames that shot toward his wrists and his back. The knives became tattoos on his forearms, and the rifle became a tattoo on his back. Leon immediately checked his forearms, then went into the bathroom and took off his jacket. He saw a futuristic rifle tattooed across his back, as if he were carrying it.
"Okay... this works... phew, that's a relief," Leon muttered, putting his shirt back on.
Leon stepped out of the bathroom and left the apartment again. He walked across the street, which was a metal plating that covered the ground, toward a railing. When he grabbed the railing, he looked down and saw that he was on the edge of a deep chasm. The cities he'd seen earlier were built along the circular sides of this massive hole.
"Wow... that hole is really deep," Leon thought, looking up. "It's so deep here that there's no sunlight. How am I supposed to get to the top?"
He then looked at some of the people passing by. Their faces seemed normal, and they all wore Gen Decoders on their arms, just like Vozk had shown him. Some of them wore hoods. There was also a small human, called a halfling, with large goggles on his head and a backpack that seemed twice the size of his body. Next to him was a goblin with a long nose and ears, who was the same height and also carried a large backpack. His clothes looked like those of a welder from Earth.
In addition, there was an elf with long, pointed ears and long blond hair. He carried a rifle and a sword on his waist, walking with a woman who had brown, angel-like wings and was wearing white leather armor. They seemed to be talking.
"Hmm... what a strange world. It's like a fantasy, but advanced... if only my little brother, Nate, could see all this, he'd be so happy. And Sofie would be able to make friends with the elves here, haha... ugh... I really want to go home," Leon thought.
Suddenly, a drone stopped in front of Leon. Of course, Leon didn't move and just stared at the drone. A laser beam shot out from the drone, scanning Leon from bottom to top, then back down and up again. "Beep." The green light next to what looked like a camera turned red. Click. The bottom of the drone opened, and a rifle emerged, pointing at Leon.
"Huh... w-what is this?" Leon asked, seeing the drone ready to fire.
"Hey! Get out of the way!"
Leon turned to see a woman with rabbit-like ears wearing black leather armor. She rushed forward, using her large sword to "crash" the drone in front of Leon, destroying it. She then put her sword on her back and grabbed Leon's arm, and they ran, leaving the destroyed drone behind. Leon just followed the rabbit-eared girl as she pulled his arm.
They entered an alley between two buildings and both leaned against the cold metal wall. "Hah... hah... hah," they panted. The rabbit-eared girl turned to Leon, looking furious.
"What were you thinking, standing in front of a drone from the upper city? Did you want to get caught and used as monster bait in the arena up there?" she yelled.
"Huh... what was that drone?" Leon asked, confused.
"Huh? You don't know?" she asked, looking at Leon's arm. "Wait, you don't have a Gen Decoder? Were you just mugged or something?"
"Um... I don't know. I lost my memory," Leon answered.
"Oh... I see... well, my name's Kara. You?" Kara asked.
"I'm Leon," Leon replied.
"Let me see your arm."
Kara took Leon's arm, pulled the cable from her Gen Decoder, and pricked his arm with the needle, making him wince again. After looking at her Gen Decoder's screen, Kara stared at Leon in surprise.
"You don't have a job, that's why the drone was about to shoot you with a tranquilizer beam. You almost became monster food in the arena," Kara said, pulling the cable out.
"Oh... I see," Leon said, rubbing his arm.
"All right, I have to go. I'm heading to the dungeon for work. If you don't have a job, don't wander around. Go find one soon. Not everyone here is willing to help someone else," Kara said.
"Okay, thank you, Kara," Leon replied.
Kara left Leon, and he leaned against the wall once more, staring up.
"I really don't know anything about this world," Leon thought to himself.