Adrian was satisfied with how things went with discovering the spy and wiping out his enemies' forces. He felt they wouldn't bother him for the time being, and he had plans to reverse their infiltration attempt. He was still formulating the details of that plan as it was one for down the road a bit. For now he had to focus on getting stronger. He decided to start by clearing out the ferals in the direction of where the Tenebrae was headquartered. He was planning on taking a full fight to them in the near future. He stopped by and checked on each of the different teams before he headed out.
Moving quickly through the city, he didn't meet much resistance in the immediate vicinity, just a few ferals here and there, but they were all quick work. When he finally got to a roof top on the edge of the industrial district he listened for where he should head next. On the wind Adrian could hear the distant growling rumble of many ferals together. He smiled and disappeared, moving faster than the ferals could track him. When he finally got to the pack of ferals he smiled wide, it was dinner time.
Attacking the first feral he noted that it had been harder to kill than the others he'd encountered so far. It took several strikes of his claws before it finally dropped to the ground. Even on the ground it was still able to get an attack in before Adrian ended its life. He sneered and said, "This new resistance is going to make destroying ferals much more fun." The nanobots flowed into him from the kill:
Assimilation complete. Free nanobots gained: 5,671 Total available: 162,485
The replication in the ferals had gone into overdrive since he last fought them, they were like Adrian's own personal nanobot farms now. Each harvest was going to be much higher than before. Turning to the approaching pack he changed his claws to spiked balls, dense and heavy. Each blow smashing feral heads in or otherwise sending them flying. Some even came back with a second attack after being smashed into concrete walls and asphalt streets. These ferals were much more resilient than before. But Adrian didn't mind, he was having more fun than ever before. With a wicked grin on his face he was unrelenting, the ferals didn't run this time, they just kept coming at him. He absorbed huge clouds of nanobots as he went.
Assimilation complete. Free nanobots gained: 27,839 Total available: 190,324
The constant boost only drove him harder, each feral's nanobots boosting him farther and farther, he saw no signs of them stopping. Adrian dropped them one by one, taking attacks but not even registering them as his healing kept pace with the damage. He couldn't believe the harvest he was reaping. It was much more than he expected, which only fueled his rampage. A group pounced on him at the same time, so he sent spikes shooting out of his body in every direction at once, impaling the whole group instantly. They all fell in crumpled piles around him when he retracted his nanobots. He didn't take even a moment's break before he stepped out from the ring and dove at the next group.
Assimilation complete. Free nanobots gained: 31,157 Total available: 221,481
He switched his hand weapons to the large blades and sliced into the pack. Removing whole arms and legs in one fluid and morbid dance. Their bodies fell as he continued his onslaught. His strength and speed reached unbelievable heights as Adrian collected their combined nanobots. These things had changed somewhat, whatever fear they used to possess was gone now. That left them with only their hunger and drive to survive.
He decided this was actually to his advantage and just made his job easier. The possibility of millions of ferals throughout the city, his ascension was just a matter of time. His killing intent only grew from the thrill he experienced of the hunt. Before it had been too easy, but now it was like sport, no longer simple animals. Their stat increases and body modification made them real threats compared to before, but still nothing compared to Adrian.
Assimilation complete. Free nanobots gained: 33,652 Total available: 255,133
After letting the cloud meld into his form, he walked slowly in the direction of the ferals closest to him. He was still surprised they wanted to fight him, their hunger must be stronger than their will to live. He would oblige them, he had hunger too. The nanobots called him to increase their numbers in his system, to keep growing ever stronger. Adrian leaped into the center of the pack spinning with his giant blades in a whirlwind, taking out many of them quickly before darting to the next targets one by one.
Assimilation complete. Free nanobots gained: 41,792 Total available: 296,925
Blood sprayed along the path of his onslaught, body parts flew off, heads rolled onto the ground but the ferals just kept coming. He turned the street into a killing field. He had managed to get this group of ferals boxed in. Only so many could attempt to get on him at once. The bottleneck made taking them out in numbers much easier, a constant glittering cloud of nanobots flowed into him, making him stronger and stronger by the second. He stopped only for a brief pause to destroy a drone flying overhead before going after the ferals again.
Assimilation complete. Free nanobots gained: 44,381 Total available: 341,306
Adrian was relentless, he felt like he had infinite endurance and practical immortality. At least compared to these low level snarling beasts. Then he heard a deep guttural howl from the next street over and around the corner. Loud thumps and foot falls on the ground. He could pick out the vibrations from each one individually even from so far away. A giant hand slid around the third floor of a building and a grotesque head peered around the corner. It was like a giant, bigger than the brutes they had sent after him before. It locked eyes with Adrian as it headed his way.
Adrian barked a maniacal laugh, "Finally a real challenge." He remembered Subject 23 mentioning these types of abominations but his description didn't quite do it justice. This truly looked like a real monster. He didn't stop killing the ferals as he made his assessment. This seemed to enrage the giant feral because though it was on the same side as the others, it viewed them as its food too. Never stopping, Adrian kept killing, working to increase his nanobots as much as possible before confronting the monstrosity heading in his direction. Finally as it got close, he stopped to absorb all the latest nanobot harvest.
Assimilation complete. Free nanobots gained: 47,192 Total available: 388,498
The monster walked towards Adrian. Adrian raised his head, curious what move it would make. When the two got close it raised its foot to stomp on him, but he vanished using his super speed, then reappeared above the hulking giant and dragged both of his bladed arms down the back of the creature. He watched as the wounds healed quickly while the beast roared from the injury. It swung his giant hand to swat at Adrian, which he promptly cut off. Blood gushed as it pulled its handless arm back holding it to its body. The hand didn't grow back but the stump healed over quickly.
Adrian didn't wait, he switched to his giant claws and assaulted the behemoth feral. Swiping at it over and over again, he brutally attacked vital points and organs inside the body with coordinated strikes. The thing was too slow, it couldn't keep up at all. Adrian landed an attack across its hideous face, blinding it temporarily. As it held its face it roared, loud enough to rattle windows nearby. He took that opportunity to change his hand weapons to tendrils, using them to come from behind it and yank it onto its back by the neck. The ground rumbled from the weight of the creature landing. That's when Adrian took the chance to remove its head completely. A flood of fluid came after but the thing finally stopped moving. Even on its back it was a mountain of flesh. He admired his work as the huge cloud of nanobots flowed into him.
Assimilation complete. Free nanobots gained: 50,762 Total available: 439,260
Adrian absorbed the blood on his hands as he addressed his nanobot core. "Echo, Initiate speed upgrade." The nano bots got to work, increasing the efficiency of his nervous system and widening the channels to allow for even more electricity to flow through them. His body vibrated with the new capabilities, before it could be completed he took off again, looking for the next victims of his hunt.
Free nanobots available: 314,260
The new speed increase was mind boggling, mixed with the free nanobot stat bonus, he was able to move like lightning. It took a little while getting used to it. If he hadn't upgraded his intelligence he might not have been able to cope with the change. He knew that his new ability also came with a slowing of incoming attacks now, the enemies would feel like statues. He took a minute to review his nanocore status again.
Nanobot Core – Status
Free Nanobots: 314,260
Core Level: 3
Available Upgrades
Core Upgrade Lvl: 4 Locked [Description: Expands nanobot core to semi-autonomous AI processing. Allows real-time tactical predictions, adaptive combat responses, and multi-threaded task execution (up to 3 simultaneous operations). System stability reinforced. Cost: 1,000,000 nanobots]
Strength Lvl: 3 Available [Description:Increases muscle density and neural-muscle conduction by 40%. Enables short-term overdrive bursts of +50% strength for 30 seconds (cooldown 10 minutes). Cost: 125,000 nanobots]
Speed Lvl: 3 Acquired [Description: Enhances movement speed, balance, and agility by 40%. Grants "reflex sync," slowing perception of incoming attacks by 40%. Cost: 125,000 nanobots]
Intelligence Lvl: 3 Acquired [Description: Improves neural plasticity and problem-solving by 30%. Unlocks eidetic recall (perfect memory storage). Increases data absorption rates (learn technical skills twice as fast). Cost: 125,000 nanobots]
HealingLvl: 3 Available [Description: Regenerates 40% faster. Can regrow severed body parts (skin, muscle, tendons). Critical wounds stabilized automatically (bleeding suppressed, shock resistance). Cost: 125,000 nanobots
Senses Lvl: 3 Available [Description: Boosts sensory range by 50%. Unlocks thermal overlay (detect body heat), extended low-light vision, and vibration detection through surfaces. Cost: 125,000 nanobots]
Replication Lvl: 3 Locked [Description: Produces 100,000 nanobots per day given sufficient organic & metallic input. Unlocks "Harvest Protocol," directing nanobots to strip usable matter from the environment at higher rates(scrap metal, bio-waste). Cost: 600,000 nanobots
He thought about what his next one should be, strength, senses, or healing. Either way he was becoming a force to be reckoned with. He would probably aim at increasing his nanobot storage capabilities again. He came to another feral swarm, growling and snapping at each other. Adrian let out a loud whistle, causing 30 heads to snap towards him at once, eyes locked on their next meal, or so they thought.
He let them come, scrabbling and snarling like wild animals gnashing their teeth. Then, it was like time stopped for him, at least that's what it looked like to Adrian. He was able to swiftly tear through the crowd with no effort. Taking all of their lives before the first one could tumble across the ground. As Adrian came to a stop he looked over his shoulder to see all thirty ferals fall in awkward positions to the ground lifeless. The amount of nanobots he got at once was practically a tsunami.
Assimilation complete. Free nanobots gained: 156,941 Total available: 471,201
In one quick attack he was already back to more than he just had before his upgrade. The feeling was addicting, the huge change in his stats from just that group was insane. He drove deeper into the city, and managed to find a few humans still alive here and there. All in all he probably sent fifteen or so people back to the foundry base. His followers count increasing as he went. He also made sure to spray paint "Survivors go to the industrial district for safety!" at regular intervals. He figured it might help some people over time. It was a major goal of his to save as many survivors as he could while also increasing his nanobots and upgrades.
The feral population only increased as he went deeper towards the heart of the city. They also got stronger from higher nanobot counts in their bodies. Almost like the weakest of them had gotten pushed out over time. Like the stronger ones were claiming territories. It didn't matter to Adrian, he would kill them all if he could…