Looking for an abandoned warehouse was surprisingly easy. Maybe because this world is more advanced than my previous life, but there are a lot of warehouses around Nagozara City. Of course, those are rarely abandoned, so it took me a while to find one somewhere in a desolate location.
Thanks to Adept Spycraft, I already knew that there were no people within a few miles of this warehouse. I even put in the effort of covering my tracks up until this point; I obviously didn't want anyone running into me here while I'm training with my abilities.
Before today, I had already tested Heatwave and, to a certain extent, Mist Flame as well. These two could be done in my bedroom, just to a safe level.
Heatwave is a fun ability to have, at least in day-to-day life. I had been using it to dry my hair and body after every shower since I transmigrated to this world. If I keep using it this way, it might eventually level up or something.
The latter, on the other hand, was much more reliable than I expected.
I couldn't just create an illusion that could fool the five senses; I could also make it physical. If I were to create an illusory hawk for instance, I could control it, make it sit on top of my palm, and feel its claws tugging at my skin.
Of course, that came with a catch: I needed to keep my focus on it, or the whole thing would fall apart like Lego blocks.
So it's nothing like magic, where once it's conjured, you don't need to give it much thought. Unfortunately, it wasn't anywhere near that flexible. But with a little bit of training and commitment, perhaps it will be possible in the near future.
Tinker, on the other hand...
This one is crazier than I expected. In fact, it showed that my understanding of engineering is limited, and that my outlandish conjunctions are more likely than impossible.
I secretly tried tinkering with my own phone as a test, and the result?
In just one night, I had a giant-sized smartphone leaning against the wall of my bedroom, acting almost like a digital mirror thanks to the front camera. Though I had to reroute the charging port, or I wouldn't even be able to charge it, much less keep it on for long.
Rather than simply scaling things up like magic, the phone was treated as a design matrix, and I had to fill in the rest with compatible materials scavenged from old, broken-down electronics.
My dad being a collector of old electronics ended up helping me realize a minor limitation of the tinker ability: I can't just make stuff out of thin air without providing the required materials.
But if my guess is right, I might be able to turn even a toy car into an actual drivable vehicle if I put in the effort.
Long story short, it wasn't a bad ability per se, nor was it as convenient as the description implied. Without materials to add, all I had was the scaled-up design in my head, tempting me like a succubus.
"Alright, it's time for the big guns."
I didn't need to switch my ability slots since it was already set to the second slot. And of course, I'm talking about the one with such a scary name: Flame Bone of the Starving.
First, I pulled out the Amulet of Health and wore it around my neck. Aside from making me feel slightly energized, it provided no other benefits. At the very least, it looked like expensive jewelry.
"I've got the drip. Okay, no more stalling."
I closed my eyes and sank my mind deeper into my subconscious. Every time I gained a new ability, basic knowledge on how to use it was drilled directly into my head.
"Rikuo - Hand."
Suddenly, a giant skeletal hand appeared on my right arm. Not only that, it was covered in roaring flames that looked hot enough to burn a hole straight through a building. The bones locked and clicked around my arm until they formed a solid exoskeleton.
Surprisingly, the heat didn't affect me at all, even when I hovered my left hand just inches above it.
From the visual alone, I felt like I could easily shatter a wall while looking effortlessly cool. The corner of my lips curled into a smirk as I immediately dropped into a horse stance, my right arm cocked back.
Then, with a shit-eating grin, I threw a heavy punch at the concrete wall of the abandoned warehouse. At best, I expected to punch a clean hole right through it.
Unfortunately, I had severely underestimated why the system identified the ability as an epic-tier power.
Ka-boom!
The sound of the explosion nearly shattered my eardrums as my vision was instantly obscured by smoke and dust. I coughed a few times until the air finally cleared, and my face stiffened when I saw the outcome of the punch.
The reinforced concrete wall was gone. Nothing stood in my line of view except piles of rubble spread across the ground as if a speeding truck had smashed straight through the structure.
"...Huh?"
...
Somewhere in a high-class apartment...
"Whoa!"
Mei gasped when the floor, or rather, the entire apartment building, started trembling all of a sudden. She immediately grabbed the kitchen countertop to stabilize herself.
Fortunately, the tremor passed quickly.
"I didn't hear any news about an earthquake coming..."
The purple-haired girl muttered before picking up two slices of bread from the toaster, placing the first on a plate and dropping a sunny-side-up egg on top of it alongside a slice of cheese. Only then did she place the remaining slice of toast on top, pick up the plate, and walk toward the living room.
Mei plopped her butt on the soft couch before grabbing the remote and switched to the local news.
"The sudden earthquake caused a brief panic among local residents in Nagozara. Seismologists are currently at a loss to explain how it happened, though seismic sensors have traced the epicenter to a certain abandoned warehouse in a remote district."
"Just what in the world is going on?"
She stared at the TV screen showing the wall of the abandoned warehouse blown completely apart from the inside, wondering what on earth could have caused such devastation as she took a massive bite of her homemade sandwich.
The news anchor mentioned that Schicksal was already in contact with the local police in search of the culprit, but by then, she had already changed the channel.