Chapter 105: An Hour at most

Max sat on the bike and, as usual, slid the black AGV helmet over his head before settling properly on the seat. His boots pressed lightly against the asphalt while his hands rested on the bars, and with small practiced movements of his legs he positioned the bike perfectly for a clean exit from the parking space.

The God-Tier Riding skill worked almost instinctively now — balance, angle, and weight distribution aligning without him consciously thinking about it. To anyone watching, it simply looked like a young rider adjusting his motorcycle, but in reality every tiny movement was precise, controlled, almost surgical.

The parking lot itself was waking up with the normal morning rhythm of the building. A car door slammed somewhere behind him, someone rolled a trash bin toward the street, and the faint echo of an engine starting bounced off the concrete walls of the underground entrance. As Max thumbed the ignition, the dry clutch Ducati engine roared to life with a sharp mechanical bark that immediately dominated the quiet space.

BRROOOM.

The sound turned heads instantly.

A dark 2024 Audi RS6 Avant — a car that easily cost around €190,000, had just pulled into the lot and slowed as the driver heard the Ducati. The man behind the wheel stepped out slowly, locking the car with a calm click of the key fob. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, dressed neatly in a fitted coat and carrying a leather briefcase. The kind of man who clearly had an established career.

” Superleggera? ”

His eyes immediately landed on the bike, as he asked, walking a few steps closer with visible curiosity. His tone carried the calm confidence of someone used to expensive things, but even he sounded slightly impressed.

” Where did you even get that? It’s rare isn’t it? ”

Max lifted the visor of his helmet slightly.

” It is, yes!! Bought it from a acquaintance”

The man nodded slowly, studying the machine more closely now, Max wanted to go out but the way the man was looking, Max couldn’t start the bike.

” This thing isn’t cheap. ”

Max shrugged lightly, it didn’t matter much now but it’s really expensive

” About two hundred thousand euros. It’s number 003 out of 500 Superleggera V4. ”

For a moment the lawyer simply stared at the bike again, clearly doing the mental math of what he was looking at. The machine wasn’t just expensive — it was rare af.

” I’m Sebastian Krämer, by the way. A Lawyer. ”

he said finally, extending a hand out of habit.

Max shook it briefly.

” Maximilian. People call me Max. ”

Sebastian glanced at him again, now clearly aware of the age difference. A teenager riding one of the rarest Ducatis in the world was… unusual. But instead of asking more questions, he simply smiled faintly.

” Enjoy the machine. That’s a serious bike. ”

Max nodded once, lowering the visor again as the Ducati engine continued its deep mechanical rumble, ready to launch back onto the street.

……(wait writing) …………

Max didn’t try to peek at her screen at all. Instead, he simply stood there quietly for a moment, watching her side profile while she worked. There was something oddly charming about the way she looked when she was focused — her posture straight, eyes fixed on the screen, fingers moving steadily across the keyboard as if the rest of the world had disappeared for a moment.

The soft morning light from the window fell across her face, making her look unexpectedly gentle for someone who was technically a terminator-class machine.

’How can a terminator-like robot not know I’m standing right here?

The thought crossed Max’s mind with mild disbelief. She was built to perceive things far more precisely than a human, yet she hadn’t reacted to his presence at all. For a brief second he even wondered if she had truly been that absorbed in whatever she was doing.

Only when Max finally took a step forward did Machina react, her response was instant, the laptop screen snapped shut in one quick motion. She turned toward him immediately, her expression shifting so fast it was almost suspicious — a bright smile appearing on her face that looked a little too fake.

She sat there with that polite, innocent expression like a kitten that had just knocked something off the table and was pretending nothing had happened.

” Hi. ”

Machina said softly, her voice suddenly carrying a sweetness that felt almost suspicious — light, smooth, and sweeter than honey.

Max stopped for a moment, his eyebrows lowered slightly and his eyes narrowed as he looked at her. For a brief second he had fully intended to question her — to ask what she had been doing so intently that she closed the laptop like that the moment he stepped closer.

If he wanted to, he could easily ask and she would have to answer. The system had bound her to him after all but that thought only stayed in his mind for a moment.

Max exhaled quietly and let it go, even if Machina had come into his life through the system, he had already made one decision the day she arrived — she would live like a normal person. Not like a machine waiting for orders, not like something that had to explain every little action and having small secrets… was part of being normal.

So instead of questioning her, Max simply relaxed his expression.

” Hello. ”

He replied calmly, a faint smile appearing on his face as if the moment had never carried any tension at all.

Machina stood up from the chair the moment he finished speaking. She walked toward him without hesitation, her steps light and quiet across the floor.

Before Max could even ask what she was doing, she rose slightly on her toes and leaned closer, her hand briefly touching his shoulder for balance as her soft lips pressed gently against his cheek.

The kiss was warm and lingering for a second longer than a casual gesture, carrying a quiet affection that felt both natural and intentional. When she pulled back, a faint smile remained on her face as if she had simply done something obvious.

” What was that for? ”

Max asked with a smile on his face, still feeling the warmth of the kiss on his cheek. He wasn’t exactly sure what had prompted it, but it felt good, natural even, like something simple between them.

” Nothing, can’t I kiss you? ”

Machina replied lightly, tilting her head a little as if the answer should have been obvious.

” Of course you can. I’m leaving for the university classes, see you in the evening. ”

Max said with an easy smile. Before turning to leave, he leaned slightly toward her and gave her a brief kiss on the lips, soft and quick, more like a quiet promise than anything intense.

Then he stepped back, taking his helmet with one hand while grabbing one of his phones from the table. The Magic 11 Pro was still lying on the charger with barely any battery earlier, so he left it behind and took the other phone instead.

With that, Max headed toward the door, helmet in hand, already shifting his mind toward the day waiting for him at the university.

’System, show me the total panel of my skills, items, and passives.

Max stepped into the stairwell instead of waiting for the elevator. The building was quiet in the morning, the sound of his footsteps echoing lightly as he moved down the concrete steps with his helmet hanging from one hand and his backpack resting over his shoulder.

While descending the stairs, he decided to finally check the system properly. It had been a while since he reviewed everything he had accumulated — the missions, the rewards, the upgrades that had quietly reshaped his life over the past weeks.

A faint shimmer appeared in front of him, the familiar translucent interface unfolded in the air, clean and structured like a digital status board that only he could see.

<Skills>

[Locksmith (God Tier): Touch to unlock any lock on Earth.]

[Driver (God Tier): Drive any land vehicle flawlessly.]

[Heavyweight imprint (Level 1): Tom Aspinall’s combat experience and movement memory. (Slot: 1/1) (Progress: 75%)]

<Items>

[Palladium Credit Card (Elite Tier): All the illicit assets in the 3-kilometer radius will convert to legal assets for the holder.] [Press on the ground to activate.]

[Angel Machina 12 (Transcendent Archangel Frame Model): A dual-form Angelic Machina bodyguard unit capable of operating in both a fully human biological form and a mechanical combat form.]

[19 Day-to-Day Land Driving Licenses (Item): All land permits. Officially registered in German and international records. Always auto-renewed by the System.]

<Passive>

[Length is a journey. Thickness is a destination(Passive): Your manhood has been perfectly calibrated. Length, performance, and control have been fully optimized.] (Permanent)

[Body Calibration.(Passive): Your body has been perfectly updated, calibrated and optimized to do heavy weight athletics of any kind.] (Permanent)

[Charisma +30. (Passive): Ten status point has been added to your charisma. Human Limit: 100 | Current: 76] (Permanent)

[20/1 Vision (Passive): You see twenty times better, clearer, and further than a normal human.] (Permanent)

[Accelerated Learning (Passive): You understand, memorize, and recall information many times faster than a normal human.] (Permanent)

’Damn… nice. I am becoming inhuman slowly.

Max smirked to himself while walking down the stairwell, the system panel fading away quietly as he finished reviewing it. The building was calm in the late morning, the usual faint echo of footsteps and distant doors opening somewhere in the upper floors. By the time he reached the last half-flight of stairs before the ground floor, he didn’t bother walking the remaining steps.

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