by H. C. Mills
“Ugh, why’d it have to be parasitic worms?”
Still, an increase of 2 points in Agility...
I frown. “Wait, last time you said something about how the Toxic Energy in my system would kill any Power-Up I tried to consume, don’t I still have quite a lot in my system?”
[You do, but it’s beneath your Tolerance Limit, so it’s under control. Only rogue energies cause trouble for Power-Ups. Or for you, for that matter.]
That makes sense, I guess.
Still, there are other things to consider. “You know what, I’m not in any rush. I’ll think about it.”
[Why? It’s perfectly safe, I promise. And the cost to have a Power-Up removed again is pretty negligible compared to the benefits, to be honest.]
Ignoring Suri, I gingerly pick up the cap and stick it in my pocket. I hold the Yin Pearl up in front of me.
“Appraise.”
That’s about what I expected, though it appears to be comparatively lower in potency than a Minor Lavi Crystal. Well, one is for Qi and the other for Lavi, I guess you can’t just compare them as if they’re equal.
Time to go back.
A door in the side of the room slides open as I approach to reveal a narrow hallway which brings me back to the entrance.
I squint as the giant stone doors grind open to let me back out. It takes a bit for my eye to adjust after the low-light conditions I was in for so long.
Because of that, a squeal is my only warning before I am struck by a blue-haired torpedo.
I internally lament the bruising on my ribs as Kaitlynn fiercely hugs me. It’s a good thing I raised my Toughness.
Then again, she also raised her Strength.
Dave and Alec approach with big grins.
Kaitlynn takes a step back and frowns at me. “God, could you have taken any longer? We were dying of worry out here!”
Any longer? My eyelid twitches.
“How was it?” Dave asks. “Is it... doable?”
I nod. “It’s just like Lily described; plenty dangerous, but you’ll be fine as long as you’re careful and take it slow.”
He seems a little relieved, but still nervous.
Lily, who is leaning on a wall to the side, snorts. “That seems a little hypocritical, coming from you. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone come out this quickly before. Were you in the circus or something?”
I smile. “Something like that.”
Lily studies me curiously for a moment, then shifts her gaze over the others. “So, who’s next?”
There’s a nervous beat of silence before Alec says, “Guess it’s my turn.”
And just like that, the joyous atmosphere is gone again.
Dave goes in for one of those guy handshakes; they clasp hands as if they’re about to arm-wrestle, but then pull each other in for a kind of half-hug. Kaitlynn just straight-up hugs him, of course.
I walk up to him, still kind of unsure of what I’m going to do. Again, hugging isn’t really my thing. Thankfully, Alec seems to know me well enough. He clicks his heels together with an exaggerated flourish, stands up ramrod straight, and salutes me with a big grin on his face.
I return the salute, though my answering smile feels a little strained.
Damn. This is actually pretty nerve-racking. When I went in myself, a lot of the nervous energy I felt came from excitement. Now I just feel dread. If he slips up in there, this could be the last time I see him.
He’s already turning away, but I grab onto him and surprise him by pulling him into a hug, my reputation be damned.
He seems surprised for a second, then returns it.
Soon, we run out of excuses to extend the goodbye. “Be back in ten,” Alec says, winking at us over his shoulder with a red-rimmed eye as he heads towards the temple.
Despite myself, I snort.
We all stay put, watching as he walks up to the heavy stone doors. They close after him with a rather final-sounding, dull boom.
For lack of something better to do, we settle down to chat while we wait.
Thirty minutes pass; if it weren’t for the Social System—and the doors to the temple refusing to open—telling us he’s still alive, I would have assumed the worst by now.
I also understand what Kaitlynn said earlier. Waiting is agony.
When the doors finally grind open and Alec comes out, it feels like a huge weight is lifted off my chest, even if he does look worse for the wear. His normally well-coifed hair is a mess, and his arms and face are covered in cuts and bruises.
We all cheer and happily welcome him back. Kaitlynn hugs him first, and it turns into a group-hug when Dave pulls me along to join in.
The first thing Alec does after we let him go is look at me like I’m some kind of demon. “Emma, how the hell did you—I mean, that last room, why aren’t you black and blue like me?!”
I smirk at him. “I dodged. The bigger stuff, anyway.”
“You... dodged.” He shakes his head. “You actually walked the rope, didn’t you?”
“Well, duh. I take it you hung from it like a slow-moving target?”
He sighs and slumps down against the outer wall of the temple. I laugh.
Lily clears her throat. “All right, who’s next?”
Kaitlynn bites her lip. “I guess it’s my turn.”
Any remnant of laughter dies in my throat.
Kaitlynn silently demands a hug from each of us.
Ours lasts for a while.
I almost tear up when I have to let go. God, when did I become such a girl? Kaitlynn must be a bad influence on me.
Instead, I give her my most confident smile, and boop her on the nose. “See you in a bit, Kaitmonster.”
Her answering smile is blinding. “You betcha.”
And she walks into the temple without looking back.
I was wrong. That wasn’t dread I felt when Alec ran the temple. That was just mild concern, at least compared to this—this gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach. I feel like a dad whose impressionable sixteen-year-old daughter is going out on her first date with an older boy. The kind that wears leather jackets, gels his hair back, and smokes.
I pace back and forth like a bear in a cage as Dave questions Alec some more about the temple. Dave’s very nervous too, I can tell, but he seems more worried about himself than Kaitlynn at the moment. I don’t blame him; he may be strong, but the way he moves always seems a little awkward, wooden. I guess that’s what an Agility of 8 looks like.
Ugh, I hate this. I feel so powerless! The Social System shows us she’s alive, but not how she’s doing, and we definitely can’t distract her by asking. Should I have given her th—
The heavy doors grind open. She walks out and it’s like the millstone around my neck shatters and drops.
Next thing I know I’m picking her up and swinging her around as she squeals with laughter.
“Put me down, you crazy woman!” she yells finally, still giggling.
I begrudgingly do, allowing Dave and Alec to welcome her back as well. Kaitlynn is sporting some bruises as well, but nowhere near as bad as Alec. I wonder how long she took to clear the temple. It felt like an eternity, but I may be biased.
Once again, Lily clears her throat to break up our party. “Congratulations. Guess you’re up, big guy.”
Dave nods, looking rather green around the gills. “Well, I guess this is it... Like Emma said, we’ve trained a lot, and we’re able-bodied, and... yeah.”
He spreads his arms awkwardly so Kaitlynn can hug him. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I wonder at how different the meaning of two otherwise similar hugs can be.
Man, today is an emotional rollercoaster. Time to throw in another loop-the-loop.
I sigh. “Actually, hold that thought, Dave.”
They all stop and look at me. One good thing to come from all this waiting is that it gave me plenty of time to think and make up my mind. “I can’t let you go in there like this; an Agility of 8 is just too low.”
&nb
sp; Lily’s eyes widen. “Only 8, really?” Immediately after blurting it out, she guiltily covers her mouth.
Dave shrugs and glances at her, looking somewhat embarrassed. “Yeah, there were some problems around my birth that affected my development as a kid. I got picked last during Physical Education a lot.”
I can imagine.
He turns back to me. “So you think I should wait, see if I can train my Agility somehow?”
I shake my head. “That’s risky too, and frankly, I’m not confident I know how. Agility seems to be perhaps the hardest stat to train.”
I take a deep breath, and, with pain in my heart, pull a small transparent, lightning-filled mushroom out of my pocket.
I hold it out to him. “So instead, I think you should eat this.”
[Ugh, really? You’re giving it to him?] Suri chimes.
Dave stares at me in confusion before carefully accepting it and saying, “Appraise.”
[You understand that stats don’t scale linearly, right?] Suri continues. [For someone with high Agility like you it is much harder to raise a stat naturally, and therefore a Power-Up like this is more valuable. Also, after your body grows accustomed to forcibly having its stats raised by a Power-Up like this, it will make it easier to increase the stat for real after you’ve had the Power-Up removed.]
“Oh shush,” I whisper back at her as Dave frowns at a screen the rest of us can’t see. “I’ve already made up my mind. No matter how much it might be worth to me, right now it’s worth more to Dave. Just think of it as something to lord over Rose.”
[I suppose there is that.]
Dave’s eyebrows suddenly rise almost to his hairline, expressing both wonder and a bit of ick.
“Well don’t keep us in suspense!” Kaitlynn demands. “What is it?!”
“It’s a mushroom full of lightning-like worms, that can live inside the body symbiotically,” Dave explains.
“Symbiotic worms?!” Alec exclaims, shivering all over. “What kind of a gift is that?!”
“A great one,” Dave says. “It’s a low-grade Agility Power-Up.”
That shuts Alec up. Kaitlynn looks back and forth between us, wide-eyed.
Dave looks at me, appearing deeply moved. “Emma, are you sure? I mean, it’s worth 50 Trial Points, and it actually suits you pretty well...”
I shrug and put my hands in my pockets, as blood rises to my cheeks. “Your life is worth more than that. Just eat it before I change my mind, okay?”
He comes in for a hug, closely followed by Kaitlynn. I think I’ve hit my yearly quota of hugs in like a day.
But I guess these are special circumstances, so I’ll allow it.
Alec salutes me again, with a look in his eyes I haven’t seen before. Lily, on the other hand, is looking at me like I’ve grown another head.
Whatever. I’ve grown fond of the big lug, you know? What’s a little Power-Up among friends?
More importantly, what would surviving out here be worth, if I’d end up alone?
CHAPTER 37
The house always wins
WE ALL WATCH WITH rapt attention as Dave takes his first tentative bite of the transparent, lightning-worm-laced mushroom, and our scrutiny is rewarded with entertainment.
His eyes widen comically and his face distorts as his whole body starts trembling uncontrollably. He falls down, and the very moment his butt hits the ground his long ponytail explodes into a ball of frizz.
We laugh and make fun of him, and I can almost feel glad I’m not the one eating it.
Dave valiantly ploughs on despite our mockery. With every trembling bite, a shudder passes through his entire body. However, the look on his face isn’t one of pain or anguish, but wonderment.
Even after swallowing down the last bite, Dave remains seated. His hands slowly stop shaking as he blinks and stares at them. He clenches and unclenches his hands a couple of times, then grabs a handful of pebbles from the ground next to his hiking boots and gets up.
I do my best impression of a fish when Dave starts juggling five of them.
No one makes a peep until he catches them all again, and nods in satisfaction.
Alec turns to me, smacking his lips. “Hey Nonya, you got any more of those?”
I smirk at him. “That’s none ya business.”
Dave laughs heartily. “I learned how to do that a long time ago, Alec. I just wanted to feel the difference between an Agility of 8 and an Agility of 10.”
“Dave, that’s great!” Kaitlynn says with a warm smile before glancing at me with a touched look in her expressive eye.
Becoming self-conscious again under her scrutiny, I clear my throat and avert my eyes from her, turning back to Dave to pretend to study him for changes.
Now that I’m looking at him, though, I think I can actually see the worms! Small flickers of light race up and down particular paths along his arm. I guess those are nerve bundles? I wonder what his spine looks like right now...
“Oh man, you really are infested,” I say, half-fascinated, half-horrified. “So, what’s it like living with worms, Dave? Itchy?”
Dave shakes his head in wonder. “Amazing. My hand-eye coordination just reached a new level. It’s like my arms react quicker and more precisely to what I want them to do. Five balls used to be a real challenge, now I honestly feel like I could do seven.”
Mmm, perhaps something like juggling could be a way to train Agility, but let’s save that for later.
I nod resolutely. “Good. Take some time to get ready, make sure there’s no aftereffects.”
Dave shakes his head. “Rose says there won’t be. I’m ready.”
[Tch.]
Ignoring Suri, I square my shoulders and walk up to give him a hug, which to my dismay, quickly turns into another group affair.
Solemnly, we watch as the final member of our little clique enters the temple.
Dave takes his time but eventually exits, sporting a sheepish smile and a black eye.
We all cheer once more. Guess we all get to suffer a little longer.
But at least we’ll suffer together.
Since we all have our pearls now, we ‘just’ need to procure enough Minor Lavi Crystals and Stardrops for everyone, and then we can all level up.
We thank Lily for her help and bid her goodbye before heading back to camp. She gives me a thoughtful look and a nod but doesn’t say anything.
Kaitlynn is less restrained. As soon as we’re out of hearing range of the little village around the temple, she asks, “Emma, where did you get that Power-Up?”
Dave and Alec look up in interest.
I shake my head. “It was the craziest thing. When I reached the end of the temple I got a notification that I was the 1,000th participant who made it through!”
I sneak a glance at my rapt audience; they seem to be buying it. Hehe, suckers.
Of course, what kind of saleswoman would I be if I stopped selling now? “Next thing I know, confetti bursts from the ceiling, and this weird, happy-yet-kinda-creepy song starts playing over what I assume are hidden speakers. And this announcer-like voice booms over it: COOONGRATULATIONS!”
Kaitlynn smacks my shoulder, laughing. “Shut up!”
I frown at her, trying very hard to maintain my poker face. “Damn, what gave me away?”
“You—ugh—what part of that was supposed to be believable?!”
“Hmmm. All right, would you believe it was one of the objects that got shot at me in the final room and I just snatched it out of the air as it passed by?”
“Well now I wouldn’t!” she exclaims, looking rather amused despite her narrowed eyes. “Though I can totally see the people who made this place do that. How evil would that be? If they just had all kinds of valuable items shooting by behind us while we’re in there.”
Damn. That would be evil. They wouldn’t do that though, right?
Impatient, Kaitlynn pulls on my right sleeve. “Come ooon, what did you do, Emma?”
Ugh, pouting at me
with your eye all big and soulful, that’s just not fair. Fine.
“All right, I’ll tell you. I kinda made a dash for it and broke the speed record.”
Alec snorts.
Kaitlynn rolls her eyes. “No, seriously, how’d you get it.”
A beat of silence follows.
Kaitlynn stops in her tracks and looks at me with wide eyes. “You didn’t.”
I come to a halt as well, scratching my neck. “Yeah... I did.”
Alec’s jaw drops. “Holy crap. Emma, that’s crazy!”
Dave looks at me like he’s seeing me for the first time. “That’s incredible. Also incredibly risky.”
I shrug. “Well, it paid off.”
Suddenly, Kaitlynn punches me on the shoulder.
“Ow!” I exclaim. “What gives?”
She glares at me, eye blazing. “You could’ve died, you jerk!”
I shake my head with a small smirk. “No, no, it’s pronounced, ‘Wow, that’s amazing, Emma!’ ”
I can tell she’s fighting a smile by the way her lips quirk upwards. “Honestly. You’re unbelievable.”
“I get that a lot,” I tell her with a wink. She rolls her eyes, and a light flush creeps up her neck.
Cute...
When I go to link my arm through hers, however, she turns up her nose and brushes past me, leaving me to stare at her backside.
Dave comes up beside me and claps me on the shoulder. “Just let her cool off a bit before you apologise. I’m sure she’ll come around.”
And he walks on.
I frown after him, feeling like I’m missing something. Alec starts moving as well, so I fall into step beside him. After a second’s hesitation, I turn to look at him. “Why would I apologise?”
He shrugs. “Beats me.”
Back at the hut, Alec enthusiastically gets to work on his leatherworking project. Dave, meanwhile, decides to fashion us some spears for the hunt. Kaitlynn’s still acting standoffish, loudly announcing that she’s going to prepare some kind of glue for them to use from her collection of plants, all the while pointedly ignoring me.