by Mills, H. C.
We fill the time with some idle chatter until Dave and Alec join us. Now it’s time to fill each other in.
I start with explaining what Suri told me about the nature of the levelling up process and how your relationship with an energy type changes once you reach 50% Tolerance.
Next up is Dave. “As you all know, Emma was able to evolve the low-grade Respiration Skill into the previously unlisted medium-grade Breath Control Skill. The first thing I did was check if it was listed among my purchases in the Skilldream Shopping Window now that I knew about it, but it wasn’t. Rose told me, however, that it will be listed as soon as I reach Respiration level 3—and more importantly, would have been regardless of if I’d learned about the Skill or not.”
Alec’s eyes light up. “So, there’s a bunch of unlisted Skills that won’t become available until we max out the required Skills for it first?”
“Or meet some other requirement,” I add, “like 50% Tolerance of the right type of energy.”
Dave nods. “Indeed. Rose confirmed that Breath Control won’t be listed until you have a Toughness of at least 12 as well. I then asked if she could tell me which Skills would be able to transform into higher-grade ones, and she said, ‘basically all of them, though the requirements vary.’ When I probed a little more, she said the information about such evolved Skills would be classified until we’ve mastered the prerequisite Skill.”
Damn, I was afraid of that. Still, this is pretty interesting.
“I did manage to confirm that Skills may have more than one evolution, so there may even be a step beyond Breath Control.”
Ooh, that’d be sweet!
“Finally,” Dave says, “I asked about the... physical changes we’ve all been going through.”
That definitely grabs everyone’s attention. You could hear a pin drop right about now. Kaitlynn fingers the tip of her left horn. I resist the impulse to copy her.
Dave’s heavy eyebrows knit together, like two fluffy brown caterpillars kissing. Were they always that thick, or does the reddish tinge of his forehead just make them stand out more?
“However, Rose was less than forthcoming about it,” he continues. “She called it, ‘a minor side-effect from levelling up.’ ”
“Wow,” I grumble. “I’d hate to experience what she’d consider a major side-effect.”
Dave shrugs, spreading his hands as if to say, ‘that’s all I have.’
Next up is Alec, who starts with clearing his throat dramatically. “So, since you all figured ‘The Sarge’ would be the best guide to ask about how to best improve our stats, I... obliged. Still under protest, I might add.”
I stifle a snicker. Not well enough perhaps, because Kaitlynn lightly bumps my shoulder with hers and narrows her eyes at me. I just blink back innocently.
Well, it’s not my fault it’s so deliciously ironic, right?
“Anyway,” Alec drawls out, glaring at me, “once he was done belittling my ‘scrawny physique,’ and telling me to ‘eat more meat,’ he managed to roll out a half-decent explanation.”
He closes his eyes with a frown. “Shut up! No, you didn’t—you half-assed it! Well, I was under time constraints, or I would have. Yeah, whatever.”
Alec sighs deeply, opens his eyes, and continues like nothing happened. I try to keep a straight face. “Training your stats is all about surpassing your limits, apparently. If you want to train your Strength, you need to ‘lift things that are too heavy for your puny muscles,’ to train Agility you need to ‘outrun yourself,’ and to train your Toughness you need to ‘stop being a sissy and learn to take a beating from something Tougher than you.’ ”
Alec frowns, rubbing his temple. “I’m not paraphrasing, that’s exactly what you said!”
I double over onto Kaitlynn’s lap, desperately trying to contain my laughter, and barely succeeding.
She pinches my earlobe in punishment until I swat her hand away. Evil girl. It actually hurts a little, despite my earlobes’ insensitivity. Her nails must have grown sharper during her transformation as well.
“As for the mental stats, the Sarge actually did a pretty good job in explaining,” Alec continues half-heartedly. “Mental Fortitude can be trained by being exposed to and fighting off mental influences like the Dreamcloud flower, a Dreamscape, or ‘Charm,’ whatever that is.”
I stiffen a little, then surreptitiously sit back up. Kaitlynn looks at me funnily, so I flash her a quick smile.
It still feels wrong not to tell my friends about the Charm stat, but... well, my life is on the line in here, and throwing away any kind of advantage seems dumb. And I don’t mean an advantage against them either. I’ve been thinking about it, and I might be able to learn to use Charm as a positive influence on them! For example, to help Alec keep going when his Willpower is about to fail him. If I tell them about it, however, it wouldn’t work half as well. I’ll keep my mouth shut about it, for now.
“And Willpower,” Alec starts, before sighing deeply, “he suggested training with things like staring contests.”
We all stare at him blankly. “Staring contests?” Dave reiterates.
Alec just nods. “Training together and adding a competitive element to our stat training will help us push ourselves beyond our limits. That was his final tip.”
I share a thoughtful glance with Dave. Despite Alec’s grumbling, I think the Sarge highlighted some pretty important stuff. Like the need to surpass your previous limits to grow, the idea of needing to be hit with something with a higher Toughness to train your Toughness, and the idea of adding a competitive element to training. His explanation about Mental Fortitude training was also pretty illuminating. I have a feeling this stat is getting less of our attention than it deserves.
Jacob takes the floor, his face stoically blank, like usual. I can’t really read him, but I’m guessing the unemotional mask is just a defence mechanism. He’s pretty fresh out of high school, after all, and the amount of black he wears, the eyeliner, and his—obviously dyed—black hair are pretty strong hints about what social circles he ran with. Not the popular kids, at least. His newly grey-tinted skin and the beginnings of three horns sticking out of his forehead don’t exactly clash with that image either.
Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him reapply the eyeliner... Shit, it’s probably One with him, isn’t it? My eye lands on the little skull piercing through his brow. I wonder if he can still even—
“My Personal Guide System,” he says, interrupting my thought process with his dry, raspy voice, “who claims her name is ‘Pseudonym,’ for some rea—what do you mean, ‘Who gave you that name?’ You did! It’s not even your real name!”
Jacob groans, rubbing his forehead in frustration as we stare at him bemusedly. “Anyway, ‘Pseudo’ told me there are ten types of energy, which can be divided into five opposing Yin-Yang pairs. They are, respectively, Cold and Heat, Electric and Vibration, Toxic and Radiation, Inertia and Kinetic, and finally, Space and Gravity.”
Huh. I was kind of expecting Time there in the end. Honestly, I’m kind of glad the Yang don’t have access to that kind of power. Also, what is up with that crazy AI of his?
“However,” Jacob continues, “you can only gain a Tolerance for six of these, namely the energies making up the first three pairs.”
Hmm, that may be for the best. What would having a high Tolerance against something like Gravity even be like? Wouldn’t you just float off?
“It’s generally easiest to build up a Tolerance to energy types of your affinity—obviously—and beyond that, it is generally easiest for Cold and Heat, then Electric and Vibration, and hardest for Toxic and Radiation.” He glances at me. “But I’m told exceptions exist.”
Interesting.
“Your AI sounds like a hoot,” I tell him with a smirk as he goes to sit back down.
He shoots me a dry look as if to say, ‘Really?’
Finally, it’s Kaitlynn’s turn. “Speaking of Toxic and Radiation,” she begins chipperly, “it turns out t
hose are actually the only types of energy that can be given a ‘Purpose.’ ”
I sit up straighter when Kaitlynn starts, as this is a topic I’m particularly interested in.
“In their regular form, these energies are both pretty harmful to living beings, but by repurposing the energy, they can be made harmless, or even beneficial, like with Dave’s Skill, Radiate Purity.”
I snicker. It’s still funny. Dave shoots me a glance and lets out a long-suffering sigh.
“As you all might’ve noticed, there are a number of ‘Radiate’ Skills for those with a Yang affinity, and ‘Infuse’ Skills for the Yin available in the Skilldream Shopping Window. However, there is really only one Radiate Skill and only one Infuse Skill. It’s a modular Skill, and adding a new Purpose to it is how you level it.”
Ah, so that’s how it works. Still, I feel like learning the basic form of the Skill to begin with is probably the best way to go about it.
“New Purposes for the Skills are only unlocked when you’ve at least experienced the Purpose once. For me, that’s three of them: Purity, which came from the crystals in the oasis back in the First Trial; Restore, which comes from the pink crystals in the preparation rooms and the Second Trial; and Detoxify, which apparently is a natural Purpose originating from the Blue Angels.”
Dave looks up interestedly. “Really? I don’t have that last one listed... perhaps I should try one of those myself some time.”
Kaitlynn nods happily. “That should get it listed! Though I don’t think getting it would be worthwhile right now.” She glances from me to Alec, and back to me. “Could you guys tell us what Purposes you have unlocked for Infuse? Kai wasn’t very forthcoming about Purposes that I couldn’t specify by name.”
I smile wryly. “Well, I unlocked the Dreamcloud Purpose, from a run-in with that plant, which nearly managed to put me under, and I unlocked the ‘Acid’ Purpose, probably by getting sprayed with a ton of acidic spit by Momma Plessie.”
“Aww man,” Alec moans, “I only have the regular Infuse Skill listed. You’re so lucky.”
In a feat of immense self-restraint and patience, I close my eyes and... give him a three-second head-start.
Unfortunately for Alec, there’s nowhere to run from the impromptu ‘Toughness training’ coming his way.
CHAPTER 4
Big spender
ONCE I’M DONE ‘TRAINING’ ALEC—all right fine, it’s more play wrestling than anything else—we turn to the final topic Kaitlynn asked about: the Fourth Trial. I had great hopes that her Personal Guide System, who was supposedly rather a chattermouth, might let slip a little too much, but no such luck.
“I confirmed we’ll be going in together, at least,” Kaitlynn says. “All he would say about the environment was that it’d be ‘Hot and humid.’ ”
“Some kind of jungle perhaps then, still,” Dave muses. “At least we won’t have to acclimatise too much.”
I nod. We can use every advantage we get.
Now that we’ve covered all of the topics we prepared questions about, the discussion naturally turns to purchases.
There’re two main things we need to buy: Skilldreams and better equipment.
It seems like the 20 Trial Points we received for completing Hub Two are actually meant for the latter, as weapons and simple sets of armour alike cost 10 Trial Points apiece. Well, some weapons come in sets as well, but that’s beside the point.
We already have armour and weapons, but these are better.
Particularly the weapons. Even my favourite spear, made from a semi-straight branch and topped with a pointed, relatively sharp shard of stone, seems woefully inadequate in comparison with the—admittedly oddly hostile—description of the spear in the Equipment Shopping Window.
Am I being paranoid here, or is Suri taking liberties with the description to mess with me? On second thought, she definitely is.
Anyway, there were no spears of other materials listed yet, but I have a feeling they might become available later. Unfortunately, my allotted time for questions was over by the point I was checking this out, so I’ll have to save it for later.
The armours are similarly impressive. There are full-body-covering leather armours made from a single, uninterrupted hide, knotted together with strips of its own leather, and intricate rock-plated armours. The latter boasts a much higher Toughness—60, compared to the leathers’ 40—but it comes with a Strength requirement none of us can currently match.
All in all, we decide we’ll be purchasing weapons, but no new armour yet. Our current armour, while a bitch to put on and take off, shouldn’t be too inferior with its Toughness of 36.
The question is, of course, what kind of extra options those 10 Trial Points per person open up.
Dave takes out a piece of bark and a sharp piece of rock on a small stick and starts asking us how many Trial Points we have and where we got them.
“Personally,” Dave says, “I came into Hub Two with 11 Trial Points to my name. I received 22 for, ehm, defeating Wesley, and with the 20 for completing Hub Two I now have 53 Trial Points.”
His club ‘defeated’ the shit out of Wesley’s skull all right. God, I hate this place.
Kaitlynn pipes up, “I came in with 6 Trial Points, so I now have 26.”
“I managed to save up 47 Trial Points before entering Hub Two,” Jacob says with a sigh. “So I’m at 67 now.”
“I’ve got 74!” Alec exclaims proudly. “Came in with 44, nabbed 8 from John, 2 from Boris, and then received the last 20 here, of course.”
He turns to me, smiling cockily. I smirk. “I’ve got more.”
His face freezes in confusion for a split second, and then falls. “Ah shiiit! I forgot about the 50 points you received for breaking that damn record!”
I nod. “That, the 20 I came in with, combined with Luke’s generous donation of 24 Trial Points and the final 20, puts me at 114.”
Kaitlynn shakes her head, smiling at me. Jacob lets out a low whistle.
Dave clears his throat. “Let’s talk Skilldreams.”
Alec shuts his gaping mouth and perks up. “All right, so I’m definitely going for Lightning Manipulation. It’s a medium-grade combat Skill based on Electric Energy—obviously—and it sounds friggin’ badass!”
My eye twitches. “Alec, was that your main criterion in picking this Skill?”
Alec flinches. “Ehm, no? A-anyway, I was thinking of purchasing a hammer to go with that, ehm, just, seems like a good combo, for some reason.”
Right. And my fists are getting itchy again, for some reason.
I rub my temple with a sigh, take a deep breath, and let it go. If cosplaying Thor will inspire Alec to work harder, then it might not be the worst thing.
Anyway, purchasing those will set him back 60 Trial Points, leaving him with 14 to save up.
Jacob speaks up next. “So, I was actually hoping to get the Skill Bruce got before Hub Two, but it’s out of my price range.”
Right, Suri told me ‘Decrease Momentum’ is a high-grade Skill costing 75 Trial Points, just like Decrease Inertia.
“I haven’t figured out yet what I should take instead,” he mumbles glumly.
“Well, what would be your preferred fighting style?” Dave asks. “Front-line or ranged?”
“Definitely front-line,” Jacob says immediately. “I mean, I’m relatively strong and I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty. It seems to be more what this group still needs as well. That’s why my second idea was getting Boost Physical, but...”
He glances at me and somehow I get what he means. “Your Lavi intake isn’t great, as you lack Respiration, and you’re afraid of running out of Lavi during a battle. And your resting Lavi consumption went up when you levelled as well.”
He nods. “Exactly.”
Dave hums thoughtfully. “Well, for a front-line fighter, the Kinetic Energy type Skills do seem like the best option. Why don’t you just take the medium-grade Skill Increase Momentum instead?”
&nbs
p; Jacob fidgets a little, his mouth twisting.
I manage to suppress my smirk. “There’s no need to feel inferior to Bruce, Jacob,” I tease him. “It’s not about the grade of the Skill, it’s how you use it.”
Kaitlynn snickers.
Red creeps up Jacob grey-tinted cheeks, and he rolls his eyes at me.
“Dude, she’s right though,” Alec says, “and Increase Momentum sounds totally awesome! You’ll always be at the front-line in seconds. Heck, you could turn yourself into a human battering ram!”
Jacob stops in his tracks, narrowing his eyes. “You know, I do believe I saw a shortsword and heavy shield combo pass by in the Equipment Shopping Window.”
I purse my lips appreciatively. That’s... a scary strategy. I like it.
I guess Alec has his uses after all.
Jacob confirms his decision. He, too, will be spending 60 Trial Points, leaving him with 7.
I turn to Dave. “Your turn. So, I imagine you’re facing a bit of a dilemma. After all, you’re kind of our healer right now, and I get the feeling we might really need you to pick up the Restoration variant of that Radiate Skill for the next Trial, except...”
Kaitlynn’s eyes widen. “Oh no, you only have 53 Trial Points and it costs 50! You wouldn’t even have enough left to buy a weapon!”
Dave hums in affirmation as he scratches his chin.
I frown. “Yeah, that’s less than ideal. Though to be honest, I wouldn’t be too keen on having you on the front lines in the first place.”
Dave shakes his head. “I was actually thinking of getting a bow. I didn’t pick the healer role randomly, you know? I was in an archery club in college, for several years.”
Of course you were, you perfect party member you.
I shrug. “Well, that doesn’t really change what I was about to suggest, actually. I’d like to purchase your weapon for you, so you can focus on getting Skilldreams.”
Dave opens his mouth, then closes it again.
“Well, that’s an underwhelming response, aren’t you going to protest my generosity?” I half-joke.