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by Matthew Siege

  "I select Unelected Emissary," I said.

  Adam

  Level 2 Unelected Emissary

  Primary Abilities - Amplify, Suffer, Imprint

  Passive Abilities - Kismet, Influence

  Primary Ability: Amplify

  Magically enhance an existing effect.

  Base score - Seventy

  Primary Ability: Suffer

  Given time, the last 5% of your hit points will slowly recover. Ability does not negate death.

  Base score - Sixty-Five

  Primary Ability: Imprint

  Newborn neutral Fauna that see you before a member of their own species will become unwaveringly loyal.

  Passive Ability: Kismet

  Sometimes, things work out in your favor.

  Passive Ability: Influence

  Grants an additional 10% chance to inspire Allies and taunt Enemies and an additional 20% chance to Summon, Train and Control Companions.

  I shrugged. Not bad overall, though I probably could have done with a few more combat-related abilities. Still, it looked like magic was the wild card here. Even though right now I could only influence effects that were already in existence, if I could work out how to do that well enough I could see myself having the upper hand in a lot of situations.

  And just like anything, I was pretty sure that practice would make perfect.

  But how was I supposed to make magic 'work'? That answer would probably require some research, and I started by trawling through the mental screens the Citadel gave me access to. If I was going to get further explanation, it'd be there. I could really do with an instruction manual right about now, but the harder I looked the more obvious it became that I was on my own.

  "Okay," I said with a sigh. "If investigation isn't going to work, let's go with trial and error."

  I looked around for something to target. My first thought was to make one of the fires flare up, since it'd be an obvious effect that I could amplify. "Great idea," I scolded myself, "since you've got no way of knowing how good you're going to be at this. What will you do when you accidentally ramp up all of the fires at once and cook yourself to a crisp?"

  I doubted I'd be able to pull that sort of thing off, but there was no reason to risk it if I didn't have to. If I wasn't cautious, I'd lose my chance at whatever this gift was before I got near enough to it to justify Toot's sacrifice.

  A simple jump might have worked too, but the same fears as the fire kicked around in the back of my head. What if I boosted myself too high and I broke my leg when I landed?

  Thankfully, there were a few rocks scattered around. I picked up a couple, holding them in my palm and staring down at them with every ounce of concentration and willpower I could harness.

  Nothing happened. I guess I was expecting them to get hot or glow or something, but all they did was sit there. I redoubled my efforts, fighting to clear my mind as I tried to force the rocks into being better.

  I growled in frustration before dragging up the Citadel's explanation of my newfound magical ability once again.

  Primary Ability: Amplify

  Magically enhance an existing effect.

  "There you go, idiot. That's clearly not going to work because there's no existing effect here. All you're doing is talking rocks into remaining motionless. If that counts as magic, then you've been a fucking wizard your whole life."

  I tossed one of the rocks into the air, caught it and whipped it at the fire in one motion. Once I'd let it go, I did my best to give it a mental shove on the way to the target.

  Skill: Impetus

  Allows you to increase an existing action. Does not apply to effects which must originate at the Chemical or Molecular level. However, Impetus is a prerequisite for Catalyze, which does.

  Base Score - Thirty-three

  New Score - Thirty-four

  Skill: Guided Impact

  Allows you to aid the speed and accuracy of projectiles you are responsible for propelling.

  Base Score - Twenty

  New Score - Twenty-One

  My reward was a big shower of sparks and a clatter of firewood. I put a lot more into my second throw, which made my accuracy worse. Still, the rock struck the grass with enough force to dig a narrow furrow before skipping off into the nearby trees.

  Skill: Guided Impact

  New Score - Twenty-Two

  Skill: Impetus

  New Score - Thirty-Five

  I was only a little embarrassed that my reaction was to jump up and down and cheer for my little victory. I probably looked like a fool, but there wasn't anyone to see me.

  Besides, I didn't care. I was too busy being giddy with power as I stretched out my finger and aimed at the fires one by one, making the flames leap and roar in turn.

  Skill: Catalyze

  Allows you to increase an existing effect originating at the Chemical or Molecular level.

  Base Score - Six

  New Score - Seven

  My grin was already splitting my face, but there was one last thing to do. I needed to see how hard I could push this, so I let all of the fires die back down. I'd forced them to consume the available wood that'd been stacked on them when I cranked them up, and now all that was left were thirteen piles of embers. Even so, it should be enough to see what I was capable of.

  I took a deep breath, planted my feet and focused on the heat source farthest from me, just in case. I threw my effort into it, not bothering to ramp up the power level slowly this time.

  Skill: Catalyze

  New Score - Eight

  The air above the fire wobbled violently. The ground beneath it cracked as the dirt cooked instantly. The stones that had landed near my earlier targets shattered, throwing slivers of shrapnel in little arcs that pitted the surrounding turf.

  My vision swam, and not just from the wave of heat that rushed over me. Even from thirty yards away I felt singed, but at least I was still standing.

  Impressed, I checked to see if I'd done myself any damage.

  Hit Points - 16

  That was the same as always, though I was disappointed to find that my increase in levels hadn't granted me a boost. Toot had told me back in the glade the first time around that the sum was arrived at by multiplying Stamina and Fortitude. It looked like I'd have to bump one or both of those stats if I wanted to give myself a little more breathing room, though I preferred to see how my Unelected Emissary progress went before fiddling with my statistics.

  I looked around the Safe Place again, wondering what else I could try my newfound ability out on. I didn't find anything, though I was surprised to see that yet another new path now led away from here, into an area I couldn't access before.

  Not following it was never a choice. I was on a quest of sorts, and even if I didn't know its importance or the ultimate destination, ignoring obvious signs intended to allow me to progress felt incredibly disrespectful to Toot.

  Even if I didn't make it through whatever lay ahead, I was grateful that he'd trusted me enough to allow me into this place. Up until now I hadn't even been able to improve my status or learn new abilities. Now that I had a couple of levels under my belt, I was pleased that I might actually have a little bit of badass to back up my swagger.

  I smiled and headed down the fresh trail. If I'd been able to defeat CAV with hardly any skills on hand other than my own cunning, I couldn't wait to see what I could do to the next guy who crossed my path and meant me harm.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  I may have been allowed to progress to a new area, but my advancement was not completely unfettered. The slice that had opened up in the corkscrew trees wasn't wide to begin with, but every step felt more claustrophobic than the one before. The path was gradually narrowing, and I was as careful as I could be to remain in the middle of it.

  As deliberate as I was, it was impossible to make any sort of quick headway if I was going to be cautious about not snagging my clothes on the vegetation. To make matters worse, some of the vines that woun
d their way tightly from one branch to the next were covered with sharp, purple thorns. A closer inspection showed that the tips of them were oozing a thick substance that burned the air with their scent.

  I assumed it was a toxin, some sort of venom. Unfortunately for me, the easiest way of finding out if I was right was also the most dangerous. I'd rather go slow and be wrong than rush through this green and purple gauntlet, picking up cuts and scratches that would harbor something terrible working through my bloodstream.

  An early demise would be the worst possible outcome, and I knew if I was impatient and headstrong that'd be just what I'd earn myself.

  It's fine, I told myself. You had to learn patience at some stage. Why not now? It's not like you have a very clear ticking clock looming over your head, or that one of your only allies only recently expressed sorrow over how little time you had left, right?

  The ground here was different as well. Back in the Safe Place it had been the green stuff I was used to, but that had quickly given way to a luxurious expanse of strangely crisp blue leaves. They crunched beneath my feet like new fallen snow, and whenever I glanced behind me I could clearly see my footsteps. Once broken by my tread, the damaged foliage crumbled and withered to nothing immediately, revealing only black dirt beneath.

  At least it'll be easy to track somebody in this, if it comes to that...

  I could only wrinkle my nose at the thought, though. Up until a few minutes ago I hadn't felt like I had any particular expertise in hunting aside from the Eagle Scout badges I'd earned a while ago. Those had been more about identifying tracks than stalking prey, though at least now I felt sure that my newfangled aptitude in Survival might hold me in good stead.

  It was odd how willing I was to put my faith in the Citadel's system. I'd always pretended that the games I'd played were real, and the boring, commonplace life that I was forced to lead between them was the real simulation. I was more at home doing brash, sometimes heroic things than attempting to integrate into a society that rewarded gentle compliance.

  It wasn't like I could imagine anything better, though. For all its rough edges, if the world didn't have a series of unwritten rules that you were expected to follow, I could see things going bad fast.

  I was just more at home here than there, that was all. At least the rules in this place followed a logic that meshed with my own.

  Species Specific Skill: Scopaesthesia

  Some Humans have the ability to know when another creature is watching them. You are one of them.

  *NOTE* Your Unelected Emissary path has increased your base Scopaesthesia skill by Thirty

  Base score - Thirty-Six

  New score - Thirty-Seven

  Even though the amount of information that got dumped into my brain about my skill and the recent changes to it wasn't exactly small, I couldn't help but marvel at how fast the data got processed. It was as if the Citadel had a way of bypassing all of the parts of my mind that would normally question and analyze knowledge and instead simply smacked it straight into my internal hard drive.

  It was seamless, and I didn't find my reactions slow or my reflexes clunky as I felt the odd tingling on my left side and stepped to my right, turning my head in the initial direction I'd sensed the stalker and scanning the thick vegetation for signs of an attack.

  I didn't see any, but that obviously didn't mean there was nothing there. I was certain that it was entirely possible some critter or rival Faction had a way of tricking my awareness, but I wasn't about to start doubting it just because my initial, hurried inspection came up empty.

  It was almost impossible for me to get a glimpse through the slender gaps in the dense wall of trees and vines that made up the sides of the corridor I was in. I feigned disinterest and picked up my pace, only to suddenly freeze in place in an attempt to fool whatever may be following me into giving itself away.

  Skill: Stratagem

  New Score - Thirty-Five

  If I hadn't been focused on the goings-on within that particular section of foliage, I never would've heard the subtle sound that reached my ears. It was there, though. There was no point in convincing myself that it wasn't.

  I had no way of attacking through the branches. Even if I did, I don't think I would've wanted to get close enough to those purple thorns to attempt it.

  If fight wasn't going to be an option, then I'd have to go with flight. I broke into a run and sprinted down the trail as fast as I could go. If I could outdistance whatever it was that had been shadowing me, great. If not, at least I'd put myself closer to the end of these cramped confines.

  I tried to give myself an edge with a touch of Impetus, but I don't think I was skilled enough to make it happen, since it didn't work.

  The burning in my lungs and the stitch that soon began to twist around in my side reminded me that I hadn't yet done anything to improve my Stamina. I was paying for my unwillingness to shift my statistics around now, that was for sure.

  I couldn't have run more than a couple of hundred yards from the spot where I'd discovered that I was being shadowed, but I could already see that I was just about at the limit of my endurance.

  Even worse, there were more sounds coming from off to my left now. Whatever was over there was aware that it had been found out. Caution had been thrown to the wind, and it was now in pursuit.

  I didn't have any choice but to slow down, and I could hear it catch up to me. The only thing I could do was attempt to stay as far on the right hand side of the path as I could. I still needed to be cautious of those thorns, but if I let my wariness slow me down too much I risked whatever was on my left thrusting a spear or something through the branches to take me out.

  I wasn't even able to keep up a jog now, and I knew that I would have to stop soon. An overly optimistic voice in my head sought to console me by saying that there was a chance that I was simply being a touch overcautious. After all, it wasn't like there was a rule that said that every creature I met within the Citadel had to be an adversary.

  It was a pleasant thought, but one I didn't put much stock in. For starters, the only real ally I'd found so far apart from the ones that were forced to be in my Faction had been a member of a race that was literally barred from competition. Perhaps if I met Toot before his people had been banned, he'd have tried to take me out as well...

  A vast majority of the evidence I'd seen up to now indicated that life in the Citadel was deadly serious to the species that took part.

  I supposed there was a chance that whatever was after me could be bargained with, though. It was worth a shot, particularly because I was clearly never going to be able to outrun it...

  "You win, you win," I panted, screeching to a halt. My feet left long streaks in the dirt beneath the blue grass and leaves as the plants died and floated away at my touch. "Tell me what it is you want and I'll see if I can give it to you."

  I could barely make out the nearly silent footfalls as it padded up to the vegetation across from me. A pair of luminous, purple eyes faded into view as the hunter pressed its face against the other side of the branches. There must be thorns over there too, but it didn't seem at all concerned.

  He was short, his facial features thin and sallow. Perhaps his size shouldn't have provided me as much comfort as it did, but the fact that his head only came up to about the level of my shoulders made me wonder if I could take him in a fight.

  I was nowhere near the bruiser that Atlas was and I didn't have any of Lucas's powerful physical enhancements, but I felt like if I could draw him within arm's reach I could do some damage to him anyway.

  "Don't stop me from taking it," he said, his voice an odd mix of trill and husky whisper that I doubted I could replicate, since he somehow managed to occupy both the upper and lower registers at once. "That's all that I want."

  Is there anybody in this place that could just make sense, right off the bat? Is that too much to ask? I shook my head. "I don't expect you to believe this, but I have no fucking idea what you're
talking about."

  "Liar."

  "See what I mean?" I said to him, trying to catch my breath without making it look like that's what I was doing. "How about this, then? Just pretend I am telling the truth, if only for a second. Okay? What is it I'm stopping you from taking?"

  The wave of confusion that rolled over his features was so palpable that I almost felt bad for him. He looked utterly lost in doubt, his thin mouth a pained slash across his face.

  "I can't remember," he muttered to himself, and then his purple eyes focused on me once more. "I knew before you asked. It was burned into me, a brand that drove me on but now it's gone. Gone! Your sorcery will not be rewarded!"

  I blinked a couple of times in response to the fury that I'd somehow awakened in him and took a step in the other direction. "Hang on now. I didn't do anything except ask you a question."

  "You stole it. You wanted to and you took it from my mind."

  Talking to him had seemed like a good idea before I started doing it, but this conversation was spinning out of control so fast that I was starting to get dizzy.

  I had an idea. "Did Toot bring you here as well? Maybe you're supposed to help me find what I'm looking for. Or I'm supposed to help you," I added, hoping not to make things worse.

  "Toot?"

  Shit. What had he called his race? I dug around in my brain for the answer and came up with it. "The Yvarre'en. Did the Yvarre'en bring you here?"

  "Yes!" he shouted, the once wavering voice growing incredibly strong. "They did. We were promised a gift, if only we could claim it. I've searched throughout this thicket in vain, but I've never found the Challenger they spoke of. Until now," he said, realization dawning.