Chapter 221 - Unique (Patreon)

The next day, Zeke awoke with a sense of foreboding, and it took him a few minutes to figure out that it was just a side effect of his guilt. He expected everything to go wrong, and sooner, rather than later. Of course, he knew those feelings weren’t fair. After everything that had happened, he’d only lost two companions. By all rights, they all should’ve long since died. That they hadn’t was a testament to Zeke’s unique ability to survive whatever the Radiant Isles threw at him. But rational or not, the feelings remained. So, to distract himself, he dragged himself out of bed and began to go over his notifications from the fight with the wyrm.

First, and probably least important of the bunch, was that he had gained the bulk of his level, bringing him to within spitting distance of the pinnacle. Zeke had no idea how experience worked in the new world; when he’d killed the fireback turtle, which, ostensibly, was supposed to be on the same tier as the wyrm, he’d gotten far less experience. Perhaps it was a testament to how much of a range existed within the various tiers. Certainly, the wyrm had been a much more difficult opponent to face.

After allocating his stat points into strength, Zeke moved on to the next notification, which denoted an achievement:

Queenslayer – You have slain one of the most powerful beings on the plane, the Wyrm Queen. +25 To All Stats, +5% to All Stats

It was an incredible achievement that would give him yet more power, but he couldn’t help but wonder if it would be enough to protect his remaining friends. Talia possessed survivability that, while not on par with Zeke’s own, far exceeded that of any normal person. At least as far as Zeke had seen. Pudge, because of the soulbond he shared with Zeke, was in a similar position. But if Abby ever found herself in the line of fire, she would be hard pressed to make it out alive. It was a good thing, then, that she preferred to fight at range. Due to her position within the tower, the fight with the wyrm had been far less dangerous for her.

With a sigh, he leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. Was he doomed to continue losing companions? Was that what progress meant? He could become the strongest man in the world, but even that wouldn’t have saved Carlos. Or Tucker. Certainly nor Abby, if it came to that.

Running his hand through his patchy hair, Zeke pushed those thoughts aside. There was nothing he could do about any of it, anyway. Better to focus on the things he could do, rather than lament all the ways he fell short. So, he concentrated on the next notification, which was, simultaneously, the most exciting and troubling of the bunch. Exciting, because he’d been working toward it for more than a year, and it promised a marked increase in his power. Troubling, because it offered choices, and he suspected that making the wrong decision had the potential to send him down a path he couldn’t even see, much less evaluate.

Marshalling his courage, Zeke looked at the notification he’d seen just before he’d fallen asleep the day before:

Quest: The Favor of Aja (complete)

Objective: Gather the following materials: Frost Giant’s Toe, Soul of a Warlock, Moss of Immolation, Heart of a Wyrm

Choose Reward: Racial Evolution (three choices) – Path of the Demon, Path of Humanity, Path of the Cambion

“What did you get?” he asked, feeling Abby’s eyes drilling into his back. She had been awake well before him, though she’d tried to pretend otherwise. “For the quest, I mean.”

“Another racial evolution,” she stated. “More stats. Better senses. More of the same, really. Why? Is that not what you got?”

“No,” Zeke said. “It’s not. I got choices. Three paths. Demon, Human, and Cambion. Probably because of…because of my unique circumstances.”

“That makes sense.”

“Does it?” he asked, turning his head to look at her. She lay on her side, her head propped up with one arm. Her chest was exposed, with a sheet falling around her waist. Her golden hair was loose, and a few locks had fallen across her forehead. In short, she was the very picture of beauty, and not for the first time, Zeke wondered how he’d gotten so lucky. He let out another breath, saying, “None of this makes sense to me. I have no idea why my race changed in the first place. Sure, I was tortured for what felt like an eternity, and Oberon said that succubus put some kind of mark on me. But how could that have been enough?”

“You’re asking me, but who am I going to ask?” she said. “I don’t know, Zeke. But it’s been a good thing so far, hasn’t it? It gave you fire resistance that’s probably the only reason you’re still alive. And there’s the soul flaying thing that you hate to use. The pain tolerance, too. It’s all a benefit, isn’t it?”

“I guess.”

“Then stop complaining about an opportunity that anyone in this world would kill to have,” she said. “Just accept that you’re unique and special and move on to reap the benefits.”

Zeke didn’t have an answer for that. Of course, everyone thinks of themselves as special, but few really are. Perhaps Zeke was one of those rare individuals that could make the claim without exaggerating or lying. In any case, he focused on his options:

Path of the Demon – Demons are masters of energy manipulation. Whether it’s various types of mana, vitality, or soul energy, they are unparalleled in their control. Embrace your demonic side.

“Well, that’s not creepy at all,” Zeke muttered. He read the description to Abby, hoping she had some insight.

“I wish it was a little more descriptive,” she said. “For a system with hard and fast rules, the Framework sure is stingy with explanations sometimes. What’s the next one.”

Zeke read it:

Path of the Human – Humanity is unremarkable. And yet, they remain the most ubiquitous and successful race in the universe, and beneath the apparent mundanity is a wellspring of strength. Embrace your human side.

“Well, that’s not helpful at all,” Zeke said after reading the description aloud. “What the hell does any of that even mean? And is it trying to make me disregard it?”

“Maybe it’s just not as good. What’s the next one?” Abby asked.

“Path of the Cambion,” he answered. “The half-demon, half-human one.”

He read it:

Path of the Cambion – An incredibly rare race, unseen in the lower realms until now, the Cambion are hybrids. You straddle the line between two realms, drawing strength from both.  Embrace the duality of your nature.

Again, Zeke shook his head. There really wasn’t much information for any of the choices, which made his decision incredibly difficult. On the surface, he wanted to discard the first option, just because he feared embracing anything with demonic in the name. He’d fought against demons, and that had given him a deep enough perspective to know that he didn’t want to become one of them.

However, after reading the descriptions, a foreign sense – perhaps emanating from the Framework itself – told him that a racial evolution was not a transformation. Whichever path he chose, he would remain a cambion, with all the previously acquired benefits that had come with it.

After explaining it to Abby, she said, “That makes sense. It’s an evolution, right? Not a transformation. But this feeling, that doesn’t feel normal.”

Zeke shrugged. “Maybe it’s Aja,” he said. “Seems like a quest reward from a goddess would be different than one from the Framework. Maybe. I don’t know. I’m flying kind of blind here.”

Abby asked, “Which one feels like the right one?”

Zeke gave another shrug of shoulders, but he concentrated on the descriptions. To his surprise, something sparked his intuition, and he suddenly understood more about the choices.

“The first one, the demon one, feels like it would allow me to use skills better,” he said. “And I think it would be particularly beneficial for [Life Scythe]. And don’t ask me how I know this. Maybe it’s instinct. Maybe it’s a hint from the Framework. Or maybe Aja wants me to have all the information before I make my decision. I’m not sure, but I trust the feeling.”

“Okay. What do you feel from the human one?” she asked.

“Stats,” he said. “Lots and lots of stats. Kind of like the previous evolution, but on steroids or something.”

“And the third?” was the predictable next question.

Zeke focused on the Path of the Cambion, and he was rewarded with the most complicated feeling yet. “It’s like…I don’t know…”

“Kind of a combination of the two, maybe?” Abby suggested.

Zeke shook his head. “No. It’s different. Way different. I feel like it has something to do with force. Or momentum. Like being part of two worlds would make me exponentially more substantial or something,” he said. “It feels stronger than the others. But muddier, too.” He glanced at Abby, asking, “What do I do?”

“What do your instincts tell you?” she asked. “Don’t think. Just go with your gut.”

“The third,” was his immediate answer. “The first two are powerful, but in different ways. One will enhance my skills. The other will help my stats. The third, though…it feels different. It feels unique.”

“So? Seems like you’ve made your choice,” she said.

“But what if it’s the wrong one?” Zeke asked. “I’ve already screwed up with my skills, and I’ve spent countless hours trying to fix things. But this…I can’t fix this kind of a mistake, can I? I’ll be stuck with it.”

“Whether or not you screwed up with your skills is debatable,” Abby said, sitting up. She put her hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Every decision you’ve made has led you here. Each of those skills has proven valuable at one point or another. So, my advice? Go with your gut. It seems pretty reliable.”

Zeke didn’t really know how to respond to that, so he continued to ponder the decision. But regardless of how long he thought about it, no new information presented itself. More, he started to doubt the intuition that had given him hints at each choice’s nature. Finally, he made a decision.

“I hope this is the right choice,” he said, selecting the third option. His decision was based on instinct as much as logic, but it came down to one, simple fact. He wasn’t a demon. Nor was he a human. There were bits of both inside of him, and choosing anything but the Path of the Cambion would have felt like denying part of himself. Besides, it seemed rare to the point of uniqueness. That had to count for something.

The moment he made his choice, a deep, satisfying sense of warmth spread throughout his body. His still-pink and half-healed skin bloomed back to health, the headache that had been building in the back of his mind faded away, and the weariness he’d been carrying deep in his bones dissipated, replaced by a wellspring of energy. His senses sharpened, the core that contained his mana grew, and his mind raced with new understanding. In all, it felt like a combination of being reborn and those initial level-ups he’d experienced back in the troll caves.

Flexing his hand, Zeke said, “Oh, that feels good. Really good.”

Abby leaned forward, asking, “What were the benefits?”

It wasn’t until that moment that Zeke realized that he’d been sitting there for five minutes, basking in his newfound strength. Belatedly, he examined his status and the accompanying notifications. First, he looked at the latest achievement:

Unique Evolution – Through circumstance and hardship, you have evolved in a way unique to your plane. +5% to All Stats

That was an amazing benefit all on its own, but it was only the beginning. He moved on to the race line in his status and drilled down:

Cambion (F) – A rare creature that blends a mundane sentient race with the demonic. Because of the circumstances of their birth, demons possess near immunity to fire, are greatly resistant to physical pain, and have a bloodline ability to augment any skill with invasive energy that attacks the soul. However, they are also susceptible to uncontrollable rage as well as attacks which harness the divine. Less evolved demons are also weaker against soul attacks. Cambions are the best of both worlds and have many of the strengths with vastly reduced weaknesses. Path of the Cambion chosen. Effects: Ability to harness the connection between two worlds, increasing or decreasing your weight. Increased durability while weight is enhanced.

Zeke was impressed, and he very much wanted to try the new ability out. Because of the nature of Voromir, his mace, he already had a healthy appreciation for the ability to increase or decrease an object’s weight, and, after only a few seconds, he could already think of a multitude of ways to exploit his newly evolved body. But it was neither the time nor the place for experimentation, so he moved on to the next item on his list: the statistical effects of his racial evolution.

Fused Body and Soul (F): A Cambion is a creature of duality, with two disparate halves becoming a single whole. As such, the body and soul become one. +15 to All Stats Per Level. Upgradeable.

Zeke was less impressed with those gains. Certainly, he wouldn’t turn down three extra attribute points, but he suspected that if he’d chosen the Path of Humanity, it would have been a much greater increase. Still, with the combination of his new ability as well as the stat increases, with every facet of his existence seeing some enhancement, he couldn’t imagine being disappointed.

After he explained everything to Abby, she said, “Wow. I got a few extra stat points for my evolution, but that ability sounds pretty useful. Especially with your unique fighting style.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“Well, you like to jump at monsters, right? Who’s to say that, at the apex of your leap, you can’t increase your weight and come down like a meteor?” she suggested. “I mean, before the whole strategy was kind of dumb, but now, you might be able to turn a weakness into a strength.”

“Wow. Okay. First of all, when I jump at the monsters, it’s because they’re like ten times my size,” he said. “I literally don’t have any other way to reach them. And second…well…I don’t have any other points, but I’m not dumb for jumping at giant monsters.”

“Sure you’re not,” she said, patting him on the leg.

Zeke let out a long-suffering sigh, then concentrated on his status. He’d made some significant gains, and he wanted to see how much he’d improved.

Based on his status, Zeke had made progress by leaps and bounds, gaining hundreds of stat points since last he’d checked. Still, he suspected that those increases would eventually pale in comparison to the effects of his racial evolution. But he would have to wait a bit to see exactly how much difference there was.

One thing was certain, though – he was on the verge of maximizing his potential within this plane. Soon, if he wanted to continue his growth, he would have to ascend to the next. Otherwise, he would begin to stagnate.

“We’re almost at the end,” he said, lying back and resting his head in Abby’s lap.

“The end of the beginning,” Abby corrected, her hand snaking through his hair. “There’s a much bigger universe out there, just waiting for us to explore. We’ve only just started our journey.”