Solomon's Crucible 9. A Chosen Path (Patreon)

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Field Engineering was represented by a small grid that looked like a deformed Tetris block. Four squares on top of three. Some squares were empty and simply had to be filled in to progress, while other squares were decorated with little pictograms of the reward they would grant. 

At his command the squares filled in, one after the other. There was a little ding when Solomon picked up his first attribute point, a quiet fanfare that played when he picked up the disassemble ability, and another ding announcing the next attribute point. A louder fanfare heralded the completion of the grid and award of the affix ability.

Doing all that in one go was a rush. Solomon could feel the new abilities settle in. Like a new limb that he couldn't see. Actually, not at all unlike the feelings he still got from time to time from where his left hand used to be. 

Something to explore another time. As fascinating as it was that the system was actually handing out magical abilities, he was working against the clock.

After completing Field Engineering, he now had access to two new grids in addition to Berserker. Large Scale Projects came with bonuses for field fortifications, while Personal Equipment focused on building up items for his own use. They each took nine points to fill out, and continued the pattern from before: one attribute point for every three grid points, a special ability at the halfway point, and another ability at the end.

Solomon definitely wouldn't mind having a fortress to hole up in for a while, but the grid wouldn't be a practical choice to help him take on a dungeon. With a thought, he spent nine points on Personal Equipment. 

The Personal Equipment grid was three by three. As soon as the first box filled in, the Field Engineering grid disappeared. Again, attribute points were announced with a ding, and the new abilities with fanfare.

The special abilities from Field Engineering had focused on building things. The abilities from Personal Equipment focused on enhancement. The midpoint ability was a toughness boost that could be applied to any personal item made out of system materials. The capstone was an enchantment that would significantly enhance the performance of armor or weapons as long as he was the one using them.

Completing Personal Equipment opened up two new grids, while closing off Large Scale Projects. Berserker was also still available, but Solomon still wasn't interested.

The new choice was straightforward: Weapons or Protective Equipment. 

It came down to what he wanted to emphasize. He would be able to buy beginner's armor and beginner's weapons with the store credit he'd been given. He could either get by with a so-so weapon after giving himself the ability to make his armor better, or he could get by with so-so armor while upgrading his weapon.

Push come to shove, he could use caution as a substitute for defensive gear. It would be safer if he didn't have to, and he'd definitely be taking a risk, but it was at least possible he could avoid attacks that lousy armor couldn't stop. What if he ran into a monster that he couldn't hurt with a cheap weapon? He might be able to harvest resources and buy something better, but the ticking clock in the corner of his vision made him leery of such a time sink. It had just ticked under twenty hours remaining.

The Weapons grid was two rows of four and a row of three. Spending the eleven points to fill it out netted three attribute points along with two new abilities, together with the now-familiar audio cues. The first ability let him use mana to mold materials into shape. The second ability allowed him to enchant weapons to do more damage.

The Protective Equipment grid had vanished as soon as he put a point into Weapons. The next choice was between specializing in Melee Weapons or Projectile Weapons. 

Solomon was torn. Considering his need for immediate power, the Melee Weapon grid made a lot of sense. It would let him stack yet another enchantment onto whatever weapon he picked up, giving him some serious punch. On the other hand, he'd already dropped twenty-seven grid points with an eye for the short term. Surely he could afford to make a long term investment? If the monsters were going to keep getting bigger, he didn't want to have to get up close and personal with them any more than was absolutely necessary.

The Projectile Weapons grid was a row of five on top of two rows of four. Spending thirteen points to finish it off gave him four attribute points and another pair of abilities. The first was a refinement of the molding ability that he had just picked up. The second let him enchant projectile weapons to be more accurate.

The final choice between Cold Weapons and Firearms was no choice at all. Solomon had never fired a bow and arrow or thrown a javelin in his life. Moreover, the sudden nerf to his pistol was still the system change that had upset him the most. He spent fifteen points finishing out the grid without a second thought.

The Firearms grid gave him five more attribute points, bringing his total to twenty-three. He gained even finer control of his molding ability. Finally, in the capstone to fifty-five points of investment, he gained the ability to use mana to create and work with magical gunpowder.

Finishing off the Firearms grid didn't open up any new grid options. Only the Berserker grid was left open to Solomon and his single remaining grid point. He decided to keep the point in his pocket for the moment. A single point wouldn't get him anything, and he didn't think the ability to trade off clear thinking for a temporary strength boost was going to get any more appealing as time went on.

The last thing he had to do with the system was to decide where to put his attribute points. He had plenty to spend, but he couldn't be careless. He couldn't expect future points to come so easily.

He pulled up his current stat sheet.

[Name: Solomon Gragg

Skills: Pain Tolerance (MAX), Improvised Weapons Mastery (1)

Grids: Tutorial (6/6)
Field Engineering (7/7), Personal Equipment (9/9), Weapons (11/11), Projectile Weapons (13/13), Firearms (15/15)
Free grid points: 1

Strength: 12
Constitution: 12
Dexterity: 10
M. Capacity: 5
M. Intensity: 5

Free attribute points: 23

HP: 120/120
MP: 50/50]

Having access to context-sensitive help cues made the display much more informative than it had been before. He had a plethora of options when it came to his attribute points.

Strength was the most straightforward statistic. Good old muscle power. Constitution was the basis for his HP pool. Increasing it would also improve physical toughness and endurance to some extent. Boosting Dexterity would improve his reflexes, hand-eye coordination, and agility.

Over on the magical side of things, Magical Capacity provided the basis for his MP pool, while Magical Intensity controlled the strength of his magical abilities.

For Solomon's abilities, he didn't think Magical Capacity would matter much. Both HP and MP regenerated fully within an hour. He'd be spending his MP before and between combat. He wasn't a wizard who would live or die based on how many lightning bolts he could throw out in a fight.

Magical Intensity was more important. It needed to be at least ten in order for him to enchant metal weapons. He suspected that having it higher might be useful somehow, but he was too new to magic to be sure that it would provide any immediate benefits. Five points invested into Magical Intensity would do for now.

The improvements he could make to his gear ultimately had to be translated into results through his own physical prowess. He split the remaining eighteen points evenly between Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity. He wanted a fighting chance to get through the dungeon without losing any more of his extremities.

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