Book 2 - Chapter 10 (Patreon)

“[Scarred One] is locked forever now. You’ll never be able to take it back, no matter how much you regret giving all that power away. But what if I told you there was a way to get the best abilities of a [Scarred One], while also making yourself immortal?”

Still in Brin’s mental space, the Scarred One grinned maniacally at the chance to introduce one of his evil Classes.

Brin leaned forward on the couch and put his head in his hands. As much as he didn’t want to entertain the idea of the [Scarred One’s] pre-undead Classes, he had to admit he wanted to know what they were. “Go on.”

“Enter the Wight,” said Scarred One said with a grin. “You run faster. You hit harder. You can see heat and you can see in the dark. You shrug off wounds that would put anyone else down. Your body holds itself together with mana, just like with the [Scarred One], only this time, the magic stops anything from degrading. As long as you never empty your mana pool, you’ll stay young and beautiful forever. It’ll even stop the…” the Scarred One lost a little of the glimmer of excitement in his eyes. “...the rotting,” he finished under his breath.

“Uh huh. And as soon as I do go under that, I’ll start rotting,” said Brin.

“Ok, sure, but even that’s healable, when you… um… defeat enemies,” said the Scarred One.

“And by that you mean…” Brin waved expectantly.

“When you eat corpses,” he admitted.

“This just sounds better and better,” said Brin.

“Well excuse me! I didn’t think I was actually going to get the chance to sell you on this. I didn’t revise my pitch,” said the Scarred One. “To get the last ugly truth out of the way, undead lose System access. No more Classes and levels. But! You’ll keep all, well most, of the power you had with your Class. It’ll just be transferred to racial abilities. After that you can keep getting stronger, too! You’ll gain a portion of the power of each enemy you defeat.”

“You mean with each corpse I consume,” said Brin.

“I mean, I wouldn’t phrase it in those terms…” said the Scarred One.

“Yeah, that’s a ‘no’ from me, but I guess it’s nice to know what’s out there,” said Brin.

“Well, I haven’t even told you the best part: You don’t have to decide now. Let’s say you’re at death’s door. You’ve taken too many wounds, and since you’re not a [Scarred One] any more, that’s a real problem. Just chow down on some human brains, or maybe a heart would do, and I’ll trigger the Class change to [Corpse Eater]. After that, when you die you’ll rise again as a Wight. Sure, maybe not ideal, but it’s an easy-peasy escape hatch. Better than really dying.”

“I’m not so sure,” said Brin. “I’ve got some good evidence now that death isn’t the end. I hope when that time comes I’ll choose to die gracefully rather than turn into something horrible.”

The Scarred One flung his arms out. “What’s so horrible about being undead? You don’t have to eat corpses all the time. Just once in a while to keep in shape, and honestly, with the world we’re living in, you’re going to end up killing people. That’s a fact. Is it so much more wrong to eat them afterwards?”

“I think that yes, it is,” said Brin.

“Bah! I knew you would say something like that. Well, you’ll think about it. I know you will. Who knows, maybe you’ll feel differently when the time comes,” said the Scarred One. “But fine. Don’t want to eat dead people? Then maybe I can interest you in [Thrall]. The Class that evolves into a vampire.”

“You’re kidding,” said Brin. As much as he’d convinced himself not to be tempted by evil, vampires were kind of cool.

“Nope! Bona fide draculas in the house,” said Scarred One. “We’re talking about the premier eternal undead. Transform into a bird or a bat. Super strength and speed at night. Hypnotism that borders on mind control. Same deal with losing the System, but you’ll gain power by drinking blood. The best part? If your morals are getting in the way, don’t worry about it. You don’t even have to kill your… well I was going to say victims, but what’s the crime? Your helpers. Just take a bit and leave them alive! If you sneak in while they’re sleeping they probably won’t even know you were there. If even that’s too much for you? You can drink the blood of animals. What kind of strength do you think regular feeding off a big mutated bull named Poco would do for a vampire, do you think?”

Brin scratched his hair. “I really didn’t want to be tempted by this, but that actually sounds really cool.”

“Your childhood media is clouding your judgment. Vampires are not sexy,” said the Glasser.

“I know that! I never even read Twilight,” Brin snapped.

“I was thinking about Angel.”

“David Boreanaz is a work of art, what can I say?” Turning back to the Scarred One, he asked, “Is turning into a vampire going to screw with my personality like [Scarred One] did?”

“A little bit,” said Scarred One. “You’ll thirst for blood and that has an impact on people.”

“Also, I would need to take [Thrall] first. Does that mean I’d be someone’s slave?” asked Brin.

“Well, not necessarily, but it would leave you more vulnerable to that sort of thing after you turn. [Witches] can capture any free undead they find and use a fairly trivial ritual to bind its will. They could bind your soul nearly as strongly as they do to the undead they turn themselves. It’s a danger to watch out for.”

“Then it’s definitely not something to do while I’m still in Hammon’s Bog.” Brin sighed in relief. “Kind of nice to get that option off the table. I was seriously starting to get tempted.”

The Scarred One laughed. “Right? Oh, and vampires have one last racial ability you should know about. They can consume light. Doesn’t really work too well with daylight, not for long. They’re still terribly weakened by the sun. But at night? They can literally eat any nearby light sources, strengthening themselves and casting the world into darkness to aid their hunt. That makes them a particular danger to, oh I don’t know, any Classes who happen to specialize in creating light.”

“Like an [Illusionist],” said Brin. “Oh. Now I get why you’re telling me about this. These guys will need to be something to watch out for after I evolve my Class.”

The Scarred One nodded.

“What are their weaknesses?”

“The usual stuff. Silver and fire. Sunlight won’t kill them outright but it’ll make them sick and completely defenseless. Fight them during the day if you can; they’ll be weaker even if you’re underground.”

“Wooden stake through the heart?”

“Don’t bother,” said the Scarred One. “I mean, most things will die if you put anything through their heart. Doesn’t need to be wood, but there’s no reason it can’t be.”

“Fair,” said Brin.

“Are you done yet? I still haven’t gotten to talk about [Trapper],” said the Glasser.

“We’re done. I’m saying ‘no’ to those for now, thanks,” said Brin.

“Bah!” The Scarred One waved dismissively and returned to his restless pacing.

The Glasser cleared his throat. “[Trapper]. It’s the way you killed your first enemies, which is why you earned the Class. You never used it again, though, which is why you weren’t offered it at level one. You needed to kill something for your dinner to unlock it. This is primarily a Class for trapping animals for sustenance rather than warfare, but it can be used for both.”

“Fair enough,” said Brin.

“The danger of this Class isn’t to be underestimated,” said the Glasser. “You killed enemies thirty levels above you with traps, and this was without any Class at all. Now picture what you could do with levels in a Class specifically for that. Traps of flame or ice or lightning. Traps that confuse the senses to draw you in. Traps that put you to sleep. Maybe even traps that ensnare your soul.

“At the low levels, the base Skill [Craft Trap] doesn’t do much at all, sort of like your [Shape Glass]. But at high levels? Imagine using a single strand of hair to make an invisible tripwire that sounds an alarm only she can hear. Now imagine making thousands of those and sprinkling them all around the town. Breaking someone’s trap could be seen as abusing their hospitality. You get the picture.

“Even if Elvira isn’t a [Witch], tread carefully around her. I’d advise you to never enter her house, not for any reason. At best it’s full of traps against home intruders. At worst, the entire house is a giant sentient murder machine. That’s what you’d do.”

“That seems strong,” said Brin. “Strong enough to be tempting. What are the drawbacks?”

“A weapon is not a trap. You can’t throw something or hit someone with something, and you can’t collapse the ground under their feet where they’re already standing. You have to set the trap and then wait for them to run into it. It would let you punch high above your level when you have the advantage of surprise, but it makes you personally vulnerable when someone gets the jump on you.”

Brin’s mind whirled with the possibilities. Sure, you couldn’t use it as a weapon, but what if you put layers of boobytraps all across your body? It would be nearly the same thing. His [Glasser] foundation wouldn’t be useless for that, either. Glass would be great for all kinds of nasty surprises.

As much as he liked the idea, he also liked the plan he already had. The [Glasser]-[Illusionist] path was solid.

“I think I’ll pass for now,” said Brin. “Thanks for telling me about them. So to summarize, I need to investigate the [Digger], I need to work on Mental Resistance, I should be on the lookout for people with telekinesis that shouldn’t have it, and undead infiltrators may be a problem. Anything else I should be thinking about?”

“I believe our time is up,” said the Illusionist, pulling back his suit sleeve to look at an expensive wristwatch.

“One last thing. Did I earn [Illusionist] yet? Could I pick it now if I wanted it?” asked Brin.

“Not yet,” the Illusionist answered. “But I’m certain you’ll have it by the time you’re ready to take it. If you want to be sure… think about what I am. What I mean, on a fundamental level. If you’re having trouble, think about what an ‘Illusionist’ would be in your past life.”

Brin nodded. “Ok.”

Just like that, he was awake again.

An hour later, he was in the enchanted circle in the cellar, just finishing up telling Hogg the entire story.

“Vampire,” said Hogg, shaking his head. “I can’t believe he offered you vampire. I don’t think I have to tell you not to go there?”

“You don’t.”

“Good. Although…I can’t help but wonder how the light eating ability would synergize with [Illusionist]. You know, way back before the Eveladis was invented, vampires were seen as the best counter for an [Illusionist]. There were kings who had them serving openly in the highest councils, in positions of respect. Today, though, the only thing becoming a vampire will get you is an inquisition. Trust me, don’t go there.”

“Is there anything you can do to prepare? I don’t like the idea of having yet another counter to my Class,” said Brin.

“A vampire eating your light feels completely different to anything else, so you’ll know what’s coming in time to stop it,” said Hogg. “I’ve only ever faced one. He figured that once he started eating my magic he had me dead to rights. He didn’t figure that I would put all my free points into Dexterity, and definitely wasn’t expecting all the consumables I threw at him. The answer to this, like most things, is preparation, surprise, and money. Mostly money.”

Brin snorted. “Figures.”

Hogg slapped his hands against his thighs and stood up. “Thanks for telling me all that, but it’s time to run. I’ve got an appointment. You should come, too, actually. Calisto sent a runner. He finally finished the health potion.”

They left the cellar in a hurry, eager to see the potion, and to see if Calisto really got the [Alchemist] Class. Hogg did that thing where he walked so fast that Brin had to jog to keep up. He probably would’ve left Brin behind and sprinted the entire way, except he couldn’t go invisible any more so people would see the weird stuff he did.

“See, now you’ve got me thinking about it. [Trapper] is a pretty powerful Class. Maybe I should have taken it. I really need to talk to Elvira about–oh…”

Hogg stopped abruptly, and Brin looked around to find the danger. They were near the Peck’s place. Micah wasn’t in his usual spot on the rocking chair on the front step, which by itself wasn’t that unusual. Sometimes he went to bed.

Effa stood on the front porch, blinking up at the sun like she hadn’t seen it in years. Her body was twisted with neglect; she bent forward with a definite hunch, but she didn’t dart back inside.

She took a trembling step off her front porch. Then another. Soon, she was walking down the street.

“By Nedramus’ star,” said Hogg. “This your doing, Calisto?”

Brin turned to see Calisto. He had frazzled white hair and sallow, sunken skin like he hadn’t slept in a week, but there was a look of triumph in his eyes.

Brin used [Inspect].

Name: Just Calisto is fine.

Race: Human, of course.

Age: My age is none of your business.

Class: If you don’t know, then you aren’t from around here.

Description: Calisto’s [Hide Status] is very high level. You’re seeing exactly what he wants you to see.

Calisto’s quick eyes must’ve noticed Brin using [Inspect] somehow, because he said, “Oh, I don’t mind. Try that again.”

Name: Just Calisto is fine.

Race: Human, of course.

Age: My age is none of your business.

Class: [Alchemist]

Description: Calisto’s [Hide Status] is very high level. You’re seeing exactly what he wants you to see.

“You got it!” said Brin.

“I got it!” Calisto cheered.

“And the Peck’s?”

“My very first potion as an [Alchemist]. Your order pushed me over,” Calisto handed Hogg so surreptitiously and quickly that Brin would’ve missed it if he hadn’t been watching. “An elixir to heal the mental trauma of a terrible loss. There isn’t a name for it, or a recipe. I had to go by feel. [Alchemists] are not [Chemists], I’m having to learn everything again. It’s a beautiful time to be alive!”

“Where’s Micah?” asked Brin.

“Back at work! He took off immediately, like he was just waiting for the chance,” said Calisto.

Hogg grabbed Calisto by the hand, but then seemed lost for words. “Thank you for this. I’ll pay you full price for the–”

“You will not!” said Calisto. “You will not rob me of my victory! This was my choice and I pulled it off alone! It’s about time we found a way to help that poor family.”

Hogg nodded thoughtfully. “Thank you.”

“What are their Classes?” asked Brin. “I never asked what they did before… I mean, I never really imagined them working again. It’s a miracle.”

Calisto answered. “Micah was… is an [Earthworker]. He’s great at hauling dirt for farming or irrigation. Reshaping the land can also help drainage, which is very important if you live in a swampy area.”

“Like a Bog?” said Brin.

“Just like that,” said Calisto. He’s also very useful for collecting the clay for bricks. Effa is a [Seamstress]. Specifically, she made pretty dresses to sell out of town.”

“Can’t see much need for that with the town cut off from the rest of the country,” said Brin. “And can’t Tawna do that better?”

“I’ll buy however many dresses she can make,” said Hogg. “And even Tawna will use a [Seamstress] for her finishing work on the really good stuff.”

“Where do you think she’s going?” asked Brin.

They didn’t answer, so together the three of them watched the prematurely old lady amble down the street. She turned, and went into the public house.

“Well, it’s a start,” said Calisto.

Hogg sighed. “It’s a start. You know what? I’m going to go keep an eye on her.”

He darted off down the street towards the public house.

Brin shrugged. It really did feel good to see her up and about. No, it felt weird, like seeing a chicken fly. He was happy for her in a cerebral sense, but his actual emotions just felt weird.

“While I’ve got you,” said Brin. “Do you think you could make a potion of Turn Undead?”

After getting a fairly obvious and direct warning about undead that could pass for humans by his Class avatars, Brin could use every tool he could get his hands on.

Calisto pulled out a sketch pad and scribbled something. Then he tore off the page and handed it to Brin. Foxfire leaf. Three-pronged catsbush. Radish. And so on.

“These are ingredients?”

Calisto smiled. “Did you expect me to just say ‘no’? Hogg utterly transformed my life, and I pay my debts. These are the ingredients I need. If you can get a [Hunter] to search the forest for these, I can make it.”

Brin took the page. “Thanks.”

The [Hunters] would not look in the forest for herbs for him. The Prefit was being very strict. No one was to leave the village for any reason. If he wanted these things, he’d have to sneak out himself.