by Tao Wong
Once I’ve handed over the armor for fixing, I buy the Skills, feeling my brain and body get a System makeover. It’s nowhere near as bad as getting my Class, but it’s never fun buying non-Class Skills because the System updates your mind for you. Still, it’s necessary, if for no other reason than to make sure we don’t end up dead.
Once I’m done, I pull up the modified Status Screen that Ali provided.
Status Screen
Name
John Lee
Class
Erethran Paladin
Race
Human (Male)
Level
36
Titles
Monster’s Bane, Redeemer of the Dead, Duelist, Explorer, Apprentice Questor, Galactic Silver Bounty Hunter
Health
4350
Stamina
4350
Mana
4010
Mana Regeneration
257 (+5) / minute
Attributes
Strength
297
Agility
386
Constitution
435
Perception
226
Intelligence
401
Willpower
435
Charisma
164
Luck
90
Class Skills
Mana Imbue
3*
Blade Strike*
5
Thousand Steps
1
Altered Space
2
Two are One
1
The Body’s Resolve
3
Greater Detection
1
A Thousand Blades*
3
Soul Shield
4
Blink Step
2
Portal*
5
Army of One
4
Sanctum
2
Penetration
6
Aura of Chivalry
1
Eyes of Insight
1
Beacon of the Angels
2
Eye of the Storm
1
Vanguard of the Apocalypse
2
Society’s Web
1
External Class Skills
Instantaneous Inventory
1
Frenzy
1
Cleave
2
Tech Link
2
Elemental Strike
1 (Ice)
Shrunken Footsteps
1
Analyze
2
Harden
2
Quantum Lock
3
Elastic Skin
3
Disengage Safeties
2
Temporary Forced Link
1
Hyperspace Nitro Boost
1
On the Edge
1
Combat Spells
Improved Minor Healing (IV)
Greater Regeneration (II)
Greater Healing (II)
Mana Drip (II)
Improved Mana Missile (IV)
Enhanced Lightning Strike (III)
Firestorm
Polar Zone
Freezing Blade
Improved Inferno Strike (II)
Elemental Walls (Fire, Ice, Earth, etc.)
Ice Blast
Icestorm
Improved Invisibility
Improved Mana Cage
Improved Flight
Haste
The biggest change since we left Irvina a few years ago, beyond picking up my armor, is that I’ve purchased more Class Skills. Not passive Skills, but active Skills and most of them in my own Class too. Once I realized how scarce Class Skills points were, I decided to focus on upping old active Skills with Credits. It’s cheaper to pick up those Skills because they’re already part of my Skill set, unlike picking up something out of Class. Of course, each level costs ever more Credits, making it cheaper to reinforce a slew of low level Skills than focusing on getting a higher level overall.
On top of that, I have to admit I still prefer the flexibility of having multiple Skills to use. Since I finance our entire expedition via the sale of loot and the Credits we get from kills—and the occasional dungeon run—I don’t have a lot of excess enchanted equipment. And since I have no idea when and what kind of problem might hit, more options are better.
On top of all that, the other Class Skills for the Paladin tree aren’t that interesting. Oh, the third tier all have powerful Skills. Judgment of All makes Army of One look like a firecracker next to an artillery shell. Shackles of Eternity is an evil, evil social gaeas Skill. But for the short term, increasing Penetration offers more bang for the buck. It makes our current work of killing much easier. There’s also the potential of evolving the Skill, which is my current goal. Of course, at the minimum, I need eight points dedicated to it. When you only have twenty-five Skill points per Class progression, that means a minimum investment of a quarter of all my points. It’s not even possible to purchase the progression, though why, I’ve yet to research.
Eight is also on the low end of dedicated points. From everything I’ve read about upgrade Skills, there’s no guarantee when a Skill evolves. Two individuals putting points into the same Skill will trigger a Skill evolution at different point levels and with differing effects. The only guarantee is that the more points you put in, the more powerful the evolved Skill. But if I’ve got to dedicate half my points to a Skill Evolution, I’m not sure it’s worth it. It’s one of the reasons not every Master Classer or Heroic bothers. And why most Evolved Skills are at the first tier of a Class tree rather than the last tier.
Either way, it’s not something I have to worry about right now. At least not till I get to at least eight points. If the Skill Evolution doesn’t trigger then, I’ll have to reconsider my choices.
“John?” Foxy coughs to get my attention.
“Armor ready, eh?”
I take the time to dress properly, checking for damages and feel before nodding. Now that my buying is all done, I need to make a call. One that I’m not particularly looking forward to.
***
“Katherine,” I greet the bust-sized hologram of my ex-City Manager now Ambassador to Earth.
The woman looks older, more tired, which is saying something when System regeneration paves over issues like physical exhaustion. With a decent Constitution, the amount of sleep required drops significantly—though long-term sleep deprivation is still a problem. “John, I see you succeeded. And survived.”
“Yup.” I glance at the counter beside the hologram, an indicator of how much it’s costing me for this conversation. Needing the entire conversation to be both encrypted and secret means that I’m bleeding Credits. It won’t stop someone who has the budget, but the bar is high enough that few would. “Who’s next?”
“Are you that eager to continue?” Katherine says, eyebrows drawing down and creasing her forehead.
“It’s what I do, isn’t it?” Even I can hear the bitterness in my voice. “So who?”
“No one. We’re, well, we’re good.”
“Don’t lie to me,” I say, shaking my head. “I know the attacks haven’t stopped. The trade embargoes and the assassinations.”
“And they won’t,” Katherine confirms. “We’re challenging a whole belief system, a way of doing business. Those who have something to lose, they aren’t going to stop. But you don’t have to be the tip of the spear anymore. You shouldn’t.”
“As if we have another—”
“We do. You weren’t the only one who had a hard time. Or got better.”
“The Champions? Those do-gooders?”
“There are others.”
When I stare at Katherine, she shakes her head, ref
using to elaborate. I get it. Information that isn’t spoken here is information that can’t be bought or spread.
“The Champions are needed on Earth anyway. Especially with the new defense system,” she says.
“Defense?”
“Yes.” Katherine waves.
A second later, a notification appears before me.
Planetary Defense Grid Mark 3.9 (Enhanced by Diamant’s Aura of Long Suffering Displeasure)
Drawing upon ambient Mana density in a planet and donated Mana from governed cities, the planetary defense grid is a passive defense blocking illegal travel into the planet. Enhanced with Diamant’s Aura of Long-Suffering Displeasure, it reduces attributes and Skills, and increases Mana cost of all illegal entrants. Furthermore, all illegal entrants are marked by the Mana draw upon their aura.
Range: 10,024.97 KM from planetary surface (actual range dependent upon actual Mana density)
Effect: All incoming and outgoing hypertravel, teleportation, portal, dimension shifting, etc. from and to planet is blocked unless otherwise permitted.
Individuals who break through or undertake illegal entry into affected area have all attributes and Skill effects reduced by 30% (actual effect dependent on Levels, resistances, and ambient Mana density) and all Mana costs increased by 25%.
All illegal entry individuals marked and may be tracked from central hub.
“Whoa.”
The Planetary Defense Grid itself is not that surprising. I’ve seen variations of it, especially on many of the more secure planets. But this is the first time I’ve seen the aura enhancement and tracking aspect. That would make anyone trying to slip onto the planet for a job more difficult. Not impossible, but difficult.
“Why don’t other planets have this?”
“Mana Density,” Katherine says. “Layering an entire planet like this requires a significant amount of ambient Mana—something most non-Dungeon Worlds lack. Well, outside Forbidden Zones, and you know how those work.”
“Just tracks and blocks incoming, but it doesn’t stop smash-and-grabs.” I recall our most recent exploit. Though the decrease in attributes would be annoying, it wouldn’t stop us from doing our thing.
“No,” Katherine says. “That’s next on the agenda. We have some area-specific shielding options, but nothing planet wide. However, this gives us sufficient time and warning to port in help.”
It’s not perfect, but a planet-wide aura this powerful will increase the difficulty of any mission by significant margins. Add the reduced global payout fund and the higher difficulty as relevant targets keep going up in Levels and I can see how this new factor could tip things in our favor. But…
“Why stop the attacks?” I say. “If we take out a few more people, a few more organizations, we could end this.”
“Because it doesn’t end,” Katherine says. “You can’t kill everyone who ever wants to stop us; it’s impossible. You’ve established yourself as a real threat, but now, it’s time to put the threat away. So long as you live and don’t take action, everyone who is acting against us or considering acting against us will be wary. If they can’t figure out who you’ll target—”
“Because I’m not targeting anyone.”
“They’ll be scared. And wasting Credits and resources watching you. In the meantime—”
“Your personnel will have an easier time getting into place to deal with them,” I finish for Katherine.
The Ambassador flashes me a predatory smile and I shiver, recalling that for all that she looks younger now, Katherine was playing office politics for decades before she met me. And even if the mining sector isn’t as homicidal as Galactic politics, it was no less cutthroat.
“The weapon not used, eh?”
“Exactly,” Katherine says. “And if, and when, you do act again—”
“It’ll just drive them more nuts,” I say. “But that only works if your other people can continue to make them scared enough to not add to the bounty.”
“We’ll find out,” Katherine says. “But they’ve been working the other end of the problem for the last little while, so we’re confident.”
“Other end?”
“You’ve been going after those who have been paying for the hits. And ignoring those who have been pulling the trigger,” Katherine says. “We haven’t.”
It was a deliberate choice. There were—theoretically at least—fewer targets this way. Trigger-pullers are more common than those in power. Except the Sects, governments, and the corporations, who have entire bureaucracies in place to replace the latest target. Of course, even in those cases, it was no guarantee the replacement would continue to enact a bad plan. Which was the point of my attacks.
“Does it help?”
“It’s increased the cost of each hit,” Katherine says. “And we’ll continue running retaliatory attacks. We have enough personnel now to run both.”
I sigh and run a hand through my hair. It’s enough information for now. More details would put their plans in danger. In the end, I’m not needed. Doing nothing right now is the best option. On top of that, the increased bounty will put a big target on our backs. We’re going to have to be careful until we have a better grasp of what it means. Until then, lying low and pursuing some other goals might be a good idea.
If I could remember what my other goals are these days.
Chapter 5
The reminder that I no longer have a clue what I’m doing is distracting. I end up spending my time browsing through the Shop, window shopping in an attempt to avoid deeper thoughts. I even take a few moments to chat with Ali. Even after spending all that time, when I transition back, no one else has returned to this reality. Rather than clog up the way, I move away a short distance.
I know from previous conversations with Mikito that her Shop doesn’t compress time as much—something about her Shop focusing more on having a wider variety of crafting stations. I’m not even entirely sure why that matters to the Samurai, but my recommendation that she change Shops was rebuked. And lord only knows what kind of Shop Harry has.
“Ali, where are you?”
“Having a drink.”
“Got anything?”
“Maybe.”
“Perfect! What is it?”
“Should be coming up to you just about now, boy-o.”
“So, you’re the Paladin,” a voice, grating and full of malice, cuts through the hubbub.
To make the Shop sphere easier to access, it was placed in the middle of a courtyard that acts as one of the main thoroughfares in the station. Since teleportation and activation are a matter of touching the sphere, it works quite well. I turn my head to spot the group of five approaching me.
“Trouble,” Ali concludes, his voice all too happy with itself.
I wince mentally as I read their Status information.
“You ignoring me, Paladin?” Cedric “Knuckles” Liviera says. Spikey hair, pig-faced, with bulging green and veiny purple muscles showing under a metal breastplate that glitters with electricity. Pig-face doesn’t seem to wield anything but a pair of big claws and knuckle dusters.
Next to him, a lady I can only describe as a cyborg stands, silver metal and gears whirling away as she hefts a pair of bladed arms while a beam rifle sits on her shoulder, tracking my motion. I dub her Alita.
Next to Alita is a serpentine-humanoid hybrid, a naga, that has crisscrossed bandoliers of pistols, and a conical-head-shaped Elemental creature of wind. That’s going to be a pain to fight. Lastly, there’s a robed creature whose hood is down, hands stuffed into the sleeves of its robes, surrounded by a swarm of flying force shields. Mage of some sort I’d guess. Maybe healer.
In seconds, I’ve stereotyped and judged them all, slotting them into likely Classes and from there, the most likely combat scenarios. It might not be nice or PC, but stereotyping is mental shorthand that allows us to speed up our judgments. We do it all the time—pulling information from myriad sources and creating mental groups to allow us to navi
gate through our lives. Bad part of town—avoid. Big monster with fangs—dangerous! Creature with triple their Mana compared to health—spell user. There are exceptions, but if we had to build our mental picture of every person from a clean slate, we’d be exhausted long before the day was done.
Knuckles moves to shove me, a deliberately provocative action. I easily sidestep the motion, realizing that I am being somewhat rude by ignoring everything that he’s said. It’s just not that interesting.
“What?” I answer slightly irritably. Instinct tells me they’re here to pick a fight, so I can’t even be bothered to offer them civil discourse. What’s the point if I’m going to be pounding their face in in the next minute?
As the confrontation continues, I note how the passersby clear out, their keen sense for danger telling them to get away.
“You Paladins think you’re all kinds of great, don’t you? But here you are with your noble ass, just a Pirate like the rest of us.” Pig-face snorts loudly in my face.
I step back—not because of the danger of being blindsided but because of his breath. The scents of sulfur and other even worse unmentionables almost make me gag. “Look, potty mouth, I don’t really know why you’re here. Nor do I care. If you’re looking for a reason to fight, let’s just do this, will you?” I shake out one hand, loosening the muscles. “At least I won’t have to deal with your bad breath.”
I’m not taunting him just because I’m a complete ass. Even as we’re speaking, Naga and Alita are flanking me, the cyborg coming in close while Naga keeps his distance. The longer I wait, the better their positioning.
It’s all I need to say. The punch comes sweeping in. No over-shoulder looping punch but straight from the chest, pushed by hip and shoulder. I’ve backed off enough to block the punch and the subsequent follow-up hook into my ribs with one hand and an elbow. Pig-face is strong, each punch sending stinging pain through my arm. But blocking the attacks allows me to throw up a Soul Shield and turn on Aura of Chivalry.
