Public train en route to Pasco, Washington - 4:23 AM, 2 days later

“Is it time yet?” I quietly asked as I stared out of the window.

While I had my own room for this train ride, I now stood in one of the common areas. There were only a handful of other passengers. Most were asleep and the only one awake at this hour watched me with idle curiosity. Seeing as it was still dark outside, I wasn’t going to hold it against her.

<<<>>>

[[Patron Message]]

You’re surprisingly impatient this morning. I told you that you should have taken a nap.

Also, no. You’re not in Mesa yet. Give it a few more minutes. Take care of your gear. I know you’ve been putting it off, but I want you to be ready. You haven’t been here for nearly as many runs as I’d have liked for you to be this confident solo.

<<<>>>

“Twice before seems right,” I said quietly, though I knew she was right. Sighing, I decided it was best not to worry her and snapped open my menu. Since I was going to be jumping off the train soon, now was as good a time as ever.

One of the great things about the Mall of America was that it was full of great equipment and four bosses. With the Merger Mannequin, Mirror Mannequin, Fiberglass Sorceress, and Mannequin Master, it was a quick way to level up my growth items.

I involuntarily frowned when I pulled up my first one, the Gloves of the Warmongering Mystic. After reading through, I clicked the button to upgrade it.

<<<>>>

[[Equipped]]

Gloves of the Warmongering Mystic +3

(Set Item 2/6; Growth Item, this item cannot be upgraded without another Warmongering Mystic item; +140 Mental Points, +20 Wisdom, +20 Willpower, Weight Increase ability augment, Distance Increase ability augment)

[[Ability Augment]]

Weight Increase

When using Push, Pull, Lift, or Drop, increase the weight of objects you can affect by 25%.

[[Ability Augment]]

Distance Increase

When using Push, Pull, Lift, or Drop, increase the distance at which you can affect objects by 25%.

<<<>>>

“This item cannot be upgraded without another set item,” I read aloud sourly.

That had always been the problem with the Warmongering Mystic line. Every class equipment set, actually. They could only upgrade to a number equal to the number of items you own plus one. Since I owned the Gloves and the Breeches, they would max out at +3. Worse than that, the number of boss kills weren’t recorded until the next item was obtained.

If I had gotten the Cowl from the Head Box Jamie had left for me, then everything would have been fine and dandy. The Glasses of the Messenger of Peace were nice, but it wasn’t as good as a set item.

<<<>>>

[[Patron’s Message]]

As adorable as you are, you don’t have to pout. It won’t be too long before you get the next item you need. That was the whole reason you stopped by the Mall of America.

<<<>>>

“Yeah, you’re right,” I said with a small smile. “I’m just thinking of what could have been. No use pouting about it.”

Scrolling down, I selected my magical pants and went through the motions of upgrading that as well.

<<<>>>

[[Equipped]]

Breeches of the Warmongering Mystic +2

(Set Item 2/6; Growth Item, kill 12 bosses to upgrade; +140 Mental Points, +20 Wisdom, +20 Willpower, Protection Increase ability augment acquired, Recharge Increase ability augment acquired)

[[Ability Augment]]

Protection Increase

When using Shield or Force Field, increase the amount of damage they can take by 20%.

[[Ability Augment]]

Recharge Increase

When using Shield or Force Field, increase the recharge rate by 20%.

<<<>>>

The boost from both of them was pretty substantial, and I felt my senses expand. With the increase to Wisdom I could see more of the train than I had previously, including the interiors to some of the private rooms. I pulled my sight back to where I had it before; I didn’t need to be rude.

Checking the Staff of Raphael, I confirmed that I still needed 5 more bosses to upgrade it. It started off needing ten kills, which was more than any of the others I had received so far aside from the newly created Heelies of the Twice Blessed, but it was a very powerful item in its own right.

Since I was fidgeting with my gear to pass the time, I pulled up my newest worn additions from the Mall of America. My look had changed slightly as I grabbed some new items and left some behind as well.

Replacing my Ringmaster’s Hoodie was a thick, black overcoat. It was long enough to cover my knees, and had a black feather motif. Sara hadn’t been too pleased with that at first, but she got over it quickly when I pointed out that it ultimately didn’t matter. At least, she said she was.

I left it unbuttoned, showing off my pride as a Seven-Tenner since I was still wearing the bowling shirt. That was a little underpowered now, all things considered, but it still had a ways to go. I pulled up the stats for both that and the new coat.

<<<>>>

[[Equipped]]

Seven-Tenner Bowling Shirt

(This item has 1 Patch; +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, Heavy Strike passive acquired, Anchored passive acquired)

[[Passive]]

Heavy Strike

Any projectile thrown underhanded will deal 25% additional damage at the moment of impact.

[[Passive]]

Anchored

Treat your Constitution as 1.5 times higher when resisting forced movement.

[[Equipped]]

Blackbird’s Overcoat

(+8 Dexterity, +8 Constitution, +8 Wisdom, Omen Of Death skill acquired, Read The Wind passive acquired)

[[Skill]]

Omen Of Death

When touching a living creature, you can make them feel the limits of their own mortality. The effect of this skill depends on the recipient’s temperament, experiences, and personality. You may use Omen of Death once per day.

[[Passive]]

Read The Wind

When you are in danger from an unseen foe, you may be compelled by the wind to move in such a way that an attack will miss you. This passive has a low chance of activation.

<<<>>>

The Blackbird’s Overcoat was worth getting rid of the Ringmaster’s Hoodie for. Not only had Whip Mastery lost most of its utility against the undead and plastic enemies, but it wouldn’t help in this next few fights, either. It was a very psychological weapon, and I didn’t need that.

Plus, I had only used Hyperbolic Declaration once back in the Chaos Cup. It had been nice, but not something I relied on often.

I turned my attention to my backpack. The thin accessory had been under my hoodie back when I wore it, but it now sat between my overcoat and new cloak. I had upgraded it into something better.

It was a good thing, too, because I was starting to run out of inventory space.

<<<>>>

[[Item]]

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Bigger Second Inventory

(This backpack provides you with a secondary inventory that can hold just as much weight as your primary inventory.)

<<<>>>

This had been the first item I had the Dealer pick up for me specifically, along with a couple of pieces of gear for Kayla at the time. It had meshed incredibly well with Divine Messenger at the time, which sped me up the closer to full my inventory was, and it continued to do the same with Winged Messenger.

Finally, I reached behind me and took hold of the light blue silk cloak I now wore. For the longest time, I had the Red Scarf tucked away underneath my shirt and hoodie.. While it didn’t increase any of my stats, it had provided a 10% boost to my health that was going to be sorely missed.

It would, however, be well used in Minnesota, so there was that.

I brought up the stats of my last equipped acquisition.

<<<>>>

[[Equipped]]

Cloak of the Snow Witch

(+8 Constitution, +10 Willpower, Snow Trap spell acquired, Cold Step passive acquired)

[[Spell]]

Snow Trap

Target one creature and wrap them in snow, making them unable to move while taking damage. If they are not immune to cold damage, they will be afflicted with the Hypothermia debuff for twice as long as they were trapped for. The efficacy of this spell is based on the difference between your Willpower stat and their Strength stat. This spell costs half as much if cast in an area with abundant snow. Cost: 80 Mental Points.

[[Debuff]]

Hypothermia

Hypothermia is a stackable debuff afflicted in stages.

Minor: Dexterity is reduced by 10%.

Mild: Dexterity and Constitution are reduced by 10%.

Moderate: All physical stats are reduced by 25%.

Severe: All stats are reduced by 50%.

Extreme: All stats are reduced by 99%.

[[Cold Step]]

Snow and ice are considered solid ground for you, and you can traverse them without difficulty.

<<<>>>

I had always been in the camp that capes and cloaks were good for keeping you warm, but terrible for combat. They gave your opponent something easy to grab, they often could catch on things, and could trip you up depending on their length.

In the words of a very famous fashion designer, no capes!

But, I decided it had its uses as well as its handicaps. The spell made for an interesting method of battlefield control and the passive would make traversing Washington a lot more bearable, especially considering I was going off road for most of it.

<<<>>>

[[Patron Message]]

Okay, Anthony. You can jump in ten seconds. There’s snow everywhere, so be prepared.

<<<>>>

“Thanks, Sara,” I said gently as I placed my hand on the train’s door handle.

“Hey, um, you’re not planning on leaving, are you?” the woman watching me asked.

I turned to her and flashed her a smile. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Do you?”

“Yup, bye!”

The alarm started to go off as I opened the door. While a normal train door would be locked, the system didn’t care about safety features on these things. The rules said you had to get on at a Transportation Hub, but they never said when you had to get off at one.

Cold air and snow swirled through the car, causing people to quickly wake up with confused shouts. I gave the woman a lazy salute before jumping out into the winter wonderland of Mesa, Washington.

At the very least, I was polite enough to close the train’s door with Pull before it got out of range. Snow was cleared from the tracks, but there were tall embankments on either side of it. I used my Heelies to slide down, eventually slowing to a stop no worse than when I had simply been standing. The only obstacles in my way were green plants with monstrously large white berries and those were easy enough to avoid.

Once I stopped, I glanced around to get my bearings. I had jumped off near a large agricultural complex completely covered in snow and plants. The moment I laid eyes on it, I received a quest.

<<<>>>

[[Main Scenario Quest One: Snowberry Fields]]

Everyone has either died or left in order to go to warmer climates, so if you see this, congrats! You’re all alone.

That building you’re looking at? The one that triggered this quest? There’s a giant plant monster in there with no one to fight it.

The snowberries are a part of it. Good luck, or something.

Objective: Kill the monster, I guess. I’m not paying attention to a place where there’s nothing to pay attention to.

Rewards: 800 points, a sense of accomplishment knowing that you’ve forced me to advance to the next scenario sometime down the line.

[[Patron Quest: Defeat the Snowberry Queen]]

Wow, this administrator is…

Well, anyway. Since you’re here, you might as well take care of things, right? I don’t think anything’s going to happen if no one’s around, but someone’s bound to come back eventually.

Objective: Defeat the Snowberry Queen.

Reward: 1,500 points.

<<<>>>

“I wouldn’t worry about it. They have a big area to watch over and there are places more interesting than this one,” I said with a lopsided smile. “Part of the reason I chose to come here. It's a quick addition to the token.”

As I walked, my feet didn’t sink into the snow. It didn’t even crunch under my weight. Just like the passive said, I was walking as if I were on solid ground. Considering the distance I had to go, that alone was worth wearing a cloak.

There were two ways to go about this fight, and both would keep me relatively safe. The first was with an old item that had been tossed into my inventory and forgotten: Krinkee’s Bandolier. It still had a single fire bomb in its top loop and it was morning, so it would replicate it five times. I could approach the complex to send them into different points, burning the plants inside.

That was the long way. While it would work eventually because the boss was stuck inside, it would fight the fire the whole time and take upwards of a few hours if I didn’t want to get my hands dirty.

“Since when did I want to keep my hands clean?” I mumbled to myself as I started walking towards the buildings, jumping the fence with ease.

The snowberry plants here were much larger than the ones I saw out there. Each one grew a single berry that was both taller and wider than I was. With my enhanced eyesight, I could see the place where they would open up and eat me like some kind of strange Venus Fly Trap.

Ignoring the danger, I walked up to it. The moment it opened its mouth and lunged at me, I lifted my arm so that it could latch on to me. Knowing Sara wouldn’t like that I was letting myself get injured, I made sure I activated Shield to at least mitigate some of the damage.

Each of these berries were connected to the queen inside the building through her roots. They were her limbs, and that would be her downfall.

Letting the berry chew on my arm, I Constructed a needle. It wasn’t anything large or special, just a simple one made for sewing. When I pricked the berry, it barely reacted. This was my plan.

Inside, the Snowberry Queen screamed in pain because she took the damage I intended her to.

<<<>>>

Construct (Wisdom, Willpower) lvl 5: Visualize a mental construct and create it through sheer willpower. Its stats depend on what type of item you create, and you can conjure up to 2 items at the same time. Construction costs a small amount of Mental Points to create, and continues to cost Mental Points so long as the items remain.

Weapon (Willpower): Forge a weapon no larger than 30% of your mass. In addition to physical damage, this construct deals psychic damage equal to 95% of your Willpower.

<<<>>>

The berry in front of me took maybe a hit point or two of damage, but the queen took the full brunt of the psychic damage. Every bush in the area started screaming as I poked it again and again, transferring damage to the whole. One of them close by lunged for me, but came about a foot short. I ignored it.

When the monster chewing on me tried to back off, just before my Shield broke, I reached in deep and grabbed it by its insides. The berry struggled, but I kept stabbing while it tried to free itself. There was no way that a minion of a dormant scenario boss from the first scenario was going to manhandle me.

After roughly forty or so stabs with the needle, I received the message I was waiting for.

<<<>>>

[[Victory!]]

You have defeated the Dormant Scenario Boss [Snowberry Queen]; +500 points.

[[Main Scenario Quest One: Complete]]

Congratulations, you did it. Yay.

You might as well get out of here, I’m not coming back to set up the next scenario any time soon. Take the victory and do something better with your life.

Scenario MVP: Anthony Franklin

Reward: 800 points, perhaps not as much of a sense of accomplishment as you had hoped.

[[Patron Quest Complete!]]

… All right, I’m not even sure what to put here after seeing what this administrator is all about.

It may not have been much, but I feel accomplished for you. Plenty of other people would have had to get in there and do this the hard way. So, good work remembering this boss was here, I guess?

Sorry, I’m trying. It’s a first scenario boss and you’re Anthony Franklin, there’s only so much I can say.

Reward: 1,500 points.

<<<>>>

“Thanks, Sara,” I said with a chuckle. “They can’t all be winners.”

Without entering the building, I Pulled the spoils out to me. The first item was a skill book that I accepted immediately, even though it wasn’t one I thought was strictly necessary given my heritage as a Half-Angel.

<<<>>>

[[Passive]]

Cold Resistance

Take 25% less damage from cold-based attacks. Exist comfortably in cold environments as low as 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

<<<>>>

“And just like that, it’s a good thing Kayla got some good use out of that windbreaker,” I said as I pulled up the next item.

This one was a branch with 5 snowberries about the size of my fist dangling from it. Each one made the air around them substantially colder, and I pulled up the description as I put them away.

<<<>>>

[[Item]]

Snowberry Winter Blast

Throw one of these Snowberries to create a powerful localized blizzard in a 20 foot radius for five minutes. The storm it conjures will reduce line of sight to a few feet while inflicting continuous cold damage to anyone stuck inside.

<<<>>>

“It’s a nice little bonus,” I said happily as I turned to the west. “And now, our real destination.”

<<<>>>

[[Patron Message]]

I want you to be really careful on this one, Anthony.

I checked ahead, and the area is swarming with enemies. Just like you said, the administrator has mixed a first, second, and third scenario together, as if they’ve been adding on since nobody’s been around to challenge it.

<<<>>>

“That’s exactly what they’ve been doing,” I confirmed as I started walking. There was a lot of farmland and desert between here and there as well as a river. Even with Snow Step, it would take me at least an hour to get to my destination. “But it’s okay. I’ve been here twice before, I know what to do. It’s only the Hanford Site, what’s the worst that could happen?”