I had considered the Weapon Heirloom for Jerome, just to round out his set. But there was some concern that since he wasn’t built around offense, we’d just be muddying the waters with an offensive Boon. Yuri had mentioned that I shouldn’t be so narrow minded about the Heirloom Boons. With my enhanced memory from my trait-boosted Intelligence, I remembered that he said he’d seen Climbers choose the Weapon Boon and come back with a giant shield. That would be something that suited Jerome’s role within our team. It was something worth thinking about, as he was our only real frontline fighter.
Sure, I could mix it up in close, but that was against untrained people still fresh to the Apocalypse. Against heavy hitters, I was more of a hit-and-run type fighter; getting Jerome a weapon to balance against his armor would definitely be to the team’s advantage.
As for Lacy, she already received the Class upgrade and had demonstrated incredible power against others at our Stage. She had even fooled Turok and his people, though he had eventually pulled out a counter. My personal choice for her would have been the Armor Boon to shore up her survivability, but I suspected she would push back and try to get someone else to take it.
If she refused, the other decent options for her were the Mind stats boost, unlocking her Spirit stats—such as Enlightenment and Willpower—or grabbing one of the information Boons. That last one was not something I planned to push for, since the one I had grabbed had turned out to be useless. Though, the primer on Stages interested me. Still, I was fairly confident Kurian could help walk us through our breakthrough, so it wasn’t my top priority.
And then there was me.
I’d already grabbed the Class upgrade, the Weapon Boon, the Spirit stats unlock, and the partial information packet that pertained to the Second Floor. Though I’d made an agreement not to grab anymore information packets, Null had fucked me in that deal, so our agreement was out the door as far as I was concerned. All the same, I didn’t want to waste a pick on a useless info packet. But I couldn’t get Karmic Sight, Fate’s Boon, or Time’s Boon. I probably could get the Keeper’s Boon, but Frank already had double of that, so it wasn’t my top choice. And none of the plus fifty stats boosts appealed, since I was currently sitting on hundreds of unspent stat points as it was.
Which didn’t leave me with many options.
One, I could select the percent effectiveness Boon that raised every stat by 5%. Two, I could risk going against Frank’s Patron’s advice and select Fate’s Boon to boost one of my cores into the Adept Stage. Or three, I could grab the Armor Heirloom Boon to round out my own set. The very last Boon—which I had never considered—was the Boon from the desecrated statue that claimed picking it would make me an enemy of the entire Integrated Universe. That one wasn’t even a real option, so I didn’t count it.
The stat effectiveness boost would be massive, and would obviously scale incredibly as I climbed through the Stages. But at the end of the day, I was abundant in stats and nearly every trait I received came with an effectiveness increase. Since this was my last Boon—at least on this Floor—I wasn’t confident that it would be the most impactful choice.
On the other hand, Frank’s Patron—the Keeper of Secrets—had specifically used one of Frank’s limited information dumps to warn me off of choosing Fate’s Boon. On top of that, every single source of information I’d received suggested Fate was not to be trusted. Worse, she was known for actively working against her chosen Climbers when it suited her. That seemed good enough reason not to mess around with her Boon—even if boosting one of my cores up a Stage sounded incredibly overpowered.
Which left the Armor Boon that I was hoping I could convince Lacy to snag.
I explained my thought process to the team as we neared the Boon Plaza. There were some questions and some back-and-forth, but no major disagreements. I purposefully didn’t explain the Body Boon’s effect on Amos’ inability to get drunk. And after his display against Turok, I felt justified in that bit of deceit; he had almost gotten us killed because of his drunkenness.
The one thing we got stuck on, which I knew we would, was on who would take the Armor Boon.
“I don’t need armor,” Lacy said for the third time. “My illusions are enough. Plus, if I’m in the line of fire, it’s because I did something wrong.”
We were standing in a clump in front of Conflict’s statue as pedestrians streamed through the plaza. Though we were chatting casually, I had one eye scanning around us at all times. Though the Beasts of Chaos, Champions of Order, and Watcher Yuri were all neutralized or friendly, we still hadn’t seen Kneer and the Jree in hours.
Which meant I was only half listening when Lacy said, “If anyone should grab the Armor Boon, it’s Dirk. We all saw him in the thick of the fighting against those Champion weirdos.”
“Yeah, Dirk gets the Armor fosho,” Byron added.
Jerome grunted, which was generally indecipherable, though in this instance I could tell he agreed. Amos was ignoring us as he stood in front of the Body Boon, while Frank was rubbing his chin in thought.
“Why don’t you all get your Boons and we can figure out my Boon after,” I suggested.
Frank shrugged and went over to the Karmic Sight Boon. Amos flashed me a thumbs up and turned toward the Body Boon. Byron nodded, but then hesitated in front of Conflict’s Boon. We had told him that both Lacy and I had been knocked out for a spell after picking that particular Boon. Jerome stood with his arms crossed. I couldn’t tell if it was because he wanted everyone else to go first, or if he was just being defiant because he thought I was telling him what to do.
And that just left me and Lacy.
“I still think you should get the armor,” I said. “I’ve got lots of survivability with my Mass core boosting my Endurance. Not to mention the Endurance from my traits.”
She crossed her arms and tilted her head. “Dirk, you’re being ridiculous and you know it. I’m not a frontline fighter and never will be. You’re the one racing toward the enemies with a katana in your hands, using speed and luck to avoid attacks. Can you just pick the Armor Boon so we can move on?”
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I pursed my lips in equal parts annoyance and lack of rebuttal. It was hard to admit, but my push for Lacy to grab the Armor was 95% favoritism and 5% practicality. But was it my fault that Lacy’s deaths hit me the hardest? She was the one that I’d been rushing to save in those first few redos. Yes, I obviously had been trying to save everyone, but it was Lacy that was kidnapped and assaulted. Lacy who had been shredded by Kneer’s Mantle while I was forced to run like a coward.
But I understood her point. Even with my diskslinger, I was a melee fighter at heart. And bumping up my survivability would allow me to keep a better eye on her and the others.
“Okay, I can see I’m a bit biased. What would you pick, then?” I asked.
She turned to survey the statues. “Hmm, well, my illusion-based class is Intelligence-Perception based, so the Mind stats boost wouldn’t be bad. I know you said the next Stage would most likely shower us in stat points, but I’m only level 7. Level 75 seems an eternity away. And another 150 stat points would nearly double my current total.”
“Huh, I hadn’t really considered that,” I replied. “Still, are you completely sure you don’t want the Armor—”
“Dirk, seriously?” She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Will you stop babying me? You know me so well, right? Then you should know I’m no damsel.”
A smile crossed my face. I could clearly picture her yelling very similar words in my face on the last redo.
“Fiiiiine. I’ll get the Armor Boon.”
The corner of her lip turned up in a slight smirk.
“Hey, now. Don’t get all smug on me because you got your way,” I said in a mock serious tone.
She schooled her expression, but I could still see that familiar twinkle in her eye. “Oh, so you’re the only one that gets to gloat when you get your way?”
I clicked my tongue and pointed at her. “Exactly.”
She rolled her eyes again and walked over to the Mind Boon.
While she grabbed her Boon, I scanned around to see what the others were up to. Byron was still standing hesitantly in front of Conflict’s class upgrade boon. Jerome was behind him, presumably to catch him when he fell unconscious. Amos had run off to the end of the plaza and seemed to be doing wind sprints through the pedestrian traffic. Though it appeared that he was being quite the nuisance, the commoners of the Hold knew better than to take issue with Climbers.
Frank was standing in front of the Karmic Sight Boon, his eyes closed. I walked over to check on him, placing my hand gently on his shoulder.
“You okay?” I asked softly.
His eyes snapped open, staring straight into mine. There was a golden hue to his eyes that I was certain hadn’t been there before—though I was also pretty certain he had never met my eyes for more than a fleeting glance. He didn’t seem to have that problem anymore, his gaze boring into me in an uncomfortable way. I had to resist the urge to take a step back.
He blinked slowly, then seemed to come back to himself. He glanced around the plaza, then looked back at me. This time, his eyes trailed to my chest, then back to my face.
“It’s…incredible,” he said quietly. “The energy in your soul is so dense, I thought I’d go blind for a moment.” He looked around, the golden hue flashing across his pupils once more. “And the threads. My God, Dirk…it’s so stunning.”
It took me a moment to formulate a response. I had never seen Frank so confident in his speech, except maybe when he was explaining some intellectual concept. But he had never exhibited this much confidence. I was so shocked, I almost glossed over the fact that he could see my soul space.
“How are you able to see my energy?” I asked. “When Byron had the Karmic Sight, he said he couldn’t see my threads or whatever.”
“There’s an Intelligence and Perception check that Byron didn’t meet,” Frank replied absentmindedly. He was examining all around us as he spoke. “And there’s ways to fine tune the Sight. Make it more granular, follow individual threads, or…” He trailed off, his eyes catching on Lacy. Slowly, he brushed past me, walking toward her.
I was almost too stunned to follow. Frank was acting very un-Frank-like.
“What is it?” I called after him.
He ignored me, walking up behind Lacy as she examined the Mind Boon. His hands trailed through the air around her, appearing to be strumming something that only he could see.
After a moment, Lacy realized Frank was right behind her, doing God knows what, and she whirled around in surprise.
“Whoa, uh, whatchu doing, Frank?” she asked.
“There’s an abnormal thread attached to you,” he said quietly. “I don’t know what it is, exactly, but I don’t like the feeling emanating from it.”
My eyes narrowed and I walked up beside him.
“Describe it,” I said.
His fingers continued to trace the invisible threads as he spoke. “The coloring is red—it’s the only red one I see around us. But the energy emanating from it is…well, I don’t want to say evil, but certainly sinister.”
My stomach flipped at his description. Could that be Craig’s influence he was seeing? I had hoped that had been severed.
Before I could ask any more questions, he turned and pointed in the direction of the red portal that led from the First Floor, as well as toward the Stairs to the Second Floor.
“It’s coming from that direction. And I’m not certain, but it feels as if it’s growing stronger.”
“Oh, fuck,” I whispered. Then I turned and called out to the party. “Everyone, grab your Boons. Now! Amos! Get back over here!”
“What is it?” Lacy asked with a concerned tone.
“Jerome, get your Boon. You too, Byron.” Turning back to Lacy, I lowered my voice so only Frank and she could hear. “I think that thread is Craig’s compulsion.”
Her eyes went wide, then narrowed in fury.
“Let’s ambush that fucker!” Lacy hissed. “No one fucks around in my head.”
I chewed my lip in thought. Frank was staring off into space, obviously still following the thread.
“Can you tell how far he is?” I asked. “Is he in the Hold or could the connection be coming through the portal?”
“Oh, he’s here,” Frank replied. “And coming closer. But if I’m reading the thread right, he’s not in a rush.”
“Shit. Okay, then we’ve got a couple minutes hopefully. I had planned on doing this later, but I don’t think we’ll have another opportunity to visit the statues in the future. Byron, give me those portals in your Inventory, then take the Boon.”
He came over and handed me three portals that we’d farmed from the golden tunnelers earlier.
“I’m scared, dude,” he whispered.
“You’re gonna be fine, dude.” I put a hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. “Courage isn’t never being afraid. Courage is being afraid, but doing the damn thing anyway.”
His chin raised, his posture straightening. He gave me a manly nod and I had to suppress a chuckle. Then he spun around and strode over to the statue. A moment later, he was laid out on the cobblestone as Jerome eased him down.
“Where’d you pull that one from?” Lacy asked with a chuckle.
I smiled and shrugged. “Read a lot of books in prison. Some of it stuck.”
“Well that was some deep shit.” She turned to follow the direction of the thread. “So, what’s the plan? Lay in ambush or just face the fucker head on?”
“Neither.” I grabbed one of the portals Byron had given me and popped it. A whoosh filled the air as the blue portal materialized in front of us. “But first, can you go through and grab Lex and Mama G?”
“Mama G? You sure?”
I nodded. “Yeah, might as well have her grab a Boon, too.”
She shrugged and jumped through the portal. Frank’s head immediately snapped up, like he had woken from a daze.
“The thread’s gone,” he muttered. Then he turned and saw the portal. He blinked three times, his eyes snapping into focus. “Where’d Lacy go?”
“She’s grabbing Mama to get another Boon. I’m gonna grab the Armor Boon now.” Jerome was standing in front of the Weapon Boon, while Byron was still unconscious on the ground. Amos was nearby, but he was bouncing with unrestrained energy, like a tweaker just about to peak. “Can you keep an eye out for everyone? I could only be out for a minute, but it might be longer.”
He nodded, walking over to stand by Byron.
I rushed over to the Armor Boon, stopping beside Jerome.
“Scared?” I asked wryly.
He side-eyed me, but otherwise didn’t respond. I grunted in reply—Jerome’s love language. Then I reached out and activated the Armor Boon.
“Here we go.”