Fingers were digging into Lacy’s mind, trying to mold her thoughts like putty. This was nothing like the insidious manipulation from before. That, she hadn’t even been aware of until Dirk had forced her to wake the fuck up.
No, this was impossible to miss, like daggers stabbing into her brain, cutting away at her mental defenses with ease. She tried to latch onto that sense of determination and grit that had permeated her being after the fight with Turok and the Champions of Order.
She was powerful. She had helped Dirk stand toe to toe with aliens hundreds of years old and a Stage above them.
But her self talk was overridden by thoughts of ineptitude, a bone-deep weakness that no amount of magical powers could overcome.
Images flashed in her mind, a kaleidoscope of moments of powerlessness. Astrid restraining her with contemptuous ease, forcing Dirk to rescue her. The skinheads dragging her up and over the cliff edge back on the bluffs. Her lifeless body seen through the vision Dirk had sent her, clothes torn and body bruised. Kneer spearing her through with his Mantle, throwing her dead body toward Dirk with a sneer.
Her parents ruling her life with an iron fist and her never even daring to think for herself.
It would be so simple just to give in—it was what she had been programmed to do all her life. Slip into subservience like she had always done.
Just let go…
Pain in her fist brought her out of her spiraling thoughts. The memory of punching Mama G flashed across her mind. She latched onto that feeling, the feeling of being powerful—even for just a moment. Of feeling her will expressed upon the world for a single instant.
She followed that thought deeper, remembering the times she had been strong and determined. Memories flashed in her mind from the visions Dirk had given her. Yes, she had been weak. Yes, she had been brutalized by those Nazi motherfuckers. But every time, just before Dirk warned them that he was about to trigger a redo, she had been at peace with herself, ready to face the threat of not knowing head on. She didn’t know he would save her—not really. It wasn’t her decision to trigger a redo, but it was her decision on how she faced it.
And though she’d been afraid, she’d never trembled.
A flash from that vision appeared in her mind. It was her after Dirk had left them to go fight Watcher Yuri on his own. It was her that had rallied the team to follow him. Not Jerome, not Mama G.
Her.
When Dirk faced off against Turok, she was at her lowest point. Yet she still gathered the party, still led them into a deadly firefight with no information or planning.
It hit her like that hook she had launched at Mama G’s face.
She dived into danger to protect those she loved. She fought and scrapped and rallied those around her when things became bleak.
She was a leader.
No one had ever told her that. No one had ever let her shine. But a leader didn’t wait to be told. They took the initiative. They created their own shine.
The grasping fingers in her mind were repelled by a pulse of powerful energy. An invisible sphere encompassed her thoughts, shielding her from a renewed attack.
But her attention wasn’t on her mind, but her chest. Deep within her soul, she felt movement for the first time. Unlike Dirk, she had never been able to visualize her soul or her core. She leaned on the System-given abilities to create her magic.
Now, she couldn’t possibly miss the shining ball of energy deep within her that represented her Projection energy. How had she not seen it before? It was like a midday sun blazing inside her heart.
And next to it, a smaller, but no less poignant, ball of swirling energy was beginning to form. She knew what it was even without the System notification now filling her vision.
Congratulations! You have formed a new core!
New Nascent Affinity: [Leadership] — Low Tier
Your Nascent Affinity: [Leadership], has upgraded from Low to Mid Tier — +10 Charisma, +10 Willpower
New Ability granted: [Fortify]
Fortify I
Select a target and Fortify their mental and physical health. At higher ranks, select more targets or compound the effects of this ability on a single target.
Without wasting a beat, she targeted Amos and cast [Fortify]. The glazed look in his eyes cleared, his pigeons’ attack on Lex coming to an abrupt halt.
“Oi, me head is feckin’ pounding.” He staggered, leaning against one of the nearby Boon statues as his pigeons came to rest on his shoulders.
“Get your head in the game,” Lacy shouted, turning to survey the situation.
Jerome was nearby, his feet frozen to the ground. Lacy spun to see Frank with that same far-off look, his hands moving through the air as he readied another spell.
“Lace,” Jerome grunted. “He’s been taken.”
She didn’t waste the breath it’d take to say, ‘duh.’ She simply targeted Frank and activated [Fortify]. Frank’s spell halted mid cast and he shook his head before looking around in confusion.
“HONK!” Lex landed on Lacy’s shoulder with a flutter of wings. “This isn’t good!”
“Where’s Dirk?” she asked, turning to scan the plaza.
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Before Lex could answer, she saw him. Red covered his body, extending out to create his new katana, while he held his diskslinger in his offhand. He was sprinting across the plaza, a hundred Jree racing behind him. He spun without warning, firing off three disks that tore through the front line like a woodchipper. The flying limbs and buckets of gore splashing across the stone road did nothing to deter the bulk of the force.
“These fuckers don’t quit,” she muttered, raising her hand to wave toward Dirk. “C’mon. Leave them. Just ru—”
Something small and fast dove at her face, raking a tiny beak right above her eye. The sudden pain was figuratively and literally blinding, and she realized just how close she had come to losing an eye.
“Lacy!” Jerome shouted, throwing his new flying sphere toward her. It flew past her head, intercepting another pigeon just as it dive-bombed her face.
Through the haze of pain, she managed to turn and find Amos, his eyes unfocused once more.
The [Fortify] ability didn’t hold! As soon as I changed targets, that fucker got his claws back in on Amos!
For a split second, she contemplated hitting Amos with another [Fortify], but knew that she’d just be opening Frank up for another possession. She turned to her other ability, [Projection], and cast a quick illusion over her, Frank, Lex, and Jerome. To Amos’ eyes, they’d appear to be running away, across the plaza in the opposite direction of Craig and the Jree.
It should buy them enough time for Dirk to make it back.
“We’re invisible,” she said to the others. “Jerome, I think you’re gonna have to pick him up and throw him through the portal. Hopefully the distance will wipe the mind control. If not, I can use my new ability to clear it.”
If it was permanent, or something she’d have to maintain…well, they’d find out one way or another.
Jerome nodded in reply and edged closer to Amos in anticipation.
Dirk was only moments away. Lacy, Frank, and Lex were nearly on top of the portal, waiting till the last possible moment to jump through.
Behind her, Jerome suddenly shouted in alarm. She whirled to see Amos take off in a sprint toward Dirk and the Jree. Jerome started to rush after him, but the old alcoholic had the Body Boon enhancement and quickly outpaced him.
“Get through the portal!” Dirk yelled toward them, waving them on with his Red-blade. “I’ll get him!”
Lacy hesitated for the briefest moment. She was energized by her new Leadership core, the energy seeming to course through her very veins. Abandoning one of her teammates was the antithesis of that energy. But in her heart, she knew Dirk wouldn’t leave the man.
And she felt instinctively, even if she couldn’t articulate it, that a good leader trusted their people.
“Jerome, Frank, get through. We’re right behind you,” she said confidently. Jerome halted mid-stride, clearly hesitating. “Do it now.” She wasn’t sure how, but she had somehow injected that aura of Leadership into her voice. It wasn’t mind control or manipulation, but a projection of her own confidence and surety.
That singular thought triggered an insight deep inside of her.
Projection? Leadership? Had she…?
There was no time to dive deeper. Jerome and Frank had followed her orders, hoping through the portal reluctantly. Lex was on her shoulder, his wings flapping softly in agitation. She gently extricated him and walked over to the portal.
“Lacy, what—HO—”
She threw him into the blue pool of light and hoped he’d have the good sense not to flap his ass back through.
Then, she turned and watched Dirk reach Amos.
----------------------------------------
The fastest of the Jree were right behind me, nearly keeping pace as I ran across plaza toward my party. It wasn’t that they were actually as fast as me—I could have bumped my Agility up to 150 just by cycling some Mass energy.
No, I had kept them close, even reducing my speed when the gap grew too big. I wanted to stall for time, keep them on my trail so they’d ignore Lacy and the others.
But once I’d seen Amos break off from the group, his pigeons attacking the others, I’d left the trailing Jree in the dust.
I was still in shock, not quite processing the scene around me. Craig hadn’t just got his hooks into Kneer and wormed his way into the Jree by proxy. From the way they had dived in front of my disks, they either worshiped Craig, or had their minds subverted.
And my eye kept trailing over to the Status Sheet off to the side.
Name: Craig
Class: Infomercial Salesman (Legendary)
Level: 48
Race: Human (F-Grade - Low)
Age: 35
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 202 lbs
Body: Mind: Spirit:
Strength: 12
Agility: 9
Endurance: 7
Intelligence: 16
Perception: 18
Mastery: 11
Charisma: 214
Willpower: 14
Enlightenment: 9
Affinity: (Obscured)
Traits: (Obscured)
Ranking: #2 (Race-Specific Rank: #2)
Chaos Points - 1
Order Points - 279
There were two lines of note. No, not of note—they were earth-shattering, shit-my-pants level of what the fuck.
214 Charisma and 279 Order Points…
At level 48, I supposed it made sense that he had put every last point into Charisma. But what really fucked me up was that he was over the cap of 150 points for the Nascent Stage. And since there was no way he had somehow leap-frogged me into the Adept Stage while still level 48, that could only mean that he’d found some way to bypass the stat point cap.
That was bad enough. But even worse was his Order Points tally. Those were earned by killing members of the other races. Which meant that he had slain a boatload of Jree or Co’xatl. And from the way the Jree had gladly sacrificed themselves for Craig, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if he was farming levels off his fucking thralls.
It took every ounce of self control not to spin around and take the fight to him. With Red’s recent upgrade, there was a good chance none of them could even fucking touch me. I’d carve through Kneer and his entire army to get at Craig, even if it meant swimming in a pool of blood that I could never expunge from my memories.
But it only took one look toward my party, struggling to shake off Craig’s control from hundreds of feet away, for me to realize what that might cost. If I didn’t help them now, they might tear each other apart before I could get to him.
Thankfully, it seemed that Lacy had managed to get most of them through the portal somehow, leaving only Amos to corral.
We were sprinting toward each other now, his pudgy, out-of-shape body moving comically fast with his new Body Boon. I had bumped down my mass to raise my Agility and gain some ground on my pursuers, but now, I dialed it back up to a weight where I could still move faster than them.
Amos’ eyes were clouded over, but he was unmistakably staring at me as we neared each other. His lips turned up in a smile and he lowered his shoulder. At the moment before impact, I maxed out my mass and trucked his ass. Wrapping my arms tight around him, I picked him up like a newlywed without even losing momentum.
He struggled in my arms, growling as he tried to swing at my face. A bottle of unopened whiskey suddenly smashed against the side of my head and I felt Red stir. The magical cloth slid up his body, wrapping around his arms until they were pinned tight to his chest.
A pigeon suddenly rushed at my face, but Red was already there, protecting my eyes and neck.
We were in the clear, only seconds from the portal, when another pigeon dived. I didn’t even flinch as it neared, then seemed to pass by and miss.
But a sudden wash of hot blood splashed across Red, coating the material protecting my face. I flinched, wondering if I’d somehow been cut without feeling it.
It was Red that directed my attention with a mental image.
A small, thin cut on Amos’ neck spurted blood like a geyser. Blood quickly drenched his body and my arms. My limbs felt heavy with shock and all I could do was stare at the pulsing blood as his already pale skin turned ghostly-white.
Amos looked up at me with wide eyes, the blood draining from his face as it splashed against me.