Alex had every intention to sleep in that day; his body, however, had different plans. He’d spent the last few days laying in his bed pretty much around the clock. Every inch of him ached to get up, to move.
Well, well, well, he thought as he got out for a pre-dawn run around the Happy Motel courtyard, half-amused. How the turn tables. Not too long ago, he could barely be bothered to get off his beat-up gaming chair to squeeze in his daily steps.
By eight in the morning, Alex was already bored out of his mind.He’d gone for a run, had breakfast, downed a cup of god-awful coffee, squeezed in a quick workout, then followed it up with a second cup of coffee... and still had fuck-all to do.
He went looking for Penny, hoping for some witty repartee and maybe to borrow a paperback, but she was nowhere to be found. Instead, he ran into the one person at the Happy Motel he’d rather avoid – Hank, the only other inmate currently there other than himself, as far as Alex knew.
Hank was sprawled out on an old bench, wearing nothing but oversized sunglasses and a pair of disturbingly tiny training shorts, his entire body glistening with suntan oil from bald head to toes.
“Alex! Hey there, pal! Good to see you!”
“Hey, Buggy.”
Hank beamed, sitting up and pulling a handkerchief from the pocket of his micro-shorts to wipe down the seat beside him.
“Come on, take a seat.”
Normally, Alex would have come up with some excuse to bail. This was too weird, even for Buggy. Still, he was desperate for a way to pass the time, and a quick chat couldn’t hurt.
“Uh… what are you doing out here?”
“Working on my tan,” Hank replied, grinning. “It usually pisses off Carpenter, but she’s off today, so I’m taking advantage.”
“I never pegged you for a tan kind of guy,” Alex said. It was true; Humbug Hank had the complexion of Casper the Friendly Ghost.
Oh, I’m full of surprises,” Buggy winked, leaning back as if to soak in even more sun. “The folks back home think I’m on an extended vacation somewhere with a lot of sun and spotty phone service. It’d be a bit suspicious to show up looking pasty, don’t you think?”
“I suppose.”
“What about you? How’s life on Aernor treating you?”
Alex opened his mouth, but before he could get a word out, Hank held up a hand to stop him.
“Ah, ah, don’t start with the whole NDA thing again, okay? Carpenter’s a million miles away, probably having a spa day. If a tree falls in the forest and nobody’s around, yada yada... You get my drift?”
“Technically speaking, you’re around,” Alex pointed out.
“But metaphorically speaking, the tree’s both of us,” Hank shot back with a grin. “Now spill.”
Alex considered it. One the one hand, he didn’t trust Buggy any further that he could throw him – which meant, not at all. But on the other hand... what harm could a bit of chat do, as long as he kept things vague? They were both under NDAs, after all.
“Alright, alright. I've been keeping busy. Know what an Aspirant is?”
If Hank had any eyebrows, he would raise one.
“Oh. Oh, that’s juicy. You have been keeping busy.”
“Yeah, well… That’s pretty much all I’ve been doing lately. Training.”
“So, have you figured out what you want your build to look like yet?”
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That... That was a good question.
“Not really,” Alex admitted. “I mean, kind of? I’ve got a rough idea, but lately I’ve been focusing on just some of its aspects.”
“A classic case of tunnel vision, huh?” Hank winced. “Careful, or you’ll end up missing the proverbial forest for the trees. What’s your Class, anyway?”
Ah, shit, Hunter though. In for a penny, in for a pound.
“Mystic.”
“Oh, I see. The old man put you up to it, didn’t he? He tried to convince me, too, but I already had my mind set on Marauder.”
“Marauder? I don’t think I remember that one.”
“I’m not surprised. Not everyone gets the same options.” Hank grinned. “So, you’re a caster-type then? Pew-pew and all that?”
“Uh, no. I’ve gone for a more melee-oriented approach.”
Buggy’s jaw dropped.
“You’re kidding me. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard! A Mystic, going melee? Seriously? What, didn’t you get any fighter-type Class options or something?”
Alex felt his ears go hot at the remark. He forced a shrug, trying to play it off.
“I got plenty of options, alright? This just... felt right.”
“No, no, I mean... you do you, alright?” Buggy backpedaled, raising his hands in mock surrender. “Who knows, maybe you’re onto some sleeper OP build or something. You might even get an unusual Class evolution down the line.”
“Wait – do classes evolve?”
“Of course they do! You didn’t know that?” Buggy gave him a curious look. “I figured you would, seeing as you’re into all that Aspirant stuff.”
Alex scratched the back of his neck, searching for a quick excuse.
“Ah, yeah, well... there’s still a lot I haven’t figured out yet. I’m kind of going for a blind playthrough, you know? In fact, I haven’t even checked my Character Sheet in a while.”
Buggy gave him a long, scrutinizing look, like he was trying to piece together a puzzle. He tilted his head like a bird, narrowing his eyes.
“What?”
“You... You’ve been talking to someone, haven’t you? One of the older players? Bob? No, wait.” His expression brightened with sudden realization. “It’s Penny, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Come on, come on, don’t hold out on me. Spill.”
“No, really. This is literally the first time I’ve talked to anyone about Elderpyre at length.”
Buggy studied him for a moment longer, his gaze narrowing behind the oversized sunglasses. It wasn’t just casual curiosity anymore – there was something sharper, almost calculating, in his look now.
“In that case,” he finally said, “you’re either totally clueless, or a secret genius. Or just plain lucky, I guess?”
“Why’s that?”
“Well,” Buggy smirked, leaning back. “No point in keeping it to myself now, is there? I’ll let you in on a secret. I got on good authority that the more you rely on your System, the more you screw up your potential.”
Alex frowned, gave it some thought. It didn’t make sense at first. Wasn’t the whole point of the System to help guide growth and progress? To unlock abilities and offer a clear path forward? That was the foundation of the game – hell, the foundation of any RPG.
“What do you mean?”
Buggy chuckled, clearly enjoying himself.
“It’s like a crutch, man,” he said, leaning in. “The System’s there to help, sure, but if you lean on it too much, you lose the instinct. The feel. It’s like Luke Skywalker, right? In Star Wars – he would’ve never managed to make that one-in-a-million shot using the targeting computer to aim those proton torpedoes. So what did he do instead?”
Alex blinked, caught off-guard.
“He used the Force.”
“Exactly!” Buggy snapped his fingers. “That’s what I’m talking about. You want to get good? You gotta learn to be, like, intuitive, man!”
It was a strange thought, but not entirely implausible. Hunter had to admit it even made a certain kind of sense.
“So you’re saying I shouldn’t use it at all?” Alex asked, skeptically. “How do you pick new Skills or upgrade Attributes, then?”
“Whoa, whoa, I never said that,” Hank waved a hand, dismissing the idea. “Of course you use it – just not all the time. The numbers are useful, but if you obsess over them, you start losing sight of what really matters. It’s like when people say you shouldn’t weigh yourself every day if you’re trying to lose weight, you know? You gotta be smart about it.”
He leaned back, tapping his temple.
“That’s… surprisingly insightful, Hank. Thank you.”
“Hey, why are you surprised?” He grinned again, showing a row of too-perfect teeth. “I am an insightful individual! Anyway, you’re welcome!”
After a bit more back-and-forth, Alex left Buggy to his sunbathing and made his way back to his room. The conversation lingered in his mind, though. Should he really try to avoid using the System?
In any case, it had been a while since he’d last checked his notifications. He’d been putting it off, not exactly eager to scroll through a beat-by-beat record of how Yuma had left him crippled. Still, he was sure there were plenty of Skill and Ability progression updates waiting for him, too. Maybe it was time to finally face the backlog.