His phone rang as he dropped on the couch, groaning and feeling the irrational urge to join Cloe as she hissed at the thing. “Fucking twelve hour shifts.”
“Mark speaking.” He answered, dreading who it might be. Being the only one that knew how to operate that old crane was great in the sense he couldn't get fired, not so great in that they tended to call him in on odd hours.
‘Won’t matter for much longer, already training the new guy.’
“Mark. It’s Sara.”
He shot up, wide awake for the first time since he got home. “Oh. Hi.”
“You’ve been trying to find me.” It wasn’t a question, and her tone was cool. Irritated.
Mark swallowed the urge to apologise. “Took me a little while to get the message, but I’ve stopped that months and months ago. Almost seven, if I remember right.”
“Yes, eight months since we met.” Her voice was strange, laced with expectation. “I’ll just say it. I’m pregnant, my water just broke, and you need to come get your kid.”
----------------------------------------
He twisted the ring around his finger as the party separated, their previous unity forgotten after the camp was constructed. ‘Not entirely true, Wrath is more neutral. Slightly.’
Choose a class skill to enhance:
Adaptable - Physical changes when eating, boosts def skills?
Durance - Buff timer times two.
Strong Stomach - Eat anything.
Consume - Anything eaten feeds well.
Cure - Five meats max, forty eight hours instead of three.
Uncaring killer - Better fighting with weapons, boosts attack skills?
Hunter - Better hunter, more damage to prey. Boosts hunting skills?
“I’m saying this is easy.” Sloth argued, uncharacteristically serious. “I know the skill I want, I’m going to pick it, and that's that.”
Lust’s whine had an undertone of humour, the only thing stopping it from being irritating. “Just tell me which one, at least. Glut shared, right Glut?”
“The fact you have him wrapped around your finger, among other things, doesn’t mean I need to disclose anything about my class.”
Mark snorted, not paying much attention. Sloth send him a curious look, then glanced at Lust. “Or maybe not. Either way, not sharing. I told you I’ll have more mana, that’s going to have to be good enough.”
‘Adaptable, Durance or Cure.’ He thought, ignoring Lust’s attempts to drag him into the conversation. ‘Killer or hunter are good, but not what makes my class special. Now, which one?’
Durance was the boring safe option, but no less good for it. More time for his buffs would mean protracted fighting was doable, and he had little doubt that was what it would increase. He set it aside after some consideration, looking over cure. ‘Same reasoning, but it’s better. More meat, for longer, would be a godsent. Maybe even enhance the effects?’
“No, Lust. What you choose to share, or what Gluttony chooses to share, is up to you. I am better at crafting, that is all I will say.”
“Boring, boring, boring!” She complained, poking him in the side. Mark swatted it away, shooting her a stern glare. “Kindly let me think before attempting to twist my decision.”
‘Adaptable, then? It’s strong, maybe even my strongest, and getting better modifications would be good. Fuck it.’
Adaptable has been enhanced.
He pulled up both descriptions, having saved it before choosing the skill.
Adaptable. The greatest human trait, now brought to greater heights. The buff gained from your Class Feature also impacts a portion of the prey’s natural physiology. Take and consume, grow and take.
Adaptable(enhanced). The greatest human trait, now brought to greater heights. The buff gained from your Class Feature also impacts a large portion of the prey’s natural physiology. Take and consume, grow and take, until all is one.
Mark pulled up his full status, eyeing his level and the fact one with stone had finally maxed.
Name: Mark Dallton Class: Gluttony Level: 14 (09/240) Class skills (6):
Adaptable(enhanced) - Physical changes when eating, boosts def skills?
Durance - Buff timer times two.
Strong Stomach - Eat anything.
Consume - Anything eaten feeds well.
Cure - Five meats max, forty eight hours instead of three.
Uncaring killer - Better fighting with weapons, boosts attack skills?
Hunter - Better hunter, more damage to prey. Boosts hunting skills?
Prepare(+)
General skills (3):
Bought skills:
Pain Tolerance: level 5 (maxed)
Dodge: level 5 (maxed)
Hunting: level 5 (maxed)
Throwing: level 5 (maxed)
Footwork: level 5 (maxed)
Pugilist: level 5 (maxed)
Crafting: level 5 (maxed)
One with Stone: level 10 (maxed)
Useful skills:
Spear fighting +
Club fighting +
Knife fighting +
Sword fighting +
Quick reaction +
Punch +
Kick +
Counter +
Redirect +
Fire Tolerance +
Useless skills:
Rock fighting +
Bone fighting +
Foraging +
Farming +
Skinning +
Campfire Cooking +
Stonemasonry +
Woodworking +
Tailor +
Tool Crafting +
Weapon Crafting +
Sneaking +
Building +
Carrying +
Scouting +
Bracing +
Barter +
Feature: Kill and eat, eat and survive.
“Useless class points.” He muttered, causing Lust to perk up. “Yes, I’m done. Got better at adapting to what I eat.”
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The sheer disappointment on her face made him smile. “Fine, yes. My power swells as I consume, eating and adapting until nothing stands without my consent. Until I tower ten feet tall and can break the very heavens, nothing shall stop me from devouring the very gods themselves.”
“You’re a dick.” She chided, sliding up. “But I suppose I can overlook that. Now eat something, show me what’s changed.”
“Other skills first.” He denied. “A new class and general one, in fact. As a personal favour I’ll ignore the six new general skills I got.”
Punch. Hit first, hit hard. This skill increases the speed and damage of your punches.
He picked it, throwing a few punches and feeling little difference. Lust rolled her eyes at him, staring at something he couldn't see. ‘Her status. Is that what I look like?’
Prepare. To hunt is to eat, but to preserve is to grow. This skill will increase the expiration time of killed meat to twenty four hours, if properly prepared and stored. Horde and feast, feast and kill.
His eyes widened, buying the skill before he could consciously decide on it. ‘Should have waited before enhancing, shit.’
Greed ambled over as he waved at the man, Mark speaking in a rapid tone. “Cookware, the kind you use for camping. Compact and lightweight, but extensive. Fuel, if possible, knives, pots, the whole deal. A table, one that folds out, and usable for butchering and preparing meat.”
He flicked the man one of the gems he’d pried out of the throne, its value far exceeding that of the requested items, but Greed weighed it as if considering. Then he nodded, the stone breaking.
Setting it up didn’t take much time, Lust having gotten bored after he’d ignored her and walked off, and it was Sloth that raised her eyebrow when he returned to camp. A boar was slung over his shoulder, its neck cleanly broken, and he’d already taken five cuts from the thigh. The table wobbled as he put down the carcass, briefly stumped. ‘How’d you butcher a pig again?’
“I take it this is related to your new class skill?” Sloth interjected, Mark having picked up a cleaver. His hands moved with surety as memories came back, old videos and lessons remembered in crystal clarity. “Or if you’re busy?”
“No, sorry.” The cleaver came down, separating the head and causing blood to gush over the table. “Shit, should have drained it first. It’s a new skill, yea. Preparing and storing it properly will make it last longer. Greed, bags! Plastic, say a dozen, with airtight seals.”
Greed looked over, annoyed, but took the golden dagger all the same. Another trophy, gone for plastic. Sloth looked pensive. “I’ve been wondering about that.”
“About?” He prompted, cutting along the belly. Mark calmed some, knowing there was no way he’d need the whole beast, and cutting the head off had been a little ambitious.
“The class skills. One every three levels, all but useless points after level five. Makes me wonder what else they’ll be used for. That aside, they're too strong. Another ten levels and we’ll be an army unto ourselves, not to mention the growing list of general skills.”
“You’re assuming others don’t get the same.” He pointed out, setting down a pan. The stove turned on as he put the lighter to it, gas igniting. “Why did we bother with campfires if we could have had this stuff?”
“Stupidity.” Sloth murmured, Mark snorting. “But it's a fair point. If others have the same power we do, presumably with more time to level and learn, war would devastate everything. Not even talking about the environment, though it would suffer greatly, but about people. Dictators were bad enough when they were mortal and human.”
Meat sizzled as he put it on the pan, making sure the cut had enough fat to render. ‘Either I’m better at cooking than I thought, or prepare does more than extend the expiration.’
“It’s a scary thought.” He admitted. “And not one we can do anything about.”
“No.” Sloth sighed. “We can’t. Not yet, perhaps, but likely never.”
Lust blew into his ear, Mark suppressing his surprise at her appearance. He’d been getting enough practice, at least. “Don’t assume all of us are so magnanimous. Wrath won’t, too focused on fighting, but Envy? Pride? Don’t tell me they won’t take charge if they could, righteously believing they could do better.”
“Here.” A handful of herbs were deposited on his table, Mark smiling at her. She turned her head, looking at Sloth. “Slim pickings, but it should help with the flavour. Anyway, I’m not one for ruling. Too constricting and boring. Being the power behind the throne, though? That could be fun.”
Mark laughed, short and quiet. “No thanks. Ruling is far too messy and dangerous for little old me, and overseeing the new guys at work doesn’t exactly qualify me for it anyway.”
“Unwilling leaders are usually the best kind.” Sloth said, raising her hand when he shot her a glare. Then he shot a glare at Lust when she started smiling at Sloth conspiratorially. “If you put me in charge you’ll have to do what I say. I could make surprising me illegal, for example.”
Lust made a face. He nodded, satisfied, when he cut the pork. “That’s what I thought. Hand me the bags?”
He didn’t see Sloth shake her head when Lust did, sealing it up and setting his watch. He put it back under his armour, zipping up the special pocket Greed had made on his request. Lust sat on a log, pulling her knife to clean her nails. “So what now?”
“Pride, food!” He shouted, sealing up the last of the meat. Storing it on his person was doable, if looking somewhat strange, and as he predicted he’d made far too much. One steak easily split into five or so buffs, and it's not like he had time to chow down on a porterhouse in the middle of combat anyway. “We’ll discuss it after.”
The food was devoured in silence, Wrath nodding her head at him when she was done. His camping kitchen came with plates, and fetching some water to do the dishes wasn’t too hard. It allowed him to settle his mind, the chore surprisingly calming.
Pride smirked when he was done, putting the last things away and folding it all up. It came in a storage crate, far too unwieldy to carry, and the man stored it with a headshake. “Gluttony, fearless warrior and hunter of beasts, doing the dishes like a housemaid.”
Mark shrugged uncaringly, his tone dry. “Oh no, soap. I don’t know how my hands will survive.”
Greed clapped his hands, interrupting Pride’s response. “The realm is conquered. We continue to follow the water?”
Sloth nodded with a shrug. “Don’t see why not. Unless someone got a skill that lets them scout vast areas?”
“Then that’s settled.” Pride decided, after a brief silence. “We take the day to rest, hunt or craft, and we leave in the morning.”
No one had a problem with that, Lust appearing over his shoulder when the group broke. “Fucking hells woman, stop doing that.”
A grin was his answer, wagging her finger mockingly. “I like short meetings like that. Hunt?”
“Good.” He bit back, sarcasm rolling off his tongue. “We cave people, hunt bring food. Food good, hunt good.”
Her grin widened, nodding at the east, and he shrugged. “Nice. Want to fight one of those hollow knights.”
“Carefull, you might turn into Wrath.”
“Nah, just want to see you eat metal again. How do you still have teeth?”
“How do you disappear into thin air the second I’m not looking? Magic. Magic is how.”
Sloth, to his surprise, joined them before they could leave. She seemed a tad awkward, glancing at Lust. “You're going to hunt?”
“So we are. Want to join? Fair warning, we’ll be looking for a giant.”
Another glance at Lust. “If you’re both fine with that. The realm was a bit of a wakeup call, so to speak.”
‘When we nearly died by ambush, horde or the boss?’
“Of course. Lust?”
“Why wouldn't I be?”
He sighed dramatically. “If you start answering questions with a question I’ll throw you down a ravine.”
They moved along, Sloth keeping up with that strange way of walking, and after some polite small talk there wasn’t much conversation. It had been easy with just Lust, a natural back and forth that he didn’t have to think about much.
Sloth? She was a trained therapist, if one that had made a career ending mistake, and he found himself choosing his words with care. ‘Not that I don’t trust her.’
The assurance felt hollow. ‘Just not as much as I trust Lust. Why do I trust her, anyway?’
That question he couldn't answer, although he dismissed sex fairly quickly. He wasn’t quite that stupid, and while saying he didn’t trust her more afterward would be a lie, he wouldn't have started if he didn’t trust her to begin with.
The silence stretched. ‘Uncomfortable silence is only uncomfortable if I let it.’
“So, how long before you jump into Greed's pants?”
Both he and Sloth looked at Lust with flat expressions, although for different reasons. He had seen her looking, lingering on his towering frame, but it so very much wasn’t any of his business. Lust seemed to disagree.
“I wouldn't touch that man’s issues with a ten foot pole.”
Mark raised an eyebrow. “He seems fairly well adjusted, actually, especially under the circumstances.”
“A ten foot pole wouldn't be unlikely, seeing as every other part of him got bigger.”
Sloth ignored her, turning to him. “He’s been getting what he wants. Things to own, new toys to play with. Little restraint, less even than Pride, but his fault is easier to swallow. Just not in a relationship, and I’ve seen more than my fair share of those with a controlling partner.”
‘Soldiers, right.’
“Not exactly the same.” Lust replied, her tone considering. “I’ve seen you send grown men, goblins, flying with a wave. Fire hot enough to melt stone, bolts accurate enough to kill. Don’t talk up the innocent act, you’re as lethal as the rest of us.”
“It’s not the physical danger I’m worried about. But to cut a long and tiring conversation short, it's not happening.”
Lust shrugged, a slightly more comfortable silence settling as they walked. Traversing the mountains, although not something he’d ever done before, shouldn't have been so easy. He got tired only after hours and hours of walking, climbing really wasn’t that hard, the few times they had to do it, and there wasn’t any snow to worry about. “What do you call these kinds of mountains, anyway?”
“Ones without snow? Usually low enough it isn’t so cold, but we’d be seeing more trees if that was the case. Also, that doesn’t look tiny. No clue what they're called, if they even exist back home.”
Sloth pointed to the side, a vast cliff dropping down deep enough he wouldn't be able to make out details on the bottom. They were walking a good four dozen feet from it, just to be sure. Mark pulled up short. “Giant. Finally.”
“That is a large footprint.” Lust pointed out. “The three of us might not be enough.”
“Then we run. I want to try, though. Really want to eat one.”
He ignored the look Sloth sent him, considering and analytical. “When we find it, Sloth, do you mind pouring half your mana into burning it? If that kills it, great, if not it’ll be weakened.”
She shrugged, which he took as agreement, and he pointed to where the tracks continued. It took a few hours, enough that the sun was starting to get low, but they found it. Alone, to their luck, and with a small horde of dead animals around it. He could see two twin goats, a hollow knight and even a couple of boars. Animals that weren’t supposed to be around here, and he saw why when they got closer.
‘A harness. He, it, is dragging them somewhere.’
“Tool usage suggests intelligence.” Lust muttered, looking his way. He shook his head. “I’ll try to talk to it. Sloth, stand ready with fire.”
He lengthened his stride, the giant having paused to look at them. Friendly or not, it stood well over fifteen feet. Thick legs, thicker arms, and coarse hair gave it a rugged appearance, its eyes tracking him as he got within a hundred feet.
“Greetings. I’m Gluttony.”
Its brow furrowed, looking down at its prey. Now that he was closer still he could see they were bound to the harness with rope, the bodies not appearing all that damaged. A broken neck here, missing a few limbs there. Nothing that would suggest a protracted fight, which didn’t bode well for them. “I’m not looking to steal your kills. Simply wanted to talk, if you’re able.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No.”
He sighed. “No as in you can’t speak, or no as in you don’t want to?”
“Leave.”
It raised its arms, likely in some dominance gesture, but Mark found he didn’t want to. This was either a sentient, non hostile monster or something he could eat, and either way they’d spend most of the day tracking it. “I would, I really would, but I have a few questions. Please?”
“Leave!” It bellowed, taking two steps forward. The sound hit him like a physical wave, ringing his ears.
“Say a complete sentence, and I will.”
It stopped, dropping its arms. The enormous thing huffed out a breath, very human annoyance appearing on its face. “Leave, or I will take this boar and club you to death with it.”
‘Progress.’
“I don’t want to fight you.” Mark assured, taking a few steps back to maintain distance. “But we’re lost in these mountains, could use a guide. We can pay. Armour and weapons, tools.”
It appeared saddened, just for a moment. “You break your word, little human.”
The giant charged, eating the distance as Mark hurriedly tore one of the plastic bags.
“Sloth!”