“Hey there, friend. Been meaning to talk to you. You haven’t been avoiding me, have you?”
Jacob had the hero against the wall, keeping hold of a handful of his shirt to ensure his continued cooperation.
Towman was powerfully built, likely as a result of a heavy investment in Vigor, but his face was that of a pervert; sweaty, pale, and beady-eyed, accentuated by his balding pate. His eyes darted all over the place, and he was breathing heavily.
“I don’t want to do this anymore,” he said. “I can’t do it. You can’t make me.”
“I haven’t even told you what I want yet.”
“It won’t work. It won’t, it won’t, it won’t. We’re all dead, can’t you see? How can everyone be so blind? We should all be running.” He grasped Jacob’s arm with both hands, tugging insistently.
“Spoken like a true hero. I see why everyone speaks so highly of you.”
Despite his disdainful tone, Jacob was also burdened by an increasing dread as the battle approached. He couldn’t bring himself to feel so sure that Towman was wrong. But he had to keep acting that way. He had to work under the assumption that they would be victorious. Accepting annihilation was no alternative.
Jacob smacked the B-Rank to focus his attention back up. “You don’t want to fight, right?”
Towman shook his head enthusiastically, chin retracted like a turtle trying to hide.
Jacob leaned in close and lowered his voice to a whisper. “So don’t. Hide somewhere no one can find you. Afterwards, regardless of the outcome, you’ll be free to go anywhere you like. You can walk the waylines, right?”
Towman nodded. “Kind of.”
“Kind of is better than not at all. Look, I have a great hiding spot. Do you want me to show it to you? When it all goes down, you just run there and stay safe.”
He liked that idea.
Jacob took him a few sub-levels down to a currently abandoned section of the Resort. There, he showed Towman a section of rubble that could be shifted to admit entrance to an otherwise blocked-off hallway.
“Remember, wait until the commotion just before the fight to come down here. Otherwise they’ll notice you’re missing and look for you.”
Towman nodded. He chewed his cracked lower lip and averted his flighty gaze. “I’m sorry. I know I should be okay with sacrificing myself for humanity. I’m just… not.”
“It’s all right. We have things handled. And when me and my friend come down to take you out of here, you’ll bring us into the waylines, yes?”
“O-Okay.”
Jacob was well-pleased with that outcome. As a B-Rank, it was unlikely that Towman would pull much weight in the battle at the best of times, but in his present state he would be more of a liability than anything, even if they managed to drag him out there. It was better that he stayed at the Resort, out of harm’s way, so that Jacob didn’t lose his escape plan.
He returned to his room and found Tarim there with Fenris, as expected. The boy was tugging at a blanket with all his might, feet sliding on the floor, while the wolf limply held the other end in his teeth. A rather one-sided tug of war, but at least they were having fun.
Jacob called the kid over with a whistle, and he dropped his game and came running.
“Let’s talk.”
It was time to settle his affairs.
He sat Tarim down on the bed. Fenris padded over, blanket hanging from his mouth, and laid down before them, a mountain of black fur. He let out a deep grumble, and Jacob felt the vibrations through the floor.
“Why do you sound all serious?” Tarim asked, his yellow eye searching Jacob’s face.
“Because this is a serious talk.”
“Okay.”
“If you get word that we’ve failed…”
“You won’t.”
“I know. But if that happens, you need to go and find Towman. Don’t wait for me. Just go. He’ll take you through the waylines. Get to Mars. Find Becca. That’s Rebecca Hartley. Tell her I sent you. She’ll take care of you.”
“Stop.”
“Promise me.”
“Only if you promise that won’t happen.”
“Okay. Pinky promise.”
They pinky promised.
Jacob detailed the circuitous route to Towman’s hiding place and repeated it until Tarim knew it by heart. Then he nodded, and said: “Good. There’s one more thing we need to take care of.”
“What’s that?”
“What I should tell your family if I see them.”
“Oh.” Tarim looked down at his hands. He was quiet for some time, thinking. “I don’t have anything that special to say. Could you just tell them I’m okay, and that I’ll always think about them?”
Jacob nodded and managed a smile. “Of course. I think they’ll like that.”
“Are you expecting to die out there?”
“Most likely.”
“But even if you die, you’ll still come back, right?”
“That’s right.”
“So there’s nothing to worry about?”
Jacob’s smile slipped. He tried to bring it back, but only managed a quiver in his cheek. “Nothing to worry about, kid. I’ll be in and out. Just a bit of quick demon slaying. You know, the usual.”
Tarim laughed.
But it wasn’t funny.
*****
Word came later that same day. Spiking energy readings suggested that Akor-Goram had begun the process of digging a tunnel through space to escape the smoldering garbage dump he had made of the Earth.
It was time. They would head out early the next morning, before dawn. Supposedly, pouring energy into creating his portal would further weaken him, making it the perfect opportunity to strike.
It would take them a few hours to get to Akor-Goram’s location by car convoy. Drones had already confirmed the path to be passable.
That evening, the directors called all the survivors—heroes and support workers alike—together in the cafeteria for a special dinner, long tables assembled from numerous smaller pieces of office furniture so they could sit gathered together. There was a buffet spread of foods that had been squirreled away. Chicken, corn, salmon, rice, mashed potatoes, cheese, butter, sausages, meatballs, ham, mushrooms, eggs, salads. A few of the support workers had even baked fresh bread and several cakes. There was non-alcoholic champagne.
Fenris was allowed to attend, and was given a large trough of bones and raw meat scraps.
Director Thatch made a short speech, followed by Pell. All the support workers stood up and thanked the heroes for their bravery in the defense of the world.
Jacob hated every second of the whole affair. It had an undeniable and thoroughly unnerving ‘Last Supper’ vibe. Except the metaphorical Jesus, Paragon, was not present. In her stead was Starman soaking up attention like a sponge, the only hero in good spirits. Too oblivious to have any doubts.
Not counting Towman, there were 18 heroes. Nineteen with Fenris. Nineteen against ten thousand demons, their three lieutenants, and their Danger Rating Worldbreaker overlord, with their own U-Rank enfeebled and diminished.
Not great odds.
The directors went over tomorrow’s plan once more and answered any questions. Someone inquired about Paragon’s condition, and Pell told them that she had completely recovered from her wounds.
Ha.
Jacob must have done a poor job of concealing his dark mood, because Tarim kept stealing worried glances at him from his adjacent seat. He did his best to ease up his expression, but wasn’t sure to what degree he succeeded.
He stiffened when he felt a hand clap down over his shoulder blades. He didn’t look back, because he already knew who it was.
“If it isn’t Rumpelstiltskin,” Jacob said, eyes fixed straight ahead. He could still feel the other man’s presence hovering over him. “Sorry, I don’t know of any toddlers you can eat. Try somewhere else.”
Starman chuckled. “Your banter has really improved since we first met. I think I’ll take credit for some of that, necessity being the mother of invention and all.” His hand lingered on Jacob’s back.
“What do you want?”
“To warn you, my truest and most beloved friend. I know tonight has a bit of a final air to it, but if you’re looking for a bit of last-minute nookie, steer clear of that fine-looking broad.”
“Flicker.”
“Yeah, that. She’s got ‘siren’ written all over her.”
“I know. I wasn’t tempted.”
“Very good. Quite the clever little biscuit, aren’t we?” He gave Jacob’s back another firm clap and stood away. “Personally, I’d go with that goth-looking one, but I’ll give you first dibs.”
“I’m not planning on having sex with anyone.”
“Oh. That’s tragic. Are you all right? Nerves getting to you?”
“Please fuck off,” Jacob groaned, head in his hands.
For once, he actually did as asked.
“That was your nemesis, right?” Tarim asked furtively.
Jacob chuckled. “Yeah, that was him.” He played with his uneaten mashed potatoes.
“Are we going to kill him?”
“We aren’t doing anything. But I’m going to kill him, yes.”
His head lip up. He dropped his fork as a rapid barrage of impressions scrolled behind his eyelids.
[ON-ON-ON-ON-ON—]
[...ONLINE?]
[SEARCHING-SEARCHING FOR—]
[SEARCHING FOR SYSTEM CONNECTION]
[SYSTEM CONNECTION FOUND]
[INITIATING HAND—]
[INITIATING HANDSHAKE]
[SU-SUCCESS!]
[YOU ARE NOW CONNECTED]
[PLEASE REPORT PERFORMANCE ISSUES TO NEAREST QUALIFIED TECHNICIAN]
Jacob blinked. Once the initial surprise wore off, he found himself smiling. Looking around the table, he saw similar reactions. A few of the heroes had already risen from their seats in jubilation.
[CONGRATULATIONS, PRIME CANDIDATE USER! YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 4]
[PLEASE ALLOCATE YOUR REWARDS]
…
…
…
[CONGRATULATIONS, PRIME CANDIDATE USER! YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 5]
[PLEASE ALLOCATE YOUR REWARDS]
…
…
…
[CONGRATULATIONS, PRIME CANDIDATE USER! YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 6]
[PLEASE ALLOCATE YOUR REWARDS]
…
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
…
…
[CONGRATULATIONS, PRIME CANDIDATE USER! YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 7]
[PLEASE ALLOCATE YOUR REWARDS]
…
…
…
[BINDING VOW CREATED]
On pain of death
Performance-based
Timed
[SIGNEE 1:]
<
[SIGNEE 2:]
‘I swear to, uh, pay you back the three million flora within three months. I swear on my father’s grave.’
[TIME REMAINING: 85d, 23h, 31m]
…
…
…
[ATTUNEMENT COMPLETE: DEADY BEAR]
Relic, rare
Energy type
Soulbound, attuned (you)
He preserves the fleeting self before it is lost.
Jacob couldn’t stop grinning now. That was a fat stack of well-earned goodies.
“What’s going on?” Tarim asked, unsettled by the sudden commotion.
“We’re back, that’s what. The System is online.”
Tarim checked his node and found that, indeed, it was working again. He only looked happy for a moment, then the expression on his patchwork face darkened.
“What’s wrong?”
“Well, I thought…” He shrugged, looking stubbornly away. “Nothing. It was stupid.”
“Go on.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”
“You were hoping you’d Snapped, and you’d get the notification when the System came back on.”
Tarim’s sullen silence was answer enough.
“Don’t sweat it, kid. Snapping is tricky business. It takes time.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“It took me years, and I literally had to die before I finally snapped. So maybe listen to what I’m saying.”
Tarim relented with a reluctant shrug.
The directors had already separated themselves from the crowd and were using their restored System access to make various calls. Many of the heroes were in the process of allocating level-up rewards.
Regardless of how much difference it would actually make, Jacob felt the pendulum of fortune swing back in his favor. Gaining levels 4 through 7 meant that he would get four attribute points, a talent, and an aspect. At least on a personal level, that would be a major swing of power. Most heroes never made it past Level 5 in their career, so simply reaching Level 7 was a significant accomplishment in itself, something like the top 80th percentile of all Users.
He was in no rush to allocate the rewards, though. He wanted to give himself a bit of privacy and thinking time first, maybe look over the rewards one by one before committing.
The Deady Bear had successfully attuned, too, which was a pleasant bonus. He’d need to give that its due attention when able.
Thatch soon returned to address the assembled Guild members. “Everyone, as I’m sure you’re all aware, the System has been restored. The AF-HZ branch reports that KATLA has successfully repaired herself, and that they have been able to repel all significant demon threats from the mainframe, including Kel-Dursu, another of Akor-Goram’s lieutenants. Regrettably, almost all the heroes died in the process. The survivors, Excelerate and Dr. Drakemyth, will be joining us from the AF-HZ within the next few hours via teleporter.”
Having another S-Rank on their roster would be a major help. Excelerate was considered near the top, too—the fastest speedster on Earth by a wide margin before the apocalypse, back when there had actually been some competition.
But the other name intrigued Jacob far more.
He’s still alive? I thought he would’ve died years ago.
Dr. Lazarim Drakemyth was the legendary creator of KATLA and, by extension, the System itself. Like Paragon, he was an elusive figure who barely ever came out for interviews or public appearances. There had been no word about him at all in the last decade, so Jacob just assumed he was dead.
“To clarify,” Jacob called, “this is Lazarim Drakemyth you’re talking about? Not his second cousin or something?”
Thatch nodded. “The same. Christmas came early this year, everyone! He promised to bring us some of his toys!”
There were cheers at that. Jacob had no idea what was meant by ‘toys’, but if it was Drakemyth-made, it had to be something good.
Up to twenty.
Still slim, but at least it was a stacked team. Five S-Ranks and Paragon. Starman, purely in terms of power, was also borderline S. Almost all the others were A-Rank.
We only need to kill about five hundred demons each. That should be easy.
Then it was Pell’s turn for an announcement as she got off a call. “We’ve confirmed that Paragon has leveled up from her previous battle with Akor-Goram, and has gained a new aspect. Once she has chosen, we believe it will give her the edge against him.”
More cheers, doubled in fervor.
Personally, Jacob wasn’t sure whether to believe it. It could simply be a bald-faced lie, a tactic to bolster morale. He searched the directors’ faces for signs of deception, but couldn’t decide one way or another. He wanted to believe it was true.
That’d be some fire, eh?
I’ll be watching, Paragon. Like you asked.
*****
Celebrations kicked off in proper fashion after that, with laughing and singing and even a bit of dancing, but Jacob quickly withdrew to his quarters to focus on his level-up rewards. Fenris and Tarim accompanied him. He usually preferred to be alone for this, but he allowed Tarim to stay so long as he didn’t make himself overly bothersome.
First, Jacob tested if he would be allowed to allocate his Level 7 reward before the others, since knowing the new aspect beforehand would naturally color how he wanted to affix the other ones.
It was allowed.
[CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING ASPECTS FOR YOUR BLESSING]
[ASPECT OF SENSING]
You sense death in all life.
…
…
…
[ASPECT OF SILENCING]
Changes Blessing to Symbiosis/Aura Hybrid
Your presence deadens the arcane.
…
…
…
[ASPECT OF LORE]
Your gaze retraces the path of death.
…
…
…
[ASPECT OF RESURGENCE]
Dying does a body good.
Jacob copied the information onto his regular System interface and showed it to Tarim.
“Woahhh,” he said.
“What do you think?”
The kid spent a minute reading and re-reading the descriptions. “Hmm, they’re so vague.”
“Welcome to being a User. Life-changing decisions with one line of text to go off of.”
“Most of these seem pretty niche. Like, what does ‘retrace the path of death’ even mean?”
“I couldn’t tell you.”
“I like the Aspect of Resurgence the best, I think. It seems pretty clear that it’ll give you a power boost every time you come back to life.”
“It could be good. Ideally I’d go a good long while before I die next, but realistically it’s going to happen sooner or later. I’ve already died seven times, so. Assuming ‘does my body good’ refers to boosting physical capabilities, it would probably be comparable to getting points in Vigor and Finesse whenever I die. Impossible to say how much, of course. Could be equivalent to a full point, or half a point, or anything like that.”
“You don’t sound that convinced.”
“Pure physical strength is going to have diminishing returns after a while. Right now I want to get strong enough to bust Starman’s shell open, and given what I’ve seen him live through, that might take a lot. But at a certain point, purely physical combat has its limitations. I wonder if increasing my versatility with other abilities might be wiser.”
“I guess. Not what I would do, but all right.”
“Yeah, you’re also a runty little brat who doesn’t know anything about anything.”
“Pssh. More like unappreciated genius.”
Jacob snorted at that. “There’s also the risk that if I take Aspect of Resurgence, future aspects will pigeonhole me into effects that rely on me dying a lot. I’d rather keep my memories where they are, thank you very much.”
“Oh, that actually does make sense. I didn’t think about that.”
“Yes, you have much to learn, young apprentice.”
“So which one are you thinking about?”
“Aspect of Silencing looks like it could be good. I assume it gives me a passive aura that dispels or at least dampens magic. I haven’t had magic used against me yet, but I imagine it would be an unpleasant experience.
“What I worry about is that it might unintentionally dispel magic items I want to use. Relics would still work, I believe—I was told that Relics and magic items function on different principles—but cutting myself off from a potential source of power doesn’t sound clever.
“It also has the same problem as Aspect of Resurgence. Future aspects might force me to spec further into anti-magic stuff when I might not ever come across any harmful magics.”
“So that’s a no?”
“I think that’s a no. It’s hard to say what Aspect of Lore would do for me. ‘Lore’ is a fairly grand word to use as a descriptor, which makes me suspect that it has something to do with the existential side of my Blessing. ‘Lore’ and ‘retrace’ make it clear that it has to do with the past, somehow. The lack of a nature change suggests it wouldn’t be something like rewinding time or undoing death, but more like simply seeing the past. It’s hard to say what applications that would have, so it might be a bad pick based purely on lack of information. I took a gamble with my first aspect and it worked out well enough, but I don’t think that’s behavior that bears repeating.”
“That only leaves the Aspect of Sensing.”
“Looks that way. It’s also a pretty vague one, but the word ‘Sensing’ interests me. One of the weaknesses of Cheat the Hangman is that it dulls all my senses. But it also dulls my sense of pain, so I don’t want to put points in Senses and undo that benefit. This aspect suggests it has some form of sensory ability, which might be a nice way to get around that dilemma and shore up one of my major weaknesses.”
Fenris yawned and stretched out before settling his head back on the floor with a dull thump, wholly unconcerned with the conversing of humans.
“So that’s the one you’re going with?” Tarim asked.
“I think so.”
He thought about it a little longer, but couldn’t think of any among those four that he’d rather have. It might put future aspects into more of a sensory category than he would like, but he had already started down that path when he picked his first aspect.
Guess I’m riding that train.
He picked the Aspect of Sensing.
[THANK YOU!]
[SELECTION COMPLETE]
[CHEAT THE HANGMAN]
Symbiosis Blessing
+ Aspect of Truth
+ Aspect of Sensing
Death is not the end, but beware its effects.
You glimpse the truth beyond death.
You sense death in all life.
[ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH YOUR SELECTION?]
[Y/N]
Yes.
[INTEGRATING CHANGES WITH PHYSICAL MATRIX]
…
…
…
…
…
Jacob’s eyes exploded with agony.
He bent forward, grasping his face. It burned. It burned like two red-hot pokers shoved into his eye sockets. It radiated throughout his head, numbing him to everything but the pain, and he clenched his teeth so hard one of them cracked in half.
His vision blurred, then faded, casting a black veil over the world. He couldn’t see. He had gone blind. He was in so much pain.
It lasted an eternity. Then, slowly, slowly, it eased up. There were pinpricks of color in his non-vision that grew until a blurry room came back into view.
He lay on his side, breathing heavily. The boy called out to him, and the wolf licked at him and nibbled on his ear.
But Jacob found himself unable to pay any of that much attention. Something was different. His vision had changed. Still blurry, but rapidly falling into sharp focus now. The room, which had looked like the same room at first glance, was in fact not the same at all.
Jacob was surrounded by whorling clouds and shifting fields and drifting particles, a million tiny pinpricks of exploding light that each existed for only a fraction of a second, but which collectively produced fantastical, dizzying patterns.
Jacob stood, felt his awareness swirl around him. He tasted it on his tongue, a sour-sweet film that coated his whole mouth, and it was just as much a smell, filling his nostrils and all the way down into his lungs, then back out again as he exhaled. On the edge of his hearing, there was a faint buzz as of a fly’s wings, a background hum he had never before been able to discern from the noise of the universe, but that was now put into amazingly stark contrast.
It was a fusion of all senses to form a new one, a sight greater than sight. His normal vision was an annoying hindrance, a crude crayon drawing overlayed on top of a painted masterpiece. He shut his eyes and let it all flow around him, that wonderful and repugnant vortex of pure being.
He was sensing death, he realized. Of course he was. The death of every microscopic being inside the room. Every skin mite crawling on his body. Every bacteria in the air around him. Each produced a tiny spark of light as it died, a spark that spread out like a tiny sonar ping to map out the world.
“Ah…” Jacob moaned. “Oh. I see.”
I can finally see.
It was overwhelming. As overwhelming as a blind man waking up one morning with fully functioning eyes. It hurt to take it all in. He couldn’t take it all in. There was just too much death to ever reckon with, even if there were a thousand of him working in tandem.
“Are you all right?” Tarim asked.
He reached for Jacob to touch his arm. Jacob caught the boy’s wrist without needing to turn.
“Yes,” Jacob said, each syllable he spoke echoing with the essence of spilled life. “Yes, I’m quite all right.”
He had been planning to pick Danger Sense as his new talent.
I don’t think I need that anymore.
*****
Tarim was getting a little concerned that his mentor had lost his mind.
He had been wandering around the room for the past fifteen minutes, sniffing at the air, touching the walls, putting his ear to the floor. At one point he found a beetle under the bed and crushed it between his fingers. The sound he produced was… disturbing.
Tarim’s attempts to speak to him had only been rewarded with vague, absent-minded answers. And as soon as he stopped talking, Jacob promptly forgot about his existence, attention straying onto something only he could see.
Fenris had noticed that something was wrong, too. He sat up facing his master, ears forward, their pointed tips nearly touching the ceiling.
Should I go get someone? Is he in danger? Can an aspect really do this to a person?
For the first time since meeting Jacob, Tarim questioned his conviction to become a User. The way Jacob was acting was like someone on a mind-numbing high, their inner demons made manifest as haunting illusions.
When another query into his well-being resulted in a snappy, impatient reply, Tarim decided it was probably best to get someone after all. He asked Fenris to stay and left the room. He walked the halls, looking for anyone who might be competent enough to help.
The complex was nearly deserted, so most people had to still be at the cafeteria. He turned his steps there and came into the crowded room, met by the sound of overlapping conversations. It was evidently wrapping up, as the food had begun to be taken away.
Tarim scanned over the room until he spotted Thatch. He’d know what to do, surely. He went over to him in a half-jog, and the director saw him approach, noticing by Tarim’s bearing that there was something urgent.
“What’s the matter?” Thatch asked, and without looking he shooed away a hero trying to talk to him.
“It’s Jacob. He chose his new aspect, and now he’s acting really weird. It’s… kind of scary.”
“I see. Is he violent?”
“No, nothing like that. I don’t know how to explain it. He’s just been walking around, looking at things and touching them. Staring off into nothing.”
“Okay. We’ll get it figured out, don’t worry.” He called Superglue over. “Tarim, would you like to stay here or come with us?”
“I’ll come with you.”
Thatch nodded.
They went back to Jacob’s chamber. Its occupant sat crouched in the middle of the room, turned partially away but pointing at them with an accusing finger.
“I knew you were coming,” he said. “I know that it’s you, Thatch, and Tarim. I can tell by your breath. And there’s one other person, but I can’t tell who.” He stood and turned towards them. He had covered his eyes with a blindfold fashioned from a strip torn off his bedsheets.
“Jacob, Tarim says you’ve been acting strangely,” Thatch said, taking a few careful steps into the room.
Jacob frowned. “Have I? I’m sorry.”
“How are you feeling?”
“I feel… lethal.”
“Towards demons, I hope.”
“Yes.”
“Will you let Superglue examine you?”
Jacob didn’t reply. His focus had wandered, and he had his hand outstretched towards the ceiling, waggling his fingers.
“Jacob.”
“Hmm?” He didn’t look towards them.
“Will you let Superglue take a look at you? Make sure you’re okay?”
“Oh, of course. Sure.”
Thatch guided Jacob to his bed and sat him down. Superglue came over and began poking and prodding at him. She pulled up the blindfold and shined light into his eyes, which he didn’t appreciate, jerking back.
Once they were reasonably certain that Jacob wasn’t going to attack anyone, Thatch came over to where Tarim was standing with Fenris.
“It’s nothing to worry about,” he said with a patronizing little half-smile. “Sometimes it takes a while for a User to adjust to their Blessing or a new aspect. It’s not uncommon.”
“Acting like this is common?”
“Well, maybe not this extreme.”
“But he’ll be okay?”
“We’re confident, yes.”
“What about tomorrow?”
Thatch stroked his mustache. “He’s… very motivated. I think it’ll be fine.”
“You think?”
“There’s no way for me to know anything. Not yet. But we need him, so I’m sending him in tomorrow. Hopefully this new aspect will be useful to him out there. Do you know what it’s supposed to be doing, by the way? He won’t tell us anything, it’s all gibberish. It’s clearly affected his perception somehow, but…”
“It’s called the Aspect of Sensing. It said something about letting him see death everywhere, or something like that.”
“Well, he’s certainly seeing something.”