Stat Increase: Mind +1.

The Stat Bump Perk cannot be used again until you next Level Up.

“What is this bullshit?” I asked aloud as I read the ‘(Unavailable)’ notice next to the Stat Bump perk. My plan had been to use the Stat Bump perk three times. Once for each new level I had gained, but it wasn’t letting me. That’s some serious bullshit! It’s not my fault I levelled up three times all at once.

For the past few hours, I had been slowly carrying Serilla back to Morgon’s Tavern. The path had been difficult before, but now that I only had one stable leg, it was damn near impossible. I could form quicksilver, but after throwing everything I had at that boss, even the thought of using that ability was making me nauseous.

I found the remains of my fluffy red onesie and used a big chunk of it to create a bundle in which I packed the eel’s eyes and a section of his tongue I was able to hack off of his corpse. I couldn’t get through the outer layer of his natural armour and his teeth didn’t want to come out, so I took what I could. Fuck that piece of shit.

“Once I’ve got Serilla back to her home and finished my business with Morgon, I’m coming back here to carve you up,” I told him.

The empty eye sockets of his cold, dead corpse stared back at me.

After a few moments, a wave of nausea and fatigue rolled over me. I needed to deal with the shattered bone at the tear in my leg before I bled out. I used a fallen branch as a crutch and the remaining scrap of my onesie to tie a clamp around my leg. I made a hash of it, but it would do.

The bleeding had stopped for a while, but the first time I fell over on the trail, it started dripping blood again. The pain was indescribable… but I had bigger problems to deal with. The most important being the silly, brave, undead, hero I was carrying over my back.

She had saved my life back there. The chance of me leaving her behind was zero, but it did mean I was late for my duel with Morgon. The entire tavern was going to think I was a coward who ran for the hills. Huh, I guess in a sense that’s what I did. Did Serilla plan to delay me deliberately so I would miss the fight?

“That’s pretty sneaky, Serilla.”

I rested against a tree for a minute and used the trunk to shift her higher onto my back.

“Damn, Serilla,” I said. “You’re heavy.”

She hadn’t… come around yet. She hadn’t shown any signs of healing either. I refused to accept that she was fully dead. She’s undead. She can’t just die like that. It takes something special to kill undead.

Somewhere deep down a voice reminded me that quicksilver was something special. Quicksilver can kill undead. She’s dead dead.

“You’re wrong,” I said.

I was talking to myself. I needed to find something to focus on, so I distracted myself with deciding on my perks.

Reaching level four revealed perks I had never seen before. Some of them weren’t half bad.

Martial Adept (4).

Each subsequent Skill in a chain combo costs 10% less magic. Each skill in the combo must be different. Martial Adept resets if the same skill is used twice or if an instance of Basic Duration passes in which no skill is active.

Soul Bound (4).

Combine a fraction of your soul with a Skill of your choice to affect an evolution.

Quest Giver (4).

Grants the ability to spend XP to create a quest that will become available though standard outlets.

Arcane Reaper (4).

Absorb magic from your target when administering the killing blow.

Selective Hunter (4).

Choose a specific race to be your primary target. Damage and Skill efficiency is 10% higher against selected race. Targeted race cannot be changed after initial selection.

With 4 Intellect points remaining, I could unlock one of the standard level four perks or a combination of lesser perks. I couldn’t afford Geek or the newly discovered Strangled Strangler perk… which was a weird one, honestly.

Strangled Strangler (5).

Deal double damage when deprived of breathable air or asphyxiated.

The asphyxiation part reminded of the word auto-erotic for some reason. Yeah, I don’t want any part of that perk.

Last time around, I had decided that picking up the basics had been the wiser strategy and I still felt there was truth to that. But those level four perks look absolutely juicy…

The standard level 2 perks, such as Gold Flow and Source Flow, which allowed me to direct XP into gold or gear respectively, were absolute staples. Without them, I would probably struggle to even buy things from merchants. And the level three perk Autophagy would stop me starving to death if I got into a situation where food was scarce again.

But those level four perks look seriously fucking cool!

I wished I could ask Serilla about them. She was bound to know a thing or two.

“Hey, I need help picking my perks,” I said.

She was unresponsive.

I gritted my teeth and continued to struggle along the trail.

Arcane Reaper, Soul Bound, and Martial Adept were the perks that really stood out to me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pick all three of them.

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Martial Adept and Arcane Reaper were both related to Mana, which made me wonder if the perks I discovered at level up were actually influenced by my build. The fact they were called Standard Perks had led me to believe that everyone got the same options, but this latest level up had totally thrown that assumption into jeopardy.

My highest stat was Magic and two of the five perks I uncovered were related to Mana… that was a tad suspicious.

Soul Bound, though… Soul bound was unique. And totally fucking vague.

The description didn’t really explain what would happen when I used it. I got that I would have to pick a skill to ‘evolve’, but what would it evolve into exactly? Would I get to pick or would it choose for me? How was my soul involved exactly? Do I even have a soul?

“Serilla, should I bind my soul to a skill?” I asked.

The trail had begun to slope uphill and my breathing was getting heavy. The scratch of my crutch on the gravelly path each step was creating a hypnotic rhythm. I was glad for it. The quiet would be deafening without it. The dry gasps of my weary lungs were a painful reminder of the completely silent passenger draped across my back. She hadn’t stirred.

She isn’t getting better.

I needed to keep myself distracted. I needed someone to talk to.

“Man, I wish Riffy was here,” I said aloud. “Heck, I’d even talk to that stupid familiar of yours right now. What was his name again? Chump? Chode? That guy sucked. I hate to say it, Serilla, but you need to make better choices for your friends. I may have slightly left him behind, but it will be fine. You can just resummon him when you need him. Not that a pygmy griffon could ever actually be needed in any situation ever, but whatever. I’m sure you only picked him because you think he looks cute. Which he doesn’t. He looks like a chicken merged with a fat cat.

“I mean, come on. He spent the whole fight just hiding in his shell! The one time he attacked with his puny fire breath, he completely missed.”

I needed to catch my breath. I raised my arm to wipe the sweat from my brow and felt the wet streak of tears running down my cheeks.

“Damn it, Serilla. Why did you take me to that place? You knew it was dangerous for you! Why is that every time I meet someone who actually seems to care about me, they are taken? This world is fucked. It’s broken. It’s corrupt. Everything here is rotten. The entire system is rigged and cruel.

“I could have enjoyed this place, if not for the people. I could have taken my time to explore and discover myself, if not for the fucking All-Mother bullshit.

"AIAI, I don’t know if you planned all this, but I’m coming for you eventually. I don’t know if you’re listening, you computational cunt, but I’m going to rip out your fucking core and burn this graven hellscape down around you. Starting with that pitiful cesspit Pentamoral. I’m going to find your precious psychopath Katri. Oh, I’m going to find her alright. And her dog, Lecter. I’ll make them scream before I…”

The ground lurched up to meet me as I collapsed from exhaustion. My crutch clattered down beside me and the now familiar dead weight of Serilla’s lifeless body pressed down into my spine. A streak of her midnight black hair hung down in front my blurry eyes, it was matted with blood and flecks of quicksilver.

“Please, Serilla,” I begged. “Come back.”

I inhaled dust from the trail and was too exhausted to cough it back up. I closed my eyes and drifted.

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I awoke to the lurching of what felt like a ship at sea in the midst of a heavy storm. The Basic Rested Buff blinked into place, followed by the dreadful Hunger stab. My health had recuperated to full while I slept, only to drop a fraction as the beginnings of starvation gripped me.

The scrape of gravel reminded me of the trail I had been following. I blinked at the setting sun on the horizon as my eyes adjusted. We were approaching Morgon’s Tavern. But who is carrying me? Serilla?

I glanced down and the spark of hope was snuffed out as suddenly as it ignited. Morgon’s curly red beard swung from side to side with every step of his hulking frame. He bore me on one shoulder and Serilla on the other. She flopped heavily, unresponsive to the constant jostling of his shoulder.

“You awake?” he asked.

“You can put me down,” I grumbled.

“Aye. When we get there I intend to,” he said. “You’re not running off without explaining what you’ve done with my Silla.”

“Put me down. I can walk.”

“That’s not how it looked to me,” he said. “You just hang on a minute. Save your energy for explaining. Seems a lot has changed since you fled my bar last night. I damn near didn’t recognise you. But you’re him, aren’t ya? The babe from yesterday.”

“Serilla needs help,” I said. My groggy head was struggling to pull the events of the last day into order. “Quicksilver.”

“I’m aware,” said Morgon. “We've bigger problems than quicksilver coming our way. Just tell me what happened, kid.”

The image of the eel boss, Sengamura, flashed through my mind. “She led me to the springs. Sengamura the boss, he awoke.”

“Foolish,” said Morgon. “Serilla, should have known better.”

“She didn’t know about the boss,” I said.

“With her condition, I never would have imagined she’d go near the place.”

“She said I could find a weapon there.”

“No, not likely. There are skills to be learned there certainly, but not a weapon. True weapons don’t come so easy.” He sighed. “Ah, I should have been more careful. She’s been showing signs of growing restless. I ought to have seen this coming.”

“We need to save her,” I said.

“Don’t you mind about that,” he said. “Tell me how you escaped Sengamura.”

“We nearly didn’t,” I said. “Serilla saved me, but I couldn’t do the same for her. I killed him, eventually, but I couldn’t claim we escaped. Not after what we lost.”

“You killed him?” Morgon turned to look me in the eye. “Just who are you, boy?”

“I’ve told you before, damn it. I don’t know who I am. Null is the only name, I have.” I glared at him. “And you saw that when you identified me.”

Morgon grunted and turned away. “You’re not the first I’ve seen to grow so fast. It happens, but never in these parts. And it's always a sign of trouble brewing. The folk in this region can be a little backward about that sort of thing. You ought to try fit in a little more, if you catch my meaning.”

“I’m trying,” I said. I really am trying. “Just tell me. What can we do to help Serilla?”

Morgon sighed. “You’re going to have to trust me. I can’t explain it all and we don’t have long till nightfall. I need to clear out the tavern. We don’t want any interference. If he comes tonight, I need to be ready.”

“Who?” I asked. “Who’s coming?”

“Lafarron,” said Morgon. “The vampire who raised her.”

“But she told me he died,” I said. “She told me you killed him.”

“I did,” Morgon turned back to face me and I saw the flicker of fear through the whites of his eyes. “But death doesn’t stop him.”

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