Gabe:
The road to the church is quiet, but Jade and Koji are chattering behind me. Apparently Koji had already told Jade all about me (how long have they known each other?), but since I spent an hour telling him about Lucia and the pacifist powers, he has a lot of catching up to do.
I'm more interested in them tho.
Gabe: “So how long have you guys known each other?”
Koji: “Um… I think…”
Jade: “A couple weeks! Fruit Boy here was in the market selling fruits. I thought they looked weird, so I bought one. Man it tasted nasty. Haven't been able to get the taste out of my mouth since!”
Her laugh echoes in the street. Where do you find people like this?
I look to Koji. He just shrugs his shoulders.
Koji: “Jade bought one of the fruits I got from a quest. She claimed that she could make *anything,* and told me where her booth was. So when I wanted to get you a backpack, I thought of her. That’s it.”
Gabe: “Wait. So you guys met at the market a few weeks ago for a few minutes, again two days ago when Koji ordered the backpack… and that's it?”
I was totally expecting them to have gone on adventures or something. They seem way too familiar to just be customer and artisan.
They look at each other.
Jade: “Day of the rainbow, right? I didn't have any customers. Fruit Boy wanted a backpack. I told him he could help me and I'd do a rush order for him.”
She puts her hands on her hips.
Jade: “Most people wait WEEKS for my work. I just… just…”
Koji: “We worked together making all the stuff. It was actually a lot more complicated than it seems… it probably took us over…”
Jade: “It was nothing! Sometimes it can take forever to do some stuff - like melting glasswax! The inside of your backpack is coated in an extremely thin layer of glasswax - which is what makes it waterproof.”
Gabe: “The inside?”
I reach and feel the inside of the backpack. It feels slightly different from the outside. Still smooth, but less cool to the touch.
Koji: “We didn't know if metalcloth was waterproof, or just water resistant. So Jade suggested coating the inside - that way you can put something inside it and not have to worry about it getting wet. Or you could even put something liquid in it and not worry about it leaking out!”
Jade groans: “Yeah, Fruit Boy… like he’s going to carry soup in his backpack or something.”
Koji: “Yeah. Wait. Wait. Wait!!!! He could even *make* soup in his backpack!”
She looks at him in disbelief: “What? Something else wrong with your head?”
Koji (turning to me): “No really! Glasswax melts at an insanely high temperature. And the pack itself is made completely from metalcloth - even the drawstring pulls are made from it. It will never melt. That means you could put ingredients inside it…”
I continue his sentence: “...then put it over a fire, or use fire magic, and cook the stuff inside?!? That’s crazy!”
Jade is looking at us like we are crazy.
Gabe: “I love to cook. In games, though, you usually don’t get to cook much because it doesn't make sense to carry around pots and pans. But if I have a backpack - which I'm totally fine carrying around - that can also work as a cooking implement, now that is awesome!”
She is still staring at me with glazed eyes.
Jade (to Koji): “Fruit Boy… are you sure this man is your brother? I mean, I know you brothers sometimes don’t look anything alike. But are you sure?”
We eventually make it to the church.
---
Gabe:
The familiar square stone building comes into sight, and I feel hope rise in my chest as I hear laughter coming from inside.
Inside the main corridor, all the children from the orphanage are sitting in a close circle on the floor of the church, laughing as Lucia bounces and shines in different colors. There are cots laid out inside the room. I notice that the places for old women to worship have been moved from the center to the side of the room. Two women in white that I’ve never met before are seated just outside the circle of children.
Children: “Gabe! Gabe! Gabe is here! Gabe is back! Gabe! Gabe!”
The children jump to their feet and run to me. They seem to be out of breath, and immediately one of the women calls out: “Children! Remember Father Kyrael’s words! No running!”
The children look at the woman with frustrated faces, but slow their run to a walk. They grab on to my legs, and have a million questions for me.
Children: “Is that a metal arm? Did you lose your arm in the fight? This is your brother right? Is that your girlfriend? Is that his girlfriend? Can I see your backpack? What’s the red gem you’re wearing? Did you know Sister Maribel is really sick? Do you know why we’re not allowed to go outside or run or play anymore? Gabe! Gabe! Gabe!”
After less than a minute, Father Kyrael pokes his head out from a side room.
Father Kyrael: “Is that a you, Gabe? Could you come a here, please? I have a some questions for you.”
I pull myself away from the children and turn to Koji and Jade.
Gabe: “Do you guys want to come with? Go back? I don’t know how long it’ll be.”
Jade: “Ohhhhh these kids are so cute… we’re staying right here, Fruit Boy!”
Koji looks at me with a smile and shrug, and they begin playing with the kids. The woman sternly speaks to him as I’m leaving: “Now Sir, you must be extremely careful with the children… they are extremely fragile and are not permitted to do anything that would put them at risk…”
Before going into the room, I pull up Pacifist Protection and assign it to Lucia. She seems to be ok.
I enter the room off to the side of the main chamber. It’s the same room where Sister Maribel identified my karmic ring of strength. The table is gone, and in its place is a cot. Three women are sitting in chairs along the side, green healing magic flowing from their fingertips. Laying on the cot is Sister Maribel.
Her white clothing is wet and stained dark red. Her face is pale, and her breathing weak. Her skin is covered in cold sweat.
Gabe: “What happened to her?”
Father Kyrael: “That’s a what I was a hoping you could explain, Gabe.”
He looks at me seriously.
A man standing in the corner (who I somehow hadn’t seen before now) quietly speaks: “She seemed fine just after the attack. But our healers have reported that her Max and temporary HP have been dropping every hour. She noticed that as well and brought it to our attention. It’s just like what happened with the children - no matter how much healing magic we administer, it doesn’t seem to reach her. She currently has only 1 HP, out of a maximum of 21.”
He walks over to me and looks me up and down, then continues to speak: “You’re Gabe?”
I nod: “Yeah, my name is Gabe.”
Father Kyrael speaks next to us: “Gabe, this is Captain Sawflight of the royal guard. He was a present right after the attack and has a been with us since that time.”
Captain Sawflight: “I’m not sure if I should thank you or kill you right now, Gabe.”
His face is completely serious. His hand fingers the pommel of his sword. This is inside the church, so he can’t attack me here, right?
He continues: “Maribel seems to think that you are a saint, or hero of some sort. At least that’s what she said when she was still awake. That you did some sort of magic to bring the children back to life after they were dead. What can you tell me about what happened?”
I swallow nervously.
Gabe: “We were attacked by a group of men. They seemed to know Sister Maribel. They called her…”
Captain Sawflight’s eyes widen, and he interrupts me: “That part is not important. We are aware of the attack. What can you tell me about the healing you did to Maribel and the children?
Gabe: “It’s a skill called “Pacifist Heal.” I can read you the skill conditions.”
He waits and I pull up the skill window and read it aloud.
"Pacifist Heal (20pts/HP) (Level 1): You may freely give your HP to another being you touch with HP of 1 or more. Your HP will be reduced by 90% of the amount given. Pacifist Heal has a chance of granting HP to a target below 1 HP. Chance decreases over time. Such grants are permanent and incur significant additional costs regardless of success.”
There are some differences from the last time I read the status. It looks like now my HP will only be reduced by 90% of what I give. I’m not sure how that works though.
Captain Sawflight listens carefully.
Captain Sawflight: “Can you show me that status?”
I try to flip it toward him but the screen won’t turn.
Gabe: “Sorry. I can’t.”
Captain Sawflight: “That’s alright. Read it again?”
I read it again, and Captain Sawflight takes notes on a small pad of paper in his hands. He sits down in a chair and sighs.
Captain Sawflight: “Maribel was sure that you were the key to understanding this. But I don’t understand anything that is happening here.”
He gestures to the pad of paper. On it, are notes written in a clean hand, detailing the recovery of the children, their resistance to healing, and a couple of bullet points of captured information. Underneath, in a much less clean hand, are more notes.
I turn on my gamer mind.
I play a lot of games. So understanding how things work - the formulas behind skills or abilities - is actually super interesting to me. I try to recall the events of the moments after the attack, and speak them aloud while I’m writing them down.
Gabe: “After the attack, I healed Sister Maribel first so that she could help me heal the children. I gave her a bunch of hitpoints, and I noticed that for every HP I gave her, my Max HP dropped.”
Captain Sawflight: “What? What kind of healing is this?”
Gabe: “Honestly… I still don’t understand. All I know is that it was weird. Oh. And it hurt. It hurt so bad I might have passed out…”
The group of people in the room are staring at me.
Gabe: “So I gave Sister Maribel a bunch of HP. I don’t remember how many.”
Captain Sawflight: “18. Maribel said she had 18 more HP than normal.”
Gabe: “Then 18. That sounds accurate. I think.” I write 18 on a sheet of paper.
Gabe: “I started with Max HP of 50.” I write 50 above the 18.
Gabe: “Then I checked the rest of the children. I couldn’t heal any of them except one little girl - I gave her one HP and actually that was when I passed out from the pain.” I write a 1 under the 18.
Captain Sawflight: “But Maribel said that you… what happened to the other children?”
Gabe: “When I woke up, Pacifist had leveled up. Before, I was only able to heal people with at least 1 HP, but after the level up, I was able to heal the rest of the children.”
I read that part of the description again: “Pacifist Heal has a chance of granting HP to a target below 1 HP. Chance decreases over time. Such grants are permanent and incur significant additional costs regardless of success.”
Gabe: “I immediately tried using the new skill on Zaza. She was dead, so she had less than 1 HP. It worked somehow. However, it took more than 1 HP of my own Max HP.”
I write an “x” under the 1 on my sheet.
Gabe: “I had Sister Maribel heal me completely, and then I used the rest of my HP to bring the rest of the children back to life. How many are there?”
Father Kyrael: “There are 7 children total.”
I write a 6 before the “x” - turning it to “6x.”
Gabe: “And at one point I failed, and it took HP anyway.”
I write a “y” under the “x.”
Gabe: “Oh. And I went into negative HP before the very last kid. There was a warning box that told me something really bad would happen if I went negative. But I don’t remember what it said.”
I draw a line and put a (-) sign underneath it.
Gabe: “Dang. There are too many variables… too many unknowns… but… we can at least figure out what the values might be, right? I went negative only before the last kid… so that should give me some info…”
I write on the sheet of paper: x = REZ, y = REZ FAIL, then create two equations.
50 - 18 - 1 - 5x - y < 0 , simplified to 31 - 5x - y < 0
50 - 18 - 1 - 4x - y > 0 , simplified to 31 - 4x - y > 0
Gabe: “Let’s plug in values for x and y and determine what the ranges are… we’ll assume that x is greater than or equal to y, since that would make the most sense, and that both are integers…”
I plug in numbers and check calculations, then come up with a table.
If y = 1, x could be 7
If y = 2, x could be 6 or 7
If y = 3, x could be 6
If y = 4, x could be 6
If y = 5, x could be 6
If y = 6, x could be 6
Gabe: “Well… that gives me some more data… but there’s still no way to know…”
Captain Sawflight: “It’s 5.”
I look up from my notepad at his face.
Captain Sawflight: “All the children who have the “relife” status have 1 extra HP. Grace doesn’t have that extra HP. If you assume the cost of the skill is the same whether it works or not, then the added cost of being successful would be the 1 HP they each have.”
Gabe: “Sweet! That makes sense then!”
I fill in my chart.
>>>
Max HP Start: 50
- 18 (Sister Maribel)
- 1 (Grace)
- 24 (life to 4 kids)
- 5 (fail)
= 2
- 12 (last 2 kids)
= -10
>>>
I look at the sheet in my hand.
Gabe: “This totally makes sense now! It costs 5 HP to try to give someone 1 HP who doesn’t have any. If it doesn’t work, it still costs 5 HP. If it works, it takes another 1 HP to give to them. And my guess is that every HP I used beneath 1 is lost forever…”
I look up from the sheet in my hand. The people around me are staring at me with glazed over eyes.
Gabe: “Oh man. Sorry about that. I just got sorta carried away… I nerd out on stuff like this…”
Captain Sawflight: “That’s alright. What we want to understand though, is what is happening to Maribel?”
As if on cue, Sister Maribel moans slightly, and all of a sudden the green light around her disappears into her skin.
Woman healer: “It’s working! It’s working! Just like the children, it’s working now!”
Within moments, Sister Maribel is sitting up and sees me.
Sister Maribel: “Gabe… you saved us. I will forever be in your debt.”
Gabe: “I’m… I’m just glad that you are all ok.”
Sister Maribel turns to Father Kyrael: “How are the children? Are they safe?”
Father Kyrael: “As a safe as a they can be, Sister Maribel. For a now they are staying inside the walls of the church. And we have a told them that they cannot play.”
Gabe: “Wait. Is something wrong with the kids?”
Captain Sawflight: “The children who were brought back to life have a status condition called *Relife* which seems to be affecting them in an extreme way.”
Gabe: “How so?”
Captain Sawflight: “All their stats are 0.”
Gabe: “What?!? Are they gray zeroes or black zeroes?”
Captain Sawflight looks at me in confusion: “Gray or black zeroes?”
Koji (standing in the doorway): “It’ll make sense after we explain. Either way, figure out if they’re gray or black zeroes.”
Gabe: “How long have you been standing there?”
Koji: “Long enough lol. You guys talk loud enough that I could hear you even if I wasn’t standing in the doorway though.” The children are crowded around him, and some of them push their heads through the door.
Children: “Maribel! Sister Maribel! You’re awake! Why were you asleep? Sister Maribel, can we go outside to play? We’ll be so careful… Father Kyrael was mean to us while you were asleep. We can go play outside if we are careful, right Sister Maribel, right?”
Sister Maribel: “Shhhhhhhhhh…”
They quiet down.
Sister Maribel: “Come here, Zaza.”
Zaza comes closer. Sister Maribel pulls up her status screen, and speaks clearly: “They are black zeroes.”
Koji: “Well, that means that they can get adaptive stats.”
Gabe: “Yeah… but there might be another option.”
Sister Maribel: “Yes?”
Gabe: “Do they have a proficiency?”
Sister Maribel: “Children don’t usually have a proficiency…” She checks Zaza’s status again. “No proficiency.”
Gabe: “Well… when I had all zeroes for stats, I got one point from adaptive stats after weeks of training. But I died multiple times. I died from tripping and falling, from running into things… I don’t think that’s a safe method for the children. Most of my stats I got, I got from choosing a proficiency. Is it possible that the same method would work for the children?”
Captain Sawflight: “I don’t see why not! Alright! Let’s make warriors out of these kids!”
Sister Maribel: “Now wait just a moment Captain! They may want to be healers instead!”
Jade: “Or crafters!”
Koji: “Or mages.”
Gabe (quietly): “Or pacifists.”
Father Kyrael: “Well, well, well. It looks like we have a very diverse range of potential jobs here, do we not? I think we should explain it to the children, and let them make the decision for themselves.”
Sister Maribel: “Children, gather around me. It’s time to explain exactly what happened yesterday.”
Sister Maribel begins explaining what happened, but the children don’t seem interested.
Zaza (pulling on Sister Maribel’s still-bloody skirt): “Sister Maribel… we already know all this stuff. We saw everything. The blue lady showed it to us.”
A few moments and questions later, it becomes apparent that the children know more than any of us. During their comatose state, all of them (except Grace) were in a small room with the “blue lady.” She explained that when they went back, they would have to be very careful, until they chose a proficiency and gained a level.
Gabe: “What did the blue lady look like?”
Zaza: “She was all blue!”
Igor: “She was really tall.”
Zaza: “And so soft. Just like Sister Maribel.”
---
Gabe: “Well, it looks like the children understand at least a bit. Should we give them the options and let them make their own choices?”
We’re back in the central room of the church, standing in different areas of the room. Captain Sawflight represents combat proficiencies, Koji represents magic, Sister Maribel and Father Kyrael faith and healing work, Jade crafting, and Lucia and I are in the pacifist corner.
But will this work? I know how to help someone become a pacifist - they have to navigate the underground cavern up near the prismatic pools. But can you just teach someone magic, or healing? If it was that simple, then maybe I should have asked before...
Sister Maribel: “This is not a permanent choice, children. The goal of this activity is to simply choose a proficiency and gain a level. Then, later in your life, you can pursue the same goal, or a different one as you wish.”
She continues: “Each of the people here has committed to helping you learn their way of life. You will be an apprentice with them until you regain your stats, and they will ensure that you are safe.”
She pauses for a moment and takes a breath.
Sister Maribel: “Choose what you would like to learn.”
---
Pacifist Heal takes 1 HP (0.9 now that it’s upgraded) to give someone 1. It lowers Gabe’s Max HP by the same amount. While someone is under the effects of Pacifist Heal, the HP given by Gabe become the primary HP, which means that their personal HP become “extra HP” which cannot be healed by any means. Every hour, the amount of HP given by Pacifist Heal goes down by 1, and Gabe gets back 1 Max HP. Injuries are specific to the HP pool - injuries sustained before Pacifist Heal will only affect the HP they had before. In this way, Pacifist Heal can be used to keep someone alive to transport them to somewhere safe. However, if the person has lost all their own personal HP and is not healed using normal healing when the last HP disappears, they will die - which makes Pacifist Heal most useful in a peaceful environment.
Attempting to give HP to someone who is dead uses 5 HP. Upon success, 1 Max HP is permanently given to the recipient and taken from Gabe. The 5 (or more if it took multiple attempts) HP spent on the skill will only be refunded once the recipient reaches level 2. Any person brought back to life using Pacifist Heal will be at Level 1 and have all stat scores set to 0. They can gain stat scores through adaptive stats.