Max and Marcus had spent some time discussing what would happen soon. The red coloring of their entire face and the way their eyebrows were furled told Grace how angry they were.

She had helped a few of the other people from Marcus’s gang and was again overwhelmed by the number of people who quietly thanked her.

When Max began walking toward her, Grace sighed in relief, knowing she could escape for a moment.

“You look pissed,” Grace whispered as they walked away. “What did he say?”

Max growled as he cracked his fingers. “Those bastards came to his place like they did ours. It seems there is a little frustration at twenty-four guards vanishing overnight.”

Grace started to smile, and then the red window she had ignored reappeared.

“Oh… yeah, I need your help,” she whispered, glancing around to ensure they were alone.

Max cocked an eyebrow at her yet said nothing as Grace led him to the middle of the street.

“I need to choose an ability, and it says the effect will be more powerful.”

Unable to help himself, Max gave a low whistle and shook his head. “Gods Grace, do you have any… no, of course you don’t. What are the abilities?”

Looking at the screen once more, Grace read them off. “Empower, Command and Armor Mastery.”

Max’s mouth fell open, and he stared at her, his face looking like he had a stick stuck up his rear.

“Are you ok?” Grace asked.

“Seriously!? Those are your three choices?”

Max rubbed his head and closed his eyes. Grace couldn’t believe how he was acting.

“So which one?”

“It’s not that simple,” Max replied with a sigh. “All three have major effects, but if the one you pick is going to be more powerful… it’s like…” Max paused and looked around at the area near them. He took off toward one of the houses and picked up a tiny rock on the ground. Moving further down the road, he found a massive stone that had fallen from the shop’s wall. Grabbing it, he motioned for Grace to come near him.

“Ok. Take this tiny rock and throw it at the house across the street.”

Grace leaned her head to the side as she looked at Max. “You want me to throw a rock?”

“Yes, and stop questioning me. You asked for help; now, just obey. Take this rock and throw it as hard as you can, and yes, I mean as hard as you can, at that stone wall of that house over there.”

Shrugging, Grace took the tiny rock from his hand and stretched her shoulder before taking a step and launching it at the wall.

It flew faster than she believed it would and shattered into many pieces, yet still managed to crack a stone similar to the one Max was holding in his other hand.

“Good, now do the same with this one. Just as hard.”

She took the rock and worked with it to find a good hold. Gripping down, she took another step and sent it flying.

When the rock collided with the stone wall, a loud sound echoed through the street. A three-foot section of the wall fell over, and behind where she had hit, there were a few more holes through the building.

“That’s the difference that bonus will make,” Max said. “While that little rock could kill someone if you hit them right, imagine hitting them with the second rock.”

Grace nodded, her lips pulled tight and her eyes as wide as she remembered them being in a while.

That kind of power is impossible…

“And those three skills?” she asked, turning back to Max, who had moved to the stone wall and sat down on the ground, leaning against it.

“I told you what empower does. A more powerful version would be hard to describe. I’m not certain how it works completely, but it is basically what you did with the rocks.”

Grace moved and sat down by Max, considering how useful an ability like that would be.

“Command?”

He snorted and shook his head. “Imagine your Persuade skill but a lot more powerful. And that is before the increase to it. I’d imagine you could command someone to kill their own mother, and I’m not sure most could resist it. Heck, you could probably make them kill themselves.”

Grace began to imagine using that on the knight Michael.

“And I’m guessing Armor Mastery?”

Sucking air in through his teeth, Max clicked his tongue a few times before sighing. “That’s a real tough one. From what I know about a mastery skill, it provides knowledge and usage of something you don’t know or shouldn’t know.” Lifting his sword off his hip, Max pointed at it with his other hand. “You don’t know how to use a sword. I mean, anyone can poke with one or slash with one, but there is art and skill that goes with true swordplay. Even the boxing you and…” Max took a moment and frowned. “Cedric tried to teach you some, but there is much more he could have taught you. Having a weapon mastery or armor mastery is huge if you’re fighting in battles.”

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“But I’m not going to fight in battles,” replied Grace.

“Don’t kid yourself. Sooner than you think you will be. Once word gets around, there is an emissary; the other gods will send someone to look for you. They might not know how strong you are, and the perk is you won’t have to fight stronger ones at first, but eventually, you’ll find yourself on a battlefield. Smart emissaries get others to help fight their battles. Keeps them alive longer.”

“The King…” muttered Grace.

“Yup. And those knights in town. These guards are normal men with some training, but those knights are more. I’m guessing the more powerful version of armor mastery would be more than one type of armor.”

Grace groaned as she thought about all the armament types there were.

“And this brings us back to which one?” Grace said, groaning. “If you had to pick, what would you take?”

Sighing, Max looked at Grace and frowned. “Forgive me, but I’m going to ask what I shouldn’t, but tell me your stats and skills again. It’s been a long week.”

“Sta–” Grace stopped when Max shook his head at her.

Status

*****

Grace Akem

Age: 16

Female

Initiate of Balethem

—

Physical: 11

Mental: 6

Spiritual: 5

—

Abilities:

Persuade - Usable

Juggernaut - Usable

Heal - Usable

Evasion - Usable

*****

Max sighed again after hearing the stats and abilities.

Grace watched as someone she might call a mentor closed his eyes and began tapping his finger on his sword.

“Take Empower.”

“You’re certain?” Grace asked, seeing how Max had wrestled with that decision.

“I am. From what you’ve told me, this skill has come up a few times already. There is no guarantee it will be there the next time you get an ability. Command and Armor Mastery are newer. They should be around again. Passing up an advanced version of Empower would be foolish.”

Nodding, Grace focused on the screen.

Empower.

***

Empower Ability Granted: This ability has a twelve-hour cooldown after being used. The Empower ability must be activated. User may increase the damage done with their next attack. This ability will make the next attack hit for 2.5x the normal strength of the user, not modified by any possible items. If the attack comes from the user's body, their body will be protected from all injury. If an object or weapon is used for the attack, the item's integrity will be doubled.

***

Her entire body suddenly felt supercharged momentarily, and then the feeling was gone. It was almost as if she had slept for a week and eaten a massive meal. She felt like her body was primed for something big.

“Tell me what it says once you have it, please.”

Grace read the description to Max and watched as he kept his eyes closed the entire time. Once she finished, he snorted and shook his head once.

“Remind me never to let you punch me when you use that… that is impossible to imagine. It was even better than my friends.”

“How so?”

Max looked at Grace and smiled. “His only had a two-times damage bonus and was on a twenty-four-hour cooldown. Twelve hours might not seem big, but it is. And that extra strength boost is hard to describe.”

“Would it be a bigger rock?” Grace asked, flashing a grin at the thought.

“It's a much bigger rock,” Max replied. “Come on. Let’s get up. We need to head back to our house and make plans. A fight is going to break out soon, and you need to be ready.”

Grace froze as Max pushed off the wall and started to stand. Once up, he turned and saw Grace still sitting on the ground.

“What's wrong?”

“You said a fight is coming… like what kind of fight?”

“One you’re going to have to win,” Max said. "We probably have a week at most before the guards make a move, and when they do, it’s going to be ugly. You’ve killed about forty of their men, and that's almost half of the guards here in town. They don’t want to risk that loss anymore.”

Max held out his hand, and after she grabbed it, he yanked Grace to her feet.

“Let’s go. I’m tired and really need something to drink.”

“We could stop by the well.”

Max nodded and began walking toward the garden. As Grace moved to follow, a window appeared.

*****

One quest pending

—

The Gift of Revenge: Find the one who tried to kill you. Repay their attempt by ending their life. Time left: 3 days.

Reward: Stat Gained

Failure: Stat Lost

*****

“Holy shite!” Grace exclaimed as she stared at the screen. “That’s not fair!”

Max spun around quickly and saw how Grace was staring at nothing. “What? A new quest?”

“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “One I had before just changed. Now there is a timer and a result for failing!”

Max started cursing, each word hidden behind his hand as he muttered them. “This is bad… we need to move.”

He started to walk faster, his stride getting wider, and Grace moved quickly to catch up.

“What? What’s happening?”

“If there is a timer, it means something will happen after it expires. I’m guessing that fight we were thinking about… it’s going to be sooner than we hoped.”

“What are we going to do? I mean… what am I going to do?”

Max didn’t stop walking. “This the one for revenge?”

Grace jogged to catch up. “Yes.”

“Kill them. We don’t have time, nor do you,” Max said. “You get rid of them. I’ll take care of our people. If you don’t move fast, something tells me it will only get worse.”

Jogging a few yards ahead of him, Grace spun around and walked backward as Max began to walk a little faster.

“You mean like now, now?”

As soon as Grace saw his face, she knew the answer.

“You have two choices: strike while there might be an element of surprise or wait and give them time to prepare. I personally suggest you get them before they know it’s coming.”

Grace stopped moving and watched as Max moved past her.

“I’ll take care of Levi!” he shouted, knowing what she was thinking.

I don’t have a choice…

Knowing Max was right and seeing she had to make a move, Grace took a few deep breaths and centered herself. Standing in the middle of the street with her eyes closed, Grace pushed out every part of her that wanted to stop her from doing what she needed.

Her eyes popped open, and had she carried a mirror, even she would have been surprised by the darkness within them.