Max mentally selected no, while saying no at the same time. He didn’t want there to be any chance the system would misunderstand him. He had absolutely no desire to join the optional quest to kill the phase whale.
He actually loved the idea of optional quests and impromptu adventure. He just wanted nothing to do with phase whales. He had seen what its poop had done to a titan, he didn’t want to mess with a living one. If one of the defenders wanted a sodium hammer, he would make them one, but that was it. He wasn’t getting close to the beast.
The optional quest had rattled him a bit, so he decided to head back to the inn. He realized now that he shouldn’t have left James when he stormed out this morning. At the time he was harboring suspicion against everyone, but distance had cleared his mind. He could trust his friend implicitly. The next time he went out on the town he would bring James along.
While he walked along the road made of boomerangs, Max decided he needed to use his stat points. He had leveled up after he blew up the boss parasite and hadn’t spent the points that went with it. A quick check of his system showed his options.
Max Kraft (Level 8)
Insight: 6
Flow or Resistance
Presence or Paranoia
Quicken or Broaden
Levitate; 5
Specialize: 3
⬣(Free Points: 2)⬣
Levitate was a good option. He had found it useful in the dungeon, both attacking and dodging. Plus, the Igra had shown him that it was great for traveling. He attempted to put both points into the stat. It half-worked. For some reason, he still couldn’t raise any stat above six. He’d have to ask someone about that. Ebba was an option, but she had been weirdly cagey about what she would talk about and what she wouldn’t.
That left him with one unspent point. He was leaning towards picking Quicken. It had been so frustrating to wait for his mana to refill in the dungeon. The only problem with that is that he still couldn’t use one of the cards permanently in his deck.
Maybe the Igra back at the hotel would tell him all about it in exchange for a game. It would be a good way to spend the day either way. When he got back, James wasn’t there. Lily was the only one in their group still hanging around.
“Good, you came back. James was worried about you so he went to look for you,” Lily said.
“I just came from the main road. Which direction did he go?”
“He went south and then east, I mean spinward. He thought you were going food shopping and that’s where the closest market is,” Lily said.
“Nah, I went card shopping, closer to the city center. I’m gonna go find him. You wanna come with?”
“Sure thing. I’ve wanted to see the city but James asked me to stay here in case you came back. I’ve been playing games with Clarser and Shamp, but they always win,” Lily said and gestured towards the Igra setting up a board game on the other end of the table.
Max lowered his voice a bit. “Before we go, I wanted to ask if you are ok? It seemed like you were having a really bad day yesterday. It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it, I just wanted to check in with you.”
Lily’s face reddened and she looked away. “I’m good. It’s fine. It’s fine. It was an overwhelming day. I didn’t mean to cry.”
“It’s ok to cry. I’ve cried a few times since we got here. This world is traumatizing. Just know I’m here for you whenever you need something. You’re my friend,” Max said earnestly.
Lily nodded and opened her mouth. She closed it and looked away. “I was rushed when I was packing and I forgot tampons. I bled through. I was trying to hide it when James came over to check on me. I didn’t want him to see and ruin everything.”
“Oh. I’m sorry for making a big deal about it. It’s not like you should be embarrassed though. It’s a natural process you have no control over. Don’t be embarrassed to be human. That’s even more special on this planet. Or in this planet? Does it even qualify as a planet?”
Lily giggled and said, “Thanks. I don’t know why it was such a big deal in my head. It wasn’t life or death. We’ve seen a lot of death over the last few days. Anyway, Yang and I went shopping this morning. We are all good now. We have a magic solution to that problem and these stylish clothes. Let’s go find James.”
Max nodded and headed out. They walked from a neighborhood made of metal and stucco into a wild west town made of red wood. He had to double take when he saw someone walking by with a cowboy hat. They were really leaning into the theme.
“Do you... Do you think James has the hots for Yang? She’s hot. That femme fatale thing is really working for her,” Lily asked.
Max’s eyebrows narrowed as he thought about how to put this. “I’m pretty sure he’s scared of Yang. But Lily? I don’t think he’s as into you as you are into him.”
“I didn’t say...” She put her head in her hands. “Ok, fine. I like him. He’s got this dorky cute thing going for him. I tried to tell him once, but he said I was too young. But I’m nineteen, and I don’t think anyone really believes that is too young. I just gotta make him see me for me.”
“Are you sure you even want to pursue someone who isn’t that into you?”
“I can’t help it. I liked him before, and now? I’ve seen how James fights, total badass. Now I like him even more.”
Max grimaced. She had it bad. No one that had seen James flail around would call him badass. “To each their own. You should start by telling him how you feel.”
Lily crossed her arms. “No. I’m not ready for that. I’m waiting until after we get settled in the first layer. I want a proper date. I’ll just send him hints until then.”
“That won’t work. James doesn’t do hints. You have to spell it out for him. I can tell him for you if you want.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
She shoved him. “Don’t you dare. I’m serious. I’ll have Mushy kill you in your sleep if you do.”
“You named it? Mushy the mushroomantis summon?”
“I won’t have you disparaging Sir Mushy the third’s good name. He is a loyal companion that has died for us time and again.”
Max chuckled. “Is that how pawn cards work? Do you summon the same spirit or whatever every time?”
“I don’t summon a spirit from the beyond to inhabit my mushroomantis, if that’s what you are thinking. It’s more like the card houses a magic AI. It only experiences time when it’s summoned and I give it instructions. The more I use my card, the more it learns. It’s getting better at fighting the more I use it.”
“Will it ever get tougher? Mushy is a great asset, but he gets destroyed every time a monster gets a good hit in.”
“Every time little Mushy gets hit, I spend my mana to heal him. These monsters can hit hard enough to blow through my whole mana pool in one hit, before I can even try to keep him alive. I choose Broaden to get a bigger mana pool. As I level it up, Mushy will last longer. Burst damage will always be a summon’s weakness though.”
Max nodded, filing away that fact for later. They arrived at the market not too much longer after that. The market was bustling with open air stalls full of fruits and veggies. On the far end, there were tiny farms with workers harvesting food and bringing it directly to the market. Plants must grow insanely fast here for that to be a viable set up.
James found them shortly after they arrived. “Hey guys! I found you. I’ve been looking all over for you. I found this great smoothie place, you gotta try it. It’s got ice and everything.”
He led them over a stall on the corner of the market. It had a wooden sign with pictures of mangos, bananas, apples, and coconuts. The man behind the table was doing everything by hand, using magic to speed things along. He stuck his hand into a bucket of water and pulled out a sphere of ice. He tossed it over his head into the pitcher, making a show out of the process. Chopping the fruit up midair with a summoned monster was particularly impressive. They got in line while Max filled his friend in on how his shopping trip went.
“So, I wanna make a bunch of drills and have you use Adjust to change the magic spell. It’ll destroy most of them, but drills don’t cost me too much mana. I can make like three an hour. More than enough to experiment with.”
“It’s a deal,” James said and held out his hand.
Max plopped the card into his hand and dug out the two drills he had stuffed into his bag. He would have made more, but he would probably get in trouble if he ripped a plank off a nearby table.
James happily absorbed the card and took one of the drills. He stared at the hand drill with intense focus. Max started to wonder if he was having trouble activating the card.
Slowly, tiny motes of light slid out of his hands and sunk into the drill. There was a pulse of light. Max’s heart beat faster. Then the drill fell to pieces. It crumbled into dust as it landed.
They had to pause experimenting because they got to the front of the line. They all chose a blended fruit smoothie and Max paid a half egg. It was way too much money, but the economy here was geared towards more expensive things and didn’t have smaller change. As they sipped the slightly too chunky smoothie, Max got back to experimenting.
He handed over his last drill and said, “Try, try again. We’ll make this work, I’m sure of it.”
James accepted the drill and tapped his hand with it. “Bit of a wrinkle in your plan. That one usage of Adjust took 28 points of mana. I only got two left. It’ll be a bit before I can try again.”
“Your pool is only 30? Mine is 36,” Max said.
“Yeah, mine used to be 36 too, but after I picked Quicken, my pool shrunk. My mana refills much faster now, but it’s still kinda slow in the middle of a city. Not a lot of ambient mana around here.”
That was concerning news. Max didn’t care about the slightly slower magic project. It was the size of his mana pool. All this time he had been planning on picking Quicken so he could use magic more often. But if it shrunk his mana pool, he would never get to use Augment. It was the third card in his deck and he hadn’t used it once. He sighed. That pretty much made up his mind. He had to pick Broaden. He pulled up his system and assigned it before he could change his mind.
Once the decision was made, he let out a sigh of relief. He had this vision of himself, who he would be in a magical world. It was built up over time after reading literally thousands of books about portal jumping. He thought he would be more like James, flinging magic from the back line. His Hammer card had changed everything.
Hammers aren’t ranged weapons, despite what certain turtles would have you believe. Max would have to be a front line fighter. Hopefully not a tank, but melee was in his future. He looked over his whole system with that revelation in mind.
The System of Max Kraft
Benefits:
See mana in use and track its origin.
Fathom basic information about magic items.
Range 24.8 feet
Insight: 6
Drawbacks:
Physical senses will never improve.
Items that improve physical senses have a reduced effect.
Increase the flow of mana and blood. Grants faster control of magic and greater bodily flexibility.
Flow or Resistance
Resist outside influences. Grants greater resistance to magic, poisons, and the elements.
Enforce your presence on the world, show your true self and force others to acknowledge you.
Presence or Paranoia
See them before they see you. Hide from perception and avoid traps.
Benefits:
Adds 6 mana to pool and strengthens body structure.
Broaden: 1
Drawbacks:
Mana regeneration slowed by 5%
Benefits:
User has 48% less effective mass
Effect is toggleable
Levitate: 6
Drawbacks:
Long term use results in minor bone and muscle deterioration.
Benefits:
Can add 3 additional cards to your active deck.
Card effects morph to closer match each other.
Specialize: 3
Drawbacks:
Cannot remove cards from deck.
All cards must be the same suit.
Mana 36/42
Free Points: 0
Overall Level: 8
Max’s eyebrows rose as he read over all the changes. He got the extra six points of mana he needed in his pool. That would be just enough to use Augment when his pool filled up. He hadn’t expected Broaden to also strengthen his body structure. In retrospect, it kind of made sense. Mana made plants grow faster and healed injuries. If you hold more of it in your body, you might get tougher.
The next time he leveled up, he planned on putting a point or two into Specialize. All of his unused cards were calling his name. Now he had four citadel cards just waiting to be slotted in. He wouldn’t use all of them, but some would make the cut for sure.
While they were in the market, Max spent the rest of his eggs on trail rations. They went for tasty food instead of root veggies this time.
“Max! Thank the Elders I found you. Where are the other two?” Ebba said.
He turned to see the seven foot tall purple Lunuk swiftly walking towards them. She really stuck out in the mostly human crowd. This city did segregation even more than Wild Plums did.
“Other two?” Max asked. “You mean Yang and Gus? I don’t know. Haven’t seen them since this morning.”
“Broken shells. We have to find them, right now,” Ebba said as she closed and opened her hands in frustration.
“Why? What’s the rush?”
“We need to leave the city. The governor left to deal with the phase whale and she is overdue to return. My elders have urged me to take you and leave. If she doesn’t return soon, things will go badly once everyone realizes the city is unprotected,” she urgently whispered.
“Are there monsters out there that the guards can’t deal with?”
“No, not monsters. You need protection from us.”