CHAPTER FOUR: Ethoses

Congratulations! You have comprehended the Ethos of Strength!

You have the options to:

— [Accept]

or

— [Refuse]

List of assimilated Ethoses:

— [Empty]

— [Empty]

— [Empty]

List of available Ethoses:

— [Strength]

— [Empty]

— [Empty]

Congratulations on completing a Secret Quest!

Parameters of Secret Quest “Second is just first loser”:

— Be the first among your peers to comprehend an Ethos. Nobody else will be awarded for comprehending any Ethoses.

Rewards:

— You have earned information that will benefit everyone, and an item to maintain your place ahead of them!

1) In this world, called Yohmu, sapient beings can acquire and manifest the powers of the world by committing their figurative hearts to concepts. Currently you can have up to 3 Ethoses.

2) One case of Sciem Fen Mana Pills. Concentrated mana that is easy to integrate and suited toward Mortal-stage cultivators.

Everyone gaped at the notifications Donovan gave them the permission to view—something they could all apparently do—and their good implications. From the short description in Donovan’s reward, Yohmu seemed to be among the more forgiving types of fantasy worlds.

For hundreds of years, successful Chosen who returned from worlds that held “magic” documented systems that varied wildly. The people in one world wielded life energy borrowed from plants to fight off death phantasms that sought to end all living creatures, a different world had barely any wielders of supernatural powers because one had to be born with the rare gene to learn them, and yet another world allowed everyone the opportunity to wield simple spells so long as they dedicated thousands to hundreds of thousands of hours to studying complex magic theory.

They couldn’t glean too much insight from just the look of the simple character sheet Donovan gained access to upon “comprehending an Ethos”, but from context alone they knew enough to feel relieved.

If someone among them was already on the road to wielding magic after only an hour in that world, then there was more hope for them than they originally expected. Perhaps the ease with which they would practice magic would be balanced by the danger of their environment, but that was preferable to blindly groping in the dark, hoping to stumble upon anything that could assist in their survival.

However, despite the celebrations and tears of joy from his schoolmates, Donovan’s sour expression betrayed mixed feelings. Students congratulated him, told him to show them what he could now do, and thanked their lucky stars that someone among them was seemingly already on the road to proper wizardry, but the man didn’t lifted his eyes from his character sheet.

A few people noticed Donovan’s odd behavior and brought attention to it, asking why he didn’t seem happy and if there was bad news they couldn’t see.

“No, no,” the mountain grumbled and waved his hand dismissively, “everything’s fine. Go back to arguing over petty shit.”

‘Oh wow, he’s in a bad mood after being the first of us to take any step toward gaining superpowers,’ Lavan realized with eyes wide, shocked. ‘But…the hell why?’ That question needed answering immediately.

“Attention!” Lavan shouted, bringing all eyes from Donovan back to him. “Since we’re not under threat let’s take some time to just relax after that scare. Exchange names, chat, get to know each other, etcetera…though we never want to truly let our guards down. Pick out a knife from the supplies—though they’re all the same—and get used to carrying it around at all times.”

Then before waiting for his command to sink in Lavan offered Donovan a hand, which he immediately regretted when the muscle man took it and nearly pulled him to the ground. When the two stood face to face—or rather, face to pecs—Lavan kept his eyes locked with Donovan’s but nodded to the side, gesturing to a large gap between tents leading outside of the camp. In response, the large man narrowed his eyes for a moment before sighing with a roll of his eyes, nodding, and walking in the indicated direction.

Lavan didn’t immediately follow, instead looking around at the few of his curious or knowing peers who had watched his silent exchange, then zeroed in on Senia. He had the same wordless communication with her, locking eyes and tilting his head in the direction he’d like her to go. Senia nodded.

He and Senia ignored the few who noticed what had happened as they followed Donovan just out of earshot of the rest, in the direction of the grasslands. Georgy looked at them with a frown, and possibly disdain in his eyes, but ultimately didn’t say anything as he dropped to the ground and assumed a pushup position. For all his attitude was bad, the dude seemed pretty smart.

“Videogames are one thing, but I never expected you to take charge of Chosen,” Senia boredly commented as soon as they came to a stop, her arms crossed but not in an antagonistic way like Georgy had. “Plus, I thought you would be too lazy for this kind of stuff. Takes lots of mental effort to take responsibility of lives.”

“And you’d normally be right, but I get a thrill out of this,” Lavan casually admitted with a shrug, feeling Donovan’s eyes boring into him as he revealed all his cards. “We’re not stranded in the outbacks of Australia, Senia. We’re on a different planet with magic, I think it was called Yohmu, and I have something to gain from a leadership position besides just keeping my life. Sure, I wanna help people like Ms. Jackson did for all her students, but if I don’t gain some awesome powers from all of this…”

Lavan left his sentence to hang as he glanced at Donovan, who remained silent with no change in expression, hands in pockets. When the larger man didn’t show any signs of having something to add, he continued.

“Anyway, besides thanking your lazy ass for also becoming a rep, I brought you here because I have a favor to ask of you, Senia.”

She quirked her lips in curiosity.

“For a team building exercise, I imagine?”

Lavan formed a Cheshire grin at being seen through. Having played a lot of games together, Senia was aware of how when he was placed in a team with strangers who didn’t seem in the best of moods, Lavan would pretend to show interest in whatever his teammates spoke about in order to bring their morale up and make them more likely to follow orders. Sometimes he’d get Senia to help.

Stolen story; please report.

“You know me so well.”

Without hiding anything from Donovan, Lavan explained his simple plan and Senia’s involvement in it. When he finished, Senia giggled and accepted.

“I’m flattered to be allowed in on your schemes,” she teased, before returning to the members of Team Senile to lie about what she had discussed with Lavan.

“And now…you.”

With Senia gone Lavan placed his full attention on the humongous man whose demeanor gave nothing away of his thoughts, face as hard as stone…or his biceps.

“And now me,” Donovan repeated back to Lavan with a tired sigh as his eyes unfocused and he presumably stared at his character sheet. After only a moment he returned to staring at Lavan but this time with a shifting frown. He seemed conflicted about what to say next.

Lavan did not hurry him, knowing he was smart and more likely to make the right decision than not… The right decision being to support Lavan, because he would succeed with or without the larger man.

Still, the silence made Lavan impatient, so he settled on a single sentence of encouragement.

“Do trust I am fully aware that brain and brawn are not mutually exclusive.”

With that, Donovan finally responded, settling back into a neutral expression.

“You’ve got that right,” he said with a snort, bringing his hands out of his pockets to rest on his hips. “Too bad my dad doesn’t.”

Lavan tilted his head in confusion. “What?”

“Look, Lavan, we’re both intelligent. Let’s get this all out of the way right now so that we don’t have any problems down the line… I have daddy issues.”

Donovan gave no indication that he was joking. If anything, he seemed uncomfortable at having the conversation at all.

“It’s okay to laugh,” he added dryly.

“I wouldn’t do that!” Lavan mocked taking offense, before the edges of his lips rose. “But I will smile. What kind of issues?”

“Stereotypical ones,” he grunted, sounding like a bull. “My dad was an asshole and our school’s star quarterback in his time, I inherited his build, he raised me into an athlete, and I liked it at first.”

Lavan nodded along, building an image in his mind that did, indeed, sound quite stereotypical.

“Well, come middle school, it turned out I was way better than he was at his age, and he changed his mind about where I was going in life. He was no longer satisfied with me being an athlete. I’m not kidding when I say he used the term ‘the ultimate athlete’. All of a sudden my becoming our school’s next star quarterback was just the start of his plans, because he wanted me to go pro to earn millions. I became his ticket to fame and fortune. He pushed me to train harder than I ever had before and further limited stuff like internet access. And again, I was okay with that.”

It didn’t sound okay to Lavan, but whatever.

“At least, until it turned out I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I’d always had an easy time with my classes, which my dad was happy about because I could spend more time in sports, but when I started showing interest in learning more math and science in high school he forbade it. He said taking advanced classes was a waste of time and not what I was ’born’ for, but he couldn’t choose my classes for me so I ignored him.”

Lavan began to feel invested in the story and solemnly asked, “He didn’t end it there, did he?”

“’Course not. He tried beating my ass and, being the same size, I fought back. My mom—she used to be a cheerleader—did nothing but cry. Even after failing to change my mind with his fists and having his jaw dislocated he picked up his phone and tried demanding that the school put me back in regular classes because I was ‘too stupid’ and ‘made a mistake’.”

Donovan snorted again, but this time with anger.

“I have both academic and sports scholarships while he’s in jail for drunk driving. Fuck him.”

Lavan continued to nod along, clueless as to where he was going with that. When Donovan noticed, he rolled his eyes and spelled it out.

“My dad treated me like nothing more than my physical accomplishments, and he wasn’t the only one. It may be a compliment to all of you, but not everyone appreciates being thought of as only a mountain.”

The man who’d recommended the team name found his eyes widening as Donovan’s point clicked in place.

“Ooooh… Sorry ‘bout that. And I see now why the, um…that particular Ethos might bother you.”

Donovan nodded and hummed.

“Mhm. Now you see my dilemma. Though, I won’t ask for the team name to be changed. It’d be pointless.”

The two fell into silence as Donovan allowed Lavan to process the new information.

‘Wow, so, the first to gain an Ethos among us also doesn’t appreciate having that particular one. That might be an issue. If he discards it and we’re attacked by something magical before someone else gains and figures out how to use magic… Oh, boy.’

Lavan stared at his feet and held his chin.

‘Well, obviously he has to accept it for the greater good, but this might be a permanent thing. And if he’s more traumatized than he let on, then asking him to accept the Ethos that reminds him of it… But it’s better than dying, right? Or letting the rest of us die? What if he rejects it and later finds out it was super powerful but can’t get it again?

‘Or even if others gain magical powers, what if we need that particular one? Like, someone has Wind powers but we encounter a rock monster that is basically immune to the Ethos of Wind, or whatever? Or…’

After an eternity of self-back-and-forth, Lavan finally threw his arms into the air in exasperation, saying “Fuck it!” and startling Donovan. Then, he placed his hand on Donovan’s shoulder—which felt odd considering the height difference.

“Okay, man. Do whatever you want. That’s what I’ve decided to tell you.”

Despite what was supposed to be good news for him, Donovan looked at him skeptically.

“Really? I was kinda hoping for that response, but now that I remember all the ways you manipulated the group I’m thinking you don’t really mean it but want to be on my good side.”

Lavan’s eye twitched.

“Don’t make this more difficult than it is!” he hissed through his teeth. “Of course I want you to accept it and protect us all in case nobody else gains an Ethos, but you probably want to be a spellcaster rather than a warrior and this could be a permanent decision. Just refuse it and tell everyone else that when you tried accepting, a Quest popped up saying if you went through with it you’d have to do something outrageous, and the Quest would dissolve if you refused it.”

Donovan pursed his lips and allowed his arms to drop powerlessly to his sides as he stared at the character sheet he pulled back up.

“You’re right; I don’t want to be a warrior. But if somebody gets hurt when I could have protected them…” He sighed again, looking up at the sky.

“That’s correct, but…you could’ve just said so if you only needed someone to convince you to accept it.” Lavan forcefully poked Donovan in the chest, drawing his attention again. “Because that’s the easy part. Exactly as you said, it’s your fault if we’re attacked by a monster or something and we don’t have an effective defense because the only guy with superpowers threw them away cuz they fit his image too well. And I severely doubt that you’d have the mental fortitude to watch us die and not feel guilty! Save us all from heartache—or, you know, our lives—by accepting that Ethos! Relish in the new powers!”

When his tirade ended, Lavan found himself surprised at just how much of his irritation was real.

Donovan guiltily averted his eyes from Lavan’s gaze as he peered down at his hands, which he opened and closed repeatedly. The ten seconds Donovan hesitated before accepting the Ethos of Strength felt like hours, but when he finally did it…his expression turned confused for a moment before transitioning into a smile.

“Umm…” he muttered, looking between Lavan and the air between them.

“What is it?” Lavan asked, curious if a Quest really had appeared and made accepting the Ethos more difficult. But then, why would Donovan smile?

Instead of answering, the large man just gave Lavan viewing access of his screen.

You can assimilate the Ethos of Strength into either:

— [Body]

or

— [Spirit]

You still have the option to Refuse.

“Oh, wow.” Lavan looked up at Donovan, who stared back at him with undisguised joy. “There’s your solution! Assuming these words mean what I think they mean, you don’t have to be a warrior even with an Ethos called Strength.”

Not a second was waited before the “Spirit” option lit up, the screen disappeared altogether, and Donovan began softly glowing.

‘Wait, no…that’s not light. Is it?’

Lavan’s new sense confused him as he worked to parse the information in his head, finding that his physical vision saw nothing new, but his mind’s eye interpreted Donovan’s…aura as a glow around his body. He didn’t even need to have his eyes open to “see” it.

“So…does your ‘spirit’ feel 'stronger'?”

His attempt at levity was ignored as Donovan closed his eyes and sat cross-legged on the grass, presumably examining himself. He sat there in complete silence, his aura fluctuating but never disappearing. At one point his aura seemed to explode as it expanded from candlelight to a campfire, but it dimmed back to normal within seconds.

After about a minute Donovan stood back up with a smirk and waved a hand at Lavan, releasing a wave of energy he instinctually knew to be a spell cast with mana. He wasn’t surprised when the energy bore into his body, distributed itself evenly, and gave him a sense of standing on top of the world. A vivid aura burst to life around him, as well.

“Incredible,” Lavan murmured, holding out and staring at his hands as though they held the secrets of the universe. In truth, the young man could barely contain the urge to test what his newfound strength could do, but alas, he stood within a plains biome and had nothing like a tree to punch.

Well, a forest sat on the other side of the camp, but where there was cover, there were creatures hiding. He wanted to wait as long as possible before exploring the forest.

Then the strengthening energy within him ran out and dissipated, leaving him feeling…weak. And without an aura. There likely wasn’t too much of a difference between Lavan’s physical state before the strength buff and after it ended, but with that sensation of containing unlimited power gone, he felt hollow.

“Oh my gods,” Lavan muttered, looking up at Donovan with awe and trying his hardest not to think any differently of the man. He was still the same person, just with a neat power that would help them survive.

“It’s not throwing cell-destroying wind attacks or calling down meteors to let my enemies know pain, but I’m content with being a support character. Maybe next I’ll try learning to increase defense and heal.”

“Aahh, speaking of which,” Lavan said, allowing his awe to drain as he resumed his business attitude, “you have an idea of how to comprehend Ethoses? The Quest reward was kinda vague.”

Donovan put on another smirk, but it wasn’t long until it formed into a bright smile as his elation shone through.