It didn’t take that long to find what was left of the road we needed to take. It felt like today had been the longest in my life and the last thing I wanted to do was take a ten-mile hike through dangerous woods, but with the rest of the band chomping at the bit to head out I couldn’t get out of it. So, there I was trying not to stumble over anything as the light dimmed more and more. We all kept our weapons out and ready, but this time we weren’t trying to get monsters to come to us.
On the contrary, this was the quietest this group of people had ever been as we made our way down the road. We managed to make it at least a mile before we were attacked for the first time. It was just a level 2 flesh mongrel though, so it didn’t take long for us to deal with it and keep moving. As we walked, we found plants that we’d never seen before, some of which were best to avoid. Like this bramble patch with bright blue thorns that I almost fell into because we didn’t realize that it was moving toward us little by little. We had to adjust our path to go completely around the spiky hunter.
We found useful plants too though including a small berry bush whose leaves glowed whenever we got too close to it. Tina had the idea of breaking a few branches off of it so we would have some light to travel by when the sun finally went down completely. The shadows grew more and more as time moved and we were only about three or four miles into our trip when the light completely disappeared. As soon as the sun went down, we began hearing roars and screams in the distance. The hum of cicadas that we were used to in this area of the country seemed to travel as if it was flying back and forth overhead.
Now and then we’d freeze when we saw a shadow move or hear a twig crack. This was one of those moments. We stood frozen in place as we heard a bunch of yipping sounds and leaves rustling close by it didn’t take long before we could tell we were surrounded. Glowing yellow eyes made themselves seen pushing through the shrubbery in the area there wasn’t enough light to see exactly what creatures were hunting us, but the system filled in some information for us.
The tag above the head of the one closest to me read. “Level 7 Night Stalker.” I held my breath and slowly reached towards my quiver pulling out an arrow. The Night Stalker moved closer to me and growled crouching low. I could finally see some details of the creature as it stepped into the luminescence coming from my branch. It was a large grey dog-like creature, its fur stood on end as its hackles were raised, and its teeth were bared as it snarled at me.
The yellow-eyed beast moved closer and wiggled its butt as it lowered itself closer to the ground. I knew what was coming but I wasn’t fast enough to stop it. It leaped slamming into me. I could feel the creatures’ teeth coming for my neck but in the next moment, the Night Stalker flew off me and slammed into a nearby tree. I saw Susan’s leg lower to the ground and realized she must have kicked the dog to save me. The monster was back up in the next second and charging again this time at Susan.
The rest of the pack took this as their cue to attack as well. Susan jumped over me and tackled the monster that had attacked me, but I didn’t focus on that. The small blond had that one covered I needed to help the others. Tina held another monster back its jaws clamped down on her gun. I aimed carefully and stuck an arrow in its neck. It didn’t seem to have any effect but then Tina let loose of her gun with one hand and yanked the arrow out of the creature. Blood spurted out of the wounded animal, and it howled in pain releasing her weapon.
I looked over at Tony, but he didn’t need any help the man was whooping and hollering as he stood on the back of another Night Stalker the strings connected to his chakrams wrapped around the neck of his opponent as he rode the dog creature to the ground. Josh was pushing another one off of him, the beast clearly asleep. Blood dripped from a large scratch covering his chest, but he immediately started singing what must have been the first thing that came to his mind. The lyrics of “Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex.” I Flew over the battlefield and suddenly I felt a buzzing energy fill me.
I pulled another arrow out and activated steady aiming at another monster sneaking up on Susan. She was already holding off three her body was letting off what looked like red steam as she kicked, punched, and threw the dogs around. My arrow took purchase in the eye of the sneaky animal, and it whimpered and hit the ground. As Josh kept singing Susan got faster keeping up with her three opponents more easily. I changed my bow into the guitar configuration and started playing the chords to go with his singing. I activated Amplify and Susan started tearing the monsters apart with ease.
I heard a loud crack from the side and glanced over seeing that Tony had snapped his steed’s neck. He flicked his fingers around his chakram strings, and they easily unwrapped themselves from their victim. Tony then turned and joined Susan in putting down the Night Stalker mutts. Josh and I continued our song, and it didn’t take long until each of the beasts were down for the count. All of us were breathing hard and Susan fell to the ground looking exhausted.
“What the fuck why’d you convince us to come out here!” Josh groaned looking at me. I glared at him and bit my tongue, so I didn’t rip him a new one. Susan lay unconscious a few yards from me, and Tony looked worse for wear as well. Tina ran over to check on her girlfriend. She sighed in relief when she saw her girlfriend’s chest rising and falling. We had no choice but to take a break here, so I checked my notifications.
“You have defeated Level 6 Night Stalker 75 essence awarded; you have defeated Level 8 Night Stalker 150 essence awarded. Your performance has helped defeat a pack of Night Stalkers level 5-9 1500 essence awarded. Level Up!” I was happy about the level-up notification, but I didn’t have time to place my new attribute point before a new notification popped up. “Congresswoman Hathor has a sponsorship offer for you. Congresswoman Euturpe has a sponsorship offer for you. Congressman Bragi has a sponsorship offer for you. Congresswoman Brigid has a sponsorship offer for you. Congresswoman Saraswati has a sponsorship offer for you. Congresswoman Sunu has a sponsorship offer for you. Moving to sponsorship conclave in three… two… one.” My vision went dark and then suddenly I was sitting in a large room with six golden braziers in front of me and a small chair in the center of the room. The decorations were opulent but seemed confusing. I wasn’t much one for interior decorating but there were decorations from a bunch of different cultures. There were green flags with Celtic knots that seemed to glow. Golden sphynx statues, depictions of veena in numerous colors, and jade statues.
“What the hell is this?” I whispered under my breath. At that moment the flames from the braziers all grew and pointed to the chair in the center of the room. “Alright shit, I get it!” I said scrambling to take a seat. As soon as I was seated the flames shifted shapes, taking the forms of six different people.
“Welcome child!” A beautiful dark-skinned woman with horns on her head. “Welcome to the sponsorship conclave!”
“Why did she get to talk first again?” Another beauty wearing what I could only describe as a glowing Greek-like dress.
“Hush Euterpe this is what we agreed to.” A bearded man leaning on a large harp responded.
“We-“ The first woman began speaking again shooting a glare at the woman who interrupted her. “Are members of the creator’s Congress we are responsible for the creation and upkeep of the system that we were finally able to install on your world, apologies for the delay.” “What is she saying they started this horse shit?” I thought to myself before she continued.
“We have each watched your progress so far and are interested in becoming your sponsors. You may only have one so we have brought you here so that we may each pitch our offers to you, and you may make your choice. So shall we begin?” She ended her spiel and looked at me expectantly. I stared back blankly for a few seconds before responding.
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“What the fuck?” I said quietly at first, getting strange looks from the assortment of people in front of me. “What the fuck are you talking about? You guys brought this shit down on us? Why would you do that?” I asked them clearly, taking them aback.
“You should have had more than enough time to prepare we did warn your world leadership at least 2500 years ago they should have passed down the information to their people, so don look at us for their failures.” A gorgeous woman with literally flaming red hair chastised me, and I did feel chastised. The woman had a way about her that made me feel like I’d just gotten caught with my hand in a cookie jar and she was standing over me with a wooden spoon.
“… fine whatever… so what is this all about?” I asked and the first woman took over again.
“We are each going to offer you a boon appropriate for your level. We will explain the boon to you and it will grow over time along with your strength. You may only have one so you must be careful with your choice. Are you ready to begin?” I was still a little confused and angry but the people in front of me each put off a soothing feeling like they knew exactly how I was feeling, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think that they would just give me something with nothing in return.
“Fine but I have a few questions,” I said and the woman motioned for me to continue. “What’s in It for you?” I asked.
“But a paltry amount of your essence gained.” The man with the harp responded. “You should hardly notice it and the strength you’ll gain from any one of our boons will be worth it.” He continued.
“Does everyone get one of these boons?” That was my second question.
“Not even close. Would you part ways with even a portion of your talent for just any random person? You already give enough of yourself by performing for them, just as we have given enough by providing your world with the system.” The Greek-looking woman explained. I nodded along thinking that that made at least some sense.
“Why me then?” I asked with enough timidity that I felt embarrassed about it.
“You have a level of talent that has led each of us to believe that you could make it far enough to give us a significant amount of essence through your growth. Essentially, you’re a good bet.” A woman wearing a white sari explained.
“I just have one more question. What is the system and who are you?” I asked and each of them seemed to shift nervously in their seat. After a long pause, the first woman responded.
“I’m afraid that we cannot explain that to you. Your sponsor may in time however drop hints, but if we give you the answer it may hinder your progress which would make you a bad investment.” I nodded along with the explanation and sat back in the seat comfortable with their explanations. “Besides I’m sure I can just refuse all of their offers if it's not worth it.” “Are you ready to start?” She asked and I told her I was. Suddenly five of the braziers went out leaving only the woman in the bull horns.
The room had also changed, becoming more focused on its Egyptian-looking decoration. A golden throne with bulls as armrests appeared in the center of the room and the woman sat down in it. She looked bigger now and energy rolled off of her. A globe of light that I couldn’t look at directly floated between her horns.
“I am Hathor, and I offer you the boon of seduction. This will give you an aura based on sexual magnetism, seduction will also gain you more essence than usual. Seduction will take the form of a skill allowing a person to see you as what they find most physically attractive. You may receive this skill later on but without my boon, your subject’s wisdom will more easily shrug it off and you will not receive any bonus essence from seduction. Of course, my boon will link us so that I may take a 3% tax on your essence gained, it will also allow for us to communicate on occasion. Think about it for a moment before you move on to the next congress member.” She ended her pitch and I didn’t even have to think about it.
Hathor seemed nice enough, but seduction felt kind of like a charisma-based roofie and that made me feel uncomfortable. I knew charisma would make me more attractive, but I think that was based on what the person wanted to look like and not tricking people into having sex with you. I thanked her and the room changed again. The Greek woman took her place the décor changed as did the throne it was now a huge marble statue of a naked man and there, she lay cradled in its hands.
“Hey there, I am Euterpe, and I offer you the boon of inspiration. You’ll get an inspirational aura those around you will be more likely to take advantage of their talents although it’s not a guarantee but if you do inspire someone there are great essence bonuses. But the skill that you’ll receive from my boon will definitely guarantee that once a month you may strike someone with divine inspiration. Whatever your subject is working toward will come more easily to them and they will have ideas that they may not have had otherwise. It’s very unlikely that you’ll receive this skill later on but who knows? You already know about the link, and I will take a 10% tax on your essence gained.”
My eyes went wide at the thought of giving up 10% of all my essence. She must have seen it because she clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes.
“Don’t balk at my offer it is one of the rarest you’ll receive. Think about it.” Then she was gone the room changing again. This time there was no throne or statue but a simple well with a rope and bucket. The woman with fire sparking through her hair sat on the edge of the well.
“I am Brigid, I want to give you the boon of passion. You’ll get an aura of passion making those around you more likely to act on their impulses; you’ll even get an essence boost if you can convince them to act on their passions. You’ll also get a skill of course which will light the fire in all those around you in a moment. Your friends will be more prone to fight harder for their passions and will make your enemies more likely to make mistakes. Sometimes when you act on passion it's not always a good thing you know?” She said winking at me. “It’s possible you can get this skill or something like It but I’m only asking for 2% so I think it’s a pretty good deal, don’t you?” As soon as she asked me that it looked like she was smacked in the face. “Oops not supposed to ask you that my bad! Talk to you later!”
This time when the room changed it was just a man a stool and a large harp.
“My name is Bragi, and I wish to give you the boon of speech. You will not develop an aura but any time you speak people will listen. I do not offer a skill in return I shall carve the ancient runes directly into your tongue. Much more powerful that way.” He chuckled at the look in my eye. “I’d like 5%.” Then he disappeared. The next woman sat on a goose and held a vina.
“Saraswati is my name, and my boon shall be the truth. Your aura will urge others to be truthful with you and themselves. You’ll receive bonus essence from revealing truths, and the skill you receive will force your subject’s tongue to not speak any falsehoods. You may use this skill only once a week. I ask for 5%” This one seemed like the best deal so far and I thought that I may take it before the room changed one more time.”
The room suddenly burst into light and the most beautiful man I’d ever seen stood in front of me his skin seemed to shine and when he smiled at me I thought my heart would burst out of my chest and my stomach would drop to the floor. He wore nothing but I didn’t even notice as I stared at him.
“Hey, man!” He walked up to me and dapped me up. “So, I bought the last slot from the last one I wanted to give you this crazy awesome boon. Big fan of your music by the way you’re killing it gotta get better at that archery though man can’t go around embarrassing me after this got it?” I was too stunned to speak because of the casual way this god-level gorgeous guy was speaking to me. He waved a hand in front of my face. “Hello? Anyone in there?” He asked jokingly and snapping me out of my stupidity.
“Oh um yeah you wanted to offer me something?” He scowled at that.
“Well, I guess you could call it an offer but you’re totally going to take it. You have a choice of active skills from me the boon of healing or the boon of plague. If you choose to heal, I’ll give you the song of healing. If you choose plague, you’ll get plague arrow. As far as auras go, I’ll give you some starting study materials so that you can learn how to develop an aura on your own but I won’t sacrifice your studies by pigeonholing you into this or that aura. So, you’ll have to work hard and study if you want to keep up with the multiverses powerhouses. I want 8% This is the best offer you’ll get so hurry up and choose!” Heard the slapping sound again but Apollo didn’t even flinch.
Before I had a chance to respond though I got a wave of notifications. “Congresswoman Hathor has withdrawn a sponsorship offer. Congresswoman Euturpe has withdrawn a sponsorship offer. Congressman Bragi has withdrawn a sponsorship offer. Congresswoman Brigid has withdrawn a sponsorship offer. Congresswoman Sunu has withdrawn a sponsorship offer. Congressman Apollo has offered you, his sponsorship.”
“Poor losers.” Apollo chuckled. The only one that kept their offer on the table was Saraswathi, but I knew which offer I had to take.
“How do I accept the boon?” I asked him and a mischievous smile spread across his face.
“You just have to make an oath-bound in blood on a sacrificial altar to obey my will.” “No way in fucking hell!” My response must have been written across my face because the muscled man began laughing. Once he was finished with his fit of laughing, he explained that it was just a quick contract bound by the system.
“Basically, you’ll agree to give me the essence and I’ll agree to give you the boon and the study materials. As you grow more powerful, I can help out a little more but we’ll get to that if you make it to that point. Cool?” I agreed and a screen appeared in front of my face detailing the agreement. I read it over carefully and didn’t see anything nefarious. “Ok, so what’s your choice?” He asked me and I thought about it for a moment.
I wasn’t doing a lot of damage in combat but looking back at our last fight Susan and Tony were doing a lot of damage with Josh and I supporting them. If I was able to heal them mid-fight we wouldn’t have as much to worry about. Being attacked by the Night Stalkers turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it helped me come to my decision.
“The song of healing.” Apollo gave me a dazzling smile and the contract changed to reflect my choice. I signed it quickly and so did he.
“Ok, then I guess I’ll see you later! You’ll know when you’ve raised enough essence to see me again!” The man clapped his hands and in a flash of light, I was back in the forest with my friends.