At first I thought there was something in my eye, or I was so tired I was imagining it, but as I looked I eventually realized that what I was seeing was very real. There was a dot on the moon. One that hadn’t been there the previous night. I reached over and nudged Patience. She turned around and put on a wry smile.

“I don’t know if this is the best place Cor. Not a lot of privacy.”

I chuckled, but shook my head, and pointed at the moon. “Do you see that?”

She turned to look. “See what?”

“That dot, on the moon.”

She squinted, raised an eyebrow, and sat up. “What in death’s name?”

That confirmed that this wasn’t something that normally occurs here in Tu’reyne. Suddenly, my vision was clouded by a notification.

Two choices have been granted through the efforts of champion’s Tallulah and James

These Choices have been made

The god of Magic has altered the magic system to make it Mana based

The god of Technology has brought the Clockwork Men to life

I blinked, and went to check my character sheet.

Cormac

Half-Elf

->Lvl 8 Mercenary

XP: 19720

HP: 110

->MP: 80

Stats:

STR: 14

DEX: 18

SPD: 18

INT: 14

WIS: 10

PER: 13

CON: 12

LCK: 8

Known Skills:

Sword (LVL 12)

Club (LVL 6)

Mace (LVL 5)

Axe (LVL 5)

Spear (Lvl 8)

Hammer (LVL 5)

Bow (LVL 5)

Dagger (LVL 14)

->Improvised Weapon (LVL 8)

Barehanded (LVL 15)

->Stealth (LVL 7)

->Feint (LVL 9)

Trapfinding (LVL 4)

Negotiation (LVL 2)

Trapping (LVL 2)

->Acrobatics (LVL 7)

Abilities (Racial):

Half Borne of Magic

Abilities (Class):

Anything in a Pinch

For the Right Price

A Job is a Job

Abilities (Unique):

Left Hand Free

Borne of Two Worlds

Reduce Magic

Stolen novel; please report.

->Spells:

Flash Step 15 mp

Grease 15 mp

Spark >1 mp

Stone Toss 20 mp

Fireball 120 mp

Invisible Steps 15 mp

Aside from the newly listed MP, and changes to my spell costs, there was also now a blue bar filling my vision. It was less than half full, I assumed representing the spell slots I’d used up throughout the day. I considered what the changes meant, focusing on the negatives first. I’d have to adjust my entire way of thinking, that was probably the biggest issue. I’d gotten used to the spell slot system, and how to work it into combat. I kept track of what spells I’d used almost automatically at this point. Making adjustments to that thinking would be hard, and I wouldn’t have a lot of time to think them through considering I was in a maze full of traps and hostile creatures on the way to a dragon.

I thought for a moment and activated invisible steps, reducing it to one single step. Checking the numbers, that only cost me 3 MP. That meant that my reduced magic ability was still useful. There was a positive there, not to mention the amount of versatility I now had. I could cast five Flash Steps instead of just one, or create enough invisible steps to scale a castle wall. Fireball was still limited, though I noticed that with the mana change the numbers didn’t quite line up the cost they’d been previously.

Just as I was starting to wrap my head around what had happened, and was about to try and discuss it with the rest of the party who seemed wrapped up in their own considerations, another notification filled my vision.

A choice has been granted through the efforts of champion Leon

The Choice have been made

The god of War has added Martial Powers to the system

This addition has necessitated the creation of a stamina system

I blinked, and acknowledged the message, only to receive another prompt.

The following Martial Powers have been granted due to your Class and Level:

Adrenaline- You burn stamina at a 3x rate for an increase to strength and speed

Concentration- Burn stamina at 2x rate for increased focus/awareness

“I was just about to complain too,” said Patience, her eyes unfocused as she looked at her own notifications.

“Complain?” I asked.

“That it was unfair that only the magic classes would get a boost. This though… this I like.”

“Agreed,” said Nica with a wicked smile on her face.

“It is nice to have a little something extra to bring to bear. Aside from catching things on my shield and swinging my sword,” added Tib.

I shrugged. “I kind of benefit from both, so I’m pretty pleased.”

Tristus shook his head, a glum look on his face. “It’s very clear to me that the gods favor you combat classes far more than the rest of us.”

“Didn’t the last change basically double the XP you receive for everything you do?” asked Patience.

“Honestly, the mana only benefits me and Millicent.” I pointed to her, realizing just at that moment that she was fast asleep and snoring lightly, completely unaware that her entire class had just been upended. “The other choices actually benefit you more than the rest of us so far. Dragons? Clockwork Men? These are entire groups that you as a diplomat can now seek out and milk for all the XP and diplomatic solutions they’re worth.”

Tristus pouted a little. “Maybe it would be nice for non-martial classes to get a super power every now and then is all.”

“What about what you used on Rancor?” asked Tib.

“Zone of peace? It’s just a calming effect in a small area. We’re not technically supposed to use it during actual negotiations since when it wears off people often feel a desire to alter agreements that were made under its influence. The fact that it calmed the barbarian from his rage is pure luck.”

“You’d prefer to shoot fire from your hands, or be able to leap up a wall?” asked Patience.

“I just think those could have surprisingly good impacts on diplomacy,” Tristus responded.

“We both know if you could leap up a wall you’d use the ability to invade the bedrooms of whatever your current paramour is,” said Tib dryly, prompting a musical chuckle from Nica.

“I don’t ‘invade’ bedrooms Tiberius. I’m invited freely to pursue thorough and in depth negotiations.”

“And I’m sure they always end in all parties being mutually satisfied?” I asked.

Tristus smiled and nodded, easily cheered by an innuendo laden conversation.

After that we all settled down in our bedrolls, aside from Nica who insisted on the first watch, and went to sleep. It took me longer than usual to fall asleep, my head was spinning from the possibilities of the choices that had just been made, and I was still sick with worry over Zevrack, but eventually I was able to successfully lose consciousness.

…

I found myself very suddenly standing in a meeting room. There was a projector pointed at me, and behind me were a series of pie charts. In the room sat what looked to be 12 different Ren’s, all in different outfits and each with a different level of interest in whatever it was I was meant to be presenting. In the corner stood Ren’s secretary, who still looked as if she’d been cobbled together from every woman I’d ever found attractive. I felt a chill, and looked down to find myself completely naked.

I sighed and looked over to the nearest Ren. “Is this really necessary?”

The Ren in the back answered. “I was just caught with my pants down. Figured my champion would enjoy an exercise in empathy.”

“The choices that the other gods got to make?”

“Yes. Three back to back. Magic and Technology didn’t surprise me. They’ve always been close. They’re big fans of you actually. Well, your friend Zev. Liking you is basically just an extension of that. I will say I didn’t expect their accomplishment to be going to the moon, but I can appreciate the boldness of their choice.”

“They went to the moon!?”

All the Ren’s nodded in unison. “Yep. A bit easier here where magic can be utilized so freely, but still quite impressive.” He gestured to the charts behind me. “While I’ve appreciated your presentation so far, your timeline is leaving a bit to be desired. Even if the dragon goes for what you’re thinking, you still have the trek back and you’ll need to start an organization from the ground up and get it functioning well enough for the system to recognize your effort.”

“Is negotiating with a dragon not enough?”

He shook his heads. “It gets you part of the way there. The actions to reach a goal are always taken into account, but to earn a choice requires a lot.” One of the Rens stood and the rest of them disappeared. “These system changes. Gah, they make things far too complicated. It’s all just numbers, numbers, numbers, with my siblings. The more complicated it gets, the more this world is going to be held back by it.” Ren walked over to the wall, and removed his thick sunglasses and shook his head, scratching at his neck. “You ever have a feeling, like a word is on the tip of your tongue, or an answer is just out of reach?”

I nodded. “Sure. I think everybody does.”

“My domain. The answer to what it is. It’s so close, but I just can’t quite reach it.” Ren stood still for a moment, then let out a scream that seemed to destroy the room around us and left me floating in darkness. A disembodied voice spoke all around me. “Earn me my second choice and that may be all I need to know who I am. Work quickly, and the rewards will be great for both of us.”

With that, I was returned to my regular sleep.