The party left the woods and returned to Inara’s house.
James sat at the kitchen table across from Desiree. Both had a mug of warm tea in their hands, and the cozy normalcy of it struck him as surreal.
How long had they been in the dungeon, fighting for their lives and puzzling out their next moves? How long had it been since they’d had a moment like this, completely unguarded?
He inhaled the scent of his tea and closed his eyes. When he thought back on some of those fights, he could hardly believe they made it out alive. If he lingered in the memories too long, his hands shook, and his breath quickened.
Inara poured the last mug of tea and joined them at the table. “You’ve had some time to think now,” she said to James. “What’ll you do with your stats?”
On top of the general peace of not having to fight for his life every five minutes, James had particularly enjoyed having the time to thoroughly review his options as far as stats and skills.
“I spent some time with my skill list,” he said, “and I think I found one that’s a good fit. It’s called Hero’s Rally.” He read the description.
Hero’s Rally
Call forth a surge of resolve that wraps an ally in warm, stubborn light. Wounds knit, spirits lift, and for a moment they remember why they’re still fighting.
“I didn’t realize at first that it could act as a healing spell, but it says ‘wounds knit’ which makes me think it’ll work.” He shrugged. “It’s the best I’ve got.”
“I think it’ll work great!” Desiree said.
Inara considered it. “It sounds good. I’m curious to see how ‘spirits lift’ will manifest.”
“What about you?” James asked. “What skills do you want to unlock?”
Inara sipped her tea. For the entire walk back to the village, she had kept her distance. James understood that it was a big decision for her. The skills she had to choose from were skills which, in another life, she’d completely mastered. It wasn’t like choosing from a big list of unknowns, like James did.
By way of answering, Inara shared her status sheet.
Name: Inara
Race: Human
Class: Broken Reaper (EXP Gain: x0.33)
Level: 77
HP: 395/395
MP: 690/690
EXP: 116,333/2,500,000
Stat Points Available: 0
STR: 56 (140/3+10)
AGI: 54 (134/3+10)
INT: 29 (59/3+10)
WIS: 29 (59/3+10)
CON: 29 (59/3+10)
Skill Points Available: 0
Skills (Locked): Mana Bolt, Tactical Dodge, Focused Strike, Reaper’s Reach, Harvest Step, Last Breath, Chilling Touch, Wax and Wane, Petal Storm, Reaper’s Grasp, Blood Rhythm, Scythe Memory, Crescent Rend, Black Petals/Red Snow, Reaper’s Tithe, Vow of Silence, Edge of Dusk, Unburdened Soul, Final Witness, Reaper’s Descent
Skills (Unlocked): Blood Price, Meditation, Identify, Vital Pulse, Endure, Second Wind, Sunder Veil, Lingering Echo, Gravewind Cloak, Final Witness
James whistled. Even at only a third of her power, Inara was a strong asset to the team, and the stats alone didn’t account for her expertise with each of those skills or her competence at reading a battlefield.
“What do we have to do to unlock the rest of your class?” James asked. “I thought as soon as you reversed the action you took against him, you’d get all your power back.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right! Mama, did you do something else to the Demon King?” Desiree got an excited gleam in her eye. “Just how many times did you try to kill him?”
Inara cheeks heated up with embarrassment. “It’s not like that. I— I don’t know what the other requirements are. The notification I got said that I unlocked Hidden Condition one of three, but it didn’t tell me what they other conditions were.”
The way she answered without looking either of them in the eye made James think that Inara knew more than she was letting on, but it didn’t seem right to push her. To get to level 77, she must have spent a lot of time with the Hero before they parted ways — and he knew it hadn’t been a pleasant separation. Asking her about the previous Hero felt like asking about an ex-boyfriend, and the last thing he wanted was to make her uncomfortable.
“What about you, Desiree?” James asked before the girl could interrogate her mother any further.
It worked perfectly. Desiree immediately puffed up with a mixture of pride and uncertainty.
Stolen story; please report.
James bit back a laugh.
“I put some points into Strength, since I want to be a front-line fighter. I still have a lot more, but I’m not sure if I should put them into Agility, since my holy spells scale with Agility, or if I should do Constitution. But, the best defense is a good offense, right? If I kill them fast enough, they won’t be able to hurt me. And if I dodge better, they won’t be able to hit me. So maybe I should go full Agility… But then what if I do get hurt?”
Desiree’s voice got higher and faster the longer she talked.
“Show us your status,” Inara interrupted.
“Okay. Here it is.”
Name: Desiree
Race: Human
Class: Demon Slayer
Level: 34
HP: 175/175
MP: 200/200
EXP: 35,000/104,000
Stat Points Available: 30
STR: 45
AGI: 46
INT: 20
WIS: 20
CON: 25
Skill Points Available: 1
Skills: Holy Imbuement, Mana Cycle, Dip, Dive, Dodge, Duck, Sanctified Bolt 2
Holy Affinity: 9
James considered. “I think Agility is the way to go,” he said. “Especially since it scales your holy magic, and we already know it’ll make it easier for you to dodge on enemy turns. Besides, I know you like being quick, and that’ll make you more confident on the battlefield.”
“I’d have said Constitution,” Inara jumped in. “Since you’re going to be up front, you need to be able to take a hit and keep going.”
Left unsaid was the way Desiree had crumpled immediately after the slightest bit of damage against the First Demon King. It hung like a shadow over the group for a moment, then was collectively dismissed. After all, without the System, she’d suffered the shock of lingering pain in a vulnerable location. Such a visceral reaction could surely be forgiven.
“I’ll do a little of both,” Desiree finally decided. She added fifteen points into Constitution and fifteen into Agility, not quite satisfied but willing to move forward.
“What about you, James? Where’d you put your points?”
James shared his status with the group.
Name: James
Race: Human
Class: Hero
Level: 34
HP: 400/400
MP: 710/710
EXP: 59,000/104,000
Stat Points Available: 0
STR: 100
AGI: 90
INT: 71
WIS: 90
CON: 70
Skill Points Available: 6
Skills: Meditation 1, Mana Bolt 2, Vital Pulse 1, Fireball 2, Immobile 1, Dip 1, Dive 1, Dodge 2, Duck 1, Battle Axe
Fire Affinity: 14
Water Affinity: 11
Earth Affinity: 7
Infernal Affinity: 46
“Whoa, James, you have so many affinities!” Desiree glanced from the status sheet to the Hero with no small amount of jealousy. She was proud of her holy affinity, but it was advancing far, far slower.
Inara’s reaction was more measured. “Your internal affinity is awfully high.”
James nodded. “Yes, that worries me as well. It seems to go up every time I use my Bloodhound Axe. The axe is incredibly powerful in combat, so I don’t see myself letting it go, but after seeing what infernal energy did to Virgil, I have to admit I’m afraid of letting that happened to me.”
Inara cleared her throat. “Speaking of Virgil…”
James winced. He’d lost friends before. One to drugs, one to a heart attack, and one in an unfortunate accident. The loss of Virgil hit different. He’d only known the man a short while, which should have made it easier, but through it all, he’d liked him. He’d looked forward to having the scholar on their team, and he was grieving the loss of potential friendship as much as he grieved the man himself.
The nature of Virgil’s death certainly didn’t help matters. Even though he knew that the First Demon King was a twisted, messed up version of the scholar he knew, James couldn’t help the fact that even at the last moment, he recognized his friend in those eyes.
James cleared his throat. “He clarified our mission. If the Demon King succeeds in destroying the summoning circles, he’s only going to make it easier for demons to enter into Grimora. We have to stop him.”
Inara eyed him. “Yes. When Malachai went through the dungeon, he killed the First Demon King early, so he never got the additional explanation of the circles. He went on to believe that in destroying the circles, he would protect Grimora.”
“Stupid Demon King,” said Desiree. “He’s only making everything worse!”
Inara cocked her head, like she’d just remembered something. “James, what did you get for completing your quest?”
“Hm?”
“The quest to clear a dungeon! It must have been good, right?”
“Ah… about that.” James scratched the back of his head. “Turns out, we didn’t quite make it.”
“What!” Desiree shrieked. “We spent hours on those goblins! And we even cleared out all those nasty books that kept attacking us in the library! We totally cleared that dungeon!”
James couldn’t meet their eyes. “I think the problem is, right at the end, we were in such a hurry to get out of the dungeon that we left a few demons alive. I was able to immobilize them so they wouldn’t keep us from the exit, but… I didn’t kill them. I’m sorry, guys.”
“Oh…” Desiree went quiet, then patted James gently on the hand. “It’s okay, James.”
Inara shrugged. “That’s alright. There are more dungeons.”
James straightened. A huge weight was lifted off his shoulders; from all that Inara had said that the quest rewards were so pivotal for a Hero to succeed against the Demon King, he’d feared that she’d be disappointed in him; or worse, say that they didn’t stand a chance and may as well give up.
He swallowed hard and forced back the tears that threatened to fall. Rather than address that wellspring of emotion, he decided to change the subject.
“Oh, but! I did get something for clearing the dungeon.” James pulled up his inventory, then picked out a ring the size of his palm. It was made of stone and carved with the same sigils as the summoning circle; it was a perfect replica of the summoning circle.
Inara gasped. “A portal key! Do you know what this does?’
“I sure do,” James grinned. “It lets us fast travel between portals.”
Inara grinned back. “And there just happens to be a summoning circle in the Demon King’s backyard.”
Desiree whooped. “Stupid Demon King! We’re coming for you!”
