Chapter 15

I took a brief second to centre myself, to get used to the brilliant, glittering overlay of my options lined up before me, translucent writing confusing my vision of the regular world. Then, spent a moment lining up the possibilities and sorting out the choices that were unavailable due to my negative quirk. Then I spent another moment, and removed the ones that were either underwhelming or not truly useful at the moment, like Improved Leap and Hardiness, until I ended up with a much more manageable list.

Tier 2

Improved Defense

Improved Resistances

Tier 3

Burgeoning Aggression

Improved Run Speed (3)

Life Steal

Tier 4

Burst of Power

Deflect

Moment of Grace

Wheel of Magic

Tier 5

Internal Scourge

Personal Universe

Starting from the bottom, Improved Defense was definitely getting chosen sooner, rather than later. The added survivability from improving the efficiency of my fortitude and my defense from armor was undeniable. Improved Resistances? Sure. I should up my resilience, make sure I could shrug off even Elio di-natural-disaster Fiore. Later. I’d need some actual resistances, before I could improve them.

Burgeoning Aggression would make me a target. Heh. Control would be nice, but I’d also have to be able to survive it. Later. Improved Run Speed, for three talent points, was an excellent choice, too. But right this moment, that would just allow me to leave Nix behind to get eaten. And I wasn’t going to be that guy.

Burst of Power I considered, then forgot. What good were oodles of temporary attributes when I couldn’t convert them into damage dealing? Moment of Grace, meanwhile, was droolworthy and a life saver, but took five talent points to unlock. Deflect would improve my options and efficiency in close quarters. It would wait, though.

Internal Scourge was yet another future choice. Curing diseases, poisons and whatever was all good and well. But I’d have to survive to get diseased in the first place.

That left me with three options I thought would be extremely useful. Tier 3 Life Steal, Tier 4 Wheel of Magic and Tier 5 Personal Universe were the big options here.

Life Steal

Passive Talent. This talent converts any damage you inflict on enemies into lifeforce, which you can make your own.

3% Life steal per point

0/5

Wheel of Magic

Passive Talent. The wheel can be activated whenever you are subjected to a minimum of magical damage (even if blocked, absorbed or shielded). The wheel will surround you, throwing magical damage back at enemies. Damage caused scales with damage suffered and the magic type is randomized. One spoke activated per point.

Range: 30 meters

Cost: 20 stamina per minute

0/5 points

Personal Universe

Passive Talent. You unlock a personal space, in which you are able to safely store items by mental access alone. Only the storing and removal of items has any cost associated with it. The size of the Personal Universe will increase with every level after Level 25.

Initial size: 1 cubic meter

1 point to unlock.

I discounted Wheel of Magic. I would need it, but the requirement that it could only activate when I was hit with magical damage would make it a waste for some clashes. Later!

That left two just wonderful options for me.

I caved and spent the talent point for Personal Universe. Sure. It was a point that could’ve been spent on my survival. But it also represented the option to safely carry goods and equipment that could literally save all our lives, if things went sideways – and they wouldn’t weigh me down.

Then I grimaced and dumped both the remaining talent points into Life Steal. Was I still a one-trick pony? Sure. But I’d be a one-trick pony who was a lot harder to kill. Not only was the talent free to use and was always active. Using Wave of Reflection, it would allow me to heal even when I parried an attack fully. Meaning, in optimal conditions, I’d be able to keep myself constantly topped up. And the life steal effect was further improved by my quirk! When I had that one fully improved, I’d be able to heal a full twenty-something percent of all damage I inflicted.

Without a second’s thought, I took my three available attribute points and dumped them into Fortitude. At some point, I was going to have to grow stronger, faster, more perceptive. But for now, toughness and survival were the name of the game.

Current overview:

Liam Berg

Level: 3. Progress to next level 37%

Class: Fighter

Path: Path of Fortitude

Quirks: Enforced Anti-Violence, Tier 5. Passive Power, Tier 4.

Traits: Starved Growth (Temporary)

Health: 171/400

Stamina: 400/400

Mana: 70/70

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Health regeneration: 4.0 health/hour

Mana regeneration: 63 mana/hour

Stamina Regeneration: 44 stamina/hour

Attributes:

Strength: 13