Chapter 42

“I never really asked. You weren’t with the U-Nerds. That means you didn’t pick a negative quirk?”

He shot me a warm smile from where he sat with his back against the bed. “Well, I did join the SCA Seven. I’ve done a good deal of LARPing when I was a kid, and-”

“What’s that?”

“Oh. Live action role playing. Nerd stuff. But I did get to play around with some real weapons, and got a feel for the spear.” He shrugged. “I’m a wildlife guy, I guess. I like nature, and I like people but… well. I wasn’t really planning to take on a lot of monsters. More, see the new world for myself, take in the wonders. I figured picking a Scout would let me mostly do my thing, and didn’t mind that a quirk might limit me a bit.”

Tier 3 negative quirk:

Frontline Fighter

You are unable to select any ranged talents or use any ranged weapons. Ever.

I coughed. “A bit?”

He shrugged apologetically. “Well, I’ve always been a bit clumsy. Giving me a crossbow or something sounded like a recipe for bad luck. Besides, I picked my positive quirk to match it.”

Tier 3 positive quirk:

Sharing is Caring

You may expand most buffs and talents to include those in your group at an ongoing cost of stamina.

Steve smiled. “I figured, as long as I’d be able to help others and get the chance to see the world, things couldn’t really go wrong. Boldly go where no man has gone before, and all that.”

Nix walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. “You did help others. A lot. Without that quirk of yours, your Invisibility would only have saved your butt, not ours. That’s something I can never thank you enough for.”

“Aw, shucks. Anybody would’ve done that.”

He actually said shucks. I’ve never heard a real person say shucks and mean it.

Steve cleared his throat. “Anyway. My Tier 3 Invisibility’s straightforward. Costs mana, and if enemies have a really high Perception, they might be able to see through it. My attack’s pretty simple, too.”

Tier 2

Piercing Jab

Active talent. Your next attack will be imbued with a powerful piercing quality, and, for the extent of the attack, your Agility will be calculated at +50%.

Cost: 10 stamina.

5/5

“The piercing is pretty powerful. Not enough to push straight through that buckler of yours, but close. And the increased Agility helps me actually hit and not waste the stamina.” He smiled softly. “I do run out of stamina pretty fast. Anyway. My next talent sounds underwhelming, but I believe it’s the most powerful of the lot.”

Tier 3

Peaceful Rest

Passive talent. Your sleep earns you better rest than most. When you wake up after at least four hours of uninterrupted sleep, you gain a 12-hour +2 bonus to all attributes.

5/5 points

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I frowned. Then I tapped my lip. “Wait. Can you…”

“Yes!” He laughed and clapped his hands. “I can. Apparently, the stamina cost for sharing buffs is calculated from the original cost. Given that the cost, in this case, is nil…” Steve trailed off. Probably from the dismayed look on my face.

Math. Why did it always boil down to math?

He cleared his throat. “Long story short. Anybody I’m grouped with will gain this buff, as long as I sleep at least four hours a night, and it won’t cost me a thing.”

“Nice!” I wagged a finger appreciatively at him. “Honestly, that’s super impressive. So… that’s fifteen talent points. What Level are you at, right now?”

“Seventeen.” He smiled. “I’ve got two points to spare. And I just unlocked my new Tier 4 talents.”

“He’s also refused to tell us what they are until we’re all gathered here.” Nix pouted. “He’s such a drama queen.” She plopped herself down on Haddock’s lap and draped his arms around herself like a blanket.

Steve didn’t drag it out further. “I got four different choices for Tier four. I’m ruling two of those out right now. One’s ranged, which, yeah, tough luck. The other is… frankly disgusting. Definitely some assassin-like skill and I would never go that way.”

I had to hand it to him. The unassuming, gentle man with the dad-bod stuck to his guns. I wasn’t too sure I’d be that decisive if I got something really good and really shady.