Luke had to sit down. "95 attribute points? 19 skill points? Holy shit."

  Then he frowned. Did the math check out? Counting, he didn't think it did. He must've looked... Interesting sitting there on that bench, slack-jawed with his fingers in the air, as if writing on an invisible whiteboard.

  "No, wait."

  In checking the many messages, he found the one he was looking for.

  Quest complete: You have defended against the undead scourge.

  Reward: 10 attribute points.

  There it was. With those ten points, the numbers added up. His mind spinning, Luke got up to walk again. Having raised his level to such an unbelievable degree was a valid excuse for being late in his mind, but the DIA wouldn't agree, he figured. It took some time to sink in, but once it did, there was more he needed to check. Going into that dungeon, he hadn't even been Level 20. Now he had surpassed not only that but also Level 30. That had to mean he'd gained some new skills to choose from, didn't it? What good were nineteen skill points just sitting there?

  Unable to wait even a second longer, he brought up the skills menu. His eyebrows climbed higher the longer he read. There was no telling which skills had become available at what level, but that didn't matter. This was something else.

  Rank up skills available:

  Needle of Life (Rank 2) [Active - Mana Cost: ?]: Use a precise touch to assert your will upon the weave.

  Threads of Mana (Rank 3) [Passive]: Mana is the weaver's primary tool. Your threads shape the weave.

  The Healer's Moment [Active. Mana Cost: Moderate]: A mere moment can cut through the chasm between life and death.

  The Healer's Staff [Active. Mana Cost: Low]: Turn your weapon indestructible for a brief moment.

  Weavestep (Rank 2) [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: The weave is yours to traverse.

  Weaver’s Rupture [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: Shatter a Thread of Mana into a pulse of force.

  Weaver's Perception [Passive]: Your understanding of the weave has reached a higher concordance, allowing glimpses of the threads that create, destroy, and bind all things.

  Weaver’s Mercy [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: On the brink of death, lend the weave one final stitch.

  Weaver’s Renewal [Active - Mana Cost: High]: The body forgets. The weave does not.

  Available skills:

  Wounded Symmetry [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: Mirror a tear in the weave and create it anew.

  Strengthen Thread [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Use mana to strengthen the weave.

  Heartthread [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Bind your weave to another.

  Weaver’s Boon [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Mana not only restores, but empowers.

  Bleed The Weave [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Rupture a weave to make your target weep mana.

  Corrupt Thread [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Force threads together in a harming weave.

  Weaver's Whip [Active - Mana Cost: Low]: Turn a thread of mana into a weapon.

  Weaveguard [Toggleable - Mana Cost: Low]: Shield the core of your being from outside influence.

  Lifeweaver's Sacrifice [Toggleable - Mana Cost: Low]: Absorb damage from anyone touched by your threads.

  Manipulate Thread [Passive]: Reach out a trembling finger and touch the thread.

  Draft Insight [Passive]: Read the intent in the weaves of others.

  Destabilize Spellweave [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: Destroy spellweaves with Threads of Mana.

  Loom's Reminder [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: For a brief moment, each touch produces a thread.

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  Cascading Threads [Active - Mana Cost: High]: The threads weave from one to another, and to another.

  Guardian Weave [Active - Mana Cost: Low-High]: Shield structures within yourself or another.

  Bountiful Recovery [Passive]: Any healing power claimed may stay within the core of your being.

  That was a lot of things to choose from, with quite a few rank-ups possible as well. Some were obvious choices, like Needle of Life, Threads of Mana... Well, most of them. The previous skills he hadn't chosen were still there, with several new additions. Not all of them looked like bangers, but most sounded incredible. Before making any choices regarding skills, however, Luke figured it was best to distribute the attribute points. Even with 95 attribute points to add, it wouldn't take long.

  Vitality was too low. Recent events showed him the value of staying power and the body being able to withstand some punishment and even regenerate some injuries on its own. At first, he counted in his head, but gave up on that and pulled out his phone. With this many numbers, he needed cells and formulas. In the end, he decided to give most attributes nice, round numbers and to bring the physical attributes up to par. Twice now, he'd used brute force to put his opponents off guard, and he didn't doubt he'd need to do so again in the future. While his primary focus remained with healing, Luke was now past the point where he could afford to stay lax when it came to offense.

  Attribute: New value (Old value)

  Strength: 30 (20)

  Agility: 30 (15)

  Endurance: 30 (15)

  Vitality: 50 (20)

  Intelligence: 37 (23)

  Wisdom: 40 (38)

  Willpower: 30 (27)

  Focus: 30 (24)

  With this, he would have a solid physical foundation with a lot of Vitality. From there, he could focus on the mental attributes going forward, at least for the most part. Confirming his choice in distribution of attribute points, Luke gasped and couldn't help but fall to his knees right in the middle of the sidewalk, clutching his head between his hands. The gentle light from the sun grew overbearing, and the sound of cars passing thrummed in his ears, loud enough to feel like he'd go deaf any second. At the same time, something messed with his mind. It was as if time slowed. Head throbbing with pain, his thoughts and memories in a jumble, everything seemed to happen all at once. Blinking away tears, gasping for air, his eyes widened as he saw his arm. The damn thing was changing before his eyes, bulking up with muscle even as it grew more defined.

  "Are you okay?" someone asked, but Luke couldn't answer. In that state of immense overwhelm, all he could do was power through it with sheer grit and willpower. After a little while, the effects subsided somewhat. Panting, chest and shoulders heaving, Luke wiped sweat from his brow and stood. He felt light and strong. Powerful. His body was bursting with energy, overflowing with it.

  Luke ran.

  It was almost like he didn't have a choice in the matter. His body needed it, and so did his mind. That blinding headache still lingered, like a hot coal behind the eyes and someone stabbing into his temple. If he ran, perhaps that would calm everything down. Doubling his agility in an instant turned each step into a graceful dance as Luke avoided pedestrians, cars, bikes, and everything else while keeping a pace that would make even the world's strongest sprinters green with envy. This was what it meant to be Integrated, to surpass the limits of what the human body was capable of. This was with thirty Agility and Endurance. What would it be like to reach 100?

  As he ran, the headache diminished and then disappeared. Once that happened, Luke didn't feel any difference in his mind. Not smarter, not wiser. Perhaps a little more focused, but it was difficult to tell. Back at his apartment building in record time, Luke marveled at how much energy he had left. It was like he could've kept going forever, running across the country with ease.

  Thinking about the parting kiss he'd shared with Dot, a smile reaching from ear to ear, Luke raced up the stairs, feeling a joy that'd been hidden away for so long he'd almost forgotten what the emotion felt like. All that dropped away when he reached his apartment door, or rather, the lack of an apartment door.

  "What the?"

  The entrance to his apartment gaped empty. Yellow police tape lay on the floor, like it'd been taken off and discarded just moments earlier. An ominous feeling spread in his gut, and Luke reached out with Weaver's Perception. It was empty in a weird way, like he couldn't reach in like he wanted. Something resisted. It resembled the void, but wasn't the same, not fully. Even with that, he sensed a heartbeat in there. Not the heart in itself, but the way blood flowed through someone's head. Someone's decapitated head.

  "What the?" he whispered to himself.

  With Threads of Mana at the ready, Luke stepped into the darkness of his apartment. The pitch black darkness wasn't natural. Even in the dead of night, with the curtains down, it'd never been like that before. Donning the Linked Bracelet of Night Sight made him blink. An artificial light filled the space, but it looked weird. Warped, almost forced, like the darkness struggled against the effect. It made his stomach protest, so he took it off before it made him hurl.

  A clear voice rang out in the darkness. "Mr. Quinn."

  "Hello?" Luke asked.

  "If you would be so kind as to call off your... pet."

  "Who are you?"

  "I am a representative of Integrated Solutions Group."

  The apartment was trashed. Luke didn't own much, but it was all on the floor, the scant few pieces of furniture broken beyond repair. Even the few glasses and plates he'd stolen from his parents' house were broken.

  "What happened here?" Luke asked, stepping around a pile of clothes cut to threads.

  "People are looking for you. Not the marauders we previously apprehended, but there are many searching for the cure."

  "The cure for what?"

  There it was. A more concentrated portion of darkness in a heap, covering a man on the floor except for his head. Smudge. The pet radiated darkness. No, not darkness, Luke realized. Void. Smudge was spreading some sort of void throughout the apartment, an absence of everything.

  "The Cure. That's you."

  Luke considered that. Not the greatest nickname. "Smudge, c'mere!"

  The void-like haze that covered the room withdrew into Smudge's bulk, and the pet grew a little even while its form bounced back into the smaller blob-like shape before heading over to sit at Luke's feet. It'd grown again. Now, it was the size of a small dog.

  "Good void creature," Luke murmured, petting it. "Protecting your home." The pet's body had a more solid heft to it now as well. Before, his hand would go through if he wasn't careful. Not anymore. "Now tell me. What's this 'the cure' business?"