“How does hp and stats work? Stats are pretty straightforward. A point in ‘strength’ makes you stronger, ‘endurance’ makes you tougher, ‘intelligence’ improves your brain. And certain stats will make skills more powerful – and is the primary driver for skill power. Hp is . . . complicated. It is both a reflection of physical integrity and a resistance to change in physical integrity. Someone with no hp isn’t instantly dead, but could die from almost anything. And someone with enough health could take a bullet without more than a bruise . . . but if you keep firing, so long as the health keeps dropping, each bullet will do more and physical damage until it finally hits like pre-Tower days. And once hp drops enough, a hit to the vitals can kill even without dropping hp to zero.
Excerpt from presentation to Senate Committee on the Tower
Charlie was no longer optimistic about the third trial. She crept along through the maze, both eager and uncertain as to what she would encounter. Left, left, left . . . she spotted her first goblin and charged, Dark Attack flaring around her fists as the dungeon creature charged back. One right cross to the chin . . . and the red haze descended all over again.
This time it was like she was in a dream . . . or another nightmare. The bits of her mind that stayed ‘awake’ during the fight watched as the goblin returned her punch with a swipe of claws that glowed with a jagged energy that screamed to tear into her. And tear it did, slicing her cheek and dropping her hp a few points. She felt helpless to do anything as flashes of the fight sparked into awareness but no control was forthcoming as punch after punch rained down at the goblin regardless of where or how effective it would be.
The only saving grace was that her stronger Dark Attack blew through the goblin’s hp and it only took a half-dozen punches until its body was broken beneath her. When the body started fading into the drop, she once again ‘woke up’ and winced at the pain from the few gouges the mob made of her armor and skin.
“Dammit.” Charlie grabbed what was left and put it in her purse while she waited for her hp and mana to recover. “Why . . .” She took a deep breath and let it out. “What the hell do I have to do to fix this? I can’t wait for the points to pay for the trait upgrade . . . if it would even fix it. Ninety points for a stat . . . or another 10 points for gear to try something else. I wish Ben was here, he’d know what to do.”
She levered herself to her feet and shook her head. “I can’t just keep waiting . . . I gotta keep going. Maybe with the . . .” She checked her point balance. “Huh, 1.5 points from that guy. So at least 15 total. Enough for another piece of equipment to try. Maybe wisdom?”
Charlie started making her way again, keeping an eye out for the next mob, hopefully she spotted it before it spotted her.
~~~
The next encounter was two goblins at the same time, both slowly shuffling down the hall, a blank expression on their faces. Charlie ducked back around the corner, biting her lip and thinking. She should be able to take the initiative to hit one before her trait kicked in, but the question was whether she would be able to get them both before they could get her.
Even thinking about the coming fight started to bring the red haze, but Charlie took a few steps back and a couple calming breaths centered her as she got ready. A quick dash and as strong of a blow as she could manage to one of them and the fight was on.
Through the mind killing rage Charlie watched as her body, instead of going after the one next to her that was raising a set of glowing claws and punching it down, she went after the one she had struck first, leaping with a Darkly radiating fist ready to smash down but only hitting stone as her target rolled to the side and opened its jaws to bite down on her arm. Luckily her new armor absorbed the blow for almost no damage, but a swipe on her back from the other made her whirl to give it a punch, knocking it away but leaving her open to the first one to claw her as well, dropping her hp a few more points.
The fight proceeded to Charlie like someone was rapidly flipping the lights on and off, the images like a disconnected slide show. One moment she was giving a quick 1 – 2 – 3 to one goblin, the next, one was biting into her leg while the other was raking her across the chest. Every time she took or gave damage, the red strengthened, making her angrier and desiring to hurt her enemy, ripping them limb from limb.
Still, everything was flash of image, emotion and pain. One image that stood out was of her biting a goblin back, its health low enough she broke skin, its foul-tasting blood filling her mouth, her Dark Attack enhancing that blow too. Once she managed to kill one, the other fell quickly now that her berserker rage had only one target to focus on. When it was over, she watched her health tick back up from the teens to full, her mana recovering as well.
“Hope that’s the last time there’s two at once.” She groaned. “That was too close.”
Charlie shivered as the flashes from the fight kept circling through her head, the emotions and Red coloring everything. She shook her head and pushed it away, focusing on what was in front of her, and doing her best to make it though the maze.
The next encounter was also a pair of goblins, luckily it went a little better, and the one after that was just a singleton that she quickly demolished. The dreamlike haze of the fights continued, coloring her memories further red, and giving stronger flashes of what she was feeling. During her recovery times she tried her best to calm back down, pushing away the anger that welled up from inside, and all the other reactions.
With the greater damage she was doing, she could feel the hp drain skill working as well, each punch dealing enough damage that a trickle of health flowed back into her, healing her wounds. Not enough to matter in the fight, but it was a tiny positive note in an otherwise hellish experience. What’s more, underneath the rage she was aware of . . . other emotions and physical responses. A rush of endorphins and . . . pleasure . . . gave her a squirmy feeling afterwards that left her deeply uncomfortable, and disturbingly closer to the source of her Template.
She needed a solution to this and fast. Before she started to enjoy it. Charlie’s steps quickened as she moved faster, only stopping to replenish her reserves, either through regeneration or tasteless rations washed down with stale water.
~~~
Three more fights later and she encountered the exit door, letting her know there was a total of 20 goblins in this Trial, and she was half-done.
“Thirty points plus drops . . . c’mon . . .” Charlie muttered as she walked quickly through the maze. Her hands flexed eagerly as her eyes skipped around, looking for her next target. “Once I’m through I can try another stat accessory, boost all my skills . . .” She stepped around a corner and turned pale at the sight of three goblins standing in an intersection, all looking at each other seeming to decide who would move first.
“Shit.” She gasped, then threw a hand over her mouth, not wanting to get their attention despite her trait urging her on, a welling anger making her furious that they would dare to get in her way, and a desire to make them bleed for it. Charlie found that she had taken a couple steps to the group before she knew it, and forced herself to turn around and go back to the corner.
After a couple of breaths to calm down she peeked back and came face to face with one of the goblins, the other two just passing each other to head to the other hallways. The closest goblin opened its mouth to shriek, but Charlie thought quick before the Red took hold and grabbed its throat with a Dark Attack enhanced grip and pulled it around the corner towards her and slammed its head into the floor. Then her rage took hold and everything was flashes and emotions.
~~~
The commotion had brought the attention of the other two goblins, but the first was already starting to fade when they reached her. As usual for the multi-target fights, she went after one target regardless of how vulnerable it left her to the other, her hp dropping rapidly until the first was dead, then going all out on the other. When the Red faded to background static she lay there in her usual regeneration haze and sighed. “Well, 7 more. Yay.”
Once back up to full she went back to exploration, finding the next three one by one and taking them out relatively easily. A short time after the third, she turned a corner and once again gasped in shock before whipping herself back and stepping away, fighting the Red that urged her into the next fight.
Four. This time there were four goblins all together in a row in a middling sized room and . . . she took a quick look . . . a treasure box behind them.
“Treasure room . . .” Charlie sighed. “Fuuuuck.” She leaned back against the wall and slid down to the floor. “Three almost killed me. Again. No fucking way I can do four.” She shook her head. “I mean, two is do-able, but how am I gonna split them up? Throw a rock at them? I’ve not seen anything that isn’t a goblin, a drop, or these smooth walls. They aren’t even made of bricks for me to chip one out.” She slammed a hand on the floor. “All I have is this bag . . .” She started rummaging through it. “Old clothes . . . mob drops . . . ‘food’ . . . sneakers . . .”
Charlie blinked and pulled one of Charles’ shoes out of the bag. She hefted it a moment and smiled. “Well, this might get one’s attention.”
She walked around the corner, one shoe in each hand and hesitated. “This is a stupid idea.” She shook her head. The goblins all looked at her, but stayed put, though their hands flexed, claws eager to tear and shred.
The Red surged and she took a step forward at the provocation, but forced herself to throw first one shoe, then the other. Charlie made herself run back to the last intersection as a couple shrieks of rage sounded behind her. Her trait tried making her turn back and face them head on, but instead of trying to use reason to counter the emotional flood, she dug deep and WILLED herself to stick to the plan. She almost felt her trait flinch back and weaken, allowing her to duck around a corner and let the two goblins run past, leaving her behind.
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Charlie turned back quickly and raced back to the treasure room, diving into her Trait and the damage bonus it provided as she met the remaining two head on. Through the dream haze she willed herself to aim lower so instead of fist-on-bone she instead hit fist-to-gut, launching it across the room where it lay, doubled in pain. She sensed movement next to her and willed herself to turn and hit hard with a Dark Attack to its kidney, dropping it down. A gleeful laugh bubbled out amid the rage and she rode the Battle Fury to decimate both beasts.
~~~
Charlie sat on the treasure box, kicking her feet as she watched the final two goblins fade away. She had been half-way to her mana back to full when they walked back in, but that was enough for her newfound method of control to take them out with a minimum of damage. Once gone she snapped up the last two drops and put them in her purse.
“Gonna win . . . not gonna die!” Charlie sang to herself and could finally open the box to pull out a pair of metal-plated finger-less gloves. “Awesome! Now my hands won’t get so banged up every time.” She slipped them on and mock punched the air.
- Empowered Pugilist Gloves – Basic, +10 fist damage, +1 Power
“And they bump a whole stat!? Sweet!” She laughed again and made her way to the exit, following her trail of ration crumbs. She gave a girlish squeal at the sight of another box and opened it to find a red potion vial that stated it healed 50 hp. It went carefully into a pocket on her belt for quick access and she stepped through the door and into the rest area.
~~~
Charlie scrubbed down in the shower, getting the trial’s sweat and blood off. She took some time to clean her clothes as best she could and hung them up to dry. Naked, she lay on the cot to think.
“Thirty points . . . plus whatever these get me.” She jingled her bag full of mob drops. “10 each fangs and claws, plus what carried over from last time. I wonder if I should get crafting skills . . . nah. With this trait I can’t do anything complicated in a fight and I don’t even know what I could use these for.”
As she talked to herself Charlie idly traced one hand along a pointed ear, feeling the difference between what she had now and what was before. As usual, the ‘now’ felt just as right as ‘before’ did ‘before’. She brought up her status page and read it again.
“Celestial-touched human.” She muttered. “What does that mean? And why?” Charlie thought back past the horrific pain of her Initialization to what the Tower had told her. “Sealed Bloodline found. Not given, or implanted or whatever. Does that mean there were Celestials running around? Are they still around? Is this Tower thing their fault?”
Her hand left her ear and played with her long hair. “Was there actually someone like this? Or was this just ‘close enough’? It said it had to expand the search pretty far to fit. What is it about my bloodline that this was my only option? Or . . . wait. There was one other thing, right? Something about light. And . . . corruption.” She shivered, feeling repulsed. Something about the idea of a corrupted anything revolted her to her very soul.
She reached down and cupped her new curves. “Still, couldn’t it find something that let me stay a guy?” She let go and watched the bounce. “I don’t even feel weird about having these. Like I’ve always been female. And that is freaking me out! I feel just as comfortable as I did as a guy, and now the thought of being a guy feels weird!” She pinched herself and winced. “Fucking thing.” She cupped herself again and sighed. “Guess I should at least find out what the fuss is about . . .”
~~~
After an awkward fumbling that left her chaffed, sore and frustrated, she took another quick shower and sat facing the obelisk. “Guess a few hook-ups at a party and one real girlfriend doesn’t teach all that much.” She grumbled. “Fucking fingernails.” She winced and shook her head. “I should probably apologize to Crystal about biting my nails. At least I know I still like girls.” Charlie tried to put out of her mind the memories of gym class showers stirring some reactions. Trying and failing. “Come on!” She protested. “Of all the things not to stay in character, I’m not a hardcore lesbian like Gloria was? Now you’re just fucking with me.”
She glared at the unmoving black obelisk. “Fine. Just . . . fine. I’ll deal with that if I ever get out of here. Now . . .” She held her bag in one hand and sold what she could. “37 points . . . first off, something for willpower, that’s 10. Bring everything up to Micro – 10, there’s . . .” She counted off her skills. “16, leaving 11.” She frowned. “So, 10 points on one thing, or 11 more 1 point or 5 more micro – 10.”
Charlie debated, thinking. “Well, I wanted more purification skills. Ok . . .” She moved to purchases. “What’s available for willpower . . . can probably only have one amulet . . .” She browsed the accessory option and frowned. “Looks like on or near the head. Dammit.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “Buy Will +1 earrings, then level existing skills up to 10.”
A simple pair of green-stone earrings blinked into her hand and she sighed. “This is gonna suck.” Charlie took off the back, braced herself, pressed the sharp spoke to her ear . . . and stopped. “Dammit!” She scrunched her eyes tight, held her ear tighter and forced the stud through her skin, piercing it the hard way. She could already feel the effect and forcing the other ear was easier to push through. After a moment she could feel her Regen kick in and it stopped hurting.
“Status.” Charlie muttered and looked at her screen. “Not too much overall, but every little bit helps. Still, I can already feel the Will keeping that stupid trait in check. Definitely buying that stat when I get the points.” She turned back to the obelisk. “List purification skills.” She ordered.
Instantly the previous list came up, minus the one she had purchased before, of course. “Okay, five M – 10 worth, Purify Flesh, Blood, Bone, Body, and . . . Core. Purchase.”
-Only one purification skill allowed. Add modifications to skill, 2 pt. Each?
“Umm . . . sure. Modify Purification skill to add Flesh, Blood, Bone, Body and Core.” Charlie agreed.
-Purify Dark Mana, M – 10 changed to: Purify Dark Mana, Flesh, Body, Blood, Bone, Core, M – 10
Charlie shuddered as she felt the skill take effect. Something wrong was getting pushed out of her body and core. “Hopefully this is worth it. Okay, one point left . . . list Dark ranged skills.” She browsed the list. Ball, Missile, Bolt, Ray, and many, many others were available for purchase for the low, low price of her last point. “Eh, buy Dark Arrow, micro.” She yawned, the day’s events catching up with her. “Well, tomorrow is another try, another Trial.”
~~~
Charles Fitzgerald
Point Value: 131
Core Concept: Lesser Dark – Unlocks Dark and associated element skills
Energy Type: Mana – Prime stat Power
Template: Gloria Crimson Bloodwine Angelique (modified)
Race: Celestial Touched Human – T 4, 4 more skill slots
Bloodline: Shard of Light-tainted Night – T 3, +.3 to Night element skill multi, 30% more damage from Light skills
Trait: Battle Fury – T 3, 30% increased damage, great rage and euphoria in battle
Equipment: Basic Leather Armor [+10 def, +10 hp], Basic Amulet of Intelligence [+1 Int], Basic Earrings of Will [Will +1], Basic Empowered Pugilist Gloves [+10 Fist Dmg, +1 Pwr]
