“The full effects of Initialization are still being determined. Depending on whether the person chooses a ‘character’ or ‘archetype’ to become, many people are found to think in different ways, have different likes or dislikes . . . and of course more than a few end up in a body completely different then they had before. It’s still early days of investigation, and considering it’s an apocalypse, few people have been able to sit down and do a ‘before’ and ‘after’ comparison with a shrink to determine just how. All we can say for sure is that yes, they are still the same person they were before, just different.”
~~~
“Yes, I’m aware of how that sounds, but take anyone and isolate them from everyone else for up to a month while forcing them to perform tasks – or fight to the death – the whole time, and, well, we can see what happens when they come back. Nobody comes out of the Trials the same as they go in.”
Tower Day 11
Charlie woke to an empty room. Feeling lonely she summoned Lantern and smiled as he busied himself around the room, tidying up again before presenting her with some strips of cloth. She stared at them, a complicated feeling inside as she recognized they were ribbons made from Charles’ clothes he was wearing when Initialized.
She felt how eager the Dark Servant was to give them and nodded, giving permission. Immediately she felt her hair move as he used his telekinesis to brush it out, braid and tie up behind with the ribbons woven to hold in place. She turned her head back and forth and smiled as she no longer felt the pull each time she moved around.
“Wish I had a mirror.” She told him, grabbing her clothes to put them on, stopping when Lantern started dressing her himself. Once done, he hovered in front of her, and rather than the usual sensation of emotions and concepts, she received an image. After a moment Charlie realized that in her mind, she was seeing what Lantern saw and she was floored. She was completely drop-dead gorgeous. A heart-shaped face, black highlights to a silver-blond braided up-do, fine sculpted eyebrows – and she knew tweezers had never touched her face – pointed Elfen (or Vulcan, depending on your fandom) ears, eyes so dark blue they seemed a midnight black . . . “Wait.” Charlie frowned. “Zoom in on my eyes.”
Lantern obliged, moving closer.
“That’s different from the character.” She said thoughtfully. “The story – and my drawings – clearly stated they were red, with . . .” She blinked and leaned in. “Cat-like pupils. Mine are still the normal round.” She smiled. “Feels good there’s something different from her.”
Lantern sent an inquiry through the link.
Charlie sat down on the cot and fiddled nervously. “Well . . .”
He sent an encouragement.
She sighed and fell back on the cot, staring up at the ceiling. “I guess if I can’t talk to you, I can’t talk to anyone. Just one day and I already feel like you’ve always been there. I . . . used to be a guy. Before. When I got sucked into this place.”
She saw Lantern tilt to the side like a confused puppy and giggled. “Okay, let’s try this.” She pictured in her mind how Charles looked, then him touching the obelisk, then the feeling of her bloodline awakening, then waking up as Charlie, pointed ears and powers.
Lantern sent back feelings of concern, acceptance and comfort.
“Thank you, buddy.” Charlie impulsively gave her summon a hug, sweeping his floating soccer-ball shaped – and sized body and golf ball sized orbiting spheres into her arms, crushing him into her chest. “I don’t know how to deal with this.” She told him. “I mean, I never had any desire to be a girl, I was just . . . me. A guy. Comfortable in my skin, just trying to get through it, get a good job, meet a nice girl, have kids – being a good dad, the normal stuff. And now . . .” She let him go and fell back onto the cot to stare at the ceiling again. “Now I’m a girl. Boobs, different plumbing and apparently if some of the dreams I’ve been having are correct, interested in guys now too. And other girls. And now I think of them as other girls. So there’s that. And all of it feels normal like that’s how it’s always been!” Charlie screamed in frustration. “I feel like there’s a bunch of . . . adapting, moving on from being a guy, self discovery stuff that I should have gone through that . . . didn’t. And that’s super jarring. Like if you lose a tooth and you try to feel the gap but instead there’s a new tooth that’s shaped different that’s always been there but you clearly remember the old tooth.”
Lantern sent more feelings of love and acceptance.
Charlie smiled thanks. “I’ll deal. Nothing that tons of repression won’t fix. I’ll get used to . . .” She gestured at her curves. “What worries me is other people.” She shivered. “Lots of folks back home get pretty violent about stuff like this.”
He pulsed feelings of anger that anyone would dare to harm his Mistress. He picked up a ration brick and crushed it to powder.
“Aww, you always know what to say.” She smiled and hugged him again. “Look at this, I was never huggy before. I just feel so . . . expressive now.” She sighed and fiddled her hands a bit. “And what about Mom? Or my sister? Will they accept me? Or even believe this is me?” She laughed. “Edith probably would, with all the anime she binges.” Her face fell. “I dunno about Mom. Then there’s . . .” Shudder. “Sir.”
Lantern sent feelings of concern about the fear Charlie suddenly radiated.
Charlie glanced at him before looking away. “I never knew who my dad was. Mom refused to say, and looked scared whenever I asked. And she said her parents threw her out once she started showing. When I was four she married her husband.” She was quiet for a while. “In some ways it was better because she wasn’t working three jobs just to keep off the street, and there was food on the table, but he made it clear he was never any kind of father to me.” She was silent for another minute. “He didn’t even hit me too much . . . at least after CPS stopped by a couple times.” Charlie sighed. “He always showed how much he loved Mom and Edith when he could. Always ready to give them anything they wanted. I was just . . . that boy. The mistake.” She wiped away the tears. “Mom did love me. She was just scared he would kick us out if she stood up to him. And Edith was always ready to sneak me a special treat or give hugs when I was down. She didn’t care her dad hated me.” She sighed again. “I hope they are ok. And Ben.”
Lantern sent a question.
“Oh, Ben is my best friend.” Charlie explained, face brightening up. “He and his Mom moved into the area when I was in high school. His dad’s big in the Army moving around lots of bases or on deployment and he wanted to stay in one school for high school at least. He didn’t care about what all the other kids did to me, looked out for me even with his asthma and stuff. And I helped him with what I could. We managed to get into the same college and roommates all the way.” She frowned, biting her lip in worry. “I really hope he’s ok. He was grabbed two days before me.” She smiled and stood up. “But you know, he’s really smart. Always the guy with a plan. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” She turned to her summon. “I feel a lot better now that I’ve gotten this all out. Thank you, Lantern. You’re a great listener.”
Charlie grabbed her pouch and sold what she could. “47 points.” She bit her lip again and thought. “I could boost a few things, but I need more willpower. I feel like I’m slipping more and more with each fight. Halfway to having the points for it. Goddess I hope I can make it. And there’s enough after this Trial.”
Lantern followed her through the doorway to the next Trial. He still couldn’t fully understand her words, but through the images and emotions flowing through their link he got the gist of it. He didn’t know what he would do if he ever met her ‘father-substitute/mother’s life-mate’ but it wouldn’t be nice. It might even be – Goddess forgive him – mean.
~~~
Charlie was screwed. Goblins were paper speedsters, once they were knocked down and damaged, they were quickly dispatched. Even if they got a hit, her defense took most of the blow and the rest healed quickly. The bugbears were too stupid to hit her while she wore them down. The problem is that this Trial also had Hobgoblins. She had only spotted one so far, but it didn’t attack her, dodged the arrows she fired off and didn’t fall for the provocations of Lantern. It stood there, watching, driving her mad with Battle Joy as she ached to finish it off. It heard something in the distance and laughed, bolting away from her. She snarled, seeing her prey run away and chased after, heedless of Lantern screaming warnings in her mind. In her rage she spotted a bugbear and charged it, forgetting strategy, tactics or anything other than pure destruction. She blitzed past its slow first swing and did a quick 1 – 2 – 3 combo before its other arm swung and blasted her into the wall, dropping her heath by a third even through her armor and defense buff.
Lantern quickly swooped in to redirect the mob while his Mistress got her breath back. Just as she was about to recommit to the fight, the Hob stepped around the corner and ran her through, his sword finding a gap in her armor and driving home.
“Stupid and weak.” He gloated, twisting the blade for a few more damage and yanking it out. “I will enjoy eating you.”
The bugbear turned at the smell of blood and snarled, moving to Charlie and ignoring the frantic Lantern.
The hob snarled and slashed at it, leaving a slice in its thick hide. “Back, stupid beast! It’s mine! You can have whatever scraps I leave, if I feel like it!” He turned back and froze as a Dark Arrow punched through his chest. He coughed as spat blood. “You . . .” cough. “Should have gone for the head.” He raised his sword but Charlie moved first.
“Thanos you ain’t.” Charlie pulled on every bit of Power she had, yanking the still present Dark Arrow out of him and with all the Dex and Grace she could muster drove it into his eye, her Dark Attack flowing around the shaft to add power to the strike. His body fell and started to dissolve as she quickly ducked a swing from the bugbear and she started laying into it, finally dropping it after a few more hard combos and one last Arrow.
Lantern fussed over her as she dropped to the floor, hp draining out along with the flow of blood from her stab wound.
“Don’t worry buddy. This isn’t the worst I’ve been messed up. I gotta send you back for a bit to regen mana . . .” Charlie told him as he bandaged her up, slowing the blood and hp loss before dismissing her skill. She waited, keeping an eye on her health and mana, each ticking down or up until she reached 10 mana and dropped a healing spell to fix up her side and raise her health past the danger zone. “So glad I bumped that one.” She gingerly got to her feet and shuffled off to a ‘relatively’ safe spot to heal and recharge the rest of the way. “Just like the first few floors.” She sighed. “Four mobs down, dunno how many to go.”
~~~
The good news was there were once again only 10 mobs on this floor, and with 5 points each she would have more than enough to get her new stat. The bad news was the goblin, bugbear and hobgoblin guarding the Treasure room. Charlie eased back to a safe place and sighed.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Any ideas?” She asked Lantern, who sent back a negative. “Yeah, this looks tough. On another trial there was a group of goblins I split apart easy. I could try the same here, but I just don’t know what the hob is gonna do. He might keep them all together, or control them or something.”
The two of them sat and thought. “How much can you lift?” She asked. “Like, can you lift me?”
Lantern eagerly tried and Charlie felt an upward pull . . . but her feet stayed firmly on the floor. The Servant sagged, disappointed.
“Don’t worry.” She patted him reassuringly. “It’s a good effort. You might be able to shove a goblin around, but maybe the best thing to do is trip up the hob.”
He sent an inquiry.
“Like . . . he seems about my size, right? Well when he moves you could yank on one of his feet to make him fall, or hold one of his feet down so he can’t step right. Or mess with his weapon, try to yank it out of his hand or throw off the swing. It’s all about CC.”
He tilted his body, puzzled.
“CC, or Crowd Control. It’s a term used for games kinda like this where you dungeon crawl. You don’t just slug away at each other, you mess up their rhythm, debuff them, throw status effects, make them move how you want, not how they want.” Charlie explained, and winced. “I should have been thinking about that a long time ago. Goddess I hope when I get will stats it helps. Even when I don’t have an enemy in front I can feel my trait pressing down on me.” She took a deep breath. “Ok, here’s what we’ll do . . .”
~~~
Just around the corner from the treasure room, Charlie and Lantern each held a piece of ration brick. They whipped around, aimed and threw, Charlie tagging the goblin and Lantern getting the bugbear. The two mobs howled and started running when the hob snarled for them to stop. The two looked confused and slowed down when Charlie beaned the goblin again with a second piece and Lantern took advantage of the hob’s open mouth to cram it full of another brick. The hob started choking and spitting out the dry, tasteless food and the goblin started running with renewed fury.
Charlie turned and bolted around the corner and waited for her summon and the goblin. Just as the goblin turned the corner an invisible force tripped it up and a fully powered Dark Arrow shot through its skull, killing it. The two waited to see if the other two mobs would follow but they lucked out and both of them stayed put.
She fought down her trait and walked away to dismiss Lantern to fully recharge her batteries for the last fight. Charlie relaxed and watched her core work, concentrating on how the cycling of energy soothed her mind, the Darkness flowing through her channels and back to the core. Once she was full, she summoned Lantern back and waited to top up yet again before getting to work. Another volley of bricks threw off the mobs enough for Charlie to spike the hob with an arrow and Lantern to kite the bugbear long enough for his Mistress to take out the real danger. After that it was defeat in detail for the last mob of the Trial and she was clear.
“We did it!” Charlie laughed delightedly. “And now 97 points plus whatever we get for drops! I can get willpower! And bump my skills!”
Lantern spun in delight and collected the drops as the bodies faded away.
“Okay, let’s see what we got . . .” Charlie opened the chest and pulled out a couple glass vials. “Couple health potions. Not bad.” She shrugged.
The two made their way back to the exit and Charlie opened up the Trial reward box for yet another health potion and . . .
-Basic Dark Power potion: +5% to Dark Concept for 10 ticks
“Ten ticks . . . about a minute and a half.” She shrugged. “Well, no sense in waiting.”
Once in the rest area Charlie immediately went to the obelisk and sold what she could for 10 points, bringing her up to 107. “Buy willpower stat.” She said instantly. “Bring will from 1 to 2. Buy willpower boost – micro, level to 10. Bump to T1. Buy advancement shard and use on Dark Attack, level it up one point.”
As usual, the changes took effect immediately. Charlie felt her core of self, the small part of her that said ‘I Will’ truly wake up, and then double in strength. A moment later she felt the boost increase followed by an additional point from her earrings. Next, she felt the part of her that was ‘Dark Attack’ change, linking to some of her stats and gaining greater power . . . and then just a little more with the single level she added.
Charlie felt a confidence in herself, in what she wanted that ‘he’ hadn’t felt in most of ‘his’ or now ‘her’ life. She knew she was going to survive. She knew she wasn’t going to bend to her trait. And she knew that she would never, ever surrender to anything ever again . . . without a fight.
Lantern, for his part, looked at her in shock at the rapid fire purchase.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Charlie rolled her eyes. “Now that I have this stat at . . . “ She checked her status. “3.04 points . . . (gonna need 32 points for the shards I’ll need) fights are going to go much better. I am in charge of me, and not this junkyard dog of a trait.”
She concentrated on the feeling of her trait and nodded. Now with much more willpower, her trait was more like a savage junkyard dog than a rabid beast. She would still have to keep a tight rein on herself, but she could keep her mind in the fight and think instead of reacting and devoting most of her attention on her own thoughts and actions.
“And best of all is how much stronger Dark Attack is! I should have dropped the couple of points on this a long time ago. I more than doubled it for three points!” Charlie smiled and shucked her clothes on the way to the shower, Lantern following and picking them up to wash. “Things are gonna be much smoother now, you’ll see. I can keep completely under control, fight smart and plow through the next trial instead of running the ragged edge.” She let Lantern untie her hair, stepped under the water and luxuriated in the feeling of the makeshift denim towels (made from Charles’ jeans) scrubbing the day’s blood, dirt and sweat from her. Once she was clean and relaxing on the cot, Lantern approached with a hesitant query.
“My status page?” She asked. “Sure, you can know, but I don’t have paper to write it down.”
Lantern concentrated in a certain way and his screen manifested before him, then flipped around so she could see.
“Oh, neat!” Charlie read it. “Two in all your stats, one extra, then working on getting your actives to ten?” She felt the equivalent of a gentle cough and blushed. “Right, sorry. Here you go.”
After a couple tries Charlie managed to display her screen and flip it around. “I finally think I’m getting some good power here.” She told him. “After the next round, I’ll max my attacks and bump my status bonuses to the next grade and max them too. Maybe bump up stat points with what’s left . . .” She trailed off as she saw Lantern seem in almost physical pain. “What, it’s not that bad, is it?”
Gently, he asked if he could be sent back. He needed to consult the others on something. He begged her not to enter the next trial without him, and especially don’t spend any points without his input!
“Okay, okay!” Charlie sulked, feeling a little hurt by his reaction. “Go home already.” She dismissed the skill. “I’m totally screwed, aren’t I.” She dropped her head in her hands.
~~~
Charles Fitzgerald
Point Value: 381
Core Concept: Lesser Dark – Unlocks Dark and associated element skills
Energy Type: Mana – Prime stat Power
Template: Gloria Crimson Bloodwine Angelique (modified)
Race: Celestial Descendant – T 5, 2 more skill slots, Boost to Divinity
Bloodline: Essence of Night – T 4, +.4 to Night element skill multi, countered by Day and associated concepts
Trait: Battle Joy – T 4, 30% increased damage, 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], Basic Quickstep Boots [Dex +1], Basic Circlet of Mind [+1 Wisdom]
