“It was bad enough that Julian got his Imprint before I got a Mark, but now you have one too!” she yelled.

  “Keep it down,” Julian half-scolded, half-chuckled. “What if Marcus hears you screaming and follows us all the way to the hotel?”

  “That would be great! Then maybe I’d get the Mark of the Banshee!” she complained.

  “What kind of stats would something like that even give? Endurance?” Julian laughed.

  “I’m not exactly sure, but something tells me that would be a Stain,” Harvey laughed.

  “Shut up,” she groaned. “Let’s see it then.”

  “Nope. I’ll keep it to myself until you forget all about it and I can tick you off again,” Harvey smirked.

  “Pull up the screen before I push you back in the mud,” she seethed.

  Deciding he’d pushed her enough, Harvey obliged. Messing with Hannah was always fun, and she honestly deserved it after toying with the two of them as much as she had. But, he didn’t want to press so hard that he shook her confidence. He’d hate to be in her position, and it wasn’t that long ago that he had been the only Veilstrider they knew with a Stain while Julian was gaining Marks left and right.

  He had no idea what to expect when the screen appeared, since he couldn’t actually see the tattoo on the back of his neck. Hannah had no problem reading the name and description while Buttercup carried them along, but Julian couldn’t keep his footing while running alongside them. With a thought, Buttercup slowed to a walk, letting them all read together.

  Seeing the sigil for the first time, his breathing hitched. What had once been a depiction of the makeshift grindstone he’d repaired the night before he got his profession had been replaced with an image of himself split perfectly down the middle.

  On one side, he saw his body as it had looked before the System. Thick, brown hair framed lightly tanned skin, and his brown eye gleamed above a confident smile. Pristine steel armor covered his torso, and he held his shield ready to defend.

  On the other, he saw himself as a revenant, with the same chalky skin, teal eye, and black hair that was currently covering his body in random splotches. This half still wore his armor, but dents, gashes, and burns marred its surface. In his hand, Aftershock was poised to strike down all who stood in his way.

  Reading the description, Harvey got an idea of why the System had chosen this moment to upgrade his Mark. He’d always been a wannabe inventor, from taping together odds and ends in the garage as a kid to working as a software developer. He’d sought creation from a young age, truly fitting the description of a Born Innovator. That was all fine and good when his creations were fun toys or programs designed to marginally improve software for use by corporations around the world, but now they were becoming the difference between life and death.

  He had no doubt he would’ve died 10 times over without the armor he’d created, along with the dozens of other Veilstriders who trusted his handiwork to protect them in battle. He also knew 300 more Ossari souls would still be waiting to cross the Veil if he hadn’t forged the dozens of arc and wildfire charges that had ravaged their army.

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  Harvey wasn’t just tinkering around anymore, writing code or hammering out nails to keep a cot from falling apart. His creations had become the difference between life and death, and he needed to treat them as such.

  If he was forging armor meant to save a life, he better make sure it was the best he could possibly make. If he was forging a bomb meant to kill a bone dragon, then it had better actually kill one. Luckily, the extra stats his new Imprint provided would help him do just that.

  “I know it says the Veil isn’t actually a place, but I kind of like that Veil’s End is part of the name,” Julian said. “Makes it feel like you’re still carrying a piece of it with you.”

  “I hadn’t really thought about it, but I guess you’re right,” Harvey said.

  “I wonder if there’s going to be anything left of the place when we go back,” Julian continued.

  “Go back? When?” Hannah asked.

  “When the trial’s over!” Julian smiled. “The portal is all the way at that fortress, right? Once the army’s dealt with, we’ll have to go grab all the children and the old people living in our fortress and bring them through the forest, right?”

  “To be honest, I haven’t thought that far ahead. I’m too worried about the dragon,” Hannah replied.

  “Who cares about some stupid dragon? We’ve got the Architect of the Veil’s End on our side! Harvey’s going to make a magic nuke for us since you couldn’t do it with your skill like you wanted to,” Julian smiled.

  “I hate you,” Hannah groaned.

  “Don’t listen to him. We’ve already decided to keep you around even though you don’t have a cool-sounding legacy like ours,” Harvey laughed.

  Hannah didn’t respond, but a surge of speed from Buttercup left Julian getting sprayed with mud behind them. He scrambled after them, but the deer beneath him didn’t slow down. “You’re lucky we’re still tied together.”

  Harvey just laughed and took a moment to process everything. It had been an eventful few hours, and there was still a lot to wrap his head around.

  First, the impact his new percentage bonuses had on his stats. Opening his screen, he saw that his Wisdom had risen all the way to 519, nearly catching up to his 585 Willpower despite putting 109 more of his free points into the latter.

  15% is pretty huge when you already have a few hundred points.

  Other than the minor percentage boosts he’d gotten when injuring his weave, he’d yet to see anything other than legacy that provided an instant power up like this. Boosting skills like Julian's or Hyrum’s did something similar, but only for short bursts and at a huge essence cost. In fact, the heavy price of such boosts was another example of how important your Legacy was to the System.

  Moving down the list, he saw the 58 Free Points still waiting to be allocated. He’d planned on dumping almost all of them into Dexterity, but the math had changed now that he had his imprint. Every point in a single stat was already worth more than the last thanks to the exponential growth they provided, and now he had to consider the fact that every Free Point in Dexterity would cost him 1.15 points in Wisdom.

  Don’t get greedy.

  It took a lot of self-control, but Harvey slowly allocated 34 of the Free Points to Dexterity and the remaining 24 to Vitality. Since he had plenty of time just sitting on Buttercup’s back, he added them in batches of 3, making sure his weave had plenty of time to rest in between infusions. He’d wondered if gaining 9 levels at once had done enough damage to his weave to get him another percentage boost, but checking the screen proved all he’d gotten from the harrowing experience was pain.

  They rode for hours, only stopping occasionally to eat a quick snack before setting off again. The gray sky above turned black as night began to fall, and the frigid rain showed no sign of easing. Harvey enjoyed the rest, removing his helmet to feel the heavy drops on his skin as he finally let his mind relax.

  For weeks, he’d been scrambling from one project to another in the forge. First, there was the armor, both for himself and the rest of Veils End. Meanwhile, he was frantically trying to figure out Gary’s trapped set, only for him to not even wear the damn thing when the fight broke out. Then, he invented magic grenades and worked day and night, sacrificing his literal blood, sweat, and tears to create as many as possible, all while an undead army marched straight towards him.

  He needed a break, and even if the back of a massive deer wasn’t his ideal place to lounge around, he was enjoying not being able to forge anything if he tried.

  Well, I could start planning some inscriptions using all the undeath resonance we’ve collected.

  No, Harvey was going to enjoy his brief excuse to empty his brain of everything other than clopping through the forest.

  With no moonlight to guide them, navigating the trees without ramming into one was getting precarious. The steady glow of the light inscriptions Harvey had added to their armor was enough to keep moving, but not enough to move fast.

  “Should we break here for the night?” Julian panted, exhausted after hours of running.

  “We can, but do you see that glow up ahead?” Hannah responded.

  Squinting through the rain, Harvey thought he saw the faint golden glow of artificial lights. He’d never seen the hotel before, but something about the experience reminded him of driving a rental car to a resort, exhausted after a long red-eye flight.

  “Yeah, I think I see it,” Harvey said.

  “I think that’s the hotel. I know you’re tired, Julian, but you don’t wanna kick yourself for sleeping outside when a hot shower and a warm bed are just a mile or two away.”

  “Here, take my spot,” Harvey offered. He’d untied the rope lashing him to Hannah long ago, so he easily slid down Buttercup’s side before his feet thunked into the wet earth.

  “No, I’m fine,” Julian refused.

  “Just switch with me! Seriously, I’m fine. It’s not like I’m injured, I just got a shock to my system earlier,” Harvey urged.

  Reluctantly, Julian took his place on Buttercup’s back, and they started running. Harvey struggled, even after buffing his Dexterity, but he had to admit, a hot shower and a warm bed were both great incentives to keep pushing forward.