Of Requests and Resolutions

Ela had spent some time after being added to John’s party playing around with the health bar. She waved her hands through and around it to make sure it wasn’t something she could grab. Some time had been spent shaking her head around to try and make the health bar fail to keep up, to no avail.

In the meantime, The Gamer had been distracted by an achievement.

With that, new options on his windows had popped up, allowing The Gamer to share them. He mentally shelved thoughts about the rewards, choosing instead to move on and show the results of an example usage of [Observe] to Ela, detaching the window from his view and throwing it over to her. She’d smiled as she read her title, and John had shown her his own character sheet before he’d continued the story.

Ela had seemed particularly interested when he’d told her about his leveling up on completing his first big quest. At her request, he’d stopped and focused on his ability to gain experience and stat points for a bit before moving on to the dungeon he’d cleared in the evening.

John had reluctantly re-lived his struggles in the dungeon, trying to move quickly over his near-**** experience in the shipwreck. He had taken the boss’ sword out when he’d reached the fight in his retelling and set it on a table near the center of the room.

Now, Ela sat across from John, inspecting both her own [Observe] window and the sword carefully. John could barely make the blade budge, but she was able to wield it with some effort.

“That’s basically how I ended up here,” John finished, watching Ela flex as she swung the blade around experimentally. “I was kinda hoping I could get some backup before I went back into one of those.”

“What an unbelievable story. What an ability,” she muttered under her breath before setting the sword down and leaning back. The blonde looked over at him and continued, “I have never heard of anything like it...”

“I mean, the sword’s right there on the table, and I showed you the windows,” John replied with an exasperated smile. “I dunno what else you want from me.”

She looked at him, the warmth of her eyes betraying her serious look. “Do not worry. I believe you. No real Abyssal would let their guard down so easily. You are too trusting.”

“Uh, you lost me again,” The Gamer replied, slightly confused. “Abyssal? I’m definitely not some kind of demon, if that’s what you mean. At least, uh, last time I checked I didn’t find any tiny horns on my head.”

John grinned as he brushed his hand over his head. “No tail or anything either.”

Ela giggled a little at that - a soft and pleasant sound - then bit her lip. “No, nothing so fantastic. The Abyss is what we call the world of magic that exists beneath the mundane.”

“So this really is a whole… thing?” John asked, gesturing around him. “There’s just a bunch of people out there that have magical abilities? Just like random people? How the heck is something like that a secret?”

“This is called a barrier - a protected space in which we are free to use magic as we wish,” Ela explained. “None on the outside can see us here. This is entirely isolated from the mundane world.

“Barriers like this one conceal whole cities of magic users, many of whom live entire lives never exposed to the mundane,” she said. “There are books on Abyssal history, but mine are at home.”

“Yeah, one of those sure might be helpful,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “I have way too many questions about the logistics of that kind of thing… Wait a second, what do you mean by ‘free to use magic?’ Can we not all the time?”

“You really are new,” she sang back, grinning. “Have you noticed how you tend to avoid using magic when others are looking? Or how you likely did not tell even close family members about it, when you could have?”

John thought back to the morning, and how he had allowed his own mother to pass by, without mentioning anything about his powers or even the money he’d gotten. He looked back to Ela, confused.

“I… now that you mention it, yeah.”

“A single almighty Goddess, the Lady Gaia, is the apex of power in our reality,” she explained. “Other, lesser gods have existed, but she stands far above them all. She rarely intervenes in the world directly, but Her influence is everywhere.”

She sounds pretty cool

A message flashed in front of John for only a split second; he narrowed his eyes at where it had been as Ela continued.

“In ancient times, Lady Gaia set forth certain decrees on the practice of magic. A veil covers the entire world, discouraging magic from mixing with the normal world, and even covering up anything that overlaps. Push against it too hard and bad things start to happen.”

“So… I guess that’s why we don’t have a bunch of witches and wizards ruling the world?” he stated flatly, processing what he’d learned. “I can’t even imagine how powerful any being would have to be to be able to warp the whole planet like that.”

The blonde nodded. “In very rare cases, mundanes may awaken some kind of latent magical power. We call those that do Late Bloomers. Most of them tend to have unique or unusual abilities. That appears to be what you are."

"That's fun. Always knew I was weird," John mumbled under his breath. “Do I get a nifty t-shirt or something for it, at least?”

She shook her head. “I am afraid not. You were lucky enough to be in a relatively safe area. There are far worse places in the world than Springfield. The Abyss has been in a near constant state of war for most of the last thousand years. Slaver gangs and cartels roam much of the United States.”

“Which is why you assumed someone was going to attack you?” John asked, head tilted. “It’s really that rough out there?”

She nodded somberly.

John leaned back in his chair, contemplating the new information he had. “Wonderful. Sounds like I was almost safer in the dungeon.”

At least he knew why he’d probably never seen anything magical before yesterday. How powerful did someone have to be to hide an entire city with magic? Why were there gangs roaming the States? Why were there slavers at all? What the hell had he gotten himself into?

“I do have a question.” Ela’s voice broke John’s train of thought. She shifted in her seat, a nervous look on her face. “If you would not mind.”

“Huh? Sure. I’ve asked you enough.”

“Would you be able to do it again? Open a dungeon?” she asked, meeting his gaze and leaning forward slightly. “You still have this skill gem you need, yes?”

“I mean, I’m pretty sure I can, but why?” John asked. “Did you miss the whole ‘I nearly died a couple times and basically everything about it was awful’ thing? I’m not exactly keen to go running back in without a reason or plan.”

“Well,” she flushed slightly, “in most RPGs, all characters in the party will gain experience points from doing things, not just one, right? At least for big things like dungeons and bosses?”

“I mean, yeah…? But wh- Oh.”

Ela smiled widely as a look of understanding crossed John’s face.

“Do you think your powers could level me up, too?”

John blinked for a minute, mulling over the question. He reopened Ela’s [Observe] window and scanned it, tilting his head slightly.

“I mean… I guess it does say you have a level… but you don’t have stats or anything, at least that I can see,” he mused. “For that matter, I don’t even know if the rules of my stats would apply to other people. Does INT equal mana for everyone? How would leveling up even work?”

“I do not know.” She shrugged. “You said that adults had higher levels than children though, right? And your quest targets like Moira and I are higher than that? That sounds to me like progression - like levels for those besides you can change.”

“I mean, sure,” John replied, “but that doesn’t mean I could impact it in any way. I’m not even entirely sure what levels would measure for other people. For all I know, other people only get levels by legitimately training or growing old or something.”

“Would you be willing to try it?” Ela asked, a look of focus adorning her face. “If I were to go with you, that is?”

The Gamer paused to mull over the thought, but was cut off by a new window.

“Hello? John?” Ela asked, confused by his sudden bewilderment. “Is everything OK?”

“I... uh, well, I guess I am being compelled to answer ‘yes’,” John said, sighing, “One second.”

John quickly shared the window with her. “Looks like you might be in luck. I still don't know exactly what that's going to do for you, but I guess it’s possible.”

Ela nodded. “Do your powers always… talk to you like that?”

“Uh… kinda, yeah,” The Gamer said, pulling the window back over and accepting the quest. “I guess whoever gave them to me likes to commentate.”

Ela scrunched her face in thought at that comment.

John opened his skill menu, finding that the formerly gray and locked skill slot dedicated to Gamer’s Spirit was now glowing. Cracks, leaking soft golden light, appeared to be trying to break through the lock symbol. As John tapped on it, the lock shattered, and as the icon faded, a window of skill options appeared.

’Fancy.’

John cringed internally reading the first option. ’I feel icky just reading that one… Vanity? It’s very powerful, and the increased experience probably means I could catch up or even exceed those around me, given time, but I’d basically be shortchanging anyone I ever tried to run with.

’The other seems solid as well, at least. Not actually sure a party size limit will matter for a while. Don’t exactly have a ton of friends I’m trying to invite along with.

’Both only even give me something if I’m in a party,’ John thought, ’Bit of a shame that’s my first upgrade for one of my two starting skills. Maybe, if I get lucky, I’ll actually keep people around to make a party out of.

’I can’t believe I’m just going along with this quest…’

John let that sink in for a minute. He thought about the struggles of the previous evening, the fear and pain and despair. He knew, logically, that he was a lot better prepared now, but the specter of **** still hung in his memory. He must have been insane to even have willingly finished the first dungeon.

Would he really be willing to potentially face another dungeon already? For a quest? Or because a cute girl suggested he try one out with her? Was John Newman that kind of guy?

His musings were interrupted by the sound of Ela yawning. She stretched her arms above her head, muscles tense against the sleeves of her jacket. Her closed eyes allowed John a moment to openly appreciate her voluptuous chest, pushed outward and wonderfully wobbling from the arch in her back.

Below the wondrous orbs was a stretch of beautiful midriff, over which the Polish blonde’s shirt was just stretched tight enough for John to begin to see her toned stomach through it. Her arms flexed and stretched her jacket taut.

’Hell yeah, I am.

John swallowed nervously as he mused over his momentary resolve. 'At least this time I wouldn't be alone.’

The Gamer rested his eyes on the Pole across the table. 'No promises that we'll clear, but I'll see where this all goes.'

With the decision made, John spent his one talent point, unlocking the Unity set of bonuses. The option he’d selected glowed an amber-gold color, before the entire window dissolved. Gold light swirled around John reaching close to Ela, who scrambled backwards away from it, throwing her chair sideways in her hurry.

“Whoa! Whoa!” John shouted. “Sorry, I put a skill point in and it’s doing things!”

Ela’s eyes flashed a stunning shade of green and she took a defensive stance as the light swirled past her harmlessly.

Slowly, the light dispersed, and John’s party UI shifted and stretched, accommodating a new line beneath both Ela's name and his own with the names of what John guessed were their new party buffs. In his hands appeared a fantastic, spherical diamond, around which two figures of a shining metal wrapped their arms, hugging the other and the gem.

"Would you mind telling me what you just did?" Ela asked, slowly lowering her defensive stance. "What was that?"

'Right, should have said something before I messed around,' John realized, stashing the gem. 'Totally spaced out.’

"Yeah, sorry, I didn't know it was going to do something like that. Still don't entirely know how all this stuff works," he answered apologetically. "I, uh, kinda zoned out reading the skill options."

The blonde picked up her chair from where she'd bowled it over. "There was something good then?"

"Absolutely," The Gamer stated. "Two options, instead of three - one more selfish, but with seemingly stronger direct benefits, the other team-based, which offers boosts based on each individual party member.”

She raised an eyebrow. "Did you pick one?"

"Yeah, the latter seemed better." John chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "Basically, on top of letting me share experience, everyone in my party should now give a buff to everyone else in it."

"How does that work?" Ela wondered aloud. "Did it just make a buff up for me? I am not using any magic that should affect you, right now."

"Let me see, actually…" John muttered, willing his UI back into visibility.

Beneath the pair's names on the side of John's interface were the names of what he could only guess were the newly unlocked Synergy skills. A quick tap revealed that his own was exactly as expected.

—
Gamer's Unity
Experience earned by The Gamer is shared to his companions while they are in a party.

Ela's was the more interesting of the pair, if a little confusing to John.

—
Sight Beyond Sight
Granted by Ela Grzmot. Grants the party increased perception and [Danger Sense] level 1.

'I wonder what that's based on?' he thought, curious.

Tapping on the [Danger Sense] returned nothing, which disappointed John. He had hoped he would have gotten more details, though he supposed the name likely implied all that was necessary for the skill.

'As much as I hate not dealing with hard numbers, I can't complain about the results. Mine can probably be upgrad-'

"You are doing it again," Ela sang, snapping John back to reality. "Would you mind sharing with the class?"

She giggled as John flushed. "Oh, uh, yeah. I get distracted easily by these windows and stuff. I can see our abilities from my interface. Mine doesn’t really do anything, just lets me share experience.

"Yours is a bit odd - it gives us some kind of perception boost and a [Danger Sense] skill, whatever that really means. Does that come from something you can do? Seems a bit too specific to be random."

She leaned back, looking at the ceiling. She stared at John out of the corner of her eye for a moment, considering something. "I think it does, in a sort of strange way. It is not exactly what I do, but it is based on it."

She sat up in her chair and locked eyes with John.

"I… suppose I can explain. Have you heard of prophecies or seers in books or games? People who can see the future in puzzles or rhymes?" she asked, continuing when John nodded. "Those with such powers are real, but their abilities tend to follow rules. Usually they can only see important events or significant moments from their future, whether years or even decades ahead of time; however, they are vague and clouded in mystery. They have little control over any specifics.

"My eyes let me see the future, but with the opposite restrictions."

"Opposite?" John interrupted.

"My vision of the future is true and clear. I see exactly what will happen, in perfect detail, yet I can only see forward a few seconds.”

"Uh, like exactly how things will happen?" John wondered aloud.

"When my eyes activate, I know what my eyes would have seen if that future came to pass. It is not exactly a seer’s prophecy."

"So that's where the perception boost might come in," John realized, rereading her Synergy. "That's what the skill must have drawn on. Maybe it's not based on your powers specifically, but on you holistically. I wonder why [Danger Sense] specifically, though?"

"Well… I cannot completely control when my powers activate. Usually my eyes will trigger automatically in response to an attack, though sometimes I will only get a feeling that I have to **** out,” Ela explained, a sheepish look on her cute face. “It is a little concerning that your powers could know such things without me telling you."

John shrugged. "My powers seem to know a lot of things I don't. There's a codex, in here, too, but I don't have it all unlocked."

John leaned back in his chair, processing all he'd learned in the last half hour. "Well… what now? I'm guessing you're still set on trying out a dungeon? I was kinda hoping for a chance to maybe prepare more before going back into one."

“We probably should not try now anyway,” she said, holding her chin in her hands, “at least not yet. We might attract the Witch’s attention by opening a complex barrier on school grounds. It would be better not to risk it.”

She stood, checking the time on her phone. “We are almost out of time, it seems. Let us meet after school; I can take you to the Order first, and then I have some useful supplies at my house we can get afterwards.”

“Uh… my turn to be confused,” John replied. “Who and what? Witch? Order?”

“We do not have enough time to explain fully right now,” she sang, raising a hand into the air, mana channeling around it. “The Order of the Golden Rose is the guild that controls most of Springfield. You should have seen the name when you used your [Observe] spell on Moira Brighton yesterday.”

Ela looked for an understanding nod from John before continuing. “They are good people, and they offer protection for the common people of the Abyss. It would be best to introduce you to them before anything happens.”

“Great… more people to meet,” John chuckled lightly, “I’m not going to complain if there’s really people out there that can help though.”

Ela nodded. “The Witch, on the other hand, is among the most dangerous rogue Abyssals that I know of - Victoria Wentworth.”

“Uh… you mean the spooky old history teacher, Mrs. Wentworth?” John asked. “That’s my next class, actually.”

If it was possible, Ela paled even more. "Listen to me very carefully. Whatever you do, do not use any magic around Mrs. Wentworth."