John Newman, House of Newman, only son of the Newman family.

Difficult as it was, John managed to resist the urge to let his smug satisfaction be plastered all over his face while Moira showed him out of the vault and back up into the manor. She was less good at hiding her obvious shock at his display, her expression clearly screamed 'what the fuck did I just see'. It mellowed back into her normal surly annoyance by the time they'd reached corridors he recognized. Soon enough they were back in the main hall, where the butler was waiting for them.

The tall man, who John identified as 'Reginald', offered him the same motorcycle helmet he'd used on the way over, and Moira started to strap hers on. It was a polite gesture, though he got the sense that she was far from enthusiastic about it... the paladin kept glancing back towards the second floor wistfully. John checked his phone, 8:53. He was supposed to be home in just seven minutes, but Moira's place was at least twenty away by bike. Fortunately, his mana had recovered enough that Hearth was an option, plus it'd save her time. He declined the helmet, to the redhead's surprise.

"I can get home by myself, thanks," he said, walking out the front door.

As it shut behind him, John could imagine Moira rolling her eyes as she muttered, "Mages..."

The night air was balmy with the warmth of summer but windless, so John was deprived a bit of dramatic flair as he walked towards the woods around the Brighton Estate. He wasn't about to cast Hearth in front of anyone from the Order, even if he was working for them now. It wouldn't hurt to keep some of his capabilities a secret... especially if he needed to use them to get out of a cell in the future.

Once he felt safely concealed in the forest, John cast Hearth and vanished.

John reappeared in a seated position on his bed, avoiding the nasty fall from the afternoon before. What he didn't avoid was the windstorm that accompanied his return, loudly announcing him to anyone in the house. He winced; of course he'd forgotten to silence the teleport, hopefully his mother wouldn't...

Down the hall, a door opened, and Brenda's voice called out his name.

His body sprung to action while his brain tried to formulate a **** excuse. Whatever he was going to say... it would be a lot more convincing if he wasn't wearing torn, mud-stained armor. Digging through his closet frantically, he threw a fresh long-sleeved shirt into his Character Sheet, then switched to his second armor set. Leather vanished, replaced by clothes. John sighed internally and looked himself over. He almost froze at the sight of a large bloodstain along the ride leg of his pants. Instinct kicked in as the door to his room rattled; he tore the pants out of his Character Sheet and tried to look natural. At least, as natural as he could while standing in his boxers.

"John? Are you in here?" his mother asked, reaching out to flick on the lights. Brenda glanced around the room with a bit of confusion at the mess before seeing her son, and immediately looking away. "Oh... I... ahem," she cleared her throat and looked back at him, blushing slightly but still visibly upset. "Where have you been young man? You were supposed to be home," she looked at her watch and a bit of the anger faded, "right now."

"Sorry," John replied, slowly edging towards the closet until he could grab a pair of clean pants and pull them on, making sure to stuff his tattooed palm into a pocket. After using his Character Sheet for the last two days, it felt alien to do it by hand. "I kinda lost track of time hanging out with..." his mind desperately grasped for a name, "Moira?"

Well, they say the best lie has a bit of truth to it... right?

His mother blinked in surprise, whatever question she'd had in mind was subsumed by a greater one, "Who's Moira?"

"Uh... just a girl from school. I'm really sorry about freaking you out, it won't happen again. I promise."

"Oh... I get it!" His mother's expression slowly turned into a smile and John's mind raced trying to figure out what she'd 'gotten'. There was no possible way she could know anything, unless... she also worked for them. It dawned on him that he couldn't quite remember the name of Brenda's boss. He glanced up at her title, hoping it could shed some light on his confusion. "You got a girlfriend!" his mom squealed happily.

What.

"Hold on, no I-" he started.

"My darling boy got a girlfriend! Tell me all about her!" Brenda exclaimed, wiggling slightly in place. "I bet that's why you were skipping today too, off for a little fun?"

All of my what.

John stared at his mother, a bad idea brewing in his mind. It could be worth playing along with his mother's jump to conclusions, since she'd seemingly forgotten about the otherwise inexplicable question of how he'd gotten home. Besides, if push came to shove, he could always ask Moira to pretend for a day. That'd worked... never.

"Oh. Yeah, of course. So... uh... she's rich..." John tried to put the hundreds of flaws of his plan in the back of his mind, where they could be forgotten.

Before his mother got into too many details about his fictional girlfriend, John pushed her out of his room with an insistence that she was prying into some very personal details. In total fairness, she was; nevermind that he didn't know the answers to any of her questions. This left him alone, with a whole host of things to consider or deal with, starting with making a list of said things.

Scribbling on an empty page in a random notebook, he laid out the immediate problems:

• Today's uniform was nearly obliterated, either thanks to the bloodstains or being torn up to be used as bandages. He'd need to order a new one without his mom finding out. His armor needed repairing too, after a full day of strenuous use and hydra bites.

• He now had to figure out how to keep Moira and his mom from ever meeting, to avoid a warhammer to the face. Maybe he could tell her they'd broken up in a few days?

• Danielle... Tricia... whoever she was... seemed pissed and who knows what she might do.

• Erica had mentioned visiting the Order's healer, but there was no guarantee that magic would completely fix her. Actually, maybe there was? Trying to mix traditional first aid with literal magic was confusing. He'd just check in tomorrow, to make sure she was ok.

• He'd missed the entire second half of the day, and he was still a student... That meant if he wanted to keep his normal life on track, he'd need to contact his teachers and see what he could do to catch up or what assignments he'd missed.

• He had rewards to sort through!

The last item on the list, being infinitely more enticing than considering any of his many problems, was naturally the first thing he dealt with. John sat on his bed and pulled up his Progress Screen. Immediately he was flooded with an assortment of messages.

Condition met (The Gilded Thorn) - Combat Style Unlocked!

You have 2 skill points to spend!

Getting Stronger - Optional Complete!
Reward of Choice available.

Backup Loaded - Inspiration System Enabled

The last one was curious. John moved the first three to the side and tapped on the final message... which opened the former Paragon window. Where there had once been a tree of branching options, there was now a ring of twenty-one cards, all but one facing away from him. It was hard to make out the details on the revealed card, so he clicked on the window to enlarge it. His surroundings dimmed, and the window vanished. An instant later, the cards re-appeared, much larger and circling him slowly. He tried to grab one of them, but it remained rooted in place, so he tried another, this time the sole revealed one. It was tangible under his fingertips and when he picked it up, the others vanished. A window opened before him.

There were two floating text elements as well:

0 - The Fool
Representing the beginning of a hero's journey, The Fool sets off knowing nothing, but with infinite potential.

Incarnation: Fool's Wit
Gain 10% of your current experience.

Congratulations, Gamer.
You have reached the threshold of your story's true beginning; before you lies a road of hardships and rewards, one that I would not have you walk empty-handed. These Inspirations are meant to guide you, as milestones in your journey of discovery. Unlocking one will grant you access to an Incarnation: a powerful ability that can be used once per day. Use them wisely, lest you squander your opportunities.

He turned the card over in his hands. So, this was the replacement for the Paragon system... well at least it worked. When John let go of the card it drifted back down and rejoined the circle, which began to slowly rotate around him.

John mentally closed the window, switching to his Character Sheet to test out Fool's Wit. It took him several tries to activate; thinking and saying the name aloud did nothing, until he imagined the image of the card. When he did, an unfamiliar magic, unlike Rend or Hearth stirred within. It felt purer somehow, as though he were grasping a part of his soul itself. Energy swelled, then faded back, leaving him uncertain if anything had happened...

Checking his Character Sheet, the Inspiration had left its mark; he'd gained a decent bounty of experience, putting him another step closer to level seven. Just in case, John tried reaching for that inner truth once more, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't call forth that magic. The description had said once a day. Tomorrow, then.

He briefly wondered how he could unlock more of the cards' secrets, what powers their Incarnations held...

Eventually, John turned his attention to another matter. Next on his list of priorities was reviewing the unlocked Combat Style.

A smattering of detail panes popped up to explain the various elements of the Combat Style:

Alert: You may only have one Combat Style!

Magus Inquisitor
During an encounter you may designate one enemy as your Prey. All spells cast against that target gain either the Holy or Void property. Executions against designated targets inflict immutable damage. You may choose a new Prey only if the previous one is slain.
(Passive)

Weapon Arts are techniques and maneuvers you can perform with a particular weapon class. They cost no mana, but have weaker effects than a comparable spell. As you level up your Combat Style, you will receive new Weapon Arts to increase your tactical flexibility. Choosing this Combat Style will initially grant you the following Weapon Arts:

Whirlwind Sweep ~ 1
Deal 20% attack damage to all enemies within reach.
(Weapon Art - Whip)

Shredder ~ 1
Deal up to 400% damage to a single enemy over 12 seconds, any damage taken while performing this Weapon Art will cancel it.
(Weapon Art - Whip)

In addition to your Weapon Arts, a Black Rose Executioner can use magic to fuel powerful finishing blows appropriately named Executions. Only usable against a target below 20% health, landing a lethal Execution provides ancillary benefits. In addition to gaining further Executions, as you level up your Combat Style, you will be able to choose evolutions for your existing Executions and adapt them to your needs. Choosing this Combat Style will initially grant you the following Execution:

Impale
Cause a spike of spectral energy to erupt from the ground and skewer your target, dealing 45 ~ (300% Wisdom) damage. **** by impalement briefly horrifies the victim's allies.
Cost: 20 mp
(Execution)

Horror
A status effect representing mind-crushing terror, either magical or mundane. Horrified individuals will cease all actions that do not distance themselves from the source of their fear.

John's finger hovered over the 'accept' button, deeply tempted to just accept the Combat Style and reap the generous rewards... but caution finally won out. His hand fell to his side as he thought it through. The abilities sounded awesome, sure, but how would Erica or Moira feel about him impaling something? He couldn't afford to lose the only allies he had over a bit of dramatic overkill. Besides, there was something about the style's description that bugged him. What did 'shadow within the Order' mean? Who were the 'Order of the Black Rose'?

Still... one of the lessons he'd learned today was that Starfall was way too expensive to use reliably. Against the drop bears it'd been effective, but that was at least partly because Erica had been there and finished them off quickly. With his current mana, he could cast it twice before he was tapped out. If he were caught out alone against a horde of zombies, or, he remembered a fragment of the vision he'd had in math class, giant rats... Two casts wouldn't be nearly enough. He needed a more reliable way to do area damage and Whirlwind Sweep had that in spades.

John sighed, dismissing the window. In the last two days he'd accepted things blindly, or been **** to by glitches and not-so-subtle threats. This time he wasn't going to jump in thoughtlessly. He'd sleep on it; if the Combat Style still enticed him the next morning... he'd take it.

On to the next order of business: his bonus skill points. John had been thinking about them for a while, ever since he'd failed to upgrade Planning, and there was an obvious choice: Forge. Improving his crafting skill would allow him to create better armor, weapons and equipment... but he'd just obtained the Thorn. He wasn't hurting for a weapon upgrade anymore. Besides, just putting points into Forge wouldn't guarantee he'd have the materials to make things. John picked up the nearest pen and started aimlessly chewing on the cap. The main reason to invest in Forge was armor; he needed better defenses to make up for his dismally low health pool. Until he started stockpiling endurance, or whatever it took to get to Erica's level, he'd be reliant on mitigation or restoration.

Three of his skills could help with that. If he dodged every attack, he wouldn't need to heal... so Evasion was tempting. Of course, investing too heavily into dodge would leave him on ****'s door if he ever got hit... Paramedic would improve his knowledge and medical skills, but didn't seem to be useful in a brawl... which is where he'd need it most. Lastly, there was the more reckless approach. If he just killed everything before they could bring him down, he wouldn't need more health or armor. A point in Gamer's Arsenal could help him along that path, but would 10% more damage be enough? That's assuming it'd improve to a 20% bonus, and not give him something else...

He flipped back and forth between his skills, before settling on his decision. Evasion was already high level, but theoretically that would make it harder to improve, this would be his best opportunity to push it further. The other most 'valuable' investment was absolutely Forge, so he decided to split his points and put one in each.

Skill Rank Increased: Evasion ~ 4 -> 5
Chance to dodge attacks increased.

Skill Rank Increased: Forge ~ 2 -> 3
New weapons and armor are now able to be Forged.

He'd been silently hoping for a more impressive result, but John wasn't too disappointed. The points were an investment in the future, hopefully bringing him closer to the next big improvement to each skill. Now he only had one reward left to pick...

When he tapped the prompt about completing his daily quest, the message was replaced by a new kind of window, three unique detail panes that each offered a different bounty. He browsed them one at a time.

The first, Knight's Oath, was the most straightforward. A few points of charisma and bonus experience for his new job. It wasn't impressive, but it was a stable option that could pay off in the long term.

His second option was a spell scroll, which could work one of two ways. Most likely, it was a single use spell... and looking at the description it sure seemed to be that way. The Wrath of the Rose was impressive, the potential damage was absurd. If he chose it, he'd have a last-ditch way to turn the tables on an otherwise impossible foe. Even if he didn't need it, he could probably sell it to Moira, based on the description. What did it mean by side effects though...

The last choice was a handful of bottles of magical booze. Technically. He wasn't sure if it was alcoholic or if that was just part of the name. John decided to mentally catalog them as bottles of money, which was accurate enough. Each bottle would grant him five minutes of increased stamina, damage reduction and a status effect... he tapped the underlined text.

Gilded
Also known as the curse of Midas of Phrygia, creator of the first Philosopher's Stone, this status effect allows you to transmute bone, flesh and blood into gold.

It sounded a bit gruesome, but insanely profitable. John had little doubts he'd be wanting for money if he could beat up a dozen skeletons and end up with piles of gold. In comparison to the rest, it was less obviously helpful... but money could surely buy him the materials to make better armor?

He remembered a message from earlier in the day, pulling out his phone and scrolling through his contacts. There it was, the unknown number that claimed to be from an 'Abyss Auction'. He replied in the affirmative, receiving a new message shortly thereafter.

Unknown (21:37): Your credentials are now being processed. Please be patient while arrangements are made, it should take no longer than 24 hours to provide you with full access to our services. We look forward to your patronage, Mr. Newman.

Why can't I use them now? Maybe this was just some kind of scam... at least I didn't have to pay for it.

He put his phone away, disappointed. So much for that... Maybe the Order would be willing to let him trade any gold he got from the Ale for a few magical items. If he chose it. Each reward was tempting, but there was no clear winner among them.

Author note: I'm putting the reward from John's quest up to an audience vote!