Dreaming of a Better Future

“Do you think I should have been more suspicious?” John mused aloud, staring out the window of his bedroom. The faux-moon of his new world had long since taken the place of the sun, so he couldn’t possibly have seen much beyond the immediate yard, but his eyes were still fixed on the distant forest so intently one could almost believe he was watching Vallya float about the woods at that very moment.

“Your judgment is always sound, Father.”

“Oh, pull the other one,” John groaned. “My judgment has caused us plenty of grief.”

“I was referring to your judgment of character. You may not always predict everything that comes our way, but you have not misplaced your trust since my birth, as far as I am aware. Those who have meant us harm, you have always distanced yourself from, or at the very least mistrusted in our exchanges with them. Those who wish us well, you may have been guarded against, but have never seemed convinced of their animosity beyond reason. You are aware of Vallya’s abilities, and witnessed those of this other being too. If you believe that Vallya is sincere, I trust that you have considered the… alternatives.”

John’s mouth tightened a little. He wasn’t sure about her evaluation of his intuition, but he’d already considered plenty of “alternatives”. He would be foolish not to. Vallya was a master illusionist, and he hardly had any abilities that could adequately protect him from her if she did want to ensnare him for whatever reason. She also could have been collaborating with Jiina too, if she wasn’t as opposed to the goddess as she made it seem. Jiina could have been lying all on her own about any number of things – maybe she hadn’t influenced Vallya and was just covering for her. Maybe she wasn’t really gone at all, and she could re-take Vallya at any point.

But… for all he considered those as real possibilities, he couldn’t convince himself that they were more serious than that. Despite her talent for illusions and acting, Vallya seemed more sincere about what she’d told him than she had about most things in their history together. And Jiina… well, it was hard to be sure of anything with her, but there was no reason to think she would deceive them after the display of power she’d made. John fully believed her at her word, for she had no reason to lie to them except possibly the vague idea of finding amusement in tricking mortals.

If she wanted something – whether it was Vallya’s body, something from John, or simply to get Vallya back into his home so that she had more entertainment – Jiina could have done it herself, or demanded it from them, with a mere flick of her tails.

“Hn. Vallya isn’t the only one who needs to focus on getting stronger for a while.”

John frowned as he glanced over to the clock. 11:52, and each minute was ticking by like waiting for an hour to pass. Jiina’s visit hadn’t been a direct threat, but her casual handling of his creations had been yet another reminder of how far John needed to go in his training. He didn’t know just how far her power really stretched since she’d hidden herself away from Observe, but even if she was “only” as strong as Adantia, she was still leagues ahead of him.

“You hold yourself like a hatchling preparing to strike their first prey. But unlike them, you will not allow yourself the release of a catch. Sit, Father.”

“That’s not going to help,” John grumbled, turning around to face the door and pacing a few laps between it and the window.

“You said that you would try to relax.”

“Try being the operative word. You can relax too, Sophia. I promised I wouldn’t start until midnight, I’m not going to break that promise. I just need to burn some energy and anxiety.”

John had wanted to dive straight into training once he was sure that everyone was back home safely, and that neither Vallya nor her little passenger were trailing them while they had their guards down. It was as good a time as any – since John was going to be Reincarnating and losing a good chunk of his stats, he intended to do a bunch of low-level dungeons one after the other, speedrunning them by himself until he started facing something moderately challenging.

After so many Reincarnations, John’s stats even at just level one were enough to blitz several dungeons, and as long as he was one-shotting all of the enemies, there wasn’t much benefit to bringing the others along, especially since they didn’t get the completion bonuses. And it still benefited him to do the lower-level dungeons at least once to get the full bonuses instead of repeating higher-level dungeons with slowly shrinking boosts.

Once he explained what had happened with Vallya, most of the others seemed on board with training, some even suggesting that they do their own while John was blitzing his way through the low-level Barriers himself. But Sophia had insisted that he wait until the start of the proper training day before going off, especially after how their morning had gone.

John had agreed… but he was not going to wait one moment longer than the very stroke of midnight. He was anxious, true, but he was also eager. There was the primal thrill of watching his own numbers go up, the same joy any gamer felt while power leveling, but also the sense of protectiveness over his home and family that was only ever satisfied while working to keep them safe.

“I’m surprised you’re being so strict about this,” John mused. His eyes traveled over to the harpy woman as she rested on his bed, catching the casual shrug she gave in response. “You’re not usually one to stop me from training. Or anything, really.”

“I am merely trying to look out for you, as I have always promised to do, Father. You tend to lose yourself when you train in response to one catastrophe or another.”

“I more meant that you decided to come in here and enforce it yourself. Don’t think I believe you really came in here because you were lonely,” John teased. The flush that spread across Sophia’s cheeks as her eyes met his gave away that he’d hit the mark.

“I… I suppose I have become a bit more protective of you as of late. We’ve discussed as much. If it bothers you, I can-”

“No, no, I take it all the more seriously when it comes from you. You know the threats we face and take them as seriously as I do… if you want me to do a better job of compartmentalizing and separating out things, I will. I trust you when you tell me I’m going too far or pushing too hard just as much as you seem to trust my judgment of a person’s character.”

“That is high praise. Thank you, Father.” A slightly conflicted look crossed Sophia’s face as she spoke, but it was gone in an instant, and she continued without any hesitation in her voice. “I think the others appreciate you spending time at home as well. They might have been concerned if you’d run off to train the moment you walked back in the door.”

“I’m not sure how much it eased their minds. I’m pretty easy to read when I’m tense.” John shrugged his shoulders, but there was a smile fighting its way to his lips. “I did enjoy spending time with the kittens though, and they seemed to be extra clingy today. Do you think they knew where I went this morning?”

“They are oddly perceptive for as easily distracted as they seem at times. They certainly understand that all the adults are a bit tense today, and they know we sent them off to speak of Vallya privately… more than that, I can’t say. But they know enough to feel comforted by their parents reassuring them and spending time with them. Your presence helps assuage their worries. They know that you will protect them.”

A soft chime played on John’s phone, not even managing to finish its first loop before John plucked it from his inventory and tapped the volume. Sophia smiled dryly at his instant response, tilting her head toward the window.

“Go, Father. I will get some rest and be ready to join you first thing in the morning.”

“You’re the best!” John said, feet already leaving the ground, propelled by one burst of wind while another formed under the windowsill. By the time John reached the window, it was opened wide, giving him just enough room to squeeze under the windowpane. The side of the house gave a slight rattle as the gust John was riding shook the structure on his way through, then a sharp thunk echoed behind him as the smaller torrent disappeared and the window slammed shut.

The full moon was high and the night was still young, but the stroke of midnight was John’s signal, and he was eager to get started. He’d hardly gone a hundred feet from the house before activating his Reincarnation ability. His feet touched the ground just as the mana began to leech out of his body.

Reincarnation complete. Level reset from 70 to 1.
69 Stat Points available for allocation.

“Nice. I’m getting a little more used to it, but I still wish I could just level normally,” John grumbled as the process concluded. The actual reset only took an instant of time, but the feeling of weakness remained for quite a while, bordering on dizziness and nausea at first before finally settling on a deep discomfort. The matter was helped when he opened up his menu and began to allocate his stat points.

“Speed has been pretty critical to me. Better to not get hit than just tank everything, and…”

Briefly John recalled the speed that Adantia had struck him with back in Paix, how she’d had him pinned against the wall before he even realized what was happening. The **** of her attacks had been overwhelming too, but even if he was strong enough to stop them, he never would’ve had the chance.

John put 19 points into his Agility, hoping to keep at least a measure of his former speed, and make himself that much faster when he was fully leveled again. The simplest path would have been to simply put another twenty points into either Strength or Endurance for close-quarters performance, then ten in the other as well as both of his magic-based stats. John was mostly melee-focused, but he did have a number of useful spells in a pinch.

But after spending the points, before pressing the confirm button, John found his eyes lingering on his Charisma and Libido stats for a moment. He’d more or less left them alone every time he’d used Reincarnation, and this time shouldn’t have been any different – especially going into a war. Charisma’s effects were subtle, but present, albeit not particularly useful in combat. His complexion had improved noticeably in the year since he got his powers, and not all of it from simply outgrowing the horrors of mid-stage puberty. Libido didn’t really seem to affect him at all, since his abilities let him get and maintain arousal at will now, though he was growing to suspect that it might influence the others around him rather than himself…

“I don’t even really want to boost them. So why am I hesitating?”

John gave a soft sigh, already knowing the answer. It was the same reason why he spent time going on dates and spending days with his family in his new world, rather than training for twenty-four hours a day with rare breaks when he didn’t have the health to continue taking blows.

“I have to believe there will be something more.”

It was a simple and foolish thing, but it burned like a fire in his heart as John took just two points away from his Wisdom score, putting one of them into Charisma, the other into Libido. His own rebellion against the war-torn Abyss, however slight and frail it might have been.

Pressing confirm locked in the changes and sent a jolt of energy through his body – not as powerful as the loss of so many stats, but enough to feel like a fresh shot of adrenaline. Once he no longer felt as if he was going to topple over, John flicked through his menus and set up a random dungeon at level one. No time was wasted as his Barrier skill warped reality, sending him into what looked like a medieval castle. A stone floor and matching walls stretched off into the distance, broken only by the occasional window, mounted suit of armor, decorative tapestry, and the long crimson rug covering the floor, striking out toward what appeared to be a distant throne room.

At first glance, John thought he was alone, but a subtle movement from the nearest set of armor revealed what kind of enemies he was facing. There was a slight shimmer of an almost ghostly mist inside the metal, visible at the joints and between the slits of the visor. His fully leveled Observe could also see a clear presence of mana, though it didn’t reveal any spells or information about the actual properties of it other than the name “Guardian Spirit”.

“Not the armor itself, then. If it’s visible to the naked eye, it’s probably some kind of poltergeist or bound spirit. Can I actually hurt these things with my blade?” John mused as the first armor took a step off its pedestal and began to march toward him. “Guess there’s only one way to find out.”

The armor’s pacing was slow enough on its own, but with John’s newly Reincarnated stats as high as they’d ever been, it seemed to be moving in an almost comedic level of slow motion. Before it had taken two steps, John closed the twenty feet between them and carved a wicked path through the armor’s torso. The Moon Clan’s enchanted blade cleaved right through the metal without a bit of resistance, only a few sparks flying from the nearly perfect cut.

40 DMG!
557 DMG!

John quirked an eyebrow as he finished the swing, turning back with his blade raised in a ready stance. The armor was standing awkwardly now, its breastplate slightly offset and its balance even more dubious than before. The ghostly mist inside was still there, moving around, flickering and seeming to fade in and out as it struggled to keep the armor steady.

There were two health bars he could see with his Observe now, one fully emptied and the other just barely hanging on, slowly depleting without John doing anything.

“Interesting. I wonder if I can take a closer look…”

John tried to focus a bit more on his strike as he followed through this time, keeping his eye locked firmly on where his blade met metal. The animated armor tried to raise up its shield, but its shield was not much more durable than its main body – John sheared through the shield, the gauntlet holding it, and carved a gaping, diagonal slash through the breastplate once more.

42 DMG! [379 Damage blocked by 90% Physical Damage Resistance]

“Hm. On a level one enemy?” John watched the armor crumple, the ghostly essence within finally fading away. He was used to enemies having at least some armor and resistance – his attacks rarely did full damage, even on the rare occasions he could strike as thoroughly and cleanly as he just did – but the decrease was usually not enough to be so noticeable.

“Well, the level makes sense. Just damaging the armor leaves it mostly helpless, even if it’s hard to hurt, so it’s still not a real threat as long as you can do that,” John mumbled as he continued down the hall, passing two inanimate suits of armor before a third began to rumble and shake itself awake. This time he didn’t even bother approaching – as soon as he was within throwing distance, John simply tossed the blade at the armor, activating the Rune of Puppeteering to make sure the tip struck home.

38 DMG!
546 DMG!

While the armor began to shudder and shake, struggling to continue forward toward him, John gave a mental command and flicked the blade upward. It tore through the armor as it spiraled in place, then rocketed back into his hand somewhat gracefully. This time, he kept his eyes focused on the exact path of the blade as it cleaved apart the metal.

39 DMG! [356 Damage blocked by 90% Physical Damage Resistance]

“It would be nice to be able to see the resistances without having to stare at the exact place my blade is striking, though…”

John didn’t even need to think twice to take these enemies down – his flat damage reduction from his armor was probably enough to stop their attacks from doing any damage anyway. But in a real fight, especially in the middle of a war, it would be risky if not outright dangerous to be so focused on an attack that had already landed.

John continued down the hallway, experimenting with the harmless constructs to see exactly how much information he could get from his Observe. Despite being at max level, he couldn’t find a way to get the damage reduction to show up unless he was fully focused on the way his attack struck, perhaps in part because it was his system and not Observe itself that gave him readouts for damage and healing. A dozen piles of scrap metal later, John had received no new technique or passive to make the readouts default, nor had he managed to find a more casual way to retrieve them with Observe.

Even as the dungeon’s mini-boss spawned in – a massive, enchanted book that had barely begun to spew pages into the air before John’s sword cleaved it into a dozen sections – he was still puzzled and a bit annoyed about the discovery. His gaze remained distant and unfocused when the dungeon began to disappear, barely paying any mind to the completion rewards before dismissing them.

Mini-Boss defeated, Dungeon complete [Level 1]!
+125 EXP [+50 EXP from Perks]
+$500 [$250 + 100% from Perks]
+2 Scrap Iron

John has Leveled Up!
John has reached level 2!
+1 to all stats

“Guess I can keep track of what my damage should be and just inspect it if it feels low, but that means potentially wasting mana if I can’t figure out what kind of DR they have right away. Plus, I’ll still have to put myself at risk and focus completely on staring at the attack. What about enemies that have spells, potions, or enchantments to make themselves more resistant? Theirs might change on an ongoing basis…”

John’s mind pondered the many options as he stared at his dungeon creation screen again. He bumped the level up by one and left the rest as it was. As the next dungeon formed around him, a dank sewer system that filled his nostrils with the scent of rot and mold, his mind continued to churn over the possibilities.

“Doing these lower level dungeons again is good for me. I haven’t been able to think this clearly since I first came back to Springfield. Now, if I can’t get my Observe to work without staring, I’ll need to be more aware of my damage numbers constantly. I have my computer now, so I bet I could just set up a spreadsheet to give me my damage numbers at different percents and keep it updated whenever my stats change. I’m gonna need to know every damage number I have, though. And for the spells with a variable cost and damage amount…”

Even as he darted among a horde of giant rats, John’s thoughts slipped easily into his old ways, plans and math and min-maxing all tumbling together in his brain, forming new thoughts and ideas. He wasn’t actually sure how much of an issue it would be in the war – or how much of an asset it could be – considering how little it had come up before, but the new information tickled the number-crunching part of his brain and gave him something to focus on while speedrunning the lower level dungeons.

“I’ll have to tell Aclysia we’ll be cutting back on the materials I feed her,” John considered in his mind. At the same moment, a thirty-foot long sewer gator was slit from snout to tail with a flick of his wrist, rancid blood streaking into the sewer for just a moment before it all faded into nothingness. His hand was already raised to open up another dungeon, this one at level three, while his brain bounced between ideas, playing with them almost like children’s toys.