71 Another World (2/2)

I took a few, “Eh, I finished a tree for them. Means I need more of them than normal.”

She finished handing them off. Kessiah grinned at me, “Good luck dealing with Torix. I’d stay and listen to the story, but I forgot he’d bitch the whole time. Honestly, I’d rather not deal with it.”

I laughed, “Hah, yeah. I’m not looking forward to it either. See yah.”

I stepped out of the tent and walked towards Torix’s tent. By now, I already know what you’re thinking. ‘Daniel, why the fuck did you turn her down? She’s a hot alien babe!’ True, but see, here’s the thing. She didn’t want sex for any other reason besides blowing off some steam.

I’m not saying I didn’t want to. Hell yeah I did, I’m a man too after all. The thing is, I've been in relationships like that before. Dating someone is hard work, and if your partner is the type of person to use someone, the whole thing becomes more trouble than it's worth. I spent months dealing with this one girl who played games all the time. I hate playing games in relationships. It's like a power struggle, and whoever loses becomes a doormat. I'm not a doormat, and I don't want a doormat for a lover either.

Kessiah gives off that kind of vibe to her. She isn't in love with me. She just wants to use me for sex. I can't honestly say that's the only thing she'd stop at either. If someone starts out a relationship by using you, you can’t expect that to change. If anything, things will just get worse. I’ll become a rag, and she’ll squeeze me dry…And I don’t mean my balls.

Of course there’s men that do the same thing to women. I’m not trying to make this a battle of genders. What I am saying is that I should set boundaries with Kessiah. Refusing her now says I won’t let myself be used. It’s cutting an impulse short for long-term gain in the future.

Besides, the situation could turn even more sour than just being a tool for Kessiah. Something could go wrong and maybe I end up hurting Kessiah’s feelings further down the road. She might not even help against Yawm. We would all be really fucked then, and not in the literal sense.

Of courseI can say that all now with a straight face, but at the time, denying her was a feat of willpower. I found a way though. It didn’t help that Kessiah was gorgeous, kind of like a fairy that lures you into the woods and gets you eaten. You know you shouldn’t go inside, but stopping yourself was damn difficult.

I did though. The thousand points into willpower didn’t hurt the situation either. Running towards Torix, I used the skill phaser for movement. I dashed up and across buildings. As I moved, I learned as well. With a bit of telekinesis, I could create fields and reinforce materials. It felt like hitting myself since I used my body as the shock absorber, but it wasn’t too bad. My armor was dense and difficult to break after all.

If I pushed my telekinesis, I extended the range of my feet. I would walk on invisible telekinetic pads, letting me get twenty feet high in the air. The further up I went, the more painful the process became. I needed to stomp with all my might to get enough oomph from the telekinetic pads. That meant stomping my side as hard I could. Turns out, heel stomps do damage.

Keeping around double my height made the process comfortable. Jumping would take my higher than telekinesis, but the utility of floating on nothing was awesome. Walking on something like water with wide, broad telekinetic fields might be possible too. Of course I couldn’t keep it up forever, but even a few steps might make the difference.

Within a minute, I reached Torix’s house. I flew into the room before kicking off a telekinetic pad to stop my momentum. As I did, the force redirected into my sides, shoulders, and chest, compressing me. It was like being wrapped up by a boa constrictor. In other words, not so bad.

Regardless, it surprised Torix. He had an egg sitting in the middle of the room. All around it, marking and inscriptions covered it in a circle. Reading them, it seemed like he was working on a bigger, better version of the beetle. The essence of control and power, the mark for efficiency, he placed them into a circular form around him.

He sighed at my entrance, “Using that skill of yours again.”

I grinned, “Eh, someone has to keep you on your toes. Anyways…” I glanced at my screen, remembering the strength perk. I put points into strength, relishing the feeling of pressing the button. As I finished allocating my stats except one point for the perk, my blood ran cold. My stomach sank. Leaving a point for the perk, I only had 971 strength. I grabbed the sides of my head, “Noooo. I thought, fuck.”

Torix stood before floating with a cloud of mana as support. The runes remained untouched before he placed a hand on my shoulder, “What is it? Did the mission go poorly?”

My shoulders slumped, “That too. I have a perk that requires 1000 strength to get, but I have to have that much strength before being level 1000. It would be a solid boost, but I won’t be able to get it.”

Torix raised an eyebrow, “Sounds like a rather intense requirement. It’s a shame.” He lowered his arm. “Is your strength six hundred? Perhaps seven?”

I shook my head, “Naw. It’s 971. I’m so close.”

Torix’s head tilted back, “So close? You’re practically there. There are items you may wear that can enhance your strength. Obviously, armor isn’t one of those things in your case, but rings, amulets, anklets, they can all strengthen you.”

I raised an eyebrow, “How much?”

“Not by the hundred, but a few dozen is within the realm of possibility. In fact, it may prove a fruitful exercise to create them on your own. You understand the process of enchanting. Your armor is a rare metal to say the least. Why not try that?”

I frowned, “I could. Are there buffs for strength?”

Torix grinned, “A sly deduction.”

He pulled out his personal tome from underneath his robe. He opened the page without touching it. The pages turned at rapid speed before stopping on a relatively simple enchantment. He continued, “You may want to make one these. Makes casting a variety of spells a breeze.”

I glanced at my armor, the runic carvings a polished white metal while the normal stuff was black. I nodded, “Yeah. One day for sure.”

Torix opened a palm towards me, a wave of green aura passing over me. Tiny bits light, kind of like floating lamps, passed through me before a bit of power filled my bones. It was like a watered-down version of the ascendant mana. Some of the might, but none of the fury.

It was enough. I opened my status screen, seeing my strength at 1021. The perk screen appeared.

Void Maker (Strength of 1000 or more, Level below 1000) – You grab towards the stars, and they shatter in your hand. You breathe at mountains, they turn to dust. As you live, all becomes null and void. +10% more bonus physical damage and relative strength every 1000 points in strength. For every 1000 points in strength, 1% of physical damage is added as true damage. You may place 1/10th of strength into any attribute, except Constitution, Endurance, Strength, and Willpower.

I had to admit, whenever I selected yes, I was beaming. The bonus was ridiculous, just absurd. Against most enemies, I did only 5% of my actual damage against them. It was because most eldritch had high resistance. Even 1% of my damage added as true damage was a 20% increase to my physical damage against armored foes.

Of course, Althea had 100% of her physical damage converted into true damage. Even thinking about it for a second, I couldn’t help but be flabbergasted. Still, my armor made me over three times tankier, not even including the extra health regen. All the other bonuses added up to, like oppression. I counted my blessings before confirming the perk.

Which attribute will you select for the 1/10th addition? Intel, Luck, Char, Dex, or Per?

It didn’t take too much thinking before selecting intelligence. The extra health was worth it, and none of my other stats gave me the same bang for the buck. I selected intelligence, confirming my choice.

Strength roared up my limbs, like liquid euphoria. The certainty and comprehension of intelligence clicked into place in my head. I gripped my hands smiling, testing my new-found strength.

Torix grinned at me, “It’s good to see the young so hungry.”

I laughed, giddy of the boost. After a few moments of thought, I frowned, “Why don’t people just use buffs for perks at lower levels?”

Torix frowned, “Level limits. Buffs are useless until you reach around level 100. Before then, I test you to find a single buff that increases an attribute by even five points. Schema won’t allow it. Even at your level, I can only increase it by about 45 points.”

I nodded, “Ahh, my strength bonus applies to buffs.”

“Naturally.”

I sighed, “Thank you Torix. That could have been bad.”

With pride, Torix puffed out his chest as he placed his tome back into his robe,

“If I couldn’t even do this much, then what kind of master would I be?”

I patted him on the back, “Still a damn good one, in my opinion.”

He raised a hand, pointing a finger at the roof, “The real question is, what kind of apostle have you been?”

I scratched the back of my head, glancing away from him, “Uh…not the best.”

He sat down on a chair of mana. He steepled his fingers, “Oh, do tell.”

I explained how the situation played out, trying to emphasize how close I came to death. I also had a section where I explained what I learned. Torix remained quiet, keeping his fireball eyes focused the entire time. After I finished, he sighed,

“By Baldowah, I tell you to gain a speech skill. You go and kill everyone.”

I glanced at the ground, “Yeah. I fucked up.”

Torix shook his head, “Not particularly. You gained quite a few levels, learned a few lessons. It isn’t like near death experiences are easily forgotten.” With a sharp grin growing, he continued, “I would know.”

Despite being curious, I nodded in silence.

Torix sighed, “After that utter failure, I see no reason in postponing the mission to the rift. You’ve shown a rather deft incompetence for charisma related skills. You should focus on your strengths, and fighting giant monsters seems to be one of them. Once you’ve gained gravity magic, I’ll teach you how to wield it.”

He met my eyes, “You and Althea leave in the morning. Learn to feel the fabric of another dimension, then you may wield the fabric within your own.”

Torix cackled with a grin equally evil,

“Good luck, harbinger. You may need it.”