The big man shrugged, then scratched at his beard. “It looks like it works off my Toughness attribute.” He shook his head. “Which, of course, should be obvious…” He chuckled. “For every point in Toughness I have 100 points in Toughness Energy.”
“Sounds remarkably like Spirit Energy,” Siobhan said in a musing tone. “Though I wonder how you’ll be able to gather more.”
“I thought Spirit Energy was like… like mana in a video game.” Justin clenched a fist. “The source of our magical power.”
Siobhan tilted her head from side to side. “It’s not unusual for there to be different types of energy sources in video games. Something like stamina, to help with running and healing and the like. Though this… this sounds like something else.”
“How much information does the Toughness Infusion spell give?” Xavier asked. His thoughts went to Spirit Energy… and then straight to his Spirit Core. The one he’d discovered not long ago, activating several Skill Quests. Xavier frowned, focusing on Howard’s aura for a moment. His aura had changed since he’d chosen his class—all their auras had a little. But they hadn’t seemed worth examining. At least, not at first.
Xavier narrowed his eyes. Was that…?
Yes. There was a different colour swirling around in the man’s aura. Something that hadn’t been there before. His aura had taken on a slightly reddish tinge.
Xavier leant backward a little on his loot box, straightening up, thinking about the consequences of this. A different energy source. Something else polluting? Affecting? The man’s aura.
Does that mean he has another core? A Toughness core? Did taking on that new class give him that?
He didn’t want to venture his theories to the others. Not yet, anyway. First, he wanted to gather more information.
Howard’s eyes glazed over. “The spell doesn’t say too much more than I’ve mentioned. It’s defensive in nature… strengthens my armour… reduces damage taken from physical and magical attacks…” The man made an ahh sound. “I think I misread it the first time. It’s not just my armour I can infuse the energy into, I can infuse it into other people’s as well!” He smiled, giving a sharp nod. “That will better help me be able to protect you two.” He pointedly looked at Justin and Siobhan, clearly not worried about having to protect Xavier. “Though… it looks as if that energy will be trapped when it’s in use.”
“Trapped?” Justin asked.
“I think it means…” Howard scrunched his eyes almost shut. “I think it means that whatever Toughness Energy I infuse into something won’t regenerate until I dispel it.”
“Interesting,” Siobhan said.
Howard nodded. The smile was still on his face when he turned to Justin. “And what about you? How did your class choice go?”
Justin gave the man a sly smile. That excitement he’d shown moments ago bubbling back to the surface. He looked like he wanted to jump from where he sat, but somehow managed to contain himself.
“I…” Justin almost sounded out of breath. “I can fly!”
“What?” Xavier said, leaning forward again, a grin on his face. “Are you serious?” Though Xavier was hoping the kid would be able to develop a spell that would allow him to fly, he honestly didn’t think it would be something that would happen this fast, that was, assuming it could happen at all.
Developing that Aerial Combat skill of his really paid off.
The others looked almost as excited as Justin did. Siobhan’s smile was radiant and bright. And Howard? Well, it was just good to see something other than a sombre, serious expression on that man’s face. Since he’d fought on the fourth floor, taking down all of those Dark Wyverns by himself, the man’s demeanour seemed to have shifted.
He’s still scared for his family back on Earth, but perhaps he’s embracing his new role.
Justin, giddy, nodded about four times and finally couldn’t contain himself any longer. He stood up from the loot box and stepped over toward a clear space. “The spell doesn’t last very long, and I think it will get better over time, but…”
Justin let out a long breath. His hands were beside him, clenched in fists. He seemed to be psyching himself up. He kind of looked like Wolverine about to extend his claws. If Wolverine were a teenager.
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Justin threw his head back and let out a fairly good imitation of a bestial roar. Something emerged from his back, about his shoulder blades, punching two holes through his armour—armour that Xavier hoped would be self-repairing, though he wasn’t sure if it was.
The things extended outward from the teenager’s back. They were a dusty, dirty white. And they had feathers.
“Wings!” Siobhan said with a clap of her hands. “You have wings!”
Justin wrenched his neck around, in a way that looked quite painful, and got a look at the wings now protruding from his back. There was a bright, excited look on his face.
Right up until the moment his saw how big they were—or rather how big they weren’t.
“What?!” Justin stammered. “These… these look like the wings of… of a baby duck!”
“They’re called ducklings,” Howard said with a surprisingly straight face. “Not baby ducks. And yes. Your rare class has given you… little duckling wings.”
Xavier glanced at Siobhan. The woman had a hand over her mouth and was clearly stifling a laugh. Xavier himself couldn’t help it any longer. “The way you threw your head back in a roar!” He laughed, loud and free. “Like, like you were going to turn into a monster!”
Siobhan dropped her hand, joining in. “Then… tiny… little… wings!” she said between gasps of laughter.
Even Howard gave a deep chuckle and a few shakes of the head, looking down at his feet.
Justin crossed his arms about his chest. He looked like he wanted to storm off, leave the Staging Room. And lock himself in his quarters. Instead, he dropped his arms, seemed to force his face to relax, and focused, shutting his eyes and letting out a long breath.
The tiny wings on his back began to flap. Quite fast. Not hummingbird fast—they were still visible—but close.
Then Justin rose from the ground.
“Holy crap.” Xavier stood, watching as the kid began to fly upward toward the tall ceiling.
Justin opened his eyes, looking down, saw the floor had left him far behind and released an uproarious laugh. He pumped a fist into the air—which made him veer off to the right, his whole body tilting—then let out an excited whoop!
He lowered to the ground after only about ten seconds in the air. His wings disappeared when he was still three feet from touching back down, and he fell the last little bit.
Justin drew in a deep breath. His cheeks were a little red. “Okay. That was awesome.” He glanced at the others. “I’m sure… sure those wings will grow bigger,” he muttered, coming back to sit on his loot box.
Xavier still had a great big grin on his face. They hadn’t all laughed like that since… well, they hadn’t all laughed like that at all. They’d hung out at the tavern. Chatting and having a few drinks, in the time when they were locked out of the next tower floor. But this was… was the closest he’d felt to the others since they’d met.
“So,” Xavier said. “What other spells did you get?” He waved a hand, pursed his lips, then said, “Other than the baby duck wings.”
“They aren’t baby duck wings!” Justin burst out.
“Sorry, duckling wings,” Xavier corrected with a straight face.
The others laughed again, but it didn’t take them long to settle down and hear what Justin had to say about his class.
“The class is called Airborne Duellist,” Justin said, then went on to tell them about the other spells that he’d gained. The first spell, the one he’d just demonstrated by sprouting wings, was called Winged Flight.
He’d also received Air Strike, which was a physical attack that only worked when he was off the ground. Apparently it used the wind element, and allowed him to elongate his physical strikes, turning them into whipping, slashing wind. Xavier had to say he was keen to see that one in action, and not only because it might mean seeing those tiny wings sprout from the kid’s back again.
The final spell Justin had received was called Slip Dodge. It was a defensive spell, allowing him to get out of the way of any oncoming strike while it was active. It was a toggled spell, something Xavier hadn’t encountered before.
The spell didn’t say how long it would last—spells never did in Xavier’s experience, that was something you had to find out through experimentation—but it explained that it could be activated and deactivated at will. If it lasted for a whole minute, that minute could be stretched over an hour or a whole day, or even an entire year, if you only used it in sixty, one-second bursts.
Xavier was a little surprised Justin had only received a mere three spells, whereas Howard and Xavier himself had received more than that, but as he seemed rather excited about all of them he didn’t bother commenting on it.
Though, initially, watching Justin sprout those tiny little wings had been… well, hilarious, Xavier could definitely see the advantage of being able to move through the air, and he knew that the amount of time that Justin would be able to spend flying would only increase as he grew more powerful.
He’ll have great mobility, focusing on speed, and he already has that haste spell, coupled with flight and Slip Dodge…
Xavier was almost a little jealous. His spells were certainly more powerful, and he didn’t want to give up the ability to reap souls, but it did make him wonder what he would look like with wings…
Large, black wings, like that of a raven…
God, he would look even more like the angel of death than he already did. Was that something he wanted? The sides of his lips quirked up just thinking about it. Yes. I do want that.
Once Justin had finished explaining what the different spells he had did, they turned their attention onto Siobhan. It was her class that Xavier had been most excited to hear about. Ever since she’d mentioned what she might be able to do with her Summon spell in the future, he’d been curious where focusing on that would take her class.
He couldn’t even begin to imagine what new spells she would gain, when she already had the spell she needed to accomplish what she wanted—she just needed that spell to grow more powerful, which would happen naturally as she levelled up and the spell grew in ranks.
But what type of rare class would the System have given her now?
Siobhan gave a bright smile, her hands folded in her lap. She looked down, almost a little shyly. “I chose a class called Divine Beacon.”