“Uh, Walker? I think you need to come see this,” Rielle called out from the Mini-bosses Corpse. She was assisting Paladin in collecting some of the crystals from it alongside Larry when she paused and looked up at Colin.

The Antagonist approached, breathing heavily while his health regenerated from their fight. With his health returning, he could feel his stamina come back a little as well, with his fatigue reducing slowly as time passed. When he stood behind her, he looked down and saw what was confusing her.

A small bronze-colored small cube hovered a foot off the ground, rotating slowly while the sun reflected off it. The box was a perfect square, three inches across, wide, and tall, with no seams or imperfections across its shiny surface. It appeared to be just a bronze cube that hovered off the ground. Colin recognized the item as a loot box from the Dungeon but had no idea why it was happening here.

“Nox?” Colin called out to his shadow. “Why did this thing drop a Loot Box?”

From Colin’s shadow, the Goblin spoke out loud for the group to hear. “Do you remember when this invasion started, there was a prompt that described the situation here? It said that this city was under Warzone Conditions. Warzone Conditions have many little nuances to them, and one of those states that Mini-Boss and Boss type monsters drop Loot Boxes when defeated.”

Colin smiled, looking at the box with curiosity. What would he get if he opened this Loot Box from a Mini-Boss Golem?

Thinking back to one of his skills, Colin activated his Appraisal skill to see what would happen.

Golem Mini-Boss Loot Box.

This special Loot Box has been awarded for defeating a Mini-Boss called the Soulbound Crystal Shell Golem. Like all Loot Boxes, when touched, this item will generate an item that correlates with the type of creature defeated. However, since this Loot Box was generated due to the warzone Conditions in place at BriarThorn, this item will be more unique. In accordance with the species and Level of Mini-Boss slain, the activater’s Luck Attribute, and other aspects of the activator’s character, the item produced will somehow reflect that. - Durability: Indestructible until used. Item Quality: 37/100.

“Holy shit,” Colin breathed out.

Larry tsked Colin, “Either Infernal or Hellish Shit. Holy Shit is just rude,” Larry told Colin. The latter only gave him an annoyed glare for a moment before returning to his Appraisal Prompt.

Before he could speak to either Paladin or Rielle about the item, the Sumo spoke first. “I have no need for a Loot Box, Walker. I actually get bonuses if I wear fewer clothes or items, so I am fine with not getting it.”

“What about you, Rielle? Do you want it?” Colin asked.

She simply shook her head, “no. You’ve done so much for me, and I wanted to do something for you, Walker. You can have it; maybe I’ll get the next one,” she said, her smile happy and wide near the end of her statement.

Larry spoke up, “Not that you were going to ask me anyway, but I’ll say it anyway, I’d take it if there was a point. I’m a summon, so unless it summons with me, I cannot take it back, so it would be pointless. It’s all yours, Master.”

Colin nodded at the information about his Summon. It was good to know that there was no point in equipping it with powerful equipment since it couldn’t keep it long term.

With everybody saying that they didn’t want it, Colin hesitated for only a moment to use this opportunity. He quickly distributed his level sixteen Attribute points, throwing one into wisdom right off the bat. Making sure his chances for Hubris to trigger would increase. Next, he threw two into Intellect to increase his maximum Mana Pool. Lastly, he threw two points into Luck to help his chances of getting something useful with this Loot Box.

After finalizing his choices, this left his Attributes at:

Strength: 18 Dexterity: 21 Speed: 22 Build: 18 Intellect: 19 Wisdom: 26 Charisma:15 Luck: 16

Wishing that there were always more Attribute points, Colin didn’t hesitate again and reached forward, touching the cube.

The Bronze Cube disintegrated the moment it was touched. The constituent particles swirled around the air for a moment before reintegrating. The new item was a lustrous but small emerald that practically sparkled in the sunlight. It was cut like a square, and as Colin picked it up, he noted that it was significantly heavier than he would have thought, given its size. Still, given what he read when he Appraised the item, he wasn’t surprised, just excited.

Filled Skill Gem (Earth Magic Manipulation).

This 15 Carat, square-cut Emerald is practically brimming with the power of a Soul containing the essence of the Earth. This being initially was killed and had its Soul stored in a Crystal for use in Golem making. Now this Soul is yours to use and gain a measure of its power over the Earth. This Filled Skill Gem contains the knowledge and power needed to grant the skill ‘Earth Magic Manipulation.’ - Weight: 30 grams. Item Quality: 10/10.

Colin remembered what happened last time he used this item and only pocketed the Filled Skill Gem until they spent a little rest. He had no want or need to be convulsing on the floor in the middle of the street with enemies possibly coming. ALAN seemed to be the vindictive type, so he wouldn’t be surprised if Golems or another Mini-Boss were coming his way.

“Are we ready to go?” Colin asked, now excited as well as anxious to get out of here.

Rielle nodded, pointing to the pack she was wearing and to the armload that Larry was carrying in his arms. He wasn’t sure if he could use them for anything special, and he didn’t really care right now. They were shiny, colored, and would hopefully be worth a shiny Copper Coin at the least.

He looked at Paladin, who was pocketing a few of the Crystals into a pouch on his hip. He gave Colin a thumbs up.

Colin nodded and led the way to the nearby buildings. They were reasonably close to the Auxiliary, and he needed to make sure they were ready when they arrived. It was unlikely that his quarry was alone, and they would need to be dealt with as well. It was one of the reasons he got Larry and was willing to allow Paladin to come with him. He required the bodies to help decrease the difficulty in the battle to come.

They needed a building far enough away from the scene of their fight that it wouldn’t be the first place ALAN looked for him but close enough to get into quickly. A good choice jumped into view after a short jog and a look down an alley. A simple black sign with white cursive writing hung above a simple red door, identifying the business as a Tattoo Parlour. It wasn’t what Colin was looking for, but I would do the trick.

He turned into the Alley and ran to the door. A quick check confirmed it was unlocked, and all four of them stepped inside the out-of-the-way business.

The inside was as one would expect from this sort of place. The floor was a smooth polished granite that looked like it would be easy to clean should anything spill. The walls were covered in both art and runes that could be used for enchanting. In the middle of the space sat three different types of furniture used for getting tattoos. A tattoo couch, chair, and something in the middle looked like it could fold into various other configurations. Against the back wall sat a counter where the typically electric equipment sat in clean linen bags with runes that Colin recognized to keep them clean.

Most importantly of all, a short woman with brown hair cut to her shoulders, pale alabaster skin, and a scowled stared at them as they stood. She didn’t look like much in her short-sleeved button-down blouse, beige slacks, and boots going nearly up to her knees. But her tattoos covered her arms up as far as Colin could see and around the base of her neck. She’d walked in from a back room and was tapping her foot in annoyance at the group now loitering in her business.

“Can I help you?” She asked, her right eyebrow quirked upward. “And just so that you are aware, you are responsible for any damage your Demon does in my business,” she eyed Larry. She practically dared him to defy her before she looked at Rielle and asked, “Do you understand?”

Rielle blinked, “what?”

“What part did you not understand, Sweetie? The part where I addressed you or told you that your Demon better behave or you’ll pay for everything that he breaks?” she asked, now a little annoyed at the girl, and it showed.

“H-he’s not mine,” Rielle said, withering a little under this Woman’s harsh glare.

“He’s mine,” Colin answered, raising his hand to get the Woman’s attention. “And yes, I understand. I just didn’t expect such animosity from just entering a store, especially now with everything going on,” Colin said, glaring right back.

It was apparent when the information she’d been told struck home, her face smoothed out, and simple annoyance crossed her face. To be fair, Colin assumed that this expression was her natural one, sort of a resting bitch face. “The Incubus is yours? I’m sorry for not assuming that first, but people only summon Succubi or Incubi if they plan to… use all facets of their species traits. That, and gay people are a bit of a… rarity in these parts of the world.”

Rubbing his temple with his fingers, Colin told her once, “I am not gay; I just did not know what an Incubus was. I just saw Demon and assumed evil planar monster and could work with that.” He explained, assuming that the Woman didn’t actually care in the slightest.

“Sure, whatever you say. So, I ask again. My name is Hattie, the owner of this Parlour. What. Can. I. Do. For you?” She asked, practically demanding an answer.

“We just need a place to rest for a few minutes. We just fought a Mini-Boss and-” Colin started to explain before the Woman cut him off.

“So, you are not here for a tattoo, magical or mundane?” she asked, annoyance dripping back into her voice. When Colin answered in the negative, Hattie pointed towards the door, “then get out of my shop. I haven’t had a customer in two days, and I will not have you in here scaring them away when someone finally comes in.”

“Wait, we only need around a half hour. What would it take to get that from you?” Colin asked, withdrawing a single Copper Coin from his pocket and flashing at the Woman. Essentially offering the Woman one hundred dollars American to do nothing while they rest.

“It would take you being real customers, I do the work, and you get the time,” Hattie said, eyeing them while Colin thought about it. “Hell Bells, my mundane Tattoos are pretty bitchin’, and my magical ones are well worth the money. And if you don’t want something permanent, that’s fine; I can make it so that my ink will fade away after a set amount of time or energy is used. How does that sound?”

Colin was never a Tattoo man back on Earth. McKenna loved the idea but never like the idea of getting anything that she might regret in ten years. The only tattoo she’d ever gotten was a six-digit number that sat just above the small of her back. It was the date they were married permanently marked upon her skin, the only thing she would never regret, apparently.

But admittedly, this sounded actually useful. “What can these do, exactly?”

“The sky is almost the limit,” Hattie answered, her joyful attitude seeming to come out of nowhere. I can make tattoos that mimic spell effects, hold items, grant elemental resistances, grant Dark Vision, increase mana recharge speed, or give bonuses to skills or Attributes. Like I said, the sky is almost the limit. There are some restrictions, but, eh, that’s the way it is for everything,” she shrugged.

“Like what?”

“I can’t give you a tattoo that gives you Dark Vision for six months unless you have something for me to anchor the effect to. Meaning-”

“That the person you are tattooing needs the Shadow Magic Manipulation Skill?” Colin finished, seeing a pattern here from his own Enchanting Skill.

Hattie nodded, “I can still grant it for six months, but that would mean it gets a lot more expensive given that extra level of complexity. I would have to anchor it to your mana and have it convert to Shadow Magic without you already having it. It’s annoying but doable and limited. I can only do it two times without risk to your Mana Pool.” She explained.

Colin thought about this. While he still didn’t like the idea, it did have merits while building up his powers, and getting boosts here could come seriously in handy given everything going on.

Also, It would give him some time to decide what Ability or Skill he could get since he just leveled. His Anatomy Of A Boss Ability was already proving useful.

“Okay, I’ll take you up on this. I want three tattoos.”

“Really? Alright, I take it you want them to be magical?” she asked, grabbing a pen and some paper and making notes of what he wanted.

“Yes, I want one to increase my Stealth Skill,” Colin told her.

She nodded and said, “do you have Shadow Magic Manipulation?” When he nodded, she wrote that down and took a few other notes while muttering quietly to herself. Colin wasn’t sure what she was saying, but when Hattie looked up and asked, “do you want there to be permanent or temporary?”

"Why would anyone get temporary? These sound incredibly useful," Rielle asked, curiosity overriding her normal timid nature.

Hattie sighed, most people asked this question and she had a response prepared for it. "Long story short, My career allows me to make these tattoos, which combines Alchemy and Enchanting. Thus, this makes them susceptible to enchantment breaking, anti-magic fields, special curses, strong debuff effects, and some strong injuries could affect them. But," she said, cutting them off before anyone could say anything. "it would take a pretty drastic wound to ruin one of these tattoos."

"Okay," Colin said, "but why would that detract people from getting anything permanent?"

"That would be due to the backlash. Unfortunately, since these magicks are embedded in your skin and connected to your Mana Pool, the results could be... destructive. I have bought a few things within my Career to reduce those chances but it is still there," Hattie said, shrugging. "I promise you that the chances are small either way and until you get to high-level enemies, like fifty plus enemies, will it be fine. No guarantee, but they should be fine."

"Ah, then temporary please,” he answered, then continued before she could try to sell him on a permanent one. “I’d rather not become too reliant on anything that could be removed... or detonate, at any given time. I’d rather use them then have them go away before I get too used to them,” he told her, daring her to refute him.

“Whatever you say, this isn’t an exact science, but how long would you like them to last. The shortest time frame I can make is three days, with the longest being two years.”

“A week,” Colin said, answering before he could answer the way he wanted to. Two years would be a fantastic boon, but he would be hampered by the then gone benefits that it provided when it faded away. It was something he learned and kept going when he was being trained. Never get too used to any advantage you get, are given, or make for yourself. It can always be taken away, destroyed, or be used against you. The gun could break, the poison brewed incorrectly, or the bomb could short circuit ruining the plan. Forcing you to use only your skills, wits, and knowledge.

Those could never be taken away until the Reaper comes knocking.

“Okay, what about the other two?” she asked.

Colin told her, and her smile grew wide, “Ooooh, a little bit of complicated added to the Tatts. I like that,” Hattie said, just continuing to write down what she was going to need to do with this project.

After a minute, she asked, “What about them?” pointing at Paladin and Rielle.

Paladin shook his head in the negative, “I’m good. Never like Tattoos, and even here, they don’t sound super pleasant or cool, no matter what benefits they provide. You do what you want, Walker. But I’ll just relax over here.”

Colin and Hattie both looked at Rielle, who spoke a little quietly, “I’d like the one that increases my Mana Regeneration Speed, please?”

“Easy enough, A standard one that can be done in a few minutes. Do you want it to be permanent or temporary?”

“Walker?” she asked, hoping for his opinion.

“Your call,” he said, then looked at Hattie. “But that bill is on me,” Colin told her.

“But Walker, I-I can pay,” she protested.

Colin shook his head, “No. It’s on me, Rielle. I can not say enough how useful and important to me you are. If this is something you want, then I want to pay. Okay?” Colin asked, locking eyes with her and making sure she understood.

She nodded, “Permanent, please.”

“Excellent,” Hattie exclaimed, continuing to jot down notes. “So four tattoos total, three temps and one perm… that will be four Copper Coins and 24 Copper Bits,” she told him, expecting some kind of reaction for that price. She knew they were well worth the price, especially given that one of them would be a custom job, but still…

“How long will all four take?” Colin asked before offering any answer.

She shrugged, “around forty minutes, give or take three minutes. I have to prepare the ink, especially for that custom one, but that will only take around ten minutes for all of them. The girl’s… maybe five minutes once she’s down and on the table. You… Twenty-ish minutes if I move fast and don’t make a mistake.”

“Then Rielle, you mind going first? I’d like you to scout out where we’re going and use your rings to scan the area. I’d like to know if everyone is still there,” Colin said, trying to be a little vague in front of the outsider to their group.

Rielle nodded and nervously walked to stand next to Colin.

Then Colin looked at a waiting Hattie and asked, “Can you break a Copper Coin?”

---

Colin was partway through his third tattoo, the Stealth Bonus Tattoo that was being needled into his chest when he finally got used to the sensation. The action of getting the tattoo still hurt but wouldn’t mess with his concentration while he made his level-up choice.

He opened up the relevant windows and stared at the list before him. Like every time before, it had gotten larger.

I am Me

Requirements: Path of Pride Level 5

your personal identity is strong enough to withstand any outside attempt to influence it. you gain a passive resistance to magic from the enchantment spell school equal to your wisdom attribute. The effect is multiplied by two when you actively and knowing resist an effect.

Unyielding Skill

Requirements: Path of Pride Level 1, Any Skill Level 5

Your pride in your work makes you work easier to succeed and grow. When you take this ability, you choose one skill that you have achieved at least level 5 in. The chosen skill grows 10% faster.

Positive Energy Resistance 1

Requirements: Antagonist Class Level 10, Wisdom 20

Your evil aura acts as a shield against attacks and effects that use their Good Alignment. This ability grants 10% resistance to good aligned abilities

Runic Evil

Requirements: Antagonist Class Level 5, Enchanting Level 1

Your position as Antagonist gives you a unique perspective in regards to your Enchanting skill. This grants you the ability, Runic Evil, granting you knowledge of a set of evil runic enchantments according to your enchanting level.

Sense of Evil

Requirements: Antagonist Class Level 10

This Ability grants allows you to sense psychic resonances of Evil.

Demonology

Requirements: Antagonist Class Level 15, Positive contact with Demons

This skill grants in depth knowledge of Demons, along with their rituals and hierarchy.

Psionic Trigger

Requirements: Psychic Class Level 10, any Magic Manipulation skill level 10, Intellect 20

This skill can create a submenu that allows you can set an action to trigger under certain circumstances.

Brain shudder

Requirements: Psychic Class Level 10, Mental Magic Manipulation Level 5

Any Mental Magic Spell that you cast has a small chance to Disorient enemies.

Driving Force

Requirements: Antagonist(avenger) Class Level 15

You gain a limited skill that gives you a sense of any being that you are designed against. (The Krimson Spire Guild Members and, to a lesser extent, Players as a whole.)

Infernal Conduit

Requirements: Antagonist Class Level 15, Infernal Magic Manipulation Level 5, Alignment must be (at least) Evil 1

This Ability gives your attacks extra damage against entities that radiate good like how Demon’s radiate Evil.

Telekinesis

Requirements: Kinetic Magic Manipulation Level 5, Mental Magic Manipulation Level 5

This Dual Subskill combines both of its parent skills into the ability to move objects with one’s mind.

Vainglorious Fate

Path of Pride Level 15, At least 15 Luck

You are prideful, arrogant, and self-righteous but not without reason. Your Status as one who walks the Path of Pride generates a Karmic magnetism that draws events towards you. These events can be good or bad for you but will always be great in scope. This Ability is greatly affected by the users Luck Attribute.

The three new options were interesting. Infernal Conduit would not come in handy immediately, given that he wasn’t facing and would not be facing anything like that for quite some time. At least he hoped so; the only entities he knew that matched that sort of description were Angels, and they were a category of strength higher than what he thought he could take on.

Telekinesis was one he wanted badly, given all the new things he could do with it. Especially if it was as flexible here as some pieces of fiction McKenna had gotten him to watch implied. But it would be grabbed at Level one, meaning that it would be incredibly weak for a while. Even if it was better than he expected, he didn’t think that it would turn the tide in this fight here in BriarThorn or make him batter against Monty’s Party.

He didn’t even consider Vainglorious Fate for more than a moment. While it could prove to be fantastically useful eventually, with his current Luck Attribute and situation, he doubted that it would help. Maybe after he put a few more points into Luck, he would reconsider his option there.

Then the only ones that really spoke to him after the new ones were I Am Me, Runic Evil, Demonology, and Psionic Trigger.

I Am Me would provide a passive and active defense against anyone attempting to use psychic powers to affect his mind. This was highly appealing given that he knew of one Golem that seemed to do that.

Runic Evil would expand his Enchanting repertoire by giving him unique or forgotten or rare runes considered evil. Colin wasn’t sure what sort of Enchantments could be regarded as Evil by the system, but given that a few of the Enchanted items he’d heard of, these had to be good.

Demonology would be simply prudent given that he was a Demon Lord Candidate, and knowledge in this area would just be useful in the long term.

And Lastly, Psionic Trigger would be immensely and immediately useful given that it sounded customizable. If he understood the somewhat vague description correctly, it granted him access to a submenu that would allow him to generate automatic responses in reaction to specific triggers. For example, he might be able to have Psionic Trigger activate all his buffs immediately upon entering combat, instead of him having to do it manually.

This came down to when Colin really started to think about how he wanted to respond to things around him. Did he want to be reactionary or preparatory? That answer made this choice easy and a little regrettable. This was the type of choice he was certain about but hoped to not have such a hard one again for a long time.

It came down to Runic Evil and Psionic Trigger, and yet again, he passed aside Runic Evil.

You have gained the Skill Psionic Trigger Level 1. This Skill grants you an amount of access per Skill level to a Psionic Submenu that allows you to take the desired spell and activate it in response to outside effects. At level 1, you can access one whole sequence within this Skill and have it ready to trigger.

Smiling, Colin opened the Submenu and looked at the prompt.

Effect

Target

When should it activate

- - -

- - -

- - -

He took a moment to look through the options it provided beyond the basic interface, and boy, was it thorough. The Effect section was literally any spell he could cast. Targets ranged from simply ‘Closest Enemy’, to ‘Closest Ally’, to ‘Perceived Strongest Enemy’. Then the ‘When Should It Activate’ section had the most numerous options. It changed whenever he put in a different spell and Target. When he put Shadow Bolt into the effect and selected the Closest Enemy Target, he got many options ranging from Mana amount in his Pool to timed activation to even a combination with both.

But Colin decided to not opt for the offensive, hoping that he could set it up to just go off as often as the spell allowed. He was not sure how to Level up the Skill, so he only hoped that doing this would level up the Skill a few times quickly.

So Colin quickly set-up the trigger and let the Woman finish her work.

Effect-

Target-

When should it activate?

Fortify Mind

Self

when the Spell Duration End

A light shined behind Colin’s eyes as the spell took effect. It was strange; it was like he became psychologically distant from the pain that he was feeling. He still felt it, but it felt like there was a layer between the needle and himself. Which was nice when the needle got a spot near a rib, he twitched, but it wasn’t as bad as he would have thought.

He just hoped he’d done the math right, and he would still have a good amount of mana whenever the spell triggered and reactivated.

Rielle walked into the room from the Alley and quickly slammed the door behind her. Hattie shouted at her, pausing for a moment to do so. “You break that door. You bought it!”

As she returned to her work, Colin could hear the telltale sounds of Golems approaching the door and slowing to a walk as they got near.

“I take it you were followed?” Colin asked.

Rielle nodded, “yeah, I think ALAN did something to some of them. They found me easier than I would have thought since they didn’t see me yesterday.”

Colin closed his eyes, “please tell me that there isn’t any Mini-boss Golems with them?”

“No, but about Six Fighter Golems, Four Rogue Golems, and two Mages,” Rielle breathed, trying to get her breathing back under control. “Another Earth Mage and a Fire Mage,” she said, as some steps stopped just before the door. She quickly backed away from the door to avoid being in the line effect when the door was broken down.

“Great!” Hattie said, standing up from where she was needling at Colin’s back. She stomped over towards the front door and opened it wide, and stepped between it and the door she didn’t want damaged.

“Hey, Copperheads! Don’t!” she said, balling her fist and raising it and rearing back to punch, an azure light arcing around her fist. “Scratch!” She threw the punch, the light coming off her fist and entering the Fighter and knocking him back and into the wall across from the entrance, the body literally disintegrating. “The Door!” Scarlett and ivory light arced from off her towards the next enemy, and she kept walking towards them.

A minute later, she returned and let out an annoyed sigh. “These things are getting hard to beat down; soon, I may have to pack up shop and leave to avoid those things ruining the shop. Ugh, Fuck. Alright, let’s get this finished so you can get out of my place.”

“Did you find it?” Colin asked as Hattie got back to work.

She nodded, “yeah, I did. There are five people in the building, and I was able to get a look inside. I think the man you described was in there. His robes are different than you described, more… intricate, I think. But I’m pretty sure I saw him before I had to start running.”

“Any information on those with him and the building?” Larry asked, currently leaning back in one of the other Tattoo chairs.

She shrugged, “two of them were wearing armored jumpsuits with backpacks and pickaxes, so I think they’re miners. The others were armored, so maybe some kind of Warrior types? I’m not sure. I didn’t get a very good look before I started running. They looked… shiny though.”

“Great, that’s why we brought him,” Colin said, sticking his thumb out to the catatonic form of Paladin. The Sumo decided to take this opportunity to jump out to use the restroom and get something to eat in the real world. “And him,” Colin turned his thumb to Larry, who waved at Rielle. His level may not be as high, but he’s very skilled.”

“Yo,” Larry said with a grin.

“So, how much long-” colin started before the needle pulled away from his back.

“Done, now get out,” she said, wiping off his back with an alcohol wipe and cleaned the tattoo. The outline of a closed eye surrounded by a circle of runes that gave him a bonus to his Stealth Skill now sat prominently in the center of his bare chest.

Colin noted that Rielle was staring at his chest as he sat up and started getting dressed again. He wondered about it for a moment but was glad to ignore it as he smiled at the future. “I’m coming,” Colin said to the air. The promise going out to the Ether as he put the rest of his gear on.

Colin pulled a little dense Skill Gem out of his pocket and sighed as he looked at the emerald. “But first, I get to convulse on the floor, oh goody.”

A few blocks down, Volkiere sneezed out of the blue as he looked through one of the Apps on his Information Tablet.