You have covered multiple cannons with your blood!

You have successfully infused bases of multiple cannons with the essence of flame.

You have successfully infused barrels of multiple cannons with room-temperature essence!

Soul Reserves are (temporarily) depleted.

Experience point total has been reduced.

Essence-infused Fire Arrow successfully melts bronze scrap!

Bronze scrap successfully fused with multiple cannons!

Eric took a deep, satisfied breath as he went over his handiwork, happily making use of his own armaments and other tools to combat the incredible heat now coming from the base of four massive cast-iron cannons...the four he had squirreled away some time ago, now effectively forged into a device that could only have one purpose.

A purpose made all the more clear when he attached a rough approximation of rocket fins comprised of super-resilient lizard hide and bone, also fused to the base with melted bronze on all four corners of his improvised masterwork. But not before the underground stone tiles began to crack under the intense heat by the head of his device.

A heat that would have burned his face, despite the soul bound, essence-infused armor he was wearing and his growing affinity for the essence of flame, had he not covered the entirity of his exposed face and the piece of sponge taped over his mouth with his own blood, also saturated with the essence of flame, or heat, set at room temperature and no hotter. It was but the flimsiest of barriers between his flesh and the ungodly heat that the head of his device was already giving off, but it was still enough to keep his flesh from bursting into flame, and his lungs from charring to ash.

His device went into storage the moment it was completed, because even with his essence wards, he could feel the air crackling with heat like a living thing. Fortunately, he now had plenty of room to spare, having previously squirrel away so many deadly assets in the sewers that, with luck, no one would ever find but him. And for all that his flimsy, jerry-rigged sponge respirator was doing a damn fine job of keeping the heat at bay, he didn't dare breathe easy until he was hundreds of yards away, nearly back at the sewer entrance to the hotel proper.

His heart was still racing when he gave a breathless chuckle while proceeding down luxuriously upholstered corridors once more, humbled by what a deadly game he was playing, on so many levels.

Enticed by a fortune beyond his wildest dreams. Such that he would dare the grandest of heists, where a single mistake would see him out of the game for good.

He shook his head, knowing he was playing the fool just as much as he was the wily fox as he went back to the conference chamber housing his guests, smiling at the sweet scene of grandmother and great-granddaughter sleeping in each other's arms.

Rica, very much awake, was giving him the strangest look. “Eric?”

Eric swallowed, knowing he was staring way too boldly at the lithe, muscular girl looking so strikingly beautiful, wearing nothing more than a silken night shift and a spear by her side. “Yes?”

"Why is there a blood-covered sponge over your mouth? And… um… paint? No, that's blood… all over your cheeks and the goggles you're wearing?"

Eric grinned. “Best heat protection you’ll find anywhere on Earth,” he solemnly declared.

She smirked at that. “Sure it is.” Her gaze turned frank. “You’re about to do something incredibly stupid and foolhardy, aren’t you?”

“Um… maybe?”

“Any chance I can talk you out of it?”

He flushed under the intensity of her regard, inferring so much he feared he would have been clueless to, were it not for a certain title. And the fact that the System had altered not just his body but his very mind was a chilling thought. Disadvantageous or no, he sure as hell wasn’t putting points in Scholarship or Charisma, or any other stat that would directly warp his sense of self. Earning those changes by dint of his own efforts, like boosting his Willpower by forging himself in the metaphoric flames of his own ambition, was one thing. But artificially boosting his mind, such that he might one day be uncertain if he was himself or a creature of the System? That was a fate he feared perhaps above all others, save death itself.

He quickly pushed such thoughts out of mind, sensing her hurt at his furrowed brow. An expression he quickly turned to the gentle smile he had intended, before shaking his head. “Sorry, it’s not you. It’s, well,” he shrugged. “The System.”

“I get that,” she said, as soft and deceptively strong fingers squeezed his own. “It’s scary to look in the mirror and expect to see a slender girl who could barely keep on weight after giving birth way too young...and instead see your favorite character plucked right from World of Warblades 2.0.”

Eric smirked. "Isn't it? Kind of a rush, though, to boost our bodies... as long as it doesn't touch our minds."

Rica furrowed her brow. “Is that what happened? Did you boost your Scholarship, and now you have hyper-fast thoughts, and you’re afraid you’re becoming AI?”

He tilted his head thoughtfully. “It’s more like I earned a weird title, and now I’m just a little bit more… perceptive than I used to be. But is it even me that's having these insights, or something else feeding it to me? And if it's me, is it a changed me? Am I still, well, me?"

She nodded, squeezing his hand. “I used to wonder the same thing, when my body was transforming at a kind of scary pace. But I put it all out of mind. Hunting those giant rats, desperate to get strong as fast as anyone dared, always having one, but only one, partner that I truly trusted, so we could watch each other's backs. But never so many that we couldn't level up at a good pace. I was obsessed with all of that. Because if you think the neighborhood punks were bad before the apocalypse...”

Eric nodded. “I totally get that. You dared show no weakness, and did what you had to, in order to survive, even in barbarian paradise. I’m guessing the local psychopaths knew you were one bitch best not to mess with.”

She lowered her gaze. “Sure,” she softly said. “They all made it clear I was on their nice list, after I cut open the one asshole who actually tried to… well, you know. And when they instead turned their intentions on desperate collard girls who had absolutely no one to protect them, and no superhero powers at all... I did nothing.”

Eric adamantly shook his head, squeezing her shoulder. “Bullshit. You did what mattered. You protected your daughter. You showed you weren’t a total pushover with the one asshole you cut down, and as long as people left you alone, you returned the favor. Which was probably the only reason why they didn’t all team up on you at once.”

“But girls were hurt, Eric.”

“But your own girl is alive, Rica. And we both know that wouldn’t be too likely if you had played White Knight in orc central with a dozen spear chuckers absolutely loving the way things were.”

She sighed, shaking her head. “I know… but still.”

Eric didn’t overthink it, he just gathered her in his arms and gave her a hug. “It’s okay. You did what you had to. Your daughter and grandmother are safe. And soon, very soon, you can head to Freetown and start over fresh.”

She trembled in his arms, giving him a surprisingly tight squeeze.

Eric winced, realizing at that moment that she was stronger than he was.

“Will you come with us?”

He swallowed thickly. “I’m chasing two titles,” he whispered in her ear. “One of them I’ve got less than two hours to complete, and from what I was told… the window where titles are open is narrowing, and narrowing fast. In a few weeks or months, years at most, there won’t be any Earth-bound titles at all. Save for those so well-hidden that they can only be claimed by the truly elite and the very well connected. Ancient clans who have been playing the System’s game, I’m betting, for as long as Human civilization here on Earth’s even been a thing.

Eric’s gaze hardened. “For everyone else, there will be nothing left but also-ran second-place distinctions that should at least open a few classes for us, god knows we need all the class options we can get… but no unique powers or massive stat boosts.”

Rica’s eyes widened. “Fuck it all.”

Eric nodded. “Exactly.”

“No one told us anything about this!”

Eric grinned. "Somehow, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was a title you could earn with those javelins."

Her eyes twinkled at the thought. “Shit, yes. But how?”

“From what I can tell, taking out a hundred enemy combatants with a given weapon in the span of a single day or night seems to be a trigger, at least for some feats.”

Rica blinked. “Eric… just how many of my former employers have you taken out tonight?”

Eric sighed. "Over two hundred, Rica. Well over two hundred. Maybe closer to three."

She gazed back at him for long moments. “Well, fuck it all.”

Eric smirked. "Pretty much. I hope that doesn't make you hate me?"

She slowly shook her head. "Fights are common here, even between champions. But I gave an oath never to strike an orc with killing intent, except in self-defense. In return, they swore never come for me or my family. So as much as I hate them, and I really, do really hate them, once I survived the pod, they left my daughter and grandmother alone."

Her eyes flashed. "At least before tonight. And as much as I fucking hate that that psychopath of a lieutenant so willing to break that trust, he's dead, because you blasted him with a cannon you magically pulled out of your ass. For all I know, his betrayal is what twisted fate, or the System, to make sure his path crossed your own, and damn do I want whatever title boon gave you that power...”

Eric smirked at that.

"But the new chieftain kept his word, so… fuck. I'll keep mine as well."

Eric bowed his head. "Are you going to be okay if I, well, do what I need to do?"

She nodded. “That’s your choice. And I don’t blame you one bit. But earning a title that bloody?” Tender eyes gazed back in the direction of her daughter and grandmother. “I don’t think that’s a path I want to walk. At least not anymore.” She quirked a smile. “Don’t get me wrong. Leveling up through hunting game or monsters with a party I trust? Hell yes. But sentient humanoids? I kinda think, well, I’d rather pass on that.”

Eric smiled. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re making the better choice.”

She smirked. “If you really believed that...”

He laughed. “I didn’t say the most powerful choice, just the better one. Still, if this were Nova Wars, you're definitely on the side of light, and I'm about to go deep in the dark.

She winced. “Just please try to stay sane, okay? Because I’d really like it if I could see you again. When this shit is all done. But only if you’re, well...”

“The same sweet boy scout as I was an hour ago?”

She smirked. “Hardly that, but yeah. Anyway, as soon as shit’s died down, I think me and my family will be heading out with whatever refugees are heading to Freetown, assuming the elves honor that.”

Eric nodded. “Smart choice.”

Her eyes flashed. “And if I hear anything to the effect that they’re not honoring that agreement, all bets are off. I'm heading through the woods. Because what those orc assholes don't realize is that Javelineer is pretty fucking close to Primal Hunter. An Advanced class that I think is open to all Native Americans, and pretty much everyone with living ancestors who once hunted off the land, which means I can hunt, hide, and survive in any terrain almost as well as my ancestors once did. Including the forests, not just the damned sewers.”

Eric’s eyes widened. “No shit?” He flashed a great big grin. “And I’ll bet those asshole orcs had no idea.”

She smirked. “Not a clue, and the class is actually superior to their Standard Javelineer class."

Eric blinked. "But wait, how is that even possible? I mean, they've been part of the System for who knows how long, and we're just waking up to this shit over the past half-year."

Surprisingly, she shook her head. “Actually no, Eric. We’re pros at this game in ways I’m betting surpasses the fuck out of whatever force-evolved those mutated fucking pigs. Because humans have been hunting with spears not just for a couple dozen millennia, but for hundreds of thousands of years. And if you include fire-hardened ends sharpened to a killing point... we've been using these weapons for longer than you could imagine."

Eric stared at her for long moments, before shaking his head. “Wow. It sounds like we’ve been using spears before we could even talk.”

“We did. Or maybe they developed at the same time. Either way, we might not have evolved to handle 20th-century technology, but we most definitely did evolve around the spear, millions of years before we were even Homo Sapiens."

She stretched lithe, powerful limbs, gratefully accepting the ale he handed her. "That has some powerful mojo, even within the System. Fact is, we were endurance hunters racing across the planes of Africa for hundreds of thousands of years. Our slender builds and furless hide that could sweat and get rid of excess heat had us play the same role that wolves did in colder regions of the world. We literally evolved as stick-wielding endurance runners and hunters. So us starting with a singular Advanced class tying into a weapon older than mankind itself really isn’t so hard to believe. And if you’ll notice, my spears look a bit more primitive than the steel-tipped pilum used by most of the other javelineers.”

Eric looked carefully at her brace of throwing spears. “Flint tips, I see.”

She nodded. “Still sharper than surgical steel. Our ancestors hunted and killed woolly mammoths with spears just like these. Of course, they also used fire and pit traps, but still. Only problem is that normally they’re pretty brittle, and wouldn’t last for more than a few hits against metal.” She flashed a hard smile. “Good thing my class perks make up for that.”

Eric grinned. “Let me guess. Anthropology major?”

She nodded. “Accelerated student. Got in college when I was sixteen, had the time of my life, got knocked up, and had to put my academic life on hiatus when real life came knocking on my door.”

Eric winced. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It might have earned me a few raised eyebrows, a few judgmental lectures from my uncles, but at least I know what I did was as human as human gets. Until very recently, all girls had their first child around the same time I did, the world over. Only over the last century or so did the rules change so drastically, and society decided it would be a great idea to shame all of us for doing what their our ancestors have done for so many generations it would make your head spin.”

Eric nodded. “While conveniently no one says a word about the boys.”

"No, they don't," she said with an angry glare, before shaking it away with a smile. "But that shit really doesn't matter. Ria's the best thing that ever happened to me. And I was just about ready to go back to school… on a part-time basis, before the world basically ended."

Eric nodded. “If you do end up heading to Freetown blending in with everyone else, I’m hoping you can do me a favor?”

"Name it," she said, her eyes widening when one crimson crossbow after another appeared before her eyes, then four bardiches and a saber, followed by a bag of personal effects and other items Eric would rather not lose, but not so vital that it would be part of his final kit he'd slip out with if everything went seriously south.

"If you wouldn't mind bringing these with you when you head to Freetown? I'm hoping we'll be able to figure something out where we can leave a message somewhere and meet. Both to get my stuff and, well..."

“Because you owe me a date?” she said with an impish smile.

Eric flushed and grinned back. “Exactly.”

She solemnly nodded. “No problem. Hell, it just makes it all the easier to smuggle that incredible treasure you gave me, if I look like I got all my focus on other property that’s got all my attention. Gear I’ll claim I’m hoping to sell for a fresh start.”

Eric nodded in approval before manifesting his slightly altered cart with a flourish.

Rica whistled, looking genuinely impressed. “I am definitely getting an Extra Storage Space power with my next node evolution. No fucking doubt about that.”

Eric shook his head. “I wouldn’t,” he said, raising her hand at her furrowed brow. “I’m given to understand that my version is rather… unique. And when you consider how difficult it is to even unlock nodes, how few we get to anchor powers, it would be silly to waste one on what is for most people just extra space to store shit. Especially when you can buy a bag of holding for a million credits or so in Freetown." He then shrugged. "Of course, this is all shit I'm hearing secondhand, mind you, but still, it makes sense."

Rica sighed at that. “Yeah, it does make sense. Still...”

“I know. Anyway, if you wouldn’t mind handing me your gold bar for a second?”

She gazed at him for long moments before nodding, solemnly handing him the bar.

Whereupon he ducked under the cart, waving for her to crouch down with him, showing her a secret compartment that merged perfectly with the cart, at least according to his absurdly high Perception. A careful melding of zombified flesh and wood.

"You can slip your gold bar right here. Unless someone has some sort of 'detect traces of necromantic arts' spell, no one will have a chance of spotting your treasure. Of course, if you’d rather hide it on your person, I totally get that, but now at least you have options.”

Rica whistled, looking genuinely impressed. “I believe it. I can’t find it, and I saw you hide it! Show me again?”

And he did, earning a grateful smile. “Thank you, Eric. This… this makes me feel even better about our future.”

Eric grinned, helmet and breather long since removed, impulsively giving her a gentle peck on the cheek. A peck that somehow turned into a warm, passionate kiss he hadn't expected but most definitely welcomed, to the point his arms were wrapped around her, tasting her husky laughter and the promise of so much more.

Before Eric abruptly pulled away with a hoarse chuckle. “I really have to go, Rica.”

She flashed him a sad smile. “Are you sure?”

He jerked a quick nod. “But if… no, when, I see you in Freetown...”

She nodded. “I’m holding you to that date, Eric Silver.”

Eric grinned. “So am I.”

He then left, not daring to say another word, knowing if he dared stay a minute longer, he wouldn't be leaving at all. Not that night at least, and probably not the next day either.

And with less than two hours of darkness remaining…

He raced for the sewer exit, feeling an increasing sense of tension as he emerged into night’s soothing embrace once more, almost welcoming the distant shouts and cries of battle as he headed in the opposite direction of the bank, his soft gentle smile of minutes before hardening into the fierce grin of the wolf on the prowl, eager to finish one last hunt, before committing to his final deed for the night.