There was no argument on our next course of action: we would trust the word of the paladin ghost from Earth and head straight for the river and rescue Constantine. Sonja and Stephen knew the way because it was where they’d found my broken body, so I let them take the lead.

We journeyed through several dark corridors and blessedly empty rooms for a long time. We mostly walked in silence, each of us pondering the thought that previous adventurers from Earth had been here and that their souls had become trapped in urns where they were now some ghastly pantry for Angelus.

It had been the first time Sonja and Stephen heard Angelus, too, so I was pretty sure they were thinking the same thing I was: How in hell were we supposed to defeat a god?

His voice alone nearly destroyed the room and incinerated us. Angelus was a god-rank boss, and Barney told us that we—players who could barely defeat baby tunnel worms—had to kill him to leave the dungeon and return home. Unless we somehow leveled up to mythic Ranks before we met him, I didn’t see how we could avoid ending up in those urns.

I looked at my forearm as we walked and the glowing green “6” next to my Character Stats section. I had put off allocating my character points for too long. I knew that I had hesitated because I didn’t want to screw it up. It was Chris Able’s caution overriding Mace’s “just get it done” instincts. If it was going to take mythic characters to defeat Angelus, then I had to start somewhere.

I tapped the green “6,” and the following pop-up greeted me:

You have (6) Character Points to allocate. Do you want to allocate them now?

Yes, now / No, later

I tapped “Yes, now.” The pop-up disappeared, and my Character Stats returned, but all the base numbers in parentheses glowed green now.

Rank: Apprentice

Strength: (2) 4

Toughness: (1) 2

Dexterity: (1) 3

Intelligence: (1)

Charisma: (1)

Based on my experience with tabletop RPGs, I knew that a high Strength was the most important character stat for a paladin. I already had a “2” base Strength, which was modified to “4” when I attacked with my +2 Ancestral Longsword. It was my highest stat, so I figured I was okay there at my current Rank.

I also knew that Charisma was important to paladins for spell casting. But was it also true in The Tomb? If so, I’d certainly needed to bump up my Charisma, given that I was the only healer in the party with Constantine gone. But my natural caution made me hesitate.

“Hey, Stephen,” I said in a quiet voice. We were walking through a dark corridor, and I didn’t want to go shouting our location to every wandering monster.

“What?” he said quietly, without turning around.

“You’re a wizard, so your Magic Points and Spells are based on your Intelligence score, right?”

“Duh.”

I ignored his sarcasm and said, “So with me being a paladin, my magic should be Charisma-based.”

“Is that a question or statement?”

“Just help me, would you,” I growled louder than I wanted to. Sonja turned to frown at me, so I said in a quieter voice, “I’m allocating my character points, and I don’t want to screw this up.”

“I’m not a paladin, so I have no idea,” he said. “But…since The Tomb’s rules seem like every other tabletop RPG we’ve played, then I’d say yes. Whatever you can do to bump up your magical stats would be good. You’re our only healer right now.”

“Duh,” I replied. That got an amused sniff from Sonja.

“Just do it quietly from now on,” Stephen whispered as he scanned the corridor. “Last time through here, we were ambushed by bats with tentacles coming out of their mouths.”

I grimaced briefly at the thought of bats with octopus heads and then tapped the green glowing “1” next to Charisma, and it bumped up to “2”.

Your base Charisma is now (2).

Charisma helps your persuasiveness in dealing with other characters and creatures, and it is the basis for the Ancestral Paladin’s Magic Points.

Congratulations! You now have (5) Magic Points.

Well, good, I thought. Charisma is my magical basis. And with that bump up to five Magic Points, it seemed I got two Magic Points per Charisma point. That answered one question.

Below that introduction, I read the following:

Congratulations! You have the following new skill:

Diplomacy: Use your Diplomacy skill when acting in good faith to display proper tact and etiquette while conversing with other characters and creatures. +25% to your persuasion and negotiation checks.

I figured, if anything, that would help me talk to Stephen without starting a fight every damned time.

Congratulations! The following spells are enhanced:

Enhanced Healing Touch: You can tap your Ancestral blood to heal yourself or another living creature you can touch. Heal 15% of the creature's total Hit Points. Costs 2 Magic Points.

Enhanced Ancestral Smite: You can tap your Ancestral blood to deal additional damage to creatures you hit. Add 15% extra damage to a single hit. Costs 1 Magic Point.

Do you wish to continue allocating Character Points?

Yes, now / No, later

Well, not overwhelming, but not bad after allocating just one point to Charisma. I wondered what I’d get if I put all six points into it. I remembered many cool spells that paladins got in other RPGs. I wondered if I’d get to choose those spells or if The Tomb just assigned them to me.

I thought about asking Stephen if he got to pick his spells, but Mace’s stubbornness won out on that question. He wanted to figure this stuff out on his own, or else Stephen and Sonja would never truly respect him. If I made a mistake, I’d have to deal with it and learn from it. That was how things went in real life, right?

I tapped “Yes, now” and then tapped my Charisma stat again to add another point.

The same intro paragraph popped up, but this time it said my base Charisma was now “3.” I was a bit disappointed to see that I had gained no new skills or enhancements to my existing spells, but I did gain a new spell:

Ancestral Shield: You can tap into your Ancestral blood to form a shield of divine energy around you or a creature of your choice within 5 feet. The shield blocks 15% of the damage you or the creature would have taken from an attack. You also have a 30% chance of resisting the effects of any spell directed at you while the shield is in place. The spell lasts for 10 minutes or until it is dispelled. Costs 1 Magic Point.

Okay, so my “3” Charisma gave me some decent magic. I now had enhanced healing abilities, offensive punch, and defensive shielding. I had three more Character Points to allocate, and I figured I’d better bump up my Hit Points. My RPG experience told me Toughness would be the way to do that, so I tapped the “1” next to Toughness, and my base score went up to “2”.

Your base Toughness is now (2). With your Leather Armor (+1 TGH), your modified Toughness is now (3).

Toughness measures your overall health and your ability to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort. It serves as the basis for your Hit Points.

Congratulations! You now have (16) Hit Points.

So one Character Point in Toughness gave me four Hit Points. It didn’t seem like much, but I’d take what I could get.

That left me with two more Character Points to allocate. I scanned the stats on my forearm:

Rank: Apprentice

Strength: (2) 4

Toughness: (2) 3

Dexterity: (1) 3

Intelligence: (1)

Charisma: (3)

Bumping up my Dexterity seemed like a good bet, as it was always good to be hard to hit. I tapped the base “1” and watched it go up to “2,” giving me a modified Dexterity of “4.” No new skills or spells appeared, so I hoped it just gave me a boost in whatever cosmic combat rolling system The Tomb used to determine hits.

Nowhere on my forearm did I see how many Experience Points I had accumulated, so I had no idea how close I was to ranking up. The only indicator I had was the “Rank: Apprentice” label, which was a dark green. And what exactly would ranking up give me? Would I get more spells, skills, or Character Points to allocate? I figured I would, but in what quantities and combinations? My “3” Charisma hadn’t given me any new skills or enhancements, but I got a new spell.

What if I needed all my stats at a certain level to go up a Rank? What if I bumped my Intelligence up to “2”? Would all Character Stats at the same score increase my Rank?

Mace’s stubbornness still kept me from asking for advice from Sonja and Stephen. Besides, they both seemed busy trying to stay quiet through this stretch of corridors and oddly shaped rooms.

Stop second-guessing yourself and make a decision! I couldn’t tell if that was Mace’s voice or my own, but it was good advice.

I tapped the “1” next to Intelligence, and it went up to “2.”

Your base Intelligence is now (2).

Intelligence determines your ability to reason through a problem, come up with a solution, and remember facts. It also determines how perceptive you are to the world around you.

And with that increase, the “Rank: Apprentice” label flashed a bright green. Ah-ha! I thought. After a couple of flashes, the following pop-up appeared:

Congratulations! All of your base Character Stats are now (2) or above. You have unlocked the test you must pass to move from “Apprentice” to “Adept.” You have attained powerful skills and spells, but you must demonstrate that you know how to use them effectively.

Do you wish to take your test now?

Yes, now / No, later