Chapter Twenty-two

 

“What do you mean I have to wait for them?! They attacked me!” Michael shouted at Ria.

 

“No, we stopped you from possibly setting off traps or making other wolves attack,” Trish said flatly.

 

Michael grimaced. “They’re here. Give me my points to spend.”

 

Ria glared at Michael. “You have accrued a total of one hundred and five points.”

 

“Yes, but I get part of the group, too!” Michael snapped.

 

“No,” Stern said. “You agreed to the terms before we came in. In the end, you were more of a detriment than a help. However, you don’t have enough for even a lesser rune, so Ria, give him twenty from my own personal total.”

 

Michael ground his teeth together, but nodded tightly. “Of course. Fine. A fire rune.” The rune appeared on the counter and Michael snatched it up. “Finally.”

 

The others stepped aside so he could make it to the door. Pawly hissed at him when he passed her, and Michael let out a small scream and bolted for the door.

 

That made Vulk laugh, and he reached over to pat Pawly. “Nicely done.”

 

Pawly chuffed.

 

“Someone who didn’t work for you,” Ria said with a long sigh. “It will happen at times. I’m glad to see you all made it out.”

 

“Open forest with wolves,” Stern told her. “It wasn’t a good match for us, and disastrous for him. Michael was afraid of being ambushed, and it just got worse as it went on.”

 

“Perks, first?” Cyra asked.

 

“Yes,” Trish told her. “Vulk, go ahead.”

 

Vulk grunted, then stepped to the counter. “Please,” he said.

 

Ria gave him a smile and her hand passed over the counter, leaving three pages behind.

 

Vulk looked them over, then pushed one of them back to Ria. “Either of these I would take. Sis, please look?”

 

Cammie nodded, smiling as she stepped up to his side. “Hmm...” she murmured as she examined the two perks. “Tight Grip would be useful later to make sure you don’t get disarmed easily. Reinforced Joints would have helped me here, but with you always in the thick of it, it might be a good idea, too. Trish, comments?”

 

“Tight Grip is useful now and later,” Trish said. “He’s a major damage dealer for us and, if he gets disarmed, it would hinder all of us.”

 

Vulk nodded, touching the page. “I choose this one.”

 

Ria smiled and Vulk grunted as the page dissolved into light and infused him. She passed her hand over the second page and it vanished. “Very well. Cammie, do you want to do yours now?”

 

“Sure,” Cammie smiled.

 

Cammie took a few minutes looking over her choices before pushing one back to Ria. “Okay... Treasure Finder or Sharp Eyes?”

 

“What do they do?” Cyra asked.

 

“Sharp Eyes will help me spot traps better. Treasure Finder is a once-a-day ability that points me at the closest hidden treasure within a hundred feet.”

 

“Damn, that’s a rare one,” Trish said. “A tough choice.”

 

“Stern? Brother?” Cammie asked.

 

“More treasure is always good,” Vulk said.

 

“He’s not wrong,” Stern agreed. “That perk is rare to see before the precious metal ranks. Sharp Eyes is common for trap finders, but very useful for them, too.”

 

“I hope to see it again, then. Rare is better,” Cammie said as she chose Treasure Finder.

 

Ria collected the remaining perk as Cammie gasped and held onto the counter. “Who’s next?”

 

“Go ahead, Cyra,” Stern said.

 

Cyra went up to the counter. She touched Cammie, stopping the dwarf from stepping back. “Help me choose?”

 

“Okay,” Cammie smiled.

 

Cyra took a few minutes to look over the perks. Cammie looked thoughtful as she did the same. “Well, this is difficult. I have Mirrored Ally again, Thick Skin, and Improved Life Sense 2.”

 

“What does the improvement do?” Trish asked before Stern could.

 

“Takes away the pulse of energy,” Cyra said.

 

“Oh, making it undetectable,” Stern said.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Tough,” Trish murmured. “The mirror would have helped with the healing we just had, but the improvement would be useful later with intelligent monsters.”

 

“And likely needs to be taken for the next improvement to be available,” Stern added.

 

“I think so,” Cyra nodded.

 

“Mirrored Ally is useful now. The other one later,” Vulk said.

 

“True,” Cyra sighed. “Okay, keeping us all healthy is my primary task.” She touched the page she wanted and it burst into golden light, infusing her with her new power.

 

Cammie helped keep her upright as the change happened. “It’s a good choice.”

 

Stern looked down at Pawly, who looked back at him. “Well, time to see if it’s another perk for you. First, though...” He undid her upgrades.

 

Pawly bumped his leg. “Meow.”

 

When Cyra was able to step back, Stern moved up to the counter. “Okay, Ria, what do I have?”

 

“A good crew and solid friends,” Ria replied with a grin. “But you’re asking about your perk choices, so these.” Her hand passed over the counter and the pages appeared.

 

Shaking his head, he gave Ria a put-upon look before giving his attention to the perks. Knife Fighter; death by a thousand cuts. When using a dagger or similar small blade, you inflict more damage than others. Shaking his head he set it aside, not likely to take it. The next perk was one he’d heard about from his father. Elemental Summons; it’s who they are. Choose an element and your summons will embody that element; gaining resistances, acquiring weaknesses, and dealing damage in line with that element. Once an element is chosen, it is permanent.

 

“Fuck,” Stern exhaled.

 

“What?” Cyra asked.

 

“Hang on,” Stern said as he turned to look over the last choice. Self-Healing; ‘tis but a scratch. Once a day, imbue yourself with life, healing minor wounds and cleansing lesser poisons.

 

“A tough choice,” Ria said.

 

“What’s the verdict?” Trish asked.

 

Stern pushed the first page back to Ria before he turned to the group. “A self-healing perk, usable once a day, that probably has later upgrades. It’s like Cyra’s Minor Life. The other option is Elemental Summons. It would let me imbue a summons with an element, giving them the damage type, resistances, and weaknesses inherent to that. Once chosen, it’s permanent.”

 

Pawly chuffed and cleaned a paw.

 

Vulk chuckled. “She thinks you’ll pick for her.”

 

“She’s not wrong,” Cyra said. “Stern has always taken the perk that upgrades her.”

 

“Stern being able to heal himself in an emergency is pretty big, though,” Cammie said.

 

“Ria was right. It’s a tough choice,” Trish said. “Either of them is good. The trouble will be if we hit a dungeon where Pawly is weak to an element.”

 

“Yes, but there are metal-imbued dungeons right now where she’d be weak,” Stern countered. “Besides, this might lead into other perks.”

 

“Hmm... there is that,” Trish agreed. “But what element would you give her?”

 

“Dark is the obvious choice,” Vulk said. “She’s a cat, after all.”

 

“Fire would look amazing with the fluff,” Cammie said. “A glorious fire mane.”

 

“What about wind?” Cyra suggested. “Maybe she’d get to fly down that path?”

 

“Does that mean she’d get to breathe underwater if she took water?” Vulk asked.

 

“No idea. We don’t even know if there will be upgrades to this perk,” Trish said.

 

Stern inhaled slowly, taking in their suggestions. Each of them had pros and cons, but no one type of dungeon outweighed the others, since the dungeons were random.

 

Pawly meowed, looking up at Stern expectantly.

 

Stern returned her gaze, then snorted. “Expect me to pick for you?”

 

Pawly chuffed.

 

“No way, fur-face. It’s your body,” Stern said. “Dark,” he pointed to himself. “Wind,” he pointed at Cyra. “Fire,” he said, pointing at Cammie. “Water.” Vulk blinked when Stern pointed at him. “Earth,” Stern added, motioning at Trish. “Or light,” Stern finished, pointing to Ria.

 

Pawly sat there, looking at each person in turn slowly.

 

“How smart is she?” Vulk asked.

 

“Smarter than most people,” Stern replied. “She hates having to make decisions, but something this big has to be her choice.”

 

Pawly was still sitting there, looking from one to the next, clearly thinking it over.

 

“How long are we going to give her?” Vulk asked.

 

Pawly stood up and went over to Cyra.

 

“About that long,” Stern said. Turning back toward Ria, he took the elemental perk and gasped when the perk fused with his soul.

 

“Meow.”

 

Stern exhaled as he finally stood back from the counter and turned to face Pawly. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the new perk. His arms began to move in the pattern he had just learned, his hands and fingers rotating and flexing through a complex pattern. “Wind,” was the single word that came from his lips.

 

Pawly let out a strangled yowl as she floated off the ground. Her fur was puffed up, making her look like an unexploded ball of fluff. A second later, she dropped to the ground, her fur waving in an unseen breeze.

 

“She changed,” Vulk said.

 

Pawly’s coloration had changed, as Vulk had pointed out. Her fur was no longer browns and blacks— it was now light and dark gray, reminiscent of storm clouds. Her eyes had stayed the same, matching Stern’s.

 

Stern knelt down. “You okay, Pawly?”

 

Pawly meowed softly. It had an odd whisper to it, like a breeze. Crossing the room toward him, everyone noticed how she seemed to glide across the ground as if barely touching it.

 

Stern frowned at the light smell of ozone around her. Stroking her back, he jerked when he felt the static electricity that tickled his palm. “Wow... you are different now.”

 

Pawly chuffed, headbutting his hand.

 

He went back to petting her, the snap-crackle of electricity obvious to those in the room.

 

“Did her upgrades change?” Cyra asked.

 

“Oh, right,” Stern said as he stood up and backed away a few feet. “Ready?”

 

Pawly chuffed, sitting there and waiting for him.

 

“First one is size,” Stern said and he went through the motions of the spell.

 

Pawly expanded to the tiger size of her perk.

 

“Second was tentacles,” Stern said as he did the spell.

 

Her tentacles appeared, and Pawly sniffed at them.

 

“Looks good,” Stern sighed. “Illusion,” he said as he cast the third perk.

 

Lightning crackled over Pawly’s fur instead of her shifting places. Everyone took a step back as Pawly sniffed at a tentacle, then licked it.

 

“No more illusion,” Trish said. “But…” She reached out and touched Pawly, and an unpleasant tingle ran up her arm. “Hmm... I thought maybe it would shock me.”

 

“It will, but only those who are hostile,” Stern said as understanding filled his mind. “It has a chance to stun, based on the enemy’s resistance to wind.”

 

“Oh, interesting,” Trish said.

 

“Last one was the limited teleport,” Stern said as he cast it.

 

Pawly lifted off the ground, looked down, then sneezed. Standing up, she walked toward Ria, gaining altitude as she went.

 

“She can fly?” Cyra whispered with wide eyes.

 

“Yeah,” Stern said. “Well, flying mobs will have a real problem with her now, and she can keep out of reach of others.”

 

“This will change things,” Trish said. “Pawly, are you still good with being a scout?”

 

Pawly looked back at her and chuffed.

 

“Okay. Stern might have to dismiss you a lot more, though.”

 

Pawly chuffed again, then glided down to Stern, sitting beside him.

 

Stern petted her, ignoring the sensation of electricity. “Still my best friend.”

 

Pawly purred, leaning into him.

 

“Now that all of your perks are chosen, we can move onto the dungeon points,” Ria said.

 

“All of mine go to Stern,” Cyra said quickly.

 

“Mine, as well,” Trish added.

 

“Make that three,” Cammie said.

 

Vulk coughed. “Four.”

 

Stern just blinked at them all, then snorted softly. “Well, that’s kind of intimidating, honestly.”

 

“Set that to my default,” Cyra said.

 

“Ditto,” Trish nodded.

 

“Same for me,” Cammie said.

 

Vulk hesitated, then sighed. “Fuck it. Go ahead.”

 

“A united crew is a rare thing,” Ria beamed at them. “Stern, the breakdown—”

 

Stern held up his hand and she cut off. “A breakdown separates it from a combined crew into individual again. Please, no more breakdown if it’s our crew without new members.”

 

“Of course. You have one thousand and fifteen points to spend.”

 

Stern inhaled slowly. “That’s a good amount.”

 

“There were circumstances that gave you bonuses.”

 

Cammie did a small fist pump, knowing she’d helped in that regard.

 

“I need shards for two people; Louis Adecer and Amelia Haman,” Stern told Ria.

 

“That’ll take five hundred points.”

 

“A lesser rune, please,” Stern said.

 

“Which kind?”

 

Stern paused, then looked at Cammie with his crossbow. “What do you think would be best for it? You’ll be using it occasionally, as well.”

 

Cammie looked thoughtful for a moment. “Earth.”

 

“Earth, please, Ria,” Stern said, “and three chocolates.”

 

Two shards, three chocolates, and the earth rune appeared on the counter. “Here you are. You are out of points to spend. You are working well together as a crew, which makes me happy. It means I’ll continue to see you all. Safe runs, Walkers.” She vanished as the last word left her mouth.

 

“Where do they go?” Vulk asked.

 

“Maybe the same place as Pawly?” Stern suggested. “They won’t say.”

 

“Let’s go turn in the shards, get two people started on being reborn, and celebrate our successful run,” Trish said. “We did a great job today.”

 

“Want to install it?” Stern asked Cammie, handing her the rune.

 

Cammie grinned as she pressed the rune onto the crossbow stock. “So, do I get to keep it?”

 

“We’ll see,” Stern laughed. “A chocolate for each of you.” He tossed them to the women. “Come on, let’s go turn in quests and get paid.”

 

“That I can agree to,” Vulk said as he walked out the glowing doorway.

 

“Surprised at him doing what he did,” Trish said.

 

Cammie exhaled. “He knows what he’s doing wrong and he’ll try. I think this was him trying to show that he wants to be here with the crew.”

 

“It’s a good step,” Stern said. “He was vital to our success today.”

 

“He was,” Trish agreed.

 

“But he’s not ready to tell us what bothers him?” Cyra asked gently.

 

“No, not yet. I think he will in time.”

 

“We all have things we don’t share,” Stern said. “As long as he’s there when we need him, we can give him some leeway.”

 

“Come on, we shouldn’t keep him waiting,” Trish said, heading out.