Chapter 34 – Upgrade (Patreon)

Now that he had a moment to breathe, Luke spent his free points between Wisdom, Willpower, and Endurance. The first two because his new echo ability relied heavily on them, and the latter because he was constantly scraping the bottom of his stamina.

With his free points set, Luke took another look at his status and was pleased by his recent gains.

Even though he was still trapped underground, his power was growing by leaps and bounds. He wasn’t stagnating at all. Hopefully, he was outpacing the competition.

Status

Name: Luke Solus

Race: Human (G-Grade - Level 8)

Class: Thief (Level 17)

Profession: N/A

Vital Resources

Health Points (HP): 409/650

Mana Points (MP): 178/310

Stamina Points (SP): 31/310

Stats

Strength: 77

Dexterity: 118 (+2)

Endurance: 31

Fortitude: 28 (+2)

Vitality: 65

Perception: 51

Willpower: 31

Wisdom: 31

Arcane: 23

Fate: 46

Free Points: 0

His Dexterity hadn’t only hit 100 points, but surpassed it easily. His Strength wasn’t too far behind either. Perhaps if he could get some proper rest, he might be able to feel the full extent of his abilities with a refreshed state of mind.

Following his own earlier advice, Luke looked over the Company Shop again. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been restocked. Then again, if it did, it was probably instantly bought out again.

Too bad the items offered weren’t exclusively set aside per person. Maybe if the Company Shop stayed available past the assessment test, it would be. That, or the quantities would be far greater.

Since this was the multiverse, it stood to reason that might be the case.

With 674 LP to spend, Luke could afford some of the things he hadn’t been able to get before. Unfortunately, the items that had been nearly sold out were now sold out in truth.

The only things that remained in stock that were limited were the antidotes and the super expensive crystal. Luke bought 2 of the antidotes just in case his resistances failed him, bringing him down to 544 LP.

The [Bastion Crystal (Unique)] had three left, which wasn’t too surprising. Luke guessed that since his LP shot up suddenly that others’ would have as well.

Out of the entire shop, that left only 10 items he could actually buy. The antidotes were going fast. Only a few hours had passed since the Shop first opened up and they were now in the single digits.

There were identification scrolls which he didn’t feel particularly compelled to buy. If he needed them, he would buy them when that need arose. No reason to carry them around.

That left the other items that were inexhaustible. The [Ration Box (Common)] sounded pretty nice. Definitely better than eating more half-rotten meat. Drinking clean water sounded incredibly appealing at the moment, too.

Despite the cost, Luke felt confident he could earn back the LP. A full belly that didn’t include gross meat was tempting. However, he found that he wasn’t that hungry.

Probably the adrenaline.

Since the ration box would always be there, Luke opted instead for the [Item Upgrade Ticket (Epic)].

[Item Upgrade Ticket (Epic)]

(Consumable)

A consumable ticket that increases the rarity by one level of any item, Epic rarity or lower. Onetime use.

Price: 400LP

A purple ticket appeared in front of his face and drifted down. Luke snatched the ticket deftly out of the air with the ease of a Shaolin monk and examined it.

There was written something on it that at first seemed to be an alien language before the gold-foil letters rearranged themselves into something familiar.

Luke glanced behind him at the Archer. Apparently, Glenn didn’t possess the same sort of self-control Luke did. A [Ration Box] materialized in his hands.

The ticket did what it said, so Luke stopped and pressed the ticket to the least filthy spot on his tattered and stained cloak.

The effect was immediate and very satisfying.

Item: [Scout Cloak (Uncommon)]

(Armor)

A loose fitting, black leather cloak with a deep hood. Designed to keep the elements off the wearer. Lined with improved sealing pockets to store various items without fear of them getting damaged.

Enchantments: Improves your resistance to environmental damage and further muffles the sound of your movements. When damaged, self-repairs.

Luke watched as the cloak rippled with a shimmer of magic. It looked brand new. Not a fleck of dirt on it. It felt warm and comfortable too, and solid enough to resist some serious damage.

Unfortunately, his once-white dress shirt was thoroughly soiled and pressed right against the inside of his cloak. Not that it mattered with its sealing pockets, a new feature he was more than happy to have.

“Woah, what did you just do?” Glenn asked.

“Upgraded my cloak.”

“But that costs over 400 points!”

“I saved up,” Luke lied.

“Still… that’s more than all the points I had since the very beginning of this. I’m just glad that I’m getting 8 points a kill now.”

Luke didn’t want to rub it in Glenn’s face, but he also felt that he should offer him a little hope for the future. “It doubles,” Luke told him. “I’ve worked out that the amount of points you receive doubles every 5 levels. It might not hold forever, but so far that’s been the case.”

Glenn was silent for a while, muttering under his breath as he did the math. “And you said you’ve been fighting level 25 monsters?”

“Yep.”

“But that would mean you’re getting 64 points per kill!”

Luke shrugged. “And?”

“But that’s more than 8 times what I’m getting!”

“All the more reason for you to get stronger faster.” Luke looked over his shoulder at him. “Last I checked, I wasn’t even in the top 300 on the leaderboard. There are plenty of people with way more points.”

Glenn stared at his filthy sneakers, a look of troubled concentration on his face. “I think I need to re-evaluate some things,” he said quietly.

There was a stretch of silence as they came to a junction in the tunnel that opened out over a chasm deep below filled with a darkness even Luke’s eyes couldn’t pierce.

Somebody had placed planks down from one side to the other, but Luke wasn’t about to trust them. He gathered up his strength and leapt to the other side with shocking ease.

He turned back to watch Glenn balance his way across the planks. When he looked at Luke, he said, “I’m not nearly as confident in my abilities as you.”

“I’ve nearly died,” Luke told him. “A lot. You get pretty cozy with your limitations.”

Glenn kept to himself for a while after that. They headed down tunnels, seemingly at random, every time trying to pick the one that seemed to be going down.

Luke was utterly and hopelessly lost. He had no idea where this would lead, and the hopes of coming out into the forest were growing vanishingly thin by the hour.

The question from Glenn he was dreading ever since they had called a temporary truce, finally came out in a rush. “You didn’t have to kill them. They had families. Friends. People who cared about them. This isn’t a game.”

Luke stopped so fast that Glenn nearly ran into his back. He leaped away and drew his bow, glancing around. “What is it? What do you see?”

Though he hadn’t told Glenn anything about his bloodline–or even that he had one, it didn’t seem prudent to go waving that info about–the Archer wasn’t stupid. He could tell that Luke was able to see even better than him in the dark.

“I told you, Glenn, I didn’t kill them because I wanted to,” Luke said. “I killed them because it was me or them. And if you’re going to give me some lame excuse, save it. If I didn’t kill them, they would have gotten me, and maybe that morbid algebra works out for you. One guy’s life against three–”

“Three?”

“–but I’m rather attached to my life,” Luke continued. “It’s the only one I’ve got, and I’m determined not to mess it up this time. Marcy has all of you wrapped around her little finger. Even Henry. When it became obvious I wasn’t as pliable as she remembered, she tried to get rid of me.”

Luke ground his teeth together, then forced his jaw to relax. “And it worked,” he admitted bitterly. “Doesn’t matter that I didn’t die. Everybody thinks I’m a murderer, right?”

“Pretty much.”

“So she wins. Again. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to roll over and die just because it would make life easier for the people who tried to kill me. So, sure, I killed three of your people. They came at me and they lost. Blame it on them if you want somebody to fault. If they had more guys or had been better equipped, maybe they wouldn’t have died. I’m done caring.”

“But they were–”

“Murderers,” Luke snapped, finishing for him. “They weren’t the first I met and they won’t be the last. You better get used to people killing each other. The smart and psychotic ones have already figured out that this isn’t Earth. No rules here but the rule of power.”

“How can you be so blase about it?” Glenn asked, horrified.

“How can you be so naïve?” Luke countered.

“I’m not! I’m just not callous.” Glenn frowned, donning that troubled look again. “I don’t know the truth, all right? All I have is your word against theirs!”

“So you can never trust me,” Luke said flatly. “Because somebody told you that I was a murderer first, and that’s that.”

When Luke had wanted an ally, he didn’t imagine it’d be an Archer like Glenn that was more likely to turn on him whenever he felt like it.

“It’s not that simple, Luke. But you’re not doing yourself any favors by acting like killing three men, no matter the circumstances, is no more noteworthy than taking out the garbage.”

“Do what you want,” Luke said, shaking his head. He was done trying to clear his name. “I’m just trying to survive.”

“We all are.”

Luke chuckled darkly and continued walking. “Sure, if that’s what you call clinging to the past and acting like everything’s okay while the people who are willing to lie, cheat, steal, and kill abuse that naivety for their own ends.”

He turned suddenly on Glenn, who leaned back and clutched his bow tightly.

“You know what? That’s exactly how the world used to be. So why not here too?” Luke snarled. “You want to believe their lies so badly? Go on then, Glenn. I won’t stop you.”

Even though I could kill you before you knew what was happening, Luke thought savagely to himself. A part of his mind he couldn’t shut off entirely was judging angles and distances.

He could get to Glenn before he had time to nock his first arrow. A quick decisive cut would impair him, then the next would finish him.

It would be so much easier.

A portion of his LP, admittedly not very much, would be Luke’s. Likely, half of his Fate too would also belong to Luke. He doubted Glenn was a murderer. At least, not as the System defined them.

He had been close enough to him for hours now and hadn’t felt that sensation of vileness that he got from Marcy’s goons.

Most importantly, he would be ridding himself of a potential enemy that may or may not turn on him at any moment. Even if he didn’t, he could return to Marcy and Henry and tell them everything.

There was no telling what they could learn from Glenn.

Why not kill Glenn? His usefulness was past. He and all the others already see me as a monster, so why not be what they think I am?

An item pulsed with mana inside of Luke’s cloak. He didn’t bother to listen to whatever Glenn had to say. Luke reached inside and pulled out his [Dungeon Key]. The silvery key shimmered with green energy.

It pulsed again, the mana forming into a translucent arrow, directing him towards something. Luke could figure it out easily enough.

The key had found a dungeon.

Luke put the brakes on his dark spiraling thoughts, looked at Glenn once more, then turned in the direction the key offered. The tunnel opened up into a dilapidated room half-caved in.

As he climbed up a pile of brick and rubble to a roughly hollowed out passage, he didn’t hear the sound of Glenn’s sneakers following him.

His loss.