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7. Level Up!
🕑 Added 2024-02-08 00:10:37 +0000 UTCFira sat curled up in the corner of Maury’s bed when they returned, arms wrapped around her legs, her head resting on her knees, eyes shut, quietly snoring. Levi glanced at her, then shook his head and let the plastic sheeting quietly fall closed.
“Sleeping?” Maury asked.
Levi nodded.
“Poor thing. She’s been through a lot. I bet she’s exhausted.” Maury yawned, then clunked off toward the back of the cave. She paused at the table to grab the engine off it, then pressed a button, and the table whirred upright, tipping the rest of the remains toward an industrial-grade garbage disposal. A horrible grinding, crunching noise echoed through the cave, growing louder, then quieter, tailing off as the last of it passed through the blades. “I’m gonna get some more work in before I turn in for the night. Do whatever you gotta do, but don’t bother me.”
Levi saluted.
Lifting her arm, she pushed her way through the sheeting at the end of the cave. The plastic crinkled as it fell behind Maury, and she faded away behind layer after layer of translucent sheeting.
With a sigh, Levi sat. He put his back to the wall and took a deep breath. For the first time in a long time, he called up his status screen.
Level: N/A
ATK: 1
DEF: 1
PWR: 0
PDEF: 0
SPD: 1
EXP: 0 | To next level: 0
AP: 0 | To next AP: 0
He lifted the syringe to his stomach and pinched his skin, then injected it. Burning sensation filled his gut. He hissed, curling up around the spot. The syringe fell out of his hands.
Ability Points: +4
Gritting his teeth, he popped the black case open. Two more syringes laid inside, nestled in foam cutouts. A little dust coated the glass, but the red and gold fluids within remained bright. With practiced motions, he injected them one after another, then tossed the syringes into the black case and clenched his hands, waiting for the pain to hit.
Sharp pain dug under his skin, like thorns biting into his organs. His stomach twisted. He tilted his head back and swallowed, fighting the urge to vomit. Don’t puke. Don’t puke.
AP: +3
AP: +4
AP: 11
Levi uncurled. He took a deep breath and shook his head. “Never gets better.”
“Levi?”
Plastic crinkled. Levi flicked the case shut and laid his hand casually on the third syringe, hiding it from sight. “What?”
Fira peered out from the bedroom. “What was that grinding sound?”
“Maury had to garbage-disposal the kitchen sink. Don’t worry about it.”
She glanced at the now-empty table and swallowed. Without a word, she nodded.
“Hey, just out of curiosity.” Levi made a show of clearing off the floor beside him and casually palmed the empty syringe, sliding it to the other side of him and out of sight. “What’s your stat sheet look like?”
“Why do you want to know?”
Levi spread his hands, smiling. “Come on, we’re partners! We’re going to work together. How am I supposed to fight alongside you if I don’t even know your stats?”
She crossed her arms. “I’m a PWR build. As you might expect. PWR and SPD.”
“Reasonable, reasonable.” Flight, fire, those are both powers. Putting points in those to make them stronger only makes sense. Speed is a good stat for a flier, plus, with fire, she’s basically set up to be a glass cannon. Might as well lean into it.
He looked up at Fira. “Numbers-wise, where are you? Tens? Hundreds?”
“Hundreds—do you think I’m an A-lister? Tens. Low tens,” Fira said firmly.
“Tracks. Jet Engine did capture you, after all. Oh, by the way, I’m willing to bet that idiot only has thirty points in SPD. That blogger is out of his mind, giving him a hundred. Typical fanboy, artificially inflating the numbers of his favorites, am I right?” He raised his brows at Fira.
Fira squinted at him. “What?”
He waved his hand. “Nothing, nothing. Ignore me. As for levels, I’m guessing you’re about level five?”
Fira nodded. “I only awakened my ability recently, about three years ago. I haven’t had a long time to grow.”
“Makes sense. Well, it’s uncommon to awaken before eighteen. Your brother is doubly rare, huh?”
Fira’s expression twisted. For just a moment, something dark flickered through, but before Levi could fully identify it, she hid it once more. She nodded. “Everyone’s very proud of him.”
Levi put a hand on his chin, curious. Interesting. Wonder what that’s about. Is our devoted searcher jelly of her little brother?
She nodded toward him. “What about you?”
Levi frowned at her. “What, you think I’m going to tell you my stats? Are you insane?”
Fira rolled her eyes and vanished back behind the curtain. “I don’t know what I expected.”
Turning back to his stats, he considered his options. I don’t have any activatable skills. No point in putting points in PWR for me. If Fira is a PWR/SPD build, then I have two options: try to run the opposite to fill in the gaps in our typing, or follow her lead and have a glaring weakness, but be able to keep up with her SPD.
Given my personal style of fighting? I’m more for putting points in SPD. Plus, it’s not as if I need defenses. I’ll do this:
ATK: 1 +6
SPD: 1 +5
Which leaves my stats looking like this:
ATK: 7
DEF: 1
PWR: 0
PDEF: 0
SPD: 6
He shrugged. Not the most outstanding stats, but better than nothing.
Besides, it’s not like these stat picks are permanent.
Not for me, anyways.
He rolled onto his toes, preparing to stand, and immediately froze as his vision wobbled and his hands went numb. Levi breathed evenly, waiting. Come on. The side effects are shit, but they don’t last long. Just a little more…
Sensation returned to his hands. His vision normalized. A hand on the wall, he pushed to his feet and gathered up the syringes, dumping them in a trash can to the side. He plugged his phone in, and the red “no battery” light popped up. Pleased, he hummed to himself as he puttered around, checking everything was in place before he finally slid back down the wall.
Levi yawned and rested his head back against the wall. He shifted a little, getting comfortable. His eyes closed, and sleep instantly gripped him.
Levi. Hey, Levi!
You’ll look after her, won’t you?
For me.
