We spent several hours diving deep into my expanded interface. As much as I protested, it was actually very educational. I could highlight just about anything on my interface, and the system would provide me with an exhaustive description. We had turned the room into a sort of conference room, complete with digital whiteboards, and started cataloguing everything so that Tiff and Kaj could discuss potential advantages and pitfalls of each stat subcategory.

  We still didn’t quite know what to do with skill points, but as soon as I spent stat points, I would get more information on that.

  “Okay, let’s go over the descriptions of each sub-stat one more time, just to make sure our notes are aligned,” Tiff stood in front of one of the virtual whiteboards. She had changed her appearance and was now wearing jeans and a baggy T-shirt. Her hair was in a messy bun, and she was, for some reason, wearing a pair of glasses. She didn’t need a pen, but she had one and was staring intently at the whiteboard, chewing on the end of it.

  I was lost in her, staring like a man possessed when Kaj tapped me on the shoulder. “She is a treasure, Captain. “ Of all the wonders this galaxy may have to offer,” he nodded toward Tiff, “that is one that cannot be taken by force, cannot be won on the field of battle. This woman has given herself to you; she has devoted herself to bettering you. Do not take that for granted.”

  I nodded solemnly. I knew he was right, and no response was needed. Kaj slapped me on the shoulder and walked over to stand beside Tiff. “Okay, Captain. One last time, from the top.”

  “Okay, here goes. I’ll start with Strength.”

  Strength – G–00

  Vigor – 0/100 stat points

  Vigor represents the raw output of Physical force. Focusing on the physical application of strength. The higher your vigor stat, the more powerful and effective your physical attacks will be.

  Endurance – 0/100 stat points

  Endurance measures the capacity to sustain effort over time and directly affects stamina and fatigue. It is pointless to hit hard if you can’t sustain the attacks over time. Endurance and vigor are synergistic.

  Vitality – 0/100 stat points

  Vitality relates to overall bodily resilience, affecting health points (HP), resistance to physical effects, and the ability to regenerate from injuries.

  We had spent a long time discussing each Stat and sub-stat. I felt I needed to go all-in on strength and endurance. Kaj was less concerned with strength but emphatic about the importance of endurance. Tiff was more concerned with vitality. From her perspective, strength and endurance were pointless if I was dead. It was a point that was hard to argue with, honestly. The one thing we all agreed on was that I had to factor in the Havok Bringer armor’s abilities. I was already operating at a higher level across nearly every statistical category because of the armor’s benefits. To this point, we had not been able to fully quantify the percentage increase for each stat I received from the armor, so I had set Sherlock and Ses to work on that problem while we continued educating ourselves.

  “I feel like all three of those sub-stats are important. After hearing Tiff out, I do see the value in growing my overall health pool, though. Sherlock, Ses, you guys have any answers for us on the difference in stats with armor on and armor off?” I asked.

  Sherlock materialized in the room, his once-black, warbled figure now fully detailed. He was, of course, dressed like an 1800s Sherlock Holmes, pipe and all. “As a matter of fact, we do. Our calculations are not perfect, but from what Ses and I can gather, you will see an aproximately 25% increase in all stats when the armor is active. That is not insubstantial, Captain.”

  “25%?!” Tiff scoffed.

  “That explains your ability to combat enemies higher than your own level. Surely, that is a miscalculation, though.” Kaj argued, “That would mean that at level 50, you were able to compete with enemies up to level 62 or 63. Not only compete but match their power?”

  Sherlock huffed and crossed his arms. “There is no error, Kaj. Between my godly powers of computation and Ses’s intimate knowledge of the armor and its aetheric properties, we are certain that the increase is, at minimum, 25% to all stats. If anything, we are being conservative.”

  Ses appeared beside me. “Captain, while I agree with Sherlock’s assessment, I believe it is pertinent to point out that your health points are unaffected by the presence of the armor. I agree with Tiffantrimore’s assessment; you should invest heavily in vitality.”

  “Thanks, Ses. I hear you and will take that into consideration.”

  “Well,” Sherlock pouted, “no thanks for your other faithful ally. I guess I’ll just fuck right off then!” he said before disappearing.

  “I’ll talk to him. You three have much to do here.” Ses said before also disappearing.

  I shook my head and sighed before returning to the task at hand. “Okay, vitality needs to be a focus. Let’s finish the rest so we can decide where to allocate these stat points.

  Intelligence – G-00

  Anticipation – 0/100 stat points

  -Raw processing power. The ability to anticipate the enemy’s attacks in battle, therefore creating an opportunity to counter. The ability to anticipate large-scale battle outcomes and command your “Battle Party” on the field of battle.

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  Intellect – 0/100 stat points

  -The ability to understand complex situations and create an in-depth understanding of your surroundings and how best to use them to your advantage. key to identifying enemy weakpoints.

  Aether pool – 0/100 stat points.

  -Increases the amount of Aethric energy available. As the available pool of Aether grows, you will have access to a larger variety and more powerful Aetheric abilities. Also, your aether pool is utilized by Ses and will therefore serve the dual purpose of empowering him as the pool grows.

  The descriptions of sub-stats under intelligence were a major topic of our conversation. A few things really stood out. Firstly, under Anticipation, there were talks of large-scale battles and a battle party. Upon seeing this, I went back to my interface and pulled up the list of my active crew members. I saw all the expected names, but when I scrolled to the bottom, I saw a new prompt that simply read:

  Form Battle Party? Y/N

  When I selected yes, I was presented with a screen showing my location and the locations of my entire crew within about a 5-mile radius. Everyone who had ever been a part of the crew was listed, with Red’s name having an out-of-range tag beside it and Elvis, Jax, and Claire showing a red “deceased” beside their names. As I played around, I noticed that I could create a Battle Party chat. I could use audio or text chat, and it would immediately populate on their interfaces as I sent it. This would be useful in times we were away from the Bloodhound or didn’t have a way to set up local comms. I could also control many of the Bloodhounds’ functions from this menu, though I couldn’t test that right now since Natasha and the ship were back orbiting Earth while we were in the Tower. Kaj explained that some classes specialized in commanding military units, and he was familiar with the theory enough to ensure I got some training later on.

  So, in summary, Anticipation was great, but we didn’t plan on getting into any large-scale combat situations any time soon. I would make sure to feed stat points into it when available, but it wouldn’t be a primary concern right now. Intellect, on the other hand, was going to be very important. Being able to identify enemy weak points would be huge in combat, not to mention gaining a more in-depth analysis of my surroundings. So we had identified vitality and intellect as the two frontrunners for stat point dumps so far.

  “Are we all still aligned that Vitality is the most important sub-stat for Intelligence?” I asked. Kaj and Tiff both nodded as Tiff put a green check mark beside Vitality on the digital whiteboard. “Okay, on to Dexterity then.”

  Dexterity – G-00

  Agility – 0/100 stat points

  -improves whole body movement, balance, and evasion. improves dodging, parrying, blocking, in-flight maneuverability, acrobatics, and evasion initiative.

  Precision – 0/100 stat points

  -improves hand/eye coordination. improves targeting systems and the user’s ability to target without technological enhancements. Greatly affects the users’ ranged weapons ability as well as melee weapons abilities.

  Dodge -0/100 stat points

  -The ability to recognize and evade attacks, both melee and some long-range weapons. Synergizes greatly with Defense and Anticipation,

  I loved all of these. I felt it was important to be agile, precise with my weapons, and able to dodge incoming attacks. Tiff and Kaj both agreed that, although these would not be primary points dump buckets, they would still receive points consistently.

  Defense – G-00

  Block – 0/100 stat points

  -improves the user’s ability to use their body, weapons, shields, or skills to block or nullify an incoming attack, sometimes creating an opening for a counterattack. Synergizes with Anticipation and Dodge.

  Damage Absorption – 0/100 stat points

  -Creates a temporary shield that functions as a separate, disposable health bar, which must be depleted before the user’s actual HP starts to drop. Synergizes with Aether Pool.

  Resistance – 0/100 stat points

  -Improves the user’s ability to withstand a variety of attacks, i.e., fire, plasma, electricity, and Aetheric attacks.

  Again, as a group, we discussed the pros and cons of each sub-stat. Tiff and Kaj were adamant that I was taking far too many hits and that both Damage Absorption and Block needed to be primary focuses. I couldn’t argue. Resistance would still receive points, but fewer than the other two sub-stats. So once again, Tiff put a green check beside Block and Damage Absorption on the whiteboard.

  “Why does it keep talking about different sub-stats synergizing with each other?” I asked curiously.

  “I am not really sure,” Tiff replied

  “Once again, I come to the rescue with vital information,” Sherlock quipped while reappearing beside me. He walked to the digital whiteboard and highlighted damage absorption. “If you notice, damage absorption says that it synergizes with Aether pool. Ses and I have discussed this at length, and if our theory is correct, you will see an increase in stat points in the synergistic sub-stat, equal to roughly ten percent of the stat points allocated into the primary sub-stat. This should be taken into consideration when selecting which sub-stat will receive points.”

  Tiff scoffed again. “This is ridiculously complex and overpowered. You can grow multiple sub-stats at one time. How is this even possible?”

  “Tiffantrimore, you must remember that the Captain’s armor and connection to the Aetheric properties I possess allow him to tap into levels of power that are currently incalculable.” Ses clarified.

  “So, do we have any idea how strong he can get?” Tiff asked.

  “No, we do not currently have an estimate of the Captain’s potential power level. We do know that, based on his current progress, we should be more concerned with how fast he can get stronger.”

  “I feel like I’m getting stronger pretty fast.” I chimed in. “I mean, it’s been less than a year, and I’ve already achieved my second power grade.”

  Ses turned to face me. “This is true, Captain. I fear, however, that you underestimate the power and number of enemies in this galaxy. There are more Scandare out there, and we are likely to meet some of them soon. We will learn soon exactly how far you have left to go to be considered a real threat. I fear that the Tower of Power will only allow you to progress so far. If the Randi AI has proven anything to this point, it is that he doesn’t appreciate being removed from the equation, and you have done exactly that.”

  “Yeah? Well, fuck that guy. He’s an asshole.” I shrugged.

  “While that may be a fair assessment, I believe that he may be vital to your continued advancement. At a minimum, he is still currently vital to the improvement of the crew.”

  “What exactly are you saying, Ses?” Tiff asked.

  “I believe it is time that we pay Randi a visit. I believe he is no friend to the True Havokium. There is a well-known saying from your Earth history, The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I beleive it is time to explore the possibility of making Randi our friend.”

  “Well…fuck.” I sighed and ran my hands through my hair in frustration. “You really know how to put a damper on a good day, Ses.” I groaned frustratedly. “Fuuuuckin Randi, of all the assholes in the galaxy I gotta try to get on this assholes good side.”