“Okay, so our list of things to do continues to grow. First, we gotta assign these stat points. Then we need to head back to Earth, ensure the Bloodhound is prepared, and head to Boutelerien. I’ll see if Natasha can send a secure message to Red and Kindo so they will be prepared for the company.”
“Andrew, you aren’t going to like this, but I believe it would be in your best interest to loop the E.G.O in on your plans. I know you aren’t a big fan of the new Earth political structure, but all things considered, I believe they need to be informed.” Tiff said.
“I know, I know. At some point, Earth has to be able to hold its own in the politics of the galaxy. I will get with my Dad when we get back and set a meeting. This meeting with Calista will potentially affect the entire planet, and I do agree that we need to at least inform them that it is going down.” I walked over to the digital whiteboards and inspected our notes. “So, once we finish this meeting with Calista, we are gonna need to figure out if we can track down Randi. I am not confident that he is gonna want to meet with me, though.”
Sherlock appeared beside me suddenly. “Oh, I simply can’t wait to meet the Master System AI. I’m a big fan of his work!”
“You would be, asshole.” I quipped.
“Well…I never!” Sherlock replied indignantly.
“I almost died, more than once, I might add, because of that douchebags verbal command requirements on my health stims. I don’t think the two of us are gonna all of a sudden become best buds.”
“Well, not with that attitude, you aren’t,” Sherlock replied. “Maybe you should consider a modicum of respect for the being that literally maintains the intricacies of the system in the galaxy? Just a thought.”
“Where I come from, respect is earn…”
Tiff cut me off, “Please, I will wear the outfit you like later if you don’t go into the whole ‘where I come from respect is earned!’ thing.”
“Lara Croft?!” I shot her an overly excited look.
“Yes…” Tiff flushed with embarrassment, “Lara Croft.”
C.J. ran back into the room, breathing heavily, leaning over and placing his hands on his knees, and holding one hand up. “Sorry, I was just… well, I was just standing outside eavesdropping, honestly. Not important. Ugh, did you say you are gonna dress up in a sexy Lara Croft outfit for Andy?”
“Yeah, bro, that was the deal!” I squealed and bounced with excitement.
“HO-LY SHIT!” C.J. slapped me on the shoulder, “Andy, I hate you. I hate you so very, very much.” He quickly glanced back at Tiff before leaning down and whispering in my ear, “Bro, if you fuck this up for us, I will never forgive you, ne-ver.”
“Right?!” I reached up and dapped C.J. up excitedly.
“Are you both done?” Tiff stood with her hands on her hips.
“That depends?” C.J. unfortunately replied. “What are the chances Andy can FaceTime me?”
Tiff materialized her staff with a menacing crackle of electricity. “You have three seconds to leave this room, C.J.”
C.J. held his hands up defensively, “Hey now, I was just asking. No reason to get all ‘crazy hot girl’ on me!”
“Times up!” Tiff swung the staff at C.J.’s head, missing by millimeters as the electricity arced out and shocked him.
“Holy Fuck! You got a crazy one on your hands, Andy!” C.J. yelled as he ran out of the conference room.
“Deal!” I excitedly agreed before Tiff could renege on our arrangement.
Now, before you judge me, it’s important to understand the context of the situation. She was hot, and she knew me better than anyone, but mainly she was…super hot, and I wanted her to wear the Lara Croft outfit for me.
“This has all gotten very…weird,” Kaj said. “Can we please just get on with assigning these stat points?”
“Yeah, let’s get this done,” I replied
“Tiff walked over to look at our notes. “Okay, you have a total of 1430 stat points to allocate. We agreed that Vitality, Intellect, Block, and Damage Absorption would be our primary focuses. There are 12 total sub-stats, and I think a good plan would be to put 50% of your total stat points into those primary categories and spread the other 50% evenly between the remaining sub-stats.”
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Sounds like a solid plan to me,” I shrugged.
“Agreed.” Kaj said.
“Okay, we also need to understand the synergistic benefits.” Tiff chewed on the end of the pen that I still wasn't sure why she had. “Block is the most synergistic sub stat, synergizing with Anticipation and Dodge. Damage Absorption synergizes with Aether Pool. We should see some increase in those sub-stats as we allocate points to Block and Damage Absorption. So, 1430 divided by 2 is 715, and divided by 4 is 178.75. So, to make it easy, let’s put 178 points into Vitality, Intellect, and Damage Absorption and put 181 into Block.”
I pulled up my interface and selected yes on the prompt that read,
Invest Stat Points Now? Y/N
A screen popped up that showed all my available sub-stats. I highlighted Vitality, Intellect, and Damage absorption and dumped 178 points into each. I then selected Block and dumped 181 points into that sub-stat. “Okay, done with the big four,” I announced.
“Okay,” Tiff said. “Sherlock?”
“Yes, Tiffantrimore?” Sherlock appeared beside her.
“Can you create a program that feeds Andrew’s stat progression directly to this digital whiteboard?”
Sherlock paused and glitched briefly. “Done, Tiffantrimore,” he said as the whiteboard updated to reflect my stat point allocations.
“Okay, this is interesting,” Tiff said, pointing to the Aether Pool sub-stat. “Look how the synergistic sub-stats all gained points even though you didn’t manually allocate points to them. Hmm, it looks like there is a cap, though; you only get 10 additional points per level. It seems you won’t get the synergistic points until you fully cap out a stat. Randi really was doing a lot of work behind the scenes, I guess.” She turned back toward me, “Now let’s allocate the remaining 715 stat points. Of all the remaining sub-stats, I would say Vigor is the one we should put extra points into, since it synergizes with Endurance. So put 89 points into everything else and put 92 points into Vigor.”
I took a few seconds to dole out the remaining stat points before confirming it was done. The digital whiteboard was immediately updated with my newly increased sub-stats. I took a second to read it.
Name – Andrew Timothy Dawes
Race – Aetheric Scandare
Level – G-00
Class – Havok Bringer
Stats –
Strength – G–00
Vigor – 89/100 stat points
Endurance – 89/100 stat points
Vitality – 178/100 stat points
Intelligence – G-01
Anticipation – 07/100 stat points
Intellect – 78/100 stat points
Aether pool – 06/100 stat points.
Dexterity – G-00
Agility – 89/100 stat points
Precision – 89/100 stat points
Dodge -107/100 stat points
Defense – G-00
Block – 181/100 stat points
Damage absorption – 178/100 stat points
Resistance – 89/100 stat points
Current skills:
Health stim activation
Stamina Stim recovery
Current abilities :
Pulsar Blast – Planetary class ability. Upgrade status – 82%
Big Bang - Galaxy class ability. Upgrade progress – 0%
Do Over – Galaxy class ability – Upgrade progress – 0%
Shield of Solaris - Galaxy Class Ability -Upgrade Progress 0%
Aetheric infusion – Galaxy class ability – Upgrade Progress – 0%
Stat points available – 0
*Progress to new ability – 0/5 skill points
*Skill Points Available 0.
“Okay, I see how it works now. I’m a little dissapointed that I didn’t gain a level but I’m not far from it.” I said.
“This took us half a day to sit and figure out. Randi does this in mere seconds?” Kaj asked.
“Randi, is an ass but he is a supremely intelligent ass,” Tiff replied.
“So, from what I can see the sub-stats will exceed 100 points but when I achieve at least 100 stat points in all the sub-stats for a given stat, that stat will level up. I’m guessing that when I level all four of my main stats my master level will grow. Pretty similar to what we already knew, just way more complex when we have to do it on our own.” I said.
“More complex, yes,” Tiff said, “but we can know customize your path to your strengths while we sure up your weak points, Andrew. This is going to allow us to ensure that your progression is completely tailored to you. I can’t emphasize enough how amazing this is.”
“I agree with Tiffantrimore, Captain. I have never seen anything like this. Most initiates just rely on the Master System AI and we don’t think twice about the intricate nature of the system mechanics. While we do have some control over how our stats are levelled by focusing on certain categories during combat, we have nothing like this. I must say this is simply astounding.”
“I agree, this is going to be a good thing. I am going to say the part that nobody else is saying though.”
“What’s that?” Tiff asked.
“That Drake was one of the strongest enemies I’ve faced to this point and I didn’t get a single level. If I don’t find stronger enemies, levelling is going to be a real bitch moving forward.”
“Careful what you ask for, Captain.” Kaj warned. “While I agree with you, I want to ensure that you are fully prepared to face these enemies before you dive into a situation that you are not fully ready to combat. You cannot soar through the skies before your wings are fully strengthened enough to carry you, after all.”
“I hear you, Kaj. I do, but the galaxy and all the psychos out there aren’t gonna patiently wait for me to get stronger.”
“Then you will need to depend on your crew to assist you in your time of need. No more thoughts of doing this on your own, Captain.”
Tiff looked at me, concern evident on her face. “You can’t do this on your own, Andrew. We are all in this together now, for better or worse.
“I know that I hit a nerve earlier but hear me out on the possibility of facetiming me when you wear that outfit for my buddy Andy, Tiff.” C.J., for some reason decided to pursue his previous request as he walked back into the room.
“C.J. I will literally pull your eyes from the sockets before I allow you to ever see me in that outfit. Do you understand me?”
C.J. gulped loudly, “Would you be willing to wear the outfit while you are pulling my eyes out?”
I laughed out loud as Tiff lunged angrily at my best friend.
