Author's Note:

Took me a heck of a long time to do this. Started it at 10 am, finished just now. Enjoy, it has a lot of, lot of, lot of setups for future things. Hope you can catch them.

Chapter 36: Over Nine-Thousand

It wasn’t the blinking light of notifications that woke Cass up. It was the pulsing, throbbing migraine of a kind he’d never felt before. The hard bed beneath him barely shifted as Cass groaned and tried to roll. Unfortunately, his body refused to accede to his demands.

The very last thing he’d remembered was exhaustingly creating the Awaken Quest for Joran, then, nothing. There’d been a scream of run, Gary bodily picking him up, and Cass forcing him to go back to the Defender so he could try one last thing to help him out. There was just too much information to parse out for how tired he was.

He heard Adya speak before he noticed the spike in her emotions toward him. “You’re awake.”

“Mmhmm,” Was all he got out as he really wanted to curl up and die. Again, his body did not accede to his demand.

“Are you okay? Do you need any water?”

He felt a glass touch his hand, but couldn’t maneuver anything. Even opening his mouth was painful as the tendons in his jaw felt locked tight, though he managed. A small amount of water dribbled in as he pushed his parched throat to swallow, then the glass went away.

“You almost died down there, Cass. Hell, we all almost did. I brought Johan up here, but he said you just needed rest and that what was going on with you wasn’t something that could be healed. You can’t push yourself so hard.”

The worry she radiated sharpened into something worse. Then, it flitted between fury and love fast enough that it felt like a switch being rapidly turned on and off. The back and forth was so strong that he felt himself get caught up in it, too weak to fight it off.

A cool hand gently stroked his hair, often at odds with her emotions, “Alan came by. Joran is fine, by the way. Johan looked at him and said he’d heal okay. Well, he’ll need a new set of armor, but he survived the Rake. It got away, but so did we, so I count that as a win. Am I rambling? Is this what rambling is?”

Cass stayed quiet, eyes closed, trying to keep the migraine from stealing the joy he felt at hearing her voice. He opened his mouth again so another dribble could come in. 

“You’re studying my emotions right now, aren’t you? So strange. At first, I was utterly terrified that you’d find out how I felt. But then, I saw it as a good thing. Because finding the words to express how I feel is often too hard for me, let alone just knowing what they are. But then, here comes the System, taking away that problem only to leave a whole new one in its place. Truth contracts can be worked with. What we have, you, me, and Bella…well. That’s something else.”

She dribbled some more liquid in, though this one tasted faintly of chicken. Then the sharp edge of fury rode her emotions like a wave.

“Alan wants us to go back in, but this time, with a lot more people. It’s like he didn’t care what happened to us, even though Joran told him what we did in there. I tried to get him not to, but he kept blathering on about how he owed Alan and what he’d done for humanity, not that he gave any particulars there. Freakin tight-lip.” 

Feeling a little better, Cass had one coherent thought between migraine pulses. 

This is the longest I’ve ever heard you talk, Adya.

“It’s just dangerous to take you in there, Cass,” She continued. “And yet, how do I know that now that Alan knows about what you can do with your Quests, he won’t hesitate to send you in again and again. You’re an Admin-i-stra-tor!”

The prickly rage in her spiked. If Cass could wince, he would.

“I can feel that you’re in a lot of pain right now Cass, and my yelling isn’t going to help you any.” Soft lips touched his forehead. “I’ll be back once I’ve calmed down, and sorry for getting so heated. Back soon.”

He briefly heard a door close, then fell asleep not long after. Several hours passed by before he woke up again. This time, it was Pellin seated on the bed. He was mumbling to himself as Cass clearly heard the clinking and scratching of metal scraping against metal before he knocked out. 

When he came to a third time, he was blessedly alone. The migraine resting in the back of his skull had cooled down to a steady pulsing beat that matched his thrumming heart. It was still painful, but not so bad that he couldn’t open his eyes anymore. With sickly strength, he drank from a glass resting on a shabby, small table beside the bed then fell back panting.

What did I do to myself? All this just from using three Hybrid Quests? If I’d managed to stay awake and had made a fourth, I bet it would’ve killed me.

One is best; two at most will be a rule until something changes.

He rested his head back against the pillow, eyes open to the ceiling as he replayed the events in the Underdark. Joran would’ve probably sacrificed himself to get them out if Awaken hadn’t taken hold of him. It’d been a shot in the dark, as the man had not sounded calm when screaming for them to run.

His voice trembled when calling out the Rake. If me lying here is the worst that happened to us, then that’s a price worth it. So, modification to the Hybrid Quest rules. One is best, unless it’s to save someone.

His eyes closed again, but it wasn’t to sleep. An awful lot had happened in just a day, and he was curious about the results. The notifications came up, and Cass had to force the System to compile all of the information; otherwise, he’d be forced to spend too long a time for his weary mind to track everything.

Delivery Quest Updates

[195 Quests have been successfully completed]

Logistics path protection has counteracted 5 quest failures

Total XP gained: 412.5

Hybrid Quest Updates

[Lure] [Burn the Slipfangs] [Awaken Joran’s Reflexes] have all been successfully completed

Total XP gained: 77

[SYSTEM NOTICE]

You have gained partial credit for slaying 148 Slipfangs:

Total XP gained: 370.00

Total Reputation gained: 370.00

Wait a second…I have experience there. There’s no wording that it’s held in reserve for Adya…she caught up, and that means I’m probably Level 15 now.

Though only seventy-seven experience for almost dying isn’t a great thing to see.

—

Your achievements have been condensed:

Bonus experience granted for achieving an outstanding victory against a cunning opponent, and implementing a counter-ambush on a numerically superior enemy:

1,920xp

Bonus experience granted for slaying six monster-types, and slaying a new monster-type outside of your home region:

1,280xp + A Choice

Tactician Achievement progress:

9/10

Combat-adjacent Achievement progress: 

10/10

Your passive ability, Battlefield Memory, has increased to (Tier 3):

Connections between past and present scenarios can now be accessed at will.

Battlefield Memory has become an active ability.

Your passive ability, Monster sense, has increased to (Tier 3):

You can now detect the ambient presence of low to mid-threat hostile entities within 300 feet.

A Choice is being offered:

You have slain Scroungers, Skreels, Palehides, Greybeards, Driftclaws, and Slipfangs.

Monsters by the thousands have died by your hand or by your direct actions.

They’ve sown their lives at the feet of your experience, creating a safer world and path for all.

Now, you must make the choice…

Will you take the experience, further empowering your Calling on the long road ahead, or will you take the Path, gaining strength in a way that is beyond a standard QuestWright’s?

Experience or a potential path…That should be an easy choice. Experience will come. I used to fret when I was level one, but I’m far beyond that now. Plus-

Cass did some quick mental math.

The Achievements basically double in experience each time I’ve moved up a step. That means if I choose experience, it should give me something like 2500 experience. But that’s a stupid choice. Paths are potential. They’re options. And if I keep getting combinations from Survivor, I’m going to need some odd ones to get the best possible merger.

Plus, if I level again, I’ll be getting close to eighteen. That’s when my contract with Adya and Bella is up for renewal. I’m sure they’ll both agree, as I know I will. She’s…my girlfriend? Something like that. But I don’t think I’m quite ready to have that conversation.

Yeah, this is an easy choice.

Cass mentally pushed the Path option on the screen. The words faded slowly, almost as if it wasn’t sure he’d made the right choice, then his experience screen came up on its own.

All of his Path choices appeared, with the single exception of Tactician, which had disappeared after choosing it. Survivor on the one side, Path of the Index on the other, and all of the QuestWright paths in the center, including the glowing purple of Cornerstone.

And way at the top was a dark gray node waiting for him. He clicked on it, unsure of what to expect.

The Path of the Versatile:
A Path for those without a combat Calling. Allows the non-combatant to select a single Path for empowerment. All nodes and abilities will go through a System-guided evolution. Any changes made cannot be undone.

Cost to unlock: 10,000xp

Ten-thousand! Holy hell! And I thought Tactician was expensive. Those two achievements gave me more experience than saving Liora did!

He quickly pulled up his status information.

Calling: Junior QuestWright: Cassio Vale

Level: 17

Experience Accrued: 11,127.84

Experience Required for Next Level: 572.16

Unspent Experience: 7177.74

Available System Reputation: 1849

Available Quests: 162/162

Total Stalwart/Tempered/Survivor Tokens: 112/5/151

And I still don’t have enough. It lets me empower a single Path, and I know the perfect one. But ten-thousand? I can’t spend all of my experience when Tempered Tactician and Builder are right out there. I have to be smart about this.

Fine, it’s fine. He mentally shook off the vertigo his mind tried to lay into him. I still have plenty of experience to spend. Too much experience, in fact.

So, more than likely, I’m way ahead of Adya again. I don’t know what’s going to happen at 18, but it’s probably a good thing I didn’t choose experience. More paths, more options. We’ll have to unlock the next Mark on Path of the Index for the transfer to start up for a third time. That also means we have another unlock coming to Profile.

His hands gripped the sheets of the bed, and he felt an odd tingle at the tips of his fingers. The same feeling he’d gotten when first unlocking Constitution.

Why is it always like this? Everything with QuestWright is either burdensome or things happen all at once. Or is it just me?

Kara said QuestWrights level in bursts. Are we all like this, or was she just talking about Hollis and me? I wish I could ask her, but she’s off in Liora, and I’m here where monsters want my flesh and my Senior is a-

A thick blanket of dread suddenly coated his body.

Oh my God, I haven’t been at work in at least a day. Mirelle is going to eat me alive. She’s going to make me into a shishkabob. She’s going to find new and creative ways to end my existence.

Cass lay there and stared at the back of his eyelids as he considered his bleak near-future.

You can only die once.

Wanting to spend a little of his hard-earned experience to feel better about everything, he purchased the remaining nodes in Cornerstone’s second ring. It cost him one-hundred and eighty experience, easily earned back by a day in the Scriptorium.

[System Notice]

New functionality has been added to the Cornerstone path.

Would you like to update all active Exponential Quests?

Yessir!

All Exponential Quests have been updated with Support, Diplomatic, and Escort options.

Days required to complete all dailies: 11

Initial Quest experience now set at 4

Cornerstone lit up with a violet light as it pulled the six minor nodes to itself. Once they settled and a pulse ran along its new border, twelve nodes appeared around its edges.

Cass was too tired to go through them all when he noticed the cost had increased to 120xp each. He fell asleep, his mind's eye trying and failing to see Adya’s happy face. Instead, he just saw Mirelle’s frozen frown.