Chapter 291

Beggar’s Bush, Dublin, Ireland - 9:47 AM

With Ohio and Indiana already out of the competition, the MVPs from the eastern United States were almost all completely gone. If everything else stayed the same, then Michigan would have defeated Wisconsin, who would have already knocked out Illinois. Iowa and Missouri would end in a double knockout, with Arkansas, a master of traps, sitting patiently at his own obelisk.

Maine was still a problem, but he would be one for Jamie to deal with after Pennsylvania. I walked through the streets, Vague Sword back in one piece as I held its blade against my shoulder, and glanced around. Here, the shadows moved.

Now that I wasn’t on the outskirts and suburbs, the city was starting to show signs of life. The Irish people weren’t our concern, and they appeared as completely black shadows. It wasn’t the same in reverse, though. We looked normal to them aside from a golden glow that marked us as the players in the Star Spangled Shadow Invasion.

There was no way for them to communicate with us except with written words or charades, but they could hear us just fine. They had been warned that they could be harmed by us but not vice versa. It was a raw deal and many of the more paranoid people thought that meant they were being eradicated.

Lucky for them, I had already taken care of that. All the disturbingly violent potential MVPs that would have had a field day here, like serial killers and mass murderers, were already dead thanks to my early letter campaigns. There were always a few deaths from collateral damage and general stupidity, but it was much, much lower than it could have been.

I stopped in the street in front of Beggars Bush Barracks. West Virginia’s obelisk was in the middle of the square, covered in all four directions with only three entrances. It was one of the most fortified points that we could take, and I gazed inside of the broken archway leading in.

It was clear that there had been a recent battle here. The place was already torn up from previous fights and scenarios, but much of it was on fire. Heat still radiated from the scorched earth and slightly melted brick paths. The trees here were almost completely burnt to the ground, leaving behind still smoking spires of charred wood that were half my height at their tallest.

Considering the amount of bullet holes in the walls, it looked like Jamie had one hell of a fight. Fighting a Coal Baron that had access to a whole suite of pyrokinetic abilities wasn’t an easy feat even with overwhelming firepower. I walked in, immediately acclimatizing to the heat.

<<<>>>

[[Guild Chat]]

Jamie: Bang. You’d be regenerating right now if I were willing to shoot you.

<<<>>>

With a light laugh, I stopped in the middle of the square and looked around. There were only a few places that had a completely unobstructed view of the obelisk, and I checked them each out. It didn’t take long before I spotted the blond hair and sniper rifle peering out at me from behind the scope. She was perched on the fifth floor of the building. I gave her a little wave.

Jamie popped her head up and I could clearly see her roll her eyes, but she put away the gun and jumped from the window. Her armor was heavily scorched, but she was a Gold Half-Dragon; a little heat wouldn’t be a problem for her.

By the time she landed, she had switched it out for her Atlantean Launcher Maul. The modular weapon was in its harpoon gun form, and the Weapon Master scanned the area as she approached me. Even now, she was vigilant.

“Sure took your sweet time, huh, psychic boy?” Jamie complained as she walked to the obelisk and opened her menu.

“Please, you couldn’t have been here for more than five minutes before I showed up,” I replied, holding up my fist. Even though she gave me attitude, she didn’t hesitate to bump it. “Run into any trouble?”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” she answered smugly. A skill book appeared in her hand as she retrieved it from her inventory, and she passed it off to me. “For you. North Carolina dropped it.”

I Lifted it out of her hands, but didn’t grab it yet.  “Sweet, thanks. I’ve got two for you, too,” I said, summoning a skill book in each hand and offering them to her. “Pierce The Air from Mississippi’s Spell Sniper. Lets you add extra damage to projectiles and they’re less affected by wind. Best thing is, it’s a passive so you don’t have to worry about your lack of magic.”

“That’s a good acquisition,” she said, taking them both from me.

“The other one’s from Kentucky’s Swordswoman,” I started.

“Wait, like the basic class?” Jamie asked, wrinkling her nose.

“The old lady was good, she just wasn’t me,” I answered with a shrug. The Weapon Master frowned as she checked it out. “She dropped Alcoholic Accelerant. It would technically work with my Dragon’s Breath skill, but it’ll synergize better with your racial one. The more powerful the alcohol you drink before you start fire breathing, the more potent your flames.”

She whistled appreciatively. “Two good gets, then,” Jamie said as she opened the books to learn them. She paused before she could select whether or not to do so, and then shot me a glare like I had done something wrong. “Your Patron doesn’t like the book I gave you.”

“Sorry,” I replied with a smile, looking down at the skill book. There was a picture of one person attacking another, taking damage despite not being the one struck while their opponent was cleaved in half. “Yeah, I’m kind of past the whole hit points as a resource phase. Not because I don’t think it’s true, but because Sara doesn’t like it and neither does Kayla.”

“But it is a resource, though,” the Weapon Master agreed with a frown. “It keeps you from dying, but it’s a pretty abstract mechanism and you have the whole regeneration thing going on. Plus, Kayla sacrifices herr hit points to give out buffs in every fight, so what’s the difference?”

“Yeah, I know, you’re the one who taught me that,” I sighed, though it was in good nature. “People just don’t like seeing their loved ones hurt. Kayla also didn’t have Noble Sacrifice when she chastised me, though you’re right that she doesn’t have the right to do so these days. Sara, on the other hand, does.”

“Suppose so,” she allowed, finally accepting the books I gave her. I did the same, hitting Yes to learning the new skill.

<<<>>>

[[Skill]]

Dark Sacrifice

Lose 1% of your maximum hit points per second. Increase damage resistance by 20% and physical damage dealt by 30%.

Alternatively, lower your maximum hit point total at the same rate. Increase all stats by 10%, damage resistance by 40%, and physical damage dealt by 60%. The Dark Sacrifice debuff affecting your hit point pool lasts for 1 hour after ending the skill.

[[Patron Message]]

That is an ugly skill, Anthony. It might not be Demonic, but I would consider it one step away. As far as sacrifices go, I much prefer Kayla’s Noble Sacrifice skill.

Since I know you’ll find a use for it anyway, just make sure you’ll be careful with it. You’re lucky it’s so good and you have a healing option, otherwise I would absolutely be making a fuss.

<<<>>>

“I’ll be careful, love,” I promised the sky, smiling.

Now that I had Demigod’s Durability, my hit points were topped out at a new high for this run. At a current total of 1905 with my Angelic staff, it meant I would end up taking nearly 20 damage per second to keep this active, which was honestly a pittance compared to how much I would be dealing out. I hadn’t had the privilege of having one of the items Sara picked out for me in previous runs before, either.

The Staff of Raphael appeared in my hand, and I pulled up its description.

<<<>>>

[[Equipped]]

Staff of Raphael +1

(Angelic item; Growth Item, kill 6 bosses to upgrade; +17 Constitution, +17 Wisdom, +17 Willpower, Touch of Heaven skill acquired, Divine Regeneration passive acquired)

[[Skill]]

Touch of Heaven

Touch the Staff of Raphael to any non-Demonic entity, including yourself, to heal them for 50% of your total hit points. In addition, if your Constitution stat is high enough to remove any physical debuffs, do so at the same time. This skill can be used three times per day.

[[Passive]]

Divine Regeneration

Increase your natural hit point recovery speed by 500%.

<<<>>>

Not only did Divine Regeneration increase my recovery to 2.5 hit points per second, but Touch of Heaven was one of the greatest healing skills in the system. Dark Sacrifice specified that lowering my maximum hit points was a debuff, one that I fully expected to get canceled out. It synergized almost perfectly. The only issue was that Touch of Heaven’s debuff removal happened at the same time as its healing, which meant I’d gain half of my new hit point total instead of my full. It was a small setback, but nothing too terrible.

A part of me was happy with what I had, but another part wondered what would happen if I synthesized Dark Sacrifice and Overclocked Body. It was another skill that temporarily lowered my hit points through halving my Constitution stat, but there could be a nice combined buff there. There were still two Synthesis Pages in my inventory, just waiting to be used.

I grinned at the staff, lost in my thoughts as I started theorycrafting, when I noticed Jamie staring at me with a strange look on her face. “What’s up?” I asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

“You call your Patron, ‘love?’” she asked point-blank.

“Well, yeah,” I answered without hesitation. “That’s my wife, so, of course I do.”

“Excuse me, your what!?” Jamie shouted, her jaw dropping open. The harpoon gun tilted towards the ground as shock permeated her aura. I had to try not to laugh. “You mean, like a work wife, right?”

“No, I mean like a regular wife,” I answered as I started heading northeast. “Darling, is Pennsylvania still around their obelisk? And, now that I’m thinking about it, since they’re not the bad dude’s champion, can you tell me who they are?”

<<<>>>

[[Patron Quest: Find Pittsburgh’s MVP!]]

You’re declaring yourself as my husband so brazenly. I mean, it’s true, but I wasn’t expecting you to be so free with the information. I’m getting a few messages now, some congratulations while a couple are wondering what we were thinking and how I could lower myself to your level like that. They have been promptly told to shove it.

But for your question, they are. You already know where to go to find their obelisk, and they won’t be too far away from that. It seems like their Patron, Hé-no, has warned them about Maine’s warpath. They’ve already taken on Maryland and Delaware and are preparing for another fight as you read this.

I could tell you who they are, but that would ruin the surprise. It is someone who you’ve interacted with before, however. You may have even beaten them up back in the Cooper Fieldhouse. They should be someone you can deal with easily, but you have to question them to see what changed the timeline. That’s the biggest issue right now, to see how widespread the damage might be.

Objective: Question Pennsylvania about their MVP status.

Reward: 15,000 points.

<<<>>>

“Oh, that gives me some hints,” I said, stroking my chin. Their Patron alone gave me a lot to go on, though it wasn’t anything concrete.

“When did you even get married?” Jamie asked. She ran to caught up to me, but I had her full attention when we walked.

“Before I came here. Yeah, the system ordained us and everything,” I answered freely.

The Weapon Master stared at me. “Is that why you were late? No, before that, you were dating? You know how crazy that sounds, right?”

“You are getting really worked up about this,” I told her with a grin, and she recoiled slightly. 

“I wasn’t expecting you to say something so crazy as you married your Patron,” she defended, shaking her head. “I mean, how? What do you mean the system ordained you?”

I shrugged. “Some things just happened. I won’t be going into them now, with so many prying eyes and ears. Though, if you’re so worried about my own relationship…” I glanced over at her with a grin. “Things going okay with you and Ash?”

“We’re doing just—” Jamie blinked before scowling. “You already know how we’re doing, Franklin. She’s not exactly subtle about it.”

“Yeah, you’ll get used to that,” I said, enjoying seeing her flustered for once. “I could tell you more, if you want.”

“What, you slept with her like—” Jamie made a disgruntled noise as she cut herself off. “Or… something?”

I knew that skip. The Weapon Master had tried to use knowledge from my past runs that she had learned while under contract, and the system shut her down. Asking if I had slept with someone wasn’t covered, but if she was about to mention that I told her we had a relationship once, that would have done it.

“Nope. Ash was never batting for the right team. Though, I did have to drink a gender swapping potion once to get Mercury out of a cult whose leader could enslave men,” I admitted before shivering. “That was an awkward time, let me tell you. I mean, I’m glad I tried it, I guess? New and interesting experiences are certainly that, but I wouldn’t do it again.”

A look of half disgust and half intrigue appeared on her face. “How’d you look as a woman?” she asked with morbid fascination.

“Hot,” I complained, running my fingers through my hair. I gave her a sideways glance. “I’d really rather not talk about this. Can we go back to the conversation where you’re shocked that my Patron is my wife?”

“No, I’d much rather talk about the things that make you uncomfortable,” she replied immediately.

“That’s so mean, Jamie,” I mock whined. “When have I ever teased you like that?”

“The moment you told me that your Patron was your wife,” she answered, voice flat. “So, I’m going to need details, Franklin.”

“Alright, alright. Next time we’re back in the Angel Express, I’ll give whatever details you want in the privacy of the Patron Room. Happy?” I asked, pretending to give up. “Honestly, another Q & A session sounds kind of fun, and it would probably give me ample opportunity to brag.”

<<<>>>

[[Notice]]

The Patron [Loki] is not satisfied with this arrangement.

The Patron [Aphroditus] wants all of the details of your sex change.

The Patron [Huēhuecoyōtl] desires more, but will ask your sponsor instead.

<<<>>>

“Oh, come on,” I groaned, shaking my fist at the sky. “Bunch of story vultures. That’s what y’all are.”

“I suppose that will have to do,” Jamie sniffed, returning to her vigil as we walked through the streets of Dublin. We were almost to Dublin Port where we’d need to cross the water, and I was glad she had taken the jet pack. “But I’ll be preparing a list of questions. You should be worried.”

“Yeah, feeling really worried right now,” I sighed, shaking my head.

Still, it could be funny and lift the guild’s spirits. I had hopes.