Rexus ~ Chapter 21!

“So we have to choose something to share between us?” Jess’s voice caused Jaxon to scream, a long and shrill sound that only slowly petered off.

He caught his breath, turning and looking at the incorporeal form of the woman standing beside him. “Oh. Jess. You startled me.”

“No crap.” Jess was eying him up and down as if he were suddenly going to sprout a second head devoted to screaming. “What do you think we should get?”

Jaxon turned back to the rewards, and they started going through the options together. As they discussed the available Unique rewards, there was one obvious problem. Jaxon was the first to vocalize the issue, but Jess nodded along grimly to his words, “It appears that there is a great reward in the form of two-piece set items, but if we split them up, they become little better than trash. Everything else is… okay, but these are the obvious rewards to take.”

“So now the question becomes: how do we decide who gets the set item, or do we settle for subpar rewards?” Jess finished the line of thought for the both of them, and they both settled into introspective silence.

“I think–” Jaxon started.

“I don’t mind–” Jess spoke at the same time, stopping herself from completing the sentence when she realized they were talking over each other. “Go ahead.”

“Sure. I think that this place is really designed for people that have been together a long time or really trust each other. It’s obvious that by working together, one person could leave here much stronger than when they walked in, but that means there is going to need to be a lot of trust involved.”

“I don’t mind taking a lesser reward. That way we both get something for sure.” Jess sighed and motioned at the consumables, money, or experience options that had appeared.

“Nah. Even with how cool some of these items look, they don’t really fit into what I want to be doing. Let’s get one of the set items, and you can have it.” Jaxon shrugged as Jess looked at him skeptically.

“How do I know that you aren’t just trying to screw me out of a reward?” Her voice was dark; obviously, she had gone through some trouble in her past.

“Call it an introductory offer from my party. This way you can start working with us knowing that we operate in good faith.” Jaxon’s smile seemed to take on a different light to Jess. No longer was he incredibly menacing; he was simply… very intimidating. 

“Alright then.” Jess swallowed and looked at the studded leather armor that had made her heart sing. “I really want this set.”

Jaxon looked it over and nodded. “A flat five percent increase to dexterity, a scaling defense ability, limited self-repair, a once a day ‘flash step’, and a ten percent bonus to stealth. Probably because it is made out of hide, huh? Huh?”

“Oh my gosh,” Jess groaned with an eye roll. “You are the absolute worst. Can we get this then?”

“You’re sure?” Jess nodded at him, so Jaxon finalized the selection. A pair of studded leather leggings appeared in his hands and a similarly designed chest piece in hers. He handed over the item before she could become worried in the slightest and then vanished from Jess’s view as she respawned in front of the temple.

“Jaxon?” She looked around but didn’t see the man. Shrugging, she put on the armor and began testing out her new capabilities.

The Monk was having a very different experience. Jess had vanished from his awareness, and the void around him was now shining with golden light.

Congratulations, Jaxon! You have passed the duo trial! By fully giving the reward to your companion without expectation of rewards for yourself, you have proven that you are trustworthy and generous. These are the most important traits in any long-term relationship. While this knowledge about yourself should be reward enough, passing the trial demands compensation. Scanning… accessing skills. Accessing desires. Accessing quests. Accessing titles.

Possible reward determined: Unique Specialization. Requirements: ‘Monk’ class. A title that allows you to interact with specific animals (Title: ‘Snake Charmer’ selected, Title: ‘Entomologist’ can be selected for usage instead). A powerful Monk-specific title (Title: ‘Legend’ is valid substitute). Total cost reduced by half thanks to ‘duo success’ modifier. Cost: Five ranks of ‘Acupressure’ skill. Five ranks of ‘Adjust’ skill. Ten ranks of ‘Contortionist’s Dodge’ skill. Eight ranks of ‘Body Compression’ skill. 

There are no current trainers for the specialization offered, and no further information can be offered without accepting the class. Accept? Yes / No.

Jaxon’s finger hovered over the ‘accept’ button, but he was having a hard time with the thought of giving up two Master level skills. Also, his dodge skill did more than just help him dodge; it helped his body bend in ways it normally couldn’t. He had never heard of a specialization costing like this! Why was he being charged just to rank up? Then again… he would be blazing a trail for others to follow, and he was sure the rewards for this choice would eventually pay dividends. Not allowing himself to mourn the loss, he mashed the ‘Yes’ button twice, not giving himself a chance to be talked out of it.

He screeched as he felt some of his memories vanish. An entire section of how to properly treat his patients was just gone. He knew it even if he couldn’t remember exactly what those methods were or how to pursue and reclaim them. His body stiffened slightly, then more than slightly. Ten percent less ability to bend was a serious inconvenience. Jaxon really hoped this reward would be worth the loss. Body Compression was less of a loss, even though it would have been useful to start that at a higher level.

Assigning reward. Congratulations! you have earned the specialized class: Bonecruncher (Mythical). Class bonuses: Gain +3 Dexterity, Strength, and Luck every even class level! Lose 1 Charisma each third class level. Gain the class skill: Living Weapon. To increase your class level, defeat opponents using your class skill.

Your Mana has been unlocked!

Skill gained: Living Weapon (Novice I). Your hands now have the ability to transform into living weapons which will have their own damage, statistics, and levels. Caution! Your weapons have been designated as a creature in the same phylum as the creature title used in class generation. You will need to teach, train, and control your living weapons in order to use them properly. Current cost: 50 mana per second. Length of transformation is dependent upon class level, weapon level, and how well-trained your weapons are. Cooldown: 30 minutes. 

Caution! It is recommended that you do not assign skill points to living weapons until you are certain they are trained.

Jaxon appeared in front of Jess as she was settling back to wait, a sheen of sweat on her face the only sign that she had spent the interim with training instead of lazing around. She was taken aback by his sudden appearance, but easily kept her composure. “Hi, Jaxon. Anything interesting happen since we last talked?”

“I’m pretty sure.” There was another notification waiting for his viewing pleasure, but he ignored it for now. Jaxon felt at himself, squeezing his hands and wincing at their reduced mobility. He made a few extra movements, working his way through his normal warm-up exercises. “Ugh. I’m going to really need to work to get those skills back to an acceptable level.”

“You lost skill levels?” Jess shot to her feet, looking him over. “What happened? Did you go through another trial or something?”

“No, nothing like that. I got a bonus reward for letting you take all the loot and earned a specialization.” He held up a hand as her face brightened and her mouth opened to ask a question. “I lost a whole bunch of skill points, and even though the cost was halved as a reward, it really hurt my abilities. I’m not even sure what happened, and I only got a single skill out of the deal. It’s started at Novice one, for goodness sake.”

“What does it do?” Jess asked quietly, realizing that Jaxon was having a hard time right now.

“I have no idea. It seems to make my hands deadlier as weapons or something.” Jaxon lifted his bare hands, not even needing to inspect them to know that there was no change. “It’s an active skill, so I need to test it out. There aren’t any enemies around, though, so I’m not sure whether I should bother.”

“Do you need to have a target?”

Jess’s question made Jaxon pause. “No. No, I suppose I don’t, do I? Good idea. Let’s see what happens. I can only hold the transformation for six seconds at a maximum right now anyway.”

Keeping his hands held high, he spoke the skill aloud and with authority, “Living Weapons.”

His hands spasmed, and his fingers locked together. They shifted and compressed, bending forward as if he were reaching for his elbows with his fingertips. There was a small surge of strangeness, neither light nor sound but something that hurt the mind to look at directly. The change was actually nearly instantaneous, but as it was the first time he had experienced the shifting sensation, Jaxon was able to experience the change on a visceral level. As the skill finished activating, he looked at what had previously been hands on the end of his arms… and they looked back. With a trumpeting roar, his hands announced to the world that they lived!

Jaxon looked over at Jess with maniacal glee showing on his face. “Jess, I take back every complaint I made about this. I have T-Rex Head Hands!”