The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryugii. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.

Boss Rush

The was no time to waste, not even waiting to see if a mask would form or if I'd get some type of loot from Carmine's death. Even with my Elementals preoccupied and my attention divided, I could sense what was happening—I didn't have time to wait around and concern myself with what might have dropped.

I did, however, appreciate the levels I gained.

Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one!

Level fifty at last, I thought as I ran. That gave me fifty-nine points to spend, which gave me more than enough to bring either Intelligence or Wisdom over a hundred and fifty, boost two of my physicals over a hundred, or increase a physical and raise Luck over fifty. It gave me options.

It did not, however, give me a whole lot of time to consider them. There was a chance that raising Intelligence or Wisdom would allow me to reach another benchmark at a hundred and fifty, but it was also possible that the next checkpoint was all the way at two hundred. I knew for sure that I'd get more skills at a hundred—three different skills even—so that was the safer bet. Luck…well, a little bit of Luck might come in handy right about now, too, but on the other hand, I'd only get one skill out of it.

With only moments to decide, I had to choose quickly—and whatever I picked, we'd all have to live with. Each option had benefits and drawbacks and at a time like this…

Intelligence and Wisdom were my highest stats, perhaps even my most useful. Objectively speaking, another point in either was the best choice in terms of time and effort; it would take me far, far longer to gain another point of Intelligence then it would to improve any of my physical stats or Luck—and I wasn't sure I could meaningfully improve Wisdom at all anymore. From that point of view, I got more for each point spent in either of those then I did in anything else.

But at a time like this, there was more to consider than efficiency. Right now, I needed to think about what would keep people alive and what would get us all through this mess. That I might be able to improve Dexterity or Luck with a little more training in peaceful conditions meant nothing when people were dying now. I had to consider what I needed and that meant my other stats were worth considering, too.

Right now, I could use some good luck. But at the same time, could I afford to rely on Luck now? To place my faith wholly in…what? Fate? Destiny? Some Higher Power? Just put my faith in it and believe that despite everything that was happening, despite how, well, grim this all seemed, that it would see me through safely? That it would do the same for everyone around me, protect us all, even help me save my mother and father? Could I believe that faith would see me through this?

Because that's what that choice was, really. I had no idea what might happen, what could happen, what to expect. A few ideas, maybe, some of them even comedic, but…could I close my eyes and just believe this would turn out well? Because that's what putting my points in Luck was basically doing, wasn't it? It was praying for good fortune. Maybe not completely the same since I could be sure something would happen, but it was…it was a matter of believing, not knowing.

Could I do that? You hear about people sometimes whose faith is that strong, but could I do it? Would that be brave—because the idea was frightening enough that I felt doing had to be pretty brave. Or would it be reckless and irresponsible, casting off responsibility for dealing with this situation? Both? Neither? Something else entirely? Or…I…

No. I couldn't do that, not at a time like this. I wasn't sure if that made me weak, too frightened to believe, or if it made me responsible because I accepted that I needed to do this myself, but I…I couldn't rely on luck now. Not with my mother and father on the line.

Then what? My physical abilities? I had enough points to raise two over a hundred and I'd get three skills for each. A total of six different skills and considering what I'd gotten from raising Intelligence and Wisdom above that point, I could be sure each skill would be good. Beyond that, the bonuses I'd get from improving each skill couldn't be underestimated, either—I would be faster, stronger, tougher with each point I spent, and the skills I gained would probably increase that even more so.

But…

That would help me in a fight. But what would I do after I'd won? What if, say, such a boost was enough to allow me to defeat my father—but what then? What if I still had no way to cure him after I'd beaten him? Would I do to him what I'd done to Carmine?

I could chose two out of three—Strength, Vitality, and Dexterity. But I didn't really need Vitality, did I? Conquest wasn't trying to kill me and I could restore my HP without difficulty. And could already hit pretty damn hard after all my boosts and various skills. Speed…really, I relied on speed more than anything nowadays, layering on dozens, hundreds, even thousands of hits. But did I need to be faster?

Maybe. Carmine's attacks had been beyond even me—thirty points would go a long way in fixing that, especially after the multiplication all worked out. I didn't know what else I might be facing, but an increase like that would go a long way if I had to might my father or Tenne or whoever else.

Especially if I have to kill them all, I couldn't help but note. It was true, after all.

I took a deep breath. It was an option—I could increase Dexterity and Luck and get four skills out of the deal, or dump all the points into Dexterity and be truly, absurdly fast. Both of those could help, if I chose to go that route.

Alternatively, I had my initial choices of Intelligence and Wisdom. Both would help me in a fight, certainly, but more than that, they had great use outside a fight, as well. If I was smarter, if I was wiser, perhaps I'd be able to see a way through all of this, a way to protect everyone, and way to save people.

And maybe I wouldn't. Really, wasn't this the same as rely on Luck? Trusting that I'd be wise enough or smart enough to save the day when I couldn't see a way out now? That my power would be able to show me the answers?

But then, why did trusting luck here seem more acceptable? Was it because it was an educated guess? Because it was something I wanted to believe? Or was it simply that the thought of investing in Intelligence and Wisdom meant I didn't need to admit how powerless I was? That it gave me at least the illusion that I was doing something?

I don't know. Maybe. If trusting in Luck alone was like praying to God, maybe there wasn't that big a difference here. But I'd always heard that God helped those who helped themselves and maybe that was true, too. This might be the way—the way in, out, or through, I wasn't sure, but the way.

And right now, I'd guess I'd take what I could get.

Fifty-nine points, then. I'd split it between INT and WIS, fifty in one and nine in the other. That'd give me a hundred fifty-one in one of them and a hundred ten in the other; I'd just have to pray that was enough. The only question remaining was which would be which.

Intelligence would give me options, Wisdom would let me pick the right one, or at least that was the theory. But which did I need most? Were there options I wasn't seeing, some weakness I had a way to exploit? Or did I have all the information already and I just wasn't putting it together right? If I made myself smarter, would I be wise enough to pick the choices that were revealed? If I made myself wiser, what if I wasn't smart enough to know what I needed?

Both were possibilities; I had no way of knowing either way. How to choose, then? If one hundred and fifty was high enough to get another set of skills, what could I expect? Perhaps another set of MP related abilities of Intelligence, maybe making me better at using my Aura; that might be the way to the cure. But Wisdom could unlock the next set of Elemental combinations, maybe that was what I needed. Or maybe there was something else; Intelligence had given me Clairvoyance, the ability to gather unbelievable amounts of information. Wisdom had given my Pathfinder, which could lead me to my goals so long as there was a quest. Which did I need right now?

Both, maybe—but I could only choose one. There were no skill books making me lean one way or another, no one to ask, nothing to inform my decision. It was a choice that might as well have been a guess.

Then I guess…if this might be where it all ended, it was fitting that it did so as it had begun.

Opening my status screen with a thought, the White Tiger executed my decision with deft fingers.

By raising WIS above 150, you have gained two random abilities related to your immense understanding.

The skill 'Projection' was created.

The skill 'Empathy' was created.

By raising WIS above 150, you have gained the passive skill 'Balance.'

By raising WIS above 150, you have gained the passive skill 'Understanding of the Enlightened.'

By raising WIS above 150, you have gained the passive skill 'Body of the Enlightened.'

I didn't have time to do anything more as I leapt from the fog, Aura claws and teeth bared. Each of my eyes tracked a different target, scanning the entire battlefield in an instant. The Tiger's eyes focus on Ren and his grandfather, noting the dark Aura around them both—but for the moment at least, he was holding his own. I doubted that would last much longer, but for now…

Nora, I thought, calm eyes noting the facts. A quick Observe confirmed she was out of ammunition, and with no need to even vaguely concern himself with the danger any longer, Keppel was getting serious. Everything around him was covered in growing layers of ice—including Nora, who was struggling to brake it only for more layers to grow in their place. As I left the fog, snowflakes formed in my eyelashes, on my face, and I was still about ten meters further away from Keppel than Nora. As it was, Nora was already slowing down and Keppel was drawing nearer. I saw the expression on her face, the sheer frustration of not being able to do anything, but—

Where are my Elementals? I reached out to them and felt Levant spread throughout the area, trying to draw in more and more warm air to slow Keppel's efforts, pulling it from near Suryasta. Xihai was partially frozen beneath layers of ice, but even in that state she was trying to help Nora by melting the ice around her. But it was too cold—another Observe put at minus ninety-seven and counting down quickly as Keppel drew nearer.

I wondered if I was going to have to kill him, like I'd already killed his wife.

Don't, I thought to myself. Not right now. People are counting on you.

Keppel lifted a hand towards Nora, but his eyes tracked to me. Beneath his mask, he must have been smiling.

"Stop," I snapped, fingers curling into claws as my power moved. Keppel jerked and then all but flew back along the ice until it suddenly grew in layers around his feet, anchoring him. I pushed forward as he was stilled, reaching Nora's side in a moment, and drew another crystal from my Inventory.

An instant layer, the White Tiger was ablaze, hovering close enough to Nora to melt the ice around her and give her some much needed warmth, but not so near that I burnt her instead. Within the sphere of altered temperature Keppel was producing, there was surprisingly little room for error in that regard—though beside me it was several thousand degrees, the temperature dropped so sharply that just a few meters away it was barely fifty. That put Nora in a spot that was a bit hotter than I'd intended, but with the change that extreme, I didn't dare move; I was trying to gauge it as best I could with Clairvoyance and Observe, but…

"Jaune," Keppel greeted brightly. "About time you joined us. Finished with Carmine, I take it?"

"She's dead," I said, eyes focused on him wondering if he would react, if there was anything in him that would give away some feeling of anger, shock, even just surprise or sadness. But there was nothing, not that his masked face and golem body were particularly expressive; there wasn't even a slight change at the news. And yet, I thought I felt—

"I figured as much," He answered, tone unchanging he took a step forward against the effect pushing him back, ice releasing his foot and then anchoring it again. "Seeing as you're here and all. Is it my turn now, then? Husband and wife dead…ah, can you imagine my poor children's faces when they hear the news, Jaune? Are you going to tell them yourself—tell them that you murdered us both? Are you going to lie to them, instead? Or will you have someone else tell them?"

He sounded like he found the whole idea funny, but I felt that thing again, like a heartbeat just out of sync with my own.

"I wonder what your mother would think?" Keppel continued, chuckling. "Well, by now she probably sees things my way, since you're wasting time over here. Such an ungrateful child, abandoning his own parents. I guess you just didn't care enough to bother, huh?"

Seeing the effect wasn't doing anything to stop him, I stopped the flow of power to it, already feeling sweat forming on my skin from the exertion. As I let up on the pressure and prepared to switch to something else, he stopped his approach as well and held back, casting a quick glance at Nora. The temperature around her had changed again, but it was probably more comfortable the way it was now; it didn't require a shift on my part. Better yet, she wasn't in the immediate line of fire and I was close enough to get in the way of any attack directed her way regardless. Still, I drew Levant and Xihai to her, thawing my Water Elemental with a surge of heat. Just in case.

Only once that was taken care of did I look down at the window that had appeared before me.

A skill has been created through a special action! By combining many elemental affinities, the skill 'Gravity Well' has been created.

'Gravity Well,' huh? I'd figured it was something along those lines, but it had been so instinctual, the power rising to my fingers at my sheer desire to push Keppel back. That was…useful, in a way, but also dangerous. At a guess, I'd say there was a pretty close correlation between the MP I spent and the kilograms of force that affected target. Potentially useful given training and time to level the ability, but as a new skill it wasn't cost-effective against a high-level Hunter. That I was growing skilled enough with the Elements to combine them so effortlessly was appealing, but I'd need to be careful in how I did so, now especially.

Not that being able to mess with gravity again wasn't cool as all hell, of course. It's just that this wasn't the time to get careless. Like any other skill, it would need to be used carefully. I gathered power more carefully as Keppel twitched and began to roll another step towards us, but I just watched him steadily with a pair of eyes, the other set looking elsewhere.

Only once all my immediate concerns were addressed did I turn my attention to the words Conquest was using to try to hurt me and consider them. It was a good question, actually. I'd never been all that close to Keppel or Carmine, since they were really more my parent's friends, but I'd played with Harley before she went off to Signal about…two years ago now? It seemed like longer than that, but we'd been friends once, even if we'd gone our separate ways when I'd proven unable to keep up with the others. And thinking about it, her tiny brother Lincoln was probably somewhat less tiny now—would he be nine now? Or ten? I'd never really paid attention to my old friend's younger sibling's birthdays, to be honest.

I'd given some thought to meeting up with the old gang, though. I mean, logically we'd meet eventually, right? We were going into the same career path. I'd been one of the oldest of the youngest group—that is, the group of kids our parents had play with me instead of one of my sisters—so they might actually lag a little bit behind if I went to school, but still, we'd meet eventually.

Never really thought I'd have killed any of their parents by that point, though. One of the many things I didn't see coming.

I exhaled.

Even so, I'd meant what I'd said to Carmine—I'd known everything she said. Time was of the essence and the situation was extreme. At a time like this, fighting against three different Hunters, with civilians trapped down below and Ren and Nora up here, I knew the risks and the stakes. I knew people could die and that every second wasted meant more people could die. There was so much to do and I had so little idea on how I was going to handle any of it. Whatever I did, I knew there wasn't a perfect solution; if I'd fought Carmine long enough to slowly wear her down and somehow subdue her safely, Nora would have died and probably Ren as well. Maybe Kappel and Hui would have ganged up on me, maybe they'd have gotten to the civilians or even Onyx, maybe they'd have just left. I don't know, but it didn't matter, whatever the case, I couldn't let that happen. Could I?

I knew time was short and I knew the risk was great and I knew many other things. I knew that my mother and father were counting on me, that whatever I learned here could be invaluable, that I couldn't let any infected Hunters escape, and that leaving them both uncured and unsupervised was foolish. I couldn't waste any more time than absolutely necessary here and now—too much was riding on me.

But then, why was I here at all? I knew that Conquest wouldn't kill me. Objectively speaking, I even knew that learning everything I could about Conquest and the Grimm as a whole was probably more valuable than the lives of everyone in this village. That sounded awful—and it was—but this was a threat that endangered the lives of every man, woman, and child on the face of Remnant. Perhaps even more than that, I knew that rather than dividing my attention constantly between four or five different goals, I was more likely to succeed if I focused on one. Beyond making sure everything that might escape attempts to quarantine the virus was stopped, like I had with Onyx, I would most likely see results if I captured a single, weak Infected like Jeremy and experimented on them extensively to try and find a cure or at least work towards learning more about the disease.

It was likely that most of the village would die if I did that and quite possible I wouldn't find a cure until after the Infected turned into Pandora Shells themselves, but in the long run, dealing with this threat and learning all I could about the Grimm could save countless lives. Things weren't quite that cut and dry, as I'd still need to do what I could to keep things contained and keep certain targets uninfected, and in the long term I could always find another Pandora Shell, but objectively speak, dealing with this issue as soon as possible was probably the best plan to save lives. And if I actually found a cure…

And from a personal standpoint, it also gave me the best odds of success if I truly wanted the best chance for my father. Either way, the odds probably weren't great, but that course of action probably gave me the best chance. And, though again it sounded awful, wasn't saving him what mattered most to me? This wasn't my village. Even Keppel and Carmine, my parent's teammates and friend—they weren't my teammates and friends. They weren't my parents. My parents were back there, in danger. While I could always find another Pandora Shell and examine it further in more controlled conditions later, this was the only time I'd ever be able to save the people I loved. And then there was the long term good my parents would do if they survived, two of the strongest Hunters around.

From a selfish standpoint, from a objective standpoint, shouldn't I focus on saving them? And, if possible, all the Hunters. This village…well, to be brutally honest, they were less important.

And yet here I was. Why? Morality? Ignoring the fact that any disgust I felt had become rather muted as of late, every nation on Remnant would applaud me if I found a cure to Conquest and learned more about the Grimm, regardless of the cost to this village. More importantly, the moral high ground alone wouldn't save lives. I suppose there was something to be said for defeating all the infected and gaining levels—that would allow me personally to grow in power and intelligence, increasing the chance I had to cure this disease—but that wasn't quite what I was doing, was it?

I'd always wanted to be a hero, I suppose, but I couldn't help but think that I'd feel pretty empty if I saved everyone in this village just to stand over my parent's graves. Everything I'd done for so long had been to live up to their example, to make them proud, but if I let them die to do that…what was the point? Even when I first found out about this situation, hadn't my first concerns had been my mother and then my father? Yet I'd left because…

Because my mother had told me to. She's told me to protect the village—and though I'd know that what she was really doing was trying to protect me, I'd gone along to find a way to save my father. But even though that was truly why I was here and that was what I wanted more than anything else, I was here, even with the clock counting down, when I didn't need to be. Why?

Well, I couldn't let them die, the thought came immediately. But while that was all well and good, I suddenly couldn't help but wonder why I felt that way—if it had only been me at risk, there'd have been no question, but I was risking the things I loved the most in the world for this. I didn't wish anyone in this village ill, but my parent's lives were on the line here; why was I risking them to save people I didn't even know? If it was just my life, that would be one thing, even if Conquest was willing to kill me, but my parents…they…

They would risk their lives to save these people, I thought. Mom, Dad, Keppel, Carmine, Onyx, Tenne, all of them would put themselves on the line to help people. That's what my grandmother had said—and had called foolish, admittedly. Maybe she was even right, I still wasn't sure. But…if I let all these people die to save my father, how would he feel about it after? How would my mom or any of these Hunters feel if thousands were left to die for them? Or if I let them kill them themselves?

I took a deep breath. I'd hoped increasing my Wisdom would reveal grand truths, unveiling a solution I'd been too blind to see. But all it had done was make me understand my own decisions a bit more and the decisions and desires of those around me. But…

A part of me honestly considered going back to find Jeremy again. I didn't need to leave Nora and Ren—I could probably bring them with me and leave these Hunters behind—but I still couldn't. What I wanted most right now was to be selfish, but I guess I couldn't just think about what I wanted. I loved my mom and dad to the point that I'd die to save them, but could I just ignore everything they stood for because I didn't want to lose them. If they were here, they'd stand where I was now. This was, foolish or not, something my parents would die for; if I loved them, I had to at least fight for it.

And perhaps I owed them this much, at least—Keppel, Carmine, and the others. Maybe there truly was nothing I could have done to save them or stop this, maybe there'd been something I hadn't been able to see, I don't know—but none of that mattered. As one Hunter to another, as one of the living to one of the fallen, maybe I owed them this.

After my quick breath, Keppel finished taking his step only for me to blast him back through a house with a sudden rush of light and power.

"I don't know what I'll say yet," I admitted after a second of silence. "Because I'm pretty sure a fair bit of this is going to be confidential. Whatever I'm allowed to say, though, I'll tell your children myself."

I looked around slightly with one set of eyes, the other staying trained on him.

"If it comes to that, I'll attend you funerals, as well," I continued, stepping forward. "Because of your infection, I imagine we'll have to cremate your bodies, but that shouldn't be an issue. This incident was fairly quiet, relatively speaking, so there shouldn't be anything stopping you from being buried as heroes; I'll see that it's all taken care of however you outlined in your Wills, like you deserve."

Rubble stirred as the ice golem rose, shedding wood and plaster like rain. Most of it shattered in his massive hands, frozen solid after just a brief touch.

"Wow, are you cold or what?" Keppel sounded at once amused and pleased. "And coming from me, that's saying something."

"Make no mistake, Conquest," I said quietly. "I'll do everything I can for these people. There wasn't enough time to deal with Carmine and she was too dangerous to let out of my sight and maybe you are, too—but I'll try, even though I still don't have a lot of time and I still don't have an answer. But Keppel…for the sake of your wife and your children and for you if you're in there, I'll rip you to pieces before I let you hurt anyone."

Keppel's body chuckled but I was struck by that odd sensation again and this time I recognized it.

It felt almost like relief.