17 - Two Deaths and a Bundle of Boons
After a few minutes, Joe was almost certain that the coin was the equivalent of an extra life. With that token, if he died again, he would be revived automatically. That was a huge temptation. Hawking had already stated that resurrection was possible, but to have a “Get out of Death” card right off the bat would be outstanding. Especially considering dying did not seem to be that difficult. He had already managed it once in his first few hours here in Illuminaria.
This forced him to really consider the tarot card. He felt like the choices were of equal significance.
If so, then what could be as good an extra life token?
Joe did not know much about the tarot, but he did know that the Death card was not actually about death. He had a girlfriend who was into tarot, and she always got pissed off at movies that would slap down the skeletal rider card, backed by ominous music, to foretell death and doom. One time it happened, she scoffed loudly at the screen, declaring, “Death is about change, you morons! Not about getting murdered!” That fact had stuck with Joe.
So, if the coin was a return to life in this form, could the card be a change to something new? Hawking had already given him a custom race. Could the card be a chance at some other custom option?
‘Why not ask him?’ Joe thought. ‘Hawking, what can you tell me about this quest?’
‘My what? What is my pattern?’
‘That sounds pretty huge. What about the other option?’
That was awfully vague. ‘But what does it do?’
Joe had encountered plenty of ‘Extra Life’ mechanics. This one seemed like it was not just a free life, but it might also save him from becoming an undead or something else that might mess up what Hawking called his ‘pattern.’
The more he thought about it, the more he came to the conclusion that the coin was probably the more valuable of the two.
The card, on the other hand, was the one that engaged the prophetic quest; which meant it was likely the more important of the two.
Joe stared at the two options for quite a while. A complete ‘Get-out-of-screwed’ token was priceless, even if it was only a one-use item. Yet even though his head wanted it, his heart didn’t.
Living with a safety net would make him feel like he was cheating. Already, he had learned that he couldn’t treat this world like Earth. Where Joe had grown up, there were no caste-systems, but he could no longer operate under that mentality. He knew he would have to immerse himself into this world to thrive in it. Having a do-over chip would always leave him one out for an unrealistic choice.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
On the other hand, embracing this land’s mythology and lore by accepting this Thirteenth Omen, felt more like accepting a quest than taking a cheat.
Joe decided to gamble on the card.
The window disappeared in a swirl of light. The spray of glowing motes flew to the inside of his right forearm. There, they swirled onto his skin and formed into a tattoo appearing to be a five-petaled flower with the Roman numerals XIII stamped in the middle.
The ink was a blue so dark as to be almost black. Little flecks of light winked within the lines, which Joe thought resembled a starry night sky. Having stared at the card for the last fifteen minutes, Joe knew the flower was the one from Death’s flag, and 13 referred to the tarot card’s number.
‘Well, that’s momentous sounding,’ he thought as he waited for more. Yet it seemed as though Hawking wasn’t going to give him any further answers as to what he had just agreed to.
‘Really? That’s it?’ He waited, but his only reply was literally the crickets chirping from the grass. With a heavy sigh, Joe turned to the other windows waiting for him.
That meant he could learn [Efferous Endurance]. He thought about grabbing the crystal, but he decided to look at his other two windows first.
Those options made perfect sense. He had raised his [Healing Touch] skill from zero to nine by healing everyone else, but he got to the last level, knitting his broken neck back together. While Joe had to admit that healing others had felt good, he knew he might do some solo adventuring. Without anyone else to rely on, an extra 10% to his self-heals might mean the difference between life and death. Even though he felt a twinge of guilt for being selfish, Joe chose [Survivalist].
The last window was a bit of a surprise.
While he would rather be a folk hero than a punching bag, Joe chose the more insulting title. Both would keep him alive, but Joe didn’t feel great about the idea of others taking damage for him. He would much rather rely on his own healing.
Finally, he took out the bronze skill crystal and learned the skill.
[Efferous Endurance] appeared to be a very solid skill. With a high Spirit build, which Joe could see his character becoming, being able to trade mana for stamina meant he could keep up heavily strenuous tasks for far longer than your average person ever could.
If the rarity of the skills was an indication of how strong it was, then Joe realized taking dozens and dozens of common skills would just turn him into a Jack-of-all-trades. He had played table-top RPG systems where you had tons of character abilities, but you were never a master of anything. Joe much preferred to be specialized. You wanted enough other skills not to be a one-trick-pony but not so many that nothing got your focus.
Joe resolved to pay attention to skill rarity as he turned to the remaining windows waiting for him.
Considering Joe had no animal companion, he almost immediately selected [Optimization]. This thought was immediately followed up by a wave of longing for his pups. Just because he did not have one now, Joe could not imagine a life where he would not have a dog by his side. As soon as he got himself settled into this world, he would rectify his dogless existence.
Additionally, when he stopped to think through the math, Beastmaster represented a potentially huge pile of free points, just not for himself.
Even though [Optimization] made much more sense at this moment, Joe decided to invest in the future.
