After sitting down to text Alan to check on his status and replying to the influencer girl with the injured brother, Luke opened his interface to check on what new skills the system awarded him upon reaching level 10. He blinked and leaned forward, then shook his head. This was too much. Far too much.
System Message: New skills available:
Weaver’s Mercy [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: On the brink of death, lend the weave one final stitch.
Wounded Symmetry [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: Mirror a tear in the weave and create it anew.
Strengthen Thread [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Use mana to strengthen the weave.
Heartthread [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Bind your weave to another.
Weaver’s Rupture [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: Shatter a Thread of Mana into a pulse of force.
Weavesense [Passive]: Hidden from view does not the weave obscure.
Weaver’s Boon [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Mana not only restores, but empowers.
Bleed The Weave [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Rupture a weave to make your target weep mana.
Weaver’s Renewal [Active - Mana Cost: High]: The body forgets. The weave does not.
Weavestep [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: Pass a short distance through the weave.
Weaver’s Echo [Passive]: A part of you lingers in those touched by your weave.
Corrupt Thread [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Force threads together in a harming weave.
System Message: Rank up skills available:
Threads of Mana (Rank 2) [Passive]: Mana is the weaver's primary tool. Wield the threads with precision and focus.
Weaver's Eye (Rank 2) [Passive]: Reveal imperfections in the weave.
Reaching level 10 brought on an avalanche of new skills to choose from, and skimming through the list once, he noticed that almost all of them were active ones, meaning his need for mana would be greater than ever. To that end, he hopped over to the attributes screen and added all available points into Intelligence. With Wisdom, he'd gained mana efficiency and mana regeneration, and getting to 20 points in that attribute had helped a lot, but his maximum mana points were still low. Just as he’d hoped, adding Intelligence increased his mana pool, not in the most significant way, but another 20% or so added would help a lot going forward.
He paused for a moment and closed his eyes, trying to get a sense of his mental capacity.
Wisdom hadn't made him feel any different. A lot of proof existed to show Luke hadn't become wise. Intelligence worked, or more like, didn't work, the same. More Intelligence didn't make him smarter, at least not as far as he could tell. Willpower and Focus, he wasn’t sure about. He thought that perhaps they did improve his force of will and ability to keep his focus, but that could also just be getting more experience with his skills and this new situation.
This felt like an unfair situation. Increasing physical attributes made you stronger, more agile, and improved your endurance. Even the few points Boon of Potential had awarded him so far made an obvious difference. Vitality, he wasn't so sure about. So why wouldn't the mental attributes help him in the same way? Discrimination!
Going back to the skills, he looked at each of them while trying to decide. For the first time, he’d been offered skills that were meant to cause harm, with Corrupt Thread, Bleed the Weave, Weaver’s Rupture, and Wounded Symmetry.
With so many skills, he had reached a point where it was time to make another decision about what his role would be going forward. Using skills to harm would make him stronger and more independent, but he decided that was not his path. He had decided to be a healer when choosing Lifeweaver, and he chose the same thing now, again.
Discarding the offensive skills, there were still a lot left to choose from. And with only 3 points, he’d have to leave a lot of them till later. There was also the option of ranking up Threads of Mana or Weaver’s Eye, the cornerstones of his class.
“Gah!” Luke exclaimed, standing. He ran his fingers through his hair and started walking, keeping a careful eye on where he put his feet, so he didn't veer off into traffic while thinking.
Strengthen Thread and Weaver’s Boon both sounded like skills used to buff your target. Both interesting, but not what he needed right in that moment.
Weaver’s Echo was much like Heart Thread. Perhaps it meant that future healing of the same target would be easier, but there was no way of telling. So he discarded that one as well. Weavesense was probably a way to find people in stealth, like Ray. Not a priority. Same with Weavestep, useful and intriguing, but not the most important thing for what he was about. Healing.
That left Weaver’s Mercy and Weaver’s Renewal. A final holdout against death in a patient would be invaluable going forward, which was what he hoped Mercy would do. That would allow him to keep working to save a life for another moment, and a moment could tip the scales of life and death in the right direction. Renewal would help him restore tissue. At least that was how he read the description. That would allow him to heal a host of problems and have an easier time with just about everything else. He chose both and ranked up Threads of Mana.
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Threads of Mana (Rank 2) [Passive]: Mana is the weaver's primary tool. Wield the threads with precision and focus.
Turned into.
Threads of Mana (Rank 3) [Passive]: Mana is the weaver's primary tool. Your threads shape the weave.
In time, he would get the other skills as well. The long list just breathed potential. Luke just needed the levels. Luke received another text from Alan, asking for his position, and less than ten minutes after replying, a car stopped right beside him. Alan opened the door from the inside and gestured for Luke to enter.
“There you are,” Alan said once Luke was seated.
“Had a bit of a crisis to deal with,” Luke said. “By the mayor's office.”
Alan's eyes widened a little, and he held up his phone, showing a news article. “Was this you?"
The Mayor of Chicago assassinated by Integrated! Calls For Oversight and Regulation!
“Not exactly,” Luke said with a sigh. “We killed the one who did it.”
Alan nodded, then gestured to the driver to get going.
“Where are we going?” Luke asked. “Can’t we just do this here?”
“I’ve prepared a more suitable location. Just in case.”
“Just in case?” Luke asked.
“Just in case it goes the way of the Tutorial Dungeon.”
“Oh,” Luke said.
Alan chuckled. “Don’t worry. I won’t blame you if that happens. And I signed this for you.” He handed Luke a piece of paper.
“I’d tell you to let your lawyer look it over, but I suspect you don’t have one.”
Luke took the paper and saw it was signed at the bottom. “What is it?”
“It’s a lot of legal mumbo jumbo explaining how I asked you to heal me and won’t hold you accountable if something happens to me. Like I said, just in case. The money I promised will be wired to you either way. And I ordered my men to stand down.”
“Your men?” Luke asked.
“Like I told you, I’m going to start a guild. I’ve already started recruitment. Have quite a few Integrated in different locations. They gather credits, and I pay in dollars, at least until we have the guild up and running. Recruited quite a few from today's dungeon, too.”
“How was the dungeon?” Luke asked as the car got moving again.
“A little more difficult than the Tutorial Dungeon, but nothing too intense. We even had two healers working together. Recruited one of them.”
Luke raised an eyebrow. “Milla?”
“Not her,” Alan said. “The other one.”
“She’s my sister,” Luke said. "Milla, I mean."
“Sister? Interesting that you would both pick healers,” Alan said. “You know, more healers are popping up, but I would still like to extend an invitation to you, Luke. Having someone like you in my guild would be quite the boon. I’d pay you well, too.”
Luke looked over at Alan and gave the question some thought. “Maybe.”
"Think it over. Healers need others to stand in front of them, do they not?”
“You’re not wrong about that,” Luke said. He looked out the window, seeing buildings rushing past. “Maybe it’s best to find a solid party first and learn how to fight together.”
The car pulled into a lot and stopped.
“This is us,” Alan said, exiting the car.
As they walked toward a tall building that looked much like all the other ones around them in downtown Chicago, Alan put a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “I’d love to welcome whatever party you choose into the guild once it’s formed. There is no rush. Before anything else, I have to survive today.”
Luke glanced at him. "Nervous?"
They walked through a bustling reception area with people waiting on expensive-looking leather couches, men and women in suits rushing past, while the receptionist spoke to a security guard. Alan brought out a card, held it out in front of a reader that beeped, turning green, and then they were past security, heading for the elevators.
“Nervous?” Alan asked, resuming the conversation. “Not really. Either you cure me, or it’s not my problem anymore.”
“That’s one way of looking at it,” Luke said as the elevators dinged open.
Alan hit the button for the top floor, held out his card to another reader, and then they were off. “I’ve been living with this diagnosis for a while now. I’ve made my peace with it. As well as one can, anyway.”
They rode the elevator in silence for a moment before Luke asked, “Do you have a company here?”
“Not yet,” Alan said as the doors opened. “It will be the guild headquarters in Chicago.”
“You’re going to operate from here? Why Chicago?”
“Oh, this isn’t the only city we’ll be in. I’m hoping to bring my guild to most major cities in the US, and maybe even go global in a few years. Integrated Incorporated will be a behemoth going forward, and I hope to be at its helm.”
“Integrated Incorporated?” Luke asked. “What a terrible name.”
Alan looked a little hurt, but waved it away. "It's just a name."
"I didn't mean..."
"Don't worry about it," Alan said, guiding them across an empty floor. There were no desks, chairs, computers, or even people. Muted voices drifted toward them from the far end, and Alan opened the door to what looked like a conference room without windows into the rest of the floor. A hospital bed sat in the center of the room, along with a cardiac monitor, blood pressure monitor, a pulse oximeter, and even a central venous pressure monitor, and some other equipment Luke didn’t even know the use of.
Medical staff sat around on stools, and Alan went around the room with Luke, introducing general surgeons, anesthesiologists, cardiologists, a neurosurgeon, a long line of nurses, and even different technicians to work the monitoring equipment, and a radiologist with a bunch of imaging techs to work the MRI and CT scan equipment set in an adjacent room.
Luke leaned in to whisper to Alan. “What’s up with all these people? This won't be an actual medical procedure. You know that, right?”
“Of course I know that, Luke. While I have full trust in your abilities, I thought it best to add a layer of protection, if you will. If something happens, I want the best staff available to take over. Also, they are very interested to see you work this little problem of mine.”
“Oh," Luke said. "So, you want to be under general anesthesia for this?”
“Yes, I'd like that,” Alan said, taking off his suit jacket and shirt to lie on the bed. “Ready?” he asked.
“Sure,” Luke said, glancing around the room.
Alan gave him a patient smile. "With a little more confidence, perhaps?"
Luke walked up and stood next to the bed. “I'll get you through this."
"That's better.”
Alan gestured to an older gentleman who'd introduced himself as an anesthesiologist. A few minutes later, Alan was hooked up to so much equipment, Luke was forced to squeeze through to stand next to him. Once Alan was no longer conscious, the medical staff crowded in. Luke put his hand on Alan's forehead.
“You won’t see much of this,” he said to the audience.
“We will on these,” another doctor said. Luke had already forgotten his name and specialization.
Luke closed his eyes and used Threads of Mana to get another look at the tumor he'd first examined in the Tutorial Dungeon. He'd learned a lot since then, and he marveled at the thinness of the threads and the ease with which he used them. They moved and flexed almost before he willed it, and he found himself able to get a good sense of Alan's brain.
While he'd learned a lot, it was still impossible to know what would happen when he destroyed the tumor. And destroy it, he must. Last time, he just sent a river of healing mana to deal with the tumor. While that had made it shrink, it also sent Alan to an early death. This time, the tumor had to go.
Maybe, just maybe, he could restore some of what the growing malignancy had destroyed with his new skill, Weaver’s Renewal. He hoped that the weave remembered what Alan's brain was supposed to look like.
This wouldn’t be a complex procedure, and it would be over in seconds. After that, all Luke could do was hope. Rather than prolong the wait, Luke touched the now folded-up piece of paper in his pant pocket, the one absolving him of whatever happened in this room, then focused on one specific thread, affixing Needle of Life to it. Three slices saw the tumor dislodged from the surrounding tissue.
Luke used healing mana to mend the area where it had grown into the wall as he destroyed the tumor, turning it to nothing using Needle of Life. For the first time, he used Weaver’s Renewal and got a sense that his Threads of Mana needed to designate the area where the skill was to be used. Armed with this knowledge, he used it a second time after making the necessary adjustments..
The skill flashed in Luke’s mind, and half his mana disappeared in an instant. He still grinned, seeing new brain tissue.
“It worked,” Luke whispered to himself.
A second later, a chorus of angry beeping rose and filled the room.
Name: Luke Quinn
Class: Lifeweaver
Level: 11
Guild: None
Profession: Seeker
Physical Attributes
Strength (Raw physical power): 5
Agility (Speed and finesse): 4
Endurance (Stamina and physical recovery): 4
Vitality (Health and physical resilience): 14
Mental Attributes
Intelligence (Mind potency): 20
Wisdom (Mana efficiency and mana regeneration): 20
Willpower (Channeling stability and speed): 13
Focus (Control and precision of mind): 16
Skills
Needle of Life (Rank 2) [Active - Mana Cost: ?]: Use a precise touch to assert your will upon the weave.
Threads of Mana (Rank 3) [Passive]: Mana is the weaver's primary tool. Your threads shape the weave.
Weaver's Eye (Rank 2) [Passive]: Reveal imperfections in the weave.
The Healer's Moment [Active. Mana Cost: Moderate]: A mere moment can cut through the chasm between life and death.
Weaver's Grasp [Passive]: The Weaver's control extends beyond their touch.
Weaver's Will [Passive]: The resources of healing are the Weaver's to command.
Weaver’s Mercy [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: On the brink of death, lend the weave one final stitch.
Weaver’s Renewal [Active - Mana Cost: High]: The body forgets. The weave does not.
Proffession skills:
Sense Dungeon. Profession skill. Seeker: The Greater System sees your innate curiosity and grants you the ability to sense the location of dungeons.
Wounded Symmetry [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: Mirror a tear in the weave and create it anew.
Strengthen Thread [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Use mana to strengthen the weave.
Heartthread [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Bind your weave to another.
Weaver’s Rupture [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: Shatter a Thread of Mana into a pulse of force.
Weavesense [Passive]: Hidden from view does not the weave obscure.
Weaver’s Boon [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Mana not only restores, but empowers.
Bleed The Weave [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Rupture a weave to make your target weep mana.
Weavestep [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: Pass a short distance through the weave.
Weaver’s Echo [Passive]: A part of you lingers in those touched by your weave.
Corrupt Thread [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Force threads together in a harming weave.
Rank up skills available:
Weaver's Eye (Rank 2) [Passive]: Reveal imperfections in the weave.
