It wasn’t long before Dharen found himself back on the teleporter array within the city. The quest had turned out to be much simpler than he had expected it to be. It was true that it was a more beginner-friendly quest that he had selected, but Dharen couldn’t help but be suspicious of everything at this point. At no point in the Tower had anything come easy, nor had it come safe.

It seemed that there was always the exception to the rule, though. The slimes had been more target dummies than anything else, flying projectiles on which to practice the aim of his swings. Even with the reduction in his strength that came along with his normal attacks, they had been obliterated with ease.

He found his way to the golem he had previously conversed with, receiving a Contribution Voucher in exchange for the completion of the quest. After a short bout of confusion, he realised that redeeming the Voucher was as simple as ripping it into two, absorbing the energy that was released in much the same way as the golem had done with the quest notices.

Chagrined, Dharen realised that the Contribution Voucher only provided him with five Contribution Points. It would take forty more quests of the same caliber to earn enough to avoid getting “eradicated” for being unable to pay the daily Contribution Tax. Whatever that meant, Dharen was sure that he wished to evade that fate. And that didn’t even take into account the need to purchase living essentials or various upgrades. Though he held a surplus now, the tax alone would wipe him clean in little more than five days. Which meant that taking easy quests was out of the question.

Disgusted, he approached the noticeboard once again. As he perused the potential options, he noticed a party whispering among themselves to the side of the board. They seemed fairly out of sorts, sporting worried complexions and despondent expressions.

“...should just go for it.” One man suggested, clearly agitated.

“With a party of...we’d ruin ourselves.” The other interjected.

It went on like this for a small while, with one man clearly wanting to forge ahead and take risks, while the other was reluctant to do so despite an obvious wish that it were possible. The woman acted as a mediator between the two, trying to create a compromise.

After a bit of listening, Dharen was able to glean a loose summary of the situation. The party seemed to be desperate to defeat a higher difficulty quest for the Contribution Points, but were missing a full repertoire of party members that was suggested for the quest.

Sensing an opportunity, Dharen approached and quickly broached the subject at hand. “It seems that you are looking for a fourth member to round out your party. I’m new to the city and looking to complete some quests, myself.”

The party gave him a few appraising glances. Unsurprised by the blunt surveying views, Dharen waited. Finally, the party members looked at each other and one of the men sighed.

“Well, seeing as how night is approaching imminently, we hardly have much choice. Normally, we’d have you evaluated properly before we are willing to accept someone along on a potentially dangerous quest, but we are currently pressed for time and the teleporter will close for the night soon. Just be sure not to hinder any of us and please, try not to be dead weight.”

Exasperated but not concerned enough to press the issue, Dharen nodded. With that, the party quickly made its way to the center of the teleporter array.

The teleporter flashed, sending them to a new location. Dharen glanced around, evaluating his surroundings. He and his new companions had arrived in a dimly lit room, with small crystals letting off a light glow from their ensconcement within the stone walls. The walls were fashioned out of a black brick-and-mortar, lending to mind the thoughts of being trapped in a dungeon. All around him, his new party members were reorienting themselves.

“Now that we’ve made it through the teleporter array before it has closed for the night, introductions are in order.” One of the men said. “My name is Erik, a level 4 Eager Seed.” Dharen noticed that this man was the one who was eager to challenge the quest, whether they found a new member to fill the missing gap or not. It was not entirely surprising, as the nature of one’s Seed could often reflect much about who they were as a person. Though there were some exceptions in extenuating circumstances.

The other party members introduced themselves as well.

“Ozen, level 4 Seed of Rage.” The formerly reluctant man explained, his face the picture of surliness.

“And I’m Serah, a level 4 Hope Seed.” The woman introduced herself as well, smiling brightly.

Dharen took his cue from the other members of the party, introducing himself in turn. “The name’s Dharen. I appreciate you three allowing me to join you in your quest. I’m a level 7 Triumph Seed.”

The other party members went silent for a moment. The air was filled with nothing but quietude as they digested the situation. Then, one by one, they all smiled gleefully. Even Ozen couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

Erik chuckled victoriously, unwilling to let an opportunity to needle his surly partner go by unscathed. “Looks like the dead weight has a bit of life left, huh?” He looked pointedly at Ozen, exceptionally satisfied.

“Well, sometimes things work out. Doesn’t mean you should be counting on it.” Ozen replied, managing to somehow look both excited and dismissive at the same time.

“Now, seeing as how we’re going to be taking on the Orbknight Keljier together, I think we should have a better idea of each of our abilities and potential synergies. As a Seed of Rage, my Boon is known as The Flames of Rage. I can imbue burning fire into my weapons to strengthen my attacks. It has a relatively low Spirit cost, allowing it some increased usefulness through a good-sized uptime.” Ozen carefully explained his ability, surprising Dharen with the man’s forthcomingness. It certainly wasn’t the expectation he held for the irritable man, but perhaps he understood when such attitudes were a handicap.

Next, Erik volunteered his information. “As for me, my Boon is known as Hasty Nature. It allows me to increase my movement speed in short bursts through sacrificing small amounts of both health and Spirit. It does not last long, but the abrupt changes in momentum can come in handy when in a tough fight.” Dharen was impressed with Erik’s ability. In the harrowing fights he had undergone, even a momentary burst of speed could have changed the tides of battle quite well.

Serah, waiting patiently, realised that it was her turn now. “I am a Seed of Hope. My ability cannot be used often, as one use of it nearly empties my Spirit reserves. It is called Second Chance. I can preemptively cast a buff on either myself or an ally to heal them back to the health they were in when I used my ability and give about two seconds of invulnerability when something would otherwise end in death.” If Dharen was impressed before, now he was absolutely astounded. Though the constraining cost of usage was a slight disappointment, the ability itself was a marvel. In a battle against an overwhelming opponent, those two seconds could mean everything. Of course, that was only if those scant few seconds could be properly capitalized on.

Dharen, despite their beneficent act of revealing their own abilities, continued to play the role of a normal Triumph Seed. “As I said, I am a level 7 Seed of Triumph. I have two Boons, as my second was unlocked at level 5. The first of my abilities is known as Warcry. It allows me to increase the stats of myself and my allies by 10% for a short duration while decreasing the stats of enemies by 12% for the same duration.”

The other group members nodded happily upon hearing his ranking, fully aware of the heavy increase in stats that was connected. The effects of the ability could be quite useful as well, though variable. When fighting a strong enemy, the 12% reduction could be even extremely useful due to the higher stats it held.

He continued, explaining further. “My second ability is called Challenge. It allows me to Challenge any one entity within range, providing them with a 25% buff to their Strength for up to one hour. If I am able to land the blow that defeats them, I gain a 50% increase to my Strength. However, it only lasts for 20% of the duration in which the entity was Challenged.”

Dharen pointed at Ozen, muttering under his breath. The man blanched, growing pale. His momentarily stricken face transformed into a figment of rage, his face turning from a startled paleness to an angered red in an instant. The man reached for the twin battle axes at his side, slipping them from the loops that held them to his belt. He raised them menacingly, the soft glow of the various crystals creating a flickering that splashed off the bladed edge of the weapons. As he did so, the muscles of his body seemed to pulse and grow. His already-large arms found themselves a fourth again as large, pushing and straining against the confines of his armor.

“Already causing trouble, huh?” Ozen breathed out. His words came in a sputtering furor as he readied himself for a fight.

“What are you doing, Ozen? Calm yourself!” Serah exclaimed, bewildered by the sudden turn of events.

“I just received a notice that I have been Challenged by this man to a battle to the death! He has betrayed us!” Ozen explained himself hastily.

Dharen chuckled softly, raising his hands in a supplicating gesture. “I mean you no harm. My apologies for startling you. But tell me, how do you feel?” He raised one eyebrow, managing to look both mocking and inquiring at once.

Broken out of his aghast emotional state, Ozen took a moment to look himself over mentally. He felt the well of strength within himself that had increased in size, growing abruptly. He felt the pulsing energy that flooded his veins and innervated his muscles, a river of vigor and power.

“I feel…powerful.” Ozen replied carefully. “As if I have grown significantly in these last few moments.”

“Exactly. Now, do you see any reason that we must fight? Or do you believe that we must fight simply because we have been prompted to do so?” Dharen questioned.

A light seemed to go off in the burly man’s mind. He took in the situation once more, his grip on his weapons relaxing as he did so. He carefully placed them back within the loops on his side. He stared down at his upturned palm, forming it into a fist and reveling in his strength.

Seeing that his point had been made, Dharen continued. “Though I have not yet had the opportunity to use my ability in this way, I’ve had the suspicion for a while now that it could be used in a different way than the obvious. Rather than risking increasing the strength of an enemy, only to receive a benefit for a relatively short duration, it is better to place the effects on an ally. Rather than a few moments of increased power for myself every so often at the cost of empowering an enemy, it might be better to empower an ally with high Strength for a great duration and little drawback. The ability will simply wear off at the end of the hour, with no fight between the two of us necessary.”

Serah and Erik looked on with stunned expressions. Ozen, taken aback by the idea, was stuck in excited contemplation. Slowly, a manic grin spread across his face. He flexed his newly enhanced muscles.