Chapter 17: Gods and Stats

“Can you tell us a bit more about these Outsiders?”, Abigail asked. “I've read a little bit of Lovecraft and I keep wondering. We've been told about Hastur, Shub-Niggurath and Nyarlathotep, but what about Cthulhu? What about Azathoth? What about Yog-Sothoth?”

Jeanne chuckled. “I keep forgetting how little you mortals are told. So as far as we know there is no such being as Yog-Sothoth. Heaven's archives reach back eons and not once has any such creature been spotted. We don't know what it was Lovecraft saw or if he just made that one up, but it certainly hasn't ever given us trouble. Azathoth... you see, according to Lovecraft Nyarlathotep is Azathoth's messenger but that's nonsense. Nyarlathotep is the highest of the Outer Gods and Azathoth is, at best, a different aspect of him.”

“And what of Cthulhu?”, Ophelia asked.

“What did the Professor tell you about Soul Shards and how they're created?”, Jeanne asked instead of answering.

“He said they're created when gods die”, Ophelia said.

“And how do gods die?”, Jeanne asked.

“They die if they run out of worshipers”, Alexis said.

“Right. That is all true, but it is a bit simplified. Because, you see, when a god runs out of worshipers they can merge with a god of a similar aspect, pooling their dwindling worshipers together to sustain them. This happened between the Greek and Roman versions of the Olympians, who used to be distinct entities until they merged to stay alive. These gods have, over the centuries, merged with more and more gods. The Irish, the Norse, the Slavic gods, all of them absorbed into these collectives. And one of these remaining gods is called the Abyssal One. You may know him as Neptune or Poseidon. The mermaids worship him as their god-king Triton. But you may also know him as Cthulhu.”

“Wait, what?”, Ophelia asked.

Jeanne nodded. “During that big oil spill in 2010 a lot of mermaids died and so even all of these gods combined were about to run out of worshipers, so they merged with the belief in the literary figure Cthulhu, as imagined by Lovecraft. There is no Outsider by that name. The only Cthulhu that exists is the one who is part of the collective known as The Abyssal One. This also means that he is part of this world and is therefore just as opposed to the Outsiders as we are. So don't worry, there are no Deep Ones hiding under the waves. Well, except the mermaids and they are firmly on our side.”

“So you're saying it's only the big three we have to worry about?”, Ophelia asked.

“Not quite. There are several more Outsider deities but all of them are minor”, Jeanne explained.

At that moment Elaine turned over to Evelyn.

“You've been quiet for a while.”

“Yeah, I have”, the redhead said, then turned to Ophelia. “Thank you for saving me. Again.”

Ophelia chuckled. “No problem. I just keep wondering why you were even in need of saving. Don't you have that one second precognition ability?”

Evelyn blushed. “I do but... I haven't been using it.”

“Why not?”, Elaine asked.

“It's disorienting”, Evelyn explained. “It gives me 360° vision, which is bad enough, but then it also gives me this future sight. I know I need to train it more but right now it's more hindrance than help.”

“Oh. Okay, sorry. I didn't mean to pressure you”, Ophelia told her.

“No, it's okay, I just need to train it”, Evelyn replied. “Even more obvious now than before.”

“About that. Should we use those EXP we got today?”, Alexis asked and they all agreed but Jeanne asked:

“Could I ask you to let Ophelia go first?” She turned to the vampire and said: “I'd like to talk to you after you're done, if that's alright with you.”

“Of course”, Ophelia said, dubiously. She'd studiously avoided getting into smelling range of Jeanne all day and was worried what the angel wanted to talk to her about. But instead of saying any of that she opened her level up screen and shared it with the group.

“As I've discussed with Elaine, Umbral Embrace is a no-brainer. Shadow's Embrace has been a literal life saver before and this makes it better. I want the upgrade to Shadow Magic as well and I also want Consuming Shadow because that just makes all my shadow tricks better. Then I want one of the new Support abilities but I don't know which one. I'd also like Shadow Channeling but then I'd need to take the weaker one of the two Support abilities.”

“Do it”, Elaine said. “Take the weaker one. It gives you more magic immediately and faster casting speed is going to help your shadow flares.”

“Alright then. Here goes.”

“Forty-nine Agility?”, Abigail asked incredulously.

“And she gets Preternatural Speed on top of that”, Alexis told her.

“We need to get you some sort of melee weapon to use all that speed”, Elaine said.

“Yeah, I agree”, Ophelia said. “I looked Hecate up a bit and apparently one of her symbols was knives, so I'm kind of disappointed there isn't a knife M skill.”

“Maybe they're so good they'll come later?”, Elaine suggested.

“Hopefully. If not, I might take you”, she said, nodding to Jeanne, “up on your offer and buy one of those Thorns.”

“Go right ahead”, Jeanne said. “Now, is that all she needs to do?”

“Hold on”, Elaine said, then shared her own notifications.

“And just like this you're both stronger?”, Jeanne asked and they all nodded at her. “This is amazing. I mean, the Professor said it'd work like this, but still.”

“Exactly”, Elaine said. “It's a little crazy, but I'm not going to knock it.”

“So, what did you want to talk about?”, Ophelia asked her.

“Right, let's leave them alone, shall we?”

**

“You're avoiding me”, Jeanne said to Ophelia once they'd gotten out of earshot of the others.

“I am”, Ophelia agreed.

“Why?”, Jeanne asked. “Do you not like me? Are you worried that us angels have a problem with vampires?”

Ophelia shook her head. It had nothing to do with her having a problem with the angel or those she worked for. “None of that”, the vampire explained. “I have no issue with you and if angels had a problem with my kind I wouldn't be part of this program.”

“Then what is it? I know I've been distant on this mission, but...”

“Look”, Ophelia said, “I know why you're acting this way. You're grooming Elaine for something.” Jeanne looked shocked at that. “Oh come on, it's pretty obvious from the way you're watching her fight and make decisions. I'm pretty sure she's figured it out as well. But no, I'm not upset with you, I don't have a problem with you. I'm keeping my distance from you because... I know how vampires smell, alright?”

Jeanne tilted her head to the side. “What's that got to do with anything?”

Ophelia gave her an exasperated look. “I know how you died. And I know that I smell like a funeral pyre. I don't want my scent to trigger any bad memories for you.”

Jeanne snorted. “Honestly, that's what you were worried about?”

“What's so funny about that?”, Ophelia asked.

“Yes, vampires smell like incense and burnt skin and yes, that scent is vaguely reminiscent of a funeral pyre. But one, you've been wearing your armor all day so light hasn't really hit your skin, making the scent much less pronounced. Two, I died centuries ago and have come to terms with it. And three, you don't actually smell like burning at the stake at all.”

Ophelia blinked. “I don't?”

Jeanne shook her head. “There is the scent of burnt wood and flesh there, yes, but there is also the scent of ruptured bowels and of burnt excrement, which you definitely don't smell like.”

“So my scent doesn't trigger bad memories for you?”, Ophelia asked, surprised.

“Not at all”, Jeanne said. “Was that why you kept your distance?”

Ophelia nodded.

Jeanne smiled. “You're a much kinder person that you would like people to think, aren't you?”

“And you're much shorter than I expected”, Ophelia said grumpily, crossing her arms.

Jeanne snorted.

**

“Okay, my turn”, Alexis said and pulled up her menus for everyone to see. She was eager to increase her stats. Not just because she loved the ability to get stronger but also because it gave her yet more opportunity to futz with her CARD.

“Okay, so I'm grabbing both of the stat boost skills. Then I'm going to grab the upgraded Aenbharr, the first tier of Charged Attack just to try it on for size and finally the Masterful Light Magic upgrade.”

“I admit my Vigor and Endurance look kinda terrible right now, but I wanted to be able to do some actual damage. Next time I get points, I'll shove them into Recovery skills.”

“Honestly I think between your passive regeneration and your new shield bracelet you're tough enough for now”, Elaine told her. “And thank you for the stat boosts.”

“You're welcome”, Alexis said, smiling.

“Your stats are starting to get really crazy”, Alexis told Elaine after she showed them her new stat layout and she couldn't disagree. Even without the stat boost abilities her stats were getting insanely high.

“True. But now I want to see how high we can pump her stats”, Evelyn said, then began scrolling through her own abilities.

“Okay, so I don't have quite enough EXP to reach Level 7”, Evelyn said. “That means I need to game things a little, so how about this?”

“My Vigor is looking positively terrible right now, I know, but next level I'll be getting the boost from the Greater Font of Soma skill and I'll probably buy another Recovery skill”, Evelyn explained, then turned to Elaine and asked: “Now, how did that work out for you?”

“Let's see”, Elaine said, then shared her notifications.

“Wow”, Alexis said as she looked at Elaine's stats. “That looks insane.”

“Yeah. I kinda want to try racing Ophelia now. My Agility is more than thirty above hers and I have no idea how much her Preternatural Speed adds.”

At just that moment Ophelia and Jeanne came back into the room and the vampire asked:

“What's that about me?” Then she must have stepped into the range of Elaine's screen sharing because she said: “Oh my.”

“Would you like to go now?”, Elaine asked Abigail, who nodded eagerly.

“So I can apparently buy most of the skills I have access to. I could save it up and wait until my Bond Level with Elaine increases, but given our current situation I'd like to be stronger right now. Plus, of those Level 4 skills, every single one of them looks amazing. So I'll be leaving out the Song of Fortitude and the upgraded bow. I'm still getting used to the normal bow and I'd rather leave the protecting to Ophelia and Alexis, whose abilities seem more fitting for that role.” Alexis and Ophelia nodded at her, showing that they appreciated that she valued their skills in return. “

“Those stats look horribly imbalanced”, Ophelia commented.

“True, but she doesn't really need her physical stats”, Alexis said. “Then again, maybe it helps with drawing her bow?”

“You're forgetting to put things into perspective”, Elaine said. “Sure her Strength is super low compared to her other stats, but she's still more than twice as strong as a normal human now.”

“I am?”, Abigail asked.

Elaine nodded. “Five points is how strong a human is so at twelve you're more than twice that.”

“How does that work, exactly?”, Abigail asked. “I have barely any muscles except what I gained during boot camp. Would a bodybuilder start with higher Strength than me?”

“These stats have nothing to do with your normal body”, Elaine explained. “Everyone here started with five points of intelligence but that doesn't mean all of us are equally smart. These stats are an abstraction. At twelve points of Strength, you are now over twice as strong as a normal human of your body type. If a more muscular person had your Strength stat, they'd be more than twice as strong as someone of their body type.”

“So I could become more muscular and make more out of my strength?”, Abigail asked.

“Yes, but now that your body is supernaturally enhanced, training your muscles would be a lot more work than normal”, Elaine explained. “They aren't getting bigger from your stat points, but they are getting denser. In essence, stat allocation does not change your body type but it does strengthen what is already there. But if your Strength stat grows high enough, you won't be able to do something like weight lifting anymore because all weights will be too light to provide enough resistance to train your muscles with.”

“Then how do you keep your muscles?”, Alexis asked.

“I assume we're unable to lose muscle mass now. But yeah, I might end up having to bench-press trains at some point.”

“I don't care so long as you keep your abs the way they are”, Ophelia said, causing Evelyn to giggle.

“Really?”, Abigail asked, slightly baffled that Ophelia would go there.

“Have you seen her abs?”, Ophelia shot back. “They're the kind you want to lick frosting off of.”

Jeanne and Alexis just chuckled but Elaine did notice Abigail glancing down at her stomach before looking away and blushing.

“So, what did you get, Elaine?”, Evelyn asked and Elaine shared her notifications.

“I've been wondering”, Jeanne said, reminding them that she'd returned alongside Ophelia. “Does mortal magic work differently?”

“What do you mean?”, Alexis asked.

“See, us angels can use magic as well. We generally have a preference for certain types but if we concentrate we can use any element we want. But these ability descriptions make it sound like it's different for you.”

They all looked to Elaine since she was the only one of them who had innate magic.

Elaine shook her head. “No, it works the same for humans. My brain is hard-wired to jump to earth and air when I think of magic but if I concentrate I can use all types. But every time the girls give me a new element I feel my mind expanding to make it easier to cast other spells. I could cast a ball of water magic if I wanted to but the elements I get from all of them are way easier to work with. They, meanwhile, can only use the elements they're able to unlock as far as we can tell. It's a weird feeling. Everything I know tells me magic isn't supposed to work like this, but whatever the Professor did to come up with this method, the results are undeniable.”

“Okay, good, I thought I was going crazy”, Jeanne said. “But honestly, this is all amazing. You're all still fully human and yet you can fight things that should tear you apart. I'm starting to understand why Heaven and Hell hated the Professor so much.”

“What do you mean?”, Elaine asked.

Jeanne winced. “I probably shouldn't have said that, but what's done is done. The Professor has been trying to empower humans for a long time, trying to make them a match for angels and demons. We didn't really like him doing that but now the situation is dire enough that empowering you humans is seen as a good idea.”

“Why did you ever consider that a bad idea?”, Evelyn asked.

Jeanne blushed. “My superiors didn't like the idea of humans becoming harder to control.” She was met with a round of glares. “Yes, I know that sounds bad. If I were in the Professor's situation I would have probably felt the same. But the issue is the Professor saw us as evil when we were really only trying to protect you.”

“From what?”, Elaine asked.

“From the Outsiders”, Jeanne replied.

Ophelia began to speak but Jeanne cut her off.

“I know what you want to say. Yes, we completely dropped the ball on that. Which is why my superiors have reevaluated their stance on the Professor's methods and which is why we are helping with this project now.”

“How generous”, Evelyn commented dryly.

“I believe the expression here is 'don't shoot the messenger'”, Jeanne told them. “I didn't have anything to do with those decisions. Though up until the Invasion they seemed to be sound.”

“What's sound about keeping us down?”, Elaine asked.

“No, I get it”, Ophelia said. “Humans are already murdering each other over stupid reasons all the time. It's why us vampires used to hide from you. Doesn't matter how strong we are, there's loads more of you. Now imagine if people knew that mages existed. Don't you think the normal people would put them in cages? And if, somehow, all humans had access to such powers, that would only make the normal problems society faces worse.”

Jeanne nodded. “Precisely. But now we can't really worry about that anymore. The real question is what will happen if we beat back the Outsiders. Will you become a meritocracy or will the rich try to pretend they're still the most powerful?”

“So you're saying the Professor had good intentions all along but he didn't think of the big picture?”, Elaine asked.

“Pretty much”, Jeanne said.

Dinner was a sad affair. Their rations consisted of tubes of nutrient paste and the fruit they'd picked earlier. The paste was flavored to taste like classics of American cuisine but that didn't make the texture any more palatable as it was somewhere between instant mashed potatoes and toothpaste. The fruit managed to salvage it, though and Elaine washed her tube of what was generously described as “meatloaf” down with a few huge swigs of water and two big sweet apples.

Elaine hated sleeping outside the compound. She didn't have any issue sleeping outside but in this house, which they hadn't been able to thoroughly check for contamination, they had to slip straight from their armor into their bedrolls. They could have jumped into the shower, but something had made the shower unable to work. The Outsiders hadn't had hold of this area for too long and didn't know to target infrastructure anyway so it had to be another problem but the fact of the matter was that she'd spent the entire day sweating in a suit of high tech armor and couldn't shower.

She was immensely relieved by the fact that the toilet worked just fine though and they had been able to clean themselves up in the sink at least a little but being unable to shower had still been bothersome.

But she decided there was nothing to be done about it and simply went to sleep, slightly relieved that her girls all agreed that rest was too important to pass up.