Roman’s ears popped as he passed through the barrier marking the boundary of the Chaos Gate. Once he was through, the illusion of a somewhat ordinary forest reasserted itself around him, all evidence of the ziggurat and its protective swarm gone.

System text drifted across his vision, but Roman had more important matters to attend to for the moment. He almost dumped Bella to the ground like a sack of potatoes, then caught himself and gently lowered her. 

Her face remained contorted in distress, lips moving frantically as she silently begged for forgiveness. A livid flush colored her cheeks and sweat beaded her face. Roman crouched beside her, resting the back of his hand against her clammy forehead; her roaring fever felt as if she was burning from within. 

John materialized at his side, leaning over to examine her like some particularly interesting spiritual herb. “Looks like leaving the area wasn’t enough to break the spell. Might be a problem.”

“You think?” said Roman. “How am I supposed to help her?” 

John rubbed his chin. “I saw you evolved [ Impose Will ] by flooding it with your soul energy. Smart move. Maybe you could help break her out of her mental prison with it, but, uh, it might be better to wait for now. You haven’t tried it before on someone else. For all we know, exposing her to your chaos energy may just turn her brain into soup or something.” 

Roman sighed. The girl was only starting to look worse over time, sweaty hair plastered to her face; even her breathing had become more agonal: quick, frantic panting, followed by deeper, shuddering exhalations. He couldn’t forget their initial antagonism, but it didn’t mean that he enjoyed watching her deteriorate before his eyes, trapped in a nightmare loop.

With nothing better to do in the meantime, he reviewed the system notification from the encounter, along with his overall status.

[ Impose Will (I) has evolved into Impose Will (II). ]

[ You have created a fusion of the Quirk Bulwark Mind and the Skill Impose Will, forming the active area-of-effect Skill Impose Mind. Scales along with progenitor Skill. ]

[ Title granted: Skillsmith (I). +2 to Node Points, +1 to Will, +1 to Charisma. ] 

Roman Miller
Species: Human (E)
Class: Chaos Disciple (Rare)
Patronage: None (19 Pending)
Level: 6 (3782/6400)
Nemesis: Nylarthotep, Mammon
Titles: Savage Survivor, Eligible Bachelor, Shameless Bully, Outlaw Renegade, Pyrrhic Victory (I), Giantsbane, Reckless Survivor, Skillsmith (I)

Base Attributes

Strength: 36
Agility: 37
Endurance: 40
Will: 48
Perception: 30 
Charisma: 4

Path of the Corrupted Monk, Initiate

Innate: Chaos Touch (II)
Selected: Flash Step (II), Impose Will (II) 
Discovered: Soul Circulation (I)

Quirks: Hunter’s Eye, Dancer’s Grace, Bulwark Mind
Available Node Points: 6

Quirk Fusion: Impose Mind (II)

He didn’t quite understand why the new Title conferred an additional Charisma point, but he wasn’t about to complain about it. Now that he had enough Node Points, he wondered if he should gamble for a new Quirk or select one of the available options. 

The paradox of choice had, yet again, somewhat paralyzed him. Ever since he’d acquired the loot from the system, he had toyed with the idea of selecting the [ Analyze ] quirk, an eight NP off-shoot of Hunter’s Eye that would grant him information on his surroundings. Whatever boost he received from [ Sacred Raiment of the Reavers ] wasn’t reflected on his attributes screen, and he had to admit he was curious. 

The Quirk would also have many benefits beyond just quantifying the effects of his gear, but for now it seemed a bit frivolous. As powerful as information could prove, having definitive knowledge of buffs that were applied regardless of his understanding wouldn’t actually improve anything for the moment.

After a moment of thought, he dumped five of his Node Points into [ Tempt Fate ] for a new Quirk. 

[ You have unlocked the Quirk Actor’s Assurance. +7 to Charisma, +2 to Will, +1 to Perception. ]

[ Actor’s Assurance: You speak lies with more confidence than the truth. Avoid violence by making those around you question their preconceived notions. Behave as you wish in any given situation, even as your mind trembles. Scales with Charisma. ]

Roman resisted the urge to groan.

The consequences of gambling had finally caught up to him. While the Charisma stat couldn’t be altogether useless, it had by far the lowest priority for him. And it was just a five Point cluster, no better than selecting one he actually wanted. Though his chances of Rolling a better Quirk had marginally improved since reaching level 6, it was still a 50/50 on whether the gamble even resulted in an improvement. 

He tried to think of the upside, such as nearly tripling his Charisma, but the thought did little to alleviate his bitterness.

Mixie chose that moment to casually saunter into view. He almost looked disappointed to see Roman up and alive. “Oh, you have already returned?”

Roman clenched his fists, resisting the urge to launch himself at the ghoulish shopkeeper. “What was it you said? ‘You should see for yourselves?’ No warning on the mind-manipulating skeletal lizard thing laying in wait?”

Mixie waved a dismissive hand. “You exaggerate the situation. The necrodrake was merely saying hello, testing whether you were worthy of entering its domain. I even saw fit to give it a warning that you would be approaching--”

Roman’s eyes widened. A [ Flash Step ] carried him forward, fist cocked back to turn Mixie into paste for his betrayal. Instead of materializing in front of the shopkeeper, he collided with the stone barrier from Mixie’s Tiger’s eyes. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he launched a brutal punch into the barrier. Cracks spiderwebbed throughout the entire stone construct, but it held. 

Roman had drained more than half of his soul energy overcoming the necrodrake’s mental trap. A dull headache pounded between his ears, and the circulation of his bronze energy seemed sluggish, but that didn’t matter. His next punch, infused with [ Chaos Touch ], shattered the stone barrier into hundreds of flying fragments. The sting of them slicing into his exposed face did nothing but enrage him further.

To his outrage, another stone barrier formed in the same place. 

“Restrain yourself, you leaky organ-bag,” said Mixie, which only exacerbated the building rage threatening to consume Roman’s mind. “All Chaos Gates are a Trial, but this is a special one. Not what you would expect just lying around in this little backwater area, but I suppose I am also a superlative specimen, far too impressive to have been planted here. This location must be Leyline. Likely centered around the Chaos Gate, which serves as a Nexus of Fate. I was merely introducing you as prospective Champions.”

The string of unknown words was enough to make Roman pause. “Explain yourself.”

Mixie opened his mouth to respond, but John interrupted.

“Restrain yourself for now, Roman,” said the guide. “Look at Bella.”

It took Roman a moment to realize what he meant. She looked better than before--some of the flush gone from her face, her breathing close to normal. Good news, but Roman didn’t see why that merited interrupting their conversation. Then he noticed the mirage-like shimmering around her body, and activated [ Hunter’s Eye ]. 

Scarlet energy swirled around her entire prone body, seemingly erupting from her sigil-marked palms. The aura was far denser and thicker than he could have managed even in his peak condition. Various bizarre runes manifested along the scarlet shroud before vanishing a moment later. A vague face struggled to free itself from the aura, howling at the overhead canopy before retracting back into the roiling maelstrom of energy.

“Well,” said Roman, “that doesn’t look good.”

John shook his head. “At first, I thought she was just fighting off the necrodrake’s influence in her own way. But it looks like it’s going beyond that. Now you’re seeing why Patronage is such a trap. Her mind was weakened and subverted, and now…”

“Possession,” Roman finished, his eyes widening. 

A strange, halting laugh escaped Bella’s lips. When she spoke, her voice sounded ancient and regal, like an arrogant queen deigning to speak with peasants. “Earlier than I hoped, but I have never been one to pass up on such an opportunity.” 

Bella stood almost like a puppet pulled up by its strings, her eyes still squeezed shut. A seam split through the middle of her forehead, stretching from her glabella to the start of her hairline. Roman expected a third eye to open, but instead a curled talon that gleamed like a ruby broke through the skin. 

Blood trickled down the sides of her nose as more of the strange protuberance burst through. As it lengthened, Roman realized it was a giant, curved horn, over a foot long. Once it had fully manifested, her dark hair transformed into a fiery mix of reds and oranges that drifted in all directions like ethereal flames. 

She grinned. 

“Who the fuck are you supposed to be?” said Roman. He rubbed his fingers together, resisting the urge to launch himself at this unknown enemy. 

While he wasn’t exactly thrilled to see one of the bastard Watchers possessing Bella, he wasn’t in the best condition to engage an unknown enemy. It’d been stupid to fling himself at Mixie again, knowing that the Keeper would probably beat him--or at least would be impossible to truly kill--but he had to admit he didn’t always make the best decisions. This one seemed a bit more likely to end with his death than usual.

“You may refer to me as Lady Lucia,” she said, glancing down at one of the radiant sigils on her palm. “I remember how you triumphed over this body in the past. Though I have not granted this pathetic mortal even a fraction of my power, and so her defeat does not reflect upon me in truth--”

“If you say so,” said Mixie, grunting laughter into his hand. 

Lucia ignored him. “--I must admit to some lingering discontent. Bella already knew of you before you met--you were one of those prize combatants that fought in the parking lot of her restaurant, were you not? Then I suppose you understand the concept of a rematch?” 

Roman sighed and cracked his neck. “Guess it’s time to exorcise a bitch, then.”