Chương 85: 84 - Intentions

Kam flinched when Alexandra stepped back into the room. He looked back and she met his gaze with a smile.

"I have one more thing to do," she said, rushing back to her seat. She laid her journal on the table and flipped the pages to her class perk selection. Three new options.

"Good news?" Kam asked, returning to his book. She nodded.

"Level up."

"Congratulations." He paused.

"Will you trade your robes?"

"Not yet. I'm only level four." He didn't answer. She read the first option. Contribution Points – Replace all non-daily quest rewards with contribution points. Contribution points can be traded for rewards of your choosing. The number of awarded contribution points is equivalent to the value of the original reward. She had to read it again to understand. If she got it right, it meant that she would get to choose the reward of her event quests instead of it being automatically assigned.

Alexandra flipped back to her status. [Giant Slayer] (Rare) - 2 [Curse Unraveling] (Uncommon) - 3 Those two skills and a few attribute points. She tapped her fingers on the table. Having a choice was always better. She was just trying to calculate how much better it would be. She was happy with Curse Unraveling. Considering her situation, she would have probably picked it anyway. Since the perk said that the reward's total value was the same, she would have been able to afford it.

Though, it raised the question of what reward would be available for purchase. Could she save contribution points for later use? If so, how much would she need to save for an epic skill or for something better? Giant Slayer was a good skill, but if she could choose, she would have taken something else, and she wasn't sure it was a good thing. Maybe the system knew better. She shook her head. She didn't want to let the system, whatever it was, control her life. Choosing her rewards was good.

Except she didn't have any event quests in the pipeline. Sure, there was the one she'd received after speaking with Raymond, but it required her to reach Platinum. She counted with her fingers. Each rank had her upgrade all her perks and get a new one. Bronze was level five, Silver level ten, Gold level seventeen. Twenty-six. She'd need to reach level twenty-six to finish that quest. It would take years. She reset her count. If each level needed fifty more experiences than the last…

"Four years and a half," she whispered. Kam looked up.

"Never mind," she said. He returned to his book. There was a good chance she would receive another event quest before then. But it was betting on uncertainty. She decided to look at her other choices before making a decision. Reroll – Once a day, reroll your daily quest. Alexandra knew that one, she'd almost taken it at level two. She would have regretted it, Event Quests proved to be much more valuable. Well, that was in part because she didn't fail a single quest.

She might feel differently about her choice if she had lost her streak. Just thinking about losing her streak bumped her desire for Reroll a few notches up. It wasn't a guarantee she would never fail a quest, but it was better than nothing. She read the final option. Streak Enhancement – Improve the bonuses received for each streak milestone. Applies retroactively to all streak milestones that have already been achieved. Yes, some protection for her streak was nice. Yes, the ability to choose rewards sounded cool.

But a better, enhanced streak? The notion itself felt blasphemous. Her streak could, and would, get longer. But it would never get a qualitative improvement unless she took this perk. She had to restrain herself not to pick that perk right away. Calm down, Alex. No impulsivity. Think rationally.

"Fuck."

"What?" Kam asked.

"Good perks. Can't choose." He nodded.

"Understandable." Okay, the first argument against taking this perk is that it doesn't tell me how it will improve my bonuses. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. So far, she was getting 2% to all stats. Since none of her attributes were above fifty, it did absolutely nothing. Not even one extra point. But it was her streak. Her fucking streak. If she didn't choose the thing that made her streak better, was she even still herself?

The case for Contribution Points was clear. She wanted that perk. But she didn't know when she would be able to benefit from it. It could be months, or worse, in which case she'd already have leveled up several times. She discarded Reroll entirely. She wasn't the kind of person who missed quests, anyway. But the presence of Reroll in her list meant that perks could be offered a second time, which sealed the deal for her. She wouldn't benefit from Contribution Points now, so she would take it later.

It wasn't an excuse to get a shinier streak. It really wasn't. She selected Streak Enhancement. Diligent Quester II -> Insistent Quester II Insistent Quester II: Reach a 25-day daily quest streak. +2% All stats, +2% skill experience. She stood up, looked at Kam. He met her gaze.

"Ever heard of skill experience?" she asked. He didn't blink.

"Who hasn't?"

"Is it what I think it is?" He shrugged.

"It's used to quantify how much you need to train to level up a skill." She nodded. Just as she thought.

"Then, is a 2% skill experience boost good?" He put his book down.

"Which skill?"

"It's not specified."

"All skills, then." He didn't move.

"It's good. Especially if it's an Iron perk. If that percentage can be improved when you upgrade it to Bronze and further, you'll save a lot of time." Alexandra froze. If she was right, she didn't even need to rank up to improve that percentage. All she needed to do was her dailies, and she was already doing them.

"Thank you, Kam." He went back to his book. Her stomach complained. She reached for her pastries. Her hand caught nothing. She turned her head. She was all out.

"I'm off to the refectory." She walked to the exit.

"See you soon." It took Alexandra a long time to find her way out of the maze-like library. She rushed to the refectory, stuffed herself, and made her way to her room for a nap with a basket of pastries. She'd just closed the door behind her when someone knocked. She turned around and opened the door. It was Qafit.

"The Magus has requested your presence." Her eyes opened wide. She looked behind her, making sure the Keeper couldn't see the book she'd stolen. It was hidden in her drawer. She exhaled.

"Alright. I'm coming." She stepped next to Qafit and closed the door. The blue-robed Keeper led her through the same path they'd taken for her first meeting with Raymond. Around the tower and through the order's side of the Iron Library. He knocked on the door. It opened on its own. Alexandra stepped inside. Raymond was sitting in a chair in front of the window overlooking the city, his head turned back toward the door. He smiled when he saw her.

"Alexandra, you came." Qafit left by himself, closing the door behind him.

"Come sit." He gestured at the chair next to him. She obeyed.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make more time for you," Raymond said, producing a pastry from his spatial storage. She took it.

"I'm sure you're very busy." He sighed.

"You can't even imagine. Magus this, Magus that. You'd think this institution wasn't running perfectly fine before I arrived." Alexandra bit down on the pastry. It was better than those in the refectory.

"Are you adapting well? I heard you've made a friend." She looked at him.

"How do you know?"

"Come on, Alex. I'm not spying on you. Well, not on purpose. But as a divine class walking the halls of the Iron Library, my Keepers can't stop themselves from reporting your every move to me."

"Seriously?"

"I do want to know what you've been up to. But I'd rather hear it from you directly." She swallowed her pastry.

"It's been an interesting week, though some of the classes you've picked for me are a pain to sit through."

"Your geography professor did mention that you didn't seem interested." He shrugged.

"Knowing you, I'm not surprised. But I won't compromise on that. You need to know where everything stands in Laika."

"I get it." She extended her hand. Raymond produced another pastry.

"Have you made some progress with your curses?"

"Some." She said, mouth half-full.

"I have not found sickness of empathy and malediction of infinite hunger yet. But I have food, and I'm not fighting too much, so it's fine." He nodded.

"It would be a waste to lift that malediction too soon." She frowned.

"Why? I don't know if you realize how annoying it is."

"The concepts of hunger and infinity are both very powerful." Alexandra paused. It made her think of the moment when she drank that damned potion. The malediction's first instinct hadn't been to ask for food but to absorb the bloodline energy from the ritual.

"Hunger for more than just food…" she whispered.

"Exactly," Raymond said.

"But I'm not going to find another ritual to hijack."

"It is indeed unlikely to happen. Especially here in Kator. But your hunger is infinite, so why limit yourself to a mere ritual? There are plenty of things to eat, if you so desire."

"Like?" He laughed.

"That's for you to figure out." She rolled her eyes.

"Seriously?" Then she thought.

"Skills, or mana, or more quests for my streak. Do any of them work?" He didn't react.

"It's important that you figure things out by yourself if you want to take my place." Alexandra opened her mouth. Closed it.

"I don't want to take your place." Raymond shook his head.

"I didn't want it either. Yet here we are. The gods have summoned us. Eight heroes. Only seven gods. I believe you will replace one of us, and I'd like it to be me. I never asked for this, Alexandra. I know this is selfish, but I want out."

"You want to return to Earth?"

"No. I want freedom. Perhaps this freedom will one day take me home. But until then, I only want to be free of the gods. To stop fighting for them." She looked at him.

"You're not making a compelling case for me to take your place." He smiled.

"I know. I'd rather be honest." A pause. Then she nodded.

"Thank you." His smile widened, and a sharp light surfaced from the depths of his eyes.

"Speaking of honesty, I'll have to ask you to return Clarity of Mind when you're done using it." Alexandra's smile froze.

"When I'm done?"

"Yes." Her eyes avoided his.

"You know?"

"Of course. I also know about your friend and the little operation they run from Goodpeak. Please, this can't be a surprise to you."

"Are you sure you're not spying on me?" she asked.

"Never voluntarily. But you have to admit, this is a little clumsy. We're a library first and foremost." His smile vanished.

"What sort of library doesn't keep track of its books?"