{REALM: THE SEA OF STARS}
{DEPTH 11}
Riku couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the absurdity of the situation even as he knew that he probably looked stupid just laughing to himself. Still, he didn't care. After all, no one could say that their view of what was probably the most fantastical place on earth was just obstructed by a random pop up made by his own power.
[BOONS OF CHAOS: CHAOTIC SYSTEM ACTIVED]
[CHOOSE A NEW BOON]
Nyx's monotonous tone stood in stark contrast to the eerie quiet around them as he stared at the new prompt that just appeared in front of him. In truth, he almost forgot that this power even existed with how long it had been since he saw this prompt appear. And while he did use his Trump ability earlier, it wasn't really his actual power. No, his power came from the ability to pick and choose which potential upgrade he got whenever he reached a milestone Depth, which in this case, was the tenth since he first started.
"Riku? Are you alright?" Shizu asked behind him. "I-I know this place looks impossible, but-"
"No, I'm fine," Riku quickly corrected her with a chuckle. "I'm just dealing with something at the moment."
Turning his attention back to the prompt, the former assassin hummed in thought as he read through what he had to choose from.
[CHAOTIC RIFT: ALLOWS THE CHAMPION TO TEAR A HOLE IN REALITY TOWARDS A CHOSEN ENEMY, TELEPORTING HIM AND HIS TARGET TO A RANDOM LOCATION BETWEEN THEM WHILE REDUCING THE TARGET'S DEFENSE]
[CHAOTIC BOLT: ALLOWS THE CHAMPION TO STORE POWER IN HIS WEAPON, UNLEASHING IT IN A RANGED ATTACK THAT DEALS A RANDOM AMOUNT OF DAMAGE AND STUNS THE TARGET FOR A RANDOM AMOUNT OF TIME]
[CHAOTIC POTENTIAL: ALLOWS THE CHAMPION TO CHOOSE A NEW BOON EVERY FIVE DEPTHS INSTEAD OF EVERY TEN. ADDS A CHANCE FOR A NEGATIVE BOON TO APPEAR IN THE SELECTION]
"Oh yeah, that's probably my power popping up, actually," Nyx wondered aloud, having only seemingly remembered about it just now as well. "Well, Riku? What did you get?"
"I'm thinking right now," he vaguely replied, his eyes narrowed at the choices in front of him. "Give me a moment."
Ignoring Nyx's consequent whining at being ignored, Riku focused more on the task of picking which upgrade to go with in the first place. He was currently faced with three choices, each having their own strengths and weaknesses. The first one gave him some form of mobility on top of enabling him to supposedly weaken his target's defenses, but the fact that the place where they would both end up would be random was going to take some time to get used to. It was also rather dangerous to use depending on the terrain that he would use it on. For all he knew, he might end up killing himself if he somehow managed to teleport himself over a cliff instead of appearing where he or his enemy was currently standing.
As for the second one, being able to have a reliable ranged attack always sounded nice. Although, the fact that the amount of damage he could do along with the prospective stunning effect it gave were random was rather off putting to him for some reason. Also, it stated that it allowed him to store power in his weapon. Was it a charged attack then? If so, then the possibility of a charged attack dealing zero damage and stunning for zero seconds was a possibility that was both hilarious and frightening especially if it was done during a high-intensity combat scenario.
Meanwhile, the last Boon was rather simple. It allowed him to gain Boons every five Depths instead of the usual ten. It was practically guaranteed to double his potential power if he picked it now, even if it would only manifest down the line and would sacrifice the other two Boons that were currently being offered to him. In addition, the last part where it said it picking said Boon would give the Chaotic System a chance to give him useless Boons was also a frightening prospect. Knowing how luck worked, there might just be a time when he'd be given horrible Boons with him having no way to refuse them.
'Nyx.'
/Yes? Have you picked something already?/ Nyx asked. /We're getting kind of bored waiting here./
'Not yet,' he simply thought to her. 'Also, can I skip getting a Boon if they're all not in my favor?'
Nyx's voice hummed as she replied, /That's kind of impossible. My power doesn't work that way. What it gives, you have to take./
Riku clicked his tongue in annoyance at that. It would seem that he would have no choice but to pick his poison if it ever came down to it. Then again, he could always avoid that by not picking [Chaotic Potential] in the first place. However, the ability to gain power every five Depths instead of ten was just an opportunity he couldn't pass up.
Letting out a sigh, the former assassin chose [Chaotic Potential], the prompt then turning into a dark tendril of pure chaos before quickly flying into his knife, imbuing it with the power he just chose for himself.
"Finally. I was just about to push you out into the sea if you took longer, to be honest," Nyx exasperatedly mumbled behind him. "You chose what I think you did, right?"
"It's the only logical choice," he shrugged. "Only time will tell if it's worth it."
It was a gamble, in a sense. He just had to hope that the system would give him choices that wouldn't completely destroy his fighting style. More tools were always welcome, and he'd find use for even the most random of abilities if it came down to it.
"I... don't know what happened, but I sure you made the right choice," Shizu absently nodded with a smile.
Letting out a chuckle at that, Riku finally allowed himself to look at the Realm they were about to navigate next.
The Sea of Stars... Actually, how in the world were they supposed to get out of this dock?