"How?!" Lucius hadn't expected his attack to be so effective. Even with his enhanced strength he knew he would need to layer at least eight stacks of damage buffs before he could really hurt the abyss creatures. Something he'd done had massively increased the damage of that strike, and he suspected the message he'd just received might shed some light on what, exactly, that was.
"An aspect? Not a talent?" Lucius mumbled to himself, taking a closer look at the contents of the system message. "What is an aspect?" he asked mentally, hoping the system could explain further.
Aspects, unlike talents, are magical abilities that permanently alter the characteristics of those who acquire them.
"Okay, that seems straightforward enough." Lucius thought as he focused his attention on the new aspect, prompting the system to explain the details of this new power.
Aspect: Feet of the Thief
Your early life experiences, specifically the time you spent as a child, trapped among dangerous individuals, forced you to endure constant emotional pain. This affected your soul, causing it to develop in a unique way. For you, to be seen was to be in pain. Thus, a desperate yearning not to be seen, is carved into your very being. The unique development of your soul, combined with this innate yearning, generates potent magical effects.
Feet of the Thief description:
1. Don't Mind Me!
Reality itself flows around you without making a ripple; you go unnoticed by all. This effect is diminished by any noise, strong scents, or rapid movements you make.
2. Sucker Punch!
If Don't Mind Me! is active when you attack, Sucker Punch! is triggered, raising your critical hit chance to 100%.
3. I'm So Lonely!
The powerful magic generated by your existence affects everything about you. Even the way other people think about you. Your existence, and identity, are hard to grasp and hold on to. It will be difficult for other people to develop any strong feelings towards you.
"Figures..." Lucius felt a sharp sting in his chest. This aspect was a magical reflection of who he was. The negative side effect, I'm So Lonely!, was proof that his past had left him emotionally stunted, and now that problem was being magnified by magic. "Whatever... I've been sacrificing everything to survive my whole life anyway. I guess I have no choice, I'll just keep doing it now."
Lucius pushed that problem to the back of his mind, and called out for Jack to come back into the room. Jack walked in casually but he immediately did a double take when he looked at Lucius. "What happened to you? Something is... I'm not sure exactly, but something feels off," Jack said, as he looked Lucius up and down.
"Well... good news and bad news." Lucius explained what he had done when Jack left the room, and how his actions had triggered the activation of his aspect.
"That settles it! You already had a skill called Assassination, and now you've triggered a stealth aspect. I think that makes you some kind of rogue," Jack said excitedly, but continued in a softer tone. "That side effect is rough though. Maybe we can find a way to fix it—after all, magic exists now, right?"
"I'm sure I'll regret it someday, but right now, I'm not too worried about it. I'm homeless, remember?" Lucius smiled—a habit of covering up tragedy with a smile, a laugh, or a joke. "You don't typically end up homeless if you have lots of people who care about you, so I don't have any relationships for that side effect to ruin."
Jack didn't know what to say to that. Lucius life had been one long heartbreaking tragedy, but there was nothing he could do about it, and right now, they needed to focus on staying alive. After a few moments of awkward silence, he changed the subject. "Are you ready to get back to work?"
"Yeah... yeah, let's do that." Lucius buried the terrible pain in his chest with a practiced smile. He was an expert at hiding, and hiding his emotions was just another part of that skill he'd mastered.
The boys got back to work in silence, and this time, they didn't let anything distract them. For the next three hours straight, the only sounds coming from that bathroom were the hissing, screeching, and buzzing of abyssal creatures, followed by the sharp whistle of metal slicing through the air and the harsh squelching as it pierced flesh.
You have defeated juvenile abyssal insectum level 2.
[Three hours later]
You have reached level 16. You have 36 attribute points available for distribution.
The last three hours had all blurred together for Lucius, as he repeated the same actions again and again. His damage buffs had stacked so much that he could slice through the creatures' armor with a simple flick of his wrist, even using a spear tipped with a dull kitchen knife. Magic was a mind-bending thing. Lucius knew what he was doing shouldn't be possible, yet he kept doing it regardless. One thing he clearly noticed during the slaughter was after reaching level 10 he started gaining five attribute points per level. Though the time and effort required to level up kept increasing. He'd counted once, to reach level thirteen he needed to kill an incredible thirty two of the juvenile insects. After that he stopped trying to keep track.
Eventually when Jack opened the window to let more creatures inside, none came. His eyes widened as he glanced towards Lucius with a grin, the other young man craned his neck to look outside. "Is that all of them? Did we get all the little ones?" Lucius and Jack gathered together, up against the window, as they searched for more of the juvenile Abyss insects. They could see Abyss creatures, but only a few dozen, and only the larger Adults. They had managed to accomplish something amazing, slowly killing the entire swarm of juvenile abyss creatures.
"That's it for the easy part. From now on, things are going to get increasingly dangerous," Lucius said in a solemn tone as he ripped open a roll of paper towels that Mary had brought them when she saw how covered in blood they had become. Lucius and Jack cleaned themselves up, they had finished the dirty task of moving the rest of the bodies to the walk-in freezer in the break room, which now contained a heaping pile of gruesome remains.
"Let's take a break. We need to let Mary and James know what's going on, and you can spend that truckload of attribute points you just earned," suggested Jack, tossing aside the empty cardboard tube after using the last of the paper towels.
They walked into the main room of the store and were greeted by James and Mary, "Eww, you guys stink!" said James, squeezing his nose and scrunching his face in an exaggerated display of disgust.
"Don't be rude, James," his mother gently scolded, though she agreed with the statement. "Everything about those creatures is wrong—even the smell of their blood." Mary said, holding a napkin over her nose and mouth.
Jack and Lucius explained the progress they had made so far, and reassured them that they would be reunited with Patrick soon. Mary had taken to writing notes, and holding them up against the glass so Patrick could see. She let him know he would be rescued soon, and that he should stay safe inside the car. Lucius could see scraps of paper scattered on the floor near the window, the paper contained messages like I love you, Stay Strong, and Help is Coming. It was bittersweet for Lucius to see. He was glad Mary, James, and Patrick loved each other, but it was hard to remember that no one had ever cared for him like that. If he had been trapped in the car, and his parents were stuck in the store, they'd probably use it as an excuse to get drunk and demand sympathy from everyone around them. They'd say things like, "What did we ever do to deserve this? Life just never gives us a break!" They would make the situation all about themselves, be obnoxious, and burden everyone around them. It was a stark contrast to the loving reassurance that Mary and James were giving Patrick.
Lucius took a seat near the center of the room. He was about to use his free attribute points and last time he had almost passed out from the experience. He could probably choose to add points slowly, one at a time, to avoid the overwhelming rush but he wasn't going to do that now. He wanted to cover up the empty feeling welling up in his chest and stomach he had started feeling after seeing a loving family, and being reminded of just how tragic his own life was. Besides he liked the way it felt, when he used attributes it was so intense that for a few moments all his problems disappeared, leaving only the bone deep rush of power.
He planned to split the points across three attributes: 15 in dexterity, 15 in strength, and 6 in stamina. He was exhausted now after doing something relatively easy—what if he had to really fight something that could fight back? His stamina just wouldn't be enough, so he decided to throw a few points there as well. Lucius took a deep breath, hugged himself tightly, and gave the command.
He realized how badly he screwed up when the searing pain hit him, it felt like his body was being ripped in half. He wanted to scream but the pain was so intense that he only managed to grind he teeth and moan. Darkness was creeping into the edges of his vision, he tried to take in a breath of air but the next moment he lost consciousness. It was too much; he didn't get to experience any of the rush he'd hoped for, and now his body was convulsing. Jack and Mary ran over when they realized something was wrong. Lucius was flailing around on the floor, his jaw clenched tight and his eyes rolled back in his head, his back kept arching and spasming as a foam of bubbling spit sputtered out of his mouth. His own fingernails tore bloody gashes in his arms where his clenched hands were grabbing.
"Don't let him bite his tongue—he could die!" Mary warned as Jack rushed forward to try and help Lucius, that turned out to be a mistake. Lucius now had 22 points in strength, and he'd gone from above-average human strength to that of a full-grown male grizzly bear in a single moment. When Jack tried to hold him down he was struck hard by Lucius' flailing body. With the next lurch of Lucius' body a shoulder hit Jack in the chest, he was thrown back so quickly and violently that his shoes came off midair. Jack flew away like a ragdoll, and ended up crashing into the canned goods shelf, collapsing into a heap on the floor.
Mary stood rooted in place as she looked back and forth between the two boys trying to make a decision; now two people needed help, and she had to choose one.
She turned away from Lucius and rushed towards Jack. Blood was flowing from the young mans ears and nose as well as a wide gash on his head, probably from when he hit the ground. It didn't seem to her like he had any broken bones, but she was no expert, "James, go get me the first aid kit! It's the white box with the big red plus sign on it behind the register. Go! Hurry!"