"What's there to be conflicted about? I cleared an impossible challenge so obviously I should be given the strongest ability befitting of my accomplishments." I spoke
"That's a fair point, What would you like you ability to be?" Ether spoke with a smile.
"Oh I have thought about this before! I want the ability to write rules that must be followed absolutely and in the way that is most convenient to me." I responded eagerly.
"No." Ether's response was stern.
Oh well, it was worth trying.
"You don't qualify for an ability like that. As a reward for your impossible victory, you can choose any 2 abilities from the list you have qualified for."
As soon as Ether finished speaking 4 system messages opened simultaneously.
[Ether's Ability: All that the light touches.]
[Qualification: Land Owner; Own a vast amount of land and protect it from 8 waves.]
[Ability Description: All that the light touches is yours to conquer. Upgrades 'property management system' to 'civilisation management system'.]
[Perks:
- Allows for resource extraction from owned territory.
- Adds a reputation counter and reputation bonus.
- Adds non combatant allies and roles.
- Adds diplomacy , foreign relations, global trade… and 12 other systems.
- Unlocks economy and political branches of the tech tree.
- Gain new traits and abilities as your civilisation grows.
- Grants the title 'Supreme Commander Emperor General' to the user. ]
[Ether Ability: Oh divinity, Grant me thine greatest warriors!]
[Qualification: Personnel Management; Successfully organise and lead a group of 20+ people against the 8th wave.]
[Ability description: As the man pleadeth, the divine didst answer. Gain the 'hero system'. ]
[Perks:
- Ability reroll system when an ally joins you. The rates are weighted and without guarentee, all responsibility of rerolling falls upon the user.
- Hero Ressurection system, permitted to only once, to a single hero.
- Unlocks 'Party bonus system', 'Mood bonus system', 'Party affinity system'… and 15 other miscellaneous systems.
- Gain new abilities as party level increases.
- Allows for customisation of initial allies.]
[Ether Ability: When faced with the cruelty of this world, I won't yield!]
[Qualification: Defence Expert; Defend all 8 waves of Round 2 without suffering a single loss.]
[Ability description: With the grit and determination to survive, you will reach Victoria! Vastly improves property defence options.]
[Perks:
- Gain 'Advanced Blueprint system' for defence constructions.
- Adds 'Continual Improvement system'.
- All traps and other defence structures grow stronger and level up with each kill.
- Increases the difficulty of the waves.
- Adds more waves to every round.
- Adds additional victory conditions.
- Vastly increases rewards from the waves.]
[Ether Ability: Deviant Manifestation of Greed, Jean.]
[Qualification: Multi-trillionaire: Acquire an obscene amount of Wealth.]
[Ability description: Jean, yes you Jean D Choppafeller. Grants access to the council of Jean.]
[Perks:
- Get to meet parallel versions of you from different realities.
- Unlocks the 'Extraversal shop'.
- Unlocks the 'personal business' system.
- Unlocks new dialogue options.
- Grants trait 'Dollar-Drooler' and title 'Cash Junky']
I read all 4 choices and tries to understand and rationalise each one.
The first option, it seems jam packed with a lot of new responsibilities and the notion of being king is certainly enticing. With my skill set this ability seems like a strong option, the only thing I can say against it is that it doesn't do much to enhance me as a superhuman.
Option number two, hmm, personally I am not a fan of any form gambling where I do not hold the advantageous position. But, the ability to customise my initial allies does give me some ideas.
Third option, seems to be made right for the sake of defending but it adds more waves and increases their individual difficulty. With the exponential nature the waves, any increases in difficulty or the number of waves will add up to insane magnitudes. If I could learn the specifics of how much the difficulty will increase as well as how much stronger the tools of defence will grow then I can properly judge if this ability is worth it.
And lastly, the fourth option. Excuse me?!?! Is Ether calling me out for being a little wealthy?! Why? Isn't he a damn god, doesn't he own the abilities of all the people, what right does he get to say anything about me!
I took a deep breath to calm down. It's obvious the fourth ability is intentionally framed in a way to be most insulting to me. Why would Ether do that? If I'm right to believe that Ether is a god of sorts, then it doesn't seem in his style to use petty insults like this.
Maybe Ether made it that way to grab my attention? Does he want me to specifically select or not select that ability?
Beyond the system window, I carefully took a glance at Ether's face. It seems to be holding a neutral resting smile while waiting for me to review my choices. I couldn't find a hint of malice or any ill-intention.
I took more time to analyse the fourth ability. On the surface it seemed much more bare-bones than the other 3, offering little utility towards defence. I can meet and interact with other versions of myself, that could be interesting. I can get a 'personal business system', I already have a thousand different corporations I am affiliated with so it's potential seems rather… meagre.
And lastly the ability for which I couldn't adequately gauge its value with any degree of certainty; the 'Extraversal Shop'. It sells items from other worlds perhaps? The ability's potential depended on the usefulness of the items it sells. What about the currency used for the exchange? Surely different worlds will have different currencies and how am I supposed to figure out the exchange rates, and what abo…
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Hmm…" acting like I was still unsure of my choice I asked "Can I choose all of them?"
"Sure." Ether replied.
Wait really? Didn't it just say to only choose 2 before? Why did it suddenly changing its mind?
"But at a cost." Ether added.
Ahhh right, should have expected that.
"What's the cost?" I asked
"Oh nothing much, how about giving up your corporeal body for a 3rd ability and your sentience for the 4th?" Ether smiled politely as he offered the most ludicrous deal.
Why does a god even need those?.
"Can I know how by much the number of waves and their difficulty will increase if I take the 3rd ability?" I questioned.
"They will increase to the next binary operation, instead of the difficulty scaling exponentially it will scale tetrationally. The rewards too will scale exponentially instead of additively." Enter responded.
It will increase tetrationally, so the 8th wave will have… yeah not happening that's way to many zeros.
So now the choice is only between the first, second and fourth options. First and second are easy picks. They are strong and don't increase the difficulty to absurd numbers.
But the wild card, the fourth option. It doesn't serve to explicitly benifit me as much as the others but I can't help but feel like I will regret not choosing it.
Although… Ether doesn't seem to be too keen on the idea of giving me more than 2 abilities.
Then it's decided. I will do what I always did best, I will channel the transcendent ability passed down through the generations of the esteemed Choppafeller lineage, I will use the greatest skill a businessman of my pedigree has, I will bargain!!
"All the choices were unique and so I found it rather hard to settle on just 2 choices, after I gave it a lot of thought I have decided that the first and the second ability will be my final choice." I raised my index and middle finger as I declared my selection.
Ether clasped his hands and his neutral face gave way to a smile as he spoke "Great choice now to initiate the transfe-"
I interrupted Ether "Additionally, I will also take the fourth ability."
Ether's smile instantly reversed, I could sense it's immense anger at my proposal yet it didn't out right kill me, it waited for me to finish my proposal.
Even though I was already dead it felt like I could die a thousand times over if I didn't choose my next words carefully.
"I will pay for it ofcourse, in… uhh… monthly installments of my time! Think of it as a loan. You can have 10 minutes of my month every month till the day I die."
I peeked at Ethers face to gauge his reaction to my new offer. He looked even more furious than before and his hostility seemed to be growing with every moment passed.
Oh… so this is how I go out.
Maybe I shouldn't have lowballed a god.
I closed my eyes and silently accepted my fate.
…
…
"That's quite the exploitative offer Miss Jean."
Ethers voice came from the darkness, his voice seemed rather gentle, am I… really safe?
I slowly opened my eyes, a soft smile sat on Ether's face.
"Let's work on the specific terms, before we finalise the deal."