Chapter Forty-One – Cosmic Exchange – Part One

Gods plan over decades and centuries… Goddesses plan over millennia and eons…

- Third Passage of the Second Testament of Goddess Jaledi of the Mosei -

I stare at the yes for a few more moments, thinking back on the last month. I've grown a lot stronger since I gained Respec on Death. Far stronger than I had hoped. Healers don't usually make it over twenty. Burnout is very common, both in mentality and mana channels. Too often healers are presented with things that they cannot fix, yet try anyway.

I'm not a healer anymore, but I'm also not as sour about it anymore. This class, Witherbrand, it's really good. Even at level fourteen I basically soloed a boss of a yellow gate. Something that even the WHA guys wouldn't have been able to do. Not the ones we had at least.

[ Level Twenty Subclass Assignment Ready. ]

[ Roll? ]

[ Yes / No ]

I've stalled long enough… I mentally tap the yes.

[ Rolling… Success ]

Wow, there's weird fanfare, a dark mist instead of the usual colorful ones. I feel a strange sensation that passes after a moment.

[ Congratulations Hunter, you have rolled a new Subclass ]

[ Scion of Chaos ]

What the hell does Scion mean? It's like an heir to something right? Cortez wasn't wrong, I need to read more. I'll ask her when she shows up. She should have been here already, I wonder what's taking her so long. Maybe I should message her again after I check what Scion of Chaos is.

[ Subclass – Scion of Chaos ]

[ Scion of Chaos: After a lifetime of studying the source of power, the Scion of Chaos discovered how to harness and convert it. Their skills specialize in directing the flow of chaos. ]

What? What does that even mean? That's so fucking ambiguous. Whatever it is though, it's probably strong. Witherbrand is broken, it stands to reason this will be too. I move as fast as I can through the skill menu, trying to find the new base class skill. There it is…

[ Chaos Conversion ]

Okay… I click it.

[ Skill: Chaos Conversion ]

[ Usage: Allows the user to harness Charges in all their forms and convert them into Chaos Charges. ]

[ Effect: Exchanges any type of Charge into Chaos Charges. ]

[ Activation: Intention. ]

[ Cost: None. ]

[ Unique Passive: Access to the Chaos Emporium. ]

Okay, I don't get it. Like, I do, but I don't. Really wish I could scratch my chin right about now. Being bedridden sucks. Positive thoughts, at least I have time to explore everything finally, that long weekend I was looking for.

So, I'm going to guess here, but converting Charges must be stuff like Wither Charges. Which means there are other classes that use their own version of Charges. Which kind of makes sense since Subclasses generally are the connection point of several branches of other classes. I wonder what other classes use charges though.

Right now, it looks like its only skill converts Charges into Chaos Charges. Which means, I won't know how broken it is until I get another class skill. Looking at the unique passive, I wonder if I spend the Chaos Charges at this Chaos Emporium place. Yet another place to buy or sell things it would seem. That reminds me, I still haven't checked the Cosmic Exchange. Mwangi was pretty adamant that I should check it. If he's right, healing skill might be for sale there. That's a big guess though. There's no evidence to support that theory, besides the fact that the custom RoD menu has a list of my legacy skills with synergy. We don't actually know what that means though.

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A lot to process. No point overthinking it, I'll find out soon enough, hopefully.

Opening my messages section, I find Cortez in there. No response to my earlier messages. I wonder if she's okay. Has me worried. I'll ask Tran… no, on second thought, I'll ask Barlow if he's seen her.

[ SPC Novak: Hey bro, you seen Cortez? She hasn't shown up yet. ]

As I wait for him, I look through the rest of my messages, there are quite a few from Trevanius. I've been avoiding opening them. Not much I can do about Cactus Cleric until I get out of this bed. Some things are better squashed in person. I get a chime, Barlow's replied already.

[ SPC Barlow: Haven't seen her, she missed formation. Want me to check with Lt? ]

I write him a painstakingly slow message back. Saying that I'd do it. Thankfully, Dorliac replies as quickly as she usually does.

[ 1LT Dorliac: What do you mean she hasn't shown up?

I'll check with SSG Mwangi. Sit tight. I'll send a replacement for her. ]

Yeah, sitting tight… about all I can manage.

***

An hour later I finally hear the door opening to my room, I can tell from the gait and the blurry outline that it's Barlow. Where the fuck is Cortez?

"Well, I know I'm not who you wanted to see, but I'm here," he says, sitting down on a seat next to the bed, "I brought a book, if you want me to read it?"

I turn to look at his blurry outline again.

"I was thinking we could start in Genesis, it's my favorite scripture."

"Pass… hard… pass…" I groan.

"Look, I know it's hard to believe when life kicks you in the nuts. But I saw you praying on the plane, you don't have to hide it, be proud."

"Goddess…"

Barlow pauses.

"Oh, I guess I should have realized that."

I let out a sigh of relief. There's nothing wrong with being religious. I have nothing against it personally. But the thought of being muddled through a sermon by one of my peers, all while being strapped to a bed I can't escape yet… well, that sounds painful.

"Never too late though, you know…"

"Pass…"

"Okay, worth a shot."

There's a heavy silence between us now. He's not mad though, he'll try again, always does. While he reads, I still want to check out the Cosmic Exchange. I check my messages tab, still no message back from Dorliac. Weird. Alright, time to pull up the menu.

[ Respec on Death Custom Menu ]

[ RoD Skill Level: 1 ]

[ RoD Tokens: 1 ]

[ Legacy Skills ]

[ Cosmic Exchange ]

[ Unlocked at Level 25 ]

[ Unlocked at Level 50 ]

[ Unlocked at Level 75 ]

[ Unlocked at Level 100 ]

[ Unlocked at Level… Error ]

Okay, the skill level looks the same, still says one out of ten, no progress on that. I guess it's not gate quest related. Maybe it only gives me progress on Respec quests. A stomach-churning thought crosses my mind… hopefully it's not a death requirement to level it up. Pushing the thought away, I look at the level twenty-five unlock, almost there. I let out a shallow breath, it's been getting easier to breathe, and my eyes are slowly getting less blurry.

"You good?" Barlow asks, not looking up from his book.

I groan, and he chuckles.

"If you need anything, let me know."

I groan again before refocusing on the task at hand. The Cosmic Exchange. Time to find out if I have enough to get in. Also, it would be nice to know what's up with Ulana, maybe she left a note for the Emperor quest.

[ Welcome to the Cosmic Exchange ]

[ Balance: ]

[ Sacred Echoes: 550 ]

[ Neutral Echoes: 100 ]

[ Cursed Echoes: 400 ]

[ Ledger ]

[ Enter Cosmic Exchange Shop ]

I have a lot more echoes now, nice. I click on the ledger next, it's probably best to check if Ulana has any explanation for her absence in my treasure rolls, and why she presumably let Red stat roll fuck me. I don't buy for a second that this was random. Opening it, I see there is a note from her in there.

[ Ledger: ]

[ Quest: Kill the Emperor Dragonfly ]

[ 500 Sacred Echoes Gained ]

[ 60 Neutral Echoes Gained ]

[ 100 Cursed Echoes Gained ]

[ Note: Award reduced to reflect Jimmy's unwillingness to devote himself entirely to his Goddess, despite everything she has done for him. His Goddess is also seriously beginning to question if he is a magnet for harlots. His Goddess was pleased however to see him insult a harlot Cleric in front of her harlot Goddess. Extra points awarded for that. Overall, Jimmy performed somewhat adequately during the quest. It should be noted though that he did not claim victory in his Goddess's name, points were reduced for that. ]

She gave me five hundred sacred echoes for this quest. Feels like a lot. I only had fifty before. I'd be willing to guess it was awarded mostly due to me being a dick to the Cleric Verantha. My eyes linger over a few of the words though… somewhat adequately… yeah slaying the boss and solo clearing the quest is somewhat adequate, okay… I roll my eyes, moving down to Red's note.

[ Note: Sigh. Cactus comment was entertaining. Points awarded for that. I will also note that I very much enjoyed the look of horror on the Deviant's face when he committed murder. No points awarded for that, but I have requisitioned a title to commemorate the occasion. Also, I do hope the Deviant enjoyed my specially picked item. ]

Fucking dick. I did see that I had titles pending, but it's low on the totem pole of stuff to figure out. Knowing that Red gave me a new one, I want to check even less. On a brighter note, a hundred Cursed Echoes from Red. Not bad at all, especially considering they seem hellbent on screwing me.

Well, I guess there's nothing left to do except try and enter the exchange, I'll check on the titles later. My mind hovers over and clicks it.

[ Notice: Sufficient Neutral Echoes to enter the Cosmic Exchange. ]

[ Enter? ]

[ Yes / No ]

"Hey bro, have you heard from Sergeant Mwangi?" Barlow asks.

I leave the display up but shake my head slowly.

"Sergeant Gilroy said that he asked him to meet up, but never showed."

"Message…" I ask.

"He's not responding to me either, neither is Tran."

"Cortez… Tran… Mwangi… fuck…"

I mentally swipe my interface away, moving into my messages tab. No message from anyone.

"I'm starting to get worried," Barlow says, standing up, "Gilroy says to move your bed to another room just to be safe."

What the fuck is going on?

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