Forged Legacy

Chapter 161 - Crusade

“What exactly did you do to get an Imprint like this? It definitely fits, but I can’t imagine having a legacy this deep at Level 18,” Cash asked.

“What any father would do. Help his son when he gets in over his head,” Steve replied, turning a pointed look at Tyler.

“Speaking of, we should hit the Loom before our reinforcements arrive. I doubt they’re going to be happy waiting for us to make a pit stop,” Harvey said.

Cash nodded, pointing in the direction of the closest church. Harvey already knew exactly where it was since all the neighborhoods in Heaven were exactly the same. It was a big part of the uncanny valley effect he’d felt ever since he got there. The only variety came from the different architectural styles of the church buildings, each pulled from various denominations practiced across the globe.

“I’ll wait here and bring our backup to the gate,” Cash said.

“Wait. I thought you were going to help me fix my berserking skill?” Tyler asked, clearly worried after the beating he’d taken. Getting a bit carried away with the Brimfiends had put them all in danger, but he’d also gained a lot. Five levels in a single fight was unheard of in Harvey’s trial, and he could barely fathom creating his fourth Class skill barely a day after his last two.

“All of us are on our own the second we put our hands on that pedestal,” Cash smiled. “Just focus on keeping control of your head. Conviction drives your crusade, not rage.”

Huh. You think he’s on to us?

[Not a chance,] Julius chuckled. [Besides, I couldn’t send you into a berserker rage if I tried.]

I don’t know. It would be pretty annoying if you read the dictionary out loud all day.

[I’d rather die.]

The three of them hustled over to the church. Class resumed after the false alarm, forcing them to squeeze through a crowd of people to get into the chapel. He’d almost forgotten about angel school. It was so strange seeing families milling about in street clothes while an army of demons was amassing only a few miles away. All around him, people were chatting away about how interesting a particular lesson was or what they planned to make for dinner. Nobody seemed to care at all that a war for the fate of their planet was going on outside.

Both Steve and Tyler had pushed the Faithful Seed Profession all the humans in Heaven received up to Level 19, but they hadn’t made any Profession skills yet. Cash explained that the Profession itself was very open-ended, so they recommended the G-Grade’s wait to pick a specialization to carry into F-Grade. That way they could hit the ground running with five perfectly suited skills.

Steve and Tyler would have to get back to church at some point if they wanted to keep both when they evolved, but Harvey honestly didn’t know when they’d have the time. His Mom said that lately she gained a level every 5 or 6 days, and right now he wasn’t sure they’d survive the end of the week. Waiting a month to evolve to F-Grade was off the table if they wanted to keep fighting.

The chapel doors swung closed behind them, cutting off the noise from the bustling crowd outside. Silence filled the air, and Harvey took a deep breath. His world had become so chaotic lately, and the only moments of peace always seemed to come beside the Loom. He’d thought religion would fall away with The System, but this room was proof they existed side-by-side in the multiverse. That was strangely comforting to him, especially when the concept of an all-powerful god made a lot more sense once you got a little power of your own.

“You ready?” Steve asked. “You know you don’t have to choose a berserking skill if you don’t want one. Just because we give you advice doesn’t mean you have to follow it.”

“I know,” Tyler replied. “But I think it’s a good idea. It’s like you said, Harvey, the System seems to believe it’s in my nature.”

“Who cares what the System thinks,” Harvey replied, knowing his brother would stick to the plan anyway. He just wanted it to be for the right reasons.

“Well, I’m inclined to agree. I know I’m a little reckless sometimes, but I’ve never thought that was a problem. It helps me jump off the deep end and try new things. It helps me push past my limits. I don’t know… it makes life more fun.”

“Makes sense to me! Definitely more logical than some of my G-Grade skills. I picked fireball because I thought it was cool,” Harvey chuckled.

Tyler laughed a lot harder than he should, and Harvey knew he’d come to a decision. That was good. He’d always admired how his brother could always jump in with both feet. In that sense, Tyler was the complete opposite of Harvey. Instead of being constantly stuck inside his own head like Harvey was, Tyler just went for it. Sure, it got him in trouble sometimes, but he also had a lot more fun than anyone else he knew.

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Rainbow smoke gushed out of the orb as Tyler rested both hands atop it. Unlike their father, who took a moment to just sit and watch the highlights floating in the air around him, Tyler dove right in. The first vision to appear was obviously his fight with the brimfiends. The memories were funny in the sense that the perspective kept changing. Sometimes they looked like a film crew had recorded the whole thing, but others were shown through the person’s own eyes. This particular vision was the latter, and Harvey was shocked to see what that cyclone of flesh and fire looked like from Tyler’s perspective.

An unending assault of flames filled his periphery, the sky blotted out by flapping wings and flailing torsos. His silver bat, imbued with Contact Hitter, deflected many of the attacks into the surrounding fiends, but even more were passing him by. Still, a single swing of the bat was usually enough to end one of the frail creatures. Harvey could see how, from Tyler’s perspective, it looked like just a bit more carnage would be enough to tip the scales. He couldn’t see the horde of reinforcements replacing every brimfiend he killed with two more.

“I’m worried about him,” Steve said. “About both of you. Why do you always have to pick a fight with them?”

Harvey just laughed. “You’re the one who taught me that I need to stand up for myself. In fact, I vividly remember you getting upset that I wouldn’t back when I was a kid.”

“This is different,” Steve sighed.

“Is it?” Harvey teased. “We’ll be fine. Tyler and I might be very different people, but we both know how to learn from our mistakes.”

The vision was soon joined by two more showing a third-person view of Tyler sitting in a classroom. In front, a Templar was teaching from a textbook the students all had open on their desks. The idea of learning skills like this still baffled him, but he couldn’t say it wasn’t effective.

The fourth showed Tyler working out in their high school gym. Harvey was out of the house long before Tyler had even started middle school, but he still recognized a few of his brother’s friends working out alongside him thanks to team pictures his mom posted on social media. At first, Harvey wasn’t sure what a memory like this was supposed to do, until he saw his brother attempting what had to be a PR on the bench press. His arms were shaking like tree branches in a storm, and his face was turning beet red as the bar inched slowly upward. Harvey couldn’t hear the memory, but he saw his brother bark when his spotter tried to help.

Harvey knew his brother was alive – he was standing right in front of him – but that didn’t stop him from worrying that the Tyler inside the vision was about to pass out and drop 275 pounds on his neck.

In the end, he managed to finish the rep and slam the weights back into the rack. His buddies were all jumping around like lunatics, doing the song and dance all young men in the gym do when someone hits a new PR. One yanked Tyler to his feet, unfortunately causing his exhausted and breathless brother to pass out in a heap on the weight room floor.

[I know the feeling,] Julius laughed.

He’s pushing past his limits, alright.

Finally, he added a similar memory of doing team conditioning on the baseball field. His coach had them running a circuit of sprints and ab workouts. Tyler looked utterly exhausted, and the vision ended with him throwing up in the rocks.

It was gross, and Harvey was glad he’d added it last so they wouldn’t have to watch it on repeat while he sifted through the rest. With a nod, all five memories floated into the Loom, causing a cascade of gold, silver, and red thread to wind down from above.

The sigil shared similarities with both Steve and Harvey’s Imprints. Like their father’s, it depicted a silver cross sharpened to a bloody point at the bottom, but it also shared the kintsugi pottery style of Harvey’s Tempered Heart where the few cracks and chips on the cross were held together by divine light. Harvey expected it to sear into his arm, but instead it took its place on Tyler’s chest.

“I know this is going to sound weird coming from me, but that’s a pretty cool tattoo,” Steve said.

“I’m glad you’ve come around,” Harvey laughed. “I freaked out when I first started getting mine. I knew Mom would be happy to have me back, but I wasn’t ready to have her berate me about being covered in ink for the rest of my life.”

“Oh come on. We’re not that bad,” Steve chuckled.

“You have no idea how relieved I was to learn our weaves are hidden once we evolve,” Harvey replied as Tyler walked confidently towards them.

“You ready?” Steve asked.

“That’s a pretty sweet skill sigil,” Harvey commented.

“Yep. I’m ready,” Tyler smiled. “You guys want to see it?”

They both nodded, and a screen popped up in front of them.

Crusade | G-Grade | Uncommon:

It is impossible to fight with a broken spirit, but it is easy when conviction carries you forward. Gather momentum in combat, increasing your Strength, Dexterity, and Vitality the longer the battle continues. All momentum is lost the moment you give up the fight. The rate at which your momentum grows and the maximum bonus scale with Vitality and Willpower.

Harvey whistled. It was a great skill. A perfect fit for Tyler’s budding legacy. It would be a while before he had an Imprint to infuse it with, but you couldn’t rush character. Harvey was glad to see it scaled with Vitality since a skill like this would mean putting himself in danger. It was his Class’s second-highest stat, providing 3 points per level, and now it would get even higher while also adding to his Strength and Dexterity.

“Oh yeah. Those demons don’t stand a chance against you now,” Harvey smiled.