Apocalypse: Fairy System by Macronomicon (fox in socks read aloud txt) 📕

of equivalent value. It felt strange to say, but Jeb actually wanted the other party to act in bad faith. It was the only way Jeb could claim an intangible asset to raise his Myst.

If he gave the guy a week…the odds were actually pretty good the businessman’s fear of Jeb’s uncanny speed and power would dull, and the desire to hold onto his money would grow. That’s just how scumbags worked.

Since Jeb had already delivered, the ball was in his court. He had Garland Grenore by the balls.

The guy just didn’t know it yet.

Now I just need to give him a time and place for a clever ambush to put me at a disadvantage.

“Here. Saturday after next, one in the afternoon,” Jeb said. “I’ll be coming for my payment then.”

“Generous. Thank you. I’ll have your money then,” Garland Grenore said, before the two shook hands again, both of them hoping money wouldn’t change hands, albeit for different reasons.

Jeb walked out of the office and back out onto the street, ignoring the people gawking at him. They wouldn’t meet his gaze even if he looked at them, anyway.

As soon as he was out of sight of the building, Jeb went back to limping, clutching his aching side as he returned to his room. He didn’t have to pretend to be a badass anymore, which was a freaking godsend. He had to have gained some Body, because Jeb was fairly sure he should have collapsed a long time ago.

Jeb winced as he sat down on his bed, favoring his stomach wound. Once he was comfortable, he tugged the uncomfortable ring off and inspected it. It had been a long day, and all he wanted to do now was pass out and deal with everything seventeen hours from now.

But he wanted to know whether the Deal he’d made with the pirates really had an effect, or if he was simply running on the placebo effect.

Experimentally, Jeb put the ring up to his lips and blew through it.

Thick grey Myst billowed outward, creating a roiling cloud in the middle of the room. It seemed to hang there, waiting for something to come across it.

Jeb stood up and walked into the cloud.

The grey Myst sank into his body, causing his flesh to glow with red inner light just as it had a few hours before, highlighting his bones. A flash of light passed over his eyes, and the Myst leapt back out of his body, forming into a status window.

Jebediah Trapper

Mystic Trapsmith, Level 39

Accolades: Krusker’s Brawn, Siren’s Cunning, R-R-RubU’s Mysteries, Gresh’s Subtlety, Innovator, Lagross’s Power

Body 21 (9)

Myst 71 (7)

Nerve 26 (9)

Abilities: Mystic Trigger

Accolade Pending: Lagross’s Power suspended due to multiple instances. Awaiting resolution.

Attention, this User has been flagged for exclusion from The System by executive order.

Four in Body…. That explains why I feel like a teenager…and am not bleeding out.

Two in Myst and one in Nerve. Was that because of the letter? Did the pirates not have any actionable information other than that? Jeb had mostly profited financially from the pirates’ deaths, and as already stated, all material wealth fell under the Body category.

“Smartass.”

“Yeah?” the fairy asked, poking her head out of his pocket.

“Is that a normal increase? Four, two and one?” Jeb said, pointing to each of his Attributes in turn. “It doesn’t feel like a lot. If I took their lives as my payment for the Deal, shouldn’t I have gotten a bigger portion of their Attributes? Some of the people there had at least thirty Body. Hell, Svek’s skull brushed off a forty-four.”

“Umm… How do I explain this,” Smartass said, tapping her tiny chin. “Your sticky Impact can only pick up a certain amount of Impact before it simply can’t pick up any more. It’s related to the size of your Impact. A small ball of Impact can only have a small amount packed in around it before it loses the ability to adhere to more.”

“That makes sense. Like a lint roller,” Jeb said, nodding. So a lot got wasted. Oh well. Hell of a lot better than nothing.

“When you’re totally full up, you have to take some time to convert the new layer of Impact into sticky Impact before you can take more.”

“That’s not going to take another hundred days, is it?” Jeb asked, thinking about his plans for next weekend.

“Should only take about a week, since the foundation is already laid. It’ll get faster as your Impact grows. The oldest Fae can make Deals at a speed that’ll boggle the mind.”

“And once that layer is complete, I’ll be able to accept more Impact in one sitting?” Jeb asked.

“Exactly.”

“What about the distribution?” Jeb said, pointing at the status window again. “Is that because there was simply more Body-flavored Impact up for grabs in the Fate dimension than anything else?”

Smartass eyed him sideways. “You’re a quick study.”

“So I’ve heard,” Jeb said, slipping the ring back on his finger. The status window blinked out of sight as soon as the cold metal interior touched Jeb’s skin.

He carefully lay down on the bed and put his legs up, kicking off his new boot.

“I’m going to try and get some sleep,” Jeb said, setting his arms at his sides. Normally he liked to rest them on his stomach, but the angry, swollen stitching made that a non-starter.

Jeb glanced at a hairline fracture in the ceiling, rubbing the scar on his palm with his thumb. He peered at the chair blocking the door, the bell attached to the window. He felt the gun bumping into his skull under his pillow.

He didn’t think Grenore would try to have him killed, but Jeb would rather be paranoid than dead. He closed his eyes, focusing on the throb of the stab wound in his gut aching