Forged Legacy

Chapter 171 - Relentless Champion

Tyler’s eyes shot wide open, staring blankly up at the crowd gathered around him.

“You alright, bud?” Steve asked.

“I’m fine,” Tyler croaked.

He’d barely been out a minute, but Harvey knew how hard gaining that many levels at once could be on your weave.

“Dad’s Class hit 25, but his race still has a ways to go,” Harvey explained, pulling his brother to his feet. “How about you?”

Tyler paused, flitting through notifications that nobody else could see before answering, “Looks like I’m capped out on both. Does that mean I can evolve now?”

“What about your Profession?” Steve asked.

“I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m probably going to evolve without one. If that’s ok with you,” he added hastily when their father’s face darkened.

“It’s not up to us,” Harvey interjected. “This is your decision.”

“One that shouldn’t be taken lightly,” Steve warned. “You’re basically an adult now, and you know your mother and I are going to support you no matter what you choose. Still, my advice is that you seriously consider whether a few extra levels now is worth giving up a Profession and all the skills and potential that comes with one for the rest of your life.”

Tyler folded his arms and began pacing around. Harvey could see the indecision gnawing at him, knowing full well that the source was not deciding whether to keep a Profession, but whether he was willing to deny their father.

Religion had been a cornerstone of their upbringing, and now it had been codified into a true path to power through the Faithful Seeds Profession that all of Heaven’s humans received the moment they entered the trial. Leaving that behind for a Class that was quickly becoming less Templar and more Slugger felt like leaving behind everything their father had raised them to believe. Harvey knew exactly how hard that was when he decided to put church on the back burner in his own life. He’d seen the looks on his parents' faces, but he also knew that at the end of the day, they loved him. Finding your own path in life was part of becoming an adult, and he was glad to have the type of family willing to stand behind him no matter where that path led. Tyler would learn that eventually, but Harvey wasn’t going to pressure him now. This was a step he’d have to take for himself.

Standing firm, Tyler looked up and met their father’s eyes. “I’m evolving. I know God comes first, but I think he’s got enough priests. I’m a fighter, and I have to keep growing if we’re going to survive all these suicide missions Harvey keeps sending us on.”

Nobody spoke as they all turned towards Steve. He didn’t say anything for a long moment, but eventually a wide smile spread across his face. Walking up beside his sons, he put an arm around each of them. “I must’ve done something right! Not many dads these days can say their boys have a backbone.”

“By the way, the only reason you managed to hit Level 25 in under a week is because of my suicide missions. You’re welcome!” Harvey jabbed.

“You don’t need Harvey anymore,” Cash laughed. “Celeste wanted you, remember?”

The four meandered back to their neighborhood, walking slowly to give Tyler and Steve some time to recover before they put their weaves through the wringer all over again. Steve wasn’t evolving yet, but he still had his G-Grade Capstone skill to create. It was probably smart for Tyler to wait a few hours after gaining so many levels, but with the limited recovery time available before they had to start prepping the battlefield, they figured he might as well get it over with.

“Any idea what your Capstone skill’s gonna be?” Harvey asked.

“Yeah, but I’m not sure it will work,” Tyler replied.

“Remember, anything’s possible! Well… almost,” Cash encouraged.

“You guys are great and all, but I’ve been missing my old team. I’ve played with the same guys every day for years, and I don’t even know if any of them are still alive,” Tyler hesitated.

“I think you managed to find one of the few things the Loom can’t do,” Cash muttered. “You can’t make a skill that summons a dead person.”

“No. It’s not that,” Tyler dismissed. “This whole trial is built around using essence to summon creatures, right? So, I was thinking of creating a skill to summon teammates to fight with me. Not real people, per se, but maybe some faceless ball players who can borrow a few of my other skills when I’m not using them.”

Cash paused, mulling it over as they stood before the Loom. “That might work. I doubt they’d be able to share your other skills at G-Grade, but I could see an F-Grade skill being strong enough for something like that.”

“Which it will be as soon as I evolve anyway, right? Since it’s my Capstone skill?” Tyler asked.

“All your skills will evolve as long as your Class stays Rare,” Harvey added. “I think it’s a great idea! Dad?”

“You know, some of those boys on your team were grade-A dumbasses, but I think it’s fine as long as the summons can’t talk,” Steve replied.

“Geez, Dad! Language!” Tyler chuckled, receiving a warm smile in return. With an encouraging nod, Tyler put both hands on the pedestal. Steve, Cash, and Harvey all backed away as the rainbow haze surrounded him.

The first memory to appear showed the double-play that sealed their state championship victory this past year. The only reason he knew it was that game was that his mother had sent him the clip from their local news station that aired the next day. Tyler had pitched well all game, but was running out of steam as they neared the end. It was a full count, and the batter had already foul-tipped his last three pitches. Both teams were putting everything all on the line, and Tyler couldn’t afford to let him get on base. His usually wicked curveball wasn’t moving quite as much as it had been a few innings earlier, and the hitter sent a grounder screaming towards left field. Harvey saw his brother swear in annoyance, only to find that his shortstop made a brilliant defensive play that got them the final 2 outs they needed to take home the trophy.

[Glad to see little league fundamentals still hold up when creating magic powers.]

Next, Tyler added the same memories of conditioning practices in the Arizona heat and nearly passing out in the weight room that he’d used for his Crusade skill. At first, Harvey had only focused on his brother’s role in all these visions, but now that he understood Tyler’s plan, he saw his teammates struggling right there beside him. Even in the batting cages, Tyler was never alone. If his team wasn’t sweating with him, they were cheering him on. Usually in the most obnoxious way possible, but it was the thought that counts.

The fourth vision had a change in scenery, showing Tyler strapped to Sweetie’s horn, batting away fireballs just hours earlier. The Loom provided an aerial view, showing the massive bull in all her glory and the dozens of summoned creatures charging behind her. The sheer scale of the battle was hard to comprehend, even though Harvey had been tied to the opposite horn. Without that bird’s eye view, you couldn’t wrap your head around the number of creatures dying every single day.

These new constructs are gonna be a drop in the ocean.

[Are we any better?]

Harvey could never have guessed what the final vision ended up being, but it made sense the more he thought about it. Tyler was sitting at lunch in the high school cafeteria, laughing and joking around with his friends. It was a simple memory. Nothing extraordinary. Just one of hundreds of afternoons Tyler could’ve chosen.

Which is why it was so important.

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Day in and day out, Tyler and his friends were there for each other. They worked hard, and they played hard. In war, you had to know that the people fighting beside you had your back, even when things got tough. Especially when things got tough. So, who better to model your new magic squadmates after than the team you spent years eating, sweating, and celebrating with?

“It feels good to know that no matter what happens to me, he’ll never be fighting alone,” Steve said.

“Come on, Dad!” Harvey groaned. “Don’t talk like that!”

One by one, the visions floated into the Loom, causing a cascade of gold, black, and red thread to weave into the shape of a faceless golden humanoid wearing what looked like an imperfect version of Tyler’s High School uniform. It was missing the usual logos and looked a little too ostentatious for an Arizona High School team, but it was close enough.

The sigil floated over and seared into his chest. For a moment, Harvey worried that the strain would make him black out again, but Tyler gritted his teeth and stood tall until the light finally faded. The rainbow haze retreated back into the crystal ball, and Tyler hesitated to put his hands back on and begin the evolution process.

“You feeling ok? We can come back later if your weave needs a minute,” Harvey said.

Tyler looked at him and nodded. “I’m fine.”

“You’ve got this,” Steve encouraged.

Placing his hands on the orb, the barrier cutting him off from the outside world returned, and Tyler got to work creating his Class. With so little time between creating his G-Grade Class and evolving it to F-Grade, there was a lot of overlap in the memories he chose. The only thing missing was all the time spent sitting in angel school. Learning the foundations of becoming a Templar made up close to half of the components for his G-Grade skills, but it looked like Tyler was leaving most of that instruction behind as he focused more on the skills and character he’d built playing baseball. Without a Mark to serve as the foundation, Tyler had to carefully craft the narrative being told by his chosen memories to ensure the System understood the route he was going for, so he spent much more time than normal adding and removing visions until he found the combination he was looking for.

With a nod, the collection sank into the Loom. The gold and silver spools Harvey associated with Heaven’s holy resonance whirred to life, but nowhere near as fast as the red, black, and brown threads shooting towards him like hungry snakes. Each tendril shot straight through his battered armor, causing Tyler to rear back and scream in pain. Harvey couldn’t hear him through the Loom’s isolation, but he knew exactly how invigorating and agonizing those threads felt.

Looking at his exposed face and neck, Harvey saw the threads mix into concepts he couldn’t quite understand. The red thread that mixed with orange to become Forgefire when he created his own class looked completely different when mixed with the black and brown. What he could understand was the latent holy resonance from the gold and silver trying desperately to direct and contain the rampant energies, but it was fighting a losing battle. Tyler was stepping away from the holy path, and Harvey expected his new skills would reflect that.

“Tyler? Tyler!” Steve shouted.

Before he could start banging on the shield like Julian had back when Hannah evolved, Harvey held him back.

“He’s fine! I promise you, he’s fine,” Harvey encouraged.

“The odds of failing an evolution at F-Grade are very low,” Cash added.

“Very low? I didn’t even know it was possible!” Steve struggled against Harvey’s grasp.

“Not helping,” Harvey seethed. “There’s nothing we can do about it now!”

When Steve wouldn’t give up, Harvey let him bang on the shield and get knocked away. The Loom was powerful enough to create A-Grade skills and S-Grade Classes, so there was no way a G-Grade human was breaking in. Harvey had no idea how long it had been when the spools finally began to slow. The last vestiges of thread wormed their way into Tyler’s flesh, and a look of ecstatic relief washed over his face.

“He did it,” Harvey sighed.

“What now? Why isn’t the bubble breaking?” Steve asked, still flustered.

“Now he upgrades his skills,” Harvey smiled.

One by one, the sigils for Blessed Break, Contact Hitter, Consecrated Curveball, Crusade, and Capstone skill floated into the air, got infused with new memories, and reattached themselves to Tyler’s weave. It took him a lot longer than it had when Harvey, Hannah, and Julian evolved, mostly because he really didn’t have much to add. With his rapid ascension, Tyler really only had one or two opportunities to push his skills to their limits. Contact Hitter had enough for Harvey to be confident the skill would maintain its rarity, but Consecrated Curveball had almost nothing. At least the fact he could evolve them all proved he’d at least gotten a Rare Class since foregoing a Profession guaranteed two extra ascension tokens, but Harvey expected most of his skills wouldn’t see a jump in rarity.

The look of exuberance on Tyler’s face slowly faded as he struggled to deal with the problem, leaving him looking sullen when the smoke finally retreated.

“I should’ve warned you about that,” Cash sighed. “Ascending too fast does have its drawbacks.”

“It’s fine. I probably still would’ve evolved anyway,” Tyler replied.

“Come on, guys! Let’s not be Debbie Downers here! Show us what you got!” Harvey encouraged.

Name: Relentless ChampionRARE

Level: F-Grade

Description: Anyone can luck their way into a couple wins, but to become a Champion requires the sort of relentless effort that very few are willing to endure. Showing up every single day, pushing past your self-imposed limits to discover just how much your body and mind are capable of. Now, the System has proved what you already knew deep down. Your potential is limitless. All it takes is the relentless effort of a Champion to keep pushing forward.

Stats per Level: +12 Vitality, +8 Endurance, +16 Strength, +12 Dexterity, +12 Willpower, +12 Free Points

Fast Break | F Grade | Uncommon:

A true Champion never hesitates, having practiced the right move so many times that execution becomes second nature. Through relentless momentum and unwavering conviction, you’ll gain the force needed to break through any obstacle standing in your way. Gain increased Dexterity while charging toward a target, building momentum as you move. This momentum infuses your weapon with explosive force, released upon your next strike. Momentum rapidly fades once you stop moving. The speed of your charge and the power of your strike scale with Strength and Willpower.

Perfect Pitch | F Grade | Common:

Practice makes perfect, whether you’re standing on the mound or killing demons. Conjure a silver baseball that can be redirected mid-flight as long as it remains within your aura. Activating this effect can speed up, slow down, curve, or otherwise change the ball’s trajectory, and will increase its weight without affecting its flight. Power and precision scale with Strength and Dexterity.

Contact Hitter | F Grade | Rare:

A Champion isn’t afraid of a full count. They’re going to keep making contact until the pitcher gives them something to hit or proves they deserve the out. Conjure a broad kinetic shield around your bat that stabilizes and reflects incoming projectiles based on your angle of impact, infusing them with the momentum of your swing and empowering the projectile. Shield integrity depends on the quality of your swing and may fail against sufficiently powerful attacks. Deflection and momentum infusion scale with Strength and Willpower.

Relentless Assault | F Grade | Uncommon:

Blood, sweat, and tears have built a body and spirit that won’t stop until the game is won. As long as you have the will to keep going, your body will not fail you. 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.

Championship Dynasty | F Grade | Rare:

Life is a team sport, and a Champion can’t build a dynasty all by himself. It takes a team willing to work harder than everyone else to keep winning year after year. Summon two faceless teammates, each imbued with one of your other skills, to fight alongside you. Summoned allies can be controlled with your aura and will follow your will without hesitation, doing their best to execute any play you call. Summon duration and physical integrity scale with your Vitality and Willpower.