Aetherios System: Whirlwind

Chapter 29: Refinement II

The team didn't push further toward the den after they killed the badger warrior. The possibility of running into more of the bear-sized rodent-tanks was too high for any of them to feel comfortable with. They decided to backtrack and clean up more of the smaller badgers until everyone on the team was ready to push for their first refinement.

Alex also convinced everyone to wait to have the whole team do it together. He didn't want to deal with the foul-smelling black liquid multiple different times in one day. Further, he wasn't sure if the stench would attract the badgers or not. Once they started, then they could have a smelly beacon set-up telling every beast by the den exactly where they are.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long to find more of the smaller badgers and earn enough experience for everyone. Alex stayed out of the fighting during this time so as not to gain some of the experience and slow things down even further.

It was only an hour before everyone was ready for their first refinement. Alex looked at Eric, Devon, Henry, and Lance as they were all lined up in front of him. Allie and Holly were getting ready to go a little further into the forest by themselves. They were going to take turns for the process given Alex was pretty adamant about everyone taking off their clothes beforehand.

Everyone's choice of stat was pretty standard. Henry was the only one going for vitality. He said that he wanted to be able to help Garret tank the badger warriors and figured vitality would be the number one stat for a tank build.

Lance was going for strength like Garret did, leaving Devon and Eric both following Alex in an agility build, along with Holly. It was Allie's choice which was the odd one out.

"I think going for a magic stat is the best choice for me," she said.

"Agility will let you move in and out of danger to help anyone who is wounded," Alex said. "Maybe vitality even, since it'll will give you better durability. You sure you want to go intelligence?" Alex was still trying to persuade her out of this. He agreed that the magic stats were important, but as things stood now survivability in the short term would allow them the breathing room to go for the late-game character builds.

"I'm sure," Allie shook her head and crossed her arm in front of her. "Figuring out magic as soon as possible will help all of us. Especially if I can get a hang of a healing spell. It's a risk, I get that. It's a risk I'm willing to take to help the team."

Alex looked at her worriedly. He knew he wasn't going to change her mind, Allie was as stubborn as they come. Under her sarcasm and sass, Alex knew there was a determination in Allie that would crumble concrete walls by waiting them out. If she felt this would help the team, she was going to go for it. The risks be damned.

The more he pushed against her, the further in she would dig her heels. Alex was pretty sure this is what happened when Allie told her parents she was going to join the military. They pushed, and she didn't bend.

"Okay," he finally said. "It's up to you after all."

"Glad you were able to see reason," she smiled and patted Alex on the cheeck before she turned away. Alex rolled his eyes but he reached out and grabbed her shoulder, making her look back.

"Thanks," he said. "For doing this."

"I don't know what you mean," She flicked her hair and walked off. Holly caught his eye, she nodded curtly and then quickly followed Allie.

Alex only chuckled and turned to the guys. He could see they were all eager to get started. Alex sat down on the grass and pulled out a bandage from his backpack. He wrapped it around the lower half of his face making sure to cover his nose. He knew it wouldn't help, but it was the mental preparation that he was going for.

"Alright then maggots," Garret called out. "Strip!"

***

They created a putrid bog over the course of the next ten minutes. The smell was like a wet dog, wrapped in old socks, walking through a filled meatlocker that had sat unplugged for at least two weeks. Alex watched the whole process though. He wanted to see if there were any differences in the refinement based on the stat someone was increasing.

From what he could tell, the refinement was the same either way. All of the men started off with leaking sludge from the nose, ears and mouth. Followed by a puking competition that Devon somehow managed to win. All while they suffered through wriggling muscles and writhing skin.

It was as horrifying to watch as it was to smell. Alex didn't learn anything by seeing each of them go through the refinement. Maybe he needed some way to actually watch what was going inside their bodies. He didn't know.

As everyone started cleaning up, Alex addressed his own status screen and began thinking of how he would be spending his own points. He didn't have enough experience points to get another stat to five, no matter which one he went for, so instead he thought about what was best for the upcoming fights.

It's gotta be vitality. This damn arm is going to kill me if I can't get it to heal faster. Getting that stat higher will let me take more of a beating before I break in the future too. He thought it over quickly and came to a decision.

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I'll have some remainder points that I can't spend if I go with this plan, but that's just how it is.

He placed his points.