Chương 28: By Frank - 1

"The 'secret to your power,' huh?" FRANK told his one-time friend.

"Why now?"

"This horror is going to be too much for any one, or two, of us to handle." Warhol said.

"My son helped me see that." Frank considered the Omni-Wizard's offer.

"What would it require of me? No offense, Warhol, but I think I am good on being trained and prepped. I doubt a wizard, even as one as legendary as yourself, could teach me much in the way of martial discipline."

"I have no doubt that is the case, Frank. Fortunately, the secret to my power is simple." Warhol then went into the story of how he helped the Trickster God, Faux. How his reward was the 'modification tool' and how he could grant the boon of the tool to anyone he deemed worthy. Frank's eyes were as wide as saucers the entire time.

"So, yeah, that's the gist of it. Are you interested?" He stammered for a moment, trying to gather his words.

"That's quite the story, Warhol! I-I don't e-even know what to say..."

"You don't have to make a decision now. The offer is open. I simply wanted to put it forward as an option. If I grant you the modification tool, it will grant you immeasurable power. So many Boon Points will be yours for someone as decorated and long serving as your career has been. I can offer some guidance, if you desire, on how to allocate such points, but they are free for you to do with as you see fit." What should he do? Did he want such power? It sounded, maybe, like a stupid question.

who wouldn't want such power? The answer, he thought, was people like him, who had grown used to how their body moved over the years with the slow, incremental Boons provided by the Celestial System. Then again, was it really a choice? Their world was in danger. Everyone needed to chip in and join the defense in whatever way they could.

How could he saw to the better off and to the nationalists and the kings that they should slough off the chains of centuries old disputes when he himself rejected such an immense gift? It would be hypocritical.

"I am ready to make my decision, Warhol. I will take you up on your offer. Yes, please give me the effects of this 'tool.' I promise to use it for the betterment of the world and its defense." He let go of a breath he didn't know he had and waited.

"Very well. Then prepare yourself, I will bestow upon you the tool. Just follow me instructions..." Frank followed Warhol's instructions, which amounted to closing his eyes and allowing in the light and heat from the modification tool. It was not much different from how one used any mana infused relic. He entered his meditative state, controlled his breathing, and allowed the holy light to enter.

"Done. You can open your eyes, now," Warhol told him. Frank opened his eyes. Everything was the same, except, suddenly, his System sprang to life with dozens of notifications and growing! [You Have Gained Boon Points: 10] [You Have Gained Boon Points: 3] [You Have Gained Boon Points: 7] And so-on dozens of times over. He gained Boon Points for levels, for old Quests completed, for Accomplishments. For everything he had done in his storied career.

The notifications continued ringing in as if he had won a jackpot gambling game at one of those fancy techy-mag casinos. His smile was as wide as it had been when his wife accepted his marriage proposal so many years ago.

"Haha — holy shit on a bitch! What am I going to do with this many points!" he declared, wild with joy. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

"That, my friend, is up to you. I will leave you to it. I will check in on you later, when you've allocated some points and know what you want your role to be in our battle. Until then, goodbye!" and with a flash, Warhol left him be with just he and his hundreds of points to spend. Frank couldn't believe how many Boon Points he had. He looked at the counter: [Unallocated Boon Points: 1777]. In all his years of service, he never, and he meant never, heard of such a thing. A system modification tool?

If he didn't see the number of boon points in front of him, he wasn't sure he would've believed it. Why would the Gods allow such a thing? It boggled the mind. And yet, boggled or not, he now had more points than he knew what to do with; which begged the question, what should he do with them?

He checked his stats page, just as a brief remainder of what he was working with as his core: [Name: Frank Lorde] [Level: 275] [Martial Prowess: 145] [Magical Prowess: 60] [Stamina: 135] Now that he had checked his HUD, he could focus on spending Points. The obvious answer to his question was 'pray.' A religious man, Frank had spent his life serving the War God Ares-Ragnar. During his years of service, he always selected Boons which would further his dedication to his people as well as his patron God's glory.

That meant sometimes foregoing Boons which might tempt a younger man, who cared nothing but glory, but not he, who knew the purpose of his life as well as its measure. Now? Things were different. He could afford those fancy Boons with points aplenty to spare. He fell to his knees and prayed right there in the middle of the living room chamber. As always, he kept his eyes shut and focused in a meditative way on himself and his Patron.

Like always, the Holy Shop materialized within but re-organized itself upon recognizing his occupational needs. Now the only selections before him were options that directly benefitted him as a Spell-Sword. He focused deeper and recalled those options which he had, for years, pushed away from buying due to other Skills being available and more practical. Skills which he thought were out of reach for him in this life... The first option was [Shadow Dance].

It costs one hundred points but enabled him swiftly to jump to any dark place he saw. He then combined this upgrade with [Light Dance] which, like its kin, cost one hundred points, but allowed him to jump to any source of light. His third unique option was [Heaven Guard]. It was a passive skill which granted him absolute protection from Curses and Dark Magics while granting him a bonus against such entities. It set him back a staggering three hundred points.

The fourth and final Boon he bought was [The Battlefield]. It cost another one hundred of his Boon Points but gave him a multiplier to his XP gained based on the number of battlefield kills. With such a multiplier his, he would be gaining level ups faster than he had been in decades! He said some soft words on behalf of his Patron Deity and ended the prayer there. He wasn't done with his points yet.

Fancy new skills were one thing, fancy new points were another, and he intended to use his remaining [1077 Boon Points] to his full advantage. Frank opened his HUD and started dumping points: he put fifty into his Magical Prowess, doubling his overall magical potency; next, he sixty-five points into Martial Prowess; Stamina was up next...

because he had always prided himself on being able to work nonstop without quitting, he had, for many years, focused many more points into Stamina than most Spell-Swords had and frankly, he saw no reason to stop now: with the horror from beyond approaching, he would need to keep going for as long as he could without the slacker moral known as sleep, so he practically shoved four-hundred points into Stamina. Now, he would be able to go for... heck if he knew, but weeks, possibly, without sleep!

Still, he had [562 Boon Points] left unallocated. How to spend those? His mind, body, and magical interior already felt better than they ever had. Not even when he was a young man of twenty had he felt so magnificent! Reason came to him that as much fun as it would be to spend every point, he had to remind himself that even with his [The Battlefield] passive, leveling up would take him a good while. He should save, then, a few points to ensure he had a reserve to draw upon when he needed to make a strategic pivot.

That said, he still had a lot of points to do something with... perhaps he should pray again and re-open the Holy Shop? Perhaps purchase an upgrade that was the mother-of-all upgrades? Or use a number of points to purchase incantations he wouldn't normally consider? He closed down his HUD. He couldn't think of what to do right now. He had so much life bubbling — no boiling — inside of him, he had to let his enthuse out.

He should use this energy to practice his new skills; he should get back out there and co-mingle with the elites he had invited to secure support for his new international alliance. He should do everything! He felt like he could do everything!

"Warhol... maybe I was too hard on you," he whispered.

"Maybe it was me all along."