Hero Super

Super Quest

Road to Heroism IV Save 16/100→19/100 people

The road to heroism continues with normal steps! Prove yourself as a hero, rescue or otherwise save those who cannot protect themselves.

Quest Rewards

+10 Super Point(s)

“Almost forgot about that,” he chuckled, swiping the panel away before taking a deep breath and stretching his legs. “Only 81 more to go.”

He briefly wondered just how much involvement does he have to have before it’s considered to be his doing, pinning the thought for later when he actually had the time to ponder such things.

“Hooh… hooh… slurp… ahh~,” Calvin let out a lengthy and satisfied sigh as the taste of burnt rubber tickled his tongue and the warm-ish feeling of liquid pouring down his throat thawed the chill building up in his insides. He let out an involuntary groan as he fully relaxed into his chair, marvelling at the experience, “Wow. Holy shit.”

More than amazing, it was ground-breaking how a cup of semi-hot coffee had the impeccable ability to actually make him feel somehow worse after literally getting chased for kilometres while getting battered around with fire, explosives, and moss in every which way he could imagine. The only real indication that what he just took a sip of was actually coffee and not pothole mud mixed with hot and rusty kettle water, was the ever-so-helpful [Gourmand’s Insight] telling him that it, at worst, was watered-down coffee.

“Yeah, no,” he muttered, promptly sliding the cup of dirt water to the other end of the café table.

He let out another sigh before putting his mask back on and using [Colour Control] to turn his face back to normal.

The scent of coffee-stained wood hit his nose as he rested his head on the table, somewhat rejuvenating him and dulling the pain assaulting his entire body. Copious amounts of adrenaline were now flushing out of his system. Which, usually, meant pain. And a lot of sighing and yawning, but mostly pain.

'I came into this god awful place to find a stinking villain of a woman, that may or may not be in actual danger, and somehow I managed to find myself in the middle of a super kidnapping— possibly cannibalistic— zombie gang chase,’ he thought, feeling nearly tickled by the absurdity of his evening so far, 'And now that I’m here… I have no idea what to do next.’

He craned his neck up, watching the sparse amount of people walking by. Although 'sparse’ by his standards, there were a lot more civilians than he had expected. Couples talking walks, loners talking sad walks, kids playing around, teens hanging about, everything seemed so normal that it was… alien.

'Feels like another world,’ he thought.

The imagery in front of him was so far removed from what he expected from a place inside what people call 'Villainopolis’. Certainly more when it’s the main place where villains hide, black markets thrive, and insane people like Dox can actually make a living.

Calvin had a brief walk earlier, the first thing he did after entering the zone, to try and gather information on how to find where and where to find what. The map on the new holowatch he 'purloined’ from the gates was helpful, now that he actually had an inkling of where it was at, but it couldn’t explain the why of it all.

Kingdom zone.

A proper city, both in size and most other aspects. And an anomaly to Calvin.

Normal, non-powered civilians were walking by, doing civilian things. People in suits and uniforms, going to and from their homes and work. People in casual clothes casually sipping coffee, eating burritos, hanging around on benches, enjoying life and laughing like there weren’t groups of villains and gangsters tearing each other apart a few streets from them.

Some were even greeting strangers with a smile.

Even Calvin, with his extremely suspicious getup, had people waving a brief hello a handful of times. Children, literal kids, walked by with their mothers, mostly unperturbed by his presence.

'I guess they’re used to weirdos in costume,’ he rationalized. 'Still, odd.’

A subtle rustling of metal plates rang out from the end of the street he was in, the clatter magnetizing his gaze towards the source— knights.

Or at least knight-looking dudes.

Soldiers, or police, clad in intricately engraved and thickly-forged plate armour, patrolling the streets with medieval weaponry at their disposal. A sword on their waist, a halberd on their back, and a gun in their hands— it looked odd, but he understood the necessity.

'Cosplay only gets you so far. At least make it look medieval,’ he chuckled as he watched the pair of knights stroll by and chat with each other while letting hang the futuristic assault rifle to their side. 'That has to be tinker tech, no way a normal person can just casually walk around like that without getting tired.’

It was another thing that was weirdly foreign to him, which it shouldn’t be now that he was thinking about it— security. Not just cameras on walls or heroes flying by, but actual and proper guards or security personnel that have patrol routes and places of interest to protect.

There’s little of that in Bastion.

Sure, there were the occasional security guards, but they were first responders at most. Their 'weapon’ is a quick dial to Vanguard’s emergency hotline.

'I guess when most of the criminals are supers, there’s not much you can do,’ he thought to himself. 'It’s really like a real city… I guess the only difference is the rules.’

He opened up a file in the new holowatch, chuckling to himself as he read through it a second time.

Decrees Governing the Kingdom's Domain

Thou shalt honour and safeguard life and health.

Thou shalt act with integrity and honour in all thy deeds.

Thou shalt strive to promote the common good of all.

'Don’t fuck with weapons, don’t fuck around, and don’t fuck with people,’ he thought, letting out an amused huff at its simplicity. 'I guess it doesn’t matter how simple it is if the one laying it down is considered a literal god.’

His eyes naturally got drawn towards his cup of 'coffee’, scrutinizing the intricately drawn likeness of a certain monarch printed on the cheap plastic.

From streetlamps to walls, floors, sewer lids, graffiti— even the garbage bins, everything had her face on it.

Beautiful, regal, and narcissistic, judging by the motto stamped alongside her face.

'Faith under Empress, huh? It’s like a child writing their name on everything they own,’ he thought to himself, rationalizing the symbols, 'Her very own Kingdom… quite literally.’

He sat back up and leaned back against the chair, eyes naturally falling towards the café across the street.

“Right, that’s what I was doing,” he muttered to himself.

Right now, he was alone.

Robbie and Sean, the two members of that helmet gang he smacked around earlier in the evening, had left to go out and rescue their snoring chief. Before they left though, Robbie had hurried back to him and pointed him to a place, telling him to wait for him at a certain café so he could pay his debts.

The very café where he isn’t sitting in right now.

'Cute place. Looks homely, almost nostalgic,’ he noted, seeing the simple but clearly loved pieces of furniture he could peer at through the hazy glass window of the coffee shop. He let out a hum as he pondered and looked back down at his coffee, 'I wonder if theirs is better?’

He could see from the distance that there were a lot more people there than where he was. There was an old couple, sipping tea and talking to each other. A couple of knights are sitting and scrolling through their watches. And a plethora more of unique individuals, including a pretty, short-haired barista nodding off to herself behind the counter.

'Why does she look familiar?’ He scratched his chin as he squinted, trying to think if he’d seen her before. Another thought derailed his previous train, one he pinned to the back of his mind earlier, 'Familiar. Why do things here feel familiar? Why aren’t the streets confusing? In fact… how the hell did I know where to go to get to Kingdom Zone?’

Thinking back and trying to remember the moment, he couldn’t explain it better than 'instinct’. It wasn’t like he was magnetized to KZ specifically, it was like he knew where everything was.

Like he’d been there before. Ran the same rooftops. Seen the same skyline.

'I need to take note of this,’ he thought, putting the thought in his holowatch. There was no time to think about it now, but he had to address it later. 'I almost forgot, I have a therapist. Speaking of, how am I even going to get back?’

He considered looking for a fridge-slash-portal within KZ, if there was one at all, but having to come back to the Academy from the outside— he’d be lucky to just get questioned and subsequently expelled. At worst, he’d get his kneecaps turned around in a dark room underneath the Vanguard HQ.

The only way back is the way he came from, which was a long way according to his app.

'Fingers crossed that I don’t end up in the middle of another zombie apocalypse,’ he mused, then immediately regretted the thought. 'It’ll be fine… I’ll be fine.’

While thinking idly and recovering his stamina with an energy bar he packed earlier, he continued eyeing the café across the street. 'Did I miss them while I was walking around? Should I go there?’

He wasn’t only sightseeing before coming to rest in the café. He already asked around for a broker or anyone who can point him in a direction.

Most of them, if not all, told him to go where Robbie told him to wait at.

'Doesn’t mean it’s not a trap,’ he thought. He then turned towards the café’s entrance, squinting his eyes to read the clock on the doorframe— another peculiarity of Villainopolis. 'Still, it’s nearly midnight. I’m pretty sure I got here half an hour ago… are they really taking that long to— think of the devil.’

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted as he spotted said Grape guy arriving at the café across the street, panting and sweating like he just carried a fatass out of a dumpster.

Robbie took a look around at the outdoor area of the café first, briefly squinting at the old people drinking in peace, before scratching his cheek and heading inside. His head swiveled left and right, looking at each patron, before addressing the barista with a shout.

The girl was jolted out of her lethargy and immediately sent an annoyed glare at Robbie. The man, realizing his mistake, raised both hands and started approaching delicately only to be met with a chair on the face.

“Pft—”, he chuckled at the sitcom-like scene. “Are all women in this world this violent?”

There were actions of appeasement, apologies, and even begging, before the woman finally calmed down and gestured like she was asking a question. They had a small conversation before she offered her hand out to him like he was asking for something.

Robbie hesitated momentarily before letting out a sigh and grabbing her hand. The two stood silently, the girl’s eyes closed like a palm reader performing charlatan-ism.

“Are they performing a seance or some shit?” He muttered, immediately freezing up after.

The barista was smiling, looking right at him through the window.

The musky smell of old wood hit Calvin like a truck as he entered the totally-not-trapped domicile above the café.

He started darting his eyes around, looking at every corner and every possible hiding spot in the place: behind the old grandma-style couch, underneath the rustic dining table, and even on top of the weathered china cabinet. He found nothing suspicious, but that didn’t ease his nerves even a little.

The rules of Kingdom were absolute. If infringed even in private spaces, they had ways to find guilt and innocence. But those were after the fact, and it never hurt to be cautious.

“Go grab a seat anywhere. I’ll get us something to drink,” the girl’s pleasant voice sounded almost like wind chimes to his ears, contrasting greatly against her looks.

He gave her a glance before giving a firm refusal, “Just had a coffee.”

“Then I won’t get a coffee,” she shrugged before turning to Robbie who was standing sheepishly behind them. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to the front, giving him a proper kick to the back.

Robbie stumbled forwards, “Ow! Hey!”

“Go grab a shower. You smell like a sewer rat,” she said, ignoring his annoyed glare and turning back to Calvin, “You, sit and wait.”

He looked at the two in curiosity, 'they seem close?’

“He went through the sewers more than I did— agh!”

After saying her piece and kicking Robbie forward, she left to the kitchen and Calvin on his own still near the entrance, bewildered by their near-nonchalance. He felt a bit iffy, and a lot suspicious, but the constant alertness for the entire evening had left him exhausted enough not to care too much.

'Faith under Empress,’ he thought, lightly relaxing his shoulders and trudging over towards the comfortable sofa in the living room.

He paused as he got to the chair, turning towards the pictures on the wall behind the sofa. At first glance, they seemed like typical family pictures, but looking closer he saw a lack of consistency. In every picture the children changed, and so did the parent, all except one girl smiling sweetly at the camera.

'Okay, that’s creepy,’ he noted to himself, 'is she, like, killing her family or something?’

As he amused himself with the thought of entering the living room a potential serial familicide suspect, his gaze focused on a particular photo. It wasn’t with the ones on the wall but on a display cabinet behind glass.

The girl was present like before, but she was younger. Much younger. And was sitting on the bedside of a woman who looked more bones than flesh.

'This feeling again,’ he thought, frustrated, 'why does it feel so fucking familiar?’

The sound of glass thumping against wood jolted him up from the nauseating confusion he was sinking into.

He turned to see the girl sitting down on the single couch opposite the sofa, holding a pair of whiskey glasses in one hand and a bottle of alcohol in the other.

“That’s my mum,” she gestured with the alcohol before putting it down on the table.

Calvin glanced back at the photo before heading to the sofa and taking a seat, awkwardly sinking at the softness, “I need to find a place.”

“Straight to business type, huh? No can do,” she shook her head, twisting the bottle lid open and pouring two glasses.

Calvin frowned as he watched her pour, “Robbie said he’d get me to a broker.”

“And Robert did, best in the business,” she gestured assuredly to herself.

“So what’s the problem?”

“I like to know who I’m helping before anything else.”

“I can pay,” he sighed.

“Of course you can. Everyone can,” she chuckled, sliding a glass to him before taking one herself and sipping at it lightly, “question is, if you want to pay.”

He squinted underneath the mask, “I don’t follow.”

“Credits aren’t the only currency around here,” she answered him with a mysterious smile, “it’s related to my ability, that’s why I want to know you before I help you.”

“What’s your ability?”

“Something that can help you,” she answered before deflecting with another question, “What are you looking for?”

“I—” Calvin stopped himself from answering immediately. “Directions.”

She rolled her eyes, smirking a little, “To?”

Calvin sighed, feeling that it’ll take a while. He leaned back and crossed his arms, pausing to deliberate how frank he wanted to be before answering, “A place.”

She shook her head, “You don’t look for a place, you look for what’s in the place.”

“I need to find the place first to look for them.”

“Fine,” She smirked, taking another sip, “You had a run-in with Scrappers?”

He furrowed his brows at the odd change of topic, “why?”

“Just asking,” she shrugged. “Network’s buzzing with them at the moment.”

“It was more than a run-in, but sure,” he answered with a shrug.

“That group,” she tutted, “they’re getting bold, coming this close.”

“Why doesn’t 'your lord and saviour’ do anything about them?”

She chuckled at his 'blasphemy’, “Outer City is big, Empress is one person.”

“She has minions,” he mentioned, remembering Showstopper and Techstop. “And soldiers.”

“It’s complicated,” she shook her head, “mobilizing people, crossing other zones, showing power, there’s a lot of stuff that has to be considered.”

“She’s not strong enough not to care about that?”

“She’s not villainous enough not to care about that,” she sipped on her drink, “anyway, why was I asking— ah. My brother said you saved him? From the Scrappers?”

“Your brother?” Calvin’s brows furrowed, noticing a movement from the hallway.

The devil was called, and so the devil entered— wearing a bathrobe and a towel.

“She’s your sister?” He asked Robbie who was still drying his hair.

While the two in front of him couldn’t see underneath his mask, the arrogant smirk on the girl’s face and the exasperation on Robbie’s made it obvious that they knew what face he was making— and that they were used to it.

“Amazing, right,” The girl chuckled a little, glancing at her brother.

“I know, I know,” Robbie spoke, annoyed and tired. “Maya really is my sister, so just drop it.”

His brows furrowed further in non-understanding, looking back and forth between the two, before catching on a second later.

Robbie’s sister, Maya as he called her, was brunette, and even the most colour-blind could likely differentiate her hair from Robbie’s own natural blonde. Robbie’s was straight, hers were curled— naturally at that.

It wasn’t just the hair, almost everything was different. Their eye colours: hers were red while his were blue. Their skin colour: she was tan while Robbie was white as a sheet. And even their height had a drastic enough contrast to be suspicious.

Adding to that list of differences, and like the most prominent of all differences, Maya was beautiful. Objectively so.

And Robbie— well— he had features that Calvin could only consider as 'unconventional’.

But Calvin wasn’t talking about that.

He turned to Robbie, “You were going to refer me to your sister?”

“A deal’s a deal. Said you needed a broker,” he shrugged, leaning against the doorframe, “she’s the best one I know.”

“You already saw what I’m looking for, are you sure she can find it?”

“You can ask her yourself, she’s sitting right here,” Maya butted in with a scoff and a light shake of the head, “men…”

“She can also just answer herself instead of being misandric and giving us sass like an entitled br— ow!” A wooden thud interrupted him as his sister threw a picture frame right at his face.

Calvin ignored their banter, turning to Maya, “How?”

“I told you, it’s my—”

“—she’s a super— ow!”

“Go downstairs and man the shop before I throw you out the window.”

After a brief scuffle between the two siblings involving super-on-super violence, the defeated Grape Guy went downstairs, leaving Calvin and Maya to talk in peace.

Calvin raised a finger and straightened his seat, “Listen, I just want to get this over with and—”

“Tut—”, she interrupted him, “—and I told you, I can’t just help you willy-nilly, that’s not how it works around here.”

“Then around here is where I won’t be asking,” he answered, annoyed and tired, before standing up and heading to the door.

“You can’t find a random bridge in the middle of nowhere, not with just a picture.”

Calvin paused, turning around as he pieced things together, “Robbie already told you.”

“Not exactly. But sure,” she said with another annoyingly smug smile.

“But you still think you can find it?”

She sighed and placed her drink back on the table while leaning forward, “Look, you saved my brother, and I’m thankful for that. I know the gist of what you went through, and how you stuck with the deal even though shit went sideways quicker than you could actually agree with the deal so I know you won’t just stab me in the back— figuratively.”

“You don’t know—”

“I do, that’s my job,” she interrupted him, “I know things. I know you’re a guy trying to save someone you know in a place you don’t know. You need to know, but you have trust issues. I mean, I get it, my power needs me to have trust issues. But you need to give me something. I have my concessions already. It’s up to you to make things fair.”

His head tilted slightly, 'Concessions? Ah—’

His eyes landed back at the pictures on display, at the furniture surrounding them, at the lack of any kind of camera or device out in the open.

'Damn it,’ Calvin sighed. All his desire to leave was overwritten as soon as he saw her face. After a moment’s deliberation, he sat back down and leaned back on the sofa, “What do you want to know?”

“Who are you looking for?” She asked immediately, relaxing back into her own chair.

“A woman. Goes by Batty, don’t know her real name. She looks like this,” he tapped his holowatch and opened an image of her profile he got from Dox a while ago.

She looked at the image and sipped her alcohol, “Why?”

“…she might’ve been kidnapped. And it might’ve been my fault,” he muttered that last bit quietly.

“So, guilt,” she nodded, “a bit messy, but I can work with it. How do you know her?”

He chuckled to himself, “She kidnapped me once.”

Maya paused, “what?”

“Well, her 'gang’ did,” he shrugged.

“And you’re on your way to rescue her?” She asked with a face telling him how she thought of his actions.

“Seems like it,” he nodded.

“So you’re a good good guy.” She poured another drink. “Well, whatever, that’s better for me.”

He watched her take a gulp, a brief thought of familiarity emerging once more, “anything else?”

“Yeah, but you’re not going to answer it anyway so, just one more thing,” she chuckled. “I’m going to tell you specifics of my power, and it’ll be up to you if you want to go through with it if you want.”

“Sounds ominous,” he commented.

“But first,” she stood up and sat next to him, gesturing at his wrist, “let me see the photo.”

Calvin nodded and tapped his watch, opening the photo in a holographic panel in front of them. Maya leaned in close, squinting as she slowly scanned the image.

“You think she’s there?” She asked.

“That’s the last photo she sent me before going missing.”

After about half a minute more of looking, she leaned and turned to Calvin, “Good thing you met Robert, huh?”

“Why’s that?” He asked, a brow raising as he looked back.

“Like he said, it’s a random bridge in the middle of nowhere. The reason we know it’s somewhere here is because of the sky,” she said, chuckling as she gestured at the photo, “you thought there’s actually someone that can actually point you in any direction to find that?”

He shook his head subtly, confused at her words, “You can’t?”

“I can give you an opportunity,” she sighed, starting her explanation, “My power isn’t a compass, I can’t just tell you exactly where what you’re looking for is— but I can tell you where to go or what to do to eventually end up where you need to be.”

He could feel a headache come in, “…I sense a but.”

She smiled at him mysteriously, “But, to know what steps to take, I need to see what steps were already taken.”

“I’d really appreciate not having to listen to riddles.”

“I need to read your mind.”

“Yeah. No,” Calvin quickly stood up.

Maya immediately grabbed his arm to stop him.

He tried pulling away, only to find her grip immovable, 'What the—’

“I’m not reading all of your mind,” she clarified, “just the bits where you're interacting with the person you're looking for.”

“And I’m just supposed to trust that you won’t do anything while you’re in there?” He shot back, now much more wary due to her freakish strength.

She sighed before turning to the door and shouting, “Robert!”

Hurried thuds echoed from the creaky stairwell leading up to their house, immediately followed by the door slamming open and a tired Robbie jumping in between Calvin and his sister with both hands ready to throw down.

“Look, man. I know I can’t beat you, but I can at least slow you— ow! What?!”

“I called you here to get the stone, stupid.”

“What?” His eyes widened, stepping back and looking between Calvin and Maya. “Really?”

“Stone?” Calvin couldn’t help but ask.

“You’ll see,” Maya gave him a wink before kicking her brother. “Hurry.”

“Fine.”

Robbie let out a sigh before walking over to the tall display cabinet behind the sofa and reaching over the top. He felt around for a few seconds before grabbing something and taking it down.

“Got it,” he announced, turning around and presenting a shard of obsidian-like stone to the two.

“Good,” Maya grabbed the stone and shooed Robbie away.

As the poor man was leaving downstairs, Calvin turned to Maya with a question, “Did you really have to call him up?”

“He broke my footstool,” she answered simply, “anyway, you know what this is?”

“No, but I assume it’s important.”

“It’s important to handle customers like you who like to hide stuff,” she held the stone up against the light, “a promise stone.”

Calvin almost let out a scoff, “A promise stone?”

“The name could do some work, but it’s a genuine product from one of the Seven.”

“Who?” He felt compelled to ask.

“Who else works with stone?

'Mason,’ he remembered the stone-armoured hero’s statue, “he’s a tinker?”

“She’s not a tinker, so it’s really a mystery how she’s selling things like this. But she does, and it works,” she held her hand out with the stone in her palm. “Place your palm on mine.”

He nodded, taking off his glove and was about to do what she said when he paused, 'Wait, why am I—’

“?” Maya looked at him, confused.

“What for?” He asked in suspicion after taking his hand back.

“To use it, duh?” She rolled her eyes. “We place it in between us, and whisper promises to each other.”

He eyed the stone, “and the promise becomes unbreakable?”

“No, it’s completely breakable,” she chuckled, “you just wouldn’t want to break it.”

“How?” He asked, unconvinced.

“It’s better to show than to explain,” she sighed, gesturing for his hand. “I thought you were in a hurry?”

He hesitated a bit more, but he knew she was right, “fine. Do we say the same promise?”

“Doesn’t have to be the same, just has to be fair.”

“What’s fair, then?”

“I don’t speak or take advantage of your secrets, you don’t hurt me or anyone I care about.”

Calvin stepped back and scratched his chin, thinking about her words. He’d seen enough genie movies and read enough monkey paw stories to know to think about specificity when making wishes or promises.

His brows raised as a thought came to him, “Not just secrets, any information.”

She smiled, taking back the stone, “Any I learn today.”

He relented with a nod, “Be more specific on who you care about.”

“Me, my family, my friends.”

“Okay. Only if they don’t hurt me first.”

“Fine,” she held her palm out again, “good now?”

He nodded and held his palm out, wanting to get it over with, “So, I promise not to hurt you, your family, or your friends unless they hurt me first.”

“And I promise I won’t use or speak of any information I find out about you today without your permission.” She smiled back, placing the stone and her palm on top of his.

Calvin’s brows furrowed at the end bit but acquiesced with a nod nonetheless.

Extrauniversal Energy Source Detected. Adjusting…

'Hmm?’ He was expecting a Super Equip or a Super Buff to pop up, but not whatever this was.

Super ■■■■■

Super ■■■■■: Promise Stone detected. Use?

Yes No

“Something wrong?” Maya’s voice plopped him out of the dumbstruck headspace he was in.

“This isn’t tinker tech?” Calvin asked.

She raised her brow, “Why’d you say that?”

“I— nothing, let’s get this over with.”

“If you say so.”

Albeit apprehensive, the panel that popped up in front of him had all but confirmed the honesty in her words. Even with his current distrust of everything, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of it in her after that.

What the mysterious rock actually is, he hadn’t a clue. And he’s willing to bet neither did she. But if it did what the panel does, then that’s enough for him.

After holding hands once more with the stone in the middle, the two nodded before muttering loudly like a séance. They repeated their promises, Calvin ready to pull back in case she pulled a fast one with her words, but surprisingly she repeated it verbatim. As did he, in return.

Super Information

Super Name None Super Attributes

Super Status Alive, Spirit-severance, Slight Fatigue(Spirit, Mind, Body), Sleep-Deprivation, Promise Stone Super Body 2 (+1 Plain White Shirt) (+0.3 Promise Stone)

Super Quest Road to Heroism IV, A True Hero's Name, An Unknown Power Super Mind 2 (+0.3 Promise Stone)

Super Points 4

Super Spirit 3 (-0.3 Spirit-severance) (+0.3 Promise Stone)

Super Powers

Impervious Pebble Gourmand's Insight

Color Control Jumper

Vigilant Aegis Unknown

Super Help

Promise Stone

“I promise not to hurt you, your family, or your friends unless they hurt me first.” (+0.3)

The super has undertaken oaths using the [Promise Stone], receiving a boost in every aspect until one of the oaths is broken. The boost is proportional to the severity of the oath.

“Huh,” he muttered, feeling and reading the effects of the oath.

“Feels good, right?” Maya said with a smile. “Break the promise and your strength goes away and comes to the other person, with some interest.”

He looked in silence, understanding why she said neither of them would want to break it. Still, a question popped up in his head as he stared at the woman, “how many promises did you already make?”

She smiled mysteriously, taking the stone back, “They’re very expensive. I only use them with people I have a good feeling with.”

“I see…” he nodded, “so, can we find the bridge now?”

“No time to rest, huh?” She chuckled, holding her hand out. “You won’t even feel a tickle.”

“That’s not as reassuring as you think.”

He grabbed her hand and took a breath, heart beating in anxiety as she started using her power on him. He was starting to regret giving her permission to look at his memories, even if it was as limited as she said. But he was here now, and the [Promise Stone]’s possible debilitating debuff once she breaks it was a good guarantee.

There was silence for a few long seconds while Calvin waited, his eyes never leaving her as she continued using her power with her eyes closed.

A moment later, a searing pain pierced through his head, making him step back and pull his hand away, “Oh for fuck’s sake…”