System Hunt: Regalia

Sam and Yoko trudged without end, the natural overgrowth of forest they’d made their destination was set farther than either had realized at first glance. And after an exhausting and eventful past few days, Sam was closely forgetting what it felt like to close his eyes to sleep.

They’d walked in relative silence all the way, not because there weren’t any worthwhile topics, the new world they’d begun to explore was a treasure trove of questions, debate and wonder. The crystal pillars that littered the crater they spawned in grew everywhere else it could and Sam had a feeling it was the thing responsible for turning the river of water the pair followed purple.

But neither Sam nor Yoko had the energy to start or sustain any conversations. Between the emotional baggage they’d left the Doom Tower with and the actual baggage of weapons and provisions, saving up on strength was very important.

Sam thought them fortunate that nothing had attacked them yet. ‘Yet’ being the keyword as he knew deep in his bones that something or perhaps someone would be coming after them before long. It was those thoughts that fuelled his focus on getting rest on their first day within Domus, the so called 11th Tower of Regalia.

“Ugh!” Yoko tossed her bag of guns and ammunitions on a stump the moment they entered the forest.

She sat but Sam was already asking, “What are you doing? We can’t stop here.”

Her brows were permanently knitted together at this point. “Why not?” she groaned.

Sam inspected the place. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it, except for the fact that it was the only ordinary thing in this world they’d seen. It was a normal forest by all standards, there weren’t any nests in the trees above and the soil was soft enough to rest on given they gather some palms to lay on first. The same went for the sticks, small, long and dry enough to make good kindling.

It was good except it was too soon. Sam crouched beside the stump she sat on with her bag, offered her a water bottle from the provisions bag which she snatched and drank with a thirsty, thankful moan. She passed it back once she was done and Sam took a sip of what was left.

“Let’s have a breather but we can’t make camp here. It’s too exposed, anyone coming from the Doom Tower would have the same idea as us and if they’re here for the same reasons then.”

“Right, I guess that makes sense.” She said and laid back to stare up through the forest canopy. She sighed at the nebula splitting the sky, her breathing finding a steady pace, “We used to have stars like this.”

Sam nodded, “I’ve read we still do, in some remote countries anyway.”

“Do you think any of those countries have Doom Towers like ours do?” Yoko asked and he wondered.

Around a month ago when all this started the news stations posted a list with all the countries and specific areas that had suffered from the Doom Tower’s descent. All the lives, property and hope lost.

He couldn’t remember any more than his own and now Yoko’s though, “Maybe.” He yawned.

The two Wielders sat in each other’s presence, occupied by their own thoughts and fears. Sam refused to think anything dreadful though, instead he thought of Nyx and of Jess and what he’d asked her and what her non-response had been.

It wasn’t a yes or a no or even a maybe. It was— Let’s talk about this in person. Those kind of conversations never went the way he wanted. Maybe it’s a good thing I’m trapped here.

Sam sighed and flooded his thoughts with cute memories of Nyx before reaching for his Regalia only to recall he had absorbed it. He thought for a moment before simply willing the information he wanted to present itself.

Returnal Days Left— 12:23:24

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He didn’t think there would be a time limit to conquering the Doom Tower. It was good tension though and it got him actively thinking about how he would accomplish what he’d set out to do.

Next he summoned a screen of information he’d spent a good time gaping at— his abilities.

While he still only had just the three— Regenerate, Bolster and Fortify— he’d uncovered new information about them and apparently they could evolve into stronger abilities. All except Regenerate anyways.

The requirement for their evolution was fortunately simple enough, all Sam had to do was reach ‘Assimilation Level 5’. It was also rather simple to reach a new Assimilation level too as all Sam had to do was horde as much RGP as possible. Currently he needed a nice round 5000RGP to move up to the next Assimilation level.

He saw that he’d already reached Assimilation Level 2 and figured he must have broken through sometime when General Sir ordered him to test out his abilities and feed the Regalia the Nuclei it wanted.

Why does that seem like the good old days? Sam lamented inwardly. For the moment he was very close to reaching the next Assimilation Level and would only need approximately a thousand to breakthrough. That said, Sam could see the caveat of this kind of system clear as day…or night.

If the same pool of RGP that determined his Assimilation level was also the one he dipped into when using his abilities, a single tense battle could see him lose all his progress.

Sam thought back to his early childhood and late teens for a game that used a similar system but couldn’t recall any to save his hide. And so, he dismissed the screen of information and stood, dusting off his ass as he turned to Yoko.

He sighed upon laying eyes on her. She’d fallen asleep with her head hung over the edge and her back split by the stump she was laid across. Sam shook his head, “No wonder you were so quiet.”

Looking about he was still worried that it was too soon to stop their search for shelter and that any fellow Regalia Hunters could step out of the Doom Tower and find them while they slept or perhaps the locals would. He was paranoid about a lot but there was a limit to his power, literally.

Regalia of Fractured Glass

Energy:

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Sam sighed and sat back down besides Yoko, wishing Nyx were there to curl up with him he shut his eyes and surrendered to the sandman.