“Hell yeah,” I said. “Donut, what’s your Crossbow skill?”
“Carl, you’re ruining it! We talk about the gear after the boxes open!”
The yellow blanket thing formed into an origami swan and then opened, revealing a plain silver crupper similar in appearance to the one she was already wearing, though this was made of fine chain mail as opposed to larger scales.
“Holy fucking shit!” Mordecai exclaimed before it disappeared.
“What was it?” I asked. The last celestial box had already started to form.
“I didn’t see the abilities yet, but it’s a matching item to her champion cloak. It’s called the Crupper of the Benevolent Champion.”
“Stop talking!” Donut called as the last item approached. This was the smoky godslayer box.
The smoke billowed, filling the room. It formed into the shape of Meatus the god just as a smoky paw slammed down upon it. The smoke turned red before dissipating.
“Oh gods,” Rosetta muttered, “I can still taste it.”
The spell didn’t leave anything behind. There was no physical reward.
“Carl,” Donut said, staring down at her forward right paw. Her voice was filled with fear. This was the same paw she’d used for theWar Crimespell. “Something’s happening.” Her paw glowed.
“I know what this is,” Mordecai said, leaning forward. Wisps of smoke occasionally rose from his hood. “It’ll be okay, little one. It’ll be a good thing.”
“Ow, ow,” she said. “It hurts.”
She stretched her paw out, and she flexed so her claws appeared.
The kitchen table ripped in half.
[ 9 ]
Donut fell hardto the floor with a yelp. She hunched, like she was going to leap to my shoulder but caught herself. She stopped on the floor and held up her right front paw in amazement. The cleaner bot let out a scream at the destruction. I hadn’t realized we could even hurt the furniture inside the safe room like this. When Donut extended her claws, the four front claws—but not her fifth or dewclaw—glowed brilliantly blue, like obnoxiously bright LED lights. When she retracted the claws, her paw continued to give off a faint glow.
“I don’t like this,” she said, waving her paw. “Why can’t I turn it off? Can I change the color?”
“What is it? What happened?” I asked.
“Her prize is a type of celestial boon,” Mordecai said. “It’s permanent, and it affects a part of her body. In this case, it’s her claws. Just on that paw. It’s not a spell or a skill. Not in the way you’re used to. Donut, your claws are more powerful now. You’ve been dipped in radiant light.”
Donut held up her paw, refusing to put it down. “It says they’re so sharp, they can cut through anything in the mortal realm. And I can slice ghosts, too. But what about my litter box? My goodness. I don’t want to cut a hole straight through it!”
“You’ll have to practice with it,” Mordecai said. “Luckily, you can retract your claws. Keep them on the inside.”
“That’s not how this works!” she said, her voice going up in pitch. “And why is it blue! You know how I feel about blue, Mordecai.” She let out a gasp. “What about Carl’s shoulder! They go out on their own when I jump on stuff! What if I rip Carl in half when I jump on him! And what about the biscuits!”
“The what?” Mordecai asked.
“Biscuits, Mordecai! I need to make biscuits!”
“Claw caps,” Rosetta said from the other side of the room. She’d moved to the wall with our shop interface. “They have ones specifically designed for this. I’ll find some for you. They come in different colors. Once they’re installed, you can remove them at will.”
“Claw caps,” Donut said, sounding disgusted. “You might as well just cut my entire paw off!”
Rosetta stood at the little-used shop-interface computer on the wall, searching. “It’s that, or you risk turning Mongo’s saddle into the kitchen table here.”
Donut let out a harrumph. “If they have multiple colors, go with purple. This is so unnecessary. My Claw skill is already moving toward 15 because of my cloak.”
“I would look at your Claw skill again,” Mordecai said.