Charlemagne took a moment to evaluate each of his possible reward choices. The extra mana pumping through his brain was actively helping his critical reasoning skills, allowing him to better evaluate his choices. However, it would be some time before he gained both the necessary analytical experience and raw data points to determine what was right for him. For example, he immediately dismissed the Extra Life Token as a possibility.

  Moving on to the Special Ability Upgrade Token, the rooster hesitated. The reward felt like it could be extremely powerful if it allowed him to pick the Special Ability to be upgraded. Even if it didn’t, he realized, he only had a small number of Special Abilities, each of which was incredibly powerful. The only other consideration was how powerful the upgrade would be. For a Special like “The Power of Progeny”, which had already been upgraded several times, only a direct upgrade to how much strength he gained from procreating would be worth it.

  Passing to the next item, Charlemagne was pleased to see that there were two of the Tokens, meaning that he could upgrade both his vest and either his hat or monocle. His monocle, which was the first item that he’d received from the Squiggles, had been forgotten about more often than not. Perhaps an upgrade would allow it to be useful.

  His attention wandered, and he thought that perhaps he could have upgraded Bridget so that she would still be around in case he ever needed a healer again. Perhaps he should work on finding a replacement once he got back to Earth, although it was likely that one of his human servants had that skill: after all, their entire purpose was to take care of his hens and chicks. It was likely that some of them got hurt or sick on occasion.

  Returning to his rewards, Charlemagne was also tempted by the Skill Upgrade Tokens. While he doubted that they would work on his Ember Core, it was possible that he could upgrade both his Veins of Lava and Ember Shield, which would hopefully allow them to fuse together into something even greater. Of course, he could also do the boring thing and upgrade Bulwark and his Advanced Fowl Arts, which would help shore up his defenses and physical attacks. Feeling a mounting headache from trying to remember the names of all his Skills, the rooster moved on to the next reward option.

  The Greater Attribute Elixir (All) was an instant “yes” in Charlemagne’s opinion. There were so few ways that he could gain additional Attributes, and this one would increase all of them at once. Plus, it was easy to understand what exactly he was getting when his Attributes went up. Attributes going up were always good.

  The next two rewards puzzled the rooster. He had no prior concept of the term “art”, and the definition that the Squiggles injected into his mind wasn’t really all that helpful. Apparently, these rewards consisted entirely of knowledge on how to better temper one’s body or soul. He couldn’t eat knowledge! The rooster swiftly discounted these options and moved on.

  The mana crystal was an interesting item, but Charlemagne didn’t know what he was supposed to do with it besides eat it. And he was a bit leery about eating powerful magical objects after the cucumber incident. That only left one final reward.

  According to the Squiggles, the last item could be used to store things such as weapons, items, food and water, and other things that the rooster might find useful. Charlemagne was disappointed to learn that he could not, in fact, use it to carry his entire farm around.

  Having evaluated all the rewards, Charlemagne made his selections: the 2 Item Upgrade Tokens, 2 Skill Upgrade Tokens, and the Greater Attribute Elixir (All). After a brief delay, a blinding flash overwhelmed the rooster’s mundane and magical senses. When it dissipated, Charlemagne saw a large flask floating in the air in front of him. The rainbow liquid held inside the unremarkable glass glowed with immense power, practically distorting reality around it as streaks of some twenty-odd colors danced around each other, giving the potent liquid a living quality that unmoving beverages simply didn’t have. Without hesitation, Charlemagne quaffed the potion, flask and all.

  His insides immediately churned with raw power. Heat welled up from his esophagus as the glass melted away, allowing the incredible liquid to enter his bloodstream almost immediately. The warmth spread to his stomach as the potion made its way through his digestive system faster than it could be absorbed. Without warning, jolts of power ran uncontrolled through Charlemagne’s body, causing his muscles to contract, his flesh and bones to harden, and his nervous system to bypass some of the limitations of biology. Even his blood vessels and recently reforged mana channels were strengthened as the amazing fluid made changes to his body at the cellular level.

  After a few incredible moments, the feeling subsided, leaving only a few lingering tingles in its wake. Charlemagne asked the Squiggles to show him his Attribute changes.

  The numbers on his Attributes were going up nicely indeed, the rooster thought with pride. He was already several times stronger now than when he had arrived at these “Systemic Games”. Maybe being separated from his flock for a bit wasn’t the worst thing that could happen, if it meant that he could provide them with absolute protection upon his return. Thinking of his flock reminded him of something that he needed to do.

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  “Bawk,” he told the being behind the desk.

  “Have you even used your other rewards? I just saw you drink the potion, which means that you should have two others. Well, only one other to use, right? Since I’m sure you took the Extra Life Token…you took the Extra Life Token right?”

  The rooster gave his handler a confused look.

  “Right?” it repeated.

  Charlemagne said nothing. For a long moment, the pair stared at each other, the rooster's two eyes matching the myriad orbs directed at him in intensity if not number.

  “Well anyways," the being behind the desk continued, "You need to use your other rewards AND go shopping before I let you out of my sight. Your behavior really is atrocious, you know. To me, it seems like the System have gone through all the trouble to give you rewards that will give you the best possible outcome in the Systemic Games, but you are determined to do your best to squander the opportunities you’ve been given. And don’t forget that I’ve got a personal stake in your performance as well. That’s why I’m not letting you go just yet.”

  The rooster did not bother answering vocally, choosing instead to focus on using his next reward from the Squiggles. Not because the other being told him he had to, but because he chose to. The Squiggles reacted to his choice.

  Feeling completely ripped off, Charlemagne selected Bulwark and Dense Bones, both of which would serve to bolster his defensive capabilities.

  Charlemagne wasn’t sure exactly what the difference between a Bulwark and a Redoubt was, but he figured that the Squiggles would sort it out. He was certainly annoyed that he hadn’t received an option to merge the Skills, but maybe that meant he needed to level them up some, or perhaps he needed a third compatible Skill. It was something that he would have to think about later, because he had a final reward to use before he moved on to spending his Shop Points. He allocated his first Item Upgrade Token to his vest. To his mild surprise, the Squiggles asked him to confirm his choice. That was something new.

  After telling the Squiggles to proceed, Charlemagne saw his vest glow silver for a moment. The light was soft but somehow powerful at the same time, and the rooster felt a strong vibration pass through the fabric.

  Once again, Charlemagne was underwhelmed by the changes. So his defensive Skills got a little stronger and he could add one more item to the set. He didn’t even have another item. Feeling annoyed, the rooster snapped at the Squiggles, telling them he was ready to upgrade his next item: his top hat.

  Charlemagne instructed the Squiggles to proceed as he moved his head this way and that, hoping to catch a glimpse of the silver light that had illuminated his vest. After a few long moments of waiting, the Squiggles returned.

  Charlemagne spent the next fifteen minutes in a much deserved timeout.