8 Boons of Chaos

Any good professional always had proper tools for their job. From being a hitman for hire to being a humble sushi chef, Riku made sure to always be clean and efficient with his work. His knives were always polished and oiled to perfection, and any traces of his presence in both crime scenes and his sushi plates were scrubbed clean with impeccable detail. It was the reason why he was such a sought-after man, after all. As a killer, he was undetectable and boasted an over 90% job completion, and as a chef, his notoriety was rapidly rising to the point that a corporation actually sent a hitman to try and kill him after he refused to sell.

There was no denying it. It was simply in his particular set of skills to excel and use everything at his disposal to succeed.

"C-Can you stop staring at me?" Nyx complained with a pout. "I'm trying to think of something here."

Riku simply scoffed at his goddess's whining. It hadn't even been long since their conversation died down as Nyx began trying to come up with ideas to aid him in the game he was trying to win for her. In response, he was hard at work coming up with a wish that didn't just boil down to him wanting to return to his restaurant. Not that he had some ideas on what kind of power he would like to have, but he wasn't the one that knew what the other gods did, so he'll just have to trust Nyx to know what to do... no matter how hard such a thing was to do at the moment. Thankfully, the painfully slow elevator they were in gave them more than enough time to think no matter how nonsensical it all might've sounded.

'A wish... What kind of wish do I want?'

Getting whisked back home was a no-brainer. He wanted his simple life back, no matter how much anybody whined for him to return to action. He was still young, young enough to be a bachelor that barely just got out of college. He started young as a killer, and he wanted to get away from it all just so he was free from all of the political BS.

His gaze remained passive as he bore straight into the goddess in front of him. In contrast, Nyx was jittery and mumbling to herself, obviously trying to think of something that would help him win this game of the gods.

"You're really making it hard for me to think, you know," she grumbled.

"Getting self-conscious?" he teased with a level voice. "You'd think a god would love the attention."

"As if you're one to talk. You don't even have a proper wish yet," she rebutted.

Raising a brow, Riku mentally scoffed as a thought suddenly came to him. She wanted a proper wish from him? Then so be it.

"I do, actually," he casually stated. "If I win, I want to be returned to my restaurant."

As expected, Nyx froze up as she stared at him in disbelief. "That's... That's it? Not even unlimited power or immortality? Maybe riches?"

"Not at all," the former assassin scoffed. "But before I tell you what my wish is, I'd at least like the power to attain them."

Once more, the goddess flinched before her expression turned into one of nervous smugness. She clearly had something in mind, and she was confident about it enough to look at him like she was about to show him a city made of gold.

Well, he was going to be the judge of that.

"Funny you ask that, my Champion, for I have the perfect boon for you to wield."

To his surprise, the goddess began to glow a midnight black once again. Tendrils of Chaos began seeping out of her in spades, almost threatening to plunge them both into darkness as countless motes of light dotted the elevator interior.

"My Champion, for you to win the Game, you must wield the power of Chaos," Nyx began, her voice once more taking on the tone of a proper deity as she spread her arms out. "The Boons of Chaos will be yours to command. Choose wisely, and you shall be rewarded for your efforts."

Riku remained quiet as he let his goddess complete her spell. Whatever it was, he could feel the power coming off her once more as the darkness around them all suddenly began funneling into his knife. His weapon shook in its holster as it struggled to absorb the power that he was about to wield, its blade's silver sheen taking on a hint of black as it finally settled down.

"There. That should do it," Nyx smiled, her voice losing its grandeur as the elevator returned to its normal look. "I'm sure it'll work as intended."

Silently, Riku drew his knife and looked at its new sheen. It didn't feel much different, but he could tell that it had been transformed into something more. Something that had potential...

[BOONS OF CHAOS: CHAOTIC SYSTEM ACTIVATED]

[FIRST BOON UNLOCKED]

The former assassin almost flinched when Nyx's voice suddenly boomed inside his head. It was far from her usual tone, however. Almost like she was merely a robot that was reading what was being given to her. And as if that wasn't enough, a small hologram-like screen suddenly popped up in front of him.

"Didn't I just tell you to get out of my head earlier?" he scowled.

"That's not actually me. That's just what I came up with to make things more accessible," Nyx quickly defended herself. "I even styled it after modern state of the art systems. Pretty neat, right?"

Shaking his head, Riku simply sighed as he tried to get to get a hold of what Nyx just gave him. He didn't feel anything different, but maybe it was something that needed his input? "What do I do with this then?"

"Well, the Chaotic System should give you three Boons to choose from for every ten Depths you reach," Nyx explained. "Each Boon will be permanent, and they should help you adapt to anything you might come across."