Kit Falbo
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Chapter 65/105
🕑 Added 2025-02-07 14:36:27 +0000 UTCChapter Sixty-Five
[Mend] stitched up the nasty cut from the big squirt's last water blade. [Small Armor] not being able to fully block attack was compounded by the fact the cutting power curved and bent getting around spots where her armor should have had coverage. As fondly and spiritually attached to Night as she was, it was hard not to be frustrated at not having more practical armor.
Failing to defeat the guardian again without sacrificing one of her after [Stride] was more aggravating than the clothing situation. The closest she'd managed was when she managed to ride up the initial burst of water as the elemental took shape with anchors of ice in its side. That way the base and the top were covered, but it sucked her in any way along with the ice.
She's defeated the guardian five times, and five times, it required a sacrifice. At least the bloody broken chunks disappeared before the big squirt's corpse water finished thawing under the shadow of the stairs rising to the sixth floor.
Level twenty-two and thirteen more days until the Ascendant Games. The Deadwoods trip would be a three-day long detour but if her hunch was correct about the kind of knowledge she needed to advance it should help push her further towards evolution. There might not even be a need to deal with the complication of the sixth floor and the gale-strewn randomness of the seventh. It would be greedy to take the risk, even if a title existed for completing the dungeon young.
That wasn't to say some greed wasn't necessary. [Mana Rotation] eased gathering as ice-cracked shards shone in her sight. The bounty was enough to relieve Bates and Ambrosia's stress around the cost of skill stones and household management. [Ink Heart] was still tempting even with the blood price of a sit-down interview. With combat, defense, mana, escape, and awareness covered the last spot could be anything that caught her eye. Skill stones from the Deadwoods were possible, maybe something necromantic?
A bag of gems wealthier, the pair headed down the stairs to check out and let the guild attendant know she’d made it out alive. “Did you have a good climb, Eternal?”
That again? At this point, she’d garnered a lot of nicknames, but that one was a tad unusual. “Excuse my impertinence, but why do you call me eternal? Does it have to do with my lifetime guild membership?”
The attendant blinked, shocked by the question. “Guild records have you come up as Eternally Harmony White, we always address climbers by their titles when appropriate.”
[Poise and Bearing] covered her own shock. Title? When did she get that? It wasn’t in her status, are they invisible? Clearly, it isn't a secret. Was it Ha’zel Ri? No, he would have done something like call her challenger. Her early ascension? That doesn’t fit. [Stride]? That might make some sense, but that didn’t feel eternal and when would adding a skill give you a title?
“Sorry, that slipped my mind. Carry on.”
This shouldn’t be a mystery. Skills, bonds, and oaths have been thoroughly poked and prodded. She checked everything when she synergized skills and did her morning routine to realign and reset herself when the inevitable bad sleep happened. Bad enough to have a theocratic bond that was a mystery, but maybe an unknown title now? Evolution and then a thorough accounting would be needed if there was time. A new class and profession would have enough to dive into.
Dinner became an unimportant blur where Harmony poked at her food more than ate it and kept conversation to a minimum despite Ma Bell’s prodding. In her room, she chewed through Thibideux on Evolution slowly like it was made of broken glass hoping to maybe find something that could help her hidden in the text. An uneasy exhaustion brought her to sleep with an anticipation of unpleasant dreams about dying trapped in ice.
What she didn’t expect was to open her eyes with unreal alertness, chronostasis kicking in as a sword swung in her direction. She needed to protect… Behind her, wounded and panting, was Maxwell backed against a wall.
[Mend] and [Renew Spirit] snapped backward and into him, a poor version of a healing spell, combining maid and necromancer skills. It would have been better if he called on her earlier.
The attack was poorly aimed, as she hadn't been the target. Max's opponent was more shocked than she was at her appearance to block a killing strike meant for her agent. [Small Armor] wasn’t needed as [High Kick] started its move under her sped-up perception. Ashes, it was nice to have enough length in her legs to fully use the skill.
As the kick traveled its path, [Keen Investigative Awareness] activated to grasp the situation. Harmony's eyes took in the scene, trusting her body to behave. Eight! Eight attackers, this was worse than getting ambushed near the end of the second floor. They were at least in street clothes, relying on overwhelming numbers to do this dirty deed. Max wounded three of them, none fatal. He had to make this hard. If chaos fed this, he’ll be tapped out after this, which would be a future problem if getting attacked becomes a habit.
[Stride Before the Fall]. It tickled not to need to make a choice as dissolution was the only option while the real her was asleep in bed. With bright pink glowing hair, nails, and armor this wouldn’t be a subtle intervention.
The steel-toed kick met the swordsman's neck as bones broke, severing the spine. Unless that attacker had some good healing they should be out of this fight for a moment. The wounds on Max were serious enough that this hadn’t been a friendly match. No need to hold back.
The new Harmony as she appeared, silenced one of the rear attackers while tackling a mele one to the ground. Electricity coursed through her as the person responded defensively, or offensively with a shocking effect. Riding the thunder roc gave her experience of pushing through the almost familiar pain. Her hands grabbed the man's head and took her turn channeling [Cold Touch]. His eclectic attack stopped cold as his skull cracked from the expansion of the fluid in his skull when his brain froze.
Harmony smelled and felt cooked as she stood to face the one she’d silenced. The way that woman flailed showed she hadn’t trained under silence or didn’t expect [Final Silence] to last so long. With a fresh corpse to work with and [Cold Touch] used up for now, she ripped a chunk off of the dead body shaping the body of what had been a lower leg into a spike that she sent straight into the woman’s heart. Necromancers were almost as good at anatomy as healers when you got enough experience with bodies and fatal damage, especially if a version of you received those wounds.
Knowing how dangerous wounded enemies could be the first Harmony went after those ones. It wouldn’t be enough. It still started three on eight with only a slight element of surprise. Two arrows sunk into her chest, she'd dodged enough to make them non-lethal. The deep dark of night made this highlighted body an alluring easy target. It didn’t help that Max was herded into a dead end that limited movement. Always making it difficult.
At least with this new size, she got to loom over her target before dispatching them. [Small Armor] blocked a burst of magical energy. Four on three now but Max and both of her weren't feeling so good as the clock ticked to the burning of chaos powering her presence.
Mentally she screamed at herself to wake up. Cursed heavy sleeper. The summoned Harmonies charged in with a suicide run yelling. Ready to attack with the skills she had remaining she hadn’t already used. [Shadowed Graves] for a flinch. It was the perfect distraction that wasn’t.
Her yells masked the scream of the furthest supporting attacker. A long sticky tongue grabbed him and pulled him into the shadows. Harmony could hear the sickening crunching.
This was Hyacinth’s preferred awake time. An ambush was his favorite hobby. How had he found this random spot in the city? Harmony suspected he’d taken plenty of length jaunts in Naewauld while she slept to map it out and make a snack of strays. Cats had to be like tiny candies for him with his new size, a human ambusher was a more appropriately sized meal.
The first Harmony made sure their attention was on her. Even doomed, it’s not like her familiar enjoyed such a sight. When he fell from above, mouth still half stuffed with an arm and a leg sticking out it was like a boulder crashing into the group.
“Get him out,” Harmony ordered as she lept in replacing him, kicking, freezing, and pulling hair.
Max was pulled into the shadows. Job done. The ass of a sworn was safe. The inverted oath's relief was greater than the pain that lanced through her when a dagger pierced her eye. Dead anyway, she went down fighting, until death returned her to a more peaceful slumber.
Comments
SnuggleCat
Lmao, she's lower leveled than him, right? But she's still saving his ass
CringeWorthyStudios
I wonder if the Eternal thing is from when Harmony accidentally fucked up the Contract with the Adventurer’s Guild. Also, she really should push through to the top of the tower for the title. It’d be almost stupid not to, especially since she can always retreat using [Stride], [Shadowed Graves] and her trusty not-so-little toad. Thanks for the chapter!
