Chapter 137

Chapter 137

I was perched on the overhead rafter of what appeared to be a large, banquet style dining hall. Annoyed, I squinted at my scrawled notes. They were a byproduct of trying to cram preparation for the fifth floor in last night after practicing at the training grounds. Not surprising that they were sloppy, considering I could barely see straight by the time I got back to the room.

So, for a bow, were thinking either light, water, or divine.

Talia was sitting across from me, dubiously staring down at the hall below us.

Talia? I tried again.

Divine would be best, but from what I understand, such things are rare. And I would not be surprised if the lithid has no weaknesses whatsoever. Talia finally said. Then glanced back towards the floor. As much as I understand the purpose of this, are we sure shes alright down there?

I looked down. Sae was surrounded by goblins and, well, bits of goblins. Arms, legs, torsos were all scattered around the banquet hall. One of them jumped on her back and tried ineffectually to sink its teeth into her chitin shoulder. Sae snarled, grabbing it by the neck and slamming it shoulders down onto the nearby table. The goblin shrieked as Sae bashed her knee into its head, over and over. Two more were trying desperately to tear her off the third. In a howl of rage, Sae sunk her claws into its neck.

Doing great Sae! I called down.

Covered from head to toe in viscera, Sae spun and shouted. Eat a bag of dicks! Then flipped me the bird.

Dont forget to use your magic!

Fuck you!

See? Shes fine. I went back to my notes.

Matthias. Talia admonished.

Audreys down there helping. Even as I spoke, Audrey had seized one of the larger goblins by its hands and legs, holding it steady while SaeJesusdid extremely violent things to it. If it starts to go sideways, well know immediately.

I wanted to be the one to help her. Talia glowered.

I sighed. Its hard to know how shell respond to you. As far as she knows, you died. Discovering that you survived could throw her off balance while were in the dungeon. This was about building Saes confidence back up. Id been extremely careful with the first and second floors. When wed entered the adaptive dungeon as a partied pair, the first floor had reset. But it wasnt the simple puzzle from before. The first floor was absolutely littered with flowerfangs. Sae and I had worked together to clear it. Id put it a decent effort at first, and when it was obvious she was holding her own and then some, Id taken a back seat, saving my strength for the lithid fight later on. Much to my surprise and delight, the system had given Sae the lions share. Which meant she was absolutely raking in experience. More importantly, theres a visibility issue.

Visibility? Talia asked.

Dont get me wrong. Audreys fantastic. But youre my strongest, most reliable summon. Hence, I want to utilize your abilities as much as possible. Talia perked up at the praise. I chewed my lip. Unfortunately, if things keep going according to plan, its only going to get more difficult to do that.

Understanding lit in Talias eyes. Thats why youve limited my contact with others. Because the nefarious group youre hunting already saw me.

And theyre not the only ones. Thankfully, weve mostly been careful, and the Overseer kept you out of the recap footage. Hardly anyone knows you exist. Kinsley being the main exception. Still, you could easily be connected to Myrddin if the adventurers guild talks to Jake and the rest of region nine, though we hit them so fast and hard its possible your presence went over their heads.

Talia mulled that over. I see the issue. Our enemies could use me to connect Myrddin to you, while our allies could connect me to Myrddin. It is a complex position you are in.

Right. If they were coordinating, wed be fucked. I was momentarily distracted as a dismembered goblin head sailed through the air, tongue lolling out, face masked with surprise. Thankfully, I cant see the suits working with anyone. Spying, sure. Cooperating is far less likely.

It was a problem Id been running up against for a while and hadnt worked out a solution. Dyeing Talias fur was a possibilityif she was amenable, which I doubtedbut that wasnt really viable if the suits stayed as quick on the uptake as theyd been so far.

Scary! Audreys voice popped into my mind.

I dropped the notebook and drew my bow immediately. The goblins had clustered together. Two larger variantshobgoblins, unless I missed my guess, were crowding Sae with axes, attacking in tandem, while the smaller goblins took turns stabbing at her back. Another spindly looking goblin was rushing forward with a torch.

Id tested some earlier. While it was significantly more powerful than spiral, there were some limits that held it back. I couldnt, for example, reach out towards one of the hobgoblins and give him a heart attack, or disable their lungs, or cause acute kidney failure. When Id tried on previous targetspale, almost translucent humanoids that lived in a large cave on the second floorthey experienced severe pain that seemed to fade after a short time, but it hadnt killed them. Whatever I inflicted seemed limited to the surface or close to the surfacemusculature and otherwise. Id managed to take one down from a neutral standing position to writhing on the floor with a broken leg. But it had taken a significant portion of mana to do so, and considering the numbers, it wasnt worth it.

Far better to use it on subjects in motion, queuing actions that could reasonably occur within a given timeframe.

And when it came to that? The results cost far less mana and spoke for themselves.

I started casting.

Sae shrunk back, holding both arms out in front of her with a grimace. One of the hobgoblins roared in bloodlust. Then all of a sudden, his hands went to his throat and his eyes bugged out as he choked on his own tongue.

Letting out a roar of her own, Sae drove her fist into the other hobgoblins armored head. I managed to pre-empt the hit, and the hobgoblin shrieked, pirouetting in place from the hit, swinging blindly far to Saes right.

I wasnt close enough to confirm, but if it worked as I suspected it had, the hobgoblin would be seeing double for the rest of its very short life.

That was probably enough, but I wanted to test the ability further. I double cast on an arrowthe first to guide the arrow itself, the second an if-then for when it landedand nocked it. Then, I exhaled and released the arrow. It shredded through a smaller goblin's temple. Its arms immediately went limp and its mouth hung open as it turned to its fellows and staggered to them for help, clinging desperately to whatever appendage was in reach as they frantically tried to shake it off.

There was a wet splat as a red dripping organ that looked very much like a liver bounced onto the rafter and splattered red all over my boot. I wrinkled my nose.

Jesus Christ! Why?

Oh, Im sorry, Helpline. Did I get blood on you? Sae asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

I peeked over the rafter and saw Sae staring straight back up at me, drenched from head to foot in viscera. If this was a Carrie cosplay competition, she would have nailed it.

Uh. You missed one. I pointed to a goblin that was crawling away with only its arms, dragging itself across the floor. Sae stalked towards it, catching up easily. Then summarily drop-kicked it into a wall. It hit with an audible hurk and crashed to the ground, utterly still.

Our pack mate is an excellent huntress. Talia nodded approvingly.









How was it? Sae asked. Some of her fire had gone out after the last goblin died. Now, she mostly just looked tired.

I slid down the support beam and kicked off three-quarters of the way down, landing squarely on my feet on top of one of the long dining tables. Do you even have to ask? Look around.

Sae surveyed the bodies. Yeah, we won. There were so fucking many of them, though. Guessing you had to pull plenty of strings for me with that ability.

I blinked. I lifted a finger exactly one time. When they finally started coordinating and backed you into a corner. And this dungeon is adaptive. It scales. You took out two-users worth of monsters almost entirely on your own.

At a higher level, no less.

Oh. Sae perked up at that. So youre saying Im better than you.

Pretty sure I said nothing of the sort.

It was implied.

Not on your life.

So full of yourself. Sae sat down on a bench, swiping through an invisible menu. Hit level nine. Can actually read this shit now that Ive got the translation feat. She glanced up at me, warily. Might be good to stop soon. Im dead on my feet.

As much as I wanted her to lock down the augments as soon as possible, it was better that we played it safe. So far, this had been a positive experience. Empowering. And I knew from experience that this was when the dungeon stopped giving a single fuck about fairness. The increase in bullshit from the third floor to the fourth was significant. And if it was particularly harrowing, it could easily leave me too drained to accomplish my primary goal and unsettle Saes headspace.

Yeah. Lets call it. Well stop by the second floor, so you can rinse off in the caves mineral pool, then Ill get Kinsley to door you out when we leave the dungeon.

If my service has been acceptable, may I ask for a reward? Talias voice appeared in my head.

I inwardly groaned, guessing what was coming. What is it?

I understand your position. And how this may complicate things. But if what you are saying is correct, this may be the last opportunity. I wish to speak to our pack mate. To wish her well.

It was hard to understand why this was so important to my summon. Nevertheless, it was important to her. Whether it was due to pack mentality, imprinting, or whatever else. Which was why it killed me that I had to decline.

Talia

If I present myself like a spirit guide, as before, it will not jeopardize you.

I cocked my head. That was a possibility I hadnt considered. But I questioned whether it was as simple as Talia implied. Audrey had already been subject to some scrutiny, though Sae was willing to accept my very thin explanation that the summon was ranger class related. Considering the circumstances, she was already taking a lot in stride. And I knew from my experience with Kinsley that trust only went so far, even if Id effectively saved someones life.

But Talia had never asked me for anything. And Sae could probably use another win, even if it was a small one. And Talia was a decent enough actress. If she did this the way she intended? It was enough of a minor risk that I was willing to chance it.

Fine.

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