It was a cool, clear, cloudless night, the moon pale and bare like carved crystal, crown-jewel of the skies presiding over the winds and realms beneath. They crunched through the snow-frosted path to reach the public baths, expansive panels of richly oiled wood towering menacingly to shield the occupants from onlookers.
"Let's get a private pool," Gisena said, flipping the jeweled key on her wrist. "There are some reserved for suite holders only!"
"Suddenly shy?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Of course!" Gisena clasped her hands meekly. "I'm just an innocent maiden, after all..."
"I'd like a private pool," Letrizia said, eyes darting to and fro. "You never know when there might be perverts lurking about."
"Fine, lead the way."
So a duchess, city lord and a noble lady don`t want to go to the public pool because *checks notes* perverts and sudden shyness. Damn hypocrites. At least admit that you don't want to bath with the plebs and peasantry and want to be alone. Letrizia might have been deluding herself or just watched too much anime last night. Gisena might fool somebody that never met her but if after weeks of travel, the maiden act is a bit too hypocritical, even for her.
They entered a smaller pool inset to the side. Though thick wooden panels obstructed horizontal vision, the panels facing outwards could be lowered, allowing bathers to take in the view. Below them was the serene darkness of the mountain outside giving way slowly to the jewel-fire glow of the city beneath. It was a breathtaking vista, and Hunger spent a moment simply absorbing the sight before leaning the Forebear's Blade against a wall, then entering the bath.
So, they did not want to be seen by anything (I am sure the Rotbeast is a latent voyeur) or anyone, but have a view to the outside. They are not fooling anyone, stop with the pretense you damn nobles.
Gisena pushed Letrizia in, then daintily slid in herself, carefully gathering her hair to twist into a water-resistant bun. Letrizia surfaced angrily, sputtering, and lashed out with a wave of water and Pressure that Gisena effortlessly dodged. Pouting, Letrizia sank beneath the surface, blowing bubbles at the two of them.
"Stupid nullification aura, let my Pressure through..."
Gisena used push versus Letrizia.
Letrizia used water blast versus Gisena. It is not very effective.
Gisena used Nullification. It is super effective.
Letrizia used angry water bubbles. It is super adorable.
It is nice to see Gisena and Letrizia going along so well. Letrizia seems like a sheltered girl that watched a bit too much anime and have some weird conceptions regarding heroics and normal behavior.
Gisena turned to him. "What do you think of our swimsuits, hun? Rather fetching, if I do say so myself!" Hers was a two-piece bikini of pale violet, with lace-like patterns adorning the sides.
He grunted. "Is all your clothing the same color as your hair?"
"Pretty much!" She splashed over to him, leaning onto the stones beside the pond. Looked out at the city, a slight smile graced her features. "It's hard to find shades that go well with purple. You're welcome to expand my wardrobe if you'd like..."
"Maybe after you pay off your debt," he remarked, slumping forward and briefly closing his eye. The waters held a steady, intense heat that felt almost as if they were massaging his muscles, gentle warmth that pervaded through to bone and marrow.
Gisena is trying to show off her superhuman beauty but she has no chance against the indifference of our hero. I think this is what excites her, after all if she was adored in her previous world and everybody but fellow Sorceress were simping for her, this is a breath of fresh air. Also the monochromatic theme of Sorceress is lame, add a little flavor and more colors. She is even shamelessly trying to pocket more money from our hero.
Meanwhile Hunger tries to do something weird and alien to him – he is trying to relax. Of course being a Cursebearer and a brooding widower leaves no time for such mundane pleasures. The only thing he has on his mind is his mission. That and fishing, of course.
"Aw," Gisena brushed playfully against him, hauntingly beautiful in the moonlight. "Sure I can't take out another line of credit?"
"It would be inadvisable. Debt can crush even a genius."
"But money is just a social construct!"
Meanwhile Gisena is proudly becoming a modern day socialist. Somebody else is paying for her luxurious vacation and she does not think money is important and just invented by civilization to oppress the working class. How can a noble be a socialist is beyond me, but hey, the delusion express has no brakes.
Letrizia swam over, nose upturned haughtily. "Miss Gisena, I still haven't forgiven you! Lord Hunger, do you want to review sparring partners for tomorrow?"
"Oh my, the wrath of a duchess!" Gisena winked at him. "Her fury knows no bounds! I'd best retreat before she turns truly serious."
So saying, she dove and emerged on the opposite side of the pool, sighing contentedly as she lounged against the stones.
Letrizia continues to be grade A cutie. I will imagine her revenge will be equally adorable. Probably try to scare Gisena with her mech by parking it near the window and opening its mouth filled with teeth.
Gisena is wise to escape from the wrath of a duchess.
"Only if you don't call me a lord. Now, sparring partners. Is your notebook waterproof?"
"I don't need it!" Letrizia said cheerfully. "Now with my Element enhancing my Rank, the information I need comes easily to mind with just a quick review."
"I'm proud of you."
She preened. "Well, i-it's not that big a deal. T-this is just kids' stuff compared to what I'll ultimately be able to achieve."
Well, RIP notebook, you were a worthy side character. Now Letrizia is bright and can remember everything easily. Hunger approves of the development of his charge and Letrizia responds by flustering cutely. It is not like I want your approval b-b-baka.
They discussed tactics and likely opponents both for the spars themselves and the potential recruitment to follow. Hunger was uncertain if their party wanted another member to look after, especially one that would need to be protected as nearly all Elementalists did, but couldn't avoid the fact that the Elements she described had undeniable utility in breaching the Temple.
Stop with the pretense guys. You are scouting for potential schmucks that Hunger can scam for some money. After the dinner last night the spa resort bill has grown to size that can rival Verschlengorge.
"So, tell me about your own Element, Hunger! You said it helped you beat the Rotspawn today, but what does it actually do?"
"It's a force of indiscriminate enhancement that applies to anyone immersed within. As far as I can tell, it works on all faculties of body and mind, on foe as well as friend."
"Interesting!" Gisena appeared next to Letrizia, who startled as if jolted. "Fire a bolt? I'd like to take a look."
"I can't really fire bolts..." Hunger said. "The smallest blast is still the size of a car."
Rip InkSky, you were smothered and not given a chance to grow and become your namesake. Now we enhance stuff, like that fits our legends at all. Here comes Lord Hunger, the enhancer. This would totally fuck our legend. Imagine the other option. The Evening Sky descends upon a planet and with it comes its master – Lord Hunger. Damn that is way more legendary and synergetic.
And yes, if you could not tell, I am still salty about it.
"Cars are fascinating!" Gisena replied easily. "It's translucent force, right? No one will notice!"
He loosed a blast at them. Letrizia cowered slightly before she exclaimed in awe, looking at her palms as if they held the secrets of the universe. Gisena adopted a contemplative expression before smiling smugly.
"This almost feels like findross!" She said. "Incredible, I think this is a precursor substance to actual findross itself. Blast us again, I want to test a theory..."
It is a wonder that Gisena was not hit by a car. Given her personality and general nihilism it is a miracle that she is not sticking forks into power outlets.
Meanwhile Hunger makes Letrizia high with his blasts. This is totally acceptable bodyguard behavior by the way.
Shrugging, he did so. In response she raised a palm, intercepting his blast with her own Nullity.
"As I thought. The energy isn't being nullified - that is to say, the power of Nullity isn't rendering this Element mundane. Instead, they're actually cancelling each other out! I think this contains the parts of findross that uplift and restore, elevating the mundane to the supernal. In a sense, it can be considered the opposite of my own power!"
She scooted happily over to him. "It's just as I said earlier. We're a perfect pair!"
What is the difference between nullified element and canceled out element? In practice our blast will not reach her either way.
Gisena tries to tease Hunger but as a Cursebearer he automactically receives Defining Advancement of Dense Harem Protagonist – gather all the anime females in the area without meaning to. Or he might just know not to bother with Gisena. The +Wis is paying off.
"Hm..." Letrizia thoughtfully tapped the side of the pool. "Your Element's pretty cool, Lord Hunger, even if it's not as good as my Sharpbright. If it really is related to findross as Miss Gisena says, maybe we can call it edeldross? The prefix 'edel-' refers to ennobling or improvement, especially in the context of something traditionally bad becoming good. Don't you think it suits you?"
"A fine name, but do I come off as evil?" All of his current panoply had been Abducted from one villain or another. The Forebear's Blade, the Ring from the Tyrant; even the Evening Sky had belonged to that pirate captain, though in a diminished form.
"Yep," Letrizia said obliviously, "but don't worry, it's kinda cool! And I'm sure no one would mistake your intentions once they see your work!"
"I don't know," Gisena said. "I've seen plenty of Paladins and Knight-Captains with that color scheme, or at least similar ones! I'm sure people would mistake you as a hero if you smiled more."
Letrizia is nerding out about magic, Gisena is trying her best to ruin improve the color scheme of our clothes and totally ruin the brooding protagonist image. Philistines, all of them.
"That part of my life is finished. I'm done with taking on requests for strangers with no expectation of reward."
Don`t call me a hero anymore. I am Lord Edge, murderhobo supreme.
Letrizia looked slightly disappointed. "But isn't that the best part of heroing?"
Poor Letrizia is disappointed that her super undead chimera is not a hero. Don`t worry honey, travel with Gisena and Hunger a bit more and you will become like them. Intelligent, nihilistic and with a wicked Sense of Humor.
They discussed his choice of wardrobe for several minutes more, to his moderate dismay. Tired out from overusing her Element, Letrizia eventually trailed off, mumbling to herself as she slowly fell asleep.
Cuteness overload. Letrizia probably did not know her limits yet and overused her element, but this just adds to her charm of clumsy princess duchess.
"I'll carry her back," Hunger volunteered, but Gisena laid a soft hand against his arm, eyes gentle and green.
"Let her rest here for a bit. The waters may help with her Elemental exhaustion."
"..."
"What?" She swirled around to face him directly, crossing arms beneath her cleavage. "You don't believe me?"
"...Are you trying to make her pruney again?"
Our hero tries to actually do his duty as a bodyguard and protect Letrizia from harm. Even if the harm is in the form of a prank from the female bodyguard.
Gisena giggled. "Maybe I want you to carry me instead! You have two arms, so there's no excuse to skimp out on a full princess carry."
"Hmph. I do owe you one for the Magus fight. Here to our room is a pretty short stretch. You okay with that?"
"Good point!"
She leaned back, raising one pale, slender foot out of the water. "Perhaps you can give me a massage instead?"
Dread it. Run from it. The princess carry still arrives. We knew this moment will arrive. Hunger tries to escape but he knew he is doomed.
"You slacked off the whole day, why do you need a massage?"
She gently kicked water at him, which the Evening Sky obligingly deflected. "Why not? It's a continuance of my relaxation!"
"Fine. Come here."
So the family is on vacation. Their daughter charge is sleeping and Dad is giving Mom a massage. I don`t know guys. I think this is totally normal and there is no hidden subtext at all.
The next day they set out bright and early, though the hotel staff did their best to have them stay, even offering free nights if he would but fight the Rotspawn again. Despite the tremendous economic value of their proposal, Hunger had to deny them, though he didn't rule out attacking the Rotbeast if they happened to pass through this region again. Their vacation was drawing to a close - one last bit of training against Letrizia's classmates, and he would make for the Temple again.
They'd gained much from this trip; in many senses it had been more productive than attacking the Temple directly. But every day delayed was unnecessary suffering heaped upon the Imprisoned Ring. Hunger would see to its rescue as soon as possible; other paths were unacceptable to him.
Poor spa resort residents, their only hope does not carry for them and is only thinking about a Ring. That must hurt their pride.
[ ] Forebear's Blade - Echo of the Forebear - Cloud-shadow of the Forebear's might.
Legendary strength and speed, and the resilience to exert them. Can be taken multiple times. [+Might, +Agility]
Member when this actually was a worthwhile option and not a starter pick. I member.
[ ] The Ring of Power - Dominion - 2 Arete
A ring of power does not exert influence casually. It has its own will, its own preferences, and if that will should be inseparable from its owner's, its sway thereby shall be greater for it.
The available domains for Hunger are: War
If only we knew what Rihaku had in store for us. A new better ring, with fishing and blood.
[ ] Fierce Quickening - The absurd violence of Blood unleashed. Let all that falls within its dominion be spilled, if it be in service to the Ringbearer. Adds [++Agility, +Wits] to the bonuses from Quickening, subject to the usual conditions. Can be taken up to 3 times.
Our main +Agility source. How many times we took it again? Only once? We know the evolution of Vigor and I can`t wait to see what is the 2 Arete and later the 7 Arete option.
[ ] Augment Dominion: Blood - The world-wielding will of the Ring.
Treat the wielder's Rank as if it were (.5 Low/.25 Medium/.1 High) higher for purposes of the [Ring of Power] effect applied to the Blood domain, increasing its potency and versatility. Repeatable, but costs 1 more pick each time.
If only we knew what Rihaku had in store for us. A new better ring, with fishing and blood. (this still counts towards the word count because there is no such thing as plagiarism from yourself.)
[ ] Exalted Spirit - 2 Arete. Conjunctional [Hunger, Evening Sky]. Mind made vigorous as the body. Gain +Int, +Wits, +Wis, +Cha, -Heartlessness, while in a form with physical blood. Allies under blood enhancement gain +Int, +Cha. Blood enhancement requires physical blood.
Begone -Heartlessness! We plan to become a dark and brooding lord. Not "Hunger, Fishing is magic".
[ ] Sublime Transfusion - 2 Arete. The restorative vigor of blood willingly given. The wielder may donate his blood to another in order to heal them. This applies regeneration at a rate triple the wielder's own, and this healing effect is treated as if possessing conceptual potency a full Rank higher than the wielder's baseline, minimum 7. Even organisms of different species can be revitalized through such means.
Oh wow Rank 7. If only our Ring could to that. It will be great.
[ ] Vigor Incarnate - 2 picks, 2 Arete. The glory of Blood triumphant. Let those who would stand against him cower, or be undone. A simple but exceptionally powerful option.
Adds [+++Might, ++Charisma] to the bonuses from Quickening, subject to the usual conditions.
Add your Charisma to your Protection.
Aw yiss baby. This will fix the issue with +Protection being gimped and only for the small price of 2 Arete. I am disappointed it did not win but still we will always have it available.
[ ] Edeldross Adept - 2 picks, 2 Arete. Conjunctional [Ring of Power, Evening Sky] Through a surge of genius, Hunger vastly accelerates the growth of his proficiency with Edeldross.
*Substantially improves the effects of Hunger's Edeldross training session, increasing Magnitude to +30% and imparting significant bonuses to control. He can now consistently form barriers, blasts, and basic shapes (spear, sword, boxing glove) from Edeldross.
*Hunger can now maintain close to 100% uptime on basic self Edeldross enhancement.
*Unlocks advanced Edeldross enhancement, a time-limited technique that increases his effective Magnitude by half again.
*Doubles the rate of pseudo-Grace creation in the future. This benefit is unique to the Advancement.
After paying 7 Arete so the Mage gang could be happy, who would have thought that their insatiable need to get magic will lead us to this? This is why you never give Mage gang anything, because you give them a magic system, they will eat your cloak. And yes, I am still salty about InkSky.
[ ] Evening Sky: Shadowlord - 2 picks, 7 Arete. It's rare that such conjunctions occur, but the cloak of Evening has unusual affinity for the Elements of shadow. By absorbing the power of an Element willingly offered, some of its attributes may be infused into the wearer.
*+30% AGI, +30% Manipulation
*Gain +++++++Stealth, ++++Theft
*Weave of Silence: Immune to sound- and music-based attacks.
*Attention-Deflecting Shroud: +Protection from the Evening Sky now adds to Stealth.
*Assassin's Grace: 100% Critical Strike chance when performed from ambush.
*In exchange for paying Shadowcord a kingly sum of money, she will agree to let Hunger absorb her Element. This is not a permanent reduction; her ability to summon it will return slowly over the course of two years.
*Needless to say it's far more effective to have such capabilities present in Hunger himself than to rely on relatively-weak external sources
*Consumes one additional day as you farm the money needed.
Warrior and mage. We only need thief to complete the holy trinity of anti-synerge. I still did not believe we somehow managed to escape the trap of widening our skillset without deepening it first. Because who cares about having a synergetic build when you can do everything. Badly!
My only issue with it is that for avoiding any hints which Avecarn might catch on to we should forgo to use Praxis entirely, even defensively. Though our stat superiority should be more than enough to deal with physical vectors of attack and far as I know praxis itself wouldn't deal with more esoteric ways to harm us anyway...
