Chapter Sixteen

  “Total gnome shit.”

  The Neancy Guide wasn’t very thick. Expertly edited to get to the point. One Harmony rexed iub, while the other thumbed through the book getting annoyed. [Stride Before the Fall] needed more development. After how painful getting hurt had been, she khat if she didn’t force herself to use the skill she might get resistant to using it out of fear. It still didn’t st that long, having refused to level despite its use. With the pressure to choose she set the book down and dissipated to enjoy her soak.

  “What’s so bad about it? Ambrosia asked, pig up the book.

  “It has only ohway reeo defeat Nae’s Garden.” She’d only mao get through the first two floors in the guide. The gnome shit aspect of it was that it is good advice, perfected by hundreds of trials. Damage a wooze, any small wound would do. If you’re lucky enough to get [wound], or throw a bone and use [manipute dead] to explode it toward them. A cast of [Rot]. Wooze’s were more susceptible to it than other living things and it would poison them rather quickly. It would ruin the meat and a good k of fur. Then you [raise dead] aher make the corpses explode or use the raised beast for bat a the process.

  For the sed floor, which had pnt monsters, [Rot] at the base of the roots made it easy. Where some poison users might falter on this floor neancers excelled.

  “It doesn’t look like bad advice, Harm,” Ambrosia said after a perusal.

  “It’s not.” The book revolved around [Raise Dead] and [Rot].

  Ambrosia had voiced her opinion ohat it was as odd that a Neancer didn’t have [Raise Dead] as a beast tamer would be without [Bo].

  “I just don’t feel like it is my path.” Harmony tinued with a wihe idea of individual paths and following one’s heart when choosing skills went against her principle of pig the best ones for her career. Maybe she rationalized what she desired a little. [Familiar Bond] had meant she’d never be alone. [Manipute dead] gave her the skill to dive Old Bones. Even [Cold Touch] was selected to make her a better Maid. No one wao see any undead walking the streets of Hazledown anyway, the undead pet scroll had been a calcuted risk.

  Ambrosia walked over and dipped a finger into the tub. “Ow, you’ll freeze yourself into a block of ice that way. I thought you’d wanted a hot bath.”

  Entments meant to keep the water hot were being overpowered. [Cold Touch] ag up again in respoo her emotions, authority, and stress. Numbing herself to make a hard decision. At least she couldn’t feel the cold.

  Ambrosia fetched a towel as Harmony stood up from the newly made ice-cold bath. But that’s something to pte, isn’t it? What if [Rot] did the same thing? Random smells, poisoning grass and flowers. Even if she got it tained she pictured eatiable greens from Ma Bell’s table and having it turn rotten as it hit her tongue. Defeating Nae’s Garden was temporary, and really she only had to level up to evolve.

  “I ’t take the advice. I’ll find my own way.” She felt stupid a saying that out loud. No risking small pleasures like eating tasty food over a useful skill. Inside she could feel the pressure build to make the skill choice. There should be more time, usually one has a day or so to decide. Need increased chaos inside her, fragile, everythi fragile.

  “Amb, I leveled at the dinner, and I have to make my choice tonight.”

  “I’ll… “ Her friehe sentence die in her mouth. Prince Adric would not be useful here, and Bates wouldn’t be much help. Time debating was not time thinking about the options.

  Dry once more, Harmony picked the book back up. It’s not like it wasn’t useful. Inside she could feel the clock tig to decide, it was time to learn what she could.

  The book was amazing in many ways, breaking doweical details more than most of what she read of Tyler's oddball colle. You need five levels of [Raise Dead] to raise a Wooze, at ten you could raise two. Level twelve before you could raise a third-flreat eagle, but be careful to not damage the wihers or it couldn’t fly. It gave hard numbers on what it would work on and suggestions for substitutes like having a bird of prey corpse with you when you reach the third floor.

  It gave you a timeline based on the level of [Rot] on how long to the sed it would take to kill different dungeoures onfected. It almost sold her on the idea.

  She looked up her other skills. [Manipute Dead] had a se on how close the bone or corpse o be to damage a target and a hat with practie dired trol the dire of the bst after using the skill. All her other skills were listed as inadvisable or not useful for the dungeon. [Final Silence] was notated as a rare option that would disrupt a target for a short time. It didn’t have the same numbers aails some of the other skills had listed with them which means it wasn’t researched, used, or selected much. At least it did say there was some use. The words on the pages started to blur from exhaustion. Laying in bed she set the book down.

  Choose your css’s fifth skill: Raise dead - Rot - Final Silenbsp;

  This time Harmony couldn’t brush it away for ter. The book had beehat [Raise Dead] and [Rot] o be leveled before being most useful in the dungeon. A task she didn’t have time for, nor want to subjeyoo outside of the dungeon. Is this the wrong decision? But her useless skills domihe first floor of the dungeon? The Grave Society and their perfectly pnned book, they could all shut up about it. [Final Silehe neancer made her choice.

  Inside she could feel the skill grow. Closely lio [Cold Toubsp; both halting things, sound, and skills rather than that cold final rest. Except [Final Silence] was the end. The idea life couldn’t tinue and couldn’t be warmed back up. A tradi, because Silence skills did wear off, but the idea kept to the finality of death in its creation.

  Almost an antithesis of [Renew Spirit], yet she felt like they could go together if she could figure out where the pieces fit. es from her Maid skills slipped in [Poise and Bearing] respeg silence, a quiet maid was always expected. Even as a dy knew when not to speak. Everything was interected in some way, but that was a tired thought. If only she could… Sleep caught her

  In the woods outside the Dragonfly Inn, a Shadow Toad chuckled as he grew in power. The burden he was carrying was slightly less of an effort to shoulder.

  Harmony awoke to chirping birds. Familiar chirping birds as Ambrosia had snuck her merry crew of pets in. The beast tamer was not in her maid's uniform. “Time to get up sleepyhead. Bates has breakfast waiting for you at the training grounds. I’ve got band chores around town. Yoing to run out of time if you want to get through all the team's questions about your first run before heading ba today.”

  “Don’t you have questions?”

  “The others will fill me in ter. gratutions on the leveling. I’m sure you made the right choice.”

  Harmony slid out of bed and stretched. You tell everyohat you’re sure they made the right choice. That was the polite thing. It didn’t mean that they did. Internally [Final Silence] felt like a shioy, but ohat waited patiently to be used. It was a relief that it wasn’t leaking out and affeg her like other skills.

  “You there, Harm. You’re just standing there all quiet like.”

  Correaybe it wasn't affeg her. “Sorry. I chose [Final Silence] I’m curious about how it will work.”

  “Get down there, I’m sure your personal knight will let you try it out on him.”

  “Max is there?”

  “I don’t think he’s ever going to leave. This sharing authority with him, it’s almost like you’ve gained another pet.”

  At that Harmony stuck her to at her friend. Rather than dressing herself, she donned Night. The unique armor popped into pce as a f weight. “Have a good day with the band.”

  After a kiss to Harmony’s forehead Ambrosia and her birds flew out the door.

  The walk down to the training grounds was enlightening. Night was not a loud set of armor, not enough actual pieces of armor g together to make too muoise. Even after she actally attached her starry bck dress to it, binding it together as one piece, there had been less free movement to make noise, but it wasn't silent. Now it barely made a sound, even the heavy metal footfalls were less that and more akin to solid-soled shoes.

  Since being paired with the armor she’d wondered exactly how her skill growth had affected it. It repaired itself a little quicker after [Mend] but she hadn’t been sure if it was the skill or the levels. With [Recall] she seemed to be able to summon to herself and away at quicker speeds, but that might not have been part of the armor and ihat new skill. [Final Silence] however showed that it was distinctly less noisy. Would [Rot] have made it smell more?

  She dropped that thought as she approached the members of her team.

  Bates lifted the lid from a try of waiting food. “My dy.”

  Sir Maxwell and Prince Adric grilled her on how the first run into Nae’s garde. Last night Max didn’t have time to do more than inform her about that night's guests before she o get to the diable.

  Harmony ate as she filled them in. Sir Maxwell took notes. With an unnaturally quick flick, the knight’s pencil glided down the paper.

  “Max, what is your profession?” Harmony asked, realizing she didn’t know.

  “Scribe.” He said disappointingly about a profession Harmony would have killed for at sele.

  Harmony had to keep herself fr into her knight's choice woes. A maid shouldn’t pry, but the dy in her felt some responsibility towards her sworn man. It wasn’t something she could ge and now was not the time anyway. Max’s service was temporary until he evolved and no longer needed her, wasn’t it?

  “The brood mother was how big?” Maxwell asked.

  Between [Recall] and how [High Kick] measured distances Harmony had a pretty big estimate that she felt was close to its exact size.

  “No way. I’m sorry Harm, if I’d known.” Adric started

  “It’s good.” Harmony lied still slightly annoyed. Her pet prince could probably tell that. “It means I should be able to handle any lesser wooze brood mother fine, so I’ve got the first floor down. “

  “Hair of that length is rare,” Maxwell added with .

  “Hyath stored it somewhere after we arrived back from the dungeon. I’d have to ask him where it is.” She could sehe beast sleeping in the inn’s stables reserved fe pets and mounts.

  “Most important is that I leveled aed [Final Silence]. Anyone want to help me try it out before I head back to Nae’s Garden?”

  “I don’t like being hit by silence effects.” Prince Adric quickly admitted.

  “I’ll give it a try,” Max answered.

  “You should run at her and have her use it when she feels like you’re in range,” Adric added helpfully.

  Suspiciously helpfully, but it was a good idea so Harmony accepted. The advao using a skill for its base activation rather thara ways Harmony liked to use hers was that it gave you a solid baseline. You ’t activate it until something is in range. While pying around with skills or synergizing teiques like how she used [Manipute Dead] to shape hair affected things in ued ways. That could only be figured out through trial and error.

  The Knight charged from across the ring, fog on [Final Silence] about thirty paces away she felt it ki as usable. After about three more steps she felt it go off, so a little slow from activation to a. Rather than spread out from her it was very much a siarget that snapped into pce. That meant it would probably be difficult to block or avoid.

  How would Max… The Knight tripped forward stumbling, nding face-first in the dirt and sliding forward.

  Prince Adric started ughing from his spot off to the side. “You khat would happen.” Harmony accused him as she made her way to Max. [Mend] would o be used.

  “As Royalty, we went through a lot of training around being silenced. It’s an assassin’s favorite tool. The first time you try moving in armor without the innate bes of the skills around it, let’s say the first ten times they silenced me while running I ate turf as much as Max is.” That was more info about Prince Adric’s training than he’d ever given Harmony.

  Maxwell moaned silently from his position on the ground. He tried to speak but no sound came out.

  Adric frowned. “It usually doesn’t st this long.”

  A few moments ter Maxwell annou ended. Shly half a mi took almost two minutes for Harmony to feel like she could cast it again. No way to keep a target permaly silenced yet, and how could she use it with her other skills?

  “How does it feel?” She asked.

  “It’s like you’re naked, or when you reach out and expect to find something only to have it missing. That’s the best way I describe it. "

  “You're the expert,” Harmony said to her pet.

  “My trainers called it a restri. Some skills it doesn’t work on or doesn’t work on them as well, like pet bonds, familiars, and things that have already physically ged your body. It’s hard to describe without having been silenced yourself. For most csses, it’s a rare skill.” He clearly was struggling to remember some. “They trained us to fight while silenced. Or at least figure out how to wait and survive while it was effective. One of your length would be tough. e of Silence was like five seds, but you see how if it hit a whole group of people there would be issues.”

  If you had to experie to know. Harmony cast [Final Silence] on herself. It resisted at first, but she was more thao using her skills on herself every m.

  All the little things her css and profession did for her shut down. Memory went a little fuzzy as [Recall], her skill went down. How to sta off and awkward, Night while still feeling like part of her pulled in ways she wasn’t used to as her e to both how to wear the armor and the physiature of all her body trol skills, be it bat or [Style and Grace] shut down. But it’s not like she went clumsy, she’d had some training before the skills and some practice rubbed off over time, but now she couldn’t rely on them. For some csses and professions, this would be hell. Hyath was still there and the bond with Adric, both almost felt dim and in the distanbsp; There it was. In silence. Relief. All those overactive skills shut down to some degree.

  “Harmony?” Adric asked with an anxious tone in his voice.

  Opening her mouth to answer, nothing came out.

  “She cast it on herself.” Max pointed out the obvious.

  Okay, not being able to talk was annoying. Taking some careful steps, it was easy to see how the knight had stumbled, but she mao stay upright.

  “That wasn’t so bad.” She squeaked out as she felt it end.

  “No,” Adric stated firmly.

  “What?” Harmony pined.

  “You don’t get to use that skill on yourself to help with your dition. You don’t know what it will do or if it will help more than it hurts.”

  “What dition?” Maxwell busted in.

  “Not in front of my sworn knight, Addy.”

  “I forbid it.”

  “You ’t..”

  “I’ll tell Ambrosia, and lean on Hyath. I bet I eve Bates here to work on you.”

  The Head Butler took his cue. “I will support whatever is best to maintain the health of Lady White.”

  Betrayal. Well not so much. When did Prince Adric get so perceptive? “Burn you all to ashes. Fine. I’ll not use it on myself, right now. Bates, see if you get a letter to expert Fei inquiring about using silenyself with my delicate stitution if he’s still avaible in Hazeldown. I’m going to kill some wooze now.”